“Hey, do you think I’m evil by any chance?” she asked suddenly. “I mean I ask myself this a lot, but, I’m not sure.”
“You ask me if you’re evil? The answer to that is clear. You are human.”
“Evil is at the core of all humanity. Bloodshed, murder, war, slavery — all are inventions of humankind. Long before my rise to power I have seen humanity inflict these atrocities upon itself over and over again. And the same malevolence that flowed through the veins of your ancestors flows now through yours. It is the same for all humans whether or not they act upon their primal instincts. The origin of your kind was built on blood.”
Casper took that in with heavy thought, Gods. There were Gods just as there was something unspeakable trapped within the tree she was talking too. It was almost too much to take in, did that mean there was an afterlife? A Hell? Casper shivered despite the heat that beat down upon her where she sat.
It was enough to drive anyone to a nervous break down, yet, she found she wanted to know more, go deeper into the rabbit hole. The creature she was speaking to however didn’t seem too keen on talking about them anymore then he had to however so she shook her head, trying to move to a different topic.
“Well.” She hesitated. “I’ll be here for awhile, maybe I’ll be coming back to visit often.” It was better then what was initially planned if she was being honest with herself.
“Couldn’t hurt, right, Aku? Er, Lord Aku.” she quickly corrected.
’Grargh! Stubborn, foolish human.’ The trapped demon growled and grumped for a few long moments. It was all he had in his power to do. But at the very least, someone could finally hear his sounds of unrest and though Aku would never admit it, it was better than not being heard at all.
’It is not as if I have a choice,” he concluded with an indignant huff. ‘Mortals like yourself are supposed to tremble before me, not seek idle chat and relaxation in my presence. Your sense of self-preservation must be defective. Who are you? Why have you come here? How is it that you can hear me when others cannot?’
“Aw come on, Aku. I’m only playing!” she huffed. “Well, he sounds like a handful for an android, couldn’t he just be reprogrammed or something?”
“Pfuh… It’s not like I care that much.” Aku grumbled and leaned into his hand, smashing his cheek against his palm. “So long as Evil and Obedience are his primary personality traits.”
“Who is he?” Casper asked, looking a little flabbergasted.
“He is one of my many android assassins who are tasked with destroying Samurai Jack. He uses the power of sound to spread havoc and destruction wherever he goes and has a tiresome habit of referring to myself and others as ‘babe’.”
The demon rolled his eyes.
“Babe.” she thought about that. “Aku, Babe.” she teased but then doubled back. “Nah that sounds a little weird. Trying to be sassy maybe? Programmed to be quirky?”
He shot her a venomous glare for her teasing. A warning. “Don’t you start.”
“I did not call for ‘sass’ to be incorporated into his programming. He developed that on his own.”
“Who is he?” Casper asked, looking a little flabbergasted.
“He is one of my many android assassins who are tasked with destroying Samurai Jack. He uses the power of sound to spread havoc and destruction wherever he goes and has a tiresome habit of referring to myself and others as ‘babe’.”
Casper paid close attention to his words as he spoke. Gods. Magic. An emperor that became a hero with that magic. It was like listening to a fairy tale, except, he was right here in front of her. In tree form. But there.
Aku mentioned he could feel his power returning, it made her wonder what it was that was making it happen. Steadily, forces so powerful did eventually knit itself back together, that’s what people did, and nature. The same could be said for cosmic forces beyond human understanding.
For Gods who watched over the world itself.
“Does that make you a kind of God?” Casper asked. “Given your origin?”
‘Strictly in the sense that I possess unspeakable power, I am an almighty god of darkness, destruction and discord. I am not, however, one of Them.’
Vishnu, Odin, Ra, Zues. He was absolutely not of their sanctimonious ilk.
‘Before the gods ever existed, there was darkness and disarray. From that primordial cloud of chaos, Aku was born. Then came matter, then dust and finally the Titans who ruled the cosmos. Until they were slain by the very gods whom they had birthed.’
It was no wonder that humans looked to the gods as their makers. Betrayal ran thick in their blood.
‘It was those very same gods who crafted the Emperor’s sword. And now I am here, trapped once again within the Earth thanks to those righteous fiends.’
Casper turned to look at the palace in question, raising her arm to block the light from the sun. It was true what he said, the place was still being worked on, as well as a large part of the area surrounded by it.
“Flame and ash, death to hundreds.” Maybe thousands. But still her curiosity increased in it’s macabre sense of awe. What was this creature exactly? Why didn’t she just turn, leave it?
It was something she couldn’t place, but at his side she remained.
“What became of the emperor?”
‘After I forced him to watch the destruction of his empire, the foolish human returned the very next day wielding a magic sword. I would have easily obliterated him if it had not been for that sword. For you see, nothing of this world can harm me. But that sword… It was bestowed upon him by the Gods. Those accursed, meddlesome cosmic fiends!’
Aku snarled fiercely at the mention of the Gods. His most hated foes.
‘It is because of them that I fell to this world and because of them that I am trapped once again within the earth. How I despise them! Their sword is what allowed the Emperor to create this prison for me and to keep me sealed away inside.
But each day as the sun crosses the sky, I feel my power grows slowly stronger. A day of darkness approaches… I MUST escape.’
If Aku could not escape when that day came, he feared he would never taste freedom again. Then how much longer would he be imprisoned here? A hundred years? A thousand? Forever? His mind could not bear it.
“Mockery? Not my intent.” she sat back down again, placing the drawing pad in her lap once more. “Honest if I could do something, I would, but I can’t. The most I can do is converse with you, Master Aku. It’s a little strange though, were you imprisoned here only six years ago? They must have been quick to bury all record of you after.” She noted.
“I had never even heard of your name until now.” she looked back down at her drawing. “What you’ve done must have been catastrophically malicious. I’d like to know more.” Anything to remain at the tree.
‘The Emperor and his people would like nothing more than to bury me and all memory of my existence forever,’ came Aku’s seething reply. The very notion that they would dispose of him like this and go on with their worthless mortal lives as if he never existed enraged him extraordinarily.
‘You see that palace over there?’ In the distance, among the mountains, there rose a grand white citadel. Even now, parts of it were still under reconstruction. ‘That is the Emperor’s kingdom. Six years and six months ago, I reduced his entire kingdom to flame and ash. He had come to destroy me and as punishment, I destroyed what was his.’
Casper looked up at the shout, of course, it was a little off putting. Yet despite the other’s angry words not even a branch moved out of place. Whatever he was he really was trapped in there, and solidly too.
Aku.
An evil that wanted the world in it’s grasp, trapped in the form of a tree. Casper tilted her head at the last bit, standing, she curtsied.
“I’m honored Master Aku, but I’m unsure how to free you.” She wondered briefly if she would if she knew how. Did it matter if he was released? What sort of horror could he reign upon life as they knew it?
Would the world adapt to it? All questions she doubted she’d get answers to. It wasn’t all that surprising to her however that she would release something so malicious on the earth without batting an eye.
Almost evil herself.
It was disturbing when she put it like that.
“As a lowly human, I have no power with which to free you with.”
What was this? A show of respect from a human? A willingness to free him? Was this mockery or did she mean it? Aku willed the exposed, twisted roots to leap forth and ensnare her but it was in vain. He was powerless and he begrudged her terribly for her freedom.
‘Then you have come to mock me…’ came his irritable but resigned reply.
He could not understand any other reason for why she remained. Perhaps he shouldn’t have communicated with her at all since it merely encouraged her to stay. But after being in solitude for so long, it had been impossible to resist venting his frustrations to someone who could hear him, even if all she intended to do was mock him.
The Shogun of Sorrow 