Ire for your Life

[Colorless Spectrum]

"There have strange occurrence of people who are in a sudden state of comatose in a certain city. Most of the victims are teenagers but there are also a few children and elderly. But what they don't know is that this is my doing. Now will you play my game? Or will you try to escape and die just like the ones before you?"

-Unknown

​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

PROLOGUE

"Ahhh, where am I? Why am I here?" He stood up as he saw someone approached him that person was wearing an armor, he also had a sword with him. "I've watching you. I've seen everything that you did. And I'm here to offer you my help. I am Arthur, the King of Britain, the King of Knights, and surely you've heard about me. I am pleased to make you're acquaintances, Seiju Saikatame." Arthur bowed at him. His eyes widened at what he had said. He looked around him and noticed that he was in front of his house, the house, the streets and everything looked the same but something didn't feel right for him. "So, what is this place?" Arthur smiled noticing how highly perceptive Seiju is. "This is a dream," He said and paused for a few seconds, "And you are in someone else's dream." He added.


"If I'm in a dream then how come..... Everything feels so realistic?" Seiju asked. Arthur looked at the sky and answered him, "So people won't realize it and feel as if they had been living ordinary lives." Seiju frowned and walked past Arthur and went into his house. He sat at his sofa and opened the T.V. He sensed Arthur beside him and said, "What are you even doing here? Get out." he commanded him. "I won't, like I said I'm here to help you, whether you like or not, you will need my help." He said sternly. "If everything that you're saying is true then show it to me!" Seiju shouted at him. Arthur smiled and motioned Seiju to follow him.


Later on they stopped to halt at the park, "Wait till night time." Arthur said and then he vanished. Seiju looked around for Arthur but he can't find him. Seiju's been waiting for three hours and it's already 9 pm. Seiju clenched his teeth. 'What am I even waiting for here! Nothing's gonna happen anyway.' Not too soon did he find a married couple having a walk in the park and are happily talking. Seiju watched them, his eyes following them to the swing. He was about to walk away when he heard the scream of the girl. He turned around to see the husband transforming into something monstrous, filled with a dark aura and the want to kill. Seiju looked up and saw the moon blood red.



​

Spoiler

The woman wanted to run away but she couldn't move due to the fear of the monster in front of her. She's been mumbling to herself over and over saying, "This isn't what I want! Please stop! I'm sorry if I abandoned you, I'm sorry that I'm the reason why you died. But... but if this is what's supposed to happen to someone like me then so be it!" Seiju wanted to help but he knows that he won't be able to deal with something like that. "Arthur! Arthur, where are you?" He shouted and then Arthur materialized in front of him and said, "I told you you would need me." Arthur turned around and looked at the scene that Seiju has witnessed. "No time for explanations right now." He turned back and looked at Seiju straight in the eye and said, "You want to help? Then you already know what to do." He said to him.


Seiju was confused at what Arthur was saying. But by the time he had finished he knew what it is that he has to say. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Slowly, quietly he said, "Ma-ni-fest ARTHUR!" He looked at him straight in the eye and Arthur began to disintegrate into small blue orbs that circled around Seiju's body. In a blink of an eye, Seiju has everything that Arthur had been wearing his armor, his sword and some of his features. 'Look those things are called Dream Eaters, to kill them we have to work together.' Seiju nodded at what Arthur had said through their minds. Without further ado they charged toward the dream eater and slashed it with force. A giant cut crossed it's torso but it wasn't enough. The Dream eater tried to slash them but it was parried, quickly they sliced the head and killed it. Arthur was now back to his original self and so was Seiju. He turned around at the girl and asked if she was ok. The girl cried and said her thank you a lot of times and Seiju escorted her back to her home.


In front of the girl's house Seiju stood there for an hour and and Arthur suddenly spoke, "That woman was scared of her dead husband haunting her, before she got comatosed she always dreamt of her husband becoming a monster and killing her everynight." Seiju asked Arthur without turning his head. "So, it's like this everynight?" Arthur answered with a yes as Seiju sighed, "I'm gonna have to live in this nightmare, this hell everytime I sleep. Tell me, what more it is that I need to know, Arthur."


CHAPTER 1: Afraid Of What?

 

[Woebegone]

Location: Dream; School


Activity: Waiting on homeroom to start


With: N/A



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Spoiler

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Rika woke up from bed, it was still early, then again though, she doesn't recall when she even went to bed? Maybe she was tired from last night? Wait, what did she even do last night? Everything was hazy, every bit of her memory felt like it was taken away from her but she didn't mind this, It's just that I just woke up, my memory would be hazy as normal, of course. She thought as she was already done with her normal routine of the things people would do before heading to school. The burning heat of the sun was the same as always for summer, it was infuriating and it always felt like it was sapping every strength you have due to the intense amounts of heat it blasts towards you.


