A blue hued one and a pale looking moon.
April 7, 2049
1:30 A.M
Gintoki woke up inside a room that was filled with blood. The walls, the ceiling, the floor….everywhere, he could see blood stains.
He had his clothes partially ransacked, his skin almost as pale as the abyssal that he knew….and at that moment a memory struck him at the back of his head.
He remembered the orange colored eyes, the white hair and the black funeral clothes. She was very hostile and by the memories that he had at that time, he for certain, died on that balcony. But that was not the case, he almost remembered being awaken inside a lightly lit room. He remembered eating a human arm. He remembered it clearly like it was just recently.
Yes, today, as of now, he is no longer a human being.
True he was able to recover some parts of his memories but the memories he had during childhood have vanished. Although he could still vividly remember the face of his mother, his father, and older sister though had their faces blurred.
Gintoki pressed his dominant hand on his forehead and sulked on that realization. He then pressed his hand on his stomach as he felt it rumble. He was hungry…
Biting the lower part of his lip, he stood up from the floor and headed towards the destroyed fridge. The door was dented indicating that it was punched by something.
Gintoki pulled the dented door and it immediately collapsed towards him. The hinges of the door were broken beyond repair. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that the door was light enough to be placed to the side.
The cold goods inside the fridge were already soiled. Even the ice cream and yogurt that he had bought for Marianna were affected. Although he did saw a half opened yogurt with its contents missing.
"She must've opened this one." Gintoki softly said.
He then took a pack of meat that was now de-frozened. He then walked towards the stove and checked whether the gas tank was not damaged or anything. It would be very unfortunate if he was to die because of a broken gas tank while thinking of cooking a light meal.
Using a frying pan that he took from the top cabinet, he then poured olive oil on the pan before turning the stove's burner on. While the oil was heating up, he unpacked the meat from its plastic container and placed it on a plate. He put salt and pepper on the meat, before giving it a soft massage. After that he hovered his hand above the frying pan but not close enough to burn his hand.
"The oil's hot." He declared before putting the seasoned meat into the pan.
The pork gave a sizzling sound as the oil made contact to the surface of the meat. Gintoki then waited for about five minutes before flipping the meat to the other side. The cooked side gave a very oily, brown look that gave him a savory feeling just by looking at it.
When the meat was fully cooked he placed it back into the plate that he used to season the meat. He then walked towards the utensils cabinet and took a fork. Since the rice cooker was missing, probably stolen, he had no choice but to eat the meat American style.
Gintoki stabbed the three pointers of his fork into the meat. He could see the oil that was absorbed by the meat coming out of the three holes. He could feel his mouth salivating, and slowly he raised it towards his mouth. He let out a wide chump at the meat, savoring the taste of the meat in his mouth.
Gintoki let out as sigh as he placed the fork on the plate. He stared at the remaining meat on his plate. He closed his eyes and swallowed the meat that was chewed in his mouth.
With a deep tone he said, "I just ate an eraser."
~o~
A few kilometers from Gintoki's apartment
2:10 A.M
A white haired woman that was around six feet tall overlooked the city that was burning to the ground. She could see large smoke clouds floating to the sky and the horizon painted with crimson. She could smell the burning corpses in her current position; she could faintly hear the screams of the artillery pieces that were fired upon the abyssals that stormed the city. And most importantly, she could see the shipgirls patrolling the surrounding waters of that city, protecting it from amphibious attacks.
While all of that are ongoing the woman that had a white platinum hair just stood there with a stoic look on her face. She tightly gripped her hand as she watches the scene where a shipgirl grabbed a humanoid seaborne abyssal from the neck, and dismembered the body from its head.
She gritted her teeth as she glared at the brown haired shipgirl that had a katana on her hand, and a 100mm autocannon attached on her rigging.
This shipgirl then fired her torpedoes into the water, managing to hit at least four destroyer type abyssals and crippled a cruiser type.
The woman couldn't stand it any longer. Her right hand trembled in fury as she watched that fleet of shipgirls casually mowed down her own minions.
But instead of joining in the fray, she chose to turn around and slammed her feet into the ground creating a strong shock wave. A crater was formed underneath her and the surrounding areas almost elevated a bit to the air.
To cure her anger, Abyssal Empress Marianna turned her attention into the dark alleyways of Hiroshima.
Despite the close proximity of the city to the frontline the civilians were not evacuated north. Instead, they were advised on helping the soldiers garrisoned in the city to erect machine gun positions and barricades around the city's suburbs.
Marianna had her own favorite hunting ground that was five kilometers away from Gintoki's apartment. Casually, she moved pass multiple checkpoints and military personnel while on route to her favorite hunting ground.
While in route, Marianna walked pass a store with multiple LCD televisions showing the latest news of today.
A huge crowd of civilians could be seen forming in front of the store, intensely watching the news unfold.
Displayed on one of the TV's is a reporter wearing a body armor and a ceramic helmet. She was holding a microphone on her right hand and a notepad on the other. She ducked behind a large debris, originally part of the bridge that connected the Kyushu Peninsula to Mainland Japan. Soldiers could be seen scrambling towards the bridge, preventing the abyssals from crossing, taking cover behind hastily built foxes and trenches.
