"No man's land?" Remarked Kiyoshi in shock as he wondered how a child get lost in such an evil place.
"Why would he do this? And why now?"Bella shouted as her sorrow turned to blind rage and anger.
"who, your son?" Kiyoshi asked. "No his father," Bella replied annoyed by the whole situation in front of her.
"What does his father have to do with your son's disappearance?" Kiyoshi asked worried about the answer he was going to receive.
With a heavy heart, Bella began explaining everything to the wandering samurai.
"Long before the land was infamously called no man's land, it was first a field where farmers carried their sheep and cows to graze. Then it became a battlefield in the great war between the five great nations with the battle of Toll Verlieren taking place in those very said lands.
As the great war raged on it grew closer and closer to home. Our town housed refugees from neighboring towns and even cities as the battles were so intense they were destroying places straight out of the map. Even though our nearby neighbors were feeling the effects of the war we had relative peace until one day we didn't.
Zion invaded and declared marshall law n our happy little town. With little to no defense to protect ourselves or our assets, we become property for the kingdom of Zion and its king at the time King Frederick of the 'Noble Star'. Every waking second of our lives was used for the kingdom of Zion.
The women of the town were used as cooks, cleaners, and sex slaves. The men were used as slave labor and as test subjects for their experimental weaponry test. The children weren't allowed to play, dance, or even sing. They were forced into camps to be brainwashed into learning the 'greatness of Zion', Bella remarked sarcastically.
This went on for years, as it started when I was a little girl up until my teenage years. Until one day a small force from Xeng came in and ran the invaders away. But even though they had succeeded to free us from Zion. Their numbers were small as the war used up a lot of their resources and manpower elsewhere. Thus most of the men and women of this town decided to join forces with the Xeng army to repel Zion from Treu Verdammt for good. Me and my boyfriend soon-to-be husband and father of son were among the many souls that joined the front lines.
And after many months of training with Xeng and repelling back wave after wave of Zion forces the battle of Toll Verlieren began.
By then I and my husband Otto were married and I was in the early stages of pregnancy but lost the baby due to an injury I sustained on the battlefield. So when I became pregnant again with our son Leon I resigned myself from battle remarked Bella as she showed Kiyoshi a large scar on the left side of her stomach that looked like a spear was jabbed into her, before she continued on with her story.
The battle of Toll Verlieren lasted for years. With all that time passing my husband grew to become and feared warrior and captain on the battlefield. He was given the nickname Otto of the true spear for his ability to throw a spear far distance and even impale several men with one spear at the same time. He even once lifted a man off the ground several feet after he threw a spear at least three hundred feet and struck the Zion trash in his chest. He accomplished all this while I stayed at home and raised our son.
With my Husband and the others fighting strong Zion was being repelled back and rapid speeds until one day Zion called and reinforcements and among the support was a man called general Kuyo Thailong. He was an absolute monster standing at eight feet in height and weighing nearly five hundred pounds of pure unrefined muscle. Kuyo single-handedly turns the tide of battle for Zion. As he could kill tens of hundreds of men by himself in minutes.
For months we were on the losing end of battles with our men who survived beaten and without confidence or willpower. It was almost the beginning of the end for our town as anyone refusing to obey Zion in those days was killed down to the newborn babies. But three days after our son's fourth birthday general Kuyo was killed and the battle of Toll Verlieren ended causing Zion to remove and resources and men they had elsewhere. Which finally gave us freedom but at a heavy cost.
We lost many many men including my husband that day. My husband Otto was actually the one to kill the general. He threw a spear that took the general's head right off his shoulder but at the cost of opening a wound, he received earlier making it fatal.
Could you imagine a small little country town boy killing a general of a major kingdom? Bella remarked with a proud yet sorrowful smile on her face s she continued her story.
When they brought Otto's body home I saw that he died with a smile on his face. And even though our son was young I knew that his father's death would impact him greatly. He even wants to join Xeng military when he turns eighteen." Remarked Bella and she heads back into the kitchen.
"Hmmm, Bella can you tell what happen to the land after and why it became to be known as no man's land." Replied Kiyoshi curious as to what he was going to encounter.
"Sure, after a while farmers tried to move their herds onto the lands and grow crops as well. But all the crops would die as well as the animals and for the animals that didn't die they would go mad." Bella responded.
"Mad how?" Kiyoshi replied and he crosses his legs as he became wrapped up in the story of these lands.
"They began eating each other and even tried to eat the farmers as well. Cows and sheep no longer felt the need to feed on grass but on the flesh of each other and their masters. But it got worst for those who ventured into the lands would see weird entities and spirits that would send those unfortunate to venture into no man's lands mad.
Those affected by this madness would go home and kill their loved ones in the most gruesome of manners and then end their own lives. It wasn't a matter of time before it became illegal to go to no man's land but the negative energy would still affect the town." remarked Bella in a worried tone of voice.
"How so?" Kiyoshi asked. "The negative energy of no man's land turns a great section of the town's population into a zombie-like state but night and releases them to being normal humans by day.." Bella responded as Kiyoshi looked at her motionless as the energy he was feeling all this time was that of negative energy from a land full of trapped souls.
"But this doesn't explain why you blame your husband for your son's disappearance," Kiyoshi remarked awaiting an answer from Bella who was crying.
"I believe the evil energy is the negative emotions of those who died in those lands. Those for regret not doing certain things before they died. Those who feel robbed by death. And I believe my husband is one of those souls who regretted never being able to see his son grow up as even when he was alive he was also on the battlefield so now he calls out to the son he never saw grow up." Replies Bella as she stops breaking down at the thought of never seeing her son Leon again.
Kiyoshi grabs her hands and assures her that he will bring her son back no matter the cost. Then turns and heads to the door. Bella turns to him and asks him where is he going in the dead of night at the witching hour and Kiyoshi replies to no man's land.