Chapter Twenty-five

ASHE SCATTER

Ashe. . .

The moment she had stepped through the Door Between Realms, she knew something was wrong. She kept hearing her name, whispers in the wind, calling her as she ran forward and exited the door that led her to the Fantasia Realm. The way she was compelled and pulled back to her Realm was so strange, and yet felt so natural as she and Varuo ran through the darkness. After working with so many Villains over the years and switching between Realms and searching for a place of her own, she feared that the Void was being cruel to her. She had half anticipated the Door being locked before she arrived, or that it was playing a sick joke to keep her running to a place she would never reach. But it showed her a single kindness as it allowed her to reach the door, pull it open, and step through it.

Ashe . . .

All she saw was green. Trees, grass, bushes, flowering buds everything was green. She didn't dare make a sound or move or even breathe for the fear that it was all a dream. Birds chirped as they flew by, squirrels and chipmunks chittered as they fought over their harvest of nuts. Butterflies flitted through the sunbeams peeking through the trees and deer quietly grazed near the babbling stream. A gentle breeze puffed a breath of air and sent the honeysuckles dancing, the clovers bobbing, and the sweetest scent of spring mint her way. It was just like she remembered, as if time had stopped itself before her fiancé ever came into the picture. Her heart swelled, tears leaked from her eyes, and no matter how tightly she clenched her lips together, she could not stop the sob that broke through. Her hand quickly covered her mouth to contain the noise.

For the first time in almost two centuries, she was home. Her eyes slowly panned over the beautiful green scenery before her and she tried to drink it all in, committing it to memory again as she hoped that she would never have to leave again. She leaned against Varuo's side as she let the tears silently fall from her eyes. She had dreamt of returning for so long it was almost too good to be true that she was finally here again. She wanted nothing more than to seek out her friend Veta and give her the biggest hug. Ashe could only hope that she would forgive her for what she's done, though she would understand if she didn't.

Ashe!

Her heart jumped and something pulsed within her as she jerked her head to look around her. Other than the wildlife and Varuo beside her, she saw no other person. She was certain she heard her name, it was too familiar, and she stood up as she felt that compulsion to move forward. It was soft and warm and far too welcoming than what she should have expected for her return to her Realm after being away for so long. A part of her hoped that it was Veta that had called her here, for if there was anyone who would have wanted to see her, surely it would have been her.

She should have known better.

"Ashe, where are you going?" Varuo called after her, but she did not turn to look at him and followed the strange tug that summoned her. She shouldn't have followed that pull, the calling of her name that slowly led her deeper and deeper into the forest where the sun didn't breach through the trees; but she followed it anyways. It was almost like a trance, like a moth to a flame as her feet carried her faster and faster, her heart jumping in her chest as she moved to get closer to the voice that called to her. She couldn't even remember if Varuo had tried to stop her or if he merely followed after her, and at the time she hadn't cared, she just needed to get to the voice calling her. Regardless, she should have known better and ran back through the door she came through, for when she came to the place where she heard her name at the loudest, there was a vast clearing with a large hole that went so far, no light could touch the depths. The trees were planted so far from it that they almost seemed terrified to grow in its general direction and bent over themselves and away from the hole. Standing in place, she felt strangely stronger than normal but also a strange peace within her that she hadn't known in centuries. It was almost as if she had found something that she lost, but she wasn't sure just what it was.

"Ashe."

The voice was calm, clear, and concise, but she couldn't quite place it as it echoed into the forest around her. It did not belong to her beloved friend Veta, nor did it belong to her lifelong caretaker Fuego, but she knew that voice. She knelt beside the hole, her eyes closed as she tried to place the voice, trying to put a face to the name.

"Y-Yes." It came out in just a whisper, so soft she was certain it was her inner thoughts rather than her own voice.

"Ashe, are you there?" It sounded amused, almost excited and louder as someone finally responded to it. The way it echoed

She nodded her head then gulped as she replied. "Yes."

"My, my, it certainly has been a long time." The voice chuckled and she was compelled to laugh with it, though part of her was hesitant. "How long has it been, my dear?"

She bit her lip and blinked. She wasn't exactly sure. Time flowed so differently in each Realm, and though it flowed the smoothest in the Anti-Realm it was also the slowest. "Two centuries, I believe."

"That sounds about right." It mused and she was certain she heard a faint click, like a key being turned in a lock. "What's finally brought you here?"

