8:08 AM.
The flight had landed an hour back. A flight to Nagazora City.
The city was an extremely advanced city, technologically speaking. And of course it was. How could it not be ? After all, Massive Electric Corporation or ME Corp for short, was stationed here.
An advanced metropolis.
Or well, it seemed like an ordinary advanced city at the ends, then became more and more mesmerizing as you went deeper into the commercial hub.
There were many things Arata Kurokami experienced when he arrived at Nagazora.
The bustling streets, even at such an early time of the day.
He saw the birds fly overhead, a normally rare sight in such a large city.
Arata sighed, and ruffled his own hair while waiting for the lights to turn red, so that he may cross the road.
Arata was a handsome young man, with deep raven-black hair that appears to have a natural blue sheen under sunlight. It is slightly long and layered, reaching the nape of his neck. His bangs fall over his forehead, framing his face while leaving one eye slightly more exposed than the other.
His eyes are his most distinctive feature.
To any that see him, they appear to be deep crimson with subtle concentric golden rings around the pupils.
His eyes were mesmerizing to look at. They were such a unique but beautiful pair of eyes that one could easily get lost staring into it.
And he was dressed nicely too, for this occasion.
But despite his wonderful get-up, the raven haired teens' normally handsome face was ruined by a not-so-pleased scowl. One could tell at a glance, that he was impatient, especially with how he was tapping his feet on the ground over and over.
After all, as the saying goes: "Nor every person who is seen wandering about aimlessly on the streets is lost."
"But I sure as hell am." He complained.
Because he has an absolutely horrible sense of direction.
Which can't even be blamed on him, since it was a trait that he sacrificed or rather, lost.
"No, no. That was totally your fault. You did this to yourself~" A chipper voice told him on the phone, which made him flinch and let out an irritated sigh.
'Meet my dilemma - Otto Apocalypse.'
Because on the other side of the call, was none other than the man behind all the machinations of Schicksal.
A scheming man that Arata considered a close companion and a good friend. A manipulative friend that Arata did not trust in the slightest, despite their closeness. A colleague that aided Arata in every way possible, in return for aid when asked.
"Hush, Otto." He grumbled.
"No~" Otto denied, irritating Arata further.
"If you were more moderate about the use of [Adi Parashakti], then you wouldn't have lost your sense of direction." He said that in such a suave tone of voice that it irritated the generally calm boy.
"I will shiv you." He stated irritably, making Otto laugh on the other side of the call.
"I'm counting on it." He casually said, make Arata sigh tiredly.
"Alright then, could you kindly point me to my destination ? I'm afraid I can't read any maps." He begrudgingly asked, making Otto blink and tilt his head in amusement.
"Why not ? Surely your non-existent sense of direction can't be so bad that you can't read a map anymore, right?" Arata couldn't tell if Otto was being rhetorical or not, which became yet another source of his dilemma.
"Grr!!" Arata growled like an angry house cat.
"Alright, alright! I'll stop." Otto raised his hands in surrender and sent an image to Arata's phone.
"Hm? What's this?" Arata raised an eyebrow and questioned.
"It's a map of Nagazora City. As horrible as your sense of direction may be now, I figured you could still make use of this."
Arata stared at his phone for a while, standing in that location without moving, staring into the map was given to him. His scarlet eyes tracked the numerous streets and corners that this godforsaken city had and where they all led.
He could faintly see the reflection of those gold encrusted ruby eyes of his on his phone.
He quickly pinpointed his location destination and the quickest path he could take to get there. After tracking that path, he smiled and nodded his head with satisfaction.
"I need to turn the right corner here and then make my way..." He deducted and walked, turning the corner and entering a different street.
During his little excursion, Arata turned his head over to look at the skies. The battered, destroyed skies. That large, fractured celestial body that was almost always visible from any part of Earth.
The moon.
The Eternal Moon.
