July 7th, 2024
"Hey, do you know the legend of Orihime and Hikoboshi?"
"No, what is it?"
A girl with silken red hair pointed to the top star of a constellation millions of miles away.
"Orihime was a princess, the daughter of a god. She fell in love with Hikoboshi, who was a farmer. They lived on opposite sides of the galaxy."
She pointed to the bottom star of the constellation, which almost seemed to be reaching for the top.
"They met and fell in love even though the vast distance of the Milky Way separated them.
But Orihime's father didn't approve of their love and forbade them from being together."
The constellation she spoke of shone in the night sky, brighter than the rest.
"Orihime disobeyed her father, and she would marry Hikoboshi anyway. Although her father didn't approve, he allowed them to meet on one day... The seventh day of the seventh month."
The girl's beautiful eyes glimmered as an infinite number of stars reflected in them.
"That day became a holiday known as Tanabata, or "star festival." It's said that every year, magpies flock to build a bridge across the galaxy for Orihime and Hikoboshi to meet."
Leaves rustled as a flock of birds took flight into the endless midnight.
"They will walk that bridge...
And against all odds, the two lovers will reunite on that day."
...
April 4th, 2030
One day before the War of the Akashic Records.
Juan slowly walked down the stairs leading to his laboratory, his steps echoing a steady rhythm in the expansive stairwell. The cold stone walls, dim lighting, and occasional bug scuttering across the steps created a chilling ambience.
Juan approached the bottom of the steps, where a steel door laid.
Opening it, he entered the lab.
The sight of various scientific instruments and countless intricate tools lay strewn across the room as if a tornado had blown through the place.
A row of viles and flasks lay neatly on a desk in the corner of the room. Books were piled haphazardly on the shelves that occupied the cold stone walls.
A long chain with a blade on its end was embedded onto Juan's desk.
In the center of the room was a large tube that reached from the floor to the ceiling of the lab. It housed a vaguely human figure floating in a strange blue liquid.
Bubbles frothed from the shadowy silhouette, and it seemed to be uncannily breathing.
There was a small compartment at the bottom of the large cylinder that read "Protocol B."
Juan approached the tube and gazed at it with admiration.
"It seems Tanabata will come early this year," he said, his eyes transfixed on the murky outline of the person.
He slowly caressed the glass containing the unknown entity, grinning eerily. Continuing to stare for a few minutes, he stayed entranced by the floating specimen, unable to take his eyes off of it.
"Sir," said a silken voice emerging from a pneumatic workstation that was lined with wires, coolant tanks, motherboards, and various screens. An amalgamation of tech that gave life to a supercomputer, unmatched its technological power.
"What is it, Type-M?"
"The preparations are all set, feel free to proceed whenever."
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Juan asked while wrenching his eyes away from the glass tube. He picked up a red chalk and golden pendant from his desk.
"Yes... if it can aid you in any way, I will do anything you ask."
Juan knelt on the cold stone floor in front of the tube and began tracing the outline of a seven-sided pentagram. Working his way inward, he drew complex designs that resembled an eagle, an hourglass, and a mask.
He wrote along the edge of the circle in a language only known to him and a few others.
"Sir, are you confident that you can claim the Akashic Records for yourself?" Type-M piped up from the computer that Juan had designed himself.
"Yes, I don't plan on fighting until the very end. Letting the other combatants kill each other would be the best option."
"You say that, but you've been pushing yourself to your limit. Your vitals show extreme fatigue and stress, maybe you should rest this coming day?"
"I'll rest when this war is over. If the others have been working even a fraction as hard as me, then I'll fall behind."
Dark circles had formed under Juan's bloodshot eyes over the past few weeks, and his face was sunken in from malnourishment.
"You better... You need to take care of yourself."
"I will..."
Juan finished drawing the complex pentagram and laid the gilded pendant in its center. He walked over to his computer, looking down at the center screen, where he talked directly into.
"Type-M, initiate Protocol B."
"Yes sir."
The computer itself fully shut down as all the information stored inside it was transferred to a small disc. That disc popped out of a little tray under the pile of technology and computing systems.
