[The End of Osamu Ashikaga]: Denial

Osamu had accomplished what he set out to do. Years of careful planning, preparation, and manipulation had paid off splendidly. He managed to use Satori, Izanami, Taeko, and all of his enemies to his advantage. At long last, the first steps of his Herculean labor had come to an end. After all he had been through, Osamu decided he would enjoy some quiet time in the hotel’s bath house.

The front facing wall of the bath house featured artwork of a panoramic view of the Lena river from a sun-baked hillside. The sunlight sparkled across the sapphire, crystalline river as green blades of tall grass bowed to the wind. A clerestory on the left side of the bath house let in dazzling rays of green light radiating from the aurorae above Minavere.

Osamu stood naked before the steaming, rectangular bath before the front-facing wall. His entire body was marred by black bruises and small cuts where shrapnel had peppered his arms and torso. The right side of his stomach bore a wound the size of a tennis-ball, which he had sewn up himself.

He raised his foot and slowly dipped his toe into the steaming water. The perfect heat invited him to step into the bath with his other foot before sinking half his body into the bath. Yakutsk was a cold and harsh place, but the bath felt like he was sitting in a pile of laundry that had just fresh out the dryer The steam rose into his nostrils and opened his sinuses as he let out a relieved sigh and tied his hair into a messy top-bun.

To his surprise, the bath room doors flung open. The Shoku Twins stepped inside with modesty towels wrapped around their naked bodies and their raven hair unbound. They closed the door behind them and sauntered down the room towards Osamu.

“Did Carmilla tell you I was back?” Osamu asked.

“No.” Akatsuki answered. “We heard the chanting. They were all screaming Inari’s words.”

“Sis and I were hoping to take a look at your wounds while we were here.” Omagatoki said. “I’m sorry. We know we’re intruding…”

Osamu smiled and shook his head. “Come on in.”

Akatsuki and Omagatoki dropped their modesty towels by the side of the bath and joined Osamu in it steaming waters. Omagatoki traced her fingers down Osamu’s spine, examining every bruise, cut, and blood clot with a careful eye.

“Does it hurt when I press here?” Omagatoki asked as she pressed into Osamu’s ribs, getting a pined wince from him. “I’m sorry. I’ll start healing you up right away. I can clear up most of your injuries, but your ribs and other internal injuries will still need time to heal.”

“Thank you. For all of it.” Osamu said, closing his eyes.

Omagatoki clasped her hands and gently pressed them flat onto Osamu’s back. Her palms glowed with a soft, green glow, a healing light that slowly closed up his myriad of cuts and reduced the swelling of his bruises.

“I’ve done it…” Osamu murmured. “I’ve started the end of the world. I let out all the demons. As we speak, they’re crossing the ocean to kill everyone on the continent. Asia, Europe, Africa…then they’ll cross the Atlantic Ocean and destroy the Americas.”

“We know…” Akatsuki said, scrubbing Osamu’s bloody fingernails with a hot wash cloth.

“I killed Aika. Her son and her husband too.” Osamu said calmly.

Akatsuki and Omagatoki stopped for a moment and exchanged surprised glances. Osamu felt Omagatoki’s hands tremble against his back and Akatsuki’s fingers curl back away from his hands.

“It had to be done.” Osamu sighed.

“I’m sorry, Osamu.” Omagatoki cried, wiping her teary eyes with his arm.

“Please, don’t apologize.” Osamu said. “It was my decision and mine alone. I know in my heart I did the right thing.”

“The others won’t understand. They’ll never forgive you for any of this.” Akatsuki warned. “Even though you’re doing this in part for their sake…”

“Whether they’re with me or not, we keep going. We keep fighting.” Osamu declared, his eyes glowing with fierce determination. “There are people out there right now who are depending on this. They want to see their enemies wiped off the face of the earth. They want their children to know there’s more to this world than just Yakutsk. This is the happiest day of their lives, because they know war with humanity will no longer be an issue. Those chants out there…that’s what it sounds like when people are free from war.”

