Zero Six

In the beginning there were Powers. Many Powers. Many Powers
controlled particular things. There is for instance more than one Power of
Death, more than one Power of War, more than one Power of Justice. One of these
Powers you may already know. You call it Shinigami.
Now I will not talk of all the Powers only the ones who had the most affect on
the child. These Powers, nine in number. The Powers were as such. Wing Low, the
Power of Soldiers, Duty, and War. Shinigami, the
Power of Death, the violet eyed Power. Heavyarms, the
Power of Travelers, Circuses, and the Calo. Sandrock, the Power of Heat, Desert, Loyalty, and Civility.
Nataku also called Shenlong,
the Power of Justice, Equality, Honor, and Dragons. The Silver Power of
Lightening, Quickness, and Innovation. The Dark Power of Faith, Honor, Trust.
The Blind Power of Fanaticism and Illusion. The Bronze Power of Strategy,
Gentility, and Nobility.

Now all of these Powers would give a number to themselves,
since as Powers they did not take names, merely responded to the name that
humans wish to call them. But they believe if all Powers of War were given a
nu suc such as One, then no matter where they go, people would always be able
to relate to them. And so it went.

Wing Low took the number One.

Shinigami took the number Two

Heavyarms took Three.

Sandrock took Four.

Nataku took Five.

The Silver Power took Six

The Dark Power took Nine.

The Blind Power took Eleven

The Bronze Power took Thirteen

These will be important later, for now, forget them.

One day Wing Low was preparing for another of his avatars to
be born. Avatars are humans. Special humans, very special humans. Most humans
could not take having a Power sharing their body without dying within a day or
two. An avatar is built to hold a Power in them for their entire life. So
avatars were rare, precious. And so it came that Wing Low was creating an
avatar that day.

"Wing, whatcha doing?"

"Creating an avatar."

"An avatar? Wonderful, I’m out of avatars for a while.
Don’t tell me, I shouldn’t have had them all born within a century of each
other but they were lonely.

"We make them to bear up, you spoil yours."

"I know, but I don’t like them being lonely."

"I know."

Wing Low preceded to form and find a place to put his
avatar. He went down unto the priests and told them of the avatar’s birth and
what to name it. Then Wing Low waited. When the day came for the child to be
born, Wing asked Shinigami to go with him, to watch
the consecration of the child. They traveled to the Earth and entered a village.
It was one Shinigami knew well for his main temple
was there. Walking into the village, they saw a procession for the avatar. They
followed along, until they reached a temple. Turning themselves incorporeal, Shinigami and Wing Low moved to stand beside the priest. To
Shinigami’s surprise, it was one of his priests.

"This child is no longer your child, this child belongs
to the God of Death, Shinigami. This child is named
thus, Shi no Musuko, the son of Death."

The child opened his eyes, and they were violet blue. The
people cheered and Wing Low turned to it’s mate. "Are you happy?"

Shinigami looked at his mate and
moved to kiss him, "Yes, thank you."

Shinigami walked over to the
child, unseen except by the priest, the parents, and the child. Leaning down he
kissed the child on the cheek. "You are mine."

* * *

That night about a thousand miles away a warlord noted the
day and prepared for a new campaign.

* * *

For almost eight years the child was happy, he played and he
was schooled. His eyes never changed from the blue as most children’s did. He
wore his hair in a long braid like his god. He was a cheery child, much given
to laugh. He was unafraid of anything. All in all, a good and happy boy.

Two months before his eighth birthday, his world shattered
and died. He learned fear. A warlord came to his village. The warlord’s army
killed everyone in the village. The boy ran to the temple.

"Why? Why are they doing this?"

"Because of you. You see, Wing Low gave to Shinigami... an avatar, you. Wing Low was disappointed in
one of his avatars, for although the avatar belonged to Wing, to be a
serviceable avatar they must have free will. He became all the Wing despised.
You were to be his replacement. However for some reason. Wing gave you to his
mate, Shinigami. The warlord does not know this and
wishes to kill the one he perceives to be his replacement. You.

"Now you must go through the passageway in behind the
stone. It will let you out almost 30 miles from here. Run to another temple and
ask for Shinigami to take you. He will come.
GO!" As the old priest gave his last instruction they could hear the
warriors breaking in.

Shi no Musuko ran. He ducked
behind a huge stone and ran down the passageway. When he looked back he saw
that the stone had collapsed against the wall. How long he ran he did not know.
When he at last came out it was night. Searching for human life, he recognized
a farm. He walked there and entered. In shock he retreated. All life on the
farm had been slaughtered. Inside the house, everyone was dead, from the old
woman to the newborn child.

"Ah, Wing, I see why you have turned from him. The
craven beast. Wing, as you love Shinigami, please
protect me until I reach him." With this the boy grabbed some food from
the fire and left.

Two months later, he entered a town. At first he believed it
to be deserted. He knew he was wrong when he came upon the first corpse. He had
seen so many corpses that he no longer thought of it. Tiredly, Shi no Musuko, crawled up the temple steps into Shinigami’s realm. He walked over to the altar and looked
up.

"Shinigami, you said I am
your avatar, please help me."

Out of the shadows came a young man, his dark brown hair
fell in a braid, his eyes were the blue violet of the night sky and in them
there were flecks like stars. He wore loose pants and a high shirt. His clothes
were black with black silk designs, buttons were black lacquered wood.

"You are my avatar. I will help you. Step through the
doorway, love."

The boy looked to the door. The space behind it was darker
than night. Quietly, he stepped through. Beyond the door was a room, it held a
futon and a chest. Shi turned around to see the boy step into the room, through
the wall.

"Shi, I will protect you. And you will have vengeance.
I promise you this. First, change your clothes. Through this door,"
pointing to the right, "is a wash room, and the other leads out to the
rest of the place. Wing and I will await you, wash up and get ready to
eat."

And so began a new chapter of Shi’s life. He spent twentyearyears in Shinigami’s world, yet it felt like two
hundred.

Shinigami taught him about death,
how to cause it, prevent it, subvert it, use it, deflect it. Everything about
death. Wing Low taught him the bad and good of war and duty. Wing taught Shi to
be a soldier and an officer. Sandrock and Heavyarms taught him to the manners and customs of the
people of the world, subtlety, and respect. The dragon Shenlong
taught him about honor, justice, and vengeance. For two centuries Shi learned.
He became a master of magic, sorcery, herb lore, honor, justice, strategy,
illusion, and cruelty.

In two centuries, Shi went insane, recovered his sanity and
went insane again. Until one day Shinigami took Shi
back to the temple from where he had entered the Power’s realm.

"Shi no Musuko, you are my
son. You will bring the warlord to my justice. We have never told you his name,
he is called Gravis. Your mission as my son, my chosen avatar, and my assassin
is to kill him. To further this goal, the Powers have given you many parting
gifts. This is mine.

"A priest asks a god to do something. An avatar asks
the god to give him the power so he can do it. You, Shi no Musuko,
need never ask for I give to you, my power. I give you a direct link to my
power, you may use as much of it as you will.

"Turn now. Do you see the priest walking up here? He
will take you to the warlord. You are my high priest, you rank him." And
with that last word, Shinigami turned and
disappeared.

Shi walked across the temple and down the steps. He looked
up into the clear sky. "Today, I am Death." Shi walked on towards the
priest and smiled.