Dark ~ 暗さ

Sometimes I think if life really has some meaning. Are we sent here to suffer? Do we even have a purpose to be on Earth? Well, these questions certainly can't be answered but at least we can strive to find more and more. To be honest that's what humans are doing till now. Finding the purpose of consciousness. 

That's exactly what I am trying to find while Sakura is pointing her dagger toward me. Sometimes even I get scared of myself. Any normal person would be begging to spare his/her life and here I am thinking about the meaning of life. Something did indeed force Sakura to take such an extreme measure. Why would someone do it? What forced her to be like this? My curiosity arose. I just wanted to know the reason but well not everything can be accomplished in this world. 

I gave up. I am ready to die. I closed my eyes waiting for the dagger to slice through my chest any moment now. I heard the gush of air as she lifted the dagger ready to strike. "Well, Good Bye World!"  I whispered to myself. As the dagger got closer and closer and now just inches away from me now. 

Nothing happened. I opened my eyes thinking I should have been in heaven by now. I saw Sakura still on my chest and still having the dagger just inches away from me. "Why she didn't strike me? " I questioned myself. 

"Get her off you" 

I heard a familiar voice. I looked to my left and it was Akira with his divine slayer. Now I understood. It was the White Arrow that had paralyzed Sakura for now.

"Tell me now who is she and why is she attacking you" Akira inquired.

I was about to open my mouth to speak when Sakura interrupted me.

"Master! Are you tired? Let me help you reduce your stress" Sakura said in a tone she never used before.

She started approaching Akira slowly. 

"What the hell? Stay away from me."  Akira enraged.

"It's okay Master! I'll help you. I'll take away all your pain" Sakura again whispered in her sweet tone.

She approached Akira and put her hand gently on his chest.

"Y o ouu!" Akira said in a frustrated tone. 

Every other man would love to swap places with Akira but that's not the case with him. He is different. His pride came in the way of lust.

"Don't touch me!" Akira shouted.

"It's okay Master! Everything will be fine"

She now started seducing Akira, as now he was struggling even more.

I realized the urgency of the situation and made my mark.

"That's enough, She is under your influence. You can force her to back off."

Akira pushed Sakura away from him. She went flying back to the fence and fell unconscious for the time being.

"Hmm! I get a strange feeling out of this. Why am I so worried about her? Even though she tried to kill me? Why am I being like this" I whispered to myself.

Sakura dusted off her clothes and got up. Her face showed that she was worried now instead.

"Master! are you mad at me?"

There was silence for the next minute when Sakura again broke the silence with her sweet voice.

"You can give any punishment to me Master! I will gladly accept" she said in her comfy voice.

"You shut up and tell me who you really are?" Akira shouted.

"Mm aste rrr! Do not recognize me..." she cried. 

"Akira, she is under your control. Be nice to her and extract the information we need to know. After we are done we will take the arrow out and according to the Guide book by Ken, she will fall unconscious for the next 10 minutes. We will leave her in a safe place and take our leave."

"Hmph" Akira nodded.

"Sakura! We will have fun later but first, tell me more about your past. I am really curious about it"

Sakura's expression changed now. She seemed quite happy now.

"Master! wants to know more about me? I am so happy! This is the best day of my life" she said happily.

"Best day huh?" I whispered to myself.

"Well if Master wants to know more about me I'll gladly tell Master! My name is Sakura Yui, most people call me just Sakura. I am not from a very high-class family. My father was a drug addict. My mother used to advise him a lot to stop but he never listened..... He died 10 years ago due to a drug overdose"

Akira sighed. His feelings might have changed by knowing about her past.

Sakura continued,

"My mother was the nicest person in the world. She was everything I ever had and I could ever wish for. I still remember when she promised me that she will buy me Horimiya Vol 4 (a popular J manga). Well so much for that. Mother used to teach at a high school not far from our home. She was killed in a school shooting 5 years ago."

There was another long silence as the wind started blowing but still, there was some kind of emptiness in the air after her words.

"I am sad to hear that, Sakura" Akira whispered to her politely.

"It's fine, You know master! I wish she actually died in a school shooting"

"Hmm? What do you mean" Akira inquired.

"Police told that it was a normal school shooting and murderers were captured... but they were not. In fact, mother was their only target."

There was silence for the third time as the wind became more intense.

"How do you know?" I finally broke the silence and spoke up.

"You are not my Master!"

"It's fine he is a friend too, I also have the same question for you."

"As long as you say Master!, well Mother was not an ordinary individual."

"Not ordinary you say?  What do you mean by that" Akira inquired.

"Well, mother was a member of a rebellious group Kogarashi (Japanese word for Coldness). She was an assassin type and the best one Kogarashi had. She could not die from an ordinary bullet like others. In fact, she was killed by someone who was on a higher level than her."

She continued,

"In other words a Sage." 

"A Sage?" I whispered to myself.

Personally, I never heard that word before except in some mangas and light novels. It's a term mostly used in fantasy novels or movies. I couldn't believe such a person could exist.

"Well, Sages are the most superior individual to anyone. They are the ones mostly involved in these weird school shootings and terror incidents."

"What do they seek out of it?" I inquired.

"Artifacts"

Akira and I both were stunned as if we have seen a ghost.

"Artifacts that wield divine powers. Mother also had one that's the reason they targeted her"

I could now see things clearly Sages are the one who killed Ken's dad too because Ken's dad had those artifacts as well. There are so many mysteries. Unfathomed yet extraordinary story which is so hard to believe in. Every truth shocked me more and more.

"Why did you attack Haruki then?" Akira said out of nowhere.

The wind stopped blowing instantly.

"Well, what do you want with him, tell me" Akira shouted once again.

Sakura finally looked at me for the first time after being paralyzed by the white arrow. Her eyes were now directly in contact with mine.

                                                 "BECAUSE HE GIVES THE SAME SCENT, THAT THE SAGES LEFT ON MY MOTHER'S BODY"

~As a petal falls gently on the ground just to let the wind take it away up in the sky along with the secrets.