A Destorted dimension

Deep inside the bowels of the castle was a single red door with the mark of the sage of the six paths upon it. If one where to open the door they would discover a gateway to another realm of existance. A Gateway the Count himself was unable to pass trought.

On the other side was a destored dimension where the normal laws of physical did not apply creating an effect similar to the art of M. C. Escher. It is a dark maze with platforms floating at many different angles. Somewhere inside lurks the Crown of the Country of Vladveria, the key to breaking the Count's curse.

“This is it, the sages door. Said to have been built over a thousand years ago by someone from your lands who was visiting at the time. ” said Grim solemnly as they approached the red colored entryway. “The other side is a bloody maze, very few that enter find their way back again.” He add darkly. “In the heart of the maze lies our counties crown, without it the Count cannot become the king. We where going to hire a bunch of you nin-ja to go in and retrieve it for us but perhaps you could beat them to the punch. If you where to manage to bring it back you and your lord will receive a full pardon for your crimes.”

Pushing the door open with, it let out a loud sinister squeaking sound having been left closed for the last several years if not decades. “If you have any questions now’s the time to ask them. Now I won’t force you to go but it’s not like your other choice is much better if you catch my drift. I’d have to put you in prison to await trial. If found guilty The Count will suck the the time span right out of you. You'd turn from a teenager into an old man in an instant” said the Pumpkin shivering at the thought. That was a fate he wouldn’t wish on anybody.

Akihiro found himself facing a big red door. Despite its apparent simplicity, it was beautifully crafted and flawless in every aspect. There were no scratches, no marks, nothing. Just a Red Door. Akihiro could immediately tell there was something important behind it. Usually, humans built fortresses and walls around what was important to them. They rose huge stone structures and placed guards to discourage invasions and attacks. But this door didn't need any of that. This door by itself felt like a fortress, a wall between worlds. Akihiro stood in silence, contemplating the beautiful portal while Grim spoke.

Akihiro could tell he was making sounds, but for some reason, he wasn't paying a lot of attention to the pumpkin. All he could think about was that door, and his intent to go beyond it. It was almost like a spell had been placed on him. Genjutsu? Unlikely...but then what? Despite paying little attention, Akihiro would remember what he had to do. He smirked at the pumpkin's last remark. "We are shinobi, pumpkin. We live and die in the shadow, and few of us ever grow old. Perhaps I would welcome that opportunity...but something tells me I don't have that much lifespan left in me." His eyes were still fixated on the door.

"I will get you your crown. " The Uchiha finally advanced against the door, a pushed it open. Entering the dimension beyond reality, Akihiro closed the door behind him and looked around. Everything was...different. It was like his world, but there were no reality binding rules here. Or rather, there were rules but their pattern was beyond his comprehension. There were people here- or so Akihiro thought. Upon taking a closer look what he found weren't people, but shapes. Ideas and thoughts shaped like human bodies, walking around that place as if they were going to their everyday jobs. One would descend a stairway only to find itself suddenly walking around the ceiling. Another was walking a stairway that somehow was completely flat, and while the stairway moved and the creature remained in the same place. It was almost as if the stairway walked up the creature and not the other way around. Akihiro glanced up, and there was more to be found:


This place had a ceiling, but somehow the sun was still shining. And so was the moon. It was hard to tell the difference between day and night, because Akihiro couldn't count the birds that composed each as he looked through a window.


Akihiro glanced back at the room (or rooms?). The place where he was standing was constantly changing, despite the fact that he never moved. The only thing that stood firm in its place was the Door. Like a nail holding this world together, the Door never moved. Akihiro attempted to move for the first time. Moving was difficult in this world...well, not difficult. Rather, unnatural. It was like breathing manually. The Uchiha soon figured out it was easier to make the world around him move. And so, he walked up a staircase. Or rather, made each one of its steps lay below his feet, one at a time, until the world placed him above the stairs and in the next room. Here, he heard something else. Now that he thought about it, it was his first time hearing anything in this world. It was so quiet...until he heard it.

*sob*...*sob*...*sob*...
Someone was crying? Akihiro approached a door he didn't know was there, and persuaded it to open with a thought.

"Ahahahaha!"

Now there was laughter, as he gently asked the room to swallow him through its door. And then, yet another sobbing session. Akihiro's eyes found a girl seating on the corner of the room, a huge shadow attached to her, growing larger as she sobbed. Then smaller as she laughed. There seemed to be some kind of struggle going on.

