This story has only just been started, and will probably be updated more than my other stories, but still not often. Sorry. Oh, and if you haven't seen Noragami, I highly recommend it, same if you haven't read Darren Shan. Right, let's get started.
"You, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return," I heard a voice say. I couldn't see who was saying it, the voice was inside my head. It was a man's, I knew that much. "I grant you a place to belong. My name is Suijin. Bearing a posthumous name, you shall remain here. With this name, I make thee my servant."
Then I could see. It wasn't much though, but I could see something. It was a name, written in kanji, in glowing letters, the rest of the world was black to me. "With this name and its alternative," the voice said, "I use my life to make thee a Regalia."
The name in the air, it said 'Rin' (The name was written - 凜). Did the person mean that was my name?
"Thou art Rin! As Regalia, Samui! Come, Samki!" The voice declared.
Then, the most amazing explosion of vibrant colours and loud sounds! I could see the world around me! I was in the middle of a city, and it was night. It was a clear night, and the stars were twinkling beautifully. It was absolutely freezing, but hey, I could feel. Any sensation would do.
It felt like I was flying! And I was! I could see the ground beneath me, I was heading somewhere, but I wasn't sure where.
Then a strange feeling. I knew what it was, it was the feeling of a hand, but the hand wasn't just grabbing one spot of my body, it was somehow gripping my very essence.
Then, pieces started to appear and fit together in my head. Someone was holding me, but I wasn't an actually human. I was a metal blade, a katana to be exact, one with a red hilt.
I was not expecting that.
I could see the man holding me as well. The image just focused in my head, rather than me actually seeing him with my eyes.
I didn't know what I was seeing with my eyes. It was as if I was in a world of my own, shards and fragments of all sorts of things drifted around the place. The 'place' was a completely blank, cream coloured open space.
I didn't have much time to process this new, confusing information. The man who was holding me immediately started to run through the dark street we were at and then he swung me through the air.
I was terrified, but there was nothing I could do, I was just 'there', I was just 'existing'. That's it. The reason I was terrified? I was being swung straight a giant monster! It was massive, and shaped like a bird, only it wasn't a bird because it had fangs and weird, blood-shot eyes that moved independently from each other and it was blue, and I swear it was glowing! It squawked angrily at the person who was holding me. Didn't, at the start, he call himself...Suijin? Yes, Suijin, that's it.
Suijin ran straight at the beast, me pointing right at it's stomach. As he ran he chanted something weird, "You who would desecrate the land of the rising sun! With my advent, I Suijin, the water god, lay waste with the Samki, and expel thy vast defilement." The bird flapped its wings, but it was too late, it was already being gutted. "REND!" the voice declared.
That would be, if it had any guts, I simply ran it through. It stayed stationary for another moment, then disappeared in an explosion of bright red light and symbols I didn't understand. "Revert, Rin," the man, Suijin, said.
I stood up straight, this time as a human, and brushed the dirt and dust from my clothes. I was still dazzled by whatever had just happened. I staggered a bit, still not over it. I was consumed with curiosity but felt too dizzy to properly take him my surroundings. The man said nothing as I swivelled my head, trying to take in all the new information.
Behind me I heard sobbing from the man, like he was crying. I took a glance at him, and he was. It was just one tear but his face held an awful lot of feeling. I wonder what he was crying about?
I was standing in the middle of the street, and the cold was really getting to me. I wasn't surprised; I was only wearing a white kimono.
I looked into a nearby shop's window. I studied myself. I had brown hair that reached the small of my back, with a wispy fringe that hung over my eyes, big brown eyes and soft facial features and a tan skin tone. I looked sixteen and was about average height.
I recognised my face, from looking in mirrors, but everything else was unclear; I couldn't remember what was around the mirror, behind me in the mirror, where the mirror was. There was so many blank spaces in my memory.
"It was lucky I ran into an uncorrupted spirit," Suijin said, he stepped forwards and went to put his hand on my shoulder. I instinctively flinched and swatted it away.
"Sorry," I murmured.
"No problem," he answered kindly. He had sharp green eyes and shaggy, longish blue hair? He wore a black T-shirt, a jacket, some jeans and trainers and had a gray scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. He looked like he was in his early 30s. "You're a perfect weapon for me too," he added. "Your name is Rin, less formally, Rinha."
I grabbed my arms, I was shivering, it was freezing out. "Rinha, I am Suijin, I will be your master. I have summoned you from the far shore to serve as my Regalia." He began untying his scarf. "I permit you to serve and remain by my side longer than kin." He walked to my side, "Put this on," he said, holding out his scarf. "You've nothing to fear anymore."
"Sure..." I muttered, taking the scarf happily. I wrapped it around my neck and was thankful for the warmth it granted.
I breathed warm air into my hands and rubbed them together. "Can we get indoors somewhere? I'm freezing."
