Snow, Wind and Flowers

The Dreams of what was
Shade Kagekyo was laying in a bed owned by a person he never met before, resting peacefully. Memories of his past were bouncing around his mind, forming a twisted dream.

Over fifty years ago, if not longer, he was only a small object, not even alive. This object allowed souls to be placed into a dead body and allow them movement while the soul inhabited the shell. However, he was special. His spiritual blueprint was based on another man, one that he was always compared to. Shade never met the man face to face, but he knew that they both shared their name and they also were destined to share their wife. Even after he was given a new body, the dirt form he currently possessed, he was stripped of a great many memories, only to recieve them again on his deathbed.

He remembered the day he died. A twisted battle royal of beings unlike any to ever walk the earth. It was him, a friend, his first true friend, and a strange man in a red coat against seven Demons. The man in red was also Demonic, but he wasn't of the seven. The other man, Shade's friend, was something else entirely. Not a single man was sure of what, exactly. Shade...he was just a soul with a sword that turned into a baseball bat.

That's when he recalled staring into the face of Death, and the Devil himself at the same time. Bael, the ruler of Demon kind. Ironicly, he wanted the power of another under his command, and so Shade was revived as the Lord of Ice. He was sent to Hell for some reason durning the battle, but that was alright. He didn't mind it.

Only a week later, he turned against his King. The great uprising of Hell itself. Needless to say, he was alive after the fact. He returned home to learn that his sister (or so he had thought) was a Bael-honest vampire. Not just a vampire, but their leader.

The next nineteen years were a blur to him, rendering his memories useless at that point.

However, his last three days of life were clear as day. He was sent to kill a good ally, under the orders of his creator, but ended crossing blades with his rival. Their duel was as destructive as any they had before, but unlike the others, it wasn't a draw. Shade's "heart" was rent in twain, killing him.

"Shade............. Shade wake up man." a voice called out.

Almost on cue, the dream was broken and his eyes snapped open. Whispering his favorite swear, "For Bael's sakes," he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Who's there?" he asked, slightly asleep still.

The figure shook his head before suddenly a roar went right next to Shades ear.

"OW! MUST YOU BE THIS LOUD THIS EARLY??!" Shade shouted, wide awake thanks to the dragon's noise making.

"Hahahahahahahaha, sorry man but that's what you get for sleeping till the afternoon." Tommy said opening the curtains letting the afternoon sun shine through the living room. Okin roared happily as his owner fed him some of what seemed like fried meat as Okin flew out the window.

Shade's scarlet eyes adjusted to the light easily, one of the upshots of being a Demon. "So, you want my explaination now or do I get my answers first?"

Tommy stopped laughing as he was breathing heavily then wiped the tears out of his eyes,"Why don't we talk about it over lunch? You look like skin and bones right now." He replied leading Shade to the kitchen where he had already prepared lunch in the shape of some weird looking items.

"I know they might not seem good but trust me if I can eat this, then your probably gonna live." said Tommy sitting down and eating a big slab of meat from a bone that served as holders.

Without realizing what he was doing, he was already scarfing down as much food as he could. His body wasn't listening to his brain really, that's how desperate he was for food.

Tommy chuckled as he continued eating, "Seeing as how you aren't exactly at top strength for talking about your past so why not ask me some questions." Tommy said as he bit right into the bone chewing it like if it was taffy.

"Who are you? And I don't mean just your name. There's more to a man than just a name and a history. In other words, it's more like WHAT are ya?"

Tommy chuckled as he used a toothpick to clean some of the bone pieces that were stuck in his teeth, "In a sense? I'm 100% human being from Earth. I was just an average kid who lived with a modern family, though my younger days weren't exactly a delight, I got involved in some heavy stuff and almost lost sight of myself. I cut that life off and just focused on working hard to make myself the life I want." Tommy said standing up to grab some liquid that he poured out of a pitcher as he handed one cup to Shade.

"Though everything changed come High-School graduation, something awoken inside of me causing the entire graduation ceremony to be stopped not to mention my deploma to be withheld from me permenantly. My parents later explained that in our family, there was a myth about us having unique abilities and in my case..... It turned to be fact." Tommy said putting his hand into a fist causing white energy to envelop it.

