Chapter 7
The Overlooking View
(Part 1)
-Seventy Years ago—
I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. A heavy groan escaped my lips as I moved and glanced at the clock. It was now five-thirty in the morning, and the sun had not risen yet. This made me smile and wear off my drowsiness completely. Today was the perfect day for me to sketch the city and the sky. I was aiming to capture the first rays of sun hitting the buildings from the distance. I was curious to see what it would look like and I bet it would be beautiful.
I quickly jumped out of my bed, grabbed my sketch book and quickly opened my window. I began to hover and position myself on the roof of my house.
The sky was still dark. Perfect. That meant all I needed to do was to wait for the sun to rise.
I sat on the roof for a couple of minutes and then slowly, but surely, the sun begun to rise. I quickly saw what I wanted to see – the first ray, striking along the horizon and filtered within the gaps of the city's skyscrapers. I quickly dove right into my sketch book and began to draw.
Buildings per buildings, details per details – I draw them all into my white sheet of paper. I was deep into my concentration when I heard a shuffle beside me. I quickly smiled and didn't bother to look for the source of the sound.
I knew exactly who it came from.
"Marky? You're up early again." The groggy voice of my first half-sister said to me. I quickly made a glance at her and saw her sit down beside me, still in her pajamas, just like me.
"I need to see the first ray of sunlight hitting the buildings, Molly. I have not seen one yet." I reasoned and she only made a big yawn.
"Oh, you and your sketches." She commented in a heavy way before she let out a big sigh. "Anyways, what are your plans for today?"
"Well, since it's the first day of summer vacation, I think I'll do some house cleaning with Dad…and then after that, some patrol—"
"That sounds boring already. I mean, when can we go to a museum or beach?"
Molly protested to my hectic summer vacation schedule and it only made me chuckle. "Well, you can help me with my chores."
"Nope. Nada. Can't. Shan't." I merely laughed at her antics as Molly looked over at my shoulder and onto my sketchbook.
"Whoa…you got the city perfectly, huh."
"Yup, though its still missing a few details."
Molly hummed in amazement, tilting her head right to left, observing my drawing more.
"You can be a good artist in the future, Marky. So why don't you quit being a hero? You will be great as an artist."
I glanced at her and thought about her words. The idea of being an artist did cross my mind. I could become a good artist in the future indeed, but I already loved being a superhero.
And not to mention, it had been my dream to become a superhero that everyone could look up to.
"Well, why not both? I can be an artist and a superhero at the same time."
"Huh? That would make you like Clark Kent-Superman then."
"Exactly!" I said in excitement. Molly grumbled for a second. Superman was currently a famous comic book. It was about a superhero named Superman who was living a double life – the life of a journalist by day, and a man of steel by night. The story was good and very catching for children and teenagers.
And I happened to be one of those who were fans of it.
"Well, if that's so, I can be your Lois Lane."
"Heh, you do know who Lois Lane is, right?"
"I know, and I do not care since I love you. Terra is good for the role of Supergirl, so all that's left for me is Lois Lane."
My smile deepened into a gladdened one. I was touched by her words so much that I quickly hugged her tightly, feeling her more.
"Oh, I love you too, Molly."
"And I love you more." We moved apart afterwards before I asked her a question after I felt my stomach rumbled.
"Say, shall we prepare breakfast? Let's surprise Daddy Scott with a hearty breakfast."
"Yup, I also like to make strawberry whip cream pancakes. I miss that dish." She said gleefully as I finished my drawing and closed my sketchbook.
-THIRD POV-
The two children of the Murphy household slid down the roof of their houses, and went inside to prepare for the day's activities. However, unbeknownst to them, there was another person on the roof. This person – a woman – was floating. Her feet were not touching the roof.
It was not normal for this world to see a woman floating seamlessly on the roof. However, this woman wasn't human at all.
She was in a pink cherry blossom kimono that rustled softly as a warm wind brushed passed her. Her hair was shoulder length and her face was adorned with a perfect, peaceful smile.
"Such love and beauty. You truly love your first half-sister, Markus." The woman spoke, her voice too gentle for a normal human being. She shifted her brown eyes down and saw Markus again, walking along the gravel path of his home and picking up some newspapers and mail.