"Sure, I have just about enough money," Suijin said.
"I have to wear this?" I frowned unhappily. We were in the washroom of a random block of apartments.
"Don't complain," Suijin said blankly. "This looks about your size," he said, chucking a gray jumper my way. It looked like someone had chucked it out, it had holes and stains and rips all over it.
"No," I said blankly.
It was still cold in the building; the windows were open, even with the scarf wrapped around my neck. "Why am I still feeling stuff like this?..." I asked. My unwrapped the scarf and my fingers touched my neck. There was the kanji for 'Rin' imprinted on my skin like a tattoo. "...Even though I'm long dead," I finished. He left my question unanswered. I knew I had been dead, I didn't remember how I died though, just another blank space for a memory.
We found some clothes that fit me though. They consisted of a thick, long-sleeved, white shirt, a fleece-lined black jacket that was a few sizes too big for me, some baggy jeans held up by a black belt and some white trainers.
"Here's your scarf," I said, handing it back to him.
"No, keep it," He replied, "It's colder for you than it is for me."
"Mmkay," I said, not offering an argument. It was cold out, and I didn't fancy dying again.
We wandered through town the next day; nobody seemed to notice that we were even there at all. We slept in random places like in alleyways and on top of the roofs of houses and flats. Suijin just about had enough money for food, but it wasn't very good food.
Phantoms plagued the streets we were wandering as well. Phantoms being complete and utter monsters like I met when I first became a Regalia.
There were a few things Suijin had to explain. Like Regalias were items that Gods, like Suijin, used for various tasks and purposes. Some also called them Shinki. A Regalia is made from the loose spirit of a dead human, loose spirit being ones that were the wandering souls of dead people that died from being murdered or killed in accidents. In the eyes of Gods, people who died due to those causes deserve a second chance since they still wanted to live.
He told me that it was my responsibility to obey him at all times, control my emotions, and control myself from falling into temptations that lead to committing sins like stealing.
He also told me all about phantoms. They were creatures from the far shore (Or the afterlife), and liked to influence Humans and other things in the near shore (Or life, where humans lived). I noticed that most phantoms were eyeballs that liked to watch people.
Phantoms came in all shapes and sizes and each one liked to feed off of darkness in people and corrupting the 'good' in people's hearts. Phantoms could be expelled and killed by gods, mainly using Regalias, such as myself. Most humans couldn't see them.
The thing that scared me most is that some phantoms were small and actually quite cute-looking that sat on people's shoulders, whereas others were massive and beastly and could be the size of a whole city.
I didn't like Suijin. He was an alright guy, but I normally had to provide my own food and entertainment; he only had to give me shelter and clothes. Clothes being the rags he found in random dumps and shelter being some cardboard in the street.
He never really spoke to me, he wasn't very kind, he was over the top, and he was a condescending jerk to boot.
"I'm out of money," he said one day.
"Who cares," I scoffed.
"I do!" he said miserably.
"Then get some money," I snapped.
"It's not as easy as it sounds!" He said. We walked past a store; I wonder how easy it would be to steal some money from there? We were a God and Regalia, so no one could see us anyway. I learnt that as well. Suijin had the power to let people see us, to give us more presence, but he didn't.
"OW!" He exclaimed, holding the back of his neck. I jumped at the sudden outburst.
"What?" I asked sourly, regaining my cold composure.
"You just thought of committing a sin." He said. My eyes widened, how did he know? I narrowed my eyes and turned my head away.
"Did not," I said.
"You're lucky, as long as you don't actually commit the sin, you don't get hurt, but I do every time you even think about it!" he said, "It is an actually wound that appears," he snapped at me, "I'll have to clean it with holy water before it gets out of control. I did that before," He sighed. "Let's get to a shrine; I can get holy water there." He said. He grabbed my arm and we teleported to the nearest shrine.
I keeled over as soon as we got to our destination; I got a wave of nausea every time he did that. When I recovered I looked up and saw him washing the nape of his neck with holy water from the shrine. It was a shrine for...Tenjin. He winced as it washed over his skin.
"Suijin," I heard a voice say. I turned my head and saw a young man with purple-black hair and very bright blue eyes. He was wearing a sweater jersey and track pants with an old bandana and knee-length brown boots.
"Hm," Suijin frowned, turning around. "Yato? What?"
"So mean," Yato pouted. A boy, fourteen, was walking behind Yato. He had longish blonde hair, and amazing golden eyes. He wore a light blue hoodie, a green woolly hat, loose-fitting jeans and gray shoes. He was quite cute.
The man, Yato, looked at me. "Got a new Regalia then?"
"Yup, you too?" Suijin asked, gesturing towards the boy.
"Yeah, this is Yukine," Yato answered. I could gather that Yato was also a god, and from his attire I guessed he wasn't very popular either, same as Suijin.
"And this is Rinha," Suijin answered.
