//------------------------------//
// 46: Fighting Dreamers 
// Story: Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos) 
// by Garino 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 46: Fighting Dreamers



The first attack was thwarted by Luna, who created a shield around the two of us. With a cry from the mare, the shield released a wave of energy and sent the ninjas flying. Questions flooded my mind: who were they? Why are they attacking us? Did they have to be ninjas? Where did the forest go?

Before I could verbalize any of my thoughts, one got up and swung at me. Blocking it with my own sword, I delivered a left hook to disorient him. I backed off to get some breathing room. 

I should mention I get the dumbest ideas under pressure, and don’t ask for opinions. I usually realize they’re inherently stupid only when it’s too late, and this time was no different. What is General Fortesque’s ‘brilliant strategy’ for dealing with nightmares? To shout at them like a drill sargeant. “Alright, you shadowy soldiers! You wanna fight, line up, three at a time!! C’mon, daylight’s burning!!!”

Luna stared at me, eyebrows raised, as though to question what I was attempting, all while maintaining her shield. At some point, she had conjured a large magical mallet.

I crossed my arms and waited for something to happen. I expected the shield to drop, ninjas to move, or even Luna’s mallet to just bop me on the head.

The mallet flashed out at me, impacting behind me as a ninja crumbled under it’s might. “We are unsure of what you attempt, but these are not beasts that can be reasoned with. They exist only to confound Our job, creating nightmares where none should exist.” A pulse of her shield sent out a wave of magic. One ninja was caught in its wake and dissolved, while the rest flashed across the stain glass.

I shrugged. "Meh, it was worth a sh-huh?" I had to shake my head to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. The ones that didn't attack us had, indeed, lined up to fight us as I asked!

Luna stood just as perplexed as me.  "We- How- You should not have been able to do that! They have never done such a thing before. It is inconceivable!!" she pointed out.

"Maybe so, but we should take what we can get! Let's deal with the first wave now!" With that, I put my hand out and gave them the taunt to attack.

Luna's shield remained strong under the now-smaller assault, her mallet flashing out to smack at the ninjas, only missing occasionally as they used a shadow step. The best I could do behind the barrier was get their attention so Luna could get the drop on them with their hammer. Sadly, after three waves, the ninjas got the idea that the guy with the fox on his shirt did not give them a good idea, and all of them attacked Luna's shield.

"ACK!!" Luna cried. She dropped the barrier that protected us and jumped into the air. She glided to the other end of the battlefield and conjured a second mallet, smiting enemies in her path. And because I wasn't warned about the barrier's sudden disappearance, I had to act quickly to prevent myself from being cleaved in half by one of the ninjas I was taunting. Which meant I yiped and quickly followed after Luna on my own feet. Considering the horde I had to go through, this was a feat in and of itself. I kept most of the enemies at bay with wild sword swipes.

"A warning would've been nice, y'know!" I shouted. I vaulted over a ninja and kicked him into his comrade as I finally caught up to the Night Princess.

"We apologize, Daniel. We were surprised at their sudden aggression." Luna struck out with her dual mallets, smashing to and fro. Occasionally, a ninja would approach her from behind, only to either get bucked in the face or forget about the guy with the glowing pink blade. Even still, most of the ninjas simply moved away, seemingly uninjured by her strikes.

I assisted as best as I could, but it seemed like this was her show, and I was a supporting character. Not to say I didn't get a few KO's of my own. For every ninja we defeated, however, two more seemed to take his place.

After a while, I believed this was starting to get ridiculous. "So, do we just fight until they run away, or is their a way to put them down for the count?" I asked.

"Normally, We simply crush as many as We can and the rest flee. Tonight, however, you appear to have angered them with your 'trick,' not to mention your taunting." A bolt of magic shot from her horn, incinerating a nearby ninja.

"What can I say? I'm a trend setter," I replied. Another idea clicked the moment I finished the sentence. "Hey, ever done something I call a Shinku Hadoken?"

She didn’t take her eyes off of the enemies, but her reply told me all I needed to know. "A what?"

Maybe I should've said something simpler. "Just aim at a target and blast them with a continuous beam!"

Luna paused for barely a moment but then smiled in understanding. "Ah, We have not performed such a thing in quite some time. You might wish to stand back." She began charging her horn, spinning the mallets like a pinwheel in front of her.

