Chapter 4: The Oracle Falls
I
When Keisuke was about to ask a question to the Oracle, the smell of smoke entered his nostrils. The resounding alarm throughout the village sounded out and blared in his head with a white-hot pressure on his temples. An explosion resounded somewhere in the village. Screaming men and women surrounded the outside of the facility in the Healing House. The Oracle looked grim, and she looked toward Keisuke.

“I’m afraid that our conversation will have to continue later. I know that you’re still recovering, though I’ll summon Natsumi and Toshirou in here.”

“What’s going on?” Keisuke said in worry. “More demons?”

The Oracle nodded towards Keisuke, and when Natsumi and Toshirou entered the room, she looked relieved.

“Natsumi, Toshirou,” she said solemnly. “I have a mission for you. That is to take Keisuke out of the village and run. Run to the Capitol.”

“I made a promise to Keisuke that I would ferry his soul safely,” Natsumi said softly before she clasped hands with the Oracle. “Oracle, please survive. I want your own Wish to come true one day.”

The Oracle smiled before patting Natsumi on the head. “You’re a good girl Natsumi. But hurry. One of you will have to carry Keisuke.”

Toshirou nodded before he hefted Keisuke on his shoulder. “I do whatever you order, Oracle.”

Natsumi looked towards the Oracle. She looked like she wanted to say something, though she stopped herself. She ushered Toshirou with her, making their way out of the Healing House and sneaking their way out of the back. The alarm still rang loud and shrill. Keisuke was disoriented with ringing in his ears as Toshirou and Natsumi ran with him out of the village.

“It seems like the Oracle finds you valuable, Keisuke,” Toshirou murmured as he ran. “I hate the feeling of running, but we’ve got no choice. We both will protect you.”

Keisuke remained silent. He still remembered Toshirou’s words to him, about Toshirou not completely trusting him. “Why are demons here?”

Toshirou began to run swiftly. Natsumi drew out her Soul Slayer as demons started to approach the area.

“Damn it,” Toshirou called out, nimbly dodging a wolf that snapped its jaws towards him. “Forgive the rough treatment, but the demons seem attracted to you, Keisuke.”

Keisuke remained silent.

“Toshirou…” Natsumi said as she cleared a path for them towards the forest, leading them towards their destination. “I know this is selfish of me. I know you want to fight alongside the Oracle. But I made a promise, and I will fulfill it. I will protect Keisuke with my life, because the Oracle wills it.”

“Why are you all so dead set on protecting me?” Keisuke asked, suddenly feeling guilty that the other souls in the village and the Oracle were left behind. Was he the cause of all this, because of his selfish wish to be with Natsumi?

“We’re not sure why the demons are attracted to you, Keisuke-san,” Natsumi said as they ran into the forest and trekked towards the Capitol. “But what we do know is that the Oracle wishes to keep you alive. Plus, I made a promise.”

Keisuke felt his cheeks warm at the moment before he cast one final look at the village that was fading in the distance. He hoped the Oracle would be all right. He hoped that one day, he would become strong enough to fight off demon hordes so he wouldn’t need to be protected, but he could do the protecting. His wish to be with Natsumi led all to this, he felt—and the question that Natsumi wanted to ask the Oracle. He saw the question in her eyes. Why?

But Natsumi was serious about her promise. When they made their way into the forest, Keisuke was set down, while the Shinigami twins were resting.

He hoped that the Oracle would survive. Just when she held all the answers to his questions, the demons invaded the village. From what Keisuke last glimpsed, as they treated, was the Oracle using her Soul Slayer to take out a giant horde of demons. There was no time for tears. There were demons infiltrating all corners of the village. How would they escape?

Natsumi put a hand on Keisuke’s shoulder. Her expression smoothed itself over into a more professional mask. She was a top Shinigami, after all, Keisuke supposed that she had to keep her head cool in desperate situations.

“The Oracle…” Keisuke said.”Will she be all right?”

Toshirou looked grim and pursed his lips.”It doesn’t matter, Keisuke.”

“Why aren’t you guys explaining anything?” Keisuke said in frustration, while Natsumi and Toshirou were by his side and taking him by one arm each and running endlessly through a forest where there were endless meandering trails that seemed to trip them up with various tree roots. “Why are you two so dead set on protecting me?”

“Survive, Keisuke Akimoto,” Natsumi said solemnly. “That is your mission. We can’t let you fall into the hands of the Witches and their Cultists. The demons emerged from their handiwork, most likely, but this is Oracle territory. We should’ve been safe.”

“Well have to investigate later but as we are right now the Oracle entrusted you to us," Toshirou said.

Natsumi shook her head.