"However…it's so saddening that your love, in this time, is out of obliviousness. You do not know the truth yet." Her smile deepened more as she closed her eyes and muttered more. "I wonder…what will you choose in the end, Markus. I wonder…what my eyes, that are now within you, will see?"
July 2095 – Murphy's Residence.
I gasped as the dream ended and woke up from my bed. My eyes adjusted to the white ceiling above me, which I recognized as my own.
"Molly…" My mind immediately traced back my dream, seeing her smiling face and her innocent eyes, and it made tears pour out of my eyes and trail down my cheeks. I sat on my bed and looked around.
I was inside my room, back in the home that I had left seventy years ago. The walls were all now white concrete. Other than my bed, the only furniture inside was my desk across from me, sitting beside the doors of my closet. Before, my old room was filled with sketches and drawings of mountains that I loved.
Now all of it was gone, just like my Molly, my first half-sister.
I missed her very much and my longing for her warm smile made me snivel more.
After a couple of minutes of crying, I got up. I dressed myself in my white shirt, black pants and black jacket before I walked outside of my room.
I moved towards the stairs, and as I walked down the steps, I paused and looked below me.
Before, my home's living room had brown wallpaper for the walls, giving the place a cozy and welcoming feeling.
However, after I got back, I had neither desire to see nor to feel those again. All I knew was that my home and life before were all complete lies. I did not know the truth about me, so I lived in a state of obliviousness.
I changed my home. I got rid of the things that reminded me of my life before. I wanted to make a fresh start for myself so that I could live in happiness and still fulfill my dream of being a superhero that everyone looked up to.
I must be brave to take a step forward…because that was what Scott and Molly would want me to do. I didn't want their last words – their hope – to be in vain.
I shall go to Touko's office, 'The Hollowed Shrine'. She's waiting for me there. Touko, the mage slash psychiatrists, had promised me that she would help to recover my mental health. And I believed that she would fulfill her promise, despite her shady background.
Because if she didn't, then I swear to God that she would pay for putting these accursed eyes in me.
I walked towards the kitchen and opened the faucet. The cold water soothed me a bit from my drowsiness as I washed my face. However, I paused as my eyes landed on a small mirror beside the sink. I looked at it straightly and I saw my eyes again, flashing in a kaleidoscope of colors.
At first, I was afraid of it, knowing its dreadful power, but now when I looked at it, it made me feel mesmerized. There was beauty in its color and I kind of like it.
"Get your grip, Marky. You still need to recover your will to become a superhero." I said to myself as I blinked and deactivated my ability.
Right after I got out of the hospital, I wasted no time and asked Touko to train me and my new found abilities immediately. I must learn how to control it because I did not want to slash someone, or destroy something, unintentionally.
Touko, much to my surprise, complied and began to train me right then and there. She was a harsh and strict instructor, a complete opposite from my second father's teaching techniques. But her teachings were effective.
And in just one month, I could now control my new power, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, very well. Now, all that was left for me was to let her treat my mental well-being.
I dried my face with a paper towel and glanced to the sky outside of my kitchen window. The sky was blue and cloudless. Summer had truly arrived.
Summer – the season that Molly loved and would never experience ever again.
"Enough with the sadness, crying will get you nowhere." I quickly berated myself. I had been crying a lot before, but tears would never bring back the time and the loved ones that I lost.
Their deaths were the truth and the truth did not give a shit about your feelings. The only thing I could do was move forward.
July 2095 – Chinatown – L.A.
L.A.'s Chinatown was one of the busiest parts of the city. It consisted of many stores, restaurants, and other establishments – all in Chinese themes. But despite all of that, the place was usually crowded by many people. From early morning and up until near midnight, the foot traffic of the place never ceased. The loud noises from the lively people filled the streets, giving the place a vibrant atmosphere.
And Touko's workshop, the Hollowed Shrine, was smack right in the middle of it.
I walked past the pagoda arch entrance of the place and dived right into the crowds.
