This was a long time coming, so I'm very very pleased that I finished this chapter. I want to give props to PreseatheKitsune, who is now my beta with her first job being this chapter. I recommend reading her works.
Note: Castor is one of the Dioscuri twins, his other being Polydeuces or his Roman name Pollux. Their origins, like many Greek myths, have different variations. One of the more popular beliefs is that Zeus fathered them by taking on the form of a swan and their mother, Leda, produced two eggs, which are the twins. Another is that the whole Swan-thing never happened, but Zeus did have a go with Leda. Castor was supposed to have been fathered by his mortal father Tyndareus, so he is mortal, and Polydeuces took on the genes of his other father, Zeus, granting him immortality. And the rest, as they say, is history.
1. Castor and Polydeuces are both gods of sailors, particularly the shipwrecked ones, so I made note of that in Castor's intro. Also, while both are patron gods of the same things, it's generally accepted that Castor is more of the patron of the calvarly, or horsemen, and that Polydeuces is the patron of boxers. Both are also good in those aspects. They are brothers of Helen of Troy as well as half-brothers of Timandra, Phoebe, Heracles, and Philonoe. Well, if you want to get technical, they are half-brothers of all the heroes that Zeus has fathered, but who's counting?
Note: The tower of Babylon symbolized the overwhelming pride of humanity, who built the massive tower as a means of reaching the heavens and communicate with the gods (back then, everyone spoke the same language). Of course, the Big Guy ain't happy with that and so struck down the tower and confused their tongues, which is how the origin of languages came to be.
The Ziggurat of Babylon (Part 2): Confused Tongues
"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4).
"Man, I cannot believe how much time that took," exclaimed Shinji.
Akihiko stood like a crooked cane, with his hands on his knees and his mouth heaving in exhaustion. He used the back of his hand to wipe away the moisture near his lips caused by a combination of sweat, spittle, and dried blood that came from a cut on his lip. He gave a calming sigh and looked up; the moon became the characteristic high point in the sky that cold weather had a habit of making. He coughed a bit to relieve the strain in his throat from breathing so hard and sniffed. He looked over at Shinji, who at the moment was warmly receiving a person by holding him up by the collar and propping him up against the wall like mounting a stuffed animal trophy to its designated spot in a lodge.
"H-Hey, take it easy! I was, you know, just, uh… just horsin' around! So, l-let's let bygones be bygones and, uh… Please, not the face!"
Akihiko could just imagine Shinji's sneering face as his friend started laughing lightly while shaking the poor kid against wall so that the back of his head made contact with the brick. He knew that he should stop him, but seeing how much of a weasel that thin, greasy-haired midget was when he let loose his goon squad at them, he stayed put until the right moment to intervene.
"Shut up," said Shinji curtly. "Your whimpering makes me want to throw you into the bay. I'm a pretty tolerant person, but I'm not sure I can stomach what you just pulled. I'm not talking about those half-assed hired muscle you round up to put me into my place. I don't give a crap about them, and I'll have you know that I always make sure that they won't ever have a reason to give a crap about me. But what I really can't stand are spineless welchers who aren't man enough to admit their own bad luck."
Akihiko rubbed his sore knuckles and stared at the two thugs lying prone on the ground; some parts of their clothes were ripped and displaying the angry red of road rash. The more severe injuries- namely those afflicted towards the nose, eyes, mouth, cheekbones, forehead, hairline, and whatever's left of the face- were spared from a casual glance by permitting the ground to get to know them better. Upon arriving the dark underbelly of Port Island, which can be entered by going down the stairs next to a chic café that revealed the back alleys and back entrances of bars, modest gambling parlors, and random nooks and crannies for young people with drifting minds and rebels with fake causes, Akihiko was rather relieved that there weren't many people giving them the evil eye and sizing them up like being apprised for butchered meat. Shinji led the way like it was a casual stroll down the main street of Iwatodai, with the gambling dens being the counterparts of metropolitan theaters and the seedy bars were the cousins twice removed from Escapade or the great ancestors of Chagall's. Akihiko was a little unnerved by his friend's chevalier attitude, slowly making wild fantasies of some hidden dark side that Shinji didn't bother to show simply because he wasn't in places that would allow him to show it. It looked like second nature. But then again, it could just be that Shinji, like he could be with many things, didn't care or made a big deal out of it. He reasoned that, maybe for Shinji, by making a potentially dangerous place a big deal, it would eventually evolve into a very real big deal. So, Akihiko tried to relax and adopt Shinji's non-big dealing of things, comforting himself that at least he knew how to defend himself and that he's smart enough to leave a very unfavorable situation as long as his prideful self didn't act up.
Unfortunately, regardless of what he thought, it turned into a big deal.
As they approached their place of destination, Akihiko had noticed how empty the location was. He once had the privilege of being here, but that time it was because he had to fetch someone from his dorm, who resembled Hiro quite a bit (now that he thought about it, it might actually have been him), had strayed into this neck of the woods by the classic tourist entrapment that was peer pressure. As he recalled, there were would-be tough guys sitting on the steps leading to a bar, while more risqué-dressed girls stood around them like leeches looking for the next "big" guy to suck up to. He had found him standing next to a few guys looking very uncomfortable and awkward. When Hiro spotted him, he immediately called out his name and ran towards him. The three guys that were with him sneered at the newcomer and were about to gang up on him when one of them actually recognized him and told the others to back off. For once, he was grateful that his reputation preceded him.
The area had been empty when he and Shinji first got there, save for three people: two shifty-looking guys who looked like they had better things to do, and standing in the middle was a diminutive kid who, to his surprise, was wearing a high school uniform and a weasel face cracking a nervous smirk. Akihiko began to think this wasn't going to go in a good direction, but Shinji being Shinji didn't let it faze him and brought up their bet.
"Actually, I heard that your guy cheated."
Akihiko scowled darkly at that statement.
"Your squinty eyes must have impaired your vision, because that big lug from your middle school alma mater looked like the guy pulling the fast ones," Shinji retorted.
"I beg to differ," weasel-face wheedled. "Because the way I see it, your guy was like a monster in the ring, swinging his arms around like a 400-pound gorilla. No 3rd year middle schooler has that much strength to do primitive plastic surgery. It looked mighty suspicious to me. Like he did something more than just after-school practice for the fight. Supplementary lessons?"
Akihiko didn't bother to restrain himself from gritting his teeth.
Shinji likewise couldn't help but give amused sniff at the statement. "Wow. Sorry, but it's actually hard to imagine that stubborn idiot taking 'supplementary' lessons, as you put it. He's the type of guy who actually makes an effort in whatever he does, just so he doesn't have to do any more unnecessary things. Unlike a lot of guys I know."
Besides him, the two shifty-looking guys began to eye Shinji dangerously instead of keeping their detached facades. The kid's face was pinched tight with a frown and then finally gave notice to Akihiko.
