THE STONES OF PURITY AND GOODNESS VS THE SOULS OF DECAY AND SLOTH PART IV: DIVIDED WE FALL AND THE HUNT FOR THE HUMAN DREAMWEAVER
The next scene showed Ayumi and Zan standing before Decay. The evil soul had finally revealed its true nature, a great serpent that liked to hide in the depths of murky waters. Ayumi and Zan stood on top of the banks of the Shining River as the serpent lifted its head to greet them.
"So finally we see you for what you truly are. The lying voice that poses as our conscience and continually condemns us" Zan said angrily. "Prepare yourself. I won't forgive you for what you did to Prince".
"It's payback for my sis, a hundred times over!" Ayumi growled menacingly.
An earlier scene had revealed Ai awakening from a nightmare at dawn. She finally informed Zan and Ayumi about everything that went down the day Prince was murdered. They found out also about Decay's connection to Ayu's mom and how he was trapped within the Shining River after its purification so, needless to say; it was a rather easy task to locate Decay; and now, they stood before him!
"I hope thou think it not that easy to vanquish me. Thou wouldst be making a tragic mistake from which the path to recovery would be an impossible venture" Decay said.
"And you have the guts to talk big too, I'll kill you!" Zan roared as he charged into the river.
The serpent quickly attempted to slither away but Zan's blade connected quicker with its side.
"Zan! Don't be reckless!" Ayumi warned him but Decay was coursing along the river too fast with Zan stuck on his side clutching his blade.
Ayumi had to race along the banks of the River to catch up.
"I'm still not quite used to this new sigil and my Dreamweaving powers yet" Ayumi's voice sounded.
"Of course, it's only been a day since we discovered Pyrostellis Luminares and you got your Dreamweaving powers. These things take time, you know?" Zan's voice responded.
"Unfortunately, time we don't seem to have" Ayumi thought silently.
"You impudent human! Let go of me this instant!" Decay roared.
"Make me!" Zan challenged.
There was a temporary sinister glow in Decay's eyes.
"As you wish then; it was ne'er mine intention to resort to taking your life but if thou is resolved unto death, I wilt honour thine request with utmost respect!" Decay roared as he dived into the river.
Even though it became hard to breathe and the currents of the River tried to break Zan's hold on his blade, he clutched his sword adamantly and refused to let go of Decay. He seemed particularly infuriated with this evil soul. Fortunately, the resistance acting on him, coupled with his weight, caused his blade to inflict a lot of damage to Decay. The evil soul roared in pain and surfaced, hissing ferociously.
"Is that brat…giving you any problems…Decay? " Zan heard a strangely familiar voice.
"Sloth, you're finally here" Decay said as a strange humanoid figure in tattered clothes, the epitome of poverty nested itself on the crown of Decay's head.
"Let go now Zan or I will curse you" Sloth threatened.
"Ha! That all?! Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can do me naught!" Zan mocked him.
Sloth sighed in response and shook his head.
"I find your ignorance rather distasteful. You human lot severely underestimate the power of words though you know what they are capable of. You are right; words can do nothing to you. They may not be able to directly harm your "human" but they are capable of altering your "being". Words may not be able to beat you up like you beat one another up…but they can change who you are…even without your consent. Your very existence is dependent on a word" Sloth said.
"I find it pretty amazing how you evil souls can be so malefic and so damn self-righteous at the same time. No matter what you may say, I am determined to end your hold on this reality" Zan glared at Sloth threateningly.
Sloth was forced to temporarily back away.
"What strong killing intent" Sloth seemed to say silently.
"I believe I may have overestimated you Ayzan Nightbane, you are far weaker than I expected, if it did not take much for Decay to…" Sloth was saying when Zan suddenly flashed past him and slashed with all his might.
Sloth was able to evade his strike at the last moment. He seemed surprised at first, then it appeared that he seemed amused.
"It's quite ironic that the embodiment of Sloth could be so quick" Zan mocked him.
He sighed.
"And that is precisely why I say you are weak. I originally believed a debate might have been enough to put you in your place, just as Decay did with Ai and that nincompoop. But now I see it's just a waste of time. You are far too immature a species to comprehend anything I might try to tell you now" Sloth said with a smug look on his face.
"And here I was thinking those lines were only used in anime. You really know how to make me mad. Well here's one from me, 'now that I've said I will kill you, your death this day has been ordained!'" Zan roared and charged towards Sloth but he evaded quite easily.
Zan appeared to be quite surprised by his extreme agility.
"You…are you really Sloth?" Zan wondered for he had always believed Sloth would be the easiest soul of evil to defeat but if he was the last soul of evil, then Zan knew he was very formidable, though he didn't know why until Sloth said;
"Like I said, you underestimate the true nature of Sloth. Demotivation, Despair, Laziness; they are only symptoms of my true nature. You have lost sight of the true terror of Sloth for too long; let me remind you of why I'm such a fearful force" Sloth said.
"Sorry, I will never underestimate laziness again" Zan said flatly.
"Hey! Are you even taking this seriously?!" Sloth roared angrily.
"Who would ever take you seriously if all you do is spout outdated lines" Zan said indifferently.
"You have infuriated me! Well then, instead of slaughtering you verbally, I will teach you a practical lesson, the likes of which if you ever survive…which I honestly doubt by the way…all your fears of Zanfar would be nothing but…"
"Lemme guess… 'a happy memory right?' It appears to me you are not taking things seriously enough either" Zan said flatly.
Ayumi finally caught up to them.
"Zan! Don't be so reckless! How many times do I have to repeat myself?! The next time I repeat myself, you're going to take a flying leap!" she scolded Zan.
"Heheh, sorry Ayu" Zan laughed nervously.
"There she comes, finally, the extreme flame that either chars everything or nothing. Ayumi Kirisawa, do you know nothing of the beauty of moderation" Sloth mocked her.
"Cut the hypocritical civility, nothing bores me more. I dare say there is nothing more extreme than a man in tattered clothes riding atop an unclassified serpentine freak of nature" Ayumi wasted no time in paying back with compound interest.
"I'm bored. You two are not as interesting as I first imagined. So here's what's going to happen next, I'm going to zap Zan with an electrical surge and his reality is going to be turned so upside down, inversion would be an understatement" Sloth said.
"And you dared to say it out loud. Are you really that strong or are you just stupid?" Zan mocked Sloth.
"Not strong, quick" Zan heard Sloth's voice speak from behind him.
In the next instant, he underwent a severe electrocution; then everything went blank for a while.
In the scene that followed, Zan was finally struggling to regain consciousness. He was in his former room in the Kirisawa residence. It took a while for his vision to focus and he was surrounded by seven other Zans.
"What's this? A dream? Ah, I must be hallucinating. What's this, a bad joke of an anime dream sequence?" he seemed to be muttering.
"Yo! Looks like he's alive y'all!" one of the Zans said.
"ZANFAR!!!" Zan screamed and jolted from the ground.
"Keh! He even has the guts to mention that name. He must be dumber than I thought!" the Zan who had spoken earlier said.
"Wh-Wh-What's going on?! I'm seriously in need of an explanation right now!" Zan screamed.
Zan suddenly heard footsteps approaching followed by sharp knocks on the door to his room.
"Zan, are you alright in there?" Ayumi's voice called from beyond the door.
"YES WE ARE!" all of the Zans answered.
"SHUT UP YA RUNTS!" Zan yelled at the other Zans.
"Zan, what's going on? Is someone in there with you?" Ayumi called.
"N-No-No, I'm all alone…in a weird manner of speaking" Zan murmured the last words with a show of extreme annoyance.
