EPISODE 1; THE NON EXISTENT DREAM BOY

It was a bright and sunny day in Dream City, somewhere in the human world. I don‟t know what continent this city is in so don‟t ask. An old man called Wanye, note, his name is Wanye which means „come and see‟ and not Wayne. It‟s spelt N-Y-E, not Y-N-E. Anyways, this old man was taking a walk and let me tell you, he was as broke as a housefly that hadn‟t visited the KVIP(Public Toilet) for seven millennia. All he ever ate was water, bread and water. Anyway, Wanye was walking along the slummy streets of Lower East Side Dream City when he slipped on a banana peel and fell. It was then that he noticed that, the sun was glowing with seven different colours. He noticed a dark figure falling from the sky and before he could move, a heavy load fell on him. That load was me, fresh from the dream world. And before you ask, I‟m Black. I inherited my father‟s dark skin and my mother‟s golden coloured eyes.

Wanye found me strange so he checked me for signs of identity. The only thing he found was a sheet of paper with the word „dream‟ written on it. Because of that, he named me Zan after the Dagaare word for dream. Wanye was an African, a Ghanaian to be exact. He was stuck in Lower East Side Dream City because he stowed away on a boat to look for greener pastures in Dream City but hell, was he surprised or what? Those Dream City folk don‟t respect Africans at all so he ended up in a slum with some fellow African friends and a few White folk from Dream City who were as broke as he was.

Wanye took me home and nursed me. He lived all alone and I was his ray of comfort and hope. As I grew up, I learned to love Wanye as my only family. He taught me things I never knew were possible and sent me to school when I was five years of age. Wanye worked his ass off to pay my school fees and even managed to send me to Dream City‟s most prestigious school. The name of the school was Great Dreamers Academy. That was where my misery began. I discovered that I couldn‟t fit in because most of my classmates were rich. I was laughed at for wearing tattered clothes and hey, those were my best clothes. In fact, they were my only clothes.

The only way I could survive the humiliation was to relegate myself to the background. It didn‟t take long for everyone to forget my existence. However, I made sure that I never lost in academic work. I wanted Wanye to be happy and the smile on his face whenever he saw my grades made me forget my misery.

My real misery did not begin until one fateful day. I was eighteen years old by then. I sat in class that morning drawing stick-drawing battles. That was my specialty. As I sat doing that, Sir Showboybydafineshoe entered the class with a very beautiful girl beside him. Just by looking at her once, I could tell she was Japanese and I, being a great fan of animes and of Japan generally fell in love with her at first sight. She introduced herself as Ayumi Kirisawa and that‟s when I realized that heck! I didn‟t have a surname. So when we all introduced ourselves in turns, I ended up introducing myself as Xan Bie and those of you Seiken Densetsu 3 fans can probably guess how much the class laughed at me.

Ayumi didn‟t laugh though. In fact, I noticed that she never laughed as time went by. I never saw a single smile on her face and it made me sad because;

1. I really loved this girl and

2. I find it fun and challenging to make serious people laugh.

The only unoccupied seat in the class was the seat next to me so Ayumi had to sit by me. I heard one person say,

"An African boy and a Japanese girl, what a cute couple"

And the class laughed at Ayumi and I. Ayumi didn‟t laugh, hell no, she didn‟t even frown and when I whispered to her,

"Ignore them, they‟re always like that"

She didn‟t even speak to me.

The only time she did speak to me was when she asked for my notes. I felt really honoured so I gave her all my notes without even asking when she would return them. The School‟s Structured Mid-Term Exams was taking place the following week and Ayumi hadn‟t returned my notes yet.

Whenever I asked for them, she didn‟t answer and Wanye was really mad at me for doing such a stupid thing.

The Structured Mid-term Exam took place but I managed to grab the second position in class. Guess who was first this time, none other than dear silent Ayumi. When we saw our results, I felt foolish and that‟s when Ayumi spoke to me again. She gave me my notes and asked me

"Do you hate me?"

I said "No" and I really meant it. She said I was weird and Wanye was even madder at me than before. Not a day passed that I didn‟t try to converse with Ayumi. I tried everything. I joked, I teased, I even serenaded her but nothing worked and guess what? I became the laughing-stock of the class.

