He was in a rainforest, two people were carrying him, looking almost lifeless. It was evident they had lost all hope.

He remembers being in pain, but that's where his memories end.

He doesn't know anything before or after that. That is what also forces Ryuji to believe that it was just a nightmare he had long ago, But he knows the more he thinks about it, the more he's going to drown in the whirlpool of confusion.

When Zen and Ice came back from their daily prayers that day, they saw their cave dark and silent. They could barely make out the silhouette of Ryuji sitting in the corner of the room.

"It's dark...." Zen says stopping at just the entrance of the cave.

"Ah, Did we forget to replace the candle?" Ice, who was standing just in front of Zen says as she hurries inside the cave.

She grabs the little clay plate that had the remainder of the candle wax in it and throws the remnants away.

She hurriedly walks over to a little box and grabs an uneven and translucent cylindrical candle out of it. A dirty string is poking out of one end of the candle. The base is the only flat thing about the candle, every other part is uneven.

Zen slowly walks inside, "Do we need more of that wax?"

Ice turns her head back to him and nods.

"Alright then, I'll go get some wax out of that tree tomorrow."

Ice nods yes, She doesn't understand what is wrong since she cannot see Ryuji sitting with a dark expression in the dimly lit corner.

But Zen is a bit creeped out by that.... "Um.... Are you okay, Young Man?"

"Ryuji. I'm Ryuji Sora."

Ice is a bit startled by their sudden conversation and Ryuji's unexpected dialogue.

"Um.... I think it's time you should choose another name for yourself, Ryuji.... It's just supposed to be a bad thing to have your real name exposed in Hell...."

"I don't care. Everything I'll do forward, I'll do it using my name, since there's someone who needs to know I'm coming for him. A Loathsome God who has wronged me and sent me to this Hell.... A disgusting creature hiding in a divine body.... The Treacherous God of Peace, Taijin."

Ice and Zen both have their faces turn into that of sudden shock, Ice even picks up a large plate and throws it in Ryuji's face, But Ryuji immediately guards himself using his right arm. To His surprise, Ice was so powerful that the utensil is bent around his arm now, And his arm hurts like crazy. Had Ryuji been a normal man, he would've had a horrible injury.

Ryuji's face turns to Ice as the Plate falls from his arm, Her lower lip shaking as if she heard her lover break up with her.

He can see how offended and angry she is to hear that, And that only feeds his dark thoughts further.

"You guys pray to that Disgusting Reptile with a feline appearance, right?"

Before Ryuji knows it, Zen has the corners of the rags he's wearing filling his fists, Looking at Ryuji with a look of fury.

"HOW DARE YOU SPOUT NONSENSE LIKE THAT ABOUT THAT KIND PRESENCE?!"

Ice is standing to the side, supporting herself on a Crude Clay Slab, Her eyes are covered using a White cloth, But her expression is that of fury too.

Suddenly, Ryuji Shouts, "Nonsense?! I've seen what this God of so-called Kindness is! Do you know what he's done to me?! He's no Savior! He's a monster pretending to be a God!"

Zen suddenly punches Ryuji in the face, Making Ryuji growl, "You will not talk about Sir Taijin in our home like that! You don't know what you're talking about!"

Ryuji spits a little blood on the ground after Zen punches him, Realising just how strong he is.

"Oh yeah? Just why do you even want to try so hard to defend that piece of shit?! I know it! He sent you here too, Right?! Isn't that right you hypocrites?!"

Ice and Zen both stagger back.

Ice starts shaking a bit, slowly biting her lower lip.

Then, she holds her left arm in a fragile grip and gains her composure back, "Because we owe him everything."

Ryuji Scoffs, "Everything? You live in this hellish place constantly surrounded by the fear of having your existence erased, and you still offer your prayers to the one who sent you here? What could he have possibly done to make you both so loyal?"

Zen backs off a little, Looking at ice, his head lowered, as if he's feeling sorrow. Ice doesn't try to hide her sadness either, she slowly walks over to Ryuji, and starts speaking, "There was someone..... We don't know who but.... I feel they were very important to us...."

**

A tired couple is moving through a dense forest during a rainstorm so intense that the canopy is unable to save them from the rain god's wrath.

The man has a limp in his left leg, moving through the forest carrying a "###", looking so frail and lifeless, as if already on the verge of death.