I stayed close to the princess, making sure I wouldn't be caught in the blast. "Now, let's strike fear into their hearts." I placed a hand on her back and shouted, "HEAT RISER! Don't let a petty thing like 'limits' stop your power!"

She twitched at my hand, but held her head steady as the medium-sized beam of energy flew outwards, blazing through the ninjas in its path. "Daniel, while We are sure you are making a reference to some situation of which we are unaware, would you kindly remove thy hand from Our shoulder? We need concentration!" Her eye twitched as she spoke.

“Sorry for touching without permission, but I want to show them why messing with us was a bad idea. Just waiting for the result." I smiled as I saw my bracelet begin to glow. I started to give a laugh worthy of a villain as Luna’s beam suddenly became wide enough to engulf most of a small rural town. I watched as nearly all of the enemies were hit, most of them disintegrating on contact with the death beam. Luna breathed a small sigh of exhaustion as her beam died down. A good portion of the onrushing ninjas had been removed, and some were beginning to doubt their charge.

"It is alright, Daniel,” she replied. “If We are ever to meet you in Our sister’s presence, however, you would be wise not to attempt anything similar. Tia is rather… protective of us." Luna's attention was drawn to the stained glass pattern that made the floor as a single mallet materialized in front of her.

I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "Yeah. That won't happen again, don't worry. Again, sorry." Examining the arena, it seemed that only a handful ninjas remained that felt confident they could still win this.

Luna gave another sigh. "This has dragged on long enough. It must end." The mallet disappeared and she concentrated momentarily. In a flash of light, two familiar shapes appeared in front of her, blades crossed. At a glance, they looked like two keys; one as black as the night, the other as pale as the moon itself.

"Are those...Oathkeeper and Oblivion? When did you...?" I was so enraptured by the Keyblades that I failed to notice my bracelet was still glowing.

"Worry not,” she grinned. “These are taken from memories of a friend. I assume you recognize them for the same reasons his memory contained them. I have yet to test them out, and now seems like a good opportunity." Luna galloped forward, spinning the blades at her sides. In moments, the ninjas before her were demolished, fading to smoke.

Just before we had a chance to relax, though, another wave of the Nightmares appeared. Luna wasted no time in blazing across the stained glass, throwing Oathkeeper out, only for it to return, while she kept Oblivion close by, travelling in arcs around her body. Each slice of her blade was marked with a poof of blackness. Of course, I took some out with my own Beam Sword, but compared to how she wielded her own weapons, I might as well have looked for popcorn to watch the show. Before a half minute had even passed, every ninja that had appeared was gone, smited by a flash of her blades.

Putting my own sword away, I finally managed to speak. "He must be a big fan of Kingdom Hearts. Also, that was pretty amazing of you. You practice often?" I was still oblivious to my glowing bracelet as I saw Luna gracefully move with the Keyblades.

"Practice?” She nodded. “I suppose I do. I do need to make sure my wares work after all. It isn't often I test them in the dream realm before I make them, however."

"Make them? You mean you can make these...in the real realm? Man, how much do I have to pay to get you to make me an Oathkeeper of my own?" I joked.

"For you, Daniel?” She placed a hoof over her mouth before nodding. “I might just give you the one I have plans for. Many of my weapons have no owners, being things I create for fun." Well well well. She’s a blacksmith for the hell of it, and she has no problems with giving me one?

"Well, thank you, Princess. That's pretty n-" I  cut my compliment short as I saw a survivor try to get the jump on Luna. "Look out!" I shouted, pointing at the ninja. As if on cue, a lightning bolt shot out of my finger and blasted the ninja into dust.

Luna's eyes opened wide as the bolt sailed past her. "What- It seems you have been keeping much from the fight, Daniel! Such an ability would have been useful." Luna twirled around, searching for any other would-be attackers as she spoke.

I simply stared at my hand, dumbfounded. "I...didn't have that before the battle, honest! How did I..."

"I would ask that you do not point your fingers at Us until you can control your powers. While it won’t affect Us in the long run, We would prefer not to experience the unpleasantness that comes with electrocution." She closed her eyes as her horn glowed, probably to see if any were trying to conceal themselves.

“Duly noted," I replied. If anything, I didn't want to make any more sudden movements, in case I had some OTHER power I had no idea about.

Luna finished her visual and aural sweep of the area. "It appears the two of us have finally driven them off."

