Depths

I tied both the bandits together with some rope I found on them. I wasn’t sure if it would hold, but seeing that they were caught in the morning, it seems it did.

While I was returning home, I noticed someone following me, so I took a sharp turn in an alley, and reluctantly hid beside a garbage heap.

I didn’t have to wait long.

“Well curse my luck, I wanted to at least speak with him a bit longer.”

It was the girl from the mugging that I saved, and she was looking for me. Now that I think about it, I did just leave without a word, which I guess was kind of rude.

It was very obvious I knew nothing of vigilantism.

So I revealed myself to her.

“Red Mask!” She screeched.

“Me?” I pointed at myself bewildered.

“Well you need a name if you’re gonna be a crime fighter, do you live under a rock or what?”

“Uh…”

She sighed, and I laughed nervously.

“Also…”

“Hmm?”

“You STINK.”

“No I don- oh damn I smell horrendous actually.”

“Yeah go wash up.”

“I was on my way home until you showed up so TECHNICALLY, I only smell because of you.”

We laughed, and then parted ways, or at least so I thought.

-

As soon as I arrived home, Grandma greeted me.

“Welcome home my grandson! I trust you’ve gotten what I’ve asked you for? Also you stink, go take a bath before you come into the house.”

So I gave her the goods I bought at the market, and took a bath.

I was drying my hair out as I stepped through the front door, when I saw the girl from the alleyway.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“I followed you.”

“WHY?”

“Because you intrigue me. You’re like a big lumbering oaf.”

Both her and my grandmother let out a hearty laugh.

“Well my grandson, you’ve brought home a guest no? So it’s only right that I treat her as such.”

“But she STALKED ME TO MY HOME?”

“I’ll hear no more of it.”

She told grandmother of our encounters, but left out the fact that I had saved her from being robbed.

After we ate, I showed her to the door.

“You know, Vigilante’s often have sidekicks.”

“So what are you getting at?”

“You aren’t the brightest are you.”

“J-just answer the question!”

“Well, Mr. Red Mask, what I’m getting at is that I’d love to be your sidekick. You seem like a natural talent, and have an eye for justice. That makes us both alike, well, I can’t really fight but I do have an eye for justice.”

“But if you can’t fight then what use do I have for a stalker?”

“Sheesh, drop it with the stalker stuff already. I can learn to fight, you know! I’m not daft.”

“And who do you plan on learning to fight from? Miss I-can-learn-to-fight.”

“From your darling Grandmother.”

“GRANDMA??”

“Oh dear, don’t be like that. How could you scold me, a fragile old lady? Besides, I've taken a liking to her!”

I began to see the kind of person Grandma really was then.

We bid her farewell after that, and I came to learn of her as Mara.

-

Grandma came to wake me up early in the morning. And by ‘wake up’ I mean she hit me with the hilt of my sword.

"Why'd you do that for?!”

“I have something to teach you, before Mara arrives.”

So I stumbled out of bed, and into the backyard, with the cool midnight breeze blowing my blonde hair about.

What I witnessed, I could not truly describe at the time. The entire blade of her sword was enveloped in a bright, radiant, but subtle yellow glow. I didn’t know what it was, but something inside me felt like it had long awakened as I witnessed this phenomenon for the first time.

It seemed as though the very air around her was reconstructing itself to fit her yellow glow. An after-image of herself appeared every time she swung, each one seeming to last longer than the lost.

I felt like she was telling a story with her sword. One of pain, suffering, torment, one that showcased her life, her hurt, all her experiences. It seemed as though I was witnessing the story of her life.

As she swung the sword around, it was as though I was watching a painter create a masterpiece. My Grandmother had her eyes closed as she swung it around, was this what she meant by making the sword an extension of yourself?

She finally spoke.

“This is Karma”

“This is how you make your sword an extension of yourself. Once you develop the ability to wield Karma, you channel it through the sword, just as I have. That is how you gain the upper hand in a battle for your life. Your Karma is limited, so use it strategically. Judge how strong your opponent is, and know when and when not to use Karma.”

“Regardless of sword, spear, dagger or fist, Karma remains the same. The brighter your weapon aura gets, indicates how proficient the user is in their specific path of Karma. The most common types are Yellow, such as mine, which indicate the path of the good, and the Red, which indicate the path of the demon. No matter how naturally talented one is, it takes years to even manifest Karma. So don’t be dismayed if you don’t get it anytime soon.”

“What do you mean most common?”

“Well, these are the ones you come across the most. However, there are masters out there, masters that neither of us can fathom, who, with their complete mastery of their Karma, are able to make their Karma clear. Irrespective of their walk.”

