Chapter 1
The Viltrumite and the Root
-Unknown Place—
I thought that I had already passed into the afterlife. However, rather than that, I instead seemed to have passed out from the pain. The hellish heat of the sun was gone. My senses slowly came back and my ears were suddenly filled with a familiar roar of the wind.
Was I back on Earth? I did not know. I tried opening my eyes to see the familiar sky of my birth planet, but I couldn't. My vision was all black. Was I blind? I think my eyes must have been damaged by the sun.
"MARKUS! MARKUS!" I heard a frantic voice very near to me. I recognized the voice of my second half-sister, Terra. That solved the question of my current location. She must have woken up, read the letter that I had left, and quickly rescued me from the sun.
"YOU IDIOT, WHAT'VE YOU DONE!? WHAT'VE YOU DONE?!" she screamed and her voice was filled with anger, sadness and agony.
I understood the anger behind her voice. She really wanted to help me.
But alas, I had no desire of her help. I had no desire of being helped by anyone.
All I wanted was one thing.
And that was to die.
-Unknown Place—
Even though my senses were back, they were erratic. I kept blacking out and my hearing was the only sense that could tell me about the outside world.
The next thing I knew, I was in a bed that was vibrating. I suspected I was on a hospital gurney because I could faintly hear the buzz of many voices surrounding me. The voices must have been the doctor and nurses trying to bring me to the emergency room.
I began to realized that Terra might have brought me to the nearest hospital. She probably thought that she could still save me.
"MARKUS! MARKUS!" My ears were filled with another familiar voice. It was my first half-sister, Molly, and she was crying.
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME!" She cried the words with so much despair. I would like to spare some tears for her, but I could not tell if I was already crying or not.
I tried to move, to give some response to her so that she would calm down, but before I could react more, my senses died down and I entered another black episode.
-Unknown Place—
The next time my senses came back, my ears were filled with the low humming of medical machinery. I still couldn't see, but I felt softness on my back. It felt like a bed, probably a hospital bed that was surrounded by different apparatuses that tasked to keep me alive.
"Doctor, how is he?" Suddenly, a soft voice cut through the silence. It was my second father, Mark, and his voice was filled with apprehension.
"Sir, most of the vital parts of his body are now okay thanks to his Viltrumite cells…except for his eyes." Another voice answered him. A pair of footsteps stopped right beside me.
"What happened to his eyes?" Mark asked again, this time his tone changed into a dreaded one.
"They're basically damaged, Sir, and since Viltrumite cells can't reproduce a lost part of their body, Markus might be blind forever."
A heavy sigh of heartache blew out of Mark's mouth. Even without my eyes, I could tell that he was saddened by my injuries that could lead to permanent blindness.
"Wait…you said 'might'?" he suddenly said. The Doctor cleared his throat.
"Well, since Viltrumites and Human DNA, although different, are closely similar, there might be a chance that a normal corneal transplant might work. It is possible to give Markus a second chance to see again."
I heard a sharp sigh from Mark, meaning that he might be gladdened by the news. I, however, wasn't. I didn't want to see again. I had no desire to see this world again.
I wanted to die and I hoped I would.
"Well, when can you perform the operation, Doctor?"
"Luckily, we have received a new pair of eyes yesterday. We can begin soon."
Silence enveloped the room, and then I heard Mark again. He seemed to be sitting beside me. His gentle voice was near.
"Markus, if you can hear me, I want to tell you that I'm sorry for hurting you with the truth…and that I truly love you." Mark began, his voice breaking up as he softly snivelled. "We're waiting for you, buddy – everyone is. And I want to fly with you again."
His voice was so sincere. It moved my heart a bit. I knew that he loved truly, and I was thankful for that. But sadly, I already set my will towards my destination and no matter how much he begged me to change my path, I wouldn't.
Death was my true and final destination.
"Doctor, I would like to know the name of the person who donated the eyes. In case the operation is successful, I would like to thank them."