Juan picked it up carefully and approached the floating body instilled in the mysterious liquid.
He opened the compartment sloppily labeled "Protocol B" and laid it inside.
Shortly after the disc was inserted, the silhouette of the body inside began seizing violently. It grasped its fists and squirmed around as if it were trying to escape but was unable to move.
Juan calmly walked to the freshly drawn pentagram and raised his palm to face the glass tube, all while the body within contorted brutally.
He parted his lips and spoke:
"From the vault of neither heaven nor hell, I call forth.
O crystallized wishes of humanity.
O allfather of elements.
Ode to thy engraved in history.
Fill this soul to the brim with your subconscious and the origin of absolute power.
Coat them in the seventh heaven and the ninth hell.
For this is my oath, and as I pray...
Border to Limbo."
...
The laboratory around Juan blinked out of existence as the vast white city of Limbo materialized around him.
Towering buildings of pure colorlessness loomed overhead, like walls closing in.
An endless sea of these empty buildings sprawled to the horizon and much past it.
The blinding white and the slightly reflective floor.
The architecture so pristine that one could've thought it was built by an alien species.
The occasional resemblance to different places in the real world.
Everything unknown, everything so strangely familiar.
"I finally made it... Have I surpassed you yet, Weisenburg?" Juan said to himself while he took in his surroundings.
As he said that, an array of various sceneries appeared before his eyes.
A lifeless forest that sped through the seasons like a time-lapse, yet always remaining frozen.
A log cabin in a wheat field that spanned seemingly endlessly in every direction...
And there was one more additional scenery.
If it could even be called that.
One thing was absolutely certain about it, though.
This "scenery..."
Was not meant to be seen by Juan.
...
A pale man, silvery knife in his hand, standing with a menacing grin over a woman's corpse.
As Juan saw this, his vision instantaneously became enveloped in a furious red hue. He began breathing heavily, and his bloodshot eyes widened.
Juan's veins coursed with vengeance.
Mind going blank; all he could think about was his murderous intent towards that man. A hatred so deep it could rival the trenches of the ocean that reached to the earth's core.
Godfried.
I will kill him. I will exterminate him. I will devour him. I will kill him. I will eliminate him. I will devour him.
MY HUNGER FOR HIS DEATH...
IS INSAITABLE.
Juan's sanity itself teetered on a thin rope as he pulled his rage from the depths of hell.
A bloody memory flashed into his retina as the horrid events that transpired on that fateful spring night came to him.
...
April 16th, 2027
The day Michael visited Juan's house, a few hours after he left.
Miku and Juan washed dishes as the opening theme of the "Quizzical Quadruplets" played on the television.
"What'd you think of Michael?" Juan asked Miku.
"He was really nice; I had a good time talking to him."
"That's good; he was my boyfrien- I mean best friend in high school."
"I can tell, you two get along really well together," Miku said as she put a plastic container on the drying rack, glazing over her husband's mistake.
Miku and Juan promptly finished their chores and headed upstairs to the bedroom.
Entering the grand room painted a soothing bluish gray with an inviting king-sized bed at its center gave a homely comfort. The warm lights on the ceiling emitted a mellow solace, like a small paradise in their own home.
Juan plopped down on the mattress and deeply sighed, exhausted from work.
Miku walked to the other side of the bed and wrapped her arms around his body from behind, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Do you remember last year's Tanabata?"
"Yeah, we were at the festival with your sisters."
"I loved being there with you; we should go again this year."
...
A memory within a memory flashed within Juan's mind.
A night of great celebration where he visited Miku's home town of Nakano in Japan.
The warm lights and countless people dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.
The numerous sisters that his wife had, starring in the hit movie "Quizzical Quadruplets: Yotsuba Solos."
The countless stalls of food and drink that lined the streets...
The wish Juan wrote on a strip of paper and tied to a tree, tradition of the star festival.
...
"Maybe, but we're pretty busy in the lab around that time, though..." Juan said, knowing he had a large project assigned to him by Weisenburg.
The project titled "Protocol A."
"Don't push yourself too hard; if you can't go, that's okay."
Juan's expression turned conflicted, for he was grateful that his wife was understanding of his work but felt guilty for not being more active in her life.
