Bleed Like Me

Katsuya stared at the note for a long time. He blinked many times. The message didn’t change. They cleared him for Heaven. The lt. smirked to himself. “Well, I’ll be damned!” he thought. Katsuya sat up some.

“I get to go to Heaven after all!” he called.

“Not quite!” someone called. The lt. looked up right away. Gabriel stood over him. The lt. leapt away quickly.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked.

“Gabriel,” the angel answered. “One of Kami’s main angels.” Katsuya stared at him blankly.

“Who?” he asked. Gabriel snorted out loud.

“Figures,” he mumbled to himself. “A dog like you wouldn’t know who I am.” Katsuya glared at him on that one.

“What did you say?!?” he snapped. The angel shrugged at him.

“Anyway,” he went on. “You’re deal is almost complete.” The lt. looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “What’s the catch? I knew there had to be one somewhere!” Gabriel held up his hand to stop him.

“Not a catch,” he said. “We need you to do something for us.” The lt. eyed him curiously.

“O-kay…” he said. “What?”

“Overthrow Ume-Judas in Jade City with us,” the angel replied. Katsuya stared at him blankly.

“How and why?” he asked. Gabriel looked at him puzzled.

“What do you mean?” he asked. The soldier shrugged at him.

“I mean,” he said. “Why me? Why not someone else?” By now, Gabriel wanted to give up and quit on the guy. But, Kami insisted on using the soldier for this mission. So, the angel couldn’t argue there. Okay, time for the next part of the plan. Gabriel stood up straighter.

“I’ll show you,” he replied. Gabriel then put his hands up in the air and began chanting softly to himself. Katsuya looked all around. The scenery began to lighten up some.

“Gabriel!” he called out to the angel. “What the hell are you doing?!?” Gabriel didn’t answer. Then, the soldier disappeared in a bright flash. The angel watched after him. “This better work!” he thought.

Katsuya opened his eyes and looked around. This place looked like an endless rice paddy. Fog sat everywhere in view. The smell of smoke choked at air. The lt. looked around hard. He couldn’t see at all. The moisture from the cold wet ground seeped into his thin leather boots. The lt. tried to ignore the cold. He still followed the soldier’s code even after death. Discomfort filled his soul. The groans of suffering didn’t help either.

“What is this place?” he asked shouting.

“Purgatory!” someone yelled out to him. The lt. looked up right away. A man dragged his feet over to the new soul. Katsuya stared at him for a long time. This soul looked starved to the point all of his bones showed through his skin. His clothes were like rags hanging off of his body. Dirt and cuts invaded his thin body. The man’s hair turned thin as well. The only thing that still looked good on him were his teeth. Katsuya stared on until he recognized the man. His eyes grew big in shock.

“Noa!” he gasped out. The soul looked over at the lt.

“Katsuya?” he asked. “Katsuya!” He raced forward to the lt. But, Uchida quickly backed away from him.

“What the hell happened to you?!?” he cried out. Noa smiled at him. His grin made him look creepy. Katsuya wanted to scream at him to stop smiling. But he held his tongue firmly for his childhood friend to speak.

“I’m repenting for my sins on earth,” Noa said to him in a raspy weak crock. Katsuya looked at him in surprised confusion.

“Your sins?” he asked. “But you were practically a saint before this whole mess broke out!” Noa nodded at him.

“I know,” he replied. “But my soul can’t go to Heaven.”

“But why not?” the lt. demanded. “That ain’t right!” In old days, Noa played the good boy role too well. He always played by the rules. Every mother would love to have him as their son. But, the boy had a problem. Noa had been born with a weak body and heart. All of the doctors in Jade City could help him at all. He stayed in bed most of his life. Noa grew up in a religious family. They were lucky to have escaped before things got worse under Ume-Judas. Noa died two years before Katsuya did.

“After mom died,” Noa explained. “Dad signed an allegiance to Ume-Judas just to keep me safe.”

“And now you’re stuck here?” the lt. asked. Noa nodded again. Katsuya stared at him still.

“But…” he began. “You can still get in, right?”

“Only after Ume-Judas is defeated is when the other souls and myself can go to Heaven!” Katsuya stared at him in shock.

“There are others here?” the soldier asked.

“Yes,” Noa replied. “We all have some sort of allegiance to Ume-Judas just to be safe. Now we are stuck in Purgatory until he dies.” Katsuya stood back shocked. This was just so wrong!

Redemption