Shizuka Yanagi and the Necropolis of Acheron (Part 4!)
What's this? Have I finally finished "Necropolis"? Has Hell frozen over? Is this the end of humanity?
Read on to find out.
Despite about a dozen bullet holes in his body, Anastopolous was still, very much, alive. His eyes were wide with mad delight. His once ruddy, jovial face twisted into a pale, sallow interpretation. In his raised right hand, the Obolus, shining with its baleful light, was wrapped and bound to him by a leather thong. Mr. Vitelli's body poised beside him, waiting for the guidance of his master's will.
"Your mind has become corrupt with madness, Anastopolous!" Kurai said, letting himself indulge in a pious speech, which he often did when dealing with monsters. "Do you know of what you have exposed yourself to? What moved you to pledge your soul to damnation?"
Anastopolous smirked at Kurai's accusing words. "Since there can be no escape for you, I have no problem rewarding your curiosity. Why have I done this? I am an anthropologist. I have studied many old, yet surviving cutlures. I have seen the people struggle to keep the old ways as this "modern culture" threatens to wipe them out. The youth of the world - they care not for the stories and traditions of old. They leave that with their elders to fade from sight as they play their 'video games' and watch their 'MTV'. Of what use are the old ways to the next generation? Even people from ancient tribal societies can be found, nowadays, wearing t-shirts and smoking cigarettes. Scholars, such as Ovid and myself, who try to uncover and preserve the past, are a dying breed. I'm sure Ovid was impressed with young Miss Hoshi's fascination with archaeology, as much as I was, but it is too little too late. Yet I refuse to let the legacy of our ancestors fall into obscurity. I have opened the portal to Hades. Soon, millions of dead souls shall rise from here and spread throughout the world, bringing terror to the people. They shall see that the old ways cannot be destroyed. They shall come face to face with the stuff of ancient myth, and they shall cower in fear. I shall usher in a new age where modern innovation shall falter and the mysteries of old shall dominate."
All of us were stunned. None of us imagined that Anastopolous was amassing an army of undead to take over the world. "What the hell's wrong with you?" Shinku asked, "Are you listening to yourself? You sound like an A-1 nutjob."
"I'm not surprised you cannot comprehend this glorious moment. Come closer, girl, so that I may show you the magnificent power of Hades." Anastopolous drew closer in slow, ominous steps, as if relishing in his mastery over death and the fear it instilled in others. He stretched his glowing hand out to us, enticing some deep seated death wish for us to touch the light he beheld. Vitelli, his first undead minion, followed close, giving us a glimpse of our immediate future if we were to succumb. Kurai and Shinku split off from me, drawing Anastopolous in multiple directions to keep him away from any one of us. I raised my eyes to the trap door above us. The ceiling in this room was too high. I couldn't reach the door. It seems that one did not enter this chamber without someone else to pull you up. I guess it was a small defense against solitary shrine robbers. For the moment, it only made our escape from death more difficult. Just then, I heard footsteps and voices above.
"Hey, boss," I heard. "Boss, you done down there? Is that crazy doctor dead yet?"
"I'm afraid it's the other way around," I replied.
The thug above us peered his head down through the trap door, his gun drawn. "What are you doing here?" he asked. I thought we took care of you."
"Yes, well, if you don't help the three of us out of here, Anastopolous will take care of all of us."
"What do you think I am? I'm not falling for that. Mr. Vitellli told us to take you out of the picture and..."
"Why don't you look at Vitelli now? Vitelli's dead. And if you don't pull us out before Anastopolous gets us, you'll be joining him and billions of the deceased very soon."
The thug saw Vitelli, lifeless and shambling, then Anastopolous, bearing his light that brings death. "Cristo salva me!" he said, then looked at me. "What do you want me to do?"
"Just pull us up."
