Shadow Hearts

Joshua Marc LeHoux

Based on the video game from Midway®

Rouen, France, 1913

An article appeared in the newspaper: an article that made people afraid to walk the streets at night:

A traveling priest, brutally murdered before sunrise! His body lay scattered in pieces, as if savaged by a beast. His daughter, believed to be traveling with him, has been classified as "missing".

Prologue

Autumn. South Manchu, China, 1913

A young man stood at the train station, waiting for it. He heard it coming, and announced it aloud to himself. As he saw it coming towards him from the distance, he smiled. These days were his best. "I kinda feel like a kid again..." He said quietly, half laughing to himself. He didn't know how apt the word 'again' really was...

A train sped over the plains under the distant, faint light of the beautiful stars above, as smoke seemed to bellow infinitely from it. Animals, immersed in the tranquility of the countryside, ran quickly from the horribly loud noise the train made as it passed. The inside of the train was dimly lit with electric lights, which were new to many who were onboard.

Meanwhile, a small girl of age twenty-one sat in the luxury car, looking out of the window in boredom. Her name was Alice Elliot, and she was the missing daughter of the traveling priest. She had a pretty face, mixed with depression and slight fear, her short hair was a beautiful light blonde colour, with short bangs, and it was tied in the back. She was dressed like a noble girl from England; her colours were blue and white, with white stockings, white gloves, and a small necklace, with a cross at the end. She did not know where the Japanese Army was taking her. She only hoped they would take her somewhere safe.

An elderly gentleman wearing a tuxedo, bow and top hat, walked through the cars, heading towards, but still a few cars behind, Alice Elliot. He had a kind, happy face, and seemed to be a pleasant man. An old female peddler crossed his path, and he smiled politely before letting her by. He walked into the next car, unaware that somebody in that car was watching him closely.

Two soldiers, in the same car as Alice, were speaking. "It's already past 2300 hours, and it's still a long way to Fengtian..."

The other soldier spoke, confused, "Major Tsugi, what is this all about? Why a special train, in the middle of the night, to escort this girl to Japan? She looks pretty ordinary to me."

"Hell if I know... There's no telling what the big shots in Tokyo are thinking. Next time I see you-know-who, I'll ask her, okay?"

Without warning, a painful scream, louder than the constant roar of the engine, ripped through the train, alerting all who were onboard. There were two guards in front of the luxury car, and one of them was lying in a bloody heap on the floor. The other, too terrified to move, or even speak, gaped dumbly at the killer.

The elderly gentleman was smiling, reveling in his latest kill. His familiar sat on his shoulder; it was a small green creature, reeking of blood, and it held a small scythe in its hands. The man calmly walked past the other guard, and instantly, he too was dead.

Alice had moved into the car behind the luxury car, hoping to be safe. Major Tsugi, along with two privates, was at the back of the luxury car, and the lesser soldiers had their rifles pointed at the elderly gentleman.

Major Tsugi was in a panic. "Sh-shoot!" He yelled.

The men obeyed the order, but the strange creature got in front of each bullet, making sure his master was not harmed. Alice appeared behind Major Tsugi, just in time to watch the other two soldiers die from the blade of the familiar. She held her hand over her mouth in disgust.

Tsugi raised his pistol and began firing. "Die! Die!" He yelled.

The gun fired three useless shots, and then was empty. In a blind panic, he continued to pull the trigger, to no avail. Soon the creature was upon him as well, and in an instant, he was on the ground, dead.

Alice turned to enter the next car, only to realize that somehow, it was locked.

She looked at the old man. "It's...it's you..."

The gentleman smiled. "Yes... I'm Roger Bacon, and I'm honoured that you remember me so well..."

The demon raised his scythe, and Alice cringed in terror. "You can't escape," Roger said. "And I don't want to hurt you. Come along quietly, now."

At that moment, the door behind Bacon opened, and out stepped the young man who had been watching him the whole time, wearing a long, open, brown trench coat. His appearance was messy and confident.

Roger turned and saw him. "Ah, a new actor in our play."

