The Lodge

The duo continues their trek to Tohoku, now accompanied by a new charge. The boy, Haru, travels along with them silently. The most noise he makes is during the night, when they can hear him sobbing to himself until he falls asleep. They’re at least relieved that he allows himself to eat. Asuka had told Hotaru what they found out about his mother. Despite initially being adamant about refusing to keep him around she hasn’t made any more complaints thus far. They had hoped his mood would somehow improve as the days went on, but he remains despondent.

Looking at their map, they cheer as they finally reach the area holding their final destination. But the celebration does not last long. Unlike the last town they visited, this one is bustling with movement. From where they stand, they can see people scouring the streets. Some solo and some in groups. The city smolders as if on fire, oh and smoke rises from various corners.

“There’s no way we can make it through there without getting killed,” Hotaru concludes.

“Yeah,” Asuka looks around, “maybe we can try walking through the trees?”

With no other options, they do just that.

Not a single animal crosses their path. The chaos and booms echoing from the nearby town the forest surrounds must have scared them off. Not a twitter of a bird reaches their ears as they make their way through the brush.

After skirting the edge of the trees to keep track of where they are, they move deeper into the forest to find a place to rest as the sun sinks on the horizon. They find a clearing of trees and they set their things down. After putting up the tent and letting Haru go to sleep, Hotaru starts a conversation.

“Hey so,” she says, “I know we’ve kind of talked about him before, but you’ve never really told me about your brother. What was he like?”

Asuka is surprised. It’s not like she’s been avoiding it, it just felt awkward to bring him up when it wasn’t specifically relevant. She didn’t want to feel like she was pushing her problems onto Hotaru. But now that she’s asking, she actually feels ready to speak up.

She sighs, “well, as you know, he’s my big brother. It was actually around this time that he died. On December 27th.” She looks up through the trees, lost in her memories.

“…how did he…?” Hotaru trails off, letting context speak for itself.

Asuka closes her eyes before revealing her truth. “It was my fault,” she whispers.

Just like Misaki, Asuka had been fighting with Kyo. It was a few months after she got expelled from school. Though she was no longer with Hanako and the others, smoking was still a hard habit to break. Going behind Kyo’s back, she would get them by bumming off other smokers i’m going to designated smoking areas until the day she got caught and was detained by police for smoking while underage.

Kyo got called in the middle of work to pick her up from the police box. That was probably the day he was going to give the package to Misaki, too. Miyuki said that he never came back into work after dropping it.

After retrieving Asuka, Kyo had gotten fed up with her behavior, lecturing her on how she should know better as they stood outside of the police station. Asuka knew it too, but she was already guilty and acted stubborn to hide her shame. She left in the middle of him speaking, trying to avoid the disappointed look in his eyes.

Not looking where she was going, she bumped into someone. She could tell he was drunk from his odor. He suddenly pushed her into the crosswalk before it had turned green, shouting obscenities at her. She remembered hearing a loud horn as Kyo dashed forward, shoving the man to the side to get to her. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground after being pushed out of the way by Kyo who had gotten hit by a truck.

Silence hangs between them as Hotaru processes the information.

“I’m sorry,” she says finally.

“What have you got to apologize for?” Asuka chuckles, but the smile lingers on her lips in appreciation. The only other person she’s ever talked about Kyo with was Misaki, but she’d never told him the whole story out of shame. It felt kind of nice to reveal everything.

They stay up a little while longer before going to bed.

They are awoken by a rustling in the bushes. They stay quiet and still, though they’re doubtful of the tent being enough camouflage to hide them. The rustling gets louder until it turns into footsteps.

“Is anyone in there?” The voice of a man calls out at them.

They stay quiet, no idea if this is friend or foe, and not willing to take a chance. The man, however, approaches them instead. They see his figure through the tent lining, “We don’t mean any trouble.”

After refusing to answer, the man when’s down and try to unzip the tent himself. In a panic, Hotaru rushes forward when the flap has been opened and tackles the man to the ground. She is immediately removed by the people who were accompanying him.

Asuka pokes her head out of the tent as the man gets up to brush himself off. Hotaru struggles, but the people release her immediately when the man gives them a look.

He continues to insist that they didn’t mean to frighten them and introduces himself as Komiyama Mahito. He informs them that they were on a morning walk when they saw their tent.

“We have a lodge up the way if you are in need of accommodation.” They look at him dubiously and he continues, clasping his hands together, “please don’t be frightened, it’s important that we stick together in these dangerous times, is it not?”

