Reaper

Chapter 4: Koutei-Shigai

Author's note: As Reaper is a hobby story, this chapter was on and off due to school and Demon Rising. But I'm happy with this chapter. It gives some background information that will play a role through out the story, plus it gives a small glimpse into the city school that Alex now lives, aswell as a vital piece of information about Alex himself. So you can take this chapter for what it is. When I started writing this chapter again, I put very little effort into it just cause, but I'm happy with it, so that's that. Enjoy.


Chapter 4: Koutei-Shigai



The sun’s bright morning rays blazed through the windows of Alex’s room in streams of glowing golden yellow. The patch of carpet that the rays fell on were consumed entirely by the bright light, turning it a blazing, bright white. Outside, the soft chirp and tweets of the many different birds casually broke the morning silence. The sky outside was a dazzling baby blue, broken only by the smallest of clouds that drifted lazy across it in whisps of translucent white.

Across the room on the opposite side of the windows, Alex was laying peacefully in his bed.

Covered in the blanket he had brought from Winnipeg, one that looked as if it was made of white tiger skin and was only covering him from the waist down, Alex’s mouth was hanging wide open as he snored loudly. His left arm and leg were hanging over the side of the bed, swaying back and forth slightly as he slept.

Alex had been up until one o’clock in the morning, spending most of the time getting settled into his new place; mainly by digging out his gaming system and video games, DVD player, movie collection and stereo, and setting them up so he would have some entertainment.

Alex hadn’t been the only one staying up late, as the party outside on the lawn was still going strong when Alex had climbed into bed. Instead of going to bed however, Alex heard the many voices below say there was a giant beach party going on that they were going to join and several minutes later, as he was stripping out of his clothes and crawling under the covers in nothing but the clothes he was born in, he heard the laughing and cheering voices retreating away from him, being swallowed into silence after only a moment.

Alex was quite comfortable in his bed, especially since he had been riding his bike the previous day for what must have been four or five hours. The feather pillow that he was laying on was cool and relaxing and felt as if he was lying on a cloud. His body was ache free and his back was now as straight as when he had gotten off the airplane, not slightly curved as it usually was after a prolonged ride.

The only thought that was running through Alex’s mind was how he’d love nothing more then to sleep the entire morning away in the peace and quiet of his new room, enjoying the warmth of his blanket and softness of his matress.

All was good, thought Alex, as he lay in his bed, resting peacefully. Nothing in his opinion could ruin the little peace of paradise on earth he had found in a city that was already paradise on earth.

HONK HONK HONK!

Alex snorted slightly and his eyes twitched as a sudden shrill honking sounding from outside rented the air, breaking the silence and drowning out the songs of the birds. The honk had woken up Alex as easily as if someone had shouted in his ear, his brain a jumble of disconnected and twisted thoughts from the sudden abrupt, rude, awakening.

Raising his dangling hand from the side of the bed, Alex reached across his body and scratched his stomach lazily. Groaning slightly, Alex slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, his once scratching hand now resting on his flat stomach. Staring at the light blue ceiling of his room for a moment, Alex raised a hand and draped it across his eyes, rubbing the sleep from them and trying the best to block out the blazing bright light of the new morning that stung his eyes and brought them to slight tears.

Gradually, more and more honking filled the air, until finally nothing could be heard except for the loud, shrill honks that were beating their annoying tunes on Alex’s eardrums and disturbing him from his once peaceful slumber.

From above him, Alex heard the dormitory he was now sleeping in coming to life, the girls who inhabited it, yelling to one another in what sounded like good-byes and teary farewells.

Slowing sitting up in his bed, Alex stared at the wall opposite him through his curtain of blonde hair, which fell over his eyes like shudders. Yawning widely, Alex pushed his hair out of his face and stared slightly annoyed at the window, inwhich the many honks could still be heard coming through.

“What could be so damn important that they had to wake me up?”, Alex growled, pulling his leg out of bed and heaving himself to his feet.

Swaying slightly on his tired legs, Alex dropped from the raised platform to the room floor and staggered slightly across the room, rubbing and scratching his head as he went.

Side stepping several boxes as he stumbled through the room, Alex stopped infront of the window that over looked the front lawn and gazed blearily down at the ground where the honking was coming from.

The whole of the entrance loop that stood infront of the dormitory was filled with dozens of different couloured vehicles, some of them vans, others sedans, others station wagons, the queue of vehicles spilling out onto Cherry Wind Road. Outside of each vehicle were what undoubtedly had to be the parents of the many girls who lived in the dormitory, the adult on the driver side leaning through the window and blaring the horn as loud as they could. The lawn too was covered in frantically waving and cheery looking adults, all of them undoubtedly trying to get the attention of the many girls inside the dormitory, who may are or may not be looking out the front windows down to the lawn below.

Cherry Wind Road was packed bumper to bumper with cars and large tour busses. From what Alex could see, the inhabitants of Koutei-Shigai were all hurrying out of their houses and either greeting their parents with large, cheery hugs, or else tossing their bags underneath the cabin of the tour busses, before climbing into the idling vehicle and disappearing from sight.

It seemed that the party that Alex had interupted yesterday was a farewell summer party, as it appeared that just like colleges back in North America, the students went home for the summer to spend time with their families.

And sure enough, moments later a flood of school girls came cascading out of the front entrance, their many different coloured clothes forming an immence rainbow that washed over the green and grey ground, their arms waving frantically as they waved their last good-byes to their friends or waved to their parents.

Like homing pigeons, each girl seemed to know exactly where their parents were, as they easily cut their way through the crowd of gathered adults, finding their parents in no time flat.

