Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Heavenly Lost ❯ The Gates of Hell ( Chapter 3 )

Author's Notes: Hello everyone. Here goes another chapter of this story. I have to warn you, this chapter is violent and kind of angst. The story is getting deeper here. We are going to hell so don't expect it to be a nice place. The storyline is staring to develop here and I really hope you'll like it.

Chapter III

The Gates of Hell

"If you want to get to the gates of hell you'll have to concentrate." Tomoe's words sounded in her head over and over again "You have to see yourself in that place."

"But how can I see myself in a place I've never been?"

"I can't help you with that. You'll have to find the feeling in your own heart, that will get you there. Good Luck Kaoru-san, Kenshin is counting on you."

And with that Tomoe disappeared. Now Kaoru stood in the middle of the yard looking at the blue sky, trying to find a way to transport herself to the gates of hell. She stood there, silently without knowing what to do. She had been in heaven for so little time. She knew too little about how this celestial world worked. She didn't even know how the get out of the Dojo or even what was outside. She breathed heavily in frustration.

"Maybe I should start with something simpler"

She closed her eyes and concentrated. She saw herself wearing her training clothes. She sensed the white gi on her skin, the bandages that tied her breasts, the blue hakama, the sandals… but something was missing. She watched herself mentally trying to find what was missing and when she didn't found it she got so angry and exasperated that she felt like hitting something with her boken… That was it! Her boken! Now she could see a whole picture in her mind.

She opened her eyes and looked down at her clothes. It had worked! She was in the familiar outfit and she even had the boken in her hands!

She smiled. That was the first wish that came true. Now that she was ready she only had to find the way to hell, but how?

She closed her eyes again.

"I can't be wasting time here. I need to find the way quickly. While I'm standing here with the sun falling down my face Kenshin is in hell. Hell, that is a horrible place to be for any soul, but for a soul that is in essence good and that feel remorse for the crimes committed, hell most be a hundred times worst." Kaoru felt a tear slid down her face. "Kenshin… you don't deserve to be there."

She saw his face in her mind. At first he was giving her his usual rurouni smile, but then the image changed and he was standing in a battle field with his sakabato in his hand… he was bleeding, actually he was covered in blood. He was still standing, facing ten men with swords on their hands. His expression was one of deep sorrow. Suddenly Kaoru saw herself standing in the middle of the battle field beside him. He didn't look at her; he didn't even notice she was there. Then she saw as the ten men rushed to them ready to kill.

"KENSHIN!" She screamed as she opened her eyes. She felt her heart racing faster and her legs shaking as she realized that she wasn't in the Dojo anymore.

The sun was gone from the sky and it was dark. She looked up trying to find the moon or the stars but she only saw a tick roof of dark clouds. The place was like a desert. There was nothing but a gray type of sand, not a plant, not an animal it was empty. She looked at the horizon, as far as her eyes could see the landscape was the same. Then her eyes caught sight of it. There they were, not very far away.

She walked quickly in the gray sand and she reached them. She was standing in front of the gates of hell. They were tall gates made of some kind of metal. They were thick and seemed to be standing there only like a decoration. Kaoru couldn't see anything behind them. She walked around them and wondered how they worked because it didn't seem to be anything to enter if you walked through them. Then she noticed that the gate had one single and very small handle. She looked at it as she took a deep breath.

"I'm coming Kenshin."

She reached for the handle but when she was about to touch it a bright light appeared in front of her. She blinked several times trying to decide if what she was seeing was real or not. Then a sweet voice that she didn't know came out of the light.

"What are you doing?"

Kaoru looked around trying to find someone but she already knew there was no one to find. She knew where the voice had come from.

"I'm going in" She responded as calmed as she could.

"These are the gates of hell. You don't belong there" The voice said in the same sweet tone.

"Neither does some one that is in there, and I'm going to go help him."

"A hitokiri's place is in hell."

"Please move over" Said Kaoru ignoring the light. "You can't stop me from going in."

"Off course I can't. Since you belong in heaven you can do whatever you want with your soul…" Said the light as it began to fade. "Even doom it."

The light disappeared and the way to the door was cleared again. She moved her hand to reach the handle again and as her hand touched the cold metal she heard the soft voice once more.

"I wish you know what you are doing. There are no guaranties."

