I press send and strip off my jacket, holster, and change my bloody pants before going to check on Natasha. Sara and Cheza are absent from the room when I arrive so I take a seat at Natasha’s bedside. Sara didn’t apply a feeding tube, but a saline drip has been erected. I brush a loose strand of blonde hair out of Natasha’s face and grab her hand.
“You have to wake up, okay Natasha? I can’t afford to lose somebody I care about… not again.” I whisper.
(If you really wish for her to awaken, kiss her, Master)
I lean in and gently brush my lips against hers.
“Cole?” Natasha whispers as her green eyes flutter open.
(Holy shit, that actually worked!? I was just fucking with you)
“Hey Natasha.” I softly reply, overcome with joy.
“Where are we?” Natasha asks.
“We’re in Niflheim. I brought you here when you fell unconscious after the fight with the Templars two days ago.” I answer.
“Two days? Well that explains why I’m so hungry.” Natasha says.
“I’ll go fix you something to eat. I’ll be right back, Natasha.” I reply and start to leave the room.
“Hey Cole?” Natasha says when I reach the door.
“Yeah?” I respond.
“Can you call me like you did when we were on the rooftop? I kinda liked it and you always call Chezarei by the shortened form of her name…” Natasha quietly asks.
“Sure, Tasha. I’ll be right back.” I reply and head to the kitchen.
I find a can of chicken noodle soup in the pantry alongside some crackers so I prepare those, feeling that they are appropriate for some reason. I stack the bowl of soup, plate of crackers, and a glass of juice on a tray and return to Natasha’s room.
“Here you go.” I say as I set the tray down on her lap.
“Thanks, Cole. Did you stay with me this whole time?” Natasha asks.
“No, I didn’t.” I reply. Natasha looks rather disappointed by my answer.
“I left you in Cheza’s care while I went out and systematically executed all but one of the heads of the Templars… at least the ones in the US anyway.” I reply.
“Oh…” Natasha says, her face perking up in response as she eats her soup. I have no clue what she’s thinking.
(She’s thinking that you aren’t the type of guy who would sit by her bedside whilst holding her hand, and that systematic execution is the way you show that you care)
“That makes me sound like a truly horrible person!”
(Well systemic execution rarely makes anyone sound good)
“Hey Cole, how is—NATASHA! I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE OKAY!” Cheza screams as she runs across the room and hugs Natasha.
“Whoa, watch the soup!” Natasha replies as my phone starts ringing.
“Hello?” I answer while exiting Natasha’s room.
“Treyfair-san?” Yui asks, sounding distraught.
“Just call me Cole, Yui. What’s wrong?” I question.
“I need your help…” Yui replies.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“Fushimi Inari Taisha, Lord Inari’s shrine in Kyoto…” Yui says.
“Got it. I’ll be there in about five minutes; see you soon.” I reply and hang up.
“I have to go help a friend; be back soon.” I think to Cheza and Natasha as I run down the hall towards Jason’s room.
Natasha and Cheza both reply with a variation of “Okay Cole, be careful!”
I smile as I put on my holster and jacket, walk into the bathroom, dampen a towel, and clean off the blood that is still on my jacket.
I pull out my phone and Google Fushimi Inari Taisha. Upon finding a picture of the shrine’s Torii gate walkway, I touch my Haglaz and port there. The thousands of Torii gates were far less creepy in the photograph than they are in real life. The red and black wooden arches seem to stretch on forever, bordering the walkway leading deeper into Inari’s shrine. I start walking down the path in Kyoto’s twilight when I see a bushy silver tail sticking out from behind a Torii gate.
“Addie!” I exclaim and run towards the tail, only to have it turn into a shrub when I approach.
“You have to stop doing this to yourself, Cole.” I tell myself and continue walking.
“Daddy.” I hear Addie say.
“No, you aren’t actually hearing her; she’s not there.” I say to myself.
“Daddy!”
“Stop it.”
“DADDY!”
