[SK] fic: Birth of a Shaman King
...more Shaman King fic. Apparently, my muse for this series hasn't died yet. It revived at the strangest time. when I should have been writing my essay for my philosophy class. Going through my fics over at ffnet and adding the dividers back in has really rekindled a lot of my old plotbunnies.
After writing this, I couldn't help but compare Asakura Hao with Yagami Light. Both wanted to cleanse the world, thinking that they knew better. At first, they did mean the best for everyone, but it slowly became all about their own power and not the good of the world.
...I was also thinking to myself, "Wait, doesn't the Shaman King get a Blank Zai that let's them wish for anything and that was it? It wasn't some job to watch over the world or anything..." And then I remembered that Blank Zai = Law of Ueki. *headdesks*
Anyway...this is a short companion piece for Hoshi ga Hoshii desu. Entirely written on a whim. I hope I'm not unleashing a bunch of rabid plotbunnies since I have no time to tend to them.
Birth of a Shaman King
A companion piece to Hoshi ga Hoshii desu
Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to me. I am making no profit from this piece of fanwork.
archive: lj | ffnet
Words: 1312
Notes: This is a Hao-centric ficlet and is best read after chapter 44 of HgHd. Think of this as a more fleshed out chapter 44...sort of like a missing scene. I don't actually get to anything exciting here.
----
He wasn't naive enough to think that he could waltz right back to Sora and Tsuki after becoming the Shaman King. Becoming the Shaman King meant that he had a duty, and that duty was a demanding one that would command his attention for the rest of his life. His recent acquiring of the Great Spirits brought his duty to the entire world to the frontmost part of his mind. It nearly drowned out all thoughts he had of missing the family he had left back in Japan.
There was simply no time to miss anyone. When the light engulfed him, the rampage of memories that tore at him was even worse than what he had experienced in the convenience store. Back then, it had been merely his own memories that had flooded him, granted he had three lifetimes worth of memories, much more than anyone else could ever boast about. But the light...with the light came a billion years worth of memories...memories of life that the Great Spirits had touched.
They tore mercilessly at his mind, flashing by too quickly for him to decipher. They disappeared off into the shadows cast by the blinding light, but that gave him no reprieve since the next memory was already coming at him.
And so this continued.
He didn't know how long he stayed kneeled on the ground. He didn't even know when he had fallen to the ground, the palms of his hands grinding into the dirt. When the images started slowing down, he finally noticed the tingling pain from his palm and the tangy taste of blood from where he had bitten his lips.
The images stopped then.
He got up shakily, stumbling over to a nearby tree to right himself. When he touched the bark of the wizened tree, he suddenly felt himself stretching towards the sky, reaching upwards to bask in the warm sunlight. Birds nested on his topmost arms, and a trail of ants was crawling up his side. He was a tree that stood the testament of time; however, that was soon to change. On the far branches, a sickly black disease threatened to shrivel his leaves, leaving a path of curled, blackened leaves.
He gasped and backed away from the tree. He had almost lost himself there. For a moment, he had thought that he was a tree. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the bark again, this time focusing on the sickly disease he had come across.
When he walked away from the tree that day, the tree was as healthy as can be. There was not a spot of darkness threatening to spread across its leaves.
The tree was blessed to have been the first test of the new Shaman King's power.
-----
You're a natural at this.
He snorted at the remark that drifted to him from the Great Spirits. If being a natural meant almost losing his identity, then yeah, he was a natural. He was so much a natural that he almost thought himself to be a tree.
Your memories...have they not returned?
With a jolt, he realized that he knew this voice. The last he had heard this soft but powerful voice had been in England. He clearly remembered the man staring back at him with his defiant emerald eyes. Even when the man's house burned down around him, the man had not budged. He had not budged until a little boy ran in eagerly with his newly acquired spirit cupped in his hands to show his father.
He had watched amusedly when horror washed over the little boy's face. The boy's screams were too late, his display in his laughable power too little to even scratch him. It must have been the first time the boy had ever merged with his spirit. He had felt accomplished then that he had forced the boy to use his powers. He saw potential in the boy. He wanted the boy to join him.
It was a laughable desire when he had been the one who turned the boy away from him forever, creating a being bent on revenge. He was the one who had murdered the boy's parents without a second thought. That was the type of person he was.
"Liam Diethel. I remember you," he said.
I see that your memories have indeed returned.
He closed his eyes and thought back to the fateful fight with Yoh. Oh, he remembered now. Those voices in his head had clearly not been his own. They had been from the Great Spirits. He had passed their test with flying colors despite not even knowing he was being tested. He was still vexed about being manipulated, but that feeling of his was dulled by a strange calmness that coursed through him as he sat on the smooth clay floor with the earth beneath him. He felt like one with the earth. That was the power of the Great Spirits running through his veins.