Omagatoki patted Osamu on the back to signal she was done healing him. Most of his blackened, swollen bruises and cuts healed and shrunk in size, though the scars from the wounds still remained on Osamu’s skin. His entire body was blighted by scar tissue and dark spots where his wounds once were.

“I’m afraid the celebration can only last for a moment.” Akatsuki said.

“Yeah.” Osamu agreed, nodding his head. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. Did you hear about the United Pacifist Party?”

“We did. We heard Johan’s speech as well.” Omagatoki said. “Sis and I want nothing more than to just go there and blow up the Scarlet Senate. We could be done with this whole thing in seconds.”

“Of course, we know we can’t just do that.” Akatsuki added.

“I’ve already asked to arrange a meeting with Johan.” Osamu said. “I have something in mind, but it’ll be a massive gamble. I just need you two to hold down the fort. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“No.” Akatsuki replied, glaring into Osamu’s eyes. “You need to rest. You’ve done more than enough, Osamu.”

Omagatoki put her hands on Osamu’s shoulders as she leaned forward into his back, rubbing her cheek against his. “Sis is right, Osa. You need to stay here and win the heart of Minavere. Or do you not trust us?”

“I trust you two with my life.” Osamu said, smiling.

“Thadda boy!” Omagatoki sang. “You and Hima should take care of all the internal affairs of Minavere for now. You guys need to focus on stopping Johan from creating a political divide in the country. Sis and I can help make sure the rest of the plan goes well.”

“You know…” Osamu began. “You two are the best co-conspirators anyone could ask for.”

For a brief hour, Osamu and the Shoku Twins enjoyed a quiet bath together, but as Akatsuki said, the celebrations would have to be brief. Once they were done, Osamu and the twins came out of their bath house in white, wool robes. The winding, long halls of the hotel were dimly lit by bright white sconces on the walls. There weren’t any distant conversations or footsteps to be heard. It seemed all the guests of the hotel were sound asleep.

Osamu draped a white towel over her sopping, wet hair and waved goodbye to the girls. “I doubt I’ll be able to sleep, but I’m off to bed. The meeting’s supposed to be tomorrow.”

“Please rest well, Osamu. Goodnight.” Akatsuki said.

“Goodnight, Big Brother Osa.” Omagatoki chimed.

Osamu walked down the hall and turned the corner to get to the elevators. All three of them knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, not after what he did that day. No matter how determined he was to wipe out the human race, Osamu was still a human once.

No human soul could rest after unleashing such an unparalleled amount of human suffering. Who could sleep after personally ensuring the deaths of 13 million people in Kyushu? How could he shut his eyes without seeing the faces of the men, women, and children he killed with his own powers, knowing the demons he unleashed were crossing the ocean to destroy the rest of the world?

“I hope he’ll be okay…” Omagatoki said.

“We’re in huge trouble, Sis.” Akastuki began. “Johan Sommers and the United Pacifist Party could ruin everything for us. We have to wipe them out, but we need to be smart about it.”

“I agree, but how do we go about doing that?” Omagatoki asked.

“My guess is it’ll probably take a few months for the world to be completely destroyed. The demons he unleashed have a lot of ground to cover, and mankind will certainly try to resist the inevitable.” Akatsuki explained. “It’ll probably take about half that time for them to reach Russia. That puts us in a bit of a bind.

“The closer the destruction gets to Russia, the more support Johan will get from those who are on the fence about the genocide. The scales might actually tip in his favor. It would be enough to radicalize them against Osamu and Hima, and Minavere will be torn apart by civil war. Fighting an army of vampires would be…less than ideal.”

“Prevent an uprising in Minavere and heal a political divide the size of the San Andreas fault in, what, a month and a half?” Omagatoki asked. “That’s a tall order, Sis…”

“I know, but we have no choice. We can’t let this fail. Osamu and Hima will be in terrible danger if Johan gets his way.”

“Did you have a plan in mind?”

Akatsuki nodded. “Somewhat. Let’s talk about this somewhere else.”