With a slight pang of jealousy, Alex watched as the girls threw their arms around their moms and dads and hugged them with all their strength, their parents smiling faces bright with happiness as they greated their daughters.

Alex could remember greeting his parents like that when he returned from summer camp with Max, Monica and Feilos when they were ten. He could vivdly remember him and his three best friends greeting their parents like the girls were now, so happy to be back with them that they never wanted to leave them again.

Turning his back to the window and the teary parent and daughter reunions below, Alex crossed his room again, scratching his head and side stepping the many boxes piled in his new room, grumbling about how he could have used another hour of sleep instead of being woken up just to see that.

Fifteen minutes later, Alex was standing on the raised section of floor inwhich his bed and dresser stood, and was overlooking his room, and the mountain of boxes that was now cluttering his room, a fleeting look on his face.

“Man oh man,”, Alex sighed, running a hand through his hair as he overlooked his room, “This is gonna be one long summer.”, he finished, hopping down to the floor and starting to unpack the many boxes that had been brought over to Japan for him, undoubtedly by Death and his mystic, other worldly powers.

Alex spent his whole first week of being in Japan doing nothing but unpacking and redecorating his room. Everyday for that week when Alex woke up, he’d get to unpacking, three days doing it bare naked until noon, only realising then that he wasn’t wearing any clothes as he was so focused on getting the hard part of his new life done and out of the way with.

When Tuesday evening rolled around, Alex was in the center of his room, admiring the dramatic change it had undergone.

When Daisuke had first shown Alex his room, it was, for lack of a better term, boring. The walls were blank, the desk was bare, the fridge in the kitchen a blank metal face. But now, after a week of hard work, the room was something Alex could be proud of.

The walls were no longer bare, but instead covered in the many colourful posters of the different cars, TV shows, bands and movies that Alex loved, so many posters that the drywall covering of the wall could barely be seen through the small spaces between Alex’s posters. The desk, which was made of red cherry wood and had small shelves and cubbies rising from the back edge of it, was now home to Alex’s powerful stereo, the many drawers and cubbies full of his large CD collection. A large tower rack stood next to the TV now, every one of it’s one-hundred and fifty slots full of Alex’s movie and video game collection. The fridge was no longer blank, as it was now covered in the many pictures of Alex, his friends and his parents, memories of happier times. Filling the whole of Alex’s small kitchen were all the boxes that had held Alex’s belongings, some thirty or so of them.

The walls of Alex’s bed-plateu were still rather blank -save for two silver hooks that Alex had hung up so he had a place to hang Banyuo- having used all his posters to cover the walls of the main room itself. The only colour in his ‘bedroom’ was from his tiger skin patterned blanket and a small purple velvet covered box about a foot long that sat atop his chest of drawers.

This little box seemed to be out of place in Alex’s room, as it looked more like something a man would give his girlfriend for an anniversary present. And admittedly, that’s what happened, in a sence.

Held with in the box, resting on a soft pillow of silk covered goose down, was a necklace that had once belonged to Alex’s late mother.

About the size of a dollar coin, and made of gold, the necklace was in the shape of a tear drop with a diamond band stretching from one side to the other of the cover. Looped around the top of the necklace was a long, silver chain. The locket was hinged so that it could open up, and on the inside was a picture of Alex’s mother and father on their wedding day.

This necklace had been given to Alex’s mother by his father as a birthday present. Alex could remember the look of surprise and joy on his mother’s face when she opened the box and her eyes fell upon the golden neck piece. He could remember the happiness that had filled the room as Alex’s dad slipped it around his mother’s neck and the look of delight in her eyes.

When his parents died, Alex decided to keep the locket, as it reminded him of the many happy memories he had had with his parents, reminded him of a time when his life was simpler, when he was an innocent boy, not a man who’s job it was to slaughter the criminals of the world, tearing their bodies apart and spilling their blood to the cold earth.

Crossing his newly redecorated room, Alex hopped up onto his bed plataue and unhooked Banyuo, who had been hanging comfortably from his two hooks on the wall. Flinging Banyuo over his shoulder, Alex slowly turned on spot and admired the whole of the room from his bedside.

“Not bad Alex,”, Banyuo said smoothly from all around Alex, sounding impressed by the change the walls had taken, “Now it looks like a room for a nineteen year-old.”

“It sure does Banyuo. It sure does.”, Alex replied, nodding as he slowly looked around the room, “Now what do you say we go and take a ride around Koutei-Shigai? See what this place has to offer a verile young nineteen year old in the way of entertainment.”, he finished, clapping his hands together and hopping down from the bed plateau.

“Probably nothing worth mentioning now that it’s summer and all the young ladies are gone.”, Banyuo said simply as Alex crossed the room towards the door, smiling broadly, “So what are you gonna do about all those boxes Alex?”, Banyuo added as Alex was doubled over and pulling on his shoes.

Straightening up, Alex stared at the pile of boxes that was cluttering his kitchen area. These boxes had honestly slipped his mind as he had been more impressed with the way his room looked, and prefered not to think about cleaning up.

“I think I got an idea Banyuo,”, Alex said, staring at the pile with a slightly wondering look on his face, yet nodding all the same.



***



“This can’t be legal Alex!”, Banyuo said, sounding very concerned about what he was seeing.

Alex was outside in the warm summer air, standing in the backyard of the dormitory, Banyuo resting on the well-manicured lawn beside him. The back yard of the dormitory was wide and open without any fences to obstruct it as it stretched right out to the foot of the tree covered mountains, which surrounded the whole of Koutei-Shigai. The mountains stood like sentinals, overlooking to the city and the activities within it that cowered in their immence shadows.

