So This Is Where Death Takes You... [PLOT | PRIVATE]

It was a simple click. Like as if a second just passed from when he closed his eyes, until he opened them again; although, he wasn’t standing at the desert right now. He couldn’t make up what he was looking at due to the foggy vision that he had, along the feeling of… emptiness. He barely thought anything, and he didn’t really have what it took to want to think. It was rather peaceful, the kind of silence within his mind that he’d longed for back when he was alive. However, where was he? He barely asked himself, as he would usually do. Neither did his companions, mainly due to their absence. He was pretty much left alone at the space where he stood at. His eyes moved unconsciously around, having nowhere to focus on as the area was lacking with objects. Not a single sound, not even the sound of his own breathing, which was strangely unusual for a guy who just faced death. Was he floating? He couldn’t feel any surface to stand on, but he didn’t rush towards any button. Was he alive? That was the first thing that he could manage to ask himself, without really speaking nor thinking as clearly as usual. Of course, he went back to the silence that covered his embodiment. His hands bristled, his entire body began to bristle for some reason, before ending his silent, peaceful slumber…

Now, finally he found surface somewhere. His eyes retrieved its brightness, and his mind was settling from the atmosphere that heavily suppressed him before. It came like a click, or a clap of someone’s hands. Where was he now? “Eh!?” he spoke up as if he just caught his breath again. His eyes scanned the new area like a robot, all curious and investigating. He saw the presence of something warm, rather heating air erupting from the background. Was he at a volcano? The surroundings would indicate the possibility of such arrival. “Where… where am-“ he was about to ask out, before his eyes noticed another person near a kind of opening to somewhere else. He quickly moved towards the figure in order to satisfy his curiosity. “Ehm, excuse me; do you know where I am?” he spoke up to the guy, whose eyes were dead-shot blank as he turned his face towards Mura. Something despising was filling him when he looked at the shaman, until he replied: “Mind your own business, kid.” A rather blunt answer to Mura, and kind of rude. Although, Mura had no time to play around like that; that was clear, when a forceful grab tightly pulled the stranger towards him. “Don’t play around,” Mura calmly spoke to him, not even showing much effort in holding the grab, “Just tell me where I am. Now.” This wasn't a normal thing to do against strangers, at least not for one like Mura. Perhaps this place was unique in how it affected his behavior like that. All of a sudden, a piercing sound would come from behind the stranger, causing Mura’s attention to be switched over to it. Apparently, the sound came from a large being; larger than he imagined by looking at the size of that… monster? It looked rather sensuous. Not to mention its twisted face as it looked at the both of them. With a swift move with its hand, chains were sent through the stranger’s spine, slowly pulling him from Mura. “Taste the punishment,” the being called out as the stranger disappeared behind the opening. A scream was the last that he heard of him. “… What was-“ Mura was trying to ask the being, before getting interrupted by a flat hand from the demonic figure. “Speak no more, sinner,” it spoke to him with a harsh and angry voice, “Your turn has come as we-“ It snapped its head for a brief second as something else caused another interruption of speech. It would shake its head a little after the snap, before aiming its eyes at Mura, who was all frightened over what he was called; a sinner. What did that have to do with this burning place… oh no, ‘hell’ no…