"Rika-chaaaan! Ohayo!" a voice came from behind Rika, it was a classmate of hers, Onodera Takami.


"Oh, Ohayo, Onodera.." despite considering Onodera as her friend, she can't help but express her usual timid self even to her friend.


"What the heck is up with that greeting? So lifeless! C'mon say OHAYO! with more energy!"





And with that, Onodera mustered all her strength for this one blow. Almost sucking all her physical energy she blasted all her frustrations for this one greeting. "Ohayo, O-Onedera." her friend fell to the floor, face flat to the floor, it was truly disappointing for her it seems.


"Sigh, whatever, let's just get going. Oh. By the way, have you heard? We got a new classmate coming in today!" Onedera's mood immediately switched to her usual lively self.





"Eh? B-but.. isn't it a bit late?" Rika answered in her usual quiet tone. "I mean, isn't it middle of summer?" she added.


Onodera lets out a loud laugh before continuing to speak, "I really don't care as long as he's hot, ya know!" she said hitting Rika's back. "Let's go! We'll be late!" the two began to run.


The two had already arrived and everything seemed...stapled. It was all normal and it was just her normal routines, everyone including Rika would have gotten bored of it. The classes, the getting up everyday treatment of life was just so plain. Rika proceeded with her classes till it 5pm and it was their last class. Apparently, some of their teachers lengthened their time with their lessons so they appeared lengthier and thus, giving them a later dismissal than usual. While their last class was ongoing, Rika remembered the conversation she and Onodera had while heading towards school. Oh yeah, there's going to be a new student, they say. she thought as she bowed down, their class was over and Rika and her classmates began fixing their things Maybe he was absent today? 'Cause if he wasn't sensei would- Her thoughts were cut off as their homeroom arrived, apparently, there was something important and had the class sit down once more.


"Alright class, sorry it's kinda urgent so I have something to announce!" the class groaned since they were all itching to go home but still followed with the teacher's instruction to sit down, they do want it to end as quickly as possible after all.


"Okay, so we have a new classmate! And he kind of insisted that he wants to be introduced today so blame him for the delay! Just kidding!" the announcement lit up the spirits of her class but Rika had her usual reaction, she was kind of surprised but didn't mind it.


"Okay, Saikatame-san, come in please." the sensei said, signaling the new student who stood outside the classroom door.

​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

He didn't like that he had to wear such a uniform in a dream, nonetheless he still has to wear it, he wore it with his favorite green scarf that matched his eyes. Seiju was called out by the teacher in front of the classroom. He entered the room and looked at each and everyone of the students. 'How boring.' He thought to himself. He wore a blank expression as usual and said, "I am Saikatame, Saikateme Seiju. Pleased to meet your acquaintances. I'm also sorry for the delay in your dismissal, I just really wanted to see who my classmates would be in this school." He said in a flat tone.

Seiju can hear some whispers from the other students and the teacher said, "Somehow it seems as if that's hardly true due to your expressions and tone. Any way, I will be you Adviser, I am Kanegawa Obito. Class, please introduce yourselves to him before you leave so our new classmate would have an idea for who you all are tomorrow." The teacher said and left the room.

One by one the students introduced to him before they left the classroom and Seiju did those with a shake of hands or saying 'Pleased to meet you'. The second to the last person to greet him was someone named Onodera, and the last person to greet him would be the girl with the height of 5'1 and has a black hair in the form of twin tails. Rather than giving out his hand and saying a greeting like the others he just stared at her even before she came close to him to introduce herself.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location: Dream; School


Activity: Introducing herself


With: N/A



​

Spoiler

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"Rika-chan? What's wrong?" Onodera looked a bit worried when she asked, apparently, Rika began shaking with her hand handed out to the new student.


"A-a-ahh..ah...N-n-nothing's wrong!O-Onodera-chan!" though her words completely showed otherwise. Rika was shaky as heck while still waiting for the same treatment as her other classmates had from Seiju. W-what's with that!? He's staring at me! Staring! I feel so uncomfortable! while still shaking, Rika didn't wait for the new student to reach for her hand anymore and went on with her introduction. "My name's R-ri..Rika! Rika Hanazono! P-p-pleased..to meet you...Sa-sa...Sakatame-san!"

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Seiju still stared at her with his blank expression. Seiju noticed something about her..... She's timid. She was waiting for a response from Seiju but she didn't received one, she didn't wait any longer and continued with her introduction saying that her name was Rika Hanazono and she also said his name without the "i" He looked at the sky through the window and back to Rika. "It's Saikatame not Sakatame, Sa-i-ka-ta-me. Don't forget it next time. Be sure to remember me." He said coldly before leaving the class and the school grounds.

