Author's Note: -Full disclosure. I do not own Bungou Stray Dogs, or its characters.-
Hello!
This is my first ever attempt on a fic or writing in general. I'm primarily a reader...
However BSD is my favorite anime/manga in the world, and I originally thought up this idea last year during lockdown but just never had the courage or time to write it until now.I've taken inspiration from my favorite guilty pleasure movies, The Mummy series, 1999 versions, wove it with my love of BSD, and added my own plots and ideas for my personal favorite characters.
Can you sense it? The brewing storm on the horizon, that roaring thunder of chaos fast approaching?
Do you feel it? The faint tremor pulsating like a heartbeat through the foundation of this city, threatening to cave in any minute?
There's a putrid stench in the air. Like rotting corpses festering in the deepest abyss below the slums, not even vermin dare go near it.
If you listen carefully, you might just hear the toxic whispers of it's source.
A dry, foreign voice who's hoarse cries radiate from it's dark prison throughout a vast system of pipes, tunnels and cracks. Infecting this city like cancer.
Hissing for freedom.
The voice of a demon.
Most don't notice it, only the select few who have the privilege of being cursed... or 'gifted,' however you want to phrase it. Those like myself who possess supernatural abilities. Even now I feel that tremor beneath my boot and smell that rot poisoning the air.
Makes it so damn hard to breathe.
Let's go back a few hundred years. After all, what's a story without a beginning?
This is the tale of the rat who once plagued this city, and the cat who slayed him...
Centuries ago, in the Edo period a remarkable emperor named Natsume Soseki was tasked with protecting an extraordinary book...
The only copy in existence, a book with the power to destroy worlds and alter reality itself. Anything written within its pages was made true, therefore if fallen into the wrong hands would mean disaster.
In order to protect the book; as well as other gifted's like himself, Natusme founded the gorgeous port city of Yokohama. Serving as a beckon- safe haven- for the gifted, and sealed the book away somewhere within its foundation. A hidden treasure with the city as it's chest, and three pinnacle keys to hold the seal in place. A tripartite of the day, night and twilight.
Without order to sustain the tripartite, Yokohama would collapse and the book be brought to light once more for any greedy bastard who sought to manifest their own ideals and ambition. Therefore emperor Natsume had no choice but to harness a bare whisper of the book's power and strike a deal with fate itself, every generation an unseen dye would be cast for two unique gifted's born to become the city's ultimate line of defense... the Soukoku warriors.
Elite prodigies in their own right but virtually invincible together, whose abilities complement the other's like an extension of their own gifts, and always born with a diamond birthmark on opposing wrist to signify being hand chosen by Yokohama itself as it's protectors.
The Soukoku were primarily regarded as fabled knights from the fairytales who defend a great empire and guard a priceless treasure.
Guess you could say they were as essential to Yokohama as air is for living.
With the book sealed away Natsume began building the city into a glorious utopia for both gifted and nongifted alike, a place where ability users learned to control their powers and help maintain the stability of the tripartite.
Merchants thrived and families basked in the rising sun and salty sea air.
It was the golden empire Natsume hoped to achieve.
However, as it is with all things, light cannot exist without darkness, and when the sun set Yokohama became the playground for all the unsightly angst lurking in the shadows, if you weren't careful you'd be swallowed by the dark tide never to be seen again.
Such was all part of the emperor's design; what most tend to deny is there is no such thing as pure good or evil.
They are just two sides of the same coin that can flip with the slightest of tremors, the key is finding the right balance to prevent one from overriding the other.
Emperor Natsume- though a just and honorable man- understood the purpose of necessary evils and viewed the morals of the world in grey rather than black or white. Whether he liked it or not, those evils were vital pillars structured in maintaining that safety of both the book and the city.
As such he welcomed all who sought to call his kingdom home, but ruled those who thrived in darkness with an iron fist, quietly observing them like a cat observing a bird, waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
Every day Yokohama continued to prosper the tripartite strengthened it's hold on the books seal. For a while it seemed there wasn't a force in this world that could surpass the emperor's great design.
That was until... him.
They say the devil once disguised himself as a serpent and caused the expulsion from paradise... in this case the devil damn near destroyed the whole world; like any rat he brought a biblical plague wherever he roamed.
His name was Fyodor Dostoyevsky. A gifted refugee who fled the land of his birth seeking asylum in Natsume's safe haven. Despite initial reservations, the emperor still granted it.
An act he'd come to regret.
Beneath a harmless facade was a
wicked, manipulative, demon of a man. Whose monstrous ability poisoned his mind with sanctimonious delusions of right and wrong.
It wasn't long before Fyodor learned the native language and set about weaving his grand plot to eradicate the world of the gifted.
Starting with his hideout, a dark district on the outskirts of Yokohama yet to be cultivated, there he built his cultish temple known as the Rats in the House of the Dead.