Now that he thought about it, it didn’t look as frightening as he imagined back then. Hell… something that he rarely thought about, something that he rarely heard references of, except a few cases when he was encountering religious figures and ethereal beings such as the vampires from Midi etc. Was he surely in hell? Was this what ‘Hell’ looked like? His eyes would travel around once again as the demon caught its sense again. “I see…” it spoke out, “Your name is Mura, am I right?” The demonic guard would kneel before the small figure that was the shamanistic samurai Mura. His eyes would move up to the demon’s, giving him a chance to get a hold of the situation. “Where am I? What is this place?” he spoke to it. The guard would grin a little, before answering his question: “This is where crooked souls end, young boy. This is where your being is purified.” He didn’t exactly mention Hell, so perhaps Mura was just imagining stuff. “This is also known as the Underworld, and Hell by many,” the demon continued, which completely convinced the young shaman. Wait… why was he in Hell? He didn’t remember anything bad that he’d done to deserve such a punishment. Also, if he was dead and all, did that mean that his life was done? What about Kyuken? What about Zirconis, his home-stuck spirits, his guild… his family? “… Is this… the end?” he slowly asked the demon. His voice revealed his desperate expression at the moment. The demon nodded and replied: “It was, supposedly, but I just caught news that you aren’t that strange to the place, after all…” It would lift up Mura by grabbing his tiny body with its enormous hand, putting him on its shoulder. “I’ve been commanded to take you through Hell. I don’t know why, but something seems odd about it,” it explained, “… Maybe our lord has something special about you. As if he knows you better.” Mura was, obviously, blank about that statement; who was their lord? “Ehm… lord, you say?” the shaman asked out, “Who’s that?” His mind did answer, even before the demon did; lord, hell, underworld… it all pointed towards a foreign figure that he heard of back when he was alive. It was most likely a destined meeting that would wait him, between the host and its linked core; it couldn’t be none other than Pluto. “Yes, that one lord,” the demon continued as if it knew what Mura thought about. If it was true, then he was most likely summoned here by Pluto itself, probably to let the host meet its greater figure. He was alone, though; as far as he could see, Kyuken and Zirconis were nowhere to be spotted.

Now, what exactly could Mura get out of this? He was summoned and all; however, was there a legit reason? Was it because that he died? If so, then perhaps Pluto could help him get back to life. That was but a strange theory to him, yet hopeful and refreshing. His curiosity would only be satisfied by his next question: “Ehm… hey, demon guy or whatever you are.” They were already walking pass the opening that lead into the levels and platforms of the Underworld, without the shaman to even realize it yet. Apparently, his thoughts about all this was far too packed. The demon would stand still as it listened to his voice, having a very small question mark appear on top of its head. “Call me Lamalik,” it replied, “And what is your desired question, host of Pluto?” The shaman would gulp a little, before questioning: “Is there any chance that… that I can get back to my life, again?” Honestly, he didn’t expect such ridiculous thing to be possible; death was a natural cause of all living things, someday. However, the guy who was connected to death in so many ways, even when he was alive, may had hope before him as the demon nodded. “!” Mura lightened up as the demon nodded, “Are you… serious? Please tell me! I have to-“ The demon cut him off while speaking with another lift with its hand, before replying: “My lord has told me to lead you through Hell, and I guess that it’s because of exactly that. Also… we’ve arrived.” The demon would then throw Mura off its shoulder, shockingly but letting Mura land on his feet, surprisingly. “My job is completed. I will let you to the other guardians for now, host,” Lamalik spoke to him, before turning back. “Hey, wait a second! Are you sure that-“ Mura spoke over to him, trying to get a clear confirmation. However, the demon just turned its head back to him and said: “You’re very lucky that our lord wants to help you. Despite his nature…” That said, the demon would close the entrance with a hit on the wall, causing dark-red rocks to cover the way so that Mura would be forced to advance forward, and only forward…

Okay, so things were getting a little confused for the young shaman right now. What exactly did he had to do? All he knew from the demon was that this Pluto-guy wanted to help him some way, and that he was seemingly supposed to reach to where this deity was residing at the moment. To be honest, Mura always wanted a little discussion with this ‘blessing god’ of his. To meet the actual source behind his problem-filled excuse for a blessing sounded reasonable for him. Did that mean that he could do anything against it? Perhaps he could put an end to the trouble that always followed him since he discovered this aura that dwelled within his veins…

