Chapter Text
The Second Act: Fantasy, Reality.
Chapter 6: Underworld Tension
“Now let's uncover these memories affecting you and him... ”
The world turned violently like a tornado, its eye in the mind of the man. His thoughts were disorganised, jumbled and incoherent. All he could ever think was the fact he couldn't think. Suddenly all at once, he felt what was his world speeding up, he braced for anything that could happen. He felt it, someone in the distance he anticipated it. He knew it, what it was…
Then impact.
The now dazed Wayne then opened his eyes. Thoughts, and memories floated in an abyss floating in the great void that was his mind, filling it akin to stars in twilight. The world was hazy, his vision lacking the ability to discern a single speck of the chaos around him. Yet despite the clutter and storm, this felt dreadfully familiar to him but he was ignorant on why. Then a familiar voice called to him.
“Wayne, could you answer the door for me?” Wayne's heart sank at the familiar voice as he muttered.
“M-mom?”
Wayne walked around, now able to make out his bearings. He saw what was laid around him, bright red sofas fluffed with such comfort it gave warmth to his sight. The air, cool yet warm thanks to a gentle flame under a house of hardened clay. It was nostalgic, it was very… very familiar. But then a knocking from the door shattered the warm comfortable air, with a deathly chill in the wake of the warm heated atmosphere.
Another voice came out and spoke. “I'll get it instead, Wayne’s busy reviewing his college entrance exam.” The man heard footsteps as a person quickly skipped to the door at the end of a plain, monotone beige hallway. He recognised the individual, that being his brother.
“Hello?” The person opened the door slowly, questioning who could be their visitor. A tall man towered over the young boy, as he spoke with a low, yet booming voice. “I have business with your grandfather, is he here?”
Visibly shaken by the man’s appearance which was shaded by a cloud of smoke and ash, the only visible feature was a drama mask with a dark frowning face. The young boy then spoke. “He’s still ou-”
*BANG*
“ANDREW!” Wayne cried in boiling stew of fear, guilt, concern, and shock. He fell to his knee, his eyes tearing in guilt. “I-I'm so, so sorry…”
Andrew or what appeared to be a apperation, fell onto the floor his blood staining the sterile flooring that gave a warm atmosphere. He was clutching his leg, as faint echos of a distant yet distraught filled memory faded from the conscious sight.
The world began to distort around the distraught man, who then watched as someone tackled the assailant, then his mother and sister coming to the aid of his younger brother. The man fell to tears but was stopped as he was jolted awake in a different place. Is this a dream? he thought to himself. As if the world answered his question a voice rang in his head.
“Don't mind me, just digging through these interesting memories.”
Wayne was about to protest until he saw, a familiar sight slowly manifesting through haze. A dimly lit sidewalk layed ahead of him, as the large unhappy clouds were bpouring all it had onto the mixture of stone and processed elements. The local shop’s windows and door, all boarded up and closed with its metallic barriers indicating it to be far, far past the time to rest. The only noise Wayne could here was the sound of the raging droplets that struck from that heavens, and the ever obnoxious stammering of the fluorescent glowing sign, that was in a twilight of on and off.
Suddenly a voice rang through the empty streets, angrily shouting at a familiar child.
“Hey little shit, handover everything you have now. Or shall we take it by force.” A boy shouted at a kid. Who was now stammering in fear, his words a potluck of lag and plain gibberish. “What’s that small stock?” The boy grinned “You're pathetic? Heh, well yes you ar-”
“HEY!” Wayne turned around to see the voice.
A boy, no taller than him ran up to the little kid who sat there in fright. He stood infront of the child and stared directly at a the leading assailant. “Kenzo it's alright, I'm here…” he ushered to Kenzo in soft and quiet voice, his eyes unwavering towards the boys. “Kenzo…” Wayne felt a sense of deja vu, had he been here before or was it all a dream, yet he kept watching holding a familiarity to the situation and voice of the defending boy. “You think family can save you? You are so naive to this world…” The lead assailant suddenly smacked a large metal pole onto the head of the familiar one, ringing a loud bonk throughout the storming night. It then suddenly came back to Wayne, it felt like as if the world itself had crashed into him. As he then shouted “KENZO!” Wayne dashed towards the now defeated boy and Kenzo. “D-DON'T YOU EVER HURT MY LITTLE BROTHER OR FAMILY EVER AGAIN!” Wayne cried, his iridescent filled eyes glistening as tears trickled down his face.
As he approached the two assaulted boys, he readied his arm as he prepared to smack the leader of gang. His fist flew in the air, the wind brushing off it as it glided through the damn, and cold air. Yet as it landed, his arm phased through the tan skin of the perpetrator of the attack.
