Yamato had yelled and pounded his fists on the wall, and then he’d picked himself up off the floor, wiped the tears off his face, took out Cobalt Saber, and started firing.
His shots glanced right off the wall before him. Yamato gritted his teeth and continued firing, his distress growing as each B-daball only bounced right off and left an unscratched brick wall. Enjyu had been cut off midsentence, and that only meant Yamato was uncertain what had happened on the other side.
He paused in firing, feeling resolve burn in his chest as he drew his arms back. “I’m coming for you, Enjyu,” he called out, and, with a great push off all his power, he fired. “Cobalt Power Blast!”
The B-daball shot forward with a trail of flames, this time embedding into the wall. Yamato stared at it, breathing heavily, and, thankfully, it was not a moment later when cracks formed around it and the entire wall crumbled.
The dust settled quickly, and he was left staring into an empty corridor. But…something didn’t seem right. It was much longer than when they’d walked through there earlier, and a bright light shone in the distance.
“Looks creepy, huh Tommi,” he said, looking down to his cat, “But we have to find Enjyu. C’mon, let’s go get my boyfriend back.”
With a nod, Tommi sprung forward, and Yamato followed, keeping pace with him.
It wasn’t long before they reached the source of the light: a great round room with multiple exits, and a domed ceiling that seemed to be made of sunlight. And at the center of the room…
“Enjyu!” shouted Yamato, running to the great red orb that hovered there. Enjyu floated within, eyes closed, unconscious. Yamato drew in a breath and glanced about, trying to find some way to free him. Would he have to destroy it with Cobalt Saber? That seemed…dangerous…
“You must be Yamato.”
He whirled around, and came face to face with a hooded figure wearing a golden mask. Yamato staggered away, raising Cobalt Saber, as he recognized the eye engraved into the mask. Marda-B’s eye, identical to the inscriptions on the statues outside the temple.
“We will not be battling,” they said in a rather feminine voice.
Yamato kept Cobalt Saber raised and pointed at them, hearing Tommi hiss beside him. “Only if you release Enjyu right now,” he demanded. “Let him out of that…that thing. That giant B-daball.”
“That isn’t possible,” they answered, striding closer to it. “He can only be freed if he wakes from his dream.”
“Dream?” Yamato lowered his blaster just enough to be less threatening. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Enjyu is not merely sleeping,” they said, gesturing at the orb. “He dreams in a paradise of his own making. His deepest regrets, erased. His deepest desires, realized. What he could have been, had his life taken a different path. A world where he is…happy.”
“Then how’s he supposed to wake up?” Yamato looked to Enjyu, tracing his peaceful, smiling face with his gaze. What was his dream world like? What was paradise for Enjyu…? A world where Marda-B had never existed? Or a world without him?
“If his ties to this world are true and strong,” said the hooded figure, “Then perhaps he will realize the truth.”
“Quit talking in riddles.” Yamato strode closer to them, holstering Cobalt Saber. “So there’s nothing you can do? Nothing I can do? Is that what you’re saying?”
A pause. “Yes.”
“And if I break the stupid orb?”
“He may never wake up.”
“Are you sure I can’t get him out if I battle you?” he asked, squinting at them.
“Quite sure,” they answered, “I have no control over the orb now that he is in there.”
Yamato turned and stepped away from them, walking over to the orb. He fixed his gaze on Enjyu, thinking of everything they’d been through, everything they’d done together. From their start as enemies, to the barbs they’d traded, to their battles, to their distant friendship, to finding each other again…With a huff, Yamato sat down on the tiled floor, crosslegged, before the orb. Tommi bounded over and jumped into his lap, company that he appreciated by reaching down to scratch the cat’s back.
“What are you doing?” asked the hooded figure.
“I’m going to wait,” answered Yamato, not even sparing them a glance. “I don’t trust you, but when Enjyu wakes up—and he will—I’m going to be right here for him. And then I’ll take care of you.”
“I just don’t get it.” Though he spoke softly, Yamato spotted his hooded companion turning toward him. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting here, and despite the sheer boredom, he’d held onto his resolve and managed to stay in his spot until his feet had fallen asleep and he’d had to make himself move. Tommi had long padded closer to the orb, curled up by it and was now sleeping soundly.
The hooded figure waited for him to continue.
“I just don’t get it,” he repeated, looking over to them, “Hoodie—I’m going to call you that from now on—why? Why does Enjyu have to go through this?”
“Please do not call me that,” said Hoodie.
“Are you going to tell me your name?” asked Yamato.
“No.”
“Then Hoodie it is,” he said, “Well? Why do this to Enjyu?”
The silence that followed stretched on uncomfortably. Yamato was starting to think he’d have to take out Cobalt Saber again when Hoodie finally spoke.
