Salutations! ... Hmmmm, is that how greetings between an author and his readers are done?

Well anyway thank you for taking the time to take a look at this fic. Though i have written stories before, this is the first time i have written anything that would be presented to a potentially large audience. I've been lurking around this site for a long time and I guess the countless wonderful fics I have read had inspired me to try my hand at writing one myself.

This is my first fic, constructive criticism is welcome.

==The Dream of the Infinite=============================================================

=={Original World}==

"…Issei Hyoudo"

She had uttered a name of a certain boy. It was a name that held great significance to her, a name that would stay in her memories to the ends of time. It was the name of the one being that she could consider as her friend.

Names were convenient things. It allowed one to distinguish one existence from the other. Despite the fact that she had existed longer than most beings, it was only recently that she had begun to take interest and appreciate the unique characteristics possessed by others.

She was after all the Ouroboros Dragon, the one who symbolized the infinite. Though originally she held neither gender nor name, humans and a certain strong willed devil boy had influenced her greatly. Now she was distinguished as a female entity known by the name of Ophis.

She had existed long before, however the majority of her existence was spent in the comfort of the silence provided by the dimensional gap; an endless and timeless void that could only be entered by certain means. She had originally thought that she would stay still in that timeless void yet she was proven wrong when another being had taken the dimensional gap as its home.

Said being was known only as Great. Similar to her own existence, Great Red held power that no other being could match and was distinguished as the "true dragon". However, unlike her who symbolized the concept of "infinite" and "nothingness", Great Red instead symbolized the concept of "dreams" and "illusions". Though coexistence may have been possible for the two, Great Red had taken to flying endlessly in the void, disturbing her silence.

Having the comfort of silence taken away from her, Ophis had attempted to reclaim her home by eliminating the red dragon. Using her boundless infinite power, she had engaged Great Red in combat. The battle that ensued had been so destructive that if it had been held in the real world, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the majority of living beings would cease to exist. Despite her efforts however she was defeated. No true harm had been done to her; however she was unable to drive away the intruder disturbing her home.

At the time she was unable to comprehend the cause for her loss, though now she fully understood it. Her time with Issei Hyoudo had made her realized many things; one being the fact that there where many things about the world and its inhabitants that she could not understand. Though she had interacted with the real world before, it was only when she had met Issei Hyoudo that she experienced how truly interesting the world and its inhabitants were. The boy had shown her that there was no truly impossible feat for as long as you held the drive and will to realize it and that each living being held the potential to realize countless possibilities.

It was this fact that allowed her to realize why she had lost to Great Red. The red dragon symbolized the concept of dreams and illusions, it held the power to realize or actualize nearly any idea that could be conceived. The red dragon could essentially do anything, from shooting concentrated beams of power to even creating gods. That is why despite the fact that she held infinite power, enough to even dwarf that of Great Red's, she had still lost and was forced to enlist the help of other beings.

Though it was a troublesome experience for her, now she considered it to be what humans call "a blessing in disguise". It was because of the intrusion of the red dragon that allowed her path to cross with the boy named Issei Hyoudo.

Issei Hyoudo had interested her greatly. The boy inherited the boosted gear that held the power of the welsh dragon Draig. The power it granted was enough to slay the gods themselves; however every human being that had wielded it had met an improper end. Most of its former wielders were consumed by the power they obtained. Yet despite the fate met by the boy's predecessors, despite the fact that the boy was considered to be the weakest among the boosted gear's wielders, the boy was able to break and transcend both the curse and the supposed fate accompanying it. The boy drew power from the strangest and most uncanny places and had never allowed the power to consume his psyche. He had remained the kind yet perverted boy that everyone knew and loved.

The seemingly unbreakable will he possessed allowed him to go above and beyond everyone's expectations. He was able to do the impossible and he had achieved and wielded the level of power that would have consumed anyone else. These characteristics he possessed had interested her greatly, but the true reason why she decided to go and stay by his side was simple; he had called her his friend.

She found that her decision to accompany Issei Hyoudo in his journey had been the best one she had made. Unfortunately she was a being that time itself cannot touch, hence she was never really able to comprehend meaning of an "ending". She vaguely understood the concept from the video games she was given to play and the shows that she had watched in the thing they called television, but it wasn't enough to prepare her for the "end" of her time with Issei. She didn't want that to end, she wanted to keep going with him wherever he went even if it was the afterlife, she wanted to forever stay by his side.

Issei's passing had been the only time she had truly hated her origin and her power. She found that her power was unable to keep her by his side. Her power was unable to bring him back, and the very same thing had prevented her from accompanying him in his death. Her life had become empty after his death and she found that not even the passage of time could ever hope to change it. She found that the human saying "time heals all wounds" was untrue, for her time had only worsened it.

That was when she had made a decision. A decision that set into motion a long series of events that would influence and affect many lives. A decision that would once again allow her to be by his side.

==The Dream of the Infinite=============================================================

=={Dimensional Gap}==

It was a world that time could not touch. It was filled with an eerie silence that was only broken by the noise made by the flapping of wings. It was a world she was very familiar with and one she had not seen for quite some time. She had considered once again residing in this place after Issei's passing, however she opted to travel and learn more things about the world since it would most likely be what the boy would wish for her to do.