The twins turned in the opposite direction Osamu went, walking hand-in-hand into the dark halls of the hotel to formulate their next plan. Yakutsk seemed divided both politically and physically. The easterly end where Osamu and the Yakutsk Lords dwelled was filled with vampires celebrating the genocide of mankind. To them, the unparalleled atrocity paved the road towards liberation for their race and freedom from thousands of years of persecution.

The mood on the west end told a different story. It was like the Vampires, Russians, and Yakuts had all taken a vow of silence. No one said a word. Some people sat and hugged their knees on the carpeted steps of apartment building entrances, rocking themselves back and forth.

For the vampires, everything had happened so quickly. Suddenly, there was news that a descendant of Dracula and a demi-god would be taking the throne. Then there was news of Minavere and the militarization of Yakutsk. All of a sudden, their new king announced the beginning of mankind’s extermination.

The city itself forbade anyone from crying for humanity or for fear of their own lives. The freezing cold air of Yakutsk instantly turned tears into soft ice crystals, then the howling wind would scatter those crystals into the air.

The usual daily activities that every citizen of Yakutsk enjoyed just yesterday all came to an end. No one was out ice skating or snowboarding. No one was out exercising and taking ice baths. Not a single ice cream cone or could be found, nor any children throwing snowballs and making snowmen.

All the life and energy had been sucked out of the west end’s population. Those that hadn’t locked themselves in their homes tried to find hope within the walls of the Orthodox Church. The pews were so full that worshippers stood along the back walls and aisles of the church.

Hundreds of people gathered inside to bow their heads and prayed. The humans prayed to be spared Osamu’s wrath, while the vampires prayed to be forgiven for the unspeakable atrocity being carried out by their king.

Life was filled with tiny inconveniences that seemed so much bigger just a day before. Now that the world was coming to an end, it all seemed so meaningless. As a show of apologia to both humanity and God, the churches on the west end of Yakutsk all rang their bells nonstop so that none may sleep. The rest of humanity wasn’t going to sleep as it awaited its destruction with dread, so neither would Yakutsk, the city that empowered the man who carried out mankind’s genocide.

It was all a bleak picture to take in, but nonetheless, Johan Sommers soaked it all in from the street-facing window of his Scarlet Senate office. He had a front-row seat to the suffering and anguish of the west end. He turned away from his window and put his glass of scotch down on his wooden desk without having taken even a whiff of it first.

His attention came back to the room and the two senators sitting in the wooden chairs in front of him. Senator Balakin, a lean, tall man with a thin, brown beard and a crown of hair around the bald spot on top of his head. He pulled at the long hairs of his mustache as he sat cross-legged in his chair.

The other senator, Yana, sat at the edge of her seat with her arms laid flat on the armrests. Her dark, grey hair was tied into a bun and her eyes were stuck open as if she had seen Christ in the flesh.

“This is preposterous.” Balakin scoffed. “What do you hope to gain by accepting this meeting?”

“It might just be our only chance to make Osamu and Hima see reason.” Johan answered, throwing on his thick, sable fur coat as he took a seat at his desk. “If we can strike a deal with them…”

“What deal? What the hell are you talking about?” Balakin protested. “Do you not see what’s going on? They’ve already murdered thirteen million people and counting! People are being slaughtered in droves as we speak and the destruction is making its way to the continent! No madman willing to go that far will ever agree to compromise.”

“He’s right, Johan. This is a waste of time.” Yana added. “I think you should make the call.”

“You can’t be serious…” Johan said, leaning back in his chair. “Do you have any idea what will happen if I do that?”

“This needs to be dealt with quickly and decisively, Johan.” Balakin argued.

Johan glared at Balakin, then to Yana. He smirked as he leaned forward in his chair and spoke in a whispering voice. “Let me tell you something that I don’t think you understand. If I pick up the phone right now and make that call, I’ll have to tell them that Yakutsk has just declared itself a sovereign nation. I’ll have to tell them that the vampire population is militarizing, and that the Yakutsk Lords have selected a king and a queen to lead a government that is illegitimate in the eyes of international law.

