by Brandon Chen
“My daughter was nine years old, and she was the most beautiful thing that I’d ever seen. The fact that my wife and I created her made her all the more special to me. I can still remember her dark, long, straight hair and her glistening, crystal blue eyes that would smile at me whenever I looked into them. She was always happy, you know, excelling in every subject that she had in school. I never really got to see her all that much since I was in the Faar army at the time. We were at war with Sparta. I didn’t really know why I had joined the army. I was fighting Sparta for no real reason; I had nothing really against them. In fact, Faar was just trying to take over Sparta, and the other empire was simply trying to defend itself. I constantly asked myself whether or not we were the good guys. All we did was pillage, kill, rape, and destroy. At the time, I was quite the master of the staff and used a spear in combat. They called me the Flashing Wind because I always took down my opponents with a single flash and was as swift as wind when I fought. But my mind was always set on seeing my daughter again. In fact, she was the reason that I kept fighting. The government didn’t treat cowards kindly. They were executed in public in order to establish discipline amongst the ranks in the army. They didn’t care if they killed their own men. The Faar army has millions of soldiers at their disposal. Losing a couple hundred cowards in order to scare the rest of the warriors into fighting for their empire was a small price to pay.
“So, I never left the army, and I constantly waited for the war to end so that one day I could go home and see my wife and child. However, while the end of the war was nearing, the Spartans pulled a fast one on us. Their skills in combat are without a doubt the fiercest and most coordinated that I’ve ever seen. Their units become one, and they can cut down our soldiers swiftly. Their only downfall is their lack in numbers. In their empire, their population has decreased because weak babies are dashed against walls or killed in their youth because they are incapable of contributing to the military. Quite scary, I dare say. At any rate, the Spartans overpowered us easily in the final push into their territory. We lost hundreds of thousands of men as the Spartans slaughtered us, but the Faar generals didn’t tell us to retreat. They told us to keep fighting.
“As my eyes wandered around the roaring battlefield, I could hear the clanging of metal against wood and see the flash of blood spurting into the air. Corpses lay scattered across the desolated plain, which was covered with ash from flaming arrows. The Spartan warriors released a loud battle cry that shook the very earth as if the titans had awakened to condemn us all to hell. And in a swift moment, I knew the fate of this battle. I watched each of my comrades and friends fall, and I began evacuating many of the men. My final and closest friend, who had been in the service with me for ten years, was decapitated before my eyes. There truly was nothing that I could do about it. Without magic, without strength, there was no way that even I could face such a dangerous force as the Spartans. I took command and forced the Faar troops to retreat, which the soldiers had no problem doing. But I paid the price soon after.
“I was lashed relentlessly with a spiked whip fifty times for taking control and saving the soldiers’ lives by ordering them to retreat. Apparently it showed weakness in the Faar Empire. An ordinary human supposedly could survive only thirty of those lashes. By then, my skin was raw with bloodied wounds, and my breath was heavy. My eyes could see nothing but an abyss of darkness, making me believe that I had somehow gone blind when I lost consciousness. I was locked in a cell for a week before I was released and allowed to go home. I was relieved that the fighting would be over and that I would finally be able to see my family. Though, I never should’ve expected to see my family, after having pulled the stunt that I did. When I returned home, I found my wife had been raped and killed. My daughter had been stabbed multiple times and was hanging on a cross in front of my burning home. She was only nine.
“From that very moment, I hated everything. My hatred wasn’t directed toward Faar alone. It was directed at the universe. I wanted everything that the gods had ever created to be obliterated. They had done so much wrong with the creation of humanity. There were so many flaws if humans would do something as barbaric and terrifying as what they did to my beloved family. I joined the Bount organization in hopes that one day I would be able to destroy the gods that had done these terrible things to me. Kuro promised me that, when he becomes the new god of this world, he will bring back my family when he recreates the world into perfection. That’s all I ever wanted, actually, to see my daughter’s face again.”
