Promise? Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Insomnia
Off in the ocean was an island with a dojo on top. It was there that the boy was speaking with an old man. The old man was dressed in a robe, katana at the waist, and he had a long, white beard. The boy was wearing a regular set of clothes, dark, similar to the ones he wore at the funeral. He still had his long, dark bangs that covered his eyes. The boy asked the man,
"Onigiri-sensei, please teach me what you know."
"Why should I teach you?"
"I want the power to defend myself."
"From what?"
The boy thought for a moment.
"Anyone who intends to harm me."
Onigiri-sensei shook his head, "I'll need a better reason than that."
"Fine, I want to learn so no one can take anything precious from me ever again."
Onigiri-sensei looked at the boy, "Fine, but my time is very important and not to be wasted. You will follow this exact schedule: You wake at sunrise, you train until sunset. Never stopping, never quitting."
"I'll never quit."
"I'll keep you to those words."
The dream than shifts to the boy's first lesson with Onigiri-sensei. Onigiri was testing the boy's knowledge of the sword and it showed that the boy was very-inexperienced. After getting knocked down several times, Onigiri finally said, "Enough, you're worse than a schoolgirl. I can't train someone so weak." The boy struggled back to his feet.
"You...want strong?...I'll show you just how strong my resolve is!"
The boy lunged at the old man, a dark aura surrounded him. He was able to knock the practice sword out of Onigiri's hand, surprising the old man. Onigiri noticed the dark aura, "Boy, what are you?"
"A monster, a freak, a demon, a maniac, a murderer, but most of all;"
The boy looked up at Onigiri-sensei's eyes.
"A kid with a vengeance."
The dream ends with Onigiri laughing to himself, accepting the boy into his dojo.
I woke up on the hardwood floor, being kicked off the futon by Ammy who was still sleeping like a cow. I grabbed one of the seats from the center table and used it as a pillow. I somehow managed to fall back asleep.
This time, it was the same boy a few years younger. The boy had a clean haircut and a wide smile. The boy and his father were in the city, heading to what looked like a fancy restaurant. The father asked the waitress to be seated in the best seat in the house. They sat down, ate dinner and talked. They talked about school, the father's work and how the boy was the best in his class at math and science. Then the dad pulled out a present. It was the boy's birthday. The boy opened his present to reveal a small dagger. The dad said, "You're about the age when I first learned how to use a weapon, so I thought you'd like it." The boy hugged his father, thanking him several times and admired the dagger. Its blade was the color of blue. The hilt had a strange symbol on it.
While they were on the way home, they headed through a park to shorten the trip. In the park, a shadowy figure appeared the same figure that appeared before. The dad was shocked and spoke to the figure, "Why are YOU here?"
"What? I can't wish him a happy birthday?"
"I'm surprised you remembered, you've yet to show any interest in him at all."
"What can I say? I've been busy." The figure grinned, a dark devilish grin.
"So why come today? I thought you didn't want anything to do with him."
"I wanted to see how he's progressed. He should be starting to develop his abilities."
"He's been through so much already, why would I teach him something that would make him go through more?"
"Bah! You're weakening him! He could be the prime example for future beings to follow!"
"He's MY son! You didn't raise him! You didn't care for him! You didn't comfort him from the hell he goes through thanks to MY people every damn day!"
"Caring? Comfort? What happened to the man I used to know? The one who'd kill anything that stared at you the wrong way? What happened to the one person in the world I cared about?"
"He realized that there's more to life than making it hell for others!"
With that, the figure vanished. The boy just stood there, watching. His father brought him home and sent him immediately to bed. The father sat at his desk, shuffling through old records. He found a picture of him and a woman.
_"Serrah, what happened to you?" _
I woke up hearing the sound of thunder. I looked around to see Ammy getting up as well, stretching after an apparent good-nights rest. She saw me on the floor over by the table.
"Sorry!" she said slightly embarrassed. "It's fine, besides; your snoring was the thing that made me move." I added at the end with a grin.
"Sn..snoring? I don't snore!"
"Hate to break it too you Ammy, but you were like a donkey last night." Said Issun who had just woken up too.
"But...but...we've slept together at night before and you two haven't said anything." Ammy said flustered.
"That's because it hasn't happened before." I said, "At least, not since we met."
"Maybe I just got a really good-night's sleep."
"Maybe, but one thing is for sure; we're gonna be stuck inside all day." I said, pointing to the window. It was pouring rain, thunder and lightning.
