Lost in thoughts

A grass field surrounded Kai’s body as the sun beamed down on him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, holding his sides wrapped in bandages.

"Where am I? My head... my damn ribs hurt," Kai muttered.

Kitsunebi looked at him. "Well, if it isn't Golden Dawn. You can wake up in here, but you can't wake up out there. You are in your mind, Kai."

Kai looked around, confused. "Why is it peaceful?"

"It's peaceful because I'm doing everything in my power to keep you alive, but my power is running out," Kitsunebi said, walking away.

Kai slowly got up and followed. "Running out? I thought you had..."

"Limitless power?" Kitsunebi interrupted him. "No, buddy. God, no. I'm not trapped in here—I am it, Kai."

Kai kept walking. "Then why not leave?"

Kitsunebi laughed. "Not that easy, kid. If I leave, I die. If I stay, I slowly fade away. There's only one way to help you: I have to disappear and put all my power into your body."

Kai’s eyes widened in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Don't act like I'm wrong," Kitsunebi replied.

Kai frowned. "What? How am I going to get stronger without you, then?"

Kitsunebi laughed again. "You don't need me to get stronger. But since you are between life and death, there's something—or someone—you need to talk to or fight." He gestured toward a giant temple with a fire kanji on it, then sighed. "If I die, you lose your fire powers. But I know something, or someone, who can help you. Your family heritage comes from a dragon, and part of mine does too... but another creature was born as well: the Phoenix."

Kai followed him toward the temple, thoroughly confused. "I’ve never heard of the Phoenix."

"Sure you have. You created it," Kitsunebi said.

Kai, shocked, stared at his face. "I created it?"

"See, when I helped you clear your mind, I noticed that in a different dimension, you created something. It helped me realize what your flames could do. I grabbed a bird, used your fire and my Yin and Yang on it, birthing the Phoenix."

Kai followed closely. "I thought flames were only meant for destruction."

Kitsunebi mumbled, "Yeah, I see why Fujidai had it out for you." He glanced back at Kai. "No, they aren't. But I would hurry if I were you—Alyssa is getting married soon."

Kai snapped to attention and started running. "I told her she could be her own person! Why would she marry that bastard?!"

Kitsunebi flew after him. "Who knows why? Just hurry if I were you!"

"I'm coming, Alyssa! Hang on a little longer!" Kai shouted, running faster.

Meanwhile, during Kai's inner journey, Natalie stood near his body in the hospital as he was still being treated. His pulse remained dangerously low, and doctors struggled to determine if he would live.

Elsewhere, Karai was helping Alyssa into her wedding dress. "There, you look great."

Alyssa adjusted Karai's suit. "You do, too... but I shouldn't be getting married to Roy. I need to help Kai."

Karai sighed. "We're both worried about Kai, but I don't want to piss off your father."

Alyssa looked into the mirror at her long white and blue wedding dress. "I suppose you're right. This is for the family."

Back inside Kai's mindscape, he was climbing a tall mountain to reach the temple. "This better be worth it!"

"It will be. Don't worry, just trust me," Kitsunebi called out.

Kai climbed faster, panting heavily. Suddenly, a thundercloud appeared in the sky. "What the hell?!"

Kitsunebi looked over as an Arcane Dragon descended in human form. Its voice echoed across the sky: "Little mortal, I heard your power grew weak. Let me find out!"

Laughing, the Arcane Dragon launched at Kai. Kai dodged, flipping onto a nearby rock, but the Arcane Dragon grabbed him by the chest, repeatedly slamming him against the mountain while laughing. Kai kicked him off just as Kitsunebi rushed in, grabbing the dragon and punching him repeatedly.

Kai continued his steep climb as Kitsunebi fell through the air, exchanging blows with the Arcane Dragon.

"A Yokai working with a mortal? You make me sick!" the dragon snarled, blocking punches.

Kitsunebi took out his glasses, put them on, and smirked. "Showtime."

He summoned heavy chains, threw the dragon away, bounced off the sky, and shot forward to punch him again. Kai felt the sky shake, almost slipping from his grip on the mountain.

"Goddamn it! This is so much climbing!" Kai yelled.

Kitsunebi used flame chains to hurl an entire island at his enemy. Crushed in a beam of golden light, the island split in half. The Arcane Dragon rushed Kitsunebi, punching him in the gut and sending him flying through the sky at instantaneous speed.

Stopping mid-air, Kitsunebi raised his hand. "Let's talk about how much raw power I have in this dimension."

He summoned 100 meteors and hurled them forward. The Arcane Dragon laughed, flicking two fingers to shatter them to pieces.

Kitsunebi smiled. "Zao (Rebuild)!" He reconstructed the shattered meteors into concentrated beams of light.

The Arcane Dragon grabbed the light beams, devoured them, and converted them into explosive waves of sonic energy. Kitsunebi was blasted back, hitting the sky hard enough to crack it.

"Climb faster, Kai!" Kitsunebi shouted.

Kai began jumping frantically from rock to rock. Seeing the Arcane Dragon closing in, Kitsunebi shifted Kai’s mindscape upside down to throw off the dragon's attack, spinning through the air to kick him away. The dragon hit the ground, bouncing off grass and forest, but quickly grabbed the earth itself, pulling it up and shattering the terrain.

As Kitsunebi scanned the area, the dragon blitzed him with insane speed. Kitsunebi slowed down time, freezing the dragon in place as he tried to catch his breath. However, the dragon began ripping through time control, breaking free to grab Kitsunebi by the neck and slam him against the sky—completely shattering Kai’s mindscape.

