Prologue- The Nightmare, the angel, and death.
I ran.
I ran as hard as I could.
I had never been this scared in my entire life. All the beatings, punishments, the bullying…nothing. Nothing compared to the fear I feel right now.
I feared death. And mine was chasing behind me.
The world in which I lived in was dangerous. We lived in a never ending state of war. That was life. I lived in a orphanage like so many others. Scraping by with bare minimums of food and water.
Life was bad, but passable.
I would say it was my home, yet, whatever you call home in my world has a tendency to be burnt down. My new home was no different.
It happened when the men wearing red came. They burned down the orphanage and took the boys, taking the girls to some other place. They put guns to our heads and told us that their enemy, the men wearing blue were evil. And we had to kill them. They gave us guns, and told us to kill every last one of them.
Anyone who showed any resistance to the notion was shot.
Out of fear I didn't.
They marched us to the lair of the people wearing blue and we were told by the men wearing red to go attack. We waited in a ditch with the men in red behind us. We were to be the bait, the first ones killed as the people in blue would attack us children, and then the people in red would surprise them and kill them.
That was the goal.
A goal which never came to pass.
Before the order was given, the people in blue screamed as their lair set itself on fire. We heard the sound of gunshots and destruction. Screams and screams being cut off. At first the men in red where happy, laughing while thinking their allies had begun their attack prematurely.
It was upon discovery that all their allies were dead was when they became silent. Something had killed all of them, and now was making quick work of the people in blue.
After a few minutes, all of it stopped. All the screaming, all the gunfire, everything. Nothing but silence; pure, dead silence amongst their complex burning itself down.
The people in blue were now dead too.
The men wearing red knew they were next. Something terrible was coming, and that was when the men wearing red turned and fled. They jumped in their vehicles and took off, abandoning us and leaving us at the mercy of this unknown force, hoping our deaths would do nothing more then buy them a few more minutes of life.
We were alone after that.
The boys next to me all began to shiver. In a moment I did too. We all felt something course through us.
Something…
A presence. Something that we had never felt before, something that we could never be prepared for. And it filled us with a terror that made each of us quiver.
The men wearing red were right to flee.
Out of the ruined, burning complex something walked towards us. We needed no explanation that this something is what had murdered the people in blue.
Something….
Something….
Something is a very good term, because I do not know how to put a description on the being that was walking towards us. I do not believe any linguist could describe it.
This thing…this something… was…unnatural. Something not normal, not human, not of this world had attacked.
It walked like us, but it was not us.
It's shape was like us, but was not us.
It talked like we did, but in a tongue not even the devil could understand.
But it's eyes. That's what got me. It's eyes. Big, yellow, glowing, beating, staring eyes. It…It was staring right at us. My mind was consumed with terror...that...
It was obvious that was true. The moment we felt it's ungodly presence, we knew…yes…we knew that this…something…was going to murder each and every one of us. And it knew that too.
When it got close, backwards knees bent as it seemed to gather it's breath. It screamed at us, the something's eyes blaring a maddening yellow light as it's hallowing bellow reverbed between all of us. Body, mind and soul all felt its might.
Within a second, this living nightmare closed the gap between us. It's movements were beyond anything a human… anything a mortal could ever achieve.
I could now see how tall it truly was. It was far taller then us, taller then vehicles were long. The nightmare stood several feet tall, it towered over all of us.
Its hand slashed at the child that stood next to me. What…what would be a decapitating blow did not. The Nightmare's hand merely phased through my fellow child soldier's body. The Nightmare looked at its hand, acting like it was grasping something that we could not see. The Nightmare then jammed his hand to his mouth, as if the nightmare was stuffing it's face with pure air.
All our eyes turned to the boy it had attacked. The boy showed no response, no movement. He did nothing but stand still, as if he went from a filled bottle of lifewater to a empty one. Upon closer look, we saw something we did not want to see. Through the boy's eyes, blood began to leak. We all took a step back from this seemingly plague-ridden boy as he fell to the ground.
The blood began to leak from more then his eyes, but out of every pore of his body. Eyes, mouth, fingers, everything. It was as if his body was coming apart at the seams, devolving more as his body began to boil with a black liquid replacing the flesh. We all stood and watched in horror as his body...came apart…slowly, surly, decomposing right before our eyes into a pile of black goo, like a picture show on fast foreword.
Each of our worlds went silent as the grim realization that we knew was coming had finally come. The boy was dead, the nightmare had killed him. And it was about to do the exact same to each and every one of us.
The nightmare only looked upon us, now seeing our impending method of execution, seeing our reaction. As we screamed, it only grinned.
That was when we all ran.
We all ran in opposite directions screaming at the top of our lungs. Hoping that we would not be the next one that it picked.
Not that it mattered. It could catch all of us, and it did with a horrifying speed. With a single step of it's distorted self the nightmare reached each of his victims, and the nightmare slashed it's hand through them. Each child falling to the ground, immediately beginning to rot before our eyes. It attacked the boys to the left of me, it attacked the boys to the right of me. One by one it picked us off. One by one a group of child soldiers became nothing but puddles of black goo. One by one, it killed us all…
…All until I was the last one left.
I was running for my life when I heard it bellow once more. It then just…appeared…right infront of me. The nightmarish abomination stared in my eyes, stared down to the deepest part of my soul.
Every part of me froze as we stared deep into eachother's eyes.
I saw madness…death…despair, twisted contortion of insanity spiraling deeper and deeper into the pits of a hellish never-ending abyss. I could not move as by breath became faster and faster. I felt my body shake violently out of control, it felt like my mind was breaking my heart was exploding my lunging were bursting and each of every one of my nerves were screaming louder then they ever could!
I could beg, I could plead, I could act, I could do something. I could think about things, things that I felt slipping out of my head.
I wanted to move, But I could not! My body obeyed the will of the nightmare, and it gave up the ghost. I saw the end of all life, and the end of mine.
This was it. I was about to die. This thing was about to kill me.
I screamed one final time as I felt a pop.
