Stands Within: Fate Of Time

Chapter 7: Dreaming Reality

Keith woke up to some sunlight on his face, only to find out he was no longer in the school, but rather, on a pillar in the middle of a place with a purple flooring. He got up, and started to wander around. It was a sort of flower field, with batches of flowers here and there. He got near the gate, and saw a blonde man, his back facing him. Keith immediately recognized this man.

"Dio? I thought you were dead?"

Dio turned to face him, and said, "Keith, this is only a dream. Unfortunately, you cannot escape from it, nor will you find a way to combat everything here."

Keith stepped backwards a bit, and asked, "Did you come to kill me?"

"No, Keith." said a woman's voice. He turned in the direction it came from, which was behind him, and saw Lei Lao Shi, "We're here in your dream to warn you about the world's greatest threat."

"It seems like you've observed this place a little carefully. Good. However, I'd like you to look up." Dio said.

He followed, and saw the moon getting closer to the sun. "Eclipse?"

"That's right. On the day of the eclipse..."

The moon blotted out the sun, making the sky dark and creating a ring of light around the shadow of the moon. Suddenly, the ground shook as a creature with 8 arms rose from the ground far away. It had the 8 planets in a halo above its head, and with its presence, the flowers wilted in an instant. "F-Flarelight Solarity? No, it's... It's Sunlighting Solarity's third evolution!"

"That's right, Keith."

He turned to see Bryan, few steps away from him. He thought reality would threaten the world, but time, when in trouble, could threaten the entire universe itself. "Sunlighting Solarity is fueled by Noah's hate for life, just like how your Darkheart is fueled by your depression."

"Is there any way to stop the monstrosity?"

"There's only one way. I think it has something to do with your teammates."

"My teammates?"

"That's right. The only explanation for how Kenntaro could see Darkheart is because he also has a Stand. Try to pry into it and see its stats. Maybe you'll find something new."

Keith walked around for a bit, seeing the ruin of the flower field. He saw one flower which hadn't wilted, and walked over to it. He touched it with the tip of his finger, and thought of a new move. Finally, he got it.

"Darkheart: Life And Death."

The flower wilted as the surrounding flowers were revived back to its original state. He used Soul Sight on himself to check his vitality, and saw that he had used a bit of it to kill that one flower he used Life And Death on. "This'll be better for a final move." he said, before walking back to the center of the flower field.

The fallen souls of his past enemies disappeared as the surrounding flower field turned into a temple ruin. He was moved to the entrance as the middle pillar changed into a sort of altar, and he walked forward towards it. A fire burned in the middle, and he touched it. A coursing fire flowed through him, and he felt better, as if he were ready to murder Noah. He walked around it before looking in the front, opposite the direction of the entrance. Someone had appeared with a health bar above it, and Keith jumped forward to attack, instinctively knowing what to do.

He used Tears Of Depression to immobilize, then barraged them before smacking them to a far end. The person used their vines to get back to where they were standing, their health depleted by 8%, and Keith used Madness Blinds All before using Nightmares Of Heaven to rewrite reality to get them closer to his position. He used Life And Death to blow them away with his life force, before Shadow Travelling close to them and using Pleasure In Pain to blast them away and steal their health.

He thought of this as a good training session, and decided to go back through the entrance. He opened the doors, and saw a bright white space. He ran through it, and woke up.

He looked around to find that Sofie was leading a small camp in the sports hall. He approached her, and she immediately noticed him. She said, "Ah, you're finally awake. I thought you died."

"How long was I out for?"

"2 days. I couldn't lift you, since there was a sort of electric shock going through you."

"2 days? When's the next eclipse?"

"If i remember, it's supposed to be today." Nicolas spoke up.

Keith quickly ate his breakfast, and said, "While I was asleep, I had a dream."

"What kind of dream was it?" Kenntaro asked.

"I was in a flower field with Dio, Lei Lao Shi, and Bryan. They weren't there to kill me, but they were there as a sort of warning."

"What happened next?" Tristan eagerly asked.

"I'd like you to shut up so I can continue without any interruptions. Anyways, I was then transported to some sort of church, probably a cathedral, and I trained there. I got a new skill and a new combo, but here's the most grim of everything I've seen. When an eclipse happened in the flower fields, an evolved version of Flarelighting Solarity rose from the ground."

"So what you're trying to say is..."

"Today is the day hell arises from deep below, and we have to close the gates before that happens."

"But we aren't facing Hell." Sidney said, brandishing her sword.

"It's an idiom I made for 'we have to kill Noah before he kills time'."

"Ah, I see. Where are we going to fight him?"

"Has everyone here finished their lunches?"

"Yep." Sofie said.

Keith then snapped his fingers, and everyone was Shadow Traveled to Sampoerna, where Noah was standing in the middle of the soccer field.

"Noah."

He turned to face Keith and the gang. He simply smirked, and said, "Did you think I didn't come prepared?" He snapped his fingers and multiple portals appeared on his side, with multiple Stand users storming out of them.

"I didn't. Which is why I prepared as well." Keith said, portals appearing behind him. Familiar faces emerged from them, like Adele Gabriel and Helda Engdon. The two got in front of their teams, and they shouted at once,

"Let's have at it!"