“Make it stop!” I shout and sprint forward with my eyes closed. As I rebound off of a Torii gate and hit the pavement, I find myself thinking that that wasn’t a smart decision.
I decide to just let everything fade away.
“Treyfa—I mean, Cole?” Yui asks with concern, interrupting my attempts to let everything fade way less than a minute later.
“Uh-huh.” I reply as I open my eyes.
“What happened!?” Yui inquires.
“Hallucinations of my dead daughter that I’m attributing to the Torii gates. Can you lead me to the shrine now? I’m just going to keep my eyes closed so nothing comes back.” I explain.
“Okay.” Yui replies and helps me up. I continue holding onto her hand and close my eyes as she leads me down the path.
“So what do you need help with?” I ask and Yui stops walking, causing me to bump into her.
“Somebody has been killing kitsune… I’ll tell you more when we get to the shrine.” Yui quietly replies and keeps walking. About ten minutes later, Yui stops again.
“We’re here.” Yui says and I open my eyes.
There is a statue of a fox with a key in its mouth in front of us, and nothing else around. Yui holds her hand up to the fox and its eyes suddenly jolt open. Yui’s hand erupts in flames, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.
“Okaerinasai.” A deep bass voice rumbles from the statue.
“Set your hand on the statue.” Yui says.
I place my left hand on the statue, just in case my hand decides to burst into flames. The ground shifts beneath my feet and a temple similar to the one at the Kaguraden appears behind the statue, except that this temple appears to be made of solid gold. Kitsune are everywhere and several of them come over.
“Anata wa nihongo o hanashimasuka?” a kitsune with four tails asks me.
“Ma ma.” I reply and hold my fingers apart slightly to show her how well I speak Japanese.
I reach behind to the back of my neck, touch the silver lotus, and bring the newly formed earbud around to my left ear inconspicuously.
“This is him, right Yui? The guy that you have been talking about nonstop for the past couple months? He’s pretty cute, I guess. Has your prince come to find your elder sister’s killer?” The four-tailed kitsune asks, her mouth not matching her words.
“Somebody killed your older sister!?” I inquire.
“He understands Japanese perfectly; he just doesn’t speak it well.” Yui says while glaring at the other kitsune.
“Yes, Cole. My sister was killed last night and four other kitsune have been killed in a similar fashion. Chie can tell you more.” Yui solemnly replies and starts toward the temple.
“Who’s Chie?” I ask.
“She’s one of the kitsune elders.” Yui replies.
I follow her up the steps of the temple and she slides open two golden doors. Yui continues down a hall before opening the golden partition of a room. Inside the room is a woman with white hair, white ears, white tails, and almond-shaped, vermillion-colored eyes. My breath catches in my throat upon seeing Kita’s likeness; the two could have been twins if it weren’t for this woman’s eye color, paler skin tone, and nine tails.
“Chie-sama, this is Cole Treyfair-san.” Yui introduces. Despite being an ‘elder’ kitsune, Chie doesn’t look older than forty.
“The introduction is unnecessary, young one. I would not be fit to be an elder if I didn’t know about Feros.” The kitsune says in English while looking at me with disdain. My mind
flashes to seeing bullet-hole Kita standing in front of me with glowing orbs where her eyes are, causing bile to rise in my throat.
“Cole has agreed to help us with the investigation.” Yui says.
“It isn’t good to be on a first name basis with a demon, dear. So Feros thinks he will be joining us, does he?” Chie rhetorically asks with a gaze full of contempt.
“Join us, Cole.” Kita’s voice echoes in my mind.
I can no longer contain the bile that is working its way up my esophagus. I race out of the room and continue down the hall, searching for a restroom.
(Three doors down on your left, Master)
After throwing the partition open and sprinting in, I’m able to get the golden toilet seat up as vomit flies from my mouth. I sit there retching for about a minute when Yui comes in and starts rubbing my back.
“What’s wrong, Cole?” Yui gently asks.
