Dark Freedom
Chapter One- It Ends And So It Begins.
AN-Hey, me again. Just decided to bring out a story that was flying around in the idea box for awhile. PLEASE REVIEW IT! MY EGO NEEDS FEEDING!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I own my wit, a bottle of Doctor Pepper, a glitch ridden copy of Devil Survivor Overclocked and my dignity... and that's about it.
Fate is a curious thing. For as long as there has been humans there has been conflict, endless, infinite conflict. No matter how much the world wanted peace, there was always somebody who was selfish enough to want something more than that. There was always someone who wanted money, power, recognition, always something more. Everyone desired something and no matter how noble the intention it inevitably led to bloodshed and that bloodshed led to more bloodshed.
It was ironic that the pursuit of noble intention only created more problems and it was even more ironic that the pursuit of one of the most noble ideals actually succeededin stopping conflict once and for all. As I said, fate is a curious thing. Humankind was always going to fight, so when the followers of Justice stopped conflict once and for all and prevented humankind from this cycle of blood you would think the world would be grateful... it wasn't.
Was it worth accepting the rule of a dystopia if the right of free speech was lost?
Was it worth having peace if the masses were hungry and oppressed while the rulers were fed and happy?
Was it worth following Justice only to have the right to a fair trial wrenched away?
Was the destruction of the great Pirate Era's worth the annihilation of freedom?
Was it worth everything for peace?
That is a question which will never be answered. Even if the WG controls everyone and everything, even if the world has lost the ability to fight, there will always be a small part of a humans soul craving the right to fight the gods themselves for the chance to change the world in favour of their own ideals.
But this talk of destiny and freewill should be saved for another day, another time. No, now is the time to see fate at work once more. One would think fate is a force which means that everything is decided...that is wrong. If anything, fate is the force that makes one prove that nothing is decided.
And with that let us see the fate of a single figure, a figure who will fight the world itself.
XXXXXXXXXX
One more twist of fate led Hajime D Tsukino standing in the pouring rain by the grave of the one man he ever respected. He stared at the newly carved small rock plaque with the name Hikaru carved in elegant font on the front. Hikaru, the only light Hajime had ever found in the grey dystopia known as the WG. This one grave would be the only thing to ever show the world that a great man had ever walked its surface and had been defiant until the very end.
Hajime could at least be happy that he had managed to bury Hikaru in such a pure and untainted place. He had selected a small hill that smelled of autumn, amongst the harvest fields, with a simple oak tree growing in its centre. Hikaru always had loved nature, a rare sight amongst the grey slabs of cityscapes which loitered across the whole of West Blue.
West Blue had been urbanised for at least 200 years now. That was what WG decided was logical for the world; West Blue owns the industry because of the large population, South Blue dealt with the vast majority of food issues because of its warm climate, East Blue focused its efforts on the research of the sciences while North Blue dug up the masses of resources found beneath the feet of their cold frozen habitats.
Admittedly the system worked and the world remained stable but Hajime still hated the very idea that you were forced to grow up and train for a specific job based on the area you lived in. Hajime considered himself grateful that he had gotten the chance to live even a little considering the circumstances.
"Hasn't the world screwed up?" he questioned rhetorically. There was good reasoning behind his hypothesis. Freedom was dead, emotions were killed, love was predetermined and the strong ruled indefinitely. The list could be extended but any more examples were unnecessary to portray the suffocating atmosphere of order. Hajime honestly wished that the World Government had never discovered the great sky cannon Uranus and had never used it to end the third great Pirate Era.
"Civilian!" barked one of the Phantom Guards. (The military force once known as the Marines, which had later been taken over by the World Nobles following the fall and had been renamed to signify the new era)
Hajime blinked once or twice. He had nearly forgotten that to visit any public location you were required to be escorted by a member of the PG. Hajime looked up from his position on the floor in front of the grave stone and narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. He wore the average black military uniform of the PG, a simple skin tight black suit with dark navy armouring on the shoulders, upper arm, chest, neck, and knee area's. He also had the reflective black visored helmet on.
