Author's Notes: Alright, just have few things to explain. First of all, as the point has been raised, the last chapter was more serious and less humorous, and this one is going to be too. This is still a humour story and still being written by the same person, and the majority of the chapters and content will be amusing, or at least hopefully they will. I'm just including a light spread of serious parts because although this is a story with strong comedy elements, it is still set to the backdrop of a serious if strange danger and the characters though quirky are still rounded, fleshed out individuals with real drives and qualities and flaws. So basically I'm doing this for a reason and haven't lost sight of my aims with this story, I'm just using the arc of the plot to explore the varying elements it includes. This will almost certainly be the last really serious chapter for a good while, the last one being a major encounter and this dealing with the consequences of it, so expect the funny to return in short order, but in the mean time, I hope you all enjoy seeing the characters in a different light, where I've tried to elaborate on some of the flaws and qualities they possess as individuals :). Comments are much welcome, as I've revised my structure with the feedback I've gotten so far and am experimenting with semi-colons more, and I hope the insight into the characters proves an interesting read, for example I've tried hard to show how Zone, though he tries, isn't as stoic as Reiko, so please, speak your mind so I might learn from your thoughts :D.
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Darkness was everywhere, and everything. Nothing was visible; neither light nor matter penetrated the black void that despite any distinguishable features, seemed to ripple like a liquid. There was nothing here, no time, no space, no feeling and no thought. There were only memories, still and lifeless, like corpses.
The dark continued to ripple, the fluctuations growing steady and more powerful, pulsing motion and sound into the empty world. The pace quickened and became a pattern, the constant rhythm of a heartbeat, pounding at the shadows, trying to break through. Then the blackness ruptured, and bled, a torrent of crimson pouring through into the void. Memory was rejuvenated, and from it sprung thought and emotion, sensations clawing upwards through the earth and dirt, pulling themselves free, rushing for the surface…
With a breathless gasp, Reiko's eyes opened and he fell, light blinding him as his body tumbled briefly, and then landed in a heap on the cold grass. The vampire's senses burned, his body going through rhythmic spasms as it pulsed and quaked with the returning energy of being alive, or at least something like it. Slowly his vision cleared and Reiko's eyes focused, but all they could see was the pale grass his head lay on, the vampire sprawled out on his front. Slowly, wincing at the rawness of his body, he raised his head.
The grass he lay on was a faded green, partially because of the low mist that seemed to cling to it. Hanging motionless, impaled on the limp blades, it resembled a thick, grey carpet. Slowly, Reiko rose onto his knees and turned his head, his eyesight becoming clearer each moment, and he saw a pile of rubble behind him.
Turning his body and creeping towards it, soreness subsiding as he moved, he looked closer. He wasn't sure what he expected to find, but after a moment's inspection he noticed what looked like an engraving on one piece of stone. Leaning closer, the vampire peered, his eyes still adjusting to the mist. "IK" it said, evidently a fragment of a word, although whether the whole would make sense to him he could only guess.
His body now felt more normal and his mind was clearing as well, so, finding no answers here, Reiko stood up, glad that the dizzy, detached sensation movement had brought him before had mostly faded. He glanced at the pile of rubble, which looked smaller seen from head height, and then examined his surroundings.
He appeared to be in some kind of graveyard, a few headstones around him and, his eyes adjusting to the all-pervading fog, more and more appearing as the grey curtain was pushed back by his keen vision. Reiko looked down again, thinking the rubble might have once been a headstone too, but to his mystification it seemed to have vanished. He gave it a puzzled look, but then shrugged, seeing no point in dwelling on it.
Reiko started to walk; the graves were seemingly arranged in a pattern, so he followed the row he was on. As he progressed more and more tombstones slipped out of the foggy distance that was his horizon, and he began to wonder where he was. There were no distinguishing landmarks, just the grass and graves, and the grey fog; he couldn't make out anything else in the distance or see the sky, and it was literally dead silent.
"Where am I?" he questioned out loud, not usually one to speak to himself, but he'd not heard a noise since he awoke and even the silent vampire was slightly disturbed by the absolute lack of sound. It crossed his mind that he could read the headstones, but some primal instinct shied away from that thought, and he decided to listen to it. Unsure of where he was, Reiko tried to figure out how he'd gotten here, and retraced his memories. He recalled the tower, him and Arson and Zone, Mary Sue, their battle, and their… Defeat.