“Chie reminds me of my dead girlfriend who haunted my dreams for a few months a little while back. I’ll help you find who has been killing your friends and who killed your sister, but afterwards I think it’s better if you don’t associate with me; girls with furry ears and a tail tend not to live very prosperous lives when I’m around.” I tell her with my face in the toilet.
“Cole…” Yui starts, but doesn’t say anything else.
I use toilet paper to wipe my mouth before flushing, washing my hands, and gargling in an attempt to get the taste of acid out of my mouth. After that, Yui and I return to Chie’s room.
“So what leads do you have in the investigation?” I ask.
“All we know is that the victims have been gunned down, usually with a gunshot to the head. Seeing as they were able to kill a five-tailed kitsune, I’d say that the perpetrator is quick, nimble, lucky, or a combination.” Chie tells me.
“Do you have the reports handy? I’d like to have my analyst take a look at them to see if they can find anything.” I say.
Chie snaps her fingers and a manila folder appears on the tatami mat beneath my feet. If she can conjure things, she must hold domain over this realm…
“Thanks.” I say as I bend down and pick up the folder. “I’ll deliver this to my analyst; he should be waking up right about now anyway. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Cole. Goodnight.” Yui says.
“Goodnight, Yui; see you tomorrow.” I reply and touch my triskele, but nothing happens.
“I guess I’m going to have to go out through the gate. I’ll call you when I have any information.” I say and exit the temple.
I head back to the fox statue and place my left hand on it; the ground shifts underneath me, indicating that I’m back on earth’s plane. I touch my triskele, port to Ryuji’s front door and I pound on it several times; it’s already 8am here, meaning Ryuji has gotten about six hours of sleep so there’s no excuse for him to not answer the door.
“Cole, Ryuji is still asleep; what do you need?” Naia asks in a hushed tone when she answers the door.
“I have a test of your abilities as an analyst, Naia.” I tell her while holding up the manila folder and walking past her, into the apartment.
“What is that?” Naia questions.
“I’m helping out the kitsune; someone has been killing them off and I need some information to catch them.” I reply.
“Give it here!” Naia exclaims, excited by the challenge, and snatches the folder from my hand.
“Haha, give me a call when you find out anything. Thanks, Naia!” I say and touch my Haglaz.
I port into Jason’s room, waking Cheza in the process.
“Cole? How did things go?” Cheza sleepily asks.
“Besides having hallucinations of both Addie and Kita, resulting in me puking my guts out into a toilet, things went great… at least the toilet was made of gold.” I sarcastically reply as I strip down to my boxers and climb into bed.
“Oh, Cole… what am I going to do with you?” Cheza says as she wraps her arm around me and snuggles into my side. I snuggle against her and start to drift off to sleep, when my phone starts ringing; I reach over to the bedside table to answer it.
“Cole, I have discovered something; it might be nothing, but it seems a little too coincidental. At each of the five murder locations, there was a fatal mugging in the area. I do not know what it means yet, but I think they are connected. I will bring it up with Ryuji when he awakens.” Naia reports.
“You know the orders: no witnesses. Make it look like a mugging.” The memory of Jarrett’s voice, Cheza’s dead Templar ex-boyfriend, echoes in my mind.
“Don’t bother, Naia. I know who’s behind this: the Templars. Look into possible Templar activity in Japan and have Ryuji do the same please. I need to get some rest. Goodnight Naia.” I reply.
“Sleep well, Cole.”
…
Chapter 15: Murder at an Amusement Park
[November 6th]
I awaken at midnight the next day to find Cheza staring at me. She looks away with flushed cheeks when she sees that I’m awake.
“Jeez Cole! You’ve slept for nearly sixteen hours!” Cheza complains.
“I was just catching up from not sleeping at all the past two nights since I don’t really sleep when I scan someone’s memories. What were you staring at?” I reply.
“What? Oh, I was looking at your aura again. I could swear that some of the silver cracks have faded and it has gotten blacker, but it could just be my imagination… anyway, Ryuji called about an hour ago; he said he’s found something.” Cheza informs me.
