Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I don't own.

Chapter 8

"Hey...hey!" Captain Ryoshiki called after Mrs. Musashibo as she resolutely strolled down the halls of the hospital, tears staining her eyes.

"I'm busy, Kishio," she said, trying to hide her pain with work as she made her way to her assigned room, to give a patient his IV drip.

"I know you are, but this must be discussed..."

Immediately, Mrs. Musashibo turned to face him, "Discuss what!?"

"Everyone's in danger-"

"You think!?" she practically yelled, before putting her hand to her forehead. "By the gods, monsters, Kishio. Monsters!"

"We aren't one-hundred percent sure..."

Captain Ryoshiki couldn't even blink before his childhood crush grabbed his hand and pulled him into a relatively empty hallway. Normally, in any circumstance he would be flushing at the thought of being alone with her in a darkened hallway. But that fleeting, less-than-noteworthy thought was erased.

"Not sure? Not sure!" she repeated in a hushed hiss, "Dammit, I saw what happened. Everyone saw what went on in the city. And...to make it...worse.."

She broke away in a light sob, but still stared bravely at the captain, "Hikaru was in the city, Kishio. And I have not heard from him. What if he..."

Captain Ryoshiki couldn't say anything. Nothing he could say would be the truth and that was what he owed her. Yet he couldn't very well turn over every leaf in a city in a midst of panic to find the boy.

"Yumiko..." his voice was low, but was interrupted as the radio wired to his shoulder went off.

"Captain, you are needed on the destroyer. Please report."

The captain's lips bobbed open, torn between answering the call and talking with Yumiko and helping her. With a frustrated grunt he grabbed his radio and turned his head to his shoulder and answered.

"Copy that. I'll be right there."

Immediately it seemed all urgency resting on his shoulders flooded his being, he grabbed Mrs. Musashibo's shoulders and said hastily, eyes cold, set, and hard, "I have to go, but as soon as I can I will look into Hikaru."

Whether or not she was about to respond he didn't know. He didn't want to know. First things first. There were monsters about. That much was known to the entire prefecture if not the country at this point. Perhaps some witness managed to load their jittery, fogged, and pixelated video or picture taken from their phones onto the internet already. No more hiding. It was time to run.

Captain Ryoshiki reported to the U.S American ship he was stationed at. The ship was a simple destroyer. Not nearly as big as a carrier, but still it was plenty big to house a small town of sailors.

He met with other Coast Guard officers and U.S. Naval officers, with Admiral Washington at the helm, looking at a nautical cartographic chart with the nation of Japan in the center. Red circles were drawn around small sections on the map and the Admiral pointed to each one, briefing the higher officers.

"Alright, we have marked where the UFA has been reported. So far since the other night at the station, we have reports here, here, and here. We've got halos circling the shore, the city and in a 100km vicinity to gain sight. Once tracked we will send fighters after...whatever it is."

"Wait...we're gonna kill it?" Coast Guard Sergeant Kawamura asked.

The Admiral stared at him pointedly, "You got a better option?"

The sergeant shook his head, keeping his lips sealed. The Admiral sighed and explained, "At this point we aren't taking any chances. It's already crashed into a city and caused casualties. All bets are off."

At that moment, from the control center, a woman in blue camouflage fatigues stood and called, "Admiral. We've got a call from one of our halos."

"Report?"

The woman had a wry look on her face, the upturned corner of her mouth not at all comforting, "Errr...it'd better if you see for yourself."

Immediately the Admiral and Captain Ryoshiki and their close officers ascended to the deck, feeling like they were racing against time, the horrors of their imaginations running of what could be out there. Meanwhile the Admiral spoke onto his radio as they ascended the to the deck.

"Sir, we've got a bogie fast approaching the starboard side."

"Got a read?" the Admiral asked as the Captain slowly approached the rail, slowly raising his binoculars towards the sky, thinking that whatever the helicopter pilot was reporting was in the air. Slowly, Ryoshiki leveled his view onto the night horizon and there...

He could see one...three...what looked like eight dorsal fins running towards the ship, like a pod of demonic whales ready to ram.

"Admiral!" a spotter in the upper deck called. "Starboard! Mark! Eight bogies."