"Interesting. So, you and I are alike. We didn't learn what we are till it was too late." Shade said, taking a drink.

"Not exactly, after my parents found out they basically cut their losses and sent me to a place to control my ability called Shion Academy, they made sure I never came back to them." Tommy said breathing deeply as he looked at Shade. "It was there that I would find my destiny alongside my great friends." He said making the hologram watch appear as he pressed some of the buttons on there and showed him along side five other people who were smiling.

"The reason I was given this power known as Jakin energy was to become the next Leader of the Six Legendary Beings to protect the universe from evil itself." Tommy said proudly as he closed his watch.

"As you can see I had to endure some modfiication of myself including mastering my power but it's been a good journey. And currently we're taking a vacation for now." Tommy said as he burped and took his dirty plates to the sink where it was automatically washed.

"Jakin? You mean, the same shit that guy yesterday was using? It's like he could fight evenly with me in Demon form. I can only list a handful of people who could."

"The reason that it could easliy match your blade is because it isn't just an energy source, it's alive." Tommy said as he summoned a small piece of Jakin in his hand and it suddenly moved on it's own onto the table.

"Now that you know my time, you need to cough up your background . I can tell that you are strange considering that your blade is unique not to mention the energy I feel from you." Tommy said returning the Jakin back into his body.

"Let's see. What do you want to know first? The fact I'm not even living, um...that's really I remember." Shade started. "Let's put it this way. I'm an artificial soul, a replica of another. He was dead by the time my body awoke. Humorously, he and I both married the same person. Imagine my reaction. That I was getting some from the chick the real me already shagged. But besides that, I loved her all the same."

"Hmm..... I don't why but I feel like I know you from somewhere but I can't truly explain it." Tommy said scratching his head, "''I guess this is where I come in to help you out once again huh?" '' Griger said appearing out of nowhere with a woman right next to him.

"Griger, but who is this?" Tommy asked.

Shade smirked. "About time this party got a bit crazy." he said, sarcasm in his voice. One thing that did sepertate him from the original, was his dry wit, which he never held in check.

The woman chuckled as she went towards Tommy and looked at him, "It is an honor to meet the new Leader of the six, I am Quinkra, Queen of Purgatory." She said smiling.

"Wait wait, The purgatory like from Human description?" Tommy asked supirsed. "''In some sense yes but it's complicated, but that's not the reason I brought her here." ''Griger said as Quinkra went to Shade.

"Do you have any idea why Tommy would say that he knew you from somewhere?" She asked Shade.

Shade felt a shiver flow through him when he heard the woman's name. "No, I don't. If I did, ten bucks says I lost my memories. After all, I barely recall fighting my ex-King.".

Quinkra sighed wondering why her power hadn't taken affect yet. "''Are you sure this is the one you said would help, I thought all of his memory was suppose to come back." ''Griger said crossing his arms.

"The damage from whoever he fought must have been worse than I thought, I will have to give him his own Jakin energy supply to allow the memories to come out." Quinkra said as she powered her arm with Jakin and grabbed Shades head to transfer the energy into it.

Shade felt like his head was gonna explode. His mind was on overdrive. Nineteen years worth of memories, flowing together. Van, Shirosuke, Kanata, Atsuya, Margin, Ray. Everyone he ever crossed blades with. "Now I remember. It's like you're a friend's reincarnation."

"More than reincarnation, Tommy is the version of Ray Martinez from a alternate dimension." Quinkra said nodding to Griger who in turn chuckled. "Wait, you mean to tell me I met Shade before? How exactly?" Tommy asked with confusion.

"In a different alternate world, you Tommy, are known as Ray Martinez. The reasons he was drawn to this place was that your energy of Jakin is as strong as Ray's is. That in turn allowed Shade to pass through to our dimension through a rift from his battle." Griger said as Tommy looked at Shade with intrerest.

