Chapter 19-----If only....
It's almost night time......
Shizumaru and the others are at a half-frozen lake near the temple..
Rimururu and her friends stand aside and watch as Shizumaru gently carry Akane to the lake......
[Soft Splash]
The ice may be melting from the lake, but the water is still cold as hell.............
But Shizumaru doesn't cares..
He can't even feel it....
All he cares about is AKANE...
But she's gone.....
She's really gone...
When the water is deep enough, Shizu knows what he must do.....
He must let her go...
Shizumaru : "......."
Shizu lowers his head................
He doesn't want to let go of her...he wants to hold her forever, he wants to be with her forever...
Is this what people called love? ..........
He doesn't care anymore...........
He just wants her back...............
He wants to tell her how much he care about her, he want to tell her the truth................
His feelings............
But it's too late.......
He closes his eyes..............
He feels like crying but no tears came out.......
He feels so empty... and without Akane around, he feels even worse............
Shizumaru : "......?"
Shizu sees the pendant in her hand. The same pendant she wore since they were kids. He takes the pendant from her hand, it belongs to Jubei now...
But why was she holding onto it?
She and Shizu are almost the same, they both can sense danger before it happens. Why didn't she run away?
Akane knows she'll get killed...why did she stay anyway..?
He must ask Jubei.......he's the only one who's knows the whole story..
Shizumaru : "......"
He takes the last look at Akane..
She looks so peaceful, beautiful.............................
He wish that he can keep her around forever, but her spirit is gone from her body...she'll never talk again, never smile again..
Shizumaru closes his eyes........
Then he opens his eyes again..........
He gently lets her go...
Akane's body slowly begin to sink...
Disappearing more and more...
Until she's totally gone...
...................................................
Later, Shizumaru walks back to shore........
Rimururu and the others tried to cheer him up, but he ignored them all........
He went straight to Jubei, who didn't watch the funeral.........
Shizumaru : "Jubei."
And he went up to him..............
Shizumaru :
"TELL ME."
Jubei :
".........Tell you what?"
Shizumaru :
"EVERYTHING."
And he continues................
Shizumaru :
"...Please Jubei!! You're the only person who knows Akane better than
anyone here!! You must tell me the truth..!! The dreams...this woman..the
angel...Akane...Kojiro........WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?! WHY DOES AKANE HAVE TO
DIE?!"
Juebi :
"......"
Jubei ignores him........
Shizumaru :
"...PLEASE JUBEI-SAN!!" shouts Shizu......
Jubei turns to Hanzo.........
Hanzo didn't say anything.......
Jubei faces Shizu.......
Juebi : "...Alright, I'll tell
you......follow me."
---------------------------------------------------------------
They all followed Jubei to the temple.............
Jubei went up to the altar...........
Jubei : "..I
thought this would never happened.. I thought Akane can live normal like all
others.."
Jubei faces Shizumaru............
Jubei : "...It was 17 years
ago...when Zankuro was still around, bringing fear to all in Japan...And it was
17 years ago...when I met JULIA..."
Shizumaru :
"........Julia..?" blinks Shizu.....
She's the woman from his dreams!
Jubei : " Julia
was the last survivor Sacred Sage. Her parents who were also the descendants of
the Sacred Sage were killed by Zankuro...... Zankuro's goal wasn't to be the
most powerful samurai alive, but to conquer the world with his master Kojiro,
the heart of Ambrosia..the heart of evil."
Jubei : "..So
he's the messenger.."
Jubei : "
Zankuro will not stop until he reaches his goal; to terminate all Sacred Sages.
To cut off the blood line. As long as one descendant is still alive, Kojiro
cannot be free.."
Jubei : " For
years many samurais have challenged the mighty Zankuro, but no one ever
succeeded. They are either dead or seriously wounded. Zankuro's powers were not
human... anything or anyone in his way, either another fool to challenge him or
an innocent child, he will kill it. Because of his powers, he can track any
Sacred Sage survivor for miles..and he won't stop until Kojiro is freed."
Shizumaru :
"........."