For a brief moment, she was an anchor. An anchor to a world he could still remember. An anchor to reality...she was sad, then happy. She was feeling- she made sounds! Akihiro couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He whispered at the ground to slide him towards her. "Hum..excuse me miss, are you okay?" Akihiro lightly touched her shoulder. She was still holding her heard, and without turning her head, she answered.

"Please, please go away. Go away! Leave me alone!"

Akihiro was slightly disappointed. He had only wanted to help. He removed his hand from her shoulder. The cold shinobi in him was gone, and his humanity was overflowing. "Oh...I'm sorry then, I'll go."

He was about to take steps away, forgetting the rules in this dimension where the room took steps, not him. But her voice stopped him from breaking the rules.

"No, not you..." Akihiro raised an eyebrow, and looked at the shadow. With all the weird stuff going on in this dimension, he hadn't really given it much thought.

"Th-then who?"

Spoiler:

Akihiro freaked out when the girl stared directly at him. She wasn't staring at his body, or his eyes, or his face. She was staring at him, into him. "What the f-" Akihiro stepped back and fell on his butt, falling victim to gravity.

"Oh my... Taking steps? Moving? Falling to gravity, here? Ahahahahaha" the voice laughed, in a way which sent a chill down his spine.
"It seems I win this one..." it laughed.
"No, please! No no no, not again!" she cried.

An open window carefully moved behind the girl who was now standing on her feet. She sat on it, her back towards the outside. "Here we go" she began to lean back. "WAIT." Akihiro yelled, desperatedly trying to stall.

"Hmmm?"
"What are you? What is this?"
"Ah, this place? It's...a mind, of sorts. Feelings, thoughts, instincts...we all dwell here, tee hee hee...."
"A-and you?"
"Is it not obvious?" the girl tilted her head to an impossible angle. "I...am depression."

And with that she was gone. Akihiro rushed the window towards him and looked down. There was nothing. Only empty space. No sign of the girl who had just fallen. Nothing...like nothing had ever happened.

"Ah yes...we can never tell what is beyond the window." Akihiro froze as the voice spoke from directly behind him. "Go find out, will you please?" he felt something on his back, and suddenly he was pushed and found himself falling. He panicked, as he was free falling. Ever fearing a ground which never came. His heart beat faster and faster, louder and louder. He wanted to scream but he couldn't. His heart was louder. Until the only thing he could hear was his heartbeat, until it was louder than he could bear...he closed his eyes.

And opened them. He found himself at the place where he started his journey into this strange world. The world beyond the Red Door. His heartbeat turned into a clock beat. Each second, two beats. He looked at the door behind him...it was still there. But no matter how much he asked, it wouldn't move towards him. Above it was the clock, a circle with a heart in the middle. A human heart. As it beat, the clock ticked.

"Hurry. Your time, your life...it's limited. Hee hee hee..." the Door whispered to him.

Akihiro swallowed his fears. Just whose mind was this? Was it even human? He needed to move forward. But where to? What was going to happen next? One thing he was sure of: Stay far, *far* away from the sobbing and laughter.

Off in the far off distance and yet seemingly close at the same time was a fortress. It almost looked like the same castle Akihiro had come from except it was inverted hanging upside down seemingly attached to nothing to keep it afloat. The upside down gates seemed to glow with ethereal light, drawing people towards it.

Between the boy and the castle where several strange creautres, the nearest looked like a dragon but instead of being made from flesh it’s body seemed to be composed of folded papers. It’s immense size where one claw was bigger then the boy himself made it seem impossible for it’s odd structure to support it’s weight and yet it was moving around, twisting and turning as if the notion of gravity meant nothing to it.

Paper Dragon:

It’s eyes burned like spotlights, shining upon whatever it gazed upon. A mouse seemed to dart from between Akihiro’s feet running towards the dragon, the ground beneath it’s paws rippling like waves with every footstep of it’s paws. For a long moment everything seemed like it would be ok, surely such a small creature was beneath the dragon’s attention and yet the second the mouse fell within the light of the dragon’s eyes its body burst into strange green flames that burned and yet gave off no heat. This would be a tricky obstacle to get past if he was to reach his goal.

“Oy wait up, I just don’t have the heart to leave you alone in here.” said a voice behind the Chunnin. If he turned to look he would see Grim rolling up towards him, seemingly having to decided to come along as backup. Even as the Pumpkin man appeared however a second one appeared Rolling towards Akihiro from the completely opposite direction. “Don’t listen to him, Come with me I’ll show you the way.” Offered the second Pumpkin. Which one was real and which one was fake? Could they both be an illusion? This dimension had a way of screwing with people’s heads.

