Dark side of the (red) moon
Chapter 1 – Prelude.
''Do you want to become one with me?''
''No...''
''Do you want to become one with me?''
''No...''
''Do you want to beco-''
''NO.''
''If you want to go back, you must first achieve inner peace, but outside, every one is seperated by invisible barriers, that force people to hurt each other, is that a world you want to live in?''
''our... our individuality makes us human, to strip that from me, from every body, to strip us of our humanity...''
''I understand''
One could escape instrumentality if he could imagine himself within is heart.
Splash
''I... I feel wet... but... I feel...''
He was back, back in the world that had caused him so much pain, but it was the world he loved.
He was slowly floating in a small pool of LCL, but he could see the sun and feel it's heat, he could feel the warm summer breeze, the stench of LCL, but he was back, and that's all it mattered to him, he looked around and realized he had awoken in the local hot springs, it didn't feel so relaxing any more.
He slowly swam to solid ground, and with all his strenghts he pulled himself up and sat on the nearest bench, he looked up...
The clouds above him were a mix of pink and orange, beyond them he could see a thick red ring.
''Are thos-'' he was interrupted by the sudden raining.
''Eh... it's raining'' he had a small grin on his face, like the rain was relaxing him, and then it hit him.
He got up as fast as he could in his condition and got to cover in the nearby building, the paint was falling of the wall, along with the wall itself, there was a slight crack on the ceiling where rain and sun could penetrate through, and sun provided what little lighting there was.
He tried to switch on the lights, to no effect, the power was out.
''It's raining blood...''
The sudden realization that the rain drops were pink startled him, naturally, it was raining blood, blood belonging to comrades, family members and people he once knew, and they were all raining on top of him, like a cruel prank from mother nature, to wake him up and make him realize something very important, everyone was dead, as he once was.
''It's raining blood'' he said, whimpering, squatting down on the humid floor, he'd never been startled by blood, in fact he was used to it, but it wasn't just anyones blood, it's everyones blood.
The rain stopped shortly after, mother nature had enough, she had already broken him, and the joke probably stopped being funny after a while.
''Get your shit together damnit'' he cleaned his tears as he said it, getting up.
''I'm here now, I choose to be here, I can't regret that decision, and if I'm going to survive, I better get used to this rain''.
He managed to get up and grab the wall
''I need to find some food, ASAP.''
He started feeling his way around the building, looking for a fridge, or a storage of some kind, the sun could only provide so much light, he decided to rely on his touch, he walls were humid, his fingers and hands scrapped off paint from the walls most of the time.
''Jackpot'' as soon as he touched a cold, flat metal surface, but there was a hint of doubt in his voice, and a hint of hope.
He fumbled the small metal box looking for a way to open it, he found a handle and as soon as he opened the door a foul stench of rot took over his nose.
''Oh man'' he said, placing his wet red T-shirt over his nose, the smell of LCL was better than the smell of rotting food any day of the week, even if it did remind him of blood.
''There must be something here that isn't rotten'' frustrated, fumbling around with his hands yet again, this time, inside the metal box, he felt a bunch of wrappers, snack bars by the looks of it, he grabbed as many as he could, not taking time to think if they were non-perishable, and he got out of there as fast as he could, his nose couldn't handle the combination of blood and rot.
As he got outside the building, near his little pool of rebirth, he took a deep breath and sighed.
''Will I ever get used to that smell?'' He grabbed some of the snack bars he had stuffed in his pockets and put them in a small bench, along with the ones he was still holding.
''Inee, Minee, Miny, Mo- oh fuck it'' he snatched one of the bars and began chewing it down like he hadn't eaten in days.
''Prune? Luck is not on my side today, how disgusting''.
He gazed at the city, the once glorious Tokyo-3, now reduced to rubble, a mear shell of it's former existence, a mere reminder that humanity once thrived, even during the worst of times.
''I should probably take mental notes, let's see here, I'm going to need water, actual food, shelter, a vehicle, a shower and a clean set of clothes''
''I can probably get the vehicle right away, I'm sure there's a parking lot near by.''
He stuffed the remaining snack bars in his pocket and began walking along the cracked cement path to the parking lot.
There were 4 parked cars, He picked a red citroen and grabbed a rock, he threw it through the window and opened the car from the inside.
He wiped the glass from the drivers seat and adjusted it to his personal preference, the rock he threw rested peacefully on the passengers seat.
''Buckle up''
''Wait, what am I doing, I don't know how to hot wire cars''
''Maybe...'' he looked for keys in the glove compartment.
''Eh, nothing, this was a stupid idea''
He took a quick look at the rock.
''I'll see you later Rocky, I gotta roll'' He said in a jokingly tone, he couldn't help it but to laugh at his own joke, there was no one else who could.
He got out of the car, it was getting dark, he had to find shelter fast, or else he'd have to walk around the obstacle filled city during the night.
After 10 minutes of walking, he stumbled upon an hotel.
