It was the midnight of Sunday. Ciella sat in the room Saito had prepared for her, weeping. Occasionally, she'd sneak up to the door of my room however, the door of my room was always locked. This went on till three in the morning until finally, overcome with grief, Ciella finally fell asleep. She couldn't sleep however. Thirty minutes later, after struggling to sleep, she woke up again and snuck up to my room. This time however, the door was ajar but the room was dark. She turned on the lights and looked around however, the room was completely empty.
"San?! San! San!" she called hysterically and ran to Saito's door.
She knocked frantically. Saito opened the door.
"San is…! San's missing!" she said frantically.
Saito ran to Keiran's room and woke him up, then they woke Ariel and my parents up. Together, they searched the entire house but found no one else. Ciella decided to search the surroundings outside the house. Our house was a residence walled on all sides. Within the walls, the compound was quite vast and so we had a number of gardens within the compound. Eventually, my family joined Ciella in searching the compound. Everyone decided to split up in order to cover more ground.
Ciella searched the compound and eventually found someone sitting amongst the flowers in the garden, staring at the moon. He occasionally stared at his palm, clenched and released it.
"San?" Ciella called.
"Ciella, is that you?" the voice called.
Ciella's eyes widened in joy and surprise as she recognized the voice.
"San! It is you!" she exclaimed in joy.
"I feel weird" I said as I clenched my fist and released it again.
"Well, you've been in a coma since Friday. You should probably head back inside and eat something" Ciella said with a laugh.
"That's not what I mean. It's almost as though I were a child learning how to walk all over again. My body feels…different" I said.
"San, before anything else, there are some questions I need to ask you" Ciella said.
"I'll answer your questions later Ciella but right now, there's somewhere else I need to be. You should probably go back to bed" I said.
"San? Where are you going?" Ciella asked as she reached for me.
"To my Gramps" I said.
In the moment Ciella blinked and opened her eyes, I was nowhere to be seen and she stood all alone.
"W-Was I hallucinating…or was San really here?" Ciella wondered.
She headed back inside to await my family. When they returned, she told them she had seen me however I had disappeared. My family immediately knew that she had not been hallucinating. While Saito and Ariel stayed in the house with Ciella to comfort her, Keiran, my Dad and My Mom secretly accessed the Mirror Gate's Through And Through function and found themselves in my Gramps' castle. Ariel, my grandmother, was there to meet them.
"Has San come here?" my Dad asked.
"Yes, he has. I was pretty shocked myself considering the fact that he possesses no sigil. He is currently in your Dad's private training grounds" my Granny said.
My parents headed to my Gramps' arena led by my Granny. When they made it there they found me and my Gramps facing each other.
"San!" my Mom and Keiran called joyfully.
"Why would you leave without at least telling us in person where you were going? We were all worried about you" my Dad complained.
I ignored them.
"Your body feels different now doesn't it?" my Gramps asked.
I clenched my fists and released them staring at them seriously.
"It feels almost as though I'm in a body different from the one I've always known. Almost like a child beginning to learn about the capabilities and limitations of their body" I said seriously.
"That makes sense. It's quite an accurate description. When the limiter of Endregen is first released by a person whose body is not fully prepared for it, the resulting backlash is quite severe. One's life energy is almost totally consumed and the body undergoes rapid degeneration from within. At that point, one can only survive by drawing strength from those close to them. Once the degeneration phase is complete and the energy within one's body stabilizes, rapid regeneration commences and the body rebuilds itself on a cellular level. The new cells are however significantly stronger than the damaged cells. You've done well to endure the backlash. Would you like to test out your new strength?" my Gramps asked and summoned the Nightbane.
I took a fighting stance. My Gramps charged at me from the front. I crouched and in the next instant, I disappeared. A tidal force cut through the path I charged in till I eventually crashed into the wall at the opposite end of the room. My parents and siblings stared in shock at the trail of destruction I had created. My Gramps turned to face me. He didn't really appear to be surprised.
"Control San! Control! Even if this new body feels different, it still has cells and muscles though slightly different from those you are used to. Imagine regulating your output of strength" my Gramps advised.
"Easier said than done" I said and clenched my fists, then I released them.
My Gramps sighed.
"I'll have to slightly alter your training regimen. From this moment onward, you'll be commencing precision training. You'll learn to control your strength and until you can do this effortlessly, you'll not be allowed to carry out any Dream Knight duties" my Gramps said seriously.
"WHAAAT?!" I screamed in dismay.
"Consider yourself grounded San. Until you learn to control your strength, you'll only be a hazard to those you're supposed to be protecting" my Gramps said as his Nightbane disappeared.
"I hope I'll not have to go through repeated cycles of damage and recovery every time I release a limiter" I said seriously.
"The first time is always the harshest. The seal of Endregen being the most basic seal is also a preparatory phase. After completing that phase, you gain the basic level of physical strength required to endure releasing the other seals however you'll also need to increase your physical ability in order to lessen the strain that will be exerted upon your body after the release of a seal. You can imagine what will happen once you gain all that power but lack the ability to tame it which is why you'll be commencing precision training from this moment onward" my Gramps said.
"There's someone I need to see before I commence my training" I said with a nostalgic smile on my face.
"I understand. I'll place an inhibiting seal on you to limit your physical ability so that you do not inadvertently hurt anyone while you're in the Real World" my Gramps said and touched me. I felt my body return to the one I was familiar with.
Moments later, I walked in through the front door of our home with my parents and Keiran. It was roughly four o'clock at dawn. Saito, Ariel and Ciella got up and stared at the doorway in surprise. There were tears in their eyes.
"Stupid big brother! Why would you put us through all that?!" Ariel burst into tears.
Ciella ran to me and hugged me.
"San! You're here! You're really here!" Ciella cried.
Keiran walked to me and pulled me aside.
"We were all concerned however Ciella not being a Dream Knight went through the worst of it under the impression that you were gone for good! You'd better apologize!" Keiran whispered harshly and knocked me on the head.
"I will" I said and walked to Ciella.
"Ciella, let's take a walk" I said.
Ciella nodded amidst tears as we walked out the front door and into the family gardens.
"For a moment, I thought you were gone for good this time. I thought you'd broken your promise" Ciella admitted.
"And why would I go and do that? You can consider yourself officially haunted. I'm sticking to you like a curse" I said with a laugh.
"Y-You're not a ghost are you?" Ciella seemed to have mixed feelings of joy and fear.
"If I were a ghost, then you'd be one too. You hugged me remember? What sort of ghost could be hugged by a human?" I said with a laugh.
"You're right" Ciella laughed happily.
"But I've got to thank you Ciella" I said.
"Why? I didn't do anything" Ciella said with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Well, I think it happened somewhere around midnight. As I lay in my bed, feeling my strength draining quickly away, I felt myself being pulled away. In that instant, I caught glimpses of the things around me. The concern and sorrow of my family and…your tears. It kinda reminded me of my Granny and Gramps…that's all I'll say for now" I said with a smirk.
"Meanie! You'd better spill!" Ciella feigned anger.
I laughed.
"All I'll say is I didn't want to break my promise to you" I said with a smile.
Ciella's face suddenly turned red. She turned away.
"I'm glad you're back" she said as she held my hand.
Back in my room, the wind flipped the page of the Tome to display these words.
"THE EIGHTH RULE: 'THE TEARS OF A LOVED ONE WILL REVIVE ONE AT THE BRINK OF DEATH!'
Suddenly, those words disappeared and were replaced by the words.
"Congratulations Sanziri Nightbane (Junior), the Eighth Rule has on this day been fulfilled!