Prologue Part 2: Russian Roulette
Date: Unknown
"Ah my head…make that my whole body." I groaned as I sat up on the bed. The Vajra was more than I can handle, but I managed to do so without major injuries. I heard footsteps running in the hallway, familiar ones. When the door opened, Kota, Nozomi, Tatsumi, Asuma-dono, and milady appeared. All had faces of happiness and worry.
Tatsumi came forward first congratulating me on my first kill. He did however dislike putting the Gods Eaters names down because I defeated the Vajra without being a Gods Eater. Asuma-dono said something similar but without the insulting the GEs part.
He also said that the trip was cancelled because he was worried about me (And obviously his daughter too). Apparently, there's live news feed on the helicopter he rode, and he recorded the news as soon as he saw the red of my hair.
The following is the video:
"We're heading to the broken wall, but there's a strange occurrence happening. Explosions show out of nowhere, and as you can see are too big for a normal aragami attack. Also the aragami being reported is a Vajra, an aragami that uses lightning. Unless the Vajra is hitting electric poles, there's no way it can produce flames of that magnitude." The female reporter said without showing great panic.
The pilot was silent for a while until…
"There! I see a-a teenager? A-a NORMAL teenager is fighting a Vajra?" the pilot was in utter disbelief, and the reporter shared it. She didn't stop reporting though.
"I can't believe it as well, but a normal person is actually fighting the aragami."
"Wait a sec. That uniform…that kid is a bodyguard of the Satonakas!" The pilot yelled with great surprise.
"The Satonakas? You mean THE Satonakas?"
"Yes lady! THE Satonakas. And judging by the hair, that kid is most likely Sora Ookami."
"Sora, you mean the one that holds the moniker of "Inferno"?" The reporter asked. Damn…my name and nickname reaches out to even the media? Kids must be really scared of me. The screen shows my barrage of explosions at the Vajra's face. The helicopter shook wildly for a bit.
"That is something we are NEVER getting close to." The pilot stated obviously. Next shows my parry of the swipe.
"That kid's most likely going to die." The cameraman pitched in. And then my forced "meal" to the Vajra happens causing another shake in the helicopter.
"Damn it I'm trying to get a good shot here!" The furious cameraman yelled.
"Quit complaining. This is as close as to new news as we are going to get!" shot back by the reporter. While they were arguing (for the lack of a better word) amongst each other, the helicopter shook again, the most violent one. The video shows a vanquished Vajra, and a flying body on the other side. My body.
"Holy crap that's a huge fireball!" The pilot exclaimed as surprise filled the helicopter.
"He…he just killed a Vajra." The cameraman responded with a surprised tone as well. "That's just way too crazy."
"You just saw it right here folks. A non-Gods Eater defeated an aragami. The impossible had just been achieved." The reporter lady said in a mumble. The recording ended.
"You were so cool Sora-nii." Nozomi happily stated. Kota agreed as well. The only one disappointed was lady Yumi. Her eyes were filled with tears and she held back a cry along with it.
"Such an idiot Sora…" she mumbled softly, "I thought you were dead!" This one she yelled.
"That's because I needed you to be safe."
"And the chance you could've died didn't pass through that head of yours? What would've happened if you were gone? Nobody would protect me!" More tears fall from her soft cheeks. I wiped it off with my finger. But there was something different. Lady Yumi seemed taller and more feminine at certain parts. Nozomi aged as well. Tatsumi and Kota barely changed; But Asuma-dono had a larger number of grays on his head. I had a guess, but I had to ask.
"What year is it?"
"2069." Tatsumi replied fairly quickly. Eh? Three years? WHAT?!
XxXxXx
Yumi POV
Sora didn't take the news well. His face stayed in a shocked position for a whole minute. It seems his mind broke from realizing his coma. The others were reluctant to say, but for Tatsumi-san to respond quickly was way beyond everyone's expectations. But Sora had to know sooner or later.
Dad then breaks the silence by saying that Sora needs rest. Sora quickly refuses.
"I've had three years of sleep. I've plenty of rest." He got out of bed, and just walked to his closet. Maybe closet was an understatement. The "closet" was an underground room filled with cylinders similar to the bombs before. The table in front of him was messy (yet another understatement). The table didn't look like a table until the soda cans, papers, welding equipment (I honestly could go on, but that's too much).
At the table lies an armored suitcase. He opened it and inside held numerous cylinders that must've been his bombs. He filled every pocket with those things, grabbed his gun and several ammo clips. Then he stopped. He was searching for something different now. He went into a panic, but Tastumi-san walked towards him and grabbed his shoulder. Only now did I notice what Sora was looking for. The object was Sora's beloved katana that was destroyed during his fight with the Vajra. The two talked for a while, but I didn't bother caring. But what I did care was if this place had been in the original blueprints. You can't just hide an underground hideout without someone else knowing.
