EPISODE 32: JUST ZAN NIGHTBANE

Zanböngfar began to move again. The battle began anew and panic spread throughout the world since everyone could see the battle simply by looking at the sky. The fear of the people began to flow around the world. Zanböngfar was having the meal of his life as the fear flowed into his tails.

The hopes of the Dream Knights were shattered as they saw my body lying on the ground.

"Wh-What d-do we do now?" Victoria asked.

Ayumi charged towards Zanböngfar screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ayumi! Don't be reckless!" Ai screamed at her.

As they stared at the beast, they noticed its chest area beginning to glow bright.

"Ayumi! Watch out!" Ai screamed.

Zanböngfar inhaled deeply and spewed out a stream of flames. Ayumi froze in her tracks as the flames narrowly missed her. For a moment, she felt her former fear begin to return.

She heard gasps of terror and shock and when she turned to look at the reason why, her own eyes widened in terror. There was nothing left of me but a pile of hot ashes.

"Now let's see him attempt to rise again!" Zanböngfar's voice echoed.

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!" Ayumi roared as she upgraded the Pyrogeysers to their active form and slashed at Zanböngfar angrily.

Zanböngfar's wounds healed immediately and considering his body mass, anyone's attempt to attack him could be equated to the sting of a mosquito bite. He attempted to pound Ayumi into the ground but she evaded and attacked him with the Thousand Fiery slices technique. Face activated his Blade Of Hope and rushed behind Zanböngfar.

Victoria frowned.

"I am Victoria Arthur, true successor to the bloodline of the original Arthur Pendragon; but my sigil's true form is none other than the legendary bow of Orion! You will pay for killing Zan, Zanfar!" Victoria roared as her crossbow transformed into an ivory bow.

An arrow made of crystal materialized. Victoria pulled it to its full length and aimed for Zanböngfar's heart. She released her arrow just as Face chopped off two of Zanböngfar's serpent headed tails and Ayumi dealt damage to its main body. Her arrow pierced its body but now the rest of Zanböngfar's tails were aiming for Face, its feet were aiming for Ayumi and its heads were aiming to incinerate Victoria with breath attacks.

"I AYUMI KIRISAWA! TRUE HEIRESS AND SUCCESSOR TO THE BURNING PATH OF COURAGE DO SUMMON THEE PYROGEYSERS!!! UPGRADING PYROGEYSERS LEVEL ONE TO BLAZE SIGIL LEVEL ZERO!!! AWAKEN…SHINSEI RYUENJINN!!!" Ayumi called as a great amount of flame escaped from her body and knocked Zanböngfar into the air throwing him off balance and causing both his tail and breath attacks to miss.

In that instant, Fenrir and Ryuuji Kirisawa cleared Face and Victoria safely out of the way but they were reminded just how fearful a creature Zanböngfar was when its attacks reduced every building in its path to ashes including everything else.

"H-H-How horrible" Victoria shivered.

All over Dream City, people were panicking. No one cared anymore. Some people were trying to find safety; religious people saw this as a chance to draw closer to the God they felt they had forsaken for so long. But some people also saw this as a rare opportunity to do all the foolish things they couldn't normally do. Arälpheisl, Ananse, Darag-Arokna, Emma Colette and the other man watched silently. They watched and waited to see what would happen next yet they had no intention of interfering with mankind's affairs. Mankind had brought this on themselves because it was an undisputed fact that Zanfar is a force only as strong as mankind would allow it to be and if it was this strong, then man would have to find a way to deal with it since they caused it.

I opened my eyes. I was in a white place. Everything around me was just serene and simply white, as though I was at the borders between this life and the next. I stood up and began to walk forward. Looking around, I hoped to find something but I found instead, a someone.

I found Jesus seated on a rock in the middle of a river, the only other thing in the surroundings around me.

"I know I said I would see you soon 'Dream' but I didn't expect to see you so soon" he said.

I lowered my eyes sadly.

"I failed you. I…died" I said.

He laughed at me. That laugh without any hint of mockery in it.

"You may have died, but you did not fail me. Humanity sure got itself into some big trouble this time didn't it" he said.

I nodded.

"Zanfar is too strong. We can't beat him on our own. We need your help Lord. You defeated him once, you can do it again" I pleaded.

"I don't need to do it again because…he is a defeated foe. What I need is for you to seal his defeat and make it manifest. I need you to put him under my feet as I've already done it myself. Zanfar is not a force I need to fight again. The lesson I needed to learn from facing him, I already learned but you still need to learn your lesson. Look at humanity and tell me what you see" Jesus said to me and pointed below himself.