Right now, specifically, the mountains were watching as Alex stood infront of a giant burning pile of boxes that stood as tall the average man. The bright orange flames hissed and crackled happily, leaping ten feet into the air and spewing embers in the air that resembled fire-flies, thick black smoke spiraling, twisting and snaking high into the air.

Alex who for one reason or another, was opposed to throwing out and recycling the boxes, somehow came up with the idea that burning the boxes was better then throwing them out.

“Ofcourse it’s legal Banyuo!”, Alex said happily, his hands on his hips and a large, toothy smile spread across his face.

“Setting dozens of boxes on fire in a crowded city is legal?”, Banyuo asked breathlessly as the pile collapsed in on itself, the boxes at the bottom turning slowly to white and grey ash and releasing a fresh cascade of glowing orange embers into the air.

“Sure it is!”, Alex said cheerfully, watching the fire burn happily, “Well, I assume so anyway.”

“You assume so?”, Banyuo asked suspicously.

“Well yeah,”, Alex said with an air of professionalism, crossing his arms infront of him and looking quite relaxed, “I mean, I saw some people burning garabge in all those Japanese cartoons I watch. So I assume it’s legal because those animators had to get the idea from somewhere.”, he finished, leaning over and grasping the shoulder strap of Banyuo.

“Well real life is different then cartoons Alex.”, Banyuo said shortly as Alex picked Banyuo up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder and retreating from the burning pile of boxes towards the front yard of the dormitory.

“You don’t say Banyuo.”, Alex replied absentmindily as he passed into the shadow covered lawn beside the dormitory.

It had been one week ago when Alex had been rudely awoken by the many shrill honks of the many waiting parents the had crowded the front lawn of the dormitory. One by one, after the cheerful hello’s and somewhat teary good-byes had been said, the parents and their daughter climbed back into their vehicles and joined the enormous queue that had clogged the many streets of Koutei-Shigai, all of them leading to the only lifeline of the city, the small, excrutiatingly boring, two lane highway that was Mountain Highway One.But the parents and kids didn’t seem to mind, as they spent the time in the immence traffic jam catching up for what must have been a year of being seperated.

Despite the highway being jammed bumper to bumper, it took very little time for the streets to clear and soon afterwards the city was free of the sound of rumbling, idling engines and the cheerful cries of sons and daughters hugging their parents as they saw them for the first time in a year, and replaced by the gentle whistle of wind through the empty streets and the far off ringing of trolly bells.

The city, as it was, reminded Alex heavily of a city that had been deserted due to an outbreak of some highly infectious germ, and the only ones left in the city were those who had already been infected and left to die.

“So what else do you have planned for the day Alex, apart from starting a fire in the backyard which you left to burn down on it’s own accord?”, Banyuo asked as Alex emerged from around the dormitory into the front yard of the dormitory and walking casually towards the entrance loop where’s his bike stood sparkling in the morning sunlight.

“Thought I’d take a spin around the city, see what it has to offer me in the way of entertainment.”, Alex said, flinging his leg over his bike and flopping down on the soft leather seat.

“Well, given that the city is meant for school kids, it’ll probably offer a lot,”, Banyuo said fairly as Alex reached underneath the city and twisted the ignition key.

With it’s usual barritone explosion out the end of it’s exhaust pipes, the engine burst into life, the bike quivering as it idled and rumbled infront of the dormitory.

“That’s what I’m hoping for Banyuo,”, Alex replied as he kicked the bike into gear and slowly eased in the throttle, lettting his foot slide on the pavement as the bike slowly began to trundle forward.

As Alex trundled out onto the cobblestone lane of Cherry Wind Road, he couldn’t help but have the feeling that he was being watched by some unseen being.

As Alex passed the tall, silent dormitories with their dark windows, and the houses with their barren lawns and windows sealed by red and blue shutters, the sence of being watched increased. It may have been because of the fact that the night previous, he had seen the city so full of life and laughter, and now the small part he had seen was empty, the sidewalks barren and the houses standing silently like statues. As Alex cruised down Cherry Wind Road, he noticed that the sound of his bike’s engine seemed to echo more then before, increasing his feeling of being watched for some reason, possibly because he had seen so many movies about a wasteland cityscape where the only survivor was being stalked by mutated civilians.

Easing his bike onto Graduate Avenue, Alex slowly purred forward onlong the now bare, blank road.

When Alex had first arrived in Koutei-Shigai, the roads were lined with happy, laughing citizens. The houses that lined the street were having giant streets parties, which music, dancing, laughing and snacks spread over the lawns, the side walk stretching infront of their property cluttered with party goers, kiosks and happily chatting shoppers returning from stores unknown.

Now the sidewalks were empty, void of all partygoers, shoppers and gift kiosks. Unlike the first night, one week ago when Alex had first arrived, when he had drawn about as much attention as a flying pig, no matter how much noise he made, nothing in the city stirred, save for the occasional flock of birds fluttering into the air, having been disturbed from their peaceful enviroment.

The emptiness of the once busy and lively street reinforced Alex’s beliefe that he was now the soul survivor of some sort of major disaster.

“Kind of erie, huh Banyuo?”, Alex asked outloud as he trundled past more and more dark empty houses and many more cobblestoned roads that sprouted from Graduate Avenue like branches from a tree trunk, nothing what so ever in the way of life beeing seen.

“Just a bit Alex,”, Banyuo replied easily as Alex rode steadily along Graduate Avenue.