Suddenly, all the pain in my body released from me. Pain I had felt all my life went away as It finally broke eye contact with me and raised it's claw. The nightmare made his swing at me, to take me like the others.
But…my body finally did act. My body fell backwards, avoiding it's grasp, barely being spared the tip of it's claw.
I felt nothing as I hit the ground.
I finally regained my movement. I finally regained my ability to think once more. The nightmare began to step towards me, to finish what it had started.
Before the living nightmare could make another swipe, The nightmare stopped. It looked, and with the corner of my eye I tried to look as well. I saw a glimpse of a boy to the left of me. He looked pale, his body…unnatural. I did not know why I couldn't see him before.
"Seems like I missed one…" it said in a twisted, demonic, and echoing voice. The Nightmare's words stopped sounding like the devil's tongue, and finally made perfect sense to me.
I felt light, and even though I could move I couldn't push myself off the ground. Each of my attempts seemed to be in vain. With a second attempt at turning my head, I saw this pale boy again…but the pale boy was without legs…he had a wispy tail instead.
The nightmare decided to attack him first instead of me. Within a second he reached the boy. The creature grabbed the floating legless boy right out of the air. The boy didn't move at all. The pale boy was just…in shock. With the nightmare's grip he shoved the pale boy in it's mouth. He was slurped down like a wet noodle, fully enjoyed by the monster.
Did it just…eat the boy? But…it wasn't earlier…none of this made sense…what was going on? What was going on?
I couldn't understand any of this. My mind kept racing, and my breath speed up, yet unlike before I felt no pain as I did. I kept asking myself what I was seeing as the thing turned towards me. Whatever was about to happen, I was next.
My life did not flash before my eyes as I expected it to.
As a matter of fact, the opposite happened.
I couldn't remember.
I couldn't remember anything outside from five minutes ago.
Anything about me, who I was, how I got here, I could only remember two things, two things that rattled in my brain.
My name, and a single sentence spoken to me. "Liam Alibus, what do you want to be when you grow up?", and that I, the asked had no answer, and as of right now I still don't. It's not like it was going to matter much anyway...
Through sheer force of will my body had turned itself upright, defying the laws of whatever physics I was bound by.
But it was too late. The nightmare grabbed me with what could only be described as claws.
As it eyed it's food, it spoke to itself.
"more….more…MORE! MORE!" the nightmare spoke in a lust, it's distorted voice breaking into madness.
The living nightmare made a snarl of happiness, like a hungry person about to feast.
I was about to die again. I was about to be eaten. The nightmarish abomination opened it's mouth, ready to shove me in.
As I screamed for the last time, a light suddenly consumed my vision.
I saw a flash of light between me and the nightmare's mouth. I felt the nightmare's grasp release itself and I began to float in the middle of the air as the nightmare completely let go. My eyes trailed down and could see the nightmare's arm fall and hit the ground, oozing a blackness.
There was something between the nightmare and I. Something that had just cut off the arm of the nightmare. A figure, a fully human shaped figure was now between me and the nightmare, floating like I was.
The figure gave a battlecry before unleashing another flashing strike of a weapon and knocked the nightmare back. The nightmare felt the pain of losing its arm, and being slashed along what we would call a chest. It breathed heavier, and became enraged, its fury focused on the figure. The wounded nightmare blared at the figure and made a hallowing bellow. I could feel the nightmare's anger through it's scream, but the figure stood unphased. She did not fear this monster.
Yes, I could see what this figure looked like now.
She, the figure, looked like an adult in a beautiful brown one piece flowing dress. A little white hat with a red bow tied around it ontop of it, resting on beautiful curled golden hair. A simple white was stitched onto the dress's neck area, to give it extra flare.
This woman, this savior…she looked perfect… she looked like an angel. Saving my from death's grasp, she definitely had to be one.
This woman, this angel carried a scythe in her hands. The silver blade of the weapon was covered in the black goo blood of the nightmare for only a few more moments, the black goo eroded off the blade within seconds of me noticing it. The body seemed like a standard red pole, but…it was no ordinary weapon. The scythe itself seemed alive, I noticed a life-like movement of the weapon slowly, as if it was in sync with the angel, moving to my angel's desire.
"This ends here" she said calmly, getting ready to attack the nightmare again. I did nothing but watch.
The enraged wounded nightmare charged at my angel, unafraid of her. She too was not afraid of the nightmare either. The charging nightmare roared at my angel as it raised it's claw, but instead of getting out of the way, my angel stood her ground. The blade of the scythe began to bend, as did the pole. The blade turned to a upward angle, and the pole began to grow and curve, as if it too was preparing to attack the nightmare as well.
The Angel held her scythe with both hands. Her scythe began to shine with a bright light as my angel swung her shining scythe downwards at the nightmare, perfectly slashing through the nightmare vertically.
The nightmare froze in it's tracks. A wave of shining light continued to go past the nightmare, leaving destruction in it's wake.
Just one, single attack was all it took to make the nightmare stop running and freeze in his tracks.
It stood there, shaking as light slowly lit on his body, showing where my angel had slashed him. The light grew stronger and stronger, separating the two halves of it's body…or there rather showing the damage my angel did to the nightmare.
The angel returned to her combat position, her scythe's pole returning to a normal straight position, the blade of the scythe bending back to horizontal position as per how I imagine scythes to be. The black goo blood of the nightmare was shook off with a simple flick.
Looking, she was confident this fight was over.
The light shined at it's brightest, the damage finally showed. With one final splattering of black blood and goo, The Great and Terrible Nightmare who had terrified me, split in half. The left half fell backwards, the right half fell to the right. When both halves hit the ground the Nightmare exploded into light.
The light was blinding.
I covered my eyes, but it was of no use. The light shined through my transparent hands, and filling my world with light once again.
As the light cleared and my eyesight returned, I saw that the nightmare was no more.
I was stunned. The thing that nearly killed me and ate that one boy, was destroyed by my Angel with the least of effort…
In place of the nightmare I saw a series of floating purple orbs. They were all floating around, listlessly in whatever direction.