"So…what are you doing right now exactly?" I asked. He stared at me for a couple of minutes, and then he came up with an answer.
"I really have no idea."
"How about going to Russia?" Asked dad. Sora raised an eyebrow.
"Why exactly?"
"Fenrir is experimenting on a new type of God Arc. The research is being based in the Russia branch."
"Okay, but why do you need to go?"
"To see what my contributions have created for God Arc tech." Dad answered like Sora should've known this.
"Kay."
XxXxXx
Sora POV
Date: January 14, 2069
The trip took too long. My joints are tired. My…yeah I'll stop complaining. No one wants to hear complaints. Another GE joined us, and he is a servant of the Satonaka family as well. His name was Ben Thompson. He was from an old country called The United States of America. He's a nice guy to be around. He's usually a joker, but his jokes are horrendous. I'll leave the terrible jokes out. He transferred here because of lost family that he never got to meet due to an aragami attack. He stayed to serve the family, and protect the Far East. He is known as "Big Bro" in our job. He looks like one too if you take into account his calming smile and his slicked-back hairstyle, giving him a noble, charming look.
-Russia Branch Helipad-
Well if Antarctica didn't sum it up into one word, I don't know what will. My whole body shook faster than a blender, and my teeth chattered faster than a metronome at its fastest tempo. Ben mocked me for my vulnerability.
"The irony is strong in you Inferno." He mused.
"I don't *sniff* know what y-Achoo mean."
We went inside. Ahh…warmth. Inside the building, the heat felt like summer. And like any summer in the past, there was a sea of people. Lab coats, GEs, and other affluent people were heading to one area. It almost felt like a convention of sorts. We ended up in the viewing platform of the Russia branch training room. A couple of scientists walked toward the center. They seem like they are married because the two waved at a girl that was sitting next to me. Her silver hair bobbed in excitement as the scientists unveiled their new type god arc. It was a hybrid of the two main old-type weapon classes: Swords and guns. True to it's namesake, only new-type GEs can wield it. One problem. New-types have never been seen before. It was a great invention filling the multi-role gap between the two classes, but without a new-type wielder, it is obsolete. The presentation lasted a few more minutes, and people left as quickly as they arrived. There was a good thing about the presentation though. It gave new hope to humans in this never-ending war with the aragami.
We headed to the main lobby and got to meet the scientists presenting the new-type god arc. Their daughter clenched her fists tightly at their lab coats out of shyness. The father and the mother talked to Asuma-dono in private, and we were left with babysitting her. Now that I look at her, she is roughly the same age as lady Yumi. She was fidgety, and she looked at us cautiously. Ben smiled, and he started a conversation with her.
"What's your name, girl?" Ben asked in perfect Russian.
"I can talk in Japanese you know." She countered.
"Well…not fluent." I added.
"I'm a kid! What do you expect?" She questioned with a piercing gaze. Ben coughed to signal the end of the subject.
"So your name?"
"My name is Alisa Ilinichina Amiella."
"I'm Ben Thompson, and this block of red here is Sora Ookami." He said happily.
"Hey! I'm not a block of red!"
"Do you see how much red you're wearing?"
"It's the uniform! And you shouldn't be talking cause you're wearing red too!" I yelled at him.
"Hm…that hair seems dyed."
"Wha-what? Again? How many times do I have to pound the truth into that stubborn head of yours?"
"It's fake." He said monotonously.
"It's natural!"
"What purebred Japanese has red hair?! It's unthinkable to say the least."
Alisa just stood there smiling at the event happening, and she somehow got popcorn in the middle of our bickering. She commented: "I wonder which of the three of us is the most mature." That statement killed me a little on the inside. Officially I'm sixteen-years-old, but I have the mind of a thirteen-year-old. What am I saying, I am more mature out of this gro-
"I bet Sora is thinking that he's the most mature." Ben said nonchalantly.
"Did not!"
"The reaction says everything Sora. And responding also contradicts your thought of you being mature." He got me there. I sat silently, while Alisa sent waves of snickers that infected Ben.
XxXxXx
Alisa POV
"Hey, how about a game of hide-and-seek?" I asked.
"Inside or out?" Sora asked nervously.
"Outside of course!" I happily responded.
"Um…that's a bad idea. You see this guy can't handle cold weather."
"Well too bad! Since he hates the cold, he seeks." I told before I ran out the building.
"H-hey…that's not funny. Get back here Alisa!" Sora's call was lost in the howling winds. I saw Ben grab his God Arc as I left.
