The Daughters and the Grimm

Long ago in a distant land, Aku the Shapeshifting Master of Darkness unleashed an unspeakable evil.

But a brave samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose him.

Before the final blow was struck Aku tore open a portal in time and flung the samurai into the future where Aku's evil was law.

The samurai sought to return to the past and undo the future that was Aku.

Many tried to defeat him.

All had failed.

Seven Daughters of Aku were birthed to do his bidding.

They were taught that Aku created the world and all its beauty.

Taught that death was failure.

The seven fought the samurai and all failed.

One survived, forced to accompany the samurai.

And along the journey he showed her the destruction Aku had unleashed onto the world.

She became his most important ally, helping him retrieve his sword and eventually fell in love with him.

But Aku came and turned his remaining daughter into his slave to capture the samurai.

The daughter fought back, using her father's own powers to return the samurai back in time to defeat Aku.

But tragically faded away on her wedding day.

"Without Aku, I never would have existed."

Those were Ashi's last words before fading away entirely.

Even she was sad to leave she had no regrets.

Aku was gone and he would never hurt anyone again.

She would be with her sisters who she hoped had found peace.

"Jack, I hope you live in peace."

When Ashi opened her eyes again she saw a bright azure light glowing above her. She sat up and turned around, seeing a bright pillar of light and behind her a tall man dressed in black, staring at her behind red glasses.

"Welcome, Ashi." The man spoke, his voice slightly booming.

Ashi stood up, taking note to look down at herself and seeing she was dressed in her leaf garb she had made when she was searching for Jack. "Are you…Death?"

The man laughed. "Nope. I am the Azure Guardian of Time and Space. For many eons I have guarded a passage in time. All were denied, from the mightiest of giants to the tiniest of warriors and even Samurai Jack."

"Jack?" Ashi perked up. "You fought him?"

The Guardian nodded. "Fifty years before you were born, the Samurai came to me and wished to use the portal I guarded but was refused. Only one man was destined to defeat me and use the portal and that man was the only man who could use it. And the Samurai at the time wasn't that man. We battled and he lost but instead of killing him the portal ordered me to spare him, showing me a time when he would be ready to defeat me."

Behind the Guardian the pillar of light showed an image of an elderly Jack, looking less like a samurai and more like a warrior king.

"Jack…" Ashi trailed off.

"Of course at the time we didn't consider a certain chink in the plan that would end that prophecy." The Guardian said as another image appeared.

An image Ashi loathed. "Aku."

"Yes." The Guardian said as the pillar showed Aku destroying the time portal and the Guardian. "I was mighty but I did not have the samurai's sword and thus fell like so many others to Aku. It wouldn't be long after that Aku destroyed all the other time portals that had been created from the very moment he had sent the Samurai into the future."

"Time portals created from…" Ashi trailed off. "What do you mean?"

"Time is like a river, Ashi. When you drop a rock into it the results are ripples. Aku's time spell created ripples in the time-space continuum and thus caused other time portals to be created over the eons he ruled and resulted in the samurai losing the ability to age." The Guardian then smirked. "Fortunately even though he destroyed all the time portals he unintentionally created a new one that led to his downfall."

"Me." Ashi closed her eyes. "I used the very powers he gave me to open a portal in time back to when he first cast Jack into the future."

"And with that, Samurai Jack finally destroyed Aku." The Guardian said as the pillar showed Jack slaying Aku in the past. "And unfortunately you as well."

Ashi was now sad as she remembered her last moments with Jack. "Yes…Without Aku I would never exist. I only hope he can live in peace and I can be with my sisters. Our mother trained us to be weapons for Aku but they were still my sisters and they never had the chance I had. I would give anything to give them that chance."

"Maybe you can."

Ashi looked back up at the Guardian. "What do you mean?"

The Guardian took a deep breath. "I am sorry to tell you this, Ashi. Though the Samurai succeeded thanks to you at the same time you have both failed."

"What? What do you mean? Jack destroyed Aku." Ashi said, confused by what she heard.

