The Sinner and the Saint

The Shinjuku Station platform was suffocating. The air was thick with the scent of ozone, rain, and the metallic tang of the tracks.

Alice, only twenty years old, gripped the sleeve of a man who looked like he was losing his mind. Daisuke was forty, a father of two, and a husband to a woman who was probably at home cooking dinner. Alice had been his "secret" for two years—a girl hidden away in a rented apartment, waiting for whatever crumbs of his time he could spare.

"Alice, let go," Daisuke hissed, his eyes darting around the platform, terrified of being seen. "It’s over. My wife knows. I can’t lose my family for you."

"Your family?" Alice laughed, a jagged, broken sound. "You were my family. If I can’t have you, Daisuke... then neither can she."

The headlights of the Yamanote Line train cut through the dark tunnel like a predatory eye. The platform began to vibrate. The warning chime started its mechanical song: Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

"Alice, what are you doing? let go of me!"

"Daisuke, please don't go, stay with me tonight." Alice whispered.

But in that moment of desperate obsession, as Alice tried to pull Daisuke closer, her foot slipped on the rain-slicked tiles. She lost her balance. In a frantic accident, her powerful grip dragged Daisuke down with her just as the train roared into the station. For a split second, they were just silhouettes against a blinding white light. Then, the world exploded into a roar of grinding metal and absolute darkness.

The Underworld

Alice didn't wake up in heaven. She didn't even wake up in a hospital.

She woke up on a plain of scorched, violet earth. The sky above was a swirling bruise of charcoal and crimson, with no sun or stars. The air smelled of sulfur and rotting meat.

"Daisuke?" she coughed, her throat feeling like it was filled with broken glass.

She wasn't alone. From the jagged horizon, shadows began to move. They weren't human. They were twisted, skeletal things with elongated limbs and eyes that glowed like embers. They let out a guttural, clicking sound that echoed across the wasteland.

"Oh god... no..."

Alice scrambled to her feet. Panic, cold and sharp, flooded her chest. One of the creatures lunged, its claws missing her shoulder by an inch. She turned and ran.

"Help! Someone help me!" she screamed, but her voice was swallowed by the howling wind.

She ran past rivers of black sludge and piles of white bone. Behind her, the pack of demons grew. They were faster than her, laughing in a language that sounded like tearing metal. She tripped over a jagged rock, her palms tearing open on the hot ground.

"Please! I don't want to be here!" she sobbed, crawling backward as the first demon loomed over her, its jaw unhinging to reveal rows of needle-teeth.

"STOP."

The word hit the wasteland like a shockwave. The demons instantly froze, then whimpered and retreated into the shadows. The sky itself seemed to tremble.

"You are a sinner, Alice," a voice boomed from the heavens. It was heavy, ancient, and terrifying. "You stole a life. You shattered a family. For this, these shadows would have feasted on your soul for eternity."

Alice trembled, looking up at the swirling clouds. "Please... give me a chance. I’ll do anything. I didn’t know it would be like this!"

"The Veil between worlds is thinning," the voice continued. "The creatures you just fled seek to enter the world of the living. A boy of Holy Blood—Anton Hitsugaia—is the only key to stopping them. He is the Sacred Knight, but he is currently a sheep among wolves."

A blue vortex of energy began to swirl in front of Alice, cold and inviting.

"Redeem yourself, Sinner. Return to the world not as a woman, but as a vessel of steel. Protect the boy. If he lives, your soul may be cleansed. If he dies... the demons you just met will be waiting for your return."

"I’ll do it!" Alice screamed, throwing herself into the blue light. "I'll be his shield! Just don't leave me there!"

Tokyo - 12:00:01 AM

Anton Hitsugaia was staring at his ceiling. His room was a mess of manga, game controllers, and sketches of a warrior girl he’d been dreaming about since he was a kid. He was the "Kyoto Loner" at his Tokyo high school—bullied, friendless, and totally over it.

"If only someone would save me from this boring life," he whispered.

CRACK-BOOM!

A violet bolt of lightning struck the apartment roof. The ceiling disintegrated into glowing particles. Anton let out a yelp as a heavy, silver figure plummeted through the roof and slammed directly onto his bed.

"WHA—?!"

Anton scrambled back, falling off his chair. Sitting on his bed was a girl with platinum hair and eyes like ice. She wore a high-tech suit of white armor and black fabric.

"Ow..." she muttered, rubbing her head. She looked at Anton and pouted. "The transition felt like being put through a paper shredder. My head is spinning."

Anton’s face turned bright red. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and she was currently sitting on his pillows. "Who... who are you? How did you... my roof!"

The girl stood up, her movements unnervingly smooth. She bowed low. "My name is Alice. I am an Android Warden. From today, I am your 24-hour bodyguard. Your life is no longer your own, Anton Hitsugaia."

Anton stared at her for five seconds, then his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

11:00 AM

Anton bolted upright. "A dream! It had to be a dream!"

He looked at the ceiling. It was... fine? No hole. He laughed. "Man, I need to stop watching Ghost in the Shell before bed."

He swung his legs out of bed. Squish. He stepped on something soft.

He looked down. Alice was curled up on his floor, sleeping like a cat.

"GAAAH!" Anton screamed, jumping back against the wall. "You’re real! You’re still here!"

Alice groaned, waking up slowly. She rubbed her eyes and blinked at him. "You’re so loud in the morning. And I’m hungry. Do you have anything that isn't instant ramen?"

"Ramen?! You fell from the sky! You said you’re an android! What is happening?!"

Alice stood up, her sleepy eyes turning sharp and serious. "I told you. You’re the Sacred Knight. The demons from the place I just escaped—the Underworld—want your blood to break the energy seal. My job is to make sure they don't get it."

She stepped closer, her face inches from his. Anton could smell something like vanilla and hot metal.

"I'm Alice," she said, her voice dropping to a soft, dangerous lullaby. "And until your power wakes up, I’m the only thing keeping you from becoming demon food. Now... feed me. I need energy to keep you alive."

Anton looked at his small, messy life and realized it was gone forever. The girl from his drawings was real, she was an android, and she was hungry.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***