"Count to ten Sora." Was all I heard after leaving the building. I looked for a nice building to hide in and saw closet that fits perfectly for my body. I crawled in and waited. And I waited for what seemed like half an hour, and then I heard my parents. I was glad. But the reason they came was to probably get me back at the base.
"Ready or not here we come." They both said in unison.
"Wait not yet!" I answered. The cycle of both phrases went on until I saw them.
"Okay ready."
The alarms went off without warning and a large black body replaced my view of my parents. An aragami is devouring my parents. My body wanted to move, but it only shuddered from the cold and the sound of chewed flesh. It kept feeding on their lifeless bodies as I watched limb after limb fly off.
"Daddy! Mommy! Stop it! Don't eat them!" I cried to the aragami. It turned to stare at me, and it showed the face of an old man.
"NO! Stop it!"
XxXxXx
Sora POV
Minutes earlier…
"I can't believe they just left like that." I muttered. "Well…I better find them."
"Oh Sora…where's Ben and Alisa?" I turned to see Asuma-dono and his face showed great panic.
"Outside. We're playing hide-and-seek. They just left." I answered.
"Quick! You need to find them. In about two minutes, the base will send an aragami invasion alarm."
"Shouldn't that happen after the wall is broken?"
"Alarm malfunction. Five veteran squads are already dead. Reports indicate that it's a new-type Vajra."
"Okay Asuma-dono."
"Let's split up. You take the right. We take the left."
"Okay."
The alarm went off. And I heard a distant roar. It wasn't far off. I ran towards it knowing the scientists and their daughter may be dead.
Well…I was half right, but it's not the time to glorify a guess. Ben was already fighting the thing. But his legs shook wildly, and the ground answered what needed to be asked as pool after pool of blood fills the snowy floor. Ben is going to die right in front of me. I shook the thought away. Ben is too stubborn to die. It's the same with his humor: persistent.
I hurried over to a scared and mentally scarred Alisa. She kept shaking in my arms, and she kept grieving over her parent's lifeless and decapitated body. I couldn't do anything now. All I can do is help-
"Graaaaaaagh!" Ben flew at the wall in front of me in even worse shape than before. His uniform is in ripped to shreds, and his stomach was oozing red. Disregarding the pain, Ben stood up with ease. He readied his God Arc once more. Only this time he held it backwards: his sword style.
"Get her out of here. Now." He ordered showing no sign of humor in his words. This was one of the rare times he got serious.
"You're taking this awfully serious." I replied. "I'm afraid I can't do that when I know I can help."
" You'll only be a hindrance."
"We'll see." I told him as I threw several of my bombs causing a barrage of explosions to occur. That should hopefully attract the attention of nearby GEs.
"I'll cover you. Now attack!" I ordered. He dashed and closed the gap between him and the black Vajra quickly, and he consecutively attacked its front legs. I waited for an opening to throw my bombs, but Ben was being relentless. He would attack one side of the Vajra, but then he'd suddenly be on the other side. (If you couldn't guess, Ben is a short sword user, and he uses a Chevalier Ex) The Vajra became enraged and roared. The surrounding area became exposed to a hemisphere of purple lightning. After that, Ben was nowhere to be seen. The beast was confused as well. I then noticed him on the upper level of this slowly crumbling building. He threw a flash grenade as soon as the Vajra gave interest in me.
"Now! Throw everything you've got!" He ordered. He didn't need to say that because I know an opening when I see one. I took eight of my bombs from my back pouch and threw them all at once as the beast roared.
"Shoot the bombs now!" I complied with the order and the beast was engulfed in flames. The explosion made it go back several feet. It roared once more to signal that I am more dangerous than Ben. I readied my bombs, and it charged at me like a bull. I charged as well scattering the bombs in the air as I ran and slid under it. I immediately regretted the decision as I remembered where Alisa was: right next to it. I face stiffened in horror knowing I sent a little girl to her death.
"Alisa run! Run!" I yelled at her. She heard my call and ran towards me, but the Vajra already turned around swiping at Alisa. Or it was supposed to be Alisa until I saw Ben dive in to shield Alisa from the strike. He then looked at me while keeping the paw of the beast on his shield.
"Shoot! Shoot dammit! C'mon what're you waiting for you block of red?"
"But you'll be hurt in the process!"
"I sentenced myself to death the moment I became a Gods Eater. Being a Gods Eater is like playing Russian roulette: You have many chances to live, but one time to end it. My job is to protect the weak from the aragami at the cost of my life. I'm doing my job. You wanted to be a Gods Eater too right? Then know this: A Gods Eater must be the shield and sword of humanity. A Gods Eater must fight to his last breath to protect those who can't fight. A Gods Eater must keep his will to live strong in his heart. A Gods Eater must not run away from the will to live. YOU mustn't run away from living even if your chance to live is small! Understand Sora? Fight hoping one more slash or blast will take it down. Now stop hesitating and shoot!" He cried and paused for a second. "If you meet a man named Lindow, tell him that he owes me a can of beer. Goodbye…Sora." I shot, and my vision flashed white. I only heard the sound of crumbling walls as I grab Alisa and ran.
