Re;Blade

Chapter 25 - The sword with a soul

It was dark and cold.

Tetsuko tried to expand her awareness, but nothing changed. I can't sense much beyond this room, she thought.

For a moment, she thought she had died again and was floating between worlds. But she knew it wasn't that. She hadn't died again.

The soul in the sword knew the reason.

It was because of her new scabbard.

The blacksmith didn't have to work much on her; there wasn't a single scratch on her blade. After he cleaned and oiled her, he made a new sheath with that strange reddish wood.

Tetsuko waited anxiously for her new home.

When she was human, she only made the sheaths herself when she felt the blade was a masterpiece. The others she left for her apprentice. It was the same as her father.

When the blacksmith finished and closed his fingers around her, Tetsuko's energy went out of control. It was only a little, but enough to make the large man drop her.

After staring with his bearded face full of suspicious, he placed the sword inside the scabbard.

She felt great. It was the first time she smiled out of joy since coming into this world.

It feels like a warm bath on a cold day all...

At the time, she was too happy to realize.

Even as the blacksmith put her on the shelf along with the other swords, all Tetsuko could think was how snuggly her new scabbard felt.

But after she closed her eyes and let her mind drift, she noticed her senses were dulled.

Before, the soul in the sword could hear and more importantly, sense much more than what was before her sight. But now, it was as limited as her vision.

She couldn't even sense the blacksmith coming in the next morning.

It's the scabbard, she knew, all her happiness about her new home gone as if it had never existed.

With great effort, despite her limited senses, she could feel the same twisted energy coming from the wood.

But can this be possible?

Tetsuko struggled but had no idea.

For now, I'll focus on what I can control.

When the night came and she was alone, the soul in the sword closed the eyes she didn't have.

Focus... I need to focus on myself... focus on my energy and ignore the twisted one embracing me...

It was faint, but she could sense her own energy. Then Tetsuko made it slow down until it almost stopped.

Good...

Despite not having lungs, she took deep breaths and separated just a fraction of her energy and made it move along the edge of her metal body.

The speck of cold blue energy went from the base of the handle to the tip of the blade and then came back on the other side.

This is the limit of my body...

This is the limit of my blade...

But I know I'm not limited to it...

Trapped in that twisted scabbard without knowing when or if Nicolas would ever use her again, Tetsuko could only focus on herself.