The exit was blocked, so he guessed that he just had to walk forward and into an open area that was, surprisingly, empty for anything related to purgatory; no fire, no screams, just a silent space like before. Just where were these other guardians that were supposed to watch over him? “Hello..?” he spoke out, “Guardians… anyone?” Silence, and no more. It was practically annoying him at most, simply brightening up the fact that he was quite ignorant about the situation; despite that the demon did tell him something. He felt left alone, lonesome. He guessed that because that he went straight to the Underworld, he was literally left without any of his spirits to converse with while walking across the floor. Please, his heart desired someone to talk to. He braked and looked up at the black atmosphere, feeling so empty for some reason. Why did he end up here, anyway? Couldn’t he just live on, or end up another place than this god-forsaken place? Why was HE involved with the Underworld? It felt rather unfair for the shaman, but he suddenly shook his head and kept on moving. What happened has happened, and he knew more than anyone else that he couldn’t change it. He just had to roll with it.

A shadow in the distance was just what triggered his mind. It was a relieving feeling to see that he wasn’t alone anymore; maybe it was the other guardian. His steps would speed up as he practically ran towards the figure that turned out to be yet another human. This man didn’t wear much, except for a cloak below his waist and down to his knees, and his facial appearance reminded him of his own. There were a few meters between them as Mura braked. “Hey, are you the guardian?” he quickly asked. The male appeared to smile, almost filled with joy that Mura showed up. “No time to waste,” was his first words towards the shaman, with a voice almost empty with any feelings, “… So you’re Pluto’s host, I see? Very well…” Right after his last word, a surging aura emerged from his skin and shocked Mura a lot. Was that magic power? Perhaps he was challenged to a battle, judging by the look and presence of this person and his aura. He was, though, yet an obstacle on his way forward, so Mura wouldn’t mind fighting a little. At least, until he realized that neither Harusame nor his antiquity was equipped on him…

That other guy didn’t hesitate in attacking the poorly, fragile AND unarmed Mura as the figure swiftly appeared before him. Heck, the shaman had his arms; those counted as weapons, right? Having no other options, he pulled both arms up to block the fist that was charging at his face. The impact was harsher than Mura thought, though, which launched him a few meters back. “Arh, hey, pause! Pause..!” Mura complained right after recovering his foothold, “I’m pretty sure that I’m more skilled with my swords; have you seen them? They’re not around here…” His opponent smirked a little by the complaint, and answered: “I thought that you weren’t relying on weapons so much, host. Also…” He suddenly disappeared from Mura’s view, like an afterimage fading away. “Huh?” The samurai’s eyes quickly scanned the area to try and spot his new position, but illusions lead him to a punch right on his left cheek. Spit flew off his mouth by the sudden sneak attack, but before this strangely good-looking guy (because he resembled Mura himself) left his vision again, Mura landed his hands on the floor as he was launched back. With a smooth push of the body, he swung his feet right at the ‘Indian’s’ forehead. With that, he gained space between him and the retreating enemy, who held a hand on his face in pain.

“Let me repeat myself once more,” Mura spoke to the supposed guardian, “Where is Harusame? Why am I unarmed now of all times..?” While the guardian wiped off blood from his nose, he tried to answer: “I’m afraid it’s only you; the host, and nothing else. That’s my lord’s wish.” Again, he might’ve referred to Pluto as his lord, which revealed to Mura that this might’ve been a kind of test from the Underworld ruler. However, his chest was stinging with hardship; why did they separate him and his blades? At the moment, he didn’t feel much swordsman-like, but as soon as he had that thought, a light brightened up in his head; he could still use magic! With a quick move, a stone was picked up from the floor; it was red in color, yet enough. Its reddish contour would change, becoming chrome and metallic by the shaman’s will. He would then let it reform into a long staff, while sharpening it to the fashion of a katana. He was satisfied with the result and aimed his eyes at the opponent, not even asking himself why he could still use magic. He was dead; did magic transcend death? The strange guardian lifted an eyebrow on the phenomenon that was caused, before growling a little. “You sure are getting annoying…” he let out, before leaping towards Mura, “Don’t try and cheat! No weapons!” It was Mura’s time to smirk as he didn’t bother breaking the rule this time. He quickly blocked the clock-wise kick that was aimed at his face by the enemy, surprised at how much that his actions changed. Was he getting faster, just because that he held a sword? Perhaps this was the time to put an end on this little test and move on to the being known as Pluto…