"Who's the chump?" he sneered.
"A concerned friend," Akihiko replied stiffly.
"I just dragged him along for the ride," Shinji shrugged. "But we're here on business. We made a deal and you lost. Are you going to fork the cash over or not? If you don't have it now, you can pay me later instead of trying to talk your way out of it."
At that point, the creeping feeling of being out of place took complete hold of him and Akihiko really wished that he was anywhere but here. He looked at his watch, his paranoia growing when he saw the short hand on eleven and the long hand a disturbing distance past twelve. He tuned out the increasingly shady conversation between his friend and the scrawny high school kid, looking around at the dark alleys and staring blankly at neon signs and grown men swaggering unevenly in the distance. He pulled up his collar when the cold wind picked up and grimaced at his numb hands in his pockets.
When he heard the smack and saw Shinji clutching his jaw and one of the guys was gripping his hand in pain, time fast-forwarded for Akihiko. There were garbled shouts and curses flying as fast the fists where and like in the ring, all he could focus on was where to hit and to whom.
Which brought him back to where he was now: tired, cold, sore from the newly acquired surface injuries stacked with the old bruises from earlier in the day, and holding Shinji by the shoulder to stop harassing the high schooler.
"Shinji, let's just stop it right here and go back home. The guys at the dorm are going to wonder where we are and I don't feel like getting expelled right when we're about to graduate middle school."
"No, Aki. We finish this right now."
"We?!" Akihiko cried out indignantly.
"Yes, 'we!' The minute you raised that fist was the moment when you become 'part of this.' Either we get this over with now or we're going to regret it later. We have to show these guys who's the top dog here or else the people around here aren't going to mind their own business if there's a next time we come down here." Shinji noticed something out the corner of his eye and turned his attention away from the bruised and fuming Akihiko to fumble through coat pockets.
"There's not going to be a next time, Shinji," said Akihiko. "This is the last time you're going to gamble with 'other people'… and on me." he added. "I don't feel up to bailing you out of jail in the future."
"Well for your information, Aki," Shinji began, exclaiming 'bingo' as he found a leather bound wallet and released the upperclassman's collar. "This was actually my first time being down here to do a transaction."
Akihiko took a step back and peered at him with raised eyebrows. "What?" he exclaimed.
"Usually it's with some meatheads at school that I'd bet cheap change on you, and sometimes with girls who would bet some money to win a date with you- they somehow think I can convince you to agree meeting them, psh, freaks- but then this high school guy-" He rolled his eyes heavenwards at their technical senpai's educational title, and pulling some money out of the wallet. "-Wants to show off his money and school spirit by betting against you. And lost. And I came here because he usually hangs out around here with some cling-ons. So it's pretty much our bad luck that we got tangled up in this mess."
Akihiko blinked while Shinji busied himself with counting the money. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but couldn't. He thought it over, then closed his eyes in defeat and sighed, feeling the cold atmosphere seeping into his bruises and scrapes.
"Glad you finally see things my way, Aki," quipped Shinji, having finished counting and putting the bills away inside his jacket's inside breast pocket. He was gracious enough, Akihiko noted, to not take all of the wallet's money and put the change back inside. Shinji tossed it to the crumpled form of his gambling accomplice, who was shaking on the ground whether due to the cold or in fear, and said, "Well, good to see that we've come to peaceful understanding. Now I never want to see your face again, got me?" He gave an about face and walked away from the scene. Akihiko wearily following suit.
*
"Shinji."
"Yeah?"
"Shinji."
"Yeah?"
"Shinji."
"For god's sake, just say it Aki!"
Akihiko angrily pointed at the dark train station. "The last train is gone!"
Shinji shrugged nonchalantly. "Uh, yeah?" Akihiko rubbed his eyes with one hand in response. "Come on Aki; it's not the end of the world." Akihiko stuffed his hands underneath his armpits for warmth and shivered in the cold winter air as he glowered at his friend.
"Being out here at-" he looked at his wristwatch. "-11:45 is not a convenient time for me."
"Well, we can always explain to the dorm master that we got jumped by a couple of guys on the wrong side of the tracks, and that is the truth."
"That's not-"
"You actually expect me to believe that you're going to be all alone out here with a bunch of coffins ten minutes from now?!"
"No!" cried Akihiko. He looked away sheepishly at Shinji's disbelieving stare. "…Well I expect you to at least think about it!" Shinji tilted his head heavenwards and beseeched the stars for guidance with tired eyes.
"Fine. I admit that I'm beginning to suspect something when furniture suddenly rearranged itself within one minutes while I'm in our room and that I see you sitting outside in the hallway when half a second ago you were lying on your bed. But I think I would feel something if I were "sleeping" inside a coffin. Or see evidence of blood dripping from the walls and on the ground."
"Okay then, don't believe me. I probably have superpowers that came after I witnessed a solar eclipse. So I might as well use them to defend myself in my make-believe world." Akihiko looked around the train station and spotted a man in a hat standing near the stairs. "I'm going to get us a cab; maybe if I pay more the driver'll get us back home in five minutes or something."
Akihiko came back to Shinji after talking with the uniformed man briefly and waited a few moments in silence until the sound of a car approaching came to their attention. As Shinji reached for the door, Akihiko brushed past him and took his friend's seat. He scowled slightly and walked around the back to the other side.
"Oh… wait. Sorry about that," said Akihiko sheepishly after Shinji closed the door. "I just went in without thinking so…"
"Whatever," Shinji replied curtly, though his shoulders and eyebrows relaxed a bit. "I guess I should be used to that by now."
They sat without saying a word, too tired and too sore for any more conversation. Akihiko looked out the window at the dark bay with streetlights in the foreground flashing by, his perspective broken in intervals as he glances at his watch every now and then. 11:52… 11:52…
He brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his cold cheeks and eyes, wincing as his blood circulation coursed through his numb, swollen flesh where he had been hit repeatedly throughout the day. And what an exhausting day it was: winning a boxing tournament and earning scholarship money, being approached by a girl who's a celebrity at school and giving him information too out-of-this world to not believe her, finding Shinji, beating the crap out of people because of Shinji so now he's feeling fresh bruises atop of fading, tense, not so fresh ones.
11:55… 11:55…
He looked outside at their surrounding area. They're not even close to Paulownia Mall, let alone out of Tatsumi Port Island. They might have passed Gekkoukan High School, though.
Akihiko leaned forward to the driver. "Excuse me, sir. How long do we have until we cross the Moonlight Bridge?"
"Mmmm… Fifteen minutes," mumbled the driver. "Maybe a little less than that. The traffic's good now, since it's so late out. What're two high school kids doing out at this hour."
