"Bound by chains of paralyzing fear,
I feel the power coursing through my veins,
An intoxicating force, dark yet dear,
Whispers urging me to break these chains…
In a pool of Fear, where love meets despair,
I sink deeper at thoughts of loved ones lost.
Hope flickers faintly, but can I bear
The blood and tears that might be the cost?"
For in my heart, a flicker of hope remains,
To shield those dear from the fate that I dread,
But can I rise above the shackles and chains,
Or will blood and tears be the price I must shed?"
The Nightmare Continues!!!
Asami(Confused, Eyes Slightly Widened): ?!
Aaliyah Now In A Berserk State, Breaks Free From Asami's Binding Blood… The Towering Ghostly Figure Of Asami In The Sky's Eyes Widen As She Summons More Mirrors Surrounding Aaliyah…
With Immeasurable Speeds, Asami Quickly Transitions From Mirror To Mirror, As Aaliyah's Growls Grow More Ferocious…
Aaliyah Punches One Of The Mirrors And Grabs Asami Out To Then Punch Her In The Gut!!!
Asami(Eyes Widened, Coughing Up Blood): What The Hell Is This Now?!! I New She Had Some Sort Of Rage State, But… This Is Different! It's Like She's Not Even There!
Asami Then Focuses Her Spiritual Energy At Her Four Fingers And Forms It Into The Shape Of Some Sort Of Hand Blade…
She Then Cuts Her Palm As Blood Gushes Out, And Begins To Form Into A Blood Scythe…
Asami Swipes It At Aaliyah Which Aaliyah Doesn't Block Nor Evade, But Takes The Attack Head On… Which Cuts The Upper Half Of Her Body Off Separating Her Body From Her Legs…
The Slash Extends Out Further And Destroys The Entire Area Of 600 Meters, Causing An Explosion Which Goes Up At Least 1,000 Feet In The Sky Of The Domain!!!
Asami(Analyzing, Heavy Breathing): Wha?!
Suddenly Aaliyah's Body Dissipates Into The Air As Her Blood Transitions Right Behind Asami, And Takes Form Of Aaliyah's New Berserk State As She Cocks Her Fist back…
Asami Attempts To Move, But Suddenly Stops As If An Invisible Force Is Holding Her Back…
Asami Look's At Her Arm Which Is Holding The Scythe And See's Herself Trembling…
Asami(Trembling, Shivering): Dammit! What Is This… Feeling?!
**Narration**
One of the core aspects of Asami's realm and abilities, is fear… if she's fighting against an opponent who holds fear in their hearts, usually that gives her an extreme advantage…
But what she fails to realize is that she is currently up against an opponent who uses fear and takes advantage of it to gain unrivaled strength.
Aaliyah(Growling, Enraged): RAAAAAA!!!!
Aaliyah's Chaos Energy Spikes, As The Entire Spacetime Domain To Shake And Tremble… Bringing It To The Brink If Collapse!
Aaliyah Then Throws The Punch At Asami Which Causes The Ground Beneath Them To Explode… As They Now Float In The Sky Of The Domain…
Asami Then Sips The Blood Dripping From Her Hand Which She Cut, As Her Wound's Close And Heal Instantly…
Meanwhile Outside Of The Domain, Jason And Yami Face Off Against Azreal…
Azreal Stands In Front Of Them Both, Tall And Confident As Jason Wields His Katana And Yami Stands Beside Him…
Azreal Then Rushes Toward Jason, Completely Ignoring Yami As He Then Pulls A New Weapon From His Pouch On His Back…
Two Blades As He Then Strikes At Jason, Which Jason Then Dodges…
Azreal's Blades Both Get Stuck In The Ground As Jason Steps On The Blades And Kicks Azreal's Face While Flipping Backwards…
Then Yami Comes In And Touches The Ground, Which Causes Her Spiritual Energy To Seep Into The Ground And Paint It Black, Like Darkness…
Then Tendrils Shoot Up From The Ground And Wrap Around Azreal!!!
Jason Quickly Before Dropping To The Ground, Throws His Katana Into The Ground As It Stands Up In The Darkness, And He Lands On Top Of The Katana Using One Arm And Spins Around Multiple Times Landing Powerful Kicks On Azreal Which Sends Him Flying Back!
Azreal While In Mid Air Suddenly Attaches His Dual Blades Together, Creating One Long Sword…
He Then Throws It Into The Ground Which Causes The Ground Beneath Them All To Burst, Jason And Yami Fly Up Into The Air…
Azreal Wasting No Time, Suddenly Begins Running On Air…
Yami(Analyzing, Internally): He's Taking Advantage Of The Air Pressure Around Us To Create Pads To Walk On?!!