She turned the handle and pushed the door. She took one last look at the outside as she entered hell and the gates closed behind her.

* * *

The first thing she felt, before she could even see anything, was a strong wind that came to her and made her shiver. She putted her arms around herself trying to get warmer, but she couldn't. Then she was able to see a really soft light in the distance so she walked to it. As she approached it the light grew bigger and she was slowly noticing some shadows in the distance. She kept walking, it was still really cold and she suddenly found herself outside of a city. She looked at the buildings and the streets, but she wasn't able to identify in witch city she was. She walked slowly. The city appeared to be empty. She looked up at the sky and found out that that was a moonless and startles night, just like the one outside. There were a few torches in the houses and that was the only thing illuminating the place. The wind was gone, but the cold temperature remained. She was so cold. She closed her eyes and wished that she had something warmer to wear. She opened them but everything was the same.

"Once you've entered the gates of hell all the gifts you obtain when you come to heaven are taken away."

Tomoe's word echoed in her mind. She was now another doom soul like all the other ones that went there and she will receive the same treatment as the rest.

"So this is hell, a place were you are condemn to spend eternity in coldness and loneliness."

But she was proven wrong just a second later as four men came out from behind the buildings. They were all dirty, very big and looked strong. They looked at her with evil eyes as they walked towards her. She stepped back without taking her eyes from them. She raised her boken and stood in a fighting position.

The men suddenly stopped when they saw her.

"Who are you?" Asked Kaoru in a defiant voice.

"We are the welcoming party" Said one of them.

"For centuries now we have been the ones responsible for greeting the new souls to hell." Said the second one.

"We take pride in our work. Only an elite group of us is able to obtain this position" Said the third.

"All the other souls are confined to the city. We are the only ones that can come out"

Said the last one.

"Now you can resist us if you want" Said the first one as they all approached her "But I can assure you that all your attempts will be futile since there's no way you can fight us."

Kaoru stayed still with a firm hold of her boken and in a ready position. But the man's words were true.

The four men attacked her at the same time. She tried to defend against them, she hit one of them in the stomach with her boken and he fell to the ground for a few moments. She was able to hit a second on in the side, the man fell back, but before she had any time to react one of the other men grabbed her from behind and twisted her arm. She let out a soft screamed as she tried to keep the hold in her boken but it was useless. The man bended her arm until she let her weapon drop and the boken fell on the floor. Then he pushed her with such force that she collapsed to the ground, unable to use her hands to soften the fall. Afterwards the four men approached her and began hitting her. She closed her eyes and tried to shield her body as much as she could while waiting for them to stop. A few tears cam down her face but were unnoticed.

Then she saw a flash of light. She could still feel the pain of the beating but she was seeing a vision. Kenshin was standing in the same spot she stood minutes before. Kenshin looked as young as he did when she met him. He was wearing his pink gi, his hair was long and tied on the low pony tale, the cross scar was still on his cheek and the sakabato was hanging on his side. The four men that were beating her came out of the shadows and repeated the same words she heard. Kenshin stood there for a moment and then he took out his sword. The men stared at him, waiting to see what he will do. He then opened his hand and the sword fell to the floor. He stood still as the men approached him and looked at them with his violet eyes. The first punch hit him in the face. He only moved a little due to the force of the punch. Then the men beat him repeatedly. He didn't let out a single cry of pain and when they finally stopped he got up, picked up his sword and walked into the city.

Kaoru felt a sharp pain in the stomach and opened her eyes to find the four men looking down at her. She received one last kick and then the men walked away.

"If you don't enter the city fast we'll be back"

Kaoru took a deep breath and laid there for a few moments trying to regain her strength.

"So my body can still fell pain"

She was deeply hurt, she didn't felt like getting up but she saw Kenshin's face in her mind and she struggle to get to her feet. She saw the boken in the ground not far from her. She walked there, picked it up and then she slowly headed to the city.

"I'm coming Kenshin"

* * *

Author's Notes: I warned you. Hell is not a pretty place and Kaoru is now one of the doom souls. This wouldn't be interesting if the journey to find Kenshin would be easy and nice. I know I let something open in this chapter but they'll be clarified in later chapters. There is an exception and that is the light. I'm not explaining it; you can think whatever you want.