MY S A N C T U A R Y I S PU R G A T O R Y

Chapter One

The water weighed down around him. He was suffocating, pressure pulling in from all sides. He needed air. He knew that much. He needed to survive, he couldn’t die like this, or so he thought. Nothing came to his mind except the reptilian brain for sheer survival, and he struggled underwater. Something was pulling him down into the watery depths. The lake submerged him even deeper into its depths, and Keisuke knew that it was drowning him though he lost the strength and energy to pull to the surface with his arms and legs.

Spectral beings underneath the water caressed him gently, whispering secrets into his ear that he will be safe now, that he has found sanctuary in this underwater grave. The more that Keisuke thought about his depression, the spectral being’s grip solidified and tightened and started to physically pull him down. Keisuke frantically struggled against their bonds, and he reached a hand to the surface, where he thought he saw a pure white light ahead of him—

—and then he could breathe again.

His eyes rested upon the loveliest girl that he had ever seen.

Raven black hair flowed from her head pat her shoulders and draped around her hips delicately. Her eyes were a vivid emerald green. Keisuke coughed up some water, and the girl gently took his hand.

“You survived the Lake of Despair,” the girl said softly. “Many have perished here due to drowning in their own tears. Come now, I will take you back.”

When Keisuke stood, he saw that the forest created a clear pathway towards an unknown destination. IT seemed as though the trees themselves have skirted their low hanging branches and roots and moved out of the way to present a clear path towards someplace away from this gloomy place.

A forest with deadened trees and spectral lights loomed before him. The trees gnarled roots ruptured from the ground and grasped their way through the underbrush, where paltry grass the color of gray-green stood out in small patches. Mysterious will o wisp-like lights floated throughout the forest, and Keisuke could only wonder where he was. He didn’t know how he ventured into this forest, though he certainly felt like he was Dante from the Divine Comedy traversing the dark, mysterious forest that trapped him and surrounded him everywhere. Was this a dream?

Keisuke pinched himself and winced. He could still feel pain, so this must not be his imagination. He could perceive everything around him in hyper-realistic detail. Nothing stirred in this deadened forest, except for himself. He checked his vital signs and sure enough, he could hear the steady pulse of his heartbeat and feel the blood rushing to his head. Not a hallucination by his perceived senses, at least, but could he really trust what he was seeing? Whenever he tried to remember how he got in this situation in the first place, a resounding headache pulsed his temples. No good. He couldn’t remember a thing, try as he might.

“You need some rest,” the girl said soothingly. “The village I live in is a rehabilitation center for a soul like you.”

“What is this place? Keisuke asked in wonder before Natsumi looked at him with a little pity in her eyes.

“Don’t you know? You’re in the afterlife, Keisuke Akimoto.”

“The afterlife?” Keisuke said while he pondered over her words. He somehow was still alive after dying, though for some reason he couldn’t remember anything about his previous life. He almost died again in the Lake of Despair, apparently, and if it weren’t for this kindly girl and her assistance, he surely would’ve drowned in his own tears. “So are you…an angel?”

“Not quite,” Natsumi said before she ran a hand through her long silken black hair. “My name is Natsumi, by the way. I’m a shinigami or a reaper of souls that are supposed to guide souls through the afterlife and make sure that they properly reincarnate. However, there is a ritual to be done that leads a soul into going onto their next life, and there’s a series of trials they must undergo to prove that they’ve learned their lessons from their previous life and will move onto the next one. Unfortunately, you, Keisuke, don’t have your memories, and it will be difficult to go through the proper reincarnation procedures.”

Keisuke’s head whirled with all this information. The afterlife and reincarnating into his next life? Keisuke didn’t want to be stuck in a state of limbo where he would forever drift in a foreign world where everything that he knew before that was familiar to him was taken away from him. But the sad irony of it all was that the familiar world that he remembered had been robbed of him; he didn’t have any memories of his previous life, and thus he couldn’t go through the reincarnation procedures to go into another life.

Natsumi must’ve read his mind, as the next thing she said quelled any more questions he might have. “I know that you’re still adjusting to the afterlife and have a lot of questions, though I’m afraid I can’t answer them all. You are in danger, and you must go through the dark forest on your own to find the village where you will be rehabilitated. There are demons present here…I can sense them.”

Keisuke’s throat clenched. “Demons?”