I looked at the earth and saw many dark spots. Many people with blemishes and leprous sores; covered in materials that looked like mud and clothed in dirty garments.

I leapt back in fear.

"Is that what we are?!" I screamed.

Jesus shook his head sadly.

"That is what he sees and sadly that is what you see and that is what the rest of humanity sees. Look underneath all that and tell me what you see" Jesus pointed.

I strained my eyes to look as he directed me to and what I saw astonished me greatly. Beneath all the mud was hidden great light striving to break through; the true human existence. The true human life. The Beautiful Dream.

"So what do we do now? I'm dead" I complained.

"First you rest" Jesus said.

Meanwhile, the Dream Knights had temporarily withdrawn from Zanböngfar's presence. Thanks to Aileen, they could monitor Zanböngfar's position and keep themselves a safe distance away. Ayumi however was furious and still out for blood. Just when she was about to summon Shinsei Ryuenjinn and was hoping to deal some real damage, she had been whisked away to safety by her father. Her anger knew no bounds.

"Let me go! I must destroy Zanfar! Zanfar killed Zan!" she roared.

"Tell me Ayumi. Would Zan wish for you to lose your life avenging him?" Aileen asked gently.

Ayumi gritted her teeth and began to weep.

"Zan, Zan" she cried.

Now the Dream Knights were nowhere near him, Zanböngfar returned his attention to destroying Dream City. His actions inevitably forced the Dream Knights to rethink their retreat and confront him again. They began to realize that every retreat only gave Zanböngfar a greater advantage than it gave them since he regenerated both in and out of battle due to the fact that evil is a consistently generated force.

"As long as humans still think evil, I will remain strong! Look at me you filthy humans! At the work your own hands have made! At the results your every evil action has created! Every wrong you have committed is embodied within the very fibre of my being. I am your very own self! Every moment you have hurt another person! Every moment you have thought ill about another person! Can you look upon me and still deny your ill?!" Zanböngfar challenged all life on earth.

Everyone on the earth raised their eyes to look at Zanböngfar and realized what he was talking about. Their sin was reflected in his form. Every time they had sinned against another was a cell. Every time they had thought ill about another person was his nature. His mannerisms reflected theirs. His actions were like theirs. The guilt they felt was unbearable. They could not deny what they were seeing but this caused something unforeseeable to happen.

The people began to feel regret. They began to wish they had not done what they had done so that the monster before them would never have been born then the more they stared at the monster before them, the more they wished they had never done what they had done. Then some people began to make reparations for the evil they had done. It started small, like a seed, so small it was unnoticeable. One person would apologize. The wronged party could not refuse to forgive because they in turn saw their own sin and then these actions became syndicated like chains. It went so far that governments began to apologize to their citizens for the mismanagement of resources.

Then Jesus saw everything going on on earth and smiled.

"People have begun to see the evil of their ways Zan and they have begun to repent of the ill they have done. I believe they deserve a miracle Zan and that miracle is going to be you Zan; their Dreamweaver. Go back Zan and reveal to them the meaning behind your name; your identity and tell them who they are in me" Jesus said.

I nodded.

"Zanfar, please end this. You don't need to prove anything. We already know how wrong we are. We are aware of our sin" Ayumi pleaded.

"But it is not enough that you should be aware of your sin Ayumi Kirisawa. I desire that you should be crushed by the weight of your sins but unfortunately, you Dream Knight lot have accepted the weight of your sins. If you have done so, I will crush you instead!" Zanböngfar declared as he breathed in deeply.

His chest area began to glow brightly.

The Dream Knights were already beginning to feel strained but they prepared to evade nonetheless.

The children Ayumi and I had played with earlier on witnessed this from afar. They were the children that had mistaken us for Christmas Angels.

"Zan…please…save Ayumi!" they pleaded.

Suddenly a shooting star streaked across the sky and landed between Zanböngfar and the Dream Knights just as Zanböngfar released his attack. Zanböngfar's attack was reflected. The attack hit Zanböngfar and sent him flying quite a distance.

"What was that?!" he screamed in shock.

Silvery white light surrounded the star and as Ayumi stared at the star, the Pyrogeysers in her hand disappeared and was replaced by the Pyrostellis. She opened her eyes and covered her mouth in shock.

"Could it be…Zan?" she wondered.

When the light disappeared, I was seen. Ayumi ran to me and hugged me.

"Zan you idiot! I thought I had lost you!" she cried.

"Haha! Idiots die hard don't you know Ayu?" I teased her.

"Zanviel! Won't you just die?!" Zanböngfar roared angrily.