"That was thunder?! I thought it was Ammy's snoring!" said Issun.
"You little-!"
There was a knock on the door. I stood up and went to the door. It was one of the maids, asking if we wanted anything to order for breakfast. She noticed Ammy jumping up and down trying to snag Issun who was jumping around her head avoiding her mouth.
"Uh, should I come back in a little bit?" said the maid.
"No, we'll take whatever you recommend. I'm sure they won't care." I replied with a friendly smile.
"Coming right up!"
I closed the door and they were still at it. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I headed towards the window, checking on the weather. Rain, rain, and oh! What's this?! More rain...
"MMPHMPPM!!!"
I turned and saw Ammy sitting, mouth closed while something jumping up and down inside. I sighed, "Ammy, it's not nice to eat our friends, no matter how annoying they may be."
"I'm a goddess, I give no fucks." Replied Ammy.
"Glad to know I'm rubbing off on you." I said as she released Issun from her grip.
"Nah, I've always cursed. Decide that it's impossible for me to curse logically, not gonna "damn" myself." She said, nonchalantly. "Yu, I've been thinking lately. Have you've been having anymore dreams or remembering anything?"
"Actually, yeah, I have. I had two dreams last night, same boy, and same place."
"What have they been about, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well, one was after the funeral, the boy went to visit some swordmaster named Onigiri. He wanted to get stronger, and Onigiri taught him. The other one was about, before the incident with his father's death, him and his dad went to a restaurant on the boy's birthday. His dad gave him a dagger that looked exactly like my sword but smaller. On the way back, they were greeted by the figure from the first dream that killed the dad. The figure apparently knew the father from back before and they were close. It ended with the father saying, "Serrah, what happened to you?"."
Ammy looked down, lost in thought. I just shook my head, "It's important until we can make sure that the boy in the dreams is me."
"How is it not you? You said he basically looked exactly like you?"
"I know, but something seems off. I can't quite figure what it is, but something doesn't feel right."
"You're not scared, are you?"
"Scared?"
"Yeah," Ammy said, "scared that it IS you, that you went through all that, that you were treated like a monster, lost your dad, and that you swore revenge against some unknown figure?"
Am I scared? I think if I had any reason to be afraid, it would be that I hurt someone in my quest for revenge.
"No, I'm not scared. I just want to know the truth. When we get to Sei-an city, something is bound to happen. I'll just wait until then, help you guys out in the mean-time and when we get there, we can stay for a couple of days right?" I asked.
"Of course, besides by the time we get there, the festival will start."
"Festival?"
"Yeah! This big festival celebrating the gods, it's a five-day celebration in which you eat, drink, party, etcetera!" said Ammy, "Issun begged me that we would stay for all five days so that's the plan when we get there. That's plenty of time for you to search."
I nodded, "Thanks"
"Hey, it was my idea! Thank me!" said Issun
"Thanks Issun."
By that time, the maid had brought our food. Boxed lunches for breakfast. Eh, food's food
After we ate, the storm hadn't let up. Ammy was still reading her book. Boredom was taking over me, so I asked her, "Hey Ammy, got any other books?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm dying of reading deprivation and need something to read."
"But reading takes intelligence." Said Ammy innocently.
"Ha ha, now where's the book?"
So Ammy recommended her favorite, "Origins of the Gods", to me.
"Gee, that isn't conceded at all."
"Want me to take it back?"
"No ma'am."
"Then shush and start reading." Ammy said, before getting back to her book.
"Why are you still wearing those? We aren't in public." Said Ammy.
"Huh?"
"You're glasses."
"Oh, I didn't notice, but isn't it better to have them on in case someone walks in and sees my eyes?"
"Yeah... but they kinda annoy me."
"Why?"
"Because they hide your eyes..."
"Yeah, that's the point...?"
"You know what, forget it. You're impossible." Ammy said, rolling her eyes and returning to her book.
So as the thunder crackled outside, I decided to start reading the book. The book itself was pretty boring, but had some interesting bits in the beginning. I especially liked Izanagi, just for his one quote about how he would "create 1500" for every 1000 Izanami killed. I also felt a little sorry for Izanami, she kinda got screwed over in the end, being portrayed as a goddess of evil. The part about Amaterasu was also interesting. It says that Amaterasu is a portrayal of the beauty of the sun and its radiance. I looked over at Ammy.
Yeap, totally.
-END OF CHAPTER!-
I need to sleep.