The Land of the Rising Sun
October 1905 A.D.
In the quiet village of Yamamoto, nestled between the dense forest and misty mountains, life was peaceful; Japan had seen an unprecedented rise, only recently the Japanese had defeated and humiliated a European Empire; the Russo-Japanese Conflict, the mood of the Japanese people was high.
However, beneath the surface there was a growing darkness that was beginning to stir.
Keiko was a young woman living in Yamamoto; she had a curious spirit and a love for exploring the wonders of nature, one day while out walking through the forest she stumbled upon a strange sight amongst the trees; there was an individuals the likes of which she had never seen before, she did not look like her countrymen; the young woman that Keiko came across even had blonde hair, she tilted her head as she observed quietly, noticing that she wasn’t alone, while some of those with this strange blonde haired foreigner also stood out, there were even her fellow countrymen amongst them; she kept quiet, observing them to see what they were up too.
Standing around a temple, Elizabeth shifted her eyes to the Japanese, she didn’t really understand the language, but those she came to this land with, had some understanding, and they translated for her so that she knew what was going on; Elizabeth shifted her eyes a moment towards the shrine; it was an old shrine, covered in moss; the air around it felt heavy; there was a subtle whispering.
Elizabeth had experienced something similar before in Mexico; her foolishness had once cost someone their life to help them escape; she had no intention of making a repeat mistake; returning her gaze back to the Japanese, she continued to listen.
Keiko who so far remained unnoticed noticed the subtle whispering that was present, she felt an unusual pull towards it; she wanted to investigate, but she couldn’t reveal herself to this strange group; she had no clue who they were or what they were doing, and even more confusing, they were working with people foreign to Japan.
One of the men of Elizabeth’s group turned to Elizabeth a moment, making a gesture towards the shrine “We’ll be starting from here” he said, Elizabeth simply nodded; as the Japanese turned to walk away abruptly, Elizabeth turned her gaze to the shrine; the group then began to follow the direction of the Japanese, only Elizabeth lingered a moment before she moved to follow them.
Keiko waited for a moment before finally venturing towards the temple; the pull she felt earlier felt far stronger now that she was closer; as she reached the entrance, Keiko noticed the symbols carved into the stone; they seemed to pulsate with a strange energy; fascinated she began to trace her fingers over them; she was unaware however she had been seen and observed by someone that was present to guard the shrine.
In the days that followed, Keiko noticed peculiar changes in her village, people had begun gathering during the night; faces pale and hollow; rumours would spread of a man by the name of Hoshiki, he was a charismatic figure, capable of influencing large sways of people, he would speak of a powerful celestial being that would come to their world; would destroy the enemies of their people and create a world in which they would prosper; the name was strange, it certainly was not Japanese; but some how, people would overlook it by how Hoshiki spoke; even Keiko’s childhood friend; Riku had become captivated.
Encountering Riko, Keiko raised her eyebrow “Keiko, you have to come with me” Riku declared “Hoshiki shares knowledge that could change our lives” he urged her, Keiko could feel a weight of darkness; she just couldn’t agree to go with him, refusing; she feared for Riku, she knew that blind faith and loyalty could lead down dangerous paths.
As weeks passed; Hoshiki’s influence grew, and the villagers became loyal followers; and whispers of ‘Minotaur’ and ‘Imperium’ spread; they were not of Japanese culture, these sounded more Western in nature.
Hoshiki eventually would preach of sacrifice; acts to appease the celestial being he had been pulling people in to worship; it wasn’t long before the terrifying rumours began to spread about the meaning behind what sacrifice really meant.
One night Keiko could no longer ignore it; she ventured out to hear Hoshiki speak; deciding that she had to know what was happening, at the village square it was filled with the flickering lanterns, they cast eerie shadows; the air was thick with an unsettling anticipation.
Hoshiki stood at the front of the crowd, his eyes gleamed with a madness “Join me and we shall awaken the God that dwells within the depths” he cried out, his arms raised; Keiko could feel the energy in the air shift.
Looking around, Keiko caught sight of Riku within the crowd, he was entranced by Hoshiki’s words; she shook her head slowly; her eyes when returning back to Hoshiki, she caught sight of individuals to the back of him; there, stood the blonde haired young woman from the forest.
Elizabeth; she had been observing Keiko since her arrival, her face had no emotion as she stared towards Keiko; Keiko stared back; their eyes locked; Keiko however would ‘blink’ first in this undeclared contest, Elizabeth knew she was not a follower, she was not a loyalist to Hoshiki, a dark look seemed to form on Elizabeth’s face as she watched Keiko.
Realising that the foreigner knew she was no loyalist; she decided she need to get away, turning and beginning to push her way through the crowd to get away; Elizabeth, made a comment to someone beside her before simply walking away, she had decided to track Keiko.
As Keiko made her way back to her home; she came face-to-face with the blonde haired foreigner; Elizabeth had managed to not just track her, but cut her off entirely, standing in the centre of the pathway Keiko had to follow; she watched Keiko carefully, she had a cold and steely expression present with her hands behind her back; despite initially having no understanding and requiring an interpreter, Elizabeth had quickly picked up on the language, knowing that Keiko would not understand English she spoke in the language she would understand “Going somewhere?” she questioned
When Keiko remained silent; Elizabeth started moving forwards towards Keiko; her eyes remained fixed on her, Keiko felt a surge of fear as Elizabeth began to approach; she couldn’t explain the feeling, Elizabeth looked only Seventeen, yet the aura she gave off scared Keiko; Elizabeth stopped short of Keiko and shook her head “You should have sensed the darkness when you was at the shrine; you should have joined you fellow villagers” Elizabeth told her
Hearing movement, Keiko glanced back to see two men that she recognised from the forest when she first saw Elizabeth; she felt a panic building, something told her to run, that if she didn’t, she would never see another sun rise; so, Keiko darted to her left, she broke into a sprint, she didn’t want to find out what they intended, maybe if she could get away, she might find help for her village.
Elizabeth, shook her head, simply indicating to her companions to let Keiko go, slowly Elizabeth began walking off, back in the direction of the village square, as she wandered off slowly, she began to whistle a strange, but ominous tune
Written By: Westley H.
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