A deafening roar echoed off of the chasm walls as smoke and essence fell from the vanquished demon's body, eventually absorbed into the blade like a sponge. The normally shiny blade of rightousness was now dark as space and filled with evil. Using the now-evil sword as a crutch, the wounded samurai stood uneasily, a bit wobbly on his feet. With a smirk of grim satisfaction, he lifted the sword high above his head, and slammed it within the rock wall. The black essense oozed into the solid stone and left the sword clean and wholesome again.
It slid out of the wall with a metallic hiss. Giving in to his screaming musles, Jack collapsed onto the stone floor, the heat feeling good on his weary body. He smiled at his reflection in the blade, a victorious samurai after a lifetime of training and praying. Now nothing could stop him from returning home, rebuilding his kingdom--he smiled joyfully--and seeing Keiko again. A beauty as a child could only be a goddness now.
A cool dampness cleaned his sweaty forehead and he sighed in relief. His eyes tried to focus as his mind was beginning to lose consciousness. A face, black hair, a gentle smile. He smiled weakly, feeling control of his body leave him helpless. It had to be a fevered dream, but oh did it feel good. "Mo--"
"--ther?"
The Empress smiled, "Thank kami you are alright. You had us worried.
Her voice... just the sound of it relieved him of some pain. His body... it felt detached, less weighted down, smaller. His eyes were coming back into focus, and he could see his mother's... youthful face? "What is happening?" He wondered aloud, shocked at how childish his voice sounded. What had happened?!
"A slight earthquake struck our city, and a part of the ceiling fell on your head. You were unconcious for three days, but the gods have given me my son back." She gently embraced him, careful not to hurt him.
Earthquake? Three days? How could that be? He had wandered in Aku's future for over three years, or did the time portal make it seem that in the past, he won the first time going against the demon?
"Welcome back, my son," The Emperor entered the room, relief in his majestic eyes.
Jack smiled to hear his father's voice again, and turned his head to see him, but he was just as he remembered from his childhood. The effects of 20 years of slavery had disapeared comepletely, and he was the mighty Emperor of Japan again. When his mother released him, he gasped to see that she too was as he remembered from his childhood. How far back had the time portal taken him?!
She kissed his forehead and tucked him back into bed. "Kitamura-san insists you stay in bed for another day, we have to make sure there is no lasting effects."
"What happened to Aku?!" WHY did his voice sound so childish? "I only defeated him in the future, or did his past self die as well?"
"It seems there are some effects, let us pray they do not last," The Emperor kneeled at the side of the futon, next to his wife. "I sealed away Aku 5 years ago, my son. He will never return. You just had a feverish nightmare while you were unconcious. Our city is safe from any threat, do not worry."
Five years ago... that's right! He was born the very day his father imprisoned the demon. The gods had granted him a chance at his childhood again, but if Aku had not returned in this era, it was only a matter of time before he would. We must be prepared! "Father, Aku will return! He came back and took our city by suprise. He captured you and Mother sent me on a journey to train to become a samurai and return home to save our people. When I went into battle against him, he tricked me and sent me into his hellish future, where he was dictator of the world for thousands of years. I spent three years there, then I defeated him, and next thing I know, I am here."
Father and Mother looked at each other worriedly. How hard had the rubble hit him? "Harutomo, it was just a nightmare," His mother said. "It was only a bad dream. You're safe now, that demon will never come to haunt us again."
How it hurt him to see tears well up in his mother's eyes. "Mother, it was no dream; Aku will return, and we must be ready for him!"
"Hush," His father whispered, brushing back Jack's hair from his face. "I know it may have seemed like reality, but I can assure you, we are safe from all danger. Go to sleep, your dream will lose its vividness in time."
He yawned widely, feeling the tug of sleep on his weary body. His head sunk into his pillow as his eyes unsteadily focused on his parents, so glad to be home and with them once more. "I love you, Father, Mother..."
"We love you too, Harutomo," They both kissed his cheek and left the room, trusting Sleep to give him gentle and peaceful dreams this night.