"I don't know how the name Zanviel became associated with me but it is not my name. I may be associated with the Beautiful Dream but I am not the Beautiful Dream. I am Just Zan Nightbane; Simply the Dream that Curses the Darkness. Ironically, Just is also a part of my name but unfortunately for you Zanböngfar, the English word Just which means Simply also has its meaning in Justice so that part of my name has two identities. You are finished!" I declared as I ripped off the rhino horn chain that once belonged to my father, handed to me by Wanye.

I held it tightly in my right hand.

"I AM JUST ZAN NIGHTBANE! THE HUMAN DREAMWEAVER AND COORDINATOR OF THE SEVEN SOULS OF VIRTUE, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SOUL OF VIRTUE TRUTH; IN RARE TIMES WHEN THE FATE OF MY KIN; MY FAMILY IS THREATENED, I CALL ON THE SWORD THAT BEARS MY OWN NAME; MY FAMILY HEIRLOOM; THE NIGHTBANE, ALSO CALLED LIGHT'S REVENGE!!!" I called.

The Pyrostellis Luminares disappeared. I felt a strong flame begin to build around me and my heart began to pulsate strongly. The silvery white light around me began to turn warm until it became golden. My silvery white armour became golden in colour and so did my hair. My eyes also resumed their original golden colour and my hair grew long. I roared in fury and shut my eyes. I could see all the people Zanfar had hurt.

"Zan, I hope we get to draw stikomiks again soon" I heard Prince.

"Let's go chase down more nightmares and keep the Dream World safe" I heard the wishes of Face and Victoria.

"Zan, I hope you'll stick around with us for a while longer" I could hear the wishes of the Kirisawas.

"You are the boy who shattered our windows. If you defeat that monster, you can shatter our windows whenever you want" I could hear the wishes of the people of Lower East Side Dream City.

"You are the brightest student in our institution. You still have your exams to write" I could hear the wishes of some teachers.

Sparks were flying around me when I opened my eyes. I could see Wanye faintly. He smiled and turned to walk away.

I saw many dreams of many people and they all wanted one thing; the destruction of Zanböngfar and the preservation of their dreams. The dreams began to form links with one another and lo and behold a new constellation was formed in the world of dreams.

"YOU BETRAYED THE PATH OF HUMANITY AND DESTROYED COUNTLESS DREAMS! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END!" I declared as white wings spread out behind me.

I flew towards Zanböngfar at amazing speed and sliced off his wings. He fell to the ground. His tails were the next to go. Since people were repenting quickly and humankind were quick learners, Zanböngfar being the arrogant creature and slow learner that he was, was the last to notice what was happening. The power of syndicated repentance was quickly tipping the balance in the favour of good. Zanböngfar's recovery was slowing down rapidly.

Zanböngfar was forced to look into the sky and then he noticed the constellation.

"What is that?!" he exclaimed in shock.

For the constellation was that of the risen Christ, made of millions of stars. Each cell of his body was made of a person. His thoughts were of the nature of a good person's thoughts and his form was of the semblance of the good actions of the people. His form immediately washed away the guilt of the people.

"Do you finally understand Zanböngfar?! Human beings are living parts of God Himself! We are His Kin! His Family!" I declared.

"That will make your defeat even more enjoyable Just Zan Nightbane!" Zanböngfar declared.

"You will not harm my son! Zan, deal the final blow now! I will immobilize Zanböngfar!" the Nightmare King's voice declared.

"Thank you pops!" I declared and charged towards Zanböngfar.

"AAAACK! He won't even show concern!" everyone around stared in shock.

Zanböngfar tried to break free of my father's hold as I channelled my power into the Nightbane and plunged it deep into Zanböngfar. He screamed in terror as the seven elemental stones fell from his body and my mother and father were released from within him. Then in a sudden explosion, the beast was gone leaving an immaterial ball of negativity.

"I will not forget this Zan Nightbane! I curse you Zan Nightbane! By everything I am! I will return!" Zanfar declared.

"I don't think so! Do you really believe I will allow you to go around the world of dreams causing trouble with my face! After what you did to Ayumi I made my decision, I had to take responsibility for your actions! I decided to never allow you to go on a rampage again so I will seal you within the one place you can never escape! I will take you within myself for originally you were once a part of me but you will never escape!" I declared as I charged into the ball and channelled all my positive energy into it and neutralized it.

Then I absorbed it into myself. Then I descended to meet the others.

Ayumi came to meet me.

I hugged her.

"It's finally over" she said.

