Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [111]
Wataru was falling through thick darkness, down and down a hole that seemed to have no end. He screamed until he ran out of breath. Then silently, he continued to fall. He could have taken another deep breath and started screaming again, but he was falling feet first and the sensation wasn’t all that unpleasant. Strangely, he soon found himself relaxed. Come to think of it, he wasn’t going all that fast—he was almost floating.
So instead of screaming, he started to look around. It was pitch black, of course, but he had a sensation that he was not falling through some vast chamber. Rather, he seemed to be falling down a very slick tunnel. If he moved his arms and legs, he found that he could adjust his fall slightly. When he tried sticking his arms out like wings, he felt something touch the fingertips of his right hand. It might’ve been the wall.
Where am I falling to?
As he fell, he noticed a wind blowing up from below him. Warm and thick air blew up his sleeves, making his shirt billow out. As the wind blew harder, the speed of his descent began to slow. Soon he was going no faster than an elevator, then the speed of an escalator, and finally he was going no faster than if he had been walking down a flight of stairs.
Directly beneath him, something like a shining white pedestal came into view. It was wide enough for him to land on. That must be the spot.
Wataru spread out his arms and legs for balance, and landed directly atop the pedestal. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw that the pedestal was made of stone. He got down on his knees and touched it with his hands. It was smooth and reminded him of the faux marble counters in his kitchen back home.
He looked up and saw something in the darkness. It was not a door exactly—more like an opening, Rather, it was a crack in the rock similar to the one that had sucked him into his current situation. He would be able to walk through easily. But what he saw beyond that was more darkness.
Be brave. Walk forward.
Wataru took a step, and then another. Suddenly, his surroundings changed dramatically.
I’m in a temple. No, wait. It’s the corridor of some castle.
The ceilings were high and vaulted—about the height of a three-story building. Both floor and walls were made of stone, with large round pillars placed at ten-yard intervals. Countless sconces lined the walls, their fat tallow candles shining like stars. Still, the corridor led into a darkness that Wataru’s eyes could not penetrate.
As expected, when he turned around, the entrance he had just passed through had disappeared. All he could see was the same sort of passageway as the one that led in the other direction, stretching into the distance.
Okay, pull yourself together. Egging himself on, Wataru began to move forward. Shortly, a large statue—a one-eyed giant—came into view. It was made out of the same sort of stone as the building. Wataru examined the statue. Great armor plates hung on the figure’s bare skin, and his exposed arms were covered with the sort of tattoos Wataru assumed were meant to ward off evil. He carried a large axe over one shoulder.
As he stood, staring up at its face, the ground beneath his feet began to rumble, and then that rumble turned into a voice.
“I am the Dawn-God, Ward of the East, servant to the Goddess of Fate. Answer my question.”
Wataru steadied himself.
The voice continued. “What do you ask of me and the dawnkin?”
Wataru’s mind went blank. How should I answer? As he stood there, wondering, he remembered something. That’s right, wasn’t there something like this in Saga I? At the very beginning of the game, you had to make a request of one of three gods that ruled the three lands in the game. There were many choices: “wealth,” “honor,” “bravery,” “beauty,” “wisdom.” Depending on which you chose, your character’s abilities would be slightly different.
Wataru took a deep breath, and then in the loudest voice he could muster, he said “I want—I want