Zombie-Loan Fan Fiction ❯ Angel of Death ❯ Chapter 3
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: MikariStar 
Anime/Manga: Zombie-Loan Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Horror | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 163 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Zombie-Loan Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Horror | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 163 | Status: Completed
Angel of Death
Chapter 17
"You've missed a lot!" Yuuta starts to tell Shito the story of what's been going on, as summarized as possible since they don't have much time. "A crazy reaper girl is stalking Chika. She's been killing people who don't even have black rings and Bekko can't do anything about it. Ohtsu investigated by himself but Bekko has mostly been avoiding her. She nearly killed Koyomi but Yomi saved her. I just got a call that Michiru was hurt so I'm on my way to heal..." Yuuta runs into an invisible wall. He is thrown back with the impact and rubs his nose. "Ow!"
Shito reaches for the apparently empty space and his hand comes into contact with a solid wall he cannot see. "This is the work of the reaper you mentioned?"
"Most likely..." Yuuta listens for any signs of their friends. He doesn't like what he's hearing. "It sounds like Chika, Michiru and Momoka are still there!"
Shito pulls out his gun, though not made of plasma; it's still an effective weapon. "Stand back Yuuta."
Yuuta jumped out of the way and Shito shoots. The bullet bounces off the invisible wall and flies off in the opposite direction between Shito and Yuuta. "That's a bit dangerous..." Yuuta looks at the damage done by the bullet to a car that was parked on the other side of the street. Fortunately no one was hurt and there are no people around to see them.
Shito hits the invisible wall with the gun's handle but it doesn't work. It feels as if he's hitting a solid wall but he can't see anything there.
Inside the house, Chika has gotten his katana and is fighting against Ceviru but it is not working. When ever he makes a cut it is not as deep as it should be and it instantly heals itself. Michiru and Momoka throw random items at the three headed canine but nothing does any damage.
The dog catches Chika's sword in his mouth and breaks it, leaving Chika with only the handle. "Run!" Chika calls out to Michiru and Momoka.
"Chika, why aren't you running?" Michiru stops a after running only a few steps away.
"Brother! You can't be thinking about fighting that thing?" Momoka hates the way things are going. She knows that Chika is doing this for her. He has always been the brother she ignored for so long, but was always there. Now he is the brother who gives her hope and protects her, and is still always there. "Chika!"
Ceviru jumps on Chika knocking him against a wall. Chika wraps his hands around the neck of the middle head, holding it at a distance and pulling the other three along. "Find a way out, quick! I'll go too as soon as you find the exit!" Ceviru, growls, barks and howls. He scratches at Chika with his claws but can't bite him with his hands firmly around the middle head's neck.
"Michiru, split up and search for a way out fast, my brother can get really stubborn sometimes," though Momoka knows splitting is not the best idea, even in the relatively short distance on the inside of the house, if they split up they might find a way out faster and Chika would stop stubbornly playing the hero. Momoka and Michiru dash in opposite directions. Trying to open or break the windows and back door.
Outside Yuuta and Shito are trying to make their way in, this time without the use of bullets but they can't break through the invisible wall and they can't find a way around it. It surrounds Michiru's house preventing them from going in to help their friends.
A dark shadowy figure floats above them, watching with interest. Shito looks up and spots the reaper floating above. Her appearance is of a seemingly empty black ragged clock with bloody stains and glowing yellow eyes. "The reaper?"
"It's her! She can change the way she looks!" But no matter what she looks like, they somehow recognize her, they feel her evil precense when ever she appears.
Shito shoots and the bullets pierce the black clock as if it were really empty and have no effect on the reaper. She is definitely no ordinary reaper.
Yuuta shakes his head, "that won't work, she's pretty much invincible." That makes it sounds as if it were all hopeless, yet there they are, willing to keep fighting and not give up.
Soft footsteps are heard as if they were the only sound, drowning out the noises from the house even if they are much louder. A young girl arrives out of breath from all the running. She looks up at the reaper.
"The keeper of the key..." The reaper watched Kuze, chairperson and keeper of the key. "Do what you will, but in the end it will all be hopeless. Little by little, I'll drain your hopes away, until you're all broken and hopeless!" The reaper laughs evilly and disappears.
The keeper of the key approaches. "I am only the keeper of the key, this is a problem of humanity I cannot solve but... I can't stand by and do nothing." It becomes obvious that Kuze knows more about the reaper than they thought. "I will open this," she reveals a hidden necklace with a key. The key glows and the sound of shattering glass is loudly herd, but nothing appears to look different.
Shito reached for the invisible wall but it is gone. "Yuuta, Chairperson, stay here," he doesn't know the details but that can be explained later. Shito rushed into the house. He shoots the door's lock off and kicks it open.
Chapter 18
Chika is fighting with Ceviru inside the house. "Akatsuki!" The door is kicked open and Shito arrives. "Don't move!"
Chika holds Ceviru as still as possible and Shito shoots. The bullet goes through all three head and Chika kicks the dog away. Momoka and Michiru return hearing the noise. "Shito!"
Ceviru gets up, the bullet holes in his three heads healing as if it were nothing. "Hold him back while I seal him," Kuze's key glows brightly. Shito shoots continuously until Ceviru is envelop in a bright azure light, becoming ghostly until he disappears. "He has retuned home," Kuze is out of breath. This is a much more challenging task than opening a door, as she did with Pochi. Her heart pounds, her breathing takes more effort and the worlds around her fades.
Koyomi and Sotetsu arrive, but it had all ended by now. Ohtsu also gets there and takes them to the Z-Loan office at Bekko's request.
xoxox xox xoxox
Pochi stays by Kuze's side while she remains unconscious, her energy was exhausted so it is understandable.
"Why I don't get," Sotetsu, the one who ended up with the task of carrying the other boy asks, "why is Chika asleep." Chika had been fine, scratched and bloody, but well enough after his battle with Ceviru, then suddenly a dark precense was felt and he was in a deep sleep.
"Well it's not poison," Yuuta confirms. It had been their initial worry, that the scratches Chika got from Ceviru had somehow poisoned him.
"A small portion of the reaper's spirit is in Chika's mind. When the keeper of the key collapsed of exhaustation, that is what happened," all eyes gaze towards Bekko. "I tried to tell you that nothing can be done. This I something the keeper of the key knows."
"And you won't tell us so we need to ask her?" Shito had been put up to date in the situation, but with the recent events the group realized that they knew so much less than they thought.
"I don't know all the details," Bekko admits, though it sounds more as if he isn't supposed to know the details but does.
xoxox xox xoxox
"Chika... Chika..." A ghastly voice distantly echoes. The atmosphere is dark and carries the foul scent of death.
"Where are you?!" Chika yells. Something tries to pull him down; he tries to step away and realizes he is surrounded by rotting corpses. The corpses are not strong enough to stand upright but the won't let go of his feet and legs. Chika struggles to get away from them until he reaches a small hill that somehow they can't climb.
"Welcome to the empty space between death and the afterlife, the place were people end up if not heaven or hell welcomes them." An eerie voice pierces the dark atmosphere, the murmurs and laments of the corpses still lingering in the background.
"Reaper!" Chika searches for the source of the voice and find the reaper in the shape of an angel, something she was not.
The reaper's hair is long and golden, her eyes a pale blue. She wears white robes with an overload of golden jeweler, bracelets, ankles, necklaces, earrings, belts and chains that encircle her body from her golden hair to her bare feet. "Dear Chika I came to watch you bid farewell to all your hopes."
"I'm not giving up, no matter what, I'll live." Chika speaks with such certainty that it bothers the reaper.
"Foolish mortal!" She screams, her white robes gain blood stains, her golden hair becomes uneven, poorly groomed and looses it's shine, her eyes become bloodshot and yellow. "Why do you insist on holding on to your hopes when I can take your sister's life and yours. M is for Momoka!"
"No!" Chika realizes just how hopeless everything has been from the start. When Yomi was able to save Koyomi they thought there might be a way, but the process of a legal name change is slow and would not be done in time to throw off the reaper's game. There is also the possibility that the reaper becomes tied of such games and stops killing by the letters of the alphabet.
The reaper laughs evilly, she disappears for some time and leaves Chika alone in that place. The Chika in the in between in merely a projection of his soul, his body still sleeping at Z-Loan. A live human cannot survive the toxic air of that place, the foul scent, the heave sense of despair and suffering, and even for a mere projection it is overwhelming.
The reaper returns, still in her evil looking form. She drops a scythe in front of Chika. "Pick it up and you will accept my terms."
"I'm not going to make a deal with you!" Chika yells in anger.
"You have little choice in the matter. If you wish for me to spare Momoka, then you'll have to amuse me... Give me all your hate Chika Akatsuki, I love your feelings of hopelessness, focus them on me. Take the scythe and kill who ever I order you to kill. They will most likely be strangers to you. Will you trade their lives for Momoka?"
"I..." he would, Chika was not going to deny that the life of his dear sister was more precious to him than all the strangers in the world. To be protected in such a way was morbid to say the least, not the kind of heroics one would want to do to preserve their life. But the fact still stands, Momoka is more important. For a human, partial and biased, not all lives have the same value, loves ones are always the priority, even if strangers have friends who would miss them too.
Chapter 19
Chika wakes up and everyone immediately gathers around him. The questions swirl around, he doesn't quite catch all of them and feels light headed. "It's nothing, I'm fine." He knows at some point someone asked something like that. He sits up on one of the couches at the Z-Loan office and notices that the chairperson occupies the other. "What happened to her?"
