As the blinding light that covered their body disappeared, they found themselves transported into a room with a small round table with four chairs surrounding it in the middle of the room.

“Where are we?” Artemis said as he observed his surroundings. In one of the chairs,he could see Neri, still in her astral dress, sitting there.

“Ne- I mean, Shogun? What are you doing here?” Artemis asked her.

“Nat-I mean, Artemis? You got teleported here too?” Neri aka Shogun replied as she turned to see him.

“How did you get here?” Artemis asked Shogun.

“Well I was approaching your location when suddenly a blinding light covered my body then I was transported here,” she answered.

“You guys knew each other?” Dream asked them both.

“Yeah.. We fought alongside each other on multiple occasions. You must be the masked spirit my partner here told me about.” Shogun said as she pointed at Artemis.

“Yeah. That’s me, the code name’s Dream.” Dream said.

“Pleasure to meet you. Like you have heard from Artemis, you can call me Shogun.” she replied.

“Look like you guys are starting to get warmed up to one another,” a girl’s voice can be heard.

As soon as she finished talking, the room’s wall became transparent and a little girl, aged around 13 with long red hair, tied into a pigtail with two black and white ribbons could be seen. She was wearing a white shirt and a tie, she walked into the room as she sucked on a lollipop.

Behind her is a blue-haired teenage boy, wearing a Raizen High uniform.

“SHIDO?!” Artemis and Shogun said in shock.

“Wait… Why the heck aren't you surprised?!” the masked twins asked Dream in sync.

“Kotori, long time no see. How are you? Any news on the First Spirit?” Dream asked the girl named Kotori as the room’s door opened, seemingly ignoring Natsuro and Neri’s question.

“WAIT… YOU GUYS KNEW EACH OTHER?!” The twins asked shockingly.

“Yeah… I’ve helped Kotori and her organization, Ratatoskr, for some time now,” Dream answered calmly.

“By the way, how do you guys know Shido?” he asked suspiciously.

“Ummm, w-we overheard someone say his name when we were patrolling,” Artemis said to him.

“Y-yes, we did.” Shogun added.

“Ok… You guys are noisy. Why don’t we just sit down and introduce ourselves.” Kotori said while plugging her ear as she entered the room and the door closed behind her.

“Good idea.” the twins said in unison as they all took a seat around the table.

“Now then, let me start first,” Kotori said as she sat down, “My name is Kotori Itsuka, I am the sister of Shido Itsuka and the commander of Ratatoskr, an organization dealing with Spirits through peaceful ways,” Kotori said as she explained herself.

“Spirits? I’ve heard the AST personnels calling us that,” Artemis said to Kotori, “What does that mean anyway?”

“Spirits like you, Shogun and Dream are extraterrestrial and cosmic entities from another universe,” Kotori started explaining, “They seem to have powers that sometimes bend the laws of physics like Dream playing with time or you making roots emerge from solid concrete.”

“I see, you seem to be trustworthy, Kotori Itsuka.” Artemis said as he rubbed his chin.

“Now, would you mind telling us how you become spirits?” Kotori asked the twins.

Artemis then told them his story and Shogun started to tell them hers as she was having flashbacks of her past, “When I was little, I was almost never happy. My parents were always busy with their work, I didn't have many friends. Plus, my brother and I's relationship isn’t very good. One day, my parents finally had a day off from their work and planned to go on a vacation together with all four of us. But then-,” Shogun said as she stuttered, “My father’s workplace called and said there’s a big problem and they need him right then, making him unable to go with us. Disappointed, I went to my room straight away and wished that I was happier as I cried. But then, a crystal appeared on my bed and it told me to touch it if I wanted to be happy. As I did so, the crystal merged with me and I became what you call spirit.”

“What about yours, Dream?” Neri asked Haruto as she finished her story.

Dream told his story to Neri, the exact same as what he told Natsuro.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Oh no… Where is your sister now, have you found her yet?” Shogun asked Dream as tears started to form in her eyes.

“Well, the spirit we found today is my sister,” Dream said to Shogun.

“And now, she’s safe in another room,” Kotori said to them all as Artemis, Shogun, and Dream let out a sound of relief.

“So Dream, how do you come to know Kotori, Shido, and Ratatoskr?” Artemis asked his fellow spirit.

“Well it was a few weeks ago, when I was searching for the First Spirit,” Dream told them as he got flashbacks, “When I was observing from a rooftop, the same strange light covered my entire body and I got transported to this very room. Kotori met me here and explained to me what their organization’s goal is. She then asked me about my intentions and I explained to her that all I wanted is to find The First Spirit. They offered me help in finding it in return for my help whenever they needed it,” Dream said as he pointed toward Kotori.

“I met Shido a few days ago as he was on his date with Tohka… I was assigned to keep the area safe from AST interference. And when Tohka was not looking, I appeared in front of him and told him my codename, why I was there, and wished him good luck. Then I jumped back on the rooftop I previously was as I continued patrolling the area.” Dream concluded his story.