"We lost track of time," Shinji cut in sleepily. "And we're not high school kids yet; we're graduating middle schoolers."
"'Lost track of time?'" echoed the driver. Akihiko saw the driver looking at them with raised eyebrows through the rearview mirror. Their dirtied and tattered clothes, puffy faces, and general sullen demeanors offered little to the imagination of how they might have lost track of time. "You two look like what the cat dragged in. What, did you get in trouble in the alleys behind the train station? My god, don't you know how dangerous that place is?! Why, back in my day if hoodlums walked around with their three-colored hair or ten piercings and the girls wearing skirts short enough to show their unmentionables- and at this hour?!- why, the law would beat them with their tonfas so they can walk on the straight and narrow! It's shameful, I tell ya- shameful!"
Shinji rolled his eyes at Akihiko, who rubbed his temples gently as the driver's rant began to make his head throb.
"I saw you look at your friend like that, young man! Take heed of what I say: the youth of this day and age are making this country go down to the dogs! Why, I always thought that young people would use their vitality and smarts imparted by the older generation to bring a better world, not this state of apathy. Why, it's deplorable! I feel that all my hard work's been for nothing; my daughter doesn't talk to the missus and me anymore; my son's moping around because he's only above average and all his friends are straight A students who try half as hard as he does. I mean, he's not failing so why's he got to do nothing around the house but sigh and give me that hangdog's look?"
"Maybe he should try a sport," suggested Akihiko. Shinji gave him a dirty look that disapproved of his involvement, and Akihiko mouthed "What?" in response. The result of his advice bore fruit.
"Exactly! That's exactly what I thought. I kept thinking that maybe he should join a track team or maybe take up judo. Expel all that restless energy into something useful instead of moping around. Sports make men, and I don't know anything better. You learn how to have good sportsmanship, be more honorable, and most of all, discipline! I'm not talking about hitting people with sticks like in kendo; I'm more of a "use your body as a weapon" kind of person. See, you think the right stuff, kid. I don't know how it is that you got mixed up with a bunch of hooligans behind the train station. Now let those bruises and scrapes be a lesson to you: only get mixed up with the bad crowd because they keep bugging you and you got to show 'em what's what. Now take my daughter's case-"
The driver's voice was cut off, prompting Akihiko to snap his eyes at him in alarm. His heart leapt to his throat when he saw a black coffin replacing the middle-aged man in the seat. He instinctively turned to Shinji but startled himself when he saw another black coffin next to him. In a panic, he realized that the vehicle was still moving even though the driver was incapacitated and fumbled with his seatbelt. He also realized soon afterwards that the car was not careening with reckless abandon straight into the truck in front of them but rather had slowed to a stop just past the intersection where they stopped before a red light a few paces behind. Akihiko took a deep breath and sighed in relief, praising the remaining logics of physics and promising himself that he will provide a greater appreciation in that field of education. He unsnapped his seatbelt and opened the door to the outside.
The first thing he noticed was the silence. All the sounds that had encompassed him outside everyday were gone. The humming from electric power lines was absent; cars that rushed through the night air were stilled; and whatever the outside noises that were around, such as animals barking and mewling, the water lapping against moving ships and objects bumping in freights and trucks, the people that stalked the concrete roads in pursuit of reflection or a warm home to go back to, were cut off as cleanly as pulling the plug of a pair headphones to a music player. This was different compared to the muffled, claustrophobic atmosphere of a dorm building, where the silence is so thick that it rings in his ears. Out in the open, where the wind would call out from several streets away and the murky night sky seemed more like an empty maw about to swallow the city whole, was where Akihiko had never so exposed and more aware of his own existence than ever before.
"Hey Aki-"
Akihiko screamed in surprise and jumped away at the sound of Shinji's inquiry. Shinji likewise became startled and screamed while accidentally hitting the top of his head with the door frame.
"Shinji! Wha- How- What are you doing here?!" gasped Akihiko.
"What do you mean 'what am I doing here?' What is a coffin doing sitting in the driver's seat?!" Shinji bellowed and pointed at the luminous object which defied the laws of space and mass by fitting quite nicely inside a sedan vehicle, his other hand rubbing his head ruefully.
"That- I- guh- Y-Y-You were a coffin!' Akihiko half declared, half yelled. "How did you turn back to normal?"
"Quit screaming at me!" screamed Shinji. He cleared his throat and tried to say in a civil and hoarse tone, "What the hell is going on here?"
Akihiko ran his hands nervously through his hair, gripping it at the roots and letting his arms drop, now significantly calmer. "We're, uh… We're in the Dark Hour."
"The what?" Shinji asked sharply.
"Didn't you listen to a word I said when I told you what that Kirijo kid told me? We're stuck…" Akihiko began slowly, enunciating his words very clearly. "…In a time… and place… where people turn into coffins… and-"
Akihiko stopped talking suddenly, his throat closing as his ears picked up something so fleeting that he wondered if he heard anything at all. He wasn't alone in his suspicions as both boys broke eye contact and listened carefully with their eyes, their bodies immobile.
"Did you hear that?" Shinji asked in a hushed voice.
"Uhh…" replied Akihiko. They started when they heard the same noise more audibly and clearly. It was a squirming sound, like when wet rubber gloves made when washing dishes, though the noise seemed to creep towards the pair at an alarming rate. He couldn't discern which direction the noise was coming from, even though the entire area was devoid of any excess sound aside from the two boys' own racket. Akihiko's gaze focused on the space between the ground and the cab as a way to strengthen his concentration while Shinji stepped out of the car and stood in front of his friend, his eyes darting in all directions.
The sound came again, much louder this time, and they both looked down the street. Akihiko's heart leapt in his throat and unconsciously took several hasty steps back. Shinji gave a harsh gasp and backed into the car, his back pressed against the frame, his finger pointing at the object and in a squeaky voice declared, "What the heck is that?"
Looming in the distance in the direction of the Gekkoukan High School was a tower.
But is it? Akihiko thought simply amidst his bewilderment. Though they were definitely a ways away from its base, he could see that the "tower" seemed to consist of various buildings merged together awkwardly like wisdom teeth; oval-shaped panels with two circular spaces were set apart, as though making an absurd caricature of a face, were placed on the façade as though playing out the role of billboards atop rooftops. There appeared to be beams hanging of ledges and sticking out as flagpoles in the shape of hour hands, and the whole building casted an eerie glow that illuminated a large portion of the sky. Actually, he had been wondering why, when the streetlights weren't working and there was no electricity powering through buildings and the landscape, he was able to see things fairly well and not groping around in the pitch-black.
"Aki, what was it that Kirijo mentioned when she told you about the… uh… the Dark Hour?" Shinjiro asked in a hushed voice.
Akihiko cleared his throat and moistened his lips. "Well, I don't think that she mentioned… that." He gestured towards the tower.