“Yes,” Natsumi said. “Now go. I will fend them off.”

Keisuke started to edge towards the forest, though instinct told him that he needed to defend a pretty girl from danger. Natsumi ushered him to go. “I’ll be fine! You need to find the village beyond the edge of the forest. I’m not here to guide you, but this is the only choice we have. Go!”

With that, Keisuke ran through the deep forest, where various trees had uplifted gnarled roots that attempted to trip him up. He felt as though the forest itself had eyes that were watching him through the knots in the trees or underneath the roots, and through the canopy of leaves, dusk started to fall and the night was descending upon him, making things hard to see while he was maneuvering through the forest. Keisuke’s heart thumped frantically in his throat. How was he ever going to get out of here? Where will he find the village?

Keisuke turned and heard a low rumbling snarl. Yellow ears peered from the darkness and Keisuke encountered the largest lupine creature that his current memory has seen. It stalked closer, snarling, and Keisuke’s stumbling ambleness turned into a loping run. The wolf pursued. He jumped over an uplifted root and tripped, and the wolf was upon him in a flash. Keisuke lifted his arms to his face instinctively to protect himself, and he could feel the wolf sinking its teeth into his arms. He was bleeding. Did spirits have physical bodies after all? He still felt the pain, same as he would in the real world that he left behind.

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Before the wolf would tear out his throat, the wolf cried in pain as a scythe slashed out and struck out at its chest. The wolf began licking its wounds, though Keisuke saw more yellow eyes glowing through the darkness. There were more.

“Run!” a young teenage youth said to Keisuke, grabbing him by the arm and running him through the forest.

Keisuke ran, but he saw further ahead that more demonic wolves surrounded them in front of him. There was no escape.

The young teen stood protectively in front of Keisuke, confronting the wolves.

“Oh no, it doesn’t end here!” the shinigami who bore a striking resemblance to Natsumi said. “Keisuke-kun, you’re far too valuable to give up. When I cut a clear path through the forest, you’re gonna run as fast as you can and don’t look back. Capiche?”

Keisuke nodded, feeling numb. His feet planted in the earth, as though rooted in the earth itself, frozen in indecision and fear. After making his way to the afterlife, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to survive. Keisuke wondered what it was like to die again, or whether your soul just went into some deep dreamless void where you have no hope of reincarnating ever again after you die in the afterlife. Keisuke remembered that he promised the dark-haired girl that he would survive no matter what, and he would fulfill that promise. He would trust his life in the hands of strangers and hope for the best.

With a whirl of his scythe, the male shinigami cut through a blockade of wolves and that’s when he urged Keisuke to run. Keisuke ran as fast as he could through the clearing, stumbling blindly and groping his hands outward for balance, trying to feel his way through the forest while running at the same time. It seemed endless, and Keisuke could hear the distant howls of wolves leaping after him. He wondered if the male shinigami would be all right, though he remembered his promise and urged onward. He didn’t know where it led, but he had to make sure that he survived. He didn’t fancy dying in the afterlife, especially to these large demonic wolves that were relentless in their pursuit.

The forest cleared ahead. He could see a shining light overhead, and Keisuke groped blindly towards it. When he reached the inner sanctuary of the light, he saw a teeming city where temples and shrines erected in a hodgepodge of technological modernity and traditional aesthetics of Japan. He ran through the city’s depths and called for help, wondering if anyone would hear his pleas.

“Help! There’s a girl…Natsumi-san…and a male shinigami…that sacrificed their lives to send me here! Wolves…giant wolves…are attacking!”

A young girl with long white hair that spilled past her hips and vivid red eyes appeared before him, wearing a pure white kimono. She folded her sleeves together and stared at him in contemplation, though Keisuke had a feeling that this young child was far older than her appearance suggested; that she was a thousand years old, or maybe more. Keisuke could tell because her eyes weren’t like that of a child’s; young, naive, full of hope.

“I’ve foreseen your appearance here, Keisuke Akimoto,” the young girl said in a solemn tone. “I am the Oracle of this temple. As long as the demons are at bay, they cannot harm you here. This place is sanctifiedbym the likes of demons.”

“Will Natsumi-san…be all right?” Keisuke said as he looked beyond the edge of the shrines and temples and towards the wilderness where the wolves lazily prowled outside, waiting. Watching.

