Atsushi awoke to find himself in a land of eternal moonlight, floating in the clear waters of a shallow pond. Around him fluttered moths that possessed impossibly bright neon colors, and petals of unnaturally colorful flowers that were pushed by a breeze that Atsushi could not feel or otherwise perceive. It was quiet here, the first noise that Atsushi noticed was the sound of the water gently splashing as he sat himself up. He looked around himself and took note of the unfamiliar landscape. In his 27 years of experience, he had seen nothing like this place. This place possessed an unnatural beauty that inspired both awe and fear. Am I dead? Atsushi asked himself, then he heard a voice behind him answer.
“Dying, but not yet dead. I am afraid now is not your time.” The voice sounded so familiar, Atsushi turned towards the voice and his jaw dropped. Before him, clothed in a silken-like white fabric, was Mei. Her skin glowed white, like the full moon on a clear night. Her face pronounced a mixture of joy and sorrow as the two lovers made eye contact. Atsushi rushed towards her, throwing his arms out in order to embrace her, but she wasn’t there. Well, her physical form wasn’t there, Atsushi backed away and looked towards her once again. This time, a single tear ran down her face. “I’m sorry my love, but there is still much for you to do, where I am going you cannot follow. Not now, at least.”
A hurricane of emotion overwhelmed Atsushi in that moment: Fear, confusion, loss. Atsushi backed away from Mei’s spirit before proclaiming: “Like hell I can’t, I remember what happened back there! If you are dead, then so am I!”
“Technically you’re right, you did both die, but I’ve come to send you back specifically.” Said a voice that was both familiar and foreign. Atsushi turned to find himself face to face with a man that looked almost exactly like him. His hair was darker than Atsushi’s, the sword he held free of its’ sheath was blood-red, and matched the color of the half-mask that the unidentified man wore on his face.
“Who the hell are you?!” Asked Atsushi, taken aback by this stranger’s sudden appearance.
“The short answer is, that I am you. Not the you that your fiancé Mei here ever knew, and maybe not even a ‘you’ that you could have become on your world, in your time, but I am you nonetheless.” The man said matter-of-factly. Recognizing the confused look on Atsushi’s face, the masked stranger continued. “Those of that are blessed with the blood of the Seikon have a very limited grasp over space & time, and while it isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, it still offers those of us with this power some unique opportunities. One of those opportunities lies before both of us here, and now.”
Atsushi still did not understand, he looked back towards Mei who had moved closer to him. She instinctively reached out as if to comfort him, but pulled back right before her hand met Atsushi’s shoulder. She must have caught herself, knowing that she could not actually touch him. She spoke: “Atsushi, I know this is a lot to take in right now, but this man is you from another time and place, and he needs your help. The whole world may need your help!”
“What do you mean he needs my help, I can’t help him if I’m dead, and I know I died.” Atsushi proclaimed.
“You are right, you did die, and technically so have I. You see, back on my world and in my time, I was powerful Shinobi. I had mastered control over my Seikon blood, but I was greedy and wanted more power. So I, like so many others, sought the powers of those who lurk in the shadows. I sold my soul, my blood, and those of my loved ones to a being of unimaginable power in hopes for a sliver of that power. This agreement, this contract, ultimately led to the destruction of my whole world. Every man, woman, and child; every beast, spirit, or plant was destroyed as a direct result of my actions. All that exists there now is shadow, and the being that I made my ill-fated bargain with.” The other Atsushi’s voice was somber, but his masked face portrayed no emotion.
“I’m sorry, but what does any of this have to do with me?” Atsushi asked.
“Shhh Atsushi! Let him finish!” Mei chastised.
“What this being did to my world, it has done before to others, and seeks to do to yours. Thanks to our shared abilities, our shared blood and our shared souls, I was able to reach out to you during your time of death. She beat both of us here though,” the other Atsushi pointed at Mei before continuing, “she and I spoke of what was about to happen, and she and I both believe that we can help you stop my former master from dooming your world.”
“I’m sorry, but last I checked all three of us were dead. How can any of us do anything?” Atsushi was becoming more confused, and frustrated, by the second. This was ridiculous, are these two even telling him the truth? For all he knew they could both be malicious spirits trying to lead him away from his eternal rest! Atsushi reached for his blade, but right before his hand touched its’ hilt a flash of light caught his eyes. The other Atsushi stood before him once again, but this time he had both his own blood red sword, and Atsushi’s. If it wasn’t for the color difference, Atsushi would believe that they were duplicates of the exact same sword.
“Such fine craftsmanship, it is strange how so many things about us are both similar and different,” said the other Atsushi, as he rotated the wrist that held Atsushi’s blade in order to get a better look at the it, “In my world, my blade was given to me by my beloved. His name was Hiroshi. He was the first person to fall to the beast after it physically manifested in my world. I wanted so desperately to protect Hiroshi, and the others that I loved, that I became obsessed with obtaining power no matter what I had to do. Ultimately it was this obsession that became my downfall. In you, I see an opportunity for me to redeem myself. If I can help you protect your world, stop the monster who took everything from me, maybe then I can finally rest. Maybe then I can rejoin Hiroshi.”