“I don’t know we’re going on incomplete information. We assume it’s likely the Cultists and Witches that are behind this Incident. But until we get to safety and get Keisuke to the Capitol, we won’t be able to explain everything on friendly grounds.”

They ran. Keisuke wondered why his safety was so important, why he was involved in all of this. He wanted to rest and maybe go into a peaceful slumber where he didn’t have any worries like those demons coming after him.

An imp-like demon flew with fluttery wings and screeched in his face, while Natsumi cut it down with her Soul Slayer.

“Besides having this place infested with demons, we ran away upon the Oracle’s orders. But there will be time to regroup and find out information on it later,” Toshirou said. “But yes, Keisuke—you must survive. The Oracle wills it.”

“Why am I so important,” Keisuke said, as he stubbornly stayed in place. “Why do I have amnesia and can’t remember anything before I apparently died? I’m frankly tired of being chased by demons. I demand to know what you guys are hiding from me, or so help me I’ll bite my tongue and I’ll die right here.”

“Keisuke,” Natsumi said in a low voice. “I know that it’s hard to trust people under these circumstances.”

“Tell me what you’re hiding.”

Natsumi looked away.

“I can’t…tell you yet. But I will tell you everything that I know later on when we’re on safer grounds.”

“Can just the two of you really protect me? Against all that?”

Natsumi looked gentle.

“Toshirou and I will protect you as best as we can. We want you to survive. It may be hellish, it may be horrible and you may witness hardship and tragedy,” she said. “It will be hard. However, when we make it safely to the Capitol, we will ask authorities and reinforcements to help track down the demon and get answers to these questions. Hopefully, your curiosity will be satisfied then.”

“You have been evading my questions!”

“ As said, we have no information on what just happened and why it happened, though the Oracle we believe in said that you’re an important person to us. So, Keisuke Akimoto, I will lay down my life for you if I must.”

“The Oracle,” Keisuke said shakily. “Did she foresee that this would happen?”

“She probably left clues behind for us to decipher,” Natsumi said. “There is a connection between you and the Lake of Despair, the Witches and Witch Cultists, and the demons chasing after you. We will find out in a safer environment—but please cooperate with us, Keisuke-san”

Keisuke remained silent, though he clenched his hands into fists.

“Even if you can’t trust us, surely it’s in your best interest to survive and find out the answers that you seek, right?,” Natsumi said softly. “Live for that reason alone.”

Keisuke stood for a few moments, listening to the sound of howling in the background, before he took Natsumi’s hand, accepting it. “I’ll accept that for now. Let’s make our way to this Capitol or whatever.”

Natsumi nodded before she used her Soul Slayer to cut a path against the demons that were in their path, along with Toshirou. Toshirou stayed in the rear guard to protect them from any demons lingering behind them, and once they made their way out of the Maze Forest.

Keisuke continued to run. He wondered how he kept up with Natsumi and Toshirou, who were relentlessly running with Keisuke and slicing down demons that came into their path. He would put his trust in them because he had no other choice. Because Natsumi was right. He was curious about the situation, and some small part of him didn’t truly want to die, especially since he was in the afterlife.

What happens when you die in the afterlife?

He didn’t want to find out that answer.

Once Natsumi and Toshirou found a safe area to find Sanctuary until they found their way to the Capitol, there was a brief pause between demon attacks.

“So will we really be safe in the Capitol?” Keisuke asked.

Natsumi paused for a moment, before saying.

“The Capitol has the strongest fortifications of spiritual spells and runes that protect it from demon influence,” Natsumi said. “Well, we need to find another way to another Sanctuary before more demons find us. We’ll lead the way, but it’ll be a long journey.”

Keisuke nodded. He understood that things wouldn’t be easy like that. Toshirou and Natsumi murmured to one another while Keisuke lingered behind, and looked at the carcasses of wolves left in the forest and Sanctuary. Clouds churned and broiled in the sky above before the pregnant clouds released silvery skeins of rain. It pattered onto the ground and soaked his clothes and skin and hair, and Keisuke realized that the rain hid his tears of frustration.

All the stress from earlier—of dying and being rejuvenated in the Lake of Despair, of the demons infiltrating the Village, and Toshirou and Natsumi running away as their duty to the Oracle, when they could’ve been protecting other souls and the Oracle herself…Keisuke felt he was the cause behind all of this. That his existence was a sin.…bleaching all the color and passion out of him and Keisuke sunk to the ground, wondering if everything he did was ultimately in futility.

“You know, if the other Sanctuary was supposed to keep demons out…why didn’t it?”

Natsumi shook her head.

“We’re not sure. There were too many demons infesting the place to be able to determine any clues. That’s why I’m hoping that making our way to the Capitol and listing some help from there will lead us to find clues. They will provide us with the resources that we need to get this incident once and for all.”

“Well..thanks for protecting me. And saving me, Natsumi.”

