The
Scourge Under the Moonlight
The men who witnessed it first were
men hardened by years of war and bloodshed. Yet it failed not to make the
bravest ones quiver with fear. That spectacular scene was a befitting last sight;
for even they were weary of the eternal conflict.
The army reached land late in the
night. Clouds filled the sky, like an omen signaling oncoming grief. Wearied by
the long voyage, they set up their tents for the night, to prepare for the
onslaught that would follow the coming day. But they failed to notice the
distant figure of a young boy, gravely watching their proceedings.
When the wind cleared again, Yamato
found himself back where he was standing before he’d left. But it was late into
the night and he could see the shore invaded by hostiles. Then he noticed the
talisman hanging around his neck: the Turquoise Gemstone. He remembered the
truth he’d seen. He held the power to avert war.
The men at the encampment were
somewhat bewildered to see him; a lone boy in the middle of the night daring to
go into hostile territory was not something they saw regularly. He demanded
parlay.
The commander appraised the boy and
then spoke, “It is foolish of you to come here alone. But perhaps you have
something to offer me. I might even let you go if you can interest me.”
“I certainly have something to offer:
a choice. Leave now and your men will survive. Stay, and I’m afraid you won’t
see another sunrise”
The commander burst into laughter. “You
certainly have some nerve coming to my camp and threatening me. Let me respond
in kind. Shoot him.”
“The Moon does not like bloody crests
carved into his beloved Earth…”
The guards trained their guns at
Yamato. He spoke one last time, “This is your final chance to survive. Leave now.”
The guns fell into action and a volley
of bullets made their way towards Yamato. But they got no closer to him than a
few feet. They simply bounced off thin air. Then they noticed the silver glow
that encompassed him, the sign of the Phantoms.
“By choosing to stay, you have
delivered yourselves to the scourge. Let your bodies be burnt in the cleansing
flames of creation, let your souls bleed in the pure moonlight, that they may
be transferred into a world where you shall atone for your sins, and be set
free forever!”
At the end of his speech, the clouds
grew darker, encasing the whole earth, closing it in like a coffin lid. Then they
parted just enough to reveal the moon, which had turned bloodshot. Then it
began to bleed. The blood of the moon caught the damned souls and burned in
silver flames, until the entire world was cleansed of the evil.
But the Fates would not let this go
unanswered, for the fate of the world was being changed. A world without evil
was never destined to exist. So they spoke the dreadful fate of Yamato: “When
the world has been cleansed, the one who delivered it to the scourge will
inherit the Devil, and give rise to the same evil that he strove to destroy. And
the ones that he swore to protect shall be the ones to take his life”
And so it happened. When the moon
stopped bleeding, he turned to return to his home. But as he approached, he was
greeted with screams of terror; he had become a grim reaper! And as the fates
spoke, the priests gathered and chanted an ancient spell. And the savior, who
brought them peace, was damned to eternal torment, trapped in a hell deeper
than the Devil’s nest. And thus ends the journey of Yamato, the Reaper of the
Moonlight.
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