Then I began to notice something weird. News was blowing across town that people were dying in their sleep. I thought it was a ruse and had nothing to do with me until…I started to have nightmares. Every night, I saw in my dreams, dark creatures, very ugly ones. Most of them looked like hairy overgrown bats but the ones I really feared were the white bunnies with red eyes that kept saying,

"How would you like to become everyone‟s nightmare?"

And then I‟d run like hell but they would chase me and the more I ran, the closer they came to me. I always woke up to avoid them.

Wanye asked me why I was screaming in my sleep but I told him that it was nothing. I packed my books and went to school. At school, Ayumi was still as cold as usual. It was then that I realized that, no one in the school appreciated me. I was just a non-existent being, a non-entity. I decided to give up talking to Ayumi. I even tried to convince myself that, what I felt for her was an infatuation. One caused by my great admiration for Japan. And that‟s where I decided, there ain‟t no true friend like an African.

When I got home after school, Wanye came to me and asked me why I looked so sad. I told him nothing but he very easily guessed that it was girl trouble. Wanye told me that he would take me to see his best friend Ananse. Anyways, you Ghanaians probably know how cunning Ananse is. When Wanye told Ananse what my trouble was, guess what Ananse told me?

"The most delicious food in this world is the food you can‟t have. If you want this girl to like you, then simply act like she doesn‟t exist"

These were Ananse‟s exact words. Me being as naïve as my mother, believed him and tried it out. And guess the resultant effect, Ayumi became even colder. I guess Ananse‟s cunning does not work on Japanese girls.

One day, as I sat in class, I absent-mindedly began to draw in my jotter. Ayumi wanted to see what I was doing out of curiosity but I was absolutely fed up with her coldness. I told her right in her face,

"It‟s none of your beeswax"

It seemed like that was the best medicine for Japanese girls because she became more interested in what I was doing and I, hey, remember I‟m the son of the Nightmare king so my evil psyche was working overtime. I realized that, the more I pretended to be mean to Ayumi, the more interested she became in what I was doing. Anyway, she pleaded so much that my mother‟s kind nature in me decided to allow her to see what I had done and this is what she saw;

Suddenly, Ayumi burst into laughter, much to my surprise. She just couldn‟t stop laughing.

"I‟m glad to see you laughing. My real name is Zan, just Zan, it means dream" I reintroduced myself.

Ayumi stared at me in surprise. There were whispers around class that Ayumi had laughed and everyone wanted to see why. When they saw my drawing, they also laughed.

"Do you believe in dreams?" Ayumi asked me.

"What do you mean? We all have dreams" I answered.

I didn‟t know what she meant.

"What I mean is that do you believe that dreams are real? That the dream world is another reality?" Ayumi asked.

"Of course I do. I even believe that the dream world and the human world can be merged" I said with a laugh.

Ayumi remained silent for a while.

"What‟s wrong Ayumi?" I asked.

"Don‟t you think I‟m weird?" Ayumi asked.

"No, I think you are special" I blurted out and after that, I began to feel embarrassed.

After that incident, Ayumi began to talk to me a bit more.

Little did I know that, Ayumi belonged to a family of Dream Knights. The Dream king had been conquered but he had not been killed. He managed to go into hiding but before he did that, he called a meeting of the highest order of Dream Knights and entrusted them with a secret mission. Their mission was to eliminate me.

When Ayumi arrived home that day, her father, Sir Ryuuji Kirisawa was waiting for her.

"Welcome home Ayumi" he greeted.

"Have you discovered anything new?" Ayumi asked her father.

"Yes, we investigated the only area in Dream City that we had left unchecked. By persuading the poor folk with some little cash, we discovered that a man called Wanye Mwinwule found a child eighteen years ago.

According to the people, the child fell from the sky" Sir Kirisawa informed his daughter.

"So what do you want me to do father?" Ayumi asked emotionlessly.

"Go to Lower East Side Dream City and find the man called Wanye. I‟m sure he is aware of the capabilities of that monster he is protecting so I don‟t need to tell you what to do if he refuses to turn in the Dreamweaver" Sir Kirisawa said.

"I understand father" Ayumi said as she departed.

I was still in school by then, trying to think of other possible drawings that could make Ayumi laugh. As I sat there drawing malevolently funny creatures, I hadn‟t noticed one of my mates trying to approach me. I only noticed when his shadow fell on my table.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha! You really know how to draw funny stuff Zan!" he laughed for this is what I had drawn.  

"You think it‟s funny?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I wonder how you get such crazy ideas!" the boy laughed.

