Marrow City

Chapter 9: Dance with the Devil Tonight

Note: This chapter is seen from Aruma's perspective What is this energy, flowing everywhere, through everyone? And why, just why, was I victimized and traumatized by it... FOR it? Ever since I was able to walk, I felt cursed. The presence of energy. all the time. I could not eat, for food tasted like vomit, I could not drink, for water tasted like poison. I could not sleep, for I never had dreams.

Insomnia, insanity, total madness. A bloodbath, as I stare at the corpses of my parents. I SWEAR that they whispered something every night... they planned to kill me. By this day, I knew they were just the voices in my head, but back then... I just stared at the knife in my head. My parents' blood coated the blade. I screamed, as I felt surrounded more and more by the negative spirits. And unlike my future apprentices, nobody would come for me, to pull me out of the darkness. It didn't took me long to start my killing spree... My entire hometown... slaughtered by me... only because the spirits told me to. And for every death, they would leave me in peace for a short while. I felt powerful, though I knew the power was not mine. It was possession. For I was weak... easy to manipulate. It sickens me to think of my youth.

The media news reported the many deaths at my hands, spread all over the world. But they were was blamed on terrorists. Under the guize of a sole survivor, I received all the love of the world. They knew nothing, as the truth was covered up. And all this, because back then, to them, I was just another project... another human weapon... being built to destroy.

I was taken in not long after I murdered the last citizen. That very same night, a limousine appeared in my small town. I ceased my spree, because its presence made the spirits and the voices silent. The limousine, no, the people inside of it, drew my full interest. The window opened, and I could not resist approaching it. Like Marrow City, my hometown was but a training field, from which I emerged a success.

"Congratulations, kid." I see a man talking to me. He wore a black suit with white stripes on it, with his hair combed neatly backwards, looking like what one would call a mafioso. In one hand, he held a glass filled with an expensive wine. "You're the winner of this town. From this day forward, you will live in true greatness."

Don't get me wrong. They were no saviours... they just brought me to a different kind of Hell.

I entered the car. Because... the ones inside somehow seemed to have control over the spirits that caused me fear.

"You're probably hungry. Or thirsty." The man says grinning, when someone else offers me a juicy steak and a glass of milk.

I chunked it down, for the first time enjoying every bite of the meat without feeling sick, drinking fluid without thinking I'm being poisoned. I shook the Devil's Hand that night. I gave him my soul for peace and salvation in only this mortal world.

"You're probably tired. The seats are very comfy." The man suggested. "We have prepared your own room. But why not take a long deserved rest right now?"

The first couple days that followed were a blessing. I could get ANYTHING I desired. I lived like a young prince, like a son of all the kings of the world combined, knowing full well that I would eventually of course need to pay my debt.

I entered a crimson room once. Its temperature was an unbearable 35 degrees Celcius, while an illusory smoke gradually filled the room. The walls were decorated with strange symbols, and there was a gigantic pentagram carved in the ground, filled with fresh blood. I hallucinated, slowly swung left, right, forward and backward. Then... the voices returned. Though this time, the whispers belonged to real men, dressed like priests, step by step, from thirteen different doors, slowly approaching me. I suddenly found myself in the middle of the pentagram, surrounded by men who wore the same white robes as me. The doors they entered from closed behind them, all but one. The men blocked the doorways, but steered clear from the open one.

"Walk. Walk." The 13 men kept whispering. And under their control, I slowly walked toward the open door. Few of the men in white robes in front of me, few behind me. Taking one step per second, in perfect synchronization with each other, we moved through a hallway. The whispering continued from one man to the other, exchanging words in pure Latin. I looked around me. On both my left and my right, I saw men and children walk in the same manner. Thirteen hallways of men and children, with the men whispering in Latin one by one. I noticed that everything was white... the walls... the floor... the ceiling... Slowly, we walked together into the same direction. I could sense fear strongly resonating from the children, mostly from the boys. They had been through this ritual many times before...