It was daytime, yet it was still visible. Or rather, its outlines were. Each piece of the fractured moon shone with dense purple energy, radiating through the atmosphere in a wonderful light show. The moon itself was fractured, literally. Fragments of the moon floated around in space, all held together by pure energy of creation.
The fractured moon was a bizarre object obriting the Earth. By all intents and purposes, it shouldn't even exist. Its very existence is anomalous and defies every manner of modern physics.
It has always been there. From before the dawn of humanity even, that moon has always been that way. Always been fractured. Always containing weird energy.
It directly affects the gravity of the Earth and the tides, except it is completely uneven and irregular. Occasionally,fragments of the Eternal Moon get too close to the earth's atmosphere and generate storms within the planet's surface, all of which were identified to be storms of honkai energy.
The moon was an unexplored body. There was never a successful moon-landing expedition. There were many, many attempt, of course. But none succeeded. The most they could manage, were sending rockets and drones into certain fragments of the Eternal Moon, but no more. They couldn't land on the main body of the moon, the large cracked celestial body that had a large chunk shattered off it.
The closer they got to the moon, the farther it seemed. No matter how much distance was covered, it was impossible to get closer to the moon. It always looked like the moon was a fixed distance away, and anyone that travels, even after centuries of travel, would realise that they have made zero progress and travelled a grand total of zero metres. And yet, despite the passing centuries on Earth, they grew not a second older.
According to scientists, the energy that surrounds and holds the moon together - the energy that's preventing the moon from crashing into the Earth - was the reason for this anomalous reaction. This energy seemed to completely defy the laws of physics. It warped space and time, ignored physical laws and blocked phenomena.
They dubbed it - Adishakti; the "Supreme Power".
Many studies have been done in order to discern the true nature of Adishakti but no progress has been made. As such, many came up with numerous theories in order to explain its paradoxical existence.
Some believes it was a former alien base that was once stationed on the moon, which was destroyed. Or maybe, it's just an alien base that is trying to prevent humanity from learning about it.
Maybe the Adishakti is a result of a god's power. The power of a true, almighty God.
Maybe it is some kind of incomprehensible cosmic phenomenon that can be understood and studied, but humanity lacks the necessary advancements required to do such a thing.
Maybe it was the fundamental source of energy from which all things come from - creation, destruction and everything in between.
Maybe it was something left behind by a former group of humans, in an era of humans before the current era of humanity. An era of humanity that were wiped out with very few survivors to restore the human race.
There were entire websites, studies and even professions dedicated to these conspiracy theories.
"Today's the first eclipse of April..." Arata noted, making Otto hum on the other side.
"Yup~"
A solar eclipse. Or rather, a new moon, if you will. It was a unique event that happens every ten days. During does ten days, the Eternal Moon will moon to blot out the sun. Even though it is shattered, no light can pass through the cracks - Adishakti prevents it. This leads to a solar eclipse that lasts for roughly 108 minutes with a time interval of 240 hours between each eclipse.
During these one hundred and eight minutes, the sky turns as black as tar. Nothing is visible. No sun. No moon. No stars. No natural light.
The first eclipse of the month of April, in the year 2013, happens today. On the day of Arata's arrival in Nagazora City.
"Why don't we actually get on with business, Otto ?" Arata's voice sharpens and his expression turns serious.
"About the Black Box, you mean ?" Otto enquired rhetorically.
"Yes. Retrieving the Black Box is of utmost importance!" Arata stated with a firm sense of determination, which the effect of his beautiful eyes encircling within.
"You will return the Black Box to me after retrieving it, won't you?" He enquired.
"Sure... I have no need for the seal after I've assimilated [Dhumavati]." Within the motion filled cornea of his eyeballs, the golden circles moved around in gear-like motions so fine that it couldn't be seen unless one looked closely. The effect of golden clockwork dipped in a sea of red.
"And you certain in your ability to do that ?"
"Assimilating THEM through the box is but a simple task. Doing it outside the box is more complicated, since that means I would have to physical fight and kill THEM first." Arata explained.
