The Gathering - Part 1

With a full moon in the night sky, Tokyo was always a thriving place that never stopped its advancement. No matter what hours it was, it would always be lively with cars, pedestrians, and activities. 

On the very corner of alleyway at nowhere, two burly men were hitting a thin boy that had a nerd vibe from him. 

"I told you already, you should bring the freaking money for us!" 

One of the guys started to punch the boy hard in his gut, and make the boy kneel on the ground and coughing.

"What a useless nerd." 

Another burly man chimed in, as he too, began to kick the nerd boy right into his face, making the pitiful boy down to the ground.

*Crackle*

Some sparks of lighting began to appear out of thin air, and the sparks soon began to shine so bright, lighting the entire alleyway. 

"What the hell..." 

Everyone was surprised at the turn of events, as three of them could only stare dumbly at it. 

Soon, a man in his late twenties stepped out from the shining blue Light, as he looked around. 

"So... I have arrived successfully..." 

The man mumbled some words, and then, he saw the scene of two burly men surrounded the nerd boy, as all of them had stunned expressions on their faces.

"Oh?" 

The man started to smile. 

"Time to take care of trash already?" 

Soon, screams filled the entire alleyway, but no one would hear it, for Tokyo, always a place that will never stop it's activities. 

****

In a large, almost palacial hallway, the sound of heels can be heard clicking softly. Although it was a place lit by a few candles mounted along the walls, the person paid no heed and continued on her path.

It was such a peaceful night, but one that wasn't considerably pleasant.

"Why are you here..."

The sound of heels clicking on the floor stopped at the sound of the voice. Immediately, the lady spun on her feet and stared beyond the dark corners of the pillars of the hallway.

"...Grandmother?"

A pair of hollow eyes shined from behind the pillars, sending her a familiar tide of shivers through her skin. As she was already used to it, the lady could only sigh inaudibly.

"The night for the holy ritual is approaching."

"Indeed, and the preparations are done as well." The lady could only nip the bottom of her lip and glance away.  "What more do you need of me?"

"You will fail." 

She turned to look at her once more, her eyes glinting sharply from what was left of the hallway lights. It was those same words again, familiar words that left a hanging pit deep within her. She wanted their exchange to end as fast as the old woman spoke bluntly to her.

"I am the successor, and I will bring honor for this family. The Holy Grail will fulfill the House of Lladhov'na's wish-- and I shall make sure of it." 

The air turned significantly cold, as if having a taste from a distant coming winter. The lady grabbed the hem of her dress, and with a delicate raise, curtsied towards the figure of a hooded old woman hiding beyond the darkness.

"Now then, please patiently wait for the adequate results."

The hooded figure stayed ominously quiet, her hand raising slowly but absolute. And with a sneer in her aged lips, the old woman pointed a finger towards the other-- hollow eyes seemingly able to glint from the shadows.

"Do not forget your place, child."

And not more than a few seconds later, the hooded figure succumbed into the darkness, disappearing out of her sight. The lady pondered over her words and tucked the loose strands of hair that fell beside the frame of her face. She knew well what the old woman was talking about, having already expected of their eventual encounter.

However, despite knowing so, the lady could only frown, and turn away, leaving towards the other end of the seemingly pallacial hallway; the sound of her heels fading at the silence of the night… 

****

A girl sat in a room, flipping through a worn out book. Laid beside her was her trusted bow and quiver. On her other side laid a red spear with sharp edges around the blade oozing an overwhelming energy, a stark contrast to the otherwise Japanese-style room. Her eyelids feel heavy and she felt the urge to crawl into her futon. But one look at the spear, she was once again felt a surge of determination.

 "Are you sure about this, Yumi?"

  The room was quiet even when there were two occupants inside it. A girl, no older than 20 sat on one side of the room with her back straight and knees drawn underneath her. Her hands were clasped tightly on top of her lap. On the other side, a man no older than 50, sat with a frown on his face, deepening his wrinkles even further.

   "Yes, Father," she replied firmly. The male sighed as if knowing he couldn't do anything to change her mind. Without a word, he took something from his back and held it to her.

   It was a spear with the crimson hue coloring the spear all the way from the blade to the bottom. It radiated such energy that Yumi shuddered in awe. But something filled her heart with uneasiness. Once in a while, a dark energy would shrivel alive before disappearing. She quickly brushed it away.

   "Take it," her father said, pushing the spear to her outstretched hand. Her hands curling around the handle at once.

  The girl placed the spear to her side and bowed, placing both of her hands and her forehead on the ground before looking up, a blazing resolute in her eyes.

    "I'll make you proud, Father."

   The girl coughed to her hands, her shoulder shaking hard. After a while, she finally stopped, timidly looking at her hands. Her eyes weakly looked at the spear at her side but her hands tightly clenched themselves.

   In a distance. a lightning crackled on the sky, its loud boom reaching her ears. 

****

After a hard day's work at the docks, a young boy decided to spend his hard earned money down by the local tavern.

It was a busy night. The singing and rowdiness of the people inside can be heard even on the streets, and once inside the familiar smell of spilled ale hits him right in the face.

"Ahh, same old smell but different people."

He takes a seat at the sidelines, carefully observes and listens to what stories these adventurers and sailors were going on about. The locals would share their tales that he had heard of multiple times and the new folks seemed to have nothing good to talk about except one. A noble man who he had never seen before piqued his interest.

The nobleman dressed in pure white boasted to the two women in front of him of how he's finally chosen and that his wishes can finally be fulfilled. He grabbed a container from underneath and said, "With this the holy grail will be mine." he then continued to babble on about his life and so on.

The boy's eyes widened and radiated with curiosity, while revealing a slight grin on his face. After countless hours of reading and late night eavesdropping from different places, his time has finally come.

"The holy grail, nobles already have everything, So why wish for another pointless dream."

Having known the two women beside the  pretentious noble, he signaled them both to drink more ale and surprisingly both of them gave him a slight nod.

"Whatever is it in that container, I'm taking it." The thrill of adventure was once again present in his gaze.