Finally, we enter a white room. Two walls on either side, with white seats on them, which were separated one meter from each other. We stepped on, until the man most in front of me stood next to one of the chairs. We then stopped, after which they whispered for a while, and then got seated. Still being under their control, I sat down on the chair nearest to me as well. I looked in front of me, at the whispering men. To me, they were just blabbering nonesense. Their eyes were either staring right in front of them, or just closed. The whisperings went on for a few minutes, becoming louder and more aggressive every second, untilsuddenly... I felt a hand suddenly on my upper right leg, slowly moving closer to my crotch. It startled me at first, but it somehow woke up me from the trance. Out of sheer fear, I streched out my right hand, slashing the three men on my right in two, making good use of my Ki. I got up, and looked around me. Silence. An eerie silence. Nobody moves, like nobody cares about the death of their fellow members.

"You sick, insane bastards! Will you even MOVE to defend yourselves if I strike at you?" I asked them. But they just kept staring in front of them. "Who is the master running this puppet show?"

"Satan. Lucifer. Beelzebub." The voices whispered again. Then, they ALL turned their heads, eyes wide open, first at me for a second, but then to the path I have entered the room from. "You. No. Slave. You. No. Sacrifice. You. Our. Leader. You. Our. Master. You. Our. God." They whispered. I was blinded by an illuminating light after this, only to wake up in my room once again. Was it all a dream? If it was... it sure was a weird dream.

"Everyone has Ki, the same DNA print of a higher creator slumbering deep within their own DNA. But only some can see it. And even less can FEEL it. You're unique, Aruma... and this last ritual proves it."

"You will become our weapon. You kill when we direct you to someone. And your rewards for obidience will become limitless."

"You will master the slumbering power within very soon. And you will teach others to do so as well. New slaves, if you will."

"There's a special case. We've set up another project like your town and hundreds of others around the world. This one being Narrow City."

"No. Not you, Aruma. Your daughter's final test will be to kill them. You will guide their sons to slavery. "

Memories... many memories...

"Father." Kirumi suddenly wakes me up with her voice. "We've arrived."

"Alright." I get up from my seat. "Everyone... prepare yourself for the 'concert of our lives' in five days."

Indeed. Their final test. And after everything... I wish for them the same as I wish for my daughter. But all of us are in a direct world with the Round Table. No salvation awaits ANYONE who is in the interest of the Eye. At least... I can hope they will very soon end my and Kirumi's misery.

- 10 days, four days before Doomsday.

Bomb suddenly falls off his chair. Widget looks at him.

"Something on your mind, Bomb?"

Bomb looks at Widget. "How can you NOT feel it...?"

"Feel what?"

"This... overwhelming energy bursting from two rooms." Bomb says, tears rolling down, as the energies are actually positive to him. Just too much for him to suddenly handle.

Widget grins, finishing his whiskey, slamming his hand against Bomb's back. "The fact that you can sense it PROVES your workout has strengthened you as well!"

One of the three doors suddenly opens. I approach my biker friends, carrying a beaten down Crow on his back.

"I've succeeded. We're done." I clench my fist. The power alone from this makes the notes pinned on a bulletin board fly off, light objecys fly through the room for a second, and all the glass explode and melt. Half the members become a little dizzy by it.

Widget and Bomb get up. I hand Crow over to Bomb. "Put him down on a bed or something. He needs the last few days to rest."

"It's been only 10 days." Widget looks, smiling. "Now you're standing near me. It brings tears to my eyes..."

I smile at this, placing a hand on Widget's shoulder. This alone unleashes energy within him.

"This is the potentional you can use with your current body." I say, passing Widget. "The more you train your physical body, the more energy you can contain and control." I sit down.

"Boss... can I... offer you a beer?" One of the bikers asks, to which I smile in agreement. The fridge opens, and a sixpack flies out. It splits up. One beer flying into the hand of the biker who wanted to give me a beer, another to Widget's hand, two more to two other bikers, and the last two on the table next to me. I open one. "Thanks for the offer, my friend." I say with a wide smile, clanging mine against his.