He sighed as he walked further away from the school and stopped by the restaurant near it. He went to the comfort room, opened his bag and changed his clothes to the one he usually wear. As soon as he was finished he got out of the restaurant and waited at the park till it became 9 pm.

Arthur materialized beside him at the bench and decided to talk about the target and make some plans before the time came.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location: Dream; School to house; Nightmare World


Activity: Trapped


With: N/A



​

Well that was the pits, of all the people in the world that has to make a wrong impression, it had to be Rika, Rika Hanazono! The timid little girl, an observer rather than outgoing, she prefers observing people from a distance, that's how she always had been and now, she just experienced the coldest moment she must have ever tasted. All because she missed a letter "I". Saikatame's words pierced through her like a blizzard spear, even Onodera felt like she was in the cold mountains of the Himalayas. She shook for quite a while in embarrassment, slowly regaining her life force that was stolen away from her. When she was back to her normal self, she wanted to apologize but when she was about to do so, he was already gone.


"Yeah, he left a while ago, took you awhile to come back to your senses" It seems Onodera was still with her, just waiting for her dear friend to regain what she lost. "Also, he's hot yeah but jeez, what was that? I felt like it's winter season here all of a sudden! God, he's so cold."





"Ah! Don't blame him Onodera-chan! It was my fault anyway!" Rika was trying to defend Saikatame





"Still, hmph! That's not how you react to a lady!" the two began to walk home but when they stumbled on a music store so the two decided to go inside to check for a bit. Rika went straight towards the classical music section, albeit even looking for an instrumental piano only piece. Onodera seemed to follow her instead of looking for a piece herself, she wasn't a music lover to begin with.


"So, Rika-chan, why do you usually listen to this kind of stuff?" said Onodera while holding up a CD and putting it back to the shelves.


"Well, they kinda soothe me.. it feels like.. I'm drifting away to somewhere beautiful whenever I listen to these kind of stuff." replied Rika while putting the headphones on with 1 ear left out to listen to whatever Onodera has to say.


"Eh? Drift away? That's kinda scary... don't you think so? So by the way, what are your scared of Rika-chan? I'm afraid of getting old!"





Onodera's comment and question froze Rika for a bit, that was scary? I guess it is once a person could consider it that way and as for her question, Rika started pondering herself on whatever it is that scares her.


Onodera giggled immediately at her friends reaction, hitting her on her back again. "You're such an airhead sometimes Rika! Oh my!" Onodera looked at the time, it was 6:45 PM. "We better get going!" she further added.


"Eh? It's already that late?" Rika as well noticed the time, it was unusually fast, she felt it was. "W-well.. okay! Let me rent this though!" Rika and Onodera left the store, with the new piano music CD. At some point of talking and walking, the two already had to part ways but it wasn't long after that Rika had already arrived home and it was already dark out, 7:30 PM.


No one was home, just Rika, which is odd since her mother usually stays at home and her father said that he has no work today but Rika just didn't mind it, put down her things, changed her clothes and ate dinner. It took her overall 45 minutes. The time was now 8:15 PM by the time she plumped her small body on her bed. As she did, she remembered her brand new CD and placed it on her MP3, with a speaker connected. She remained lying down her soft, squishy bed as she stares up, looking at her plain ceiling. Thoughts like her fears continuously ran on her mind while her room resonated with the peaceful music her newly bought CD was playing.

Spoiler

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Time continuously moving, albeit slow or fast, Rika doesn't know. Her mind was solely focused on thinking. What am I afraid of? the piano appeared to be louder with the silence of the room and in Rika's mind. I'm afraid... of what? the piano sounded even louder. I'm afraid of... drifting away from... the piano was at its loudest, losing its peacefulness. ...away from reality. The clock's hand stroke at 12 and time moved a minute forward, it was now 9 PM.


Suddenly, the room around her, no. The world around her began distorting, losing space. Leaving only her and her bed intact. Wha-What's happening!? The world around her began to change, it began looking empty yet large. Another notable thing here is, the piano continued playing but...it appears more.. real like it's with her somehow, when she looked behind her as she remained in bed, there she saw a piano.

Spoiler

Oddly, it was supposed to be night and yet, the world around her appeared as bright as day. The place was beautiful but it all felt off. It was fearful yet beautiful, beautiful in any poetic sense yet fearful as it has its vibe of sucking you in. It's like it draws you in towards the unknown space.


From a distance, something was catching her eye. It was something unknown to her but she knew it was something scary. But the relentless beauty of the sound of piano prevents her from getting away. She wanted to stay and yet she wants to run away. The creature, was fast approaching. As it slowly came nearer and nearer, Rika could see it more clearly, it wasn't from any world. It was a huge- mermaid like creature, swimming across the beautiful space. It was as large as a building and its face was circular yet faceless... it had a huge musical note as its entire face! And in its apparent hand, it had a baton. Like a conductor as it closes in further and further, the sound from the piano became louder and louder. The sight made Rika scream.

