This is like one of my favorite things I wrote all year

Song Short Story

"Golden Time Lover" by Sukima Switch

Period 1

April 9, 2018

Golden Time

Growling storm clouds rolled over the once cheery sky, casting their dark shadows over the flowery lands. Gray cliffs surrounded the valley of deep green grass and small white flowers. The range of rocky land opened up to plains with scraggly trees, but that seemed like some far off land as I stared at the sky, the condensation of water tumbling over itself slowly. The soft grass brushed my arms, its damp tendrils cooling my tensed limbs. I hid in plain sight by lying in the center of the valley, stressing over what was to come. This situation was bad, but I'd have no guts if I just ran away.

A new sound echoed over the now snapping storm. I slowly stood and put my face toward the top of the cliffs. The wind whipped my hair across my cheeks, switching between standing still and running so very fast. Pebbles shot toward the ground as large claws curved over the gray rocks. A figure with too many heads to count stood over the rock face, staring down at me. I met its many eyes, focusing on the ones in the center.

"Well?" I shouted at the beast.

The creature laughed. The intermingling of its many voices came together in the creepiest of ways. It leaped to the ground many feet below, sending shocks through the earth. I stumbled, struggling to keep my footing. The beast laughed again. I trembled before it, but kept the straightest face I could muster.

"You think you can beat me? You think you can beat all of us? You're just a tiny human," The voices of the creature taunted.

I clapped my hands to keep the tension away. "If I do there's victory, and victory comes with many prizes. You shouldn't talk badly about humans," I pulled on my sturdy gloves and grabbed my broken spear from the ground. I glared at the monster with a glance from the side. "Especially when it come to our motivation."

The beast was undaunted. "I've heard you're all lazy. What, you'll chuck that toothpick at me and then give up?" Its gleeful giggles rang through the canyon.

"Don't lump me in with the crowd," I retorted.

"You all look like dorky flesh-buckets, so why wouldn't I"

"Every personality is different," I started to pace, hoping to slightly intimidate the beast. Showing confidence always seemed to help destress. "I suppose you could say our species have a few similarities, when you put it that way."

The demon started to laugh, but I was already charging in. "How 'bout I show you just how alike we are?" I shouted as a battle cry.

The beast growled an unheard word, realizing I knew its secret. It leaped to avoid my strikes, but the weight and size of the creature showed clearly through its speed. I landed a little scrape, and that was just enough. Smoke curled from its scaly body, and its many heads shrieked in despair. Soon enough, as the dark smoke danced away in the wind, the true form of the beast was revealed. I still wasn't sure if it scared me, or if it didn't.

It was simply the form of a man, covered in shadows, nothing more. Completely black, it stared at me. Despite not being able to see its face, I could feel its rage pulsing at me. The shadow with form and density lunged, swiping with claws it didn't have, but the time I'd spent with mankind made me sure that hands could do so much more. I dodged, and swung my short spear. It clanked on the beast's arm. We pushed against each other, each force opposing the other. I suddenly broke away and ducked under, thrusting my weapon forward. The creature gasped, and its form blew away.

I stood up straight and watched the particles of black fade into the atmosphere. They may have the form of a man, but they lacked a true soul. I'd been doing this too long to really feel for the monsters I slayed. They all seemed intimidating and unbeatable, but I'd found that if I simply tried, I could take them down quite easily. The only problem was the amount of them that existed, and the little amount of people that were fighting them.

I didn't know how anyone else was doing. The only thing I knew was that we all shared the same goal.

Rain started to drizzle again, wetting the earth and giving it life. I turned to face the cliff, and spotted a narrow staircase of natural stone. The climb would be rough, but I knew that I was almost to the end of the road. "I've gotta do it," I muttered to convince myself, and set toward the gray boulders.

My mind strayed from my immediate task as I worked to complete it. The creatures took on a man-like form, but were not even remotely human. They trampled the earth and terrified people, but people seemed to do nearly the same thing. Humans were always fighting, whether it was a demon or another human. What strange creatures we were, constantly declaring war on whatever we didn't like. Perhaps one reason I fought the creatures the way I did was simply to have an excuse to get away. To be away from my own race.