But I remained silent. My father and mother came and hugged me too. Victoria and Face drew closer as the Dream Knights began to cheer loudly. All that was left now was to send the remaining nightmares back to the Nightmare Realm. My dad would handle that soon enough without much effort.

"It is finally over isn't it Zan?" Ayumi asked me again.

"Not just yet Ayumi. I'm sorry. When Zanfar went on a rampage, he destroyed so many dreams. Since I am the Dreamweaver, it is my duty to weave those dreams again. For a while, people are not going to dream. I will return to the world of dreams and symbols with my parents and rebuild the world of dreams and work to unite the Dream and Nightmare Realms for both belong to me" I said.

Ayumi looked disappointed but she knew the weight of my duty.

"Will you return?" she asked me.

"I will return" I answered her.

"When will you return?" she asked me.

"When you begin to dream again, know that the time for my return has come" I answered her.

Having said this, we took final pictures, wished each other Happy New Year and then, I departed with my parents. Ayumi, Ai and Mr Kirisawa returned home to a surprise as well. Saito Kusanagi had finally returned home. Regarding her, there had never been a burial. Her ultimate unconsciousness was quite similar to being brain dead and Mr Kirisawa could never find the courage to pull the plug so he had her taken care of secretly while he sought a cure and then, he left everyone to assume she was dead. He did not want to burden the young Ayumi and Ai and seeing how Ayu was the one who began to put two and two together, he pretty much used her smartassedness to his advantage. But now, the entire family was united and Prince was finally able to thank the woman who saved his life and as promised, Mr Kirisawa was so moved, he actually became a Christian. Heheh, leave it to Jesus to work a New Year miracle after many years.

FROM THEN ON…

Days passed for Ayumi Kirisawa, then the days turned into months and then the year passed. All through the year, there was no dream. Ayumi graduated from High School and made it into the University. At that time, she began to take over a bit of her duties as the heiress of the Kirisawa Conglomerate along with her sister Ai Kirisawa, then two years passed, and then two years more and she graduated from University with no sign of a Dream. But Dream City was rebuilding itself quickly. The damages from the last battle were quickly being erased. Soon, the only evidence of my existence would be in the memories of my friends and in the pictures we had. Ayumi hated that. She did not want to be left with just a memory. No dreams meant, no Dream Knight business. So for the past five years, there was no guarantee that I would ever return. All she had to hold on to was hope.

Then one day, Ayumi was sitting in the Kirisawa Gardens feeling miserable and hoping I would return soon and then she fell asleep. Then she dreamt.

In her dream she saw me in a castle, with my parents and grandfather standing with my citizens. The Dream world and Nightmare worlds were united and both were beautiful. The people were cheering,

"LONG LIVE KING KIERAN DAYMARE! LONG LIVE KING SANZIRI NIGHTBANE! LONG LIVE QUEEN ARIEL NIGHTBANE! LONG LIVE PRINCE JUST ZAN NIGHTBANE!" the people cheered.

"It won't be long now Ayumi" she heard me say.

Ayumi opened her eyes.

"I-I dreamt!" she exclaimed in awe.

She returned to the scene of the battle hoping to find me. All she found were scars. She was disappointed. She stared at the area sadly.

"Why are you looking for memories when the person you seek is right behind you?" a voice asked her.

She turned to find me.

"Zan!" she burst into tears and ran into my arms.

I was happy to learn that Prince Asante and Ai were happily wed and so were Face and Victoria. I reacquainted myself with my friends and after our long wait I finally proposed to Ayumi and she accepted. We were wed both in dreams and in reality. Finally, we wielded the Pyrostellis Luminares in earnest and we knew that it would never be replaced by another sigil.

I was happy as I professed my vows in my father's castle. The Nightbane was laid on both our shoulders and Ayumi was named the new Princess Of Dreams since my mother now had the title Queen Of Nightmares. How funny huh? Something about confusion and conflicting titles.

In time, Ayumi and I had kids. Two sons and two daughters. We named our first son Sanziri Nightbane, our second son Kieran Ryuuji Nightbane, our first daughter Saito Nightbane and our second daughter Ariel Nightbane. Face and Victoria had a daughter and Prince and Ai had a daughter as well.

However, we lived our lives in the real world. You may ask why? It wasn't the Dream World that needed work, it was the real world. We worked in the Dream World but our success was measured in the Real World. As long as mankind retain the lessons they learnt from that day, Zanfar will never return. So just in case you've been having this Nightmare that keeps recurring and you haven't been able to beat it. If you think you need help, just give us a call. We Dream Knights are just a step away, ready to help ya!

THE END