Death March — Fixed

“Let’s go play together.” I was interested in the girl who was of the same age as me. She was looking out bashfully from behind behind a pillar at the entrance to an authentic ancient temple. I gathered my courage and invited her to play.

“My name is Alex, what about yours?”

“I am ****”

“Heh, that really sounds like a good English name!”

I lead the girl by the hand, taking her to the nearby park where my cousins are playing. At first, she was quiet, but after we began playing hide-and-seek, she lets out a bright smile that wouldn’t lose in beauty to her red hair, while laughing.

The fun time passes quickly--soon the sun is setting.

“Everyone, let’s go home soon. You too, ****, let’s go home together.”

“My house is here.” The girl says while walking back to the Temple.

***

“Right at that time, the prince appears and defeats the bad dragon, with but one swing of his sword.”

“I don’t like that story.” She didn’t like the picture book that I tried hard to read--she sulks a bit, playing with her reddish-orange hair while pouting.

“This Temple is dedicated to a Dragon God, Tiamat” She sticks out her chest while looking proud.

“Then, then--Tiamat crossed the void and came here. She was the first Dragon, the first Dragon.”

“She must have been lonely.”

“Yes, she must have been.” The girl, who awkwardly folds her slender arms, tilts her head as she seems to consider my words, “But the Goddess found that people lived in this world--and she met a handsome man as she wandered around in human form. He didn’t know what she was as they wandered around. Eventually they fell in love and got married, but Tiamat took the man away, back through the void. The Discovery showed that no gods exist in this world--but this legend comes from before the gods were exiled…well that’s what the Priest in charge.”

She looked proud as she spoke of the legend, a look of respect in her eyes, “If only I could meet her.”

We were going to keep talking, but the sun was sinking below the horizon, and she had to go back into the Temple.

***

Sitting on the steps leading up to the temple’s door, we are eating watermelons while talking about random topics. She was eating energetically, juice flowing down her chin and starting to drip onto her clothing.

“Hey, you should eat more politely.”

“Alex…Watermelons are too delicious to eat slowly and politely! Stop saying such silly words!” She speaks with enthusiasm, playing with her green hair, which is the same colour as the watermelon rinds.

This girl is always energetic--hyper even.

***

It’s night at the Temple, we’re watching the new years fireworks in the distance.

I feel my heart beat uncontrollably as I look at her in her crop-top and hot pants--she started wearing clothing like this as she grew older and her body developed.

She looks so adult, so beautiful under the multiple colours of the fireworks, her light violet hair tied in a simple ponytail and hanging down to her waist.

“Do you know Alex. The deity Tiamat, because she married the human she couldn’t have offspring with him--and he eventually died of old age in their new home deep in the void. When he was dying, she promised him ‘When you reincarnate, I will always come back to your side.’--isn’t it romantic?” She whispers, as if enraptured, while she looks at me.

Again my heart skips a beat looking at the girl who’s far older than me showing a mischievous child-like smile.

“Does something like reincarnation actually happen?”

“Of course it does--with no gods stealing souls, the reincarnation cycle is repaired.” The girl confirms it in a firm tone.

“But, it’s no good if he’s just reincarnated. Primordial Gods have lifespans that are far longer than normal gods, let alone mortals. They’d just be separated again.”

“Well, isn’t it fine if she just makes him into a god too?”

“Even gods aren’t almighty enough to grant divinity as they like--that kind of power comes at a cost too great for normal gods to pay.” Her words are unusually passionate for the cool her, “It’s not enough with the soul of a single person--it’d need a lot, lot more.”

For some reason, her words scare me a little.

***

I’m bringing the dog called Teke, the one my grandfather named, while walking over to the Temple.

The dog has a strange name.

When I asked for the story behind the name, my grandfather told me that when he was traveling the world, he visited Africa. He met a people called the Teke, and he have a fling with one of the women of the Species. Since then he names at least one of his pets Teke so as to not forget them.

“Ou! I’ve been waiting, Tek!”

“I’ve said to call me Alex when we’re not playing the game.” I roll my eyes at her.

“Hehe, I was calling the dog.”

“The dog’s name is pronounce Teh-kay…”Staring at her teasing look, I decide to return the favour, “Well then, let’s not play the game today and play outside with Teke.”

When I tease her, her bossy attitude disappears. She gets flustered, “W-Wait, if we’re not there…who would save the Trojan Union from the Akaia Empire?”

“Okay, okay, let’s find a good shaded place to play.” I laugh, my teasing worked.

We sit on the steps, under the roof, which has a good amount of shade.

Teke the dog is released from his leash is running all around.

I take two 3DS’s from my bag--I pass one of them to the girl.

For some reason, she loves to hear the clicking sounds when she pushes on the buttons with her small fingers. This 3DS is a little damaged, which is why it clicks so loudly, but this is also the reason she likes it so much.

She plays around for a little while before actually turning the power on.

We connect to my phone’s network and begin playing together.

“Oh, it begins.”

The game is an alien invasion, science fiction, war simulation game with the Trojan War as the motif.

