Kiseki no Hoshi
Teil Zwei: Einfahrt zur Ewigkeit

Kapitel 24: Kokons
/This cocoon I'm in/
/My cocoon, formed out of loyalty/
/Makes me blind to the truth/
/I'm too wrapped up in a cocoon of loyalty/

From the cliff on which he was standing, Yumeki looked up at the broken sky. His dark brown eyes held an empty look. His wings were folded against his back and his golden halo was very dim.

He really believed he did not belong in Heaven. He always thought he was evil. As a kid, he was a bad student. He received poor grades and he skipped school all the time. His parents barely cared about what he was doing. They were too busy with their jobs. Just to get rid of him, they forced him to join the military once he was out of high school.

After some number of years in the military, Yumeki met the young private Kiseki Kodoku. Kodoku had been trying to commit suicide, but Yumeki stopped him. They became close friends, despite their large age difference. Because of Kodoku's preference to be alone, Yumeki gave him the nickname "Lonely Miracle," which was what his name would be in English.

Exactly one year after Yumeki had met Kodoku, he was killed in combat. Standing in front of the Pearly Gates, he expected to be sentenced to suffer for eternity in Hell. But when God stepped up to him, the Almighty said, "Welcome to Heaven, Mayu Yumeki." He then smiled and added, "I see that you are surprised. It is really not that much of a surprise. While your childhood and teenage years were a waste, your adult years were completely different. You opened your heart to someone, and changed him. That is enough to get into Heaven."

Yumeki had changed quite a bit since he died. He had stopped being such a jerk and found someone that he loved. But now that he had sent Aoi to Limbo and fought against Kodoku, his loyalty to God was wavering. He hated that, and it made him feel more like a demon than an angel.

Yumeki jumped off the cliff and landed gracefully on his feet. He then walked forward into the ruins of Tokyo. He tried his hardest to ignore the pain from the rash on his left arm. He had no idea where it came from. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, either.

He rubbed the sore spot. It was beginning to annoy him. What is this? he wondered. He scratched at the rash, causing it to bleed a little. As it bled, the tiniest trace of a black mist escaped from it.

"A black mist…" Yumeki noticed. "The sign of a demon…"

ο ο ο ο ο ο

Aya stepped into his sister's hospital room. The first thing he saw was that the heart monitor was off. He went over to his sister and laid his hands on her face. Even through his black gloves, he could still feel that her face was colder than ice could ever be. He slid his hand up to her forehead and lightly stroked her bangs.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized to his sister. "I had no right to sacrifice you. What kind of brother am I?"

"A very lousy one," Resurgere answered, behind Aya.

"I didn't ask you," Aya snapped back.

"You used my power and killed the one person I've ever truly loved," Resurgere reminded, his voice becoming harsh. "How can I forgive you? If I could hurt you, you'd be dead now!"

"Shut up!" Aya screamed. "Just shut up and leave me alone!" He tore the Weiß Kreuz off his dead sister's neck and forced Resurgere to go back into the crystalline cross.

"I didn't ask for this burden," the red-haired assassin mumbled. "So don't yell at me like I had choices in what I did!" He pocketed the Weiß Kreuz and dashed out of the hospital.

Aya continued to run aimlessly through the destroyed city of Tokyo. He had nowhere left to go. The only thought going though his mind was the thought of committing suicide. "Neither Death nor the Devil, I am just a murderer," he said to himself. In his eyes, that had been true for quite some time, but now the words held more meaning. He had killed his own sister. Both Kodoku and Satan had called him a "black angel." That was all he was. Some murderous black angel that was destined to bring about the destruction of the world.

Aya eventually stopped running to catch his breath. He was kneeling over with his hands on his knees. Because of his wounds, he was feeling exhausted, but none of them were life threatening. However, the blood loss had weakened him greatly.

When he looked up, he saw that he was back at Yoji's and Omi's graves. He walked up closer to them. "I may very well be the last human left in this world," he guessed somberly. "I should die now. Just look at what I've done! I allowed you two to be killed, I couldn't protect Sakura, I emotionally destroyed Ken and caused him to commit suicide, and now I've killed my own sister! I deserve to die now…"

"If you deserved to die, then don't you think you would be dead now?" asked Yumeki behind Aya.

Aya turned around to face Yumeki. "What do you what?" he asked the angel.

"I asked, if you deserved to die, then don't you think you would be dead now?" Yumeki repeated, rubbing the rash on his arm. "I was killed when I became quite cruel towards my own soldiers. And now that I've sent Aoi, the one woman I've ever loved, to Limbo, fought against Kodoku, the one friend who got me into Heaven, and allowed my loyalty to God to waver, I once again deserve to die. The darkness inside me is engulfing my heart."

Aya moved his hand to the hilt of his katana. "Why are you telling me all this?" he wanted to know.