Tanks could be seen parked on an elevated position, it's machine guns were firing continuously that their barrels were glowing red due to overheating. Tracers could be seen flying overhead, towards the bridge.
"Oh my god...What is that?" The female reporter gasped in awe at the monster that was crossing the bridge.
The tanks then fired their main cannons towards a tripod land based abyssal that was almost three stores high.
The reporter then shrieked when the tripod fired its main armaments and decimated the elevated tanks that were a few hundred meters from the female reporter. One of the turrets of the said tanks landed near the debris that the reporter was taking cover.
She could see the arms of the soldier that manned the main gun still holding the levers.
Attack helicopters from above pummeled the tripod with their missiles to no effect.
A soldier then pointed his finger at the sky. The cameraman then followed the direction where the soldier was pointing.
A formation of ten Aichi Dive bombers could be seen closing in to the tripod. In its defense the tripod fired its close range machine guns at the diver bombers, managing to shot down four.
Then miniature planes from the Second World War flew overhead and dropped their payloads on the tripod, making it stagger to the left. A loud cheer could be heard behind the camera that was filming the tripod.
"For the Emperor!" The soldiers yelled in unison.
"Banzai!" The civilians that was watching the live feed cheered as they saw the tripod crashed into the water, engulfed in flames.
Abyssal Empress Marianna had her face covered by the hood of Gintoki's winter jacket. She listened to the humans around her, cheering in joy as they saw the tripod fell into the waters. They cheered ever so loudly to the point that Marianna almost materialized her saber and cut down a male human in front of her. She chose not to—she wouldn't want to attract attention towards her. She wouldn't want the Imperial Guards and the JSDF to chase after her, not in her weakened state.
As she walked pass the male human that was near her, she gave the human a strong hook in the stomach. The human immediately collapsed to the ground after that. His eyes turned upside down and the white of his eyes revealed.
Marianna ran towards the nearest alley and pressed her forehead into the wall. She cursed at herself for being weak; she cursed and cursed until she slammed her head into the concrete wall. The brunt of the force almost cracked the wall itself. Her forehead had a small bruise that was very noticeable due to her pale looking skin.
"Curse you….wreaked creatures…..Curse you….Curse you…." Marianna softly muttered underneath her breath.
Something inside her boiled, something that she hasn't felt before. It was just like that time when she saw Gintoki talking to another woman. She felt something that wasn't taught to her, something the Queen haven't taught her.
"Goddammit!" She yelled while pressing her back against the wall.
Marianna slid her back until she was sitting on the ground, she then raised her head into the sky. The moon was right above her—she looked at it and admired its beauty. The moon, it was a thing that was called a heavenly body that revolved around the planet. She learned that via Gintoki's television not too long ago, that was before Gintoki was attacked by her sister, Pacific.
"Gintoki just died" Marianna said to herself, "He can't remember me and he can't remember his past….." Marianna said towards the moon.
Tears slowly poured out from her tear ducts. "There it is again" Marianna lowered her head and said those words as she wiped away the tears with her naked hands.
Marianna felt something in her chest piercing her from inside. She couldn't control herself anymore as she wept on that dark alleyway. She held her hands against her eyes, covering them so that the tears would stop but it wouldn't.
The tears keep coming out like the rain of a stormy day or the strong waves during a windy season.
Her hands trembled as she remembered Gintoki's words when he woke up just a few hours ago. She remembered how he violated him—she remembered how she turned him into something that Gintoki himself wouldn't want to become.
A symbiote—
Marianna gripped her hand and pressed her forehead into the ground of that dirty alleyway. The tears have slowly subsided, and her chest faintly throbbing in pain. Yes, she remembered... she saved Gintoki. She saved him from death but to a great cost.
To save him was to change him from human into something that's inhuman. A creature that cannot be perceived by human eyes, yes, she saved Gintoki by turning him into a symbiote—a creature that only lives in an abyssal's personal reality.
A creature that's manifested inside an abyssal's psyche. A creature that manifested an abyssal's combat prowess. A creature that can only be seen once the host manifested the creature into reality—
"I shouldn't have done it." Marianna says softly to her hands.
For a creature to turn into a symbiote—the creature must be injected with the Queen's DNA via the injection cord that was attached onto an abyssal's spinal cord. The cord that was covered in carbon fiber like material is very resilient in almost all environmental hazards. However, it can be severed easily by a basic nanomaterial blade that has just been recently armed into the shipgirls.
The injection cord is basically a straight forward remedy for killing an abyssal instantly. After all the cord itself is connected to the abyssal's nervous system ergo the abyssal's brain. Not only the abyssal taken out of action the symbiote itself will be destroyed if the injection cord is severed.
Due to its importance humanoid abyssals almost never reveal their injection cords during battle. Some house them inside a thick cylindrical armor; some would even wrap their cords around their waist acting like a belt. A lot of ways have been made to make sure that the cord must be protected or hidden at all cost. Marianna herself used her injection cord as a belt, shrouded by a thick tube.
As Marianna touched the injection cord on her waist, she suddenly remembered the feeling that she felt after she injected the Queen's DNA into Gintoki's corpse. She felt warm, very warm. It was as if she was embraced by something...
And just like that Marianna felt her face getting warm for a second. She shook her head trying to forget that memory but it was already sketched perfectly in her head.