It appeared to Alex that Graduate Avenue seemed to really be like the trunk of a giant tree. As it continued to plunge deeper and deeper into the city, it gradually split and twinned into a four-lane city highway. Running in between the two sides of the road was a wide, grassy boulevard that was alive with large, leafy cherry trees, round green bushes and wide round flower pots full of a rainbow assortment of brightly blooming flowers.

Like Graduate Avenue changing from a single lane road to a major thorough-fair, so did the building and cityscape change with it.

While Graduate Avenue was a mere creek of a road compared to the river it was now, the houses had either been small, two story houses from which it looked as if a family four could live comfortably, or else large hotel like dormitories in which a hundred plus students could live in comfortably.

Now however, it seemed that all thoughts of homely living had been earsed, replaced instead by large, square, office buildings, a cold, industrial air settling over Alex.

Each of the buildings, which were perfectly square and formless, stood atleast six stories tall and stretched for atleast half a city block. The buildings themselves were made of either marble that shone white as brightly as fresh winter snow, or highly polished red and black granite, their faces as smooth as a mirror and shining just as brilliantly. Each of the countless windows were set within the wall and sparkled like crystals, the rooms held behind their faces concealed within a subtle darkness that filled the room like a dense fog.

Decorating the tops of the buildings were statues of lions that were lounging on the ledges of the rooves watching over the street below, eagles and hawks who’s beaked faces stared lifelessly down at the street below like silent sentinals, or else large dragons that snaked the entire length of the buildings, their heads rearing upwards and their fang filled mouths stretched wide in a silent roar.

Stretched over the street of Graduate Avenue were long, blue, gold, pink and red banners that advertised many different attraction, ranging from small coffee shops to the large amusement park Alex had scene from the mountain top when he arrived, the banners swaying and fluttering in the gentle breeze the blew in between the many buildings.

On street level, opening onto Graduate Avenue were wide, all glass doors set within gold frames, the hallways behind them as dark as the windows above. Set within the walls above the doors were sparkling silver words that seemingly glowed against their dark surroundings. As Alex rode by, he’d catch sight of the silver words, and read such signs like, “Center of Pediatric Studies, College Year Two.”, “General Medicine Study, College Year One.”, “Center of Law Studies.”.

It was appearent to Alex that he had left the residential section of the city and had emerged into the school area of the large city school.

The buildings were packed tightly together, only seperated by small alleyways no wider then Alex’s shoulders, which were cluttered with discared boxes and over flowing garbage cans. In contrast, the sidewalks forming an endless ribbon of concrete infront of the school buildings were spottless, their endless lengths only disturbed by the the tall, pale green streets lamps that rose high into the air above the roadway beneath it. The buildings were so tall and packed together that the sunlight had trouble reaching the roadway below, usually lighting only the top half of the buildings while casting everything else below in permanent shadows.

Occasionally, a break would split the grassy boulavard in two, revealing to Alex many more roadways and buildings that branched and stretched away from Graduate Avenue, clearly leading to more parts of the large school city that Alex was now a citizen of.

“Quite the place they got here huh?”, Alex asked outloud as he slowly spurred his bike forward, gradually picking up speed and turning the buildings around him into blurs of white, black and red.

“In a simple sort of way, yes.”, Banyuo replied casually as Alex rode under a large, colourful banner stretching across the road that was advertising a shopping center called “New-Moon Mall.”.

The shadows that had settled over the roadway were playing with Alex’s mind once more. Like before, when riding through the desserted residential area of the city, Alex had the strange feeling that he was a lone survivor in the city and being watched by an unseen present.

And now that Alex had pushed into the heart of the empty city, that very feeling had been heightened to levels that Alex had not been expecting.

Alex felt as if he was walking through some sort of never ending tunnel in an abandoned building that was inhabited by an unseen monster. Every second, Alex was expecting someone to pop their head outside of a door, or else hang it out a window to see what was making such a loud rackette on the ground below, but it never came. Instead, the rumbling engine note echoed wildly around the buildings, distorting into an indistinct roar that seemed to be the only sign of life in the city apart from Alex.

Though he knew he was alone, Alex could not help but notice that with each passing second, his feeling of being watched and unease was growing.

The unease Alex was feeling was only heightened each time he passed one of the many streets sprouting from the shadow filled canyone that was Graduate Avenue, as the sudden burst of light would flash through the sides of his vision, dark distorted blobs and shapes held within the bright white flash.

Like windows looking in on a darkness filled hallway, the bright white sunlight shone brightly inwards, bathing the small island of concrete beneathe it in white sunlight. Everytime Alex passed one of these brightly lit streets, he’d cast a sideways glance into it’s endless lengths, hoping to see some sort of life that the warm sun always brought, but always seeing nothing but more emptiness and utter stillness.

“Now this is creepy isn’t it Banyuo?”, Alex asked as he continued to rumble through the shadows that blanketted Graduate Avenue.

“What? You think this is creepy?”, Banyuo asked incredulously, “You, the man who stared Death in the face like an equal. The man who tore your parents’ murders apart with your barehands. The man who has ripped countless souls from the bodies without even a second thought. You’ve done all that, and yet put you byself in a completely desserted city, and suddenly you begin to get freaked out?”, he finished, sounding stunned as Alex passed yet another sunbathed yet desserted street branching from Graduate Avenue.

“Sounds about right Banyuo.”, Alex replied, nodding with a thoughtful look on his face.

No sooner had the words left Alex’s mouth then he noticed that ahead of him, a small speck of light was starting to grow larger and larger, like he was approaching the end of a long tunnel. Without really knowing why, Alex slowly began opening the throttle wider and wider, pushing his bike forward in a magnificent yet deafening engine roar, as if he expected this distant speck of light to cease his feeling of unease.