"She exhausted her energy," Bekko replies. "You'd best ask her about this later if you still wish to know, but it's best not to know."
"Why did you call us here then?" Sotetsu asks, his patience starting to run dry.
"She should be here soon..." The ferryman is purposely ambiguous which aggravates everyone else there.
The door to the office is opened and Ohtsu steps in. following him, a woman dressed in a business suit comes in. Her hair is pulled back in a bun save for a strand that falls on the side of her face. "Greetings, I am Carmella." The woman introduces herself.
"Our special guest is here," Bekko announces.
They all gather around Carmella anxious to hear some much needed explanations. "The Wheel of Fate has been investigating the incidents caused by the mysterious reaper... So far we have found that the item needed to stop her was indeed stolen. That is all for now."
The group stares with wide eyes, Chika, Shito, Sotetsu, Koyomi, Yuuta, Michiru and Momoka all sharing the same surprised expression. Ohtsu looks annoyed and Bekko looks indifferent.
Reading their expressions easily, Carmella decides to elaborate. "There is a certain item related to the reaper who is no ordinary reaper. We in the Wheel of Fate thought the item was being kept hidden and unreasonably protected, but it was in fact missing as the leader of the ferrymen had said. The Wheel of Fate can now continue investigations towards finding it. You see, because we thought it was hidden in the underworld, we had not started looking for it anywhere else until now. As requested by the ferryman Bekko I am giving you this update. Please pass this message to the keeper of the key, the Wheel of Fate has decided to take action, we will find the item and bring the chance the world has been waiting for." Carmella starts to leave.
"Wait!" Chika stops her. "That's all you're going to say? What's the item you're looking for? If it can stop the reaper I'll search for it too."
The others join in with a chorus of "me too."
"Quite frankly," Carmella speaks in a calm tone, "there is nothing you could do. But if you must then ask the keeper of the key and she will tell you." Carmella leaves, her visit had brought more questions than answers.
xoxox xox xoxox
Time passes and the lives of the Z-loan team become quiet. Kuze had admitted she was not sure what exactly she was searching for, and only the keeper of the key would know when she saw it. Until then it was a search in total darkness. She departed for an unknown location with Pochi, and things got quiet after that.
Chika and Momoka are at their house with Yuuri. "It sure is storming out there," Yuuri looks out the window. Heavy rain falls and the wind howls. A strange fog covers the near by area and lighting crashes on a tree near by causing Yuuri to jump and quickly sloe the window. "Maybe we should all just get some sleep."
The light flash, they go off for a few seconds then the electricity returns. Chika isn't sure who was more frightened, if his father or sister. "Go to sleep Momoka, the bad whether will be gone in the morning."
"Yes..." Momoka has a bad feeling about the gloomy atmosphere, she wonders if the reaper will return.
"Good night my little squirrels!" Yuuri tries to sound cheerful as if he wants to cancel out the gloomy mood from the bad whether.
Chika and Momoka go to their respective rooms and try to sleep. The past few days have been very quiet, probably the reaper trying to stress them out. They didn't know when she was coming back, but she would return eventually, that they knew for sure.
xoxox xox xoxox
"This house still bothers Michiru after all that's happened here." Sotetsu flips channels on the TV. "But it's not the house, it's the reaper."
"But don't you think it's really creepy seeing your dog's body in pieces, and being chased around by a hell dog all in the same house?" Yuuta asks; Kenken and Konkon make nod-like motions in agreement.
"She shouldn't let the reaper make her give up this house," Shito finally speaks up after remaining quiet for most of the night.
Michiru has gone to leave with Koyomi at her apartment. She is frightened by Yomi, but even more afraid of the reaper and she knows Yomi would protect them if needed, even if it didn't make a huge difference in the end... She has offered her house to Shito so he may stay there since he has recently arrived in Japan and is not yet settled in. Sotetsu and Yuuta are staying there as well, which sometimes is a little aggravating for Shito, but he prefers to be around them than in the mafia hideout in Japan.
"We're not going to let her make anyone give anything up!" The past few quiet days were not only bringing tension for most of them, but for Sotetsu they brought expectations for the situation to take a turn in their favor. "Tomorrow we'll start the search for Zarame, Michiru doesn't know where he went but he couldn't have just disappeared."
"I agree," Shito voices. "Zarame might know more about the item the chairperson is searching for." They are all up to date in the situation, Shito included and starting tomorrow they would no longer wait for the reaper to make her move. They would start the search, even if they still have no idea where to start.
Chapter 20
"Chiru chiru... Chiru chiru..."
Michiru wakes up suddenly. She sits up and frantically reaches for the lamp as seeking the comfort of the light. Her heart pounds with fear and worry, but when the room comes into focus she finds herself alone. Michiru takes a deep breath, tries to tell herself it was only her imagination or a dream and turns the light back off. Thunder crashes in the distance, the wind howls lightly and the room momentarily lights up revealing the silhouette of a woman in the shadows.
"Chiru chiru..."
Michiru turns the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed back on, nearly knocking it down in the process. However this time the familiar light does not fill the room and Michiru feels around the nightstand searching for the flashlight she left there in case there was a blackout. She feels the plug of the lamp that should have been on the wall but the flashlight is gone.
"Chiru chiru..."
Though the voice is gentle, Michiru feels a certain evil and cruel undertone. She freezes up for a few seconds, eyes tightly closed, wishing that it was all just a nightmare, but it's real. Michiru tried to make her body respond, slowly, trembling, mind filled with the images of Leon's cruel torture and death, Michiru nearly falls off her bed trying to find the electric outlet to plug the lamp back in, and for a split second the room is filled with a dim light but before Michiru can look away from the lamp, lightning crashes and her shaking hands pulls the plug out.
Michiru moves to a corner of the room, the corner she thinks is opposite to where the reaper is. Though back in the park she faces the reaper, the pain is strong tonight and the feeling of being helpless makes her fear. She takes slow deep breaths and makes her way back towards the lamp. She plugs it in but nothing happens.
"Chiru chiru..."
Michiru wonders if the electricity has gone out, she wonders if Koyomi is alright, she wonders how long she has to live. She reaches around the nightstand once again searching for the flashlight, but it's not there. Instead her hand comes into contact with the area where the lamp's cover should but, but instead she touches the broken light bulb and cuts her finger.
"Ouch!" Instinctively Michiru puts her injured finger in her mouth, the taste of her own blood immediately making her sick. She has seen too much blood and does not want to taste it. She removes her finger from her mouth and clutches it in her other hand. "I know you're there." She has had enough to the reaper's game and does not wish to entertain the evil creature more.
"Of course I'm here," Michiru feels someone hug her, she struggles but it's of no use. "Don't cry Michiru."
A flashlight is placed in Michiru's hands and she debates turning it on or not. But just because she is hidden by the darkness doesn't mean she's not there. Michiru turns the flashlight on, the sight before her shocking her beyond words as more tears escape.
"Don't cry my little girl, mother is here." The reaper speaks softly yet cruelly. Her form is similar to Michiru's mother, with a black right around her neck as well.
Michiru breaks away from the embrace and finally finds her voice. "How dare you copy her form?!"
In her room, Koyomi hears Michiru yelling and wakes up. "Michiru?" Yomi takes over and rushes to find Michiru, but the door to the guest room is locked.
Michiru hears the knocking on the door and knows it's Koyomi, or most likely Yomi. "Run away, she's here!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!" Yomi yells back from the other side of the door.
"My baby girl, don't worry," the reaper speaks in a mocking voice. "Dear daughter you will soon be reunited with me, so that his hope may be taken away little by little and death may enjoy it."
Michiru stares at the reaper, the flashlight slipping out of her hand. "I'm her replacement... I'm Momoka's replacement, you're saving his sister for the final blow, you want to torture Chika longer so this time it's me who will die."
"Michiru! Open the door!" Yomi continued to pound on the door.
"Come with me, dear daughter..." the reaper's tone is now completely evil, eyes glowing red.
"I see, so this really is my destiny, I won't give you the pleasure of begging or screaming." Michiru tries to hold back her tears, staring at the flashlight on the floor. "I can never forgive you for all that you've done, and coming to me in this form." She slowly looks up, face filled with anger and frustration. "You will be stopped, even if I die my friends will stop you, they'll avenge me and destroy you." She has become stronger over the years; she won't go down in fear, if she must go. "Fine then, I'll take Momoka's place..." She says the last part louder, enough fort Yomi to hear. "M is for Michiru."
Yomi's punches and kicks to the door become stronger and panicked. "No! You can't kill her! Stay away from Michiru you damn reaper!"
With the reaper's evil sadistic laugh echoing, Michiru and her captor disappear. Michiru is held above the space in between life and death. Corpses reach up to her, despair fills the air, the scent is foul and toxic but it only lasts a split second. Michiru survives, gasping for breath, skin turning an unnatural purple. She has been tossed on the floor of a different room.
Hearing the sounds, Chika wakes up and turns the lights on. Thunder crashes and the electricity flashes at its rhythm then stabilizes once again. "Michiru!"
"It is time to keep your end of the deal, Chika Akatsuki." The reaper changes her appearance to look like Chika's mother this time seeing as the form of Michiru's mother upset her so much. "I came to give you a choice my little one."
Chapter 21
Chika knows that when the reaper says there is a choice, the only choice is bad or worse. The reaper drops a scythe, Chika takes it and attacks her, angry for all she has done for trying to impersonate his mother. The reaper makes Michiru float in front of her and Chika stops with the scythe inches away from her.
