EPISODE 9: THE SIXTH RULE: 'FOR THREE DARK HOURS, HE WILL FIGHT TO DEFEND THE GATE THAT LIES AT THE BORDER BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT' PART II: MITSUKI ASANTE; THE CARRIER OF TIME
AN HOUR EARLIER…THE MOMENT THE NIGHTBANES WERE TRANSPORTED TO THE DREAM WORLD…
I opened my eyes and found Keiran beside me. He walked to me and slammed a fist on my head.
"Stupid big brother! What the heck were you thinking interfering with the warp?!" he yelled.
"What are you so worried about?" I asked.
Keiran looked around. A gigantic crystal gate stood behind us. An image of Dream City's coast was reflected on its surface.
"I think Dad already mentioned it earlier that Nightmares can only be defeated with sigils. You can't beat them with brute force! If I have to fight while protecting you on probably the worst battlefield…the danger to both of us will rise significantly!" Keiran scolded me.
"Yeah well, there's no need to worry about that little bro. You won't need to protect me. And you said it yourself, the Mirror Gate is probably the worst battlefield. If we don't defend it, the number of Nightmares that will infiltrate the Real World will be significantly greater" I said.
Almost immediately after I had said that, we began to notice a legion approach us from ahead.
"Here they come!" Keiran said. "Stay behind me San" he cautioned.
"Huh? Keiran? Is it just me or have mobsters infiltrated the Dream World?" I asked and blinked my eyes to ensure I was seeing right.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THEY'RE NIGHTMARES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Keiran roared impatiently.
"C'mon Keiran. Since when did Nightmares start looking like the Yakuza?!" I pointed at the Nightmares.
In Keiran's eyes, they appeared to be Nightmarish creatures of all sorts. In my eyes, they appeared to be men in black with sunshades and black hats. Others were clothed in haori and had katana attached to their sides.
"Well there's no point arguing about it now. I think Gramps explained the situation pretty well earlier on" Keiran said.
"The differences in perception resulting from differences in experience and strength?" I wondered.
Keiran nodded.
As Keiran and I watched, two armies approached from the East and the West. They cut off the path of the approaching Nightmares and began to engage them in battle. The number of Nightmares was however so overwhelming that after an hour, they began to tear through the defenses of the two armies. One group of the armies was composed of Dream Knights. The other group were composed of Gamma Knightmares. I knocked my fists together.
"I suppose it's our turn now Keiran. We'll take care of any Nightmare that makes it past the two armies!" I declared.
PRESENTLY…
Keiran generated an intense field of Blaze between the Nightmares that made it past the two armies and the Mirror Gate.
"There's no point in fighting all the Nightmares. Our focus should be on preventing them from making it past the Mirror Gate into the Real World" Keiran said.
"Blaze huh? Isn't it the flame with the power to burn away evil?" I asked.
Keiran nodded.
"It should ward off the Nightmares for a bit" Keiran deduced.
A moment later, my Dad's voice rang within our minds.
"Keiran, San, looks like you're at the Eternal Mirror Gate" my Dad said.
"Seeing as you know where we are, you must have rendezvoused with Aileen Arlene Atlas. But how is it that you can communicate with us?" I asked.
"I have a lot of complaints for you San but we'll set that aside for now. I'm utilizing the Pyrostellis Luminares. It has the ability to link all Dreamweavers, our immediate family in particular. Anyway, you're not allowed to deal lethal damage to the Nightmares. They're not really evil. They are simply rampaging under the influence of the Solar Eclipse" my Dad said.
"Easier said than done. If I set my abilities to stun and immobilize, I should be able to keep the Nightmares I deal damage to from acting until the Solar Eclipse passes however their sheer numbers makes this almost futile" Keiran informed my Dad.
"Don't worry, thanks to San, you should be receiving backup from Concordia any moment now. I've also notified your Aunt Ai and your Uncle Prince. They should be sending your cousin Mitsuki to back you up any moment from now. Just hold out until backup arrives" my Dad said.
"MITSUKI?!" Keiran and I exclaimed in shock.
"Yes" my Dad said.
Then there was silence within our minds.
"Hey Keiran. Dad said these Nightmares are not really evil. If they aren't actually evil, will your Blaze work against them?" I pointed out.
