Departed

Chapter 1: Submission

Harumi's POV

     Death is a funny thing. I had never put much thought into what the Departed Realm was like, so I didn't know what to expect. All I saw after the fall was darkness. All I felt with nothing. There was no heat nor cold. Everything was just not there. Slowly, my senses started to return. I could feel the presence of my body, but it felt different. It felt colder. It felt lifeless. Then, I opened my eyes.

     All I could see was blurred. Everything seemed like a grey mass around me. The smell of smoke drifted through the air. I stirred, uncomfortably, every bone in my body ached like they had been twisted in thousands of different ways. I let out a low moan, wondering if I had imagined the whole spine-cracking scenario and I had actually survived. But, no one could survive that fall right?

     Could they?

     Things began to come into focus. I was in an alley. A burnt alley. It was like a fire had come through and stripped the alley of anything that resembled life. The brick walls were deteriorated, and the paint was peeling off. The buildings made of brick piled high three stories tall, identical in both structure and color. I would expect to see graffiti in a place like this, but no bright colors caught my eye. The only thing outside of the buildings in this alley were a pile of dislodged bricks and a sewer lid.

     I was lying on the rocky ground between the buildings. In front and behind me the alleys continued; it seemed like there were more identical structures in congruent rows. The potent smoke smell was coming from the sewer lid a few feet away from me. The sky was dark and clouded with bundles of grey smoke. Everything was quiet, except for a hissing noise coming from the sewer.

     I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the aches and pains in my body. I was not lying on top of building remains. Could this be Ninjago City? If it were, then I would be in a part of town I didn't spend too much time in. I never remembered seeing such symmetry in the buildings. The last thing I remembered before I woke up here was falling. Falling with a twenty-story apartment building. If I were still in Ninjago City, wouldn't I be on top of the building's remains? I guess it was possible that someone moved me. I shuddered at the thought.

     A scream echoed from the sewer. I jumped at the sudden sound. I heard the sound of chains being scraped across concrete, more hissing, and a low moan. I backed slowly away from the sewer lid, which was being slowly opened by a very large set of claws. Smoke billowed from the sewer in large clouds, making my eyes water and my throat itch. Through the clouds I saw horns rising out of the sewer. Survival instincts kicked in, and I squashed the visceral human nature to scream. I scanned the alley desperately, my eyes finding the discarded brick pile almost immediately. It was a small pile, but some shelter was better than none. I reached for the dagger I usually kept in my belt, surprised that it was still there.

     The white horns were followed by a white head. It was like looking at a monster. The horns reminded me of the ones that came out of the Mask of Vengeance, the face reminded me of an ox. It had a strong jaw, long, glistening teeth, and beady, black eyes. The head was followed by a muscular human torso, that was as white as the head. It had no legs, only wisps of white smoke that came from where the legs were supposed to be.

     I shrunk back at the sight. The monster floated up out of the sewer, its claws grasping many chains. On the end of those chains, there was a man. The man looked starved, with his ribcage peaking through the thin robes he wore. The clothes were soaked red as the man bled out onto the concrete. However, his blood was not the rich scarlet of normal blood. It was like his blood partially dried and frozen; it was a darker red that looked unnatural. The chains were bound to his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. They looked far too tight for comfort; in fact, a lot of the bleeding was coming from those places. He was dragged along by the monster as it floated into the alley's center. More monsters followed the first one, each of them holding spears that they poked at the man with. The helpless man turned and caught my eye from far away. I shook my head in desperation, but his bloodshot eyes showed no remorse.