"Don't stop, Chika," The reaper looks amused. "I am giving you a choice. Kill Michiru or I will kill Momoka."
"Damn reaper, I'll kill you!" Chika pushes Michiru out of the way and decapitates the reaper. Her head falls off, but he knows she's not dead, she can't die, she's only doing this in the shape of his mother to bother him.
"Chika?" Yuuri wakes up and goes over to see what Chika is doing. "You're still awake, playing videogames?" He opens the door to find the decapitated image of his dead wife. He stands at the door staring at the scene.
"Dad..." Chika doesn't want his father involved in this, he doesn't want anyone else to be in danger.
The headless body of the reaper picks up the bloodied head while blood continues to flow out from the neck. "Good to see you again dear."
"Michiru let's go!" Chika calls to Michiru and drags his father along. "Momoka!"
Chika's younger sister wakes up. Her brother sounds alarmed. "Chika? What's wrong?" She notices he is holding a scythe in one hand, pulling their shocked father by the arm with another. Michiru is there as well. "She's back."
"We're going to Z-Loan," maybe if they make it there, they will have a better chance.
"Z-Loan..." Yuuri finally manages to find his voice. "Chika, what's happening, who was that, it wasn't her, it couldn't have been..."
"There's no time to explain," Chika tried to calm his father. "Of course that wasn't mom, just an evil sadistic reaper who's been stalking me. I'll explain later, let's get out of here. The ferryman will just have to get involved like it or not."
Yuuri isn't sure what this is about, but he knows there's danger. Millions of questions float in his had, but he knows now isn't the time to ask and simply trusts his son to explain it later.
"I'll drive, okay?" Chika grabs the car keys as they hurry out. Yuuri only nods in response and the Akatsukis rush to Yuui's car.
Michiru stays behind and almost starts running back to the house but Chika stops her and pushes her into the back seat with Momoka. "You're not going back there. I'm not going to choose, you're both going to live." Chika drives off faster than any sane person would in that weather, but an evil sadistic reaper could do a lot more damage than reckless driving.
"Chika, isn't that Z-Loan place the office where you worked? Why are we going there?" To Yuuri, Z-Loan is just a normal loan office and he doesn't know what they could find there that would save them. "Who is the ferryman?"
"Ever hear of the ferrymen in mythology? He's something like that but it's all real. It's supposed to be a secret but I was a zombie for a year, that's why I didn't come home. You already saw a reaper so I'll tell you later." Chika turns a corner, the tired screeching and the car sliding in the wet road.
"Why did you hide a thing like that? And what do you mean you were a zombie, you didn't smell weird to me." This is a lot for Yuuri to take in all of a sudden.
"Not all zombies are rotten," the blurry image of someone crossing the road is barely seen. "Shit!" Chika stomps on the breaks but the car won't stop. He looks out the door, ran soaking him, thunder clashes and lights up the road, the wind blows playing with the long hair of the girl on the road. Pigtails, she has long lavender pigtails like Michiru used to have, a pair of cracked glass lay beside her. "Michiru..." Chika continues speeding dangerously down the road.
"Chika!" Yuuri looks back at the girl on the road. "Didn't you hit someone back there?"
"No, that was the reaper trying to trick us," It is true that the reaper could simply stop them but that isn't her style, she likes tricks, deception and cruel torture.
"She's telling you to kill me," Michiru chokes out, glancing at the scythe that Yuuri is awkwardly holding while Chika drives.
"But that' not going to happen," Chika assures her. The car comes to a stop in front of the Z-Loan office building.
Momoka's voice talking on the cellphone with the rest of the group is lost with the heavy sounds of falling rain, crashing thunder and howling wind. It is convenient she never lets go of her cellphone. "Everyone is on their way."
"Then let's go, the ferryman practically never leaves the office," Chika had a feeling that Bekko might have left this time, but he could only know for sure if he went up and checked.
"Is this ferryman some kind of mythological creature with super powers?" Yuuri asks.
"No, he's a bored looking man who loves money," Chika replies. They exit the car in the storm, Chika once again receiving the scythe. They rush towards the elevators but the light in the buttons go out as does the electricity in the building. The only light left is the faint glow of Momoka's cellphone. "We'll have to take the stairs."
Chapter 22
Chika tries to open the door leading to the stairs. The rain subsides, the wind stops howling and the skies light up in lightning one last time, then everything becomes silent. It is so quiet that footsteps can be clearly heard even if they would have been lost in the noises of the building's daily business. Someone is coming down the stairs, but the door leading to them is locked.
The reaper enters the building and find the group. She slowly approaches and Chika readies his scythe. He swings it as if it were a sword, the weapon he is used to, and the blade clashed with the reaper making a sounds akin to metal crashing on metal. The human-like flesh is pealed away leaving a bloody mess that drips continuously to the floor at her feet, and a metal silhouette emerges from under the cut skin. The silver being, hardly in the shape of a disproportioned human, continues to advance as Chika hits her over and over to no avail.
A rain of bullets collides against the silver being, denting her than falling on the floor as if they were thrown instead of shot. Shito has just arrived; he continues to shoot until his gun requires to be recharged, but there has been no effect.
The person who had been going down the stairs reaches the bottom and twists the doorknob but it is somehow locked from both sides.
Sotetsu, who has chosen to remain a zombie for some time is there the attacks the metallic reaper with his axe but the weapon breaks up causing him pain.
"Sotetsu! Michiru!" Koyomi calls out to them.
Yomi takes over and rushes towards Michiru. "Chiru chiru." She hugs the other girl.
"Yomi, please stop, I have to end this, for now at least." Michiru slips away.
"Chika, it's alright, I was able to live longer even after I saw a black ring around my neck. I was even able to avoid becoming a zombie. Zarame isn't here, but where ever he is, maybe I'll find him after she guides me. I won't be alone," Michiru steps forward. "Live on, find a way to defeat her; a reaper like her can't keep getting away with this forever."
Chika looks at Yomi and nods. Yomi understands, tackles Michiru and covers her mouth with her hand. "Be quiet Chiru chiru, there will be no noble sacrifices tonight, understand?" Michiru tried to say something but she could not speak. "Good girl, Chiru chiru."
Sotetsu forms another axe with plasma, Chika gets read for battle again and Shito reloads his gun. Sotetsu and Chika attack at the same time. They hit the reaper many times but other than making noise, nothing happens. They both step back and Shito sends another round of bullets her way but the effect is the same as before.
The reaper turns her finger into knives, extending them several feet as the cheesy plastic plant that was left forgotten in the first floor of the building collides with her newly formed giant sword-like needles. All eyes look towards Yuuri who threw the oversized plant. "Does anyone have a cross? You use to have one to go with your uniform, do you have it?" He asks Chika.
"Even if I did it won't work." Chika explains. "Real reapers can't be defeated with a cross, or holy water or a stake through the heart-"
"Or any of the things we haven't even tried?" Yuuta asks. "Why not?"
"Fine then, let's try all of that when we get out of here alive," Chika attacks once again, joined by Sotetsu and Shito shoots. The reaper is simply amusing herself watching their futile efforts.
The door that leads to the stairs is finally broken down by blue flames and Ohtsu joins the battle. "Yuuta, Momoka, Koyomi and Michiru, go up to Z-Loan. Bekko has something for you from the Wheel of Fate." He looks at the new member of the group, a man with blonde hair and green eyes, "go with them."
"Blue fire?" Yuuri stares at the blue flames, so many secrets are being revealed all at once.
"Dad, let's go, he's on our side," Momoka starts p the stairs, "be careful Chika!" she calls back to her brother.
"Don't worry Momoka, your big brother won't lose," Chika assures her and the glimmer of hope that suddenly appears bothers the reaper.
While Momoka, Yuuri, Michiru, Yomi and Yuuta go up the stairs, the reaper literally roots herself to the floor, her legs melting together. The building emits extreme heat and metallic tentacles with unnatural flexibility that solid metal should not have, break through the floor rapidly and try to grab Shito, Chika, Sotetsu and Ohtsu.
They continue up the stairs until they reach the Z-Loan office. Bekko doesn't look surprised to see them, as if someone has already told him this would happen. "You've all made it, the best possibility out of all the future I saw."
"This is the ferryman?" Yuuri asks, Bekko matches the description but doesn't look like a special being right now. Even so Yuuri knows there must be something about him, something hidden.
"Yes, I am the ferryman Bekko, nice to meet you. If you happen to die and your soul is not guided, if it is possible to somewhat logically explain your survival, consider signing up for a zombie loan." Not surprisingly Bekko finds the time to offer his services.
"Never mind that, aren't you supposed to have something that can help us?" Yomi asks.
"I do indeed. This is something the Wheel of Fate has sent for those who cannot use plasma. They are enlisting your help for the mutual benefit. Now that the negotiations between the Underworld that maintains the ancient cycle and the Wheel of Fate that tries to break it, have come to an agreement, the Keeper of the Key was finally heard and both sides are being mobilized to release and to entrap, if possible." Bekko's explanation leaves them all confused, and somehow they know he isn't planning to clarify.
Chapter 23
The building shakes bringing an even bigger sense of urgency. "Bekko!" Yuuta, Kenken and Konkon half scold and half complain in unison.
"Right, the items Carmella delivered from the Wheel of Fate." Bekko pulls a large box from under his desk. He opens it and start pulling out several items. "Michiru take this," Bekko gives her a bow but no arrows. "If you will the string back, an arrow will form. This weapon works with your energy so do not overuse it or you might exhaust yourself or even kill yourself."
