CHAPTER I: The Chosen
(Later that day)
Hell is commonly represented as a place filled with jagged cliffs, demons, and lakes of fire. While this is true in part, Hell is actually much more complicated than that. After the damned leaves the office of lord Enma, sole judge of souls, it ordinarily proceeds to upper hell, which is the realm of fiery lakes that we know and love. However, in some cases a damned soul who is particularly powerful or particularly evil will not be stripped of his body and will instead go to middle hell, a realm of nothingness where souls drift through empty plains for eternity. This place is known by most deities and heavenly beings to be called, the Realm for Infinite Losers. For the even more powerful and even more evil clientele, hell has one final section called Lower Hell. Lower Hell is an abyss filled with tiny floating worlds, on each of these worlds lives one soul damned to Lower Hell and an infinite sum of horrible, flesh eating monsters. The damned lives constantly on the run from these things and while they cannot die, the pain the monsters inflict on them when caught is immense. This process continues for eternity. Something extraordinary was about to happen on one of these worlds.
Haketi's strait black hair fluttered in the strong wind, his deep hazel eyes stared, unblinkingly towards the horizon of his tiny personal hell. The tanned skin on his handsome, angular face broken by a jagged scar running through his left eye from the forehead to just below his high cheekbones. He wore a blue gi with a deep green sash and shirt underneath, covering his gi was a long poncho-like cowl. His ceaseless staring was interrupted by the approach of one of those horrid creatures. Haketi yanked his hood over his head and stooped to pick up his katana, which lay sheathed on the floor. The warrior sensed the monsters horrible energy even before the thing was close enough to see him. Haketi smiled, these attacks had become the highlight of his days here, rather than fearing these creatures he reveled in the entertainment they provided him with. It was the banal tedium of this place that made it seem truly hellish. After all, being the only creature save Deus to ever battle the rage and escape with his soul intact it was hard to fear anything as powerless as a ki-wielding monster. A feral smile played across his lips as he turned to face the beast that would soon emerge from the brush. His patience was rewarded when a terrifying cretin crashed out of the bushes ahead of him. The thing was truly the creature of a child's nightmare. It had long, vicious claws, bloodstained teeth, and reeked of death and decay. The fiend's sharp claws flew towards Haketi, but cut through nothing but air. Haketi appeared behind the demon and drew his sword quickly severing the demon's body from its legs. Before the monstrosities body hit the ground Haketi had sheathed his sword again.
"That took less time than expected," commented a voice from behind Haketi. The swordsman whirled in surprise and his hand flew to the hilt of his katana, how had he not sensed this newcomer's arrival. He recognized the being before him instantly.
"KAIOSHIN!" he exclaimed in surprise
"Yes?" replied the youthful god.
"What are you doing here?" the fighter growled menacingly, recuperating from his shock, he never did trust gods.
"I came to make a proposition," The god responded calmly as he began to relate to Haketi events that had occurred earlier that day.
Haketi waited patiently for the god to conclude his anecdote and then asked, "So what?"
The god was dumbstruck, he was talking to a man who had risked his soul battling the Rage and who, by all appearances, could give a damn if it made its return. The god reprimanded himself silently for his blatant show of emotion and then continued, trying his best to seem undaunted.
"If we are able to eliminate the children who house the rage within them we will be able to avert Armageddon. That is why I came to you, I need four warriors, one from each galaxy to destroy those who are infested with the rage before they mature enough to become adequate hosts."
Gods always have to get someone else to do their dirty work. Thought Haketi, he had never recovered from the last time he had done a god's dirty work. This time, however, killing a few rage-ridden babies could get him out of hell, and that was well worth the effort.
"If I accept, I want to be freed from hell." He demanded
"Very well." Stated Kiaoshin; relieved that Haketi's asking price had been so small. He had been rather shocked at the ease that Haketi had accepted the job; the murder of babies was not exactly the most standard of tasks. After doing battle with the Rage and feeling its sheer destructiveness, you would be hard pressed to find any task that would seem even remotely horrible.
Kiaoshin spent the remainder of the day convincing the warrior called Paikuhan, from the West Galaxy, of the urgency of the endeavor. In the end he had overcome Paikuhan's reservations on the subject of infanticide, after all mortals had tremendous egos and Kiaoshin easily exploited this to his advantage. Having acquired two chosen, Kiaoshin spent what remained of the day leisurely pondering whom to chose from the next two galaxies.