Hidan glanced over his shoulder at the calm, sleeping face of Mai and smiled slightly. Tears had begun to form in his eyes, and he exhaled, his voice strained as he tried to hold back from crying. “It’s actually quite hard, seeing Mai’s face. It truly does remind me of my daughter’s. Sometimes that’s good, but sometimes it just reminds me of my mistake. If I had never tried to save those soldiers, then my family would still be alive.”
“It’s not your fault,” Tobimaru said, looking at the city before him. “What you did was what any good man would’ve done in that position. The only reason that you were punished for it is because of the cruelty of humanity. I always wonder what the gods were thinking when they created humans, believing that they were such a beloved creation. In reality, all they do is bicker and destroy each other. They cause pain, the most terrible feeling in existence.”
“What’s your story then?” Hidan asked his partner.
“I don’t like sharing my life story,” Tobimaru said, pushing himself to his feet as he began to walk back toward the bell. Changing the subject, he said, “It won’t be long before this idiot of a king decides to communicate with Junko. Get Mai out of here before someone sees two Bounts wandering around the city. I just wanted to see what happened at tonight’s occurrence.”
Hidan wiped the salty tears that had generated in his eyes and nodded, lifting the young girl off of the ground and putting her on his back. He held her tight as he stepped off of the bell tower and gusted off into the wind, vanishing into thin air.
Tobimaru glanced into the distance, his eyes red with the Shokugan as he saw Z’s mansion. So, he’s using some type of an illusion in order to cover up that large mansion of his. Huh, anyone with the Shokugan can see how flashy that is. Not to mention, the amount of artificial magic radiating from that place is impossible not to spot. He sighed as he looked once more into the sky, this time at the full glowing moon that illuminated the night. He remembered a night long ago that had been just like this one. Just as silent. Just as sad. He didn’t make a single sound as he simply vanished, his image completely gone from the face of Bassada in a flash.
Undercover
Keimaro walked in the morning light with Aladdin. He had pushed his fight with Yata to the back of his mind. Though, after thinking about it overnight, Keimaro concluded that he would have to formally apologize to his friend. Yata deserved at least that much.
Aladdin and Keimaro were heading toward the castle, strolling through the lush green grounds of the nobles. Fortunately, he could be seen in public with Aladdin since he was a noble. Keimaro couldn’t help but stare in awe as he looked up at the massive structure that towered over him and stretched past the clouds, vanishing into the sky above. The birds chirped and sang as if this were the most pure of places in the world. He glanced forward and saw Judal, escorted by several members of the Royal Guard, walking from the large doorway of the front entrance of the castle.
“Yo, Riku!” Judal called, walking over and raising an eyebrow as he saw Aladdin. He bowed with respect. “Milord.”
“At ease, Captain,” Aladdin joked with a wink. “I was just having a small talk with my friend, Riku,” he said, toying with the fine silks that he wore. “At any rate, I’ll let him go on to work. When you’re done with him, please send him to my house. I’d like a word with him after he’s off duty.”
“Yes, milord,” Judal said and watched as Aladdin turned away and happily skipped off. He exhaled and straig
htened his back as he turned to Keimaro. “I’m sure that you’ve heard about what happened last night, right? The attempted assassination of the king by Keimaro Hayashi and his group of bandits?”
“Yeah, I heard about it,” Keimaro said, trying to pretend as if he were disappointed in the outcome.
The captain nodded. “Princess Aika has been secured away in her chambers for the time being until Prince Darius arrives. Meanwhile, we are meant to go and interrogate the would-be assassin we captured. So, for today, you won’t be guarding the princess since she is under good protection. You will need to guard the associate and ensure that she doesn’t escape. We suspect that some of her friends will try to break her out of jail. For now, just get some information out of her. I’ll take you to her.”
Keimaro’s heart leapt as Judal began to lead him away from the castle. They walked on a cobblestone path, avoiding the green grass, which looked completely untouched. He turned and saw three guards standing around a side entrance to the castle, a small wooden door that would’ve gone unnoticed on a building as big as this. The boy watched as the captain took a turn from the path that circled the perimeter of the entire castle and instead followed a side-path to the camouflaged door.