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

It was already 8: 45 and Seiju was waiting for 9 pm to arrive and bring out the dream eaters. He was sitting at the balcony of Rika's room listening to his favorite music. He was playing with the little chains from his wallet and stared at the moon which was slowly turning red. "Ahhh." Arthur stood beside him and asked him, "Did you see her reaction when you said those words?" Arthur gave out a laugh before proceeding, "Pure epic-ness. Anyway, are you ready? I can feel that this one is different from before." Seiju looked up at him, "Oh?" he said. He looked up again and saw the moon and its bloody red color. "It's starting." Arthur stated. No second less did the dream started to distort and change in every way it can.

'So this is her nightmare?' All in all a place like this won't seem like a nightmare for most people, but still it doesn't mean it can't be one. He looked around but saw nothing but Rika and a piano from far away. He looked up and saw the sky as bright as day and floor like water reflecting what it is above it. Hearing the sound of a piano, Seiju scanned the place once more and saw something approaching Rika, it was huge, the hugest dream eater he has ever seen. Immediately he screamed the word, "MANIFEST!" and in an instant, he was now someone akin to a knight, a dark knight. He swiftly ran to Rika to protect her. She used her baton to control the still water and splash it to them with force. Seiju held out his hand and let out an invisible barrier to stop the strong splash of water. "Oi! Don't scream it's irritating." Seiju said to Rika, his and Arthur's voice speaking at the same time.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World


Activity:Watching Seiju fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience
​

Just as the mermaid creature was about to reach her, an unknown being came to her rescue, no.. it was a person and it was someone she knew, she could've sworn she had seen this man before but it all made sense when he told her to shut up in his own way.


"Saikatame-kun?" she remembered him ironically through his words, that piercing coldness touch to it, ugh. Rika remembered it and she remembered it well but he appeared to be wearing something odd, an armor full of black and wielded a black large sword in hand.


"What are y-" before she can begin to ask, the mermaid creature began lunging towards them, letting out a spine tingling laughter before charging towards Seiju and with a swift motion of its wand, drove Seiju away with a quick blast of water from the watery surface of Rika's nightmare world.


"Saikatame-kun!" Rika shouted, feeling hopeless as she was unable to do anything to help Seiju.


The creature began waving its baton, the music from the piano was accompanied by different kinds of unseen instruments and the watery surface of the floor began spawning human-sized watery mermaids each dancing and singing to the tune of the music and with a smooth stroke of the baton, the creatures all dashed towards Seiju.
​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

"GAH!" Seiju was driven away with a blast of water. 'Can you keep it up?' Arthur asked him. 'Of course I can, I've suffered more than this.' Seiju replied. Seiju saw watery mermaids began to form singing and dancing towards him. 'Those things are disgusting.' He said to himself. 'I have a plan, but it might take a while. But you have to.....' Arthur stated. Seiju made his stance and ready to dash at any of the freaks in front of him. He spotted the nearest one and dashed to it and sliced it. Though it didn't really work on it he still continued to slash the others and made way back to Rika. He took her by the waist and ran farther away from the enemies.

'Such a troublesome dream, nothing but walk-able water and a sky. Damn it. Hurry up, Arthur.' He said to him, though he said the last few words out loud. Arthur stated that he was almost done and it will only take a few more seconds. He held Rika tighter not wanting to let her fall.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World


Activity:Watching Seiju fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience

​

Rika watched as Seiju dashingly dashed through the small wave of watery enemies and Seiju grabbed her and immediately carried her away.


"Wh-wha?! Saikatame-san! Where are we going?" she questioned Seiju out of surprise even though that was most likely unnecessary as, like Seiju, Rika just wants all of it to either be gone or just end. Rika caught sight of the watery enemies, diving in and out of the watery surface, they were chasing both her and Seiju. "Saikatane-san! Fast--" she cut herself off as she hears her rescuer talking to no one.


"Saikatame-san, who are you talking to?" she raised yet another unnecessary question.
​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Seiju clicked his tongue and responded to Rika's question, "Someone you don't need to know." He rand as fast as he could and Arthur started taking control of their body, turning around and facing each of the enemies. 'Sigh, hurry up Arthur.' Seiju said mentally. "Don't worry this can finish them, I think." He placed the sword in his hand into the scabbard by his waist. He held out his hand and focused on every mermaid that he saw. "αστραπή" He said the word naturally as if he had been born a Greek. As soon as he said the word he jumped high into the sky as lightning began struck every mermaid and also the water that they had been standing before.