Atsushi didn’t know what to say, he was still a little confused by everything that had just happened. He turned and looked to Mei, who’s eyes moved from one Atsushi to another until she caught her lover’s gaze. She moved over to her Atsushi before speaking.
“I know this is a lot to take in, but I want to assure you that you won’t be going back alone. The other Atsushi and I will be coming with you, just not in our physical forms,” She moved over to the Atsushi who was still holding the two almost-twin blades, and took her lover’s sword from the other man’s hand, “The other Atsushi, I’ll just call him Atsu from here on, and I will be instilling some of our essence into these blades. This will allow us to assist you, at least a little bit, on your journey.”
A sudden realization struck Atsushi as he realized that Mei did not intend to come back with him, not physically, she was going to stay here and leave him all alone. Tears welled up in his eyes, a combination of grief and anger exploded outward from his core. “Like hell I will, Mei I want to be with you! The problems of this, Atsu, and the problems of the living are no longer of our concern!”
At first Mei’s face flashed with a look of shock, which turned to a look of stern disapproval in the words that came out of her beloved’s mouth. She moved uncomfortably close to Atsushi, and she raised her extended index finger centimeters from Atsushi’s nose before speaking. “We both know that you don’t mean that Atsushi! The man I fell in love with would never turn away from something as important as this. Atsu is talking about possibly saving the entire world. Countless lives, innocent men, women, and children, are at stake here and all you can think about is yourself?! You are a shinobi! You dedicated your life to protecting others, and you want to throw all of that away!
Atsushi’s eyes dropped below Mei’s gaze, and his posture drooped, he knew she was right. It was a moment of weakness for him, and he was ashamed that Mei had to see him like that. Mei picked up on Atsushi’s body language, and bent at her knees so that she could make eye contact with him again. This time her eyes shown with understanding and forgiveness.
“I know, it seems like we had just started our life together, and now all of this has happened, but I promise you that I am not going anywhere. My spirit will travel with you, and when the time has come for your journey to end, I will be waiting for you. We have an eternity together to look forward to, but this is too important for any of us to brush aside.” Mei said softly.
Atsushi took a deep breath, and stood up straight again, he looked into the eyes of Mei, and then of Atsu before speaking: “Very well, let me know how this is going to work.”
A look of relief swept across Atsu’s face, “Mei and I will each place our souls in one of these two blades. This will allow you to have access to some of our chakra, memories, and abilities as need be. We will also be able to communicate with you, telepathically, on a limited basis. As far as our first step goes, I don’t have too much to go on, I would suggest that we just continue to serve as a Suna-Nin until a greater risk rears its’ head. All I can say of what happened in my world is that, when the trouble started, it started in Sunagakure. When our village fell, the rest of the world was quick to fall as well.” Atsu then took his blade and held it with both hands, and lost himself for a moment as he gazed at his reflection, before speaking again, “I apologize for having to drag you both into this. I can only hope that the three of us combined will be able to stop what happened to my world, from happening to yours.” With that a burst of blood-red chakra engulfed Atsu, flaring so brightly that both Mei and Atsushi had to shield their eyes. As the two lovers blinked their vision back to normalcy, they found Atsu’s form had faded, and in his place was the red and black blade, now with a rune engraved where the blade met the hilt, it read: Shōkan.
“Well, now it’s’ my turn, remember Atsushi I will be with you every step of the way. I cannot wait to watch you save the world my love!” Me said, as she took a similar stance with Atsushi’s sword, as a turquoise flare of chakra erupted around her, Atsushi leapt towards his fiancé for one last embrace and for a moment he believed he felt her. When the light from Mei’s charka died down Atsushi found his sword stuck into the ground, but its’ form had changed. The once dark-grey steel had been replaced by a dazzling coupling of turquoise and pink, and the hilt had become a beautiful golden metal. Similar to Shōkan, this sword had an engraved rune where the blade met the hilt, this one read: Sukui
Atsushi moved to each blade, and held them both in opposite hands. At first Atsushi didn’t feel anything, but as time went on, he felt more and more of Mei and Atsu’s chakra, and even feint hints of their respective consciouses. After a moment Atsushi found himself being drawn towards the pool of water he had awoken in. As he looked into the once clear water, Atsushi saw the ruined town that he and Mei had just done battle in. It was a top-down view, and at its’ center was Atsushi’s body, which had been embraced by Mei during her final moments. Further away, Atsushi could see the outline of the monster who had slain them. Without a moment’s hesitation, Atsushi jumped into the water. The next thing Atsushi knew, he was standing upright in the middle of the town, both blades drawn, a stern look on his face. He whistled at the demon to get its’ attention before charging.