"You and everyone else have been strangely accepting of my becoming the Shaman King," he murmured, his eyes still closed.
Oh, I approve of you.
"Even though I was the one who murdered you?"
You've changed.
"If only things were as simple as that." He laughed. "If all things could be solved with a simple "you've changed," then there wouldn't be a need for a Shaman King."
He breathed out slowly.
"If I were you, I wouldn't trust me as the Shaman King. One year without my memories has not changed who I am."
No, it hasn't. It has only reminded you of who you are at heart. Do you not remember the little boy who wanted to save the world with his own power?
Oh, he remembered. He remembered the naive little boy he once was. He tried so hard to use his power to help people despite how taxing using his powers had been to him. He banished evil spirits for strangers and helped those people struggle through sickness and famine, but what had they done to repay him? They turned on him and thought him a monster. They threw his kindness back in his face.
"...remembering that little boy only makes me weary of the world," he murmured. He loved the world--it was his world, and it was full of vibrant life. The tree he had just cured was a mere taste of what the world held. But humans, those corrupted humans, were liars and murderers who polluted the very air he breathed.
He grabbed his head with his hands. Who was he to call people liars and murderers? He was a murderer himself. One year without his memories hadn't changed him, but it did distance him from his burning hatred. It calmed him, and now he felt more lucid than ever.
He stood up and dusted himself off, ready to head back into the village.
"Care to tell me who else is in there with you?" he asked. The other Hoshi had mentioned that the Great Spirits was made up of millions of spirits. Many of them were victims who had died by his hand. There was no way that all of them accepted him like Liam and the other Hoshi did. Besides, he'd like to know who was privy to watching his every move. He had never associated becoming the Shaman King with losing his privacy.
...we are not all awake at the same time. You'll meet more of us in due time.
"Fine, be all mysterious like that. Let's go, Hoshisuke."
The entire world was before him. If he hadn't already been the strongest shaman in the world, he would have been become the strongest now that the Great Spirits was his. He had power beyond imagination--it was a frightening thought that anyone could have such immense power. With such power, who wouldn't play at being God?
The Shaman King, who looked to be a mere boy despite the many years he had seen, made his way back to the village with his loyal cat spirit by his side.
-----
the end
...I have a feeling I wrote that exact conversation before.
After writing this, I couldn't help but compare Asakura Hao with Yagami Light. Both wanted to cleanse the world, thinking that they knew better. At first, they did mean the best for everyone, but it slowly became all about their own power and not the good of the world.
...I was also thinking to myself, "Wait, doesn't the Shaman King get a Blank Zai that let's them wish for anything and that was it? It wasn't some job to watch over the world or anything..." And then I remembered that Blank Zai = Law of Ueki. *headdesks*
Anyway...this is a short companion piece for Hoshi ga Hoshii desu. Entirely written on a whim. I hope I'm not unleashing a bunch of rabid plotbunnies since I have no time to tend to them.
Birth of a Shaman King
A companion piece to Hoshi ga Hoshii desu
Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to me. I am making no profit from this piece of fanwork.
archive: lj | ffnet
Words: 1312
Notes: This is a Hao-centric ficlet and is best read after chapter 44 of HgHd. Think of this as a more fleshed out chapter 44...sort of like a missing scene. I don't actually get to anything exciting here.
----
He wasn't naive enough to think that he could waltz right back to Sora and Tsuki after becoming the Shaman King. Becoming the Shaman King meant that he had a duty, and that duty was a demanding one that would command his attention for the rest of his life. His recent acquiring of the Great Spirits brought his duty to the entire world to the frontmost part of his mind. It nearly drowned out all thoughts he had of missing the family he had left back in Japan.
There was simply no time to miss anyone. When the light engulfed him, the rampage of memories that tore at him was even worse than what he had experienced in the convenience store. Back then, it had been merely his own memories that had flooded him, granted he had three lifetimes worth of memories, much more than anyone else could ever boast about. But the light...with the light came a billion years worth of memories...memories of life that the Great Spirits had touched.
They tore mercilessly at his mind, flashing by too quickly for him to decipher. They disappeared off into the shadows cast by the blinding light, but that gave him no reprieve since the next memory was already coming at him.
And so this continued.
He didn't know how long he stayed kneeled on the ground. He didn't even know when he had fallen to the ground, the palms of his hands grinding into the dirt. When the images started slowing down, he finally noticed the tingling pain from his palm and the tangy taste of blood from where he had bitten his lips.