She returned to her former home for a single purpose; to find Great Red. She had neither had the intention to drive away the red dragon nor living with it. Though she once found comfort in this place, she was unable to enjoy it for the same reason she that she never stayed in a single place, the lack of the existence called Issei Hyoudo. She wanted to see him again, to be by his side again, and for that purpose she needed the power of Great Red.

Truth be told she did have the potential to realize her own wish but unfortunately having an infinite amount of power did not mean had the ability or proficiency to do anything she wished. Raw power no matter the amount cannot do anything by itself. After all, for her wish to be granted an idea, a means, or a plan must first be conceived before she could use her power to create and realize it, and no other being in existence could possibly give her a greater chance in succeeding than Great Red.

"Great Red"

She called the dragon with a volume of voice that one would use in a conversation with a person nearby. It was enough though since the red dragon had stopped its performing its aerial manoeuvres and had turned its body to look at her. With a low growl that seemed to express its irritation, Great Red moved its massive body over to Ophis' location performing a full backflip before landing with enough force to cause a small shake of the ground.

'Oi Ouroboros…. What the heck is it? Did you come for a fight?'

If a being other than a dragon were to hear the red dragon, they would only be able to make out growls and roars. Unlike Ophis, Great Red did not speak any human language but those of the same race were able to understand his words perfectly. On a side note, if humans were able to understand the red dragon's way of speaking, they would most likely liken the red dragon to a gruff delinquent biker.

"Great Red, I have come to make a request. I would like to borrow your power"

Revealing her wings, Ophis flies upward to elevate herself to eye level with the dragon. She had a look of determination but it came off as a flat and empty stare much to the red dragon's unease. Great Red hated being stared at, especially like that.

'What would you even need my power for!? You can do it yourself!'

With another growl, the red dragon began to turn and prepare to fly once again but was stopped by Ophis' next words.

"Issei Hyoudo"

With those words, the red dragon had once again turned to face Ophis. That name had also held significance for the red dragon. It was the name of someone it acknowledged and approved of. The time that it was able to spend with that boy was short but was more than enough to develop respect. It was in fact the only name other than that of the Ouroboros dragon that it could even recognize.

'Hmph…. So, what could my power possibly have to do with Issei Hyoudo?'

If those who knew the Ouroboros dragon in the past where to see her now they would be in shock to see that the always stoic and expressionless dragon actually had a small smile in her face.

"Great Red, I want to you to lend me your power so that I can realize my dream"

==The Dream of the Infinite=============================================================

=={Another World}==

"IT'S MORPHING TIME!"

A man on the television shouted prompting himself and his fellow rangers to engage in their transformation sequence and then proceeded to fight the monster. Just as the monster was losing a truly surprising plot twist had taken place, the monster had somehow used its eldritch powers granted to it by some unknown being of evil to turn increase its size to that of Godzilla proportions. Not to be outdone, the heroes each summon their respective mechanical beasts and proceeded to combine them into one giant robot. With the power of friendship and camaraderie and after a speech or two, the rangers were able to defeat the monster.

To any adult it was a group of actors wearing costumes with some fancy props and special effects thrown in. To six year old children however it was as real as it could possible get. In fact, nothing could possibly more awesome to them than a hero defeating the forces of evil and saving the day. Case in point:

"THAT WAS AWESOME! HAH! IRI-KUN LET'S GO! IT'S MORPHING TIME!"

A boy with brown spiky hair had shouted at the top of his lungs the second the credits rolled. He stood up and copied the poses and actions made by the heroes in an attempt to transform himself.

"Got it Ise-kun! It's morphing time!"

A girl with short chestnut colored hair had shouted the lines as well, though with a little less volume, while performing the same poses right behind him.

Issei Hyoudo and Irina Shidou were normal six year old children and have been friends since they were four. They were currently in the Shidou residence, which was only a few blocks away from Ise's house, watching their favourite tokusatsu show. They were both big fans of heroes and had dreamed of someday becoming as cool and as strong as their idols so they can vanquish evil by themselves, it was what brought them together.

"OK I got it! Iri-kun lets become heroes and defend the world from bad guys!" Ise had stopped his posing and looked straight at Irina. If special effects were to be placed in this scene than the boys eyes would, without a doubt, be burning with passion, literally.

"Yeah! Let's become strong and beat up all the bad guys! "

In their excitement Ise tips over vase on the table near them. With the reflexes than could only be seen in a child that did not want to receive the wrath of their parents no matter what, they were both able to somehow catch the vase before it had landed on the ground.

"Whew…. That was close…. Kaa-chan would kill us if we broke the vase"

With great relief in the fact that they had just avoided a horrible fate for any child, Irina places the vase back on the table in the exact same position and facing it was in before it was tipped over, they could never be too careful or her mother would notice. She then proceeded to pretend that what occurred in the last few seconds had never really happened. It was then that a very important question had come to mind.