"Look... I know you're visiting a relative or something but... I have a wife to get back too, and kids. I need to get going so I can pick up my youngest before curfew starts."
Hajime nodded once to show he understood, then rose from his position, checking himself over. Tall for his age, (18) lean enough but with battle ready muscles in all the right places. Hajime nodded appreciatively at this, thinking off all the hard work and effort it had taken. He then looked at his face in the PG's visor. Narrow, pointed chin, long brown hair which hung straight down to just above his shoulders, except for the two wisps of hair in front of his face, which were constantly pushed away, resulting in the habit he often performed. The only odd thing about Hajime's face was that he constantly kept his left eye shut, leaving only his bright green right eye to see with. Half the people who actually knew Hajime didn't even know if that eye was unable to open, or if he simply chose to keep it shut.
"Seriously! We're going now! Got it!" the PG took the standard issue stun baton out and pointed it menacingly at Hajime. Hajime longed for nothing more than to pick a fight with the PG, like some of the more dangerous moments in his childhood with Hikaru. Now was not the time... soon though... soon.
"Just a moment officer." Hajime took the moment to check his standard issue grey tracksuit (Issued for all civilians with no privileges) for any grass stains which would later need to be washed. He saw nothing and inwardly decided that it was time to stop mourning and to begin that which the two of them had always planned to one day do.
"Seriously!" the low level officer's hand clenched around the baton as he spoke "Stop fucking with me! I'm part of the PG! You can't fuck with the PG! One word from me and you're dead man! One word and poof... dead as the guy buried next to you!"
"Fine." was Hajime's response to this threat. "I'm done anyway."
"G-good! I'd hate to have to turn you in for disobeying a direct order."
"Let's go then." Hajime gave a final glance to his one and only best friend, before turning to leave. "Let's not keep your youngest waiting."
"You shut up!"
Hajime was tempted to continue verbally stabbing the guard but decided against it... which was a shame. He loved the way they always got flustered whenever someone dared to ignore them.
"Let's just go then." Hajime gave a final grin, "Time for it to begin."
XXXXXXXXXX
After getting back to the central district of Dusk Island, Hajime did the second thing on his list of things to do.
"You're quitting?" Asked the broad man sitting in the chair WAY too small for him.
"Yes... I wish to pursue a different career choice."
"As if there is another line of employment in the city."
Thank you Mr Fukutako but I shall take my chances."
The corporate manager of the steel works in the city gave a shrug. "Your loss... you know how hard it is to get a job."
"Your concern is touching."
"No need for cheek, even if you have quit. Last chance, if you leave now you'll never get the chance to return."
Hajime thought that the wide man was more right than he ever thought he would, after all... there was no turning back after this. No job in Dusk City ultimately led to a life on the streets, followed swiftly by imprisonment from the PG for loitering in the streets.
"No... I don't think we will ever meet again. Have a long and prosperous life."
"It'll certainly be longer than yours. Now get the hell out of here!"
Hajime did what the man said and left the tall tower of twisting concrete and steel. Taking a moment at street level to decipher where he was going, Hajime began to walk towards the place he had called home for the last seven years.
After a while of navigating the silent streets, he approached apartment Block 14-D in the eastern side of the city. Block 14-D was a large concrete slab, symmetrical to all the other places of residence in Dusk City. The inside was as unique as the outside. A simple reception area and an overpriced laundry room on the first floor. The rest of the nine floors were simple three room apartments. A kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. That was all the WG believed that the "Common Masses" needed and deserved.
Hajime walked stiffly to his apartment on floor eighteen, before he opened his front door for the last time. He immediately went to his room and began to pack his few normal clothes into a rugged green rucksack kept since childhood. The complete earnings from his time working went in next, the thin black bound photo book afterwards. Photo's were amazingly rare, so Hajime was lucky to have even the few that were in the book given to him by his father. The few photo's were of himself, his dead family and of Hikaru. Those were the only important things in Hajime's life... that and his goal.