I thought about how the demons always compared me to other humans. True, we looked alike, but everyone was different, at least to some degree. But sometimes that difference was so small, even a person like me could see why the monsters would always see us the same way. I supposed that we looked at the creatures the same way, too. I wondered if there were nice demons, who either protested the war, or hid away. I feel like I would have seen them if so, because it's rather easy to see humans like that, even if they don't want to be seen.

I furrowed my brow, not of physical concentration but mental doubt. The occasional time I'd think like this always made me unsure of what I was doing. I thought of what the creatures had done, despite their weaknesses, and put such thoughts to the back of my mind. They always seemed to come back, though.

My palms slipped on the wet stone, slick mud sticking to my hands as they glanced over the rocks. Grunting and panting as I went, the rain humming all around. New thoughts began to flourish, a chanting of, "it's almost over, it's almost over." I clung to that as I scaled a rock. I reached up and pulled myself over its flat top. Looking up, a growling sound reached my ears.

On the now horizontally wide space, stood another demon. Out of the fog came another, and then another, and soon enough there seemed to be a whole army of them. I hadn't even reached the top of the cliff, and here they were. Monsters of all shapes and sizes, each worse than the last. I'd never seen such bizarre creatures. But they all had one thing in common: an expression that clearly meant a fate worse than death for me.

I stood to face the colossal challenge nevertheless, brandishing my pathetic excuse of a spear. I could hear their metallic cackling ringing off the slippery cliffs, their claws clicking on the stone floor, and see their pronged tongues licking their stained fangs.

In all my time fighting these things, I'd never fought more than five at a time. I couldn't even see all the demons I was facing off now. I was sure I could beat them, I just had to come up with a plan. I looked around quickly, knowing they could attack at any time. The rocks of the cliff were solid as the color of a clear sky, and I couldn't break a single one off. Not to mention I could get caught in the landslide if they broke. I wondered if I could use their strength against them.

I glanced at the monsters, and their feet pawing the ground. They wouldn't wait forever. I guess I'd just have to make it up as I went.

I charged, water splashing into the damp air, trying to keep my thoughts away. The beasts soon surrounded me from all angles, hissing and growling as they tried to land a shot. I quickly rid of two, only to be faced with four more. Another hit me from behind, tossing me across the rocks. A thick tail swung over my head, hitting stone. I held up my spear as it went away, forcing it into its shadowy form of a monster man. Their typical forms were meant to intimidate primarily, making them look impossible to defeat. Once you knew the truth, they were practically a piece of cake handed to you on a silver platter. I grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it with all my might, hoping it would hit something. I raced back in, taking down three, taking on six more. The numbers seemed to double and triple and quadruple, with demons on each side I had. I swung and chucked and ducked, fighting in the muck of the pouring rain and mud.

I fought the creatures and the pain they caused with every inch of my being. Slowly, ever so slowly, they began to recede from existence, giving me some breathing room. And at last there was nothing left. I sucked in the largest breath of my life as my shoulders sagged. I closed my eyes and tilted my face toward the cool rain. The mist curled around my body like a blanket of relief, that lasted only moments.

I yelped as a blow from behind sent me flying. I landed and slid across the rocks, blindly reaching for a hold on something. I caught the edge of the cliff. My feet thrust out from underneath my body, dangling over the steep side that ran down for hundreds of feet. A plummet that would most definitely mean certain death if I were to lose my grip even a little. My teeth clenched in the effort to hold on, I looked up through the rain.

It was as big as a mountain, barely fitting on the platform cut into the cliff. It had a single head and a fat, green body. Darkness shrouded its head, so just little glowing specks of red could be seen from where I precariously dangled. Its thick neck was covered in markings, some bulging from its disgusting skin. Its clawed, muscular and somehow graceful legs arched over the ground, matching its sweeping tail that must've stretched on for miles.

"What do you think you're doing, human?" the monstrosity of a monster growled, its voice echoing like it was speaking into a tin can. The rain seemed to cut through it, giving it extra static.