''I guess this'll do, can't afford to be picky right now''
He got inside, realizing he didn't have any light he decided to add an other item to his mental shopping list.
''Flashlight and batteries''
He looked around the reception, fumbling through the balcony drawers, hoping that the receptionist would have kept some candles somewhere, or a lighter.
Dissapointed, he walked away, forced to rely on touch once again, he pressed his arm and hand against the wall and walked along it, expecting to find some stairs.
''I suppose there's no elevator working here, at least I found the stairs'' He slowly walked up the stairs, almost tripping once or twice, but at least he made it onto the first floor.
''Shit, I have no keys, again''
He felt a box on the wall
''Oh what's this?'' Upon further examination with his hand, he concluded it was either a fire extinguisher or an axe.
''Well let's find out'' he broke the fragile glass covering the rectangle box, he had a feeling it was red, they always are.
''An axe, nice'' He grabbed the axe's handle, it was a short metallic handle.
''Okay, now, to pick a place'' He walked up to the nearest door, and as he got a good feel on where the lock was, he took a deep breath and raised his axe, and let it fall down with all his strenght, up, and down, up, and down, until the thin wooden door surrounding the lock fell off, he gave the door a little push and walked in.
''Sorry for intruding, but I'll need to borrow your house for the night'' There was no one there to listen, but at least he was being polite about it, he let the axe rest on the small round table near the door, some letters had accumulated there, the previous owner was probably too busy to go through all the mail, so he just let them there.
The house had a neutral smell, it didn't exactly smell good, but at least it didn't smell like rot or blood, it was perfect.
''First thing's first'' he walked up to the bedroom, expecting to perhaps find a flashlight near the bed.
''Well, it is my lucky day'' He found this compact yellow flashlight, it emited enough light to let him walk freely around the house.
''Okay, now, let's see what the previous owner has stored for me'' he walked into the kitchen and began opening drawers and cabinet doors, he found a can of beans, a bunch of canned fruit, and some tuna, he picked them all up and left the items on top of the living room table.
''I should probably check if there's any running water''
He made his way to the bathroom, he slowly turned on the hot water tap for the shower head and awaited result.
The shower head started coughing, after 3 seconds a reddish-brown water started pouring down, the entire room smells like metal now.
''Oh well, guess a shower is out of the que-'' he was interrupted by an other violent cough from the shower head, this time, more violent, and it's lasting longer, he could feel the pipes just vibrating vigorously, he showerhead threatened to bring down the entire house.
After a minute the water come to a complete stop, and then it started rushing down again, this time, clean, transparent water came rushing down.
''Spoke too soon I guess''
He quickly stripped from his LCL stained clothes and began showering, the hot water drops hitting his body relaxed him, took his mind off of the apocalypse for a while, for now, all he could focus on is on how relaxed he is, and what kind of shampoo to use from all of those.
He settled on one that promised relaxation and a cool feel, at least it would help against the heat.
As soon as he got off and started drying himself, he looked himself in the mirror, he adjusted his dark brown hair, and looked himself in the eyes, he had this very dark brown eyes, above his left eye brow was a birth mark shapped like an S.
He was distracted for a minute, and then he realized he had no spare change of clothes.
''Hmmm... I'm sure he won't mind'' he made his way to the bedroom and took a look at the wardrobe, this light brown beast with a mirror on one of the doors, he opened it off and he took a dark grey shirt out, along with some matching pair of jeans, he rolled his newly acquired shirt sleeves up and turned it into a button T-shirt.
''Not too shabby'' he said, taking a look at himself in the mirror once again, afterwards he slowly made his way to the living room, the living room consisted on a couch, a table and a TV, not much else was needed.
''Uh, guess I'll have some of these beans, and uh, some peaches I guess''
After chowing down his meal and taking a nice gulp of water, he started feeling sleepy.
He lied down in the previous owners bed.
''You won't be needing this anymore, sorry''
He noticed something, a small box on top of the nightstand, upon opening it, a little tune started playing, it was a music box.
''Sarabande... BWV1010...''
The sky was clear, a typical summer sky, no clouds populated the sky, the lack of luminous pollution allowed for a beautiful starry, thousands of white dots of different sizes swarmed the sky, the pale, silver moon was the jewel of that beautiful sight, a light red line was covering the moon, and surrounding the earth, covering some stars like a red seductive veil.
The room he settled himself into was simple, white walls, pale brown wardrobe with a mirror on one of the doors, the desk next to the window was decorated only with paperwork, the bed he was lying in was a cozy singles bed with a pale yellow bed cover, the music box sitting on top of the small nightstand was a simple wooden square box with small mirrors on each side, the box had a small piece of paper inside, facing up.
''Never forget, I'll always be here''.
He closed his eyes, cuddled by the pale arms of the moonlight, thinking about the meaning behind that phrase, thinking about the previous owner of the house, wondering if it was okay for him to be there, in someone elses bed.
''Not today''.
He got up, and decided to sleep on the couch tonight, even though the owner of the house was no more, he felt like he was intruding.