The one eye using teen took his bag into the kitchen and packed some of the remaining food, before moving into the damp bathroom for his few remaining toiletries. Hajime then slung his rucksack onto his back without a second thought and left his home.
"Old lady... I'm leaving."
The old lady working full time in the apartment block for low pay only grumbled in response. "Hell with yer. The less of you damn brats here means that there are more spots for us deserving people."
"Thank you for your hospitality."
"Piss off, I didn't want you here, nor did I accept you here. I'm only the old bat who hands out the keys."
"Goodbye." The old women did not reply, the times for pleasantries were long gone.
"Last stop now," thought Hajime. "One last connection to sever before I will be free enough to pursue my goals."
Two hours of travelling to the northern side of the city brought Hajime to his last destination. The 18 year old was now stood in front of a seemingly empty side street, out of view of any PG's. He stared at the plain brick wall and tried to remember which one it was. After a few minuted he remembered that it was the second from the top, fifth from the left. Hajime pressed the brick down and twisted. Like a crowbar, the twisted brick applied leverage on the wall and forced the brickwork to be forced out.
"Damn, Hikaru was smart for designing this." with a few pulls, a gap was now available to slip through. The teenager pulled the wall back into place afterwards and headed into the hang out spot he had occupied since childhood, ever since his mother had died. Him and Hikaru had found this place after weeks of trailing the city for a small piece of freedom. An abandoned walkway in between two walls in a old storage hangar was the best that it got. It was quite honestly, a stupid place to hang out. It was a place only the two knew about though, so that was what made there little den of freedom so free. The fact that no one could control them here, that even PG could not touch them here.
It was a silly childish dream, even with a hide out spot Hikaru was still lying ten feet under.
"Here it is!" he exclaimed. Moving some rubble around, he found the small tin case. Checking inside he found what he wanted, two forged passports which would be good enough for a one way trip to the central city of West Blue. They were obtained from one of the illegal gangsters who once occupied the southern districts of Dusk City, until they were all caught and executed regardless of how involved they were or not. One of the passports was for Hikaru, the other for Hajime.
"That's one passport which won't be used." he thought darkly. The usable passport was stuffed deep into the bag.
"One last thing now." he said out loud. "I hope no one fucking found it."
No one had, a thick long case was still hidden in a cavity in the far wall. After freeing it from its murky tomb, he wiped the cobwebs off and opened it up in anticipation.
Inside was the symbol of Hajime's rebellion, the reason and the hope which caused the young adult to abandon the safe life he was capable of living. Inside was his salvation, his hope, his future, everyone's future. Inside were two blades made of collected scrap. A long, thin katana made of abandoned bronze metal, melted together with a small Kairoseki fragment using an extremely rare Furnace Dial specifically for Hajime to wield.
The second was thicker and much straighter, created from silver and the leftover Kairoseki. This weapon was made for Hikaru to use, it was Hajime's now. He had a bit of practise using his friends weapon, he was good enough.
Gripping their hilts tightly,(The hilts were covered in black fabric so a Devil Fruit user could use it without touching the Kairoseki molecules in the weapon) Hajime held them up to the ceiling so that the limited light in the room would reflect off them.
"I promise," he said to no one in particular. "I will carry on your dream, Hikaru, a dream for a just world, a dream for a free world. I VOW to complete your dream... even if it kills me." Hajime opened his left eye, revealing an eye with dark pupils, with golden flecks drifting through the eyeball like a sentient being. "I promise... I shall destroy the great sky cannon Uranus, bring about a new great pirate age and I will free the world from this dystopia. Let this suicidal plan... begin."
AN- Whooh! This was all done in a single night. Let me know how it was, rate and review! The more reviews I get, the quicker a new chapter comes out. Believe me when I say that if I get enough interest this all OC story... I will make it become EPIC!
So until next time, Undying Soul out.