A band of gullible marionettes searching for purpose he could manipulate anyway he pleased. His intellectual mind was practically extraterrestrial, every word he spoke oozed subliminal messages his pawns were only too happy to obey.
For years the rats crept through the city. Squeezing through cracks, scurrying in the dark. Slowly gnawing away at the foundation, infecting all they came across. Eventually spreading far enough to become Fyodor's personal network of information and carnage.
A breath. A suggestion. A nudge this way or that was all that was needed for Fyodor's followers to create anarchy that would weaken the three pillars. Innocents be damned so long as his ultimate goal was achieved.
Find the book, and purify the world.
Eventually the demon and his rats nearly succeeded. They polluted the city with malicious and greed, starting a civil war that pitted day, night, and twilight against one another. Gifted battles ravaged Yokohama, every blow was another link in the chain of balance disintegrating. Every life lost another lock falling to the ground.
Then it happened.
Thanks to one of Fyodor's acolytes cataclysmic abilities, a great quake- the likes of which never seen before- rumbled the earth, nearly splitting the city in half, devastating Yokohama and all who lived within.
By destroying the three pillars the book was as good as his. Free to rain down his sick sense of justice on all he deemed guilty.
However, Fyodor had underestimated emperor Natsume's vigor.
Seeing what the former refugee had done to his beloved home sent the emperor into a blind rage, the final nail in his coffin was when he'd taken the one thing Natsume loved more than even Yokohama.
Calling his soldiers to arms, he led the attack on the rat's temple with his faithful Soukoku warriors at his side, determined to exterminate all who resided in that cesspool of horrors.
The soldiers made quick work of the desperate bottom feeders Fyodor deemed expendable, while the Soukoku dealt with the gifted heavy hitters. The demon's very own 'royal guard' I guess you could call them. Each one possessing a dangerous ability capable of mass destruction and all religiously devoted to their wicked master.
Still, as powerful as they were, they couldn't overcome the combined might of the Soukoku when they got serious.
One right after the other met their justified end to Yokohama's sword and shield.
Meanwhile... Emperor Natsume handled the demon personally.
Fyodor had come so close to obtaining the book before the invasion; only managing to rip a small coroner from a single page before the emperor closed the seal once more.
Enraged, Fyodor lunged for the emperor and thus began the greatest gifted battle of the era- possibly in all history.
An epic clash of cat versus mouse... or 'rat' I guess is the right term for it.
The ground shook and the ocean waves crashed. The sky howled and winds raged from the storm brought on by these gifted titan's heavy blows like legends of old.
The rat refused to relent his attacks on the cat. Weaker men would have died from such exertion... but for every attack Fyodor dished out, Natsume refuted tenfold, eventually causing the demon to falter where the emperor got the upper hand.
Weakened and desperate, Fyodor had no choice but to enact his final contingency. While not enough to write on, the corner book piece was still enough to be a massive weapon in his tainted hands.
Calling upon its power to fuse with his own ability, the book amplified him to near godlike stasis. His ability slaughtered nearly all present in the temple- with a few specific exceptions.
The end seemed near. Emperor Natsume was losing strength, the demon mocked and beat him for the sheer pleasure of it. He'd finally had enough fun; about to deliver the finishing blow... and then like a pair of noble hawks, the Soukoku swooped in to the aid of their beloved emperor.
Some say the echoes of battle could be heard all the way from the mainland, and that mountains shook from every blow dealt from both sides... Hmph!... I say people over exaggerate to keep kids entertained. Who knows though?
The combined power of the Soukoku was enough to push Fyodor back long enough for the emperor to summon enough strength for one final risky endeavor.
It all happened within a heartbeat.
One precise attack where he was weakest and Natsume lept… swift as a panther, fierce as a lion. Ripping the book peace from the demon and robbing him of his life force.
Causing him to become a feeble shell of the monster he had been.
Yet still not enough to completely kill him.
An unfortunate side effect of his demon ability.
Therefore Natsume had no other choice but to imprison him for all eternity, at the cost of his own life.
Using the book piece to amplify his power as Fyodor had, the emperor glimpsed into the unseen world where the tapestry of fate wove its constant threads. There he saw the multicolored threads of the gifted sown in intricate patterns from past and future, and threading between all of them was a grotesque oil black string tainting their beautiful hues.
Fyodor's string.
Natsume acted quickly. Careful plucking the thread and removing it from the pattern, waving it with his own and the deepest structure of roots that built his beloved city. Constructing a hellish cage fit for a rat and trapped the demon within. All that was needed was the lock, and so as any good king would do, the great gifted emperor sacrificed himself to seal away the monster he'd welcomed into his home. But not before the monster made one final vow. 'You may have won for now, cat! But someday it will be these cursed infections you love so who will release me. When that day comes, I will burn your city and this whole unjust world to ash!'
But that didn't dissuade the emperor, for he left his own promise. 'Only a diamond can polish a diamond, only a diamond can keep the balance, only a diamond can free a demon, only a diamond can save us all.' Such was the great gifted emperor's final words.