"Tch, you mean to tell me this kid is Ray's twin pretty much? Who's gonna hit me next, Margin?" Shade snarked, already feeling like he was again the plaything of the Divine. "On second thought, don't answer that. I can't face him again. Not after what I've done."

"Alright aside from all this talk of dimensions and alternate selves, why exactly is he here?" Tommy asked as Quinkra smiled and teleported them to Earth. "Earth....... Why are we here?" Tommy asked looking around to find that they were on earth but it was completely destroyed, everything was in flames and bodies were piled up.

"Something powerful was awakened when the rift in dimensions occured, it was something that could not ever be released.............. my brother Volkurin." Quinkra said shuddering at his name.

"''But it's not just this dimension." ''Griger said as Quinkra teleported them to Shade's old home which was also in ruins along with the bodies of millions including the warriors of Shades world.

"Mother of....How did this happen?" He asked Quinkra. But his desire to know was wiped away when he saw most of the bodies. Among them was a woman with long blonde hair. Once the recognition set in, the only emotion he could feel was anger. "On second thought, your explainations can wait. Point me in the direction I must go, and bear witness to why I'm feared here. Your brother's not gonna survive long enough for him to do this again."

"At ease young Shade, for this is not your home of yet, it is one of possible outcomes that will happen now that Volkurin has been released. I show you this to make sure your will is resolved at the task at hand." Qunkra said as she transported everyone back to Griger maner.

"Okay I understand why we need to defeat your brother but at the moment we have no clue where he is or how we stop him." Tommy replied.

"The first part has been achieved by Shade being revived in this dimension with Jakin, the next part will be very difficult." Griger replied as he showed the map of the universe with every realm in the current dimension they are in.

"Finding him will be easy but even your Jakins will not be enough to combat him." She said.

"I don't think you understand who I am." Shade said, his voice dark with anger. "I nearly killed a dark God once, but you already know that. He's stronger than anything I've faced since. Not a living soul save for a man named Echo has ever been so hard."

"Relax." Tommy said glaring at him, "I can understand what you saw must have angered you greatly but if you charge in half-cocked. You will die!!" Tommy roared as he growled right into Shades face.

"To be able to succeded in the defeat of my brother, you two must travel to the realm of the Mitus, Thumym." Quinkra said showing the projection of small-black like creatures with red stripes running over their bodies.

''"It is there you will find the power you seek, after you do though, it will be difficult to handle the energies so only use it when you begin your fight with Voulkin." ''Griger said as he then disappeared.

"I wish you both luck, for the sake of reality." Quinkra said bowing down before she left.

"Tommy, I can't die. If even a Hell-born monster like myself couldn't finish me, nothing can. But, you don't get it. One of those corpses was my lover. You don't have a clue what I feel like. So before you dare tell me I'm dying, remember, I don't care."

"This isn't your dimension anymore Shade, the rules here apply differently and trust me you of all people better reconize it or else we're all dead." Tommy growled as he walked towards the front lawn. "If we have any chance of stopping Volkurin, we better get a move on for that power now." Tommy said as he whistled calling on Okin who was now as tall as a mountain.

Tommy jumped and landed on his back.

Shade likewise jumped up on the dragon. "So, is there a concept similar to Hell around here?"

"Depends on what your version of Hell is, this version is known as the Void, same place where Volkurin is though I don't know about if the souls go in there or not." Tommy said as Okin summoned his Jakin energy which he then shot from his mouth creating what seemed like a wormhole.

Okin soared right in as they were now on the move to stop Volkurin.

"Too bad. I kinda require a Hell in order to regenerate my body after death. Simple wounds, not so hard to recover, a whole new body? Only the strangest reaches of the domain of darkness can do that."

"Your acquired Jakin acts as a healing agent now, just try not to lose an arm or it's gone for good." Tommy said as he sat down and looked up at the stars while passing through the wormhole. "So...... this Ray guy, what was he like?" He asked with curiousness.

"He was a stubborn man. Makes me look normal in that regard. He was also a hero of sorts. He risked his neck to allow me to put a fake past behind me for good." Shade said, a sudden realization washing over him. "Wait, my Demonic healing is gone?! Great. Just great. Do I seem like a capable fighter?"