But below them, was another person. A person with long orange hair, wearing what seemed to be wearing a blue pants and a unfamiliar white shirt. This person too had a scythe, but it was not like my angel's. It looked plain, and unlike my angel's, it showed no signs of life.
The person was down on the ground on his knees, breathing heavy, as if was tired. My angel was floating down to the figure. I didn't want to leave my angel, and I did what I could to move myself closer to her.
When she landed, both figures finally exchanged eye contact. The one in white had trouble looking at my angel's eyes.
Finally, the one in white spoke.
"Thank you…for freeing me" He said.
"You're welcome." My angel said back. "Are you injured?"
…
…she has a beautiful voice.
"No Ma'am, I'm fine thanks to you." He said, his breath finally caught.
"I assume you're the one who contacted the elite corps in need of aid?." She then asked him.
Elite?
"Yes I am Ma'am. As soon as I noticed the wrath I sent out the distress signal." The person in white went from being on all fours to a bowing position on one knee.
His tone became grim. "I then attempted to slay it before it began attacking this planet, and failed. Please forgive my failure Ma'am" Said the man "I was not strong enough to stop it."
My angel did not show any signs of being annoyed whatsoever.
"Strength and power is not where your talents lie. That is why you were assigned as a ferryman shinigami to guide souls to the next life, not to reap souls like myself." Spoke the angel. "I should be the one apologizing for dragging you into this. We believed we had eliminated the rest of the wraiths that had fled to this dimension, I did not think one evaded detection like this."
She placed her hand on one of the man's shoulders.
"Yet…when danger arose and a threat came a mere ferryman went above and beyond the call of duty and took to action and stood in a monster's path. You risked true death to fight it and slowed it's advance. If that is anything, it's bravery. It's what we look for in the Shinigami corps."
I…I didn't understand anything they were talking about. I moved myself and floated to my angel. She took her scythe and put the butt of the pole in the ground.
Following, she pulled out a strange device that looked like a foldable rectangular block and put it to her ear.
"This is captain Elly. Do you copy Lieutenant?" said my angel.
"Loud and clear." Said the block.
"Stray Wraith Neutralized. Mission accomplished." Spoke my angel.
"Good work captain. With that taken care of the Mop-up operation is now complete and done."
I sensed a tone of worry in her words. "No. We're not done yet Lieutenant. We need to do a few more scans and see if anything else is out there and I need you to do a report on the detection system itself. We need to know why one evaded our detection while others didn't. When you're finished send the report to me."
"Yes Ma'am. Mission control out."
Again, I don't understand at all what they're talking about. It seems like it went over the man in white's head too. He seemed to just look around, gazing at the soft purple lights floating above us.
My angel put away her strange device, and took a look above as well.
"Six hundred and twenty two. Damn it" Said the man "All these souls. It got this
many…"
From behind, my angel put her hand on the man's shoulder. "It would have been much more if you did not intervene." Said my angel.
I had now moved myself right behind her. I suppose a little too close, as my angel finally noticed me. Turning around, I saw her face for the first time.
"Oh my…" she said as she took notice.
I could finally see my angel's face for the first time. She was beautiful. She truly was an angel. An angel sent just for me…
She seemed a bit uncertain how to approach me "Don't worry…" She told me. "I'm not here to hurt you. You're safe now"
"I…I am?" I asked my angel.
The man seemed a bit taken back I could talk.
"Yes, yes you're safe now…noone's going to hurt you." Said my angel as she smiled at me. A perfect, flawless, heavenly smile.
"O..okay" I said.
"It seems I should get to work. If you wish Ma'am. I'll ferry these souls." Said the man with orange hair "Come alone little o-"
I ignored what he said and clamped onto the angel's leg, she giving out a little "oh!" as I held onto her leg and hid behind her, shaking my head violently to the man's question.
I couldn't see it, but I could tell she was smiling. "It seems he wants to go with me." Said my angel "You don't need to worry. I'll take care of him. Can you ferry these other souls?"
"Absolutely, without fail Ma'am." He replied.
"Good." Said my angel. "I'll make a note about that in my report"
Again, she gave a heavenly smile.
I floated around my Angel as the two of us watched the man raise his scythe and began to chant an incantation.
"Come along lost souls. I, the ferryman shall grant you all safe passage…"
The blade of his scythe began to glow. The glowing purple orbs of light all gathered to him.
"Come along lost souls. Come with me to the last river, passageway to the afterlife, to cleanse you of all things mortal."
The souls all came upon the man's scythe, circling the man as lights began to appear below him. I felt drawn too, but I clinged once again to my angel and refused to let go of her.
"Come along lost souls. I shall take you to the end, where your final judgment awaits."
The glowing purple orbs swirled around him faster and faster, till I could no longer see the man with the scythe. If I wasn't holding onto my angel, I would have been drawn too.
"Come along lost souls. With me…you ride tonight!"
A bright flash enveloped the man and the floating purple orbs. Within a single flash, everything disappeared. All the purple orbs vanished along with the man.
All that left was the Angel who saved my life. And me.
I finally let go of her, now with them all gone. I floated to where he stood, and I saw nothing there. I turned around to my angel.
"What…just happened?" I asked my angel.
She wasn't happy as she looked at me. It seemed like something was weighing her down. "This must all be new to you."
"You must have lots of questions…Ask, and I'll give you an answer the best as I can. But first, can you tell me your name?"
My angel asked, and I gave a immediate response.
"I'm…Liam."
"Liam. That's a very nice name. My name is Elly." Said my angel "Now Liam, what do you want to know?"
"What…what happened to me?" I asked Elly the angel. "What did that thing do to me?"
"You…you don't? Oh god…." My angel began to say, before looking past me. Her eyes widened behind me, and then turned downward the moment she saw me looking at them.
I didn't know what she wanted to tell me, but she seemed to have trouble saying it. I interrupted her internal thoughts
"Is something wrong?" I asked my angel.
Whatever she had to say, she didn't like it very much. There was some pain in her eyes.
"I'm very sorry to say this…"
My angel took a moment and tried to convey her message
"That creature, when that creature attacked you…what it did was…it killed you."