Wayne stumbled unable to react quickly enough to the situation. As he had fallen the faint sounds of sirens where heard which grew ever close, yet sounded distract. As he got up he saw the old, empty and forgotten street in the old heart of the rising sun fade away into a swirl of memories and colours.
Then suddenly a surge of light ejected towards the surroundings, washing the abstact mess of a sight to one of such stillness it would make one tear.
“W-what a seal? This isn't possible such a stupid human wouldn't be able to block me ou-”
*cough*
“All memories were interesting so… I think I'll leave it at that for now.”
Soon the still white plane faded into a dim, but menacing and condescending room he had recently been in. Now on the floor, reeling from spectating his traumatic events with no method of prevention. He looked up to see the smug looking Satori, towering over him her face reeking with pride and satisfaction. “Orin, go get him a meal for this poor soul and send him back to the guest room. I'll prepare his tasks for the time he's staying here.”
Just before Wayne could pass out, he managed to make out the kasha then picking him up then placing him on a cart. Orin then silently whispered, aware of her master’s presence and mind reading. “I'm sorry…”
*Clap* “Hey!” Someone yelled, jolting the knocked out young man from his restful sleep.
“AH-” Wayne suddenly recognised where he was, then looked to the one who called him “Ori-” Wayne questioned but was cut by the kasha as she placed a small table and a plate of food and hopefully clean water, then spoke in a strong and authority filled voice. “Here’s your meal human, Lady Satori has instructed me to teach you the chores and schedule you shall have for the time you stay here.” The man wasn't sure if he was talking to the same person due to the tone of her voice but was seemingly answered by a sudden shift of tone and mood. “And… I extend my apologies for my master’s actions, I expected her to do this but this much-” Wayne suddenly replied with “I-it's alright, I know she's troubled so I understand her…”
Orin smiled for the understanding this human had, even to those who ate his kind. “Also just a hint for you. If she ever asks you to go to her room around meal time… please call me.”
“Sure….” Wayne didn't like the sound of that warning.
“Well then guess I can teach you the tasks you will do on a day to day basis while you are here.” The kasha then stood, her twin black feline tails softly swaying as she reached her arm out.
“Guess it would be better than have nothing to do, wouldn't want to freeload afterall…” Wayne accepted the offer and albeit a bit reluctantly, reached for the hand of the kasha as he stood up.
The two then walked down the winding halls of Chireiden, each door and room holding a mystery one would never know. One thing that had puzzled the young man was how cold it was in the palace, for something in what used to be hell would be extremely sweltering. “Oh, if you are wondering about why it's cool here there's a lot of evil spirits that were left over when hell moved, so they just lounge around living thier eternal punishment if you know what I mean.” Wayne just nodded in understanding.
“Alright here's the kitchen, and where you will be for the time being.” Orin said as the two entered the dining area and kitchen. “You are to assist me in cleaning and washing the dishes around here…” the kasha’s ears drooped a slight bit as she said “And maybe help set up some meals for my master if you could. My cooking skills are mediocre at best and I know she's praising my cooking to make me feel better… but I would like to serve her a tasty one if it means I need some outside help“
“So it I'm basically gonna be your assistant?” Wayne clarified, as to make sure he understood.
“Yes, that's about it. Do you agree, well there isn't much of a choice is there.” Orin replied, leaning on the shining counter. She then raised her hand forward towards the contemplating man.
“Well I do have a bit of kitchen experience… so it wouldn't be a problem. So I agree and accept.” Wayne shook the hand of Orin. The kasha then smiled, then spoke.
“Less problematic this turned out, I thought you'd refuse to work especially with the incident yesterday.” The cat-like woman chuckled “Well It's not like I have a choice anyways.” Wayne replied
“I should prepare lunch for Lady Satori now. If you want I can show you the kitchen, though be warned about the human corpses in the large freezer.” Orin then walked behind a large counter as she slipped on an apron.
“It wouldn't be a problem… Just hand me back mobile phone.” Wayne followed, albeit a bit apprehensively
“What’s a ‘mobile phone’?” Orin questioned, her tails arched in a curved confused yet curious manner.
Right, this place is a mix of the present and past… this will be tougher than I originally thought… Wayne sighed as he went on to explain the world behind the window.
“Well it's an old recipe from my grandfather.” Said Wayne said, as he looked at the shining screen of his phone. “I recorded the recipe from when he told me once, and did a little observation myself on the method.” The man then flipped a meat patty, the metal spatula he held flinging the piece of meat into the air. The patty then landed on the opposite side it once was, sizzling on the scorching iron a perfect golden brown glistened on the surface of the meat, the oil glazed and shining.
