The Crooked Silhouette

Chapter 2: The Spirit

The clock has not even pointed at 2 post meridian, but everyone has already arrived and took their respective seats. Only two seats were empty – one for the representative of The Angels who used to lead meetings of The Zodiacs, while the other one was for the special guest they would greet soon. Yagi was becoming restless as he just talked about the reported purplish stone of The Hollow of Cain with his citizens, and they – The Kings of Valleys – had to confront him face-to-face in anytime. He fidgeted with his fingers while thoroughly imagined how The Spirit would look like. Most probably, he would look like a human since he has landed in The Hollow of Cain.

            The room entrance swung open, and two creatures stepped in. One, dressed in white robe and moderate height, assisted the other one to the seats provided for them. Yagi, sitting beside Mizugame, only had the chance to notice that everyone was coming alone – no secretary or ministers coming along as usual. He ensured himself cosy in his seat while his eyes glued at the second creature.

            Yagi was not wrong (and so the assumption of others, if there was). The second creature really looked like a Human. He had the lowest features of all – No wings, no horns, no big hands, no big feet. He seemed so skinny and pallid but he did not seem unhealthy too. He had no incredible height like The Capricorns, and he wore a poker face. Nothing uncommon was witnessed on him, which puzzled the whole meeting room.

            “To The Kings of Valleys, I present to you The Spirit from The Hollow of Cain. His name is Tsuya,” the representative of The Angels who the others called him Gabriel, “Tsuya, these are The Kings of Valleys. They are from The Zodiacs. You do know who all of us are, don’t you?”

            The Spirit named Tsuya scanned the whole room, as if he was memorizing the faces available there. He nodded once and replied, “I am fully aware who all of you are.” He shifted to Gabriel, “You are The Angel, and your name is Gabriel. And this King,” he aimed to the nearest King on the right side of his seat, “is Futago, Ite, Kani, Mizugame, Yagi, Uo,” he then shifted to the other side of his seat, “Tenbin, Shishi, Sasori, Oushi, Otome, and Ohitsuji.”

            The perplexed look portrayed on their expression was unmasked completely. Yagi, the new King of The Capricorn Valley, could not hide his astonishment. Even he took some days to memorize the names of The Kings. This Spirit surely had something up his sleeve. If he could discover who their names were, it was possible that he knew which Valleys each of them was in charge at. Yagi caught a glance of the stunned Mizugame at his left. Even the warmth Zodiac fell into a deep silence.

            What slightly irritated them was that Spirit named Tsuya did not seem to get petrified, let alone being afraid of all those big-sized guys in the meeting room. He was practically much smaller than The Kings. He looked too calm as if he was The Angels – Gabriel, too, was calm but his stern face pictured that Tsuya was not someone they could meddle with.

            “I will reveal a short introduction,” Tsuya’s voice sounded across the room, “I am a Spirit, as how you look at me now. I was from The Earth, and I’ve died since twenty years ago. Well, it’s not a pleasant memory to recall, but since my death, I’ve been trapped in the stone in The Hollow of Cain. I was so lonely and there was so cold there. I lost counts of days, and I could barely able to remember other stuffs than my past memories on The Earth.”

            The whole meeting room fell into deep silence. However, every of their stares shot right at Tsuya, while Tsuya The Spirit was unshaken even a bit. He smiled a little, giving a vision of himself as the optimistic one.

            As if he was.

            “Tsuya,” Tenbin, The King of The Libra Valley raised his one hand in the air, “Could we know what the real agenda of this meeting was? For your information, The Angels never held one after 12 post meridian. Performing it at this time is bizarre, yet I chose to believe it must be something super important.”

            From a very heart-warming gaze, Tsuya shifted to Tenbin. The stare immediately transformed to a very cold one, giving chill down the spine of the others who witnessed it. Shishi The Leo at his side held his breath as if it was sinful to do so, whereas Tsuya has not done anything yet but to stare. Tenbin shivered a little – it was a big fat lie if he said he was not – but he tried maintaining his composure. Most pairs of eyes focused on the tense overwhelming Tenbin and Tsuya.