The thug set his gun down. "Antonio, give me a hand," he said. Another thug came over and both reached through the trap door. I grabbed their hands as they pulled me up. I called to Kurai and Shinku. Shinku ran in front of Anastopolous, just out of his reach, which bought Kurai time to climb out of the chamber. We reached back down to grab Shinku, but I lost sight of her. Anastopolous was facing one corner, his back away from us, but Shinku had disappeared. Anastopolous turned to look up the trapdoor at us. "It will take much more than this to stop me, young adventurers," he said and beckoned Vitelli to lift him up through the opening.
"We have to shut this door," I said.
"But Shinku is still down there," Kurai said.
"She's not in there," I said.
Kurai was in disbelief. "No, she can't be dead. She can't be."
"Kurai, keep it together. Shinku's fine, I promise. She's gotten out of worse scrapes than this. She just pulled a Houdini. We need to close this door and get out of here."
"I can't leave her behind."
"We're not leaving her behind. She's a resourceful girl. She'll find a way. Trust her. Now get out of here, all of you, and find Aki and Akari." Kurai and the thugs left as I shut the trapdoor and placed a stone over it to weigh it down. As I fled the shrine, I hoped that what I said about Shinku was true.
Making our way back to Aki and Akari, the other thugs took notice of us. They raised their guns at us. I turned to the thugs who helped us out. "So," I asked, "where do we stand? Are we back to trading blows?"
Antonio explained to the others that Vitelli was dead, killed by Anastopolous. "But we have him sealed in there," he said. "He's not going anywhere."
"I beg to differ," Akari said. "That shrine has two secret passageways that lead back to the surface. Anastopolous must know of them."
Kurai looked at me. "You knew about that, didn't you?" he asked.
I flashed a sly smile. "Of course I knew. I told you, she would be fine."
To this day, I still feel bad for lying to him about that.
"So what's the plan?" one of the thugs asked.
"We wait until that rat burrows himself out of there," Antonio said, "and run him through with about a thousand pounds of lead, piece-by-piece."
"Good luck with that," I said. "I doubt it will kill him."
Akari was taken aback. "Why? What happened?"
I told Akari about everything Anastopolous did and what he plans to do from there. Her jaw hit the floor. "Is he insane? He's talking about bringing about the end of the world, here."
"Yes," I said, "but I have yet to see this army of undead he summoned."
"You mean nothing rose up in the shrine?" Akari asked.
"With the exception of Vitelli's lifeless body, though I doubt he was hoping for an 'army of one.'"
Kurai, still worried about Shinku, gritted his teeth. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's already doubled his army," he said bitterly.
"Dammit, Kurai," I said, "keep your head together. You know I wouldn't leave Shinku down there to die. By now, she's on our way over to us, I guarantee it."
Kurai sighed when Akari looked out into the distance behind us. "Uh, guys, I think I see that army coming about now."
We turned our heads toward the shores of Lake Acherousia, 70 yards away, in disbelief. The dark, cold waters were illuminated a phosphorescent green. From those eerie waters, forms emerged, treading the earthen shore for the first time in ages. Some were shadows in the moonlight, yet others gave their own light; their wispy forms leaving no trace on the ground. Despite the waters they came from, their advance toward the shrine was dry, rattling. Upon witnessing this throng of death, the thugs backed away until they were off in a panicked sprint. Their cries trialed them into the dark.
"Hey," I called after them, "you could, at least, leave some weapons for us."
"Don't sweat it," was the unexpected response I got from Shinku as she came out from a copse of trees. "I've got us covered there." Kurai ran to her, holding her close as he kissed her.
"Thank God, you're okay," he said. "I was so worried about you. I thought you were dead."
"Oh, come on," she said. "You really think I'm gonna let some creepy gasbag be the end of me? I thought you were made of stronger stuff than that, being that you fight monsters and stuff."
"Seems like we found Kurai's weakness," Akari joked.
"Uh, oh," Aki joined in, "we better make sure we don't let his enemies find out."
"Better yet," Akari retorted, "sell it to the highest bidder."
