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KAIZEN
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Kaizen awoke from the nightmare on a cramped and dirty cot confined to a tiny and grimy room. He rubbed his temple to relieve a massive headache, popped his neck, and yawned. Oh no. Oh, Kami no.
Terror set in when he realized he was back in the jail cell that'd haunted his dreams for decades. He leapt out of bed and ran to the cell’s door. Its cold, black iron still bore the service hatch, movable only from the other side. Something’s off. I only come here when I’m sleeping. Am I asleep? Am I even alive, or am I dead?
He banged on the cell door and shouted obscenities at the demon that always locked him away. Memories of his defeat flooded Kaizen’s mind, and his arms tensed up and shook. His eyes widened, and a lump lodged itself in his throat. Kaizen quit his struggle at the door. Still braced against it, he keeled over and dry heaved. I had him. I fucking had him right there. All that training, even submitting myself before Patience for help…
Pointless.
Worthless.
He turned his back to the door and slid down it, then craned his neck to the ceiling. Confusion shifted to disillusionment. The lone cot, a symbol of his punishment, drew his gaze. Thought I could change Fate, or Destiny, or whoever the Hell is above us all. How arrogant. Kaizen pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. All alone, as I deserve for putting their lives on the line, for not listening to Greed. He begged me to do it, to call on him, though I swore not to. I took the biggest gamble in life and lost it all on the river.
“Everyone dead, because of me.” Anger followed another thought. “And I was betrayed.”
“Where am I?” he whispered. I’ve never dreamt of this place so lucidly. I—I must actually be here this time.
“Where am I?” he repeated, this time a shout into his drawn knees. “Where are the others? Is this Hell? Purgatory still?”
For the first time, Kaizen thought about eternal punishment, though not for his own sake. He thought of Rukia. Kaizen wondered if she, Envy, Lust, and Greed were stuck in some prison as well. He laughed. “I bet Sloth, Gluttony, and fucking Pride get to sleep until the next Cycle, while my friends and I are damned forever. Who could create such beings as awful as us—The Horsemen, the Beast, the Seven Deadly Sins? Imprisoned and torn apart from each other, completely isolated…”
“YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”
It spoke deeply, slowly, gutturally. Kaizen stood, poised to fight him.
“Get out of my head! This is your fault, always haunting me. I could have won if you didn’t distract me my entire life.”
“DO NOT LIE TO ME. I OFFERED MY SERVICES, YET YOU REFUSED.”
The room expanded away from each corner until it was much wider, longer, and taller. The monster breathed behind him, and Kaizen hesitated before he turned to face it. His gritted teeth could’ve cracked against each other at any moment.
Wrath—the original manifestation, the Seventh Deadly Sin, the Deadliest Sin, the Harbinger of Destruction, and all the other self-important titles Kaizen had long forgotten about—towered nine feet tall before Kaizen.
His raw strength and power were so immense that they made War look like he was on the same plane as Conquest. Fierce crimson eyes illuminated his stag-horned helm. Demonic plate armor fused to his skin from his eternal imprisonment in Hell. Everything about Wrath conveyed brutality, a lack of forgiveness and mercy, and the desire to fight. Kaizen had no idea how long Wrath had been tortured there, but knew it to be unendurable. And well deserved.
“So this is my punishment. Eternity with you.”
The demon barked out a laugh.
“I LIKEWISE FIND MY PUNISHMENT UNBEARABLE.”
Sharp teeth scraped into a cruel grin.
“You were the one to curse me, to make me a Sin, your puppet. My entire life spent fighting you, when there were more important battles to be won. But you always wanted your retribution, to fight your own fights—all because of your stupid pride!”
“MY WRATH, CHILD, NOT MY PRIDE. FORGET NOT TO WHOM YOU SPEAK.”
The lump in Kaizen’s throat could burst. The demon's eyes grew brighter still.
“AND WHAT COULD YOU KNOW OF MY WRATH? OF THE CAMPAIGN I WAGE? YOU MADE NO ATTEMPTS TO DISCOVER THEM FOR YOURSELF.”
“Our relationship, if you could even call it that, was never grounded in trust. It was founded in submission and on control, and your endless thirst for power. The price never mattered to you, but I couldn't risk you destroying my world—”
“AND WITNESS THE RESULT. YOU NEEDED ME TO WIN, JUST LIKE ALL YOUR FAILED PREDECESSORS. BECAUSE YOU IGNORED ME, YOU DESTROYED YOUR WORLD. NOW, ADMIT AT LEAST THAT.”
