014: Kurai Ju II

Time continued onward, as it always does and always will.

Kurai Ju and his family began to adjust to the deficit of a motherly figure.

He was able to spend more time with them, so his daughters didn't mind too much.

Three months had gone by, and Olympia was doing fine.

She was still unconscious most of the time.

It was very rare that one would get to speak to her.

It hurt.

Every day it hurt.

Kurai Ju couldn't take it.

Yet he pushed forward because throughout his life he knew that once you stop, it's hard to get going again.

"Do you think he's ready?"

Olalla asked.

"He seems to trust us enough, I say now is the perfect time."

Trevon replied.

He picked up the phone and called Olivia Dark, his mother.

"I see. Yes. I agree. Now seems like the perfect time. Reel him in, and do what I once failed. Now is the time, Kurai Ju, you will now embrace your destiny."

She replied to the news over the phone.

Meanwhile, Kurai Ju was eating dinner with his children.

"Daddy, when is Mommy coming home?"

Jennifer asked.

"She'll be back any day now, she's gonna be good as new."

Kurai Ju replied.

"Really? Because I visited the hospital today, and the doctors said she was doing worse."

Jessica added.

"OH NO! Will Mommy be okay?"

"Don't worry Jenn, your mommy's strong, she wouldn't lose to anyone or anything."

That night, if you leaned your ear against the door to Kurai Ju's bedroom, you would hear a faint wail.

Although it was barely noticeable to the untrained ear, it contained all the emotions he had bottled up for the past three months.

He let them out all at once with the intent to cry himself to sleep, but his tears were so strong that he didn't sleep a wink.

He went to visit her before work the next day, and the doctors were checking up on her at the time.

"Sir, her condition is slightly worsening, but that's bound to happen. She should be fine until we test the medicine on her."

One of the doctors told him.

"How much longer?"

"Maybe three weeks."

"Can she wait that long?"

"She has to."

He wasn't allowed into the room with her, but he could see through a window facing into her room.

Her eyes opened ever so slightly, and they immediately drifted in Kurai Ju's direction.

She could barely see anything, but he was perfectly clear.

She flashed him a weak and faint smile before she passed out again.

Kurai Ju grit his teeth to the point where they almost broke.

He clenched his fist so hard that it could crush a skull.

I SWEAR…

He thought.

I SWEAR I WILL SAVE YOU!

He went to work that morning with a sense of determination he had been lacking during the last three months.

"Yo, what's up Ju?"

Olalla said as he entered the bakery.

Olalla and Trevon started calling him "Ju" after a little while.

They warmed up to him pretty quickly.

"Now that you're here, we can finally have our much-needed discussion."

She said.

"Much needed discussion?"

He replied.

"Yes, you see you have been working so hard that it would be criminal of us to not notice."

"Working hard? I don't really see it like that, I just see it as working."

"Ah, I see. You think you can do even more than what you've been doing. I look forward to seeing it."

"So, anyways, what is this discussion about?"

"Follow me."

She led him over to a locked wooden door.

One of the only instructions he was given when he began work was to not go to the basement.

Now, the only thing standing between him and the basement was a wood door, that Olalla was opening the lock to.

*CLICK*

And just like that, it was open.

"Follow me."

Olalla said to him, and he did as she said.

The basement was lit with one singular candle on a table.

There were two chairs, and what looked to be a map, but it was unlike any map of the world Kurai Ju had ever seen in his life.

"Thank you for coming, Kurai Ju."

This voice was familiar, almost like he had heard it every day of his life, but recently he hadn't heard it for a while.

Olympia stepped out of the darkness.

His face grew pale like he had seen a ghost.

"OLYMPIA?!...HOW?!..."

He screamed.

"I am not Olympia."

She replied.

"IS YOUR CANCER BETTER NOW?!"

"I told you I'm not Olympia."

"HOW DID YOU…wait, you're not Olympia?"

"No, I am not."

"How can you say that? You look just like her. There's no way you could possibly be anyone else."

As I said that, her face begin to gradually change.

First, the face expanded in size and took on a more sharp shape.

Then, her hair grew shorter.

Her body grew taller and larger.

Her female-specific body parts were wiped away, and at the end of it all, Trevon stood in front of me.

"What? Trevon? What the hell was that?"

He asked.

"Why do you think you're here? Come, take a seat. I will explain everything to you."

Trevon said.

"How did you do that?"

"Well, I am a member of the prestigious Dark family. Throughout history, our family has been known for wielding unnatural powers and ruling the world from the shadows. You have been working for us sometime now, so we trust you and would request for you to join our ranks."

"The Dark family? If you're so prestigious, tell me if you know who you just looked like."

"Yes, it was your wife, Olympia."

"Do you know her? She was a member of the Dark family after all."

"She was? Ah, yes, I do remember hearing from mother that one of her children was too weak and feeble, so she abandoned her at a nearby orphanage."

"So you're asking me to join a group that abandons people because they are too weak?"

"Strength is everything in this world, and we are offering you power greater than any normal person could ever have."

"And you couldn't offer such power to her?"