Azreal Then Reaches Jason And Pulls Out Another Weapon From His Pouch On His Back, A Longsword Which Glows Bright Orange… Doom-bringer!!!
Jason(Internally, Confused): How The Hell Is That Little Pouch Carrying All Of Those Long Swords And Other Weapons?!
Jason(Internally): Now's Not The Time To Ask Unnecessary Questions… We Just Have To Focus On Beating Him!
Jason Brings Up His Katana And The Two Blades Clash! Azreal's Blade Begins To Cut Right Through Jason's Blade…
As Jason Then Uses His Free Left Hand To Summon A Black Hole In His Palm And Aims It Toward Azreal's Face…
Azreal(Confused): A Black Hole?!! It's Not Pulling Me In?
Azreal(Perceptive): ?!
Instead Of The Black Hole Pulling In Azreal, Jason Compresses The Black Hole As It Then Fires Out With Maximum Output Hitting Azreal's Chest Point Blank!!!
Azreal(In Pain, Screaming): AGGGHHHH!!!
The Black Hole Blast's Azreal All The Way Back To The Ground As Yami Jumps Back While Azreal Comes Crashing Down!
Suddenly A Massive Explosion Sets Off Which Covers The Entire Sky… Space And Time Around Them Begins To Distort As The Explosion Reaches The Barrier Of Asami's Realm!
And Destroy's It!!!
Moment's Pass As Smoke Clears The Area And Jason Direct's His Eyes Toward Azreal On The Ground, Alive…
But Barely.
Jason And Yami Both Look Around…
Jason(Serious): Do You Feel That?
Yami(Nods): Yeah!
Suddenly In Front Of Jason Yami, Two Ray's Of Energy Move Back And Forth As They Clash Against Each Other… One Colored Red, The Other Black…
Jason(Internally): The Barrier Of Miss Asami's Domain Was Destroyed!
Jason(Serious): Is That?!
Suddenly Asami Is Sent Flying Backwards… Still Facing The Red Flare Of Chaos Energy Hidden In The Smoke…
Then Suddenly, A Giant Ethereal Red Hand With Black Claws Comes Out Of The Smoke…
Reaching Out For Asami…
Asami Then Dodges, But Barely…
Asami Then Desperately Tries To Summon Her Mirrors Again, But Then Realizes…
Asami(Internally, Grunting): Dammit! The After Effects Of Using Realm Shift! Now I Can't Use My Spirit Energy For A While! I- I Have To Retreat!
Before Asami Could Even Stand Up, Aaliyah Appears Behind Her And Grabs Her By The Throat…
Asami(Choking): Gah!!!
Jason And Yami Watch In Terror… Aaliyah Now In A Berserker State! Showing No Mercy!
Jason(Shouting): Ma?! What're You Doing, You'll Kill Her!
Aaliyah Continues Her Merciless Punishment, As She Sends A Flurry Of Punches Into Asami's Torso And Face As She Then Kicks Her Into The Sky…
Aaliyah Follows And Gets On Top Of Asami… And Then Pounds Her Hands Into Asami's Back Sending Her Full Force Crashing Down Into The Ground!!!
Giving Her No Time To Breathe, Aaliyah In The Blink Of An Eye Before Anyone Even Realizes She's Moved, Stomps Right Onto Asami As Asami Coughs Up Blood!
Her Eyes Turn White As She Winces In Pain…
Aaliyah Then Waste's No More Time And Begins Charging Up Chaos Energy At Her Mouth And Prepares To Discharge It, In Attempt To End This Battle With A Finishing Blow!!!
But Suddenly, Jason Stands In Front Of Her… And Summons A Black Hole Inside Of His Palm To Absorb The Chaos Energy!
Jason(Pleading): Ma! She's Done, Any More And You'll Kill Her! What's Wrong? Can You Hea-
Before Jason Can Even Finish Pleading With Aaliyah, She Suddenly Growls As She Knocks Him Away By Backhanding Him In The Face Which Sends Him Flying!!!
Yami(Grunting/Tense): Gah! Dammit!
Yami Then Goes Over To Jason As Aaliyah's Gaze Is Fixed On Asami She Continues To Growl As She Opens Her Palm Of Her Right Hand And Manipulates The Residual Chaos Energy In The Air To Form A Sphere In Her Hand…
**Inside Aaliyah's Mind**
Spectral Aaliyah(Softly): Finish Her… Don't Let Her Hurt Our Children Anymore.
