Silence. I opened my eyes and stared blankly at the sword that passed through my chest.

"I am sorry, friend. For the stability of this realm, I cannot let you live. I thank you for your service to my family."

Blood gushed out as he retrieved his sword. Liquid splurged out of my mouth and I collapsed onto the cold, sun-baked courtyard. All went blank.

. . .

I awoke in a cold sweat, immediately feeling for a hole in my chest, but there was none. I surveyed all that existed around me, but not a single thing made me think of Rome. I swallowed the spittle that had congealed in my throat.

Fumbling to my feet, I began to recognize bits and pieces about where I might be. I would've liked to believe I was hallucinating, but I had somehow teleported from China to Atlantis to Rome and now . . . here. Nothing about this was normal, I had grown accustomed to this fact.

As I traversed the dirt streets winding between the thatch-roofed houses, I soon came to realize the unnerving paucity of human beings.

At first, I assumed that the white-robed people are indeed people, and so I walked up to them and asked for directions out of this desolate village. I should have probably looked more closely at those figures, as I soon came to realize that their directions always led me back to the same exact place—where I had begun. Yūrei, I had heard about them in my past life. That is if I truly was where I think I was.

One of the yūrei, hideously disfigured and malformed, revealed to me that they had been cursed to roam these empty streets for eternity, and so was their fate. When I inquired as to who or what had cursed them, they just ambled away.

A loud plonk in the distance captured my interest. I rushed to the source, which happened to be a well of sorts. It was pitch black within, reflecting the dark moonless skies above.

I found myself some dry wood and lit a temporary torch. Peering inside once more, a twinkle returned my gaze. Why I was so enamored by this glint, I do not know. Perhaps through these years that had passed in this world, all that I sought was meaning. Perhaps this, too, was the hand of Fate.

I lowered a bucket into the depths and carefully plucked the object out of the water. When I eventually procured the object, I realized it was a ring. That would have been fine, had it not been eerily similar to the one I had used back in Ys with which I . . . I accidentally murdered Esme and all her sisters. I stared at the ring's intricate patterns. Could I just use it once again to escape this city? To escape this world?

After some concerted deliberation, I decided to wear the ring. However, instead of being able to make any wish I pleased, I was thrust into the mind of another individual.

. . .

"Okiku, Okiku, come quickly!"

I—or rather, she ran joyfully to the group of girls that had huddled near the well. Her heart was joyous and full, for just that very day, she had been courted by the village chief's son, who had given her a silver ring and asked for her hand in marriage. Rumors had spread wildly among the village.

"Come quickly, Okiku. We have something to show you."

She skipped and hopped her way to the well. It was nearing evening and she had to collect some fresh water to take back home, so she thought she might as well see what had captured these girls so.

"Look Okiku! A cat is drowning within."

"Oh, how terrible!" She shrieked. Naïvely, she peered down into the well, her eyes darting around wildly to catch a glimpse of the poor animal.

The next moment, she was plummeting lifelessly down into the depths. Faint giggles came from above, which grew fainter yet and then echoed. Her limp body floated in the dark, decrepit pit. Her life which had until so very recently been perfect was no more. The last thing her eyes saw before she passed into the afterlife was a circle of twilight that poured from the seams of the opening as the giggling girls shut the well with a wooden seal.

. . .

I came back to my senses and found myself struggling for breath in the cold waters of that very same well. The ring was taut on my skin. How had I fallen into the pit? I wondered. How had I survived?

I examined the ring closely when a realization struck me. In much the same way I had wished for something in haste, could this girl have done so as well? There was only one way to end the curse in that case, and so I pulled the ring off my finger, nearly tearing it off in the process.

After multiple failed attempts, I eventually managed to climb my way out of the pit.

On my amblings through the village, I had come across a blacksmith's hut. I rushed there once again, and without hesitation, flung the ring into the forge.

Nothing happened at first. But then, the onyx skies seemingly began to part, giving way to a shade of blue. The yūrei that inhabited the poor settlement burnt up and fizzled away noiselessly.

I felt proud of my achievement. For once, I had saved rather than destroyed.

Then, I saw a man walking towards me. In his hands, he carried a chest. A chest that looked strangely familiar.

He dropped it onto the ground and came closer to me. It was then, to my horror, that I recognized the unseemly face.

"It has been a while, Captain." His voice sang the familiar tune. "Come. It is time."

He laid his hand on my forehead, and all went black.