"That's not what I meant. Didn't she mention something about how in this place there's- whoa! Ah- AACK!"
Shinji fell down in heap, alarming Akihiko, and both saw to their horror a black hand wrapped firmly around Shinji's ankle.
"Ah! Jesus Christ! Wha- geh- Get it off me!" Shinji scrambled onto his knees and desperately tried to kick the hand away, his cries mixing with ragged breathing. Akihiko snapped out of his shock and rushed to his friend's aid, stepping on the hand without a second thought. A piercing screech was heard, startling Akihiko, and the hand quickly pulled back under the car. Shinji backpedaled away from the vehicle, his eyes wide and fear etched across his face. Akihiko pulled his friend up to his feet, his eyes not leaving the bottom of the vehicle. The squelching noise that they had heard before was under the car.
"Aki… It touched me." Shinji's voice cracked a little.
"….I stepped on it…" gulped Akihiko. They both winced when they saw two black hands reached out from under the car and groped on the ground. A pair of glowing red eyes soon greeted them, lighting up when it locked eyes with the two boys. It began to crawl a little faster towards them. Both boys backed away accordingly, their feet on the verge of taking flight.
"Akihiko… W-What did Mitsuru Kirijo c-called them?" stammered Shinji who was beginning to laugh nervously, which was the closest to being hysterical as Akihiko had ever witnessed.
"A S-Shadow?" said Akihiko, then squawking in alarm as Shinji grabbed his arm and ran full-tilt away from the creature.
"Run for it!" screamed his friend.
In Shinji's haste, Akihiko started over his feet before gaining momentum to tear his arm away from his friend's clutches and ran at his own pace.
"Woah- Hey AKI! You better not leave me behind!" panted Shinji when the boxer sprinted past him. "You're the punch-before-you-think guy- YOU SHOULD GET BACK THERE AND KILL IT LIKE A MAN!"
Akihiko blinked when Shinji gained the lead, and started to redouble his speed. "Well, *Gah* what happened to *pant* the tough guy that you usually are?! Is beating up small fries all you've got?!" he demanded.
"Well *wheeze* you're the trained fighter, dumbass!" wheezed Shinji. "But I guess I should have known better than to *pant-pant* depend on a kid who fights for points!"
"What?!"
"You heard me! 'Tap-tap.' Bop a head for tech points. That's all your fists are good for anyway!"
Akihiko reached out for Shinji's elbow and forced both of them to stop. Shinji yelped in surprise and collapsed on the ground from the sudden impediment to his velocity. Akihiko leaned heavily against a streetlight, struggling to catch his breath. He felt his blood pounding hard into his head, making him clench his temples to assuage the coming migraine. He stopped breathing for a moment when he began to feel light-headed, and gasped, now feeling more or less normal and not so fatigued.
He walked towards Shinji, who lay panting on the ground, and bent down next to him.
"Hey, where are we?"
Shinji coughed a little and replied, "Why are you asking me? Go look at a street sign or something."
"Well you're the one who dragged me off and ran for our lives!" retorted Akihiko. He got up on his heels and looked around. To his surprise, he found that they were much closer towards the tower than they were before.
"Hey…" began Akihiko. "We were near Paulownia mall when we stopped, right?"
"I guess," breathed Shinji.
"I think we ran all the way to that high school from there!"
"What?" Shinji got up quickly and looked around, then winced and clutched his head. "Urgh… blood rush," he groaned. "We just ran a whole mile and we're basically back to where we were? God damn…"
The wind whistled through the streets, chilling them straight to the marrow. Akihiko placed his hands under his armpits, stamping his feet impatiently against the cold. His attention drifted back to Shinji, who sneezed, and focused on the backpack on his back.
"Hey, you brought your backpack?"
"Uh, yeah?" Shinji took off the backpack and handed it to Akihiko's outstretched hand. He unzipped it and reached deep inside, his fingers having found the handle of the (fake) weapon and curled around it. Shinji made a startled noise as Akihiko pulled it out, bright metal gleaming in the glow of the tower, the S. E. E. S. initials embossed on the barrel becoming legible.
"Do you think it works in here?"
"I don't know," replied Akihiko, his left hand around the handle and resting the barrel in his right. "When I tried it out, it only made a really loud noise. I don't think that did anything then, but it sure scared the crap outta me."
"Well, try it out. Maybe it'll do something different since this isn't the-the uh….The...Since we're not at a normal time."
Akihiko took another long look at the Evoker, turning it every which way that's not pointing at his face to see if there's anything different about it. But it still seemed like a very realistic gun to him. Maybe if he pulled the trigger, something other than noise might happen.
"Hey don't point it at me!" yelled Shinji.
"Wha- Ah! Sorry!" Akihiko hastily pointed it away from his friend. "I wasn't… paying attention…"
Shinji placed a hand on his chest, panting hard from fright. "Geez, that took a few years from my life. That's it. You stick to your fists, and nothing else! That's an order from your manager."
"Tch. I'll be more careful next time."
"Can say that after you accidentally killed someone? You know what, maybe I should use it."
"What?" Akihiko put his gun-ladened hand behind his back out of sight from Shinji's outstretched hand. "Wai- Hold on! Mitsuru Kirijo gave it to me. So that must mean that there's something about me that can only use this for some reason."
"Well, isn't it because you're able to enter the 'Dark Hour?' Well what do you know? I'm walking around wide awake in the Dark Hour! That means I can use it too, right?"
Akihiko was aghast. "But Kirijo gave it to me."
"Well I think you're using it wrong!"
"I haven't even tried it out here yet!"
Shinji snorted indignantly and looked at Akihiko expectantly. Akihiko gave him a side-glance before turning away from him and pointing the Evoker down the street.
"I'll try shooting at that trash can next to the bench."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shinji moving a few steps away from him for good measure, which was fine with him; he took a deep breath, held it, and prepared for whatever that may happen. He squeezed the trigger.
Like before, the sound of the gunshot made him flinch, his blood pounding frantically throughout his body. The shock almost made him weak in the knees, but he somehow managed to not react as harshly as before. Akihiko opened his eyes and looked at his target. He blinked again, thinking he was still in a state of shock and not focusing right.
The trashcan remained as an unharmed trashcan.
Shinji walked towards the receptacle and bent knees, scrutinizing the cylinder every which way and that, looking behind it and even peering down inside it. Akihiko frowned when Shinji straightened and glared at him, and braced himself as his friend walked towards him.
"I think you missed."
"Ah- No way!" cried Akihiko indignantly. "I was looking right at it when I shot it."
"That doesn't mean you can actually hit something," Shinji gestured towards the unmarred trashcan.
Akihiko scratched his head, thinking hard. "Well, hey, maybe this thing doesn't work on, um, solid things or something. Like maybe it works on something that's alive to take effect."