This voice didn't belong to Veta. It questioned her too much, and the way it talked down to her did not sit well with her. Whose voice was this? She nervously licked her lips and stared worriedly down at the hole. "I was finally allowed to return. . ."

"Well, if you've been allowed to return, that must mean that it's time for me to come out." The voice deepened and turned darker.

"What?" That pull that she had felt that brought her to this strange place suddenly clenched a tight hold over her heart and caused her to gasp out in pain. Her fingers dug into the earth, gripping for dear life as she tried to calm her heart when the pulling began again. It was more like a tug with a chain connected to her that kept trying to pull her in deeper.

"Come on, Ashe . . ." It chuckled and sounded like a man, and a chill ran down her spine. She recognized this voice, but the face wouldn't come to her mind. "If you don't come to me, well, then I'll just have to come to you. . ."

The pull in her chest became a yanking fire that lit her body and a strangled scream ripped from her throat as a wave of heat and fiery orange bird creatures erupted from the large hole and a body jumped forth. It was too little too late for her to realize the error of her ways and try to flee this place when she locked eyes with fascinated rubies that belonged to the very man who ruined her life in the first place. Tall, tone, and paler than the moonlight with tight red breeches the only article of clothing on his body, the handsome face of Astaroth loomed over her as he floated in the air with the ugliest grin on his face before he tried to pull her to him with their godforsaken bond.

That was two weeks ago where she put the whole Fantasia Realm in a terrible sense of chaos and terror as she had yet again unleashed Astaroth to this Realm again. Now she leaned against the tree trying to catch her breath and not be so easily pulled in by his strong summons and swarming fiery gremlins. It was a vicious game of cat and mouse where Astaroth would find her, play with her and fight with her until she finally managed to break free and flee again. It took this Realm a little over two centuries to heal itself and in two weeks she and Astaroth had already given it plenty of scars to make up for it.

Astaroth summoned all of the fire gremlins and other fiery beings of destruction to eat away at the forest and make sure that Ashe had no place to hide while Ashe could only rely on Varuo, who was just as exhausted as her, to fight and flee when they could. The people in the villages have already fled, the mythical beings that once lived in forests have completely disappeared, and to make matters worse, it felt as though it were only she and Astaroth in the entire Realm. She could assume that Master Yen Sid had something to do with everyone else in the Realm seeming to have vanished; if he still lingered in this Realm, that is. She had barely had a moment of rest when she saw her father flying through the sky and off in a strange direction away from his domain. She had had little time to question why he was here, she had assumed he was still after her, before a ball of fire whizzed past her and scorched her shoulder.

Ashe held her wound and hissed out a cry before glaring over her shoulder at the laughing demon bouncing another fireball in his hand. "Are we still playing this nonsensical game of hide and seek, or are you ready to submit to me, my dear bride?"

"I am not your bride!" She screeched and launched herself at him and used her own hands to turn into a pair of fire claws. She barely scratched him before he darted out of the way and all too easily caught her wrist and tried to subdue her.

"Come now, dear, I can see how tired you are." He chuckled and put his face too close to hers. "All you have to do is admit defeat and this can all be over."

"I will not!" She screamed and propelled herself forward so their heads collided. Her head screamed in pain, her whole body burning at the action while Astaroth held a hand to a now bloody nose.

"Normally I like a woman with a little fire." He flicked the blood from his hand and fixed his red eyes on her, "But two weeks of this nonsense is enough for me. Just be a good pet and come with me." He curled his finger as he beckoned her forth and she dug her nails into the bark of the tree to fight the pull of his summons. Golden veins lit up her skin and she cried out as she resisted him. Faint silver markings carved his body in a faint and weak flicker, but it was enough for him to frown at her and drop his hand. "Really, don't you think we've done enough damage to your precious Realm? Or was destroying it the first time around not enough for you."

"You will not manipulate me like that again!" She shook her head wildly and summoned the shadows into the form of a sword to cut away at him. He easily dodged her strikes, once, twice, thrice, but the fourth just barely caught his shoulder. He frowned as black blood spurted from the wound before it quickly sealed itself and he grabbed her blade.

"You can say I manipulated you all you want, dear." He sneered at her as he yanked the sword from her hand and pulled her forward. "However, I wasn't the one who hurt your little friend." He caught her by the wrists and dug his nails into her skin there as he chuckled with mirth at her. "You did."

She shook her head and her body burned again as the gold swirled in her veins. "You liar!"

