After a long day of heavy work, a satisfied Shinji was packing his things to go home, to his lovely wife.
That's when Toji, one of his co-workers suddenly called him over: "Yo, Shinji! The boys and I are gonna go and hang out in the pub. You wanna come, too?"
Shinji thought about it. Ever since he married Asuka, he had never had a real men's night out. And while he wasn't quite the heavy drinker like his friends, he liked hanging around with them. And Asuka wouldn't be home for some time, so...
He grinned. "Sure, Toji! Let's go!"
----
Within the small pub 'Crystal Mist', the only true place where male adults could entertain themselves on boring evenings, Shinji, Toji and the other young men sat down on their stools, laughed and ordered their drinks from the barkeep. They started talking about their various girlfriends, as Shinji was one of the few lucky bastards who was already married.
Soon enough, the first glasses were empty, and the barkeep had to pour them some more.
Toji was the first to show some signs of drunkenness. His eyes rolled around in their sockets, and his face took on a reddish tint.
"I tell ya..." he babbled. "My best buddy Shinji here ish the most lucky bash... bashtard in the whole, wide village... hic. He did not only marry the mosht beautiful gal in de village, he also wash allowed to live in the elder'sh houshe."
Shinji chuckled in embarrassment. He wasn't quite drunk as his friend. "Well, that's only because the elder took me in after my parents died, you know? He's sorta my foster parent, you know?"
"Shtill, it sh... sh... shucks that you, as the favorite boy of the elder, are allowed to live in hish houshe."
"Yeah," another man nodded. "I mean, there's that small, blue door within your basement, isn't it, Shinji? I mean, he always told us that it's forbidden and everything... but surely you were allowed to take a peek, to see what's really down there, right?"
"Um... no, not really," Shinji said. "He told me if I would ask him again what's down there, he would beat me with the stick."
"Ha!" Toji snorted. "That'sh shome foshter parent, ish it? I mean, that'sh not fair, ish it? Shinji here ish allowed to live in that houshe, but not to go down into the bashement. He hash that door hanging in front of hish noshe all hish life and can't even walk in?"
"I think that's not fair," another one shouted. "We should all go and look together what's in there. The elder always walks on top of the hill in the evening, to meditate, right? So, Shinji... what d'you say we just take a peek before he returns?"
"Uh, I don't know..." Shinji muttered and scratched the side of his head. "We really shouldn't do anything that's not allowed, you know?"
"Aw, c'mon, don't be such a worrywart," Toji mumbled. "I'll say we give it a try. You agree with me, dont'cha, guys?"
The others replied with a collective cheer.
Shinji would have never agreed to this under normal circumstances, but today, he was tired, and the alcohol was affecting his mental abilities.
"Aw heck!" he said. "One little peek can't hurt, right?"
"Right you are, buddy! Toji cheered. "Let'sh go, guysh... follow our leader!"
"Follow Shinji!" the other men chorused, and the group left the pub.
----
The sun was already setting when they arrived at the small cottage in which Asuka, Shinji, and his foster father, the elder, were living. Normally, the elder would leave most of the house to his foster son and his wife, and would stay within his small chamber on the second floor. But in the evening, he was always scaling the small hill at the edge of the village, just in front of the shimmering wall. Up there, he would meditate.
Shinji opened the front door and told his friends to be quiet. They all entered and instantly went down the small stairway that brought them down to the basement.
In here, an inconspicuously small, blue door was in the wall. No one had ever seen what was behind it, only the elder was supposed to know its secrets. One of the village's greatest rules was to never open up that door.
But today, the village's male youths were feeling rebellious.
"Hurry up, Toji!" they shouted. "Open it up!"
"Stupid door doesn't even have a handle," Toji muttered. "Oh well, I'll just use brute force..."
"Wait a minute, Toji," Shinji suddenly said. He was having second thoughts. "I'm starting to think this isn't really a good idea."
"Aw, whatever should happen?" Toji asked. "It's just a door, nothing dangerous at all. See, I'll just take this rock and..."
"No, wait a second..." Shinji shouted. But it was already too late.
Toji smashed the heavy rock he brought from outside into the blue door. The heavy object broke it apart in a shower of splinters.
A dark passage was visible behind the broken door.
"Wow..." one of the boys murmured and peered inside. He could see nothing.
Then, all of a sudden, a bright flash blinded him. "Wha... what?" he gasped and stumbled backwards. "What's that light?"
Toji perked up. "Hey, did you hear something? Sounds like a voice..."
They all listened. And he was right, a faint voice could be heard at the end of the dark corridor.
'Help...' it whispered. 'Help me, please...'
The whole situation gave the boys the creeps. They started to shiver.
"Um, I... I think I should go home," one of them suddenly said. "My Ma will be worried about me. Catch you guys later!"
Then, another one spoke up: "Um, I believe I totally forgot to switch out my reading lamp back home. I have to go."
And one by one, Shinji's friends hurried out of the spooky basement, until only Shinji and Koji were standing there.
Toji looked around the empty chamber. "What, is it that late already? Shinji, ol' buddy, I haveta go. See you tomorrow!"
And he was gone.
Shinji, on the other hand, didn't quite know what to make of the situation. He knew that they did something wrong by breaking through that door, but... Somehow, he felt that there was someone in there that needed his help. And Shinji wasn't a guy who refused help to those in need.
There was that voice again: 'Help me... get me out of here...'
Shinji made a decision. He grabbed a candle that was standing on a small table nearby and walked into the dark tunnel.
"I'm coming!" he shouted. "Just a moment, okay?"
----
Even with the light of his candle, the corridor was still dark, and Shinji couldn't really see very far. But as far as he could see, the corridor was very narrow and no other tunnels were branching off it.
Then, he once again saw a faint light in front of him. And was that the voice again?
"I'm here," he said. "Don't worry, I'll help you."
And then he entered a roughly circular cave, with no other visible exit than the tunnel through which he came.
The light was coming from an object that was floating in the middle of the cavern. It was a small, masterfully crafted chest, painted red and decorated with brass ornaments.
"How does it shine like that?" Shinji muttered in confusion. "And how does it stay in the air like this?"
Suddenly, the voice spoke up again. It sounded like it was coming from the chest.
'Please... let me out of here...'
The voice sounded so sorrowful that Shinji didn't need to ponder it much. He stepped up to the chest, carefully put down his candle on the ground and... reached for the handle.
The chest opened, and a bright light came out of it.
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(Posted Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:14)
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