Awakening of the Spirits
Chapter 1
Eisai Fukui, is a 16 year old Buddhist prodigy. Eisai is the youngest monk in his monastery, and if he can make it through seven days of fasting and meditation atop Mt. Fuji, he can achieve enlightenment, and become the next "Buddha." However, there is one problem; Eisai is plagued by mysterious visions. Eisai soon learns that his visions are much more real than he ever realized.
For as long as Eisai can remember, he has always had a "guardian angel", Aeolus – an air spirit. Aeolus has always protected Eisai, and aided him in his quest to become a Buddha. Nevertheless, Aeolus cannot seem to help Eisai conquer his visions. They soon learn that the visions, are actually spirits trying to contact Eisai, and warn him of an impending danger.
During Eisai's seven-day quest, a spirit speaks to him in a dream and tells him that his monastery has been attacked. Eisai rushed back to find the monastery completed burned to the ground, and his fellow monks dead. One monk however managed to survive the attack, and takes Eisai into an underground shrine several hundred feet below the monastery. It is there that the monk tells Eisai that he can see Aeolus, and reveals an even greater secret.
"Eisai, you are the greatest prodigy ever to set foot in our monastery, not because of your intelligence and dedication, but because of who you truly are." Spoke the monk.
"Who I truly am? What does that mean Sensei? If I truly am so great, how come I couldn't save the monastery?! How come I couldn't save the other monks?" exclaimed Eisai, tears running down his face.
"You were never meant to save us child. We all knew this day would come, from the moment we found you at the base of Mt. Fuji. Do not blame yourself, it is an honor to die for you." The monk spoke, lighting incense next to the altar in the center of the shrine.
Eisai dried his tears, looking toward Aeolus, and asked the monk, "What do you mean it is an honor to die for me? And how can you see Aeolus? I always thought I was the only one who could see him."
The monk kneeled in front of the shrine and motioned for Eisai to kneel beside him. A gentle breeze began to surround them, and the embers falling from the incense around the shrine started to shine brightly as they blew into the air.
"You are a shaman Eisai. As am I." The monk explained, as the embers began to form a small vortex over the altar.
The wind then stopped, and the damp air in the shrine was suddenly as dry as a desert. The altar began to shake. The incense, now burning furiously, lifted into the air and suddenly burned out. Eisai's eyes widened as he gazed upon the top of the altar and saw a small man hovering above.
"That is Sensui, my guardian ghost. I summoned him to show you that you need not fear the spirits who have been reaching out to you. You are destined to be a great shaman, and Aeolus, your guardian ghost ill help you on that path."
The monk went on,
"You cannot stay here anymore Eisai, it isn't safe. You must leave this place and find your way to fulfilling your true destiny, and uncover the truth behind who you are."
"A SHAMAN?! I can't be a shaman! I am supposed to be the next Buddha. That is my destiny. I owe it to my parents to fulfill their dream for me. How can I honor their deaths, if I don't become what they truly wanted me to be? There is no way they wanted me to be a Shaman. Before they were killed, they left me with these prayer beads, and told Aeolus to watch over me." Shouted Eisai, holding a necklace of prayer beads with a rectangular talisman hanging from its center.
"Eisai, the monk is right." Aeolus expressed, trying to comfort the distraught boy.
"I was your mother's guardian ghost before she died, and it was her last wish for me to protect you no matter what. I'm sorry I kept this secret from you for so long, but she made me promise never to tell you about your past, and who you truly are, unless you were in danger.
Shaman are the only people who can see and interact with spirits. That's why you and that monk are the only two who can see me. It's also the reason you have been seeing a lot more spirits lately. They have been trying to warn you about a darkness that is threatening to consume the world, and destroy every last shaman in it.
Eisai, you have to believe me."
"If what you two are saying is true, then it must mean that the monastery isn't the first attack, and it won't be the last. Regardless of who I am meant to be, I cannot stand by and let this kind of destruction continue! Aeolus! Let's get going. We need to find a way to stop this before its too late." Eisai spoke with a new sense of determination.
"Right!" Aeolus smiled at Eisai.
The two then turned to the monk who, still kneeling, smiled at them.
"You will make a fine shaman Eisai. Please become stronger and stop this threat. The fate of the world may be depending on you. Now please hurry before som-"
The monk then collapsed to the ground. Eisai ran over toward him and noticed a sickle lodged into the monk's back. Before Eisai could pull it out, the weapon vanished.
Out of the shadows, a dark figure began to emerge. As the figure drew closer, Eisai noticed the bloody sickle in the figure's hand.
The figure was a man, with long black hair, wearing torn monk's clothing. Eisai recognized the man, and saw that it was one of his teachers. However, even though the man's features were very familiar to Eisai, his presence was very dark, and almost inhuman. Eisai wanted to try and reason with the man. He took one step forward, but before he could take another, the man spoke.
