.:The Garden:.

The book slid down from Leo's face. He opened one of his eyes slightly and almost got blinded by the sudden rush of sunlight. He blinked a few times, trying to get used to the bright light. It was a wonderful day after all and as usual, he had decided to enjoy some time with Elliot, reading books under the brilliantly blue sky. He must have dozed of somewhere in the middle of the book because the sun was just too warm and the grass was amazingly comfortable.

Leo chuckled as he enjoyed the beautiful scenery surrounding him. Elliot must have gotten bored of seeing Leo sleeping so he probably had gone to find something to occupy himself with. Leo stretched his body a bit and tried to clear his head. A smile appeared on his face. Guess his job as Elliot's valet could wait a bit, maybe he could award himself some time alone to, well, just enjoy some peace. He could always nag at Elliot for leaving him there later.

The grass really was tempting. Leo sighed, giving in to its temptation and lay down again. Staring at the blue sky, Leo reminisced about the past. The day I met Elliot, was the sky also this blue?...I wonder..Will the sky ever be this blue again?... His thoughts slowly trailed off as the soft fragrance of the statice flowers in his memories carried him into dreamland again.

Azmot was roaming the Astral plane, looking for something to do when he noticed a Dreamer at this time of day. Well, it was rare, so why not? Azmot ran over towards the boy and placed his hand over the boys head. Azmot was rushed into the boys mind, experiencing a dream. Azmot, though, was not done with this transfer, as he had to use his Mental Projection and Dimensional Awareness at once. Azmot concentrated on bending the reality, which in turn, made the scene go black. Only the boy and Azmot stood, and he chipped in a helpful hint. " We are in your mind, a dream, and this is your domain," Azmot searched the boy's head for a name, pulling out one", Leo. I am Azmot, a... dream warrior, if you will. I have locked you out from your body so we can fight. And yes, I know that this is all so sudden, but it seems that you are a very important person, by the looks of your mind. I want to become an ally, but I must first feel your passion in BATTLE!" Azmot said, summoning Leo. " Two Leo's, one fight. Use your mind to defeat this blight!" Azmot recited gleefully.


Out Of Character (OOC)-

Jumped into battle almost instantly, only because when I first meet a character I MUST fight them, and seeing that you aren't good at fighting in the real world, I thought the Dream World could help you along.

It was such a pleasant day, yet the dream that followed it wasn't that pretty. Leo dreamt about that day again, about those people, about... Sweat drops appeared on his forehead. No! I don't want to see all these again. I must wake up! WAKE UP!!!

Suddenly, everything went black and a boy that he had never met before appeared in front of him, claiming himself to be a dream warrior called Azmot. What is going on here? Dream? Domain? Locked from my body? Fight?? What is all this non-sense? Is my mind playing a trick on me again? I shouldn'e have read all those fiction novels.

For one second, Leo thought this was just an ordinary dream until a blazing lion appeared and for some reasons, Leo could feel the heat radiating from the beast. Eh?? Feeling danger approaching, Leo instantly pulled out his gun, only to find nothing. Leo could feel a sense of fear slowly engulfing him. He had to face a beast, with nothing to defend himself with???? This can't be true!


OOC- Thanks for the nice settings. Leo is not a battle-oriented character so it might be a bit frustrating to fight him, but I'll do my best!

Azmot walked over towards the boy, holding his hands up at a sign of peace. "Do not fret, Leo. This is your mind, a place you call Haven. You cannot die in here, and you might find that your more...potent...in your mind." Azmot looked at the boy. 'How could this boy even be helpful to a snail!?" thought Azmot after seeing some of his records. Azmot could search any mediocre thoughts and memories in the boy's head, but nothing to personal. 'Oh,' Azmot thought as he saw Elliot's file, not visually, but mentally. 'Pretty thick file, although most of it is locked up... This close to the Nightray heir?' Azmot thought, impressed at the boy's due diligence. "Well, Leo's, I see no reason for you not to commence Battle now." Azmot said, starting to float. His lion, stepped closer as Azmot floated back. "Go on, Fight!'

