Disclaimer: I do not own any Type-Moon and Highschool DXD characters. All rights reserved to their respective owners and creators.
A/N: Hello guys, Caelus here. This is the rewrite version of the Within A Thousand Phantasms. If you noticed, some parts have some similarity with psychored1911's Moon Cell Irregular but I can assure you that this will not be a total copycat of his fic. His work is my inspiration and if you haven't read it, checked it out. It's pretty good.
CHAPTER ONE: ARRIVAL
He finds himself floating in an absolute nothingness. It felt like an eternal dream for him.
All he could see was just pure darkness...
He wondered how in the world did he got himself in this unfamiliar place. Then he remembered, and he could only mentally nod that it was his own doing to begin with. He didn't regret it rather, he was more satisfied on what he had done. At least in some alternate reality, she will be saved. She will obtained the dream that she wanted to grasp...
To run across the grasslands with a smile on her face.
Yes, there was nothing to regret. He could only hope that his other self from that universe could make Altera's dream a reality, something that he wasn't able to do with his version of Altera. He felt sad but satisfied.
There was nothing to regret.
Still floating in an endless void, he suddenly felt a tug behind. He cocked his head and turned his whole body behind. His eyes were amazed by the apparition that dawned in front of him; a bright white light with a rainbow colored jewel-like brilliance on its center. It was surreal and beyond human interpretation yet he know this place from the archives of the Moon Cell.
This place... is supposed to be the "force" that exists outside of time. A theoretically metaphysical location that exists at the top of all theories in every dimension, as well as the source of all events and phenomena in the universe. To put more emphasis, it is more like the bigger and larger version of the Moon Cell.
It was where everything had began and came from...
Akasha.
The force of the pull become more pronounced and he realized where he was heading. He surmised that he will return to where he came from and knowing what that entails, he closed his eyes as if resigning to his fate. He could feel the warmth of the light brushed against his naked figure and the brightness that it brought to his sight despite closing it.
Suddenly he felt the impatient siphoning of his very own being. He felt his body being stretched or "spaghettified" yet he didn't let out a whimper. He couldn't feel any pain or discomfort. Rather, the experience felt bland and plain unlike when he was deleted in the Moon Cell. A moment after that, from his closed eyelids he could feel his surroundings went dark once again. A few minutes passed and for some reason, his eardrums suddenly registered an audible voice...
...No, voices he corrected himself.
He concluded that he was now inside the Spiral of Origin and going outside is impossible since touching it means the erasure of his very existence. Yet he wondered, if he was erased as in "ceased to exist" then why he could hear murmurs of people? Such was something very impossible and absurd. He had to reconsider however, since there was no one ever to describe what it is like to be inside the Root.
Maybe this is what they call Paradise? Or perhaps Nirvana?
"He's regaining consciousness...!"
The voices that kissed his ears somehow become comprehensible and the words that caught his ears caused him to be curious. From what he can gather from his sense of hearing, it appears to be that a crowd was surrounding him and panicking.
But why?
Without any internal monologue, he decided to open his eyes. The moment he enact such action, he felt his vision sting as the simple ray of light soothe his rondures. A few seconds and he can see images of people garbed in white but all of it was blur and unrefined.
"Call the doctor!"
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It has been a week since Hakuno Kishinami woke up.
He was still very surprised that he was alive, not in a frame composed of Spiritron particles but in real flesh, bones and blood living on Earth. Breathing and feeling the breeze that touched his skin and hearing the sounds that it composed, for someone like him it was a dream that can't be so real yet it was. He had came to a conclusion that this was an Adjacent World and not the World where he came from, seeing the calendar hanging on his wall with the year 2010 plastered on the white paper.
He has still his memories from the Moon Cell from his world which wasn't surprising but what surprised him was that he had also the memories of the Hakuno Kishinami of this world, the body that he was currently inhabiting. The fate of the this world's Hakuno wasn't very different from his world; both suffering from Amnesia Syndrome, a brain disease that caused memory loss and would eventually lead to death. And like from his reality, the disease was something that the doctors in this reality weren't able to find a cure.
