Sty grabbed me by the shoulder and helped me up. Sty shook his head in amazement.
"Rin, you have a death wish."
I looked at the ground and sucked in a deep breath and then looked back up. "I certainly have something." I watched the man walk away and had a sudden chill go down my back. I tilted my head to Sty, who was helping me walk. "Who is that man?"
Sty laughed at me while carefully looking around, "Well, that makes sense. That guy's name is Thymos, but the students call him Obelisk, or O, for obvious reasons. He is proudly the third in command at this academy."
I winced and continued to follow the man in a slow hobble. I looked through the long, wavy locks of my sweaty, black hair. This isn't an ordinary man. He has a robust gate to him, but I can't put my finger on it. We walked for what seemed like an eternity, but finally, through blood and sweat, we reached two large black oak doors. I was looking around, and before I knew it, I felt Sty get lifted behind me. Some unknown force was dragging Sty slowly back towards the arena. I fell on one knee, and my blood dripped on the ground. I watched the man gradually rubbing his hands on the large doorway, and I fell on my back out of breath.
"I can understand dropping me on the ground, but hell, this is just rude. The service at this school is just terrible." The man didn't seem to notice my sarcastic remark and continued to caress the mystical engravings on the door. I put my elbow underneath me and turned my body to face O. "Yes, of course, student. I will help you control your major blood loss instead of feeling the pictures." All of a sudden, O turned around and walked to where I lay.
"What is your name?"
I turned away, pretending to pout. "So now you decide to talk to me?" I looked at him with a curious gleam in my eye. "Rin. Rin Okumura is my name."
He looked down at me with a furious expression and then picked up some sand while letting it fall out beneath his hand and blow away. "Well, Rin, Lives are blown away daily like pieces of sand on a beach. Now tell me, is it really wise to tempt fate? If you're not careful, sand, you will become."
I slowly clapped my hands together, "Encore! After hearing that, I can finally die." O scoffed and turned around quickly.
"Rin, get up." I slowly got up and limped to the door. O finished slowly touching the strange language carved on the door. "I want you to relax your mind and make it as blank as possible, but from what I've heard, that shouldn't be hard." I chuckled and closed my eyes.
"Why do you want me to…" All of a sudden, the doors burst open with the sound of thunder, and a ferocious light filled my closed eyes. Before I knew it, I saw a luscious green field, the soft blue of the sky, and a white pulsating light hovering in the middle of the field. I looked around me to find O, but he wasn't there, and miraculously the doorway was gone leaving me isolated in a green sea of beauty. The delicate breeze filled my senses, and I collapsed in exhaustion on the soft grass. I stared at the sky and the clouds. Where am I? Am I near the academy? The last thing I remember was closing my eyes. I rested on the ground for a few minutes and then slowly sat up. The pain seemed to subside, and I got up intrigued by the white ball of lightning hovering in the field. I walked to it and saw a small electrical field humming with the energy around it. I slowly reached my hand out to touch it, and the second my finger touched the magnificent energy, I immediately felt a cooling effect over my entire body as I lost consciousness for a second and immediately woke up standing in an impossibly large marble room. The walls stood at least two hundred feet high, and the expanse of the room was like nothing I have seen, easily doubling the entire area of the academies arena. A dozen ornate tapestries hung in a semicircle in half of the room. Beneath each tapestry sat a large table with twelve different people sitting in chairs. At the other end of the large marble room stood a single throne with a man sitting upon it seeming expectant. Thousands of onlookers stood underneath each podium where the thirteen men sat. A loud echo filled the room as a voice could be heard saying, "He is here!" Silence filled the entire room as every eye was trained on me. I turned in circles trying to take in the large room.
A loud voice pierced the silence. "Rin Okumura. Hello." I looked at the speaking man sitting on the throne. He had a calm complexion with bronze skin with short black hair. He had kind eyes and didn't have a single flaw on his face. He smiled and beamed throughout the entire room.
"Ok, I'm just going to ignore my ignorance and assume I am supposed to be here. My question is, when can I leave?"
Anger filled the room as the onlookers furiously yelled sayings as "How dare you speak to your Lord that way!" and "Go back to hell Theodestrian!"
The man on the throne raised his hand to signal the people to be quiet.
I blinked a couple of times and looked around. "Well, ok then, can I leave right now?"
The man sitting on the throne slowly rose and walked down the stairs to where I stood.
"You can leave whenever you please."
I nodded, "Good, then would you mind telling me where the door out of this shitty dream is?"
He smiled and slowly nodded his head. "Thymos, or Obelisk as you know him, brought you here under an order Rin."
I shook my head, "Wait, you know, O?"
The man nodded.
"Ok now I'm interested, why exactly am I here and where am I?"
The man looked almost through me and nodded sadly. "Rin, I think we should find a more comfortable place to talk about this."
I motioned for him to lead the way, "I will be right behind you."