"Ise-kun…. How do we become heroes? Do we have to beat a monster or something? Ah right! Kaa-chan read a story to me once about a guy becoming a hero after he beat up a dragon! Let's go find a dragon and beat it up!" Not realizing that her solution was just as impossible, she had proceeded by telling her friend about the story of a hero slaying a dragon added with wild hand gestures and sound effects.

The six year old boy was shocked at what he heard. Dragons where his most favourite things in the world and would never beat one up. He liked dragons better than heroes or pretty much anything else, red dragons for some reason were even better for him. He didn't really get why but he also seemed to like the colour red a lot, maybe it was because it felt like it made stuff 3 times faster? Yes, that was definitely the reason.

"NO! No beating up dragons! Dragons are with the good guys so we can't fight them! I think that we can become heroes if we learn how to transform…" He fell into silence suddenly remembering something.

He couldn't remember when it started but for some reason he had been getting strange dreams. There were a lot of people he didn't recognize, and for some reason he was taller in them too… A particularly prominent part of those dreams was this girl with black hair in strange black clothing that kept calling his name.

Irina noticed that Ise became quiet but before she could speak the door suddenly opened and Mrs. Shidou had come in. She scanned the room for any broken or missing item to make sure that the children were behaving. Irina and Issei had a tendency to get too excited and she didn't want another broken appliance and an injured child at her hands. She still couldn't get how those two managed to destroy the ceiling fan.

Suddenly remembering the incident with the vase a few minutes ago, the two became eerily silent and had just opted to freeze in place. The last time something was broken and Issei got injured, they were scolded until their ears fell off and were grounded for a 2 weeks and were forbidden from playing any of their games. For a child, that was equivalent to an eternity of boredom. After a few moments passed, Mrs. Shidou had looked at them with slight curiosity over their behaviour. No anger could be found in her eyes so the pair was able rest easy.

"Ise-chan, It's getting a bit late will you be staying over for dinnner?" Mrs. Shidou asked, waving off the children's strange behaviour to the trauma they received from getting scolded and grounded the last time they did something stupid.

"… Eh?" Ise immediately turns to the clock on the wall and sees it was already 4:30pm. He needed to be home before nightfall or his parents will get worried. He still had an hour or so more but it was better to be early.

"Ah! Sorry Shidou-san, I need to get home now! Bye Iri-kun, I'll see you on Saturday!" Grabbing the small bag he brought, Ise went out of the Shidou residence in a hurry.

"Ise-chan make sure to take care on your way home! And - Ah really now, that boy should learn to listen first before rushing out like that." Giving a sigh of exasperation, Mrs. Shidou turned to her daughter who was wearing letting out a small laugh at her friend's actions.

"Irina… I went to see your room a few minutes ago and I was pretty sure I told you to clean it" Mrs. Shidou levelled a stern look at her daughter who was smiling sheepishly.

"Ehehehe…. Oh right… Ise-kun came over and I forgot to do it but since he already went home I guess I'll do it now!" Irina quickly runs off to her room hoping to avoid any scolding that may come.

"Ah—Irina! Be done before six, papa's calling from the Europe later!"

"Really!? Yayyy!"

==The Dream of the Infinite=============================================================

After rushing out of the Shidou residence Ise decided to take a longer route back home. He still a lot of time before he needed to be home so he decided to roam around for a bit.

Honestly he was just hoping that maybe he would meet someone from the strange dreams he was having lately if he walked around a bit. He knew it was dream and when he told his parents about it, they just waved it off as the imagination of a child, but for some reason it felt real… Something was telling him it was real.

'It feels like I've known them for a really long time. Their faces are all blurry but I kinda recognize them… but there was that one girl with black hair who doesn't have a blurry face'

Most of the people that appear in his dreams didn't have faces. The one exception to that was a certain black haired girl with black and frilly clothing who liked to call his name.

'Yeah, I wonder who that girl is…. She had those weird clothes too'

Right at that moment a something caught his eye. It was only a glimpse but he recognized the clothing and the hair of the person.

"Eh…? …Wasn't that?"

Before he even realized he was already chasing after the familiar figure. It seemed to suddenly disappear every time it turned into a corner and would suddenly reappear in another place. He followed the figure without fail but eventually lost sight of it.

"Haah….Haahh… Where… did she go?"

Taking a break to catch his breath, he went into a small park.

"Ah….."

He was frozen on the spot by what he saw. It was the figure he was following, but more importantly, it was the girl in the dreams he kept having. The girl had deep black hair wearing black and frilly clothing. She was sitting on a swing and was looking down at the ground.

He didn't understand, he couldn't understand. But he felt like he knew this girl. It was even stranger that for some reason, a name came up in his mind.

"….Ophis"

Was the word that came out of his mouth. He didn't know why he called her that, but it felt like he needed to say it.

Looking up, the girl had looked at him right in the eye, her gaze felt like it was probing the very depths of his soul. Her face was expressionless but there was a spark in her eyes as she recognized who called her name.

"Issei Hyoudo"

…and so their story starts

==The Dream of the Infinite=============================================================

Author's Notes:
Thank you once again for reading this, I would appreciate if you were to leave your thoughts about it in a review :D