Chapter 0: The Dreamscape Open
"Alright, it's done." Saint Thane waved his hands theatrically and the aura around him dissipated.
"The Dreamscape tournament realm has been uploaded into the Gate."
"Thank you Saint Thane for your hard work." Nephis studied her Dream Gate as it shimmered with a faint purple hue. Most of the preparations from the past few months had been set for the upcoming event. Now all that was left was to prepare the entrances.
"How should we gather the participants to the Gate?" Thane asked.
"I shall have a memory that has multiple entrance points and a single exit point to funnel everyone in. My best memory smith is currently working on it." She didn't need to explain her boyfriend or his capabilities to Saint Thane, spreading his existence would be a hindrance to him.
"You must have great trust in them Lady Nephis" Thane replied. "How soon will the memory be prepared?"
"A couple days, depending on how much of an incentive I am willing to provide." Nephis was happy to provide as much incentive as her smith required.
Soon, Nephis would part with Saint Thane and return to the Ivory Tower to meet with Cassie. Cassie was in her office sorting out the reports given to her by the Fire Keepers. The stack of documents on her desk were status reports from Ravenheart and Bastion, detailing the welfare of her domains.
"So how's the progress on the Dreamscape project?" Cassie asked.
"Saint Thane finished modifying my Gate, all that is left is Sunny to finish the branch portals. But you already knew that." Nephis answered.
"But having the conversation is common courtesy isn't it?"
"It is." Nephis always enjoyed their conversations, and greatly appreciated Cassie's role as her information network especially after her rise to Supremacy. Cassie was her eyes and ears, as well as her mouth regarding the propaganda she has prepared. Now Nephis required her mouth once again.
"Is the announcement ready yet?"
"I just finished drafting the speech and the flyers are ready to be spread. Just say the word."
"Thank you Cassie, my precious office lady."
"Anything for you, your Majesty." Cassie and Nephis each let out a smile.
"Please inform Jet, Kai, and Effie to prepare a location for the entry portals, and tell Sunny that I'll meet him tonight."
"No problem Neph. Don't go overboard with the incentive alright?" Cassie's lips curled up even further as she tilted her face toward Nephis.
"You-" Nephis's face started to heat up. "You understood that?"
"Of course, one of my skills as an office lady is to be perceptive to many things. Doubly so in matters regarding you and Sunny," Cassie teased.
Nephis decided to flee the scene before she could take any more damage from their verbal altercation. She headed to her room to prepare to meet with Sunny.
Somewhere far away, Sunny was in his chair, watching as Rain trained. Sweat glistened on her forehead as she swung her tachi as if she was in a ballet. She slashed with her blade against a taciturn knight who blocked and parried with her shield. Soon, she bashed the knight's visor with the tachi's hilt, push kicked her chest, and swapped to her bow and let two arrows, one at the knight's left thigh and one at her face.
Saint, who was playing the training dummy, lowered her weight to match a typical awakened so that Rain would be able to mimic fighting against her own kind as well as so that she wouldn't break her foot when she attempted the kick.
"Not bad, I can see the growth compared to our first couple years. Also helps that you awakened," Sunny commented. He was truly impressed with his sister's potential for lethality, even with her flaw. 'As expected from the sister to the heir of death'.
"If you use your awakened ability, you can easily outmatch many of your awakened peers. I'm proud, Rain."
"That's great and all, but why exactly am I training to kill when I can't even kill a fly? What's the point?" Rain was puzzled on why her brother had told her to start training with lethality on her mind, even offering his own shadows to assist her. "You already knows what happens when I attempt any of this stuff with a nightmare creature or a person."
"Don't worry Rain, you'll need it soon enough."
'???' Rain tilted her head, wondering what kind of insane thought was going through her brother's head. She already had exposure to Sunny's crazy plans, even if they greatly benefited her. Usually his exclamations and actions were over the top, psychopathic at times. The thing she hated the most was that it was all true, thanks to his flaw.
Suddenly, Sunny closed his eyes as if he was reminiscing about something. "I remember when I was your age. Young, freshly awakened, a sweet innocent boy. I was in a tournament once. Remember how I told you about how I was a celebrity and a war hero?" Rain stared at her brother as he rambled.
"Yeah, but what the hell are you talking about right now with 'innocent'. You were definitely not innocent at any time."
"You're probably right, but that's not the point. Anyways, how would you like to have some fun in a tournament?"
"A tournament? Like… a fighting tournament? Where people beat the crap out of each other until one of them gets to kiss the princess at the end type of tournament?"
"Yes to the first two, I'm not sure about the third though. But yes, a fighting tournament. You can get fame, accolades, and most importantly, loot! Who doesn't love free loot!"
Rain sighed, "I like free loot, not so sure about all the fame. Anyways, there's no tournament going on, and the last time anything of the sort happened was years ago with the Dreamscape Tournament sponsored by Valor back in the day. Who the hell is hosting a tournament?"
Sunny smiled and proclaimed, "Me."
Rain started looking at him funny, then scrunched her eyebrows as she remembered his flaw. "What kind of tournament?"
"The fighting kind."
"Well, how big is it?"
"Decently sized."
"Are you going to give me any decently relevant information?"
"Not really. Oh, but I will tell you that I got to name it!" Sunny beamed at Rain.
"Oh gods, what in damnation did you name it? Your track record in naming is really bad Sunny."
"I gave it a fantastic name, how could you doubt your big brother?"
"Okay, let's hear it then."
Sunny put his hands on his thighs and started drum rolling. "The name of the tournament is-"
[Title Card]