And a tired woman, who is holding a large cloth above his and her own body to save their heads from the heavy droplets.

It's Zen and Ice.

They walk through the dense forest in hopes of searching for a shrine.... A long-forgotten shrine in the depths of an abandoned tribe.

The Little "-&_'s" face.... A li..#.e..... J......y.....

His legs seem like a stick made out of powder. Pieces of his skin occasionally fall along the path they're walking. He's rotting alive.

The "-&_" is #...i !.r1.

**

"No matter how much we try to remember who we were carrying was.... We can't." Ice says with a scared and cold tone.

**

Eventually, they both reach a little cave opening, made out of black stone. Ice throws the cloth away and slowly walks aside. A small trapdoor under a rock reveals a little wooden box. Ice picks it up and brings it inside, following Zen who's carrying the living corpse.

Inside, On one of the walls, a small, half burnt log in present. Further in front of them, everything is totally dark.

**

"I found some stones to ignite the log. And i got a little hay and husk from the little trapdoor under that rock we got the box from. Once we lit it up, we started walking"

**

Both Ice and Zen walk further and reach an opening which opens into a Chamber that looks like a shrine.

A small idol looking like a cat is sitting on a stone platform, almost the same size as a real cat.

Zen puts "-&_" down and almost loses his balance, but he saves himself from falling at the last second.

Breathing heavily and looking almost dead, he looks back at Ice lighting up small torches near the idol.

He gives the "&&&" a little kiss on the head and slowly crawls back to the idol.

"Will it even work?" Zen says, looking almost dead.

"We don't have another choice.... A god capable of doing a miracle like that, will definitely keep his promise." Ice looks down, her hand shaking.

Zen sighs and glances back at his "&₹#"

Ice slowly opens up the box they brought before and takes out.... Scissors, Knives, an Eye Gouger and a pincer.

Zen washes the tools in a small tub filled with water under the cat god's feet and takes them Out, putting them in front of their feet, in a straight line. His hands shaking visibly, making the tools clank on the stone of the floor.

Both of them don't touch the tools after that at all. Visibly shaken and scared, They start noticing all the different details of the cave. The cave being extremely dark, the cat god illuminated using the torches that Ice lit. The tools in front of them illuminated the same light. Two torches lit at the back of the entrance of the Shrine. Their sides are totally dark to them, Not even knowing how wide the chamber is, but it's definitely not too big. It's probably just as big as a room.

When both of them realise that none of them was doing something, Ice extends her hand to take the first step but-- Zen stops her.

"Not you .... Let me do it first...."

Ice is scared out of her wits too....

Zen notices tears flowing down her face, and grits his teeth.

"D-Dont look at me. After I'm done, Just quietly.... Follow."

Ice looks at his face, her lower lip shaking uncontrollably as tears stream down her face like a waterfall. A small sense of comfort is induced in her heart as she looks at his face, and then looks back towards the other end of the cave.

"O-Okay."

Her voice is strangely broken.

She goes back to look at the one Zen kept down on the ground, her heart is engulfed by a feeling of calmness for a few seconds, which is immediately washed away when she heard a pained muffled groan.

Zen at the back, Is splitting his stomach open with a knife, His eyes bloodshot red. Trying to suppress his voice so Ice isn't too scared.

As soon as Zen does that, Ice notices that the skin texture of the one Zen kept down changed into a healthier one.

She put her hand on her mouth in surprise, Not being able to believe whatever she has seen.

She immediately goes back to where Zen is sitting, and takes out an eye Gouger.

Putting a small pill of poison out of a pack in her dress, she bites hard on it, and immediately puts the eye Gouger in her eyes to gouge out her eyes.

The long shadows being formed on the stone floor reflecting horrific images.

**

"Taijin had asked for my Spirit Eyes and a long and painful death out of Zen. And he said if we do it for them,  we will lose all memories about who we did it for. It was torturous, But We had to do it.... We don't know for whom we did it, Or what. But.... I'm sure, Whoever we did it for is living right now, and they must be happy. That incurable disease.... Lost. All because that God has helped us when noone else could do anything."

Zen's mouth curves into a slight frown, "They... They were definitely important to us.... Really important... Even if we don't know who, I would still happily endure a painful death for hours, just for their sake."

But Ryuji's face is pale, Almost white, as if all color has been lost from it, only one thing moves through this head, 'Mom? Dad?'