Chapter 5
Hiro continued down the dark steps under the Steampunk Alchemists house, wondering what awaited him below. At the bottom there was nothing but a cement wall. "A dead end?" Hiro thought as he felt around in the dark. "Maybe there's another keyhole…" His hand ran over something. There were indentions in the wall. "A circle? What are these markings inside?" Hiro puzzled. "Maybe there is someone behind this wall…" He closed his eyes and used his Soul Perception. A huge aura engulfed him. This large golden soul had to be the Steampunk Alchemist!
Hiro banged on the cement wall with no response. Then he noticed something he hadn't before. The circle in the wall was…glowing, as if it had a soul. Stone couldn't have a soul. Hiro reached his hand out to the wall. He definitely felt a soul. "What if I…?" Hiro resonated with the wall, sending his soul wavelength outward into the stone.
The wall exploded and sent Hiro flying backwards on the stairs. "What just happened?" Hiro thought as he rubbed his head. A figure stood above him. A man out of time as one would say. He was a younger man, mid-twenties perhaps, and wore a top hat with goggles on it, a white shirt with a leather vest, and a brown trench coat. "Are you the Steampunk Alchemist?"
"Obviously. Now would you mind explaining what the hell just happened?"
Yoji was cleaning a room when he heard the front door open. "I'll be with you in a moment!" he called out.
"You'll be with me now." A voice whispered in his ear. Yoji felt the sharp blades of a chainsaw against his back. "Unless you'd like your sister to end up with this," He gestured with his chainsaw, "through her chest." Yoji turned around to see a red haired man with deep green eyes.
"Shinigami?!" Yoji stammered in disbelief.
"Yes, now, where did the Hiro child run off to?"
"I-I just felt a soul and I tried to resonate with your wall and it blew up…" Hiro tried to explain. "That sounded way better in my head…"
"You used alchemy." The Steampunk Alchemist revealed. "You used your soul to open the door."
"But how? I didn't mean to… What was that symbol on the door?"
"A transmutation circle. It channels your soul's energy to rearrange molecules. Only you pushed too hard and instead of opening the door, you blew it up. Quite impressive I must admit. Especially since it was an accident."The man gestured for Hiro to follow him. They walked inside the room, which was filled with complex copper machines. Tubes and wired ran everywhere, connecting consoles to boxes to tanks of odd red liquid. The concrete floor was covered with detailed transmutation circles the only lighting in the room came from 4 old oil lamps in each corner.
"So who are you and why are you here anyway?"
"Um. I'm Hiro. Well I need to get to Twilight Town… and I talked to Luxord… brought me to Traverse Town… and then a man named Yoji brought me here. Can you help me?"
"Depends on why you want to go. Twilight Town isn't exactly a pleasant place right now. There is a great evil there. A Rakk was killed there just recently."
"A Rakk?" Hiro asked.
"Face Eater. Imagine a scaly mermaid with a lizard head and wings running from the wrists to the tail."
"I'd rather not…" Hiro said as he shook his head. "I'm going to help. Lord Death told me that I would find a weapon partner there. And there's this girl in trouble that I dreamt about. Oh and Yoji has a sister there." The Steampunk Alchemist looked confused. "Once again, sounded way better in my head."
"I think I caught most of that… but it doesn't matter. I'd need an open portal there first. Then I could open a portal here and tether them together." He sat down at a computer console. "And as of right now, there are no open portals in Twilight Town."
Hiro rubbed his forehead. "Well…" All of the sudden a crash came from upstairs. "What was that?" Hiro asked. He was answered by the revving of a chainsaw.
The Steampunk Alchemist grabbed Hiro and dragged him over to another part of the room. He put his hands on one of the transmutation circles. The circle glowed and a small hole in the floor opened up. "Hide in here!" There were footsteps on the stairs. "Hurry!" Hiro crawled down into the opening, in which he barely fit. The Steampunk Alchemist closed it up just as the mysterious, chainsaw wielding man walked in.
"Grell Sutcliff." The Steampunk Alchemist said. "The lowest, most disgraceful Shinigami I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." The man bowed. "What are you doing here, Reaper?"
"A little bird told me that someone came to visit you, Eibon. I need to find this person." Grell said. "He has a very big death coming up."
"Eibon? Death? What is this guy talking about?" Hiro thought as he listened.
"He isn't here, I'm afraid. I sent him to Twilight Town." the Alchemist said.
"If I may," Grell pushed up his glasses, "How? It's a restricted area right now."
"You know me. I have many secret ways and loopholes."
"Ah, yes. So many secrets…" Grell chuckled. "I hope we meet again," Then he winked and opened a portal. "Before I come to collect you"
As soon as he went through the portal, The Steampunk Alchemist ran over and let Hiro out. "Hurry! Grell has certain privileges, such as teleporting to restricted areas. He opened a portal to Twilight Town! Now may be the only chance you have! Hold still."
"Your name is Eibon?" Hiro asked while the Alchemist drew a circle around Hiro.
"Yes. I'm bit older than I look, too." Eibon answered. "There. Are you ready?"
Hiro nodded. "Finally."
"Good luck." Eibon said. "And if you ever want to learn alchemy, I've been looking for an apprentice."
Then Hiro was gone.
"How is she?" the mayor asked.
"She'll be fine. She's a remarkable girl. I've never seen anyone heal so fast." Ayaka, the town's best doctor, replied.
"Good… there were six other deaths last night. Looks like the monster she took down wasn't the only one." The mayor sat down next to Xion's bed and shook his head. "There are reports of flaming types of these creatures. And the scorched bodies to support those claims…"
"Then may Death be with us all." Ayaka said, bowing her head.
"Death? What a curious thing to say."