"No one is with me" another Zan added.
"You didn't have to repeat it damn you!" Zan yelled angrily.
"It's only me" yet another Zan said.
"HEY YOU!!!" Zan roared angrily.
"Stop messing around! The only one here is me dumbasses!" another Zan yelled angrily.
"I give up. As if one of me isn't weird enough to land me nineteen years of hardship, now I have seven extra mes, my future is starting to look pretty bleak all of a sudden. That's it, I'm finished. That's enough weirdness to make even the devil choke" Zan slapped himself on the head.
"What's going on? They all sound like Zan but it's like different personalities with the same voice" Ayumi wondered. "Zan, open up!" she demanded.
"Quick, you guys hide!" Zan ordered the other Zans sharply.
"Why do we have ta be the ones ta hide damn ya! Don't think you're hot stuff just cos you're our vessel ya hear me?!" one Zan yelled at Zan angrily.
"Haah?! Are you retarded? Listen closely, at this rate Ayu's going to think I'm some weirdo though of course now it's painfully apparent but that's not the point! Pages of planning since Book 1! You guys! Put the previous books together and you'll see it took almost six hundred pages to earn Ayu's love! I don't want to end up at page one!" Zan yelled angrily.
"Zan!" Ayumi called again.
"Haah? So what's your point?" one Zan asked.
"Hey you! What are you now, Luffy? The point I'm trying to make is… 'at this point in my life I don't mind becoming Zanfar so you guys better help me out or a lifetime won't be enough to regret it!'" Zan threatened the other Zan.
"If you can say that easily, then you're plenty Zanfar yourself!" the most annoying Zan said.
"Indeed, it is as thou imagineth! My mind is ruled by tyranny. There can only be one me to rule me all!" Zan laughed vainly as the other Zans escaped to find hiding places.
Some made it to the bathroom, others hid in the wardrobe and some more hid under the bed. When Zan was sure they were well hidden, he opened the door.
"What's going on Zan? Don't tell me you were actually brave enough to hide a girl in here?" Ayumi asked with a threatening glare. "ZAN, KISAAAAMAAAAAAA!!! (YOU BASTAAAARD!)" Ayumi roared angrily.
"You're being paranoid Ayu! What kind of thief hides stolen money in a police station?!" Zan scolded her.
By that time she was cracking her knuckles angrily.
"A very clever one!" she growled menacingly.
"How can I prevent Ayu from thinking I'm demented. Sloth damn you, this is one tragedy I'm not willing to overlook!" Zan thought angrily.
"Zan, tell me you're not seriously hiding anything from me" Ayumi sighed.
"M-M-Me? Hide anything? I'm an open book, a-a-a really bad l-l-liar see?" Zan stammered nervously.
"Yeah, you're proving that you're a bad liar right now but you're also proving that you're attempting to lie to me!" Ayumi glared at Zan angrily.
Zan could tell her patience was wearing thin.
"Heheh, nice one there Ayu!" Zan heard one Zan say.
"You're smarter than I thought. Even if you look like a dumb girl with a violent temper" Zan heard another Zan say.
"Oh? So you actually have the guts to say that to my face huh? I overestimated your cowardice" Ayumi smirked. "You're acting pretty weird Zan" Ayumi sighed and walked towards Zan's bed.
She sighed and sat down. A loud wheezing sound was heard from under the bed.
"Jeez you're heavy, what do you weigh, five thousand megatonnes?" Zan heard a Zan say from under the bed.
"HAH! HAAH! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! THAT'S A TABOO YOU MUST NEVER SAY TO A WOMAN IN THIS WORLD; IN THIS AGE! DON'T COMPOUND MY TROUBLES IDIOTS!!!" Zan thought angrily.
"GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!!! If you don't want me around, why don't you just say so!" Ayumi roared and charged out angrily.
Zan slapped his head in despair.
"You guys! It's interesting to note that you'd purposely rebel against me. I hope you're prepared to reap the consequences of your actions. I can assure you it's going to be more than just an abundant harvest!" Zan roared as he shut the door behind Ayumi and began to pummel the other Zans.
FIVE MINUTES LATER…
"Ouch! I didn't think you'd really beat yourself up about it. You're pretty insane vessel" one Zan said.
"Beat myself up about it?! Ha! Very funny but yeah, pull a stunt like that again and it's gonna get even worse" Zan warned them. "So before we start to get all chummy, I want answers and I want them pronto!" Zan demanded.
"I see you still doubt the obvious huh?" one Zan said.
"Well duh?! This doesn't happen in real life! Heck it's even so illogical in anime, it's often limited to two personalities, same person, three tops! The last time I saw this was the original BOF and since it's an old school RPG, there's even a gap in century and millenium all at once. So you guys better give me an answer that doesn't result in me Oga punching you into the ground!" Zan roared angrily.
"An explanation huh?" the Zan who just spoke said.
"Not just an explanation, one without legal loopholes!" Zan growled angrily.
"How's this… 'we're all in love with Ayu and we'll fight even you to be acknowledged by her!'" the annoying Zan roared.
"Hmmph! You've got guts to say that with my face; to my face, do you want to die?!" Zan yelled angrily and would have pummelled him down if the others did not restrain him.
"CALM DOWN ALL OF YOU AND LISTEN! Sheesh, you're acting like a bunch of overgrown brats!" the other Zan who spoke before the Zan Zan attempted to pummel said.
"I demand an explanation!" Zan roared.
"Heh! Interesting; he demands an explanation. Like he's got the right to demand anything from us. If some idiot had succeeded in protecting Ayu, then he wouldn't have had to turn her into a Dreamweaver and weaken his own personality bonding! Oh, where are my manners, if I recall correctly, that idiot was you!" the Zan Zan attempted to pummel roared.
"Oh yeah?! Why don't we take this outside huh?!" Zan dared him.
"Why don't we just settle it right now!" the other Zan dared Zan.
"SHUT UP YOU MORONS!" another Zan got between them and punched them both to the ground in an instant.
"Please accept our apology" the beaten Zans apologized immediately.
"Fighting won't change anything" the Zan that seemed more reasonable advised.
They all remained silent for a while.
"You demanded an explanation didn't you Zan? Well, here goes. Whether you decide to believe me from this moment on is completely up to you" the reasonable Zan said.
"I'm at the point in my life I don't think anything surprises me anymore" Zan scoffed.
"We are the seven attributes of your being. Within each human lies a collection of attributes that make up their person. You could call the collective nature of these attributes your spirit. The constitution of spirit is unique for each individual but certain traits are usually so predominant and common I believe you refer to them as 'emotions'. Your predominant attributes are Zansur; your anger, Zanyen; me, your reason; Zanlar; your laughter, Zanpuosang; your sorrow, Zandambien; your fear, Zanbazorodambien; your fearlessness; and the one whom for lack of anything to call him by due to his absurd nature, we refer to as Zanabana, your flirtatiousness. We are your seven predominant attributes" Zanyen, the reasonable Zan introduced them.
"What of Zanfar?" Zan asked curiously.
Zanyen glared at Zan grimly.
"Zanfar is not an attribute; he is everything we are not, yet he is us. He isn't an attribute as we are but everything you deny. In other words, to your angelic nature, he is your demonic nature; to your love, he is your hatred. He is the embodiment of everything you curse" Zanyen explained.
Zan stared at him in fear for a while and then sighed.
"And how is it you came to be here now?" Zan asked him.