"It‟s actually an attempt to make Ayumi laugh" I said.

"You are a nice person Zan. My name is Prince Asante. I‟m a Ghanaian but most people don‟t know because of my fair complexion" Prince introduced himself.

"Really?! I‟m also a Ghanaian. I‟m from the Dagaare clan. My family totem is the lion!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Wow, that‟s superior. My clan‟s totem is the dog" Prince said. "Anyway Zan, I‟ve got this really crazy idea and I need your help. I want to make a comic about this class, sorta like a teaser about the fight between Jude and Apostle but the only one who can make it look funny enough is you so what d‟ya think?" Prince asked.

"You‟re speaking my lango Prince. Let‟s give this class something to laugh about for a long time!" I exclaimed and we high-fived.

Meanwhile, Wanye was cooking lunch in the house. He had been given some food supplies by kind Mrs. Oboshi.

Note, Oboshi is what Ghanaians call obeise women but although this woman was called Oboshi, she was as thin as a thread that had been divided lengthwise by a micro blade or better yet, she was as thin as a pair of homologous chromosomes. The only reason she was called Mrs. Oboshi was because she was married to an obeise man called Gourmand Oboshi.

As Wanye was cooking, he heard a knock on the door of our shack. He went to open the door and saw a girl about my age dressed in armour and holding a sparkling sword.

"I‟m sorry but this isn‟t the address for a costume party" Wanye said.

"Hand over the Dreamweaver!" the girl demanded.

And I‟m sure you‟ve figured out by now that the girl was none other than Ayumi.

"I don‟t know what you are talking about" Wanye said as he tried to shut the door but Ayumi stuck her foot in the doorway so the door didn‟t close. Wanye tried to run away but before he could take two steps, Ayumi ran him through. For those of you who don‟t understand, it means she stabbed him. Wanye dropped to the ground in a pool of blood clutching his bleeding stomach.

Wanye muttered the word „dream‟ and then he blacked out.

By then, Prince and I had completed our stikomik. That‟s what we called our stick drawing comic. We pasted it on the notice board, high-fived and departed for our homes.

When I arrived at my home, I found the door open. I found it strange so I entered with caution. I only walked a few feet when I noticed a trail of blood on the floor. I followed the trail and found Wanye lying on the ground, fatally wounded.

"WANYE! WHAT HAPPENED?!" I screamed in horror. Wanye struggled to open his eyes. I rushed to his side and lifted him gently.

"I‟ll find a way to send you to the hospital" I said as I walked outside.

There were a few number of cars outside. One of them was unlocked so I put Wanye in the back seat and sat in the driver‟s seat.

"Listen Zan, I don‟t have much longer to live" Wanye said.

"Who did this to you?!" I demanded an answer.

"Zan, no matter what you do, do not trust the Dream Knights. Their purpose is to destroy you. Thank you, Zan for bringing purpose into my life. You are now a man. People may call you an abomination but you are special. I‟m glad…I met you" Wanye sighed and then he remained silent.

I tried to hotwire the car. I was in tears but I was unlucky. I was caught and beaten. Wanye was thrown out of the car like a dog despite my desperate pleas and that was when I began to wish I had power.

"If only I had power, I‟d make the Dream Knights pay. No…not just the dream knights, I would make all of humanity pay as well. I‟ll destroy all those who ever treated us like we were sub-human. Maybe I‟d spare Ayumi" I thought.

If only I knew.

My evil intentions were so great that he noticed them. Who? The Nightmare King of course. He watched me in fascination.

"At long last, my son is becoming the man I‟ve always wanted him to be" the Nightmare King laughed within Nightmare world.

I lost consciousness. I awakened the next day in Mrs Oboshi‟s house. She was staring down at me with her husband and Ananse.

"Are you okay Zan?" Mrs Oboshi asked in concern.

"Yeah, I‟m fine. How is Wanye?" I asked.

Ananse shook his head slowly and I realized that Wanye was gone forever.

"We‟ve already buried him" Ananse said.

I walked to Ananse‟s backyard where Wanye had been buried and I swore to make him proud. I also promised to avenge him though I knew in my heart that it was not what Wanye wanted me to do.

I missed classes for three days to attend Wanye‟s Requiem. On the fourth day, I returned to school. No sooner had I stepped into the school grounds than my mates began to cheer for me as though I were some kind of hero. Prince told me it was because of the stikomik but all laughter had left my soul. As time went on, Ayumi began to notice that, I hardly spoke a word. I wasn‟t the usual cheerful me. She ignored me at first and I honestly didn‟t care but soon she became worried.