Now that he found himself wandering aimlessly throughout the immense complex of hallways in this vast castle, Zurui realized that maybe he should’ve asked the good doctor for directions. It was only by mentally mapping out the castle and tracking every likely location that a man such as the Count would place a door such as that, that Zurui finally managed to find it. He turned down the hallway and saw the glimmer of red given off by the light bouncing off of the corner of the opened door. Zurui walked closer and could hardly believe his eyes. That symbol, right there on the door’s center, he’d seen it before. Years and years ago, back in that time, in that place. That cipher…

Stepping directly in the doorway, Zurui peered into the dimension. It made…almost no sense at all. Platforms floating every, stairs leading in all directions and nowhere at all. The sky and the floor seemed to blend together in the distance. It was impossible to see where to go, what to even look for, until he could see. The Jounin stepped into the door, a leap of faith, in a way, for while he had been told that a Sage from the Northern Continent devised this dimension, he was unaware it was that Sage. The Sage to which he, along with very, very few others, had a direct tie to. Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe it wouldn’t lead to any sort of advantage. Maybe he’d be walking as a blind man in the dark seeking another blind man.

The air inside the door felt chilling cold, like the first breeze of a cool winter morning. A shivering sensation ran through his body, yet despite this, he felt quite warm. It became clear that this was a place of opposites, where things of the natural order might be switched and things which cannot exist together somehow do. It was a physical manifestation of Yin and Yang, a place in which only a state of nirvana could perceive things clearly for what they were. Zurui was not a wise sage having achieved nirvana, perhaps, but he was one of the few members in this world walking one of the seven paths. With a blink, the Jounin’s eyes changed from black to purple, shining like a lighthouse from the blackened holes in his mask.

Suddenly, he found himself able to see. Everything looked as though it had a double layer. The way in which this dimension appeared to any other walking through it, and behind that thick veil was the real way, a path through the mess that led to something too far in the distance to properly perceive. As he pressed forward on this path, his body began to feel less and less composed. Everything felt like it was going numb, that he was moving beyond such trifle things and delving further into the ethereal plane of this existence. The nature of this dimension, perceivable by the eyes of the Sage it may be, was unlike anything one could have expected. As he traveled further and further, the path winding less and less even as his legs felt like they were losing ground. He missed the moment when he stopped feeling the pavement under his feet, as though all he ever knew was floating along the path; walking was merely a distant memory.

Further along, when the point of entry had fallen prey to the all-consuming darkness all around, Zurui began to hear…things. His eyes may have bestowed him the aptitude to find the golden path, but his ears were as the average man, and they gave way to the faint bellowing of what sounded like people. Many different people with many different tones, yet they seemed similar in some way. As he stopped and listened closer, he could hear the powerful emotions behind each of them. The road suddenly vanished in front of him and behind him, leaving him alone on a platform floating aimlessly in the air as his violet eyes peered into the darkness at the faces. They beckoned him to come, to join them, to feel them. Though steadfast he remained, the platform itself drew him in towards them, and he suddenly wondered when it was that he’d stopped floating and once more his feet felt ground. This place was odd. It was reminiscent of a terribly complex Genjutsu born of a troubled mind, or rather, in] a troubled mind.

Zurui shook his head, focused his vision, and looked forward. The path was there in front of him. He’d not moved an inch. He listened for the voices, but he heard nothing. There was dead silence. All around him were many stairways, between them tiles that seemed to become as birds flying in the air, yet they were somehow in that peculiar state between stillness and motion. Within this, at the very center, was the path he walked, protruding directly through the middle of what looked to clearly be a stairway leading up. In fact, as he stepped forward, he started to believe that his path was merely an illusion, to the point where his next step was on that stairway, and he begun to go up.

Another shake of the head cleared the Kiri-nin’s mind as his vision refocused on the Path. It was clearer, now, and he was more easily able to walk along it and see the rest for the illusion that it was. Eventually, he came upon the sight of Akihiro, standing just on the edge of his vision with Grim standing next to him. On the other side of him was Grim. Wait, what?

Zurui started to run towards the trio, now spotting the strange dragon and the castle beyond it. The crown would no doubt be within the castle, and they would need to get past that dragon to reach it. No amount of true sight in this dimension would help them with that, Zurui knew, and he wasn’t particularly keen on his ability becoming any sort of public knowledge just yet, so he flashed his eyes and the violet gave way to black. His eyes, still covered by the mask, shown no longer the purple color of his heritage and instead remained as black and soulless as the air in this mysterious place.