Leo slightly blushed at Azmot's comments. Seem like this boy could see how useless Leo was in battles. Leo thought back about all the ordeals that he had been in. All the time it was Elliot who rushed in and protected him. A bitter thought crossed his mind. Yeah, because of that, Elliot was... Leo cursed himself for being so useless. If he hadn't refused to see the world, if he had enough courage to step out of his safe zone, to face those people, he might have been able to do something for Elliot, instead of being protected all the time.

Leo bit his lip. Maybe, this time I can try to do something. This is my mind. Those people won't be here to plague my visions. Even if it's just in my mind, I want to prove that I can do something. Or at least, I want to convince myself that I'm at least capable of protecting myself.

Leo looked up, full of determination. The lion slowly started to advance. Leo pulled out a gun from thin air. Oh wow, I feel like one of those cheesy main characters from an action novel. Oh well, it's just my mind so nothing to be embarrassed about...umm..right?? Leo jumped back, gaining distance from the lion and started shooting at it with confidence. Yes, I can do this! But then Leo realised that all of his bullets went in the wrong direction, flying towards Azmot instead. EHHHH!?!?!?

Azmot pulled up his hand, and before the bullets could reach him, froze them in midair. "Your fight is with Leo, not me." Azmot said, and the bullets were crushed into dust by the use of his telekinetic powers. The Lion turned back towards the boy, shooting columns of fire at Leo. Three, 4 foot tall pillars. Azmot felt kind of sorry for the boy, mainly because of the lack of resistance. Azmot created a bubble, 5 foot in radius, that reflected his face. Azmot molded the bubble into a star, and then it popped, the star leaving a trace of light. Azmot took this light and put it in his head, gaining part of the boys memories. Only they small ones, but it was necessary to keep them both alive in the Dream Land for long. Azmot took in part of Leo's personality as well, gaining his insight.

Leo sweatdropped "Ahaha, I'm really sorry." Those bullets weren't intentional. Seems like my shooting skill is rubbish even in my mind. Leo sighed.
Leo ran, trying to dodge the huge columns of fire that were shot at him but instead tripped on his own shoe laces and ended up face flat on the floor, if there was a floor.

This..i.is...sooo...EMBARRASSING!!!!! Leo thought to himself. He felt like his uselessness had just increased ten folds. Leo tried to get up, a sense of shame rendered him unable to look at Azmot. What would Elliot do in this kind of situation?? Hmm..... Elliot's sword appeared in Leo's hand. Ok, I can do this. Leo ran towards the lion and attempted to strike it, only to realise that it was made from pure fire so a normal sword was totally of no use. It would only go through the beast.

Uwahh... this is even worse!!! Leo's face went bright red. Wait, I need to calm down. I need to use my brain a bit. Think.... think... And the first thing that popped up in Leo's mind was .... books. "GAHHH!!!!!!!" Leo screamed as a mountain of books started pouring down on him. Total. Self. Destruct.

Leo reared back as the books fell, a couple hitting him in the face. Since Leo didn't see it coming it didn't pass through him but smacked him. This angered the kitty cat. He ran at the pile of books, standing on top of it, sniffing. He finally gave up with a distressed grunt and evaporated. Azmot started to fall, his powers temporarily disabled, and the world fell black.

~30 seconds later~

Azmot woke to the same scene he left, the boy, Leo, still trapped. Azmot laughed a little snicker at his blunder and thought of his other friend. A Crack in Space appeared, and a spinning shell the size of a soccer ball popped out, glittering silver.

Leo was crushed under the mountain of books. He tried to escape but it was fultile, the books were too heavy. Mental Note: Never play with books carelessly. Leo then looked up to see the boy suddenly collapse. Ehh?? What's wrong with him? Again, Leo tried to wriggle his way out of the book pile but couldn't. He lay face down on the floor, thinking. If I could summon these books then certainly I should be able to make them disappear.

Leo tried hard to concentrate and Poof! the heap of books vanished! Yay!! A small achievement! Leo looked up to find a spinning shell appearing from a crack in the dimension. What is that? He pondered whether to go and make sure that the boy was ok or to keep his distance because that shell looked a bit... too suspicious. Leo stared at that object for a little while and then asked Azmot "What is it this time?"