"Tut, tut, dear, you know I can't tell a lie." He held her wrists tighter and dug his nails deeper into the flesh there. "It is part of my curse that I can only use the truth in everything I do and say."

Ashe knew it was true, but not entirely as he started it all and she refused to listen to the brief vein of reason that would give him an even stronger advantage in this situation. Instead, she clenched her jaw, planted her feet against his chest and gave a solid kick to push them apart with enough force to propel her several miles away from him. She knew it wouldn't really be enough to get away from him, but it would be enough to buy her a little time to recover and come up with some sort of plan. Playing cat and mouse was getting old and it was only a matter of time before he finally succeeded in capturing her. She held her arms close to her chest, doing what little she could to stop the bleeding and speed up the healing process when a ball of black fur tackled her to the ground.

"You suck at hiding." Varuo groused as he landed on the ground and curled around her to protect her.

"I know." She wheezed as the pain prickled up her arms. "It would help if he wasn't tracking me with the stupid bond."

"You still haven't broken it?" Varuo frowned over his shoulder. "You said you knew of a way!"

"I've tried, Varuo." However, breaking a bond like the one they made wasn't as simple as she thought it would be. "I just. . . I just can't figure out how to break this bond with him!"

She overpowered him before so she merely assumed she could do it again, however, Astaroth's deep slumber for the last two centuries has left him very overpowered. It didn't help that he seemed to grow stronger every time they were closer to one another. He was able to absorb her magic much faster than she could his. She hissed in pain as there was a flash of heat and the swirls of gold burned her skin.

"We'll figure it out." Varuo tried to reassure her, but she caught the doubting worried look in his eyes as he turned his eyes to the sky. "If we don't Valentino certainly will."

"What?" She bolted up straight and stared at the hellcat. "Mr. V? Mr. V is here?"

"He's with Master Yen Sid." Varuo nodded his head and grimaced. "He's finally getting his questions answered."

She shouldn't have felt so relieved to know that he was here. This Realm was in chaos, a war between the man who doomed her the first time, Mr. V was in danger of disappearing with this Realm if she didn't stop Astaroth sooner rather than later. If he was here, what about Villa or Eito?

"Are the others here?"

"No." Varuo shook his head, his large ears flicked as he looked over her shoulder. "I assume they're managing things in the Anti-Realm while we're here."

She grimaced at the thought and could only imagine what sort of chaos the Anti-Realm was in with those two running the castle. If they were in charge, who was dealing with the Villains? Were the Villains still struggling to understand their reality now that a part of their past was altered? How were the Recruits? Were they all right? Were they getting their Happy Endings? Was Jamila still practicing her writing? Was Jack attempting to write down his findings? Was Lady Hock eating? Amidst the chaos of the Fantasia Realm, her mind was flooded with the thoughts of her work life back in the Anti-Realm. Her fingers slid in her hair and she slightly tugged on her hair as she tried to calm her thoughts, trying to regain her focus. If she lost her focus now, she wouldn't heal properly and she wouldn't be ready for Astaroth's next attack. She was battered, bruised, and exhausted enough as it was, the last thing she needed was to be distracted by all the things she missed.

Sensing her distress, Varuo's large green eyes studied her before he pressed his cold wet nose nudged her shoulder and broke her from her thoughts. She jumped at his touch, but quickly relaxed and leaned into him. She pressed her forehead to the long bridge of Varuo's nose. "I just don't know what to do Varuo. . ."

Her own power wasn't strong enough to take on Astaroth, especially since he absorbed her power through their bond and constantly drained her. He was able to track her easily and only allowed her a few hours of rest at best before seeking her out to start the fight all over again. Brute force alone wouldn't be enough to get rid of him. He only seemed to grow stronger the more they fought. No matter how hard she fought she just couldn't shake him. If she could only break the golden chains that bound her to him without giving in to that desire to call upon the Firebird, then at least she would have a chance against him. Her brain was too rattled to think of a proper way out of this with the constant fear of being attacked. How was she supposed to free herself from him?

With her mind so distracted by something other than her current issue, she failed to feel the lick of the fires. It happened faster than she could stop it or even prepare herself, her body burned and the swirls of gold lit up her skin and Astaroth suddenly had her by the hair and kicked Varuo away from her. Varuo's cry of pain hurt her heart as she dug her nails into Astaroth's hand and tried to pry his fingers from her scalp.

"Varuo!" She called out to him, but her eyes were screwed shut as Astaroth pulled on her hair. However, Varuo did not call back to her. His silence hurt her worse than Astaroth pulling her hair out. "Varuo!"