I tried to pull myself up, grunting and struggling against the slick rocks. The beast stomped one of its large feet, shaking the ground. I gripped the stone with all I had to keep from falling.

"I wish you'd stop killing my children," the red dots moved like it was looking around in dismay. "I'm all alone now."

My eyes widened. Was this the last beast? The mother of them all? The most powerful of them all?

It stepped closer, each step a miniature earthquake. "Looks like I'll need to punish you now, human," their voice boomed menacingly.

"No," I wrestled to get out of my mouth. "It'll be the opposite. I'm going to beat you, rid every single one of you from the face of the Earth."

"Such hubris," the creature cooed. It dragged a clawed foot up to me, and gently pressed my tensed arm with its nails of steel. "You see, I'm not quite like the ones you've so viciously murdered. As an original, I'm not so weak, like them."

"Oh really?" I yelled and grabbed the claws, using them like rungs on a ladder to pull myself up. I dashed under its stomach and reached for my spear.

"Oh, no you don't," it growled and whipped out a foot lightning fast, catching the back of my shirt. It held me up to get a closer look, its rancid breath rushing to my head. I still could only see little red dots despite being so close. I glared at the beast and stabbed the spear into the softest part of its skin I could get to. It shcreeched and dropped me. I tumbled onto the ground, trying to avoid injury.

"What a little turd," it murmured and wagged the mostly unaffected foot as though it were in considerable pain.

The air got drier, and the sky lighter. I could see a sliver of sunlight poking through the thick clouds that had covered the sky for so long. The beast glared at the light, a faint silhouette of smoke curling from it. I smiled evilly as I came to a new theory.

While it was distracted, I swiped a leg in the shadows with the blade of my spear. I barely made a dent. Before it could catch me I rushed for a leg in the slowly growing light. Upon slicing, I hit gold. It made a clean cut, with particles that floated away to obscure it soon enough. The beast yelped as I laughed in triumph. Light was its weakness, and this tiny glimmer of sunlight had decided to bless me on this dark day. I took the chance and swung again and again. It didn't turn into a shadowy man, like the others, for its form nearly crumbled away with each hit. I could have never hoped for such an easy battle to be the last one.

Soon there was hardly anything left but enough to make a faint voice.

"Well then . . ." the demon rasped. "I suppose I earned that . . . and I guess it's not so bad being taken down by a human with some brains . . ."

I stood, wet and muddy, watching it fly away. The sun burned what was left, destroying what was left of this race that had haunted the world and kept light away for so long. The sky was bright once again. I climbed what was left of the cliff, wincing ever so slightly.

I reached for the top, and pulled myself up the last stretch. The sun glimmered, reflecting light off the wet rocks and making a rainbow. Farther ahead was golden grass and blush-colored flowers. I silently walked to them, exhausted and relieved, knowing that my long journey was over. I'd won. I'd climbed my way up to the top, taking every golden chance to make things go my way. And here I was, resting in the soft grass of victory.

Original / Romaji Lyrics

English Translation

Shuuchuu dekite nai na mada karada ga mayotte iru 'n da

furuete ita 'n ja KONTOROORU shitatte bure 'n da

taiyou mo tsuki mo nan mo kanzen ni kocchi muite inai ga

yaru shika nai 'n da iikikaseru you ni sou tsubuyaita

I can't concentrate; my body is still hesitant.

It was trembling, but the blurry thought comes- 'I controlled it'.

Nothing is facing my way- not the sun, nor the luck dictating 'victory' or 'defeat', but

I muttered 'I've got to go for it' to persuade myself.

Joukyou wa warui ga tada nigedasu 'n ja konjou nai na

tenbou wa nai ga dokyou de KURIA suru shika nai ya

shoudou wa osaeta mama TAAGETTO to no kankaku sagure

hitsuyou na mono wa katsu PURAIDO wo

ajiwau no wa shouri no bishu ka sore tomo haiboku no kujuu ka

sono subete wa futatsu ni hitotsu ayatsuritai unmei no ito

The situation looks grim, but it's gutless to just run away.

I can't see how things will end, but all I can do is courageously advance,

hold my instincts in check, and search the target for an opening.