Tuff, the said spinning turtle, got closer then burst out of his shell, holding a cane and sporting a top hat. "How are you?" Tuff said, his cane smacking the boy lightly. "I am Tuff, and you are weak!" the turtle jested, then he realized that Leo wouldn't get the joke, and quickly added ", I mean, my NAME is Tuff, T-U-F-F. You must be Leo." Tuff said, his cane transforming into a scythe. " I am the Turtle Reaper, here to KILL you!" he said, his mouth revealing sharp teeth and his eyes glowing red. "I am from the hell dimension, and my friend Azmot here saved me, so now he can summon me at anytime." A long, reaper style cloak covered Tuff, making him look even more evil.

Leo rubbed his forehead where he got smacked by the talking turtle. Itai! By the time Leo looked up, the turtle had already transformed into a reaper. Oh what the...?? I'm going to get killed? By a turtle???? That is not going to happen!! Leo pulled out a baseball bat and tried to smack the turtle away. "HAAAAA......"

Tuff deflected the bat with his scythe. He rushed behind Leo, knocking him in the back with the flat end of the pole. After that, Tuff multiplied himself and circled Leo, moving like a mirage. Tuff laughed, chattering like a madman. He then moved in and slashed at Leo's chest. "Well then," Tuff said during the strike ", it seems that you DON'T have the power to protect others, mainly yourself!"

He's right. I don't have power to do anything. Even myself, I can't protect. Why did I even hope? Maybe I should just die. Because then, Elliot won't have to risk himself to save me again. All of his sufferings were because of me........NO! I MUSTN'T DIE HERE!! I...I have to atone for my sins. And dying is not the way to do it!

Leo's eyes snapped open. The pain in his chest dissolved into nothingness even though blood was still dripping out. "This is MY Haven. I can't be killed in here!" His mind became clear and he looked straight back at the turtle. "YOU don't know who I am. YOU have no right to judge me!" In the far end, the silhouette of 5 giant black chains appeared for less than a blink of an eye and then instantly vanished. In Leo's hand, a jet black crossbow with violet floral decorations appeared. "I won't let you leave this place unscathed." Leo shot several black arrows towards the Turtle Reaper.

"Ho ho..." Tuff said, taking some arrows on the shell. They pierced, but they didn't hit the underbelly. Tuff took his scythe and disappeared, his "soul" going inside of it. It flew towards Azmot and became long and more bony, a Death Sickle. "Now," Azmot said, summoning Leo ", it is time for you to see my true power, one only the Astral Plane can help me maintain!" Leo's body disappeared, leaving only a frozen-state head. It flew towards Azmot and caught fire, the eyes now red. Suddenly, though, Azmot felt a sharp pain all over, followed by a tingle, and realized with pain that he had screwed up. "N-no! Not now!" Azmot fell, his weapons vanishing. He could still feel his telekinetic powers, but all of his others were shut off. " You have caught me, now, in something I like to call 'Negative Sync.' I over-used my powers without a contractor, so now, lucky me, gets no powers lest my telekinetic ones." Azmot looked at the boy, telling him the most truth he could. None of what he had told him was a lie, but soon Leo would realize that we were stuck in here until the re-activated, which was completely random. It could happen in a second, a hundred years, but they wouldn't really be affected by time, for it was a dream. Azmot, getting bored of the pitch-black screen, changed it to the familiar Pond Scene at the Estate. He covered his hand with his "Mind Power" and charged, smiling. "Lets go, I can still fight!"

Leo switched to a defensive stance as the turtle turned into a Death Sickle. What's going to happen now? This thing, whatever it is, definitely holds lots of destructive power. I'd better be prepared. Leo braced himself for whatever was going to come. And.....Nothing?

Azmot collapsed from the effects of something called Negative Sync but he stood back up and prepared to fight again. Leo felt confused, his anger from before vanished without a trace. The crossbow in his hand unknowingly disappeared and his guard was dropped completely.

Leo approached Azmot carefully. He asked "Are..are you ok? You still want to fight? In that condition? Why do you have to push yourself so hard?? We're not enemies or anything, why do you want to battle so badly?"