As his opponent stood in midair before him, Mura found a smooth opening to attack. Before the enemy could regain his foothold, metal was suddenly drilled through his stomach, letting out a quite gross sound of flesh being penetrated. Everything suddenly turned slow-motion as Mura and the opponent stood still, while the Indian-like boy slowly grinned. “As expected from the new Onmyōji…” he commented, almost as if the metal didn’t hurt him at all. Mura’s curiosity grew larger by that sentence; how did he know anything about an Onmyōji? Was this guy from Midi? “… Are you familiar with that?” he calmly asked him, while the habitant of the Underworld soared down onto the ground. Don’t tell… did Mura just stab his own relative? His face got filled with confusion and fright, but the other boy merely laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m already dead. You do know that right, Mura?” he spoke to Mura, who began calming down after realizing that fact. “Oh, that’s right. Hehe… sorry about that,” he replied while scratching his head, “… But wait. You know my name too? How much do people know about me here..?” Once again, the boy laughed by Mura’s question, following up with a reply: “Pluto gave me the honour to know a bit about you. I am your ancestor, or one of them…”

As time passed, the boy got to tell Mura about himself; apparently, he was yet another ancestor that had deceased ages ago and was one of the last Onmyōjis before Mura. He died at a very young age, which left him wandering around the Underworld without any ways of passing across any bridges to other worlds. Kind of like being stuck in Limbo, or something along that situation. Despite the lack of information, he saw it as a punishment for something specific that he did in his earlier life, but he wasn't going to tell about that, not even to his own son. “I see. So you just wanted to test me out, was that it? You really remind me of myself, hehehe...” Mura asked him with a joyful smile, in which the young deceased responded with a nod: “Yeah, it’s common sense among swordsmen. However…” Suddenly, this guy’s eyes darted into Mura’s quite shockingly, “You’re too dependent of swords. I would’ve won if you didn’t pull our trick there.” With that said, Mura’s eyes widened with a comical anger. “Hey, don’t be a bad loser! I didn’t hear anything about ‘rules’ earlier..!” he replied with a finger up on the other boy’s face, “Besides… I need to move. Now. I have a kind of deadline, anyway...” All of a sudden, Mura stood up on his feet and looked towards the distant mountains with the pitch-black background. He couldn’t spot anything eye-catching at first sight, but the feeling of one’s hand on his shoulder interrupted his scanning. “You’re looking for Pluto, right? Well, his throne is nearby…” the other boy told him, “Just move that way. And watch out for the other inhabitants; they can be quite annoying.” He pointed out the direction that Mura should go, which lightened up the shaman. “Thanks a lot,” he replied as he would begin moving, while having a hand up to sign the other boy farewell, “And don’t worry. I’ll pray for you.”

Now, with a quick departure from his ancestor, the young shaman dashed across the fields of the Underworld; the skies began to alter in color from pitch-black to a deep shade of grey. Perhaps this indicated that he was approaching something influential. The ground turned a little less smooth as he got further and further into the middle zone, but all of a sudden, he found himself with another obstacle; the stamps of three, four, five giant guys which cracked the ground beneath the shaman as they landed in front of him. They wore giant hammers and axes on their palms, and their faces were twisted with insanity. “Hey, would you look at this, fellas?!” one of them spoke up quite randomly, “We found it! We caught up to the damn bunny!” Obviously, Mura had no signs that could let him be mistaken for a freaking bunny, which increased the possibility of these guys’ lack of sense. What was the shaman going to do, though? He wanted to hurry, but perhaps these guys were up for trouble…