The only thing you need is 'pride in victory'-

whether we taste the high-grade sake of 'triumph' or the bitterness of 'defeat',

they're just two parts of the same thing: the thread of fate I wish to manipulate.

Zekkou no GOORUDEN TAIMU kono te de tsukame

konshin no POOKAA FEISU kimete shikakeru yo

IRYUUJON no sekai e hikizuri konde

The perfect 'golden time'- I'll seize it with these hands;

finish this by battling with a poker face that takes everything I've got.

Dragged away to an illusory world.

Saigen nai PURESSHAA GEEMU sururito nukete

eikou no BOODAA RAIN tobikoeru tame ni

HAU MENII? dore kurai no daishou ga iru?

tebanashitaku nai no wa dore?

Escaping from this endless pressure game

so I can clear the borderline of glory.

How many..? How many reparations must be made?

What do you wish to avoid losing hold of?

Ron yori shouko nan da

you wa kekka wo dashita mono ga shousha da

chinmoku wa kin da toki ga sugireba bareru 'n da

kankaku wo togisumashite shinchou ni nagare wo yomitore

genjou no shouritsu nan PAASENTO wo

kachiwareru no wa genjitsu no GEEMU SENSU

hisomu kageboushi wa akuma ka

otoko naraba isagi yoku chitte yaru kurai no kakugo de idome

Evidence supersedes argument;

the fact is that whoever gets results is the victor.

You can't be reticent; if things take too long we'll be discovered.

Read between the lines of discretion with honed senses;

what reduces our chance of winning right now

is a game sense based in reality.

Are the lurking, shadowy figures demons?

If they're just men, resolve to bravely face the challenge of scattering them.

Gyakkyou no KURAPPU YUA HANDO furui tatasete

zanshin na FAITINGU SUTAIRU giri-giri wo semero

ATENSHON abunai ze genkai koete

Clapping your hands to make yourself cheer up in adversity,

attack at the last second with a unique fighting style.

Attention! It's dangerous; go beyond your limits.

Saikou no FEARII TEIRU rekishi ni kizame

Kanshou no shunkan wo misetsukeru tame ni

AA YUU REDI? kugumotta mayoi nado sute

BABERU no kaidan wo agare

Carve the greatest fairy tale into history

to display this moment of complete victory.

Are you ready? Clear your mind of indecision

and climb the staircase of Babel.

Megami no you ni emi wo ukaberu

kimi no miryoku ni tori tsukarete

sasowareru mama ochite yuku

As you assume the smile of a goddess

I'm subsumed by your charm.

Lured in like this, I fall.

Kokoro ni sumitsuita yokubou fukure agaru hatenaki yume

dare mo boku wo tomerarenai

The boundless dream of desire in my heart swells up;

I won't be stopped by anyone.

Zekkou no GOORUDEN TAIMU kono te de tsukame

konshin no POOKAA FEISU kimete shikakeru yo

IRYUUJON no sekai e hikizuri konde

The perfect 'golden time'- I'll seize it with these hands;

finish this by battling with a poker face that takes everything I've got.

Dragged away to an illusory world.

Saigen nai PURESSHAA GEEMU sururito nukete

eikou no BOODAA RAIN tobikoeru tame ni

HAU MENII? dore kurai no daishou ga iru?

Escaping from this endless pressure game

so I can clear the borderline of glory.

How many..? How many reparations must be made?

Gyakkyou no KURAPPU YUA HANDO furui tatasete

CRAP YOUR HANDS!!!

zanshin na FAITINGU SUTAIRU giri-giri wo semero

ATENSHON abunai ze genkai koete

Clapping your hands to make yourself cheer up in adversity,

attack at the last second with a unique fighting style.

Attention! It's dangerous; go beyond your limits.

Saikou no FEARII TEIRU rekishi ni kizame

kyougaku no daigyakuten karei ni kimeru yo

DUU YUU NOU? unmei wa ubaitoru mono

BABERU no choujou ni sasu hi no hikari wo abiro

Carve the greatest fairy tale into history,

snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and finish it magnificently.

Do you know? Fate is a plunderer.

Bathe in the glowing sunlight at Babel's summit.