"I just want to spend more time with you."
Miku smiled and moved to sit in Juan's lap. She mounted him, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing his head to her chest.
"I do too, but Weisenburg makes me do so much overtime at the lab... I'll make it up to you though, I promise."
"You better."
They faced each other, both gazing intimately into the other's eyes. The room filled with a tranquil quiet as they silently admired one another.
"Am I being selfish?" The slightly concerned Miku asked Juan.
"No, of course not."
"I don't want to hold you back, but I can't help wanting your love either. I feel like I'm asking for too much."
As Miku said that, Juan pulled her close, their lips meeting as they embraced one another.
"I don't think you're holding me back. You're someone I can always count on. I wouldn't even be able to do the things I do if it weren't for you," Juan said.
Miku's face broke out into a heartwarming smile as the words Michael had spoken to her earlier that day came to fruition.
"It makes me so happy..."
She gently pushed Juan onto the bed, and they were engulfed in each other's warmth.
"...that you feel that way."
As their bodies intertwined, they both conveyed an unspoken message to one another that was indisputably clear even without any verbal communication.
A silent declaration of love.
...
The door of the bedroom creaked open while the husband and wife were sharing their intensely intimate moment.
And before any reaction could be made...
Miku was stabbed through the back, a silvery knife piercing through her chest.
Violently cascading from Miku's bosom, was a crimson waterfall that drenched Juan in its hue.
As the blood cascaded down, Miku's fear-stricken eyes cried for help while her quivering lips whimpered the words:
"Help me."
"Torrential Origin: Storm." Juan said the words instinctively, as if they simply fell out of his mouth.
A light breeze picked up throughout the bedchamber, and as it circled the bloody couple...
Juan traveled upon the wind fast enough to sound a sonic boom. In the blink of an eye, he sprinted across the air so quickly that the naked eye couldn't process it.
From his lying position on the bed to standing menacingly behind the hooded figure who had stabbed his wife, Juan reeled his arm back and squeezed as if gripping an invisible object.
A bolt of lightning materialized in his palm while he twisted his body, like he was readying to throw a javelin.
His uncontainable rage sprouted.
The hooded man turned and grinned, letting Juan catch a glimpse of his familiar profile.
"Godfried?" Juan muttered in shock.
His former coworker.
Although surprised, Juan's vengeance was not one to be broken by a familiar face.
A raging thunder roared as lightning sparked from his palm.
He struck with all his might.
A blue bolt of electricity blasted through the room, tearing the bedrooms far side wall open.
Razing anything in its vicinity, the Akashic power shook the entire house as Juan's lightning emerged from the destroyed room, dancing across the night sky.
This vengeful storm of Juan's consumed Godfried in its indiscriminate destruction...
Rain poured, although they were indoors.
Winds blew, although it was a breezeless night.
Thunder sounded, although there wasn't a cloud in sight...
By all means, Godfried should've been erased from this world by Juan's godly power.
But from the dust of the destruction, he emerged.
The thunderbolt that Juan previously launched at him seemed to crystallize around him like little gems of agate. The damage caused by the lightning seemed to reverse itself in real time as Godfried approached.
A chilling feeling went down Juan's spine as his powers were negated.
Racing forward, Godfried thrust his silver blade to Juan's throat so quickly that his figure created an afterimage.
But it was too slow.
Juan shifted his arms in a circular motion as he manipulated the air currents around him to throw Godfried off balance.
The wind spiraled menacingly, picking up the wrecked remains of the bedroom and throwing them at top speed.
It was as if a tornado had formed in the midst of the room.
Godfried's leg was caught in the strong gale, and he tumbled onto a dusty pile of wood and plaster directly next to Juan.
Juan squeezed his palms together, resulting in the air within his hands to be compressed tightly. Releasing it, gusts of wind akin to razor blades shot forward to mutilate Godfried.
Godfried quickly raised his knife and cut the air itself in half as the attack approached him, somehow parrying the whipping winds.
Though before he could recover from the onslaught, Juan readied another consecutive strike.