"Did Kirijo even tell you what the thing does at all?" Shinji inquired harshly.
"Uh…
In fact, why didn't Kirijo clarify the Evoker's purpose to begin with? Akihiko rubbed his eyes in irritation. Why the hell did she have to be all vague about how to use an "Evoker?" I'm indanger right now, what the hell am I supposed to do in this kind of situation?!
"So… you really don't know what to do with it?" Shinji deadpanned. Akihiko rolled his shoulders back, as though he could soothe away the punch-happy frustration that's beginning to crawl over him.
"…No," he said through gritted teeth.
Shinji slowly lifted his hand to his forehead and groaned. Akihiko scratched his ear idly, feeling the tops of his ears burn with the rest of his face. Shinji stretched out his hand once again towards Akihiko, silently begging for the Evoker. He sighed and rolled his eyes, flipping the piece around so that Shinji could grab it by the handle. His friend gave a small triumphant smile and said, "Knew you'd see it my way." Shinji weighed it in his hands, bringing it up to eye level to peer at the line of sight, brushing his fingers on the engraved initials. "Alrighty then; Let's see what this little number could do-"
A sharp sound screeched in the air, alarming the two boys and snapping their heads this way and that to see if they could pinpoint its location. Akihiko looked down towards the street where they had come from, and felt Shinji pressing his back against him looking the opposite way. The screeching noise was just like the sound of a car turning sharply on the street until the atmosphere changed back to its usual, empty silence. Gradually, against the heartbeat in his ears, Akihiko thought that he heard the sound of a car approaching towards them.
Behind him, Shinji gasped and jumped suddenly, backpedaling in shock against Akihiko. He turned around to grab Shinji by the shoulders so that he doesn't fall on the ground, but as he faced him, Shinji held his hands up to his ears, disbelief and shock upon his face.
"Shinji, what's wrong?" demanded Akihiko. Shinji regained his footing and steadied himself, appearing to not have listened to Akihiko. The boxer raised his eyebrow in befuddlement as he watched his friend look this way and that, suspecting that Shinji was searching for something else other than the tire screeches that howled into the night.
"Did you hear that, Aki?" he murmured.
Akihiko scowled slightly. "Uh… You mean that loud sound from before?"
"No. I… uh…." Shinji scratched his head in agitation. "…Nevermind. I thought that I heard someone calling my name."
Akihiko blinked exaggeratedly. "That would just make our night, wouldn't it-" The sound of running tires grew closer, the thought of whatever it was raising the small hairs on the back of his head. There was a very loud screech coming from the direction of the enormous tower. In the distance, Akihiko could make out a shape charging towards them, something looking distinctly like a front wheel of a motorcycle with an emblem of a lion's head as the fender.
His eyes widened. "He-ey…That's getting bigger…" Shinji yelped in panic and pointed the Evoker with both hands at the approaching vehicle. "Oh, man! It looks like they've already heard the lunch bell, Aki!"
"What?!" Akihiko exclaimed.
"When you fired this whosamacallit!" Shinji laid his focus back to the target, frowning deeply at how much it's coming closer.
"You think it'll do anything?!" yelled Akihiko. His eyes bugged out when he noticed Shinji's shaking hands.
"Don't ask me, Aki!" he cried out. "No dumb broad gave me a special gun and walked away. Come on, you squirt toy. I'm hoping for laser beams!"
Akihiko quickly put his hands up to his ears, numbly noticing that they're freezing to the touch, watched expectedly as Shinji pulled the trigger. As before, it made a loud bang, but at his approximation, Akihiko didn't see anything happening, or anything happening to the target. Now that it's close enough, he could see that what was rapidly approaching them was a very large wheel with a lion resting upon its rapidly spinning revolutions like a glorified fender. At the noise of the Evoker, the lion reared its head back and roared into the night sky and, to Akihiko's suspected dread, seemed to accelerate even faster.
Shinji looked back at the Evoker disbelievingly and smacked it with his other hand. He held it steady again and fired another shot. And another. He pulled it back and cursed it. "What's wrong with this?!" he demanded.
"Shinji, MOVE!"
Akihiko leapt to his feet and shoved Shinji away from the lion's path. The force sent the both of them towards the sidewalk on the other end of the street, Akihiko's arms flying wildly in front of him to stop from getting his face acquainted with a building. They both collided against the concrete façade of the structure and slid down its side into a heap with Akihiko's left side of his face plastered on the wall and on his knees, bending over Shinji who took the hardest from the impact and lay groaning on his side.
"Gurrrgh…" mumbled Akihiko, looking around with his right eye, his left being obscured by the wall, spotting the Verizon sign hanging from the building ("We Never Stop Working for You") and half of the glowing tower in the distance. He planted both hands onto the façade and pushed himself away, flexing his jaw and tonguing his teeth experimentally. Nothing seemed broken, though he could count on another place to put an ice pack on later… if they ever make it out of here alive, that is. He quickly looked to his right to see where the giant monster wheel was, if it was ever after them at all or if they were just inconveniently placed in its path where it was going somewhere. The giant wheel was actually quite a ways away from them, though he could still make out its hind legs and tail hanging over the wheel, and for a fluttering moment he thought that their troubles were over. As he thought that happy thought, he got up on shaky legs and was about to check on Shinji when, after hearing a very loud and familiar screech on pavement, he snapped his head up and saw that the lion wheel had stopped and turned around to face towards them.
"Shinji! Get up!" He roughly his friend by the shoulders, hard enough to make his head bob up and down with each shake.
"Five more minutes, matron…" Shinji grumbled incoherently. Akihiko, in exasperation, punched his friend awake. "Daaagh! Ugh…" Shinji unevenly opened his eyes and refocused them to meet Akihiko's.
"We gotta run, Shinji!" Akihiko hooked his hands under Shinji's armpits and pulled him up to his feet. Shinji stood on wobbly legs and reached out to the building to steady himself. Akihiko looked back towards the lion wheel and heard something like a loud engine revving up to gain more power. It roared in anticipation and spun its wheel faster, though it didn't seem to move towards them; it took a second to realize that it's also floating in the air.
He didn't care if Shinji was okay enough to run on his own. He grabbed his friend by the arm and pulled him around the corner of the Verizon building and half-sprinted, half-dragged Shinji into a running start. They ran a good distance across the block when they heard the lion wheel turn the corner and sped full-tilt towards them. Akihiko took a look behind his shoulder, yelped, and briefly thought that they had met their maker when out of the corner of his eye he spied an alley. He yelled at Shinji and pointed at their possible bastion of escape. He swiftly turned into the dark corridor, almost tripping over his feet at the sharp turn, as well as almost colliding with Shinji who caught on with the idea.