"Like Zansur, your anger explained; it was because of your own actions. Within you and every human is an adhesive wall of sorts that bonds your spiritual constitution together. We often refer to it as "The Wall Of Personage". When you gave a bit of yourself to Ayumi, you weakened that wall and allowed Sloth to shatter it altogether when he cursed you" Zanyen explained.
"I don't understand" Zan questioned him.
"It is precisely because you underestimate the nature of Sloth. Sloth has many names and definitions but amongst the forces, he is commonly known as two things. The first is 'The Force That Wastes Away Life'. The second is simply 'Sin'." Zanyen explained.
"What do you mean?" Zan seemed puzzled.
"His first name; 'The Force That Wastes Away Life' has many meanings depending on the angle from which you approach it. It could mean 'procrastination is the thief of time' as you often say. It could also mean 'false sense of security wastes away personality' or it could mean; 'Indifference and Indecision wear away humanity'. All in all, Sloth is what keeps humans from being human and limits their innate capacity for spiritual growth and adaptability. To put simply; a hindrance to evolution" Zanyen explained.
Zan gaped at him.
"I know; it's quite overwhelming" Zanyen said.
"That's not it. Was I always this reasonable?" Zan laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously.
"I believe you would be better suited to ask, 'is even what you hear from me now, the limit of your capacity for reason?'" Zanyen said.
"So is there a way to undo this?" Zan asked him.
"There is; but it is almost impossible for you as you are now. You've let complacency rule you for too long, just as most of humanity has. This might have impeded to a great extent the enormous capacity you have for building up your character; the person you were made to be; your destiny. To undo what Sloth has done and slow down mankind's freefall towards an apocalypse, you would have to overwrite your base desires and personal agendas with the strength of responsibility. The responsibility to become the best possible you; your destiny" Zanyen explained.
"That doesn't sound so difficult" Zan chuckled. "Right guys?"
"Heh! You have no idea! That would be asking fear and fearlessness to shake hands and fuse. Then you'd have to find a way to make laughter and sorrow shake hands and fuse too. After that your reason would have to shake hands with your anger and you and your own flirtatiousness would have to become bosom buddies and shake hands with all the aforementioned. That might restore the wall of personage…but…hold it right there….I think I'm forgetting something important. Yeah…at the end of your journey, you'd have to find a way to shake hands with Zanfar as well and I just don't see that happening any time soon, do you? Either way, you might end up being absorbed by him or fusing with him. Good luck with that" Zansur, Zan's anger said.
"You're quite brutal aren't you? You're more of my sarcasm and less of my anger or are both just the same?" Zan asked with an irritated look in his eyes.
Zan's eyebrows twitched as he tried his absolute best to stifle the abyss of that so called infinite pool called Zansur.
"It's exactly as he says. One attribute is the exact opposite of the other or at best, they just don't get along so well. When one's in, the other leaves. It's actually quite a miracle that all of us are able to stomach standing under the same roof right now" Zanyen said as he eyed Zansur from the corner of his eyes.
Zan sighed in exasperation.
"So in the end, what exactly is Sloth?" Zan asked the reasonable Zan.
"He is the exact opposite of Good" Zanyen replied calmly.
"So, it's not simply laziness then is it?" Zan sighed.
"No, he isn't" Zanyen answered.
"So basically, me thinking I had an edge against him from the beginning was…" Zan was about to say when Zanyen completed his sentence for him.
"Indeed, it is as thou imagineth, it was all a trap. The true essence of Sloth is either abstaining from the good you are required to carry out or refusing to abstain from the evil your heart desires. All in all, the true nature of Sloth is that of Sin itself" Zanyen explained.
"Hah! And here I was thinking I actually had an edge against him. I imagined a snail I could just kick aside but if Sloth isn't necessarily laziness, then it isn't necessarily being slow or stupid either. That just makes Sloth the most cunning of all the evil souls! And you guys could not find some way of telling me that within the depths of my being?! DID IT REALLY HAVE TO TAKE SPLITTING UP MY PERSONALITIES TO GIVE YOU GUYS A CHANCE TO TELL ME THIS?!" Zan yelled angrily.
"How is it our fault? Think on it and you'll realize it's you who are to blame. You are courageous, kind, humorous and have abundant love inside you yet…" Zanyen was saying when Zansur interrupted him.
"It only took a dumb looking representation of a woman with wings whom you yourself knew was an evil soul to tell you you were Zanfar; and as naïve as you are, knowing full well what she represented; you still somehow…" Zansur was saying when Zanbazorodambien (Zan's fearlessness continued the sentence).
"…managed to forget all these other good traits about yourself and focused all your attention on a trait you cannot even guarantee exists within you as you fear it does. What are you, Ryu from SF?!" Zanbazorodambien roared angrily.
"Though it may sound callous, I really advise you to strengthen your strengths instead of focusing…no, wasting all your time trying to raise your weaknesses to be at par with your strengths! You are causing yourself unnecessary pain!" Zanyen yelled at Zan.
"Yeah sure, so how do I just throw away a part of myself I don't like!" Zan roared angrily.
"Oh? So he didn't fall for it huh? A smart kid; he might have a chance against Zanfar" Zanbazorodambien said.
"Huh? You lost me" Zan said.
"We told you a bunch of things you know to be true, and diverted the path you should take towards an easier one you'd prefer to take. You can't defeat Zanfar by denying your weaknesses, remember that" Zanyen advised.
"You need to find a way to bring us into harmony. Only when we can all agree that one thing needs to be done; and that one thing exceeds the dislike we harbour for our polar opposite attribute will the Wall Of Personage restore itself. To defeat Sloth, you must push yourself to do what must be done, even if every cell in your body advises against it. Chances are, the things you'd readily agree to do without careful consideration are being suggested to you by Sloth" Zanbazorodambien advised.
"And remember that most of those things are what end up locking your life in a routine that keeps you from truly living. This in turn will impose on your spirit a false sense of security leading to a laxity that furthers Decay. This is why Sloth and Decay are almost inseparable" Zanyen said.
"Hah, now we've fulfilled the requirement of imposing on you the knowledge required to face both Sloth and Decay. The rest depends on your actions from now on" Zansur said.
Zan nodded. He finally understood the seriousness of what they were saying. The core of the message was simple; "I must do the good I am required to do; and avoid the evil I desire to do".
"Are you guys hungry?" Zan asked them.
The anger in his voice had subsided.
"Well, I must admit, we're pretty hollow" Zansur said.
Zan laughed.
"Okay, you guys give me a sec. I'm going to try and sneak some food up here without running into Ayu" Zan joked and left his room.
He had just walked out his door when he bumped into Ai.
"Um…hello Zan" Ai greeted.
"Hello Ai, how are you today?" Zan greeted.
"I heard you and Ayu got into a fight" Ai said.
"Ha, you have no idea. It would be more appropriate to say Ayu and mes got into a fight. It wasn't just one me" Zan murmured.
"What was that?" Ai asked.
"N-N-N-N-Nothing, just thinking out loud" Zan quickly defended himself.
"Zan, I've got a question to ask. Have you really forgiven Ayu?" Ai asked him.
Zan blinked, startled by her question.
"Well…I can't say I've forgiven her because I have to keep forgiving her every day that pops into my mind but I don't hate her anymore" Zan confessed.
"That's great! But I think you might have to show her that. I think she might still believe you hate her" Ai advised Zan.
"Sure" Zan smiled. "Never thought Ayu was such a worrywart though", that last thought he ensured, wasn't thought out loud.
"Zan, I need to warn you about something" Ai whispered.
"What?" Zan asked her.