Aaliyah(Intoxicated): …
Aaliyah Continues To Sink In The Pool Of Fear Manifested As Water In Her Mind, As The Power Threatens To Consume Her Entire Being…
As Aaliyah Closes Her Eyes… And Suddenly, Finds Herself On An Empty Open Field With Black Dead Flowers Scattered All Around Her And On The Ground…
The Sky Dark With Black Clouds, And Not Even The Moon Showing In The Distance…
She Sit's Up And Looks Around, Her Confused Eyes Dart Around As She Tries To Make Sense Of Things…
Then Suddenly, She Look's To Her Side To See Jason Standing Up Next To Her As She Sits.
Jason(Worried, Pained): I Can Feel Your Emotions Flowing Into Me, Ma…
Jason(Softly): You Don't Have To Be Afraid Of What Might Happen To Me, Or Selene-
Aaliyah(Pained): It's My Job To Worry About You Two As Your Mother… Maybe It's Selfish Of Me To Act As If You Both Still Need Me, But I Can't Help It. Ever Since I Was Around You're Age, I Haven't Felt Something Such As Love Not Have I Ever Been Loved Even By Your Grandmother…
Aaliyah(Pained): All I've Ever Wanted Was A Purpose To Continue On Living In A World That Gave Me Nothing But Pain And Suffering… And What I Really Wanted, Was To Be Able To Genuinely Love Something Or Someone, And Then I Was Finally Blessed With You And Selene.
Aaliyah(Teary Eyed): And Ever Since Two Years Ago When The Grand Elder Forced Me And Selene To Seal Malum Inside Of You, Even Though You Are Only A Child… I Have Been Blaming Myself For Not Being Strong Enough To Stop Someone From Forcing The Only People I Can't Help Truly Love, Into A Blood Soaked Fate That Would Bring You Two Nothing But Suffering.
Aaliyah(Clenching Her Chest,Sobbing): And Now The Entire World Of Sorcerers Is Trying To Kill You… Showing No Mercy For A Child Whom They Have Forced Into Becoming A Vessel For Something Beyond Control… I Was Too Weak To Do Anything To Stop Them From Sealing Malum Inside Of You…
Aaliyah(Voice Cracking): And Even Now, I'm Still Terrified Of What Might Happen To You And Selene At The End Of All This.
Jason Looks Down At Aaliyah, His Heart Shattered At The Sight Of His Beloved Mother Crying And Sharing The Feelings She Had Been Bottling Up For All These Years… He Crouches Down And Hugs Her…
Jason(Sincerely): I Know Your Scared Ma… I'm Scared Too, And Its Okay That You Have A Selfish Desire To Keep Me And Selene Safe… But You Can't Keep Us Safe If You Let Yourself Sink Into Despair…
Jason(Sincerely): You Once Told Me That Even The Strongest Are Often The Weakest…
Aaliyah(Looking Up, Attentive): ???
Jason(Softly, Smiling): Even If You Were To Become The Strongest, You Would Then Still Be The Weakest, By Becoming So Strong That No One Else Who Is Weak Can Truly Understand You And Your Feelings No Matter How Hard They Try… Then You Bear The Burden Of Isolating Yourself Even When Surrounded By Many Allies And Loved Ones…
Jason(Softly): Your Stronger Than Me In So Many Way's Mom… I Want To Be Able To Stand Beside You, Selene, Aria And Miss Athena And Everyone Else… But If You Let The Power Inside Of You Take Over Your Entire Being, Then You Would Just Go Back To That Place You Wanted To Get Out Of For So Long… Solitude.
Aaliyah(Confused): W- What Should I Do Then?
Jason(Smiling): Let Yourself Be Weak… Only Then When You Let Yourself Be Weak, Can You Truly Become The Strongest.
Aaliyah Despite Not Knowing The Deeper Meaning Behind Her Son's Words… Gains A Sense Of Pride…
"I'm Proud To Be Able To Call You My Son"
She Thought To Herself, As She Then Opens Her Eyes To Find Herself Still Sinking In The Pool Of Despair As Suddenly… A Hand Reaches Out To Her…
She Grabs Onto The Hand As It Yanks Her Out Of The Pool…
And Then Outside Of Her Mind, Her Transformation Begins To Fade Away As She Reverts Back To Base Form…
Asami Then Uses The Time To Teleport Away… As Aaliyah Drops To Her Knees And Jason Catches Her, Unconscious…
Jason(Urgent): Yami… Can You Carry Her Back To The Flame Faction's Village? I Have To Go Back To Help Kaida!
Yami(Nodding): I Guess.
Yami Then Picks Up Aaliyah And Jumps Away, As Jason Uses His Thunderstorm-Blink Technique To Teleport Back To The Southern Tribe…
"The Raging Nightmare Finally Ends… What's Going On In Kaida's Match Against Hotoke?!!"
To Be Continued In Chapter 65…