“Didn't know that you were actually quite decent in the kitchen, thought you'd be kinda worse.” The kasha intently stared at the golden aromatic patty. “This also doesn't feel Japanese.”
“It's because this is not, it's a from a place in the outside world called America” Wayne answered as he flipped the meat patty once more, then added a miniscule bit of salt. “Funny is, I'm not fully Japanese.”
Orin’s face and ears turned to a confused look, as she leaned onto the counter. “Hm? You seem pretty Japanese to me. Trust me I've eaten, and stolen the corpses of numerous individuals over the decades.”
Wayne internally cringed at the latter part of the statement “Well I'm a mixed bag of English, German, and Japanese. Those races of humans on the former come from a region in the outside world called Europe.” Orin then chuckled and said, well I really should have check up on the outside world more. Never thought I would meet a human as interesting as you”
Wayne then chuckled a bit before saying “If you could even count me as one.” The two both chuckled as the man placed the patty in between two freshly baked buns, seasoned and glazed in cooking oil.
“Not sure if she would enjoy this.” Wayne spoke, unsure if he did a good job. “Should I add some greens or some sauce or something?”
“We have a lot of sauce called ‘ketchup’ from the outside world recently. She always wanted to try it but never found it compatible with Japanese cuisine.” Orin stated.
The man perked up as he replied “That's perfect for it!” Then quickly realised the fact he didn't know where it was stored “So uh, where is it located
“I can fetch it for you if you want.” Orin offered her assistance, Wayne noticing the helpful body language of the kasha beside him. “Sure go ahead, I'll clean up a bit here.” Orin bounced from the shining marble counter, as she zoomed off to another room.
Despite being a man eating youkai, with a occupation of stealing corpses. She really is a nice person underneath that layer of blood… Wayne thought as he then shut off the electric grill he had been using for the time he was cooking.
The man then grabbed the spatula, guiding the still raging golden residue into a small container for disposal. Waiting for Orin to return, and the grill to cooldown he grabbed his phone and opened a music player.
| Now Playing: Please Hold - Jono |
The man with the slight boost of motivation from the playing audio, packed away the rest of the materials and ingredients he had used to create his attempt at a meal. He returned the array of meat patties the residents of the former underworld’s palace in the smaller freezer, making sure he wouldn't open the one that contained stuff he wouldn't like to see.
Soon the kasha returned to the kitchen with a shining bottle filled to the brim with red paste. She then noticed the distracted Wayne who was just about to finish his self-assigned duty. “Why are you listening to hold music while you're clearly working, and how are you playing it?” Orin questioned the unaware man, whispering into his ear. This practically caused the poor guy’s soul to shoot out of his body.
“YOU DON'T GET TO DO THAT!” Wayne shouted back at the snickering kasha, who was very amused by the scare she gave onto the man.
After calming down from the sudden scare Wayne collected his thoughts, and answered the question Orin had given in a spine crawling way. “One, you know this song? Two, it's my phone I should really teach you about modern technology sometime.”
The curious kasha then took in the bucket of information, leaving the sealed red bottle on the counter. Wayne then snatched the bottle from the counter, popped of the cap, then started a annoying struggle on removing the airtight seal.
The kasha leaned towards the head of the man, with this time him noticing. “Kinda looks like blood. You sure you wouldn't mind cooking a few meals using human meat?” Orin said jokingly as Wayne finally freed the sauce bottle from it's nearly unbreakable barrier.
“Always have to remind me that your youkai, and no I will not cook humans we agreed to this like fifteen minutes ago.” Wayne chuckled as he lifted the top gilded bun, spreading the sauce onto the glistening gilded patty.
“It's not my fault youkai have to be feared to exist. And besides, I wonder how well you'd do considering the meat on this thing smells great!” Orin replied with a sharp toothy grin.
“W-Well it's It should be done I guess we bring this to Satori.” Wayne said, obviously startled by the sudden show of hunger from the kasha.
“It's Lady Satori to you mister!” Orin reprimanded the man who scratched the back of his head. “Right I'm her servant till I get a chance to leave…”
Wayne placed the meal onto a silver platter which sat on a cart. Orin then pushed the cart ushering him to follow along. “Come along, she would like to see the man in person who made her a meal. Even if she could just read it off my mind.”
Not like I have a choice to begin with. Wayne tagged along the kasha, unsure if fate would reward him a four leaf clover this time…