After I learned the location of the Puppeteer Mage's workshop, I was a bit confused as to why she chose such a busy place. But she quickly explained to me that the mana concentration in the area was high enough to fuel her magecraft. And since mana was the source of a Mage's power, she chose the place for her magecraft to work well.
Right after I dived in to the crowd, I walked along the main street until I reached the thirteenth building on my right.
I had finally arrived at the woman's workshop…and it was a five story, derelict building.
The first time I saw her workshop was one month ago. I was utterly shocked at its dilapidated state. It was not a perfect place to serve as a workshop to a powerful mage such as Touko, but the woman completely brushed my reactions away and told me that the place was actually perfect for her.
She loved places that the public ignored, such as this building. It gave off the illusion that no one was there.
However, even after a month, I still could not get over the fact that she would choose this kind of place.
"Ah, what the hell? Who am I judge to her likes?" I brushed off the weirdness of Touko's choices and quickly entered the building.
-The Hollowed Shrine-
Touko's building was weird for me. The first floor was abandoned and in ruins. The building was left unfinished by a certain company right after America had suffered another major financial crisis that occurred thirty-five years ago. As I climbed through the main stairwell, I walked past two locked doors on the second and third floor.
Those two floors were Touko's workshop. It was where she produced her puppets and her puppet spare bodies. I only went there once and it creeped me out. Rows and rows, like porcelain cadavers, were her dolls…and all of their eyes seemed to look at me, judging my actions.
I dreaded the place so I had no plans on going in there, not unless she called me in.
I took another turn and walked up another flight of stairs. Finally, I had arrived on the fourth door of this building's fourth floor. And beyond this door was Touko's main office, the place where my session with her would be held.
I stood by the door for the moment as I arranged my thoughts so I could prepare for my therapy session. And then with a soft snort escaping my nose, I grabbed the door knob and opened the door.
-The Hollowed Shrine-Touko's Office-
When I first saw Touko's office before, I was shocked. The room was incredibly messy. On the left, stacks of papers towered against the wall, a lot gathering dust while most were probably already serving as a home for spiders. Not only that, many items were scattered around the floor, cabinets, and cupboards. And these items were all occult or devilish-like. It was safe to assume that most of them were cursed.
Right know, even after a month had passed, that state of the room was still the same. This place was weird and it was definitely not a good place for a normal human. But then again, the owner wasn't a normal one.
"Heya there, Marky!" I shifted my gaze to my right. A sturdy, metal desk filled with books stood before me and behind it, sitting comfortably on her chair with a lit cigarette, was Touko.
"Glad you could make it."
"Yes, and your room is still messy, Touko." I commented in slight irate as I walked in and stripped off my black jacket and put it on a bust statue beside the door.
"Oh, well, I'll have my room clean when I want to." Touko rebutted me and cast a mischievous smirk. She puffed her cigarette and blew smoke to the air.
"How was your morning? Did you have a good night sleep?"
The memory of my dream of Molly came back to me. The familiar heavy feeling of sadness quickly grew inside my chest, making me slouch my shoulders. I moved towards the sofa and sat down. My eyes landed on a towering stack of old T.V.s. All of them were on, but the volume was low.
"I just had a dream of Molly. This is my first time dreaming of her. It was a memory from a long time ago…back when I didn't know the truth about my birth."
Touko shifted her expression to a thoughtful one before she fixed her glasses and stood from her chair.
"Well then, why don't we start with that dream, Marky?"
A couple of hours had passed after I began to tell Touko about my dream. I was lying down on the sofa while she sat on a chair beside me. Her expression was her usual one when she was listening to me, serious and unreadable. She made occasional responses, but it only composed of nods.
And when I finished my story, she blinked at me and released a short but amused sigh.
"So, you dreamed of Molly and that dream of yours is a distant memory of an event that had happened a long time ago."
"Yes." I replied weakly as my eyes stared back at the ceiling. "I was wondering what it could mean…I mean, does it have an effect on my mind?"
Touko made a short hum with a hint of mischief in it before she replied to me. "Marky, dreams are basically memories played in a playback loop. It contains, well, the memory, and the emotions within it." She stood up from her chair and began her explanation. "Technically speaking, dreams don't have any effects on an individual's brain…unless it's a prophecy, that is. But yours isn't a prophecy, Marky, so it's fine."
