YAMI NO MATSUEI - DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS
THE SHADOWS OF MY PAST
Chapter Ten – Judgment Day
I arrived and waited in a large receiving area inside along with countless others. The air was filled with tension as each waited for his or her turn.
Now I know that there was such a thing as an afterlife. My feelings could not decipher on whether the revelation brought a sense of peace within me.
In order to distract my thoughts, I looked around my surrounding and saw the sea of faces waiting for their turn. I did not know who or what I was waiting for, and each minute of wait made me more restless.
There were a multitude of souls who stared at me with such scrutiny as I waited along with them. Just as they were, I was curious and somewhat afraid as to what would happen next.
There were no conversations or any other noise. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop on the floor. The silence was maddening. It was torture itself.
Later on, the cold and unnerving silence was broken when it was announced…
"Tatsumi Seiichiro?" called out a tall man dressed in a black suit, looking so dignified yet downright intimidating at the same time.
I warily raised my hand, and a second man dressed in the same way joined the first one.
When the two well-dressed men approached and asked me to come with them, the many others who have been waiting for their turn and had been there before me glared at me with such hatred.
"Where am I? Where are we going?" I asked as I walked while flanked by the two men, my eyes scanning my cold-looking surroundings. I consider me as brave, but the anticipation and the overall ambiance of melancholy residing within these halls were enough to make a series of chills travel down my spine.
The man to my right replied, "This is EnmaCho – the heart of Enma-DaiOh-sama's kingdom. You are about to face him for judgment."
After making a series of turns through hollow hallways where the air was ice-cold, the two men and I eventually stood in front of two towering doors of mahogany, gold, silver, and marble.
I was at awe.
Whoever – or whatever – resided behind those ancient and heavy doors stirred a momentary sense of fright, wonder, and hesitation within me. I then looked at the two men who ushered me, searching for answers as to what would happen next via probing gazes.
I did not get a response.
Instead, the two men kept their unemotional demeanor as they bowed before the closed door, stepped back, and gave the towering doors enough room to open by themselves. They left me to face the darkness that greeted me as soon as the doors creaked open.
"Welcome, Tatsumi Seiichiro. I've been expecting you," said a rich voice that echoed throughout the chamber.
I remained transfixed in the spot where I now stood, my eyes moving and not trusting anything around me. Bitter cold breeze blew against my body and face, making me shiver as I took calculated steps in entering the dark void. I scanned my vast and rather intimidating surroundings of mahogany, alabaster, marble, crystal, bronze, silver, and gold.
Once I have gone inside the vast chambers, the heavy doors slammed shut.
Not knowing what would happen next and stopping once more, my eyes went wide for a moment before they narrowed. My heart maintained its elevated racing.
Seconds later, a ray of light illuminated a spot far from where I stood.
The torches located on both sides of the vast chamber lit on their own...providing a portentous ambience to all who dare enter.
"Come forward…."
No matter how inviting and benevolent-sounding the occupant's voice rang in my ears, I could not feel at ease for reasons unknown to me. I sensed something that was unfathomable, fickle, and dangerous yet so familiar about the owner of that voice.
Taking a hard swallow to ease the lump in my throat, I walked while my eyes beheld the majestic chamber that I was trapped in...
The closer I came to the dais at the chamber's very end, the more I became at awe. I have never scene such opulence in one location. The marble pillars and floors captured the cold yet wondrous beauty of the one who sat in the dais. The series of life-like alabaster and marble sculptures and life-sized woodcarvings of mythical battles and scenes from the annals of Meifu's history were so breathtakingly beautiful and poignant. The interior structures lined with glittering gems and precious metals tastefully highlighted the boundless wealth located here while complementing the polished mahogany throughout the chamber.
My footsteps, as light as they were, echoed throughout the empty halls. As I came closer to the end, I surmised that nothing inside the chamber could outdo the elegance of the mahogany podium that hid its mysterious occupant. As beautiful as everything was, the entire chamber had the feel of a courtroom and that I was about to witness a trial.
My trial….
"You have grown quite powerful even without training. I am impressed, and that does not easily happen."
As I now stood about twenty paces before the platform, I closed my eyes and did my best to retain as much composure as I could.
"Do you know why you are here, Tatsumi Seiichiro?" asked the owner of the rich voice sitting behind the ornate dais made of mahogany, gold, and marble.
"My fate is being decided on."
A quiet chuckle resonated and bounced against the gold-leafed walls. "Yes. I assume that my men told you where you actually are. For someone who is about to be judged, you seem too composed."
Without removing my gaze at the mahogany podium, I calmly and semi-apologetically told the one behind the dais, "I mean no disrespect, Lord Enma."
The Lord of Death told me, "Everything was well in your life until your last five years on Chijou. You were a good son, a good brother, an exemplary worker, and a loyal friend. You had no qualms in sacrificing your well-being for the sake of others."
I could sense from Lord Enma's word that there was a "but" laced in the tone of his voice, and I confirmed that when he continued….
"You've killed many yet I do understand your motivation on why you committed such crimes. You have such hatred in your heart. That self-sacrificing goodness inside you is counteracted with this sheer desire of yours to destroy anyone who angered you. Those reasons will weigh heavily for my deliberation. However, I do wish to ask you this question – do you have any regrets in those deeds you have made?"