Natsuro and Neri looked very shocked by the revelation. “TOHKA WAS A SPIRIT?! SHE LOOKS SO HUMAN TODAY,” they both yelled in unison.

“How do you know that Tohka looks so human?” Dream asked suspiciously.

“W-we saw her on her way to school with Shido this morning.” The twins said in unison

“Okay?” Dream said to the twins, “Oh yeah, come to think of it, you guys haven’t told me this ‘peaceful way’ you’re talking about, is it by dating these spirits? And yes, why is Tohka a human now?” Dream asked Kotori.

“Well, Tohka became human because her powers were sealed…. Within Shido.” Kotori explained as she pointed her finger towards Shido.

“Sealed? How?” Artemis asked.

After he asked that, Artemis and Dream remembered the last thing they saw before getting teleported.

“Don’t tell me the same thing that happened to Yoshino… Happened to Tohka as well?” they both asked Kotori.

“What happened back there?” Shogun asked curiously. “Shido kissed the spirit on the lips-” Artemis said.

“And her clothes began to disappear… Is that what you mean by sealing their powers? So my sister was kissed on the lips by Shido in order to seal her powers?!” Dream added.

“Yes, very observant of both of you,” Kotori said to the two boy spirits.

“WAIT… WHAT?!” The three of them screamed in shock.

“Oh no...I have a bad feeling about this.” Artemis said while looking at Kotori, Shido, and Shogun.

In an instant, he immediately rushed in front of Shogun, blocking her from the others’ view as he yelled, ”NO! I won’t let you seal Shogun’s powers. Over my dead body!”

“Don’t worry you idiot. We have no intention of sealing her,” Kotori said as she got up from her chair and punched Artemis in the face from across the table, sending him back a few steps.

“Why do you ask? Well, we did research on you two’s magic energy, and when we saw the results… The higher-ups and I concluded that sealing her powers will be very inadvisable.” Kotori said to Artemis as she got back to her seat.

“Why can’t you tell us?” Artemis asked curiously as he got back to his own seat.

“I can’t tell you that, it’s still very confidential information,” Kotori said to him.

“Ok, then if you’re not here to seal my powers, why do you teleport us here?” Shogun asked Kotori curiously.

“Well, it seems you guys are pretty capable driving off those AST personnel,” Kotori said as she played a recording of Artemis and Dream’s fight against the AST personnel while the two of them covers the side of their faces in shame, “So I was hoping that you’ll be willing to help out in driving off the enemies as Shido attempts to date and seal the spirits, also to protect them whenever a strong enemy appears such as-”

“DEM.” Artemis said in unison as they interrupted her.

“How do you know?” Kotori asked them

“A rumor was going around saying that a powerful wizard is working for DEM.” Artemis told Kotori.

"Huh, pretty well informed of you," Kotori said as she put out her lollipop, " So, are you guys in?"

“Count me in,” Artemis said.

“Nope,” Shogun said in unison with her twin.

“Excuse me?” Kotori, Haruto and Natsuro said in unison. “No, I won’t do it,” Neri said to the three of them, “Because, why would I risk my life for these spirits? I am a spirit myself but why do I need to protect strangers that I don’t even know their true intentions are.”

“Well… Spirits need to protect each other,” Natsuro said to her, “Besides, we’ll be only helping them, not protecting them while they cower in fear. They’ll also be helping us, right Kotori?”

“Correct. In fact, the Ratatoskr and the available spirits will also be helping you in your effort to guard Shido on an enemy onslaught. In return for your help, we swear that we will never attempt to seal you. How’s that sound?” Kotori explained to Shogun.

“Fine, I’ll help,” she finally relented, “But don’t even dare thinking of going back on you guys’ words.”

“We won’t,” Kotori said to Neri as she looked at the watch on her wrist, “Well look at the time, we’ve been here for almost 2 hours. It’s about time we send you back. But before that, take these with you,” Kotori said as she brought out two boxes and gave them to Shogun and Artemis, “Inside them are earplugs used to communicate with one of the Ratatoskr ships, the Fraxinus, the one you're in right now.” Kotori said as she snapped her fingers.

In an instant, the floor became transparent, showing an almost satellite view of the whole Tengu City.

“Oh my god!” Shogun and Artemis screamed in shock as they jumped from their seats.

“Don’t be so surprised,” Kotori said as she snapped her fingers again and the floor became normal again, “Wear these when you guys are in spirit form so we can contact you and give you instructions.”

“Roger!” they said in unison.

“Well, until we meet again,” Kotori said as she snapped her fingers as blinding lights covered the three spirits, sending them to the rooftop where Artemis and Dream was before they got teleported.

“Well Dream, until we meet again,” Artemis said to Dream as he clenched his fist toward him, followed by Neri.

“Yeah until we meet again you two,” Dream replied as he clenched his fist toward Artemis and Shogun’s, forming a triple fistbump.

They then proceeded to go their separate ways, Shogun went with Artemis and Dream went alone, waiting for their next mission without knowing that one will show up sooner than they thought, as an unknown spirit in a red and black dress disappeared into the shadows on a nearby rooftop.