The evening sky was dark and oppressive, a looming ceiling of clouds that promised a rainstorm and casted sin like shadows on the ground below. This day, the Japanese National Guard arrived and took control of the camp, the wounded were finally given proper medical care. And the martial law of the city was officially declared.
Rain pelted heavily against the corrugated west wing gym's steel wall, the metallic clang a cacophony that lasted all night. Wind blew wildly, bringing with it thunder and lightning like an unleashed monster. Although the survivors were much better guarded than before, only Alice knew they were not safe, and things were about to get a lot worst. Her only wish was for the dawn to come soon.
Midnight approached—the clock tower bells fell silent in the face of noise complaints, and Alice's cell phone rang. She snatched it up quickly, desperate to avoid waking her sleeping campmates and hoping beyond hope that it was Travis or her parents on the other line.
But before she could answer, Claus spoke from her bed: "Don't pick up!" She groaned with effort as she forced herself into a sitting position, the rustle of her bedding quietly protested her movement. Alice looked at the caller ID—it said Fung.
"It's not Fung on the other end," Claus said flatly, her voice hollow with resignation. "Trust me, you do not want to know who."
Alice slowly put down her phone, feeling a cold chill seep through her veins, the sensation like ice water poured her body. She felt a nauseous disgust fill her stomach as the truth of Claus' predicament dawned on her.
"Fung is in the hands of the Hell Beasts," Claus continued gravely and leaden warning upon Alice. "The casualty to save your friend is far too great - it's too late."
Alice shook at those words, the image of Fung's torment filling her mind like a macabre painting, her body shuddering in sympathetic agony. With a steely determination, she pleaded Claus: "We have to save her! I can't leave my friend there like this!"
At that moment, a wail erupted from outside the gymnasium walls, a loud alert that woke half of the people in the gymnasium. The intense shout combined with dense smoke spread from the crack beneath the doors, signaled only one thing - fire! Panic swelled throughout the gym like a tidal wave, its destructive force sweeping away all semblance of civilized order. People were running and yelling, but there was no source of light - no chance of escape.
One by one, they fell, collapsing to the ground in agony, their cries a twisted symphony of despair. The gym transformed into a trap, theater of death and pain, and the devils were its audience.
Amidst the chaos of screams and scattering bodies, Alice attempted to maneuver Claus's wheelchair towards the opening exit. Then the fire alarm blared, and extinguishers began to spray the life-saving mist. For a fleeting moment, it felt like the inferno had retreated, the cool moisture provided a brief respite against the heat.
Then a truck engine like sound reverberated through the walls. "Is this all you got? The infamous Gatekeeper! Ha ha ha ha." Through the thick smoke, Alice saw a statue-like figure hover above her, his presence was a calm center in a savage storm.
"Leave immediately! Take Claus with you!" The Gatekeeper commanded, his voice a thunderous roar as he stared down the demons, the air crackling with his power.
Alice couldn't see nor breath, to respond was even more impossible. While her throat constricted by ashes, Claus in wheelchair boldly shouted, "Is it really you?" As if in answer, an aura of sun-like light exploded from The Gatekeeper, illuminating this death trap like a beacon at sea. Then the light began to dim into black-hole-like darkness, the temperature dropping rapidly, a gravitational force pulled all shadows of hell beasts towards its core of energy.
The cry of beasts' howl that bounced off through the chamber like eternal torture, such sound of despair could haunt the memories of those still conscious forever. And then, finally, peace descended, the pardon of holy spirit was a stark contrast to the chaos that had just come before.
Alice's eyes locked onto a familiar, a girl, who stood rigid like an elegantly sculpt statue of a coquettish goddess. The girl was Fung, an unmistakable presence in the crowd, her eyes were cold and dull, without the witty spark she once had.
☆☆☆
As the morning light spilled across the meadow, shined a warm golden glow on the dew-kissed grass, horrific memories of the previous night melted away like dusks fleeing the sun. Under a great old oak, Alice and her companions found Master Kwon, who had gone missing.
Claus in wheelchair, her legs trembling slightly as she asked with a grumble in her tone, "Where have you been? We've been worried about you." After barely escaping from the blaze of terror and not finding Kwon, they almost gave up.
Master Kwon's bizarre claim to had spoken to the Gatekeeper seemed to go unheeded due to his recent erratic behavior. However, as he about to continue to pass on a message from the Gatekeeper to the rest, Fung stirred from her slumber.
"Where am I? How long have I been asleep?" She slightly shaded her eyes from the sun and gazed around with confusion, her voice raspy and weak.
Alice presented Fung with a silk pocket - one Fung had shared before parting ways - to distract her from any unpleasant details of her journey. The soft fabric rustled as Fung fondled it. "What is this?" Fung asked in bewilderment, clearly unable to recall its significance.
Surprised that memory had deserted Fung, Alice looked to Claus for answers. Before Alice could find out where was wrong with Fung, Claus shared her triumphant, "It was him! The Gatekeeper, the glowing man in fire!"
Alice nodded in agreement but added her own experience as well. "I saw something too; even if the vision was unclear." She sighed heavily, her breath creating a small cloud of condensation in the chill morning, at the thought of how close they had come to be face to face with death.
Claus' face clouded over with resentment as she strained with bitterness, "He has been with us all these times but refused to recognize me." Alice could feel Claus' stiff nerve infected the others who stood quietly around, the tension could cut paper.
Kwon uttered a cryptic phrase in response, his voice lilting like an old riddle: "He wants us to go north where rock is gold and trees are god, time is forever." As none could decipher his words, Claus' eyes brightened, compromised with brilliance of the sun light, as a realization struck: "Shambhala! The Old Gate of Heaven!"
Kwon said nothing more, a faint smile playing upon his lips.
Claus' voice was heavy with emotion as she muttered the words, her tone tinged with a sense of destiny, "For what reason Nomad wishes us to return to the Old Gate I do not know. But it was there that we sealed our fate so many years ago."
☆☆☆
Alice, Claus, and Master Kwon stepped onto the high-speed train, while its powerful engines hum beneath their feet. Fung was alone in the first class when she had already paid for the passage of rest of the crew. In return, she asked to be allowed to join them on this journey. The four of them discussed their plan—to travel to Kuju and then take a bus into the mysterious highlands near Mount Fuji, where legends whispered of a hidden high land unclaimed by any living soul, its secrets protected by supernatural.
Alice turned to Claus beside her, curiosity piqued. "Can you tell me more about both you and the Gatekeeper? Who is he, and where did he come from?" She was hushed and eager, the train's rhythmic clatter providing a steady background beat to their conversation.
Claus' attention shifted towards the window, watching the landscape flash by as she began to speak. "The Gatekeeper came from an influential merchant family on the northern tip of Kuju. His lineage could be traced back to 250 A.D., and his ancestors were regarded as Gods—guardians of Heaven and Hell. When he inherited this sacred duty at age eighteen, he was the youngest ever to do so." She recalled from her still vivid memories.
Claus lowered her head, "I was born a farm girl in a distant village east of the highlands. Nothing special happened until demons attacked us, and I had no choice but to obey them…" The air around her seemed to grow colder as she recounted her past.
Alice placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder, suggested understanding in her words. "It wasn't your fault."
Claus bowed her head for a moment, the faint scent of earth clinging to her like always, a reminder of her humble origins. "I was chosen for a reason. Not only was I chosen to infiltrate the wall, but to marry the demon lord after the mission completed. For the purpose of ensuring an ancient ritual is performed, and a curse was casted upon all realms."
Alice wanted more details, but something warned her it was better to keep her curiosity to herself. Somethings are better to be left untold.