The golden golem flew over my head. I flipped towards it as it flapped its wings and flew away. I chased after it.
“Come back here you little flying rat!” I cried out as I chased it.
The golem flapped its little golden wings as it continued to fly away. The golem was a simple one. It was golden with a lighter golden cross like mark on the front. I growled as I ran along. My dark black hair flew out as I kept going. Most people would probably look at me strangely as I raced after the flying golden object. I had to catch it. I recognized the small golden golem. I had to catch it.
I was right underneath it. I reached up to it. My hands were less than two inches away from it.
“I . . . got ya!” I cried, jumping up and grabbing at the golem.
It flapped its wings, shooting higher as my hands closed in the air where it had been. I growled in frustration and continued to follow it. Come on, how fast could this sucker fly? It rounded a corner and I turned around the corner, continuing to follow it. Come on you little golem, I just want to catch you, I thought as I chased it.
Then I heard an unmistakable sound. The sound of a mechanical gun getting aimed at me. I stopped, tensing my legs under me and jumping up into the air. Bullets slammed into the ground where I had been running and smoke billowed out as I flipped in the air. I landed five feet away from the explosion. I looked back. In the sky was a huge circular mechanical creature. Circular gun holes came out of its body. A creepy white face was on it.
I smiled cruelly. “Akuma,” I whispered.
I reached out with my right hand. The Akuma turned towards me and its gun holes pointed towards me. The wicked smile never left my face.
“Activate,” I said.
Green light lit up around the center of my chest, right next to my heart. The shining light swirled from my chest around my right arm and hand. The green light took on a shape and I clenched my hand around the hilt of a sword. A glinting black sword appeared in the green glow and the green light swirled around the blade. I stood up straight and held my sword ready. The Akuma merely fired its bullets.
I swung my sword, the blade slamming into the bullets about to hit me. The bullets blew up in smoke. The green glow never faded away from my blade. As soon as I was clear of the bullets, I threw my sword up into the air.
“Bow!” I cried.
The green glow around the blade swirled faster and brighter for a moment. When the light faded slightly, instead of a glinting black sword, a dark wooden bow fell towards me. I reached up and caught the bow, grabbing it with my left hand and holding it up. I reached out with my right hand, the green glow lighting up around it, and clenched my fist around a black arrow. I nocked the arrow on the bowstring and pulled the bow taunt. I pulled the arrow back until I felt my thumb against the corner of my mouth.
I aimed at the Akuma, straight at the white face. I felt my right eye change as I studied the pitiful creature. A purple smoky glow appeared over the Akuma and I saw the ghostly form of a crying man. He looked kind of like a zombie. Chains were around his neck, bounding him to the Akuma. He was in pain. He was in pain because he brought back a person he loved, only to trap himself and them in a worse fate. I aimed right for the center of the creature’s forehead.
“Rest in peace, you pitiful Akuma,” I said softly.
Then I fired the arrow. The arrow sailed through the air in between the Akuma and me with incredible speed. I swear I could hear the sound of the arrowhead slicing through the air. The sharp tip of the arrow slammed straight into the forehead of the white face on the Akuma. The creature let out a horrible wail as a green glow erupted from the single arrow and formed around its body. I watched with no emotion showing as the pitiful creature exploded into smoke.
The ghostly form of the man I could see let out a wail like the Akuma had. The chains around his neck broke and he turned from the zombie appearance into an actual human appearance. He smiled kindly at me and I smiled back.
“Thank you,” I heard him whisper as he disappeared in the smoke.
I sighed, lowering my bow as the smoke cleared. I might want to get out of here. I’m sure that explosion hadn’t gone undetected. I needed to avoid any trouble. I felt the green glow intensify around the bow and I held it up. I let go of the weapon as it shrank in my grasp. I held my hand out under it as it grew smaller and finally the green glow faded. A simple silver charm fell into my outstretched hand. It was a glinting silver bow with an arrow knocked on its string.
I held the simple charm up to my neck. I brushed my fingers lightly against the silver chain sitting there. I felt the charm pull slightly in my grip then fall. I saw the small green glow as my charm attached itself to the chain. I let go of my necklace, letting it fall lightly onto my neck.
I sighed again and I started to turn around, my eyes down. As I started walking, I looked up. What I saw made me gasp and stop, my hands rising in front of myself in shock. I had assumed I was alone, but apparently someone had been watching. A boy with pure white hair and grey eyes was peeking around the corner of the wall. He was wearing a yellow and orange colored trench coat with a white shirt underneath it. A grey vest was over the shirt but under the coat. He also wore dark brown pants and black boots. A faded green bandana was tied over the top of his head. I also noticed something that made my heart race slightly. Over his left eye, a red scar could be seen. On his forehead, connected to the scar, was a drawn red pentacle that wasn’t filled in. My right hand unconsciously went up to the right side of my forehead over my right eye. Thankfully, my hair was covering that side of my face.
