Dream World

"Uhm, Excuse me," Howard walked into the Shrine, finding a single woman seated cross legged on a blue mat. "Is this really the shrine?"

"You're late," The lady smiled, and patted the wooden tiles, causing the ground to distort and Howard to move in her direction. Falling next to her, Howard flailed his arms before finding himself falling towards the floor.

Pushing down, Howard reached forward towards the wooden floor only to find himself floating in the air. To his right, the woman smiled, leaning down as she began to measure his torso from head to toe.

"Very interesting. You're Ki is connected to both the element of fire and something much more terrifying" The lady grabbed Howard's horns, and gently pulled him closer to her. Gravity had seemed to left the room, causing Howard to feel like he was floating in a vast and endless space.

He gulped, and looked into the woman's eyes, feeling a terrifying feeling growing inside of him.

"You're scared," The lady smiled and gently brushed his cheeks. "You don't need to be. I'm a lover not a fighter. I'm just here to give you a gentle push into the future."

"What do you mean?" Howard's fangs began to grow uncontrollably in his mouth. His fangs gritting against his bottom teeth created a strange, menacing sound. "No one can know the future."

"The future is an illusion. All roads constantly circulate back and forwards. The Ki in the Furnace especially in the Black Mountain Highlands are notorious for unlocking secrets. Anyways, your examination is done."

"Is that your friend?" Howard gulped, noticing a strange shadow floating over the woman's body. It had an ephemeral quality, like a ghost, that seemed full of endless sadness. "The-the shadow hanging on your shoulder?"

"Hmm? You can see her?" The mysterious woman stood up and crossed her arms, snapping her fingers before Howard dropped onto the floor.

Boom!

The space seemed to distort like a moving accordion, the walls moved like raindrops patterned against them, before a large explosion sounded. Forming from a white mass, a second woman appeared standing next to Howard's body, circling him with a brown dress flowing down her pale legs. Her beautiful amber hair draped over her shoulder while Howard struggled to stand.

"I'm-I'm really heavy now. Do you do this to everyone?"

"My name is Evania," The first lady smiled and did a slight curtsy towards Howard, before pointing to the lady in the brown dress, "And this is my sister Valrana. We're just dreams from the past. This is a dreamscape Howard. Sealed in each of these seven hallways is a different world. People from the distant past can exist here, including us sisters."

"You-you really are pretty." Howard said pushing himself as hard as he could off the floor. "However, I'm confused. If this is a dreamscape, then why don't my dreams matter."

"They do!" The girls said simultaneously before snapping their fingers. In each direction, the room seemed to expand endlessly. "However, without getting too much into the details, Howard. We'd like you to do something for us."

"I promised Monica I wouldn't sleep in your bed, so that's a no!" Howard blushed feeling a gentle hand touching against his skin. "If it's anything else, though, I'll give it a try."

"Howard," One lady snapped her finger, causing Howard to appear on a chair in a large throne room. "What would you say if I told you the ability to be the demon king rests inside your body? Would you find that fascinating?"

Howard nodded his head, and noticed in the distance Monica could be seen in chains. Flailing her arms from a large set of pillars, her eyes - full of tears - stared at him blankly. Two men with axes stood beside her, shimmering in black armor that wreaked of death, while the chains around Monica seemed to lower her constantly closer and closer to the floor.

"Would you, Howard, trade anything to be strong? Or would you rather hold people you care close."

"Uhm, if this is a dream, why is Monica here?" Howard's body began to cause distortions to the room, catching the two women by surprise. "You know I like her a lot right. I'll rip even the future to shreds if you hurt her."

"You will." Evania, the gorgeous woman Howard first locked eyes on, laughed and created an ax in front of her finger tips. "Then, do you think if I tossed this ax at her head, and it fell off, you'd be able to stop it?"

"I'll kill you if you try," Howard smiled, "I mean it. You're so pretty, she's my girlfriend! It's the least I can do for you hurting her."

Evania laughed and tossed back the ax, causing the room behind her to turn black before Monica's scream spread through the room. Instantly, a large fire grew around Howard, causing the space to shake more and more before wings burst out of his back.

"How dare you! I'll kill you!"

"Calm down, it's a dream," Evania snapped her fingers showing Monica sitting next to him at the convenience store. Picking up a grape juice, Evania patted Monica's head while she laughed with cheer. "This is all to test you."

"Yes, we sisters are here to help you with your development." Valrana appeared across from Monica, tossing a grape juice in the air. "We're here to help you grow. And your biggest weakness is also your greatest strength."

"What's that? What's my weakness?" Howard said, crossing his arms, returning to a calm smile with the two girls in front of him. "All I want to do is protect Monica and everyone else."

"Yes, but life is all about choices." Evania said, snapping her fingers, causing a butterfly to split in five different directions. She held up her finger, catching one, before the other four seemed to disappear into dust. Raising her hand, she touched the butterfly, causing it to transform into a spinning sword. "You make a single choice, and it leads you down a path. And once in a while, there will be something you can't control."

"When the time comes," Valrana continued, "You will learn you can't control everything, Howard. When that day comes, your power will explode beyond your wildest dreams."

"As long as no one I like dies," Howard said while smiling. "Now, I thought you two were going to make me stronger?"

"You sure," Evania laughed and snapped her fingers. "Because we're kind of mean."

"I'm meaner," Valrana laughed and brushed back her sisters hair. "We approve of you, but strength only comes after suffering. We can let you leave here, or make you suffer into strength."

"As long as I can protect her, I don't care," Howard picked up a can of grape juice, and opened it, smiling while Monica did the same. "I'm going to prove you sisters wrong! I'll get strong without anything bad happening ever!"

"Naive," Valrana sighed and appeared behind Howard, pushing him forward as the room around them changed.

In front of Howard, a large battle field appeared with pillars of fire and ice flying in every direction. Large moving masses of warriors turned into masses of blood as they slashed into their opponents aiming for their lives.

"Howard, look out in front of you, what do you see when you look at that man?" Evania pointed at a man screaming while he brushed aside two swords stabbing close to his side. "Do you see someone about to die, or someone with a hope to live?"

"I see a strong man," Howard said nodding his head, watching the man duck and toss a skeleton over his back before stabbing foward into the blood mist in front of him. "I see a man with the will to live."

"That man dies in five seconds," Evania patted Howard on the back. "Anyways, for your training, you're going to be that man. Let's see if you can make a better decision that he did, shall we?"