"The Dream Knights have been acting a bit strange lately. They might have been given orders to eliminate you. So far, my dad hasn't spoken about it and I don't think Ayu knows either since she's been sick for a while now. Be careful okay?" Ai whispered.
"Sure" Zan whispered back.
"By the way Ai, you're a hardcore otaku ain't you?" Zan whispered.
"Huh?! What has that got to do with anything?!" Ai exclaimed in surprise.
"Could you do some anime based research for me? Find out how you defeat an evil that gathers evil energy from the hearts of people and uses them as a power source" Zan asked her.
"You're one funny guy you know? Basically, you'd need to take out the power source. If that does not work, you would at least have to find a way to terminate the transmission process or at least slow it down except…" Ai was saying.
"Yeah, that doesn't work on a power source that has the power to do this at its own discretion utilizing its own judgement. The flaw with this plan is humans aren't easily influenced by sentiments and this is truer the more reasonable they are" Zan whispered.
Ai suddenly appeared to be serious.
"Zan, can I offer you some honest advice? It might actually hurt so I apologize in advance" Ai said.
"Sure, go ahead" Zan offered.
"Lately, when you refer to humans, you often say 'they' as though you've excluded yourself from us. It's almost as though you've unconsciously started to renounce your own humanity so I plead with you Zan, for the sake of myself, Ayu and yourself, don't give up on us yet and don't give up on yourself" Ai advised.
Zan was startled by this sudden revelation. He hadn't noticed it himself till Ai said it like that. It saddened him and frightened him but he decided to try his best to change that small fact.
"Thanks Ai" Zan said and walked away.
Zan seemed to feel Ai might have thought he was angry with the way he walked away but he decided against assuming to know what she was thinking. He decided not to talk anymore on the matter and resolved one other thing; to definitely sneak food out of the kitchen without Ayumi's notice!
Fortunately, Ayumi wasn't inside the house. He heard she was in the gardens from one of the maids. With a house full of maids and servants, it would be absolutely difficult, if not impossible to sneak food out so he decided to "order" some food instead; food for eight.
Zan struggled to carry all the food up the stairs without falling. He was determined to take it all up at once before Ayumi spotted him.
Zan realized when he arrived at his destination that the other Zans had used the food as an excuse to get rid of him and he didn't want to think about what they were up to.
"Where'd they go?!" he growled angrily.
Zanyen laughed.
"I believe they wish to enjoy the experience of being people instead of just mere attributes. This is a once in a lifetime chance for them you know, especially since humans tend to suppress certain attributes of their own being most of the time" Zanyen said with a smile.
His smile looked painful though.
"But you'd best be careful Zan. The longer we stay out of you, the more our own perceptions will be influenced until we become completely separate beings and if that happens, you'll never be able to utilize your full potential" Zanyen warned.
"Interesting, it's also a once in a lifetime experience for me. I get to beat myself up more than usual without actually feeling depressed!" Zan growled as he clenched his fist and leapt out of the window.
Zanyen sighed.
"Even as an almost empty shell, you're even more of a handful than any of your individual attributes. I guess I'll go read up in the Kirisawa Library then. Zan would never do it on his own and if there is anything I need to know that could help Zan deal with Zanfar, I'd like to get as much info as I can before we finally unite" Zanyen said as he stood up and left the room.
Zan landed smoothly on the ground and stared ahead. He saw one Zan walking beside Ayumi and from the happy expression on her face, he could tell some serious strawberry talk was going on!
"Those beings sure know how to piss me off! I've never been this angry with myself! I'm pretty sure that must be my flirtatious side, Zanabana!" Zan growled angrily.
Ayumi was laughing as though she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Zan was fuming seriously. He was just about to expose himself when a side vision made him chuckle gleefully.
"Thank God for my anger" he smiled slyly and hid himself, for Zansur had set a pitfall for Zanabana and he apparently hadn't noticed since he was busy flirting with Ayumi.
Fortunately, Ayumi was temporarily distracted just as Zanabana fell into the pit and Zansur quickly took his place.
"Hey Ayu, I have a present for you" Zansur said as he presented her with a rose.
"Thank you Zan. I'll be sure to always treasure it" Ayumi promised.
Zansur turned to Zan and made a face.
"Yeah sure, looking smug now are we? Just wait till I teach thee a lesson. You really should recall the warning the Bible gives about a jealous man" Zan growled angrily. "I especially like how Sirach put it. I hope you recall Zansur!"
Zansur simply stuck his tongue out at Zan while Ayu wasn't looking. Zan was about to walk out there and smack Zansur when he noticed Zanlar on one of the trees holding a rope in his hand and preparing for an ambush. He smirked. Zansur hadn't noticed Zanlar yet.
"Zanlar, good job! I'll be the decoy!" Zan said with a thumbs up. "Hey hey, doesn't that make me Zanlar's wingman now?" Zan suddenly realized his own stupidity in thinking that.
In less than an instant, Zanlar swooped down like an eagle moving in for the kill. He cleared Zansur beautifully out of the way.
"Curses on thee! Zanlar!" Zansur yelled in anger but no one heard his pathetic cries of defeat save for Zan and he was sure to revel in the fact.
"Besides, you should stop spitting out Zanfar lines damn you!" Zan growled angrily. "Now this is just getting plain ridiculous and why doesn't Ayu notice anything?!"
Zan decided to give up on the venture. With the way they were taking one another out, none of them was ever going to have enough time to woo Ayumi and he didn't want to be part of the circle of pain those Zans were playing.
Zan decided to search for Ai instead. He was pretty sure she could help him but when he found her, his anger knew no bounds for Zanabana was flirting with her.
Here is a brief dialogue expressing their conversation.
Ai: Zan, do you have a fever or something?
Zanabana: Yes, an endless fever of love for you and I'm caught within the tempestuous waves!
At that moment, there was one thing Zan had no regrets about whatsoever, and that was suppressing the being known as Zanabana.
Zan slapped his forehead. He recalled Zanyen's warning and realized that this was a symptom of what Zanyen talked about. Zanabana's focus was shifting from Ayumi, Zan's love interest and he was now considering "other alternatives".
Zan decided to return to Ayumi and ensure that he didn't steal her from himself. Fortunately, she was finally alone.
"AYUMI!" Zan called to her as he ran towards her panting heavily.
"Whoa Zan, slow down okay? I'm always around. I'm not going anywhere. I appreciate the fact that you're no longer mad at me. You don't have to prove anything" Ayumi said with a reassuring smile.
"Ayu, normally, I would tell you just how much you've misinterpreted the entire situation but this particular misinterpretation is one I think I can live with" Zan thought to himself.
"You've been acting like you've just seen a ghost" Ayumi said.
"Heh, when we've been fighting nightmares, who's scared of ghosts again?" Zan thought to himself.
"Zan, could you tell me what's going on now?" Ayumi asked him. "You've been acting kind of weird. It's almost as though you've been switching personalities" Ayumi said.
"Way to go Ayu! She already guessed it!" Zan thought with a look of great admiration in his eyes.
Then he sighed.
"Ayu, I've got a confession to make" Zan said.
Ayumi suddenly seemed alarmed.
"Zan, I hope it's nothing grave" she said.
She was starting to sound panicky.
"We-ell, it kinda depends on your perspective" Zan laughed nervously.
Ayumi gulped.
"I'd like to hear it, if you're willing to tell me" she asked.
"Ayu...I'm sorry to have to tell you this but I'm...schizophrenic!" somehow, miraculously, these were the words that escaped Zan's lips and he didn't even hear himself say them.
"Huh?! What do you mean by you're schizophrenic!" Ayumi roared.
