Blessed Messiah

Chapter 5

He didn't know what he would see when the doorknob turned to let him in, but it was definitely the last thing he ever expected.

The world darkened into a dreary hue of tainted green, taking his breath with him when the sudden onslaught of isolation attacked him from all side. Junpei thought he could see the bright outline of the celestial bodies from the windows, and he couldn't see the moldy, dusty floor beneath his soles because the ground looked as if it was swallowed completely by the silhouette.

When he lifted his head, the shifting light landed on something more ephemeral than the moon itself. The being stood still in the middle of the room, tipping its human-like head languidly to greet the moon outside. Its side profile was a thin, blurry line as dark tendrils surrounded it that drowned and enveloped the small space. The shadows mystified its features, the transient flickers of light gave way to the sight that eventually entered his vision.

The being enveloped the room with its deathly atmosphere, encased in a suit blacker than the darkest night. It was draped in a tattered cloak from head to toe, worn and torn with time as the strong set of shoulders were protected in iron lamellar pouldrons. White-gloved fingers gripped the hilt of a massive steel broadsword, the gleaming tip digging sharply into the broken floor. Its faceless head was hidden by a cold case of silvery iron, with monstrous set of fangs as molars. The thing looked like a hunter that would kill everything that was set on its path.

And the wings-

-The wings were enormous, large enough to reach the other side of the wall. Dark caskets so fine they could've been mistaken for obsidian gemstone instead. Each caskets were attached to a chain, rattling softly like bells with the gravity of soothing hum of power that reverberated throughout the sealed room. It contrasted greatly with the despair he felt around the abandoned dorm and the barely-concealed malice he could feel from the being.

It was like staring directly into the face of a Death God.

Junpei felt his heart pounded harshly, pumping adrenaline into his already fraying nerves. The... The being was still facing towards the full moon, but it wasn't like he could escape and flee away. He was rooted to the spot, watching the waxing and the waning of Earth's natural satellite with a sick sense of wonder that he was still alive.

He tried to move his legs, to go back to the waking world but he heard an inhuman growl from the monstrous being and suddenly, it stood tall over him, dwarfing his figure easily. It bore its muscular body on steel legs and floated, hovering over him for a time. Its empty, dead eye sockets were suddenly filled with drops of liquid golden that contrasted its faceless features.

Junpei wondered if he would live to see the next morning.

"Thanatos."

And suddenly, the world lost its focus around him and Junpei stood within the deep darkness, with Arisato's ghost standing before him.

The voice was so young, so unbearably different from what he remembered. But it has been seven years and the idea of witnessing something like this was outside the realm of rationality. It was funny how the brain would perceived an illusion. He was finally, finally insane.

"Jun...pei?" The voice wavered.

He turned to face the ghost-memory of his illusion and Arisato was looking at him with eyes as silver as the moon, as silver as the eyes that glazed over when Junpei found the body on the morning he died. And the ghost retreated back a few steps, falling deeper within the shadow that encompassed the room.

"How...? What are you doing here?"

He wanted the ghost to go away. This was so unreal. He could see the solid form, he could hear the young voice, he could feel the slight tugging at his memories of things that were never there to begin with. Junpei felt like his lungs has collapsed and something sank in his chest. He hadn't anticipated that and he remained still on his side, trying to gain his voice back.

And to his horror, he felt tears ran freely to his cheeks.

Junpei was startled when he got a smile in response and he wiped his face furiously. But it wasn't like the smile of a distant and untouchable dorm mate he remembered back then. It wasn't the same smile that held so many silence that was used to hid lies and truths, so unreadable that he could only say that the smile he remembered was the smile of a dead, immovable object instead.

This smile was one of nostalgia, laden with hints of secrets that he might feel not ready to accept yet. "You look weird with hair." It stated, but not moving any closer to him from where he stood. Maybe it was for the best, because he wasn't ready for the words it spoke next.

The apparition shook its head. "To think that you, of all people, could breach the barrier... I must be getting rusty."

Maybe he was getting senile, maybe he was so stressed out by his baseball matches that he was having a nutcase conversation with a ghost. Next time, he'll sign a form to get admitted to a mental ward. "What are you? How can you talk? Y-you died! I found your b-body here! And what the fuck is that wispy ghost thing below? Fuck it, I must be crazy."

His question went unanswered as Arisato watched him with wide, unblinking eyes. His expression froze that it made Junpei's urge to turn his back went stronger in each passing seconds. "What happened... that day?" It asked softly.

This time, his grimace from the slightest mention of that day was smaller, and he thought that at least he owed something to the ghost, if only just to retell his own memory. Perhaps, the conscious ghost was still here in the waking world because of the strong imprint the emotions has on this place. They were the result of the intense emotions branded in the past, not something that existed right here and now. At least, that was what he thought, because the Arisato that stood in front of his eyes didn't withheld the same oppressing despair he saw in the fragment many nights ago.

"That was a long time ago, 's not like I'd remember much." And it was the truth.

