It was a world of illusion. The Prophecy Room, a room that had seemed so inviting on the outside suddenly seemed cold and stricken with fear. The room that had seemed like a home to me was alien, except…

I turned to face a wall that was decorated in the most fabulous of ways. This, however, was something I had felt before.

Pride defeats the truth. It clogs you with power and strength until you bow on your knees before it.

It rules you.

And you have to learn to stand with your own power, your own strength, speak out against it, and fight against what is wrong to decide what is right.

Give me a reason to live.

Trust is hard to conquer.

Aren’t you scared? What happens when you lose? What do you know about the attackers?

You’re meant to save us all. When the Hyouga tribe win, you’ll be to blame.

Everyone will hate you.

So can you win, boy? Can you win against us?

“Who are you?!” I yelled, struggling, the burst of pressure falling hard down upon my neck.

Pain swelled through me, pain of aching through my bones and sorrow through my heart.

The world around me tasted like death and water and darkness.

I don’t think I can admit it to myself…

“Ahh!?” I screamed, clutching my head.

Can you win against me? There are only three of us- Vice, Zane and Shadow.

But we’re very difficult to beat, especially with your troubled mind.

I strained against Vice. But isn’t it great that I don’t know who I am yet, in life? Vice didn’t speak, but I could hear his harsh, heavy breathing urging me to continue. Isn’t it great that I’m free, that I can easily change who I am, who I want to be? Life itself is a confusing place to be, and things inside can confuse you further, but even then they can lift you up.

Vice paused and consulted this. Like what, child?

I felt uncomfortable talking to this traitor, but I continued. Like trust. Like friendship. My mind flashed to visions of Senshi, Keira and Hiruko, how they trained me, how I had to learn to trust their instincts.

My mind flashed to when Nada offered me her hand to lift me from the ground. Like love. I heard a small gasp and the pain from my shoulders lifted; the pain and madness that was blinding me now became clear once more to reveal to me a long tapestry.

Lavishly decorated, this cloth had drawn both myself and Nada towards it, despite our knowledge of Vice’s curse.

The tapestry was beautiful. The border of the cloth was a small, delicate bird that ran around the entire drapery. The bird itself was an amazing mixture between two stunning yet fragile colours- teal and Prussian blue. I had heard countless stories of this beauty, how many had lust over these birds to be kept in cages and boundaries, yet always the bird’s captor would either dramatically throw the bird from its confiding into the breezy night air of spring or the magical creature would sing in the most astonishing of ways; and then be set free in secret after winning the hearts of many.

A nightingale.

There were two dominant figures in the prophecy. There was a young boy with a stern expression, his moon-like silver hair uneven and flowing in the unseen wind. His eyes were made of lush azure gems, glinting down at the mysterious landscape below. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes- courage and confidence; the bravery of a fool. However, small enough to be seen was the flash of fear- a flash of sense for a certain boy. His skin was clear, like that of light sandstone. His frame was covered in that of a glossy black material, and shoes that of patrol squads seen in the Borders. The boy had drawn back his sword from its sheath so that it looked as though he was aiming at whoever dared stare back at him.

Most of it mirrored me perfectly. I silently turned to look at the succeeding part of the tapestry.

The second figure was ravishing and perfect. A young woman of ageless youth, she held eyes of a dazzling blue; turquoise when lit by the waves around her. Her skin, soft as porcelain and smooth as the petals of a flower, and her lips the most perfect pink of a cherry flower glistened softly. Her hair was the alluring colour of a dark raven flying wistfully upon the skies; gently bouncing upon the back of the enticing robe. In the sky, there was the hint of dark clouds sitting over the girl. She peered up at the boy with a mildly light gaze, her smile tenderly secretive; but nothing too harsh, just a Cheshire cat’s allure.

There was a gasp from Nada who rose quickly and placed her hand on the figure.