The path quickly faded and returned to the myriad maze he saw when first peering in, but he had memorized the path and could easily maneuver through everything with ease. That is, until he was within shouting distance of his companion. A man he did not recognize suddenly barred his path, standing in front of him with a hazy form outlined in purplish red. "Who...?" Zurui started to ask, but was cut off with the blunt and concerning answer. "I am..."

Off in the distance Akihiro's eyes found a magnificent fortress. Very much like the one he had first seen when he approached the castle earlier that night. But there was something different about this one, for sure. Although he could not quite tell what. He could see the walls, the doors, the tower where he, Zurui and the bee user had managed to get away with the murder of several pumpkins. Thinking back, that had been quote funny...aaaah, the good old times. How many years had passed since then? Akihiro couldn't tell. But he was feeling incredibly nostalgic, and his body seemingly grew older and weaker as he reminisced the past. He grew older and older, wrinkles came upon his face, and his vision turned blurry. His black hair began to gain traces of white and his bones weren't what they used to be. He could feel time running through him at tremendous speeds and even the clothes on his body began to gain holes and fade away until they were little more than old rags.

Akihiro would have died here.

If not for a small animal. A small movement, beneath a gigantic creature he hadn't even seen- A small mouse running under a dragon, it ran and ran, chasing a green light on the floor. He was running like his life depended on it, Akihiro could almost feel how tired the little creature was. Or was that him? "Wooooosh!" The mouse went in flames. "W-what?" Akihiro suddenly woke up from his hypnotic state, and realized what was happening to him. He immediately shook his whole body as if to brush away old age and sickness....and it worked. The wrinkles and hair color vanished like dust in the wind and his clothes were suddenly back to normal. "Damn that was dangerous." Akihiro would say out loud as he realized how easily his mind had been caught in a  trap. He most certainly wasn't used to this kind of thing often happening or at all and it made him realize how vulnerable he was. But that wouldn't happen again, not if he could avoid it. With a blink, the young Sparrow activated his sharingan. Three tomoes now twirled around on his red iris as he observed his surroundings.

Now he could see what was wrong with the castle. It may have seemed obvious now but somehow it wasn't before . His eyes also permitted him to better see the dragon standing between him and the gates of the castle. It was a gigantic creature, a single one of his claws was larger than Akihiro. It didn't seem hostile yet but if it happened to turn to a sour mood he could find himself in a lot of trouble. Perhaps it would be best to avoid confrontation with this one... could he somehow pass unseen? Akihiro had a jutsu which could allow him that. But considering what happened to the mouse, this jutsu wouldn't be good enough. The problem didn't seem to be what the dragon could or could not see. From what Akihiro could gather the problem was the light which came off his eyes. The Uchiha could become invisible, but if the dragon happened to hear anything and look his way Akihiro would still find himself struck by that damned green light. He needed to ponder...

But before he could reach a decision, he heard a familiar voice. Honestly, Akihiro was starting to get sick of pumpkins. Couldn't there be melons or apples? The creature's roll and voice were familiar tho and his Sharingan immediately identified both was Grim's as he turned back to face it. But there were was another voice now? Akihiro gently swept the ground with his feet and it moved him to his right. The three of them now formed a perfect triangle. Examining each one of them as they spoke what they wanted to say, Akihiro had to make a decision.

"So first you wanted to bring me to trial and execute me if I said no, and now you want to rescue me? C'mon, I think you don't have a heart at all. Mostly because you're a pumpkin. I appreciate the help, but there's no need to risk your life for my sake. You have a count for whom it is your duty to die. If you want to help, tell me how to get past that dragon and go home. As for you " he glanced at the second pumpkin who had rolled in. "A second ago you weren't even there, and now you want to show me the way? What I told him, I tell you. Give me any information you might have on this place, and go home. I can't trust anything in this place, and that includes you. Plus...if you could simply roll in here, there would be no need to hire "nin-jahs" would there? So tell me, what are you, really?" Akihiro smirked. These two were most likely illusions, but speaking his reasoning out loud helped him gather his thoughts and reach a safer conclusion. Akihiro was close to doubting his own mind... everything he could to help himself, he would. The pumpkins looked at him, then at each other and shrugged.

"Ahahahahaha you wiiiiiiin~ Congratulations! I'm Joy!"
"We were just try'ng t'ave som'fun an' you ruined everything... I'm Sad...ness. I wanted to rip your skin thread by thread...awwwn... Let's go Joy, our turn has ended... I wanna go cry with Depression." The first pumpkin seemed just that, sad.
"Okaaay! I'm so happy we lost! I get to roll away! I loooooooooooooooove rolling! It's even better than splattering that kid's guts all across the castle! Yaaaaaaay! Oh oh oh, maybe we can watch Depression jump again! Tee hee hee~ she always makes a mess~ I loooooove it!" And just like that the two pumpkins rolled away, seemingly vanishing into thin air after a few meters.