“I will never entrust my body to your power again, not after—” Kaizen broke eye contact. He locked away that tragic memory before it took root, like he always did. “There must still be a way to fix this. One that doesn’t involve you.”
“AH, YOUR FIRST TRUTH OF OUR LONG NIGHT TOGETHER.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Kaizen glanced back at him; his heart skipped a beat in hope for a way to reverse the hands of time.
“YOU’LL NEVER ENTRUST YOUR BODY TO ME AGAIN, BECAUSE IT IS NO MORE.”
Kaizen’s stomach lurched. He wasn’t sure to trust his gut or this demon, his demon.
An arrogant prick, but Wrath never lies… An unreliable take on reality, yes, but outright deception, never.
“YOU ALWAYS PRIORITIZED SAVING YOURSELF OVER YOUR FRIENDS. AND HID IT FROM YOURSELF ALL THESE YEARS.”
“It was because of my friends I never gave you power. You’d have killed them all in a fit of rage, willing to destroy anything if it meant killing—”
Death.
"AH, YES. THE TRAITOR. ONLY YOU AND I KNOW DEATH'S TRUE FACE."
Kaizen couldn’t say the name, couldn’t get past the betrayal, or even think of Death’s real name in his head.
“I WARNED YOU OFTEN. YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE, THEY ARE DESTINED TO ALWAYS DIE. UNLESS…”
Wrath looked around the room, an insult to Kaizen’s current bargaining chips.
“...YOU ACCEPT MY OFFER. INGRATIATE YOURSELF TO MY SERVICES. YOU COULD SAVE THEM, YET ARROGANCE PREVAILS. A SHAME THAT WAS NEVER MADE A SIN, ARROGANCE. YOU WOULD HAVE SURELY SUCCEEDED."
“I don’t need you. I can do it alone, I—”
The welling lump in his throat stopped Kaizen. Just listen to yourself. He’s right. Wrath crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. The demonic grin spread wider.
Shit.
“IT’S A TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW. BETTER TO TAKE IT WHOLE RATHER THAN IN PARTS.”
Kaizen fell to his knees before Wrath. He tried once more to swallow and choke back the guilt, but he couldn’t.
“You’re right.” This is punishment enough. “It’s my fault, and it’s always been my fault. I didn’t kill them, but…I got them all killed.”
The lump dissipated as if a lodged pill had broken free, and Kaizen felt immediate relief in admitting his guilt and shame.
“YOU ARE MISTAKEN, KAIZEN.”
Kaizen looked up at him, puzzled, but holding onto some form of hope.
“THE WORLD’S REBIRTH HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. SO EITHER ALONE OR ACCOMPANIED, GUILTY OR INNOCENT, THERE IS NO GOING BACKWARD. ONLY FORWARD REMAINS.”
Kaizen’s glimmer of hope shattered.
“DESPAIR NOT. YOU SURPASSED ALL OF MY PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS BEFORE YOU. NO ONE, NOT EVEN I, HAS EVER KILLED THE BEAST.”
“Certainly had help there.” Kaizen laughed. How can I laugh now? He thought of the future, and what he could do to rectify his sins. “Has War ever stood up for us?”
Kaizen thought he saw the demonic mouth contort into a humane, even warm smile at the word us. It sent a different type of shiver down his spine.
“NO. ANOTHER FIRST OCCURRENCE.”
Another first occurrence…
Have I really come further than any other incarnation? I’ll never trust him, but I need to extract as much information from him as possible. We both want to kill Death now, but I’ll probably have to share everything with him in exchange.
“Pride, Gluttony, and Sloth didn’t take the bait. They should have been trapped at The Hallows, but they found the pathway to Purgatory.”
“I SEE. AND ALL THE ARCANICS ATTENDED THE CONCLAVE?”
“Yes, everyone. Sins and Virtues.”
“AH…A RAT AMONGST THE SWINE.”
“We need to identify them for…for next time. Has this piece of history repeated?”
“THERE ARE PATTERNS WHICH REPEAT THEMSELVES. THEN THERE ARE PATTERNS WHICH WE REPEAT OURSELVES.”
“Great. More worthless riddles.”
Wrath grunted back.