The buildings around Alex blurred into nothingness, their different colours bluring into an undestinquishable smear of colour at the edges of his vision. The small patches of light that poured onto Graduate Avenue from the side streets melted together in astonishing white flashes at the side of Alex’s visions, which shot by faster and faster as Alex continued to push his bike forward with all the power it’s engine could muster.

It took no time at all for the small speck of light to grow swell a mere dot at the end of Graduate Avenue to a seemingly solid wall of bright white light. Because Alex had spent so much time in the shadow-covered path of Graduate Avenue, he was unable to see past the wall of light, which had consumed his entire visions in a blazing white flash.

With a final twist of the throttle, the engine roared even louder and the bike surged forward as Alex burst through the wall of light.

For a moment, Alex was completely and utterly blinded, his visions nothing but a white hot, burning light. His eyes started watering as he applied the breaks and slowly began pulling his bikes to a halt. Though Alex was unabke to see anything that even remotely resembled a discernable shape, and more concerned keeping his bike on it’s wheels while he rode blind, Alex was unable to ignore the changes that had emerged around him.

The first, and most audible change was the sound of Alex’s bike. It’s not that the engine note had changed, but rather, returned to normal. Before, it had been a jumble of echoing roars that mixxed and intwertwined with one another, forming some sort of indistinct thrumb that punded on Alex’s eardrums. Now however, the note was discernable, it’s usual intoxicating roar shaking Alex to the very core.

But that wasn’t it. What was shaking Alex to his very core was the road it self. It seemed to him, in his blind daze, that he was travelling over a particularly bad patch of road that was hopping and bumping in a regular beat like waves in the ocean.

Finally, Alex pulled his bike to a complete halt, though his eyes were still burned white and recovering very slowly. Flipping the kickstand of his bike down, Alex leaned it onto it’s side and clambered off the seat, rubbing his eyes.

As Alex rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t help but notice that his nose was tingling with a strange smell. It wasn’t the usually stoney dullness and stagnant air of the city, but rather a fresh, lively smell, like found in the country. It was the smell of fresh, clean air like found in the forest.

But why would there be a forest in the middle of a city?

Rubbing his eyes one last time, Alex took his hand away from his eyes and blinked several times. Slowly, the bright white light that had consumed Alex’s visions fades from his view, and with it, dark outlines slowly pushed through the all consuming wall of white.

Taking one last hard blink, the sight that met Alex’s eyes the moment he opened his eyes was nothing short of breath taking.

Alex was standing in a large, wide-open, city park atleast five city blocks wide.

Behind him, Alex could see that the buildings that had lined Graduate Avenue had stopped suddenly, held at bay by a towering barrier of leafy Oak trees, who’s branches intertwined with one another and blocked from view the buildings behind them. The concrete sidewalk had diappeared, replaced instead with a rapidly expanding lawn of emerald green grass, dotted with teather-ball polls, picnic tables barbeque pits and tall, wheeping willow trees who’s branches and twigs hung low and swayed in the gentle breeze.

The endless river of concrete that had been Graduate Avenue was gone, replaced by a large circular field of light brown cobblestones, that appeared to be polished to a brilliant shine as it glistened in the now noon light.

In the center of the field of cubblestone field was the most impressive part of all.

Carved out of the purest white marble that seemingly glowed in the sunlight was an obelisk a hundred feet tall. Like an island, it stood in the center of a wide, round fountain which was full of sparklingly clear water that arced upwards from several different spots from the edges of the fountain in large.

“Wow…”, Alex breathed, craning his neck back and forth, admiring the whole of the park he had just rode into, “Who would have thought that there could be such a beautiful place in such a large city.”, he admired, slowly starting forward towards the fountain and obelisk.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting this, that’s for sure Alex,”, Banyuo replied, sounding every bit as impressed as Alex.

As Alex drew closer to the briliantly white obelisk, the outlines of many unrecognizable shapes began to emerge from the brilliantly shining face of the obelisk. Still being only halfway to the obelisk, Alex was unsure if they were pictures carved into it’s stone face, words, or just random shapes.

Though Alex’s eyes were fixed firmly on the magnificent obelisk before him, he couldn’t help but notice how muted everything had become around him.

Underneath him, the sound of his shoes on the polished cobbelstone ground seemed to be nothing more then the soft patter of rain on the leaves of a tree. The baritone growl of Alex’s bike, which he left idling behind him, usually loud and attention grabbing, was now oddly muted, sounding like nothing more then a soft murmur. The whistle of the wind was now non-exsistant, the trees and grass seemingly swaying on their own accord. It was if the park was some sort of sanctuary, where no matter how loud the outside world was, a person could retreat to the peace and quiet of the park and forget about anything and everything.

Stopping at the edge of the large fountain, Alex gazed up at the magnificent obelisk that sat in the center of the fountain. Now that he was as close as he could possibly get to it, he could clearly make out the shapes that had been carved in it’s faces.

It appeared to Alex that the carvings were, in someway, telling a story from acient times, the story itself wrapping around the obelisk and spiraling upwards.

Slowly, Alex began circling the fountain, staring at its four faces as he did, taking in every inch of the carved marble surface.

After circling the fountain half a dozen times, studying the faces carefully, Alex was sure he had figured out what the story was telling.

One thousand and fifteen years ago, an army of savage mauraders was reaking havoc on the land of Japan. Their crimes were innumerable, from raping and pillaging, to setting the corpses of their slain victums on fire and using them as ammunition for their catapults, to boiling their hostages alive in oil. They spread so much death and suffering that they were known simply as ‘The Red Men’.