“But…that’s not possible!” She yelled. Hiruko bowed his head, not daring to look at her. Already I could sense that confusion; that hatred all flying at her at once; her face now wet with tears. “This stupid prophecy knew I was going to die!?” She punched her fist on the painting, the material swaying slightly in response.. “When was my future decided? When was anything decided for me?!” She yelled. Unaware of it, I had moved to Nada to comfort her. “You knew too, didn’t you Aaron?! You knew! What about me, my family?” She had spotted me moving closer, and her tears became more vigorous, her body trembled lightly. Her body disobeyed her mind by being in desperate need of reassurance. There was a strange sense of confidence filtering through me and so I moved even closer to her.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and brought her head up to look at my face.

“Yes. Yes, I did know. And there’s another thing you have to know, too, Nada.” We stared blue into blue and I continued with a softer tone, “The reason I didn’t tell you earlier was because I was thinking of myself and how it was to affect myself. I was completely self-absorbed and I apologise if this causes you pain.”

It wasn’t how I would usually act. Too confident, I told myself, that’s too confident.

Nada’s mouth was partially open, giving her an endearing worry look, her tear stained face almost urging me to hug her. I bent my head to look at her, not sure how to put it into words. Still, there was only one option.

“You’re not dead.” I waited for a response but Nada was stricken. “You’re still alive; Hiruko has tested it. In the world of the living, you’re still in that coma. Vice lied to you. He needs us both.” Nada still said nothing, but the tears streamed vigorously down her face.

Hiruko stepped forward. “I believe I have found a reason to why he needs you.” I turned my head from Nada to look at the cat.

“Yes?” I queried.

“There is a puzzle within the prophecy. I believe that might be your test; even though you both had to fight mentally against a small part of Vice. Find the puzzle, re-gain your Katana.” The cat paused and padded forward, “I cannot say yet why exactly he needs you, but finish the puzzle and if I am right, you will know.”

The cat turned to leave. “Anything you see now may or not may not be reality.” The cat left the room and I turned back to face Nada.

“Nada…?” The girl looked up as I spoke her name. She walked closer to me and drew her arms around me, pulling me closer to her. I felt her bury her head into my chest and I rested my hand on her head. “Cry, Nada. Let it out and cry.”

There was a slight sob from her and I faintly smiled. Can I admit it to myself?

****

It had been about ten minutes before Nada pulled herself from me, her face red from crying. My eyes softened and she smiled.

“Thank you,” she whispered slightly.

The tapestry remained unchanged, but there seemed a small golden light pulling us both in. Involuntarily, we both stepped towards it. The light itself was swirling towards us, as though playing, and both of us reached out to grab at it. We were expecting it to run through our fingers, and so, when it held our wrists and started dragging us closer to the tapestry, naturally we began to yell. Nada reached for my hand and yanked it towards her; almost ripping my arm from my body, but I moved closer to her as the light coiled around us.

“I have been waiting.” The voice seemed familiar, too familiar- something we had both heard only minutes ago. We both raised our heads in astonishment to see the sly black cat sitting regally on nothingness. The light had swarmed around us and had somehow drawn us into a different world; or at least a state of unconsciousness. The light began to dissolve, leaving us in a place of swirling purple and darkness. I sat on the floor and looked up to the cat, earning a stare from a perplexed Nada.

“What?” I whispered, eyeing the cat that seemed awfully creepy and silent.

“What do you mean what?” Nada whispered back, “Staring when I’m confused is justified! You’re sitting before an illusion of Hiruko!”

I said nothing but looked back to the cat. His eyes had softened as though he was staring at a few fools. The cat smiled cheerfully and advanced, moving down a set of imperceptible stairs towards us.

“Oh, but I’m not an illusion. I may have taken a form of anything but this cat seems to lead you all. It was a natural choice.”

Nada stared at me blankly. “Right...” She muttered under her breath.

“So what you’re saying,” I tried to clear things up, “is that you have no true form. However, you are able to choose the form based on the minds of the characters within the prophecy?” I scrunched up my face. I couldn’t have made it simpler?

The cat chuckled slowly. “What I am saying is that Hiruko is an important figure to you both; someone you would listen to you.”