“Do any of these masters currently exist, teacher?”

“While they are scarce, there are only two known masters. The King himself, and the eldest son of the House Bujia. But I have a hunch there might be more, most of this world is unknown to common folk like you and I.”

“Well, you don’t seem so common to me, teacher.”

She let out a hearty laugh.

“Karma is your life force. It is unique to you, it is what makes you you. Never give that away, ever. When you do eventually materialize your Karma, do so with a calm and clear mind. And never forget your enlightenment.”

She looked at me, but it seemed to me again that sadness was creeping onto her face yet again.

“Well this is where we end. There is no set way to bring out your Karma, it is something that you, and only you can discover. Goodluck!”

And with that, she left me alone in the backyard.

-

I had been training so much that I had lost track of time, for Mara came knocking at the door. She came quite prepared, although her choice of sword quite baffled me.

Machete’s didn’t seem so lady like to me, yet alone duel-wielding machetes, but to each their own.

Unlike my grandmother, there was something brash and unrefined about Mara, so I suppose the machete suited her quite well.

Grandmother went through the fundamentals with her, as she did with me, until a knock came at the front door.

“Job, monitor Mara and help her where necessary, I’ll be right with you.”

It was the Commander in chief of the Protection Corp. He looked quite sharp in his navy blue uniform.

I didn’t quite hear the conversation between the Commander and my grandmother, but they spoke as though they were good friends.

This drove me to wonder, even further, what kind of live my Grandmother led when she was younger, and it seemed that Mara was wondering the same thing.

“Mara! Stop slacking off!” I felt like a hypocrite saying that, considering I shared her curiosity, but training came first.

“Oh! Sorry about that!” She replied.

-

So we trained until nightfall, then went up to my room.

“Alright Red Mask! What’s it gonna be tonight?”

“I never really said I’d continue this sort of thing you know…’

“Nonsense, we will keep doing this, it’s who we are now. Don’t you love saving people?”

Without noticing it, my mind slipped back to my parents. I was reminded of how I couldn’t protect them, but I didn’t realize how much I’ve grown as a person between then and now.

“Just hold out a bit longer sister, I’m coming.” I thought to myself.

Apparently I spaced out.

“EY! Back to reality will ya?”

“Oh… yeah, sorry.”

“Ehem,” she cleared her throat. “As I was saying, I’ve decided on bringing a yellow scarf from home, so I shall be known as yellow mask!”

“You suck at names…” I said under my breath

“What was that!” She eyed me as though I killed her dog.

“N-n-nothing!” I said sheepishly.

I don’t know where it came from, but her glare made me feel like I was being crushed under the weight of a thousand swords.

Is this what the wrath of a woman feels like?

And so it began, that we went out and patrolled the streets, jumping from roof to rooftop as though we were circus animals, or as Mara liked to put it, ‘Master Parkour Artists’.

To me we just felt like thieves, and a good number of people thought so too until they saw us fighting crime…

Well mostly petty crimes, you know, encounters with the local riff raff, petty theft, that kind of thing.

So that’s how the days went by, we trained at day and fought “crime” at night.

-

One night, while we were patrolling the streets looking for anything out of the ordinary, we spotted a man duck sharply into an alleyway right in front of us.

We jumped down from the roof into the alleyway, and followed the man from a distance.

“What do you think he’s up to?” Mara asked.

“No clue.” I replied.

So it came to be that he arrived at a dead end, and we both thought him to be mad in the head. But he turned, looked around, thankfully he did not see us, and jumped into a trashbin.

We were both bewildered, but after some time, we walked up to the trashbin and jumped inside.

It revealed to us a secret stairway to what seemed like an underground space.

We followed the man from a distance, and we saw him turn into a corridor.

We heard what sounded like muffled screams…

We walked along the walls, down the unlit corridor.

The screams got louder

And louder

And louder

Until we came into an equally dark room, then the screaming stopped.

We felt around, and then Mara let out a shriek. She had bumped into what seemed to be a metal cage.

“Ow goddamnit, that hurt.”

“Wait, be quiet one sec.”

I heard what sounded like faint sobbing.

“Mara, do you have something we can use as a light?”

“I should have something, give me a few.”

She rummaged through her bag, and came back with a torch that we promptly lit.

What we saw turned out to be more horrifying than we could have even initially anticipated.

“By the Gods!” Mara almost screamed.

“These lowlife scum! How dare they?!”

In one cage there was a mother clutching her newborn with blood streaming down her face, she looked malnourished, and did not raise her eyes to meet ours.

Another cage had a child, I couldn’t tell whether it was a boy or a girl, but they looked lifeless.