"I will destroy you Shaman. You shall suffer the same fate as your mother, and that of this sorry excuse for a shaman." The man uttered, kicking aside the body of the fallen monk.
The man then vanished into the shadows once more, then appearing behind Eisai. The man tried to attack Eisai with his sickle, but Aeolus blocked his attack, taking the man's hit at full force. Aeolus then fell to the ground, severely injured from the poer of the man's attack.
"AEOLUS!" Eisai shrieked.
"Eisai, this man is possessed by a dark spirit. The only way we can fight against him is if we work together." Aeolus coughed, his energy nearly depleted.
"Eisai. The prayer beads, you need to use spirit control so that we can drive the darkness out of him. Hurry…"
Eisai stared at the beaded necklace around his neck.
'What am I supposed to do? I can't even save Aeolus. How am I supposed to save the world? There is no way I can be a shaman.' Eisai thought to himself.
"Aeolus, I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. I can't save you. I can't save anyone. I don't even know what spirit control is, let alone how to use it. I'm sorry. It's over."
Eisai fell to his knees in despair.
"Look inside yourself Eisai, you will know what to do. Its who you are." Aeolus whispered in a broken tone.
Eisai knew he couldn't give up. He owed it to Aeolus.
Eisai began to pray, and at that same moment his necklace began to glow. As Eisai prayed, he finally understood what he needed to do. Eisai rose to his feet, grasped his necklace in his left hand, and extended his right hand forward.
The man gazed upon Eisai in curiosity as he noticed a sudden change in the boy's presence. He then realized that the boy wasn't as powerless as he had believed, and this intrigued him.
"Let's see what you've got kid. Who knows, maybe you can put up a better fight than your pathetic mother. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" the man laughed maniacally.
Eisai looked up at the man, then turned his attention back to Aeolus. He then shouted,
"Aeolus! Spirit Form!"
Aeolus, then took on the form of a small ball of energy, and flew into Eisai's right hand. Eisai then brought his hand toward the necklace,
"Now, into the necklace!"
Aeolus's essence merged into the necklace. It and Eisai were then shrouded with a powerful energy. Eisai had finally unlocked Aeolus's true potential as an air spirit and his guardian ghost. Because of this new union between the two, Eisai could now use Aeolus's powers and control the air around him.
The man sensed the power Eisai had gained, and wasted no time. He could not let Eisai survive, and allow him to become a stronger shaman. The man charged at Eisai shouting,
"Nice trick kid, but your life ends here!"
The man attacked Eisai, swinging his sickle in a Z pattern. However, using his new powers, Eisai easily dodged the attack by jumping into the air and hovering above the man.
"I won't let you win. I won't let you go on killing people. I WON'T LET YOU!"
Eisai held up his hands, his palms encasing the area around the talisman hanging from his necklace. The talisman began to glow in a pale green light as Eisai began to chant.
"Cleanse this evil, cleanse his soul. Cleanse this evil, cleanse his soul."
A ball of air and energy formed in the middle of Eisai's hands.
The man grinned, stating, "Your power doesn't intimidate me. I will kill you! Prepare to die shaman!"
The man leaped into the air to attack Eisai, but Eisai extended his hands toward the man, and the ball of energy shot out towards the man. The energy ball then dissolved into the man's body, leaving him floating in mid-air. The man laughed at Eisai,
"Your attack seems to have failed shaman. I feel no pain."
"That's because you aren't supposed to. I am not trying to harm the physical body of the man you possessed. I just want to purge you from it." Eisai told the man.
"And you still fail shaman. As you can see I am still controlling this body. " the man continued to laugh.
"Not for long. Kiyomeru!" Shouted Eisai.
The man's body began to shine and the man began to shout. Within seconds the dark spirit and the body it possessed were separated. The spirit began to vanish into the shadows, whispering one final statement before finally disappearing.
"I will destroy you one day shaman. The world will be mine."
Eisai then slowly fell back to the ground, and tried to resuscitate the now no longer possessed man, but it was too late. The man was dead. Aeolus and Eisai ended their union, and Eisai Asked Aeolus about why he couldn't save the man.
"In order for a dark spirit to control a person's body for so long, they have to devour the person's soul. This man looks like his soul was too weak to withstand the dark energy from that spirit, and did immediately. I'm sorry Eisai." Aeolus answered.
"It's fine. I guess we should get going if we want to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. Hey, Aeolus, was this man the one ho killed my parents?" Eisai asked in a soft tone.
""No, Eisai. The man lying before us was a true monk, and cared for you deeply during your stay here. I believe the real culprit lies with whoever is controlling the spirit who possessed this man. His energy was pure evil. The last time I remembered feeling an energy like that was the night your parents were killed." Aeolus expressed with sorrow.
Eisai lifted Aeolus's head, stared into his eyes, and assured him,
"Alright then, let's go. We've got a long road ahead of use if we going to stop this evil from destroying the world. He may have taken my parents, and killed everyone I cared for, but I won't let him do that to anyone else."