With sudden revelation, Reiko knew where he was. However, before he could process the thought, he heard a tiny noise. It was too faint to tell what it was, but it came from his right, and he followed it. Striding between graves, he began to worry he'd lost whatever had made the sound, when he heard it again, a faint, quick noise, like a sharp breath. Accelerating, he passed some more stones, and then found the source of it.
Lying with his back against one of the headstones, was Zone, the tiny rodent seemingly unmoving, but as Reiko got closer he could see he was breathing and occasionally shaking. Reiko stood besides him, amazed to find the hamster here, and knelt down, quietly asking "Zone?", as if unsure he wasn't just an illusion.
Zone looked up, and sobbed, Reiko realising what the noise he had heard before was. The rodent wore a troubled look, which only lifted slightly as he responded, "Reiko, I'm not alone… Good to see you".
The vampire nodded; smiling slightly, also glad for some company, as well as to see that Zone was alright. The rodent rose onto his hind paws, and Reiko's sharp eyes noticed the fur on his cheeks was damp, a sign he'd been crying. Reiko reconsidered his evaluation of the hamster's condition, "Are you alright, Zone?".
The hamster looked up, and Reiko could actually see him try and put on a brave face, "Oh, yeah, just, enjoying the scenery, hehe" he replied with a forced laugh, shrugging a bit to indicate their surroundings. The vampire looked around again, the fact that Zone was here only confirming what he had realised earlier.
"Have you seen Arson?" Reiko asked, concerned for their other friend who should be here too, somewhere.
Zone shook his head slowly, "No, I haven't seen anyone, or, anything, not until you came along" he replied, looking about, and Reiko noticed he was clenching his paws. The rodent sniffed and shut his eyes tight, seeming to fighting some inner demons, and then in a sudden blur of motion, he drew his lightsabre.
Reiko flinched back as the rodent yelled out in a mix of rage and despair, swinging his weapon around him wildly, hacking at the grass and then at the tombstone behind him. However as the vampire watched him with concern, he saw his actions made no difference. Not a blade of grass was cut and the gravestone was unaffected, and his movements losing their zeal, Zone slowed and finally stopped, slumping hopelessly.
Reiko looked at him with a mix of confusion and worry, having backed away slightly from the outburst. He was about to ask what the rodent was trying to achieve, when Zone dejectedly turned off his lightsabre and, slipping it away to wherever he kept it, turned to face him. "I hate this place…" he whispered, his voice choked with troubled emotions and the effort of not simply breaking down into a fit of hopelessness.
"There's something wrong here, everything's, immutable, I can't change anything, not even a blade of grass. I feel so powerless, like I'm dead" he continued, and as Reiko looked at him with increasing worry, he saw something, different. He saw a rodent, six inches from head to tail, naked and, helpless. Zone didn't look any different per say; he had always been a hamster, small and wearing just his fur, and somewhat naturally vulnerable. But he also had a drive to him; it was almost tangible, from his cheeky confidence and sharp wit, to the lengths he would go to and efforts he would make in pursuit of his goals. His personality infused him with a sort of lively energy, giving him a greatly enhanced presence for one so small.
But now that energy seemed to have been depleted, the tiny rodent standing before the vampire, clenching his tiny, puny paws and looking utterly helpless. It was a startling sight to Reiko, having known Zone a long while, seeing nakedly just what a little, vulnerable creature he truly was, without any wit or bravado to shield it. He had been about to reprimand him for his emotional outburst that only worsened things, but instead now he felt an inkling of appreciation for what the rodent must pour into being the confident, if sometimes headstrong, individual he knew. "Zone…" he said, not sure quite what to follow it up with.
"Go, look" Zone replied simply, dropping down weakly into a sit and jabbing his paw over his back, pointing past the tombstone he had been lying against. Reiko hesitated, not sure if he should leave the rodent alone in his unsettled condition, but he reasoned he could go and look quickly.
Walking past the stone, he only passed a couple more before he saw it. The ground rolled away down a gentle slope, and before him he saw graves, thousands, millions… Countless graves, the fog thinner away from the ground and the rolling view of the valley presenting a forest of headstones. Of course, by now he knew about this, but for someone not expecting it, to come across this view… He shook his head slightly; it would have been pretty traumatic to say the least. Poor Zone, he thought solemnly. Reiko went back to the rodent, who hadn't moved, and the hamster looked up at him, "Did you see it?" he asked semi-rhetorically.