For years they ravaged the land of Japan, invading villages and stripping them of everything they had -food, water, money, and women- only to destroy everything and everyone when they were done with it, moving on to the next village only to repeat their horrific crimes all over again.

But there was hope for the people of acient Japan.

For those who survived the great slaughter, began migrating in hordes to the mountains outside of present day Nagoya. For there was a rumor amongst the survivors of a holy man, who’s spiritual holyness was said to be so great, that it was said that anyone whos soul was tainted with sins could not approach him and the area he held sacrid within his heart.

Hundreds upon thousands of Japanese citizens fought the parells of the mountains, all for the hope of reaching the sancuary of the holyman’s village. Before the moon had even begun anew, the survivors had gathered in the holymans village, the last and final hope of survival. After explaining their dire situation and the horrors they saw, the holyman blessed them with his kindness, and they were able to stay with him.

Soon the mauraduers heard rumour of a valley that was a refuge to all those who had survived their rampage. Enraged, the leader of the pack demanded they head for the mountains of Nagoya and destroy all those who had escaped.

It took only a month for the army to reach the peak of the largest mountain that overlooked the small town below, and the small group of lucky survivors who had escaped them once before.

But something was wrong.

No matter how hard the army tried, they seemed unable to advance on the town, seemingly held back by an invisible wall. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to move forward, stuck on the mountain peak and forced to overlook the village so full of life and happiness, the village they wanted nothing better then to burn to the ground with everyone inside it.

For a month, the army camped atop the mountain peak, their rations growing shorter and shorter, until there was nothing left, and death began barring down upon them all. First the dogs began to die, then the horses and then the weakest men. Unable to dispose of the bodies, they were left to rot and fester on the mountain peak, becoming bloated with diseases.

Being the clever man that he was, the General of the bandits ordered that all rotting and decaying corpses be gathered and loaded into their catapults, and they would fling the corpses into the city, hoping to spread disease and sickness to the inhabitants who were taking refuge in the town.

For days, the air was full of dead and rotting bodies of fallen animals and humans. The bandits were persistant in their attempt to destroy the town, as they continued their onslaught all day and night, the men who were to tired to go on simply dying where they stood, eventually becoming fodder for the catapult.

The town was soon full of disease ridden animal bodies, and the villagers scrambled desperately to remove the bodies before the inhabitants were overun by illness and vermin.

But they scrambled in vein.

Before anyone could do anything, villagers began falling ill and dying of their sicknesses spread by the rotting bodies. Everyday, more and more villagers began to fall ill, but they weren’t concerned, for they knew that aslong as the holyman was well and healthy, the bandits would not beable to approach.

Every man, woman and child prayed that, no matter what befell them, their holyman would remain safe and healthy, able to protect them in their dying days from a fate worse then any sickness. But sadly, their prayers were all for not.

After what must have been weeks of being barraged with rotting animal carcuses, and after numerous villagers had died of illness, the holyman himself fell ill and slowly began dying.

For a week, the holyman clinged to life, his spirit seemingly pushing him forward in his dying days to fulfill his promise that he would keep all the villagers safe.

Finally, the sickness took hold, and after a hard faught battle, the holyman’s strength gave out.

High on the mountain, the invisible barrier, which had been holding the bandits for over a month disappeared, and the bandits knew they would beable to fulfill their goal.

Like a river overflowing it’s banks, the soldiers charged into the valley, running with all their might down the mountain and towards the village which was surely about to be destroyed. Despite having lost almost a quarter of their ranks to famin, and many more being weak due to illness, the men charged the village nonetheless, looking as if they had been reborn.

But the holyman was not yet through protecting his people who had sought him in their time of need. With a final request, he asked that he brought out of his hut and aloud to face the oncoming bandits. Though the villagers were confused by his request, they did as he asked, and granted his final wish.

It took the remaining strength that the holyman had to remain standing as he faced the rampaging army before him, yet he stood his ground with a fearless determination.

Before the bandits had even set foot with in the fields of crops that surrounded the town, a flash above the sky broke through the clouds, and the heavens opened up.

Falling from the sky in an enraging inferno was an enormous meterorite that blocked out the sun, yet illuminated the earth nonetheless as it burned bright yellow and orange as it soared through the air.

Before any of the bandits could react, the meteor salmmed into earth. In a bright yellow flash, the earth shook and the meteor exploded in a ball of fire. In a single moment, the meteor had crashed on to the marauding army’s rank s and destroyed every last one of them in one foul swoop of the hand of God.

When the smoke had cleared, nothing remained except a giant crator in the ground. Nothing remained of the bandits, not even a shard of armor, not a scrap of flesh, not a piece of barn. This was clearly devine punishement from the heavens.

His job done and the people of the town safe, the holyman passed on. His body used up, his soul escaped into heaven, a soul that smiled as God welcomed it into his embrace.

The villagers, in a sign of utmost respect, buried the holyman in the middle of their town, and erected a small shrine in his honour. For one week, the villagers paid their respect to the holyman for what he had done for them, and promised his soul to celebrate the day he saved them with a week of mourning each year.

On the seventh night after his death however, a strange light visited the grave site during the night. Though no one was sure what had happened that night, the next morning, they found that the shrine had been split in half, and growing from the ground beneath it, a small oak tree sappling had sprouted forth.

Confused by what had happened, the villagers tried to remove the tree and rebuild the shrine, but no one was able to approach it, held back by some sort of invisible barrier, like the one the holyman had used to hold back the bandits. And where the meteor had hit, a small creek began emptying into it, slowly filling it with it’s pure, clean water that would give life to the villagers crops and let them live in the village for the rest of their lives.