“You met Natsumi and her brother, Toshirou,” the white-haired girl said. “Don’t worry, they’re some of the best shinigami that we have. They will return, surely. Come inside the temple. I’m sure that you are weary from your journey. And a few explanations are in order.”

Keisuke entered the temple and sat at a table where tea was arranged for him to drink. Keisuke managed t to drink some tea to calm his nerves from the previous ventures, and the Oracle waited until he was completely comfortable before she began to speak.

“Do you understand why you’re here, Keisuke?”

Keisuke shook his head.

“You appeared in the Lake of Despair because you experienced heavy emotional despair over something. Sometimes lost souls go through the Lake of Despair because they’ve experienced something quite traumatizing and heavy from their previous life. Unfortunately, we don’t know what memories you had, and you can’t reincarnate into the next life without your memories. As such, you need to find clues scattered throughout the afterlife finding your memories. Unfortunately, there are demons that are attracted to you and want your soul. We mustn't let your soul fall in our hands, lest the world be doomed.”

“Why me, though?” Keisuke asked, and the Oracle shook her head.

“I’m not sure,” the Oracle said. “But I’ve seen a vision of you, two futures. One where you cause the destruction of the world, and the other that you are its salvation. Some shinigami have factioned to your side, while others are opposed against you. But be wary; not only demons are after you, but there are some shady shinigami that want to use your power for their own ends.”

“How do I know that you guys aren’t using me or manipulating me?” Keisuke asked, while the oracle calmly sipped her tea.

“You’ve got no one else to rely on, do you? I’m giving you all the information that I can to help you. And I’m warning you for your benefit. I can’t prove that I’m trustworthy to you, because this entire situation must seem surreal to you, but I’m helping you as best I can, and telling you to think critically and think for yourself. Think about what other people say. Think what their intentions are.”

“Everyone obviously wants something, don’t they?” Keisuke said while shaking his head. “But really…What about my soul is so special? Why do people want it so much?”

“My suspicions haven’t been confirmed yet, but once you develop your magical powers…yes, you’ll need training,” The Oracle said. “You need to defend yourself from the demons and use your magical powers to fend them off from you and use your power to determine the world’s salvation…or it’s downfall. I personally believe that you’re dangerous, yet the power within you can be tamed as long as a patient teacher is willing to guide you.”

“What about Toshirou and Natsumi?” Keisuke asked, and the Oracle drank the last dregs of her tea.

“They will be your assigned guardians, I suppose. To make sure that no harm will come upon you. Ah, they’ve arrived back. Let’s see what they have to say to us.”

Keisuke turned and saw that Toshirou and Natsumi have returned from fighting off the demonic wolves that tracked him throughout the never-ending forest. They looked worse for wear, though the blood on their bodies mostly belonged to the wolves. Still, Toshirou had a gash on his shoulder where a wolf must’ve bitten him; though Keisuke could see, even now, that the wound was closing up quickly and a sizzling sound was heard as the skin was healing itself.

“How?” Keisuke asked before Toshirou grinned towards Keisuke.

“Shinigami have bodies that are more durable than a mortal’s body. There’s a lot of perks to being a shinigami, let me tell you.”

Despite her brother’s more jovial demeanor, Natsumi looked serious. “Oracle, there is another demon that is heading our way. One that we couldn’t handle, I’m afraid.”

“The barriers should hold,” The Oracle said calmly, while Natsumi still looked fretful for the Oracle’s safety.

“You’re unconcerned?”

“I’ve foreseen everything that will happen,” The Oracle said sagely. “Just promise me this. Protect Keisuke-kun with your life.”

Natsumi nodded silently before they heard the sound of the spiritual barriers being forcibly taken down. The Oracle calmly sat with her arms folded on her lap, unresisting and unperturbed, as a demon crashed through the temple and looked down upon the little Oracle with a slavering expression. Natsumi reached a hand out, eyes widened, though the Oracle held out a hand towards Natsumi, gesturing her to stop.

The demon chomped its jaws around the Oracle’s head. Keisuke turned away from the sight, and Natsumi gasped in sheer terror. Toshirou, however, recovered his wits quickly. “Come, Natsumi, Keisuke. We mustn’t dawdle here, especially since that demon now has the soul of an Oracle.”

They left the temple and shrine, hearing the roars of the raging demon behind them. They dared not look back, as they made their way outside the sanctified area where the barriers have fallen and demons started to infiltrate the shrine