"I finally have my own weapon..." Michiru accepts the bow. During her time with Z-Loan she was always the gopher as Chika said, the one to find the zombies and an important part of the team, but when ever she had fought it had been with a borrowed weapon or a regular one.
"Koyomi and Yomi, this is yours," Bekko retrieves a whip from the box and hands it to Yomi. "You may use your energy to control the whip's movements and wrap it tightly against a foe. The more it squeezes the target and the stronger the target struggles the more energy it will take. I give you the same warning I gave Michiru."
"Well it's about time we got to join the battle." Yomi takes the whips and heads towards the door. "I guess you have something for everyone don't you? We'll go on ahead, let's go Chiru chiru."
"Right," Michiru nods and starts down the stairs along with Yomi.
"Yuuta, this is..." Bekko pulls out a sling shot and looks at it. "If you pull it back stones will form by themselves and similar to Michiru's bow it requires energy. But this is..."
"I love it, Kenken and Konkon will work hard," Yuuta takes the sling shot. "Kenken and Konkon will take care of the weapon and ammunition and I'll aim," Yuuta pulls the slingshot back, a pebble forming in it. He shoot, the pebble hits the wall and explodes.
"I thought there was something odd about that sling shot. It seems that its ammunition are tiny explosives," Bekko speaks naturally as if it was not surprising at all. His tone is still the same bored indifferent tone he always carries.
"Then I'll go help them!" Yuuta rushes down the stairs.
"Momoka, you're a bit new at this but the Wheel of Fortune delivered a weapon for you too." Bekko pulls out a fan made of long daggers. "This works as both a weapon and a shield. You can extend them to sword length with your energy, good for taking an opponent by surprise if they don't know this."
Momoka takes the dagger fan waves it around slashing the air. "I'm ready," she's not experienced at this but she has gained a fighting spirit watching her brother.
"Both my little squirrels are going to battle? I can't stand by just like that," Yuuri looks into the box realizing it's dark and bottomless, which would explain how everything fit in it despite the space all the weapons would normally take. He jumps back. "What kind of box is that?"
"Not the most special box," Bekko replies with a tone that hints there more to it than what he is saying. "I do have something for you as well." Bekkos takes out a pair of golden wristbands from the box, that matched Yuuri's hair.
"This is very nice but how do I defend my little darlings with this?" A golden ninja star apparels in Yuuri's hand and is rocketed past Bekko cutting off a few hairs.
Bekkos raises an eyebrow, looking at the hairs that fell on his desk. "It seems you have your targets mixes up. You should throw those at the enemy."
"Sorry about that!" Yuuri apologizes and rushes down the stairs with Momoka.
xoxox xox xoxox
The first floor is dark and intensely hot. There are metal thorns and needles all over the place, Sotetsu, Chika and Shito have many wounds, though none are too deep. The reaper does not intend to kill them yet. Her target will be either Michiru or Momoka because she is too stubborn to lose her little game, even if she could just as easily kill them all.
Sotetsu is exhausted, when ever his axe is broken it takes it's toll, having to use so much plasma to form it again. Chika is alive now and stress, loss of blood and lack of sleep affect him more than before. Shito's bullets have ran out, he too lives and is affected as a living being. He uses his gun to hit the reaper even if he is more used to the distance attacks.
"Forget what I said, I haven't lived enough yet after all," Michiru shots arrow after arrow at the reaper. Though the arrows themselves do no damage, something bothers her.
"Shouldn't you know it by now? Not even death can stop us." Yomi throws her whip, guiding its path and wrapping it around the reaper. She tightens the whip around the reaper, closing her eyes tightly and when she opens them one is red and one is violet. The weapon becomes twice as strong with Yomi and Koyomi coexisting with two minds in one body, both awake at the same time. The metal around the reaper appears to melt away, leaving her as a skeleton with traces of rotting flesh.
Yuuta comes running down the stairs, he shoots the sling shot, the continuous explosions creating a flashing light. "Kenken, Konkon work together and so do we. There's no way you can win!"
Momoka and Yuuri also arrive at the first floor. "I'll fight too, and I'll win," for her first active battle Momoka is very energetic. Much more than she eves was, as is she was letting go of her shell of indifference.
"And I will help my little squirrels and their friends!" Yuuri shoots ninja starts at the reaper.
Ohtsu's blue flames surround the evil creature but Koyomi and Yomi's whip is not affected by them. "She's not invincible," Ohtsu realizes. "Just now, I felt her energy weaken."
Chapter 24
The reaper screams in anger. She hates it when mortals don't cower in fear; she hates it when they don't understand that resistance won't work. But she is also stubborn and wishes to win by her own twisted rules. Thousands of needles fly in every direction, injuring everyone. Out of patience, and no longer enjoying this was much as before, the reaper flies towards Michiru who shoots many arrows but it doesn't work fast enough.
A pair of skeletal hands wrap themselves around Michiru's throat, several arrows stuck between the arm bones. All those present rush to get the reaper away from Michiru as her oxygen begins to run out.
Many sword-like giant needles emerge from the reaper's skeleton body, piercing her already tattered cloak. They reach Chika Shito and Sotetsu who were closest. Though Sotetsu is a zombie by choice and a hole though the heart cannot kill him, it still causes immense pain. The wounds Chika and Shito receive though arms, shoulders and legs, are not mortal but painful.
"Don't hurt my little squirrels!" Yuuri tosses a rain of ninja star at the reaper; they get stuck on the remains of her cloak but make no damage. He tries to pull Chika out while Momoka slashes away at the reaper, only damaging the fabric of the clock until fall in ribbons.
Ohtsu has to make his blue flames disappear to avoid burning his allies and Yuuta can't risk them being caught in the explosions. Yomi and Koyomi trying to pull the reaper off Michiru but it doesn't work, nothing's enough, and the familiar feeling of frustration, anger and hopelessness returns.
Black feathers mysteriously rain inside the building. The light is gone, leaving everyone in a darkness where they cannot see, but they feel. They feel the soft feathers as they fall, brushing against their bloodstained skin, the gentleness contrasting greatly with the intensity of their pain.
Everyone happens in a split second, the glimmer of a scythe is seen though there is no light, as if that shine came from the weapon itself as it irradiates darkness in a strange contradiction. He being carrying the scythe flies down as Michiru's neck snaps, and her would be savior cuts the evil reaper's skeleton hand with his scythe.
"Zarame..." They are sure they heard Michiru's voice, but she should not have been able to speak with her supply of oxygen cut off.
The evil reaper fades away and the building's electricity returns, light effulging the first floor and making them realize how serious their wounds are, though not deadly, quite painful. The floor is a pool of blood, with the same red substance dripping off everyone from their numerous cuts.
Michiru's head is hanging off her neck at an impossible angle. Her green eyes are still open but look completely lifeless and her body is limp. "Michiru!" They all call to her, they all wish for her to return but she is apparently dead.
Bekko stands to the side watching the events unfold. "If she can be beaten after all, if the Underworld has sided with the Wheel of Fate..." Bekko mutters to himself.
All the attention in the room is focused on lifeless body Zarame holds. With his core restores he is back to his normal shape, though he disappeared for some time and no one knows his reasons.
"Bekko..." Zarame looks towards the ferryman and that is when everyone notices that Bekko is there.
"She was not guided?" Shito asks, he has been told about the evil reaper guiding the soul of their victims soon after the killings to avoid having them return as zombies.
"Since her soul wasn't in her body when the body was killed, I don't even think she died at all. Yuuta, repair her, I will re-attach the soul Zarame removed," Bekko explains, and a collective sigh of relief fills the room.
"Right away!" Yuuta starts working on healing Michiru's body so that her soul may be reattached.
"They can't see me right?" The ghost of Michiru is invisible for all but the ferryman and reapers.
"I was late, but you will be saved," Zarame replies, holding her hand so that her soul will not wander off. Souls that are detached from their body lack of sense of time space and direction in the physical world and can easily wander off, even unintentionally.
"Why did you leave in the first place?" Michru searches for any form of expression on Zarame's face but find nothing.
"I had my reasons," is Zarame's only reply.
They stand in silence after that, as Yuuta finishes the healing and falls in exhaustation. "I think I'll need to take a break before healing everyone else," the young healer speaks between cut off breaths.
"This will be enough," Bokke gets ready to reattach Michiru's soul. "Not much time has passed so it should be easy." He retrieves a piece of thread from his pocket and ties it around Michiru's neck were a black ring would have been if it had been her time.
Michiru's soul feels her body pulling her back in and goes along wit the strange magnetism until her soul is once again restored to her body.
"She'll be sleeping for some time," Bekko checks Michiru's vital signs and finds that her heart is beating and she is breathing. "But she is alive, not even a zombie but alive... It's a pity I couldn't sell a zombie loan, but soul reattachments are not cheap." The group is not surprised by Bekko's comment, is it to be expected from the money loving ferryman.
At least this time they got through the battle with no casualties and their group has become stronger. Still they wonder what will happen next, if the reaper will return after Michiru or even Momoka as a result of Michiru's life being saved. Or she she'll finally throw her game away and look at them as a thread to be eliminated. Either way it was time to take action, their next objective was to heal and recover as fast as possible and find Kuze. The keeper of the key most likely held the answer and they would let her know she does not need to face it alone.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Zombie Loan. Chapter 18 has a reference to Fullmetal Alchemist at the end. Chapter 20 has a the Final Fantasy VII reference. Written for Snow's challange at Plot Whole.