Jubei : "..One
rainy day, Zankuro stumbled on a small village. He destroyed and killed every
living thing there..."
Jubei : "........ALL EXCEPT
ONE.."
Shizumaru : "..???!"
Jubei : " An
infant....."
Jubei : "No one
really knows why Zankuro didn't kill it... but Zankuro was afraid of the infant
and ran away.."
Then he faces Shizu.........
Jubei : "..That infant...WAS
YOU, SHIZUMARU."
Shizumaru :
".....!!!"
He gasps..........
Jubei : "Zankuro feared
you..the glow in your eyes."
Jubei : " You
possess powers since you were born that all mortals feared...the power to kill,
the power of destruction. YOU ARE ZANKURO'S SON. You are...the NEXT MESSENGER OF
KOJIRO..."
Shizumaru : "............"
Shizu trembles......
Shizumaru : "...Zankuro.......my
father?! Noo..!!! It can't be......."
Then he kneels down.............
Shizumaru : "..I
killed my father??.....YOU'RE LYING..!!!"
He gets up...........
Shizumaru : " HE
CAN'T BE MY FATHER! He..he killed my people, he killed mother...!!"
Jubei : "Because messengers
don't have feelings."
Shizumaru :
"........"
Jubei : " Just
like you, Zankuro slowly grows from an innocent infant to a cold-blooded killer.
He had lost all his feelings as he grows up each day..his powers getting out of
control..and finally, he had lost all his feelings and senses, and he's no
longer a normal human being..but a DEMON."
Jubei : "..And
you will become like Zankuro."
Shizumaru : "...I CAN'T BE HIS
SON..!!" shouts Shizu
Shizumaru :
"..Impossible.."
Jubei : " He
killed everyone because he lost all his emotions. He killed your mother because
he don't even remember who she is anymore but another enemy in his way."
Jubei : " But
Zankuro ran away because of your glow in your eyes...it shows power inside of
you. your true powers..."
Shizumaru :
"....."
Jubei : "
That's how you defeat Zankuro. Even the strongest samurai can't do it, not
Hoahmaru. Only a demon possesses that kind of power to kill. That agility to
move like the wind and the senses sharper than an animal."
Then he lowers his head............
Jubei :
"...Julia. She was there. She could've killed you..."
Shizumaru :
"........???"
Jubei : " Julia
could've killed you because you are the next messenger. You hold the bloodline
of Kojiro's. She could've end the bloodline that time and save herself and Akane.."
Jubei : " But
she had hope in you, strangely. She erases your memory to forget what happened
at your village so you can live as a normal child like all others. That's what
Julia wants for every kid...even herself and Akane....to live normal...but
destiny will come sooner or later."
Shizumaru :
"........"
Jubei : "After she hands you
to the monk, Zankuro caught up with her. She ran until she found me and my
friend Rikimaru were in training....." said Jubei, "We hide her in my
house, and challenged Zankuro..and he left........2 years have passed, Julia and
Rikimaru fell in love had a child..Akane. Everything went well until Zankuro
shows up again. They both know that we can't defeat Zankuro...so Julia made me
promise her before I ran away with Akane, that I must NEVER reveal to her that
she was a Sacred Sage, but a normal human being. She gave her pendant to
Akane..and then she and Rikimaru left to fight Zankuro.."
Shizumaru :
".....Then what happened?"
Jubei : "They lost."
Jubei : " They
were both killed by that bastard. But Zankuro didn't stop there..he knows
there's one more survivor... so me and Akane always have to move around and run
from him...and over the years, a strange prophet appears who is also searching
for Akane.."
Jubei : "..The
same prophet as now from 7 years.."
Jubei : " Yes.
He and Zankuro are the messengers...but I never knew who the mysterious man was.
There should only be one messenger, like the legend said. But after that battle
against the prophet 7 years ago...I saw the glow in his eyes..the same glow as
YOURS, Shizumaru.."
Hanzo finally steps up and says something......
Hanzo : "...That prophet
was your future self."
Hanzo : " The prophet must
be very powerful in order to travel in time and find Akane."
Jubei : "...And..Akane
knows it."
