Vol 2 : Sanctuary

The high noon sun felt like a spotlight on us as we dove in and out of alleyways to avoid being seen. Every step we took felt less like we were escaping persecution, instead heading straight for a lion's den.

What felt the most perplexing was following the instincts of theatrically masked vigilantes, dubbed the Guardians of the Soul, my little sister being our personal guide.

Neither Ekko or myself were sure where we were heading. My sister hardly made that clear, claiming we were going to “The Old World.”

“Stop!” Ko-imouto, my sister, held up a hand to pause our movement.

She turned to look up toward the fire escape of a building. Another guardian was there.

He made some gestures with his hand, nothing I could discern. Ko responded by making a few gestures of her own back at him.

“What's he saying?” Ekko asked.

“He's saying that we must take a different path.”

Somehow Ko translated all the hand motions into directions, leading us to a side street off the main road.

A government truck was passing by, we dove behind the cover of a large air conditioning unit.

The truck stopped just next to the AC. Men in black stepped out of the car.

“They found us…” Ekko muttered.

“Hold on…” Ko put a hand on her shoulder and peeked out. I couldn't help but also take a glance.

Two men in black were looking around. It didn't seem like they spotted us yet.

The guardian that had been instructing Ko took up a position on top of a building. He was holding something that he dropped down onto the street.

BOOM!

CRACKLE!

It was some sort of fire cracker. It made all sorts of noises that caught the men in blacks's attention.

“Follow me,” Ko made a sprint for an alleyway just across from us, then opened up a small fenced off location. “Get in!”

Ekko and I both went behind the fence door. Ko carefully closed the fence behind us and pulled up a small crowbar.

“I hope neither of you mind the sewers.”

She tried prying open the manhole leading down under, but her little arms weren't strong enough. I helped her out.

“Thanks,” Ko started climbing down a ladder. “We're halfway there. So let's keep going.”

Trusting her, we all went deep into the sewers. The smell was horrible, and I've never seen more filthy water than this, but that trip didn't last long before we found what looked like a big metal door.

“Is this it?” I asked.

Silently, Ko flipped open a switch box and tapped away at a hidden keypad. The keypad responded with a positive *ring* sound.

Gears in the old metal door started grinding, shaking the tunnel as they turned. Within seconds, the whole door began to split into two chunks of metal, parting so we could see what was behind it.

“This is The Old World.”

Ko gestured to a multi-leveled complex before us, each level surrounding a big garden lobby at the bottom center. It was something similar to an apartment building, but even bigger. A dome of glass was above it all, letting sunlight pass right on through.

Once the door was fully open, at least a dozen people were peeking out from a row of pillars to see who we were. A few armed guards quickly came to check us out too.

“Is this some kind of sanctuary?” Ekko asked as a guard used some ear piercingly loud device to scan her up and down.

“That’s exactly what it is,” Ko nodded. “It was built long ago before the mandations to help create housing for the homeless here in Tokyo. As you can see, the government’s long since abandoned it.”

Ko made me realize that a lot of the people here looked pretty worse for wear. Some of them had nicer clothing, but others didn’t look like they’d changed or shaved in a while, layered with a variety of thick fabrics. Despite that, it didn’t smell too horrible here. Maybe I’m just saying that because we just exited the sewer.

I took a good look over the railing, seeing we must have been at least twenty levels up. This complex went down pretty far. Some kids and elderly were playing in the garden below.

“How long have you known about this?” I asked Ko.

“Would you believe this is my first time here?” she claimed, pulling off her mask, revealing the face of my sister behind it. Her smile was unusual. Something I’ve never seen so brightly before. I almost had a hard time believing it was actually the same girl who I used to know.

“Kitsune, there’s something I’d like to do to you, if you don’t mind,” she requested.

“What is it?”

“I’ll make it quick…”

She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me. There wasn’t a second to escape her hold.

At first it was strange being held by someone so small, but the longer we embraced, I felt a warm feeling bloom in my chest.

She finally pulled away, a tear running down her cheek.

“I apologize. This is very strange of me…but I’m just relieved to see you here.” She turned to Ekko next. “Thank you for taking care of him this whole time.”

“My pleasure,” Ekko bowed her head, formally.

That hug made me feel pretty good. This place was less dreary knowing I’d have both my sister and Ekko in it.

Unfortunately, I was reminded that we were here for a reason.