Pale face with the pallor of death smiled, agreeing with a nod. "Yes, it has. It seemed like it happened a lifetime ago, to someone else. Sorry, it's just that the facts hadn't hit me yet." Arisato said mirthlessly.

"That's my line, you asshat!" Junpei said aggressively. "It's not everyday you speak to the dead."

"So... It was true. I died, huh." Arisato said calmly, with the hint of small amusement behind his words. "I didn't realize that, actually. By the time I know it, I was here and there was no one else but the two of us. How did you get here?"

He thought of the dark thread that suddenly appeared on his wrist and he held up his arm. Junpei watched as Arisato's death-like face went through a series of complex expression that seemed to born and die in fleeting moments.

In the end, the shade only shook his head in disbelief. "No... It can't be. It must've been only because I'm getting weaker."

"If so, why don't you just stop?" Junpei blurted out, and quickly felt the acid on his tongue. He didn't know why.

Then, almost instantly, the shape of the beast shifted again, moving to force its way against the chains that bound it. Arisato faced the thing and ran soothing hands against its torso, light shimmering and fading quickly. The thing growled and something like pain flickered on Arisato's face, but he kept on feeding the light onto the monstrous beast. It was when he noticed that the light came from darkening threads that littered Arisato's body, strewn and laying limply on the floor.

"It will be all right," The shade whispered faintly, when Junpei had looked away and stood closer to the door. Junpei paused and stared at him. The moon overhead was the only source of light as Arisato reached the thing's masked face. He was smiling and closing his eyes.

It was a sight to behold.

There was an immediate blaze of power, awakening and circling the room as it overlaid the moon's weak shine. Junpei retreated back at the sullen blue glow, shocked. The light danced on a nameless tune, intertwining and overflowing as the glow took on the form of a shapeless flame, burning and fading so quickly that it blinked in and out of existence in mere seconds.

The weight of the silence after that was so heavy that Junpei couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Could only stand there and wait for everything to end.

"W-What is that thing?" He managed to say as the light went out like doused fire.

The liquid golden eyes of that thing were snuffed out. Its great, beastly body went slack as it continued to hover above them. Arisato turned to him and gave him a smile that he didn't want to look at. He didn't want to be anywhere close to anyone who smiled so grimly like that, even if it was a ghost.

"...My prisoner. And I am its guardian."

Junpei held back the unbearable temptation to swear. What kind of fucked-up answer was that?

"W-What happened? Why are you here? What's going on?!" Junpei swallowed the panicked stream of questions growing in his tongue.

"No." Arisato said firmly, holding his stance. "No questions about this."

"ARISATO, ANSWER ME!" Junpei exploded, he wanted to punch something so badly.

The shade resolutely said, "No, Junpei."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly and paced across the small space. He found a broken chair in the corner of the room and kicked it harshly, splinters of wood pieces landed on the floor. The shade only stood there silently, the solid frame seemingly transient in the dark.

"The guardian is not a man, Junpei. The guardian is just a means, a method of protecting something more powerful and ancient than humanity itself. Something that must go on even if the man behind it has died." Arisato's eyes turned to him and the solemnity in them struck him to the core.

In the darkness, the black, almost-obsidian caskets seemed to glow brighter. The caskets were a striking contrast to the monstrously dark, faceless entity they were attached to. It was strange how something so monstrous were held back only with fragile chains that could snap anytime.

Arisato's hands caressed the eight caskets as he slowly walked around the room, barefoot. And even though it was dark, he could see that the back of Arisato's hands were scarred, just like the state of the obsidian caskets. They must've been gleaming silver once upon a time. Now, though, the covers were so worn out that they looked like they wouldn't hold up.

"I'm sorry, for not being able to hold it together." The tips of the shade's scarred fingers ran over each caskets softly, circling the sleeping beast. Each obsidian caskets depicted the same feature, of a robed figure holding a sword close to its chest with a knight-like pose. Then, the dark-haired teen withdrew himself from the thing's side, his back vulnerably open to Junpei as black threads surrounded his body.

"What are those caskets? D-don't tell me that those are filled with corpses," Junpei's voice shook with anxiousness. Arisato turned around to find Junpei, silver eyes zeroing in on him. But instead of an answer, the shade only smiled and retreated back to the darkness.

"I heard once-" the faint voice was haunting the room, echoing with the silence. "The story of a chosen one heralded by many. He was well-loved by his companions. Undefeated, they had conquered wars and barren wasteland alike. But what history forgets- is that he didn't win the war alone, that many of his companions suffered from the war."

Junpei frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but he found that he couldn't.

"...History wouldn't retell that the chosen one was just one person who did what he had to do to protect his companions. That he had to be the strong one who would make the world a safer place. History wouldn't retell that he was not infallible."

Junpei lifted his head to say as much to Arisato, whose voice has grown fainter by the moment-

And found himself standing in a broken, beaten room in the abandoned dorm. The dark midnight has passed.

Author's Note:

Two fanfics update in one week is hellish, let me tell you. Thank god for Tumblr and small blessings (well, hello there, readers).

Thanks for reading^^