Ch.13 Visions
Six days have passed since Manami turned into her inverse form, and things have gotten worse both the AST and DEM sent many agents to try to put a scratch on the castle that Manami created, which has gotten massive in size, and all of them were either killed or seriously injured in the process. The party is hiding in Miku's mansion for time being since Lucifuge doesn't know where it is. At the moment everyone sleeps while taking turns keeping watch; right now Origami is taking her turn for the next four hours. Shido and Yoshino were the only ones who didn't have to keep watch in this, but Shido was relived to not have the nightmare anymore. Only this time his dream was strange and surreal. Shido's dream started with him walking through the streets of the city, and no one was around the city was empty.
"Hello is anyone around?"
He walks a little further and tries calling for the girls.
"Tohka….Yoshino….Kotori?"
After a few more minutes of walking he finally sees another person, a hooded figure wearing a pearl white cloak, they turn around and see Shido then starts walking through the city. Shido chases the figure to the city's hospital. Upon entering the hospital Shido walks around in the hope of seeing another person, but no luck until he sees the figure inside an elevator.
"Wait hold on!"
He runs to the elevator but the doors close before he can get on. The indicator shows the elevator stopped on the tenth floor, so he follows on a different elevator. Upon arriving on the floor his first reaction is to search for the figure again, but he stops as soon as a sound fills the floor; the sound of a baby crying. Shido decides to trace the noise in case the baby needed help; as he gets closer to the noise he notices one of the doors down further is glowing. When Shido opens the door he sees a few people inside, one of the people looked like an older version of himself along with two children, a boy and a girl, a doctor, and a woman in the bed holding a baby, her head is obscured by the sun shining through the window. The doctor is cleaning his hands as he says.
"Congratulations it's a girl"
The older Shidor is close to the woman and is talking to her only his words can't be heard by his younger self. The boy looks at his parents and asks.
"Can I hold her?"
The two adults nod and hand the baby girl to her brother and he holds her in his small arms. As Shido attempts to step inside the people disappear, and the room is left silent. Shido checks around the room and looks out the window to see outside; he sees the figure below looking at him from the ground outside the building. The figure then turns around and starts walking somewhere else again, and Shido follows to get answers. This time he was led to home out in the suburbs of the city, and once again Shido hears noises this time music from an mp3 player from inside one of the bedrooms. Curious Shido walks inside the house to check out the noise again. This time the only people were the older Shido and a thirteen year old boy, they were having a conversation.
"Hey dad I was wondering why do you want to help spirits?."
"Why…that's east because I believe they can be saved"
"But why?"
"Because they're people like the rest of us, they're just treated like evil creatures by other people?"
"Do you know any spirits?"
"Many in fact your mom is a spirit"
"Mom's a spirit…"
"She sure is, but her powers were sealed long ago, by sealing a spirits power we can help them and prevent people from getting hurt"
"Help them and stop people from getting hurt…"
Once again the people disappear and Shido looks outside for the figure, and repeats what happened at the hospital. This time Shido follows the figure to a cemetery, and the vision was already present the young boy from the bedroom was paying his respects to a gravestone that reads Mana Takamiya. The boy was talking to the stone.
"Aunt Mana I've decided to become a scientist, one who can help make new medicine and one that can find new ways to help spirits just like dad…I know that you once believed that spirits were the enemy, but I really think I can make a difference if I work really hard; I don't want to lose anyone special again because of stupid people"
The boy begins to get teary eyed as he talks more but can't be heard as he fades. Shido looks around for the figure but can't see them this time.
"So what exactly are you trying to tell me?"
The area begins to flicker brightly causing Shido to become temporarily blind for a moment, as he regains his sight another vision is shown to him. The vision this time was a gruesome one, the suit of armor he was told about punching the ground shouting Kasumi over and over again. Before anything can happen the figure shows up behind Shido and actually talks this time.
"I don't know exactly…maybe all I wanted was to show you some of my life's biggest points or maybe I just wanted to talk with you"
"About what?"
"About how I need your help, about how your children need you"
The figure removes his hood and reveals Yukio's face
"Kasumi told me some things but what can you tell me?"
"That I'm proud to be your son and that I'm glad that I have two wonderful sisters and a beautiful mother"
"Hmm you invaded my dream to tell me that; guess that just shows how much you care"
"Well this is all I can manage for now…listen to me Westcott did not break me"
"That screaming was you!?"