It ended in just 2 seconds, after that they landed back to the water surface. Every water mermaid disintegrated and became vapor. Arthur let Rika down "Stay." he commanded and ran to the dream eater and drew his Caliber from it's scabbard preparing to attack.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World


Activity:Watching Seiju fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

"Stay" No matter how Rika plots it out in her head, it always sounds like she was just referred to as a dog. Even if that wasn't the case, it just came off so naturally that she considered that as the case. Shaken as she considers herself as a dog now, Rika's thoughts were put to a stop as Seiju dashed forward, heading towards the Large Mermaid. Rika wanted to follow even if it meant disobeying Seiju's 'request' for Rika to stay where she is but even so, what can she do? What could she do to help? Was there anything even she could possibly do to at least lessen the workload on Saikatame? Reaching to a decision that there's none, she can only hope that Saikatame-san defeats the creature with at least the most minimal of damage.


"What can I do?" Rika talks to herself in a soft, quiet manner.


"Why? Do you want to help?" an unknown voice came out of nowhere. "If you want to help, then consider what's the cause of all this, then I shall lend you the aid that you desire." the unknown voice added.


"What do you mean cause of all this?" Rika, obviously clueless, pondered on what the voice meant.


"Only you can answer that, my dear." the voice replied as it slowly became inaudible to Rika's ears.


"The cause... what's the cause... of all this... " Rika stood as the voice possibly meant.





'Ariela, The Abyssal Conductor'





The mermaid dream eater sees the black knight approaching and with a flick of its baton, a huge tidal wave came from its back, towards the black knight, not finished yet, it waves its baton once more and the water began streaming upwards in random intervals in a jet-like speed, causing extreme damage if it were to hit anyone as the water aims to strike from the ground. The tidal wave, slowly began to make its way closer to the black knight.

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

As Arthur was running toward the dream eater it began to flick it's baton and released a huge tidal wave from behind. Arthur continued to run knowing that it's not fast enough to catch up with him. As he got nearer it swung its baton again and released geysers with tremendous power from different direction. Arthur tried to avoid as best as he can but he was blasted by the shoulder which made him unsteady. In less than a minute he regained back his composure and headed to the mermaid. He put all his force into a jump so high he could almost reach the dream eater. He let the Calibur glow gold and grew larger, in terms of length it would be the longest sword in histoty having the length of 100m. That was the power of Excalibur, another sword of King Arthur, the one he received from the lady of the lake. A smirk came across his face and slashed it at the mermaids torso. Leaving a giant ugly cut.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World


Activity:Watching Seiju fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

Rika was mesmerized at Seiju's feat. He was able to cut through the mermaid dream eater's torso, its cut was unusually large, but none but water came out of the wound rather than blood. The creature, still, gave a loud and sharp cry as the sword was able to damage it and it seems to experience pain. Rika made jumped, with her fist raised in the air, filled with the hope that perhaps, Seiju can win against the powerful mermaid creature.


"Go! Saikatame-san! You can do it!" She shouted, giving moral support to Seiju from afar, whilst still thinking of the source of all this as the voice told her.


Ariela, The Abyssal Conductor


Shrieking, the mermaid dream eater sustained such through such large wound, water came out of her wound, not blood and in a mere flick of its wand, the water on the surface attended to her wound, completely healing it. The musical note on its face changed to that of a G-clef and it's laughter changed to a more manly and deeper one. It's baton changed its form into a large axe with over 20 meters in size. The large towering mermaid strikes the axe, hitting the watery surface, as it did, the water slowly turned crimson in color. The skies turned dark and a round and bloody red moon could be seen. The mermaid's tail began changing as well, turning from a fin to a scythe like blade in the shape of its tail. The creature continued laughing as it dashes towards Seiju.

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Seiju and Arthur saw at what had happened to the mermaids torso afterwards and heard Rika's cheer for them. 'God! Won't this end! We've been fighting that thing for almost an hour now!' Seiju shouted mentally. Arthur let out a click of his tongue and took a few sidestep backward. 'It's truly strong, this Dream Eater.To think that we'd be facing something like this. If we continue for another 30 minutes I don't think we'll be able to make it.' They looked around and saw no more water mermaid and geysers but the Dream Eater did start to change from appearance to it's voice. It made them shiver tot he bones. It's baton changed into an axe and the water became blood red, the sky darker and the blood red moon could now be seen.

It dashed toward them and started slashing with it's axe rapidly. They avoided and parried each and everyone of the slash yet with every dodge and parrying that he made slowly he was getting tired bit by bit. He took a jump further away and shouted to Rika, "Don't you even plan on doing anything about this? Do you plan on having me do everything? This is your dream! Your nightmare! So I suggest you fight! Find out why this is happening, because deep down you know what's causing this to happen. Think and have a spine of your own." He said coldly to her. He brpught his attention back to the dream eater who was ready to give a devastating slash but again it was parried by Seiju and ran to it's side to slash it with his sword.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World


Activity:Watching Seiju fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

Rika heard Saikatame's words loud and clear, she is obviously not helping, yes she wanted to help but the point is, she doesn't know how but Rika's attention was immediately brought back into thinking once she finished rethinking, Rika came to a realization that everything that has been happening were only subtle images of her past experiences, the same routine over and over, the walking with Onodera, the lengthened periods, they were all events that occurred already and were just replaying itself in a form...