The undercover assassin raised his eyebrow as he followed closely behind the captain. He watched as the door opened after a swift nod of Judal’s head. Through the entrance was pitch-black despite the bright daylight that was apparent outside. Looking through the doorway, Keimaro thought that he was going to be walking down a staircase to the depths of hell. His eyes were wide as he stared at the abyss before him, but he kept his calm and watched as the captain passed through the doorway and down a small stone staircase. His footsteps echoed until they began to fade as he got farther away.
Keimaro hesitated for a moment before he followed Judal into the darkness, watching as the blackness encased him. The door closed behind him and locked him into a world of shadows, as if a blanket of black had been tossed over his eyes. He felt tempted to activate his Shokugan so that he could see, but he restrained himself, wincing a bit uncomfortably. He strained to see Judal’s outline and then blinked as light flashed and a torch was lit.
The captain held it in front of him and gave Keimaro a small nod, beginning to walk forward in the darkness. Without a doubt, few soldiers were down here, wherever this hell was. It made sense: who would want to stay in this darkness? It reminded Keimaro of the Forbidden Forest. He shifted awkwardly as he listened to the echo of their boots thumping on the cold stone ground. Using the light from Judal’s torch, Keimaro could see cells with iron bars that separated the main hallway from crammed rooms filled with people. In jails, he imagined that the cell-mates would’ve been fighting, grabbing the bars, or yelling. But when he looked at the jailed people before him, he saw only a lack of hope in their eyes, many of which seemed to be on the brink of insanity. Some didn’t even look up to see the two members of the Royal Guard walking through; instead, they stared at the ground blankly. They seemed completely sapped of energy and hope after having been deprived of light for so long. In fact, most of these people seemed like they would be normal. They were probably just political dissidents or perhaps wrongly accused. Then again, images could be deceiving.
Keimaro forced himself to look away from the cells, knowing that in one of them he would find Lena. He just hoped that she hadn’t been mistreated already, especially not the way her mother had been. He would never forgive himself if she were forced to experience that. He held his breath, smelling the acrid odor of urine. Then he coughed when he smelled blood mixed in. By now, the hallways had more torches that were located on the stone walls, illuminating the area. Keimaro could see that guards had beaten the jailed to the point where they were almost dead, and it seemed like these people were half-starved as well. Such unfair treatment made Keimaro sick to his stomach.
Guards sat in chairs that leaned against walls, half-asleep from the silence. Keimaro walked past one of the snoring soldiers and sighed. He supposed that the man didn’t need to be too cautious, since all of the prisoners were too weak to attempt to escape. Even if they did escape, getting out of the noble district was near impossible without running into a squad of guards or two. Since they were constantly starved and beaten, it didn’t look like they were going to be escaping any time soon. Keimaro snatched a loaf of bread off of the lap of one of the soldiers and stuffed it into his pocket.
Finally, they reached Lena’s cell. Fortunately, she was alone, but she seemed much more restricted than any of the other prisoners. Chains connected her wrists to the wall. She was incapable of moving five feet from the wall. Without magic, it was impossible for her to even think of escaping. He saw her head drooping languidly before her eyes flickered up to see Keimaro. She almost smiled but saw that Judal was there beside him, and the hope was immediately wiped cleaned off of her face.
“We’ve tried to get information from her, but she seems quite hard-headed. See if you can get anything from her,” Judal said, opening the cell and nodding to Keimaro. He paused and then lowered his voice, whispering so Lena couldn’t hear. “You seem like the type that can make people talk. Just don’t kill her, all right? The king has ordered that she be executed in public after we extract the information.”
Keimaro stared at the captain, shock registering in his chest. He kept poised and nodded, continuing into the cell and watching as the door creaked shut behind him. He advanced toward Lena, who began to sob, tears streaming down her face. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t hurt Lena. It didn’t matter who it was. He couldn’t do this to someone who was defenseless like this.
“Just get it over with…,” Lena whispered, sniffling. Her face was covered in bruises, and there were scrapes across her cheek. Dirt caked her skin, and her clothing looked torn from multiple beatings.
