Waystation Part II

Inside the waystation, Takada and Zashi looked for survivors. It was dark inside, the lights were off. Not a single lamp was lit. The air was stale and the pair treaded carefully for fear of the unknown.

Takada knelt down saying, “What a mess…” as he inspected the floor running his hand across the wooden boards. There were claw marks everywhere, and there was blood soaked into the floor.

A psycho was definitely here alright The question is, where are they?

Despite all of their training in the art of stealth, it did them little good against creaky floor boards as they walked around. Luckily for them, the moon’s light was especially radiant that evening—and the door was open—so they weren’t in total darkness. Takada continued to stare at the floor, making his own conjectures about what could’ve taken place there, while Zashi wandered off close to the edge of the moonlight’s reach.

“Look at this,” Zashi called him over. He carefully made his way towards her, half expecting an ambush. It was only natural given everything they’d seen so far. But what he writhing at his feet when he took his place next to her made his stomach squeeze uncomfortably.

“This guy is definitely turning. We should put him out of his misery now.”

Whatever did this must have a ton of dark mana…

“To turn him this fast—I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

Zashi made the man’s death quick—hopefully painless, and they moved on.

Time to search the rest of this house.

The waystation wasn’t a mansion by any means, but more of a small house. Just large enough for travelers to rest up for a night—maybe a few—before continuing on their journey.

Those keepers… Justice was deserved, but this was too cruel, even for them.

“So we found the husband, but what about the kids?” he asked.

Zashi twirled her hair and started staring at something. Her eyes suddenly got huge.

“What’s wrong?”

She lifted her finger and pointed. He followed her gaze and saw it.

Oh my god…

His stomach tightened even more, and he felt liquid rising through his throat.

I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen way worse! But still…

His lips tightened tighter as Takada looked away. He had to look away. His sanity depended on it. His heart rate slowed, and he could feel every beat. He was almost certain he could hear it too. There was a psycho hunched over a body. It was chewing, gnawing on something.

I know what it’s eating… But I don’t want to believe it. I refuse to accept it!

The sounds of snapping, tearing, wet, sloppy munching faintly echoed off the walls. He questioned how he hadn’t heard anything before, but he knew there would be time to ask questions later. For all he knew, it could’ve wandered from deeper inside and stopped for an evening snack. What was important was exorcising the foe before them. But just as he was about to prepare his spell…

“Manifest Psyche: Temporal Dominion!”

… A familiar voice echoed off the walls as the lamps suddenly flicked on, coming to life and the door audibly closed shut. The psycho stopped eating immediately. Its head swiveled until it saw its targets. The true scale of the room was now revealed. It was very large, open, and currently bare.

“Who said that?! Show yourself!!” 

Shit! This is bad!

Takada curled his hand into a tight fist and looked all around for the source of the incantation. We probably don’t have much time!

“Zashi! The door!”

“On it!” she replied. The kunoichi sprinted to the sliding door, barely making a sound. With an audible “shiing”, Takada drew his katana, and the psycho started to get up. Not one to rush in without a plan, he steadied his blade.

Something tells me we won’t be escaping any time soon.

“This isn’t the work of some low level apparition—A demon is probably behind this!”

His teeth clenched at the idea of leaving the princess alone with Kairo. It would be even worse if the person responsible was out there with them. Kairo wouldn’t stand a chance against a demon.

“Brother! The door is locked!”

“Damn!” he spat.

Think! What do I do in this situation?

He tightened his grip on his sword and the psycho began running towards him. “Quick! Bust the door down!”

“You really think I didn’t try that first?!” she shouted back.

Yeah, I figured…

The monster was closing in on him. He took a stance, prepared to deal a quick decisive blow.

Shrieeeeek!

Slash!!

One quick strike, and its head rolled across the floor. Its blood spilled out, pooling around it’s body. The liquid was dark blue with swirls of purple mixed in.

Damn! We were set up from the beginning!

“Zashi! This one’s blood is blue! That means someone attacked this family!” Takada ground his teeth. He was grinding so hard, even he feared they would shatter, but he was too angry to care “We’ve been set up! There is only one person who has the power to summon psychos…”

The corpse disintegrated and the shinobi watched intently. His eyes focused deeply on the blue blood and his rushed back to his side, inspecting the blood for herself.

What am I missing here?

The last ashes rose up, fading into nothing.

Creeaak!

He snapped his head around to look.

Where?