Chapter 17
"You've missed a lot!" Yuuta starts to tell Shito the story of what's been going on, as summarized as possible since they don't have much time. "A crazy reaper girl is stalking Chika. She's been killing people who don't even have black rings and Bekko can't do anything about it. Ohtsu investigated by himself but Bekko has mostly been avoiding her. She nearly killed Koyomi but Yomi saved her. I just got a call that Michiru was hurt so I'm on my way to heal..." Yuuta runs into an invisible wall. He is thrown back with the impact and rubs his nose. "Ow!"
Shito reaches for the apparently empty space and his hand comes into contact with a solid wall he cannot see. "This is the work of the reaper you mentioned?"
"Most likely..." Yuuta listens for any signs of their friends. He doesn't like what he's hearing. "It sounds like Chika, Michiru and Momoka are still there!"
Shito pulls out his gun, though not made of plasma; it's still an effective weapon. "Stand back Yuuta."
Yuuta jumped out of the way and Shito shoots. The bullet bounces off the invisible wall and flies off in the opposite direction between Shito and Yuuta. "That's a bit dangerous..." Yuuta looks at the damage done by the bullet to a car that was parked on the other side of the street. Fortunately no one was hurt and there are no people around to see them.
Shito hits the invisible wall with the gun's handle but it doesn't work. It feels as if he's hitting a solid wall but he can't see anything there.
Inside the house, Chika has gotten his katana and is fighting against Ceviru but it is not working. When ever he makes a cut it is not as deep as it should be and it instantly heals itself. Michiru and Momoka throw random items at the three headed canine but nothing does any damage.
The dog catches Chika's sword in his mouth and breaks it, leaving Chika with only the handle. "Run!" Chika calls out to Michiru and Momoka.
"Chika, why aren't you running?" Michiru stops a after running only a few steps away.
"Brother! You can't be thinking about fighting that thing?" Momoka hates the way things are going. She knows that Chika is doing this for her. He has always been the brother she ignored for so long, but was always there. Now he is the brother who gives her hope and protects her, and is still always there. "Chika!"
Ceviru jumps on Chika knocking him against a wall. Chika wraps his hands around the neck of the middle head, holding it at a distance and pulling the other three along. "Find a way out, quick! I'll go too as soon as you find the exit!" Ceviru, growls, barks and howls. He scratches at Chika with his claws but can't bite him with his hands firmly around the middle head's neck.
"Michiru, split up and search for a way out fast, my brother can get really stubborn sometimes," though Momoka knows splitting is not the best idea, even in the relatively short distance on the inside of the house, if they split up they might find a way out faster and Chika would stop stubbornly playing the hero. Momoka and Michiru dash in opposite directions. Trying to open or break the windows and back door.
Outside Yuuta and Shito are trying to make their way in, this time without the use of bullets but they can't break through the invisible wall and they can't find a way around it. It surrounds Michiru's house preventing them from going in to help their friends.
A dark shadowy figure floats above them, watching with interest. Shito looks up and spots the reaper floating above. Her appearance is of a seemingly empty black ragged clock with bloody stains and glowing yellow eyes. "The reaper?"
"It's her! She can change the way she looks!" But no matter what she looks like, they somehow recognize her, they feel her evil precense when ever she appears.
Shito shoots and the bullets pierce the black clock as if it were really empty and have no effect on the reaper. She is definitely no ordinary reaper.
Yuuta shakes his head, "that won't work, she's pretty much invincible." That makes it sounds as if it were all hopeless, yet there they are, willing to keep fighting and not give up.
Soft footsteps are heard as if they were the only sound, drowning out the noises from the house even if they are much louder. A young girl arrives out of breath from all the running. She looks up at the reaper.
"The keeper of the key..." The reaper watched Kuze, chairperson and keeper of the key. "Do what you will, but in the end it will all be hopeless. Little by little, I'll drain your hopes away, until you're all broken and hopeless!" The reaper laughs evilly and disappears.
The keeper of the key approaches. "I am only the keeper of the key, this is a problem of humanity I cannot solve but... I can't stand by and do nothing." It becomes obvious that Kuze knows more about the reaper than they thought. "I will open this," she reveals a hidden necklace with a key. The key glows and the sound of shattering glass is loudly herd, but nothing appears to look different.
Shito reached for the invisible wall but it is gone. "Yuuta, Chairperson, stay here," he doesn't know the details but that can be explained later. Shito rushed into the house. He shoots the door's lock off and kicks it open.
Chapter 18
Chika is fighting with Ceviru inside the house. "Akatsuki!" The door is kicked open and Shito arrives. "Don't move!"
Chika holds Ceviru as still as possible and Shito shoots. The bullet goes through all three head and Chika kicks the dog away. Momoka and Michiru return hearing the noise. "Shito!"
Ceviru gets up, the bullet holes in his three heads healing as if it were nothing. "Hold him back while I seal him," Kuze's key glows brightly. Shito shoots continuously until Ceviru is envelop in a bright azure light, becoming ghostly until he disappears. "He has retuned home," Kuze is out of breath. This is a much more challenging task than opening a door, as she did with Pochi. Her heart pounds, her breathing takes more effort and the worlds around her fades.
Koyomi and Sotetsu arrive, but it had all ended by now. Ohtsu also gets there and takes them to the Z-Loan office at Bekko's request.
xoxox xox xoxox
Pochi stays by Kuze's side while she remains unconscious, her energy was exhausted so it is understandable.
"Why I don't get," Sotetsu, the one who ended up with the task of carrying the other boy asks, "why is Chika asleep." Chika had been fine, scratched and bloody, but well enough after his battle with Ceviru, then suddenly a dark precense was felt and he was in a deep sleep.
"Well it's not poison," Yuuta confirms. It had been their initial worry, that the scratches Chika got from Ceviru had somehow poisoned him.
"A small portion of the reaper's spirit is in Chika's mind. When the keeper of the key collapsed of exhaustation, that is what happened," all eyes gaze towards Bekko. "I tried to tell you that nothing can be done. This I something the keeper of the key knows."
"And you won't tell us so we need to ask her?" Shito had been put up to date in the situation, but with the recent events the group realized that they knew so much less than they thought.
"I don't know all the details," Bekko admits, though it sounds more as if he isn't supposed to know the details but does.
xoxox xox xoxox
"Chika... Chika..." A ghastly voice distantly echoes. The atmosphere is dark and carries the foul scent of death.
"Where are you?!" Chika yells. Something tries to pull him down; he tries to step away and realizes he is surrounded by rotting corpses. The corpses are not strong enough to stand upright but the won't let go of his feet and legs. Chika struggles to get away from them until he reaches a small hill that somehow they can't climb.
"Welcome to the empty space between death and the afterlife, the place were people end up if not heaven or hell welcomes them." An eerie voice pierces the dark atmosphere, the murmurs and laments of the corpses still lingering in the background.
"Reaper!" Chika searches for the source of the voice and find the reaper in the shape of an angel, something she was not.
The reaper's hair is long and golden, her eyes a pale blue. She wears white robes with an overload of golden jeweler, bracelets, ankles, necklaces, earrings, belts and chains that encircle her body from her golden hair to her bare feet. "Dear Chika I came to watch you bid farewell to all your hopes."
"I'm not giving up, no matter what, I'll live." Chika speaks with such certainty that it bothers the reaper.
"Foolish mortal!" She screams, her white robes gain blood stains, her golden hair becomes uneven, poorly groomed and looses it's shine, her eyes become bloodshot and yellow. "Why do you insist on holding on to your hopes when I can take your sister's life and yours. M is for Momoka!"
"No!" Chika realizes just how hopeless everything has been from the start. When Yomi was able to save Koyomi they thought there might be a way, but the process of a legal name change is slow and would not be done in time to throw off the reaper's game. There is also the possibility that the reaper becomes tied of such games and stops killing by the letters of the alphabet.
The reaper laughs evilly, she disappears for some time and leaves Chika alone in that place. The Chika in the in between in merely a projection of his soul, his body still sleeping at Z-Loan. A live human cannot survive the toxic air of that place, the foul scent, the heave sense of despair and suffering, and even for a mere projection it is overwhelming.
The reaper returns, still in her evil looking form. She drops a scythe in front of Chika. "Pick it up and you will accept my terms."
"I'm not going to make a deal with you!" Chika yells in anger.
"You have little choice in the matter. If you wish for me to spare Momoka, then you'll have to amuse me... Give me all your hate Chika Akatsuki, I love your feelings of hopelessness, focus them on me. Take the scythe and kill who ever I order you to kill. They will most likely be strangers to you. Will you trade their lives for Momoka?"
"I..." he would, Chika was not going to deny that the life of his dear sister was more precious to him than all the strangers in the world. To be protected in such a way was morbid to say the least, not the kind of heroics one would want to do to preserve their life. But the fact still stands, Momoka is more important. For a human, partial and biased, not all lives have the same value, loves ones are always the priority, even if strangers have friends who would miss them too.
Chapter 19
Chika wakes up and everyone immediately gathers around him. The questions swirl around, he doesn't quite catch all of them and feels light headed. "It's nothing, I'm fine." He knows at some point someone asked something like that. He sits up on one of the couches at the Z-Loan office and notices that the chairperson occupies the other. "What happened to her?"
"She exhausted her energy," Bekko replies. "You'd best ask her about this later if you still wish to know, but it's best not to know."