-Russia Branch Sick Bay-
I woke up in a white room. I inspected every nook and cranny hoping to see life in the room. I only saw Alisa sleeping on my lap. She woke up as well. She stared for a while and held back tears. For some reason I was crying too. That's right. I remember. I shot and the whole building collapsed on them. He sacrificed himself. That moron. The tears Alisa and I held back now flowed like a broken dam.
"Damn him. Why'd he sacrifice himself like that? We could've waited for reinforcements. We could've lured it towards reinforcements. We could've-WHY COULDN'T I SAVE HIM? WHY? WHY?! DAMMIT BEN WHY LEAVE WITH THAT SELF-RIGHTHEOUS SPEECH. SO DAMN CLICHÉ!" Alisa hugged me closer and tighter to her. She also cried deeply for Ben, but look at me only crying for Ben. Alisa lost her parents too. Letting her see me like this and grieving for Ben loudly.
"Sorry…I'm really sorry Alisa. If I were there sooner, I would've…"
"It's not your fault. It's not." Alisa said with teary eyes. I wiped them off her cheeks.
"I shouldn't have made that game." She cried as she hugged even tighter. "This would not have happen if I didn't suggest that game."
"Look at you blaming all this on yourself. A pretty girl like you shouldn't put heavy guilt on yourself like that." I patted her head. Her face became redder than any apple that existed in this godforsaken planet. It was pretty cute. That face of hers made me calm down.
"Thank you, Sora-san…" she uttered silently. "Thank you for saving me. I wouldn't know what I would've done if neither you or Ben were there."
"I was scared. Far too scared to think, move, or scream."
"It's fine. You're safe now. That aragami is gone." I reassured her.
"The ara…gami? The Black Vaj…aaaaaaaaauuuugh!" She braced her head as if she had a major brain freeze. "That monster…ugh…must…no-EVERY aragami MUST DIE! AAAUGH!" She's suffering from a mental breakdown. I cursed myself for not being able to do anything. Consoling her will only bring back the memory of that day. I only hugged her. It truly was the only thing I could do for her. She calmed down seconds later.
-After an hour of consoling-
"I heard you're leaving as soon as you're healed." She told in a depressed tone.
"My oh my, the silver princess is sad! What must I do for her as her knight?" I jokingly say to her.
"Stop being stupid for once is an option." She smirked.
"Your request wounds me milady. Say anything you want. I'll do the task to the best of my abilities."
"Live. Keep living on until and after I meet you again, Sora-san. Promise me." She said in the most innocent tone I've ever heard on a girl.
"I plan to. Don't worry. Consider your request granted milady." I answered.
"Then wear this." In her palm was a hairclip with the shape of a flame on it as a design. I accepted it and wore it as a replacement for my current hairpin.
"How does it look?" I asked.
"You look more like a block of red now." She chuckled.
"I'll pretend I never heard that."
"Or what? You'll hurt your princess?"
"S-shut up." I blushed at that comment.
"Oh my…that's not the type of language a knight should say."
"Then how should a knight talk then?" I asked. She smirked as if it was too obvious.
"Talk like you are a human." She said. "Talk with pride that you are still alive to protect who you hold dear."
"Understood."
-Russia Branch Helipad-
After the supplies were packed, Asuma-dono and I prepared our farewell. The farewell was extraordinary for sure. Everyone from the branch saluted in respect. The salute was meant for Ben, and Alisa's parents. I did not realize the salute was also for me as well. I tried to protect the branch and its people. However, that does not attract respect when I failed. They did not care. They gave me gifts related to all Gods Eaters: a part of their God Arc (sword, shield, or gun) in one humongous crate. I teared up as I also saw the branch's R and D gave me a (supposed match) God Arc with the same Chevalier Ex Ben had on his God Arc. It also carried the same Dodging Buckler+ shield he had. And its final part: a Raging Lore gun. I just sobbed even harder now, causing me to fall to my knees. Two wills were on this weapon, and I was the receiver.
Alisa came forward and hugged me. She hugged tighter as seconds pass.
"Promise to still be alive when I see you."
"I promise."
Well…end of the prologue. What do you guys think? I gave you vague hints of what most of my OC's look, but I'll give a detailed version next chapter: Chapter 1: Finally the Devouring Inferno. Please review.