With a loud growl of annoyance, Mura spoke: “What do you guys want...?” The demonic gang that he was looking at started to shake their heads in laughter, completely empty with sense and logic. “That ain’t a bunny, you fool!!!” another one roared out, “That’s obviously a human, no matter how you look at him! You and your primitive brain cells!” He slapped the first one on the back of his head with a continuation of his sinister laughter, before returning his gaze at Mura. Just… what the hell was wrong with these guys? It wasn’t that this place was ‘such’ a bad environment; it was definitely sufficient for Mura to wait at if he was dead… oh, well, he was dead now, and all that he wanted to at the moment was to get out, so he kind of justified their reason if that was the case. Although, he wasn’t hoping of getting friendly with these guys as a third one slammed his axe towards the ground where Mura stood on. Rocks stuck up of the surface by the impact, in the background having the maniac speaking: “Bunny or human, I don’t care! This one can be fun to play with, too!” Of course, he didn’t manage to hit the small, but agile samurai that was standing on his head right now. “Huh? Where did that bastard go?” the axe demon asked out, “Don’t say that he left already… and it wa-“ The others couldn’t get to warn him as Mura’s metallic blade drilled through the demon’s skull, shocking it as it leaped back from the dangerous boy. “OUCH! Hey, that hurt a lot, you idiot!!” the axe guy cried out, “And--- wait, how can you hurt me like this? Aren’t we in the Underworld?” These guys sure talked loud, honestly. “Wait, if he can hurt you… and that dark aura,” one of the other demons spoke as a finger was pointed towards the leaking mana from Mura’s skin. The shaman barely noticed it before, until it was addressed.

Without warning, Mura decided to head off, leaving the group of purely stupid demons behind. They were discussing the issue about Mura and how such a human could hurt them, and they were about to realize the conclusion when his absence was noticed. “If he really is from Pluto, then- HEY! WHERE DID HE GO!?” the axe-wielding demon shouted in absolute rage, “I SWEAR TO PLUTO THAT I’LL CHOP HIM UP FOR ETERNITY WHEN I FIND HIM!” He pulled up the giant, dark-red axe and was about to leap towards the scent when another strange figure pulled up a hand to stop him. The axe demon was confused for a second, until he saw the face of whoever delayed him. “Let him go,” a very familiar voice commanded. Apparently, the other demons knew of this man and remained silent as he continued: “I have more knowledge about that boy than you do.” His fingers would poke his arm as he stood with crossed arms on his chest, growling. A picture showed up in front of him; the two Fairy Tail mages that were responsible for his death. Lightning… metal… “… Nostalgic. And it fuels my rage more than ever…”

He finally reached it; an enormous castle was in front of his feet as he walked. He took quick looks around; quite antique for a deity’s residence. “… Huh. Fancy,” he commented, before standing in front of the gate. He paid no attention to it and phased through it with his magic, now ending in a large, vast plain of nude, black stone. It gave a very dark atmosphere, which caused Mura’s skin to cringe a little. “This place… if Kyuken was here with me…” he mumbled as his feet unconsciously made their way across the desert. It would stay like that for a quarter, a very quick quarter of an hour, until his head was hit by a devastating voice:


His eyes scanned the room, but nothing was to be seen; no figure made its appearance, nothing. It was all pitch-black, just like in the beginning. That voice… I’ve heard it before, he thought, before letting out: “Pluto..! Damn it, show yourself, you bastard!!!” Nothing happened. The darkness wouldn’t fade in any way, and Mura found himself all alone… or kind of.


The chills would intensify every time that the voice reached Mura’s ears, causing his inner self to bristle. So this was Pluto’s voice… the one who’d been blessing him. His own son. As if Mura didn’t already have enough inherited powers… but this was also the guy, whose power let the shaman’s mind sway every time that it was used, in which caused his death last time. His teeth grinned in anger as he tried his best to remain calm, despite how illogical that it would be. Death… it wasn’t a very funny thing at all.