"Why did you call us here then?" Sotetsu asks, his patience starting to run dry.
"She should be here soon..." The ferryman is purposely ambiguous which aggravates everyone else there.
The door to the office is opened and Ohtsu steps in. following him, a woman dressed in a business suit comes in. Her hair is pulled back in a bun save for a strand that falls on the side of her face. "Greetings, I am Carmella." The woman introduces herself.
"Our special guest is here," Bekko announces.
They all gather around Carmella anxious to hear some much needed explanations. "The Wheel of Fate has been investigating the incidents caused by the mysterious reaper... So far we have found that the item needed to stop her was indeed stolen. That is all for now."
The group stares with wide eyes, Chika, Shito, Sotetsu, Koyomi, Yuuta, Michiru and Momoka all sharing the same surprised expression. Ohtsu looks annoyed and Bekko looks indifferent.
Reading their expressions easily, Carmella decides to elaborate. "There is a certain item related to the reaper who is no ordinary reaper. We in the Wheel of Fate thought the item was being kept hidden and unreasonably protected, but it was in fact missing as the leader of the ferrymen had said. The Wheel of Fate can now continue investigations towards finding it. You see, because we thought it was hidden in the underworld, we had not started looking for it anywhere else until now. As requested by the ferryman Bekko I am giving you this update. Please pass this message to the keeper of the key, the Wheel of Fate has decided to take action, we will find the item and bring the chance the world has been waiting for." Carmella starts to leave.
"Wait!" Chika stops her. "That's all you're going to say? What's the item you're looking for? If it can stop the reaper I'll search for it too."
The others join in with a chorus of "me too."
"Quite frankly," Carmella speaks in a calm tone, "there is nothing you could do. But if you must then ask the keeper of the key and she will tell you." Carmella leaves, her visit had brought more questions than answers.
xoxox xox xoxox
Time passes and the lives of the Z-loan team become quiet. Kuze had admitted she was not sure what exactly she was searching for, and only the keeper of the key would know when she saw it. Until then it was a search in total darkness. She departed for an unknown location with Pochi, and things got quiet after that.
Chika and Momoka are at their house with Yuuri. "It sure is storming out there," Yuuri looks out the window. Heavy rain falls and the wind howls. A strange fog covers the near by area and lighting crashes on a tree near by causing Yuuri to jump and quickly sloe the window. "Maybe we should all just get some sleep."
The light flash, they go off for a few seconds then the electricity returns. Chika isn't sure who was more frightened, if his father or sister. "Go to sleep Momoka, the bad whether will be gone in the morning."
"Yes..." Momoka has a bad feeling about the gloomy atmosphere, she wonders if the reaper will return.
"Good night my little squirrels!" Yuuri tries to sound cheerful as if he wants to cancel out the gloomy mood from the bad whether.
Chika and Momoka go to their respective rooms and try to sleep. The past few days have been very quiet, probably the reaper trying to stress them out. They didn't know when she was coming back, but she would return eventually, that they knew for sure.
xoxox xox xoxox
"This house still bothers Michiru after all that's happened here." Sotetsu flips channels on the TV. "But it's not the house, it's the reaper."
"But don't you think it's really creepy seeing your dog's body in pieces, and being chased around by a hell dog all in the same house?" Yuuta asks; Kenken and Konkon make nod-like motions in agreement.
"She shouldn't let the reaper make her give up this house," Shito finally speaks up after remaining quiet for most of the night.
Michiru has gone to leave with Koyomi at her apartment. She is frightened by Yomi, but even more afraid of the reaper and she knows Yomi would protect them if needed, even if it didn't make a huge difference in the end... She has offered her house to Shito so he may stay there since he has recently arrived in Japan and is not yet settled in. Sotetsu and Yuuta are staying there as well, which sometimes is a little aggravating for Shito, but he prefers to be around them than in the mafia hideout in Japan.
"We're not going to let her make anyone give anything up!" The past few quiet days were not only bringing tension for most of them, but for Sotetsu they brought expectations for the situation to take a turn in their favor. "Tomorrow we'll start the search for Zarame, Michiru doesn't know where he went but he couldn't have just disappeared."
"I agree," Shito voices. "Zarame might know more about the item the chairperson is searching for." They are all up to date in the situation, Shito included and starting tomorrow they would no longer wait for the reaper to make her move. They would start the search, even if they still have no idea where to start.
Chapter 20
"Chiru chiru... Chiru chiru..."
Michiru wakes up suddenly. She sits up and frantically reaches for the lamp as seeking the comfort of the light. Her heart pounds with fear and worry, but when the room comes into focus she finds herself alone. Michiru takes a deep breath, tries to tell herself it was only her imagination or a dream and turns the light back off. Thunder crashes in the distance, the wind howls lightly and the room momentarily lights up revealing the silhouette of a woman in the shadows.
"Chiru chiru..."
Michiru turns the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed back on, nearly knocking it down in the process. However this time the familiar light does not fill the room and Michiru feels around the nightstand searching for the flashlight she left there in case there was a blackout. She feels the plug of the lamp that should have been on the wall but the flashlight is gone.
"Chiru chiru..."
Though the voice is gentle, Michiru feels a certain evil and cruel undertone. She freezes up for a few seconds, eyes tightly closed, wishing that it was all just a nightmare, but it's real. Michiru tried to make her body respond, slowly, trembling, mind filled with the images of Leon's cruel torture and death, Michiru nearly falls off her bed trying to find the electric outlet to plug the lamp back in, and for a split second the room is filled with a dim light but before Michiru can look away from the lamp, lightning crashes and her shaking hands pulls the plug out.
Michiru moves to a corner of the room, the corner she thinks is opposite to where the reaper is. Though back in the park she faces the reaper, the pain is strong tonight and the feeling of being helpless makes her fear. She takes slow deep breaths and makes her way back towards the lamp. She plugs it in but nothing happens.
"Chiru chiru..."
Michiru wonders if the electricity has gone out, she wonders if Koyomi is alright, she wonders how long she has to live. She reaches around the nightstand once again searching for the flashlight, but it's not there. Instead her hand comes into contact with the area where the lamp's cover should but, but instead she touches the broken light bulb and cuts her finger.
"Ouch!" Instinctively Michiru puts her injured finger in her mouth, the taste of her own blood immediately making her sick. She has seen too much blood and does not want to taste it. She removes her finger from her mouth and clutches it in her other hand. "I know you're there." She has had enough to the reaper's game and does not wish to entertain the evil creature more.
"Of course I'm here," Michiru feels someone hug her, she struggles but it's of no use. "Don't cry Michiru."
A flashlight is placed in Michiru's hands and she debates turning it on or not. But just because she is hidden by the darkness doesn't mean she's not there. Michiru turns the flashlight on, the sight before her shocking her beyond words as more tears escape.
"Don't cry my little girl, mother is here." The reaper speaks softly yet cruelly. Her form is similar to Michiru's mother, with a black right around her neck as well.
Michiru breaks away from the embrace and finally finds her voice. "How dare you copy her form?!"
In her room, Koyomi hears Michiru yelling and wakes up. "Michiru?" Yomi takes over and rushes to find Michiru, but the door to the guest room is locked.
Michiru hears the knocking on the door and knows it's Koyomi, or most likely Yomi. "Run away, she's here!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!" Yomi yells back from the other side of the door.
"My baby girl, don't worry," the reaper speaks in a mocking voice. "Dear daughter you will soon be reunited with me, so that his hope may be taken away little by little and death may enjoy it."
Michiru stares at the reaper, the flashlight slipping out of her hand. "I'm her replacement... I'm Momoka's replacement, you're saving his sister for the final blow, you want to torture Chika longer so this time it's me who will die."
"Michiru! Open the door!" Yomi continued to pound on the door.
"Come with me, dear daughter..." the reaper's tone is now completely evil, eyes glowing red.
"I see, so this really is my destiny, I won't give you the pleasure of begging or screaming." Michiru tries to hold back her tears, staring at the flashlight on the floor. "I can never forgive you for all that you've done, and coming to me in this form." She slowly looks up, face filled with anger and frustration. "You will be stopped, even if I die my friends will stop you, they'll avenge me and destroy you." She has become stronger over the years; she won't go down in fear, if she must go. "Fine then, I'll take Momoka's place..." She says the last part louder, enough fort Yomi to hear. "M is for Michiru."
Yomi's punches and kicks to the door become stronger and panicked. "No! You can't kill her! Stay away from Michiru you damn reaper!"
With the reaper's evil sadistic laugh echoing, Michiru and her captor disappear. Michiru is held above the space in between life and death. Corpses reach up to her, despair fills the air, the scent is foul and toxic but it only lasts a split second. Michiru survives, gasping for breath, skin turning an unnatural purple. She has been tossed on the floor of a different room.
Hearing the sounds, Chika wakes up and turns the lights on. Thunder crashes and the electricity flashes at its rhythm then stabilizes once again. "Michiru!"
"It is time to keep your end of the deal, Chika Akatsuki." The reaper changes her appearance to look like Chika's mother this time seeing as the form of Michiru's mother upset her so much. "I came to give you a choice my little one."
Chapter 21
Chika knows that when the reaper says there is a choice, the only choice is bad or worse. The reaper drops a scythe, Chika takes it and attacks her, angry for all she has done for trying to impersonate his mother. The reaper makes Michiru float in front of her and Chika stops with the scythe inches away from her.