"I'm sorry."
That made no sense to me. "What?" I said. Again I saw her look past me, something clearly was behind me.
"What are you talking ab-"
As I turned around, and I saw my answer.
I saw me. My body.
"That's…that's…"
I saw me. I was frozen as I stared at it. It was where I had fallen when the nightmare attacked me. My mouth was open, my face was frozen, and blood leaked from my head... My own blood.
"…me…"
That's when it hit me. All of this added up, and finally made sense.
Why I couldn't see that child next to me, and then I could.
Why I at first couldn't understand the nightmare words, and then I could.
How I've been floating, why I couldn't feel my body anymore.
Why I'm no longer hungry, ill, or cold as I always have,
Why the pains I've always felt in my body all my life are all now gone,
And why my feet are gone and replaced by a wispy tail…
I died.
Oh god...oh god...oh god...
I'm dead?
I'm dead?
Oh god I'm dead!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
"Oh no! Liam!"
OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGoOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod
"Liam!"
I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead
"Stay with me! You must calm down!"
OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGoOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOh-MFFF
"I got you! I'm not gonna let you corrupt. Liam!"
I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead
"Liam, please, calm down!"
OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGoOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod
"Stay with me..."
I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead..I'm dead...
"...that's right Liam...calm down...don't lose yourself..."
I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm...
"keep yourself together...listen to my voice..."
I'm...I'm...I'm...I'm...
"You're going to be ok...you're going to be ok..."
I'm...I'm...I'm...I'm going to be ok...
I'll be ok...
...I'll be ok...
Yea...I will be...
...
...my frenzy stopped.
I felt...I felt like I had pulled myself back together. My mind began to think again.
I guess...even in this ghostly form...I still had a mind...
I see Elly, holding me tight. With all her strength, she had grabbed me and held me against her large chest in a hold with all her strength. I seemingly had struggled, but it did there would be no breaking free from her arms. She was stronger then she looked.
As she felt my body no longer struggling against hers, I felt her fierce grip release itself. I moved up and immediately hugged Elly, holding onto this woman...
We stayed like this for minutes...I slowly felt the maddening energy that was pulsing through me go. When it was all gone, I just held onto her.
Her grasp was warm. Her arms, her body...all of it was warm...a soothing warm bringing peace to me...
I felt...safe as she held me.
"So...I'm, um...really dead? I really died..."
"You did. I'm very sorry Liam." She said.
"Am I, going to stay dead?" I asked her
"No." She said solemnly "You cannot go back into it anymore. I'm sorry Liam. Despite all I can do, I cannot bring you back to life."
I…didn't feel regret.
I actually felt relief.
I felt like a load was off my shoulders. I didn't understand why.
"It's…ok"
Elly looked confused.
I then began to think back to my life.
Once again, nothing came. Instead of remembering of this life I seem to have had, virtually nothing came. Nothing at all.
"My life alive…I…I don't remember any of it…nothing." I admitted.
My memory was blank. Just two simple sentences, and the last five minutes of my supposed life I remembered.
I remember being scared hiding in a ditch with a bunch of other boys.
I remembered people in red bullying us and then fleeing.
I remember seeing the nightmare, running, then dying.
I remember someone asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
And I remembered my name, Liam Alibus
That's it. That's all I could remember of my life.
That's all I was now. My mortal existence was nothing more then a single paragraph…
"Is…that…normal?" I asked Elly.
I could see Elly look down, recalling, and thinking. "For some." She said. "Death is different on us all. How much one's memories fade varies upon person to person. Their desire to stay, their desire not to forget is what keeps these memories. You may regain them one day Liam, but only if you truly wish to remember them."
"Well, if I didn't remember them, then I didn't want to remember them?" I asked Elly.
"You can think of it like that" She told me.
I was happy. If I forgot all these memories, then I didn't want to keep those memories. I didn't need them. It brought me some relief.
"Thank you…" I said, giving the proper courtesy to her.
We stayed there for a few more minutes. After, we finally let go of eachother.
"What's going to happen to me?" I asked Elly.
Wait, what if I turned into nothing? What is next?
Elly took my me by suprisied and Elly placed one hand on my shoulder. "You have nothing to worry about." Elly told me.
"I don't? Will you be able to take care of me?" I asked Elly.
I think I saw my answer in her eyes. Love to, but can't. Have I seen that look before? No...I don't remember...
"You are a very good boy Liam and you have pure hearted soul…but it's not my place to become your mother." She said.
"But, I can help you Liam. I can take you away from all this." Elly told me.
She hugged me tight. I looked up to Elly and saw her near tears.
"Liam, I'm going to take you to some place wonderful. It's a place where noone's going to hurt you, a place where you'll never go hungry, a place where you'll always be at peace. It's a place where you'll never have to worry about anything ever again."
"You'll… you'll take me there?" I said.
Elly's answer was absolute. "Yes, I will. It's what I do."
I asked the question I should have asked far earlier. "What do you do?"
Elly looked at me and smiled. "I protect and guide lost souls to the next life. Souls like you Liam." She told me.
"I am a Shinigami."
It was that moment I knew.
The last question that was ever asked to me, the only one I knew.
I decided, I knew exactly what I wanted to be.
I, Liam Alibus, wanted to be exactly like her.
The Reaper of Gensokyo
By Nicktendonick
Chapter 1- Replacement
"Oh you've got to be kidding me."
mmmfff...
is...is some...som...
"Comeon, Eiki-sama you gotta get up"
...eone...one trying to...wake me up?
yes...they were...
I feel another gentle push.
"There we go"
Gently, was I rocked left and right.
"Hey, you still sleeping?"
My bed was so inviting. Sleep…yes…I'd rather sleep…
I grabbed my blanket and pulled it back over my body.
"Out of all the days for you to do this…"
I recognized the voice, my mind finally made sense and told me who it was.
Komachi Onozuka. My Subordinate.
"Eiki-Sama…" I heard Komachi with a sigh. My eyes were closed but my ears were open.
Why can't she leave me alone? That lazy shinigami...
...Wait….