"Roadrunner," the Admiral called back into the radio, using the codename of the helicopter and pilot, "Do you sight on eight?"

"Negative. One...but it's got..."

Before Ryoshiki could hear the pilot finished he whispered to himself, "...eight heads."

He dropped his binoculars letting it tug down on his neck, following the outer rail, watching as the obviously giant submerged creature took a sharp turn towards the direction of the shore.

Lieutenant Adelwall cursed and ordered Ryoshiki to issue an evacuation of the town. Immediately, Ryoshiki radioed his station and almost immediately, tsunami sirens went off. In conjunction to the sirens, rescue copters were immediately put in place in perparation for a mass of flooding and whatever terror ensued. The wake that the creature created was enough to flood lower section of town, that much the Captain knew.

Much to the officers' bewilderment, the monster, which had to be the size of the entire town if not greater, did not rise out of the sea, but resumed its course along the coastline while still keeping itself submerged in the black ink of the ocean.

"Copy, Admiral. Be advised a bogie is going right for your position at an accelerating rate."

The Admiral, the Captain, and the Adelwall glanced at each other, faces frozen in perpetual consternation.

"Another monster?" Adelwall gasped and Ryoshiki turned towards the starboard side.

This time there was no doubt that whatever creature this second was, was going to run right into the ship. From what Ryoshiki could see, he could see the spiky spine or back fins of the monster, illuminating gold as it was being highlighted by search copters. The creatures had to be bigger than three aircraft carriers put together, but that was going by the length of the visible spine, nevermind what may be down below.

"God. It's gotta be..." they could hear the pilot speak about the second monster in an awed and deeply profound voice, as if nothing in his extensive military training could have prepared him for this, "180...200 meters long at least..."

"Holy shit," Adelwall murmured under his breath.

As the creature fast approached, looking to crash right in the ship, Ryoshiki grabbed hold of the railing and yelled, "Brace!"

There would be no time for any of the crew to brace themselves against a crash, and the Captain knew that holding onto the railing wouldn't be enough to prevent him from being thrown into the black abyss of the sea. However, bit by bit, the back of the creature rounded, the spine sinking underneath, diving below the ship, leaving the craft undisturbed with the exception of a few racing hearts.

The spine of the second creature rose again on the other side of the ship, heading straight towards the eight-headed leviathan.

"It's," Ryoshiki's mouth was wide open, words barely escaping the back of his throat, "chasing that thing?"

Panic set into the town once the sirens sounded. Tsunamis weren't uncommon and many facilities were built to withstand the water. But it happened so suddenly and without warning, that it left many people racing against the encroaching wave, larger than any building in town, as if engulfed the streets, buildings, and ports.

Many fled to taller buildings though that did little. Further away from shore, standing on the roofs was safer and lucky for the hospital, it was perched up on a section of town further off ground.

Mrs. Musashibo yelled herself hoarse, arms weary and tired as she rolled those in intensive care to the very top of the hospital. She ended up having to take few to the roof where they could see the flooded streets below, buildings slightly poking up like waterlogged stepping stones.

The town seemed darker still. All signs and streetlights flooded and burnt out. But there in the distance people could see what had caused this, screams piercing the sky as the lights of the helicopters illuminated the black wet skin of a long serpentine giant of a creature as it rose from the surface and then diving back in.

Mrs. Musashibo was on the verge of tears. This is what Hikaru may have run into. And deep, deep, deep into her heart, she knew this creature-these creatures took her husband from this world.

Driving out of the city didn't take as long as expected, but the drive seemed endless, hearts pounding blood in their ears, ice gripping horror penetrating their pores. They drove until daybreak, which came faster than either of them could anticipate.

Hikaru kept switching radio stations in the truck, trying to get news. Mostly he got static, but from what he could gather from the radio stations that were working was that there was a mass evacuation from the city and other cities nearby.

Yui had all the time in the world to try to compose herself. She cried in the night as Hikaru drove, him whispering soothing words, despite the shaky breath he said it in. He tried to provide comfort, but he was so caught up in his own thoughts

That dragon seemed to know him. That he could tell. Why else would that monster look at him right in the eye with the look of victory and satisfaction? And the two strangers...the big stranger from the diner appearing out of a black mass of ravens. At this point, he had already come to terms to the fact that monsters were here, but Yui...