"He destroyed the Aku in the past. The one in the future realized what would happen and enacted a final desperate move to survive." The Guardian said as the pillar showed a new image.

One of Aku himself going back in time.

"No…" Ashi breathed in horror. "He didn't…"

Aku appeared before a giant crater and seemingly cast a dark spell, laughing as he vanished.

"What has he done?" Ashi asked frantically.

"He has altered his past, deciding that if he can't control the world he will destroy it." The Guardian answered. "When the time comes instead of Aku rising it will be…Grimm."

Ashi watched in horror as monsters rose from the pit, taking the forms of various animals, all of them made of pure darkness with white face resembling masks with red streaks and red glowing eyes. "No…What are they?"

"Aku, in a new form to ensure his survival and revenge. This change will essentially change everything that has happened, even the Samurai's journey." The Guardian answered.

"No…No! NO!" Ashi fell to her knees. "It can't be! Everything Jack fought for! All of his good deeds! All of it undone for this?!"

She couldn't take it.

She thought it was over.

That the nightmare that was Aku was finally over.

Only for Aku to render Jack's journey and efforts in vain.

She had died for nothing.

Her sisters had died for nothing.

"All is not lost." The Guardian finally spoke, placing a hand on Ashi's shoulder. "There is a chance."

Ashi looked up with teary eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Aku has altered his own existence and in way he has altered yours as well. Because you stepped out of your own time to return the Samurai to his own and because you existed in that time briefly you have a chance to live again and even help." The Guardian explained, now smiling.

"What do you mean?" Ashi wiped her eyes.

"You can be reborn, an entirely new being free from Aku's existence. Live your life as you choose and if you wish, become one of the many warriors that will be born in this existence, fight against Aku as he spreads across the world as an army of mindless monsters." The Guardian offered.

Ashi stared up at the Guardian with widened eyes. "I will be…reborn."

"Yes." The Guardian nodded, smiling widely now. "Be someone free from Aku's deceit. Be the woman the Samurai helped create, a woman brave with a heart of righteousness. And you will not be alone."

"I won't be?" Ashi asked hopefully.

"The Samurai had many friends and some of them will be there. Even if most of them do not remember they will be there in one form or the other." The Guardian said as the pillar showed images of Jack's allies.

The Scotsman.

The Dog Nomads.

The Spartans.

The Ravers.

And so many more.

"And even some former enemies…" The Guardian said as six beings appeared around Ashi who gasped in sheer shock.

All of them had black hair, their faces looking similar to her and they wore the same leaf garb as her.

Ashi's eyes weld up with tears. "…Sisters."

"Hello Ashi." All of her sisters said as one.

Ashi could only cry as she fell to her knees. "Sisters…I am so sorry. You all died and I…I saw the truth and our mother…She made us fight and die for her and she didn't even care! All she cared about was pleasing our demon father!"

One by one her sisters hugged her, all of them smiling.

Ashi latched onto all of them. "I missed you…So much."

"We know, Ashi. We missed you too. Hopefully we will see each other again."

Ashi opened her eyes, looking confused. "Again?"

"We will be reborn as well."

"We have been given the same chance as you."

"To live our lives as people different from before."

"To be human."

"To be good."

"To see the world as you saw it."

"And to truly fight on the side of good."

Ashi stared at each of her sisters, looking ready to cry again as she looked at the Guardian. "Thank you."

"You have each earned this chance, for your connection to Aku who has altered his existence and the timeline and to be given the chance you were denied. From this point forward you are the Daughters of Aku no more. May you find each other and may you all be happy." The pillar shined again and the seven sisters vanished in flashes of light. "And may the Grimm and all who ally with them tremble in fear."

Each of them would be born to different parents but they would find each other again through the bond that still existed, deep inside their hearts. The Guardian could only smile as the pillar showed him each girl as they were born into a new life, all across the world, free from Aku's tainted essence.

The Daughters of Aku were no more.

They would become Huntresses, protectors of life and all that was sacred.