CHAPTER VII: PREMONITION

Shibuya, Tokyo

It's been two hours and over the last two hours, Shizuka has dragged Mikhail to every shopping mall that she saw to buy suitable clothes for him. Now, the two former enemies can be seen sitting on a bench while enjoying their popsicles. Mikhail was also spotted with a new haircut, a burst fade mullet. Numerous shopping bags could be seen near Mikhail's feet, indicating Shizuka bought a lot of clothes for him.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Mikhail stopped eating his ice-cream and stared at Shizuka. "Why didn't you use your powers back when you fought Damia?"

"I stopped relying on my powers or Kamigan. It reminds me of the failure of saving Amaris and Zuan," Mikhail explained the reason. "Besides, I only fight by depending on my physical strength or weapons that a friend of mine created."

The young man with a single dark blue eye showed the silver bracelet on his wrist and said, "This bracelet allows me to call two shipping pods that have my weapons. Unfortunately, they were destroyed during my fight against Damia."

Shizuka nodded her head and then asked, "Random question, but what do you want to do in the future?"

"Well, the funny thing is that I want to open a small coffee shop or a cafe. There's this one girl in my class, Nabihah, who talked to me about her dream of opening a coffee shop."

"So, you want to help her or what?"

"I don't know. Years ago, Amaris and I planned to open a small coffee shop near the Petronas Twin Towers. That coffee shop will have a mini library or something so that the customers can enjoy their drinks while reading books," Mikhail paused and looked at his popsicle. "But that dream died when Amaris died in my arms. I thought that dream would never come back until Nabihah and I had a conversation about the course that we chose for our degree."

"That dream never dies… You just forget about it for a while…"

"Hah! That dream died a long time ago… Same as the privilege of having a peaceful life," Mikhail said after taking the last bite of the popsicle. "Maybe in another universe, I have everything I wanted…"

Shizuka smiled and then finished her popsicle. She stood up and extended her hand, making Mikhail raise his right eyebrow. With a stern glare, she grabbed Mikhail's hand and made him get off from the bench.

"Maybe in another universe, you have everything you wanted. A peaceful life free from the burden of saving the world by slaying the Demons. A life surrounded by those who love you and those who you love. A life where you can continue to live as a normal person," Shizuka said. She then continued, "For now, life in the present. Maybe in the future, you will get unexpected things that will make you nothing but happy. Trust me."

"You really changed, Shizuka…"

Shizuka smiled and gently punched Mikhail, asking if Mikhail preferred her old self where she was brash, hot-headed, and foul-mouthed. Mikhail laughed and responded that he preferred her current version.

They both spent their time by seeing free arts at Nishi Shinjuku, heading to a festival market at Hanazono Shrine and even visited Tokyo Skytree. 

***

Ammar was having a peaceful sleep when suddenly, he received a splash of cold water directly on his face, waking him up instantly. He shivered and glared at the person who woke him up only for the young man to realize that it was Mikhail.

"Mika? You cut your hair?"

Mikhail chuckled and then said, "What did I tell you yesterday?"

"Wake up before the sun rises…"

"And what's the time now?"

He took his phone and widened his lone eye when he realized that it was almost eight in the morning. The young man was freaked out and quickly changed into his training outfit that Mikhail had provided as our main protagonist left the room with an empty wooden bucket.

Fifteen minutes later, both Ammar and Camellia could be seen sitting in a lotus position in front of Mikhail and Shizuka, who was very sleepy and clueless as to why she was here to watch the training. Currently, they are inside a dojo that Mikhail used to train with his late father when he was five or six years old. 

"As I mentioned earlier, the Royal Clans are known for manipulating their life-force energy to grant themselves supernatural powers and abilities. This life-force energy is known as the Mystic Energy. You two must assume that only the Royal Clans know how to manipulate that energy right?"

Mikhail received furious nods from his two friends, making him chuckle at their antics.

"Well, you guys are wrong," Mikhail's words caused his classmates to look at him with confusion. "Every living being has the Mystic Energy because that energy is the life-force energy. Without it, you are nothing but just a dry corpse. Even though everyone has the Mystic Energy, not many people know how to utilize it. Shizuka, do you mind?"

Shizuka looked at Mikhail and then cracked her stiff body. Taking a deep breath, she raised her arms and in the next few seconds, her entire arms were covered with dark silver smooth aura. 

"Everyone has their own unique Mystic Energy, I once fought against a man whose Mystic Energy had an edge, giving his attacks a sharp-cutting effect. In the case of Shizuka, her energy is so powerful that her strength is three times greater than a normal bodybuilder."

"What about you?" Ammar asked.

Mikhail smiled. A sad smile which they noticed. He chuckled and said, "I stopped using my Mystic Energy a very long time ago for a reason. I'm pretty sure that if I try to use it now, the entire Tokyo will shake violently as if there's an earthquake."

"Anyways, let's start by making you both draw out your Mystic Energy! The first step is to empty your mind, clear your head from any lingering thoughts."

And so, both Ammar and Camellia did what Mikhail instructed them to do. He then explained further that drawing out their Mystic Energy requires them to imagine they are walking down into a long, dark, and narrow tunnel and see the light at the very end. Mikhail was about to continue explaining when he suddenly sensed powerful energy coming from his two friends. 