"Ayumi, you know how in anime, we have some characters that are both "moe" and "yanderic" at the same time?" Zan said.
"Yeah, so?" Ayumi was beginning to seem irritated.
"So in my case, I am a ramshackled collection of seven different personalities that despise one another" Zan sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ayumi growled angrily.
Zan could see she was starting to think he was teasing her and he began to feel he had gone way overboard with that last statement. Just before he had sealed an almost irreparable damage, the ground split open and water burst forth.
"Huh?! What's happening?!" Ayumi exclaimed in horror.
"ACK! It smells like sewage!" Zan tried his best to shut off the stench by holding his breath.
The water flowed all around the Kirisawa gardens and began to spark with electricity just as Decay, the fifth evil soul surfaced from the ground in the form of a gigantic slithering serpent. Seated atop the head of Decay was Sloth, the sixth soul of evil second only to Lies himself; the devil.
"SLOTH! SO YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF ALL THIS!" Zan roared angrily.
"Fool, you speak as though you have me all figured out. Do you really wish to stand in my way?" Sloth mocked Zan.
Before Zan could move, six Zans leapt before Ayumi and Zan. Ayumi stared at all of them in shock. Zan slapped himself on the forehead.
"See Ayu, this was what I meant. Now you can imagine what my childhood was like even though we were all in the same body" Zan said with a straight face.
Ayumi growled at Zan as though she wanted to slap him.
"Explain yourself Zan and make sure I understand!" she roared angrily.
"It's good to see you again too, brute woman with the violent temper" Sloth said.
"Don't interfere! Don't you see I'm in the middle of an important conversation?!" Ayumi growled angrily at Sloth.
Sloth was forced to temporarily back away.
"Ayu, there are now seven mes excluding myself due to reasons I can only vaguely comprehend" Zan confessed.
"But I can only see six! Where is the last one?!" Ayumi growled angrily.
Zan had a look of embarrassment on his face as his knees began to knock one another.
"Um...uh, Ayu. H-h-how d-d-do I s-s-say this? I-I-I th-think he is...kinda...um...uh..." Zan stammered fearfully.
"Spill it!" Ayumi roared.
"I'm so sorry Ayu, he's flirting with Ai!" Zan suddenly blurted it out.
Zan began to suddenly hear the sound of knuckles cracking.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" he found himself screaming.
"Allowing yerself ta be dominated by a gal. You sure are a weakling!" Zan heard Zansur say angrily.
"B-But sh-she's r-really s-scary" Zandambien argued.
"Hmmph! I don't expect you to hit a lady but allowing a lady to make a habit out of hitting you is equally pathetic so I agree with Zansur!" Zanbazorodambien took a stand.
"I very much prefer diplomacy to senseless fist fights. In every world, it is brutes that resort to violence even in the realm of the forces. The worst case scenario should be a debate don't you think?" Zanyen added.
"Shut it profiler! Don'tcha know words're even more brutal than 'em wounds?!" Zansur's language suddenly became twice as harsh.
"Nonsense talker! I have to agree with Zansur! When have you ever heard of a censored fight in an action movie?! But how many times do we hear about censored language?! Even in talk shows and talent shows!" Zanbazorodambien argued.
"At least if you are beating someone up, you can be straightforward about it!" Zanlar joked and laughed seriously.
"Fool! Some wounds are not always obvious! Be it with words or wounds, there is such a thing as internal bleeding!" Zanyen argued.
"I give up, I'm a lost cause" Zan sighed helplessly and dropped to the ground.
"Sloth, is it just me or have these idiots completely ignored our presence?" Decay asked.
"Decay, perhaps it is just your imagination after all, even their language is decaying now don't you think?" Sloth said.
"Fools! Who said we were trying to encourage you?!" all seven Zans yelled together.
When they did, a faint aura enveloped them.
"What just happened to you guys? You're kinda glowing" Zan said.
"Crap! We actually agreed on something! No way are we going back into the same body Zandambien!" Zanbazorodambien said.
"My words to you Zansur!" Zanlar, Zanyen and Zanpuosang roared.
The glowing became partly stronger and partly weaker. It grew strong around Zanlar, Zanyen and Zanpuosang and weaker around Zandambien, Zanbazorodambien and Zanabana.
"Zanabana, why aren't you glowing as well?!" Zan roared angrily.
"Idiot! Do I have to fall for the same girl just cos you like her?! Think again moron! We be different entities this time!" Zanabana roared.
"Aah, so that's how you...damn you! Even if you decide to lay eyes on another girl, Ayu's sis is off limits ya hear me?!" Zan roared angrily at him.
"Crap, the more we argue like this, the more prone we are to taking sides and the more we debate, the more likely we are to come into agreement! This all started because those two idiots showed up! Let's just wipe them out and live the rest of our lives as septuplets!" Zansur declared.
"Actually, including me, that would make us octoplets! And what's with the BOF scenario?! Somehow, I can see where this is going and I don't like it!" Zan roared angrily.
"On that, I agree with you" the other Zans said and the glowing became stronger and more evened out.
"Damn you!" Zansur roared angrily as he realized the trick Zan had played on them.
"Wow, apparently, as long as Sloth and Decay are around, I can easily sucker these...um...whatchamacallits into taking them out by teaming up with me. The quickest way to do this! Keeheheheh! I'm glad the splitting did not result in the appearance of a "nekomimi" me (cat ears me) or a "kuroi megane" me (Villainous glasses me). They'd have seen through this in an instant! Hey Sloth, Decay, you idiots, think you can handle eight of me cos I think as eight, we're far too awesome to even handle ourselves well!" Zan yelled at Sloth and Decay.
"You can say that again!" the rest of the Zans exclaimed happily and the aura solidified.
"Damn you Zan!" the others yelled at him.
"This guy...what sort of a mind does he have?" Ayumi glared at Zan suspiciously.
"Art thou indeed conceited enough to consider thineself a challenge before me?! Dost thou desireth the shortest path off this mortal coil?!" Decay roared.
"At least tell me that this isn't how Sloth speaks as well" Zan suddenly heard his stomach grumble in disgust.
"Unfortunately, even the incivility in my language does not date that far back" Sloth said.
"I see, of all the evil souls so far, you're obviously the most annoying nonsense talker!" Zan said with a straight face.
"And you're just going to stand there exchanging irrelevant words with him?! I take back everything good I ever said about you Zan, it's official, you're a moron!" Zanyen roared.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO REASON?!" Zan exclaimed in horror.
"It got corrupted by anger" Zanyen said coldly as he eyed Zansur angrily.
"What manner of creature did I fall in love with this time?" Ayumi slapped her forehead.
As they stood arguing, a massive wave of water swept them off their feet and carried them on a roller coaster ride through the Kirisawa gardens.
"You guys should cool your heads off a bit! Sheesh! To think you'd let sewage cripple your sense of duty!" Ai roared angrily.
"AI IS USING FOUL LANGUAGE!!!" Zan screamed in horror.
Ai took in a deep breath and glared at Decay.
"You should have noticed by now that your actions so far have been governed by indecisiveness and indifference! Zan, your seven yous..." Ai said. "They don't care about uniting with you and you don't care how they feel as long as they unite with you. Somehow, your personal agendas are more important to you than your responsibilities" Ai said. "So we meet again Decay! This time for sure, I will make sure this meeting of ours is the last!" Ai roared.
Zan could feel her fury.
In an instant, all the water around, both sewage and clean froze. Ai didn't seem to care much. Her sigils, the twin ice blades appeared in their awakened form.