Tommy laughed as he continued watching the stars, "Seem to forget what I told you, Jakin is alive and like anything alive it'll do what it has to in order to survive and trust me you'll reap the benifits."

"How long did you know him?"

"Maybe twenty years. In fact, those twenty years were the only ones that were truely mine. Every last bit of it was a lie, forged by the father of my lover. That man created me to be a weapon, and almost got his wish."

Tommy chuckled a bit, "It's good to atleast have the memories of the happier times." He replied as suddenly Okin exited the wormhole and right into the face of a Hydra. In one instant Okin fired what seemed like a shooting star eradicating the Hydra's head clean off as Okin landed right on the opposite side of the mountain where the Hydra was.

"Great. Hydras. Wait, Hydra..SHIT FIRE AND BRIMSTONE! Your dragon is an idiot! It's gonna grow more heads. He should have aimed for the heart."

Tommy just grinned as he returned Okin to his home with the Hydra then reappearing with two heads," What's the point of coming to a realm and not having a little fun?" He replied as he then jumped and landed on a loose rock as big as a skateboard and was sliding down the mountain.

Shade overlooked the drop. Deciding to just drop and use Ice-Wall to prevent dying, he lept from the prepice and sped to the bottom. Gathering moisture, he created a wall of solid ice that took the impact for him and let him stand, unharmed.

The Hydra screeched loudly as it launched two energy blasts straight at Tommy and Shade. In an instant Tommy entered his Armor Form and easily slashed down the energy.

Shade slid his blade out and slammed it back in place and uttered "Sin is the only path to the light." However, once the glare faded, rather than is usual demonic form, he was wearing insect-like armor.

On instinct, he sliced the blast in two. He soon realized that he wasn't in Demon form, but something else.

'''"Well well, looks like your Jakin has finally awakened." '''Tommy said powering down his Armor returning himself back to normal. "Another thing, if you want to cancel the energy you'll have to become one with it" he said cracking his knuckles.

"Easy for you to say. I don't have a clue what this even is. It totally just overwrote Bael's alerations on me. I should be..blue and more blue. Besides, becoming one with something I barely know isn't something I typically would do. After all, that's kinda how we're here now."

Tommy focused his Jakin then shot it at Shade causing the two to enter a sort of meeting of the minds, Tommy was in his Armor form with Shade next to him. "Look over there." He said showing what seemed like a woman standing in an blue energy field.

"Jakin is the life force given to chosen few, it decideds who it will bond with and right now if you want to keep yourself in control, allow the energy to merge with your body purifiying anything that has been done to it." Tommy replied as he crossed his arms.

"I died to gain what you're about to take from me. Besides, I have no soul anymore. But...to save her I'll do anything." Shade growled walking into the blue light.

A piercing light shined throughout the void as suddenly Tommy opened his eyes and found Shade back to his regular form, "This power is stronger than anything you have and will allow you to fight for what you want the most." Tommy said smiling.

Shade sat there, motionless. Fragments. Parts. Gaps. Still, things were coming clear. The man with a claw gauntlet. His first friend, Margin. Shade remembered their times together, as bloody as they were. Quite truthfully, they were always near death afterwords. How they lived was a mystery.

But the memories that came harder were the ones of a trio of young men who he decided to train. One of them was a betrayer. Having risked his own life for his...Shade cursed himself as a fool.

"Don't smile about this kid. I rather enjoyed my damnation. After all, for a souless man, where else can you go but Hell? Moreso, I could not die. I could live forever alongside the only person I ever loved. Sucks that I'm just a shadow of the real person."

Tommy looked at Shade then shook his head as he started walking, "Go ahead and think what you want but right now we have a job to do so let's move." He replied passing Shade.

"By the way, if you care for it, give your Jakin a name it'll be easier to summon when it knows it's new name."

"Eh, it better adapt to my release ritual. After all, it's more habit than anything. I'll honestly end up forgeting anything else. When you say the same words with the same motions for two decades, it's a simple act in and of itself."

Tommy looked up, "Whatever, come on." He said as the two then started their journey to defeat Voulkrin.