Departed

Chapter 2: Forgiveness

Bansha's POV

     I watched the sky with a squinted gaze from a flat rooftop, my eyes scanning for any demons. Smoke always made me squint. I knew yet didn't understand why there was so much smoke in the center of the Departed City. We were about as far away from the chasm as we could get, yet the thick clouds were still blatantly clogging up the air.

     The chasm surrounded the square city on all sides. The city was a giant endless maze of the same buildings over and over. Each building was identical. Each place was filled to the brim with smoke and fear. I imagined the creator of this realm made it so mind-numbingly boring to drive the evil inhabitants crazy.

     Morro had us parked in the very center of the Departed City. In his mind, the farthest away from the chasm meant the farthest away from the demons. It was a reasonable thought, but the demons search the city daily. We were constantly moving to new spots to avoid them. Sometimes I just want to rip the demons apart with my voice, so we don't have to run like scalded dogs. However, the demons can't hear and they can't die. All that would do is get us caught. I don't want to go down to the chasm. It's the only reason I still hang out with these losers.

     I sighed, my fingers trailing the edge of my blade. What I would give to fight right now. Fighting was excitement among the boring days of waiting. It was thrilling to watch my victims squirm with fear every time they saw my face or heard me sing. Others would suffer for the mistakes of one. No number of victims would sedate my yearning for revenge. But I could not fight here. Hostile emotions only get us caught. I knew the protocol. No out of control moods, no chasm. I guess the instinct to stay away from the fiery pit of doom was the only thing that kept me bearable.

      "This is stupid!"

     I heard a crash from below. The others were currently staying the third floor, since it was the closest to the top. The crash is probably from that new girl, Harumi. I had absolutely no idea why Morro insisted on taking her in. All she did was whine and kick things. She griped at every command we gave her, and half of the time she didn't try to get along with us. I still hated the look on her face when Morro told her how we ran things. It was like she thought we were part of some sort of rebellion against the demons. Well, Harumi was stuck with us if she wanted to survive, so she better shape up eventually. When I asked why he took her in, Morro insisted that everyone needed a chance to escape the chasm. If that were true, we'd be packing around a lot more people. I winced at the thought. We once did pack around a lot more than the measly group we had now, but so many lives had been lost to the inevitable fate.

     "Do you wanna bet on what he did this time?"

     Wrayth, another ghost from the Cursed Realm, sat next to me. His gaze never faltered from the horizon.

     "Probably told her there isn't food here."

     I fondly called upon the time where Ghoultar found that out. His breakdown resembled that of a two-year-old. Wrayth snickered with me at the memory.

     I heard the roof door open and turned to see Morro climb out. He stormed over to the side where we were sitting and plopped down next to us.

     "What was it this time?"

     I tried to be sympathetic. The last thing Morro needed was spiked emotions.

     He didn't look at me. "She doesn't understand. We have to be calm here. And she's having visions. She just passed out and knocked over a chair because she said, 'People don't change. They just reveal who they truly are.'"

     Visions.

     That is where you saw what was going on in Ninjago, or the place you came from. I had them a lot before my year was up. I would always see the same face over and over, a continuous reminder of why I was here. I assumed the visions went away after the demons took you the chasm. Then again, the constant screaming from inside the chasm could be from heightened hallucinations.