"Yeah he tortured me for hours but he couldn't break me, no what happened to me was inevitable"
"You mean your transformation?"
"Yeah when Manami was nearly killed by DEM my anger boiled to great heights and my despair overcame my better judgment I feared I was turning into my demon king form, but since Manami was still in her normal form I couldn't change, but when Westcott was torturing me he told me all the horrible things he did to you, to Alice, and to many others I I just couldn't contain my rage, and that's when I heard laughing"
"Laughing"
"Then a voice said finally and then I lost control of myself, and I attacked Mana, Origami, Miku, and even my own sister I couldn't stop myself, I even called those devils mom and dad…I was being controlled by Lucifuge"
"Lucifuge is sentient!?"
"He is and he's very dangerous, he has control over all the demon kings even ones you haven't seen yet and worse he's under the command of Manami and all she wants right now is her fantasy brought to life, but that's also the way to undo what's happened"
"….She can change reality"
"Exactly normally it's would be materialization from her normal power, but multiply that with all the power she has and basically you get a spirit that can do just about anything she wants. Just be who she wants her daddy"
"I think I can handle that, but how do we get passed your body and Lucifuge"
"I'll take care of that with my next trip"
"Wait!"
Shido wakes up from his dream and waits for everyone to wake up to tell them about what he dreamt of since he had a feeling that it wasn't a dream. The next person to dream was Tohka she was dreaming of eating a picnic with Shido alone under a tree in a meadow; they were having fun and enjoying themselves. When Tohka stands up to stretch her arms she sees the hooded figure standing across the meadow, only the left arm of the cloak was black, and summons Nehemah and charges, Tohka summons Sandalphon and blocks his attack. Tohka then notices the background has changed to a very different location, a giant flower garden in the middle of a dark night.
"What is this place?"
"A place that a certain little girl dreams of being…with her knights"
Tohka knocks her opponent backwards, but he catches his feet on the ground, and summons his own Sandalphon into his opposite hand.
"Why can you have Sandalphon too?"
"I assumed you would have figured it out"
"Don't mess with my head!"
Tohka's astral dress materializes on her body and she makes the next attack attempting to shoot a slash wave from her sword to quickly finish but the hooded man jumps out of the way and summons a glyph below his feet and joins his two swords forward of his body and gathers energy into his body, he holds his swords to the sky then launches a few beams of light and a couple darkness into the sky creating a vision like a setting sun, he then spins his swords rapidly shooting spheres of light and darkness at Tohka which she dodges masterfully.
"Very nice Tohka just what I'd expect, but there's one thing I still don't understand"
"Yeah and what's that?"
The hooded man attacks with his swords again, and the sword clashing begins more rapidly this time with both sword users fighting on equal terms.
"Why'd he tell me to come to you!?"
The hooded man gets Tohka one knee and starts bashing his swords against hers in berserker-like fashion, and knocks away her Sandalphon. Tohka jumps to grab it, but he gets to it first and pins it to the ground with his own Sandalphon; he then points his Nehemah at Tohka.
"I don't get why he told me to come to you"
Tohka gets angry but tries one last trick she holds out her hand and the hooded mans Sandalphon leaves his hand and warps into Tohka's catching him off guard.
"What!?"
Tohka uses this opportunity and slashes him across the chest causing him to drop his other sword.
"Now I understand"
He takes off his hood revealing himself to Tohka and smiles at her.
"I'm sorry if I offended you"
"Aren't you Yukio?"
"Yup glad to meet you face to face Tohka"
Yukio reaches out help Tohka up off the ground.
"What are we doing here?"
"I wanted to show you this, it's a very special place; what do you think?"
Tohka takes a moment to look at all the beauty of the landscape and is awed by the image.
"This place is so beautiful"
"This is Manami's dream garden"
"That little girl dreamed all of this?"
"I know she has a great imagination"
"Before you say anything Yukio…am I her mother"
"Tohka….I can't answer that"
"Why not!?"
"Because I can't okay it would only make things difficult"
"You're just going to erase my memories of this aren't you"
"Tohka…okay you at least to deserve to know so I'll tell what my dad told me….but you have to promise not to tell anyone"
"I promise"
Yukio begins to tell the story of what Shido told him when he was younger.