I turned to Nada. Would I really take orders from that ego?

“Anyway, time runs a lot differently here- making it bearable for me to wait for countless years. We should continue.” The cat stalked forward and dipped his head at Nada. “Please sit.”

Reluctantly Nada sat, frowning slightly as she looked at the Hiruko-figure.

“They are several things you must work out to leave this place.” The cat smiled briefly and sharply, pushing fear deep within us. “You fail, you shall stay here forever…with me.” The cat’s face showed no sign of happiness but I could see that that was what he wished for- company.

“First of all, you must figure out a certain riddle to move on to the next stage.” The cat turned and climbed the unseen stairs once more, returning to his perch and watching us. Both of us were unsure of what to do, but the cat merely smiled at us.

“Figure this out.” He said. There was a flash and an echoing voice booming through the ever changing walls of the prophecy. After a while of trying to figure out what the voice was speaking of, it became clearer and stronger until the voice began to make sense.

I may despise you for you are stronger

Loved by all below

Few cheer for me

Yet all cheer for you

I may envy you for your silence

The glimmer of hope in a world of dark

When I am bright in a world of light

Together, they are opposites

But they are balanced

And if one were to leave

Then all would fall

The voice repeated itself every so often until the black cat raised his head slightly and noise ceased. “Why are you staring at me like that? It is not as though I figured out the puzzles. As I said, figure it out.” I stared at the cat for a while.

“Who are you?” I whispered slightly. The cat’s smile vanished and he bent his head.

“I am in each and every of the Prophecies within that room.” He sat for a while, thinking of other ways to put it. “But you shall know more when you finish your test.” He grinned again and waited for Nada and I to discuss it.

“May we have a piece of paper?” I said before turning to her. The cat shrugged slightly.

“Wish it.” He said.

Nada yelped shortly after and I turned to face her. A small pile of paper sat in her hand, along with a few pens.

I smiled quickly and tried something else. In a few short seconds the booming voice from earlier chanted its riddle over and over. Nada concentrated and wished for those words to be on the page. The chanting stopped and Nada and I set to work.

“Alright. We should do this in verses, try finding out the subject for each one and then try connecting it all together.” Nada said. She rolled herself over and sat on her knees. “You do the first verse and I’ll do the second, okay? After that we can see how they both relate to the last one.” Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, Nada began to scribble her thoughts on the second verse furiously down the page. I sighed and took my own, reading the verse over in my mind.

I may despise you for you are stronger

Loved by all below

Few cheer for me

Yet all cheer for you

I tapped the floor, my head hurting slightly. How many things were stronger than another thing? I was able to answer that one. Everything.

I sat for a moment, running my hands carefully through my hair and staring blankly, without a clue, at the words on the page. I looked up towards the cat who, at my flat stare, smiled to himself- something that probably meant, “This idiot may only be good for conversation, but at least I’ll have someone to talk to you.”

I turned back at the page below, a glimpse of silver catching my eye. I picked up the strained of hair unwillingly. Was hair meant to fall out like that? But something triggered within me and I directed my gaze to the riddle once more. …as silver as the moon…

I gasped, pulling the paper closer to me, the thoughts of the prophecy running through me.

She is the darkness and you are light, ying and yang.

Those were Hiruko’s words.

I may despise you for you are stronger- light is stronger than the delicate darkness of the night.

Loved by all below- everyone prefers the light as you are able to see where you are.

Few cheer for me- only a few people dared to stalk the world at night.

Yet all cheer for you- almost everyone would be up when there is light.

I pulled the sheet closer and then looked up at Nada.

“I have it.” I whispered. She looked up, astonished. “I understand both of them.”

Nada brought herself around to look at the paper and then handed me her own.

She had written:

I may envy you for your silence- the darkness does little work, while light provides for all.

The glimmer of hope in a world of dark- night may be dark, but the moon’s light filters through.

When I am bright in a world of light- The sun is always bright and provides light for the world (the moon is unique and special).

I nodded at it. “Yes, that’s it. Now the last one.”

