"Blind Assassin" by CloudChaser

The sun almost about to set, Shinto continues walking down the street ever so quietly with his backpack and school uniform still on. In an empty space down the street a voice began to speak and said I guess it's time for me to show myself. At the same moment, the body belonging to the voice began to appear out of thin air, as if it were fading in from top to bottom. The man was wearing a long black trench coat with red designs on it, a pair of fingerless gloves and black gothic boots with belt buckles. He had a cigarette in his mouth, but took one last puff and disposed of it, using his boot to kill the flame.

The man began to walk down the street, seeing various people in their daily routines; he thought to himself how with him being visible the place he knew so well seemed so different. As he casually walked down the street he greeted various people in a humorous mood. Shinto was not to far from the man, only a couple of blocks apart. As the man turned the corner for the 5th time, he finally laid eyes on him, and began to cry girlishly. The man, wailing and weeping, caught Shinto's attention and caused him to turn around in curiosity towards to noise. The man startled, jump behind the wall and panicked thinking he saw him. Shinto ignored it and continued walking.

The man peeked behind the wall, aware that Shinto didn’t notice him, and resumed his following while wiping his eyes of his tears. He cautiously went from street light to street light, mail post to mail post and tree to tree in a very spy movie mood. As he progressed towards Shinto, he accidentally stepped on a twig and Shinto knowing someone was following him he jumped and said AHA... I’ve caught you!!! But no one was there, Shinto was confused, he was certain he heard the twig snap.

As Shinto turned around still puzzled the man was standing in front of him and he said Hi, nice to finally speak with you. Shinto was startled and fell towards the floor, but got back up quickly ready to fight the man. The man began to laugh and said I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk. Shinto is curious and asks him about what.

The man thinks for awhile and hesitates to say it but he finally says... let me just come out and say it, I’m your Guardian, Makai Kurokumo. Shinto is at a complete loss, and says that if you’re here to take care of my sister and me, I have it well under control. Makai shakes his head and then says that he is not that type of guardian, I was sent here from Hell to watch over you from deadlier things than a case of nanny issues.

Shinto thinking the man is crazy begins loosing interest and walks past him, but Makai seeing he’s going to have to prove it to him says wait I’ll show you something that will make you believe me. Shinto stops in his foot steps, turns around and gives Makai a glare getting ready to see something happen. Makai then places his hand away from him and conjures a ball a fire in his palm. Shinto is alarmed and jumps backwards holding himself, Shinto then points at the fire cautiously and says in a nervous tone that he believes him but to put it out before you burn me. Makai clenches his fist and a thin line of smoke is remained of the fire.

A golden arc is only seen as the sun finally sets and only silhouettes of the buildings remain. The street lights begin to turn on, all the animals return to there burrows and nests leaving the streets dead silent. Makai advises Shinto that they should not be out at this time.

Shinto is scared out of his mind and is wondering what the hell is going on, when all of a sudden a darkened soul appears and tries to fill Shinto's soul with hatred. Makai seeing Shinto confused since he can't see them suddenly grabs him and fuses together.

In this form Shinto is able to move and fight with the help of Makai. They both are able to communicate with each other through telepathy. During this form the body can change into either the Guardian or the Collector, meaning Shinto can be seen physically and Makai being in his mind or vis versa. Shinto has spiky brown hair, blue eyes, is 5'11" and is in the 11th grade. Makai has long black hair up to his shoulders, red eyes, is 6'1" and guards the gates of Hell from the punished trying to escape.

Makai warns Shinto to prepare himself for Shinto begins to feel something happening to his body and then it feels as if his heart has stopped. Shinto's body starts to change, his hair begins to lighten from a dark brown to a white/silverish color and his eyes then were activated so he could see the darkened soul. As the transformation was over Shinto realized he CAN'T fight, so Makai informed him through telepathy that there's no need to worry, I will help you kill this forsaken demon. Makai then asks Shinto to let him control his body for thats the only way he can successfully win with no hesitations and that he's in good hands.

As Shinto relaxes, Makai gains more and more control over his body until he has full power and dashes towards the demon. Before the demon can respond to his amazing speed Makai gives it a nice clean upper-cut. The demon, slightly unconscious, goes flying up into the night sky only to be brought back down by Makai's axe kick. The city shakes as the demon crashes down onto the streets asphalt, knocking out a few street lights. As Makai walks towards the demons body to lay his finishing move, the demon arises and screams this piercing, agonizing sound. Makai falls to the floor in pain, as if his soul is trying to escape the sound.