"Now that's fucked up." Akihiro commented. He honestly didn't want to meet anymore of these emotions. Depression was fucked up...but so was Joy and Sadness. He really didn't want to mee any more of these assholes.

Then he noticed movement further away, and his Sharingan immediately recognized Zurui. Akihiro could clearly see his body and chakra, and his movements. There was no way he was an illusion. So Zurui also managed to find the red door? This was good. There was no better partner for Akihiro than the man alongside whom he had worked for 2 years in all sorts of missions. Akihiro would merely wait for the Kiri ninja to get near him.

Zurui ignored the suddenly appearing figure. It was ghostly and the hollow voice in which it spoke told him well enough that it was bad news. He walked past it, trying to ignore how it introduced itself, but the ghostly figure would not be denied so easily. It was unlike the others, though. It did not waste time in taking new forms or changing the Jounin's perception of the world in some wild attempt to toy with him. This was an incarnation that very well got to the point as fast as possible and had a very specific set of criteria by which it enjoyed its existence. The ghost leaped into Zurui from behind. The Kiri-in stopped dead in his tracks, looked behind him, but saw nothing. He shrugged his shoulders and continued on, thinking -hoping- that he strange feeling running up his spine was just his imagination, some mental side effect of being in this place.

The two figures that once were illusory duplicates of Grim strolled on by. They gave him a glance, beginning as playful and hopeful, as though they wanted to play a prank on Zurui. Not even a second after looking at him, though, their faces contorted into sheer horror. Without even getting close to the Kiri-nin, both Joy and Sadness vanished into smoke. Zurui shrugged again. It was weird, sure, but there were many possible explanations for why they would do that. He reasoned it best to leave the matter alone and simply take pleasure in that he didn't have to put up with their nonsense.

"Finally." Said Zurui, now within speaking distance of Akihiro. He looked over the Uchiha, determining that he was still in one piece, and then on to the castle. Between them and there was a massive dragon, very similar to something else they'd had to deal with recently. In fact, it made the Jounin wonder what reason there was that they, in particular, crossed paths with giant lizard after giant lizard time and time again. The wyrm, the wyvern, and now this. Were they secretly being selected for the next Dragon Sage? Or as the Holy Lizard Slayers? Whatever the case, they did not appreciate karma, at least not Zurui.

"I imagine you're aware of the crown in that castle. Apparently, it holds an enchantment that will nullify the Count's powers. On top of that, he's conducting a ritual to raise the dead. We don't know what he plans on bringing back, only that it'll likely go South. Apparently, he's done it many times already and whatever's on the other side of that portal between life and death is getting tired of his antics. We need to get that crown, fast, and take down the Count before he can complete that ritual. Otherwise, we'll have a huge mess to clean up." To be honest, they could just race out of there, run Grim through, and let happen what may, but Zurui suspected it would be troublesome later on. If the Count brought back an army with his ritual, it would eventually reach their lands, and at some point, Zurui and Akihiro would be forced to fight it. Best to nip it in the bud and stop the whole thing from happening.

Looking at the dragon, Zurui noticed that it gave off a green light from its eyes in the exact path of its vision. Considering the flames, they would have to avoid being looked at, which was admittedly difficult, but it gave them a distinct advantage. They could see where the dragon was looking. They would need to be quiet, but considering the ambient noise and silence of this dimension, it should be easy enough to sneak past the dragon. The Jounin motioned Akihiro to follow him and then continued on down the path. It opened up into a wide space, but the floor was black, as was the sky, now. The only light was that which was given off by the dragon, and the light of the area around the castle that seemed reminiscent of moonlight, yet for some reason, that light did not shine upon the area they were in, rather, it was isolated to the castle.

With footsteps as silent as he could muster, Zurui pressed on, staying well away from the dragon and watching the light for any eye movements so that he could properly avoid it. They would be better off by avoiding a fight with that thing, because the upcoming battle with the Count would probably take everything they had. The less chakra they had by that point, the less their chances of survival. The next few minutes were paramount. Would they successfully sneak past the dragon?

As if sensing something within Zurui that was similar to itself the guardian of the fortress they where heading too decided that it was time to stop screwing around with the pair of invades and confront them directly.   Without warning the Dragon they where trying to sneak by burst into a flock of butterfly's that enveloped the two men.  Once it cleared they would find themselves inside a room that was almost identical to the throne room of the original castle.