Ammar produced a flame-like, jagged dark crimson aura whereas Camellia generated a flaming-like magenta aura that circulated around her body. Mikhail was impressed and about to say something when he noticed something odd about them.

Both of them stood up and stared at him with no emotions. Their normal eyes glowed red and in the next second, Shizuka was knocked out of the dojo by a powerful shockwave. This alerted the Genji Clan who arrived at the scene only for them to find a flaming barrier surrounding the dojo, preventing them from interfering. 

As for Mikhail, he remained calm and stared at his two friends who were possessed by the curse, judging by a strange flame-like mark that spread across their body. The two students gave a menacing grin. Without saying any words, they both lunged at Mikhail who opened his Kamigan and formed a hand sign.

Outside of the dojo, Mizuki, who was notified about the sudden energy spike and explosion, arrived at the scene just in time to see the barrier go down. They all watched Mikhail carrying the unconscious Ammar and Camellia and stopped in front of the shocked medic squad.

"G-Genji-sama, y-you're bleeding," one of the medics said. "L-Let me help you."

"It's fine, please help my friends first," Mikhail said before gently placing down his unconscious friends and walking away. "I'll be right back."

And just like that, everyone watched Mikhail vanish from their sight. Shizuka went to the unconscious Ammar and Camellia to figure out what happened. It took her a few seconds before deducing that the curse that Damia placed within them, took control of them and attacked Mikhail who quickly sealed it with his Kamigan.

"Mika…" Shizuka whispered after noticing blood on the ground.

***

Somewhere else

Standing on a cliff overlooking the sea, Mikhail gritted his teeth in pain and collapsed to his knees. Blood flowed down from his Kamigan as he groaned in pain. He clutched his head and screamed as something slowly came out from his back and forearms.

"I must fight it! I must resist!"

Standing up in pain, Mikhail cried out a loud scream of anguish as he sprouted a single blazing dark angelic wings. He forced himself to control whatever was coming out from his body and unleashed a powerful shockwave.

***

"Where am I?"

Camellia looked at her environment. Nothing but just an endless void, causing her to be confused and wonder what happened. She remembered that she saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel like what Mikhail described, but when she was getting closer, that light disappeared and was replaced by a sinister dark mist that dragged her.

The next thing that she knew she was in this void. 

"Hello? Is there anybody there? Miku? Ammar?"

Nothing other than her own voice echoing, sending shivers down her spine. Taking a deep breath, Camellia began to walk aimlessly while looking around. She stopped after several steps when she saw herself standing next to a woman that looks exactly like Damia except that this woman has long wavy brown hair with dark roots. Next to the strange woman was Ammar who looked different due to his white hair and tattoo-like marks all over his body.

What caught her surprise was not her presence or Ammar's appearance, but a defeated and grievously wounded Mikhail laying on the ground. He could be heard wheezing in pain and coughing up blood as the strange woman ordered both Ammar and Camellia to end his life.

Meanwhile

Ammar found himself in a ruined Shinjuku. He scratched the back of his head before feeling a searing pain on the right side of the face, specifically his right eye, which caused him to take off the eye patch. 

An explosion attracted his attention where Ammar turned around and saw two figures clashing against one another in midair. He gawked when he realized that it was Mikhail and himself who had white hair, fighting one another in an epic clash. Each punch that collided against one another, each strike to one another's face, created a powerful shock wave that shook the remaining buildings.

As both fighters clashed against one another, Mikhail was interrupted by Shizuka's scream, causing him to turn to the direction. His actions allowed the white haired-Ammar to knock him to the ground and fired a volley of energy projectiles. 

Landing on the ground, the present Ammar witnessed as Mikhail fought against the white haired-Ammar in a hand-to-hand combat. The combat came to an end when Mikhail threw a devastating punch that created a dark purple rainbow-like shockwave.

He was about to leave when suddenly, a demonic Camellia arrived with a defeated Shizuka and threw her seemingly lifeless body. This enraged Mikhail and before he could do anything, a woman that resembled Damia arrived and placed her hand on his chest. In a split second, Mikhail received thousands of slashes that caused him to collapse to the ground.

Ammar watched in horror as his evil counterpart, the demonic Camellia, and the strange woman who greatly resembled Damia, approached the whizzing in pain Mikhail. The strange woman smiled and then said,

"Kill him. Make it painful but slowly."

***

Ammar suddenly woke up in a frightening expression, causing Mikhail to calm him down. He rubbed his face and didn't speak any word for a moment until he calmed himself. Only when he seemed to be relaxed that Mikhail inquired about him.

"What's wrong?"

Looking at his close friend, Ammar took a deep breath and said, "I had a premonition. A premonition of our fight. It felt so real… I watched myself fight against you and then Camy was there but she looked like a Demon and she killed your friend, Shizuka. Then… Then-"

"Dayana appeared right in front of me and attacked me. Yeah, I heard about that too. Camy told me earlier. You two passed out for like several hours," Mikhail stood up and went to the door. He slid the door and glanced at Ammar with a smile, "Ammar, it's just a dream. It won't happen. Trust me."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

Before leaving the room, Mikhail grimly said, "Because I used to have a premonition of my death when I fought against Daihachi. Did it happen? No.