Natsumi turned to Keisuke, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “I’m grateful…that you’re alive, Keisuke-kun. Thank you for listening to us.”

He couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. Despite the rain and somber mood, there was something to feel hopeful about after all. Now the rain seemed to be a comfort and welcoming rather than a convenient cover for his tears.

“We had to abandon the village. All our friends, the people that we protected, the innocent souls that were just being healed from their past traumas…I hope that they will be safe..”

Keisuke bowed his head. He felt a heavy silence lingering between all of them. There was the unspoken word that they might not survive after all, though none of them voiced it aloud. Keisuke didn’t know why all this was happening, but he felt that he needed to do something to fix this world.

He couldn’t just abandon people who helped him. He was afraid, for certain. He was still trembling and quaking from the trauma from earlier. He didn’t know what his next plan was. But somehow, he would find a way to survive. That was the most important part.

“Just survive,” Keisuke muttered to himself before Toshirou shook his head and Natsumi looked forlorn.

“What are we going to do without our Oracle?” Natsumi said. “We were the overseers of that particular village. We can’t completely blame it on Witches and Cultists or whoever was behind this setup. The Oracle said to protect Keisuke, and I don’t regret that decision, but I was wondering if...”

She bit her lip.

Toshirou put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Natsumi-chan, this isn’t like you. The Oracle is very strong. She is a Princess of Elysium, after all.”

Keisuke perked up.

“What’s a Princess of Elysium?”

Toshirou looked towards Keisuke, burning a gaze through him. “A Princess of Elysium is a hand-chosen group of Shinigami women by the God of the World itself to act as his conduits. However, in order to share his power, they must devote themselves fully to him, and never lay with or marry another person.”

Keisuke’s shoulder slumped. “Is Natsumi…next in line for Princess of Elysium. If..if the Oracle doesn’t survive…”

Toshirou looked toward him and nodded.

Keisuke felt a horrible wrenching in his guts. Was it his selfish Wish that caused all this to happen? He wanted to be by Natsumi’s side. And yet did staying here cause all this destruction and death? Was this the pain and suffering and sacrifice that Keisuke must make to be by Natsumi’s side?

“There’s another thing too,” Keisuke muttered before Natsumi and Toshirou looked towards him in wonderment.

“What is it, Keisuke?” Natsumi asked gently.

“I believe that thing is afraid of something in me,” Keisuke said. “But I don’t know what. Does it have to do with my powers?”

“We’re not sure what kind of powers you have,” Toshirou said. “There is also that dormant power within you that hasn’t awakened yet after you came through the Lake of Despair. But one thing’s for sure—we need to haul you out of here and find you to another Sanctuary. Hopefully, other Shinigami will be able to band together and fight against that thing.”

“But the thing is,” Natsumi said. “Why were the demons drawn to the Lake of Sorrow? They seemed to be called through Keisuke.”

“We don’t know,” Toshirou noted before he said. “Now’s not the time to worry about it though. We have to trek through the forest and through another several miles through the Jungle in order to find another Sanctuary.”

“Is everything…going to be all right?” Keisuke worried while Natsumi and Toshirou looked at him.

“Well, this is all a lot to take in,” Toshirou said slowly. “But I think that everything will work out in the end. That’s what I have faith in, anyway. The Oracle foresaw everything that would happen—and you would play a key role in this world’s salvation.”

“I don’t feel like much of anything, though,” Keisuke muttered before Natsumi put a cool hand against his head.

“Don’t fret about it,” Natsumi said kindly. “We need to make our journey one step at a time, right? All while avoiding that demon. We need to gather our resources and strength.”

“Okay,” Keisuke said as he trekked through the humid jungle which smelled of animal scents and green foliage that snaked with vines and leaves underfoot. His feet crunched into the dirt and Keisuke wondered whether the wildlife preserved in this Sanctuary would be safe from the demons. It would probably be overrun by the demonic wolves that he saw earlier, and that demon that he saw that ate the Oracle’s soul.

“That demon,” Toshirou went on to explain. “Became a champion of its species. It’s very rare for it to occur, but when a demon devours the soul of something really powerful, it evolves into an entity that is near god-like and lords over the other demons and underlings beneath it. It will probably maintain intelligence that is enough to manipulate hordes of demons and rally them together against the Shinigami. There is a mastermind behind the demons, I’m sure, but we’re not sure who…but not to worry about that for now. We need to get you somewhere safe. And I imagine you need a warm bed and something warm to eat.”

“…” Keisuke nodded as he pressed a hand to his stomach.

“Let’s get moving,” Natsumi said as she put a hand on Keisuke’s shoulder and started shuffling him along. Keisuke looked back one final time before he began to make the trek toward the Capitol.