Azmot looked up at Leo, his fist still pumping with telepathic power. Azmot really had only a sense of why he had wanted to fight Leo, but he didn't want to voice it just yet. Azmot's web of people wasn't complete, and he still wasn't sure why he was making it. Information is key. That was what Azmot told himself. There were many key people he had to talk to before Azmot could make his move, and thats what he decided to tell Leo. "You are a key, a key to the information I need. I need to know more about something, and by drawing out your passion it allows me to tap farther into your memories. Honestly, I think the actual key is Elliot, whoever that is." Azmot raised his hand again, changing the scene to the dawn of the Pond. He then Looked at Leo, waiting for attack.


OOC: The scenery is now Dawn at the Pond, but it's only scenery, not actual place.

Leo didn't quite understand what Azmot meant. A key to the information? What kind of information would that be? But Leo did manage to sense that deep inside, there was a question that Azmot wanted an answer to. I wonder if he's similar to me. I have always been unsure of myself, of my own existence. There's a big question mark embedded in my life and I want it removed. What am I exactly?
Leo snapped out of his train of thoughts and focused his eyes on Azmot. If this is what Azmot wants to do then... Leo summoned a jet black sword. He had watched many of Elliot's sword fights ... and maybe now is the time to put this into practice. Normally I wouldn't be able to do anything close to this but now I'm in my mind. If I could stay focused, I will be able to pull this off. And this time, I won't back down anymore
HAAAAAAAA..... Leo charged towards Azmot. En garde.

Azmot covered his hands in a layer of his "Mind Power", giving them some added strength and durability. He then flew up to Leo, avoiding all but a scrape to the chest. The gash was long but not very deep, so Azmot would (should) be fine. Azmot pulled back a fist and aimed for Leo's chest, hoping to hit something moderate. "Leo, SHOW ME YOUR POWER" Azmot exclaimed, his voice sounding like a scream but only a loud statement. Azmot had a voice that was just at a larger limit than others, making him an ideal preacher.

Instead of swinging the sword around blindly like when he was fighting the lion, this time Leo tried to focus his mind and remember all the sword fights he had seen. All those skilful movements, Leo tried to etch them into his mind and follow those images as closely as he could. However, real combats were not that simple. Leo managed to imitate the moves but his senses couldn't keep up with Azmot's movements. The difference in skills was just too great. He only managed to scrape Azmot a little bit.

Tch. "Leo, SHOW ME YOUR POWER" Leo sweated. That sounds a bit weird, considering that it's addressed to me while I don't really have any power to show.

Leo sprung forwards for the next attack, only to see Azmot's fist flying straight towards his chest. Shoot, I'm in mid-air! And with this momentum I won't be able to stop on time. Leo tried to block the attack with his sword but the power behind that fist was just too intense. GAHH!! Leo was knocked back to the ground, his sword shattered into pieces. Something tasted funny in his mouth. Blood.

Leo stood back up again and quickly reconstructed the sword while blood started dripping from the corner of his mouth. Ugh, the damage is more severe than I expected but I've gotten used to his speed so this time, I won't go down as easily.

Leo ran towards Azmot again but this time, right before he came in contact with Azmot, Leo pivoted around his left foot to change his course and instead attacked Azmot from a different angle, hoping to catch Azmot off guard.

"Oh, no you-" Azmot was cut off by Leo's quick shift, getting a deep, sore gash on his upper left arm. "Finally, lets get busy!" Azmot said, starting to float in mid-air. He shot 10 feet backwards, away from Leo. All to avoid another surprise attack. Leo had a screaming passion and Azmot could feel the memories start to unlock, more about this world he lived in. A second bubble-star appeared, signifying that his powers were back on. He popped it, and was fed more of Leo's life and personality. "Leo...it's time that I stop the meaningless fighting." Azmot said, holding up his hands.

"Leo, truth be told, I needed to find out about suitable people for me...me...to contract with. I only just realized this when I absorbed some of your memories, as it unlocked some feelings I've hid for a while. Fear, abandonment...most of all, loneliness." Azmot cleared his throat, choking up a bit. "I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I believe I was meant to meet you, to fight you. I believe, in all of the truth in my body, we were meant to work together, to Contract. In fact, I implore you, please, accept me as your Contractee!" Azmot said, overwhelmed by his own emotions, ones that he shut down many years ago. He was always happy, angry, or confused. But without sadness to balance it out, he would always be doomed to a mix of false emotions. "Leo, if you don't do this for me, or for you, do this to protect the ones you care for, for him. Say his name."


OOC: What do you say, Leo?