At least he thought he had a grip of things. No doubt everyone else was in a panic. The radio news report said that there were roadblocks in roads going directly south. The havoc seemed to be worse and worse, and at this moment Hikaru was glad they were on the road alone.

But he had to call Mrs. Musashibo. He had to make sure she was okay. It was a desperate need he had now that his mind had settled. Gods pray that woman was still okay.

Hikaru tried his phone. Line dead. He tried again, no signal. He tried five times before dropping his phone with a loud, "Dammit!" Yui jerked in her seat, staring at her companion with a furrowed brow. His blue eyes stared straight at the road ahead, before the sense of loss sank in incredibly. She waited with baited breath before Hikaru finally broke, banging his fist against the dashboard shouting, "Dammit! Dammit!"

He finished with a quiet breath trying to ease himself. Yui remained silent at his outburst. She should do as he did. Soothe him. Try to comfort him, but it seemed he was more aware of her feelings than she was of his.

After a short pause, Hikaru glanced at the side of the road that broke into the vast countryside. He muttered his apologies and pulled his truck over on the side of the road. Before Yui had any chance to ask why, Hikaru stopped the truck and stepped out, not bothering to close the driver side door, ripping the hat off his head, running strong desperate fingers through his beautiful blond hair.

Hikaru finally couldn't take it. All that he thought was "Oh god." The world must've been coming to an end and he didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to run. All that anxiety erupted in his chest and pained him enough for him to bend over and vomit bile onto the dirt shoulder.

As disgusted as he was he felt a tad relief, like he was released, but all that did was cause him to weep. He was too tired for any of this. He lost Mr. Musashibo, angered Mrs. Musashibo, attacked by monsters and forced to flee to whereever. Hikaru collapsed against the side of the truck, allowing a sob to escape his lips.

Yui waited inside the truck, waiting, feeling upset herself. But she was patient as Hikaru collected himself. She had no choice but to be.

Hikaru didn't know how long he sat in the dirt against the truck. However long it was, it allowed him to feel numb, immune to thought, as if anything and everything was just a passing whim. Finally gaining enough muster to stand up, he straightened, dusting off the dirt from the back of his jeans, and reentering the truck.

He settled in and shut the door, feeling Yui's eyes right on him. "I...I hope you're okay," she said distantly, her worried gaze never leaving him, "What do we do now?"

He let out a soft sigh and started the truck, "I'll find something out."

"But..." Yui said, hiding a soft cry, "...my family."

As the truck continued down the road, Hikaru thought about it and turned to her, "The only way back now is to drive down the other side of the country. Roads are blocked the way we came."

She was silent. Hearing her unspoken concern Hikaru eyed her in between glances at the road, "Don't worry Yui. I'll get you back to them. I promise."

As improbable as seeing her parents anytime soon was, she believed him wholeheartedly. Perhaps it wasn't the prospect that she could be reunited with her family that made her feel at ease. It was likely the warm feeling that she wasn't alone.

The clouds high, high above the country of Japan held more than condensed condensation of rain or storms. There facing the rest of the heavens sat the high lords of the Japanese pantheon. Amaterasu faced the faceless lord father, Izanagi. Wisps of clouds covered his form, making his beauty unknown to many gods. Amaterasu knew it was out of necessity. He and the high lady, Izanami had "retired" from god life and lived in bliss with one another, leaving Amaterasu to handle the mortal world.

But this time, Izanagi had to bring Amaterasu to him. This situation around the world was getting worse and the high lord and lady could not ignore it. Amaterasu found himself tight, sitting in the traditional fashion in front of his father, the storm god Raijin sitting right next to him, looking absolutely ruffled, despite his stony black and red face. Amaterasu could tell because the small sparks of lighting that flashed lightly around his body was erratic and turning several different colors. Raijin knew to keep himself poised at all times, but whenever he was angry or nervous, his small lightning sparks revealed his emotions.

"Father," Amaterasu said, giving a small glance to his other side as Susanoo and Tsukiyomi kneeled in respect on their pillows of clouds. "Ryujin has tracked a...creature in the seas. He has been instructed to stop it at all costs. It seems...surprisingly...that he is more than willing."

"That's one monster," Raijin murmured. "There are many others."