”You have no idea… or do you, you senile bastard,” Mura spoke back to the deity, his fists beginning to show veins on the skin, “Why’d you hook me up with such a side effect?! Couldn’t you just ‘bless’ me with some better power than this ‘side effect’?!!” He had half a mind to assault the deity right now, but he was smarter than that. Fighting a god wasn’t the best thing to do for a mortal, and if death overcame him, then what about its ruler? All odds were against him in that case. Now, he could just stand there, looking up at the unveiled face of Pluto, his anger building up inside and obviously revealed for the lord…

“Is that your host, Pluto? A mere child that barely shows any gratitude to you..?” a new voice asked, revealing its source from the shadows, “What a waste. Ungrateful brat..!” Mura’s eyes froze at the moment, slowly making their way towards the spot where a very familiar person seemed to spectate the conversation; with that long, black hair, and those long teeth, then it was inevitable to realize his identity. “… Y-You,” Mura mumbled out loud, “… I shouldn’t be surprised, but still…”

The wicked vampire began to giggle a little with that twisted face, before bursting in laughter. “You, of all people, should know the answer! Weren’t you spectating my fall?! I’m having the entire world’s issues with you..!” he laughed, before settling his iron-sharp eyes at the shaman, “Besides… if that boy won’t accept your gift, then I might as well take it for myself!” The next thing that happened was the visible teeth of that vampire right in front of Mura’s face, missing its target as Mura leaped into the coal black air. The vampire followed, sending a kick blocked by Mura’s arm. Remembering their fight back at Midi, Mura had an idea. “I get if you have some grudges against me… but this isn’t any of your business,” the shaman told him, “Rest in peace, monster.” “As if I’ll listen to the blabber of yours!” was the reply as the vampire suddenly grew out its huge wings, which resembled the ones of a large bat. Roars could be heard erupting from his largened mouth, reaching even the outside of the plane.

Before the vampire caught its focus again, a fierce knee was received from a charging Mura, launching the vampire into the King’s throne. As large as that was, it appeared like a wall. Shocked by the assault, the vampire staggered a little, only to see Mura in front of it as the samurai sent it down with two clenched fists, while following up with ripping a part of the throne’s dead stone off and throwing projectiles towards the vampire’s descent. The result was a heavy fall into bricks and utter darkness, covered by the dust of the impact. Mura rested his eyes on the point of impact calmly, seemingly impatient for something. However, as the vampire appeared yet undefeated, the shaman prepared for a dodge by leaping forward midair. The beast followed with its huge wings, trying to slash the front-flipping shaman, but only being a few inches from hitting the agile fighter. Mura was suddenly backing from the vampire, calling: “Allow me to repeat; R.I.P! Isn't that what they say?!” As deaf as the enemy was, the beast appeared in front of Mura with a swift kick, but Mura appeared faster than ever. The dark aura appeared and reappeared everywhere in the vampire’s eyes, before a heavy punch hit it from the side, sending the vampire back. Something stopped it from the launch, which appeared to be Mura himself. Quickly, the being tried to react quickly, but received a kick from above, sending it to the surface. However, Mura appeared too fast and gave it a braking knee to the stomach, before impaling the vampire with an iron blade into the ground. Immobilized, the shaman found the situation secured and sighed in relief. “Huh… what happened to you..?” the vampire complained in surprise, “You weren’t… this strong back then..!” “Everyone gets stronger. Besides, it’s my terrain,” the shaman replied while holding an open hand towards the vampire, “You had your chance. Disappear.” Suddenly, blazes like those from a welder appeared on his palm, incinerating the vampire as it grew in size and covered the ground around its body. Flames erupted and even reached Pluto’s face from beneath, having the deity enjoy the view of absolute vaporization. A moment after, Mura appeared soaring up towards the deity, looking into its eyes with the background of the suddenly black flames…