I heard several beeps, which I presumed came from a tablet that must be held by the doctor. "Well, the name of the person who donated the eyes was Mana Ryougi…and it wasn't her own eyes that she donated."
The doctor paused, making several beeps on his tablet before saying another name. "The eyes that she donated came from another person who passed away many years ago. It was her own mother, Shiki Ryougi."
Shiki Ryougi…The name echoed deeply into my ears, but before I could memorize it more, my mind went blank and I fell into another dreamless void.
-The Root—
My senses slowly came back and the first thing that I did was open my eyes. But it seemed my actions were worthless because I found myself surrounded by nothing but an endless black void.
Was this the afterlife? This wasn't heaven because heaven was supposed to be beautiful and had pearly gates that welcomed good people. But there was nothing around me except eternal darkness. This was too bleak to be heaven.
Which meant I could only be in one place – I must be in hell, which was very fitting for me because I was a tainted child, born out of a crime. I was meant to be tortured and degraded more by the devils and be greeted by unfathomable horrors.
Yes, this must be hell…But if this was hell, why was it so quiet?
There was absolutely nothing in here – not even air or lingering scent. I couldn't even tell if I was standing, floating or flying.
In fact, all I felt was a strange feeling of stillness and nothing more.
Was this really death, to be trapped in an endless void? Then this should be okay. In an endless void, no one would ever know about my humiliating birth. No one would ever lie, or hurt me, because no one was here. I should be happy now that I got what I deserved. I was pretty sure that my second father, Mark, would breathe a sigh of relief because the person that always reminded him of his degrading past was now dead and suffering in whatsoever this place was.
But then a new feeling formed in my heart. Despite being dead already, it seemed I still possessed some survival instinct because the new feeling suddenly surged upward and it made me gasp as I realized that this dark place, that seemed to contain countless unimaginable horrifying creatures, would be my home forever.
It was fear.
I don't want to be here! My mind screamed as I tried to use my voice.
Nothing. I didn't feel my voice vibrating out of my mouth, which meant I couldn't say what I wanted to say.
'If this is death, then I don't want it! I-I regret this!'
I was scared as I realized the grave consequences of my choice. I never thought death would be so still and unmoving – that you would be trapped in this void for eternity. That was very foreboding. I now began to hate what I had done. How could I be so stupid? If only I knew that this was what afterlife was, then I wouldn't have committed suicide!
'Someone help me!' I then began to beg, hoping that someone would hear me. Although, I knew in the back of my head that no one would.
'Help me! Please…help me…Terra, Molly…Dad.'
And then, to my surprise, someone—or something—responded to my cry. The void was no longer dark, and a bright blue light was in its place. My eyes looked forward and saw a blue sphere surrounded by many little blue specks that looked like fireflies dancing around it.
At the sight of the blue sphere, my heart immediately filled with tranquil peace. The light had clearly vanished the terror away and it made my eyes widen in gladness. I didn't know how, but this light had responded to my call, and it was now here to save me.
'That light…will save me.' I reached out my hand and the light reacted to my action. It began to move towards me slowly. A wide smile of pure happiness spread across my face as the light finally enveloped me.
Finally, I was out of this hell hole.
-Unknown Hospital Room—
I gasped hard as I opened my eyes. Light flooded my vision, which then slowly adjusted. I blinked several times and my vision finally cleared. A white and unfamiliar ceiling greeted me and there was a low humming of machinery that filled my ears.
Where am I? I thought groggily as I tried to move my hand. The muscles all over my body began to twitch, creating a slow and scourging ache, making me groan in pain. I slowly sat straight up and began to look around.
I was in a hospital room. The walls and floor were both white. A small television sat on the far-left corner of the room, dead and collecting a little bit of dust. To my right stood a machine that continuously beeped, monitoring my heart. I then glanced to my left, towards the wide window, and saw the sky outside. It must be mid-morning. The sun was high above the clear blue sky.