"Don't stop, Chika," The reaper looks amused. "I am giving you a choice. Kill Michiru or I will kill Momoka."
"Damn reaper, I'll kill you!" Chika pushes Michiru out of the way and decapitates the reaper. Her head falls off, but he knows she's not dead, she can't die, she's only doing this in the shape of his mother to bother him.
"Chika?" Yuuri wakes up and goes over to see what Chika is doing. "You're still awake, playing videogames?" He opens the door to find the decapitated image of his dead wife. He stands at the door staring at the scene.
"Dad..." Chika doesn't want his father involved in this, he doesn't want anyone else to be in danger.
The headless body of the reaper picks up the bloodied head while blood continues to flow out from the neck. "Good to see you again dear."
"Michiru let's go!" Chika calls to Michiru and drags his father along. "Momoka!"
Chika's younger sister wakes up. Her brother sounds alarmed. "Chika? What's wrong?" She notices he is holding a scythe in one hand, pulling their shocked father by the arm with another. Michiru is there as well. "She's back."
"We're going to Z-Loan," maybe if they make it there, they will have a better chance.
"Z-Loan..." Yuuri finally manages to find his voice. "Chika, what's happening, who was that, it wasn't her, it couldn't have been..."
"There's no time to explain," Chika tried to calm his father. "Of course that wasn't mom, just an evil sadistic reaper who's been stalking me. I'll explain later, let's get out of here. The ferryman will just have to get involved like it or not."
Yuuri isn't sure what this is about, but he knows there's danger. Millions of questions float in his had, but he knows now isn't the time to ask and simply trusts his son to explain it later.
"I'll drive, okay?" Chika grabs the car keys as they hurry out. Yuuri only nods in response and the Akatsukis rush to Yuui's car.
Michiru stays behind and almost starts running back to the house but Chika stops her and pushes her into the back seat with Momoka. "You're not going back there. I'm not going to choose, you're both going to live." Chika drives off faster than any sane person would in that weather, but an evil sadistic reaper could do a lot more damage than reckless driving.
"Chika, isn't that Z-Loan place the office where you worked? Why are we going there?" To Yuuri, Z-Loan is just a normal loan office and he doesn't know what they could find there that would save them. "Who is the ferryman?"
"Ever hear of the ferrymen in mythology? He's something like that but it's all real. It's supposed to be a secret but I was a zombie for a year, that's why I didn't come home. You already saw a reaper so I'll tell you later." Chika turns a corner, the tired screeching and the car sliding in the wet road.
"Why did you hide a thing like that? And what do you mean you were a zombie, you didn't smell weird to me." This is a lot for Yuuri to take in all of a sudden.
"Not all zombies are rotten," the blurry image of someone crossing the road is barely seen. "Shit!" Chika stomps on the breaks but the car won't stop. He looks out the door, ran soaking him, thunder clashes and lights up the road, the wind blows playing with the long hair of the girl on the road. Pigtails, she has long lavender pigtails like Michiru used to have, a pair of cracked glass lay beside her. "Michiru..." Chika continues speeding dangerously down the road.
"Chika!" Yuuri looks back at the girl on the road. "Didn't you hit someone back there?"
"No, that was the reaper trying to trick us," It is true that the reaper could simply stop them but that isn't her style, she likes tricks, deception and cruel torture.
"She's telling you to kill me," Michiru chokes out, glancing at the scythe that Yuuri is awkwardly holding while Chika drives.
"But that' not going to happen," Chika assures her. The car comes to a stop in front of the Z-Loan office building.
Momoka's voice talking on the cellphone with the rest of the group is lost with the heavy sounds of falling rain, crashing thunder and howling wind. It is convenient she never lets go of her cellphone. "Everyone is on their way."
"Then let's go, the ferryman practically never leaves the office," Chika had a feeling that Bekko might have left this time, but he could only know for sure if he went up and checked.
"Is this ferryman some kind of mythological creature with super powers?" Yuuri asks.
"No, he's a bored looking man who loves money," Chika replies. They exit the car in the storm, Chika once again receiving the scythe. They rush towards the elevators but the light in the buttons go out as does the electricity in the building. The only light left is the faint glow of Momoka's cellphone. "We'll have to take the stairs."
Chapter 22
Chika tries to open the door leading to the stairs. The rain subsides, the wind stops howling and the skies light up in lightning one last time, then everything becomes silent. It is so quiet that footsteps can be clearly heard even if they would have been lost in the noises of the building's daily business. Someone is coming down the stairs, but the door leading to them is locked.
The reaper enters the building and find the group. She slowly approaches and Chika readies his scythe. He swings it as if it were a sword, the weapon he is used to, and the blade clashed with the reaper making a sounds akin to metal crashing on metal. The human-like flesh is pealed away leaving a bloody mess that drips continuously to the floor at her feet, and a metal silhouette emerges from under the cut skin. The silver being, hardly in the shape of a disproportioned human, continues to advance as Chika hits her over and over to no avail.
A rain of bullets collides against the silver being, denting her than falling on the floor as if they were thrown instead of shot. Shito has just arrived; he continues to shoot until his gun requires to be recharged, but there has been no effect.
The person who had been going down the stairs reaches the bottom and twists the doorknob but it is somehow locked from both sides.
Sotetsu, who has chosen to remain a zombie for some time is there the attacks the metallic reaper with his axe but the weapon breaks up causing him pain.
"Sotetsu! Michiru!" Koyomi calls out to them.
Yomi takes over and rushes towards Michiru. "Chiru chiru." She hugs the other girl.
"Yomi, please stop, I have to end this, for now at least." Michiru slips away.
"Chika, it's alright, I was able to live longer even after I saw a black ring around my neck. I was even able to avoid becoming a zombie. Zarame isn't here, but where ever he is, maybe I'll find him after she guides me. I won't be alone," Michiru steps forward. "Live on, find a way to defeat her; a reaper like her can't keep getting away with this forever."
Chika looks at Yomi and nods. Yomi understands, tackles Michiru and covers her mouth with her hand. "Be quiet Chiru chiru, there will be no noble sacrifices tonight, understand?" Michiru tried to say something but she could not speak. "Good girl, Chiru chiru."
Sotetsu forms another axe with plasma, Chika gets read for battle again and Shito reloads his gun. Sotetsu and Chika attack at the same time. They hit the reaper many times but other than making noise, nothing happens. They both step back and Shito sends another round of bullets her way but the effect is the same as before.
The reaper turns her finger into knives, extending them several feet as the cheesy plastic plant that was left forgotten in the first floor of the building collides with her newly formed giant sword-like needles. All eyes look towards Yuuri who threw the oversized plant. "Does anyone have a cross? You use to have one to go with your uniform, do you have it?" He asks Chika.
"Even if I did it won't work." Chika explains. "Real reapers can't be defeated with a cross, or holy water or a stake through the heart-"
"Or any of the things we haven't even tried?" Yuuta asks. "Why not?"
"Fine then, let's try all of that when we get out of here alive," Chika attacks once again, joined by Sotetsu and Shito shoots. The reaper is simply amusing herself watching their futile efforts.
The door that leads to the stairs is finally broken down by blue flames and Ohtsu joins the battle. "Yuuta, Momoka, Koyomi and Michiru, go up to Z-Loan. Bekko has something for you from the Wheel of Fate." He looks at the new member of the group, a man with blonde hair and green eyes, "go with them."
"Blue fire?" Yuuri stares at the blue flames, so many secrets are being revealed all at once.
"Dad, let's go, he's on our side," Momoka starts p the stairs, "be careful Chika!" she calls back to her brother.
"Don't worry Momoka, your big brother won't lose," Chika assures her and the glimmer of hope that suddenly appears bothers the reaper.
While Momoka, Yuuri, Michiru, Yomi and Yuuta go up the stairs, the reaper literally roots herself to the floor, her legs melting together. The building emits extreme heat and metallic tentacles with unnatural flexibility that solid metal should not have, break through the floor rapidly and try to grab Shito, Chika, Sotetsu and Ohtsu.
They continue up the stairs until they reach the Z-Loan office. Bekko doesn't look surprised to see them, as if someone has already told him this would happen. "You've all made it, the best possibility out of all the future I saw."
"This is the ferryman?" Yuuri asks, Bekko matches the description but doesn't look like a special being right now. Even so Yuuri knows there must be something about him, something hidden.
"Yes, I am the ferryman Bekko, nice to meet you. If you happen to die and your soul is not guided, if it is possible to somewhat logically explain your survival, consider signing up for a zombie loan." Not surprisingly Bekko finds the time to offer his services.
"Never mind that, aren't you supposed to have something that can help us?" Yomi asks.
"I do indeed. This is something the Wheel of Fate has sent for those who cannot use plasma. They are enlisting your help for the mutual benefit. Now that the negotiations between the Underworld that maintains the ancient cycle and the Wheel of Fate that tries to break it, have come to an agreement, the Keeper of the Key was finally heard and both sides are being mobilized to release and to entrap, if possible." Bekko's explanation leaves them all confused, and somehow they know he isn't planning to clarify.
Chapter 23
The building shakes bringing an even bigger sense of urgency. "Bekko!" Yuuta, Kenken and Konkon half scold and half complain in unison.
"Right, the items Carmella delivered from the Wheel of Fate." Bekko pulls a large box from under his desk. He opens it and start pulling out several items. "Michiru take this," Bekko gives her a bow but no arrows. "If you will the string back, an arrow will form. This weapon works with your energy so do not overuse it or you might exhaust yourself or even kill yourself."