Izanagi's words didn't come out as a spoken form. It came out as a gentle breeze, a whisper, that couldn't be comprehended by most gods, let alone mortals.

"How do we know this..."

Tsukiyomi spoke in his soft monotone, "My familiars have spoken to me. These monsters hounded the night last night."

Amaterasu clucked his tongue in disapproval, "And, pray tell, why did you not go and try to stop them?"

This time, as many times before, Susanoo defended his brother, "We were busy contacting Ryujin after that...sea monster showed up. Besides, the Norse gods had the dragon...or whatever that was...under control."

"The Norse?" Raijin repeated with a large ounce of disbelief. The senior gods glanced at each other with grave faces, and the whisps of clouds around Izanagi became a dread gray. Amaterasu hissed between his teeth, "Which Norse gods?"

"I was familiar with Loki and Thor...but there was a bigger god. A more powerful god, cloaked in ravens."

"Odin..." Amaterasu said more to himself than to the meeting. Whatever discussion may have went on, he couldn't hear it. If Odin was involved, it could only mean one thing...

"He's the cause of this," he said. Raijin glanced over at him with a moderately bewildered face.

"Odin?"

Amaterasu shook his head, "No. Not directly. His boy. His son. He must be alive still."

Susanoo jumped to his feet, "No! That's not right. They told me he was dead! He...he died peacefully. He can't be alive."

"He can be," Amaterasu said to his younger brother. "But he's most likely not a god."

"Still, I don't see how this all is his fault."

"I never said he was at fault, but he is the cause, alive or dead. We all knew that monsters would crop up after the light had been killed, but if the Norse are gathered here, that means this is the epicenter and that boy is alive here somewhere."

"Then we should help directly," Tsukiyomi suggested. "If he is still alive then the monsters may very well be after him to finish him off."

"To finish him in case he gets his powers back again," Raijin concluded. "Can he get his powers back?"

Amaterasu didn't know. He didn't want to know at this point. Giving back that boy's powers may bring back the destruction he held within. On the other hand, if monsters were destroying the world, the only sure-fire weapon would be the light.

He had to speak to Zeus about this.

Rain seemed to grasp them very suddenly. The sky a dark blue-gray that gave an ominous feeling, as if the sky was about to unleash a tornado of demons and monsters. Given the recent events, there was no doubt that that would be possible.

For hours they drove on country highways with very little other cars in sight. It was only when Hikaru and Yui reached the cliffsides that it was apparent that people were being jammed into a few lanes trying to escape whatever horrors they left. Unfortunately all that met on a bridge, perched high along the cliffside, over looking rocky shores that sunk into a small river.

Hikaru and Yui were stuck in the center of the bridge. Most cars were beyond angry as police and U.S. Military stopped cars and put up road blocks, inching cars past one at a time as another lane opened up for something else.

Hikaru felt a headache coming as the honking became unbearable. Yui examined the area watching as police in white helmets and rain ponchos directed traffic, notably allowing buses and ambulances through before the rest of the traffic. Hikaru glanced behind him, seeing a long line of cars inching and waiting to bypass that roadblock. He could was at least thankful that he was the fourth car in line to be let through.

Back near the end of the bridge, an officer in a white police helmet approached a white van. He rapped on the window and the driver rolled it down.

The driver didn't seem to notice the peircing blue eyes of the supposed Japanese officer as he gave the officer a disgruntled look.

"We're turning you all around, sir," the officer said with an uneasy sense of calm, his hand waving around, motioning for the car to turn around.
"Are you kidding? There's a massive evacuation," the driver said, his wife learning forward to try to listen to what the officer was saying.

"What's going on, mommy?" a small girl in the backseat with a duck stuffed animal asked. She was already upset when her father woke them up early in the morning, making them leave their home without explanation.

"Just a moment, sweetie."

The officer's unforgiving eyes stared right through the driver, "Trust me sir. You'll be much safer if you go back."

The driver couldn't deny the officer, no matter how hard he wished to. Almost subconsciously, he nodded, turning the wheel as the officer backed away, turning his car around and driving the way he came, the other cars following suit. The officer turned away, taking off his helmet and poncho, revealing white hair, tan skin, and wings.