They barely made it for the thin corridor when the vehicle zoomed past them, the force of its acceleration propelling the two boys further into the alley and tumbled painfully against the walls and onto the ground. It was good distance away when the lion skidded to a stop and roared in confusion. Amidst the ringing in his head, Akihiko could hear it going in various directions until the sound of rapidly spinning tire on concrete disappeared in the night. He coughed and pushed himself off the ground, falling back on his haunches in exhaustion. He gingerly touched his face and brushed off grit stuck on his flesh. He backpedaled a bit until his back touched the wall and sighed heavily, panting.
In the darkness, he heard Shinji utter a low moan.
"Hey," Akihiko panted. "You alive?"
"Mmmmm…no," mumbled Shinji. "I'm dreaming."
Akihiko numbly hoped that that was the case. "No… It's real. I'm right here… and thinking… and really feeling like shit… That… doesn't happen… in a dream."
"Ueeerrrhhhh… It's a dream." He heard Shinji shifting around a bit; presumably so that he could sit up since his next words weren't impeded by terrestrial matter. "You thinking? That can't be real."
Akihiko laughed humorlessly. "Well, if you insist that it's not real… then you shouldn't have started running. Maybe getting hit by that thing would have knocked you awake. Oh, wait..." His hand groped to find an empty can nearby, finding its source when his shoulder brushed against something cylindrical when he moved. "Maybe this'll convince you."
He threw the can at the direction of where Shinji's voice came from. He smirked in satisfaction at the uttered exclamation. Shinji sighed heavily and said in a drained voice, "Aww… You ruined my wishful thinking…"
They sat in silence for a while, soaking in all the events that led up this their position. Akihiko couldn't believe he was here, in a pitch-black alley covered in bruises, scrapes, and surface injuries of varying levels of pain, totally exhausted after a mile-long run and a sprint down a block from…
Shadows.
Mitsuru Kirijo's voice echoed in his blank mind, bringing reality back and focusing his eyes away from fantasy; unfortunately, he felt every single sore spot in his cold body at the same time. He groaned in the back of his throat and struggled back on his feet. They have to leave. Now. It may be the same city it always was a minute, an hour, a whole twelve hours before, but right here he and Shinji are strangers in a strange land with little leeway to defend themselves from whatever came their way.
Like those two floating things looking right at them from the street where they came.
Akihiko made a strangled noise in his throat. He hastily pulled Shinji up on his feet and tugged him on a spirited run.
"What's going on Aki?!" he cried out. Akihiko couldn't spare a breath to explain that they were once again in dire straights, but it didn't seem to matter anymore when he heard Shinji's panicked shriek and didn't have to pull him around anymore.
"Whhhh-ha-ha-hhhhy!?" Shinji exclaimed. Behind them, Akihiko could hear something explode and the way ahead of them was briefly lighted with the glow from a fire. He looked back and saw the burning wreckage of what used to be a dumpster. The floating thing, which looked like an octopus with a book on top of its head (A floating book? thought Akihiko) floated right through the smoke and began to charge something at its center, preparing what could be another blast.
"Run faster, Shinji!"
Shinji yelled in response and both boys were neck and neck in determining how fast they could escape from the crowded alley into the open street. Akihiko took a peek back, and like a slow-motion action paced movie, he saw the thing finished charging up and spurting forth a blast of flames towards them. Without thinking, he grabbed Shinji by the collar and forced both of them to sharply turn the corner down the street. If good luck was in a three-legged race with first prize being "making it out of here alive," its partner was unfortunately bad luck, resulting both boys hitting the hard pavement once again, putting more harm upon themselves to avoid not feeling anything ever again.
However, the race was apparently won and something miraculous happened: the blast of fire from one of the two book-wielding levitating octopi struck the rope of a crane, holding some sort of heavy cargo in order to require the usage of said crane, forcing the unfortunate package to plummet its way to the earth. Where it hit, however, was nothing short of divine intervention as it struck a wooden platform lain upon a wedge where on one end was a wheelbarrow filled to the brim of rubble. Like an anvil dropped on a raised teeter-totter, the cargo box crashed heavily in a cacophony of obliterated contents and propelled the wheelbarrow up into the night sky, sailing across the moon in oblivious freedom, to land in a heap upon the two octopi who floated nearby the two boys.
The fantastic event would surely have converted Akihiko to religion if he had been in normal circumstances, but since he's anywhere but that he'll take anything he gets as long as it didn't involve him being scorched into a burn mark upon the road.
He patted Shinji on the back to rouse his friend up, but found no immediate response. "Shinji," he said. "Hey. What's the matter?" Shinji lifted his head up slowly, his hands uncovering his head.
"What's the matter?" he repeated. "First, I got grabbed by a hand from under the taxi, then we ran, like five miles down the road without looking back. Secondly, the squirt gun didn't do anything except make noise, the same squirt gun that the only person who knew about this more than we do gave us as a line of defense." By now, Shinji had gotten back up on his feet with surprising energy that even Akihiko couldn't muster.
"Thirdly," he continued. "We almost got ran over and incinerated. All the while, you dragged me around like some little girl dangling a stuffed bunny wherever she goes! To me, a bumper car is like a limo ride compared to what I've been through tonight! We have to stop running! No! None at all! I'm …tired! I… have no breath anymore! If we're going to die here, we're gonna die like men and not like hunted animals!"
Akihiko stared at him in alarm, unused to seeing his friend's eyes dart around like a crazy man and stamping around in agitation like a rhino. Shinji's eyes fixated on something on the ground, prompting Akihiko to look at what it was. His enraged comrade stalked over to where the two octopi lay buried under mortar and broken concrete, prompting the relatively more calm and collected person to grow increasingly anxious at what Shinji was about to do. The rhino-boy impatiently pulled off bits of rubble with his bare hands, almost flinging them wildly aside and actually prompting Akihiko to duck at the smaller bits, before he straightened up and hefting a kind of long rod. When he turned around, Akihiko found that he was holding a bus sign. In fact, now that he got a better look around, this was actually one of the stops that were on the route of the bus he took to get to school. They were also not too far away from Paulownia Mall and if they kept walking down a few streets they would be back to the taxi cab where they had stopped.
In retrospect, he wondered how long it had been since they both were trapped outside with no protection in the Dark Hour.
"When technology fails you, you go back to the basics." Shinji hefted his newfound line of protection in emphasis. Where does he get the energy, thought Akihiko. He was the one that dragged his reluctant friend around like a rag doll, so why's he the one who's tired first. He's beginning to understand what Shinji had to go through whenever his friend had to deal with Akihiko's own enthusiasm. A squirming, bubbling sound prompted them to turn to the source to discover one of the flying biblio-octopi had risen from the rubble and spun around some three feet high in the air like a staggering drunk. Before Akihiko could utter anything, Shinji raised his makeshift weapon up high and neatly swatted the monster on its… cranium. The book fluttered open and the floating Shadow dipped haphazardly into the air. Shinji took this chance to land a smart headbutt and proceeded to swing his bludgeon upwards as the finishing touch. The Shadow made a decent arch across the night sky and when it landed some feet away from them it dissolved itself into a puff of dark smoke and dissipated into the air.
