Chapter 21

The first thing that Charred felt was the heat. It swept over him like a wave, even though he was standing in what was once a cool forest breeze. Only once before had he felt heat like this. It was the instant that he, Adramalech, was banished to the lower depths of darkness with his rebel lord by Truth. It was that heat that burned away his six wings and scorched his immortal soul black. In the distance, brilliant orange flames flared from the tall oaks of the forest, and started eating their way towards him.

Hellfire, Charred realized, and for the second time in hundreds of thousands years, he felt fear.

Dark anger flared in response to the familiar sensation.
He would never go back again, Charred vowed, not back to that hell of fire and ice. The skull behind the mask growled. Was this some trick by Master Yi?

"Hiding behind fire, YI?!" Charred swung wildly with his scythe, carving through hundreds of trees with every swing of his weapon. As he flung his weapon about, trees started falling to the ground like leaves, and then were instantly consumed by the surrounding fire. Charred started screaming with hate and fear and exertion, until his yells blended together until they were less than angel, less than human, but totally animal. All the while, cutting down the forest, cutting down the fuel of the fire.

He would never burn again, Charred vowed desperately. Never again.

Ash started rising into the air in clouds. The soot and debris blotted out the sun, until everything around Charred turned to blackness. The demon was suddenly wrapped in pitch black. He stopped swinging.

A small exhale betrayed his relief. Darkness was his home. If the light was extinguished, he could slip away once more. Not like that time.
Memories of the flashes of the brilliant light of Truth shot through Charred's cursed mind. He remembered cursing himself, for being so foolish, to believe that even his rebel lord could ever have stood a chance against Truth. He remembered wanting to slip away into the darkness of oblivion, but the light of Truth would not let him.

Charred's worst fears were answered, for the light of the sun shone through again.

The demon cursed the soot for settling so quickly, but soon realized that the light did not come from the sun.

It did not come from the sun he knew.

Ahri strolled forwards, the Phoenix Sun firmly above her palm. The orb lit her way even through the storm of ash and soot that Charred had thrown up in vain. Her foot struck a soft bed of ash, and dust swirled up, threatening to engulf her, but almost as quickly, it was beat back by a torrent of hot air and heat, for as she walked forwards, twin flames circled about her, burning even the charcoal and ash away until nothing was left but glass, and clearing the way. She looked up; even though her orb shone like a second sun, she could still see clearly.

She saw her enemy.

The demon was like a cockroach, scurrying away from the light once shook out of their hiding hole.
Ahri raised her hand, and like a musician playing a harp, she slowly pulled it away from the Phoenix Sun. A tiny fraction of the magical energy swirled about in her hand, until it formed a smaller, more compact orb of fire. She added a pair of fiery wings to the ball, letting it beat frantically against her will, practically leaping out of her hand

She bent down, holding the orb above her palm, right in front of her face. Ahri gave a small blow from her lips, a breath of air, and the mini-orb shot forwards, faster than an arrow, straight at Charred. The demon could only register a speck of light before the mini-orb struck him across the forehead, cracking the black bone, and shattering his mask.

The impact created a small explosion that blew away all of the dust, revealing all. Charred cursed as he clutched his face, stumbling. The demon looked up, as he forced open a green eye from the crack in his skull.

"The fox?! Die!"

Ahri was instantly bathed in the green light once killed her friend. The green glow intensified, and the demon smiled, believing his victory won, but Ahri had only to flick with her hand, and a fiery shield wrapped about her. The green explosive light, light that could slay immortals and heroes alike, was readily deflected off the shield, leaving it unscathed.

Ahri gazed contemptuously at the arch-demon. Her cold eyes, buried under layers of fire, spoke all.

Is that the best you can do?

The demon frantically transformed his scythe, turning it into his massive crossbow, and fire a dark bolt at Ahri. The fox looked as if she was desperately trying to keep from rolling her eyes, as the crossbow bolt burned away to ash against her shield. Looking bored, she glanced above her shoulder, willing a gift for Charred in return. A humongous crossbow bolt, nearly ten feet long and made of fire and light, swirled into existence next to Ahri, and pointed straight at Charred.