Komachi? Komachi is…waking me up?
!
"Komachi?!" I shouted in shock.
Oh god I'm late!
Komachi is always late to everything she ever does! Which means I'm later then she is!
I know what today is. I knew it I knew it I knew it I should have rested earlier…
Eiki what were you thinking!?
"Oh no…" I, the super late woman said with a groan.
A Yama such as myself just IS not late to her appointments. Especially one as important as today. I can't set a bad example like this…
I pushed the covers off me and sat on the edge of my bed, turned Komachi's way to see her fully dressed in what she usually wears. She was wearing a white dress with a blue vest, her red hair with two ponytails on the sides of her head. Holding together her clothes was a large belt with a large yen coin as the belt buckle.
As for me, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, I was still in my dark green matching pajamas, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
As I looked around, I took a good look out the window and tried to catch the time. Here in Gensokyo, it was the easiest way to tell the time without help. I couldn't see anything but black. It might just be me…
"It is dawn?" I mumbled.
"Not yet. 'Bout 5 in the morning I'd say." She told me.
Huh?
wait...
"Wait…you're up early?" I groaned. "You never get up early…never..." I complained to her.
I sat there on my bed for a minute, completely dumbfounded at what I just heard.
...
"Well, I'm not missing something like this. I wanna know who's filling in for Fuka-chan."
...
"Um…Eiki?" I heard Komachi said to me.
My sleepy eyes blinked twice, my body and mind frozen, processing the words I had just heard. That, or I was falling asleep again.
My brain finally spoke. "You're…early?"
"Yep." Komachi said with a shameless smile on her face and as she crossed her arms "Just said it a second ago Eiki-sama." Komachi answered me back.
"..."
...After all these hundreds of years, Komachi never ceases to surprise me.
Ahhhh, well, the shock did wake me up a bit, at least for the moment. I actually feel attentive right now.
And so, awake, I complained. "So why can't you get up like this for work normally?" I groaned, with said groan evolving into a yawn.
Komachi took a step back and dodged looking at my eyes. "That's a….um….Hey let me fetch you some coffee." She said walking away from my bed.
Slowly and reluctantly, I slid myself out of bed and shuffled towards the shinigami.
"Coffee…would be very good."
I was...practically braindead until I got caffeine, nothing but a semi-aware blur of me moving to my shinigami as she made me some coffee. Coffee which finally woke the rest of me up...
Well...the second cup of coffee, which I just downed. With her primary objective accomplished, Komachi decided to be a good subbornate and she helped herself to my food storage.
As she raided what food I had, I made myself coffee cup number 3.
Ahhh...
I'm glad I picked up that magic-powered coffee maker from Pandemonium.
I don't think I would have made my long nights without it. Especially now with Fukakusa's absence and inability to work.
Finding a cookie and gulping it down, Komachi took a look at me. "You look terrible Eiki-sama. How much sleep have you been getting?" Komachi asked me.
"Enough." I answered, taking a sip of coffee number 3.
My eyes glance at Komachi's and seeing hers...I doubt Komachi liked that answer. "And how much is that?" she asked back
Instinctively I hesitated to answer her, and Komachi easily noticed the body language. Which pretty much gave away everything she needed to know. She's good at reading people, especially those she's known for so long, like myself.
I'd groan if I could, I know where this is going.
"Eiki, how much?" She pressed again.
I caved "One…two hours every week or so?" I answered. "As long as I can function and as long as I have that coffee machine, I'll be fine." I grudgingly said as bluntly as possible to her.
My friend crossed her arms and gave me a glare. "No, you won't. You're running yourself ragged Eiki-Sama. Look what just happened. You need to sleep and you need to rest. You've been working non-stop morning noon and night since Fuka-chan got hurt. I told you I'll help pull Fuka-chan's weight with the reaping until the sub gets here. But instead you try doing everything yourself and you wear yourself out worse then a bad joke. Geeze, if you were still human you'd be dead by now."
...
"But I'm not human. I'm a Yama. And speaking of the dead, the dead don't rest until we've taken care of them." I said back.
Someone has to do it and I won't let a buildup happen. We've gotten by sofar haven't we?
Komachi took a moment to try to come up with a response, raised her hands up a bit and turned around away from me and sighed.
"This is all soo wrong. You're the one who's suppose to be lecturing me. That just proves how messed up this is." Komachi sighed again. "I'll be glad when today's over. Fuka-chan's sub is coming today."
It's been the two of us who have had to fill in for Fukakusa, the resident soul reaper shinigami of Genskoyo, ever since Fukakusa got hurt and was made unable to perform a soul reaper's duties. Soul Reaper Shinigami are suppose to reap any souls who refuse to cross over to the sanzu river, those who begin causing trouble, or anything on the verge of becoming a truly evil spirit. Souls who let their own darkness corrupt them become fearsome spirits, which can even become dangerous creatures that cause untold destruction and can perform the ultimate evil, corrupting innocent souls and turn them to evil as well.
We've been lucky things have been peaceful here recently or we might have had a major incident happen, such as with souls flooding into Gensokyo. Which is something I'm prided as to say has never happened once under all my tenure as a Yama, and I intend to keep it that way.
"That's good." I said with a yawn "It'll be nice to get back on my old schedule."
As soon as I said that Komachi turned to me and wagged her finger at me "Oh no-no-no. You're taking time off." She said ending with her pointing her finger at me.
What!?
"What?! No! I can still work." While I know how to reap souls like Fukakusa and ferry them along the Sanzu river like Komachi can, only I can judge them. "I have to do my duty."
Komachi shrugged "It isn't my order. The head Yama told me himself that you're taking time off. That Buddhist Yama guy from around here is gonna take your spot while you're off."
Him? Well, if it's him I wouldn't mind…and if it's the head Yama asking I don't think I could say no anyway. I could live with taking another forced vacation again…somehow.
Before I knew it, she already had walked past me and placed her arm on my shoulder
"Comeon, you can worry about that later Eiki-sama. Get that green head of your dressed and let's head to the Ministry. Our sub should be getting there soon." Said Komachi in a much softer voice.