            “Thank you for asking, Tenbin,” Tsuya bowed. His smiled was fixated on the facial, but not the eye expression. He did not seem as kind like the first minute they saw him in person – in Spirit. It seemed as if he retained a type of uncanny feeling. It was felt as enormous and hard to describe in words.

            That kind of stare stored variety of negative feeling. Devastated. Heart broken. Madness and fury. Dejected. All those sentiment were blending together, emerging a very cold miasma instead of just a normal surrounding. It was too depressing that everyone sensed heaviness in their chest. The atmosphere might be distributing Tsuya’s inner emotion towards everyone in the meeting room, until Ohitsuji who sat the furthest from Tsuya covered his mouth, restraining himself from puking.

            “Who… are you, actually?” Futago huffed and puffed as he rubbed his chest. The hefty emission from Tsuya remarkably scared him to the point he shuddered.

            From a very affectionate and tender smile, Tsuya snarled until his fangs were visible. “I want you guys, The Kings, to find someone I wish to meet from The Earth.”

            “We what?” Sasori The Scorpio ogled at Tsuya, disbelieving what he has announced before them, “We find someone that you wanted to meet?”

            “Absolutely,” Tsuya thumbed up.

            “This is ridiculous!” Oushi stood, crashing his own seat until it fell onto the floor, “Why don’t you find that Human yourself? We have nothing to do with that particular Human you have feeling for!”

            “Even he has nothing to do with me, but I do,” Tsuya jeered and tilted his head on one side, giggling cynically, “All of us are fully aware how we exist, right? I existed because of him, but I was killed because of him too. In order to settle down our business, I would like you guys to find him for me.”

            “Aren’t The Spirits able to go to The Earth by themselves?” Uo folded his arms against his chest, disgustedly looking at Tsuya, “Why should we be the one finding him instead?”

            “Yes, I’m a Spirit, but I can’t meet him there. He for now doesn’t know me, so we cannot meet there. At least, if we did reconcile here, he would not estrange himself after seeing everything around here. He could just consider it a long dream he had, just like that,” the tense loosened a bit since Tsuya’s voice slumped.

            Kani The Cancer ducked his head. Not enough witnessing Tsuya’s amusing aura, he wanted them to do something out of their norm. Why should they go to The Earth to take a Human to The Dimension? Why should they obey him in the first place? He was just a mere Spirit – dead Human and was sent to The Hollow of Cain twenty years ago. He did not own even a pair of wings like The Sagittarius of The Zodiac, or halo like The Angels. “Why us? I mean, we have other creatures which could visit The Earth too. The Angels are capable. The Demons. The Weather. The Deity of Nature. But why us – The Zodiacs?”

            “It’s because The Zodiacs are always seen above the sky compared to other creatures of The Dimension,” Tsuya explained rather calmly, but no one knew what kind of tide hit him deep inside, “Yes, all you’ve said are able to go to The Earth as well, but not everyone there could see us – folks of The Dimension – with their naked eyes. As for The Angels and The Demons, only gifted Humans with sixth sense could see them. The Weather was not imaginary, but people believed they are coming because of something mystery happened, hence they’re not that strong to begin with. And The Deity is the one giving me ability in The Dimension.”

            Everyone – even Gabriel at his side – turned abruptly. Tsuya blinked in confuse as he never predicted he would witness such response from The Zodiacs.

            “You must be kidding me, Tsuya!” Otome The Virgo shrieked from his seat, “Even us, The Kings of Valley, have never met The Deity. How could you do?!”

            “Please calm down,” Tsuya giggled at the situation occurred in the meeting room. Whispers and mumbles lingered across the room and it was indistinct to distinguish each other’s voices. “The Deity of The Hollow of Cain awarded me some superpower to survive in The Zodiacs. I will be living in your headquarters starting today, and in order to stay alive, I was gifted such ability.”

            “This is so unfair!” Ite slammed the table. The banging echoed the room, hushing the whispers. “Why would you be the one getting ability from The Deity? We have been living here for hundred or thousand years, and we don’t get anything since day one!”