Now, the only things left were the mountain and an endless field of stars.

Kitsunebi grabbed surrounding stars and hurled them. The Arcane Dragon shifted into his massive dragon form, ate the stars, transformed back into human form, coughed them up, and threw them back. Kitsunebi flash-stepped away just in time.

Kai kept climbing, clenching his jaw tightly. I have to make it! In a desperate bid, Kai sent all of his fire and half of his divine power to Kitsunebi. He grew instantly exhausted, but weakly kept crawling up the mountain.

Feeling the burst of energy, Kitsunebi smirked. Cheeky kid.

The Arcane Dragon rushed in to land a blow, but Kitsunebi sensed it, executing a complete time stop to punch the dragon from all sides. The dragon roared as he was hurled into the cosmos. Flipping onto a star, the dragon summoned a beam of pure annihilation and fired it.

Kitsunebi smiled and literally surfed on the beam of energy.

In the human realm, people could see the skies shaking from the sheer impact.

Far away, Fujidai paid close attention to the trembling sky. What the hell is going on? Why does nobody else notice this? I guess only those who can see spirits can see the sky shaking.

Back in the mindscape, the Arcane Dragon took on a new form. His hair was shorter, infused with all elements, and his eyes lit up with pure joy. He rushed in, clashing with Kitsunebi so violently that the stars moved out of the way. Kitsunebi makes a clone go to kai then speaks, "See this,feel it ? There is no limit of our powers this is how strong we are in the human realm I lied to you but, you can get this strong the power I have, the power the dragon has can exist in the mortal realm." then, kai keeps climbing up. 

"Zao—Rebuild!" Kitsunebi shouted, turning the surrounding space into black holes and throwing them. The dragon compressed them in his hands, causing a massive explosion, before kneeing Kitsunebi in the gut. The dragon grabbed Kitsunebi's head, dragged him across the sky, built an earth wall, and slammed him into it repeatedly.

"Get off of me!" Kitsunebi roared.

Flames erupted everywhere, giving Kai one last boost of energy to scale the mountain rapidly. Kitsunebi kicked the dragon off, activated Flame Overdrive, wrapped chains around his arms, and disappeared, punching the Arcane Dragon in the gut with an impact wave that skipped him across the sky.

The Arcane Dragon smirked, absorbed the impact, and laughed. "Double Impact!" He hit Kitsunebi with twice the force, making him cough up black goo, before relentlessly beating him across the sky. Kitsunebi teleported, spiked him downward, and used telekinesis to hurl Kai directly to the top of the mountain.

The Arcane Dragon rushed back, kneeing Kitsunebi once more as they traded blow for blow. But Kitsunebi's time was running out.

"Time Stop!" Kitsunebi yelled.

To his horror, the Arcane Dragon grabbed his mouth with a smirk. "Time Stop."

Stuck in shock, Kitsunebi couldn't move. The dragon used a time skip, punching the air and causing Kitsunebi to take dozens of delayed blows, leaving him dazed and coughing up blood.

The dragon smiled weakly. "No more tricks, huh?"

Kitsunebi smiled back. "I have one wish... you can't absorb my energy after I die. It vanishes."

The dragon’s eyes widened in panic. "No!"

As Kitsunebi began to fade away, Kai finally collapsed onto the top of the mountain near the temple stairs, painfully crawling upward. Kitsunebi looked at him with one eye closed.

"See ya later, kid," Kitsunebi whispered, fading into light.

Kai smiled weakly as Kitsunebi's sunglasses fell in front of him. "See ya later..."

Suddenly, Kitsunebi's voice echoed back one last time: "Oh yeah, you're half-Yokai!"

Kai looked over in absolute shock. "EH?!"

The Arcane Dragon huffed, returning to his human form with a smirk. "I declare you one of the strongest half-human Yokai, Kitsunebi... but nobody is stronger than Lord Enma." With that, he departed.

Kai’s mindscape slowly returned to normal as he crawled up the Phoenix Temple stairs, panting.

This pain in my chest... it hurts. It feels like a piece of me was erased from existence, Kai thought. I feel sick, but my human spirit won't waver—even if my fire is gone.

Kai put on Kitsunebi's sunglasses. Even though there was no power behind them, they reminded him that Kitsunebi would never want him to give up. He stood up slowly and walked up the stairs, each step heavier than the last.

In the real world, Alyssa clutched her chest. Something happened... I need to see Kai!

Her mother, Mariah, shook her head. "No! Enough about that boy. You are about to get married soon, focus!"

Alyssa looked back, sighed, and stood straight. "I suppose..."

Kai finally reached the top and faced the Phoenix. The mighty bird was enveloped in bright, magnificent flames. Looking down at Kai, it spoke in a soft female voice:

"So, Father... you finally arrived. What's wrong with you? You look sick."

Kai chuckled sharply, coughing hard. "You're definitely related to me and Kitsunebi... only a jerk would talk like that."

In a blur, the Phoenix landed next to him and tilted her head. "You need help?"

Kai nodded weakly. The Phoenix pulled out a glowing feather and dropped it on him. Kai absorbed it, instantly feeling enough energy to sit up.

"Alright, I need to leave," Kai said.

The Phoenix mocked him playfully. "If you want to leave, you've got to convince me first! Time awaits, my dear Father... time is coming for you, and that poor, sweet Alyssa needs you."

Kai sprang to his feet, eyes blazing with determination. "I will do whatever it takes!"

TO BE CONTINUED...