"Good,” I sighed. “I need a moment to figure out a few things, if you don’t mind sticking around.”

She nodded and continued examining the glass under her. Dreams are weird, I thought. Never in my life did I ever think I’d fight side by side with a princess, much less the Lunar Maiden herself. Against ninjas, no less. Maybe I AM insane.

“Daniel? What is the meaning of this… creature?” Luna asked.

I raised an eyebrow at the question. “Creature? What creature?”

“The monster of the stained glass.” She gestured to the glass, which I finally realized was the same stained glass platform from before; the eight-headed serpent. Unlike the last time, however, two heads were revealed while the other six were clouded.

“It’s a Japanese creature; Yamato-no-Orochi, the eight-headed snake. According to legend, he would threaten a village to offer a maiden as a sacrifice, until Susano beheaded all of them.” And they said video games didn’t teach you anything… Thank you, Okami, for disproving them.

“Eight heads… then shouldn’t this show all of them?” she asked.

“Should, but doesn’t,” I replied. “Last time I was here, only one was revealed. Why are there two now?”

Luna hummed, but didn’t answer. This left me with time to think for myself. Wait. Orochi was one of the Personas of the Moon. Maybe… yeah! It makes sense!

“Princess, I think I've figured out why I suddenly can fire lightning bolts,” I announced.  “And I'm not sure if I should be cheering or apologizing."

Luna looked at me questioningly. "Why? What did you figure out?"

"It has to do with this." I showed her my bracelet. "According to Igor, this allows me to connect with others of my Arcana. Namely, the eight aspects of the Moon. I apparently am the Aspect of Inspiration. And if I'm right… well, you're one of my connections."

Luna pondered for a second. "That does not explain why you would need to apologize. We are the Princess of the Moon. Why would We not be one of your connections?"

That’s a good point. I put a hand in my hair and messed with it for a moment, trying to think on how to explain it. "I guess... ugh, how do I say this without sounding dumb or implying love when it's obviously not there?"

Luna simply stared, a hint of amusement on her face.

After a moment, I just shook my head. "I guess because... we're connected by my power. And like I said, if I'm right, our bond gives me lightning powers." I quickly added, “Y-Yamato here… he’s kind of a tracker for my progress… when I find a bond…” At this point, I couldn’t form my thoughts properly.

Luna covered her mouth and snickered a bit at my awkwardness. "We understand, Daniel. It is not that uncommon in this game between gods. We do wonder what other way you were going to put it, but alas."

I should have stopped talking. But my mind wasn’t fast enough to stop my mouth. "I'm afraid to ask. But what do you mean by 'what other way I would put it?'"

Princess Luna smiled. "You were concerned about sounding as though you had deep feelings for Us. We simply wondered what statement you would make to accidentally convey that."

"W-Well, I..." I couldn't help blushing at her questioning. Damn it, this wasn't supposed to be happening! "...m-maybe I shouldn't say the EXACT sentence right now."

Luna's smile threatened to remove her ears if it got any bigger, but she regained her regal composure and nodded at me. "If thou does not wish to share it, that is alright. We remain curious, but shall not press further."

"Yeah. Tale for another time, if that's possible.” I coughed, trying to regain my own composure. “Anyway, I do want to thank you for showing me your fighting prowess. Wish I could be worthy of a friendly spar when this is all over."

"A spar you say?" Her eyes lit up as her grin returned full force. "It has been so long since we truly sparred with anyone. We would be delighted to do so Daniel."

"Consider it a da-" I caught myself before I said something either Luna orCelestia (if Luna told her) would hold against me. "Well, right now you'd mop the floor with me, so I need to train before I can even match you."

"Yes, yes you would,” she agreed. “Your combat prowess is severely lacking."

I winced. "You noticed. But hopefully, with my new skill, I can get back to my former arena glory."

Luna looked at me thoughtfully before doing something with her magic. "We don't know how long you will be here for, but this is the realm of dreams. You can do whatever you wish to here, create any scenario, wield any weapon. Maybe you may do something with your time."

I crossed my arms and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. So before we part ways, should we set a time for that spar? Say, just to see how far I've come?"

A mischievous twinkle entered her eyes. "The date? Why, I'm sure it will come of it's own accord Daniel. Bring some roses, worry not and farewell." She slowly floated up and out.

As I waved farewell to her, the sentences finally clicked. "Wait, what!?"