Feeling it was a sign from the Gods, the villagers prayed to the tree, believing that the holyman’s soul had been ressurected in a tree that would live for eternity, watching over and protecting the people of the village.

Alex stared at the obelisk for a moment, his eyebrows raised in a clear sign of being impressed. Though he found the artwork entertaining, he couldn’t quite understand the part closest to the top of the obelisk.

“Quite the story, huh Banyuo?”, Alex asked outloud as he stared up at the top of the obelisk, which was detailed to look like tangled branches and leaves of a tree.

“It sure is. Probably nothing more then that though.”, Banyuo replied wisely.

“But what does this last part mean?”, Alex asked quizzically , squinting as he stared at the top of the obelisk, “It’s almost saying that the holyman was ressurected as a tree.”

“You’re guess is as good as mine Alex,”, Banyuo replied as Alex turned his back to the obelisk and began the somewhat long walk back to his idling motorcycle which stood in the distance, “But stranger things have happened.”

“Oh? Like what?”, Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Like a then sixteen year-old boy, swearing to destroy the killers of his parents, only to be given the opprotunity by Death himself,”, Banyuo said in a matter-of-fact tone, “ And an Oprah diet that actually works.”, he added as something of an after thought.

“You got a point there Banyuo,”, Alex replied fairly as he hitched Banyuo’s shoulder strap a little tighter, “About the diet thing I mean. Death offering the opprotunity to kill the murders of someone’s parents isn’t as uncommon as it sounds.”

“Yeah. Those diets are shams. Eat all the pie and ice cream you want and lose fifty pounds? Give me a break!”, Banyuo chuckled as Alex hopped back onto his gently idling bike and flipped the kickstand up, “So where are we going now?”

“To the place where that meteor hit.”, Alex replied with a small smile as he slowly twisted the throttle and the bike trundled forward along the cobblestone ground.

“To the place where the meteor hit?”, Banyuo asked uncertainly as Alex began pushing his bike faster and faster, the bike bucking and shaking as it bounded over the cobblestone ground.

“Yep.”, Alex said confidently as he leaned his bike to the left and cut a gentle arc sideways, the bike guiding itself onto another wide road that seem to end in the central city park, “If my hunch is correct, the crash site is quite the attraction.”

“Well if you’re sure, then let’s go.”, Banyuo replied casually as he, Alex and the bike roared out of the park and onto another road that lead to the park.

As Alex rode onwards to destination only known to him, he couldn’t but notice the subtle changes that were taking place through out the city around him.

As he rode away from the central park and obelisk, the tightly packed, almost industrial nature of the city began to fade, replaced by a beautiful, sprawling openess.

The rode, which had the name Autumn Sun Way, was a welcomed change from the laser straight, rather boring form of Graduate Avenue. Autumn Sun Way curved, twisted and snaked it’s way through a field of large, four story buildings that were designed slightly like the houses and dormitories, with their curved tile rooves and small window ledges full of flowers. The rooves were also decorated with small staues of people dressed in what looked like ancient roman attire, some of them wearing loose fitting togas, their faces turned to the sky and a hand raised to the heavens, or else wearing Roman suits of armor, long spears held at their sides or their swords raised in their hand above them. Compared to the square, almost industrial feel of Graduate Avenue, Autumn Sun Way was wide and welcoming.

No longer confined in between the many tall buildings that plagued Graduate Avenue, Autumn Sun was very wide and open, the whole of the street being bathed in the suns warm glow. The buildings were no longer squished wall to wall, but instead spread rather spaciously apart by long winding footpaths that were surrounded by grassy lawns and pots over flowing with flowers, letting students enjoy the beautiful days of spring, summer and fall while in school. This part of the city seemed to be more for students then anything else as there were no smaller side streets that broke off of Autumn Sun like there were on Graduate Avenue, instead replaced by the long, wide open walking paths.

Every now and then, Alex would trundle past wide staircases that lead up and away from Autumn Sun to large plateus full of benches, kiosks, fountains and even more school buildings set head and shoulders above the rest. Sprinkled through out this part of the city were many tall, leafy trees that added a much greater sence of openess to the surroundings, while small marble and granite statues added a sence of class to already classy looking neighbourhood.

Like the buildings that clogged Graduate Avenue, plaques were adorned above the entrance ways to the many beautiful buildings, reading an assortment of phrases like “Center for Advanced Mathematics, Grade Eight”, or “Botony Studies, Grade Eleven.”.

Onwards Alex rode, the rumble of his engine echoing around the silent yet beautiful neighbourhood of school buildings. It seemed that Alex knew where he was going, as he didn’t seem to need to stop and get his barrings, but continued pushing forward to destinations unknown.

“Alright, Alex, where are we going?”, Banyuo asked, slightly annoyed, after having riden through the city in silence with Alex not so much as explaning as to where he was going.

“We’re going to the beach Banyuo.”, Alex said, spurring his bike faster and faster with an intoxicating engine roar, “We’re going to the beach.”

Gradually the school buildings began to fade and disappear, replaced instead by small coffee shops and resturants with tables that sat under beach umbrellas on their rooves so customers could enjoy the fresh air; music stores and clothes stores that thumped and rattled as the music inside rattled their windows and walls; empty arcades flashed, whistled, banged and boomed as the many screens of their video games inside invited passers-by to play; Ice cream parlours with wide open patios and colourful umbrellas waved slightly in the gentle breeze as their tables sat empty.

Finlly, after ten minutes of riding past bookstores, coffee shops and a wide variety of many other shops, Alex gradually slowed his bike to a stop and dropped his foot to the ground to support himself.