"Zan, what‟s wrong?" she asked me in her usual nonchalant tone. I didn‟t answer.

"It‟s okay, you can tell me" she assured me.

"People can be really cruel. Why would anyone want to hurt an old man like Wanye?" I muttered.

"What do you mean Zan?" Ayumi asked.

"My gramps has been murdered and it‟s my entire fault. If only I had gone home early instead of thinking of funny drawings to make you laugh, he‟d still be alive" I muttered as I banged my fist on my desk.

Ayumi stared at me in surprise.

"You stayed in school to try and make me laugh?" Ayumi asked.

I remained silent.

"How did he die?" Ayumi asked me.

"He was stabbed" I said.

Now let me tell you something about Ayumi. She was a really smart girl. With this piece of information, she began to suspect that I was the dreamweaver. She wasn‟t sure though so she trailed me after classes. The Nightmare King watched me through the Mirror Gate. Without the elemental stones, the gates‟ power to separate both worlds began to weaken.

"I believe my son needs a little encouragement. Dream Banes! I have a job for you. Deliver my greetings to my son!" the Nightmare King ordered with a sinister laugh. Suddenly, a number of Dream Banes, cruel, horrible beasts from the Nightmare World leapt through the Eternal Mirror Gate.

I walked along the road feeling moody and angry. Part of me wished I had never met Ayumi so that Wanye would still be alive. Suddenly, I felt an evil presence. I suddenly stopped walking and looked around.

"His senses are really sharp" Ayumi thought from where she was hiding.

"Prince Ayzan Nightbane, your father wishes to see you," a dark sinister voice said.

"My father? Why do you call me prince? And who are you?" I asked the strange voice.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps and saw white rabbit feet. Then I saw about twenty red eyes and then, before I knew it, I was faced by ten evil human sized bunnies with red eyes.

"How would you like to become everyone‟s worst nightmare?!" they said together in an eerie chorus and heck, I wasn‟t going to wait around to answer.

I took to my heels as fast as I could run.

"Don‟t run Zan! FACE THEM!" Ayumi ordered but I didn‟t listen to her.

I ran to her, grabbed her hand and we ran like hell.

"You‟ve got to fight them Zan!" Ayumi said.

""What?! Are you crazy?!" I yelled.

"Let go of me!" Ayumi ordered and broke free of my grasp.

"Ayumi, what‟s wrong?" I asked.

"A coward like you has no right to hold the hand of a Dream Knight of the highest order" Ayumi said as she turned to face the bunnies.

"Oh I see, a brave girl from the human world thinks she can face us?" one bunny said.

Ayumi glanced at me with a serious disappointed look and I felt very hurt.

Then she turned to face the bunnies.

"What can you do?" the bunnies mocked.

"I AM AYUMI KIRISAWA OF THE KIRISAWA CLAN OF DREAM KNIGHTS! OBEY ME SIGILS OF FLAME! I SUMMON THEE!!!" Ayumi roared as a powerful flame surrounded her.

In an instant, she was transformed into a magnificent knight with Crimson armour. A flaming sword appeared in her hands. I stared at her in awe. I even dropped to the ground from shock and fear.

"She‟s a Dream Knight?! DESTROY HER!!!" the bunny leader ordered and the evil bunnies attacked.

"Ayumi is really brave. She‟s battling my worst nightmare like it‟s nothing" I thought in awe. Ayumi charged right into the midst of the evil bunnies, slashing and defeating them magnificently.

In about two minutes, she had defeated them all.

"Underlings like you shouldn‟t waste my time" she said and did she sound cool or what?!

I was cowering on the ground.

"You are really pathetic Zan. I really expected more from you" Ayumi said as she gave me the look that meant

"You are also a weakling that doesn‟t deserve my time and that‟s when I knew how the bunnies felt.

I mean guys are supposed to protect girls and not the other way round. It‟s just the natural law, the natural order of things but this girl had defied all natural laws. In fact, she had defied the law of gravity, the law of motion, law of speed and even the law of power and worst of all; she had defied the natural law of transformation which required the use of human hands to change clothes.

I just stared at her with my mouth wide open.