She then felt guilty again. She knew that if Gintoki was to become a symbiote, no one, and she really meant no one will ever perceive him other than her or another abyssal just like Marianna.
Gintoki has just become something that'll be very reliant on his host till the host dies in battle or takes her own life. That's what Marianna thought in regards to Gintoki's situation.
Marianna had no authority for destroying Gintoki's future as a human; he doesn't belong to her after all. Gintoki owns himself— no one owns him, and that applies to everything. But to save him from permanent death she had no choice but to take that future from him, a future where he could retain his status as a human.
With those thoughts, Marianna fell silent and wonders what to do next. Now that Gintoki's no longer human she will have to force him to eat human flesh, the same flesh that made him human before he turned into a symbiote.
"That'll be hard for him." Marianna muttered as she stared into the elegant moon.
She closed her eyes and let her mind come at ease. There is a major threat looming over her and Gintoki…that she knew pretty well.
Pacific is still out there somewhere, she already has her minions garrisoned the southern part of this continent.
"Once word comes out, a wild hunt will be given by the queen. A wild hunt that will gather all the Abyssal Empress' all over the world….I wonder how long will I last by then?" Marianna muttered as she opened her eyes and saw the moon blocked by a face of an old looking male human.
"Hey're missy. What are you doin' in this dark alley? Are you not joining the party on the streets? The army just defeated the abyssal at Kanmonkyo Bridge after all!" The man says with an eerie smile on his face.
Despite wanting to be alone the world just finds a way to keep her company. Marianna softly smiled at the group of humans that was surrounding her. Closely, the abyssal empress examined the humans that surrounded her. Two men were armed with butterfly knives, their bodies bulky and stern. The other four were petite, almost malnourished.
"Thank you for keeping me company you lot. I was just starting to get hungry." She says as her eyes glowed brightly, and droll coming out at the curves of her lips.
"This girl is indeed crazy...How about we teach you something about manners missy." The old man says, seconds before he lost his limbs and his neck dismembered by Marianna's canine teeth.
On that early morning alone, Marianna devoured 56 humans in a span of four hours.
~o~
Gintoki pressed the power button on the remote only to discover that the TV was broken too. This one hit home for him, after all this flat screen TV originally belonged to his late grandfather who has now passed away.
"You've been with me after all these years. You may now rest in peace." He softly chant.
When he opened his eyes once more he let out a tired sigh. With the TV gone, almost all except for the AC unit and the satellite phone, are out of commission.
"I wonder what would mother say once she comes home..." Gintoki wondered as he stared at the blood stains, burnt furniture, and the large slit on the wall that he couldn't explain how it got there.
He then groaned and dropped on the cold floor. Despite the cold windy air of the night, he somehow felt at ease.
With nothing else to do and his apartment basically ransacked Gintoki could only sulk at the living room, feeling the cold sea breeze alone in his apartment. Not to mention that he has to pay at least 50,000 yen for the rent by next month...and the funds to buy new furniture and fixing the damages...
Gintoki felt his head throbbing in pain with the thought of his mother using all the money in her bank account.
"Should I just pack my things and leave? I mean, I don't have the funds to fix any of these nor replace the destroyed appliances at the moment..."
As Gintoki sulked inside his apartment room a knock came from the hallway of his apartment. Gintoki immediately stood up from the floor and approached the living room.
"Old man?" Gintoki says as he opened the door.
"My heavens! What the fuck did you do to this lot?!"
Wearing a sleeping gown underneath a thick coat is the super of Gintoki's apartment. The man's name is Giyo Matsuhara, a sixty year old retired navy pilot who hoarded his pension to buy the whole apartment building for himself.
"Gintoki you fool! I was only gone for two months and now this is what I come home with?! No wonder your neighbors here were very rowdy on the phone about your apartment room being bombed or something." Old man Matsuhara angrily yelled in dissatisfaction.
Gintoki could only scratch the back of his head as he stood statically.
"Not only were we invaded just recently, I can't believe they dropped bombs in my apartment building. Even the nearby rooms were also damaged." Old man Matsuhara sighed, "Anyway's pack up and transfer to the empty room on the fifth floor. You poor bastard..." Old man Matsuhara says as he waved his hand and exited the apartment room with a notepad on his right hand.
Gintoki doubted what he just heard. No he must've heard it wrong, and to make sure he was wrong Gintoki ran out of his apartment and chased after the super that just recently visited him.
"Old man Matsuhara! Did you just say transfer to the vacant room on the fifth floor?!" Gintoki yelled in bafflement.
Matsuhara turns around and yelled, "Which one of us is old now?!"
A smile emerged out of Matsuhara's face as he turns around and entered the elevator. When the doors closed Gintoki could only shake his head in amazement.
"I should give mother a call..." Gintoki declared as he walked back into his apartment and rushed towards the satellite telephone.
With a hum, Gintoki pressed the buttons on the telephone that belonged to his mother's satellite phone. After that he gently placed the cordless telephone on his ear and waited for the call to come through.
I'm sorry the number you dialed is currently busy at the moment. Please try your call later.
Gintoki blinked his eyes twice, he knew personally that his mother wouldn't turn down a call from her very own son. After all she purposely bought a pair of satellite phones so that the two of them could communicate.
