Was this it? Was he dead? Was this the afterlife?
He clamped his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. Last thing he remembered was dieing, together with Karou, of that disease. It was sad, but at least they had gone together.
A thin smile grew across on his face. If this was it, then maybe, just maybe he had outweighed the sins of his past. Maybe he could spend the rest of eternity with Karou.
The smile grew.
And Tomoe. His first love, his first wife, the woman who’s senseless death had turned him from the course of the Battousai to a Ronin. If she’d forgive him for accidentally killing her that was…
Kenshin sat up and opened his eyes. It was still bright, but his eyes were starting to adjust.
He did not know much about Christian mythology but it seemed like it might be heaven, in the Greco-Roman castle in the clouds complete with angels sense…
One of the angels, a flawlessly beautiful woman with hair as golden as honey, milky white skin, blue eyes that were like two radiant pools, and two beautiful wings on her back dressed in a thin linen robe that allowed the silhouette of her unnaturally perfect form to shine through while sill preserving her modesty stepped forward and kneeled before him.
“You have finally awaken my lord.”
“Oro?”
She glanced up and smiled. It was radiant. “I am sorry, my lord. You must be confused.”
Kenshin smiled widely and scratched the back of his head. “Ah, what do you mean by this ‘my lord’ stuff.”
“You are my lord, my master, and my god,” she stated matter of factly.
“ORO!?” Kenshin exclaimed. This was a tad… okay, very, very weird, Maybe the strangest thing he’d ever been told. Considering the level of weird he’d been exposed to in his life, that was pretty bad.
“What do you mean I’m your lord, master, and god?”
The angel sighed and looked downcast. Kenshin could feel the sadness and regret wafting off his in an almost visible aura of emotional pain. He could not help but feel sorry for the winged woman.
“When you died we stole your soul from its karmic bonds and infused you with divine power. We remade you from man to god. You are now our master.”
Kenshin scowled. So these beings had torn him form whatever reward he had earned in his life and turned him into a deity?
“Just wondering, what kind of reward had I earned?” Kenshin inquired, “What was going to happen to me?”
The angel winced. The guilty look on her face changed from downcast to absolutely riddled. “You had earned paradise, my lord. You would have spent the rest of eternity with your loved ones.”
“Why?” Kenshin demanded. “Why did you do this? What gave you the right?”
“My lord, if you wish, I will take full responsibility for this and if you but wish it I will destroy myself to atone for my crime against you.”
“Nonononono!” Kenshin exclaimed. He was confused and angry, but he didn’t want her dead! “No need to be so hasty! Just tell me WHY you did this.”
He sighed. “I don’t think you’re they kind to do this without a good reason, and I can clearly see that the guilt is tearing you up inside. Please, just tell me why.”
“Yes, m’lord,” she sighed and began.
Kenshin listened calmly as the angel told the story of his predecessor. Of how he guided and protected humanity, of his wisdom and benevolence. She told tales of his greatness and of his power.
But soon those happy tails turned for the worst. She told him of how her lord was tricked by the king of demons into exhausting himself in combat against his most powerful servants, not knowing they answered to a greater master. When the demons were defeated, the god’s power was weakened, and the dark one trapped him in the Earth.
Kenshin listened as she told him how very long she and her fellow angels had labored to break the demon lords wards and free their lord. She was almost inconsolable when she told him it was for naught, and that their lord had already allowed his spirit to pass.
“…In our desperation, we searched the heavens for a worthy soul. One with a pure heart, and the spirit of a hero. We found you, Kenshin-sama and we gave you this power in the slight hope that you may take up the mantle of our fallen lord and defeat the demon king, freeing humanity for his dark grasp.”
She sighed. “You do not have to stay here. Just will it and you can pass on, and return to the karmic wheel.”
“So basically, you want me to save the world?”
“Yes.”
Kenshin remained dead silent for a moment. “I only have one question.”
“Anything my lord.”
“Can I still see Karou and Tomoe as I am right not?”
“Yes, but your strength is still too weak. You have not worshipers beyond ourselves, and our devotion cannot provide enough strength for you to traverse realities and enter the land of the dead.”
“What about if I get more worshipers?”
She bit her lip. “You could, but with the Dark Lord free, he could use that moment to destroy all you have built and trap you in the nether realm.”
“Okay then,” Kenshin stated. “I’ll do it!”
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(Posted Fri, 08 Oct 2004 18:36)
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