The kin of gods

The staff door at the back of the park area was the only entrance other than the main one, and the only way Akihiko’s group had to enter. A steel double door surrounded by surveillance cameras should not be a problem for the mage and his students.

The door opened as soon as he put his hand on it.

“This might just be too easy with sensei’s magic.” Said Shouta.

The teacher, however, was not as relieved. “I didn’t open the door; it opened on its own.”

An invitation could not have been blunter; they might as well have written a letter and sent their regards.

Dark, mechanic, noisy, the hall looked like one would expect the maintenance room of a park to look like. There was no sign of the Guards’ presence. “Split up, look for a staircase.”

“But the building didn’t look that tall from outside, you mean a basement?” Inori questioned.

He gave it some thought then answered, “yes.”

Door by door, the three looked for anything which could lead downwards. Their efforts were not very fruitful, but the more they looked the more disturbed they got by the area. Many of the doors opened into regular messy offices with papers scattered on the desks, others led to completely empty rooms with a variety of sizes, from as small as a wardrobe to big enough for a weird feeling to start sinking in. For whatever reason, this architectural inconsistency fired no serious alarm of eminent danger for any of the three.

Inori opened the last door which, it was another narrow wardrobe-sized one, she looked with a sad face at her teacher, trying her best to stop her tears. “I-I’m sorry… I couldn’t find a staircase.”

The sight of her sent fear through the teacher’s body, he cursed himself the moment he realised how much he was letting his guard down: the way he suspected nothing when the so called “fortress” was empty, the way he allowed his students to enter eyes-open…

Inori could supress her tears no more. Shouta, on the other hand, was lying on the ground, conscious, but terribly in pain. Knowing how annoying they could get in combat, Akihiko used a spell to tie his students down after they went unconscious. There were eight doors in the room, the teacher and his students sat in the centre. From there, the doors could not look more sinister. Something was coming, the door would open any moment and something unpleasant would come out to make an already bad situation much worse.

The door opened with a slow creaking, then halfway through, slammed open in one fast motion. As expected, the one behind it was wearing a black robe. First a short old man emerged, then two younger men, the former in his seventies—at least—and the others, while it was hard to tell for sure, seemed in their forties.

“Hayato, long time no see,” said the old man before looking at Shouta, “Is that the boy?”

Akihiko nodded.

He spoke to the two men to his back, “Take them.” Then to Akihiko, “You follow me.”

The six went through three different doors. Behind the door was no longer an oddly shaped room, but a long hall leading to a staircase—much like the shrine of the village. These however, seemed to stretch beyond the eye can see, offering a conversation-friendly atmosphere as the old man lead Akihiko downwards.

“Takemura…”

“Hayato, you know I cannot let you out of here alive, much less break the seal.”

“I do.”

“Kuba said that I have a thing for you, that I can’t do it. I’ll let you know that he is right only about the first part.”

A blade punctured the man’s skin from behind.

“You’re mistaken, Takemura. I’m not here to break the seal and leave unnoticed—because I won’t leave until the last of you is dead.”

Akihiko twisted the blade, widening the wound, “I didn’t target your vital organs, old man. These stairs, it’s your spell, isn’t it? End it before I end your life.”

Takemura screamed, “Is this what you are now?” Akihiko then pushed his knife deeper.

“Don’t play games, old man, I have enough power to bury all of you sickos here.”

“Why do you this? Why break the seal?”

“Fine, I can nullify your pathetic spell on my own anyway. Thank you for everything, Takemura.”

I met Shouta six years ago. The Guards were preparing a ritual they perform on the head of every century; they sacrifice the life of three children to keep the seal functioning. The ritual itself wasn’t necessary, they just never dared to test the limit of the seal

Three children would get kidnapped, their families murdered, and life sucked out of them for the sake of the seal’s longevity, for the greater good of all humanity. There was no way I’d let that pass. I contacted everyone I could to try and find the children before the ritual was complete, I went to heights I’d never realised I could go to. While I did not know the reason at the time, looking back on it, it’s obvious—I was guilty, knew I had a hand in all of that.

Standing before the Guards’ hideout where the ritual was taking place, I was scared of myself. I looked back at the memory of murdering everyone in my village. Perhaps that moment of hesitation was all the time the world needed to cast ruin on me… no, to say that is to pretend I am not to blame.

Long story short, I couldn’t bring myself to fight, I couldn’t make it on time, and two of the three children were killed. I then lost control and ended up killing everyone—the ritual, however, had already started, and the seal established a link with the boy, killing him slowly.

Shouta is dying because of my weakness. Be it seals, Guards or even gods, I’ll save him no matter who stands in my way.