"I finally have my own weapon..." Michiru accepts the bow. During her time with Z-Loan she was always the gopher as Chika said, the one to find the zombies and an important part of the team, but when ever she had fought it had been with a borrowed weapon or a regular one.
"Koyomi and Yomi, this is yours," Bekko retrieves a whip from the box and hands it to Yomi. "You may use your energy to control the whip's movements and wrap it tightly against a foe. The more it squeezes the target and the stronger the target struggles the more energy it will take. I give you the same warning I gave Michiru."
"Well it's about time we got to join the battle." Yomi takes the whips and heads towards the door. "I guess you have something for everyone don't you? We'll go on ahead, let's go Chiru chiru."
"Right," Michiru nods and starts down the stairs along with Yomi.
"Yuuta, this is..." Bekko pulls out a sling shot and looks at it. "If you pull it back stones will form by themselves and similar to Michiru's bow it requires energy. But this is..."
"I love it, Kenken and Konkon will work hard," Yuuta takes the sling shot. "Kenken and Konkon will take care of the weapon and ammunition and I'll aim," Yuuta pulls the slingshot back, a pebble forming in it. He shoot, the pebble hits the wall and explodes.
"I thought there was something odd about that sling shot. It seems that its ammunition are tiny explosives," Bekko speaks naturally as if it was not surprising at all. His tone is still the same bored indifferent tone he always carries.
"Then I'll go help them!" Yuuta rushes down the stairs.
"Momoka, you're a bit new at this but the Wheel of Fortune delivered a weapon for you too." Bekko pulls out a fan made of long daggers. "This works as both a weapon and a shield. You can extend them to sword length with your energy, good for taking an opponent by surprise if they don't know this."
Momoka takes the dagger fan waves it around slashing the air. "I'm ready," she's not experienced at this but she has gained a fighting spirit watching her brother.
"Both my little squirrels are going to battle? I can't stand by just like that," Yuuri looks into the box realizing it's dark and bottomless, which would explain how everything fit in it despite the space all the weapons would normally take. He jumps back. "What kind of box is that?"
"Not the most special box," Bekko replies with a tone that hints there more to it than what he is saying. "I do have something for you as well." Bekkos takes out a pair of golden wristbands from the box, that matched Yuuri's hair.
"This is very nice but how do I defend my little darlings with this?" A golden ninja star apparels in Yuuri's hand and is rocketed past Bekko cutting off a few hairs.
Bekkos raises an eyebrow, looking at the hairs that fell on his desk. "It seems you have your targets mixes up. You should throw those at the enemy."
"Sorry about that!" Yuuri apologizes and rushes down the stairs with Momoka.
xoxox xox xoxox
The first floor is dark and intensely hot. There are metal thorns and needles all over the place, Sotetsu, Chika and Shito have many wounds, though none are too deep. The reaper does not intend to kill them yet. Her target will be either Michiru or Momoka because she is too stubborn to lose her little game, even if she could just as easily kill them all.
Sotetsu is exhausted, when ever his axe is broken it takes it's toll, having to use so much plasma to form it again. Chika is alive now and stress, loss of blood and lack of sleep affect him more than before. Shito's bullets have ran out, he too lives and is affected as a living being. He uses his gun to hit the reaper even if he is more used to the distance attacks.
"Forget what I said, I haven't lived enough yet after all," Michiru shots arrow after arrow at the reaper. Though the arrows themselves do no damage, something bothers her.
"Shouldn't you know it by now? Not even death can stop us." Yomi throws her whip, guiding its path and wrapping it around the reaper. She tightens the whip around the reaper, closing her eyes tightly and when she opens them one is red and one is violet. The weapon becomes twice as strong with Yomi and Koyomi coexisting with two minds in one body, both awake at the same time. The metal around the reaper appears to melt away, leaving her as a skeleton with traces of rotting flesh.
Yuuta comes running down the stairs, he shoots the sling shot, the continuous explosions creating a flashing light. "Kenken, Konkon work together and so do we. There's no way you can win!"
Momoka and Yuuri also arrive at the first floor. "I'll fight too, and I'll win," for her first active battle Momoka is very energetic. Much more than she eves was, as is she was letting go of her shell of indifference.
"And I will help my little squirrels and their friends!" Yuuri shoots ninja starts at the reaper.
Ohtsu's blue flames surround the evil creature but Koyomi and Yomi's whip is not affected by them. "She's not invincible," Ohtsu realizes. "Just now, I felt her energy weaken."
Chapter 24
The reaper screams in anger. She hates it when mortals don't cower in fear; she hates it when they don't understand that resistance won't work. But she is also stubborn and wishes to win by her own twisted rules. Thousands of needles fly in every direction, injuring everyone. Out of patience, and no longer enjoying this was much as before, the reaper flies towards Michiru who shoots many arrows but it doesn't work fast enough.
A pair of skeletal hands wrap themselves around Michiru's throat, several arrows stuck between the arm bones. All those present rush to get the reaper away from Michiru as her oxygen begins to run out.
Many sword-like giant needles emerge from the reaper's skeleton body, piercing her already tattered cloak. They reach Chika Shito and Sotetsu who were closest. Though Sotetsu is a zombie by choice and a hole though the heart cannot kill him, it still causes immense pain. The wounds Chika and Shito receive though arms, shoulders and legs, are not mortal but painful.
"Don't hurt my little squirrels!" Yuuri tosses a rain of ninja star at the reaper; they get stuck on the remains of her cloak but make no damage. He tries to pull Chika out while Momoka slashes away at the reaper, only damaging the fabric of the clock until fall in ribbons.
Ohtsu has to make his blue flames disappear to avoid burning his allies and Yuuta can't risk them being caught in the explosions. Yomi and Koyomi trying to pull the reaper off Michiru but it doesn't work, nothing's enough, and the familiar feeling of frustration, anger and hopelessness returns.
Black feathers mysteriously rain inside the building. The light is gone, leaving everyone in a darkness where they cannot see, but they feel. They feel the soft feathers as they fall, brushing against their bloodstained skin, the gentleness contrasting greatly with the intensity of their pain.
Everyone happens in a split second, the glimmer of a scythe is seen though there is no light, as if that shine came from the weapon itself as it irradiates darkness in a strange contradiction. He being carrying the scythe flies down as Michiru's neck snaps, and her would be savior cuts the evil reaper's skeleton hand with his scythe.
"Zarame..." They are sure they heard Michiru's voice, but she should not have been able to speak with her supply of oxygen cut off.
The evil reaper fades away and the building's electricity returns, light effulging the first floor and making them realize how serious their wounds are, though not deadly, quite painful. The floor is a pool of blood, with the same red substance dripping off everyone from their numerous cuts.
Michiru's head is hanging off her neck at an impossible angle. Her green eyes are still open but look completely lifeless and her body is limp. "Michiru!" They all call to her, they all wish for her to return but she is apparently dead.
Bekko stands to the side watching the events unfold. "If she can be beaten after all, if the Underworld has sided with the Wheel of Fate..." Bekko mutters to himself.
All the attention in the room is focused on lifeless body Zarame holds. With his core restores he is back to his normal shape, though he disappeared for some time and no one knows his reasons.
"Bekko..." Zarame looks towards the ferryman and that is when everyone notices that Bekko is there.
"She was not guided?" Shito asks, he has been told about the evil reaper guiding the soul of their victims soon after the killings to avoid having them return as zombies.
"Since her soul wasn't in her body when the body was killed, I don't even think she died at all. Yuuta, repair her, I will re-attach the soul Zarame removed," Bekko explains, and a collective sigh of relief fills the room.
"Right away!" Yuuta starts working on healing Michiru's body so that her soul may be reattached.
"They can't see me right?" The ghost of Michiru is invisible for all but the ferryman and reapers.
"I was late, but you will be saved," Zarame replies, holding her hand so that her soul will not wander off. Souls that are detached from their body lack of sense of time space and direction in the physical world and can easily wander off, even unintentionally.
"Why did you leave in the first place?" Michru searches for any form of expression on Zarame's face but find nothing.
"I had my reasons," is Zarame's only reply.
They stand in silence after that, as Yuuta finishes the healing and falls in exhaustation. "I think I'll need to take a break before healing everyone else," the young healer speaks between cut off breaths.
"This will be enough," Bokke gets ready to reattach Michiru's soul. "Not much time has passed so it should be easy." He retrieves a piece of thread from his pocket and ties it around Michiru's neck were a black ring would have been if it had been her time.
Michiru's soul feels her body pulling her back in and goes along wit the strange magnetism until her soul is once again restored to her body.
"She'll be sleeping for some time," Bekko checks Michiru's vital signs and finds that her heart is beating and she is breathing. "But she is alive, not even a zombie but alive... It's a pity I couldn't sell a zombie loan, but soul reattachments are not cheap." The group is not surprised by Bekko's comment, is it to be expected from the money loving ferryman.
At least this time they got through the battle with no casualties and their group has become stronger. Still they wonder what will happen next, if the reaper will return after Michiru or even Momoka as a result of Michiru's life being saved. Or she she'll finally throw her game away and look at them as a thread to be eliminated. Either way it was time to take action, their next objective was to heal and recover as fast as possible and find Kuze. The keeper of the key most likely held the answer and they would let her know she does not need to face it alone.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Zombie Loan. Chapter 18 has a reference to Fullmetal Alchemist at the end. Chapter 20 has a the Final Fantasy VII reference. Written for Snow's challange at Plot Whole.