Shinji panted in exertion and wiped a hand across his mouth. "Yeah… That'll teach ya…" He seemed to be surprised at his own strength. Akihiko's mind drew a blank, visibly shocked by his friend's outburst. More so, the fact that he had just witnessed some sentient-being get destroyed into nothing.
"You killed it…" said Akihiko, awestruck. Shinji let out a self-satisfied sigh.
"See? We don't have to let some girl hand us a fake gun and then walk away without saying anything important, like how we're supposed to stay alive. 'Just gotta use our heads."
"Yeah… sure," Akihiko muttered, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, while thinking, "…How can he have the energy to grandstand now after running around town being chased by monsters…?"
An explosive roar pierced the still night air, making the two boys jump in surprise and look around wildly for the source. Further down the street was their old friend, the Big Lion Wheel monster. It growled softly like a Nascar racer waiting for the signal to tear up the road, and its eyes flashed violently like a speeding taillight when a vehicle turned sharply on a curve; steam radiated from its nostrils and dissipated into the chilly night air, the atmosphere numbing the boys' skin but unable to freeze their hearts beating miles a minute out of acute fear and apprehension.
Just as suddenly as it appeared, it began to speed towards them.
With no time for any sort of exclamation, Akihiko dived to one side of the road to avoid fatal collision, stumbling onto the sidewalk but not kissing concrete. He could feel the wind from when the Lion narrowly grazed him and briefly saw Shinji on the other side of the road, still clutching his makeshift weapon. There was the sound of screeching tires and Akihiko turned quickly towards the scene to find the Lion colliding against the rubble in the middle of the road and flailing about on the surface trying to balance itself from colliding into a heap. While trying to stop itself, the tire smacked onto its side into a particularly large bit of concrete jutting out from the ground, propelling itself into the air before crashing heavily into the ground. Akihiko winced at the sound, sounding very much like a car collision with its inner metal piercing against one another and its frame crushing inwards. It lay upon the road with its axel spinning in the air, a proverbial turtle on its back, and Shinji took the chance to leap forward and bash it on the head.
"Wa-wa-wait! Shinji!" Akihiko cried out in alarm. What were once sure strikes when Shinji destroyed the smaller monster before turned into desperate, hasty swings, his face contorted in a blotted mixture of panic and determined fear. Akihiko wasn't sure whether he should go over to his friend's side or not, his legs turned to stone and his mind numb at the sight before him.
He saw the lion's form rocking side by side, and he shrieked, "Shinji! Watch out!" Shinji stopped his bludgeon in midair, his eyes locking onto Akihiko's, dumbfounded, either he couldn't register his friend's warnings or that he had just realized just what he was doing.
Almost immediately, Shinji jumped back just as the Lion righted itself and called out in frustration. The creature's eyes glowed red and Akihiko instinctively ran to the side of a building and braced himself. It roared once again, but this time there seemed to be a renewed force in it. A sudden gust wind blew through the streets, whipping his hair and his clothes, its force propelling him to shut his eyes and braced himself harder against the building; when he cracked an eye out for a precarious glimpse, he saw to his shock that large rocks and rubble were flying in the air down the street, and amongst them was Shinji.
The wind died down and he bolted out of his hiding place, his eyes locked on his falling friends, berating his legs to run faster.
He almost didn't make it.
He ran a bit too far from where Shinji was going to fall, and screeched to a halt when out of the corner of his eye he saw Shinji's form spiraling down right at him. Akihiko gave an "Oompf!" when Shinji crashed down against his side, slammed against the concrete with his friend's dead weight propelling him across the surface, and lay supine on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Akihiko stared blankly up at the dark, greenish night sky, a wheeze issuing out of his numb lips after several moments of breathlessness. His head was ringing and he could see Shinji lying on the ground, in the space between Akihiko and the Lion Wheel, his face kissing the dirt. His mind was telling him to get up and go, to flee this godforsaken place where they were both running around in circles, running for their lives, running for things that still made sense in this world- if indeed this was still their world. But he was too tired. Like when he fell flat on the ground, it seemed like all the energy he had, the apprehension, the nervousness and frustration of being trapped, was carried away along with his breath and all he could feel was cold, heavy fear settled in the emptiness.
With considerable concentration, he forced himself to tilt his head to the side. Shinji coughed wetly, trying to get himself off the ground with shaking arms and knees. He made a strangled, gulping sound and convulsed, spewing vomit on the ground. After several heaves, he weakly raised himself up so that he was kneeling on his knees with his head held up and turned towards the stalking monster. His hands clenched and unclenched fitfully, as though missing an important extension. Shinji looked around tiredly, and Akihiko realized that he was actually looking for his makeshift weapon. He opened his mouth, wanting to tell him that he's a damn fool and that he should make a break for it, but gasped and heaved instead, not having the strength even to yell. He could only managed a guttural moan at the back of his throat, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
The Lion Wheel rolled slowly up to Shinji, eyes smoldering and saliva dripping from its bared fangs. Aside from Akihiko's heart hammering in his ears, he could hear Shinji's heavy pants, steadily sounding harsher and in faster intervals. He saw his shoulders quaver and was almost rocking back and forth on his knees.
"Shi…Shinji!" croaked Akihiko, barely louder than a whisper. He wet his lips and tried again. "Shin…Shinji!"
Shinji seemed to have heard him that time, because he stopped rocking and clutched his head with both hands, shaking it side to side as though trying to vehemently deny something.
"Shut up. Shut up. Shutup, shutup, shutup, shutup, shutupshutupshutupshutup …" He was hyperventilating now, and Akihiko tried even harder to at least raise himself by his elbows.
"NO!" Shinji bellowed suddenly. "STOPIT! I don't- I DON'T….NNGH! AAAAARRRGH!"
He screamed shrilly and doubled over. Akihiko quickly flipped over and attempted to raise himself up with his knees and hands. Shinji continued to scream, angrily, frightened, and almost painfully. Something shimmered over his crouched form and a beam of light raised up into the sky, as though a spear pierced the atmosphere and rained down shards upon the earth. Clear as day, but translucent enough to see the Lion Wheel stop in its tracks to appraise the apparition, what appeared to be a figure on a horse emerged from Shinji. Akihiko could only gape, openmouthed as the figure's image became sharper and more focused with each slow, passing second. Long white hair billowed from its scalp, black armor dully shining in the moonlight, mounted on a horse without legs of which has a horn sprouted from the middle of its forehead.
And a face that looked like Death.
