Confronted By His Former Self, What Does The Younger Ashe Have To Say To His Current Self?!
The Current Ashe Stares Into The Innocent, Yet Colorless Eyes Of His Past Self In Disbelief…
Young Ashe(Trembling): "Is This Really Me? How Did I Become… This?
Momentary Silence Passes, As The Present Ashe Finally Speaks.
Current Ashe(Distress): Society Made Us What We Are Today. I'm Not Gonna Give You A Speech About How And Why I Am How I Am Now Because You Already Know.
Young Ashe(Shaking): What Is It That You Want?!
The Current Ashe, Looks Up At His Past Self While Sitting Down On The Ground In His Weakened And Worn Down State…
Current Ashe(Annoyed): What I Want Is To Understand Why You're Here Now, Why I'm Forced To Confront The Remnants Of Who I Used To Be.
Young Ashe(Confused): Forced? Is It Really That Painful To Look At Your Past Self That You'd Always Insisted You Left Behind?!
Current Ashe(Defensive): I Did Leave It Behind! But It Never Really Went Away, Did It? You're Still Here Haunting Me!
Young Ashe(Determined): You Remind Me Of Dad, Ya Know!
Current Ashe Looks Up In Anger As He Quickly Gets Up And Grabs His Past Self, Lifting Him Up In The Air…
And Yet Young Ashe Stares At His Current Self, Unfazed And Disappointed…
Current Ashe(Angry): Don't Lump Me In With That Weak And Sorry Excuse Of A Man, What About Me Reminds You Of That Guy?!
Young Ashe(Grim): You're Cowardice. Just Like How He Was To Weak To Protect Us And Mom, You Hide Behind A Mask In Which You Think You're Strong But You Sacrifice Everything In Order To Gain Power…
Young Ashe(Grim): If You Were Any Kind Of Real Man. You Wouldn't Try To Run Away And Cast Aside Everything That Makes You Human, And Acknowledge The Pain That Shaped You!
Current Ashe(Angry/Shouting): WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE STRONG?! YOU'RE JUST A FRAGMENT OF MY PAST, A GHOST OF WHAT I'VE OVERCOME!!!
Young Ashe(Determined): Denying Your Past Only Makes You A Prisoner Of It. True Strength Comes From Integrating Your Past With Who You Are Now. You're Afraid Because You Haven't Faced What's Left Inside Of Your Almost Hollow Heart.
Young Ashe(Determined): Instead Of Becoming What You've Hated So Much. You Can Use That Fear To Become Strong Enough To Strengthen You're Will To Never Fall Back Into The Depths Of Despair That You Were Once In!
Ashe Hesitates For A Moment. His Anger Giving Way To A Mix Of Confusion And Sadness, His Gaze Softens As He Looks At His Younger Self.
His Mind Scatters, As He Tries To Search For Excuses To Justify What He's Become, And Yet…
He Breaks Down Into Tears As He Sets His Past Self Down, Fragments Of His Humanity In Which He Had Sacrificed In Order To Gain Power, Began To Show…
His Cries Begin Sounding Around The Domain As Asura Watches From The Shadows, Could This Finally Be?!
His Demonic Form In Which He Had Underwent During The Sacrifice Ritual Had Began To Subside Slowly, Showing His Human Face…
Ashe(Breaking Down): I- I Don't Wanna Return To That Hell, Especially With The World The Way It Is Now…
Ashe(Breaking Down): If I'm Not Strong. Then Eventually I'll Just Be Killed By Malum Or One Of The Tribe Leaders, Or Even Deimos And Adira!
Ashe(Breaking Down): I'll Just Continue To Be A Pathetic Coward If I Just Give Up Being Strong Now. This World Is Unfair And Unjust, People Like Me Are Disposable If-
Asura(Serious): You Still Don't Get It…
Ashe Looks Up To See Asura Slowly Walking Toward Him, His Sobs Slow Down As His Eyes Widen…
Asura(Serious): I've Already Told You That You Can Use That Fear Of Dying And Of Being Weak In Order To Strengthen You're Will And Resolve To Survive.
Asura(Encouraging): Fear, When Faced And Accepted Becomes A Source Of Motivation. It Pushes You To Act, To Protect What's Important To You. Denying It Only Makes It Fester And Weaken You From Within.