“This child, Enjyu…” they said, voice gentle for the first time, “His mind was held by Marda-B, was it not?”
Yamato perked up. There it was—Marda-B. He’d suspected from the eye on their mask that it all went back to Marda-B again. Despite how long it’d been, despite Marda-B’s amicable parting with them, despite everything Yamato had poured into his friendships, especially with Enjyu…Marda-B still lingered over them all.
“Marda-B took everything from him,” admitted Yamato, wincing at the memory. He’d already been forced to confront the thought today, when Enjyu had read the ancient words, but having to recall it so clearly almost made him wish he never asked. “But we got him back with B-energy and it’s all fine because I defeated Marda-B. So what does he have to do with this?”
“…so it was you who made him whole again,” said Hoodie. They sighed and came closer, turning their gaze down at Yamato. “This is a trial of the mind for those who wish to follow Marda-B’s footsteps. Those who were claimed by Marda-B’s power forever retain some of him in their soul. As Enjyu was so thoroughly changed by him at one point, the temple and I both saw potential in him and saw fit to begin the test.”
Yamato was immediately on his feet. “Enjyu’s not like that anymore!” he shouted, “He is not going to follow in Marda-B’s footsteps ever again! Enjyu can be mean when he wants to be, but he’s a good person now and that’s not changing. He’s never going back.”
And again, a long silence, as Hoodie turned away again and meandered off around the orb. Yamato stood his ground, glaring at them as they went.
“Your belief in him is admirable,” they said, “If he has the resolve to be the person you believe him to be, then perhaps he shall wake.”
Yamato glared, and glared, but nothing further was said, so he sat back down and once again kept his attention on Enjyu, watching for any sign at all of his scarred face stirring.
He had taken to lying down, curled up facing the orb with Tommi by him, when Hoodie, for the first itme, addressed him without being prompted.
“You care about him deeply,” they said, breaking the silence.
Yamato watched Enjyu float from his spot on the floor. This wasn’t how their vacation was supposed to go, and the waiting, the boredom, was starting to take a toll on him. He itched to do something, to keep moving…and most of all, he wanted so badly to hear Enjyu’s voice again.
“I love him,” he said without hesitation.
In the months after Marda-B’s defeat, Enjyu had weighed his options and bounced around the various towns and cities of the world trying to find a new place for himself. When he’d finally come to the Cat Cafe seeking Yamato out, he’d been alone for far too long. Yamato remembered how tense he’d been, how Enjyu had seemed so terrified of being turned away. But the Vincents had already settled in with him and Mie, and one more head in the cafe didn’t matter. Besides, Enjyu had been family even before he’d come back to them, and Yamato had immediately begun spending all his time with him.
When he’d finallly reached up and kissed Enjyu for the first time while sitting with him on the Cat Cafe roof under a starry sky, it had felt several months long overdue.
Yamato blinked, realizing a shadow had fallen over him. He raised his head to find Hoodie standing by him, reaching out to touch the orb with one hand.
“I lied,” they said, “There is another way to free him.”
“I knew I couldn’t trust you,” said Yamato, sitting up. “Well, what is it? I’ll do anything.”
Hoodie slid their hand down the orb, creating a tear in its glossy surface. The shifting red substance inside didn’t move, and neither did Enjyu, still floating within.
“You must wake him,” they said, “Join him and try to remind him of his reality from within. It will be difficult, but…if you love him so, then you have a chance.”
He hopped up onto his feet, disturbing Tommi and startling the cat awake. Yamato reached down to pet him. “Hey Tommi,” he said, “You keep an eye on Hoodie here for me, okay?”
He earned a meow for his instruction, and—
“Selene.”
“What?” he looked up at his hooded companion.
“My name is Selene,” they said, “You may call it from within the dream if you decide to abandon Enjyu to his paradise, and I shall free you from out here, but you will have only the one chance and you must be aware that you are dreaming. I can do this only for you.”
“I won’t need to say your name,” said Yamato, grinning now. He could feel a fire reigniting within him. Even if Selene was still lying, this was still a chance. “I’ll never abandon Enjyu. I didn’t back then, and I never will.”
“Good luck then,” said Selene, gold mask glimmering red from the orb as they stepped aside.
Yamato strode to the tear, then paused. “Why are you helping now?”
“…I loved someone too,” they said, “And I too waited for them, but I had not the resolve to save them on my own. I cannot bear to watch the same happen to you. Go.”
It made its own sense, thought Yamato, and he gave her a firm nod of understanding. Then he was clambering up through the tear and into the orb. Suddenly he was weightless, and he only had enough time to reach out and wrap his arms around Enjyu and pull close to him before he dropped into slumber as well.
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