Jubei : " She
knows about you and the prophet. She was able to escape for the festival because
she knows she will face her destiny...she could've killed you while you're still
weak enough right now so she can save yourself just like Julia could've done
that 17 years ago... but Akane let you live..."
Shizumaru :
"........."
Shizu lowers his head.........
Shizumaru :
"..So she knows about it. That's why she didn't run away.."
Hanzo : " Even she's only
half Sacred Sage and half human in her blood...she still possesses the power of
her ancestors."
Hanzo : " As long as she's
alive, she must face her destiny as a Sacred Sage and seal Kojiro away in the
temple...as long as she's alive, the prophet will continue hunting for
her.."
Shizumaru :
"......"
Shizu doesn't know what to say. This is so much for him to handle...
Hoahmaru : "WHOA.
Some story huh?" smiles Hoahmaru
"SHUT UP HOAHMARU!" shouts everyone
Hoahmaru : "Damn..fine.."
whispers Hoahmaru
Shizumaru gets up, and walks away...........
Rimururu : "...WHERE
YOU GOING..?!" Shouts Rimururu
Wanting to come with him..............
Jubei stopped her................
Jubei :
"No..."
Jubei : "..He
needs to be alone.."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Silent]
Shizu sits down outside of the temple, thinking..........
He understands everything now..why he doesn't have any feelings..why his powers grew so strong recently....why he have those crazy headaches...
It was all because he carries the bloodline of the demon.........
Because HE IS A DEMON...
Shizumaru :
"....."
Shizu puts his head down, looking at the ground..........
WHY?? Why him??? Out of all people why did Kojiro choose him??? If it wasn't him, Akane would be alive and...........
He closes his eyes...............
Shizumaru : "...Akane...."
She's the same as he is.....she carries the bloodline of her ancestors the Sacred Sage... they were both born to be enemies.... is this all Fate?
Is that what Julia and Nakoruru meant? WHY?! Why Akane? Why me..
He doesn't know if he should be angry at Kojiro for giving him this power or be angry at Fate for Akane to die...
Shizumaru :
"...I'm so confused.." whispers Shizu......
For the first time in his life, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know where he should go now, what he should do next.
Fight? Run? Be the messenger? Or live normal as nothing happened?
He feels so hopeless as samurai....he feels so weak...so alone...
He takes his sword out from the sheath..and looks at it...
Was he even meant to be a samurai at the first place? If only he didn't become
an apprentice..he would never know how to fight, he would never have this power
to kill.....
Shizumaru : "....DAMN!!!"
He throws the sword away..
[CLANK]
[thunder]
It started to rain... more and more raindrops everywhere. Shizumaru is all wet, but he doesn't cares. He just puts his head down, doesn't know what to do... his life is going to change forever..
[clank] [clank]
The raindrops hit on the sword, making clanking sound...
[clank] [clank] [clank]
Shizumaru :
"..........."
Shizu looks up, looks at the sword.......
[clank] [clank] [clank]
He walks up to the sword...and gets it...
He looks at the sword..
Raindrops continue to fall on it....
Shizumaru can see his reflection...
He can see his scar on his face made by Shogun.......
He can see the glow in his eyes, even though he's not angry right now..
Shizumaru : ".........."
He stares at his reflection for a few minutes...
This is who he is. This is who he will always be...Hisame Shizumaru. the messenger of Kojiro...that's his destiny........
But what if..........
What if he can control his fate?
What if he tries and change his destiny?
He might be able to stop Kojiro...just like what Akane would want him to do. Finish what she was supposed to do, seal Kojiro away forever......
He puts the sword back into his sheath....
Then he looks at the sky as rain rains down on his face....
He doesn't cares..
He can see the some stars in the night sky when some black clouds aparts...
The stars are beautiful...........
Shizumaru :
"..........."
He does have feelings......
He does have friends the whole time...
He just never realized it....
He didn't feel it the whole time but he knows deep in his heart there was friendship to Rimururu and the others...
And he knows that there's love too...
If only Akane knows the truth.................
If only he told her the truth................
If only he told her that he loves her..................