Keimaro’s lips quivered as he stood in front of her and gulped, his hands shaking. I can’t blow my cover. Judal is watching. I have to do this. “Why was your band of assassins going to assassinate the king?” he demanded.
“We didn’t want to assassinate the king. That wasn’t the plan.”
“Then what was the plan?”
Lena said the answer, but she was too quiet. Judal couldn’t hear.
Keimaro raised his hand and slapped her across the face with a loud crack as her head snapped to the side. “Answer me!” he roared, tears forming in his eyes. “Louder!”
“It was to show Keimaro off. We wanted to give him publicity so that it would instill fear in the government,” Lena gasped, stifling back her cries.
“What else do you want to know?” Keimaro asked Judal over his shoulder.
“Where are they hiding now? That’s all we need.”
A surge of fear shot through Keimaro’s body. Lena couldn’t give away that information. If she did, then everyone in the mansion would be killed. It wouldn’t be only her life at stake. It would be everyone’s. He slowly turned toward Lena and closed his eyes. If she told him, then she jeopardized everyone’s life at Z’s mansion. But if she didn’t … he would have to beat her until Judal was satisfied. Damn it!
“Where are the rest of your crew hiding?”
“I don’t know.” Lena said weakly.
Keimaro raised his hand and slapped her across the face once more, a bit harder, leaving a red mark. “Tell me the truth!”
“I don’t know!” Lena cried, tears freely streaming down her cheeks.
Keimaro brought his foot back and drove a kick into her diaphragm. She lurched forward, her breath completely driven from her lungs. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her head, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He was trying to be as gentle as he could with her, but he could see the pain on her face. She was barely conscious. He swung his fist and slammed it into her stomach, causing her to gasp once more. “Where the hell are your damn friends hiding? If you don’t tell me, this will continue!”
“I don’t know where they are! We switch hiding places frequently so that if
one of us is captured, we won’t be able to give away the position! Please…,” Lena whimpered. “No more….”
Keimaro stared into Lena’s eyes and released her hair, allowing her to crumple to the ground. He stood, leaving her in a heap. Then he turned toward Judal, who shrugged with a sigh.
“It looks like she doesn’t know. I would cut off a limb or two, but I don’t think the king would like that. He was rather vague on how much we could hurt her. At any rate, she looks like she could hardly withstand last night’s torture anyway. That’s enough. Looks like we’ll have to manually search for their damn hideouts, what a drag. Come, Riku, I have to show you around the castle anyway, don’t I?” The captain opened the cell door and began to walk off, leaving Keimaro to follow him.
Keimaro reached into his pocket and squatted down on the ground, putting a piece of bread in Lena’s weak hands. He tilted her chin up toward him, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking through him. “What the hell did they do to you?” he whispered, staring into her eyes. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, trying to hold back tears. “We’re going to get you out of here. I promise, we won’t leave you.” He closed her fingers around the bread and quickly turned away, leaving the cell. He couldn’t break her out now. That would blow his cover. In fact, he might not even get away since Lena was currently in such a weak state. He closed the cell door behind him and began to walk after Judal. His hands were shaking, stained with Lena’s blood.
I cannot believe I just did that. I was torturing and beating my own friend while she was in such a weak and vulnerable condition. The first person in this city to accept me … and I hurt her. His hands curled into fists, and his eyes filled with fire. I’ll make these guys pay for this.
***
Far away, on the borders of Sparta, a young prince brushed aside the curtains of his war-tent, which was decorated in the red and white of Faar. He walked out into the morning sun, which shined down on him and gave his golden crown an even brighter glow than usual. He was wearing his golden battle armor, which glittered in the sun, the flashiest suit that one could wear. The one to slay this prince would inevitably become rich. However, the prince was renowned throughout all of the kingdoms for his feats in combat. Without a doubt, he was one of the most skilled humans with a blade, and his leadership was well-earned, as many had said. He dominated even the burly and organized Spartans in battle. He stretched, finding that their battle against Sparta was going fairly well. They were pushing the enemy closer and closer to their capital and took more land every day. With time, they would dominate this empire.