"How dare that stupid Kirisawa knight interfere with my entertainment? Send in BUNNYOS EXTREMOS!" the Nightmare king ordered in a rage and the thing of my worst nightmares leapt through the Mirror Gate.

Ayumi stared at me with those eyes filled with hatred.

"Weak people like you don‟t deserve to live" Ayumi said.

I couldn‟t do anything. I couldn‟t reply and I couldn‟t even stand up. That‟s when I saw two huge evil red eyes appear about fifty feet above Ayumi. I opened my eyes in horror.

"Ayumi b-behind you" I stammered.

Ayumi turned. The thing standing behind her was no ordinary human sized bunny. It was the GODZILLA OF ALL FREAKING BUNNIES! Ayumi stared at it in shock and it grabbed her in its massive paws.

"Don‟t disrespect the son of the Nightmare king!" the creature said as it squeezed Ayumi in its paws.

Blinded by fear, I stood up and began to run, screaming at the top of my voice.

"DON‟T RUN ZAN! IF YOU DO, YOU‟LL DIE!!!" Ayumi screamed at the top of her voice.

I recalled Wanye‟s advice not to trust Dream Knights so I continued to run.

"You are aware of the stages that lead to The Ultimate Unconsciousness. Stage one, the victim is blinded by fear. He runs away from the nightmare hoping to escape" Bunnyos said but I wasn‟t listening.

I kept running with all I had but I tripped on a stone and fell.

"Stage two, the victim falls to the ground and loses all hope" Bunnyos said.

I tried to stand but I couldn‟t.

"Stage three, the final stage, the victim faces total paralysis as the nightmare engulfs his mind. His mind suddenly snaps and his body dies" Bunnyos said.

At that moment, I collapsed to the ground. My heart was racing so fast that I couldn‟t move at all. Bunnyos continued to squeeze Ayumi like a piece of popcorn in the hands of a teenage mutant ninja turtle. Ayumi screamed in pain. Her screams were like a knife through my heart.

"That rule applies to ordinary humans. If you are the dreamweaver, it‟s an entire other story" a strange voice whispered in my ear.

I didn‟t see anyone.

"HELP ME ZAN! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" Ayumi screamed in pain.

"What am I doing? Why am I letting this evil nightmare torture Ayumi. I‟ve had enough!" I roared as I stood up and turned to face Bunnyos Extremos.

"So you are still alive" Bunnyos laughed.

"If you value your life, you will let her go now!" I ordered.

Ayumi stared at me.

"His attitude has changed" she noticed.

"What will you do Prince Ayzan Nightbane?" Bunnyos mocked me.

"A person can be killed by running away from nightmares right? So what if instead of running away from my nightmare, I run towards it!" I said with a cunning smile.

"You wouldn‟t dare!" Bunnyos roared angrily.

"Try me!" I roared as I charged towards Bunnyos.

"WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Bunnyos roared angrily.

"I AM PRINCE AYZAN NIGHTBANE! HEED MY CALL SIGILS OF

LIGHT!!!" I roared and in a bright flash of golden light, I was clothed in golden armour with a flashing sword in my hand that glowed like the sun!

"Impossible! That Sword is Hikari no Fukushu, known to us as Light‟s Revenge but feared by all nightmares as the Nightbane!" Ayumi exclaimed in shock.

"Upgrading the Nightbane to Light Sigil level one!!!" I roared and suddenly a bright golden beam from the nightbane flew into the sky.

I charged towards Bunnyos, filled with anger. When I was close to him, he tried to pound me with his fist but I leapt into the air, defying the laws of gravity.

"I‟LL SAY THIS JUST ONCE! LET AYUMI GO!!!" I roared as I slashed through Bunnyos from head to foot.

Bunnyos roared in pain, fell to the ground in two halves and disappeared. Ayumi fell to the ground. I ran to her side.

"Ayumi! Hey Ayumi! Are you alright?" I called worriedly as I helped her to her feet.

"I‟m fine Zan, thanks to you. I‟m really sorry for calling you a coward" Ayumi apologized.

"If you hadn‟t, I‟d have probably remained a coward for life" I said as I panted heavily.

My sigils disappeared and my vision became blurred.

"Are you alright Zan?" Ayumi asked but I couldn‟t answer.

I dropped to the ground in an exhausted heap.

"I guess this was his first time of summoning sigils and controlling their power. For a beginner Zan, you are really amazing" Ayumi said as she lifted my unconscious body into her arms and walked away.