She's right. I can worry about that when I get to it.
Komachi waited outside while I changed clothes. I donned my Yama's uniform and hat, dressed myself properly outside of my house.
While I had originally planned to live where I worked normally, this small simple home was given to me as a welcoming gift to Gensokyo. It's been quite useful, and it's nice to live amongst the people here. Especially here in Gensokyo. I must admit, it is quite a pleasant and peaceful place to live.
Now dressed and ready, I walked out of my house and closed the door to my house and rejoined Komachi.
"No lock, no nothing? Aren't you afraid of thieves?" Komachi asked me.
The response was simple "My home is open to all who need my help and advice..."
"...And also because people know better then to steal from the Yama who will judge their soul."
Granted, I won't allow a personal bias to get in the way, but stealing is stealing and it's still a sin.
"Hmm, good point. So, you ready Eiki-sama?" Komachi asked me and held out her hand.
That way? Well, I suppose it'll get us there fast.
I nodded yes and took my friend's hand.
"Alright!" She said "One quick trip to the afterlife coming up!"
Komachi took a single step and I felt my whole body whooshed away. I felt a rush of air flow past me. I held onto Komachi's hand tight as she pulled me along with her.
I landed back on my feet, at a completely different place. A land with a cloud like floor, a series of complexs, buildings, and a few trees that originated from different dimensions line up after eachother, as if to show the path that lead to a even larger building that every other single building was built around.
"And here we are!" Komachi said on cue. She let go of my hand and we floated up into the air.
One step and one second after we departed, we arrived at our location.
Komachi's ability to manipulate distance is an amazing power. She can change the distance between any two things whether they be physical, magical, or even conceptual.
This can range from crossing a mile in a single step, the distance of duration of something, or even the distance between life and death. It also makes her a beast in combat. Changing the distance between her scythe and whatever she's striking can ensure she'll never miss, or lose for that matter.
We were in the afterlife now, specifically at the Ministry Of What's Right And Wrong, where our head Yama resides managing the thousands of Yamas and Shinigami who work under him and dealing with the hundreds of thousands of problems that occur everyday.
And inside this massive series of complexs that stood ahead of us, our new replacement awaits.
"So the replacement's inside?" I asked Komachi.
"Yep. I already came here earlier and took care of the paperwork" She told me. "All we have to do and pick up our replacement."
wait...
Something didn't add up. And I think I knew what.
"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" I said accusing the hypocrite.
That hypocrite! She didn't sleep last night and she's lecturing me on not sleeping enough?
"I suppose I can't hide it huh?" Komachi then laughed. "Yeep. Woke up at sunset and decided I'll take care of this overnight while you were busy judging souls. I'll get yesterday's and today's ferrying done after all this."
…
...
…That woman never ceases to surprise me.
We flew through the massive entrance gate entering into this afterlife that was bustling with life. Our first destination was the directory lobby building, usually the waiting room for the thousands who come here to get in touch with the top brass in charge, put in a request, or looking to be pointed in the right direction, like we are right now. Komachi had to spend a whole weekend waiting in the proper line here just to throw our request in with the twenty four thousand others. Fun memories.
We made our way to the redirectory section. "Geeze. Took them long enough to get someone to fill in for Fuka-chan." She said.
I agree. We've been down Fukakusa, the resident Soul Reaper Shinigami of Gensokyo for about a whole month and a half now. We would have had a replacement by now, but since Gensokyo is a smaller region and the death count is very low compared to other regions on this planet it means Gensokyo is a low priority area. As a matter of fact there's a gensokyo branch only because of the extremely powerful beings that have settled down here, both before and after the border came up.
And since it's a lower priority area it has taken a very long time for the request for a substitute reaper shinigami to be fulfilled while Fukakusa is out of commission. Replacements are quite common in the more dangerous worlds, planets, and more dangerous universes. Sometimes even us Yama's get injured and are no longer able to perform their duties. I suppose that's what happens when you try to judge the souls of evil gods and demon overlords, they do not want to go quietly.
But this isn't anything new. This has always been the situation. That's why there's so many of us.
I do wonder if Fukakusa will actually return. Usually they replace reapers when these things happen to them with stronger reapers. I'll be sad if this happens, Fukakusa's been with us for quite some time.
As we walked towards one of the receptionists a winged fellow came up to us and stopped us. He must be one of the messengers and assistants here at the Ministry.
"Yamaxanadu?" I heard the fellow say.
My title. I bowed to him. "Yes, it is I."
"Welcome back Yamaxanadu." He said to me.
"They sent someone to help us? How kind." Komachi commented.
"They didn't." He said. "Right now I'm busy on another errand. I just helped your replacement a few minutes ago."
"Your replacement should be at left lobby 23." The winged fellow said "I told your replacement that you two were to meet there. The receptionist at that lobby should give you their file and tell you who you're looking for."
"Much appreciated", "Thank you" Komachi and I said.
"Anytime." Said the winged fellow as he took off. We continued on our way.
We exited the redirectory lobby and flew towards the correct lobby.
Looking above we saw a handful of Shinigami being lead by a single Shinigami. A small squadron all flying in formation. They whooshed by us, presumably in a hurry.
Hmm…
"Seems like something's up." I commented. "I suppose the Elite Shinigami corps must be getting ready to take out a big target again."
"They are. I heard them saying they were planning on going after that planet killer or something that passed it's threat threshold or something. Or at least that's what I overheard when I was here earlier." Komachi told me. "From what I was hearing, it's not as strong as the one that went on a rampage last month, so they shouldn't be needing you this time."
"That's good." I said crossing my arms. "I'm always more then happy to help when the elite corps are in need, I just wish they could send my souls elsewhere instead of making them wait until I return."
"Eiki, you were gone just three hours, it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, here we are at left lobby 23." Komachi then said.
We both placed a hand each on the double doors leading to the lobby. I took a deep breath and we both pushed opened the door.
The lobby had a few people inside it, waiting in line for a receptionist that wasn't there. I scanned the room and saw twenty-six people waiting inside the room including us.