"As the reincarnation of Resurgere, you are meant to destroy the world," Yumeki said. "That has became common knowledge since the start of the Last Judgment. You see, I want you to send me to Limbo. If you're gonna destroy the world, you can start with me." Faint traces of black where scattered in the feathers of his white angelic wings.

Aya allowed the hand on the hilt of his sword to fall to his side. "No, I'm through with killing others," he refused, turning his face away. "I don't care if I am meant to be the end. I just want to die in peace."

"If you don't send me to Limbo, I will make your death long and painful," Yumeki threatened. He flew towards Aya and grabbed the redhead's arm to throw him into a pole, thus causing it to snap in half. Aya did not try to get back on his feet.

Yumeki stepped up to Aya, seized his throat, and lifted him off his feet. "Fight back," Yumeki ordered. "You don't deserve to die." He tightened his grip on Aya's throat. Aya choked, but he let his arms hang limply at his sides. He was doing nothing to prevent Yumeki from crushing his windpipe.

Yumeki was outraged at Aya's lack of motivation to survive. "You idiot!" he insulted as he continued to throttle Aya. "Do you really want to die that badly?" He started to repeatedly send his fist into Aya's stomach. When blood began to fly out of Aya's mouth, he threw his own fist into Yumeki's stomach. The angel then, in mild surprise, dropped Aya. Clutching his throat and using his katana for support, Aya slowly got back on his feet.

"Are you ready to fight me now?" Yumeki asked. His wings were slightly blacker now.

"I guess I'll die with some dignity," Aya decided, pulling his katana free of its scabbard. He swung it at Yumeki, but the angel deflected the sword with his dark energy blade. He and Aya both jumped back and charged for each other. Their weapons collided once again. Yumeki then began flapping his wings to create strong gales. They pushed Aya back, away from Yumeki.

"I think you should now that I'm not going without dignity, either," Yumeki warned Aya. He swung his dark energy blade in an arc, sending several spiral discs at Aya. Aya deflected the discs back at Yumeki with his katana. To dodge his own attack, Yumeki flew up into the air and made his energy discs vanish. He was not at all pleased at his attack being turned against him. He threw another spiral disc at Aya, this one aimed at Aya's neck. Aya didn't move, for he had no need to. The energy disc went harmlessly through his neck, as if the disc was only an illusion. Yumeki was quite shocked by this tactic.

"Resurgere does not want to die the same way twice," Aya explained, seeing the surprised expression on Yumeki's face. He pulled a knife out of his boot and hurled it at the powerful angel. Yumeki caught the knife, but as he did so, Aya was able to fire an energy blast that knocked Yumeki to the ground.

Aya raised his katana over his head in preparation to slash it down on Yumeki. The angel blocked the blade with his darkened left wing and kicked Aya in the shins. In surprise, Aya withdrew his sword. Seeing his chance, Yumeki seized Aya's neck with both hands and shoved him down to the ground.

"You're more powerful than God and Satan combined, yet you can't defeat me?" Yumeki assumed mockingly, tightening his grip on Aya's neck. "Why is that? Is it because I'm not worthy enough? Or is it because you're really not as powerful as you say you are?"

"I never said I was that powerful," Aya forced out, trying to pry Yumeki's fingers from his neck. His lungs felt as if they were on fire.

"But you believed it, didn't you?" Yumeki accused. "You lied to yourself. You can't even defeat some black angel."

At this point, all Yumeki wanted was to kill Aya. He had completely forgotten that he had originally wanted Aya to send him to Limbo. He was just a demonic black angel now. The rash on his left arm was a result of the darkness inside him engulfing his heart.

Also, Yumeki's loyalty to God had been wavering, ever since Aya had told him he was much too loyal. But before that, the angels had been talking. Because of God's decision to initialize the Last Judgment, they had seemed to believe that the Almighty wasn't as perfect as they wished. Naturally, Yumeki was offended by this, and wrapped himself up tighter in his cocoon of loyalty.

But his cocoon made him blind to reality. It was because of it he had been so foolish as to believe Kodoku's lies. His cocoon was his one protection, but at the cost of his sight. He was just too afraid to realize the truth about himself, Kodoku, and God.

Aya's face was beginning to appear a bit colorless. Yumeki saw this and continued to crush Aya's windpipe by pressing down on his throat. Now that Yumeki realized the truth about his reality, he no longer cared about anything.

Finally Aya could take no more. He did not want to die like this, with Yumeki strangling him. "Don't forget, I'm just some black angel, too," Aya reminded in a raspy voice. He forced Yumeki off of him by emitting powerful energy waves from his body. Even after Yumeki was off him, Aya continued to push the angel into what used to be a building. Aya soon ceased when he became very exhausted due to his body's limits. He fell to his knees, grasping his throat and breathing heavily.

"Fujimiya…" Yumeki said softly. He took a few steps closer to Aya, who was still down on his knees, recovering from the lack of air that Yumeki had caused.