He smiled and snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, the world fazed and spun around me. Time was shifted, and the second I left, the second I was back except this time, the room was different. This room was much smaller and looked reminiscent of my apartment room back home. I looked around and saw the picture of my parents on my nightstand. I saw the unopened ramen noodles next to my bed and the clothes on the floor. This didn't just look like my room; this was my room. "Ok not going to lie, that was impressive, now why are we at my apartment?"
He sat down in a chair next to my bed and smiled sadly. "Lay down, Rin; this is going to be a long story."
I noticed his emotion and jumped on my bed.
"This is going to be hard to believe, and I know you will have anger, but please try to resist until the story is finished."
I stared at the ceiling of the room and raised an eyebrow. "What is therapy in session or something?"
He nodded, "Something like that."
All of a sudden, he waved his hand in a slow whooshing like a painter perfecting a painting, and the world around me caved in and became disfigured. Dreams rushed through my head and visions I didn't remember formulated inside me—a place I had never seen formed in my mind. Many large men stood over a swirling blue field of what seemed like lightning. Curiously I could feel the cool of the bolts. Voices flooded my senses.
"Azarieth has ruled long enough…"
"Death be upon the foolish gods…"
"Rise you, evil creature; your name is Rin, the first of the Decathodes…"
I saw my body forming before my eyes, the cold bolts radiated throughout my being, and I saw my form slowly coming to shape. My eyes were a dull grey and filled with rage. An emotion I haven't seen in what seems like forever. I reached out to touch my face, and the world around me shifted, bringing me to a domestic scene. A village of light. The entire place was lighted by an unseen force because the sun was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, shadows formed on the ground, and beings came from the mist and formed along the landscape. I saw eleven people and myself in the middle. Lightning flashed around our eyes and our body. I couldn't even focus on what was going on before the creatures let out a deafening static yell and moved at what seemed like impossible speeds. What happened after that was not expected. Blood flew everywhere, people were screaming, body after body crumpled on the ground. The fight was over before it had begun. For some strange reason, the clouds opened, and bright yellow light filled my eyes. Countless large golden people with six wings flew down with a screech and swooped numerous times slashing at me and the others. The blades passed through their bodies, and the bird people battled until they could not move. The execution was swift and merciless. Wings were cut off, heads were littered everywhere, and only silence remained. A low buzz of energy radiated in a pulsating rhythm across the terrain. The ground shook, and the sky turned dark. The light faded, and all that was left was a monotone landscape of greys and small flashes of blue cast from the creatures. A single bronze person flew effortlessly across the land. I saw it was the same man in my room. Tears fell down his cheeks and on to the ground. He looked at the creatures and shook his head.
He whispered to himself, "This isn't your fault. What-what have they done to you."
His lip quivered, and he looked every direction with rage in his eyes.
A booming voice filled the entire sky as the man shouted in a fury, "Where are you now, Ophthalmos!" His entire body shook, and he sobbed. "You coward! Having these innocent creatures fight for you!"
Then everything seemed to hold still. The peace didn't last long as the creatures moved at lightning speeds and circled the man in bronze. Screeches and growls radiated from their human-like features. The man in bronze collapsed on the ground. "M-m-murdered. All of them."
He punched the ground, and the golden fire swiftly radiated from his fist. He turned to the creatures called Decathodes. "I-I-I'm sorry for what my brother did to you, but the council will want punishment for this terrible act."
The creatures rushed at him in unison, and he opened his hand the flame spreading all around and as quickly closed his hand. A loud whooshing filled my ears, and golden fire flew all around, consuming the creatures as they screamed. A single tear fell down his cheek. "I-I-I'm sorry…"
The creatures could not move; they weren't dying. They were trapped in a flaming orb surrounding each of their bodies. Slowly they faded from the scene, and the terrain was altered, leaving a single bronze man sobbing on the ground clutching a dead body. The scene returned to me at a very young age, being led by my parents. My small hands on my dad's finger. They laughed and cuddled with me. We sat on a bench, pointing at ducks walking across the ground and fed them bread. I screamed and slammed my fists on the wall putting a large hole. Tears rushed down my cheeks.
"T-t-those memories are mine…get your hands off them." I cradled my head sobbing in my bed. I'm not used to having emotions. I lost all my emotions after my parents died that day. It seems the happiness in the dream triggered long lost emotions in my head. I stared at the man through my hands, and I saw he was crying.
"I'm sorry, Rin, my old friend. They tortured you and made you into something you aren't. I was forced to banish you from living as a human on this planet because I couldn't convince the others that this wasn't your fault. I'm so sorry; this is entirely my fault."
Memories flooded my head, and I got up and walked to the man and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You did what you had to, and I am grateful.."
The man laughed to himself, shook his head, and grabbed me in a hug.
"I promise I will make it up to you, son. I will find a way to convince the council to release you!"
A tear ran down my cheek.
"We both know that isn't true." I smiled at him, "You saved my life from an untimely death, and I am eternally grateful." I put one hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. Emotions flooded my senses. "I love you, father." He cried out as he caught my body falling on him unconscious.
He hugged my body and sobbed. "I will find a way to release you from this prison of losing your memory." My mind turned dark, and the memories flooded out of my head, and my mind shut down in complete silence.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