Reiko nodded slowly, "Yes, I had expected it" he replied, and seeing the lost confusion in his friend's eyes, he explained. "There is no one name for this place, but… This is where characters come, when they die. Those who no one reads or writes anymore, the forgotten, the lost, the abandoned… When our time is up and there are no more words, this is the final resting place. Nothing can be changed here, only new graves added" he told the rodent quietly, having some uncommon knowledge about death, being undead himself.
Zone absorbed this as best he could, giving a small nod and hugging himself for some sense of comfort. No wonder he felt so scared, he thought, he couldn't be, himself, here, this place was an antithesis to nearly everything he was. The rodent shuddered as he looked around. Power was not everything to him; he wasn't the kind of person who valued it above all else. But still, to do anything you needed some kind of power; if you didn't put something into it nothing would happen, ever. And here he felt completely… Powerless.
These kinds of thoughts were key to the beliefs Zone held in his heart. He was ambitious and had great aspirations it was true, but even the smallest causes; just making someone smile or achieving some small personal advancement, needed something to fuel it. Power was not the most important thing; not what truly mattered he knew, but you still needed at least a little of it, good intentions or well wishes alone couldn't help anyone. If you could do nothing he thought, you were nothing. "We're dead?" he asked despondently.
The vampire hesitated, and slowly shook his head, "No, if we were dead, we'd be in graves of our own, but we've come close" he replied sombrely. After a moment's further thought he said decisively "Lets go find Arson"; explanations could come later, but right now time was of the essence. Reiko expected a comment from Zone, who nearly always had something to say. But he just stood and looked around despairingly, and it was clear to the vampire how badly being in this place had shaken him; he was scared and vulnerable.
Pushing aside their trivial minor differences, Reiko made a decision and bent down. Reaching out he gently picked up Zone, who made no move to resist, usually objecting to being picked up at will as if he had no say in the matter. With him in his hand the vampire was reminded again just how small his friend was, and gently holding him to his body with silent sympathy, he began walking. Reiko wouldn't have heard it if the rodent wasn't so close to him, but in a small whisper, with a spark of gratitude and solace struggling through the turmoil of troubling emotions, he heard Zone say "Thank you…", clutching to his coat gently.
The two of them searched the graveyard, Zone climbing onto Reiko's shoulder and keeping an eye out after a bit, the hunt for Arson giving him a little sense of purpose. Reiko meanwhile was stoically focused and calm. It was hard to tell how time passed here, since in a sense it did not, but a short while later they found Arson, the young hybrid sat back against a stone much as Zone had been. He stood up as the other two approached him, a look of relief passing over his face. "Glad you two are OK" he said with a slight grin.
Zone returned the smile with what enthusiasm he had, and Reiko nodded. He was glad to see Arson had coped fairly well with their situation, although he could see the worry in the teenager's eyes, and his normally energetic, excitable attitude was also somewhat subdued. They were all together now, and faced with the dilemma of escaping this place. Reiko breathed out and concentrated; he knew the way out of here, somewhere deep in the soul of his character lurked the knowledge of the path back from death they needed. "Arson, hold my hand" he said after a few moments, offering it to the hybrid, who took it. "It's crucial that neither of you let go of me, I need you to hold on with all you've got, and trust me" he explained to them.
The hybrid swiftly nodded, knowing Reiko well and being able to put his faith in his reliable friend. For Zone it wasn't so easy; although he'd known Reiko a long time, it wasn't nearly as much as Arson had, and the hamster was the most troubled by their circumstances. Even so though, he knew he could sometimes be headstrong and reckless, and so mustering what resolve he had, he recklessly threw his trust into Reiko, helped a little by the fact that he didn't have any other choice. "OK" he said, bracing himself and hoping.
Reiko felt Zone shift a little and cling to his shoulder, and he closed his eyes, dropping down into his own mind. It was here somewhere, a path back to where they had come from; it was like going to sleep, you just had to let go so that you fell the right way. He felt outwards, sensed it, braced himself, and released…
They did not so much leave as their consciousnesses slipped away together, and everything they were went with. A period passed that was immeasurable, again just like when one sleeps. Some time after they left, they arrived, the world coming into being around them with startling sharpness as ground appeared under their feet. "I think we're back" Arson spoke first, and the other two turned to see him pointing to the Temen-Ni-Gru; the three of them standing in a street near the tower, back in the Devil May Cry fandom.