            “Are you sure The Deity is unfair to you?” Tsuya laughed wryly, “Like how you see me, I’m almost worthless here. The Deity has acknowledged my sincerity in finding that Human, hence he granted me chance to collaborate with other creatures since that Human is still alive. Only The Zodiacs are brutal enough to fulfil my wish. However, he knew The Zodiacs won’t easily give in, so he permitted me some powers. It’s impossible for me to jump at you guys unarmed while some of you have wings, and you said The Deity is unjust to you?”

            They exchanged glances, unaccepting the fact that Tsuya was well-supplied before coming to The Angels and next, The Zodiacs. The Deity was the creatures that took care of the nature in The Dimension – including The Hollow of Cain. Another regions under their surveillance were The Forest of Eve, The River of Adam, and The Paradise of Abel. They were also the one opening and closing The Deity’s Gate – it was basically a massively arched door linking The Dimension and The Earth. The Angels and The Demons were only the ones able to communicate with them, but Tsuya was somewhat excepted.

            “So, then,” Kani intertwined his fingers and ducked his head, avoiding Tsuya’s stare at him as much as he wished, “What should we do to help you?”

            Some of The Zodiacs turned to the anxious Kani. Was he going to obey Tsuya, whereas none of them knew if he just boasted or he really had power granted by The Deity? Kani gulped as he sensed every pair of eyes watching him intensely. Tsuya’s lips curled a smile.

            “Tomorrow at 8 ante meridian, I would like five of you to go to The Earth.”

            Not enough with recruiting them by compulsion, Tsuya wanted them to go to The Earth? “But we are forbidden to go there!” Yagi bravely stood and voiced it out. Everyone nodded agreeing with him.

            “I’ve asked The Angels to register all of you there for the time being – at The Deity’s Gate. There should be no problem afterwards, unless,” Tsuya consciously halted middle way, “Any of you tend to run away from the mission.”

            Silence overwhelmed the meeting room. Even breathing sound was barely heard. Yagi could say he could listen to his own hear beat as if it pounded right at his ear drum. He glimpsed at Mizugame at his side. Mizugame was seemed thinking thoroughly.

            He should be so. This was not a laughing matter. Since they were formed (born) in The Dimension, they were exhorted not to go to The Forest of Eve. It was because The Deity’s Gate was located there and anyone entering it without permission would be hurled to The Hollow of Cain for breaching.

            “Then,” Tsuya’s thunderous tone startled them, “Once you stepped into the Gate, you will arrive at the forest with the same name as ours – The Forest of Eve. The Earth also has it, yet the features are different than ours, you will see it soon.”

            “The Human you wish to meet is living in The Forest of Eve?” Tenbin murmured while propping his chin with his one hand.

            “No, he’s not. He supposed to have a camp there. He joined a school trip to a camp fire site, and its place is near to The Forest of Eve. Nevertheless, due to the legend passed down generations by generations, The Humans are also prohibited to go to The Forest of Eve,” Tsuya glanced at the irritated Sasori, “Most Humans do not believe the existence of The Dimension, but they do have curiosity, hence there were a few of them attempted on finding the Gate and entered it. Whoever enters The Deity’s Gate, also without consent would be brought to The Dimension, but he won’t be able to stay alive for more than one day of The Earth.”

            Yagi frowned while his mind deliberately digested everything Tsuya announced before them. So the punishment for breaching is applicable to even Humans, he thought. He continued listening.

            “Five of you need to take five Humans who have entered The Forest of Eve. All of them are best friends, including the one I would like to confront,” Tsuya added. He stressed his next line, “Only Humans with two-phase of life within themselves could come to The Dimension without hindrance, and those five are a few of them. So there should be no problem bringing them here.”

            From a very stern expression, The Zodiacs stared at him with perplexed faces. Tsuya blinked, not understanding why.

            “All right, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this,” Futago raised one finger in the air, like a student asking a question at his teacher to make himself clear, “Humans with two-phase of life within themselves could come to The Dimension? For real?”

            Ite nodded vigorously, corresponding to Futago’s assertion. “Do you mean, the one particular phase was when The Human as a toddler, and another phase is his current state?” he asked, plainly.