“YOUR SHARP SWORD HAS KEPT YOUR MIND DULL, KAIZEN. IT MEANS I CANNOT SAY FOR CERTAIN WHETHER IT WAS A SIN OR A VIRTUE.”
Kaizen walked over to the cot and sat down. He couldn’t be insinuating Envy, Lust, or…No.
“I need to find a way out. If I can find Greed, I can break out of here—Where are we? You never answered me earlier.”
“YOU FOUR…”
Kaizen’s heart skipped a beat. Just four…
And the bastard stopped so I'd realize.
“…ARE ALL TRAPPED IN PURGATORY. GOOD LUCK TO YOU. LIKE HELL, IT IS AN INFINITE EXPANSE THAT FOLDS BOTH TIME AND SPACE INTO ITSELF. IF YOU GO LOOKING TOO MUCH…YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF MILLENNIA FROM THEM.”
“And…Rukia?”
Even Wrath hesitated to answer this question.
“YOUR FAMILIAR IS ELSEWHERE.”
“Great talk.” I'll search for Rukia immediately, after I formulate a plan. “We can find ways to break time and space again, then Purgatory wouldn’t be an issue. And if we could do that, then we really could go backward to fight again.”
“YOU LACK ACCESS TO THAT MAGIC, AS YOU LACK OTHER RESOURCES. YOUR BODY, FOR ONE.”
“At least I have the advantage of time dilation in the Celestial Lands.”
“HA! AND WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH ALL THIS TIME?”
“How about I beat the shit out of you and your cynical attitude, over and over?”
Wrath snorted.
“I can train here until the next Rebirth Cycle. I can plan…I can…” he trailed off, trying to think of more options available.
“OR YOU COULD ACCEPT MY OFFER. I CAN GRANT THE CLAIRVOYANCE YOU SEEK. OF COURSE…THERE’S ALWAYS THE PRICE OF ADMISSION.”
Wrath gnashed his teeth into another cruel smile.
You remind me of him, you greedy bastard. Kaizen paced the jail cell and reviewed his options. It’s bound to be thousands of years until the next Cycle initiates. But I don’t know what the time dilation is here. He glanced at the door. Just like in his nightmares of this prison, a knob slowly materialized from the void on it.
“How much time do I have?”
Wrath frowned.
“MORE THAN YOU CAN COMPREHEND. LESS THAN YOU WILL COME TO DESIRE.”
“Fine. I will spend the entire time training.”
Wrath gazed back stoically. Kaizen rolled his eyes.
“Gotta say I’m disappointed with your reaction. For the source of all wrath, you sure are patient. But…”
Still nothing. Decades of avoiding this moment at all costs, thrown out the window.
“I will accept the deal.”
Wrath remained steadfast.
“So the next pawn in your endless game doesn’t have to. I’ve come too far. It’s not over for me or my friends, yet.”
Wrath’s facial plates screeched into another devilish smile. He pointed at the cot, which was now surrounded by a heap of Kaizen’s belongings from his world.
“PACK.”
“I need only one thing.” Kaizen walked over and picked up his sheathed, shapeshifting katana, the Sound of Fury. “Now, what’s next?”
“NEXT?”
The demon laughed.
“YOU COME WITH ME TO HELL. I’LL SHOW YOU EVERYTHING YOU’VE SO DESPERATELY WANTED TO KNOW.”
Kaizen approached the door but stopped when another thought struck him.
Surely not.
He turned to face Wrath again.
“How many incarnations have taken this offer of yours?”
Kaizen felt a pit in his stomach.
His entire body hummed, and a cold sweat broke out all over.
“ONCE MORE, YOU ARE THE SOLE ANOMALY.”
Fuck.
Kaizen took a deep breath.
He walked to the door he had envisioned so many times, in nightmares and in fever dreams. The door he was constantly warned not to open. The door that, the one time he’d attempted to open in a past dream, had turned into the twin golden doors to The Four Horsemen’s Throne Room.
Wrath studied Kaizen through narrowed eyes.
Kaizen turned the newly formed handle, pushed it open, and crossed the threshold to the other side.
With that simple motion, that commonplace and daily action, Kaizen penned his name in blood and accepted Wrath’s Deal.
“Well, come on,” Kaizen said over his shoulder. “We can’t wait around forever.”
Wrath whispered his response behind his incarnation, and this time, in a human's voice.
“You have no idea, Kaizen..."
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