Remembering how well the trip to the onsen village went, they decided to go despite their suspicions. Things were silent on the way there; the other members of the group hadn’t said a word. When Asuka looks at one of them, she just smiles at her.

It’s not long before they reach the lodge that looks about as big as a hotel if it was lain on its side. Hotaru, Asuka, and Haru are ushered in and welcomed by the others who had been staying there. Everyone was exceedingly friendly and pleasant, placid smiles on all of their faces. Somehow it was different from the vibes at the onsen village, but they tried to ignore that and give them the benefit of the doubt since they were housing them.

The most surprising thing about the place was that it had electricity. For the longest while, they hadn’t been able to encounter anywhere that had refrigeration or electrically heated water.

While their rooms were prepared, they had been sat down to converse with the inhabitants of the lodge. They discussed the incoming asteroid and how it was predicted to bring about the end of the world. The way they talked about it was blithe, like they didn’t care either way or had found some kind of peace with it. It was still a bit off-putting.

Asuka and the others were given food and allowed to use the baths (Asuka wasn’t sure if she needed help Haru to bathe, but she did so anyway, worried he might not properly clean himself in his depressive state). After being shown to their separate rooms, they said goodbye for the night and went to sleep. Asuka had insisted on bringing Haru into the room too, worried about him being on his own.

Sometime in the night, Asuka is visited by Hotaru.

“Can I stay here for a bit?” She was grateful, it was so much more eerie here in the night.

They lay down in silence on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Asuka…” Hotaru whispers in the dark, rousing Asuka from drifting off.

“Hm?” she says, shaking the sleep from her voice.

“I’ve been thinking, and…” she pauses to gather the right words. “About your brother…I don’t think what happened was your fault.

Asuka scoffs reflexively, “yeah, thanks.”

“No, really. Think about it, from what you told me about Haru, his mom had gone into the city to get food for him right?”

“Mm hm.”

“That’s basically the same thing your brother did for you.”

“That’s not—!”

“You wouldn’t blame Haru for his mother’s sacrifice, would you? Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’ve already done so much to make it up to him. I know he wouldn’t want you to be beating yourself up like this.” Hotaru finishes.

Asuka stays quiet. She’s hesitant to accept it. But she can’t deny the small bit of relief Hotaru’s words sparked in her heart. Even so, she doesn’t like the idea of being the reason her brother was gone.

The next morning, they try to thank the people of the lodge for letting them stay and try to go back on their journey. The truth was that they just didn’t want to stay any longer. However, the lodging inhabitants insisted they stay for a few days more. The asteroid was on its way, and they surely didn’t have anywhere else to be, right? So, they decided against telling them about their reasons for travel and gave in to stay for one more day.

That night, Asuka dreams of Kyo. It had been a while since he appeared in her dreams. When he did show up, it was usually about a twisted rendition of his death replaying until she woke up with tears in her eyes.

In this dream he just appeared before her. He looked ethereal, large wings sprouted on his back, and he was bathed in a soft blue light.

As he approached, she could see he was trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t make it out. She tries telling him to speak up, but it’s not until he stands right before her that she’s able to hear him.

He spread his arms and wrapped them around her, embracing her in a gentle hug. For some reason, hugs tended to feel better in dreams for Asuka. She hugged him back, the warmth of his body soaked into her skin.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes before bending down to whisper in her ear…

Run.

Asuka jolts awake. Tears stream down her face, but it’s not out of grief this time. Her heart races as she tries to recall the dream she just had. She could still feel the linger of Kyo’s hug from where he had touched, but dread pricks at her heart as she remembers his last word.

Somehow, she knew what he meant. Getting dressed and gathering her clothes, she quietly opens the door to her room, and peeks into the hallway. It was dark but she couldn’t see anybody. Slowly tiptoeing across the long red decorative rug, she made her way to Hotaru’s room that she knew was in another part of the house from hers.

When she reached, she gently opened the door to peek inside, but the moonlight window above the bed revealed no one was there. She opened the door fully to see the room was empty. Panicking, she goes to Haru’s room, wondering if she had gone to see him like she had her the other night. But the result is the same, Haru was also missing.

She clutches her hair trying to figure out what to do, when she hears someone behind her. “Asuka-san?” She whirls around, Komiyama Mahito stands behind her, shrouded in darkness.

Asuka is scared, but she stands her ground. “Where are my friends?” She demands.

“Actually, we were just on our way to get you. Your friends are already at the ceremony. Please come join us.” he gestures behind him.

“Ceremony?” Asuka can’t help but repeat.