Concluding each of their facial, Tsuya could say none of them aware of nothing about Human who could come to The Dimension. The whole world has acknowledged that Humans could not go to The Dimension by themselves. The time flow within The Dimension was dissimilar to The Earth – The number of days were indifferent, but time moved faster in The Dimension despite still having the same 60 seconds per minute, and 60 minutes per hour. There was definitely estimation, and it might be not distinct for each Human, yet the effect would still take place. It might be affecting the internal organs, the skin, the sightedness, and even illnesses soon to be appeared in the body – anything. These rapidness of future would happen on The Dimension, but it was irreversible even if The Human returned to The Earth, hence he would eventually die when his body could not withstand.

            “Well, this shocks me so much till I don’t know how to react. I thought you guys are aware of this already,” Tsuya inserted a chuckle

            While the meeting room was filled with mumbles, Sasori stood up and stared directly at the bewildered Tsuya. He kept his hands into his pockets, chirping in disgusted and inquiring the latter, “How can we know that those five Humans have two-phase of life?”

            Even though Sasori’s voice stressed at the end, Tsuya’s giggle did not soothe the furious Scorpio. “You don’t have to quiver, Sasori. I’ve discovered much earlier than you – those five Humans who soon-to-be you victims are having their second phase of life. Currently.” He inhaled as taking a break, “Apparently, two-phase of life means The Human has two sides of background transformation. It’s not particularly background – it may change the personality too. For example, one Human once got bullied, and since then he decided on strengthening himself. Hence he becomes strong man. So his first phase was his weak self, and the second phase was his strong self.”

            “The simplest example I’ve ever heard of,” Uo beside Yagi smirked to himself, but everyone could see him mocking at Tsuya. “If it’s that easy, I presume every Human is like that. Almost everyone changes to be better or worse, depending on the goals. The range is wide, and for sure the rate of Humans dying on The Dimension could decline since before. Plus, we should have figured this fact out by now.”

            “Unfortunately, that’s not what occurred since day one. But I agree with you,” One hand was gestured towards the stuttering Uo, “If only it was that simple, I won’t appear before you guys today.”

            “Damn you, Tsuya!”

            Out of the blue, Sasori dashed towards Tsuya. He fished out his one hand from the pocket, revealing his altered limb to a scorpion’s claw. He shoved Tsuya to the wall behind and pressed the sharp claw into Tsuya’s pale skin. His coccyx spine poked out of his skin, forming an elongated aculeus of a scorpion equipped with telson the venom bulb. The aculeus acted as a stinger, and it definitely was directed right at Tsuya’s bridge of nose.

Despite the ruckus, no one dared to stop Sasori – or they might be celebrating this inside. Despite the ambush, even Tsuya’s eyes remained unshaken, as if Sasori’s sudden attack was just a kid play to him.

            “Having enough fun already?” he mumbled, along with his sclera changing colour from white to black, diffusing with the colour of his pupils. He jeered at the fearful Sasori.

            With Sasori’s claw still grasping his neck, he grabbed Sasori’s tail and, after a few milliseconds, he burst it into pieces. Blue blood splattered all over the places and Sasori cried in pain. The explosion of his tail meant he injured his spine, and it subconsciously disabled him to walk freely as before. He fell onto the floor as he lost quite much of his blood. The other Zodiacs gaped in disbelief as they witnessed Sasori The King with the worst temper among them all has fallen into paralysis. Tenbin and Shishi rushed to the panting Sasori.

            “Tsuya! What have you done?” Mizugame rose and shouted from his seat. He had great astonishment that he originally could barely stand on his two feet.

            The kind of look Tsuya sent off to Mizugame chilled down his spine. “I haven’t done explaining, you imbecile!” he landed another invisible smack on Sasori’s head, passing out the receiver. Tenbin and Shishi were not disturbed but it indeed intrigued them – how could this Spirit invisibly touch Sasori without grazing them both?

            Watching the unconscious Sasori lying on the floor satisfied him a lot that he guffawed, ignoring the fact that the whole meeting room has fixed their mind to not disobey The Spirit. “So this is what unlimited psychic power, eh?” He snarled as an enormous power has brought him to the zenith – he was the strongest of all, and defeating The Zodiacs was only a piece of cake. “Yagi. Mizugame. Ohitsuji. Otome. Oushi,” Again, Tsuya’s voice echoed across the room, “I choose you guys to go there, picking up the five Humans. Tomorrow at 8 ante meridian.”