Destined to Battle

Day 14 - Part 2

          He got up from the grass- wait... he fell asleep on concrete. He as standing on the ground but something was wrong with it. Then, he figured out what is was when he saw a huge mirror - it showed him what the sky looked like, what the ground looked like, and what under the ground looked like. Everything was upside-down. He was where the roots of a tree would be and the buildings were within he ground. Good thing he wasn't falling, it would have been a long drop.
          "Are you done looking around?"
          "Who was that?!" Arekusandā asked, turning in circles. There was no one around; had he imagined the voice? "Hold me in front of you, fool." He moved his switch-axe in front of  him and stared at it. But, it wasn't his switch-axe; it was just an ordinary battle axe. He must have gone crazy, but he swore that the weapon he held had spoken to him. "Listen, if you want to beat Sylvester, you have to listen to me in the real world, not just here," the axe said in a calm, male voice. It sounded quite intelligent but, Arek was sounding mucho loco.
          "Since when do I use a battle axe, and why are you talking?!" he asked, as he thought of how stupid he must have looked talking to his weapon. "You will understand why in just a moment. Now, I'm going to guess that you did know I could speak to you, or you would have called me out long ago. Am I correct?"  "Um, yeah." "Alright, well as you know my name is Zaraki Nej. I am your weapon and your weapon alone." the battle axe explained to him. "If someone else were to pick me up, I would feel like a thousand pounds. We must synchronize our spirits in order to be stronger and beat our enemy." Zaraki continued. "What enemy? You mean, The Wall?" Arek asked his half-weapon. "Yes, that 'wall' as you call him, is your enemy. We must defeat him or we will never get stronger." "I only have to fight him for class placement. We are not trying to kill each other." Arekusandā tried to explain to Nej. "That is not how that youngster thinks of it. He wants to kill you but, he does now wish to show you his true power. You must defeat him." the older man's voice said. "Are you sure, Zaraki Nej? I mean, I'm exhausted, and I know he must, too." Arek asked. "Yes, now will you listen to me and get ready to fight." "There is no one to fight, old man." "Respect your elders. Now, look forward." the battle ax said.
          Looking up, Arekusandā saw a man standing there holding a sword. Hey, that was his sword. Why was that man holding his sword? "Are you ready to get stronger, Arekusandā Kitsune?" The boy looked at the man in wonder and asked, "Yes, this is my true form. But, for now, we must do battle." "All right but I hope you don't get hurt, Old Man. After all, I have the power of the entire Kitsune crew within me." "Don't look know boy, but I think you may be weaker than you think." Running faster than light, Zaraki jumped at his chance and slashed his sword at Arek. Arek didn't realize what was happening. He is too fast, Arek thought. You can't move that fast. But, he did. Zaraki's sword went through Arek's body. With the slash, Arek felt a burst of energy. "Now, go my son. Win this battle. Get stronger." And he was gone.