“Alright, I guess I’d better get going.” I say and stand up out of bed.
“I’m coming too.” Cheza tells me as she gets out of bed.
“Why?” I ask as we head into the bathroom. Cheza and I strip down and jump in the shower.
“Is there some reason that you don’t want me to come?” Cheza inquires as she turns on the shower.
“Perhaps because my presence would put a damper on your efforts to start a harem of sexy Japanese fox-girls?” Cheza asks.
“What? That’s ridiculous! I don’t even want a harem; I have all the action I can stand between you and Natasha.” I deny while scrubbing up.
“Is that so…” Cheza quietly replies, seemingly lost in thought while washing her hair.
We finish our shower and get dressed; me in jeans and my jacket, Cheza in jeans and her armored jacket from Greenland. I unclip my pouch from the rest of my holster and stick it onto my lower back. Cheza removes her Synergistic blades from the sheath and slides one down each of her thighs, the hilts resting on her hips and concealed by her jacket. I grab her hand, port us to Ryuji’s front door, and knock.
“Hey, come on in.” Ryuji answers.
“So I did some digging around into Templar activity in Japan and found—” Ryuji starts to say, but my phone’s ringing interrupts him.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Cole, there’s been another killing. Chie told me to let you know and ask if you would like to go to the crime scene to see if you can find anything.” Yui says.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the temple. See you soon.” I reply and hang up.
“There’s been another murder so I’m going to the crime scene to investigate.” I announce.
“That’s probably a good idea because I wasn’t able to find anything out about the Templars in Japan, but I did notice something. Inari is the only Shinto god that has been firmly against Loki since the very beginning.” Ryuji informs me.
“Do you think that’s why the kitsune are getting attacked? Because they’re Inari’s messengers?” I ask.
“I don’t know, I just noticed it as a possible connection. I’ll keep looking into it, but at this point I can’t even confirm that Templars are in Japan. Are you sure that they’re the ones behind this?” Ryuji asks.
“Not really. When Naia told me about the mugging fatalities, I remembered something that a Templar had said about eliminating witnesses and making them look like mugging
s. Well, just keep looking into it and call me if you find anything. See you later.” I reply.
I grab Cheza’s hand, touch my triskele, and we appear on the pathway lined with Torii gates.
“Hey Cole.” Yui greets, waving us over.
“Yui, this is Chezarei, my fiancée. Cheza, this is my friend Yui.” I introduce.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Cheza says.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Yui replies; I don’t know why, but this situation seems to be incredibly awkward.
“Anyway, where is the crime scene?” I ask while trying to ignore the awkwardness.
“Fukushima; at the Takakonuma amusement park.” Yui tells me.
“Sweet! Let’s go! I just need a picture and I can port us there.” I reply.
“I was able to obtain an old park map.” Yui says and hands me a brochure-sized map. I look it over and see rollercoasters and various other rides.
“Where should I port in? Won’t there be people everywhere?” I ask.
“The park is shut down.” Yui replies.
“Oh, that makes sense; what with the body and everything. How will we get past the police line?” I inquire.
“They’ll be expecting us.” Yui says.
“So the police know about the supernatural here?” I question.
“The majority of the police forces don’t, but we’re dealing with the supernatural department of law enforcement in Japan.” Yui answers.
“Alright, I’ll just port us to the main gate then; hold on.” I say and hold out my left arm.
Cheza grabs on and Yui follows suit. I bask in anticipation at the magic of theme parks as I port to the main gate.
A chill immediately runs up my spine and not one of excitement or because I’m taking a piss… although I just had to check to make sure.
“I thought that when you said that the park was shut down, you meant for the day.” I say as I look at the rusty gate, broken sign, and overall state of decay that is barely visible through the dense fog.
“No, it has been closed for nearly fifteen years.” Yui replies and heads through the gate.
Cole's Haunting Melody (The Gods' Executioner Series) Page 13
