Chapter 10: Journey's End

Jack fell through the sky and landed in the middle of a dark forest. The pain from his last few battles was so great that he could barely bring himself to stand. He was alone now, in every sense of the word. His gi and katana had been lost to the other timeline, and there were no friendly faces here to be rescued nor were there enemies to defeat. So, he did as he always had. He put one foot in front of the other and wandered through the woods, uncertain of his destination. His wounds burned more with each step he took. In the distance, he heard the galloping and neighing of a horse.

"Could it be?" asked Jack, as he stopped to listen.

He thought of his old friend, the white horse he rode valiantly to the Pit of Hate when he had first encountered Aku in combat. As the galloping sound came closer, though, he realized that it sounded like too many legs for just one horse. Plant life seemed to grow all around the forest the closer the sound got. The trees became greener, and flowers started to bloom. Running toward Jack was a great white horse with eight legs. He had heard about Sleipnir, the steed of Odin, from his father's tales, but nothing could prepare him for the majesty of seeing this divine horse with his own eyes. As Sleipnir released his glittering white breath onto Jack, the pain in his wounds seemed to subside.

The majestic horse lowered its head to the fallen samurai and gestured for him to climb atop its back. Jack bowed humbly to the steed before obeying its wishes. Sleipnir carried him up a mountain that extended high into the clouds. Jack's jaw dropped in amazement when he reached the top of the mountain to encounter three mythological gods from his father's stories—Odin, Ra, and Vishnu. He dropped to his knees and bowed to pay his respects to the gods who had forged his family's enchanted blade.

Jack clasped his hands together and begged the gods for forgiveness for losing the katana they had worked so hard to create for his father all those years ago. Odin held up his hand, gesturing for Jack to stop. The gods understood his sacrifice.

Though they no longer had enough light magic to form a blade as powerful as the one they presented to his father, the three ancient gods collected what little light magic they had left and compressed it into what appeared to be a glowing stick of lightning. Vishnu pushed the stick against the string of his bow without launching it as a demonstration. It became clear to Jack that the glowing band of light was meant to be used as an arrow. Ra gestured for Jack to stand. He did so, and Odin placed the arrow of light in Jack's hand.

As soon as Jack touched the arrow, he felt stronger. The wounds on his arms and chest closed up entirely, and his body was engulfed by a bright light. When the light subsided, he found himself encased from head to toe in glowing white samurai armor. He bowed to the gods once again to express his gratitude. Then, Vishnu presented the samurai with one more gift—his divine bow. Jack tried to refuse, for he did not think himself worthy of wielding a weapon owned by one of the gods, but Vishnu forced it into his hand. Jack closed his eyes for a moment and then held the bow above his head with a look of pure determination.

Donning his new armor and wielding the divine bow and arrow, Jack rode Sleipnir quickly back down the mountain and straight to the entrance of the Pit of Hate, where he dismounted the horse and pet its mane tenderly to show his gratitude. The time had come to finish this at last.

Jack leapt down through the red-hot flames of Aku's chamber, holding the bow high above his head. Far below, he saw a figure dressed in white and wielding an enchanted blade. He gasped, realizing that the figure was him.

"You might have beaten me now, but I will destroy you in the future," echoed Aku's voice from Jack's hiding place.

"There is no future for you," said Jack's former self.

"I disagree," responded the demon. With that, he released from his mouth the curse that had afflicted Jack for all of these long years, sending him far into the future.

"What trickery is this? Aku!" yelled the young samurai before vanishing into the time portal.

"Do not worry, samurai. You will see me again, but next time, you will not be so fortunate," said the demon after Jack's former self had vanished.

"I beg to differ," said Jack's current incarnation. His voice echoed off the flames from Aku's chamber.

"Who said that?" asked Aku, taken aback by surprise. He turned his head every which way, including some ways that were not humanly possible.

The armored samurai revealed himself from up high. Aku morphed into a bat and flew around Jack, trying to determine if he was just a trick of the light.

"How can this be?" asked the demon. "I just sent you thousands of years into the future! I saw it with my own eyes! This must be some sort of trick."

"It is no trick, demon," Jack responded. "You did send me away, and you tormented me and all who encountered me for many moons."

"Yes, well, that does sound like something I would do," Aku agreed, morphing back into his regular form and rubbing his flame goatee deep in thought.

"You have no idea how much you have taken from me, the years you have stolen from my life, and the innocents who have suffered on your behalf. The sins that you have committed are unforgivable, and now, you must pay for them with your life."

"I got rid of you once, samurai," said Aku, "and I can do it again."

As his mouth formed the white rings that had sent Jack to the future just moments earlier, Jack aimed the arrow of light swift and true at Aku's heart. He launched it from the bow and dissolved a huge hole in Aku's chest that caused the rings that were forming time portal to waver and blink out before they reached Jack. Aku yelped in pain as the light from the arrow surrounded him with bolts of electricity that evaporated the black substance that made up his skin. As he dissolved, he morphed into various creatures that became smaller and smaller. First, he was a bull, then a horse, then an octopus, then a bat, then a rat, and finally a fly that the remaining light of the arrow squashed like a fly swatter until both the arrow and the demon vanished from all of time and space.

"At last," said Jack, holding up Vishnu's bow heroically, "my quest is complete."

He heard a rumbling sound and realized the solid flames that made up the wall of Aku's chamber were turning into real flames as the Pit of Hate began to vanish from existence as a result of Aku's destruction. Jack jumped onto the few flames that remained solid, propelling himself higher above the structure until he finally reached the top. The flame he stood on there gave out under him, burning through his armor, turning it dark blue as it lost its glow. The samurai reached out desperately, as the pit pulled him in, attempting to swallow him whole. Something from above entered his hand and pulled him toward the surface. It was one of Sleipnir's hooves. Clutching onto the horse's foreleg, Odin's steed pulled Jack out of the Pit of Hate just before it vanished from existence. Rising to his feet, Jack bowed to Sleipnir. The mighty steed nodded his head and took back Vishnu's bow in its mouth. He galloped off to return it to him, growing green leaves and flowers in every step he took. The samurai marveled at the beauty of it all as the steed vanished from sight.

Jack heard another horse galloping toward him, this one on four legs, from the opposite direction. He turned to find his own white steed, who he had not seen for many years, coming at him in. Upon making contact with the samurai, the horse jumped in excitement and nuzzled his face, overjoyed to see him alive. Jack laughed and stroked its mane lovingly.

"It's good to see you too, old friend," he said.

Climbing atop his steed, Jack rode swiftly back to his old village, where he hoped to be reunited with his family at last. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he finally felt at ease with a calming self of peace and tranquility.