"That's odd..." Gintoki muttered as he stared at the number that was displayed on the screen of his satellite phone, "Did I typed the correct number? No, she must be busy...Guess I'll have to pack the things that could still be used..." Gintoki added as he placed the satellite phone in his pocket.
As he entered the living room, he felt something...someone calling him. He immediately turned towards the ocean that was clearly visible from his balcony. It was a cold voice, a very cold voice. A cold woman's voice. She was speaking, a language that Gintoki haven't heard before. The words were jumbled and it sounded like the words were uttered by a person that was eating whilst speaking.
"What in a world..." Gintoki wondered as he continued listening.
Slowly, he finally understood what it was.
Rather than speaking it was something entirely different. It was like a lullaby, a fleeting lullaby. A lullaby that made Gintoki feel at ease for some reason. It was as if the lullaby was telling him to stay calm and fight on. It was as if, it was telling him to continue onward.
And slowly...as Gintoki continued listening he finally heard the lullaby clearly...
Gintoki didn't care who the voice belonged to—he didn't care at all. But one thing's for sure, he can hear it, and he can hear it coming from the vast empty ocean that he was facing.
The deep blue color of the ocean—
~o~
Okinawa
Beach Orange
Two hours after the Abyssal Amphibious Assault
After a brutal eight hour fight against the attacking abyssals the soldiers from Hoshi Company of the 11th Infantry Regiment finally received the news of victory. The remaining soldiers that remained on the beach roared in victory after surviving that brutal battle.
One after another soldiers that were taking positions along the beach came out of their foxholes and pillboxes to gather together with the remaining soldiers of H-Company. To their surprise they only lost twelve soldiers out of the 120 soldiers that was defending the beach.
"Thank the emperor for giving us the strength to hold on to that beach!" The first sergeant yelled.
Many agreed on his statement. If it weren't for the emperor's shipgirls none of them would've been standing by now. One after another the soldiers faced the ocean where the fighting between the shipgirls and the abyssals are still ongoing.
Using their optics they viewed the battle from a far. They could see battle raging on despite the heavy wounds the shipgirls received. They could see some shipgirls bleeding like a bucket with holes all over, they could see some shipgirls even missing a limb or two but still they fought on.
The soldiers knew that none of them had the willpower like those shipgirls who kept fighting despite the wounds they received. The soldiers could only observe, after all they are worth nothing against those abyssals who were fighting against the shipgirls on equal terms.
An explosion then erupted. The soldiers cursed as they waited for the smoke to clear and when it did cleared they felt their hearts sank. A shipgirl that had a brown hair was floating on the water. Her head was gone and her clothes were burnt to nothing. Her rigging was in no shape as well, multiple holes could be seen on her rigging and by the looks of it her left torpedo launcher was hit, detonating it.
Another shipgirl then came to their view. This time this shipgirl had a short black hair and red eyes. She was yelling at towards someone as she yanked the body of the floating shipgirl from the water.
"What the hell is she doing...?!" The first sergeant cursed on what he was seeing.
"Can't she see that the girl is already dead? She does not have a head dammit!" Another soldier yelled.
Hastily the mature looking shipgirl then grabbed the deceased shipgirl's arm and carried her towards the island, specifically towards the men that are watching from afar.
"She coming over..." The first sergeant muttered as he lowered his binoculars and grabbed a soldier at the collar, "Go to the medical tent and call someone to tend that shipgirl now!" He ordered.
The soldier hastily ran towards the medical tent that was erected behind the defenses on the beach. Slowly the shipgirl came to the beach, when she entered shallow waters she unsummoned her rigging and ran towards the beach barefooted. The soldiers ran towards the shipgirl in haste, they dropped their rifles and stopped right in front of the shipgirl.
"Put her somewhere that's far from the water and make sure that none of those abyssals come close to her you hear!?" The tall shipgirl yelled as she placed the body of the deceased shipgirl on the dark stained sand.
None of them dared speaking at the shipgirl in front of them. As the shipgirl ran back into the ocean she then summoned her rigging and rushed back into the battle. Leaving behind the soldiers surrounding the deceased shipgirl.
The soldiers have seen worst things happen to their fellow soldiers before. All of them have experienced on hand how brutal the war is, however seeing a young looking shipgirl this heavily mutilated in front of them, some had to rush away from the crowd and let out their displeasure into the dark sand.
"What should we do with the body?" A soldier asked.
Everyone fell silent as they stared at the first sergeant that was with them. The old looking first sergeant only let out a displeased sigh as he crouched down and removed his coat before covering the body of the deceased shipgirl.
"I'll carry her to the medical tent. You boys stay here and keep watch. We don't know what will happen next after this." He declared before he took the shipgirl's body and carried her towards the medical tent.
Slowly the crowed dispersed into their original positions, some soldiers even sat on the dark beach and some examining the dead Hu-type abyssals that littered the beach that they were defending.
One particular solider on the other hand heard a chime. The soldier had both of his ears bleeding after a grenade exploded prematurely next to his position. At first he thought that he was just imagining it but then the chime grew louder and louder.
The soldier looked for the origin of the chime, it originated in the woods not too far from his position. He walked on the heavy vegetation, following the chime that he kept hearing. Then he saw an orange light that was camouflaged among the grass. The soldier crouched down and grabbed the object's antenna.