"This might take a while so you go take a seat and chill Eiki-sama, I'll wait in line." Komachi said as she did me a favor and got in the line.
Taking my looks around, I decided to take next to an open chair that had a binder and an bag on it.
We both knew this was going to take some time. I scanned the room again, noticing the different people. The majority were of former humans such as myself and Komachi, but the rest were of alien creeds. Some looked like us humans with slight changes like darker skin and rigid foreheads or other changes such as sharper eyes, longer ears and tails. There were also some that didn't even look remotely human, such as a reptilian reaper shinigami, a judicial clerk whom was a gas based lifeform, and another that looked like a jellyfish.
If we were mortal, each of these would be major differences between us, but to us these physical changes no longer matter. We are the assistants, soul reapers, ferrymen, clerks and administrators of the afterlife, and nomatter how different we may look our souls are all the same, as we have all taken up the pledge and duty to ensure that our fellow souls can find safe passage to what lies next for th-
"Yaaaaawwwwwnnnnn"
I yawned, and I noticed my eyes shut and reopen without me thinking about it.
And my eyes... my eyes were getting heavy.
Did Komachi let me sit so I could get some sleep?
...
She's avoiding my eyes...
dang it...I think she did…and the coffee's fading off too...
hmm...well...A nap, a little five minute nap…may not be that bad. It'd feel really good to sleep right now… …really…really wants to…
Those humans call it...power-napping right?
Yea…
I yawned again
yea…that…might….
…be…..
…
NO!
I jolted to the edge of my seat in defiance of my sleepy instincts
I am a Yama! I am the Yamaxanadu!
As long as I bear the title of Judge of Paradise, as long as I don these clothes of the Yama, I represent all Yamas with my words and actions. I will not sleep and dishonor the name of the Yamas.
Even if noone cares if a Yama takes a nap, I do! And I must care!
I must always hold myself to a higher standard and strive for my greatest self. It is us Yamas who show the way of enlightenment to others though our own example, teaching those who watch us that the way of good and righteousness is superior to the ways of evil and the lure of sin.
I leaned myself against the back of my seat, dedicated not to falling asleep.
It does not matter that I have had less then two hours sleep in the past ten days. I can rest when all this is over. And I will Never….never….
….nev…..r….
…..r…..
"You can do this …get it together…."
"Don't chicken out here, I'm going to be ok, I'm going to be ok..."
…Never fall asleep. I, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu shall not…..
…Oh no…
…Oh no…
did I just?
Ugghhh I did didn't I...damn it.
I double blinked. My mood changed to self-disgust as I looked to my side, and nolonger was the seat empty, but filled with a blond youth who seems to be worried. Looking at the line, Komachi was now one blob-type shinigami away from reaching the receptionist. Looking at the clock above the receptionist's desk, time had jumped 20 minutes.
But no, it didn't. I fell asleep for twenty minutes.
I lowered my head and held my forehead in shame.
Eiki, you know this is not how a Yama is suppose to act
Get it together girl. Sleeping on the job is a terrible example to set for others, especially Komachi. She'll never let me live it down…
Though…I do feel much better now…my mind feels refreshed, and my equilibrium seems to be more balanced, and eyes aren't as heavy anymore. Maybe Komachi was right after all with me needing to rest more. They say, how can one help others if they themselves is helpless?
hmm…
Komachi probably is right. I shouldn't have even let it come to this in the first place.
On the other hand, I couldn't let anything bad happen, I had to do what I had to do to make sure everything ran as they were suppose to when we were lacking the 1/3 of our team...
Bah, don't think about it.
This, this whole thing was an unfortunate circumstance and situation I've been in; a situation that is now coming to its end. I'll have to remember this and prevent it from happening again. If this happens again, some of the shinigami from tokyo should be willing to sub for one of us.
...
Just a little longer now.
I sat around and looked more around to the room to pass the time.
With another glance, there were a few more shinigami in the room now. I suppose we're not the only one's here looking for a replacement. Definitely one of these shinigami will be the one we're looking for. I wonder who it will be?
Looking to my left, I see that the blond youth that was sitting next to me is a shinigami as well. He was dressed in a variation of the shinigami uniform. He was wearing light-yellow Hakama, white short sleeved shirt with a vest that matched the color of his hakama in comparison to Komachi's blue. His yellow hair was neatly combed over to his left, and his eyes were a deep blood red. A trait many inherit upon their transformation from ordinary souls into shinigami.
Looking, I could see his shinigami scythe seemed folded up into three parts. Two halfs of the staff and the blade, which seemed to have been folded inwards. The whole thing was held by a strand that would be hung near his rear...or it would be if he didn't take it off and slide it under the chair he was sitting in. The staff was a eerie pure white, only the blade was black.
Hm, strange. Haven't seen those lately. Must be one of those newer shinigami scythes.
And he looks quite young too. I'd gauge that he looked like he was in his early teens. He must have died when he was young…I only hope it was painless...
I'd take a guess and assume that he wasn't that old mentally either. The boy was fidgeting with his thumbs with worry on his mind. Unlike many Shinigami that looked his age, he actually seemed to act like a budding teenager.
I should try to help calm his worry. And so I did.
"Is something the matter?" I asked him
The boy noticed
The boy's cheeks turned a little red and he shook his head.
"It's nothing Yama-sama." He said. "It's a-a trivial thing. Nothing a Yama should worry themselves about."
"Yamas are suppose to be there to help people in need. Or at least, that's what I believe." I told him.
I saw a slight smile of happiness. I think he did want to talk about it, just not knowing who to talk to. He wanted to get something off his chest.
"You can tell me your problem." I said. "I'm always willing to help as much as I can."
Looking at his body language, I seemed to break through, making him feel comfortable enough to talk. "Well…it's that I'm…I'm nervous."
"What about?" I inquired.
"Well…I just graduated from the Shinigami training academy a few days ago and I'm being assigned to my first position today. I'm just really nervous of if I'm going to do ok. There's so many other shinigami here waiting like me…they all seem so…strong."
