An Account of Ancient Matters

Kanji panted as he limped through the narrow backstreet alley, empty besides blinking lights and broken stalls. He was mentally back in the school halls again, himself and not himself. Nothing changed despite all his efforts.

She tricked me.

Kanji’s stomach squeezed in pain. He wiped his tears with his sleeve.

I’ve caused so much suffering again, so much…

The more I tried to save Japan, the more I destroyed it. I am not fit to make any decisions about anything after all.

Maybe they really are just growing pains? If Apathy really wants progress, maybe everything will get better? We just need to… kill more…

Kanji’s stomach turned.

There’s no way… This is already horrible, how could it possibly get any better?

A young man in chef’s clothes stood in the street.

“Excuse me sir, would you like to try some sushi?” The chef said to Kanji in a shaking voice.

He hasn’t eaten anything in two days. His vision turned blurry a couple of hours back. But there wasn’t any time to waste.

“I’m sorry…” Kanji said.

“Are you okay, sir? You look like you need some rest.”

He’s not wrong. I’ll collapse if I keep going like this.

“I… I’ll eat a bit.” He said.

A nervous smile appeared on the chef’s face. “Right this way!”

The bell rang as they went through the door. The restaurant was empty apart from them. The chef handed Kanji a menu.

There’s no way I can find her, and even if I do, I can’t defeat her… I don’t want to kill Yuki.

“If you’re not sure what to order, don’t worry about it. I’ll serve you something simple.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Kanji said.

The chef started preparing the fish and rice diligently, a serious look on his face.

Kanji forced himself to make small talk, not wanting to seem too strange. “New store?” He said.

“No. It used to belong to my great grandfather, then to my father. When he died, he passed on to me.”

“Oh…”

The chef brought the Maguro topped Nigiri to Kanji on a plate.

Kanji grabbed a pair of chopsticks and lifted the fish. The flavorful Maguro felt like rain on his tongue as he bit on it, combined with the rice’s groundiness.

“It’s delicious…”

The chef bowed and smiled in thanks.

When has life become so complicated?

“How do you keep running the shop like this, with everything that’s happening?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” The chef’s face looked surprised.

“Aren’t you scared of being robbed?”

“It’s not that I’m not scared, I guess…” The chef presented another plate of Hosomaki, “I just have to. I owe it to my father’s legacy. And besides, cooking is really fun.”

Kanji took a bite from the sushi. And then another, every bite better than the last.

Kanji started crying.

“Is…Is everything okay?” The chef said with a worried expression.

“Yes… it’s just good…” Kanji said.

After a while, Kanji finished eating, paid, bowed deeply and left.

It’s horrible that the situation came to this, but… It's still my responsibility to fix it. The fact I’ve failed so many times does not mean I don’t have the responsibility to try again.

There’s only one place left to go…

*****

Kanji walked through the red water plains.

The plan was simple. Get to the helix tower, and learn as much as possible about this place and the legend. And if he found Sollenberg again… he would find out everything he knows, one way or another.

The tower got closer and closer, until he encountered a familiar face.

A samurai sat down on his knees in the middle of the red ocean.

“Honor?” Kanji blurted. What am I doing? He immediately froze.

The samurai turned his head slowly, and answered with a calm voice. “It is I.” he said, turning his head. “Hammer bearer?”

“It is… I.” Kanji said.

“I do not wish to speak to you. Leave.”

He came back to life like Sollenberg?

“I… I’m sorry for helping Apathy.”

“You’re sorry? Have you any idea what you’ve done?” Honor spoke with the same nonchalance as he moved to his feet.

“I… I know now. I know it was a mistake.”

“A mistake it was, but an inevitable one. You have no choice but to carry the guilt to your grave.”

“I… I don’t want the world to end. I don’t want Apathy to win!”

“End? What exactly do you think Apathy is, boy? Eh, I will not lecture you.”

“Please, if you know anything, please tell me!”

“You think I, Honor, will hand this to my killer, out of my free and good will? Nonsense.”

“Then…”

I have to convince him to help me.

“Then… A duel. I challenge you to a duel!”

“A Duel?” Honor scoffed. “Seriously?”

“Yes! If I win, you will help me. If you win… I will do anything you want!”

“I only duel to the death, child.”

T-to the death?

“Unfortunately, death here is a confusing concept. If I die, I will be gone for around a day of continuous torture. However, if you die… you’ll be gone forever. A reaped spirit.”

Kanji gulped. There was no other choice.

“I accept,” he said.

“Very well,” Honor said.

Honor extended his arm, and a suitcase appeared in his grasp.

He laid it on the floor. Click. It opened, and in it were two old flintlock pistols.

“We walk back fifteen steps. Then we shoot, and reload. Until someone drops. If I drop first, in a day I will tell you everything.”