"The fuck!" He then immediately dropped it when he saw the hand that was still holding the satellite phone.
It was a slender hand and by the looks of the blood stain that had already turned brown. The person must've died for a while now. The satellite phone was still ringing, so the soldier removed the hand from it and checked the screen. It was an unknown number, it was unregistered. Hesitating to answer the call the soldier pressed the red button and ended the call. He couldn't stand the fact that maybe the one who was calling belonged to the deceased person's family.
Letting out a sigh the soldier inserted the satellite phone in his vest pocket and turned on his flashlight.
"The body must've been here somewhere..." The soldier softly muttered as he looked for the body around the vicinity.
Unfortunately for the soldier, he wasn't able to find the owner of the said satellite phone.
~o~
April 14, 2049
Post Kyushu Invasion
Hiroshima, Japan
Toshiki Gin examined the corpse that was left on the ground surrounded by crimson blood. Its arms were bent in an awkward manner, the insides were exposed into the open, and the foul stench eradicated the fresh air.
The nineteen year old college dropout examined the corpse very intently, he moved his eyes vertically and horizontally before crouching in front of it and dismembering the broken arm to address his hunger.
Not too long ago, the college dropout had a normal life. A life where he could just walk around the streets of Hiroshima unshackeled by the thought that he will be hunted down by soldiers or during the time when he used to to eat normal food, and not pick up a random dead person on a dark alleyways of Hiroshima. However, those days are long gone and the life he is currently living is a living hell for him.
"That's good. Now try to remember to clean yourself once you've done eating."
Right now he no longer is human and to suffice his hunger he has to feed himself by eating human flesh. Gintoki went into a state of withdrawal after realizing his current state. He can't be seen by other people and he can't talk to them, they can't hear him. The only one who he can speak or lament with him is the abyssal that turned him into this thing that she calls a symbiote.
After cleaning his mouth with the sleeves of the corpse, Gintoki stood up and faced Abyssal Empress Marianna with his dark empty eyes. He stared at her, examining her hair, lips, skin color, and eyes. Particularly, he was drawn to the eyes of the abyssal. The gold hue of her eyes made him froze on his tracks, drop everything and just stare at it like a moth drawn by a lamp's light, and the only way he could get out of this frozen state is by Marianna slapping him on his cheeks.
"Snap out of it. Come, we have to go home." The abyssal empress says, holding Gintoki's hand and leading him along the dark alleyways.
The abyssal empress slowly walked along the shadows of the tall city apartments before immediately coming to a stop when she sensed something walking in parallel with them. She pulled Gintoki towards her and hugged him tightly like a mother protecting its child.
"Goddamn. I really thought I cornered her somehow..." An old looking man rotated his body clockwise trying to find the abyssal empress.
The old man cursed and kicked at the ground, infuriated when he realized that he has to find the abyssal empress again from scratch. With a hand behind his neck he then scratches it before turning around and walking along the dark alleyway.
Abyssal Empress Marianna poked her head out of the shadows and checked the perimeter. She can't pick up any hostile readings around her so she came out of the shadows with Gintoki held in between her arms.
"We shouldn't stay here for long. We have to return to the apartment." Marianna declared, staring at Gintoki's ruffled black hair.
But the guy didn't respond. With his face burrowed on Marianna's bosom the guy didn't answer. He just let his eyes burrowed into Marianna's pale skin to the point that he was seeing darkness.
With a sigh, Marianna closed her eyes for a second before placing Gintoki on the ground. Gintoki just stared into the open, his eyes blank and his head empty. He was now a husk of his former self. A husk who would just stare into nothing and ate or shit when he wants to.
Gintoki has never talked to Marianna for week now. This made Marianna worried in a way, after all he is her symbiote, he is an extension of her. With her symbiote acting this way, it won't be long before Marianna too will be affected by it.
"Gintoki..." Marianna called him in a whisper, aligning her eyes with his.
However, his eyes were just empty. Cold and empty.
~o~
Eventually they arrived at Gintoki's new apartment room after the old one was destroyed by Marianna's sister, Pacific. Gintoki on his own moved the things that were still usable from the old apartment room to the new one. The sofa, the cabinets, the utensils, and the furniture covers were transfered on the new room. The destroyed one's like the refrigerator or the flat screen TV were sold to the scrap yard.
Though it did shocked Gintoki at first when he realized that he could carry the heavy sofa on his own.
Marianna placed Gintoki on a green sofa overlooking the ocean. It was already night and the sky was covered with pinkish colored clouds indicating that it was about to rain. In haste, Marianna closed the balcony sliding door and the windows overlooking the ocean.
"Since we ate something would you like to drink a cup of water? Coffee perhaps? I know you like coffee especially the ones that come in a purple can..." Marianna says softy.
Gintoki didn't answer, he just stared silently into the dark ocean.
Marianna closed her eyes and rolled her lips. Her hands slowly squeezing inward, trying her best to contain the feelings from bursting. It was her fault that Gintoki was in this state. It was her fault, it was her fault in the first place. It is her fault that Gintoki has turned senile...
"Gintoki..." Marianna muttered in a low fleeting voice, "Please say something...Say anything I don't mind..."