"...A dream?" Rika's eyes grew wide, it seems that she was on the spot, more so, Seiju did say that it was her dream after all.


"Yes, this is your dream. A figment of your memories, images of things that have happened or may happen to your life is exclusively shown here." The voice from earlier came back.


"But if this is my dream.. when did I-"


"You are in a coma but you are not the only one, there a whole lot of people who are in the same state as you, some may even be your friends." The voice cuts her off.


"But if that's true, then who is Saikatame-san?" Rika raised a question towards the voice.


"He is one of the few special types, like you, he was approached by another being when he faced his fears." The voice answered.


"I see, then this here now, this is my-"


"Nightmare" The voice cuts her off once more.


"It makes sense then... This world here, everything starting from the part where my room became this vast empty yet beautiful space, they all stem from how I view... a death that's far worse than death itself." Rika said, looking down on her feet albeit in a slightly quieter tone.


"Oh? Then what have you realized then, my dear?" The voice sounded more curious.


"My fears are boundless...true but.. it doesn't limit me." Rika raised her head, sounding more motivated and with conviction. "I can prevent my fears by fighting for whatever bit of time I have with my life left!" Rika said with more outstanding resolve.


"Then, I can give you the ability to fight. Will you willingly accept it then?" The voice asked.


"Yes, I will." Rika's resolve remained in her words.


"Then, come. You shall be another of my apprentices. I am Milliana, the summoner of angels, do you, Rika Hanazono, hereby accept a contract that forcefully puts your life at risk in exchange of others?" The voice, along with its introduction, asked for Rika in a contract.


"Yes. I do." Rika, replied boldly. A bright light enveloped her body, Milliana began to merge with Rika's body. "Manifest!" in an instant, her clothes began showing feathery designs, giving an Angel motif to it, her hair slightly changing its color to a purple color. Rika took a step forward and large incantation circle appeared on the oceanic floor. As Rika placed her hands from behind her Seraphim Staff, she began her incantation.


"Saikatame-san, buy me some time!" Rika requested the black knight.
​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

While fighting Seiju caught a glipmse of how Rika had just manifested. He saw at what Rika had looked like after she her manifestation. 'Ah, so she's a specialo type two. Agel like abilities it seems.' Arthur said to him.

He heard Rika's request of buying some time and he simply nodded. He looked back at his enemy and jumped to avoid getting hit by the enormous axe. Seiju went around it to its back and gave back another slash. Seiju took a few steps away and held up his hand to release the magic of lightning, but then again if he did that then even Rika might get hurt. He let out a sigh and used Excalibur. He proceeded to dash towards the enemy and cut its arm that's wielding the axe. He began to slash continously while the dream eater automatically heals from her wounds, waiting for Rika to bring out her power and finish off the dream eater.

"Rika, hurry up. I don't care what it is that you're going to do, just finish up this nightmare of yours." Seiju said flatly with a hint of irritation in his voice, getting tired of all the fighting he and Arthur had been doing.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Nightmare World to Hospital


Activity:Ending the Fight


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

Rika had finished her incantation after minutes of initiating her incantation. In the instant that she had finished, she had open her eyes, her eyes were different than her usual ones, it was as if she was taken away by her own power, a serious look can be seen on Rika's face.


"O, great wall that divides this world and the heavens, I implore thee." The incantation circle that was on the now crimson surface began to shine brighter.





"OPEN!" The circle raised itself in the sky, shining than ever, it was also evident that light was coming out of it.


"Come down from your slumber within the heavens! Guardian of Justice, Elesis!" An angelic being emerged from the circle the angel had beautiful wings, its beauty is able to put the moon itself to shame, the angel was wielding a sword and her entire aura was in contrast with Seiju's black knight. The angel, Elesis, was a holy knight, proving worthy of her alias as the guardian of justice.


"Greetings, mistress." The Angel bowed to Rika and Milliana. "What can I do for you today?" the angel of justice politely asked.


"Elesis, I command the, smite thy foe!" Rika commanded the angel with pure conviction.


"Very well mistress, perhaps if I fail I shall be granted punishment." The Angel of Justice bowed then immediately followed through with her mistresses command.


"Yes! There will be- Wha?" Rika was dumbfounded, loss in a words from what she just heard. She was kidding right? Punishment? Is this Angel a masochist or something? Whatever she heard must be a mistake.