From what he can gather from the memories of this world's Hakuno, his other self had a tough life and he could only sympathize. He was an orphan, being raised in an orphanage. When he reached legal age, he find a place of his own, working in the day and schooling himself at night. Got graduated in a vocational school at the early age of 17 and was trying to get a degree in history until the disease struck him and everything after that went downhill for his other self, being in coma for almost 10 years.
Although he had to wonder how can his other self had retain some memories of his past despite the effects of the brain disease, Hakuno assumed that such recollection came from the body; experiences that were etched to the frame and transmitted to him as "recollections" or "memories".
Another fact that surprised him was the existence of Moon Cell in this World Line. The golden ring, the Regalia on his left ring-finger was an evidence to that. He could say that it was real, judging on the connection that he could feel within the ring, the deep link that was connected to him 238,900 miles away from Earth. Such number of distance was trivial to him, like it was a common knowledge that was already inside his head as if he was born with it.
Hakuno can still established some connection with the Eye of God, however it was still faint. He surmised that he was still weak to fully utilize his authority as its Sovereign. Even though the Moon Cell of this World Line hasn't conducted a Holy Grail War to determine its rightful ruler, the alien megastructure immediately assigned him as its default victor. Hakuno could only attribute that the Moon Cell had already calculated his arrival on this world.
With his body still in a weakened state, Hakuno resigned himself in his hospital bed as he let his scrawny build regain some body mass and strength.
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"I must say, your health is improving."
A female doctor smiled as she delivered her diagnosis to him. It has been a month since he woke up in this Adjacent World and since he was still unable to leave his bed, he could only release his boredom by watching some news or entertainment through the television hanging on the room's wall. How he wish he could get out from his confines and depart from the hospital.
Sadly it wasn't the case.
His reasons for leaving isn't how he was neglected by the medical staff or the bills of his medication. In fact, the doctors and nurses were treating him nicely with their daily visitations and assessing his well being, and the large sum of hospital bills that he accumulated for the past 10 years was something that he had no worry about since the government will pay half of his medical invoice. The half of it, he could find a job to pay the unpaid debit once he's healthy and fit though there were doctors who offered to pay his balance.
Rather, it was the fact of the unwanted attention that he garnered for himself from all the best neurologists across the globe.
His disease was a first case within the world of medicine that it garners the attention of the world's best neurosurgeon and the news of his miraculous recovery somehow amounted a large number of attention from such doctors. There were others that wished to see him and speak with him, most of them were foreign doctors that came to Japan just in order to observe him.
In all honesty, he was stunned on how assorted the doctors that came to visit him. Some of them were Americans, Canadians, Koreans, and Chinese, with most of the visiting doctors being Europeans.
Most of them would ask him questions relating to his memories, which he honestly answered that he remembered all of it, starting from his childhood down to his days before succumbing to the effects of the disease. Of course, his answers bugged the doctors out of their minds. He could understand them after all, his recovery from what to be an incurable and "new age" disease can be said a miraculous event. Even the media were on his ass, trying to get an interview out of him every day. He was thankful that the tight security of the hospital was there to halt any advances from the press, despite an incident where a sly photojournalist managed to sneaked in and got pictures of him by dressing as one of the medical staff.
The current doctor assessing his recovery, jotted some notes on her tab before tucking in the pen on her coat's breast pocket. The assisting nurse accompanying the female doctor then slowly wrapped his arm with a strap as the said nurse began to take his blood pressure. It took some couple of minutes before the male nurse unstrapped his left arm.
"So how's my BP?"
"It's normal, Sir. A 120/80 average."
He silently nod as his eyes hovered towards the female doctor who uncovered the window curtains from his room. Ray of sunlight touched the clear glass and window pane, making its way inside his almost white and bland room.
"So how are you feeling?"
"Fine I guess...?"
He replied to the female doctor at the same time flexing his muscles and clenching and opening his hands, trying to get his nerves filled with vigor and activity after a long 10 year lethargic monotony. His answer was uncertain and he had the right to be. For some reasons, he felt that his body has undergone some changes. Changes that he wasn't aware of although he surmised that the Moon Cell had to do something about his frame.
Even though he still couldn't access the lunar megastructure through his mind, he could feel that the Eye of God was trying to establish some connection with him through the Regalia ring. He can perceive the slight fuzz of connection. It was faint but not as faint as before when he awakened from his deep slumber. He deduced that the Moon Cell's invisible exploits had to do with him and the possible future that it saw through its superior calculations.
