The Name Lim
347 Words
The name finally had a meaning.
Lim was not a person.
It was an ancient presence that could attach itself to memory, objects,
bloodlines and fear.
It returned in manifestations, but it never truly left.
The Five Hundred Year Cycle was not a resurrection.
It was an awakening.
Airi understood why the Four Families had been afraid.
They had not defeated Lim centuries ago.
They had only separated it.
Now the separation was failing.
Ren closed the record.
“Then we need to find where it was sealed.”
Miyako shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Lim wants you to.”
Airi frowned.
“What does it want?”
Miyako looked directly at her.
“The Guardian.”
Silence filled the room.
Then the bell Miyako had given them rang again.
This time, there was wind.
But the windows were closed.
The door opened by itself.
A voice spoke from the corridor.
“Too late.”
The Hunter appeared in the city without announcing himself.
He looked like an ordinary man.
That was what frightened Airi most.
He stood beneath a streetlamp and watched people walk past him.
Ren recognized him from the old drawings.
“The Hunter.”
The man smiled.
“You remember.”
Ren felt a pressure in his chest.
“I remember enough.”
The Hunter looked at Airi.
“You should ask why they lied.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
He turned away.
“Strength does not make monsters. Fear does.”
Ren followed him.
“Why did you become the Hunter?”
The man stopped.
For a moment, his expression softened.
“I lost someone.”
“Who?”
“My child.”
The answer stunned them.
The Hunter continued walking.
“I wanted enough strength to make sure it never happened again.”
Airi understood then.
Lim had not created his grief.
It had only found it.
And used it.
Before disappearing into the crowd, the Hunter said:
“Do not become what I became.”
Then the streetlights went out
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