Ties That Bind

Chapter 02

Slowly opening green eyes, the memories of the pain that had previously wrought  through her body found their way to the girl's now conscious mind. The memory of the pain reverberating across her nerves, causing the girl to curl up in a ball praying that the pain would only stop soon.

As if the world reacted to her wishes the pain stopped. Once collecting herself the girl finally took the time to realize she was not in her apartment.

"Where am I…" she muttered quietly in shock.

She felt herself floating in shallow water and knew she was looking up at a "sky", yet not her own. She knew this sky was not her own because unlike the light blue she was accustomed to this sky was a dull rusted red. It was a sky that neither gave life or bred hope.

Looking to her sides she saw the banks of the shallow river she was floating in covered with trees… burning trees.

Something about the burning trees jolted the girl to attention as she jumped to her feet, splashing waters all about as she did so. Looking at the water closely she thought she could see bodies floating towards her, but as she attempted to scurry away she heard a remorseful voice call out, "Sad… It's so sad…"

In fear Ayame suddenly snapped her head up to see a man floating in the air. He looked to be in his third decade of life. He was not a tall man in length or in width. His face carried all the gentleness of a father while at the same time the weary precaution of a seasoned warrior. While he had light colored eyes they seemed dark as he continued to examine the girl below him. His hair remained stagnant despite the slight breeze in the area. He seemed as if he was so above the limitations of this world that the world itself no longer holds any hold on him

After another moment of  tension it finally placated and he seemed to be frowning at her, a frown that unnerved the girl greatly.

"W-w-where am I?" The girl finally stammered.

"Such an unfortunate anomaly…”The man started his voice calming and angelic.“To take a being as young as you, and as unimportant as you were meant to be and bring you to my domain, bring you into this life" The man said, trailing off cryptically before bowing in the air to the girl, his frown never leaving his face as he did so, speaking in such a melancholy manner, "My true name is unimportant to you Ayame Zukaro, however for the sake of your own ability to label me you may call me Sentinel.”

The girl now identified as Ayame was scared speechless; she was seriously freaked out by this man that somehow knew her name. She wanted to leave but she didn't know where she was. She was surrounded by the flaming trees with this strange man floating in the only escape route she could see. With only one real option left Ayame began to speak to the man despite her fear.

"P-Please sir, can you tell me where I am. I need to leave. I can't afford to be lost right now. Please can I just go home?" She fumbled through her statement but she felt as if she got her point across.

Sentinel shook his head, such a naive girl. She is not ready for this life, not yet. "You are more lost than you realize, and your fight against the heat that wracked your body was loss. You are no longer among the living my child."

With that said. A chill ran throughout Ayame's body. 'Dead? I can't be dead this was all so sudden, I haven't lived? I never became the fighter I wanted to be, I never got that dog I always wanted, I never even had my first kiss!' Looking down at her hands Ayame noticed a strange rune on her left hand and felt a sudden anger 'It's all this things fault!'

"I'm dead?" She whispered harshly, "Th-There's no way…this fucking mark-."

"-Did not kill you." Sentinel informed he, anticipating how Ayame would finish her statement, "It was the fault of no one other than fate. An accident." There was nothing else to say. Ayame simply stood stunned, looking around, trying to see if any of this was fake, but as she took a step towards Sentinel she heard the water slosh and looked down. She took this time to get a closer look at the dead bodies in the water and reached to grab one, only for her hand to pass through it as if it wasn't there.

Ayame stared at her hand and then at the few bodies littering the river much like the one she tried to grab a hold of, "T-That was a ghost?" She asked tentatively, getting a nod from Sentinel once she got that confirmation her heart fragmented.

"So… I really am dead." She finished solemnly. Her eyes slowly panned up towards Sentinel before she spoke again, "Are you Death?"

Still frowning, Sentinel shook his head as he continued to float in front of Ayame, "I cannot say that I am. I am a part of the dearly departed much like yourself, although I would call myself a medium between the living and the dead." He gestured to the river that they were on, "This River is meant to show you all of your sins that you have committed." He said, moving out of the way of Ayame’s path, getting a gulp of fear from the girl, "I would have said that this experience would have been meant to force you to face those whose lives you have ended, but you are unique. You are the first person to come to this domain without taken any human lives."

Ayame, looked up in confusion. "Of course not sir, I'm not a killer, just a fighter."

"Yet you do not seem disgusted or appalled at the concept." Sentinel added, looking over Ayame with a scrutinizing gaze, bringing up a long silence as he did such.

The silence eventually unnerved Ayame who was scared and had absolutely no clue what was happening, or what awaited her, "Since I was little my parents always told me that in this world some people have to die. I don't believe I have to be that Killer but I see that it is logical that people like that exist. At least that's what I think." Ayame explained as best she could, being strangely respectful of this man. For all intents and purposes this man was telling her that she was dead. What was to become of her, "…So what's going to happen to me?"

Sentinel just stared at her for a few more moments before speaking again, "That is up to you." He said, confusing Ayame, "Do you want this to be the end?" Ayame rapidly shook her head and opened her mouth to shout in dispute, "I cannot send you back the way you are now. If you go back for all interns and purposes you will belong to me. Not only that you will have no choice but to be involved.”

There was no need for Sentinel to say anything to potentially influence her decision; Ayame could make her own choice. All he had the right to do in the end was help her with whatever she decided. There may be nothing special about this girl, but he felt compelled to help her.

Ayame's face scrunched in thought before hardening in determination, "I want to live." With a steel look of determination Ayame said nothing more.

Sentinel merely put a smile on his face as he floated down closer to Ayame, "Unlike what you would have found in your previous path in life you will find much hardship. But also much like in your previous life you have the will that may shape your orb of influence in an infinite number of ways. In the end it is up to you. And remember one thing Ayame." He raised his left hand a crystallized orb in his palm, "I'll be watching you." Sentinel then jabbed his hand directly into her chest and she felt as if her heart jolted to an immediate stop as everything went black again.