Makai realizing if he doesn't think fast he will die along with Shinto's soul. The only hope is if he uses one of his special moves.... Judgment: Hell's Fire. Makai, rising from the floor, begins to float in mid air. His body glowing a dark red/maroon colour and his eyes bright red sends a trail of flames towards the demon having it engulfed in a pillar of flames.

Makai exhausted for using too much power, plunges down towards the floor. Breathing heavily he looks in the direction of the demon standing still in the very same spot it was incinerated and has but only a blood thirsty stare left in it. His final move is that of Shinto's capabilities and asks him if he is ready. Shinto stunned and hysterical to what just happened, calms himself down and asks Makai what he is supposed to do. Makai tells him that he is to call upon the Holy Grail and ask to lay mercy upon it, once that is all done use your Unholy Sight and pin point the darkness consuming this soul and destroy it. As Shinto looks for the darkness he sees a black aura shining inside the demon, he then asks if that is it. Makai informs him that it is, and to destroy it soon or it'll be to late.

Shinto then walks up to the paralyzed demon and thrusts his hand into its chest, but to his surprise it didn't penetrate the flesh instead his hand phased through it. He reached for the darkness and grabbed it. As he was pulling it out, the demon seemed to become less demonic and the darkness was dying out like a flame with no oxygen. Makai told Shinto that this is what they call Purifying the Soul and how many of them are sent to an afterlife of freedom.

Once the black aura was taken and destroyed the demon changed before Shinto's very eyes. It was a young teenage girl, she had long brown hair and soft eyes.... innocent eyes. Shinto was shock at the fact that this girl was once a monster, a monster trying to kill him. As she was drifting towards the afterlife she thanked Shinto for saving her from an eternity of hatred and darkness. He gave her a smile, letting her know that everything from here on out will be fine.