"My, my, I had expected you to get a little farther from me than this." Astaroth tutted with a grin as greasy as an eel as he seemed unbothered by her clawing. "Am I finally wearing you down, dear?"

"Release me you demon!" She hissed out as she struggled to get free, nails digging into his flesh. "If it weren't for this damned bond, I would have killed you by now!"

"Perhaps." He shrugged unconcerned and placed his other hand on her throat, his pointed nails just digging into the top layer of skin. "But I guess we'll never find out, will we?"

It was just a touch of pressure pressed to her neck before her body burned and the swirls of gold spiraled down her body, faster than before and much more aggressive and demanding. Her teeth grit and her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to resist the pulling of her powers as he tried to absorb her. Her toes went cold first and as the chill of her powers being taken from her slithered up to her knees, the panic set in as more pressure was applied to her neck and she couldn't breathe. No amount of force would be strong enough to rip his hold of her, so she released her hands from his and tangled them in her hair instead. It was quick and took much more effort than it should have, but she summoned just an ounce of fire to burn her hair from his hold. Whether it was the surprise of the fire or the jolt of gold and silver that flung them apart, Ashe didn't think much of it as she finally freed herself. She gasped loudly for air and nearly toppled over as her head felt considerably lighter now that Astaroth held the fistful of hair she burned to free herself.

Panting heavily himself, Astaroth's red eyes lingered on the hair in his fist before he fell into a fit of laughter. "Oh dear, I really wish that you would submit to me, it would make this whole process so much easier." He tossed the hair aside as he turned his ruby red eyes on her again. "However, the more you fight, the more tired you get, and you're just getting more and more desperate as you try to be so determined. It's so pathetic that it's amusing."

"What's pathetic is you thinking that I'll just submit to you." She spat and glared at him. Her breathing was heavier than she liked, and her throat ached from where Astaroth held her. She wanted to look where Varuo had been thrown, to see if he were okay, but if she took her eyes off the demon before her she would lose all too easily.

"You can throw your shallow insults as much as you'd like dear, but we both know how this is going to end." He chuckled as he walked with confidence towards her. The gold in her veins pulsed and she fought back to control what little power she had left. "You should just accept the inevitable."

She screamed in pain as tears burned her eyes, her teeth grit and she saw the faint silver flickering on Astaroth's skin as her own turned gold. "I refuse to be a part of the man who played a hand in the destruction of this Realm!" She panted and tried to pull from him in the same manner that he had pulled from her. She just needed a little more power. "I have spent the last two hundred years paying for the damages you started, and I refuse to have anything more to do with you!"

"That's your whole reason for fighting?" He scoffed and tilted his head to the side, the silver swirls only appearing to tickle him compared to the pain the gold did to her. "I may have antagonized you and stirred up my own fun and troubles here, but the one who damaged this Realm was you, dear Ashe."

"You went back on your word!" She screeched and tried to pull with more force, but he seemed unfazed and only grew more amused the harder she tried. "You went back on your bond! You said you would harm Veta!"

"I didn't." He smirked as a devilish look flashed in those ruby red eyes. "I will admit to throwing your father into his hibernation early. I will admit to throwing the little minion who looked after you into the volcano too. I will even admit that I was already planning how to ruin this world once we made our agreement, however, when it came to the damage and destruction of this world, that was all you, dear."

She shook her head and tried not to listen to him and focus on pulling power from him. His hold on his own powers was much stronger and tighter than she realized and she felt as though she only tightened it more rather than loosened it. Her heart pounded in her ears as she tried to recall that day she had tried for years to forget. The pull he used to absorb her powers was too gentle, just a trickling flow that didn't burn her. "Do not twist the truth like that! Do not lie to me!"

He chuckled, a flash of anger in those red eyes, as he stepped forward. "We both know that I can't lie, dear, I am cursed to only speak the truth. Therefore, I can only use it to my advantage. No matter how you remember that day, I was not the one that set this pitiful Realm on fire and doomed the lives of those who lived here."

"No." Her memory was blurry and frazzled, and all she could recall from that day was darkness and felt an intense heat; similarly to what she felt now. With her eyes screwed shut, she used all of her might to pull something from him, but to no avail as harsh visions flashed in her mind. She remembered being thrown into the volcano and waking up to Varuo crying and Yen Sid telling her she had to leave, but she didn't remember what happened. "No, I – I wouldn't!"