Keiran opened his eyes in realization and stared ahead. The Nightmares were not halting their charge. Keiran placed his hands to the ground. There was a sudden tidal force that shook the ground and caused the Nightmares to fall.
"Well, I'm going ahead. You make sure they don't make it past you. Your abilities are strong enough to shield the Mirror Gate" I said and walked ahead.
"Before you do that, why don't you at least check the Tome to see if your decision might not trigger the family 'curse'?" Keiran teased.
"You're right" I said as I opened the Tome.
Within it were these words.
"THE SIXTH RULE: 'FOR THREE DARK HOURS, HE WILL FIGHT TO DEFEND THE GATE THAT LIES AT THE BORDER BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT!'"
I crouched on the ground and pounded the ground with my fists.
"Why me?" I muttered in depression.
"Now's not the time to be distracted San!" Keiran roared.
"There's one way to settle this! An hour has already passed. I must settle this battle within the next hour!" I roared.
"What are you talking about?" Keiran asked.
"The Tome said we'd defend the Mirror Gate for three dark hours" I said.
"Well if you hadn't interfered with the warp, we wouldn't be here now would we? So this is all your doing" Keiran said.
"Which is why I intend to settle this within the next hour! POWER LIMITER! UNLOCK! SPEED LIMITER! UNLOCK!" I roared and suddenly disappeared.
In the next instant, the Nightmares that had resumed their charge began to fall rapidly, one after the other.
Keiran sighed.
"Doesn't he realize that's not going to work? The rampage is going to last for the full duration of the Solar Eclipse" Keiran sighed. "The whole point of this is not to take down as many Nightmares as possible but rather to prevent the rampaging Nightmares from utilizing the infiltration points. In a sense, it was good judgement on San's part to bring us to the Mirror Gate. I doubt any of the other temporary passages that formed during the eclipse are as wide as the Mirror Gate" Keiran thought.
As I fought the charging Nightmares, Keiran created a tremendous wall of blue flame that encircled the entire perimeter of the Mirror Gate.
"Flame isn't as specific as Blaze. It should be able to ward off the Nightmares for a while. But how is San battling the Nightmares without a sigil? It was weird enough that he downed the armoured tank" Keiran wondered.
As Keiran observed the situation, Concordia's arrows began to materialize in the sky above us. Then they began to rain on the charging Nightmares. Nightmares hit by her arrows became unable to move and fell to the ground though they were not slayed.
"As usual, Concordia's ability to provide support is practically flawless" Keiran thought to himself.
At about the same time, a warp portal appeared and a girl clothed in silvery white armour with a silvery mantle that flowed behind her and brown hair cut short at her neck materialized beside Keiran.
"Mitsuki! You're here!" Keiran exclaimed in surprise.
"Hello Keiran" Mitsuki greeted with a determined smile.
"San! Mitsuki's here!" I heard Keiran's voice ring within my mind.
"Keiran, are you using Dad and Mom's sigil?" I asked in surprise.
"I thought Dad already explained that it was a family sigil that particularly connects our immediate family. Think of it as a secondary sigil though in Mom and Dad's case it's their primary sigil" Keiran explained.
I looked in Keiran's direction and saw Mitsuki.
"Hello Mitsuki! It's been a while! Can't talk now, I'm kinda busy!" I declared as I knocked more Nightmares to the ground.
"Is that…San?" Mitsuki stared at me in surprise.
"The one and only" Keiran muttered with a bored expression on his face.
"Can Mitsuki utilize the Pyrostellis Luminares as well?" I asked her.
"Not on my own no. I'm not a Dreamweaver so I can't utilize the Pyrostellis Luminares" I heard Mitsuki's voice ring within my mind.
"Then how are you communicating telepathically with us?" I asked.
"Your Dad linked his Pyrostellis Luminares to Arlene's Christopher so I can view the thoughts of your family as data based projections on Arlene's Christopher" Mitsuki said as she raised a device.
"I see" I thought.
"You were sent here for support but…" Keiran paused.
"San doesn't know about my ability? That's what I intend to explain now" Mitsuki said.
"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.
"San, you know about sigils right?" Keiran asked.
"Only what Mom and Dad told us about them" I shook my head.
"Well, the sigils of Dream Knights have numerical rankings assigned to them. The higher the number, the lower the rank. The lower the number, the higher the rank" Keiran began to explain.