There was only two exits, one the red door that would lead them out of this dimension and into the real world and on the other side behind where the throne would have been was a white glowing light leading to a room where the crown was stored, along with several other powerful rare and wonderful treasures.

Standing between the ninja and the white door was what looked like a little girl but it was obvious to anyone looking that she was something more.  Lurking in her shadow was a terrible creature that looming over her shoulder.  It’s true from concealed by the shade, it’s eyes glowing in the darkness as it watched the two ready to unleash it’s terrible wrath at a moments notice if it should be so required.

“Weary travelers, why have you come to this far off realm?  This is not a place for normal men.” she asked eyeing them suspiciously.  The doorway wasn’t the only way to enter this dimension, it was possibly they had gotten themselves lost here by other means. If that was the case she would have to ask them to leave.  

Dimensional guardian:

Just when Zurui felt confident in an assessment he'd made to predict the dragon's eye movements, it looked directly at them. Zurui felt his soul freeze over. His eyes grew wide and his body prepared for the worst. Rather than spontaneously combusting, the two remained alive and well. Instead, the dragon burst apart into millions of butterflies that swarmed the two before either could react. His vision obscured completely, Zurui missed the moment when he and Akihiro were transported to the throne room of the castle. The butterflies cleared up and revealed to them both the door leading to the crown room, illuminated in white, and a small child acting as harbinger to the monstrosity cleverly masked in her shadow.

The Jounin straightened up, assessing the situation and the best course of action. This was a guardian placed in this dimension by the Sage, who devised the crown for the purpose of breaking the Count's immortal curse. Zurui wasn't entirely sure whether the Count wanted to use or destroy the Crown, but he did know that his purposes, at least in this scenario, aligned with the Sage. Hopefully, the little guardian was the same and they could secure the crown without combat.

"We are no normal men. We come seeking the crown created by the Sage in order to break the Count's curse, as intended by the Sage. Do you stand against us?"

For a moment Akihiro really was scared when the dragon's eyes focused on their location. Trying to sneak past the dragon on a dimension they weren't familiar with wasn't really the best plan but Akihiro didn't have a better one so they were left with no choice but follow up with this crazy idea. Unfortunately, the dragon seemed to know exactly where they were, and as it looked upon them and the green light illuminated them both Akihiro feared the worst. Was he going to die in a different dimension alongside Zurui? And if they died here, would they souls be taken by the Reaper or would they just wander aimlessly in a dimension created by the Sage? Alas, the dragon exploded into a burst of butterflies which ended up swarming both of them.

The room around them changed yet again. Akihiro's Sharingan detected nothing out of the ordinary, it was like this change was entirely natural for the dimension. There was no illusion to be seen through because this was just how this dimension worked. As the butterflies left the area around them, Akihiro focused his eyes on the girl who was now also standing in front of them. She seemed fragile and helpless at first glance, but Akihiro knew very well that in this dimension absolutely nothing was what it seemed. Just a few seconds ago they had been fearing death from a dragon glance and now they were staring into the eyes of what seemed to be a helpless little girl. But there was more to her than just her appearance. Behind her a creature lurked in the shadows, eyeing them.

"We are no normal men. We come seeking the crown created by the Sage in order to break the Count's curse, as intended by the Sage. Do you stand against us?" Zurui made the question while Akihiro kept on examining the little girl, trying to draw information from her figure no matter how little. "And I see you're no normal girl either. Is that a form you choose to take so you can speak to us?" Akihiro asked, honestly wanting to know the answer. He would wait for an answer and then proceed to ask questions. "You live here, in this dimension? What's your name?" Other intelligent creatures in this dimension were very eager to introduce themselves. From Depression to Joy and Sadness they all made a point to let them know who they were. Akihiro couldn't help but wonder who this girl was. Perhaps that answer could help them understand the mystery of the count's crown.

“Ah, I see so that’s what this is” said the girl issuing a soft sigh. “The count has sent more lackeys to do his dirty work again. You’d think after I scattered them to the four winds of the globe the last several times he’d learn eventually but I suppose his stubbornness knows no bounds.” shaking her head sadly she held a hand out pointing a finger at Zurui.

“And why pry tell should I give it to you? What evidence do you have to show that the Count deserves be released from his bonds?” she asked. “The sage entrusted me with the crown for safekeeping until the time when was right. The idea was for the count to prove he had learned humility by having him come and asking me politely for it but instead he tried to take it by force only to be routed.” she explained.