Suddenly, the creature flew through the air at the young man, severing his left arm, and tried to zip around the other side. The young man grabbed the demon's head with his still-attached arm and promptly through him out the window.

Roger Bacon sighed. "A pity. I was fond of him."

The young man then nonchalantly picked up his severed arm, and it molded itself back to his shoulder, and smiled mockingly at the kidnapper. Alice tried to run by both of them, but Roger caught her before she could take a step. He waved his hand in front of her face, and she instantly fell asleep. The young man suddenly ran towards Bacon, but Bacon quickly turned, and his eyes flashed a shining white.

The young man was quickly shot back three cars of the train. He rolled on the floor, breaking a few seats, and one of them fell on top of him. He pushed it off, sat up, and chuckled to himself.

After returning to the luxury car, he noticed a hole cut in the ceiling, so he hopped onto one of the seats and climbed out, onto the roof of the train. The wind was quick and sharp, jabbing at his face, threatening to knock him off his feet, but he refused to give in to it. He ran along the top of the train, and he spotted his target in the distance. The stars in the sky provided more light than the electricity, and because he could see so well, he quickly caught up.

Roger Bacon had slung the girl over his shoulder. He had stopped a few cars ahead, waiting for the young man. He was annoyed, but not at all surprised, when the young man showed up.

He spoke without turning around. "You're a persistent little rat, aren't you?" He said with no sign of humour in his voice.

When Roger heard his opponent's voice, he was not surprised by how it sounded: arrogant and uneducated. "I ain't lettin' you get away, pops!"

The old man turned, and responded with nothing but a simple wave of his arm, but the effect on the rescuer was painful. The young man suddenly felt as if he had been punched several times in the face. His nose started bleeding, and he collapsed to his knees.

He laughed. "It's a bad idea to make me mad, grandpa." He said before he let his arms shoot out.

Suddenly, he grabbed his head as if in pain, and screamed horribly, as a bright white light engulfed him. When the light dissipated, a new being, not the form of the young man, stood menacingly in front of Roger.

The art of Fusion, given to only one in a billion people, runs in the blood. It gave this young man the ability to combine his soul with that of another being's, whose soul he must have taken. This creature was known, from ancient books on the subject, as Czernobog. It was pure black, and its skin was like armour. It had an expressionless face with no mouth, and two glowing red eyes. Two large wings came from its back, like those of a bat. The creature's claws were razor sharp, on its arms and feet. Its sight was a terrifying thing that would make an angel shiver in fear.

Roger Bacon was shocked, and spoke in a voice surprise. "Fusion?!"

Czernobog lifted his hands, and a powerful stream of black emptiness shot directly at Roger, who quickly put the girl down, before raising his own hand to meet the blast. The energy was apparently absorbed into his hands, and in an instant, it was shot back out, directly at his opponent.

It took the full force of the blast and fell with a resounding BOOM onto the train, before again being engulfed in light, and returning to the form of the young man. He managed to get up, but then quickly faltered, falling to his knees and panting. His nose had somehow stopped bleeding.

Roger talked in a voice that was almost short of breath. "You're stronger than I expected." He raised one hand. "Now, foul monster, you shall cease to be!"

His hand glowed with some kind of black energy, which was rapidly growing and expanding. The other combatant kneeled there, thinking, not for the first time in his life, that this was the end.

Without warning, Roger Bacon's power began to shrink and diminish. "What on Earth!?"

The small cross necklace around Alice's neck began to glow, becoming superbly bright; so much so, that Bacon had to shield his eyes from it. For some reason, the young man found that he suddenly gained newfound strength. Alice's unconscious body lifted itself into the air, and Roger swore.

The young man used this moment to leap over Alice and land a solid punch on his opponent's face, a punch so powerful that Roger Bacon's skull caved in, and he fell onto his back.

After the young man grabbed Alice in both arms, he jumped off the train, as Roger got up, and his face slowly became as it had been before.

Under the dark sky, the young man stood, with Alice Elliot in his arms, as the train sped off into the night.