"She summoned her sigil in their awakened form without summoning them in their passive form!" Ayumi exclaimed in shock.
"I'm sorry this is the first time you've seen this Ayu" Ai said.
"Actually it's the second" Zan corrected her, "and it's my fourth time since I saw it the first time in a Dream and the second time in a Nightmare. That is a memory I definitely won't forget because it was the first day I ever saw Ayu in army camouflage so forgive me if I don't find talking about Bunnyos Extremos quite as traumatic as I used to" Zan said with a bored look on his face.
"I have to thank you Decay. After using my sigil in its partially awakened state the first time, I never felt the motivation to attempt it a second time since the last time I used it in its fully awakened state, I ended up creating a gravitational distortion" Ai said.
"A gravitational wha...? I lost you at that last line. Do we even know what we're talking about anymore?!" Zan exclaimed.
"Everyone seems to be under the impression that my ability is to control water or 'water bend' or something like that" Ai said.
"I believe that was painfully obvious! How else can you turn water into ice?!" Zan yelled.
"But turning water into ice is my fundamental ability. Since my health has been in bad condition for the past few years, dad took me to train a bit; the reason he and I were almost always not around. And in this short time, I've acquired most of the abilities I'd lost due to my lack of physical fortitude" Ai said.
"Your point being?" Decay asked.
"My point being, the only reason I couldn't use my power the first time you attacked was..." Ai said.
"Ai! Seriously?! Did you really master control over your element?!" Ayumi exclaimed in shock.
"My power is a wide range one. I only use it if I'm sure those around me can survive its pressure" Ai said.
"I KNEW IT! SHE DOESN'T MIND WIPING US OUT!!!" Zan screamed to himself.
"Zan, normally, we Dream Knights fight using only our sigils. You know that right?" Ayumi said.
"Uh huh?" Zan nodded.
"But that is not the only way to fight as a Dream Knight. There are two other ways. One is mostly fundamental and hence we use it less. It's the ability to control the element of our affinity itself and that is why when I used to upgrade the Pyrogeysers, they'd flame on" Ayumi said.
"I think Ai intends to utilize her element itself" Ayumi said.
She seemed worried.
"And am I supposed to be scared?" Decay asked.
"I don't know" Ayumi answered bluntly but it appeared she really didn't know.
"Seriously?!" Zan exclaimed in shock.
"Zan, if you mastered Light, you could utilize it not just for attacks with your blade but you could actually master all its properties as well. Almost infinite speed, the ability to manipulate vision, the ability to blind your opponents, all of that. Before the age of five, all Ai knew how to do was freeze water. So she'd always be sure to carry a bit of water into battles in small gourds. When Ai was six, she had mastered vaporizing water and carrying it along into battle by maintaining it around her. She could condense, freeze or vaporize it as she pleased and if you can control all those states of water, chances are, you wouldn't lose a single drop of it, not even a molecule. Then when Ai was seven, her abilities suddenly skyrocketed. Initially, she could only move water around in its vaporized form and used to fight by condensing and freezing it around her sigil, but by the age of seven, she could actually move water! Even my mother who was a prodigy when it came to utilizing water for battle purposes was amazed. She said something once. Ai's ability isn't as fundamental as just moving water but I don't know what she meant by that" Ayumi said.
"If used the wrong way, I could destroy the planet in an instant" Ai said.
"I believe because of her passive and shy nature, Ai could suppress her true potential" Ayumi said. "But even I never hoped to see what would happen if Ai ever used her powers seriously" Ayumi said.
"BUNNYOS EXTREMOS! BECOME MY ONLY TRAUMA!!! AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT SO FEARSOME!" Zan found himself screaming.
"My fundamental ability is the mastery of water and its states. However, my secondary ability...is what causes the tides to rise!" Ai declared.
"Seriously?! The moon's gravitational pull?! Ai, I think I speak for all living creatures on earth when I say, I beg you. We don't have to worry about Zanfar if you're going to blow the earth out of orbit!" Zan screamed in fear.
"Ah, that so huh?" Ai sighed. "And I really felt I needed to punish Decay too. Well, I guess I'll..." Ai was about to say when Ayumi interrupted.
"Yes, dear sis, leave it to Zan and our new sigil, the Pyrostellis Luminares!" she said frantically.
"Sloth, doth thou comprehendeth the rubbish they've been uttering for the past half hour?" Decay asked.
"Meh, I believe they've been talking something of the moon's gravitational pull" Sloth said.
"Hey! You guys! You don't get to be humorous after all the harm you've caused!" Zan roared.
Before Zan could utter another word, the other Zans were after the heads of Sloth and Decay.
They shattered the frozen ice binding them and charged towards the evil souls. Zan shattered the ice binding him as well.
"Ai is right, about a lot of things including the fact that I've suppressed myselves too much and not given them the needed time to shine. There is nothing wrong in being different and viewing the world from multiple angles. Heck, I know I wouldn't enjoy even anime if all the fight scenes were portrayed from the same angle. Truth is, this whole fiasco probably happened because deep within myself, the other aspects of my personalities were begging for a chance to surface and live as well. Live my life through my eyes and anything else I end up saying from now on might as well be Jor-el's final words to baby Kal'el. Thinking about it, I definitely have no intention of changing who I am any time soon, not even for Zanfar, not even for Ayu, but I guess finding balance could help me improve myself. There is no reason I can't enjoy myself while fulfilling my duties is there? So I guess in the end, even if they don't want to become a part of me now, I should at least fight with them" Zan smiled and charged towards the evil souls to back his selves up.
They all leapt into the air in unison. Ayu watched them and shook her head in amusement.
"PYROSTELLIS!!!" the Zans called as the power began to surge around their fists calling to their ultimate sigil yet.
"This doesn't look good Sloth! We might have to retreat!" Decay roared.
"It's too late for you! Take this, our ultimate move! LUMINOUS...!!!" the Zans called but suddenly, it felt as though Zanfar's aura was watching them from behind and they ended up screaming....
"LUMINOUS DREEEAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
SUNSET...
All eight Zans sat outside. Defeated, feeling pathetic. They'd called out to the Pyrostellis Luminares but the Silver Dream came out instead. When Ayu called out to it as well, the Pyrogeysers came out instead.
"You fools are a waste of time! Your lives are not even a story worth telling!" Decay had bombarded them right before the duo disappeared.
The Zans had become so worthless in the eyes of the evil souls, attempting to defeat them was what the evil souls called 'Planning a war to capture a province you already own and is no threat to you'.
The Zans lay in the grass, covered by sewage, the only physical proof of their current worth. Being split apart, their decisions always resulted in a debate amongst them that resulted in them interfering with themselves in their own ventures. None of them cared what the other felt like. And to top it off, they didn't just consider themselves trash, the others considered Zan calling himself 'sewage' a compliment. For a vessel that used to house them, they thought he was rather pathetic. And seeing how they all agreed on it so well that the Wall Of Personage had temporarily solidified to the extent that he almost couldn't see them any longer, he knew in spite of all their gimmicks, they really commonly held a grudge against him.
Ayumi stared at Zan and at them. Somehow, she seemed able to differentiate amongst them. When Zan asked, "how are you able to tell that I'm me?" her answer was,
"Obviously, the emptiest one would be you since you're their vessel and currently, you're the one mostly devoid of any personality".
"S-So...if you had to choose one of us...wh-who would it be?" Zan asked her with little confidence.
The other Zans suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Zan and Ayumi. They all drew closer in an instant.
"What are you up to now?" they glared at Zan.