“Where is that sound coming from?!”

His eyes darted around, searching for the source of the noise.

This is bad…Whoever trapped us in this dominion probably is outside!

Whump!

An open sliding door appeared on one of the walls—and it closed just as quickly.

“What the—”

Whump!

Whump!

Whump!

One door after another appeared, creating an overwhelming cacophony of sound. Seemingly by random selection, one by one, the doors slid open, with a psycho emerging from each one. Suddenly, a sea of black and red eyes were on him.

This is so bad. I’ve got to get out here. I’ve got to get her out of here!

“The front door! It’s open!”

His sister began sprinting back towards the entrance, clearly eager to exit their prison. Takada glanced in the direction of the door, careful not to take his attention off the growing horde of psychos before him. Then he saw something entering.

“STOP!!”

Shrieeek!

A psycho stepped in from the door leading outside, and behind it, there seemed to be no light from outside—merely a black abyss.

So the entrance is gone…

“Crap!”

Zashi jumped back briefly, then shot straight towards the psycho. With two quick slashes, the beast fell, bleeding out from its neck. It flailed on the ground, twitching helplessly before it disintegrated. She put her back up against his.

I don’t know why I treat her like she’s helpless…

“You ready for this?”

She smiled.

“Damn right I am! Let’s send these bastards back to whatever dark pit they came from!”

Shriiiiiiiiieeeeeek!!!

All of the psychos began charging on all fours towards the pair. The first one closed the distance.

Slash!!

One psycho fell. Then another afterwards.

Slash!!

Spurt!!

One head went flying. An arm hit the floor with a thud. The hunters’s ragged breathing mixed with the low growls of the monsters, created an eerie, gentle hum.

How much longer can I keep this up? I doubt she can last this long with those weapons.

Slash!!

Bam!!

Takada’s fist slammed into one’s head. It fell, and three more clambered over its body. He kept slashing, cutting down one psycho after another.

Crunch!!

He cut into another as his foot shattered one’s skull. There was a soft squish as he lifted his foot. Dark, sticky liquid dripped from his white sole.

Gross… We really need to wrap this up!

“I don’t think I can keep this up all night!”

Skreeeeech!!

A slightly larger psycho galloped through the flood of undead towards them. Its teeth were noticeably sharper, white hair longer than the rest. Its muscles were more defined.

“Damn!”

I may need to use a spell for this one…

Takada pulled his scarf up to his nose. He whispered, “Manifest Pathos” and his eyes began to glow. Their dull blue hue illuminated into a bright radiant blue. He held up his scarf with one hand, drawing back his blade with the other.

Recall the smile of your beautiful wife! She’s waiting at home for you—for your safe return!

He drew in a deep breath, taking in the scent of perfume in his scarf.

Just focus on her beautiful smile!

The larger psycho leapt, its claws poised perfectly to tear his face apart. His katana began to glow blue as well.

Wait for it…

It was even closer. If he moved now, there would be time to dodge the attack.

Not yet…

“Now!!”

His arm shot forward, arcing straight for the nearest arm.

Sssshk!!

Blue blood sprayed everywhere from the open wound. The monster howled in pain, and continued forward due to its momentum.

“Now I’ve got you!!” he shouted. His hand quickly snapped to the opposite direction, sending the blade whistling towards the psycho’s neck.

“Cryos Fang!!”

The tip of the sword pierced the skin on its target—and suddenly the creature’s neck stiffened. Within that split second, it tried turning its head, but couldn’t. The dull grey flesh around its jugular began turning purple, then freezing completely. Without so much as breath, the head fell silently, hitting the ground with a thud.

Okay. I already used it once…

“But I can’t afford to keep doing this!”

Suddenly, another wave of undead poured out, charging straight at the siblings. Takada dodged another swipe, and another. More psychos kept appearing out of random rooms.

I can’t let my guard down!

“Zashi! Watch out!” he shouted. Another psycho appeared behind her. With several cuts—seemingly shallow—her attacker’s chest burst open, spilling blood and guts everywhere. But yet another closed in on Takada as he focused on his sister.

“You need to look out too! Behind you!” she yelled.

Shiing!!

The creature’s head fell to the floor and turned to ash.

Whew. That was too close.

“Geez! There’s no end to these things!” she said. “Let’s finish dealing with these freaks and get back to the princess already!”

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

If you have any thoughts, theories, or feedback, I'd love to hear them in the comments!