“Uuu, another surprise attack from outside the range of my enemy search skill--” She pouts a little when I gather my forces outside the range of her skill, and rush in with a massive attack.

“Then, I’ll let you use ‘Map Exploration’ once on the next map as a handicap.”

“Yay! Might as well let me use Meteor Bullets then.”

“Eh? Meteor Bullets is forbidden--the situation will instantly be reversed.”

“That’s the good part! Just once, kay? It’s fine with using it once, I want to use it.”

I eventually give in to the girl, who pleads until her indigo hair became disheveled.

“Fuhahaha, take this!” The girl happily uses Meteor Bullets, and annihilated my main force.

She looks overjoyed when she captures my main battleship, which has lost all of its forces.

“Aah, Meteor Bullets is satisfying. Thanks to it, I even get myself the battleship as a souvenir” The girl is in high spirits--but when she takes the battleship to her field, her expression changes to shock.

This game takes after the Trojan War, so of course that also includes the Trojan Horse tactic.

“Waah, robots are coming out of the battleship. Aah, even though that carrier has just been completed--no don’t, don’t attack that factory, no.”

After the robots destroyed a part of her base, my main force, which I had hidden, attacked. Although it’s very close, I manage to win in the end.

“Uuu. You’re cruel--you don’t hold back against a small girl.” She pouts.

I ruffle her pink hair, “It would have been an insult not to fight with all my might in a battle.”

She finally begins to look happy, because I start stroking her blonde hair gently, and she narrows her eyes.

Well, let’s take out another game and change the conversation,

“Shall we play a different game next?”

“What kind?”

“This is called an RPG, or Role-Playing Game,”

“Role-playing, like what Tiamat did with her husband?” She giggles at her little joke.

I gently flick the back of her head, “No. It’s a game that you start off weak, then you get stronger by defeating small fries, and defeat the Demon Lord in the end.”

It’s a very, very basic explanation.

“Ooh, defeating the Demon Lord, huh? That’s great! By the way, can we defeat Demon gods?”

“There are various types of hidden bosses in this game, and since there are gods and Demon gods, if I’m not mistaken, we should be able to.”

“That’s good! Okay, let’s do it, Tek! Quickly, start it!” Her tension is always high, but today, it’s at a level that is very rare.

I keep her company, playing the game until nightfall.

Playing a game for only an hour or so a day, that couldn’t be possible for normal people.

***

The girl is reading a book, sitting on a bench in the park near the Temple.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning--This book: ‘The death of Gods’ is fascinating. It was supposedly taken from the other wold across the rift, back around the time of the Discovery. It tells about how gods died when they refused to leave this world in the past.”

“Ehh? Gods can die?”

“Mhm, they can. However, it’s just dying. If you leave them alone, they will get revived. Since gods are usually undying. Though the goddess who killed gods back then--she would permanently kill the ones who refused to leave after dying once.”

“Is that really dying though, isn’t it more of just like sleeping?”

“Well, they do physically die. Once that happens, they become Spirit Bodies, then they use their Divine Power to make a new body and complete their revival. Although, if it’s a high-ranked god, they don’t need to go through such an annoying procedure. Even if they die, they will instantly get revived, since they’re recognized by the Primordial Powers of the universe.” The girl then lets out a strange laugh, “just like you.”

My eyes widen towards the strange words.

“Yes, you are Alex, no matter what era or what world. For some reason you seem to exceed spacetime, and no matter how different I am, you are somehow drawn to me and we become friends.”

Before I could ask for an explanation, we hear her mother calling for her.

“It’s time.” With those cryptic words, her blue hair suddenly turns black, like ink is dripping down it--this time I actually see the change.

It’s as though only I am the one who sees her hair in different colours.

Then, the girl with black hair talks politely to me, as if she’s a stranger, like usual.

“Hey, Alex. If it’s fine with you, would you like to see me dance?” She bashfully pulls at the edge of my shirt, and I, who gets charmed by her shy smile, follow her into the Temple.

The girl changes into semi-transparent clothing of a design I have never seen before, only her privates are covered, and begins to dance on the stage.

“Hikaru’s dancing is getting better, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hahaha, I’m so proud of her. This dance is for the sake of allowing a god to descend into your body. Look well and burn it into your memory, Tek. It will be useful for you someday.” The one who sits beside me, who is concentrating on the overly erotic dance, I don’t know if it’s the girl’s mother…or if its something…else.

Rather than listen to such mysterious words, or try to figure out what it is that is sitting/standing/existing/being beside me, I watch the dance of my childhood friend.

 

***

I was watching the dream from above.

Even though I can’t remember her name anymore, my childhood friend should have had black hair, since she came from Japan. Her age should be the same as mine too.

I begin to try to figure out what the meaning of the dream is--even though I still am in it.

The eyes of the void look up at me, from where it consumes from beside me--it smiles with happiness.

‘Forget it Alex, until the time it’s needed. Put your memories about us deep within your heart.’ The overlapping voices of innumerable girls whispered to me.

 

Author’s note:

Teke are a people in the Congo, but it is also a Maori word that makes it more amusing to have as the MC’s name.