“Who are you?” I asked, lowering my hand.
“Uh, sorry. Didn’t mean to be watching, but I heard the explosion and came to check out what had happened,” he apologized, stepping around the wall and smiling nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
Then I saw the golden golem, flapping its little wings behind his head. I immediately stepped forward.
“There you are you little flying rat!” I cried at the golem.
The boy took a step back, holding his hands up in defense. “Whoa, no need to name call,” he said.
“Not you. The golem behind you,” I said, pointing behind his head at the hovering golden golem.
“Huh?” he asked, stepping aside to reveal the golem fully. The little sphere flew around his head before landing on top, letting its wings fold slightly by its sides. “Oh, you meant Timcanpy,” he said.
“That’s what his name was!” I said, snapping my fingers in recognition.
“Wait, you know Timcanpy?” the boy asked, obviously confused.
“Well, sort of. I only knew him for about a mouth,” I answered.
“But you still know him,” he implied.
“Well ya, obviously,” I replied.
Then I heard sirens wailing from close by. They were still far away, but they were getting closer. I really wanted to avoid any confrontation if possible. I looked at the boy, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Well, I’d love to sit here and chat but I’d rather not get in trouble with the police. Why don’t we go find somewhere else to chat?” I asked, stepping closer to him carefully.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” he agreed easily. Then a thought seemed to strike him and when I stepped in front of him, he offered his hand to me. “By the way, my name is Allen Walker.”
I gasped softly but other than that I kept any emotion or shock hidden. Walker? Allen Walker? Could this be the boy he told me about? I shook my head quickly. I guess I’d find out later. He definitely looked like the boy he described, but I couldn’t be certain yet.
“Nice to meet you Allen, I’m Mayura,” I introduced myself, taking his outstretched hand.
We shook before turning and bolting together away from where I had killed the Akuma. I honestly had no idea where I was going, but Allen seemed to know where to go. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind him. We ran for a few minutes until we felt safe. We stopped in a back alley, both of us breathing slightly deeply, but not much. I guessed he was used to running like that. I knew I was.
“So, Mayura. Now that we’re safe, maybe, we can get to know each other a little bit more,” he said, smiling as he turned around to face me.
I smiled back. He was really sweet and cute. He looked a little older than me. I estimated he was around maybe fifteen or sixteen. Even so, besides the yellow and orange colored coat, he dressed rather nicely.
“So Allen, how old are you?” I asked, starting us off.
“I’m about fifteen. What about you?” he replied.
“I’m about fourteen myself,” I answered.
He seemed to consider this for a moment before asking his next question. “What is a fourteen year old girl like yourself doing all alone in a city?” he asked carefully.
I just smiled at his attempt to be careful with the question. He probably was afraid that I had a rough past or something. Quite frankly, I had nothing wrong with my current situation. I was alive and happy and that was all that mattered to me.
“I’ve basically grown up on my own. I’m a wanderer. I find myself in big towns all the time, as well as small villages,” I told him.
“Seriously?” he asked.
I nodded. “I left my home when I was really young. There had been an accident and I didn’t belong there anymore. I never felt at home there anyway. And when the only thing that kept me there was gone, I didn’t see a point in staying. So, I left,” I explained easily.
“How old were you when the accident happened and you left?” he asked. Then he seemed to think about it for a moment and he added quickly, “But, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s totally fine.”
I smiled at him again. “No need to act like that Allen. I have nothing wrong with telling you. I’m just worried you don’t want to hear my whole life’s story,” I said playfully.
He smiled at my response. “Actually, I’m quite interested to hear about you,” he said.
“Well then get comfortable. This might take a while,” I said playfully.
He nodded and we sat down next to each other, leaning against a brick wall. I took a quiet deep breath. I always recalled my past. It was something I didn’t hate, but it wasn’t the best background either. I guess the only way to get stronger is to learn from things you’ve done in the past.
“Well, it all started when I was around eight,” I started to tell him. “I had just found out that my parents had abandoned an older brother of mine that I never even knew I had. From what they told me, there had apparently been something different about him. It’s not like I forgave them. Instead, it pushed me away from them even more.
“That may not seem like a big deal now, but it really means something later on in my story. Anyway, I was considered a strange girl in the small village I had called home. I know you’re probably not going to believe this, but I had been born with pure white hair. Everyone was weary of me. They acted as if I had been cursed.” I scoffed at the thought before continuing. “Well, they eventually got over it and I had a few friends, though none of them really cared about me. I didn’t mind. I had my best friend, whom I considered to be a sister. Her name was Akania.