Ashe(Distraught): I… I Still Don't Know If I Can. Every Time I Face It, It Feels Like It Consumes Me…
Ashe(Distraught): I've Tried To Bury It, To Replace It With Power. But Maybe… Maybe Your Right.
Young Ashe(Encouraging): You Don't Need To Be Perfect Or Devoid Of Fear. You Need To Be Whole. Embrace The Pain And Use It To Drive You Forward, Not Cripple You.
Ashe(Hesitant): I've Fought So Hard To Build My Power. I Don't Want It To Be In Vain, Even If It Means Facing My Demons.
Asura(Serious): Then Let Your Past And Present Coexist. Let You're Fear Fuel You're Resolve, And Use It To Forge A Strength That's Not Just About Dominance, But About Resilience And Empathy.
Ashe Hesitates For A Moment. As His Past Self Fades And The Scene Changes…
Suddenly Asura Stands In Front Of Him As The Right And Left Side Of Asura And Ashe Change…
One Side Leads To Hell And The Other Shows A Stair Case Which Goes Up…
Asura(Serious): The Choice Is Now Yours Ashe.
Ashe Is Hesitant, He Feels As Though He Should Go To The Right Side Which Leads To Hell, But He Remembers The Words Of Asura And Hid Past Self…
Moments Which Feel Like Hours Pass, And Finally…
He Comes To A Decision.
Ashe Stands Tall And Walks Up The Steps As A Bright White Light Envelops The Entire Domain As Moments Later…
They Find Themselves Back At The Battlefield As Asura's Domain Had Collapsed…
Ashe Sits On His Knees As Asura Stands In Front Of Him…
As Asura Gives Ashe A Nod Of Acknowledgment, Jason And The Rest Of The Squad Show Up…
Jason(Shouting): Asura Sensei!!!
Rina(Questioning): Is It Finally Over?!
Yami(Serious): We Should Kill Him Now While We Still Have The Chance!
Asura(Nodding): No. I Will Take Him Back To The Western Tribe Where He Will Atone For His Sins In Penitentiary.
Ryuu(Confused): You Sure?! I Dunno If That's A Good Idea.
Aria Uses Her Soul Sight Technique As Her Eyes Light Up A Bright Blue Color. She Looks Deep Into Ashe And See's His Soul.
Aria(Confused): What Happened?!
Jason(Understanding): You Used It Didn't You Sensei?
Asura(Nodding): Yeah. Let's Give Him A Chance.
Rina(Scoffing): What Makes You So Sure He Won't Turn Again?!
Athena(Nodding): I'll Go With You. The Western Tribe's Leader Most Likely Won't Welcome You Since Your Still Considered A Rouge Sorcerer.
Asura(Nodding): Alright.
Asura And Athena Head Off Toward The Western Tribe To Take Ashe In…
Hours Later Everyone Regroups As Jason And The Group Meet Up With Selene And Aaliyah.
Yami(Yawning): Man Today Was A Long Day. I Could Use A Nice Hot Bath.
Rin(Smiling): We Could Go To A Hot Springs.
Yami(Nodding): Sure!
Yami And Rin Head Off To The Hot Springs As Rina Begins Bidding Her Farewell…
Kaida(Friendly): Hey Rina. Thank You For Helping Us Back There. You Were Really Cool!
Rina(Sighing): I Didn't Really Have Much A Choice. But You're Welcome I Guess.
Rina Heads Off As Jason Walks Up To Kaida…
Jason(Softly): Kaida Right?
Kaida Turns Around Nervously As She Struggles To Mutter Words…
Kaida(Nervously): Umm Hi- Is Their Anything I Can Help You With?
Jason(Nodding): No, You've Helped Us Out A Bunch. But Athena Did Say You Wanted To Speak To Me About Something?
Kaida(Blushing): Uhh Yes, Um- I Hate To Ask This Of You After Such A Long Day But…
Kaida(Nervously): Could You And Your Friends Come To The Southern Tribe With Me? I Need You Guys's Help With Something.
Jason(Nodding): Sure. It's The Least We Can Do After You Helped Us Out!
Kaida(Bowing): Thank You So Much!
And With This Chapter The Tournament Arc Comes To An End, Follow The Next Adventure In Chapter Fifty-Six…