"And you're certain you can handle that too ?" He questions, making Arata go silent.
"I'd rather it not come to that. [Dhumavati] has no host, at the moment. THEIR host body perished 536 years ago in the Far East. Which means, should it ever be freed, THEY will manifest as a Honkai beast, in its true-est state. An undesirable outcome for all." Arata grimaced at the thought of that monstrous creature going free. He of all people knew the type of destruction that such an ordeal foretold.
"But doesn't [Dhumavati] possess only 8% of [Mahakali]'s core ? Amongst the lesser fragments, so it shouldn't be a threat for one who wields [Adi Parashakti], right?" Otto didn't really seem all that worries like Arata was. Why would he be ? Arata's presence there was his win button, after all.
"A Mahavidya's power is not necessarily marked by the portion of the source. Firstly, no living thing can withstand a Mahavidya's power within their bodies unless created for that sole purpose. This naturally means that a host cannot output nearly as much power as the true body of the honkai beast. Facing a Mahavidya, in video game terms, I basically like facing a two-phase boss fight." Arata explained a little more, no longer paying attention to the direction he was going in and taking a left.
"[Dhumavati] specific is a tricky one to deal with if done in an area with life. [Dhumavati], upon manifesting, will immediately rip the souls out of every living thing in Nagazora and then some. THEY will continue to do this until THEY have assimilated the entire world into THEIR abyss. The land, the earth, the skies and even the souls of everyone will be devoured and destroyed." Arata explained the true seriousness of the predicament they find themselves in right now.
"I see. That truly isn't desirable. But I trust that you can handle it if it comes to that ?" He asks, his eyes shining with trust towards the young boy.
Arata sighed and ruffled his own hair. "Yeah, yeah... I can handle [Dhumavati], but the collateral will be immense. If possible, I'd rather avoid an actual confrontation with THEM."
Arata, to his knowledge and based on his memories, had never faced any Mahavidya or seen one for the matter, yet his knowledge of [Dhumavati] comes from pure memory - soul memory. Not even he understands why he knows what he knows.
"But as long as it is contained within the Box of God, it cannot wreak havoc, right?"
"That's true." Arata agreed, but added, "But a proper awakening, followed by a large supply of honkai energy, will awaken. So essentially-"
"A Honkai Eruption." Otto finished his sentence for him.
"...yes. That would be enough to awaken THEM."
"In that case, you better find it quickly." Otto quipped, making Arata grumble.
"Are you even sure it's here in Nagazora City?" He snapped back.
"According to my sources it is in the area." He replied.
That reply made Arata narrow his eyes. "Too vague... I won't question what sources got you that kind of information, but there's nothing I can do with it."
"All I know is that it is in or around Nagazora City. It could be in the epicenter, or in the outskirts of the city. It could be in the commercial hub, or the train station. It could be inside a building or in a high tech vault. It could be in one of the mountainous regions outside the city. It could be under the possession of some large organisations or corporation or just some rich person. It could have been found by a normal person. It could be on the side of the streets somewhere. It could be in a garbage heap or the sewers. It could be buried somewhere underground. It could be underneath the roads. It could even be under your foot right now. It's up to you to find it!" Otto starts rambling and rambling, making Arata stop walking and just stare at the sky with a dead expression on his face.
"How wonderful... So you're just sending me on a wind goose chase to find one box in a city, and you're telling me it could be buried underground?!" Arata had visible veins across his face, an unstable energy pouring out of him as rage started to build up within him.
"It could also be underground inside a mountain outside of Nagazora City~" He added playfully, making Arata snap.
"YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS AREN'T YOU??!"
'How the hell am I do find it without literally ripping the city and everything around it open?! I hope you step on a small lego, Otto!!' He cursed.
"This is going to take forever..." Arata tiredly sighed, his body deflating.
"Yeah... That's why I've arranged something for you!" He sounded more chipper now. For some reason, that made Arata feel very uncomfortable.
"Okay... And what might those arrangements be ?" Arata carefully questions.