"Ohh, dear me, she still hasn't changed." Milliana giggled, almost blowing off Rika further.


"What the heck did she mean by... punishment?" Rika added, still in a loss for words.


"You see, Elesis had always been like that, the serious angel who hates disappointing her mistress in turn of when she ever does fail she-"


"Asks for punishment.... So my first angel is a masochist...." Rika cuts off Milliana.


Meanwhile, Elesis soared towards the mermaid dream eater slicing it with her holy sword, afterwards, she began flying high up in the air and began to descent quickly on the aquatic foe. As soon as she hits the mermaid, a huge explosion of light emerged, a dome of holy light surrounded the area where the angel dropped and the mermaid was blown away to pieces. After her duty, she flew back to her mistress.


"My duty is done, mistress." It bowed down politely. "I shall be off." And with that, the angel disappeared.


With the dream eater defeated, the world around Rika and Seiju began distorting once more, breaking it into parts like broken glass, a huge blinding light emerged and blinded the two.


"Huh?" Rika bolted from her bed, she was seated in a bed in a hospital. "W-where am I? And what was that?" she looked at her hands, wondering if the events she witnessed were of reality.
​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Seiju and, most especially, Arthur, were dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. They even heard the conversation of the Angel Elesis and Rika about giving her a punishment if she fails. The Angel flew to the dream eater and sliced it with her holy sword. After that she flew high up in the air and rapidly flew to the mermaid with her holy light and flew smoothly back to her master as if what she did was a piece of cake. Seiju could only stare and watch, Arthur could only open his mouth, stare and watch everything that had happened. The Angel said her goodbye and quickly disappeared. Arthur and Seiju also went back to their original selves.

As soon as the Dream Eater was gone the world quickly began distorting again and broke like glass, emerging from it was a blinding light which caused them to close they're eyes.

Seiju opened his eyes and stood straight up. He walked to the room numbered 305 and entered. "Ahhh. You're awake." Seiju said to Rika. "Hard to believe right?" He asked flatly. "Anyway, I'm here to see if you would wake and unfortunately you did. Out of all the people who've had comatose you're the first to wake." He stared at her for two whole minutes and continued to talk. "Arthur wanted me to recruit you, have you help us. I'll explain everything to you when you get out of here." He turned around and and headed for the door, wanting to leave and rest as soon as he can but stopped for a moment and said a few last words, "You should rest first."​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Hospital


Activityondering/ Deciding.


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

It took Rika some time to let everything Seiju told her to sink in, I mean c'mon, everything that happened in that dream is probably out of this world and now she gets stomped with more things to think of? But at least, Seiju's arrival and 'recruitment' was proof of what Rika just experienced. There are a lot of people who are under comatose? She was the first to wake up? Those questions begged for another question.


"How long has he been doing this?" Rika wondered, more thoughts filled her mind like a crowd of people storming inside a concert hall to watch their favorite artist perform. "...No" Another thought entered Rika's mind, it was a far more important for her to know the answer to this question more than knowing every detail of what's been happening. "Why is Saikatame-san doing this?" Rika thought as she stares through the window, watching the silver, gloomy skies, it was about to rain.


"This isn't something I can just decide on immediately... I suppose that's understandable, right?" She said to herself, completely putting a lot of thought on her decisions, still unable to take in all of those in an instant. She looked at her palm and reminded herself of the power she had, the sensation, how it felt for her, the freedom to do something a lot of people couldn't and in that instant, she smiled, arriving on a decision in that moment. Her nightmare was a complete contradiction, she knew exactly what she wanted the exact same time she saw Seiju fighting the mermaid Dream Eater. The answer, was crystal clear now that she thinks about it.


Satisfied with how she handled her thoughts, she laid down in her bed once more and closed her eyes, aware that she wouldn't have the same dream, a smile can be seen across the young girl's face.

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

CHAPTER 2: My Own Nightmare

Seiju finally got out of the hospital room and sighed. He called the nurse and asked when she will get out. After everything, he decided to go home and have some rest for everything that had happened made him truly exhausted. "I don't wanna burden her but...... Arthur is right. We'll be needing her strength because just us won't be enough." He got out of the hospitals main door and looked up at the sky. It was starting to get darker than before. "It's gonna rain." Seiju stated. No sooner or later rain started to fall. Not having an umbrella or anything with him to shield himself from the rain he started to continue his walk back home, doesn't care if he gets soaked in the rain, as long as he gets home and have some rest it would be fine.