"When a person is born, they are born with something called potential energy. This energy determines how strong the power we give you can be. Your talent is determined at birth, and there is no changing it."

"THAT'S THE PITIFUL EXCUSE YOU GIVE?!"

"STRENGTH IS EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD, AND SOMEONE WITHOUT STRENGTH COULDN'T POSSIBLY HOPE TO JOIN OUR FIGHT! NOW IF YOU CALM DOWN AT LET ME EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND!"

Even though he was festering with anger, Kurai Ju settled down and chose to listen.

"Good, now let me explain to you the secrets about the universe. First, there are three different sections of the universe: the human realm, the spirit realm, and the soul realm."

"Realm? What exactly does that mean?"

"That is just what we have come to call them. We are currently located in the human realm. The spirit realm is a realm wherein unnatural beings reside. The soul realm is similar to the human beliefs of an afterlife. After you die, your soul remains in the soul realm for all eternity."

What kind of bullshit is this guy trying to tell me?

Kurai Ju thought.

He must be delusional.

"You see,"

Trevon went on.

"We have supernatural abilities due to the denizens of the spirit realm, which have come to be known as spirits. These spirits can be joined together with humans to give us their supernatural abilities. As you could probably guess, my spirit has the ability to disguise itself into anything and everything it wanted, but after a strong enough attack, its disguise would disappear."

"So what exactly is the point of you possessing such powers?"

"Look at the map on the table, you see how it is split into two sides? The half of the map which is a forest is ruled over by the light spirits."

"Light spirits?"

"There are two types of spirits, light and dark spirits. Spirits also differ in strength. They possess what we call spirit energy. The more energy a spirit possesses, the stronger it is. The energy has two possible properties, light and dark. You see, spirits do not reproduce, instead, they are created by the two strongest spirits."

"The strongest spirits?"

"The two ruler spirits. The spirit of light and life creates light spirits, and she rules the half of the map that is a massive forest. The other half is a volcanic wasteland. That half is ruled by the ruler spirit of darkness and death. They create light and dark spirits, and there is about 10,000,000,000 of each."

"So what exactly is the point of your family then?"

"You see, the light and dark sides hate one another, and they've been at war since the very beginning of the universe. We have supported the dark side, and we invite you to join us and do the same."

"You mean you're asking me to be evil?"

"The war is not for morality's sake, it is only between darkness and light, not good and bad."

"Why would I choose to get involved in this in the first place?"

"Because the ruler spirit of darkness and death can heal your dying wife."

Kurai Ju's eyes widened.

The offer was enticing…

But…

"I want to live a life my children can be proud of, and I don't think they'd be proud of a dad that joins your group. Sure, I can heal my wife, but does that really justify what I would have to do for it? I refuse your offer, and I'm leaving."

It's just like mother said…

Trevon thought.

He intends to defy his true abilities.

Then I'll make him have to embrace it.

Kurai Ju hurried home.

"Jenn, Jess, I'm home."

He screamed out when he got there.

There was no response.

He crept over to their bedroom.

"What are you guys doing in here…"

A shriek.

It was loud enough to shatter eardrums.

It was so loud it almost shattered the windows.

Kurai Ju didn't know he could make such a high-pitched scream.

The sight before him horrified him so much that it just happened.

Lying on the ground in his daughters' room was the chopped up dead bodies of both of his children.

Fear overtook him as he ran out of the house.

He ran away, far away.

He passed the Dark bakery and didn't look back.

He had to leave.

Go somewhere new.

He couldn't stay there any longer.

But then, he passed by a flower shop.

He stopped, bought a bouquet of flowers, and visited the hospital.

He stood next to Olympia's bed as he tried to process everything that had happened.

*BA-BEEP*

He didn't know what to say.

He couldn't put everything that had happened to him today into words.

*BA-BEEP*

He's lost, and he doesn't know what to do next.

*BA-BEEP*

But he will find his…

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

At that very moment, her heart stopped.

Kurai Ju dropped the flowers.

He couldn't handle it.

He lost everything in just one day.

Everything he spent his life fighting for, gone.

Just like that.

But that was when a new purpose approached him.

"Sad, but the weak all die eventually."

Olivia Dark said to him.

"Why are you here?"

"I am here to offer you a new purpose, a new life."

"By what? Joining your group?"

"I searched your house a few moments ago, it seems that your children were killed by light spirits."

"WHAT?!"

"They sensed our involvement with you, so they tried to take you out."

"So it's your fault?"

"Partially yes, and I apologize, but I will send my offer to you again, join us, and together we can get revenge upon the light spirits."

Revenge.

The word rang through his head.

"Where do I start?"

"Good, I knew you'd come around eventually. If you want us to give you power, then your first mission is to recruit a family of five that will be going on a camping trip this weekend. Here are the exact coordinates."

She handed him a map with the specific location on it.

"Why this family specifically?"

"We have our reasons, and it is to test if you are determined enough to wreak the pain you feel upon someone else. Do it by any means necessary."

With that, we now return to the present.

Kurai Ju turned away from the gold tree.

Wait for me, Olympia.

He thought.

I will get my revenge…

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!