The last cage had a man, who looked no older than me and Mara, he was dressed in those clothes rich folk usually wear, but his stature was not one befitting a rich person. His eyes were swollen, and he was bound.

They were all bound.

I grit my teeth, and I was filled with rage.

“Wait a second, Is that not the deputy mayor?” Mara asked, straining her eyes to see.

“It looks like him! What business does he have engaging with this rabble?!” I said surprised.

There were men, women, and children of all makes, and walks of lives being auctioned off to the highest bidders.

“Its about time we make ourselves known to the public.” Mara said.

“And this place too.” I continued.

It is important to state that I had never killed anyone in my life, and I wanted to abstain from doing so as much as possible.

We unsheathed our swords, and knocked out the guards up front.

“Why don’t we put on their uniforms, as disguises?” Mara asked.

“I would never desecrate myself by putting on such a thing, and also, we need to send a message.”

“Aye aye, Mr Red Mask boss sir.”

We cast our doubts aside and leapt into the fray.

Chaos followed as soon thereafter, as we began securing the exits, it became apparent to us that we could not subdue anyone, any longer. Our lack of skill did not permit it.

We resolved our minds, and killed for the first time.

Compared to the guards, our footwork and sword play was better by every metric. In clean succession, we decapitated both guards at the other entrance, and began working our way through those who drew their swords at us.

I counted as we killed.

One.

Five.

Nine.

Eleven.

Fifteen.

There were so many of them in the gallery, but we had slaughtered them all. However it wasn’t that we wanted to kill them all. We simply wished to subdue and turn them in to the authorities, but it seems that was not possible.

We worked our way down to the theater, where people were being bid on as if they were property.

This made my blood boil.

I jumped onto the stage, decapitated the man and said this.

“Life is the most precious thing we have been given by the Gods, and you dare disregard the lives of those less fortunate than yourselves?! Tonight, you shall learn and feel the pain you have caused upon these people.”

Mara, thinking quickly, took some cord from atop the stage that was used to hold props in place, and threw it to me.

We knew exactly what to do.

As I rounded up everyone in the theater, she freed those who were held captive.

It was all going well until the deputy mayor stepped up, with his sword in hand.

He seemed powerful, very powerful.

“WHO ARE YOU TO CAUSE SUCH A GREAT DISRUPTION?”

“WHO AM I YOU ASK? I AM HERE TO BRING YOU TO JUSTICE!”

“JUSTICE? BOY I AM JUSTICE HIMSELF.”

“YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A HYPOCRITE. A WORTHLESS LOW LIFE WHO MASQUARADES AS A BASTION OF JUSTICE. YOU ARE A FRAUD.

“YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”

And with that he charged at me.

He was fast.

His sword skills were amazing.

He inflicted blow upon blow on me.

I tried to dodge, but he was too fast.

I tried to block, but his hits were too hard.

Only one thing came to my head.

If I can’t beat him, how will I be able to save my sister?

I MUST BE STRONG ENOUGH!

I don’t know what took me over but, I felt a sense of enlightenment, a power surge through me, as though I had this power from the moment I was born.

“You are all, but nothing at the same time.”

I felt as though I finally understood what it meant to be one with the sword.

I let out a roar that sent him hurdling back into the curtains.

“YOU DARE USE KARMA YOU BASTARD?!”

I could see that my claymore had a light yellow glow enveloping it.

I charged at him instantly, without a second thought.

“YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN USE KARMA!”

His sword glowed a faint red.

I was outraged.

“YOU DEMON” I screamed.

“YOU MUST DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO SURVIVE!” He shouted back.

He was still strong, but compared to Grandma, he was nothing.

If I couldn’t beat him, what hope would I have at getting to Grandma’s level?

So we fought.

Each clash made a loud BOOM.

The very foundations of the place shook, and rubble fell from the ceiling.

“THE THEATER’S GOING TO COLLAPSE” Mara screamed.

I had to end this now, the evidence needed to remain intact!

I searched for an opening in his defence, and I found one. He left his lower body unguarded.

I lunged at it with all my strength, and speed.

He realized too late.

I planted my claymore clean through the right side of his hip, and he let out a loud scream

“RAH! YOU LOWLIFE IMBECILE, I WILL NOT FALL BY SOMEONE WHO’S STILL WET BEHIND THE EARS!”

It seemed like he was about to draw more of his Karma out of him.

This was dangerous.

I didn’t think I could beat him, but then without realizing, my body hurled itself at him, disrupting his power accumulation.

And I stabbed him again

And again

And again

Until he could stand no more.

He was alive, just barely.

But I had done it. I couldn’t believe it.

This time, I, I was…

strong enough.