She took out a pack of cigarettes, plucked one stick, and lit it up in her mouth. "I think you just miss Molly very much, Marky…and it means that you want to reconnect with her."
"But how, Touko?" I asked, a hint of distress in my voice. " I mean…she's dead already, together with my Scott."
"Well, there's your second father, Mark Grayso,n and your second sister, Terra. Why don't you try to reconnect with them?"
My eyes widened for a moment as memories started flashing before me – the afternoon sky, the warm wind, and the house of my second father torn down and were in ruins after my anger got the better of me.
"I…don't know if they'll ever accept me," I mean, they cannot…after what I've done. My thoughts ran rapidly as my heart beat rose. The terrible feeling from before was now crawling in my guts and together with it was the anger that I swore never to release again. "I-I-I'm the cause of Terra's miscarriage. If I hadn't tried to commit suicide, she wouldn't have stayed here on Earth a-and Mark wouldn't lose his grandchild. He's angry, for sure, angry from the misfortune that had befallen on his daughter…which I again cause-!"
"Marky, calm yourself."
Touko's voice, calm and serene, suddenly filled my ears. Come to think of it, her voice was very good and suggestive. Very perfect too. Too perfect.
Is she using some of her magecraft on me? Does she have, somehow, a power of suggestion that she can cast to anyone? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she did.
"Take a deep breath, in and out, slowly. You're panicking again." I followed her instructions and, as always, it soothed me.
"Are you calm now?"
"Y-Yes. I am so sorry for my outburst." I apologized as Touko appeared above me and beamed a cheerful smile.
"First, you should not apologize so much. It's ok to express your emotions. I keep telling you that. Second, stop blaming yourself for what happened to your sisters." She said calmly to me as she put down a mug of tea on the table. "The attempted invasion would still happen, even if you were awake. Plus, they both protected you and this planet. They took a risk and put themselves into the frontline. I think, regardless of whether you were awake or not, their choice to fight would have been the same and tragedy would have still struck."
I closed my eyes as tears trailed the side of my head while Touko continued her explanation. "What happened was truly saddening. However, they made a choice, Marky. Because they both love you."
I sat there for a moment and absorbed her words. My mind travelled back to the past, and I clearly remembered the last words that Terra was screaming at me. She was crying, trying to deliver me to a nearby hospital. She was truly desperate to save me. And then my other father, Mark, had said that he was waiting for me.
They were all waiting for me to come to them.
They all truly loved me.
And yet, I felt nothing.
"They're not my family."
"Come again?" Touko blinked. Her smile disappeared, and in its place was a startled one.
"Touko…I've come to a realization…I no longer love Terra and Mark."
A deafening silence loomed between me and Touko for a couple of seconds. "How did you reach that conclusion?" Finally, the psychiatrist broke the silence and I answered her.
"They indeed loved me before. They both gave me lovely memories…but now those memories feel empty and my feelings for it are nothing but shame." I paused as I sat on the couch and cast a sad frown. "All I can feel for those memories right now…is shame."
"I see." Touko made a deep sigh and flicked her cigarette on the ashtray. I looked at her, observing her actions, waiting for her to answer.
"That's wrong, Marky. You are basically jumping to conclusions here." She spoke. I made a deep sigh. I wanted her to be correct, but still, the empty feeling lingered within my mind, and along side it was memories that should be precious to me.
"I suggest you to be patient. Your mind isn't healed yet…so my advice to you, is don't make big assumptions like that, not yet anyways."
"Touko…" I called her to tell her that she was wrong, but I stopped. Her words resounded strongly. She was right. I was not ready to think about things like that. I guess I should be patient, just like she said.
If Mark and Terra truly loved me, then I must hear it from them.
I had enough with lies. I wanted to know the truth from them.
"We interrupt our current program with a breaking news!" My attention then quickly averted and landed on the T.V. in front of me. The program earlier was all about relaxing music, but now in its place was a face of a news caster.