"Nothing, just wondering which one of us Ayu likes the most" Zan muttered.
Zan had lost all of his self-confidence since the incident that afternoon.
"Obviously, she wouldn't like 'Fear'. It's such an abominable trait! And so is sorrow!" Zanbazorodambien roared.
"But it was I Zanlar with my humour who made her laugh. And Zanabana did too even if his jokes were sometimes a bit too extreme!" Zanlar defended himself and Zanabana.
"I won't deny that. But in battles, Zansur and I protected her many times! Don't forget it! Ayu would most likely prefer our strength over our humour!" Zanbazorodambien roared.
"But when you were fighting, did you always charge into battle without a plan? And when you were unsure of yourself, who helped you sort out your feelings. Wasn't it I Zanyen, your reason?!" Zanyen argued.
"We wouldn't need to sort out our feelings if 'Fear' and 'Sorrow' didn't exist!" Zansur roared.
"Probably not, but Zanbazorodambien, you surface a lot and it wasn't always when we were fighting. Sometimes when we fought, it was purely Zansur and when only Zansur fought, Zanfar often got involved, it was the same with Enslavement! I would remind you that the reason Ayu never admitted her feelings for us was because she feared you Zansur!" Zanyen roared. "Zanbazorodambien was often the one who forded Zanfar off and somehow, when we were all down he helped us up but he wouldn't have had the chance to surface if we didn't experience 'Fear' or 'Sorrow'!" Zanyen roared.
"But it still doesn't change the fact that none of us get along!" Zansur roared.
"Precisely but Zanbazorodambien, you are a combination of two attributes or haven't you realized it? Usually, you're just Zanbazorodambien, 'fearlessness', the one that has led us to make many stupid and reckless decisions. Have you not already realized that when you combine the feeling of defeat, fear from defeat, the pain from sorrow, the drive to never fail again from anger and experience from reason, you become the embodiment of the first soul of virtue, Courage?!" Zanyen roared.
"And what is Zanabana's use then huh?! Why do we even need flirtatiousness in the first place?!" Zansur roared.
"Interesting question. Ordinarily, Zanabana's actions are simply driven by hormones. But Zansur, even if that were the case, without his nature of desiring contact with the things around him, you would just be brute violence wouldn't you?! The only reason we can all justify our actions is because Zanabana was the one to choose what we should fight for! Courtship is human nature but beyond simple courtship, flirtatiousness or romance lies man's first sorrow since time took root, the Sorrow Of Loneliness! So if all of you would like to be brutes who would fight just for the sake of fighting, go ahead but there is no need for reason in an aimless mind!" Zanyen scolded Zansur.
"And the person in question is yet to answer us" Zan muttered.
"And what of him?!" Zansur pointed to Zan.
"You sure never quit do you? We were all feelings that were taught to him by experiences of life but without him, we wouldn't exist in the first place!" Zanyen yelled.
"Sheesh, can't I even win one argument against you? You're way too brutal with debates" Zansur finally gave up.
As they all stood talking, the maids approached them.
"Dinner is ready" the maids bowed respectfully.
"Dinner for eight. Interesting. I guess this is the first meal we're going to have as eight different people right? You know, if you guys no longer want to be a part of me, I won't force you to. You've just gotten a chance to live your own lives. I don't want to take that away from you" Zan said.
Zanpuosang began to cry.
"If we become a part of you, we will have to fight again. And we will have to face him...I don't want to. He's way too strong. He'll kill us" Zandambien said.
"I guess he might but truth is, we've survived this long regardless of this guy's hopelessness so I guess; he may truly be a hopeless helpless weakling who needs a girl to defend him and he can't do anything right. But even then, he's one lucky bastard! Resilient as a roach!" Zansur smirked.
Zan smiled.
"And truth be told, I know because I speak less. We've all experienced our share of suffering and it might be his fault but he has experienced all of ours so I guess he may be really strong" Zanpuosang said.
"I don't like how he tries to suppress us. He keeps forgetting us and thinks he's alone, he believes he looks at the world but doesn't see it. He's a walking paradox; a bundle of contradictions. If he can still say stuff like, 'the name's Zan, Xanbie' beyond being an idiot he's a moron. Most people would just shut up. But if his life is not going to be sucked up by this world's predictability and dreary routine, he might have interesting moments ahead of him I'd like to experience" Zanyen said.
The others nodded.
"So it's irrelevant to ask who Ayu likes most" Zanyen said.
"But we'd still like to know!" the Zans said as they glared at Ayumi expectantly.
"You guys are...plain heartless! In other words I'm just so useless I need you guys to help me lead a full life. Did I get it about right?" Zan glared at them.
They laughed.
"Even when everything we said is true, I'm surprised he still saw through it" Zanyen said and laughed even more.
"You guys" Ayumi said as she turned away.
"Guys, I think we made Ayu cry" Zan said plainly.
"I happened to be in love with a man. His name was Zan, just Zan, he had nothing else attached to his name. No name to tie him to a family but he was kind, brave, he was humorous and a hell of a lot annoying. I hated him sometimes, laughed with him sometimes, I even plainly forgot him. I'd push him away and he'd do the same. Sometimes we'd be angry at each other but we'd always end up laughing together. His laughter, his attempts to draw away when he was sad or afraid, his courage, all of these are a part of the man I've come to love. He's not perfect. In fact, he has great evil within himself and he knows it but even if I didn't have to rely on my feelings for him, I can earnestly say he is a good man and there isn't one thing about him I don't love. I dislike many things about him but I love him and if you're all a part of him, I guess I can say I love you all too" Ayumi said, a bit shyly.
Fortunately, the Zans were all feeling mushy enough not to react at the time. If conditions were slightly different, they might have fought again over Ayumi. They left to eat dinner.
"I guess we've all decided then. After this meal, you guys, if Ayumi can say she loves us all and Zan can say he wants us all to experience life, we have a reason to fight but not him; we should all pull together within him and fight Zanfar with everything we've got. Zan, as impossible as it may seem, on our very selves we make this promise, to ensure that you become a Soul Of Virtue!" Zanyen declared.
"Just leave it to us!" Zanbazorodambien declared.
"Sure thing. Speaking with you all like this, I feel I fear Zanfar a bit less now" Zan said with a smile.
"Ouch, painfully honest aren't we?" Zansur said with a smirk. "This is just great. This guy's a laugh. He's pathetic! But because he has a long way to go, his life is way more interesting! This is way too good! So good even 'Anger' feels he can laugh!" Zansur said.
"We're taking all these feelings to him!" the Zans roared.
The scene that followed showed the Mirror Gate as a dark energy began to ooze out! The energy, the malice was intense. It despised life and it's hatred for life petrified all life close to it, animals, plants and even air was not spared.
There was a great explosion as cracks appeared on the Mirror Gate. It darkened in colour to become a mirror that reflected a bottomless pit similar to the nature of a black hole.
"Pitiful fragments of my being! If contention with me is your desire, you will have a fulfilled wish soon enough and I promise you, you won't even have to wish upon a star!" Zanfar's sinister voice echoed throughout the World Of Dreams and Nightmares.
The next scene showed Ayumi and Zan as they stood facing the two remaining souls of evil. The evil souls had sensed a change in the atmosphere since the previous night and came to challenge them once more.
"That was quite an ordeal wasn't it Ayu?" Zan asked her with a smirk.
"It was, but your power seems a bit different now and your presence appears to be more focused" Ayumi said.
"I guess I can still feel them...as though we are different entities. It's no coincidence I can't summon the Luminares without them and if Luminares can't exist, Pyrostellis can't either, even if our love is true" Zan said.
