Well hello everyone! It's been a while since I've updated, I know. I decided to take my time with my writing since I haven't beengetting many reviews anyways. Here's chapter 7, and I'm feeling really good about this one! Enjoy!
Wings flapped majestically, breaking the silence of the evening. The sky was dark, black even. The only sources of light were the shimmering moon, and its light, reflected off of two golden wings.
Joshua landed gracefully, hardly making a sound as his feet met the earth below him. His wings folded, and compacted until they were no longer able to be seen. Scanning the area, the boy spotted an abandoned cabin to the left, and headed towards it.
The cabin wasn't exactly impressive. It looked as if someone had neglected to maintain it for several years now, and the wood was rotting all on the outside. The door barely was attached to the hinges, creaking loudly as the teen pulled it open.
The interior wasn't what one would quite expect of such a rundown looking building. Following a stairwell down, Joshua slowly descended downwards with only the sound of his footsteps echoing down the staircase.
At the base of the stairs, he arrived at a pair of doors. The doors were large, and a dark red color. He turned the knob and pushed, revealing a fancy room inside.
The room had a kind of 60's theme. The couch was an old retro sort of style, and there were lava lamps littered in a couple of places. One wall was covered by a bookshelf that has various different novels and encyclopedias resting on it. The place was almost something of a bachelor's pad, complete with a personal bar in the corner. Anyone living the single life would love to have such a luxurious place.
The most interesting thing was the floor. It was entirely see-through glass, and had various kinds of fish swimming back and forth.
"Ah, home sweet home." he sank into the sofa, and sprawled out his limbs.
He leaned and took hold of the remote near his seat, clicking a red button in the middle. The stereo across the room roared to life, blaring a loud, heavy metal sounding song.
"Now open your eyes the pieces are all over. Now you should accept this. It is over." The teen sang loudly, his pitch rising and falling in unison with the music. As Joshua sang, another person's approaching footsteps could be heard. As the sound neared, the figure of a tall man could be made out.
"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Composer. Judging by your singing you're in a good mood." The man said plainly. His features were rather fitting of the room they were in. He had sunglasses shielding his eyes from sight, and deep red headphones hanging from his neck. His raven shaded hair was long and fell just above his shoulder blades. He donned a black coat, which hung open revealing a white button down beneath. The shirt was only partially buttoned, with a deep V showing off his toned chest.
"Ah, Megumi Kitaniji. How nice of you to stop and say hello. I actually am in quite a good mood." Joshua rolled up his sleeve, and showed his arm to Megumi. "Tell me, does this look scarred to you? One of those kids managed to dismember my right arm. As you can see, I grew it back just fine, however it doesn't look right."
Megumi removed his crimson red headphones from his neck, laying them on the couch. He rolled the boy's sleeve further, trying to get a look at the shoulder socket. There was indeed a scar there. Unless one was looking for it, they'd never notice the tiny scar line that ran around his shoulder indicating where the limb was removed.
Reading his expression, Joshua sighed. "I create this entire world for those kids to have a chance to pass on, and this is how I'm repaid. An ugly scar." He threw his head back, acting hurt "Oh how cruel this world is, a creator disfigured by his own creations!"
Chuckling, the other man seemed to not take his companion seriously, instead heading over to the bar and pouring himself a glass of red wine "You always had a flair for the dramatic sir. While we're on the subject, how are things progressing?"
The Composer turned his head to Megumi, and spoke "Those kids all seem pretty intent on staying here, especially my pick. I don't understand how you expect to win if they don't pass on soon. How long has it been? Three weeks, correct? Three weeks since I voiced how I wanted this world gone, and you staked your existence on a bet with me. You've got a week left, my friend."
"I have full faith that those children will be able to overcome the regrets of their past lives. If they don't, then I shall accept erasure as punishment for my folly, as agreed." Megumi took a sip of his beverage, allowing the words he had spoken to settle in his mind like just the taste of the alcohol in his throat.
Content with the answer given by his subordinate, Joshua smiled "If that's how you feel, then I guess I should be on my way. It was nice to have a moment to relax. See you around, Mr. Conductor." with that, the teen vanished.
"So the fate of the afterlife rests in your hands then, Neku Sakuraba." He brought his glass to his lips, and downed the whole thing.
Weary eyelids parted, revealing sky blue irises behind them. What was only an orange blur soon cleared to show the face of Neku, donning his trademark headphones as he shook Kenta to consciousness.
"Guys, he's finally awake." Neku announced, sounding relieved.