Maybe he can try another attempt to establish a deep and firm connection with the alien structure at his end tonight.
He looked up at the doctor who has staring at him intently with an analytical gaze, her purplish rondures had a peculiar glint on it. He suspected that the woman somehow discern that there was something not quite usual with his recovery.
"That's it for today. I'll visit you tomorrow morning and maybe we can moved you around the hospital with a wheelchair."
"That would be great, Doc. Have a nice day."
"You too, and please take a rest."
"I will."
Bowing his head in gratitude, the female doctor and her assistant nurse exited from his bland room before closing the wooden door. His mind then drifted at the female doctor who had just visited him.
Among all the influx of doctors that regularly visited him, there was one who standout to him the most, a female doctor named Penny Moe.
She was a beautiful doctor, he admit. With a long black hair tied in a bun, a yellow rimmed eyeglasses over her violet eyes and a voluptuous figure accentuated by her clothes and European overall appearance, surely one could admire such rare beauty. However it wasn't the awestruck physical appearance that caught his attention but it was the sensation that the Regalia was transmitting to him...
...As if she was someone that needs to be watched carefully.
His instincts were also sending the same reaction that the ring was transmitting to him. Now all alone in his hospital room, he decided to consume all day's worth by watching some shows in the television despite it being such an unhealthy lifestyle.
As of now, he can tolerate such activity.
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Opening his eyes, Hakuno wandered his orbs as the nostalgic scene welcomed his vision. He knew this place from his memories during the last fight against Twice and his Servant before he won the Holy Grail War. After all the nights he had spent trying to link himself with the Moon Cell, finally he managed to do it.
The ripples of clear water that anchored his feet as if it was the ground... The floating cube above his head... The infinite clouds floating in an endless azure sky... There was no doubt, he was at the core of the Moon Cell. However he felt something unusual. His instincts were telling him that his Spiritron frame was anchored to something...
"So you finally managed to get here, huh..."
Turning his head, he placated a smile as his orbs registered the tall figure clad in black armor and a red cape.
"Mumei."
"Haa..." The tanned skin man with white hair sighed, not in annoyance but in relief, a small smile plastered on his visage. "I commend you for your success in arriving here, Master."
"I got a backup." He said with self-assurance, his right thumb pointing above his chest. Mostly referring to the beating core inside his chest.
"Same as always" The man named Mumei had his arms crossed. "It appears to be that you did not lose the conviction you had when we were back in our home world."
His eyes slightly raised upon hearing Mumei's words although he immediately deduced that the Moon Cell had already "explained" some information to the red cloaked man. Then without warning, he felt a powerful influx of data flowing inside his head. He had to gripped his head with his right hand, its fingertips digging its way to his scalp as he reined the uncomfortable feeling resonated with his Spiritron core.
"It seems that the Moon Cell managed to link you with its core. You alright, Master?"
"I'm alright. Just a bit nauseous." He shot a glance at the red caped man before silently looking around his surroundings. "Where are the others?"
"Still asleep." The tall man replied, his visage facing on the east region. "Only me, the Hero of Charity, and the King of Heroes were awakened by the Moon Cell."
"Karna and Gilgamesh are here too?"
His response had a surprise tone laced underneath his breath while facing at the direction. After all, the 2 person Mumei mentioned were Top Heroic Spirits with superb abilities and strength.
"So where are they now?"
"Karna had to look for "The Oldest King" after the latter walked out due to his annoyance of this world's predicament." Mumei sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Gods and all that."
"Oh."
It was the only response he could mutter at Gilgamesh's antics. He knew Gilgamesh personally since they had share some bonds during BB's hacking and Kiara's "salvation" in their home world's Moon Cell. He understands that the guy was very pissed when he learned that he was summoned to a world where Age of Gods still exists in the 21st Century.
Since he was already legitimately connected with the Moon Cell's core, such knowledge was already in his mental fingertips. Inwardly he was surprised by the peculiar situation that this Adjacent World sat in. He needed to spend some time here as of now. To someone who was transported in a different world, learning this world's tradition and history would be the best approach.
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