“A NEW BEGINNING”

"What do you want?" Shujin asked Kai, annoyed by their presence as he got up and faced the team.

"What I want are some answers."

"Hmph. To what exactly?"

"To my questions."

"What questions?" Shujin asked to play along.

"Oh C'mon! Are you two gonna keep talking like this or we gonna get serious or something. Get real okay?" Akira growled out.

"And I thought he was the stupid one."

"Huh?" Akira exclaimed, visibly offended.

"Why'd you bring them here? Isn't it supposed to be a talk between you and I? No outsiders poking in our business?" Shujin pointed out.

"Those 'outsiders' are my friends and they're here in case you try anything funny." Kai replied.

"Oh don't flatter yourself," he said, laughing mockingly. "Do you really think that you four have a chance against me?"

"Well, you can't fight four of us all at once," Ash clapped back.

"It'd be a waste of precious blood if we went at it right? I don't wanna fight all of you. Matter of fact… I just… want… you," Shujin confirmed as he pointed to Kai.

"Me?" he questioned, confused. C'mon, you really wanna tango again?"

"Not exactly..." he clarified. "You're the real deal while them… well what I can say of them are just worthless vessels you self proclaimed as 'friends.'"

"Hey! I know you're my master and all, but one more word said against my friends again and I won't be held responsible for the consequences. Heck, after all, it's after school hours. I can go all out this time."

"You just recovered from your last encounter, are you really sure you wanna go at it again? You're technically half beat. Plus, your main purpose of coming here hasn't been fulfilled. He's just manipulating you to change the main agenda," Yua informed Kai.

"I would listen to your friend over there. She's got it right you know," Shujin confirmed.

"You're right. You're right. Thanks Yua," he said, thinking it through.

Yua nodded in response.

"I think it's better if you and I talk alone," Kai concluded.

"What?" Ash exclaimed.

"C'mon bro, now you're just playing into his trap," Akira warned.

"I'll be okay. I'll be fine," he assured. "Let's go," he told Shujin.

Shujin took him to the training field.

"I suppose this is what you want to talk about."

"You're right," Kai confirmed.

In simultaneous fashion, their eyes met as they began to converse.

"What are you, Sensei?"

"What am I?" he chuckled. "I believe you've got your pronouns wrong…"

"No. I'm fully aware of what I'm saying. No ordinary human being will be able to produce a frickin' dragon straight from his arms. So I ask again. What are you? Are you superhuman or something?"

"Superhuman?" he cackled. "You were leading on to something, I'll give you that, but you're not quite there yet…. Tell me, Kai. Have you ever heard of Daemons?"

"Daemons?" he said, alarmed. "As in one bestowed with characteristics of a human and a god?"

"Well, technically, yes. That's a concept you can view it from."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that it took you this long to be able to think from your soul."

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"I mean that there's a deeper understanding that eludes you…. Your eyes see, but they fail to perceive the world from a different perspective."

"Could you cut straight to the chase? We don't have all day, you know?"

"As… you… wish!" he smirked darkly.

Shujin spontaneously created a crack beneath the earth. The ground below Kai crumbled but he flipped away from the danger. Surges were created to mess with Kai's footing and the impact called the attention of Kai's friends. As a result, they went on a pursuit for their friend.

"Did you just call me out alone to beat me up?" he questioned.

"Experience is the best teacher, isn't it?"

"Not on my watch," affirmed Akira.

"Guys! This isn't your fight. I can handle this. I've had this dance before."

"Believe me when I say that this is a completely different dance scheme than before," Shujin clarified.

As he smirked and chuckled, the ground beneath them continuously cracked open, but Kai cleverly dodged the danger.

"Get away from him!" Yua exclaimed.

"Pawns…" he said, annoyed. "You really are a pain to my endgame."

The three rushed towards Shujin. He raised his right hand towards Kai, who was at his front. In swift motion, eight blue dragons arose from the ground to circle both Shujin and Kai, forming some sort of an enclosed barrier.

The circle soon became a sphere that enveloped the two. The gusts of wind created by the power caused Akira, Ash and Yua to drift away.

Kai managed to stay put although his hair and that of Shujin flew all over the place.

"What are you doing, Sensei? Do you not value human lives anymore?" Kai asked, questioning his values.

"Human lives? It seems you haven't figured out the whole truth yet."

"Truth? What truth, Sensei?"

"Your technique has flourished, but you remain ignorant to the truth?" he rhetorically asked. "These people, this school. This world and all your life up until this point is a living lie. Everything you've ever lived for are nothing but illusions, a grand facade constructed to veil a reality far more profound."

The reality dawned on him as he tried to process the information received.

'Illusions? How can this be?' Kai thought.

He suddenly began to receive rapid visions he had in the past that began to become clearer.

"Impossible… It's not true," he doubted.

"If you don't believe me, see it for yourself."

In a display of prowess, Shujin waved his arms in a circular motion as his dragons began to spread and destroy the fake existence which they lived in. What was left was void within the shards of the false world he had been living in. Kai's visions suddenly became clear.

He looked around in utter dismay.

'This can't be. Mum, dad, Akira, Ash, Yua. They weren't… real? No. No. No!' Kai began to think as his brain tried to take in all of the information.

"Face it, Kai."

"This must be some kind of dream, right? Yeah. A dream. Just like the one I had with him," he continued to think as he gripped his head tightly with his hands. "This must be a dream."

"It's not. This is reality," explained Shujin. 'I knew he wasn't ready. Well, it's now or never, I guess,' he resented in his mind.

Trying to take in all that had come down, he desperately tried to calm down as he took deep breaths. He soon recuperated.

"If that wasn't reality, then it must be you who created it, am I right?"

"Yes. That's right."

"If so, then where are my real parents? Do I have a family?"

"I wish I could say," he said, pausing awkwardly. "I don't have this information you seek, but The Authority may have something to say about that."

"The Authority? Who are they?"

"Do you wanna know?"

"Is that a question you should be asking me right now?"

"Kai."

"What! I deserve to know, don't I?"

"Hmm..." he murmured, not wanting to get involved in any argument.

"Heck! Where is this actual reality you speak of?"

"Take my hand…" he concluded.

Shujin gently gripped the right hand of Kai with his left. He waved his right arm and the void around them began to crumble in a slow to quick succession. He created a portal and simultaneously stepped into reality— the world he never knew of.

••• ( ) •••

"There comes a point when a dream becomes a reality and reality becomes a dream."

"It was then that I understood this saying. All my life was a living lie. I mistook the reality for a dream and the dream for a reality. That man… He was right all along. At this point, could he be the only one to give me the answers I seek?"

"I'm sorry, Kai. For 15 years, you have been trapped in an illusion— in a world where I decided your destiny. At the very least, you were never alone. You were always under my wing. I taught you all I know to protect yourself from the struggles you would encounter in the future. I gave you the best of friends you could ever have, and best of all, I gave you a family. They did their role perfectly. But now, it is time to fulfill your destiny. Your mission on this Earth. It's time to tell you the truth... who you really are, Kai."

••• ( ) •••