“All will be revealed soon enough,” he assures her. She knows that they’re in danger and she’s walking into a trap, but there’s nothing else she can do.

She follows him through the house. It’s quiet and empty despite how many people have been living there. He takes her to the back door and opens it. Dread flows through her from what she sees.

The people of the mansion dance in a circle, their hair decorated with flowers and leaves. Asuka peers into the ring of flowing white robes to see that the center lies Hotaru and Haru; both lay on a table in the center, tied against it with rope. Their eyes were closed.

Asuka feels her legs go weak, “what did you do to them…” her voice wobbles.

The man spreads his arms to his sides, “We are the children of Maluna!” his voice echoes through the mountains as he announces their denomination.

She already thought she knew but now she was sure, this must be this must be one of the death cults Hotaru had brought up before.

Her voice is ragged with emotion as she screams, “let them go!”

“We cannot do that,” Komiyama chimes with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, “the space guide Maluna has called upon us to speak his good truth. He has sent this meteor because he is displeased with earth’s lack of belief in the truth of the universe. He requires sacrifices. Today on the eve of his great conquest, will all be his sacrifices.”

Asuka can’t believe what she’s hearing, but it doesn’t matter. All she knows is that these people are crazy. But she has no idea what to do. There’s so many of them and her friends are either dead or unconscious.

And it’s her fault. She brought them here.

She did it again.

The ground shifts beneath her feet as the cultists finish their dance. They all turned to look at her with the same smiles on their faces. Komiyama moves to a table where numerous wooden chalices sit on a red tablecloth. He invites his followers to each take one until only four left and they return to their circle. He takes one and brings it to Asuka.

She looks up at him, her face twisted in pain and tears. “Have you already killed them?”

“No. The time must be ripe.” He points to the east of the horizon that they can see over the trees. “When the sun has risen a halfway into the sky, that is when we drink.”

Asuka’s heart unconstricts just a bit. Looking at the reformed ring of people, she sees Hotaru toss her head in her unconscious state. The feeling comes back into her body; they’re alive. The cultists must have just knocked them out somehow. She sighs as her relief gives way to anger that wells up inside of her.

If they’re still alive then there’s still a chance to get them out of here. And she was going to do whatever it took. She balls her fists at her sides and pushes herself up. She doesn’t care if the world is ending, she’s not gonna let them die at the hands of these maniacs.

Asuka takes a look at every single one of the death cult members. They’re made up of about an equal number of men and women, totaling and 20 people other than Komiyama. She turns back to him. He stands before her, towering as he offers her the cup full of poison. She feels like it might be more satisfying to try to take a go with them herself, but an idea comes to mind instead.

“Fine.” Taking the cup, she offers a compromise. That she’ll be the one to feed them the poison. He accepts the proposal, and the ring opens up to let them inside.

They wait until the sun is positioned as he said it must be. Instead of drinking all at once, the cultists take a drink one by one. They collapse after draining the whole chalice and the next person takes their turn. Komiyama waits until Asuka is left.

Now that she thinks about it, she doesn’t know how she’s going to pull this off with Komiyama watching her. But something distracts him, a butterfly briefly flits around his head. He swats at it, but it doesn’t leave him alone, making do a frenzied dance as he waves his hands around his face. She takes the opportunity to swiftly grab two of the empty cups that rolled by her foot from the fallen cultists and returns to her position by the time he’s shooed it away.

Waiting for him to look at her, she props Haru’s unconscious form up on the table and puts the empty cup to his lips; she feigns pouring the draft down his throat. Hotaru is too tall and heavy for her to lift. Instead, Asuka pretends to take the whole drink in her mouth and kiss Hotaru’s lips to “force it down her throat”. Pretending the poison had also coated her mouth, she keels over as she had seen the other cultists do and falls to the ground. Finally, Komiyama makes one last declaration before drinking his own concoction.

After he’s fallen, Asuka quickly gets up to check on her companions. She pays Hotaru’s face to see if she’ll wake up. After a few moments, she moans, and her eyes roll open. Asuka throws her arms around her in glee, confusing Hotaru. After getting them down and running away from the lodge, she explains what happened.

“What, so you kissed me?!” Hotaru blushes in spite of herself.

“You were too tall to lift up!” Asuka says, trying to justify it.

She shakes her face in embarrassment. Haru is awake but they carry him through the trees until they find a road that cuts through the green.

Asuka takes the map from Hotaru’s bag and holds it up to her. She confirms this is the place they were looking for to make it to the viewing spot.

They’ve finally made it. Smiles plaster their faces as they march toward their final goal.