Stretched past the very edges of his vision and well past the horizon, the enormous crystal blue lake that Alex had seen from the mountain top when he first arrived stood silent and shimmering. It was truly a beautiful sight, Alex thought, as Autumn Sun Way dead ended infront of the lake, set against enormous green, forest covered mountains that glowed in the afternoon sun. The suns lights danced on the gently rippling surface of the lake, the constant twinkling of light reminding Alex of the night sky and it’s enumerous stars. Despite the gentle rumbling of Alex’s bike’s engine, it seemed to have gone oddly hushed, replaced by the gentle breaking of waves on the white sand shore. The beach looked as if it was made of crushed pearls, it endless sandy shores shining bright white in the warm sunlight. Looking like patches of scorched earth, large piles of burnt and partially burnt logs were littered throughout the beach with ash scattered all around them, the only remaining sign that a mere one week ago, the city had been home to many people, not just Alex.

Occasionally small booths that would cater to beach goers would interupt the picturesque beach scene, but they were still easily ignored given the outstanding beauty of the beach and lake. The only thing that really, truly, ruined the beach scene were the two sets of railroad tracks that pass by the back of the beach, the trains that ran around the city obviously being the only ways to and from the beach.

Rising out of the sand right in the middle of the beach was a tall, round pillar made of green jade stone topped by what looked like flames made of red granite.

Turning his bike off and hopping off, Alex slid a hand into his pocket and strolled forwards, his eyes set firmly on the beach monument ahead of him.

“Nice beach.”, Banyuo said, sounding very impressed by the beauty of the beach.

“Very.”, Alex replied as he walked over the train tracks and strolled casually onto the soft sand of the beach, his feet sinking slightly and leaving large foot prints behind.

As Alex crossed the sandy beach, a cool breeze was there to meet him, the air rich in the smell of fresh water. The gentle breezed rustled the endless stretches of the sand, sending small waves of sand running from shore to street.

Stopping in the shadow of the monument, Alex could clearly see that there were carvings etched in the stone pillar and flame like the obelisk in the central park, but unlike the intricate story that the central park obelisk told, this monument had only three carvings etched in it’s face.

At the base of the pillar was a life-sized carving of a man dressed in monk-like robes with a string of beads around his neck that seemed to be praying, his hand together, eyes closed and a peacefull look on his face. Above the man were several upturned and shocked faces that were staring at the sky, a large fireball held within a skeletal hand rocketing towards them. And at the top, carved in the red granite crown of flames, several screaming skulls could easily be seen.

At the very foot of the monument was a plague framed in gold and carved out of black marble that seemed to explain what the pillar was trying to say.

“On this spot, the marauding hordes of Japan were sent to God’s realm by the great priest Hoyasha. He prayed to protect the citizens of the last refuge for the scared and needy, and was granted his wish by Death himself who struck the marauders down and sent their souls screaming to God’s realm. With Hoyasha’s death, those who live with in Yuma-Tendou will forever be protected and never be left to face the dangers to lie beyond the mountains alone, for his soul still watches over and protects us all.”, Alex read out loud.

Turning his gaze back up to the monument and after giving the monument the once over again, Alex could easily see that what the plague was saying seemed to make sence.

“I thought I senced Death’s presence in this city.”, Alex said slowly, staring at the crown of flames and the screaming skulls that were carved within it.

“What do you mean Alex?”, Banyuo asked slightly confused as Alex he turned his back on the monument and started back to his bike

“I mean I just had this feeling when I first arrived here that this place had been the scene of a great mass murder.”, Alex elaborated, “Like a tingle in the air kind of thing.”

“And you think that the story on the sign back there was true?”, Banyuo asked skeptically as Alex pushed forward through the sand.

“I do indeed Banyuo.”, Alex replied as he hopped across the train tracks and jogged back to his bike, “Death was there for me when all I wanted to do was kill the murderers of my parents, so I’m pretty sure when a priest asked him if he could destroy the bandits to protect his village, Death would have more then abliged back then.”, he finished as he hopped back on his bike and started the engine.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, but you know Death’s price better then anyone Alex.”, Banyuo said seriously as Alex flipped the kickstand up and trundled forward in a small U-turn.

“I do indeed Banyuo.”, Alex replied seriously as he twisted the throttle as hard as he could, the engine roaring powerfully as throwing the bike forward, “But I’m pretty sure a priest who was so dedicated to his villagers that he would give up his very life for them would happily sacrifice his soul if it meant keeping them all safe.”, he finished as the air and engine note roared in his ears, the buildings and scenerary around him blurring at the sides of his vision.

“But to a Budhist priest, human lives, no matter how tainted with sin they are, are worth saving.”, Banyuo said wisely, “To a priest, aslong as there is still breath in a human’s body, they can be save no matter how evil they are.”

“That’s true Banyuo.”, Alex replied as he roared past the tan coloured school buildings, their walls blurring into a light brown blur smeared with streaks of blue, red and pink flowers, “But you know aswell as I do, that as soon as a person commits an unforgiveable sin, their soul is forefeit, and they are destined to die at the end of a reaper’s blade.”, Alex finished, his voice suddenly ice cold.

For a moment, Alex and Banyuo rode on in silence, each contemplating what the other had said while the world ahead of them shot towards them and blurred into nothingness as it shot past.

“So do you think that a holy man would truly give his soul to Death so that he could keep the people of his village safe, even if it meant slaugtering countless others?”, Banyuo asked slowly, sounding calm yet his voice cold as ice.

“I do Banyuo. I do.”, Alex replied slowly as the Obelisk he had stared at earlier gradually crested the horizon, “I did after all, and I’m not even religous.”


** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **