Back To Reality

Amidst the pool of blood and lack of guts to represent the human bodies that had once all stood here, the realization of the situation surrounding me becomes evident, as I am left on my knees unable to account for what to do next. Although I had achieved my goal of gaining two new marks of power for myself, I also had no time to think of my next goal before being interrupted by this group of four.

Before I manage to ask any questions, or gather myself properly, the man with the extended hand towards me then twists his hand, and slowly lifts it up towards my head.

“You…just who are you?” the man calmly asks.

Words fail to escape my mouth, even as it remains open from the shock of everything that has transpired. The man’s hand continues to travel towards the crown of my head, clearly marveling at my form and the figures that surely sit atop my head. However, as the man makes contact with one of the figures, a strange chemical reaction occurs, putting the entire area into disarray. The light that had once shown across the entire floor since this group’s arrival is now being swallowed quickly by a hollowing darkness, moving through the air like a starving snake devouring its prey whole. The others within the group jump back, seemingly frightened by the encounter, while the man continues to stare at the red, black and white light forming in between my forehead and the man’s index finger.

What is this?

“My lord, please step back from that man. He is evidently proving himself to be very dangerous,” the only female member of the group, with glistening blond braids and both of her eyes completely closed, speaks out.

“Nora…stay out of this.” The man calmly warns his companion.

The chemical reaction continues to spiral between us, and the shadow snake continues to swallow up the light, enough that it begins to morph into a higher reptilian form. The man remains frozen in place, but with an expression of intrigue rather than fear.

However, the one with the greatest expression of intrigue…is me.

Like a moth to a flame, I reach out my hand in the same way the man’s index finger is inches away from the spiralling reaction, causing the reaction to grow in size from that of a mustard seed to an apple. The man and I begin to smile, both amused by the impossible circumstance that befalls our very eyes…

Until my eyes begin to twitch.

And my mouth begins to water.

I want it.

In the blink of an eye, my entire right hand expands until it covers the circumference of the spiraling sphere of light, leading to the light being swallowed into my hands. At the same time, the last trail of light within the entire floor, which the man and the group were responsible for providing, becomes swallowed entirely, leaving us all in the same pit of darkness that normally encompasses this world.

The man begins to laugh softly, as he notices my fixated vision towards the now disappeared light between us.

“面白い (Omoshiroi)”

My eyes trail towards the tall, well dressed and well groomed man.

…Japanese…how is he able to speak Japanese in this place?...

Immediately after contemplating the reasoning, the memory of my conversations with Christoph concerning the language disparities comes to mind. Christoph’s drivel about the people that had been looking for him, everyone’s insistent wording for the bird monsters, as well as the leader’s name.

A grin spreads across my face, while the man continues to smile calmly while staring towards me.

“Nakai Shinji. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well…Nehamn Ho.”

“You know who I am?”

“Of course. I make it a note to know the names of all my children.”

A staring contest ensues, where neither of us are willing to look away from each other, or even blink while doing so. But after a while, I end up looking away towards the pool of blood that we are currently standing in, and the people that had to be taken in order for such a phenomenon to occur,

“You know…you went ahead and took some things of mine…” I mention as I motion towards where Christoph was situated.

“Unfortunately, that is impossible.”

I turn my head slowly to look at Nakai Shinji’s confident smile.

“Everything in this place…including you…belongs to me.”

As he finishes his words, the light that had been swallowed up immediately pushes back against the dragon serpent that had swallowed it whole, and eventually illuminates the entire area once again. In doing so, the man’s white suit glistens even brighter than usual, along the white clothes that his companions wear.

Laughter immediately ensues, as my amusement only grows. My marked form begins to settle and dissipate once more, as I cross my legs and place Chen carefully against my thigh, making sure to face Nakai Shinji properly rather than looking at him from my right side as I have been doing.

“Everything belongs to you, you say? Then it seems my new goal has arrived directly in front of me.”

“Your new goal?” Shinji responds.

“If you are the one who has everything…then I will be the one to take everything from you.” I answer, with my hands outstretched towards him.

“I don’t know where you got the idea that such an option exists.”

“Oh, but it does.”

“Oh, but it doesn’t,” a member of Shinji’s group appears beside me, and leans in towards my left ear, “But you’re welcome to find that out for yourself…as much as you wish,” he says as he bites my ear softly.

“I would ask your name, but that stands to be irrelevant,” I respond calmly, “Lackeys don’t interest me very much.”

“Even if I have a mark, just like you?” The man whimpers like a dog, mocking my taunting.

My head swivels quickly, “What is your name?” I ask attentively.

The man laughs as he moves back towards the rest of his group and points back towards me while staring towards his friends, “I like this one! The supreme one’s right, we should keep him.” His attention finally returns to me, “Name is Bo, by the way. Just Bo.”

“I see. Well then, Bo…”

“Where is your mark?”

“On your left ear,” Bo responds with a cheeky smile.

Within the next second, the same phenomenon that happened to Christoph and Bruno’s entire party ensues, as my left ear explodes. None of my ear’s cartilage or flesh remain during or after the explosion occurs, leaving only added blood to the large pool of it already surrounding us.

“...you son of a bitch!” I scream out in pain.

“Yours truly!” Bo laughs maniacally as he takes a bow, aggravating me even further. As he does, I notice his pink and green curly hair, surrounding a small bald spot at the top of his head.

Bo then quickly shakes his hair to cover the bald spot as he raises his head back up to face me. However, I already took notice of the faint light emanating from the bald spot, reading out the words: SIGNUM SCURRA.

The mark of the joker…what a fitting title…

“Bo, rest.” says the other male of the group, sporting a laurel wreath atop his golden brown hair, “His eminence hasn’t ordained such behavior in his presence, don’t keep acting out of turn like this.”