Cold and dreadful silence filled Lord Enma's throne room before I replied, "I have no regrets."
A scoffing Enma suggested in an even tone, "Do you not think you should? Do you know that lack of remorse could weigh my deliberation against you, thus resulting in you being sent to Makai? I am sure that Makai's flogging masters would be more than happy to take you in, teach you the valuable lesson of submission, remorse, and pain."
"I don't feel any regret, Lord Enma. I have a duty to my family. If the fulfillment of that duty sends me to Hell then I accept your punishment. I have accepted that possible fate before I killed the first of those who hurt my loved ones."
I heard movement from behind the dais before Lord Enma asked, "Yet I sense your sadness. Why?"
Without hesitation, I replied, "I would most probably never see my loved ones again. However, I'll learn how to adapt."
After another long period of silence passed by, Lord Enma then said, "You're a rare gift in my realm, Tatsumi Seiichiro. You're a kagetsukai – a shadow master. Do you know that since creation had begun, there had only been two kagetsukai in Meifu's history?"
The word "shadow" sent a wave of various emotions that weighed down my heart, thus prompting me to say, "Two?"
The Lord of Death chuckled as if he could see my bewildered look from where he sat. "Yes, two… You and your soon-to-be tutor… He has been in my service for eons and I am sure that you and he will get along really well."
I was speechless and I became more nervous as the long period of silence transpired between the two of us.
After I heard shifting from behind the dais, Lord Enma's voice boomed throughout the vast chamber. "Murder, especially multiple ones, is a grave and unforgivable sin. However, I do take into account that you have done such atrocious acts for your family. I also commend you for your honesty that you have no qualms in doing such acts. This is your sentence, Tatsumi Seiichiro. You are deemed to stay here in Meifu for all eternity to atone for your sins."
Meifu… Purgatory…. So it really meant that I would never see Father, Mother, Inari, and eventually Mako-san ever again…
With a grim tone, the Lord of Death continued, "I do offer you something valuable…something to make up for the fact that you never really had a chance to live for your own pursuits I would like you to work for me in EnmaCho while you hone your shadow powers. My administrative office needs a good and organized staff member to help make things more efficient. In return, you may come and go to Chijou as much as you please in your spare time. Do you accept my proposal?"
Being caught off-guard with the proposal, I took in a deep breath before I managed to say, "I need to think about it, Lord Enma."
"Very well…. And what name do you wish for me to call you?" asked the Lord of Death as I heard a slithering sound against marble inside his raised dais, his appearance still invisible to me.
"Tatsumi…. Call me Tatsumi, Lord Enma."
Enma had a smirk escape from his lips as he asked Tatsumi with a tone lightly laced with a challenge, "People normally call me as Enma-DaiOh-sama to extend the proper respect due to me. So, you don't wish to address me as your lord?"
"Give the young man time to get used to his surroundings," said a new arrival that had been veiled by the shadows since my judgment proceedings had begun. "Given the incidents in his life, be thankful that he addressed you as Lord Enma."
"Will you have trouble training him in your ways?"
My heart clenched and my eyes widened as I heard the owner of that familiar voice add, "He already has the gifts and he has been using them. He also has the discipline."
"It couldn't be… Impossible," I thought as the owner of that familiar voice stepped away from the shadows, my eyes opening wider as the torches partially illuminated his face.
After a long period of silence between the three of us, Enma let out a light chuckle since he knew the exact cause of my shock. He told the new arrival, "You startled your protégé. Since I deem these proceedings as over, I suggest that you take the time and explain to him exactly what had been going on. Kindly escort him throughout EnmaCho. I will leave it up to you on when you wish to begin training him…that is if Tatsumi will take my job proposal. But first, please introduce yourself to your new student."
The new arrival bowed graciously befor me as he said, "I'm Asukawa Mako, Meifu's resident kagetsukai and freelancer shinigami. I will be your teacher and guardian while you train under my tutelage. I used to be the only kagetsukai in Meifu. I'm glad that I now have company."
Although my head felt as if it had swollen three times its normal size, I bowed before Mako-san. As untrusting as I was with everyone and everything since I arrived in this surreal place, old habits were hard to die...one of them being my need to express and extend the proper respect to those who I deemed deserve it.
And Mako-san definitely was one of them...
"I'll take him to my home. He'll stay with me," said Mako-san to Lord Enma. Before he turned his back away from the dais, all that he did was place his hand over his heart without the customary bow that one should or must give to a deity.
Mako-san then turned to me and smiled in his usual fatherly way, kissing my forehead in the same manner as he did when I was in my deathbed. "I gave you a promise, didn't I? We're now reunited again, Seii-kun. Come… Let us go home…"
My eyes dumbly stared at the dear old man's hand as he extended it for me to take. He and I were now together again, just as if it was old times.
A new chapter of my existence now opened up before me...that chapter beginning at the moment my shaking hand took hold of Mako-san's hand...
End of Chapter Ten
Normal Disclaimer
I do not own Yami no Matsuei and its lovable characters. However, I do own this fic and Chief Satori and other original characters.