Still no answer.
Losing all hope, Marianna let out an exasperated sigh before storming towards the room where Gintoki has placed his bed. With her head burrowed onto the soft mattress of Gintoki's bed, Marianna's stomach rumbled loudly when she turned horizontally.
The hunger has already made a toll on her. Marianna unbuttoned the white circles on her long sleeve and pulled them to the side. She then leaned her head upward, peeking on her stomach. She could already see the silhouettes of her intestines and just below her chest is a very visible ribcage. Marianna groaned when she saw her innards silhouetting into the open.
Marianna can no longer consume human flesh to keep her hunger at bay. For seven days she went to a feeding spree just to subdue her hunger but her body could no longer process human flesh. Nor suffice her hunger by eating human meals. Although she can eat them just fine but her body cannot process the nutrients that were stored on to the human food.
Be it ten humans in a single day, twenty, or maybe sixty she can't do anything to her hunger. Marianna slammed a fist into the mattress, infuriated. In the past she could break the mattress in half with a single fist but now the mattress just recoiled the force back, she was no longer in her top form, she wss now frail, helpless.
Slowly the exhausted empress closed her eyes and let her heavy body to rest. Although she could feel unknown presences around the building she just didn't mind them. Marianna was too tired to deal with them and she wouldn't have to be worried with Gintoki, after all only she could see him while others can't perceive him.
As Marianna doze off the lifeless Gintoki silently gazed on the dark ocean in front of him. The ocean was calling him again, like an echoing cave calling his name.
Not only could he hear his name being called he could also hear a soft lullaby. He already knew where this lullaby came from, he knew whom it belonged to.
Marianna explained everything to him. From the time when he was killed to the moment when he could no longer process human food.
He couldn't believe it at first but then he visited Tae on her apartment and knocked on her door, only to realize that Tae couldn't see nor hear him.
At that moment something inside his broke, like a fragile glass dropped from a high-rise building.
If Tae couldn't perceive him then that also means that his mother too could not perceive him. No one can, only the woman that turned him into a thing that she calls a symbiote.
Seven days it has been and Toshiki Gin didn't have the strength to live anymore. He couldn't see the purpose of his existence it was as if he was erased from the world completely, without his consent. But the world would even bother asking for his consent if he was to be erased? Toshiki Gin summed that the world wouldn't even bother asking.
So the nineteen year old college dropput named Toshiki Gin decided to fuck it.
And just like that Gintoki wondered inisde his dark riddled mind. Wondering, wondering how things became this way.
"Tae..." Gintoki silently mumbled. Remembering her long black hair and amazing smile. Her long and elegant legs and boyishly look.
He yearned for it. Yearned for her to see him again, yearned for her to call his name. He yearned for her embrace but to no avail.
Gintoki knew that if he was to suffice this yearning he either has to do break the rules of this world or bend the rules in such a manner that a loophole could be observe. But how would he do that he doesn't know...
"Gintoki..." A woman called his name, "I've already told you before. No matter what you try and do, that woman will never see you again."
"What do you know...?" Gintoki asked.
"Your thoughts. I can hear them. They are like an annoying saxophone playing an off-tune note that only I can hear. It's driving me crazy, Gintoki. However I will confront you with this again as long as I could..." Marianna paused and let out a sigh. Her eyes staring at Gintoki's eyes l, filled with sadness and regret, "No one will ever...ever...see you in your previous form."
Gintoki silently listened to her with his gaze fixed on the dark ocean. A few moments later the thick clouds cleared up revealing a boring looking moon. A moon hued with blue luminance. No, this is not normal Gintoki thought. That blue moon did not exist before. Not in the science textbooks nor in the Wikipedia. It was a heavenly body, more mysterious than the ninth planet of the Solar system.
Silently crept above the said blue moon is another moon, a white-pale normal moon.
Yes. Gintoki thought as he watches the two moons silently gazing towards the ocean. Earth does not have two heavenly satellites orbiting around it. It used to have a single moon, that pale boring moon thats been around for over millions of years.
And just like that boring white moon, Gintoki himself was replaced with a thing that used to have not existed. Just like that blue moon, a thing that could not be explained.
"Give me back my place in this world." Gintoki coldly says.
Marianna stared, watched, gazed, and silently listened to the man that she calls an extension of herself. The man stood up on his own two feet and approached her with his black empty eyes. Eyes that used to have a bit of adventure within them, eyes that used to have vigor and life.
"Gintoki..." Marianna muttered, avoiding Gintoki's gaze.
" . .back." Gintoki elaborated, his voice coarse and cold.
~o~
Tachibana Tae returned home late at night despite the fact that the soldiers and nonexistent police officers ordered its citizens to go home early.
The curfew included the office workers, students, and other occupations that kept the city of Hiroshima on going.
By the time eight in the evening arrived, garrison soldiers from the Western Army would patrol the empty streets and had orders to shoot anyone who are spotted walking on the streets without their Identification Cards.
The reason was simple. The abyssals have already landed on Japanese soil. The Kyushu has already fallen to the abyssals a few weeks ago. A lot of civilians died, and only around 300 civilians managed to escape the carnage-half of them have political backgrounds. The normal human beings that lived on Kyushu were not so fortunate.