The Count himself was immensely powerful so for her to be able to drive him off like that was a true testament to how fearsome she was. Attempting to overpower her would be no easy task. “Then again we both expected that the Count would figure things out after a century or two at most and here we are over a millennium later still playing the same song and dance. Perhaps he’s suffered enough for his sins already.” she continued mulling over if she should give them what they sought or not.

“Correct young man. Bijuu aren’t the only powerful creatures in existence. My true from can be quite off-putting to most mortals so I simply assumed a guise you would find more comforting in order to better facilitate communication. I am the dragon lord Zinnia and mine is the power to travel through and control dimensions besides those of time and space. I rarely leave my territory here as it is my sacred task to be the guardian of this vault which stores things that don’t belong in realms such as yours.”

Turning and exposing her back to them confident that they would be unable to do much of anything she lead them into the next room which was chock full of exotic looking treasures. From strange coins, to rare books and powerful weapons the contents of the room which seemed impossibly large represented wealth beyond measure.

“A choice then. You may take the crown which will benefit you not in the least as it’s only power is to break the counts curse…. Or I will let you take one other item from this room instead in it’s place. It won’t be anything too powerful you understand as I don’t want you destroying entire worlds.” she offered as a test to see what they would do. Not that the really nasty things where in that room to begin with. Those where locked even further away just to be sure they never saw the light of day again.

Zurui took in every word with solemn silence. He wanted to hear everything before issuing any kinds of response, to understand this girl's position and exactly how she fit into this whole thing. Walking with her into the treasure room, the Jounin was indeed taken aback by the treasures stored there. The gold alone was sufficient to purchase a kingdom, let alone the weapons. Still, his composure never broke, for he saw the true goal here.

"What we seek isn't necessarily the crown. He is attempting a ritual that may unleash supernatural powers in our world and it is simply much easier to stop him if he's no longer immortal." The Jounin looked around at the many weapons, curious if he might see Hagaromo's Sword of Nunoboko. With that legendary relic, he'd easily be able to cut down the Count, but as Zinnia said, things like that were out of his reach. They may still be locked in here, but if a Sage of Zurui's blood, one of few to master his Kekkei Genkai, entrusted this one dragon lord to guard treasures capable of world destruction, then it was very likely that neither Zurui nor Akihiro could take her down to access one such weapon.

"I can guarantee that the Count has not acquired any humility. From what his servants tell me, he's not stopped trying to play god and even hosted an international convention to try and steal that crown by paying people like us. You could call it luck that the two of us weren't fooled by it."

The Kiri-nin glanced around at the weapons. "If you've any weapon that might end the Count's life more easily than a crown, I'd gladly accept it. If not, then the crown is all we seek." It certainly wasn't Zurui's style to do things the way his forebearer did, but with no other options, he'd do just that.

Akihiro was a bit sad he was compared to the count's lackeys. Both him and Zurui had killed quite a bunch of them by now, and had gone on n adventure to prevent the count from making more. Being compared to those pumpkin heads was a bit...insulting, to be honest. Aside from comparing them to the count's lackeys the girl also made a lot of important questions. Akihiro had heard the crown's history from Zurui but he was still rather unsure of how they were going to crown the count and remove his curse.

Zurui took the initiative and spoke to the dragon lord, also reminding Akihiro that what they were looking for wasn't necessarily the crown but a way to defeat the count. If it was indeed true that the count was immortal then their only option would be sealing the count away. That is if Zinnia didn't give them the crown. "The power to control time and space..." Akihiro commented, smiling at the dragon lord. It was a bit weird to be smiling at a creature which claimed to be as powerful as a bijuu but "she" seemed to have a better nature at least. "That sounds like a lot of responsibility." Akihiro looked around. The room was full of mysterious and certainly powerful items. According to Zinnia's proposal, they could choose to take any one of these items with them and leave the crown here. It was certainly a tempting offer. Neither Akihiro nor Zurui were exactly saints. They had both done some pretty shady missions and killed people who didn't necessarily deserved it. In a world of shinobi and chakra they hadn't always used their powers for good. They were humans, and most humans were selfish by nature. In fact, just half an hour earlier Akihiro had been at the top of the castle's highest tower plotting on how to rob the Count from his most valuable possessions.