She waved her hand forwards, and the missile soared at Charred, at lightning speeds. The demon had to dive to the side to avoid the strike, and fortunately for him, because the fire bolt punched a smoking tunnel into the earth nearly a mile in length.

"HOW?!" Charred roared at Ahri, "HOW ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!"

When the fox didn't answer, Charred swept his arms to his sides, letting loose a storm of crows. From each of the crow's eyes shone that explosive green light, bathing the entire area nearly a mile in radius, all within his deadly green light.
Ahri had to only glance at the crows once before she birthed her own pets. From her orb burst a hundred, a thousand fiery phoenixes, each one of them charging at a crow, and engulfing both in in a burst of flame and light, leaving nothing but ash. Charred's eyes widened at the flock of phoenixes about him, but could only respond by summoning more and more crows into the air. He was hoping to overwhelm the fox.

But still she stood stock still, all the while creating more and more phoenixes at an incredible rate

A globe of birds was born between the two, one halve was black and dark, full of crows with shining green eyes, and the other halve was fire and light, shooting out streaking phoenixes that targeted and consumed the crows with laser-like accuracy. The battle seemed even at first glance. But Charred was growing more and more weary by the second, while Ahri simply stood in front of her orb, eyes closed in boredom.
Charred gave a desperate burst of power, and a glut of crows pulsed out from him like a wave, and for a second, the globe became mostly black, with only a small territory left to the searing phoenixes.

The demon gave a small laugh of triumph.

Then Ahri opened her eyes, and she focused her will on her orb. The production of phoenixes doubled, and then tripled, and then increased tenfold. Instantly Charred was engulfed in a sea of firebirds, scorching him all about his cloak and skull and charred flesh. They flew at him, sinking into his body, and causing him to scream in agony like he had felt only once before. And then it stopped.

Ahri had stopped the birds just by raising her hand. Charred, suddenly free of the assault, hit the ground on his knees, smoking. As he fell, the demon hacked in pain, for the heat had cracked his bones and glassed even his charred flesh.
The demon bowed to the ground, and raised his hand.

"I yield, my goddess of fire and light." Charred lowered his skull, until he was almost kissing the ground with his black teeth. "You have claimed victory"

Ahri stood over the archdemon with her orb by her hand. The Phoenix Sun seemed to have a life of its own, zipping around her, checking out potential threats, and pulsing like a heart.

"Might I gaze upon your appearance?" Charred politely inquired, "I wish to look upon my beautiful conqueror."
She didn't answer, so Charred carefully raised his skull. He could see her feet first, dirty with soot and blackened by fire. Her bare legs next, clotted with ash and dust, but still unscathed. Her body that still had the curves that captured the hearts of men and sent them love-struck to their deaths in the forests of Ionia.
And then… her lips. Her nose.
He just needed to get to her eyes.

"Did you know, my goddess?" Charred gave a grotesque smile. "that the eyes are the window to your soul?"
Charred leaped up, and his arms shot outstretched, grasping for Ahri's face. He just needed to gaze into her eyes…

Those fox-like eyes came into his view, and Charred shouted in triumph.
"ALL YOU FEAR IS MINE!"

Ahri reached up, and grabbed Charred's face. Her fingers dug into his eye sockets, and although the demon's flesh burned her palm, her skin burned Charred even more. The demon writhed in agony; he clawed at her arms, but to no avail.

"These eyes killed Hae-In." Ahri muttered. Her hand gripped tighter.
She set her hand ablaze, and the demon fell back, screaming in agony, for his emerald eyes were burning away. Charred clawed at his eye sockets, but that only spread the fire to his fingers, and within moments, nearly half of the demon was set ablaze.

"MY EYESSSSS! MY EYESSSSS! I CAN'T SEE!"
Ahri walked up, and grabbed Charred by the neck. With one hand, she slammed the demon to the ground, still screaming.
"Don't die yet. You still have more to do."
Fiery chains wrapped about Charred, binding him to the ground. Still blind, the demon struggled against the unknown force.

"What have you done?! What is this on my arms?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME YOU C*NT?! YOU B*TCH FOX!" The demon shouted as he battled against his restraints, but to no avail. The fiery chains budged not an inch.

