Oh good. You are awake now.
The voice ringing in his ears, Shiro got onto his feet. He had no recollection of what happened, and found himself on top of a skyscraper, overlooking a massive neon city of glowing lights.
Welcome to Zaen.
Shiro scanned his surroundings. It was bright. That was the first thing Shiro noted in his hand as he drew his eyes from one end to another. Towers like the one he is on stretched as far as the eye can see and peering further showed desert. Looking down, Shiro was far away from the ground. He instinctively took a step back away from the ledge.
"How..?" Shiro was a little shocked. He landed in a desert, and during the drive to the Soulwatch headquarters, they passed nothing but miles and miles of desert, leading to one of the most uncomfortable rides.
Zaen is one of the three largest human settlements still remaining in Earva. Soulwatch has its HQ somewhere in this city. Zaen is a place of lawless governance, a rogue nation of some sort. It doesn't have any formal government, making it a perfect hideout for people like us.
"Great..?" Shiro had little thoughts on the matter. All he could remember was him touching the statue, and he promptly blacked out. Soulwatch was a name that sounded familiar to him, but the memory of his getaway was hazy. He remembered the director and her monologue on the world.
"Who are you?" Shiro asked out loud.
Me? I'm Kaoran. The god of war, might, and fighters. You're my vessel to your plane of existence.
"What?" Shiro exclaimed after hearing Kaoran's expository story.
I know, right? That's cool as hell. Watch this.
Shiro suddenly feels numb, as he slowly finds himself at the edge again. Realizing what Kaoran was about to do, he screamed. "No! NO! NO-"
Before he could even complete the sentence, he started to plummet to the ground. The air tearing away at his cheeks, as he tried to regain control.
Don't fight me. If you do, we'll both die.
Shiro tried to calm himself, trying to gaslight himself into believing that he had a parachute. As the ground grows closer and closer, Shiro felt his legs contort themselves into a pencil position, with the air around him woosh place him. Shutting his eyes, Shiro braced himself for the impact.
But it never came. Shiro found himself on the ground, his body unscathed.
"Woah," Shiro whispered. Feeling a little impressed and more confident, Shiro stood taller.
You ain't seen shit yet. This is merely the power I can exert through you. You might be stronger than average, but it is quite limiting for a god.
"I see.."
Hence, why I've taken you here. Around that corner is the house of operations for the Cult of War. They will teach you everything you need to know from a more human perspective. Eventually, if you fully free me, I will owe you one.
"Thanks?" Shiro muttered confused. He didn't really know how to react to this kind of information. Everything feels strangely foreign, even feelings, fluttering momentary emotions, like joy and sadness feel like strangers to him. Even with the voice to keep him company, he was truly alone in a new world he couldn't understand. There was little meaning in his existence, and in his hopelessness, he found the voice reassuring, but his instinct told him not to trust him. However, there was little choice to escape his nihilism. He wanted to be free from the burden of carrying the God of War into this world. He didn't choose to be a hero or villain. He wanted to find a way out of this mess and live a life he missed.
Earth to Shiro. Stop standing there like an idiot and get moving.
"Ri…right." he stammered as he shuffled along the street, trying to recall the directions to the Cult of War or whatever it was called. Hopefully, then he can find some hope in his bleak situation, he thought.
He soon found himself peering at a nightclub. The voice of Kaoran continuously pestered him to enter the establishment. Shiro mustered up his courage as he entered the world of thumping loud music and bizarre contortions of the body to the rhythm of a song that Shiro was barely familiar with.
Shiro felt a tap on his back, as a bald man a head taller with a marking on his forehead asked "You are Shiro Kaguna, correct?" Shiro nodded his head, as the bald man motioned him to follow him. Shiro complied, as the two navigated the crowd into another room.
There was a man in a suit with sunglasses on, tattoos decorating his knuckles, and jewelry all around him. Around him were a dozen other men, with the same marking on their foreheads.
Shiro heard a loud slam as the giant metal door closed behind him. The noise of the nightclub faded to a mere hum. The man with sunglasses stood and approached Shiro, and with a snap of his fingers, the other men vanished in a flash of blue light.
"You mind if you let.." the man gestures a bit with his hand, "you know… so that we can talk?"
Shiro could smell the heavy scent of alcohol and cigars in his breath. Stifling up, and opening his mouth, he tried to say a word before–
"What more do you want, Diego?" Kaoran snarled at the man with sunglasses.
"I don't work for free."
"What more could you want?"
"Promise me, on the oath of your name, that you will fight for the World Soul."
"What? Why?"
"Someone's fucking with the timeline here. Your vessel, and I'm sure you are oblivious, isn't from this time. Someone's messing around here. The sagelights are all over my ass as well as the Imperium. Now that you are free… that means something's bigger at play here."
"What could be bigger than a god?"
"I have no fucking clue. If I did, I wouldn't be asking you for this."
Kaoran sighs and says dejectedly. "I'd try my best. We might need Kuthuun for this. The Soulwatch is activating Alpha-7 anyways…"
"Because you killed their director."
"What else could I have done? They wanted me to play the villain."
"There are no heroes and villains in this world, Kaoran. Only people."
Kaoran stares at Diego with more discontent, before sighing again. There is little to say. Kaoran didn't fully understand his own nature. He was some supernatural being, but what he didn't account for was the humanity he saw in himself. Kaoran was a concept, of war, of battle, yet he felt remorse when he struck, even if he couldn't show it. There was a stillness in fists.
"Switch back. I'd train up your kid. If he can't take it, I'm gonna–"
"I know."
"Welcome back."
"Wh..what? '' Shiro stammered, before staggering backward, disoriented at the sudden brightness of the room.
"Get used to it. You are now the only direct channel of humanity to Kaoran."
"..." Shiro looked at him blankly, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that if people want to talk to the God of War, they have to talk through you. Get that?"
"Sure…" Shiro was bombarded by words he didn't even know. "What's your name, sir?"
"I'm Diego. That's all you need to know." Diego turned back to his desk as he snapped his fingers again, and the bald men reappeared in a flash of blue light. "Rest up. You will need to be in your best condition for tomorrow."
Shiro was then escorted out of the room, and led to a lone room, with a bare bed. The door was closed behind him, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He sat on the bed, trying to recall his past. It was as if it never happened, and he appeared the day when he fell from the sky. But that can't be true. He got frustrated, as he tried to search his memories only to find the same black void.
He tried a little longer, before letting his eyes fall into the darkness.