"So..." Widget takes a seat next to me. "What will you do now for the rest of these last remaining days?"

"What'ya think? Now that I have reached a new level... it feels like it's PERFECT to try out the upgrades you have placed on my bike!"

Bomb returns, standing in front of me, shaking his head. I get up, placing my hand on his shoulder as well, releasing the energy residing inside him. And since he is very well-trained physically, and because of his strong heart and spirit, he amazes me when I sense the potential unlocked within him.

"Bomb... from this day onward... I will have three lieutenants." I say, as we embrace eachother in a brotherly hug. "I entrust you to watch my back."

He releases me, and cries again. Tears of happiness. "Of... of COURSE you can count on me! I'll... i'll stop ANYONE who will interfere when you face Aruma."

I smile at this, colliding my beer with his. "Now then... I feel like roaring out." I finish my beer and walk to my motorcycle. Io approaches me. I smile at him, and hold him in my arms tightly. Widget notices Bomb's amazement. Indeed... Bomb could see my dog's aura bursting. Flaming up even more than in his case. "My great, beloved friend. Ride with me."

Io barks to this, swinging his tail when he sees me and Bomb getting on our bikes, along with five other members. We roar out. I feel this intense sensation to get loose with these new powers... and Io? Well, he runs next to me, showing a stamina far beyond even my comprehension, and not a single hint of exhaustion.

- Ella and Jessica's training.

"What's wrong, Ella? You have awoken a bit in these ten days, but at this rate, I will not allow you to face the girl who murdered your parents!"

"..." Ella stares at her friend. "Forgive me. A part of me... no, never mind."

"A part of you WHAT?"

"I said, NEVER MIND!" Ella heads for Jessica, to continue their sparring.

'...A part of me actually thought of forgiving her... just because she is only one of the Lost Children' goes through Ella's mind. 'but still.. she took mommy and daddy FROM US!' She delivers a powerful strike at Jessica, without even realizing it. It was caused by her thoughts. She looks shocked and surprised, to find her friend in a near death state. "I'm so sorry! Are you all right?"

Jessica smirks as she gets up. Slowly her wounds heal. "If I'd have been anyone else, you would've killed me now. I'm an expert in healing. Don't you remember I can heal myself, Ella?" Jessica now looks more serious. "Something is bothering you. If it's pity... or mercy... get rid of it. Your parents were great people, loved by many others, including myself. Even IF the murderer is a little girl like yourself... ANYONE, regardless of age, gender, race, bloodline, religion or what the fuck ever, who would harm such loving people... well, what I'm trying to say is that she's just a young monster!"

"I'm sorry, Jessica. A part of me was just blind... Let us continue our training."

'she's a monster, not a person.' 'she killed my parents, so she MUST pay.' 'you're kind-hearted, forgive her and show her a better path.' 'crush her bones' 'embrace her like a sister' 'get stong. DESTROY her!' 'use your heart, FORGIVE her.' 'DESTROY her!' 'FORGIVE her!' 'DESTROY her!' 'FORGIVE her!'

"What should I DO?!" Ella screams out. Jessica notices her passing out, catching her quickly.

Suddenly, Ella sees her parents in front of her.

"Is this... is this real...?" She asks the two spirits she sees right after she passed out.

"You have increased the power in your heart even stronger than it was before, my dearest daughter... therefore... for a brief moment, we can appear before you." Jonathan speaks to his daughter.

"Sadness. tragedy. Come her, Ella." Maria says, opening her arms, just like Jonathan does. They kiss their daughter, and hold on to her even stronger.

"We're proud of you... and even more proud of what you will do and who you will become..." They both say at the same time, fading away in the afterlife.

"HOLY-" Jessica says, seeing raw energy burst at such a rapid rate that it burns away the tears flowing down from Ella's eyes. Jessica then smiles at this. "We're nearly done, my friend."