But this was a whole new level. This, Akihiro wasn't willing to do. He shook his head, and made the decision for Zurui. "No. It was one thing when we were planning to rob the count but this...look at this room Zurui." Akihiro glanced around, hoping his friend would do the same. "This room is full of dangerous artefacts. The dimension outside is full of shinobi from all over the world. We can't release something like that out there. "

It was true. Both Akihiro and Zurui were pretty capable but if they unleashed some sort of terrifying weapon on the Count and the other shinobi saw it... "I'm fairly sure we've been mass murdering each other for bijuus and secret techniques for centuries. There's no way we can unleash another weapon like that in the world. No, if it belongs here, it stays here." Akihiro turned his glance to the girl once again. "Your definition of "too powerful" isn't quite the same as ours. None of our techniques destroy entire worlds and yet together we ninjas have killed thousands. The artifact will remain long after our mortal bodies are gone. I don't want to be responsible for what it'll do then. During my short 14 years of life, I've been a ninja, an assassin, a thief, a villain, and a hero. I have assumed many roles, some morally questionable. But all of that, I have achieved with my own power. Which will vanish when I'm dead. Bringing an artifact that will remain long after our deaths will bring consequences we can't possibly foresee right now. Fuck that, Zurui. We're not working to bring peace and balance to the world only to have that crumble after we're gone because of some ancient weapon we used to cut corners, a weapon we probably wouldn't even understand. I mean look at this place. What we've seen here makes me think what we're building in our dimension is really fragile. The things I can't comprehend here are just...too many. We can't risk it. The weapons stay. If we can't kill the Count without them, then we find another way. We're ninjas, adapting and overcoming is what we do. But not like this." As he spoke Zurui's name, Akihiro's glance turned towards him. Then towards the "girl" once again. "The crown.... all it does is break the Count's curse, right? Then I'd rather have that. Unless you're willing to use your powers to help us end the Count despite his immortality or whatever weird power he might have. I won't take a weapon, but if you're willing to use your space/time manipulation power to aid us, I won't say no. Either way..." Akihiro took a kunai from his pouch, had it spin around his finger for a second, and then held it in his hand. "It's been a pleasure to meet you Zinnia. I hope we'll meet again in the future...or maybe in the past, eh. But if you don't mind, we'll be off to kill the bastard. With or without the crown, with or without your help. But definitely without any of your weapons. If he bleeds, he dies. If he doesn't, we'll seal him. If he can't be sealed...well, I'm sure we'll think of something. The Sage was strong and wise, but certainly not a ninja. " Akihiro smirked. "We're nowhere near as merciful. Our world is threatened Zurui. Let's play the hero role this time. Who knows, after all is said and done we might be back to playing the robber role on top of the tower."

Closing her eyes the dragon lord took a moment to contemplate on Zurai’s words.   A weapon to kill the count with. If only things where that simple she’d load them up with a mystic sword but none of the ones she was willing to part with where strong enough to do the job.

“As you know the Count consumed a fruit that was not of your world.  It has turned him into a being of pure energy.   Slaying him as he is now will merely disrupt him for a time, he will always eventually reform even if defeated.” she responded, her voice gravely serious.  

She giggled slightly at Lyon’s comment about time and space. “No you misunderstand, those powers belong to my sisters.” she said amused by the fact he was treating her like a normal being with thoughts and feelings instead of being scared out his mind at her existence.  “In any case congratulation are in order, you have passed the final test.”


With a snap of her fingers the room around them dissolved revealing an ornate golden crown on a pedestal for them to take.  Wither or not the rest of the treasure had been really their or not was hard to say. “If you had really been willing to take one of the other items all you would have gained was a fake, a forgery. Something to make you believe you where walking away with a great prize so that I could avoid senseless violence.” admitted the dragon.

“I apologize for the deception but such is the gravity of my task that I must employ such distasteful tactics.  For what it’s worth I would lend you my power if I could but my place is here. The risk I would be taking would simply be too high.  If I came with you at best I could throw the Count into another dimension but with his power he would find his way back in short order.  Meanwhile someone else could sneak in to snatch something from the vault.” she pointed out.

“How do I know this isn’t some elaborate ruse to lure me away so your compatriots can swoop in while I’m gone?  You yourself admit to being robbers at least part of the time.  I like you but I’m afraid I can’t trust you that much, at least not yet anyway.   For now the most I can do is grant you my blessing and warp you directly to the throne room to confront the count when you are ready.” she said walking forward she placed a hand softly on their hands and they where filled with a brief bust of energy.  

All their chakra they had used before had been restored and they would feel a little something beside that. Something hard to describe but it was more then they had before, like they would be able to push beyond the limits of what they could normally do just once. How they used that power was up to them and she hoped they would chose wisely.

“Farewell brave warriors.  I wish you luck on your quest to quell the Count’s chaos.  Take care until we meet again. ” Zurai said her form and the dimension around her fading away from sight. With those words whispering on the wind and lingering in their ears they would find themselves back in the empty throne room with the crown in hand.