The images stopped then.
He got up shakily, stumbling over to a nearby tree to right himself. When he touched the bark of the wizened tree, he suddenly felt himself stretching towards the sky, reaching upwards to bask in the warm sunlight. Birds nested on his topmost arms, and a trail of ants was crawling up his side. He was a tree that stood the testament of time; however, that was soon to change. On the far branches, a sickly black disease threatened to shrivel his leaves, leaving a path of curled, blackened leaves.
He gasped and backed away from the tree. He had almost lost himself there. For a moment, he had thought that he was a tree. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the bark again, this time focusing on the sickly disease he had come across.
When he walked away from the tree that day, the tree was as healthy as can be. There was not a spot of darkness threatening to spread across its leaves.
The tree was blessed to have been the first test of the new Shaman King's power.
-----
You're a natural at this.
He snorted at the remark that drifted to him from the Great Spirits. If being a natural meant almost losing his identity, then yeah, he was a natural. He was so much a natural that he almost thought himself to be a tree.
Your memories...have they not returned?
With a jolt, he realized that he knew this voice. The last he had heard this soft but powerful voice had been in England. He clearly remembered the man staring back at him with his defiant emerald eyes. Even when the man's house burned down around him, the man had not budged. He had not budged until a little boy ran in eagerly with his newly acquired spirit cupped in his hands to show his father.
He had watched amusedly when horror washed over the little boy's face. The boy's screams were too late, his display in his laughable power too little to even scratch him. It must have been the first time the boy had ever merged with his spirit. He had felt accomplished then that he had forced the boy to use his powers. He saw potential in the boy. He wanted the boy to join him.
It was a laughable desire when he had been the one who turned the boy away from him forever, creating a being bent on revenge. He was the one who had murdered the boy's parents without a second thought. That was the type of person he was.
"Liam Diethel. I remember you," he said.
I see that your memories have indeed returned.
He closed his eyes and thought back to the fateful fight with Yoh. Oh, he remembered now. Those voices in his head had clearly not been his own. They had been from the Great Spirits. He had passed their test with flying colors despite not even knowing he was being tested. He was still vexed about being manipulated, but that feeling of his was dulled by a strange calmness that coursed through him as he sat on the smooth clay floor with the earth beneath him. He felt like one with the earth. That was the power of the Great Spirits running through his veins.
"You and everyone else have been strangely accepting of my becoming the Shaman King," he murmured, his eyes still closed.
Oh, I approve of you.
"Even though I was the one who murdered you?"
You've changed.
"If only things were as simple as that." He laughed. "If all things could be solved with a simple "you've changed," then there wouldn't be a need for a Shaman King."
He breathed out slowly.
"If I were you, I wouldn't trust me as the Shaman King. One year without my memories has not changed who I am."
No, it hasn't. It has only reminded you of who you are at heart. Do you not remember the little boy who wanted to save the world with his own power?
Oh, he remembered. He remembered the naive little boy he once was. He tried so hard to use his power to help people despite how taxing using his powers had been to him. He banished evil spirits for strangers and helped those people struggle through sickness and famine, but what had they done to repay him? They turned on him and thought him a monster. They threw his kindness back in his face.
"...remembering that little boy only makes me weary of the world," he murmured. He loved the world--it was his world, and it was full of vibrant life. The tree he had just cured was a mere taste of what the world held. But humans, those corrupted humans, were liars and murderers who polluted the very air he breathed.
He grabbed his head with his hands. Who was he to call people liars and murderers? He was a murderer himself. One year without his memories hadn't changed him, but it did distance him from his burning hatred. It calmed him, and now he felt more lucid than ever.
He stood up and dusted himself off, ready to head back into the village.
"Care to tell me who else is in there with you?" he asked. The other Hoshi had mentioned that the Great Spirits was made up of millions of spirits. Many of them were victims who had died by his hand. There was no way that all of them accepted him like Liam and the other Hoshi did. Besides, he'd like to know who was privy to watching his every move. He had never associated becoming the Shaman King with losing his privacy.
...we are not all awake at the same time. You'll meet more of us in due time.
"Fine, be all mysterious like that. Let's go, Hoshisuke."
The entire world was before him. If he hadn't already been the strongest shaman in the world, he would have been become the strongest now that the Great Spirits was his. He had power beyond imagination--it was a frightening thought that anyone could have such immense power. With such power, who wouldn't play at being God?
The Shaman King, who looked to be a mere boy despite the many years he had seen, made his way back to the village with his loyal cat spirit by his side.
-----
the end
...I have a feeling I wrote that exact conversation before.