“She was the only person that truly accepted me. She was the only person I truly cared about. I would have done anything to protect her. Well, fate has a way of playing with us.
“One day, when we were playing together near a creek, I had found a big rock. I had just pushed it off a bigger boulder and it slammed on the point of another rock. It literally broke in half and some kind of object fell out of it. It was weird. Some kind of green glowing thing. I had no idea what it was, but I didn’t care. I felt drawn to it. I had kept the object, cherishing it and keeping it hidden from everyone except Akania.
“Later on, I would find out that it had much more power than I had thought. About a year after I had found it, when I was about nine, I was playing with Akania and the other village kids. It was chilly and I had a coat with the object safely tucked inside one of its pockets.” I continued on, softer as I went. “I never expected it to summon those horrid creatures.
As I continued further into my story, I got lost in the memories. I wasn’t just recalling it anymore to tell Allen my past. I was digging deep into those old wounds. I was reliving that horrible day.
I laughed as Akania and I played around in the grass. We rolled over one another as we rough housed. I sat up, looking at Akania as she looked at me. Her short dark brown hair fell past her shoulders by an inch. Her dark brown eyes sparkled kindly and happily. She was wearing a simple brown and tan dress with black play shoes. My pure white hair swayed into my vision and I brushed it behind my ear.
Then the first shadow fell over us. I looked down at the dark shadow, confused. It had been bright and sunny not a minute ago. I looked up to find the source of the darkness. Above us, was a horrible creature. Circular in shape, with huge long gun barrels sticking out of its body, a white face finishing it off, the huge Akuma floated overhead. Dozens more joined the first. It was like they were examining the village, figuring out how they would attack.
Their gun barrels pointed towards the village before lighting up purple. They waited for a few moments before firing. The bullets slammed all around Akania and me. A young boy, not more than a year older than me, was struck with one of the bullets. He screamed in pain before falling to the ground. I rushed over to him to help, but there was nothing I could do. He laid in pain as black stars, pentacles, started showing up around his body. I watched in horror as his whole body turned black and he disintegrated into dust.
Akania and I looked up as the Akuma continued to open fire on our village. Then I felt hands grab me from behind and I looked behind me as a young boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen, grab Akania and me. He carried us to the old church, where a few more kids were already cowering in the cellar doors. When we reached it, he put us down and we climbed into the doors. He climbed in behind us and shut the doors heavily, locking them securely.
We all cowered in a dark corner, far away from the door and all the windows. I could hear the other villagers screaming and the buildings collapsing. I could even hear the guns firing from the Akuma. I clung to Akania, shivering in fear as all the sounds filled my ears. Then the worst sound yet. A huge splintering crack came from right above us.
My head shot up and I scanned the roof of the cellar for the source. It wasn’t that hard to spot. The beams holding the floor of the church up, keeping it from falling on us, were breaking. If they broke the whole ceiling of the cellar would fall on us and crush us.
I grabbed Akania’s hand, pulling her up and racing towards the door of the cellar. I was not going to let us get crushed like that. The other children quickly realized what was happening and started following Akania and me towards the doors. They were all screaming and crying out, but I stayed quiet and, strangely enough, I felt relatively calm. Compared to everyone else around me and all the chaos, I was pretty collected.
Akania and I were less than thirty feet from the doors when the first beam broke above us. It came crashing down towards us and we leaped to the side. It barely missed us. When we landed, we rolled together away from the rubble and got up, racing back towards the doors. For a second, I actually thought we were going to make it.
Then the second beam broke in front of us. The rubble rained down in front of us, about to crush us because of our mad sprints to the doors. I thought we were going to be crushed for sure. Then I felt hands push me from behind and I was launched past the rubble and out of harm’s way. The beam and floor of the church slammed to the ground where I had been running. I slammed on the ground, rolling a few feet away before coming to a stop. I looked up in fear. Akania had pushed me out of the way to save me.
“Akania!” I screamed, getting up and racing back over.
The whole roof of the cellar was collapsing and the other children were running around, screaming in a panic. But I couldn’t think about anything except the fact that Akania was trapped by the rubble and that I couldn’t get her out. Then I felt warmth spread from my coat pocket and out throughout my body. I was confused but I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the glowing green object. It hummed and glowed brighter in my hand. It was like it was trying to tell me something.
Then I saw something glint in the corner of my eye. I looked over and saw a steel sword, lying on the ground. The church had weapons stored under it in the cellar, in case of a threat in the village. I raced towards the sword, hoping that I wouldn’t get crushed under any falling debris. I couldn’t get trapped knowing that Akania was alive and needed my help.