"Oh, the money we'd make," Aki finished
"Hey," Shinku interjected, "if I'm gonna endanger myself, I want a cut of the profits."
We all laughed, even Kurai, through his annoyed glance. The moment was quite strange, given our circumstances. We turned our eyes back to the shambling horde headed our way. "Well," I said, "I guess we better take care of this. What kind of firepower do we have here, Shinku?" I was answered by a trunk full of guns, ammunition, and a few explosives. "That's all?" I said as I grabbed a pair of pistols. "You sure packed light for this vacation." Shinku and Kurai suited up as well. I looked to Aki. "You up for a little live-action zombie shoot-em-up?"
She turned to face the encroaching horde, which now closed the gap to 30 yards, and drew a breath. "What else is there to do?"
I tossed her a pistol. "Stick to my back," I said. "I'll reload for you."
"Hey," Akari asked, "what about me? What am I supposed to do?"
"Sorry, 'Kari," I said, "but it's too dangerous for you to be in the thick of this with your injured foot. Stay with the car. If things get too hairy for us, start her up and we'll retreat."
"With my injured foot, I can't drive, either."
"That's okay, I just need you to get it prepped."
"You know," Kurai said, "there won't be anywhere we can retreat to for long, not with the constant undead coming from the lake."
I sighed. "I know," I said, strapping a sword (it never hurts to carry one) to my back. "Running's just Plan C."
"What's Plan B?" Aki asked.
"Find that rat bastard, Anastopolous, and try to destroy him."
"Easier said than done," Kurai said.
"Well, that scares me," I said, "I almost stuttered on that line. Anastopolous is a real pain in the ass to say."
Everyone snickered and we looked at each other.
"Well," I said, "let's not keep them waiting."
Kurai, Shinku, Aki, and myself ran toward the entrance, drawing attention away from Akari in the car. We used some of the low walls at the edge of the ruin as cover. Kurai started reciting prayers as we waited, watching them come toward us. Many of the restless dead were nothing more than rotten bone, rattling in the wind, though a good amount of them still had flesh hanging, pallid and slack, from bone. Amongst their ranks, wraiths and spectres floated between corpses. Kurai gave us rosaries, in hopes that they would protect us from the cold fire of a wraith's touch. Shinku grabbed a handful of dynamite for us to lob at them. When they were in range, we lit up the dynamite and hurled it into their midst before taking cover behind the walls. Seconds later, we heard the shudder of explosions. The enemy was silent, even when obliterated. The only evidence that their numbers were falling was the shrapnel of flesh and bone overhead and the rancid stench of burning corpses. It wasn't too long before they were too close to the wall and we had to switch to our firearms. The dead shattered before the onslaught of gunfire, yet, still, they come, unrelenting, clawing at us. We retreated from the wall, guns blazing, and moved away from the shrine. As we split up, Aki with me, Kurai with Shinku, the horde shifted their focus toward the shrine. Some of the ranks on the fringe still attacked us as we retaliated. Eventually, the horde stopped, waiting in eternal silence. Infested eyes and empty sockets looked to the shrine from where the call beckoned them from Hades. Only the sound of gunfire rang in the night. I signaled for Kurai and Shinku to hold up. We made our way behind the shrine.
Short of breath, I said to Kurai, "This is a fool's gambit. We're not making any progress. Anastopolous means to leave nothing left in Hades. We can't fight forever. We have to find Anastopolous."
"But how are we to stop him?" Kurai asked. "We have a better chance against this army."
Just then, I caught a glint of light deep in the dark wilderness beyond the lake. "Maybe not," I said. "Why are we attacking Anastopolous?"
"Because he's controlling the dead," Aki said.
"But how is he controlling them?"
"With the coin, of course," Aki said. Then it dawned on her. "The coin is the source of his power."
"Exactly!" I said. "We need to get the coin from him."
"How do you propose we do that?" Kurai asked. "If we even touch the coin, we die."
"I was afraid you were going to say that. I don't think Akari's going to be happy, but I have an idea."