"You're a Regalia?" I asked Yukine. He nodded.
"You?" He asked.
"Yeah," I replied, "Not liking it though," I added, shooting a scowl at Suijin.
"Same goes for me," Yukine answered, glaring at Yato.
"Don't be so rude," Suijin scolded.
"I'll do what I want," I retorted angrily.
"Children," Suijin scoffed.
"I know what you mean," Yato grinned, "Yukine here sure is a handful."
"Mine has little to no natural talent," Suijin said.
"Mine doesn't have much going on upstairs if you know what I mean," Yato replied straight away.
"HEY!" Yukine and I yelled furiously.
"No need to talk in unison," Yato said childishly.
"No need to be a jerk either," Yukine snapped.
"Yukine, don't argue with him," I sighed. Yukine looked at me angrily. "He'll just drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience," I said with a smile. Yukine smiled back.
He was pretty cute when he smiled. I felt my face flush.
"OW!" Both gods exclaimed, rubbing the napes of their necks.
"You just had an indecent though, didn't you?" Suijin asked.
"No," I answered straight away.
"You too Yukine!" Yato said angrily.
"Did not!" Yukine snapped.
"You loooove her..." Yato said in a sing-song voice.
"D-do not!" Yukine stuttered.
"There's no need to be shy," Suijin grinned.
"I am not being shy!" Yukine yelled.
"No need to be serious either," Suijin said. Then his face grew serious, "Yato, I have close to no money, can I take out a loan?"
"No way, I'm running low on cash myself!" Yato replied.
Suijin sighed "I knew you'd say that. Guess I'm going there." He said.
"Guess you are," Yato said. "But I can give you shelter for tonight."
"Sure," Suijin nodded. Then, Yato teleported us all somewhere.
We were outside a house. It was a massive house as well! "Hiyori's house?" Yukine frowned as I held my stomach and waited for the sick feeling to pass.
"Hiyori?" Suijin asked.
"She's a friend of ours. She's a human, but her soul leaks. As in, sometimes her soul comes out of her body and she's a human but with this weird phantom tail." Yato explained briefly. He knocked on the door and a girl about my age, maybe younger, opened it. She had long, brown hair and pink eyes; she also wore some thick-rimmed glasses. She was wearing pink, striped, pyjamas. "Yato?" she yawned, "Yukine?"
"We have some friends that need a place for the night," Yato said. "This is Suijin, the God of water, and this is Rinha, his Regalia."
"Hi," Hiyori smiled, putting out her hand. I didn't take it. I just bowed.
"Nice to meet you," I said. I saw a flash of hurt in her eyes as she took her hand back.
"Don't take it personally," Suijin told her, "Rinha doesn't like any physical contact with anyone else."
"That must be weird, with you being a Regalia and all," Yato smirked. I narrowed my eyes angrily at him.
"It must be freezing out there, come in, I'll make some drinks." Hiyori said, letting us into her gigantic house.
Soon enough we were all sitting in the living room in silence, eating snacks and drinking various drinks. I was having hot chocolate with Yukine, it was easily my favourite. Yato and Hiyori had lemonade while Suijin just had a glass of water. We had done all the introductions and stuff, but nobody really wanted to talk after that. We were all too tired.
Suijin put his glass on the table and led down, closing his eyes. He yawned and asked "Rinha, what's the time?"
I looked up at the clock and narrowed my eyes. About half a minute passed. "Well, what's the time?"
"Hang on," I snapped impatiently, hands tightening in frustration.
"Maybe she doesn't know how to tell the time," Yato sighed. "Maybe she can't remember."
"I can," I said.
"Nah, just leave it there," Suijin said. "It's my fault for not choosing a smart Regalia."
"Eleven o'clock," I said confidently.
"Hm," Suijin said. He opened his eyes and looked at me.
"That's right," Hiyori said. I looked at her through the glasses she had just given me and smiled.
"It seems it was just bad vision," Suijin laughed. "We should get you some proper glasses."
"Hm, and where are you going to get the money for that?" Yato asked. He looked down at me, "Geez, if you couldn't see, you should have just said."
I went to take them off to give back to Hiyori. She put them back on me and smiled, "From now, you'll be able to see the time. I just hope the lenses are right for you."
"Thank you," I smiled a goofy smile in her direction.
"Now, let's get to bed," she said.
"Right," I nodded, I loved the bed, it was so comfy and warm and so different from the places I had had to sleep in.
"You should get a lot of sleep," Suijin said as he led down in the other side of the massive bed.
"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm dead tired," I smiled at my weak attempt at humour.
"Right, we're off," Suijin said.
"Thank you Yukine, and you Hiyori," I thanked.
"No worries," Hiyori replied.
"What about me?" Yato asked.
"No," I said simply, following Suijin away.
"Where are we going anyway?" I asked him as we were on our way.
Without looking at me he replied, "The Cirque Du Freak,"