Shinto tired as he is, began to change back to his normal self again. Seeing the job was done Makai defused with Shinto. Scratching his head and yawning Makai saw that they were both exhausted and told him that he should get a good night's sleep. He promised to tell him everything bright and early in the morning.
~~~~~~ to be continued!

In a hurry he rushed down the dark corridor to find the dorm, his boots clanking on the hard wooden floor as he took every step to get to his destination. It was early in the morning when General Hosh awoke Lieutenant Ainvar. Ainvar puzzled by the General suddenly waking him up, he asks him what’s the matter its only 5:00 o’ clock in the morning. General Hosh tells him he needs to be quiet and that he has an urgent message he needs to deliver to the Chief of the military force, but with all the work pilled up on him he can’t. I need you to take this to him, but be very careful while doing so; no one else can see this document.

Ainvar arose from his bed and immediately put on his military equipment. As General Hosh handed him the secret document, there was an inscription on it saying “Project Xephir.” Lt Ainvar looked up at General Hosh and noticed he was acting differently then usual, but chose to believe it was just a phase. As Lt Ainvar left to go give the Chief the news General Hosh whispered to himself in a worried voice “May God’s angels protect him.”

Larks were singing as the sun rose. A beam of sunlight snuck through the curtains and struck Shinto’s eyes, waking him up. As he got off his bed, he noticed his body had no injuries on it from last night. The battle was so fast--- and yet I remember everything as if it happened a second ago. I wonder where Makai is, he must have just went back to where ever he came from. Shinto then began his daily routines; he took a shower, brushed his teeth and got dressed into his day clothes.

As Shinto was busy he was stopped by the aroma of something cooking downstairs. He raced across the corridor, slid down the staircase railing, and saw his sister making breakfast. She had a big smile across her face as she looked at him, and began to giggle when she saw him drooling all over himself. Misukai then asked him if he was going to take her outside today, because he promised to take her to the pet store. He agreed to take her as soon as he had free time, but for now all that was on his mind was the food. Misukai lowered a plate of bacon and eggs onto the kitchen table for him to eat.

As Shinto sat down to eat his breakfast, he noticed someone was in the living room across from him. A dark shadowy figure was leaning on the living room wall, but from the size and shape of it he knew it was Makai. Shinto asked Misukai when he came, she told him that he was here the whole night, and he said he had something to tell you.

Misukai was wondering who it was but she knew when the time was right that her big brother would tell her. She knew nothing of him but in a certain way she was kind of attracted to the stranger, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Makai then revealed himself from the shadows; he was wearing a long black trench coat with red designs on it, a pair of fingerless gloves and black gothic boots with belt buckles.

He sat down in front of Shinto at the kitchen table and told him to tell his sister to go upstairs. Shinto looked at Misukai and with no second thoughts she went up. She trusts her brother deeply, ever since their parents died and he took the responsibilities around the house as well as taking care of her. That’s when something strong, an unbreakable bond grew between the two siblings.

Shinto then asked Makai about last night, what this so called Demon Collector is and why he became one. Makai informed him that what happened yesterday was the result of a sabotage and had never happened in history. The gates in hell that seal in all the yet to be punished souls was destroyed by a demon named Ogmios. He is an all mighty demon known throughout the two worlds for causing discord and chaos. He some how managed to get free and brought along the darkened souls with him. Our job as Guardians is to basically guard the gates of hell using any means necessary but if we were to ever fail this job, that’s when you, the Demon Collectors come in.

Demon Collectors are a rare breed of humans, they were chosen by the high charity from a wide variety of others, but only the purest of them become one. Shinto, you were destined to become one the day you were born. To tell you the truth, I looked out for you ever since you were just a little kid, don’t you recall never getting hurt or sick. Shinto paused and thought for a minute; he managed to remember always being healthy and never being harmed but thought that was only because he was safe. Makai smiled and told him it’s because I was asked to look out for you. Shinto curious to know by who, he asked him.

Makai told him that his mother had asked him to look out for Shinto and that they were very close friends way back when. Shinto shocked by this flew backwards on his seat and fell on the floor, knocking some dishes off the counter. He got up and rubbed his head, then asked Makai if all of this was true. He nodded and told him that after his mother died, she told me to watch over her son, no matter what happens, she wants you and your sister to be safe from what truly lies ahead.

Shinto was speechless, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, until the doorbell rang and he was at liberty from his thoughts. As Shinto progressed towards the door, he noticed there was a black figure behind the glass, that’s when the door unexpectedly exploded. Makai hearing the commotion, dashed to the scene.

As the smoke cleared up, a 6’2” built man was standing there dressed in green long pants with metal greaves, a white t-shirt and metal wrist guards. This man also had long blue hair up to his back. He looked at Shinto and began to walk forward. Makai seeing this ran towards the man and threw a punch, only to have it blocked by him. The man then shouted out Immortals Lock. As he was holding Makai’s hand he flipped him and while still in the air, with both hands, the man punched Makai and sent him flying towards the living room.

The man began to walk towards Shinto once again. Shinto couldn’t move, he was on the floor paralyzed by the immense fear of this man. The man bent down and grabbed Shinto by the neck, and before throwing him to the hard reinforced wall beside him knocking Shinto slightly unconscious, he gave him a small pitiful smirk. Misukai was on the stairs watching in fear, but the minute Shinto was in danger she ran to the man and began to give him small insignificant punches leaving no damage.

Before Shinto passed out, he heard Misukai scream and saw the very same mans feet drifting off into the light outside with his sister under his arm. He desperately reached for her, but just couldn’t move, until his eyes gave way and closed with his mind.

His eyes opening gradually, with the light from the broken doorway blinding him, Shinto got up slowly from the ground, still feeling pain from what that man did to him. He suddenly remembered last seeing his sister being taken somewhere by that man before he passed out. As Shinto looked for Makai so he could help him, he found him under a cluster of pillows all roughed up with a note stuck to his forehead reading... “If you ever want to see your beloved sister again, then meet me at the local sanitation center tomorrow with $5000, and be alone or she dies!” It was signed "Ispep the Street Thug", I guess that’s his name.

Shinto had to think of a plan, so he shook Makai awake and told him everything that happened. Makai decided that the only way to get Misukai back safely is to trick Ispep, but how. Shinto told Makai that they should play hide and seek with Ispep. Makai just stared at him with a confused look in his eyes, isn’t that a children’s game? Shinto said yes, but if we included the Unholy Sight, then we’ve got an easy win for sure. Makai was shocked that Shinto came up with this in a few seconds, but surely he knew that this just might work. All they had to do now was wait it out.
~~~~ To be continued!