"Is this your 'Plan B'?" Kurai asked.
"Call it 'Plan B, version 2'. Kurai, how good of a shot are you?"
"Are you kidding? In my line of business, missing a shot means death."
"Then this should be covered in the job description."
After discussing the plan, we made a break for the light in the wilderness. About 20 yards from the shrine, we notice that the vast army behind us picked up momentum again, this time, chasing after us. Fortunately, we outpaced most of the army. Unfortunately, the ones who could catch up to us were the most dangerous ones in the horde. From the moving wall of corpses, wraiths and spectres rose up. Numbering in the hundreds, they lit up the starless night. They hovered, poised to descend, then plummeted down upon us. Kurai stopped and recited once more, creating a holy ward to keep them at bay, but only for a short time. The force of their numbers was too great. "Kurai," I shouted, "go, you need to reach Anastopolous. Just run."
As soon as Kurai broke off into a sprint, a deluge of malignant spirits bore down upon us. En masse, they blurred past, letting their cold talons rake against us. Kurai, being the most pious, felt little of their attack, just slight numbness. However, the rest of us felt almost every scrape as a painful rush of cold fire that burned down to the very core. It took all my willpower to stay conscious, but Aki and Shinku were losing consciousness fast. In desperation, I unsheathed the sword from my back and closed my eyes. I felt the spirits tear at me, but let my mind fall to stillness. I recalled the ancient techniques I learned so long ago in the monasteries of China. I let my chi swell up inside me, infusing me with its warmth. I felt the wraiths and spectres repel from me. I focused the chi into my sword until it felt white hot with energy. I opened my eyes and strode into the luminescent cloud of spirits. My sword danced on the wind as I cleaved spectral matter into vapor. I ran toward Aki and banished the wreath of spirits surrounding her. I caught her as she collapsed, but she was still conscious. I set her down and ran toward Shinku, who was fading fast. My infused blade made short work of her attackers, but she fell unconscious. I set my sword down and tended to her, using the last of the ambient chi I collected to revive her. I saw Kurai stop to look at us. "Go, dammit," I shouted and he ran headlong into the darkness that awaited him.
Kurai alone faced Anastopolous, shadowed beneath the canopy of trees at the forest's fringe. The light of the Obolus dimly lit a face now devoid of life. His body was starved of fat and muscle; only skin draped on bone. The old man cackled at him. "Now, you see?" Anastopolous said, his voice taking a more unhinged tone. "Even with your abilities, you cannot withstand the might of the army of Hades, risen from the great Necropoli from all of Greece. Imagine, though, if I did not stop at Greece, but revived the spirits of the dead from all over the globe. My hordes would know no limit. They would feel no pain; their eyes and hearts devoid of mercy. In death, I have become invincible."
"Your obsession has driven you beyond the borders of madness," Kurai said as Anastopolous moved ever closer. "Your quest to revive the days of legend has addled your mind. You don't want to bring back the old ways, you seek only destruction now."
"What does it matter? My eyes are open to the two worlds that lie on either side of this boundary. My new vision drives me. It's not enough to coerce the masses to revere the old ways. I must show them the world beyond the veil of death. Thanatos, Hades, Charon, bless me with your gifts so that all may face death and despair."
"If you are so passionate about bringing death, then see if death can claim me. Come, Hand of Death, come face a man of faith."