*RED LINES*
"Huh?" I blinked, shocked. Even if it was just a flash, I thought I saw long and large red lines forming in the blue sky, but now it was gone.
I then shifted my gazed to the table beside my bed where a tall white vase lay on top. A huge bundle of forget-me-not flowers bloomed out. Their tiny sky-blue petals shone brightly, which told me that the flowers were fresh.
*RED LINES*
"Huh?" I blinked again, and this time, I saw it clearly. Red lines, many of them, appeared around the flowers, dying the sky-blue petals red.
What is this…? I stretched my hand, towards the flower, and trailed the flashing line. Before I could react, the sky-blue petals quickly turned dark blue and dropped.
I let out a terrified gasped. Despite being fresh before, the flower dried up and died right after I traced the line.
Was it because of what I did? I did not know, but it terrified me.
"Wh-what's happening?" I asked, but my shaky words weren't heard by anyone. I glanced up again. The same gashing red lines reappeared, and this time, it was all over the vase.
I tried to do what I did with the flowers, following the lines with my left index finger. Maybe I just mistook the freshness of the flowers before and it was already dead. I mean, it couldn't possibly have died just because I touched it?
*Crack!*
"Ah!" I jolted from my bed as the vase cracked and split cleanly into two. I only trailed the red line and it cracked. I only touched the vase and it broke into two parts. I couldn't believe what I had just done.
I broke the vase by merely brushing it with my finger. I knew that Viltrumites had super strength, but I didn't use any of it while touching the object.
What the hell just happened?!
Suddenly, I heard the door open. A nurse walked in, but when her eyes gazed upon me, she stopped and made a gasp.
"Mr. Murphy—"
"Wh—what-" I tried to talk to call her about the vase and the red lines that I was seeing, but she immediately turned her back to me.
"I'll call the doctor! Please stay put, sir." She said hurriedly before she ran out and left me alone.
Minutes later, my room was now noisy. The nurse came back with a doctor and they began to perform checkups on me, to see the progress of my recovery.
"Everything is fine now, Mr. Murphy. We were all worried about you…since you've been asleep for a very long time." The doctor explained with excitement, a bright smile flashed on his face.
"If you feel something is wrong, you can just call us." The nurse added with assurance. However, despite their jovial mood, I only replied with silence and horror-stricken eyes.
The red lines – all of them were appearing on both of the nurse and doctor's body. And what's more, the lines were seemed to be cutting right through them. I saw how it cut through the doctor's neck, revealing the flesh underneath, and how it sliced the nurse's face many pieces. The horrifying image zapped out from the bloody scene to a normal one.
I couldn't fathom the visions anymore. My heart was beating so loudly out of terror as I finally realized something.
The shining blue sphere did not save me. It may have brought me back to the world of the living…but it also cursed me to see nothing but unbearable visions of blood and gore.
"I…I…" I couldn't take it anymore, so I raised both of my hands to my face, formed them into fist…and punched both of my eyes.
I didn't mind staying blind forever. I just didn't want to see those horrifying sights ever again.
Disclaimer: I didn't own the characters of Kara no Kyoukai and Invincible. Names, places and events are pure fictional, if one exist in real life then its pure coincidental.
Special thanks to Pure Red Crane for beta-reading.
And now we come to the part where Markus had received the eyes of the Garden of Sinners's main protagonist, Shiki Ryougi! It's very interesting for me to see a Viltrumite with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. I mean the Viltrumites were already one of the deadly species in the entire universe and one of them had gained the power to kill, or even, rewrite the universe? I mean can you imagine one of them have mystic eyes? Yeesh! It's gonna be scawwy!
Anyways I would like to thank the people who read my fanfic. You guys are the best! I do hope I entertain you all and with that I do hope that a lot of you would leave me with reviews (If you've one of cource, I ain't gonna force you.)
Stay tune for more guys! Thinker-Out!