Ahri circled about Charred once, her face cold and hard, before crouching, and reaching down with her hand. She lightly stroked Charred's seething face. Her fingers skated across the blackened bone; her touch soft and gentle. The blind demon stiffened at the alien, placid touch. His breathing quickened, and his immortal soul started becoming more and more human by the second. The softness and kindness in her touch was too much for him to bear. He started weeping, crying in fear and pain and confusion. He started crying because he felt his doom from her touch.

"I am so sorry," Ahri whispered, "because you won't deserve this." Her hand travelled down Charred's tainted chest; stained with the blood of a thousand innocents. Her hand came to a stop above the demon's cursed heart.

"You have done so much wrong. You destroyed Yi's home. You killed Hae-In. You slaughtered thousands. You would come over here to destroy the only and last thing in this world I care for anymore."

Charred, now broken, wept dry tears at the accusations. The demon once thought that his heart had well and truly perished in the fires of hell, but he was wrong. The precipice of death had found in him the once more the soul that he thought he lost.
"You have done so much wrong, but you still don't deserve what I am going to do to you, because I am doing foolishly, selfishly, for myself. This is for my revenge only."
She clenched her hand over Charred's heart.
"Forgive me. This is the Phoenix Death Sun"

A suit of fire engulfed Charred, and he disappeared. Ahri gazed coldly at the patch of blackened earth where Charred once laid. She wanted to remember this image. Yet as she tried to focus her eyes, the black seemed to swirl. She swayed on the spot. Then the sky to her flipped upside down, the horizon spun circles around her eyes. She started to fall.

Hell. It was hell once more. In the Phoenix Death Sun, Charred burned an indescribable agony, like every pain suffered in the world, spread out along the entirety of his skin, slipping down his throat with every breath, and burning him from inside out. He stumbled blindly through the flames, for the heat had long melted his eyes into nothing but sulfur and water. He tried to find a grip on a burning pillar, but as he did, his hand cracked, and burned away in the heat. The pain was beyond comprehension, but he had some small solace that his death would come quickly. He laid back, even through the burning agony, and decided to accept his death quietly.

The fires consumed him, and he was gone.
He was born again.

The fires seemed to intensify, and Charred screamed in pain and confusion. Why wasn't he dead?! The demon stumbled through the fire, until his foot broke off, and he tripped. Charred tumbled down a slope of fire, until he rolled into a blazing maw that immediately engulfed him in flames and brimstone. He died again.

He woke up again, in agony.

"My goddess! My beautiful goddess Ahri!" Charred choked out between gulps of embers, "Mercy! MERCY!"
The unwise shouting overly exposed his insides to the heat, and Charred died, his core completely burned out. A black shell of a man tumbled to the flames, broken in so many places like a piece of pottery.

The shell reformed itself, and the victim was born again. Now his mind was Singed, and he felt the agony of the chemical weapons he unleashed on innocents, multiplied a hundred-fold, all over his body and mind and soul. The chemist screamed in agonized desperation, as his flesh peeled away in flakes, and the blaze burnt his body to the bone.

"KILL ME PLEASE!" Soon Singed was now nothing, replaced by another conscious. Each rebirth burned away yet another sin, and yet another memory. For years, a god named Charred, a man named Singed, a specter named Fiddlesticks, an anchangel named Adramalech, and a young boy named Roma Getines would burn in this prison. Until nothing would be left but purity.

Ahri swayed, then her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forwards—

Yi caught her just as she was about to hit the ground. She slumped over his arm, completely spent. Her Phoenix Sun faded into the air. He turned her over, cradled her unconscious form in his hands, ignoring the searing heat from her body that burned his arms and scorched his face.
She snored softly; managing to sleep in the center of a blackened forest that looked more like it was wiped out by a volcano than a fox.

Ahri.
He hugged her tightly. She gave a slight grumble at the squeeze.

Thank god you're ok.

That is three hundred and eighty-three to one, Mejai. You will die a hundred deaths before you ever manage to pay me back, you f*cking screw up.

Shut up, Youmuu.