Anastopolous surged toward Kurai like a lynx, face aglow with mad delight, arm stretched, and Obolus radiating the light of oblivion. At that moment, Kurai drew his gun. The deathly hand pressed palm onto the barrel as a shot fired from its chamber, piercing through Anastopolous' hand. Anastopolous winced back, clutching his right arm at the wrist, and looked to his hand. In his palm, the Obolus lay shattered. The light from it vanished. He let out an anguished cry and babbled incoherently. Powerless, he grasped Kurai by the shirt, cursing him. Suddenly, the wind picked up. Above the lake of Acherousia, the baleful light swirled into a vortex. I watched as the wall of corpses began to crumble and collapse into the funnel, down back through the gate to Hades. As Kurai stood in the woods, Anastopolous was pulled toward the lake by a morbid gravity. Anastopolous spread himself on the ground, grasping onto a tuft of grass or a loose root to prevent himself from being dragged any further. His grip loosened and he was airborne, drifting toward the lake. We ran after him until we reached the shoreline. There, Anastopolous clawed, in vain, at the sand, lapped by the churning, luminescent waters. His final cries still haunt me. "Please," he said, "I don't want to die. I don't want to go to that joyless eternity. Spare me from this fate. Why have the gods turned their eyes from me? This was not to be my fate. This was not to..." His words faded as he spiraled into the center of the lake and vanished."
We stood there for a while as the baleful light dimmed and the waters of Acherousia became still once more. "You know," Kurai said, "it's ironic that he coveted death, yet clung to life so quickly when death came for him."
"Yes," I said, "I guess it's like what they say: 'Those who endeavor to master death only gain the realization of how much they fear it'."
"Wow," Aki said, "that was nice. Who said that?"
I paused for a moment. "I don't know. I think I just did."
We smiled and headed back to the car, where Akari (Remember Akari? She was the reason we got involved in this whole thing) was waiting for us. Boy, did she have questions. "What happened? Is everyone okay? Is Anastopolous dead? Where's the Obolus? Seriously, guys, where's the Obolus?"
I walked up to Akari and just said, "It's over." We all piled into the car and drove back to the hotel.
The next day, we went back to the museum. That morning, we had already told Akari what happened to the Obolus. She certainly wasn't happy. I didn't think Professor Ovid would be too pleased, either. Nevertheless, we explained everything that happened.
"Well," Professor Ovid said, "that seems like a very outlandish story - one that would sound entirely preposterous to a logical individual." He gave us a discriminating look. "However, given the headline in the local paper..." He produced a newspaper, that read... well, it was in greek, so I couldn't read it. "Strange findings at Monastery," Professor Ovid read. "Supposedly, there were fragments of bone and putrid flesh all over the site of the Necromanteion. They also found pieces of metal in a nearby forest, which, by my account, I can safely assume is the remains of the Obolus."
"I'm afraid so," Akari said.
"That is unfortunate. It was quite a find, I assure you. Though, I don't need to tell you that, do I?"
"Well," I said, "perhaps there are some things that were meant to remain hidden, so that they may not be used by those who lack the wisdom to wield them."
"After hearing your account," Professor Ovid said, "I would certainly say so. I also appreciate the information you gave us on the men who stole the other artifacts. The police are working with INTERPOL to track down the remnants of Vitelli's gang. As such, I feel the need to show our gratitude to you all. If you like, you may stay at the hotel for as long as you see fit, courtesy of us."
"Well," Akari said, "I don't want to abuse any priviledges..."
"Abuse?" Aki asked. "We come in here, fight off thugs, rescue your butt, stop a madman from turning the world into a John Romero film... hell, the least they could do is let me have a vacation in Greece. I hardly got any shopping done. I saw this one store that had these cute pair of shoes..." Aki kept talking as her, Akari, and Kurai left the museum. I merely sighed and smiled.
When Shinku came out, I walked up to her. "Hey, Shinku."
"What's up?"
"So, tell me, how did you manage to escape from the ritual chamber?"
"Oh, it was easy. As I drifted past 'Professor Death', I just happened upon a secret passage. So, I crawled in and made myself scarce."
"I don't know why Kurai worries about you so much. I told him you're quite resourceful."
"The word 'impossible' just isn't in my vocabulary."
"Well, let me just say this: thanks for proving me right, back there."
"What do you mean?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Forget I said anything."
We spent another week down there, taking a nice, long vacation. I must say, Greece looks much nicer on this side of the Acheron river.
THE END
Tune in again for another thrilling tale in the life of...
Shizuka Yanagi: Part-time adventurer in a full-time world