Chap 1: Map to the Golden City

The light rolls over me and warms me just for a moment. It glows bright and with every glance it becomes clearer that within that white light lays my destiny. Sometimes it burns bright, sometimes it winks, sometimes it blinks, sometimes it goes out, sometimes it burns and sometimes it doesn’t do a damn thing and that is just life. Human monkeys carrying doctrines in mental analysis tell you that every problem you ever had was because of you but it isn’t your fault, when in reality the fact that you are going to die causes the loss of “rationality” and once again me are tagged and made into cereal numbers on another bastards calculator trying to figure out the undiscoverable equation of our purpose, existence and from that what we should be doing with our short lives.

My hands were cuffed behind my back. The cop points to the tattoo of my name on my arm, “Vigo” he reads out loud with a smirk. Droplets of water drip from my greasy hair, leftovers from walking through the rain moments before. I could see my reflection in the pig’s big stupid brown eyes. My hair was black and messy, my face pale white with a small cross tattooed in the outer corner of my right eye. This was me six years ago when I was thirteen. I was convicted of armed robbery, theft and assault on an officer of the law. I did my time for the crime, which wasn’t as bad an experience as many people would think, thanks to the environment I was raised in.

When I got out of confinement two years later I fell into depression not hearing from my parents in two years and finding out the reason was they had been murdered. I never did find out the killer’s identity, eventually being taken in by my step brother called Six. He was next in line to run the Den family mob right under my step father. Things happened in that time period that I can not explain and a lot I do not remember making them forgotten at the very least till recollection decides to kick in, which is a year of foggy memories.

I found myself pick pocketing with the skill of a professional, grabbing up watches, rings, and tokens. My eye eventually picked out a wealthy veteran samurai type, cloaked in blue silk. In my home city of Jerusalem silk was unheard of. I walked towards him inconspicuously bumping into his pocket and walking off with an amulet of platinum and a stone of jade embedded in its center. Carved into the greenish stone was a detailed map of some sort. I walked down the pavement finally taking a look at the sun and knowing I was a bit late to meet with Six at the pool tables.

I showed him the catches of the day keeping the amulet I snatched off the samurai a secret to myself. He looked pleased for a moment, which was strange. I knew he only put up with me because of my mother. His mother died giving birth to him, so when his father married my mother the two of them grew close. He considered my mother his mother; therefore in a way we were really brothers.

“Listen up Vigo; I have another assignment for you. The cereal killer and escaped convict known only as Beck has taken haven in our Jerusalem. In his possession is a small bag of blue diamonds. I have already sent five of my best after him, only one half beaten to death man returned. This is why I have decided on thievery instead of force. You know where I am going with this brother,” Six said through his mouth full of gold teeth.

Jerusalem was a haven for criminals and convicts of all sorts. It was a place for men who were either hiding or did not want to be discovered. There were no police in our city, not even the great samurai dared to cross into our territory too often. Syndicates, gangs, drug lords, and mobsters owned these streets, which in my case was a good thing. I had heard the name Beck multiple times, which was simply because in the world built around syndicates and crime the name Beck was legend. He was facing the death penalty by beheading for the crime of genocide against law informant. According to word of mouth he killed thirty seven police and three samurai guardians. He is the last existing member of the Blood Drake syndicate, which had been wiped from the face of the earth five years ago by order carried out by the samurai elders.

I went to “Co-ascend” a bar dedicated to information hunting. The bar’s tender was a complete rat and was only alive because so. He went by the name Muse. I walked in, to find him already informing a man a bit older than me. The information hunter was dressed in an orange jump suit, which went into an untied strapped jacket. His hair was messy and brown, which stuck up in entwined locks. On the back of his neck was a tattooed bar code. It took a moment for his appearance to register and bring my vision into wide-eyed surprise, he was the legendary Beck.

I walked by his back side snatching the blue velvet bag from his possession. I couldn’t help but catch on to what Muse and Beck were talking about.

“The amulet is being carried by Sin the ex-guardian samurai,” Muse informed.

“You mean Sin, the bounty hunter swordsman?” Beck questioned.

“Yes that is him,” the rat answered once again.

“So the man carrying the map to the legendary Golden City is the same man hunting me down,” Beck said to himself loud enough for me and Muse to hear. My mind snapped and I shivered as my legs did a sharp turn straight towards the door, realizing the amulet to the Golden City was in my possession and that I had stolen from a bounty hunter, I decided escape as soon as possible was the best decision in this particular situation. As I came up to the door to exit, it swung open and standing in the way of my escape was the samurai the amulet rightfully belonged to.

His eyes were pale blue, which matched the color of his cloak. His gaze was unfocused signaling that he was blind. At his left side ready to be brought into battle was a large katana whose hilt was decorated in blue. He unsheathed his blade bringing it up to point at Beck who was smiling at the bounty hunter with a shot of whisky in his hand. After the murderer took the shot he jumped up on his stool pulling out nun chucks from his sleeve running toward Sin using each stool as a stepping stone. Beck jumped from the final stool in a strike, the weapons clashed into sparks. The murderer back flipped into a crouching position on top of an empty table. Sin dashed forward slashing the table in half but missing his mark nonetheless.

I tried to run off but the swordsman threw a dart into my neck. I slowly grew dizzy, while my vision grew heavy and less and less steady. I collapsed to the ground gasping for air. My mind grew black as unconscious took over my minds dominion.