“Three rounds!” Kanji said.

“What?”

“No more than three rounds. If we shoot three times, the duel is over.”

Honor scoffed. “Fine. I accept. Let us begin.”

Kanji and Honor took the pistols from the suitcase. Honor laid three pellets into Kanji’s palm.

“I will conduct the duel, as I am the most honorable. Ready?” Honor said.

Kanji nodded as he turned. He felt the cold steel of Honor’s armor against his back.

“Step!” Honor said.

Step. Step. Step. Kanji took one step after another, until the fifteenth one came.

“And, turn!”

Kanji turned with his pistol.

He fired. The bullet flew above Honor. Sand splashed off a dune far behind him.

Honor’s bullet penetrated Kanji’s palm. His hand burned intensely. A hole remained in it, unrepaired.

“Way too high.” Honor said.

Kanji’s hand trembled as he pulled the iron stick from the bottom of the gun, shoved the pellet into the barell, and clicked the lock backwards. I hope I did that right…

“Ready? Fire!”

Kanji extended his arm to the right, way off target, and fired.

“What… What do you think you’re doing? Do you think this is a joke? What next, are you going to play roulette?”

I will not kill an innocent. Not again.

Kanji lowered his pistol. “Shoot.”

“Tsk.” Honor said. Gunshot. The shot went way above Kanji.

“I will give you another chance. For once, for once aim it properly!” Honor said, anger rising in his voice.

Kanji reloaded his pistol again.

Not even like this.

“Ready? Fire!”

Kanji turned around and fired the gun behind him, into a rocky mountain.

“You…” Honor held out his hand, shaking in anger. “You refuse to duel. It’s disgusting. It’s the epitome of dishonor.”

Gunshot.

Honor fired the gun in the air.

“But killing someone who doesn’t fight back,” he said quietly, “is beyond dishonor.”

He threw the gun and sat back on the ground.

“Fine. I concede.” He whispered. “I will tell you the myth of Izanagi. And then you’ll get out of my sight.”

*****

In the beginning, there was a God and a Goddess.

Izanagi and Izanami.

They were told to create the world.

But how does one create?

They tried everything. But they could not figure it out.

Then, Izanami had an idea.

They would need to copulate.

But Izanagi rejected it.

He viewed the idea as grotesque and shameful. And he sent Izanami away.

Izanami, deeply hurt, decided she does not want him either.

Decades passed. Izanagi became lonely. His loneliness got even stronger than his shame.

So he rejected it too.

Every painful thing that came, he rejected.

Eventually, the rejected parts of him became so massive…

They themselves created a new world.

The red world.

A world of pure sorcery, in which monsters and magic emerged.

But then, by sheer miracle, a clone of Izanagi was born.

A red Izanagi. Akanagi.

He woke up in the rocky barren planes, and saw nothing but roaming monsters. And a stairwell, heading through the clouds.

So he took the stairwell, up to the blue world.

He found Izanami there, who was angry and resentful. But he finally managed to win her heart again, and took her back to the Red World, where they birthed healthy children, healthy gods.

When Izanagi heard about Akanagi, he immediately demanded a halberd from the gods, without telling them its purpose, and went to chase after him.

He murdered every child he could find. He destroyed the stairwell.

The spirits, disgusted, handed a weapon to Akanagi to retaliate. The hammer.

They fought for 27 days and 27 nights.

And on the final strike, they hit each other.

Akanagi, furious, demanded Izanagi be turned into nothing.

And Izanagi demanded Red be turned into a separator. So that the red world will never see the real one again.

And so, Akanagi turned into the Double Helix, the separator of the two worlds.

And Izanagi turned into the Red Ocean. As the blood of a God is infinite.

Izanami, torn by tragedy, modified the hammer so that it becomes the gate between the two worlds.

Many gods went to the blue world, but some demanded to stay, fearing the blue world.

Not wanting to leave even a single child behind, Izanami stayed.

She stayed, she fought, she cried, she tried everything.

Years passed, more and more monsters appeared in the red world, thanks to the rise of man. Amongst them were The Idols. If enough men believed in an Idol, it transcended into the blue world. And if they rejected it, it did not disappear, but simply descended back to the red world.

Men disgusted Izanami. They were outsiders, invaders. How could they keep making the same mistake she had been trying to undo for so many years?

Frustrated, Izanami used the hammer on herself for the final time.

She separated herself into two. A gift for the red world, and a curse for the blue world.

For the red world, she became Ouroboros, a flying snake creature, an inspiration for strength and healing, constantly hunting down the dangerous monsters.

For the blue world, she became Apathy. An Idol to destroy all others, and destroy man.

*****

“Then…” Kanji’s voice shook, “How do I stop her?”

“It’s simple. You can’t.”