“And if I tell them that Osamu Ashikaga, the man behind humanity’s ongoing slaughter is here in Yakutsk, what do you think they’ll do? Spend months they don’t have planning a covert operation to capture or kill him?

“Osamu just the put the entire world on the clock. That means that as soon as Russia knows he’s here, they will launch a joint, indiscriminate attack on Yakutsk. Everyone here will die. Russia will have to attack us, because if they wait, they die.

“I want to stop this massacre, but if picking up this phone means passing down a death sentence to what little remains of my race, then I’d rather cut the phone line. I’ll not see homes cratered and families turned to corpses sprawled across the permafrost because we were reckless.”

Johan swept his hair back as he reclined in his chair, rocking back and forth. Balakin and Yana had no retort to give. As desperate as they were, even they could see recognize the danger of getting Russia involved.

Johan shook his head as he smiled. “He didn’t do it just to gloat or scare people. Making that announcement was calculated and intentional. He must’ve known it would be a huge gamble. It’s not surprising, considering that exorcist girl, Lucrezia, is his partner. He’s tricked the world into throwing its forces into fights it can’t win. They have no choice but to stake everything on the slim chance of saving humanity.

“Likewise, when he made that announcement, Russia became aware of a serious, global threat making its way to its borders. Every world leader and military general across the world would’ve seen the announcement too. Because of that, it’s in our best interest to hide the fact that he’s here.”

“I agree with Father.” said a fourth voice in the room. The senators had almost forgotten he was present. A young, handsome man sat at a small, round table in the corner of the room. He wore a cream turtleneck sweater with a black, belted overcoat. His legs, dressed in tan dress pants were crossed loosely.

His bright, blue eyes watched his whiskey and sway as his peachy, white fingers wrapped around the base of his glass. His silky, blonde hair was neatly combed back, curling slightly at the ends that reached down close to his collarbone. Not a single blemish, imperfection, or wrinkle blighted his face. He had the aura of everything serene and holy in the world, as well as the divinely perfect visage of Michael the archangel. He spoke softly, with a kind of tenderness and warm cadence that would make even the most ravenous of beasts feel at ease.

“What’s your take on the matter, Hannes?” Balakin asked, casting an analytic glare at the young man.

“His political enemies can’t report him because it would mean the death of us all.” Hannes said, his gaze traveling far beyond the confines of the office. “The east end is so blinded by rage that they don’t realize their leader is holding them hostage. Osamu’s been planning for this. He knows exactly what he’s doing and how to control the optics so no one can see it. It’s nothing short of pure evil.

“You’re right that a man like that can never be made to see reason, but he can be made to see risk. None of us want Russia to crater this place. Minavere’s preservation is in everyone’s best interest as of now. That’s why he’s invited Father to meet him, and that’s why he accepted.”

Balakin and Yana responded by compliant silence, much to Johan’s approval. At long last, he finally grabbed his glass of scotch off his table and took a sip, exhaling the alcoholic fumes.

“As always, the boy is observant.” Johan said with a warms smile on his face. “In the meantime, Balakin, you should address the people. We need both the vampire and human populations on our side. If Osamu and Hima won’t compromise, then we’ll have no choice but to fight a battle for the soul of Minavere.”

The grim and hopeless picture Johan saw from his window stood in stark opposition to what Osamu saw from the sliding, glass door in his bedroom. Every apartment window and balcony in sight was adorned with the flag of the old country and its accompanying coat of arms.

The flag depicted a black, diagonal stripe slashing across a blood-red background with a golden cross in the middle. The coat of arms depicted a black sun surrounded by black rays beaming all around on a white background. Men with megaphones rallied their fellow citizens in the streets, the air still booming with Inari’s old phrase.

“Fight together!” blared the voice in the megaphone, followed immediately by the thunderous repeat of thousands of civilians marching towards the west end.

“Fight together! Die together! Fight together! Die together!”

Osamu watched with a fire in his eyes as the aurora borealis shifted and churned in the benighted sky above Minavere. “Now, Johan, the game is on.”