"LA precinct no. 36 has just found another dead body on Sunnyshade Skyscraper Apartment Building. The body – a highschool girl – is now officially the fourth suicide jumper of the complex this month."
Fourth? I focused my attention more as the picture of a high school girl flashed on the screen. She was the suicide jumper and she looked like she wasn't suicidal when her photo showed nothing but a wide happy grin. It looked like she was also athletic, given she was wearing a jogging suit and held a water bottle.
"Curious, Marky?" Touko chimed in as she took out another cigarette and lit it up.
"No…it's just that…I had done an attempted a suicide before. I felt how I almost died and how terrifying death is." I said as I recalled my dark memory of burning in the sun and seeing the dark, endless void of the afterlife. It made me gulp down as terror made my heart increase its beat slightly. "Those poor girls are already in 'that' place."
"It's nice that you're expressing empathy, Marky. It means you still appreciate life." Touko commented and relaxed her back, crossing her legs on her chair.
"A series of suicides had started in Sunnyshade Apartment Building a month ago, after you were discharged from the hospital. The victims, all of them, are random high school girls who go to different high schools and have different circles of friends." The woman paused, puffing some smoke, before she continued. "None of them are suicidal, so it is perfectly normal that they didn't leave any suicide note."
I blinked as I noticed something strange. "Touko, most suicidal people would leave suicide notes because they want to settle their regret with their love ones. It is an announcement – a sign – that they have no more attachment to this world."
"True…and yet none of these girls left any suicide notes, which means they had no intention of committing suicide at all. Isn't that puzzling?"
True, that is strange. The mystery made my mind run. If those girls jumped to their death, without any intention of jumping at all, then there was only one answer that I arrived at.
"Were they murdered?" I said the question aloud and it made Touko's smile deepen into a strange one. Her reaction made me widen my eyes as the realization hit me. "Touko, they were murdered."
"Indeed, but how…and why?"
A short gasp of dread escaped my lips as I looked away from the T.V. and down to the floor. The news had said the girl that had died was the fourth one. And since I had arrived at the conclusion that what had happened to them wasn't suicide, but murder, my mind formed another conclusion.
"This was done by a serial killer, am I right?"
"It could be," Touko smirked with a hint of mischief, smoke blew out from her nose. "And if so, what will you do then, Markus? Will you stop the killer?"
Will I stop the killer? Of course, I would like to stop the killer. However, my reasoning was not flawless. I had no proof that this was the work of a serial killer, and what's more, superheroes weren't required to participate to this kind of case.
It was a rule set up by the Global Defense Agency, the owner of the Guardians of the Globe, and it was to ensure that superheroes wouldn't act like vigilantes.
Tsk, guess I will leave this one to the police. "No. I will let the police handle this one. I cannot take justice into my own hands, Touko. That is not the work of superheroes, but of the local enforcers."
Touko's smile softened and she made a short disapproving snort. "Well, your choice, Marky." She said with a hint of disappointment in her voice and I could not help but agree with her response.
I, too, felt disappointed that I could not do right. But I must follow the law. I could be wrong anyways.
-Murphy's Residence-
After my eventful session with Touko, I arrived at my home in deep thought. I closed the door behind me and looked at my bare, dull living room. The memories that I spent in this room didn't play like before. The laughter that I let out, which echoed through the walls, no longer reverberated loudly. Instead, it was replaced by an unknown silence.
I guess I had move on from my sadness. I mean, I was already down and there was nowhere for me to go but up.
"Time to prepare dinner." I made a heavy sigh as drew the curtains of my window, blocking the purple afternoon sky outside. I turned on the T.V. so that it could provide me some noise while I cooked my dinner.
"That girl." However, I stopped in my tracks as a familiar face showed up on my screen. It was the happy girl who committed suicide by jumping from the building called the Sunnyshade Apartment Building.
"She was finally identified, huh. Her name is Sari Adari, a half-American and Indian girl." I read from the screen as I looked at Sari. Her smile was angelic and I could tell that she had never harmed a soul before. A kind and innocent girl.
'None of them are suicidal. So, it is perfectly normal that they didn't leave any suicide note.'
'This was done by a serial killer, am I right?'
