Dreamweaver; The Seven Stones Of Virtue

Episode 19: The Worst Enemy Of Conscience

EPISODE19: THE WORST ENEMY OF CONSCIENCE

Hello everyone, my name is Ai Kirisawa. You can just call me Ai. I'm Ayumi's twin sis. I guess it's my turn to tell a part of the story. Zan's told you quite a lot already but there's a bit he didn't know back then about Ayu's past and mine. But this story doesn't start in the past. It starts in the present, two days after Ayumi was pulled into an alternate timeline by Chaos, the 27th of December, 2011. I remember that day so clearly, a lot of funny things happened followed by many tragedies.

That morning, I woke up and went to help the maids with breakfast as usual. Suki, the other maids and I had quite an interesting conversation about Ayumi and Zan. As it turned out, even the maids had begun to notice that Ayumi had begun to develop romantic feelings for Zan. Ayumi had begun to change. She was less strict with the maids now and sometimes even engaged them in conversation. I nearly laughed when Suki told me that Ayumi had once asked her whether Zan would like the Tux she had decided to make for him for Christmas. I laughed even harder when I learnt that Ayumi actually blushed when Suki teased her. Then somehow, I ended up becoming the topic of our conversation. The maids asked me whether I had a boy I liked but I hadn't met any boys in almost five years. Zan was probably the first boy I'd seen in a while apart from my dad and other relatives. Suki was even bold enough to suggest that I should find myself a boyfriend but I was so embarrassed with the topic that I quickly made up an excuse and left the kitchen.

As I passed by the Hall, I noticed that my dad was talking with someone and they seemed to be enjoying their conversation very much. I decided to take a peep and almost collapsed. My dad was speaking with the Nightmare King, Zan's dad! I could have died any moment considering the fact that it was the Nightmare King that cursed me five years ago.

Shockingly enough, I was invited in. I sat as far from the Nightmare King as I possibly could. I wondered what the two men could have been talking about and demanded an answer as politely as I could. I was even more shocked when the Nightmare King began to ask me how Ayumi and Zan were getting along. For some strange reason, all his questions were centred on how the romance between the two was developing and my dad seemed equally interested in my answers. As we talked, we heard an argument break out upstairs and soon, Ayumi and Zan came walking down the stairs. Ayumi had a clenched fist and Zan seemed to be rubbing his cheek painfully.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?!" Ayumi yelled angrily.

"Sorry" Zan said regretfully.

Then they walked to the dining table without noticing any of us and ate silently. Ayumi kept pressuring Zan into eating more vegetables but he was more interested in the bacon, eggs and hot dogs on the table. I heard Ayumi speaking sternly, and a loud hitting sound followed by a crashing sound was heard. I turned to look at my dad.

"Just like Saito" I heard the Nightmare King say.

"Darou?" my dad said with an expression I never thought I'd see on his face.

I smiled.

Soon, Ayumi and Zan were heard approaching the hall, and then they came into view. Both held a sandwich in their hands and were about to chew on them; but when they saw us in the hall, they dropped their sandwiches simultaneously.

"N-N-N-Nightmare King?!" Ayu exclaimed in shock.

"D-Dad?! What're you doing here?!" Zan seemed to be even more surprised.

"Naïve brat. Does a father need a reason to visit his son?" the Nightmare King said.

"Says the guy who never showed his face in nineteen years! Temae (Damn you!) You better give me a good reason for showing your face here! Depending on your answer, I might give you a round of stargazing!" Zan yelled angrily.