*****
I open my eyes and look around. It's dark again, my only dignity is the shadow that cloaks my naked body. Blood tattoos intricate, random patterns across the flesh; where there should be sweat there is blood. A tear rips into my mind and my back, and in a wrenching surge of pain and release, a set of black wings erupts from the spine, draping the room in a darker curtain. Gasping for breath, I collapse to the ground, glorifying in its comforting liquid surface.
"You can't keep on going on like this. Your future is already decided. It would be best if you did not keep on seeking to restore Kamui to his original state." Looking up, I see another figure leaning forlornly against the doorjamb. Kakyou, the Dragon of the Earth's Dreamgazer.
"Why have you brought me here?" Cords whipped around my body and raised me onto a crucifix, like Kotori so long ago. So long ago? It was only a few weeks but so much has happened that forever seems like yesterday. Kakyou lifted an accusing finger in my direction- that stung.
"It is not my desire to be in this situation. You did not choose this path- when Kamui fled Tokyo after retrieving the Shinken, he became the Dragon of the Earth. Because you were forced into this, you will never truly awaken as the Dragon of the Heaven." The finger fell. "But I will continue to hope for a different future." Kakyou's image faded into the darkness, leaving me to hang on the cross, my head spinning with more than fatigue. Oh yes, it is my dream, I could withdraw anytime I want too, but some things have to be thought of in this condition.
There is less blood on my body now than when you broke me, Kamui-chan. The pain is less intense, the tears less apparent. The only thing clearer to me now than when I began is that you are no longer Shiro Kamui.
I keep on looking for my reflection in the shimmering ground below. Every time, the water stills to within a fraction of my reflection, but the feathers always distort the image, can never look myself in the eye again. The water begins to color itself red with my blood. Pity. I pity Kakyou. Bound to his fate, bound to his dreams, without the ability to choose.
"Onii-chan." That voice fluttered into the darkness of my self-denial and a golden light bathed the dream in brightness.
"Kotori! Kotori I'm sorry!" The tears were instant and stung. My sister nii-chan, more radiant that I had ever seen here
"No. there's no need for you to apologize. It is what I was destined for after all." When she spoke, it was as if she was slowly piercing the layers I had built up over the past few weeks the blood began to dry and fade on my body. "You had protected me and it was me who had to protect you. I will always be with you inside your heart, and I will always be wishing for the brother I love, who can only save the one I love. I believe in you. Anything that tries to defeat you only makes you stronger." She reached up, stroked my face, and it was pure; not the perverse, gratuitous fondlings of Kamui, but a genuine, loving stroke. I closed my eyes and felt her melt against my face, pulled her close for a final embrace.
"And also, the future is still undecided." My head snapped up as she pulled away, and my eyes brimmed again; Kotori-chan "Remember, Nii-chan The future is still undecided!" And with that, she was gone. The cords across my body faded, and I collapsed to the floor. The dreamscape faded, and I was lying in my room on the warm carpet.
The finger that Kakyou had pointed at me, that wasn't a finger of accusation. That was the finger of hope. The Dreamgazer hopes for a different future as much as I do. And now I felt her hand against my cheek again there is hope.
The future is still undecided.
I'm coming for you, Kamui. If only to protect Kotori one last time.
*****