Inspecting his own clothing, Kenta noticed all the damage that had been done. His uniform was destroyed beyond repair. All that remained was a sleeve clinging by a thread onto a shirt littered with tears, holes and bloodstains. His pants were no better for the wear, only managing to be a lighter, bloodier shade of red than the hair on Otonashi's head.
The room that they were in wasn't the most homey place. The walls were cracked, and the ceiling leaking water. The lights would flicker, not able to hold a steady glow.
Still a bit dazed, he groaned, feeling a strange soreness all over. His body was not complying with his desire to get up. "What'd I miss while I was out..?" Kenta questioned, his eyes flickered from one person to the next, searching for the answer to his inquiry.
"Well only one of us knows. He woke up before the rest of us, and we decided to wait for you until he gave us the whole story. Now that you're awake, I suppose you can begin with the story, right Neku?" Ichirou spoke, his concerned tone resonating with the others in the room. They were all concerned, scared even. Nobody had any idea what to do, especially regarding the development that one of their own, Joshua, was actually the enemy they'd been looking for the entire time.
"There's not much to tell really." Neku stepped forward, beginning to recount the events following his awakening. "When I woke up, I saw everyone lying on the ground. It was a terrible sight. I don't know what happened in the battle after I was killed, but I could easily tell it was a bonafide hell. After looking around, I heard Josh speak. He and I exchanged a few... less than kind words, at least that's what I did. Then he did something else. He challenged me. He told me to kill him, and gave me 7 days to do it. He told me if I failed I would be "erased". He probably means I'll be obliterated by that. Before leaving, he taunted me, and then flew off. I tried my best to tend to whoever needed it, but I'm no doctor. That leaves us at the here and now."
"So basically he wants us to fight him- what if we don't?" Ichirou pondered aloud.
"Stupid." Yori spat "What do you think he's gonna do? He's gonna get rid of everything. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. You saw how he fucked up angel boy over there, what do you think he could do to the rest of us, probably without even breaking a sweat."
"I hate to admit it, but the babe is right. We're in a pretty sticky situation with no way to unstick ourselves." Isamu murmured lowly, stealing a glance at Yori.
The door creaked open. Otonashi entered along with Shiki and Minako.
"Everyone else should be fine. I have medical experience so I was able to at least make things more comfortable for them."
Kenta stood. "Everyone, I'd like a word with Otonashi, in private."
Everyone stood to grant the request, matching toward the exit one by one.
"Actually Neku, you stay." Otonashi spoke. The orange-haired boy thought about the request for a moment, deciding to hear out the Student Body President.
Once the room was cleared and there were no signs of eavesdroppers, Kenta roared "Otonashi, what the hell are we gonna do about this? How are we to handle a situation like this? You saw that whole fight. He was toying with me for most of it. How am I supposed to compete, no, how am I supposed to BEAT that?" Kenta huffed, stress taking over him.
He sunk. How should he have the answers? He had no idea that he would ever see the being known as God, much less that God would want to retire the use of the afterlife for those with regrets. He hung his head thinking, ironically even praying for a solution.
Sullenly, Otonashi began to talk "There is one last shot we have. It's risky. It's probably the only thing we can do though. YOU couldn't beat Josh, Kenta. Now, you had no idea of knowing how he would have created such powerful guard skills for himself. Skills we wouldn't know how to program ourselves. But what if we had someone else do it? Maybe we could add another person to the Angel Player network."
"I'll do it." Neku volunteered, enraged.
Both Kenta and Otonashi turned their heads towards Neku. Surely he hadn't just made that choice in an instant? Of course, Neku was probably the most skilled fighter there. He beat Kenta without any powers, albeit with some luck on his side. To Otonashi's knowledge, he even fought a powerless Joshua to a draw. If anyone had the potential to beat their enemy, it would be the boy that stood before them.
With a grin, Otonashi spoke once more. "Glad to hear that, I actually was going to ask you to do it but I suppose that's no longer necessary."
"How do we do it? Just hook me up so I can beat the crap out of that snobby piece of shit excuse for a God."
"Forgive me for the inquiry. I know you never like Joshua, but what's with the sudden hatred towards him?" Kenta posed the question as though it were the most natural thing. Maybe it was natural, for people in as deep as they all were.
"When I awoke it was pure hell. Everyone was hurt, they were all laying on the ground around me and I had no idea if they were dead for good or not."
"But Neku, you can't die here, in this plane. It's how the world works."
"Never assume that the laws of what we know as the world with hold true when God is in control. For all we know, he could deliver a permanent death to us. Not only all of that though..." Neku's voice grew dark, and his head fell as tears welled in his eyes.
"Neku, what do you me-" Kenta was cut off by the scream that followed.
"IT WAS HIM. HE KILLED ME!"