Aya looked up at Yumeki. Color had returned to his slightly blue face. Murder resided in his pale eyes. "Mayu…" he hissed. "Fitting name…you're too wrapped up in a cocoon of loyalty to realize the truth."

"Shut up!" Yumeki ordered harshly, kicking Aya across the face. "I know I'm wrapped up too tightly inside a cocoon of loyalty. But I've been like that for twenty years. And I realize God may not be as perfect as we believe. But I don't care. My loyalty stills lies only to Him!"

"No, you are just too afraid to see the truth," Aya corrected. "Your cocoon makes you blind." He summoned his katana to his hand. "Now I will send you to Limbo." In such a fast motion Yumeki had no time to react, Aya had stabbed his sword through the angel's heart.

Yumeki curled his fingers around the blade in his heart. "Thank you, Aya," he said, tears escaping from his eyes. "Aoi, Kodoku… I'll be with the both of you shortly…" His body dissolved into millions of tiny particles that were sucked up into the broken sky. But he left something behind: a single white feather of his wings. Aya caught the feather and lightly stroked it with his index finger. He was actually saddened; he had never thought of Mayu Yumeki as a friend until now.

"Yumeki…" Aya whispered, the feather still in his hand. "I'm sorry."

Aya raised his arm over his head, with his katana pointing upward. "God, can You hear me?" he yelled. "Satan was right about You. You aren't as perfect as we are meant to believe. If You were, then there wouldn't be so much suffering in this world. The suffering hurts You, doesn't it? But You can't end it, can You?"

Energy circled the blade of Aya's sword. He swung it to the ground, and unleashed a large amount of power. A huge chunk of the land was blown away as Aya jumped back.

"God, have You experienced loss?" Aya continued, his low voice freed of any emotions. "If You haven't, You will now lose all that You have created. You will feel all my sorrow and pain." He flew up into the air and started firing multiple blade beams at the Earth's surface, deforming it even more than it already was.

"I am only more powerful than You because I am both light and darkness," Aya realized, his voice getting quieter with each word. "No light can exist without the darkness, as no darkness can exist without the light. I am 'the balance of good and evil, the one who will be the end.' I have finally accepted my destiny."

He forcefully jabbed his katana into the Earth and created a great explosion, which resulted in a large carter. "In a perfect world, there would be no suffering," he thought. "But in a perfect world, there would be nothing. So only nothing can truly be perfect. God had proven that to me."

Aya held his katana horizontally in front of him and unleashed a powerful energy wave from his body, which wiped out any remaining life, both in the immediate area and possibly the entire world. Many white balls of light were sucked up into the shattered sky.

"When I die, my power will become uncontrollable, so what remains of the world will be completely destroyed," Aya told himself. He could barely hear his own voice now. "But I am not killing myself for that reason. No, I am committing suicide to free myself of this pain and to join those I have lost."

He thought about all those who had been involved in these last events: Hidaka Ken, a clumsy soccer player who had hidden pain eating away at his heart; Tsukiyono Omi, a young boy who wore a mask of cheerfulness to hide his sorrow; Kudou Yoji, a suave playboy who was too afraid to grow close to any woman; Tomoe Sakura, a young girl he fell in love with and ended up causing pain to; Mayu Yumeki, a loyal angel too wrapped up in his own cocoon; Kiseki Kodoku, a lonely miracle whose soul was owned by Satan; Itami Aoi, a beautiful yet sorrowful woman who kept many secrets from her boyfriend Yoji; Sekai Kage, a crime boss who became drawn to Sakura and didn't want to lose her trust; and finally, the true Fujimiya Aya, his loving sister whom he had killed.

Aya aimed the point of his katana at his heart. "Good-bye," he said as a tear ran down his cheek. His stabbed the blade through his heart, all the way to the hilt. His dying body fell to the ground as warm blood poured from his heart.

Transparent angelic wings appeared on Aya's back and began flapping, but then they just suddenly stopped, as if time had froze. God, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, stepped up to Aya's lifeless body and kneeled over, lying His hand on the red-haired assassin's head. "Kiseki no Hoshi," the Almighty chanted, closing His holy blue eyes. He and Aya started glowing; God glowed a deep blue and Aya's dead body glowed a clear white.

Then there was a brilliant flash of light.

/Life and death/
/Being born and dying/
/And rising again/
/It's all part of the endless cycle I'm trapped in/

I swore to be God's most faithful angel. I wanted to repay Him for accepting me, some worthless person, into Heaven. But my cocoon of loyalty made me blind to reality. I couldn't see Kodoku's or Aoi's pain. I allowed my closest friend to betray me and I couldn't understand how the woman I loved felt. I may have been the most powerful angel Heaven ever had, second only to Resurgere, but I would've been better off as a demon. However, I'll try my hardest to make sure my new life isn't wasted.