With multiple homicide cases popping out in Hiroshima the Army that was garrisoned in Hiroshima decided to establish a curfew speculating that abyssals have broken through the frontline and slipped in between the dark alleyways.
So far they managed to kill four abyssals, however it still does not explain the other 2000 homicide cases that infected the silent city of Hiroshima.
"I still can't contact him, Mr. Hashiba." Says the exhausted looking girl on the phone.
"We are trying out best, Miss Tachibana. There are many clients with the same case as yours and our manpower are already stretched thin. Please understand that the investigation will take time." Explained a cold voice in the telephone.
"I understand." Tachibana Tae replied with a cold tone.
A buzzing sound could be heard coming out of the telephone but it didn't bother her one bit. With a silent gulp and a scratch at the back of her neck, she placed the telephone back to its rack and left it there to rest.
Tachibana Tae felt exhausted after working nine hours straight for seven days. For the first time she finally felt what the working folk felt just to get money to feed themselves or feed their families. She regretted calling them cowards for not joining the war to defeat the abyssals. The working folks also had to face their own problems in life, not just the soldiers who are always on the frontline.
"I should get a shower." Tachibana Tae thought after sniffing herself for a single time, regretting it.
Limply, Tachibana Tae approached her living room located at the center of her apartment room, separated from the hallway and her kitchen by a drywall that was painted blue. She preferred the lighter shade of blue, it made her feel relaxed in a psychological way. In the past she painted it with a darker shade of green in accordance of her first boyfriend's suggestion, only to feel irritated by it every time she came home from class.
If it weren't for Gintoki's hard work and personal finances the dark green paint would've still remain up to this date. Right now the paint is blue, just like how she liked it.
Tachibana Tae stared at the flat screen TV and turned it on. Then for a second a buzzing sound could be heard again but it disappeared quickly like it just went and gone. On the screen was a man that Tachibana Tae didn't recognize. It was another news anchor probably recently hired since the previous one was found dead on a random alley with his contents sprawled on the ground.
The man had a gray hair despite his age. He was wearing a baggy trench coat and wool cap reminiscent to those European painters. Tachinaba Tae immediately thought of a certain TV actor that had the same style as the news anchor but she forgot the name of that certain anchor.
"Old school..." Tachibana Tae thought unfastening the buttons of her blouse.
In fluid motion she removed the blouse and exposed her black bra and fair skin. She let out a sigh realizing how pitiful her body was. Gently she placed both of her hands on her stomach and pinched on the fat that was accumulated there. She was indeed irritated, she thought she maintained a healthy balance but, no, she regained 20 kilograms of weight in just seven days. From her proud weight of 50 kilograms in the past to an irritating 70 kilograms today.
"I need to stop doing stress eating." She thought.
But you can't blame her. Because she works in a bakery, and nine hours per day she would always see cakes that will make her stomach rumble. Tachibana Tae was a binge eater when it comes to cakes and other pastries, basically anything that is sweet.
Gintoki rehabbed her to control her binge eating but without him around, it appears that her old self was now resurfacing. No, she can't rely on Gintoki any longer. She is already twenty years old, she is basically what you call a young adult. A responsible young adult, she must learn to carry her own problems and not just rely on others to fix them for her.
"Yes, tomorrow morning I need to finish what I started. I must eat that caramel cake! No! I must exercise." She declared with a determined look.
However, it was still hard for her. It is hard for her to do it alone. Tachibana Tae grew up as pampered girl, pampered by three idiots who thought that they were raising her properly.
Tachibana Tae fell silent, ignoring the news anchor that has been talking about the recent killings in Hiroshima. She wasn't listening to the world around her anymore, she didn't care anymore.
The twenty year old literature student, Tachibana Tae, has lost everything. She has lost any form of reasoning to remain in this world. She finally decided to give up.
Gave up on the world that she thought was reasonable for her.
A world that now has two moons.
Blue hued and a pale boring moon.
"What a funny world am I living in." She thought looking at the ceiling with blue paint.
She could only smile at the empty boring ceiling, with tears on her eyes.
Lost in dome of apathy, a chime entered her eardrums. Tachibana Tae stared at the brown painted front door of her apartment room. It was six foot tall, four feet wide boring door. At the center of the said door was a peephole that was camouflage at the outside. She wondered who it might be, after all its already late in the evening.
Shaking her head, Tachibana Tae went to her room and took a white tank top to cover her exposed upperbody. She then decreased the volume of her television and went straight to the door. She then leans into the peephole, wondering who it might be. But there was no one there. Tachinaba Tae wondered in confusion, was she just imagining it? Did that chime came from neighbor's door?
There was only one thing to find out. Using her right hand, Tachibana Tae swung the door open and poked her head outside. But she didn't see anyone outside, was it just her imagination then or just a tasteless prank done by the neighbor's kids?
Either way there was no point for her to keep her front door open.
"Annoyances..." Tachibana Tae mumbled as she turn around and froze on the spot.
Tachibana Tae is woman that could be considered taller than most women. She has a fair skin and a developed body. She does manual labor after all; working in a bakery that requires a lot of manual labor, and due to her current job she had what you call exercised muscles. She also has the right amount of fat distributed all over her body, that includes her upperbody, lowerbody, and the four limbs.