Nada placed the paper on the floor.

Together, they are opposites

But they are balanced

And if one were to leave

Then all would fall

“Together, they are opposites….well, light and dark.” Nada said.

“Write it down.” I whispered, taking the other line. “But they are balanced….” We both paused and turned to each other. After a moment of silence and hard thinking, I gasped. “Ying and yang! Opposites, yet they balance the world. Which means that… the last line means that if light was without dark, the world would not survive!”

Nada cheered for a second and then stopped. “I think we’ve created another riddle.”

I stopped as well and looked down to what we had written. “No…”

I pushed myself from the ground to turn to the cat. “I know the answer.”

The cat dipped his head to urge me to go on. “It’s us. The actual characters of the prophecy we reside in, that’s the first answer. Light and dark is Nada and I. I am the light, even if it is moonlight; I have a bunch of disciples crowding around me but I want the peace. Nada…is the darkness, wanting the friends I have, wanting some regard. I am not sure what her personality was, in the living world, so… ” I trailed off and looked up to Hiruko.

The cat chuckled softly, “Yes. That’s right.” He spat out the words, “But will you get this one?”

Hiruko padded slowly down the stairs, stopping halfway to groom himself. He sighed slowly and continued licking himself as we watched, annoyed by his laid-back attitude. This feline creature was not our Hiruko, no matter how hard he tried.

After a while, Hiruko popped his head up to stare at us. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, and continued with the test.

“Alright,” the prophecy cat spoke softly so that Nada and I leaned in to hear his smooth voice. “As you can tell, both the subjects in the riddle are in longing for something that the other has. For example, the light wishes to have that serene atmosphere that the darkness has, while the darkness wishes to have the excitement the light experiences and look over the millions of people as the sun does.”

The cat looked up to meet our gazes and tilted his head in Hiruko’s fashion. “Seeing that you are meant to be the light- a mixture of the sun and moon,,” he directed his gaze to me, “and the darkness of the night,” he turned towards Nada, “and seeing that the prophecy has outlined what qualities you want to have… let’s find your weaknesses.” The cat grinned mysteriously and stood for a moment.

“Nada.” The cat’s voice echoed curiously throughout the room as he beckoned her to rise. Nada turned to me and then back to the cat, shaking her head. Hiruko smiled and laughed.

Turning, the cat threw his head to the left, calling me up instead. “Well then, Aaron, it appears that you are first. To succeed, you must tell me your weakness.” The black feline stooped down from the steps to meet me. The sleek velvet of his fur brushed my cheek slightly as he moved closer to me. I could feel his light breathing upon my neck and ear and I stopped walking as the cat stalked onto my shoulders. “Do not fear, Aaron, you will merely be unconscious for a matter of seconds.” It surprised me. What did he mean? I drew my head back from the cat that turned and stepped from my shoulders. Hiruko walked and sat on a perch and cocked his head once more. Still disorientated by his words I did nothing, but watched in fascination as the cat became somewhat transparent until I could see the purple swirling of the room through him.

“Hmm,” the cat grunted, proudly. “Ready?” I had barely enough to time to muster a nod before the cat had leaped from his perch, twisting through the air- heading straight for my chest.

“What are you doing, cat?” I yelped as his paws found their way through me.

“Finding your heart.” He replied softly, his head and the rest of his body followed his paws. In a few seconds even the tip of his tail had gone through me.

I looked around to find Nada watching blankly at nothing, staring off into the distance. I was sitting alone, except for Hiruko who purred and danced into existence nonchalantly, smiling his half-crooked smile.

“I’ve felt your heart.” He spoke too casually, as though he had known me for years. “But you are so sad. So instead of a weakness, please tell me you pain.” I stopped to turn to Hiruko.

“What?”

“Come on, boy, don’t play dumb with me!”

“Hrnh?” I fell back onto my hands as the cat raised his voice.

“What is your fear?! What is that pain inside of you?!” I stared at Hiruko blankly as he yelled.