'And if so, what will you do then, Marky? Will you catch the killer?'
My conversation with Touko played again, and this time, it was creating a heavy feeling within me. The feeling was very familiar to me. It was the same thing that I had felt after I learned the misfortune that had befallen my dear sisters.
It was guilt.
"Those girls are innocent and they were killed by a serial killer who, somehow, had convinced them to jumped to their death." But I could be wrong…However, it's impossible to have so many suicides in the same place in such a short span of time. I debated between my guilt and conscience of upholding the superhero law.
Should I take justice with my own hands, or should I leave this to the men of the law? The question rang loudly inside of me. However, despite the turmoil, I had reached a conclusion.
"I should investigate that place. Maybe I'll see something there." Something that could explain why four girls, who are all innocent, suddenly jumped from the roof of the building. I thought as I took my black jacket again and strode out of my home.
-Sunnyshade Apartment Building-
It took me a couple of minutes to search the address through my phone, and a couple of seconds of flying to reached the place.
Sunnyshade Apartment Building was located in the southwestern part of L.A. It was near a huge port that served cruise ships before. But now that part, together with the complex where the building was standing, was completely abandoned. The reason for that was because the place was heavily damaged during the Kingdom of Wolvesbane's attempted invasion. The damage made by the alien army's attack was so massive that the local government had decided to demolish the block instead of rebuilding it to save a few bucks.
The people who lived there, knowing that the government had no more plans to repair the damages, had decided to abandon it and move elsewhere, thus the reason the whole block was deadly silent as I landed in the middle of a road.
In front of me was the tall skyscraper left in ruins. My eyes looked around as I began to take note of my surroundings, and eventually, I saw the sign of the building in front.
The Sunnyshade Apartment Building was a high-end apartment complex that was built in the middle of the twenty first century. Its sole purpose was to cater the wealthy and privileged. It boasted many amenities, such as an indoor amusement park and an overlooking view on the roof, which offered the tenants a good, wide view of the waterfront and the city.
The view must have been beautiful, but it now served as a place where those girls had jumped.
"Creepy." I said under my breath as I walked towards the pedestrian lane, over the shadow of the building.
According to the news, this is the place where the body was found. I trekked for a couple of seconds until I stopped in my tracks. My eyes hardened as I saw the pavement in front of me drenched in dried blood. I could still make out the outline of the body.
"Now then, where should I start looking for clues?" My mind began to run as I thought of a strategy in search for clues of foul play.
*THUD*
I heard a loud thud, and before I could react, the scene before me had changed. The dried blood on the pavement was now bright red and my cheeks were wet with warm red liquid, which I quickly recognized as blood.
"Fu—Fuck!" I cursed as my eyes widened in horror after a body had dropped in front of me. It was a teenage girl. Her blonde hair was all messy with her blood and opened skull. I staggered back and quickly looked up.
What the fuck is that? It seemed I wasn't alone because right above me, hovering quietly by the wide full moon, were seven figures.
And I couldn't identify them because the figures were nothing but dark silhouettes. They all lacked basic features of a human being, such as face or clothes. In fact, they all looked like shadows hovering above the sky.
"Shadows?" I gulped down in terror – not just because this was the first time I had seen such creatures, but I could tell that, despite lacking eyes or faces, they were all…looking at me.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kara no Kyoukai and Invincible. Names, places and events are purely fictional, if one exist in real life then its purely coincidental.
Special Thanks to Pure Red Crane for Beta-reading.
Woo-hoo! Welcome to the first chapter of my fanfic's new arc. This new arc would be absed from Kara no Kyoukai's Overlooking View Arch. Now what truly happened in there? Well, in the Kara no Kyoukai anime, the Overlooking View arch was about a derelict high rise building where a group of girls mysteriously jumped to their deaths. It was later foudn out that a mage with a very powerful ability to cast suggestion, was behind the killings.
In this chapter, I changed some a bit, but this is to pay homage to Kara no Kyoukai, one of UFOTABLE's greatest anime before their beloved Fate Anime Franchise.
Well, then enjoy your reading and please leave some reviews if you want to :)