"Don't tell me...where are they? Your fragments?!" Sloth exclaimed.
"Where are they? That is quite an interesting question. After our meal the previous night, we were all forced into training by my dad. He always makes quite an appearance. Since we are originally the same person, we all had the same dream, that we fought the Nightmare King, the true wielder of the Nightbane and Guardian Of The Eternal Mirror Gate. Even 'Fear' and 'Sorrow' were made to hold blades and fight. My dad sure is a harsh instructor" Zan said.
"And he passed all that experience to me through the Pyrostellis Luminares" Ayumi glared at the two evil souls.
"So if you ask where they are, I guess I could say...I am them..." Zan said.
"They are us" Ayumi said.
"And yet neither of us is the other!" Zan and Ayumi said together.
"Oh yeah, apparently you did us a favour Sloth. As the Wall Of Personage solidified, I met another Zan, and he was not a fragment. He said he'd defeated you once with a technique called the Luminous Blaze and he was sure to make sure we understood its significance" Zan said.
"Th-That cursed technique?! You didn't really?!" Sloth seemed fearful.
Even Decay was frightened.
"In the end, neither you nor Decay are strong. You only have as much dominion over our lives as we let you, but if I were to put it in a way an idiot once said it, even if you dominate us, there is still no point to your actions. You may be as strong and fearsome as a titan but mankind is as resilient as a cockroach (and you'd best respect the species!) There is no point in even trying to ask why I fight if what I fight for is what gives Zanfar life. In this situation, it becomes appropriate to say I do it because it's my choice!" Zan declared.
"Damn you Zan Nightbane! Even as a Demi-Dreamweaver you're still a nuisance!" Decay roared.
Zan sighed as the Luminares appeared in his hand. The Pyrostellis responded and appeared in Ayumi's hand as well.
"Demi-Dreamweaver? Don't delude yourselves. I am not a Demi-Dreamweaver! When we even hold the Pyrostellis Luminares, can you still not understand? I am…" Zan declared.
"We are…!" Ayumi roared.
"THE DREAMWEAVER!!!" Ayumi roared as golden flames surrounded their new sigil.
"Damn you Zan! You'd go that far to foil Lord Zanfar's plans?!" Sloth roared.
"Heh, you finally guessed it didn't you. I told you once before. Even if Zanfar can predict my actions, that does not necessarily mean the outcome will be within his expectations. Do you now understand why I called myself the Human Dreamweaver?" Zan said.
"What do you mean Zan?" Ayumi thought to Zan.
"They can predict our actions Ayumi, but they cannot measure our conviction. They knew I'd give you a bit of my heart to save you but when I did, even I didn't realize what I had done till I was split apart. Reason could not measure it on its own but now we're together, our spirit is whole and we understand…I understand. Alone, I am a Demi-Dreamweaver but with you I am yet a Dreamweaver because I am complete. If Zanfar wants my power so bad, he would have to consume both of us but I pretty much doubt Zanfar truly understands the significance of love. You and I are different, our lives, our experiences, our culture, knowledge and history. If Zanfar consumes only me, he will have the power of a Demi-Dreamweaver. Yet, somehow, if he figures it out and consumes you too, even if he gains the powers of a Dreamweaver, he'd be fighting a complete human instead of two fragmented souls. In plain words, Zanfar will become a human and even if he were to attempt what he is planning now, he'd have a third party to face, the Ultimate Soul of Virtue, Truth who dwells within humanity and all other Souls Of Virtue that are attributes of Truth. From Zanfar's point of view, it would be like catching rabies from eating a rabid dog in addition to all the diseases of the organisms currently dwelling in the rabid dog. I tell you, it won't be pretty. And even if I were to say it out loud, I bet even Zanfar is yet to think of a plan to counter this. That is what Chaos meant when he said there is a way to defeat Zanfar but he would not tell us yet and why he appeared to be very interested in our feelings for each other" Zan thought to Ayumi.
"Wow, to think that guy could actually plan this far ahead, I'm impressed" Ayumi seemed surprised.
"But Zanfar seemed interested in becoming a human in the first place somehow" Ayumi thought to Zan.
"Heh, I very much doubt Zanfar understands how paradoxical the nature of humanity is" Zan laughed. "I guess it pays at times to be a bright student".
"You'd raise your sword against your kind! Even against your own self?!" Decay roared.
"Who said I was anything like you?! You were the ones that started calling me Zanfar in the first place! About raising my sword against myself…you're 24 hours too late to even attempt attacking me with those words. Your own foolish actions will ruin you!" Zan declared as the energy around the Pyrostellis became more focused.
The two souls of evil leapt back in fear.
"That technique he's about to use, it's similar to Zanfar's Raging Ultraviolet Attack" Sloth said.
"Let our sigils become one!" Zan declared as he and Ayumi clashed their blades together.
The blades fused to become the Pyrostellis Luminares. A single sword, they could both hold and wield with ease…but…was it a sword any longer?!
Ayumi and Zan stared at their new sigil.
"Whe-e-e-ew….whew!" Zan whistled, impressed at the weapon lying in their hands.
"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THAT?!" Decay screamed in horror.
"If they mentioned Heaven, then they must be really scared and I must say for myself, if Pyrogeysers ever achieved this form, I would never have considered falling for you and risking the change. Well I guess it makes sense…" Ayumi said.
"This is the only logical way to fight with Pyrostellis Luminares!" Zan declared.
"PYROSTELLIS LUMINARES! CANNON MODE!" Zan and Ayumi roared.
"SACRE BLEU!!!" the evil souls screamed in horror.
"Computing energy requirements, computing potential strain. Computation completed; commencing neurone bonding, current maximum psychological compatibility at 62 percent, calculating potential backlash; adjusting Pyrostellis Luminares for optimization. Optimization completed…" their weapon spoke.
"It's adaptable and conscious!" Ayumi exclaimed in awe.
"Not to mention hi-spec!" Zan exclaimed happily.
Translation: Preparing to blow up everything I see as efficiently as possible.
"Pyrostellis Luminares fully loaded and ready for battle! SHOOT THE STARS!!!" the Pyrostellis Luminares ordered.
Ayumi and Zan raised the cannon, a humongous artefact which surprisingly seemed light to them. They placed it on their shoulders and aimed for the evil souls.
"How I wish you were in army camouflage now Ayu" Zan said.
"Too bad, maybe next time" Ayumi shrugged her shoulders.
"DUAL VERSION LUMINOUS BLAZE! HOSTS OF THE FIRMAMENT!!!" Ayumi and Zan roared as they fired a concentrated beam of energy focused on destroying Decay and Sloth and having the power of the stars themselves.
Zanfar's roar broke the air as the remaining souls of evil, Sloth and Decay returned to the Mirror Gate.
"I am compelled to say…I am vaguely impressed" Zanfar muttered as…
The wind blew the smoke left over as a result of the heat generated by the Pyrostellis Luminares.
"For making my little sis suffer, we were quite merciful" Ayumi growled as the Pyrostellis Luminares faded away.
Zan held one of the stones in his hand and Ayumi held the other.
"Somehow it all felt a bit too easy" Zan said.
"That is true but we can't leave them to roam the earth as it is" Ayumi said.
Zan threw the stone in his hand to her.
"Give this to your dad when he returns" Zan said.
"Sure. I guess you're returning to your Uncle's place right?" Ayumi asked him.
"Yeah, if anything happens, don't forget to call for me!" Zan waved to Ayumi.
She waved back.
"Sure, and thanks" she said.