His leg coated in a striking blue electricity, Juan kicked it into the floor, breaking the wooden planks underneath.
A current sparked across the floor as a static electricity filled the room.
The discharge of electricity raced to make contact with Godfried. And as it collided, a thunderbolt shot through his body, blackening his skin from the burning and concussing him with the force of a million volts.
It was like a blue sun had been born for a split second and dissipated without a trace, leaving devastating annihilation in its wake.
The entire room itself was set aflame as electricity crackled across the open space.
Godfried's body crashed into the floor, becoming one with the growing blaze that birthed shadows dancing on the bedroom walls.
As he collapsed, Juan instantly turned to face his wife, who was bleeding out on the bed. He rushed towards her and wrapped his arms around her neck, cradling her head.
"Miku! Are you okay!?"
"Yeah... just a little faint..." her barely audible voice breathed out. The light in her eyes was gradually fading, and little droplets of blood were splattered across her pale face.
"Let me see your-" Juan uncovered her bloodied sweater to reveal a gorey wound that pierced the bone and sinew of her bosom.
The wound pulsated as her still-beating heart pumped fresh blood not into her veins but into the open air.
"M- Miku..?" Juan called out her name desperately.
"Yes... darling?" Miku raised her shaky hand and gently caressed her husband's face.
The remnants of the room blazed like an inferno around them, with the shadowy silhouette of the two lovers at its center.
"What's wrong? You look worried..." Miku said to him.
Juan was desperately attempting to blot out her open wound, which spouted more and more blood.
As he applied pressure, the bleeding would halt for a second but come back twice as intensely.
"N- Nothing Miku... I- It's-"
Miku gently laid her hand on top of Juan's, stopping his frantic scurry.
"It's okay, darling... I know..."
That single action, that comforting tone of hers. It was enough to calm Juan's racing mind.
He embraced her tightly, hoping to ease her pain as she coughed up a filmy blood.
"J-Juan..." Miku's eyes watered as his name left her mouth.
"You've... made me so happy these past years... I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend that time with..." She spoke softly.
Her wound suddenly gushed a large amount of blood.
Gasping for air, her face contorted in pain.
"I... I'm sorry..." Miku whispered as she fought to keep her eyes open.
"I'm sorry if... I'm making this hard... for you...
Juan's lips quivered as he forced the words from his mouth: "Miku... Y-"
"And I'm sorry... if I've been a burden to you..." she interrupted him as tears rolled down her cheeks.
The words failed to leave Juan's mouth as he held her even more tightly.
"It's not fair..." Her eyes glimmered with melancholy rather than their usual soft luster.
"I always wanted to... be by your side... but now..."
The faint pulsating of her heartbeat grew fainter as the blood pouring from her chest grew less.
"Miku?"
Her innocent eyes met his in a longing gaze.
"My time's... already up."
Miku raised her weak arm and laid it on the back of Juan's head.
Her skin faded into a pale white color as her voice became quieter.
Her words were spoken slowly.
"I swear... even in death... I'll find a way... to be there for you...
Her final wish.
"No matter the distance... we'll always be together."
She pulled Juan close to her and whispered in his ear, "Like Orihime... and Hikoboshi."
Her body went limp, head dropping to the ground as the glimmering light in her eyes disappeared.
"Miku?"
"Miku?!"
"MIKU?"
...
"What a touching performance," said the emotionless voice of Godfried from the blazing flames.
His blackened corpse could be seen in the foreground, but Godfried himself was standing unscathed over his own charred body, an impossible happening.
"Godfried..." Juan spoke, his voice could only be described as the embodiment of seething rage and his eyes filled with nothing but a terrifying wrath.
I WILL
KILL YOU
"She's been stagnant for years following you around like a dog, her way of mind never changing... People like that who can't change get swept away by the tide. Maybe she realized that right before her death."
I WILL RIP YOU LIMB BY LIMB
"In that case... I did that bitch a favor by killing her."
AND YOU WILL DIE BY MY HAND
...
On April 16, 2027, Juan's beloved wife Miku would pass away.
And on the night of that same day...
A violent storm would suddenly appear in the place of her death...
That would destroy the entire downtown district of Beaumont.