It was almost day when he got back home, considering the long walk that he took. He looked at the clock to see what time it was already, which is 3:51. He dragged himself to the bathroom to take a shower. Once it was finished he got into bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep. "Hey." Arthur called out to him in his dream. "Ahh, Arthur, what do you want?" He looked at him. "Something's bothering you right now. Right?" He asked. Seiju looked at the scene he's witnessing in his dream, he was at a cliff with the view of the sunrise between the mountains, beneath the cliff were some rocks and a forest filled with animals and lush green leaves. It took him a few seconds of thinking before he responded. "How come..... I have never faced my nightmare? My own Dream Eater? How come you came to me?" After witnessing what happened in Rika's nightmare these questions kept popping in his head. Arthur shrugged and said, "Because you were different. You are your worst nightmare. You're facing yourself every single day. As for me coming to you...... I've seen what you've been through before, and maybe that has made me drawn to you. That is our strongest connection, our past which had similarities." He put his hand on Seiju's shoulder. Seiju looked at him and sighed again. "I get a feeling that things will go better than before." Arthur stated with a smile.

"I'll give you the nightmare that you've been looking for........ Soon."

Seiju's eyes shot open. He could hear the sound of students talking from outside of his home, walking, talking, laughing, and flirting. Seiju got irritated by it. He took out his phone and looked at the time. '4:17 PM. No wonder it's so noisy.' He went to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed with the usual clothes consisting of his green scarf, a blue shirt, and black jeans with his boots. 'Today is the day she get's out. I wonder if she'll give me an answer.' He thought to himself. He suddenly remembered the voice from his dream, before he woke up, and what it said. It gave him the chills. He took a taxi to get to the hospital and continued to Rika's room. Quietly he opened the door and found her at her bed, awake. "I talked to the nurse before I got here. He said you can get out tonight if you want. So, have you decided?" He said to her.​

 

[Woebegone]

Location:Hospital


Activityondering/ Deciding.


With: Seiju Saikatame @Keysience



​

Rika chuckled at the both sudden and almost spontaneous question of the fellow. Her smile was quite warm in itself, a radiant warmth indeed.


"I don't think I even need to answer that"


Rika slowly stood up, displaying her new profound confidence. She approached Seiju who still stood in front of the door.


"But yeah, I 'm ready"


Her warm smile disappeared, being replaced by sheer determination as it was etched across her face.

​

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Seiju stared at Rika, quite shocked that she agreed in helping him. Nevertheless Seiju is quite grateful at Rika's acceptance, though he did his best not to show it.

Seiju has been watching Rika's progress for a month. She's doing quite well for all he knows. She can go all by herself if needed too. Rika had finished her last nightmare and they had already planned where to meet and when. Seiju slept earlier than he planned this time.

But unlike any other nights, this one was different. Too different to describe. Everything was black, dark, and the smell of old and broken filled the air. Little light started to illuminate the place and shocking as it was, Seiju knows to well what this place is.

​

Spoiler

Everything that happened here came rushing through his mind, giving him extreme head ache. His breath became ragged, "Why? What is this place doing here?"

Arthur appeared beside him and tried to calm him down as best as he can. "It seems..... We'll be facing your nightmare this time." Arthur said truthfully. "Why now?" Seiju asked but Arthur doesn't really know the answer. "Let's go, nothing will happen if all that we do is stand here." Arthur nodded and followed Seiju to the stairs of the house. Seiju scanned the place and saw that this house is somewhat of a replica of his old home. They never encountered any kind of enemy as they went up but Arthur has this feeling that this can lead to Seiju's destruction.

As they got to the highest floor, Seiju saw a projector releasing videos of how he had killed his family. Seiju was devastated at what he saw, he hated himself ever since, afraid of himself for doing those things and here it is being showed right in front him.

*Slow clapping*

"You know, I really liked that part where you killed your father with that bottle of alcohol, and then accidentally killing your mother when she just wanted you stop." He laughed, "Very nice, you know it can make a good material for a movie."

Seiju looked for the owner of the voice but he couldn't find him anywhere. This place was the darkest in this house compared to the other rooms. Seiju was getting frustrated at searching for the unknown person, "Where are you?! Show yourself you freaking basstard!" Whilst, Arthur tried to keep him calm. "Seiju, don't let anger get into your way of thing-"

"I'm right here!!" The man shouted just behind Seiju. Seiju backed away and looked for him but he couldn't see him. He laughed again. He snapped his finger and the light bulb, which is quite far from them, had turned on. Still it's not enough to be able to see the man's face. Little by little the man took a few steps froward and opened his eyes.

"Hello Seiju! Pleased to make your acquaintances, I am Aks." Aks said with a grin on his face.

Seiju and Arthur glared at him and prepared to manifest but was stopped as chains flied towards Arthur and bonded him to the back wall. "Arthur!" Seiju called out to him, he tried to manifest but it couldn't work.

"Have I told you that those chains prevent your manifestation in doing anything right now??" He asked gleefully.

This is the kind of thing that I wanted to avoid, I hope Rika finds this place and fast. Arthur silently prayed to Rika for help.


@Noblesse