No one ever noticed the winged figure as he walked against the people and traffic, but the little girl in the van could see him in the rear view mirror. Her mind was untainted by notions of impossibility, so she could see the winged, white-haired man clearly. Her mouth was open in awe at seeing an angel for the first time.

Thoth spread his wings and flew to the top of the cliffs, getting a good view of the sea and what was fast approaching the bridge. A young dog-like boy, scampered out of the bushes, his ears perking and twitching towards the sounds that upset him.

"Anubis, be prepared..." Thoth crossed his strong arms over his chest, his frown going deeper. His companion's wide eyes stared up at his mentor, before fearfully fixating on the sea. From his position, he could see battle ships blockading the bridge, sitting stagnant across the sea. Idiotic mortals. They were just interfering.

Inside the truck, Hikaru let out an exhausted sigh, his patience thinning. Why weren't they letting any more cars through? Then, from what he could see through the drenched window, large military tanks drove down the open lane the other way, setting themselves up on the bridge.

"What the-?" Yui said softly. She never seen anything like this. It looked like a military invasion. In some ways it was. These tanks were obviously American. They may have been deployed to help, but that didn't make it any less unnerving to civilians.

All the noise, all the droning, all the hub, the honking, the yelling was drowned by an unearthly, echoing roar in the foggy distance, that silenced any and all sound. It was if time and life froze. The only sound was the swiping of windshield wipers and the soft roar of rain.

The roar created an overwhelming vertigo for Hikaru. He pressed his knuckles against this temple as if to sooth the pain, before he turned to face the seaside of the bridge, ice in his stomach combining the pain in his head.

With a shaky breath, he wiped the condensation from the inside of his window, to get a better view.

In the sea, on a destroyer, an officer called to his captain, "Port side!"

The sailors on the ship approached the port side of the ship to see a long glistening golden fin fast approaching, cutting against the sea. It was approaching so fast that no destroyer could have the time to move out of the way. The captain called for everyone to brace for it, prepared to be rammed.

However, miraculously, the fin stopped just short of the destroyer, freezing place, waves making the ships bob in the sea. The captain grabbed the handrail, mouth open in shock, eyes looking all along the spine, thinking of what could be going on.

"Hold. All ships hold," a commander over the megaphone of a battleship ordered.

Then the spine heaved, arching, rounding, as something giant, bigger than any tree and skyscraper, rose slowly out of the water. It was scaly and black as onyx, flashing pure gold and glistening, and the very tip as it rose, indicated to everyone that whatever this thing was, flipped up his tail. Meanwhile, ships behind the front ships felt themselves rise as the creature tried to rise out completely, taking the ships with him on his back.

In a state of panic a few of the destroyers fired in to the gold fin as they were lifted out of the water, a few falling back into the sea. The other ships fired missiles as well that seemed to do very little in preventing the creature's ascent from the waters near the bridge.

The tanks did not fire, as they were instructed to hold, but one army captain spoke into his radio, panicking as he saw quite clearly the disturbance in the water below.

"Hold your fire! There's still civilians the bridge. Hold your fire!"

As he spoke a missile was shot going right towards the officer and people on the bridge. It would've hit the bridge if a golden spine didn't rise higher next to them, blocking the missile's path. Whatever relief may have been felt was immediately met with even greater horror as the creature rose higher and higher, showing his head and body.

The creature was indeed black and glistening, sparkling bits of gold in his scales, with thick red, almost bleeding notches along his belly and sides, his spine also gold. His reptilian head was long, bug-eyes red and blue, with white hairs on its chin and brow, long blue-white whiskers flowing from its snout, and two long golden antler like horns protruding from its skull.

Immediately, the tanks on the bridge shot at the long dragon. It may not have been too damaging, but the blasts seemed to cause the dragon some pain as it writhed and thrashed, roaring.

Hikaru did not want to stay here. He turned to Yui and yelled over the blasts and roaring, "Hang on!"

He slammed on the accelerator and turned out, charging through the barricades, officers and soldiers diving out of his way. Yui turned in her seat, watching as the giant creature had enough of the soldiers blasting at him and he collapsed on the bridge, breaking through it, and diving through the river on the other side.

All they could think was that they were thankful they were off that bridge.

A/N: You know the drill.