I don’t think I can admit it to myself…

“Huh. You can’t admit it, can you?”

Alone.

“To having more than one weakness?!”

Weakness can be of the mind…

“What is it that you are thinking? What are you telling yourself right now, Aaron?”

Weakness can be of the mind, but usually it is of the heart.

Being…

“Tell me, Aaron!”

Left…

“What is it? What is your fear? What are you most afraid of?”

Alone.

I opened my mouth, hesitating, not sure if I should speak.

“My…greatest fear is….,” I turned towards Nada and then back to Hiruko before answering, “My pain is…Alone. My greatest fear is being left alone.”

That is my greatest fear. Alone. With nothing; with no one. Without memories.

And yet, it is not my only one.

Not having a reason to live. Not finding my place in someone.

Not telling her.

…How…do I tell her? If she wants her family, if she wants that other world- how do I tell her?

Do I tell her?

****

It was a cooling sensation as something rubbed my forehead. I wouldn’t have minded if I had to lay there for all of eternity if this would continue. Nonetheless I opened an eye to see Nada’s worried face and the smiling face of Hiruko.

Startled, I jumped back from Nada’s hand.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly.

Nada closed her eyes and smiled politely. “You were unconscious for a while, even after Hiruko came from your heart. I think we’ve passed; he already asked me my weakness because you hadn’t come around.”

Oh. I pushed myself from the ground to find the cat stalking back to his perch, muttering under his breath, “I guess one last test won’t hurt…” The cat looked up cheerfully. “Well, as I said, you have earned a little piece of information about who I am,” he purred. Nada looked down to the swirling ground with a look that could easily melt away the boundaries of the prophecy.

“Huh?” I muttered.

Nada looked up to me and darkly glared at me, “Idiot,” she said.

“Wha-?” I asked. I turned back to the cat that looked down lazily at us, as though we were poorly acting jesters in his court.

“How long is he going to keep this up for? I think he wants us to do something.” She spoke stiffly, giving the ground a ‘what an idiot’ look. “You’re being too cheerful; how many tests before we get back our Katana? Not to mention the fact that the real Hiruko didn’t say anything about us getting stuck in here…” She trailed off, looking off at the edges of the prophecy. Her eyes had little emotion and were flat.

Just what did that prophecy cat find in her heart?

“Continuing?” The cat mumbled slowly.

Nada snapped her head back up, nodding at the cat gladly.

“Hmm…well, as of my name, I am called Yume, or if you prefer, the Dreams of Children.” The cat looked up arrogantly, smiling to himself. “I reside in prophecies, which are technically dreams and seeing that, if the prophecies are good, children hope for them to come true- well, that’s where the name came from, isn’t it?”

“He’s full of it.” Nada whispered. I nodded at her. The cat seemed especially proud to tell us this, and I was all too sure he was looking forward to us losing. You see, if we lost, that cat would be happy to tell us everything that has happened in his lifetime.

But then again, what else would pass the time?

I rolled my eyes at Yume (who seemed to sparkle with the acknowledgement) and I stood, taking Nada’s hand with me.

Pulling her up, I directed my gaze to the cat and began to say, “The next test?”

Unfortunately, Yume was still caught up in himself and so it took us a few moments to calm him down. When he had recovered, he looked up, still smiling, and spoke.

“This shall be your final test. But let me tell you, there have only been a few to pass this test.” He grinned menacingly and continued, “Nonetheless, I believe in you. But if you fail you shall stay here with me and your Katana shall be wandering in nothing for eternity. Please do not hold this against me,” the cat gave a truthful glance at us both, “I am merely doing what was asked of me.”

We both nodded in frustration and Yume smiled at us.

“To regain your Katana, you must do one final thing,” he looked at me in a belittling way; “you must set me free, the power of the prophecy, so that it may come true.”

“Huh?” Nada breathed. “How are we supposed to do that?” We both turned back to Yume. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders as a response. Nada gritted her teeth and said, “Thanks,” in a flat tone.

Now we were to wander the prophecy for a clue. But how long would that take?