I listened as I continued to battle the Nightmares.
"Aunt Ai's sigil, the Mysterious Oceanic Blades in their dormant state rank at level three. Mom's initial sigil, the Pyrogeysers also rank at level three in their dormant state. When Dad initially summoned the Nightbane, it ranked at level two" Keiran explained.
"You speak as though these rankings can be altered" I thought to Keiran.
"You're very perceptive. Dream Knights possess the ability to upgrade their sigils as their experience increase and when a sigil reaches level zero, it transforms into what Dream Knights refer to as a 'Living Sigil'! Throughout the history of Dream Knights, only four Dream Knights have been known to upgrade their sigils to the level of Living Sigil. They are Mom and her Dad, Fenrir the Lightning Knight and our own Dad. When Mom and Gramps' sigils are upgraded to level zero, they transform into Shinsei Ryuuenjinn, a mysterious Dragon mystically bonded to their shadows possessing the capability to mirror all their attacks and greatly amplify their offensive capabilities. Fenrir's sigil on the other hand transforms into a great wolf. I don't know the details of his ability though. Then there is Dad. After sharing his heart with Mom, his sigil and Mom's evolved into the Pyrostellis Luminares, a sigil that is already at the level of Living Sigil in its dormant state. Through neurone bonding, it possesses the capability to link Mom and Dad's consciousnesses, calculate and minimize the strain to their minds while they are bonded, can balance their abilities and experiences to decide the optimum course of action to take under varying circumstances and can even share physical ability and reflexes. It's also known as the most adaptable sigil with the capability to alter its form depending on Mom and Dad's feelings concerning a fight" Keiran explained.
"What does this have to do with Mitsuki's ability?" I asked.
"Well amongst Dream Knights our age, only three of them have sigils that come close to achieving the status of 'Living Sigil'. For these three people, their sigils in their dormant state rank at level one. They are Concordia, Arlene and Mitsuki. You've seen how vast the reach Concordia and Arlene's sigils have?" Keiran asked.
I nodded.
"Uh huh" I said.
"Well, amongst these three Dream Knights, Mitsuki's sigil is by far the most powerful. So powerful in fact that Aunt Ai and Uncle Prince put a seal on Mitsuki's abilities cutting off vast reserves of its power. They also imposed a certain strict restriction upon the seal allowing Mitsuki's abilities to be released only in times of dire crisis" Keiran explained.
"A seal? And what is this condition?" I asked.
"I can only utilize my full strength when I fight amongst my comrades. My ability is ultimately dependent on whether my comrades will for its release or not" Mitsuki said.
"How?" I asked.
"For my ability to be released, I must defeat four hundred adversaries. Such a feat can only be accomplished by battling in a team formation. If my allies fail to defeat four hundred adversaries or refuse to do so, my abilities will not be awakened" Mitsuki said.
"What the hell kind of condition is that?!" I roared.
"That condition expresses the degree of danger Mitsuki is currently in. If she is attacked by foes less than the figure, then there is no real reason for her ability to be awakened. If she is attacked by foes equal to or exceeding the number, then she is most likely in great peril. The reason the power can only be released if she fights in a team is also to prevent Mitsuki from abusing her power. If her teammates disagree about whether her power is necessary, her power will not be released" Keiran explained.
"Then what happens if Mitsuki finds herself in a situation where she is surrounded by adversaries and there is no one to help her?" I asked.
"That's where the dormant state of my sigil comes into play. In times like that…" Mitsuki said as she stretched her right hand forward. "…I do this! TORRENTIAL WEIGHT OF THE MOON'S GRAVITATIONAL FORCE!" Mitsuki roared as a sudden torrential force from above weighed all Nightmares between us and the armies of the Dream Knights and Gamma Knightmares down.
"SCARY!!!" I screamed in horror.
Mitsuki reached into her clothes and pulled out what looked like a pocket watch. Its hand was currently on the point marked twelve. All around it were numbers counting from one to four hundred.
"When this hand performs a revolution, my ability will awaken. Whether or not that happens will depend on how dangerous you two perceive the current situation to be" Mitsuki said.
"I had almost forgotten Aunt Ai's ability. It's rumoured that at the age of seven, she inadvertently triggered a gravitational distortion!" I recalled in horror at the manifestation of Mitsuki's power.