Thus ended the rat's reign of terror.
What happened next was unimaginable.
The shockwave from Fyodor's prison being sealed away split the earth once more, this time separating the district that resided the rat's temple from Yokohama. Creating a rotted peninsula not even fit for scum. Shadowed in the gifted city's radiant light.
Things were never the same after that. What followers of the rats in the house of the dead remained either scattered like the vermin they were or were flushed out and exterminated by the Soukoku.
The soldiers the demon slaughtered during his rampage were resurrected- or 'healed' I guess is a better term for it- thanks to a rare ability user Natsume treasured.
With the demon gone, the gifted wars ended and folks worked to rebuild Yokohama from its recent devastation.
It wasn't long till the tripartite balance was restored and both Yokohama and the book were safe once more. Still, that didn't stop the people from missing their great emperor, nor members of his court from taking over official governing with him gone.
It was decided that Natsume's dream of a gifted utopia would be honored but that his three chief ministers would maintain the balance by establishing three supreme organizations- each representing one part of the tripartite- meant to protect the growing populist and prosperity of the city.
All while the Soukoku warriors continued acting as Yokohama's sword and shield.
While respected and greatly needed, those that knew the truth about Fyodor's prison wanted the Soukoku kept on a tight leash. Natsume had provided the prison but it was the Soukoku who held the keys to lock.
Over time, the three organization's would race to see who could locate the next generation first to strengthen their individual pillar. Never really mattered who won though, just as the instinct to run from danger or eat when hungry is ingrained in every living being, the Soukoku warriors are born with the overwhelming sense to protect Yokohama. Their loyalty is first and foremost to the city.
The ruined former home of the rats temple was closed off, renamed Suribatchi City, the anti-Yokohama where in coming years became home to all the unlucky misfits and undesirables of Yokohama's dark side. Unmanaged, ungoverned, uncaring. Just a slum of shacks and garbage; sitting on top of a demon's cage buried deep underground. How fitting...
Well, to say it's 'unmanaged' isn't entirely true. Sure no high ranking, pompous ass, officials want anything to do with it but that's only because it was agreed they wouldn't have to.
Emperor Natsume's sworn guards vowed his sacrifice would not be in vain, relinquishing all noble honors to fulfill the noblest honor of all. Forging their own secret organization within Suribatchi City, Mimic. Its purpose? Guarding the location so that the demon would never be released. While the officials and Soukoku took care of Yokohama, Mimic would keep to the shadows inside the shadows, nonexistent ghosts who haunt the slums, scaring away all scurrying varmints trying to heed their master's call.
At the time they thought it a noble cause. What a bunch of idiots.
Nobody knows for sure what happened to Emperor Natsume. Some say he died, others say he was sealed away with the demon. Can't say I believe either of them, cats have nine lives after all. I find it unbelievable someone like him would leave the future to chance. All of this happened almost five hundred years ago, so who can say for sure?
I learned a long time ago that anything's possible. And that no matter how hard you try, you can't outrun fate. Over the years Mimic kept to their post, generations after generations descended from the emperor's guards, every child brought up on the story of 'The Rat and the Cat Who Slayed Him'. The absolute truth about Yokohama others forgot.
Now it's just me, Oda Sakunosuke, the last descendant of emperor Natsume's guard who remembers the tale. Cursed to watch over the demon's prison and hear his raw voice signal for the one to free him. It's a shitty job; I guarantee a starving artist pays his bills more than I do. But someone has to, I suppose. Not that it matters anymore, the last few decades the tripartite balance was all but nonexistent and Yokohama a gifted playground for power. Only recently did the current generation of Soukoku step up and take matters into their own hands.
Slowly but surely it's returning to its former glory, possibly better than before.
Still it was too late, the balance was distributed so long, the seal weakened. The whispers that used to be breaths in the wind are loud as thunder- only to those that can hear it. And it only gets louder with every passing day.
Now a new era for Yokohama... no, the entire world of the gifted is on the horizon. Bringing with it destruction from ages past. I can't help but wonder what lies within this coming storm.
What I want more than anything is to see what lies beyond it, if anything.
Will it be a beautiful sunrise, promising hope and possibilities?...
Or will the storm be the beginning of Fyodor's vow?
Ironic isn't it? My ability- Flawless- allows me to see into the future but not farther than a few seconds. It's saved my life countless times yet can still be so frustrating.
Oh well... you don't have to be psychic to see something ominous approaches. You just need a sixth sense.
As I stand here gazing at the sun setting from this perfect viewpoint between emperor Natsume's grand empire and Fyodor's nest of rats. I can't help but ponder about the emperor's last words and I have to wonder, was this his plan all along?...
End Note: Hope it's a good start. I can't promise regular updates but they will come, and if all goes according to plan this will be a trilogy.
P.S. Oda lives in this because well...any BSD fan knows why. Plus he's got a a part to play.