Bo turns towards Nakai Shinji and clasps his hands together as a sign of regret, “Apologies once again, boss! I simply couldn’t help but play with the boy! You know how my bald spot gets…I have to play around, or it’ll start itching like crazy!”

“Calm down.” Shinji reacts with a soft smile towards Bo, “I haven’t reprimanded you for anything, have I?”

“...that’s true.” Bo reacts apprehensively.

“And Alex,” He turns towards the man that had given Bo the warning, “I told you to be more lenient with him. Circumstances allow for his behavior.”

“Now then,” Shinji says as he returns his gaze towards me, “How should I deal with you?”

The blonde female with closed eyes steps forward and bows, “My lord, as usual, I implore you to allow us to handle such cases. We will have him dealt with in immediate effect.”

“Nonsense,” Shinji waves his hand up, “I will handle this one myself.”

“Oh, the king wants a shot at the big bad wolf, does he?” I ask cheekily, feigning confidence even through the pain in my left ear.

If not for the physical contact he made with it, I would be all healed by now.

“Let me take a wild guess here,” I say as I boost my chest outwardly, “All of you are marked, just like me. I can already guess what yours is,” I point towards Bo, “The mark of the joker. Not sure what it entails just yet, but I’m sure you’re the reason for this mess of blood everywhere.”

“Oh. He found me out already,” Bo replies, tilting his head as if pondering the reason as to why.

“And you, the greek cosplayer,” I point towards the boy Shinji regarded as Alex, “I’m guessing you got something to do with being a judge or something. Maybe the mark of the uptight? The mark of the privileged? The mark of the-”

“The mark of the king, you buffoon!” Alex shouts back, enraged at the insults I had thrown his way on purpose.

“There it is. I was close enough, wasn’t I? Not such a fitting title for you though. Work on that.”

My attention turns towards the blonde braided female, ignoring Edgar’s pointless rambles of rage, “And you. Hmm. You’re a pretty one. Are you related to Marilyn Monroe or?…never mind. Let’s see here. You don’t seem as out of touch from reality as your counterparts. I think I’ll go with…the mark of the one who should join my side, instead.”

The woman remains silent.

“I’ll take that as an ‘I’ll think about it, handsome’?”

“Where did the handsome part come from?” Bo asks as he tilts his head the other way, still pondering as he was from earlier.

“Haha! Joker! Such a joker!” I respond, trying to protect my pride. “That power certainly suits you, Bo bo!”

“It’s just Bo.” Bo responds, tilting his head to the other side once again.

“If you wish to know Nora’s power…” Shinji begins.

“My lord!” Nora interrupts, evidently flustered.

“Then I would suggest asking her properly.” Shinji finishes calmly, glancing over towards Nora with a stern expression.

“...alright then,” I decide to bite, “What is your mark?”

Nora calms herself down, and sets her cane down in front of her.

“The mark of the devil.”

“...well, that certainly isn’t what I was expecting.”

“Are you finished?” Shinji asks calmly.

“One second, I’m still processing the whole mark of the devil thing…”

Nora holds out her cane, forcing Shinji to wave his hand up once more to halt her progress towards me.

“There’s only you left…Shinji…” I state, as I look back up towards him.

“First…I never gave you the grace to address me only by my first name…for that…”

Almost immediately, the light surrounding the area seems brighter, and my eyes begin to burn intensely. In the next instance, my throat begins to burn in the same manner, causing me to attempt to cough it out, but only have heaps of pain follow through every try. I look down as I cough out towards my hand, only to see my own blood resting on top of my palm.

“苦しむ (Kurushimu)”

I slowly look upwards towards the man before me, understanding more and more of why Christoph wished for me to avoid him entirely. The confidence I had just boasted towards the group of four immediately flushes out from my system, and I start to feel my hands shaking. Not in fear, but perhaps in shock and lack of understanding.

…right?

“Second…” Nakai Shinji continues, “Don’t concern yourself with such a matter. I have no mark, unlike the three behind me.”

My eyes open wide, appalled by his words. And even more so, considering the events that just occurred with the strange mixing of light and darkness, his lack of power isn’t something I am able to comprehend.

“You…expect me to believe that?” I reply, staring fervently towards Shinji.

“What is there to doubt?” Nakai Shinji smiles as he bends down to level our vision to the same height, “There are only six marks in this place. The mark of the king, the mark of the witch, the mark of the joker, the mark of the lover, the mark of the beast, and the mark of the devil. No other marks exist beyond those six.”

“...no other marks…exist?…”

Nakai Shinji’s smile turns into a sharp grin, “...precisely.”

“...then…who are you?”

Nakai Shinji remains still for a brief moment, before reaching out his hand and placing it softly across my left cheek, in the same instance that I had done to Chen. He softly strokes it upwards until reaching my bloodied left side where my left ear had previously been, before cupping his hand on top of the area. All of a sudden, I feel movement occurring against my left ear’s side, quickly realizing that he has healed my ear completely.

However, at the expense of my left ear being returned, a feeling of internal bleeding pours out from my brain and leaks through my eyes, and my body begins to distort into an uncomfortable state. Even in my seated position, my legs, neck, arms, back, and all sorts of locations around my body twist around and around, perhaps forcing me to look like the mish mash of a puppet when its master places it down from its strings.

What the…

Unable to move my hands to stop the process from happening, I am forced to look up and see the small bird holding the mark Signum Bestia and the small egg holding the mark Signum Malefica now being held within Nakai Shinji’s hands, and eventually tossed over towards his companions who respectively swallow up the power for themselves.

“I am who I’ve always been…”

Nakai Shinji lets go of my ear and stands up, towering over me once more with his higher than average height. The light surrounding the area grows ever more, to the point that my vision of the group of four becomes too bright to see.

“I am…your god.”