(Later that day)
Hell is commonly represented as a place filled with jagged cliffs, demons, and lakes of fire. While this is true in part, Hell is actually much more complicated than that. After the damned leaves the office of lord Enma, sole judge of souls, it ordinarily proceeds to upper hell, which is the realm of fiery lakes that we know and love. However, in some cases a damned soul who is particularly powerful or particularly evil will not be stripped of his body and will instead go to middle hell, a realm of nothingness where souls drift through empty plains for eternity. This place is known by most deities and heavenly beings to be called, the Realm for Infinite Losers. For the even more powerful and even more evil clientele, hell has one final section called Lower Hell. Lower Hell is an abyss filled with tiny floating worlds, on each of these worlds lives one soul damned to Lower Hell and an infinite sum of horrible, flesh eating monsters. The damned lives constantly on the run from these things and while they cannot die, the pain the monsters inflict on them when caught is immense. This process continues for eternity. Something extraordinary was about to happen on one of these worlds.
Haketi's strait black hair fluttered in the strong wind, his deep hazel eyes stared, unblinkingly towards the horizon of his tiny personal hell. The tanned skin on his handsome, angular face broken by a jagged scar running through his left eye from the forehead to just below his high cheekbones. He wore a blue gi with a deep green sash and shirt underneath, covering his gi was a long poncho-like cowl. His ceaseless staring was interrupted by the approach of one of those horrid creatures. Haketi yanked his hood over his head and stooped to pick up his katana, which lay sheathed on the floor. The warrior sensed the monsters horrible energy even before the thing was close enough to see him. Haketi smiled, these attacks had become the highlight of his days here, rather than fearing these creatures he reveled in the entertainment they provided him with. It was the banal tedium of this place that made it seem truly hellish. After all, being the only creature save Deus to ever battle the rage and escape with his soul intact it was hard to fear anything as powerless as a ki-wielding monster. A feral smile played across his lips as he turned to face the beast that would soon emerge from the brush. His patience was rewarded when a terrifying cretin crashed out of the bushes ahead of him. The thing was truly the creature of a child's nightmare. It had long, vicious claws, bloodstained teeth, and reeked of death and decay. The fiend's sharp claws flew towards Haketi, but cut through nothing but air. Haketi appeared behind the demon and drew his sword quickly severing the demon's body from its legs. Before the monstrosities body hit the ground Haketi had sheathed his sword again.
"That took less time than expected," commented a voice from behind Haketi. The swordsman whirled in surprise and his hand flew to the hilt of his katana, how had he not sensed this newcomer's arrival. He recognized the being before him instantly.
"KAIOSHIN!" he exclaimed in surprise
"Yes?" replied the youthful god.
"What are you doing here?" the fighter growled menacingly, recuperating from his shock, he never did trust gods.
"I came to make a proposition," The god responded calmly as he began to relate to Haketi events that had occurred earlier that day.
Haketi waited patiently for the god to conclude his anecdote and then asked, "So what?"
The god was dumbstruck, he was talking to a man who had risked his soul battling the Rage and who, by all appearances, could give a damn if it made its return. The god reprimanded himself silently for his blatant show of emotion and then continued, trying his best to seem undaunted.
"If we are able to eliminate the children who house the rage within them we will be able to avert Armageddon. That is why I came to you, I need four warriors, one from each galaxy to destroy those who are infested with the rage before they mature enough to become adequate hosts."
Gods always have to get someone else to do their dirty work. Thought Haketi, he had never recovered from the last time he had done a god's dirty work. This time, however, killing a few rage-ridden babies could get him out of hell, and that was well worth the effort.
"If I accept, I want to be freed from hell." He demanded
"Very well." Stated Kiaoshin; relieved that Haketi's asking price had been so small. He had been rather shocked at the ease that Haketi had accepted the job; the murder of babies was not exactly the most standard of tasks. After doing battle with the Rage and feeling its sheer destructiveness, you would be hard pressed to find any task that would seem even remotely horrible.
Kiaoshin spent the remainder of the day convincing the warrior called Paikuhan, from the West Galaxy, of the urgency of the endeavor. In the end he had overcome Paikuhan's reservations on the subject of infanticide, after all mortals had tremendous egos and Kiaoshin easily exploited this to his advantage. Having acquired two chosen, Kiaoshin spent what remained of the day leisurely pondering whom to chose from the next two galaxies.