Ahhh…so that's it. I remember this feeling when I first starting working for the ministry. I had so much to prove back then, and especially if I wanted to get to my life's goal of becoming a Yama. I did everything that I could to impress the Head Yama and prove that his decision about me was right. That first year was one of the toughest years of my entire life.
In the end it all had paid off. I had surpassed the Head Yama and everyone's expectations. Within a century of joining I had achieved my life's dream and became a Yama. Something unheard of back then, and something that hasn't been topped since.
"It's always rough in the beginning. I've been through it myself but I assure you don't need to worry like that. If you believe in yourself and give it your all, I'm sure you'll pull through. That's how I pulled through when I first joined."
I put my hand on his armrest. "I know you'll do fine."
His worry seemed to have cleared up. I think all he needed was a little pep talk.
"Th-thank you Yama-Sama" He said to me, giving me a little quick bow from the edge of his seat. "I appreciate it."
"It's what I do" I said back to him.
Indeed. It is-
-oh! I almost forgot, I need to introduce myself to him. "Oh yes, allow me to introduce myself." I said to the boy. "I am ShikiEiki, the Yamaxanadu."
"My name is Liam Alibus" He said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Alibus-san" I said to him.
"The honor is all mine." He said to me.
Taking a look at Komachi, she was at the receptionist now. She was either chatting up a storm or with the receptionist or Komachi was figuring out what the receptionist is telling her. At least one of the two, I can never be certain with that Komachi.
"It seems I won't be here much longer. My associate seems to have made it to the receptionist." I said to him.
I saw him look away for a moment, thinking of what to say and then asking me a question. "Umm, Yamaxanadu-sama, if I may ask, what brings you here today?"
I see no reason not to say the truth.
"Our resident soul reaper shinigami was injured as of late. We've sent in for a substitute while our friend heals." I said to him.
We both looked around. "I'm guessing our sub is somewhere in this room." I commented about it.
"-And we're gonna have to figure out who our lucky winner is all by ourselves" I heard Komachi's voice say walking past me and taking the empty seat to my right.
"So, who's your new friend Eiki-sama?" Komachi asked me as she leaned back on the seat and stretched her arms up with a little yawn of her own.
Ahh yes, introductions all around.
"Alibus-san, this is my subbornate and my ferryman shinigami, Komachi Onozuka." I said introducing the two to eachother. "Komachi, this is Liam Alibus."
Liam leaned to get in Komachi's eyesight and gave a little head bow. "Hello" and "Nice to meet you" they said to eachother.
"Alibus-san is a new recruit." I told her. "He's being sent out on his first assignment today."
"Ooohhh, a newbie." Komachi said reminiscing. "Ahhh, I remember those days when I was new meat…good times…good times."
Liam's face glimmered at that response, confirmation that the road ahead wasn't pain and suffering, but actually something to look foreword to. "Really?" Liam asked Komachi with a hopeful voice.
Sadly, I should kn-
"Oh hell no." she said with a chuckle. "I got mauled, eaten, and slaughtered constantly for like a year straight" Komachi said bluntly with a strange tone of happiness and a little laugh.
Dear lord Komachi.
Liam's expression froze in terror.
She then elaborated on how terrible how it was. "Well, back then it was terrible for me. Now it's hilarious whenever I look back on it. Ohhh, the ways I managed to get myself killed…" Komachi blissfully said, having a little chuckle reminiscing on these memories…
Mr. Alibus wasn't sharing the feeling, to say it lightly. And neither was I.
I glared at my redheaded slacker for inspiring "confidence" Komachi in our new friend, and I placed my arm on her shoulder, my hand clamping "gently".
I spoke. "That just happens when you don't learn to dodge." I said turning from Liam to Komachi with a another glare the moment she was about to open her mouth again, then back to Liam with a pleasant look.
"You'll be fine Mr. Alibus," I told him. "As long as you can keep up with the work, you'll be ok. There's more then enough people here willing to help you when you're having trouble, like I said, as long as you can dodge, you'll be fine. I got through relatively unscaved."
Granted, I was stronger then my own mentors all combined, but still he shouldn't be too bad.
"Anyway…" I said boldly to force the subject change..."Komachi, did you find out who's replacing Fukakusa?"
Komachi got the point, and took out a folder she brought with her.
"Uh-huh, the receptionist gave me this. She said we'd have to find our new reaper by ourselves though. Shouldn't be too hard." She said. "Let me see who it is..."
We opened the folder and took a look at the file they had for us.
"Let's see" Komachi said "…the name is…Liam….Alibus?"
We didn't need to look. Our new shinigami was right next to us.
We turned to the left and looked at Liam…Liam Alibus, the new substitute soul reaper of Gensokyo.
Komachi's jaw dropped. "They gave us a kid?!"
Chapter 1 – End
AN- And it's not a girl!
Yes, a male Touhou OC. Heaven help me.
Anyway ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to protagonist Liam Alibus, Substitute Soul Reaper of Gensokyo. I hope "the young and innocent starting shinigami" makes a good surrogate for you, the audience as he gets casted into that insane world known as Genskoyo.
Will he come out in one piece? I'd say the chances aren't good…and I'm the author, I should know.
And I've reused Elly from the PC-98 games for the prologue and given her a promotion from meer machoistic gardener of a castle that only existed in dreams to an full-blow badass Shinigami. You'll be seeing her again, eventually.
As for me, this is the first major project I've worked on in a long time, and well, for myself, I've made a vow. That within 100 days of now, this story shall be complete. April 29, 2014. I've been working on this story for a while, but not much in...in terms of accomplishing things. Well, that's going to change.
Within 100 days, hopefully by Easter, if not by the 29th. This story shall be complete. That is my goal, and I will not stop until I do. I've broken this story up into three acts, each of them having 3-4 story "arcs" to each act. Sofar on my progress, 1/9 of the way through, I'm passing the 30k mark. 30k x 9 = 270,000, so I'd guess this whole story should be around 300,000 words or less.
I feel ambitious for this, but I do have desires to turn this hobby I love into something much grander, and this is the first step towards that. I hope you all stay tuned with me while I go through this journey.
See you next chapter!