It reared its steed and proclaimed to all,
"I AM CASTOR, PATRON SAINT OF THE CALVALRY AND THE SECOND OF THE DIOSCURI. THOU HAST CAST MY NAME INTO THE SEA OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND I CAME TO AID THOU WHO HAS FALLEN, LOST IN ITS DEPTHS."
The horse neighed in response and both steed and horseman charged through the air straight towards the Wheel. It stabbed through the stokes, causing it to roar in pain as the backbone of the wheel shattered upon the ground. As the monster writhed on the ground, Castor dived down with spear outstretched and cleanly pierced the lion's head, erupting all of its being, the shards of metal from the spoke and the road streaks it made with its tire rubber smeared on the ground, into a black puff of smoke, as if it was all only an illusion.
Akihiko sat dumbly on the ground, not registering what had happened. He heard a low groan and his eyes snapped back at Shinji, who still crouched over the ground with his hands on his head. He no longer seemed to be in pain, but he was still very shaky. And with little wonder, thought Akihiko, since he had almost bought it and had someone or something come out from him and impaled the lion into oblivion.
He teetered unevenly on his heels, his arms swaying a bit to hold his balance, and slowly straightened up to hobble to where Shinji lay, collapsing on his knees when he reached a hand out to him.
"Hey… Shinji…" He coughed slightly to ease his thick and dry throat. "You okay, man? What… What was that?"
Shinji seemed to stop trembling when he felt Akihiko's hand on his shoulder, but his voice was raw, hoarse, and shaking.
"Wah…? I… Ah…." He hacked violently, prompting Akihiko to pound his back in alarm. Shinji's breath heaved rapidly, and he quickly clenched his head between his hands in a vice-like grip. "Gahh! Aki…! Make it stop…" he hissed.
"Shinji! Are you hurt?! What's happening?" cried Akihiko sharply. He searched for any wound on Shinji: telltale tracks of blood from his head; any strange way in raising his limbs; an affliction that could be told by looking into his eyes. But all he could see was torn clothing, scrapes, blossoming bruises, and a darting wildness in Shinji's gaze.
"SHUDUUUUUUP!"
Shinji screamed suddenly, jumping away from Akihiko and writhed on the ground in untold pain. The apparition that came from him suddenly turned sharply and gazed blankly at Akihiko. He didn't like that look in its eyes.
The horse shrieked in the night sky and Castor thrust his weapon into the atmosphere, as though declaring a challenge, and aimed its tip right at Akihiko. The boy staggered back at the accusation and nearly tripped over his own feet. He barely dodged the blow and he unceremoniously rolled away from the Calvary God's line of sight, slashing a nasty gash on the pavement where Akihiko had been. He swiftly looked back to see if Castor was charging at him again, but found it stopped right when it lifted its spear from the surface. It seemed confused, almost befuddled at not having gored anything in its path, and drifted away from Akihiko restlessly, as though uncertain as to what it was doing. At that moment, Shinji screamed again, and Castor flew higher into the sky, darting this way and that, examining a billboard sign on one building ("Everyday's Great at Your Junes!") and diving back towards the ground towards a kiosk signboard on the other side of the sidewalk. The horse shrieked again and Castor abruptly turned back and rammed its spear against a building, shattering its windows, the shards cascading down on the black pavement like drops of water.
Nearby, a horrendous roar erupted.
Castor jerked out of the building and paused in the air, as though listening for the source of the roar. A clattering of chains echoed back at them.
A chilled spark ran down Akihiko's spine, breaking out in cold sweat and breathing rapidly. He felt eyes boring into the back of his head, and no matter where he turned he could still feel those eyes on him, ready to swipe him neatly in two. The sound of chains grew louder and an inky paw emerged from the oblong shadows from the alleys where they came from, a pair of deep-set red eyes glaring from a mass of shaggy black hair and curled tail whipping in anticipation. Trailing behind it was a thick, lengthy chain attached to an iron ball with some sort of face on it. It growled softly upon seeing the two boys and bristled from head to tail.
He heard the crunching sound of glass nearby and a sudden spray of shards blew into the air as Castor zoomed out of the shop to run through the other monster. But just as quickly as he appeared, the apparition faded away just before the tip of the spear breached the black lion's forehead. The monster stood frozen, as though disbelieving that it was still alive and breathing, then gave an annoyed growl as it returned its attention on the helpless prey before it.
As soon as he locked eyes with the black lion, Akihiko swiftly glanced over at Shinji, now lying still on the ground, still with his hands on his head, curled in a fetal position. Without looking away from it, he cautiously went to Shinji, his hands on his friend's shoulders, trying to shake him awake. He shook harder as the lion began to approach them, his mouth as dry as sandpaper. He opened his mouth, as if to scream, to cry out, to at least tell Shinji to fucking wake up, but there was no power left to utter anything, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
He looked back at the other lion, red eyes glowing set in a dark mass of shadows, a bare outline of its muzzle protruding from its black fur in the dark night, its claws clicking against the pavement as it stalked closer to them.
Akihiko sat back on his haunches, breathing deep, feeling cold sweat run down his forehead, from the bridge of his bandaged noise, and a pulsing beat beneath his numb bruises and sore muscles. Between his heart beats, he wondered briefly if he's going to die, to die not knowing anything and realizing that for all the fifteen years of his life he had never done anything worth doing, never done anything he had ever wanted to, and that there must've been more that he had wished for in his life than he had thought of before.
He slowed his breath into a shaky sigh, and smiled carelessly, his head thrown back to the sky. So, his number's up. There's no way he could accept it. This whole time, his first time wandering around in the Dark Hour, he had been running and exposing his lifelong friend to danger. He ran away from certain death, he ran away from facing life's pettiness, and he ran away from being a frail, eight-year old boy who can only watch a building being consumed by fire with his only family, his only insurance that he was never a nobody, and here he sat, in a cold, still night, about to be eaten by a monster.
A Shadow…
What shit… he thought. Thinking back on the whole night, they had done nothing but move, and can only remember small impressions of the events in small doses: from that building that he and Shinji knocked into to the billboard sign that… that Castor demolished.
He drew a shaky hand to the backpack and pulled out the gleaming Evoker from it. He stretched it out to the lion and tried to pull the trigger, but found that he had lost his strength in his fingers. With teeth chattering, he thought of being chewed between those jagged teeth and almost retched. He thought of his last moments being pieces of meat sliding down its gullet and watching from the mouth's opening the monster approaching Shinji.
He brought the Evoker to his head and tapped the muzzle against his skin, just above his left eyebrow. He had a flash of inspiration and briefly heard Mitsuru Kirijo's voice and pulled the trigger.
There was a rushing sensation in his head, sending him into vertigo, and thought he heard something break, like glass. Before he blacked out, he thought he heard a voice and wondered no more about it.