She was what you call...
A juicy evening meal, even for him.
Standing in front of her was something that she herself couldn't describe. With her simple mind she could only point out a couple of facts. It was black, it was big, no that is not right description. The thing in front of her was like water occupying the available space that was given to it. The stench was so bad that Tachibana Tae almost threw up on the spot but she held it in by sheer will. It was something that made her brain wear out, she can't properly perceive the thing that was in front of her. Her simple brain can't describe the thing using complex nor simple words. It was a thing that can't be explain. Something...that's not supposed to be existing.
And just by staring at it, Tachinaba Tae felt her brains giving up. Her head twisted in confusion and her eyes throbbing in pain. She closed her eyes but the pain was still there. She must get away, she must...
Tachibana Tae used all of her willpower to turn around and open the door behind her, dropping into the floor before kicking the door close. In the commotion the neighbors came out of their apartment rooms and stared at her in confusion.
"No don't look at it!" Tachibana Tae screamed.
The brown boring door crept open wide. The neighbors that was just outside the door immediately let out a pained scream as they saw what Tachibana Tae saw. The father vomited blood on the ground before collapsing and the mother cried a river of blood. The children seemed to have not affected by this and only watched their parents in bewilderment.
Tachibana Tae did not dare turning around, she knew that it could happen to her too if she kept staring at it.
"Get away...I must get away." Tachibana Tae screamed on her head.
Crawl, crawl further away from the thing. She groaned as she leaned against the wall keep her eyes close, she can feel it coming closer like a vengeful aura. Tachibana Tae opened her eyes a bit, her vision hued in red.
The building had only five floors and no elevator. With a rotating mind, she had to use the stairs to get to the ground floor and eventually escape from it.
With heavy steps and erratic breathing, Tachibana Tae jogged on the floors one step after another. She could no longer feel the dark aura behind her but she knew she need to put distance between them. Eventually she reached the ground floor, passing-by some neighbors from the third floor. She yelled at them to run away, to close their eyes, and not to climb up but they ignored her.
Using the remaining strength that she had left she pushed the entrance of the building open revealing the dark empty street of Hiroshima. Store lights are still lit up and soldiers could be seen patrolling the street. It was already way pass the designated curfew and she will be shot no questions asked. And her luck was not on her side, as soon she came out of the building soldiers that were strolling outside immediately spotted her.
"Hands on the air and show your ID now!" A coarse voiced man yelled immediately pointing his rifle at Tachibana Tae.
"W-wait! Don't shoot!" Tachibana Tae immediately shouted back.
The soldiers in green uniform formed a semi-circle and approached her with their rifles pointed at her. Their flashlights lit up and was pointed at her vision directly, making her unable to see their faces.
"The hands now!" The coarse voiced man yelled another before letting out a frightened yelp, pointing his rifle into the air. "What the fuck?!"
In a split second the soldiers disappeared from her view. The six soldiers that formed a semi-circle around her disappeared without a trace.
With a stunned look on her face, Tachibana Tae could no longer sustain her balance and she immediately fell on her back, landing on the asphalt with a thud. A pool of crimson color surrounded her. The stench was so bad that she could no longer hold her nausea in check.
"You're safe" A cold voice entered her ears as she placed both of her hands on the asphalt, vomit on her knees.
"haaa~Haaaa~" Tachibana Tae eventually recovered from her nausea and was able to crawl out of the pool of blood and vomit.
"Hey! Are you hurt?!" Yelled an unknown voice.
"Please...help...me" Tachibana Tae croaked, her head throbbing in pain and her throat coarse.
"Hang on we'll find you an ambulance!" Another voice came to her ears.
She could no longer see the faces of the people that carried her. But she can still see vividly at the black shadow that came to her...It was looking at her, in its humanoid figure, its face covered in shadow and the eye sockets hollowed with white light.
~o~
Between the Lines
With her face still bearing a smile, when the elevator doors closed the smile was replaced with a scorn. She did not expect that the mask would work, at first she was indeed prepared to fight the symbiote on her own. She was prepared to loose a couple of her limbs just to neuter the symbiote but she decided to just play it off.
She had a different mission, and the abduction of former Pilot. Giyo Matsuhara helped them in this mission.
"Hello" A voice echoed out of the phone's in-built microphone.
"Made contact with the new symbiote. Requesting direct communication with Akashi and Admiral Goto this minute." The woman urged on the receiver.
"Affirmative, establishing connections now."
It took a couple of seconds before the connection was established.
"What is it? Why is a agent from the Imperial Guards went to great lengths to contact me?" A menacing voice could be heard behind the phone.
The female agent smiled as she placed her hand in her pockets. On the said pocket was a photograph of the symbiote that she encountered.
"Admiral, you have a parasite in Hiroshima right now. You might want to send the pink haired wife of yours to pluck the parasite out of this city before it spreads." The female agent spoke with a tone of dread.
"A symbiote..."Admiral Goto coldly says.
"If this parasite is not dealt with..."
"I understand" Admiral Goto interjected cutting connection with the Imperial Guard Agent.
The agent only sighed as she crushed the smart-phone on her hand and dropped it on the floor of the elevator. A smile was then painted on her face when the elevator doors opened.