"But you did, little Ashe." He chuckled in her ear as he calmly leaned over her. "In your little furious hurry to come after me, you hurt the Realm and even the one person who you wanted to protect."

Flashes of fires as it consumed the forest, the burning stench of ashes and smoke, the cries of those being burned alive echoed in her mind. Tears blurred her eyes as she shook her head and Astaroth took a step back to watch the painful revelation cross her face.

"Yes, dear, it was all you." Astaroth purred in delight as he relished the anguish look that washed over her face. "All I had to do was pretend to go after your little friend and you took everything out of proportion, and you destroyed it all. I didn't even have the chance to."

"N-no." She shook her head and stopped trying to pull the power from him as she tried to reclaim her unsteady mind. Her hands tangled in her hair again as things became more vivid, but the actions that happened didn't feel entirely in her control, as though there was something stronger and more powerful controlling her. Like a homing beacon it had locked onto Astaroth and chased him everywhere he ran and fire and lava lay in the wake of her movements. "I – I didn't mean –"

He shushed her as he loomed over her and ran his fingertips through her hair, but she did not feel his touch, nor did she remove her hands from her hair. "I know you didn't mean to, dear." He laughed too gleefully as he walked in a circle around her as she stood frozen to the spot. "Accidents happen, but someone has to pay for the damages you've caused."

He cupped her teary face in his hands, her black eyes were distant and blurry as the memories of that terrible day played in her mind. Hints of gold shimmered like fine glitter in her eyes as the pull he used to absorb her powers was so gentle, just a trickling flow that didn't burn her so he could easily withdraw her powers He whispered and tucked her hair behind her ear, "We both know the best way you can make up for what you've done, don't we?"

"What?" like a scared child in the dark she clung to his hands with an unnerving amount of strength with the fear of letting go.

"It's all right, dear." He spoke softly, soothingly. "All you have to do is give in, once you do, everything will be all right. You won't have to fight any more. . ."

That sounded like a dream. She really was tired of fighting. She'd been fighting for weeks with Astaroth, but fighting for centuries in just trying to survive in a world that just didn't seem to want her. Afterall, she broke her Realm and was banished. Why would she be allowed back after what she had done? Why would it want to welcome her back after the amount of pain she caused? How could it even forgive her for what she had done to it?

She wanted nothing more than to believe that it was Astaroth's fault for all of this, the bond, pushing her over the edge like he had, but in the end she was the one who couldn't control her temper and couldn't save her friend in the end. It really was all her fault. She had tried for years to make up for what she had done, knowing full well that it would never be enough. Perhaps the only way she could make up for everything was to disappear from this world after all. She was so tired of fighting.

Perhaps the only way she could truly make up for what she did was to surrender herself to Astaroth and allow him to gain the power he so desired to punish her with it. Whatever the cost, Ashe would pay it, she would take the responsibility for it so long as she no longer had to fight. As her body grew colder and the soft voice above her made so much more sense than fighting, she found it just a little bit easier to give in and closed her eyes as her body became light for the first time in two centuries.

Ashe. . .

VARUO

Groaning and pushing himself up from the heap of trees that nearly buried him, Varuo strained his nose to seek Ashe out. Nothing. He had hoped that he hadn't been out for too long. His body ached, his fur was in desperate need of brushing and tending, and he wanted to sleep. God he wanted to sleep for a month after all this was done! He roared as he pulled himself up from the rubble and stood on his paws.

Now that he was out of the dead trees, maybe now he could sniff Ashe out. Again, his nose went to the air, his eyes shut to focus on the smell. Ashes from the volcano, burning pine needles, and the brimstone farts from the fiery gremlins were all he could pick up. He growled in frustration that he hadn't picked up her scent yet and was seriously beginning to worry. He didn't even hear her running through the trees or flying on the wind, it was so unnaturally quiet that he knew something was wrong.

"Ashe?" He gulped as he searched the area around him and only saw splintered burnt trees and destruction all around him. Just how far had he been thrown?

Dark laughter echoed on the winds and made his ear flick at the sound and his body shiver in fear. "Astaroth."

Not wasting any time, he took off in the direction he heard the laughter, but he wasn't fast enough as the laughter grew louder and more maniacal. Bobbing in and out of the way of the fires and trees, Varuo finally caught Ashe's scent, but he also caught Astaroth's scent. Dread touched his bruised bones as he no longer heard the sounds and signs of battle and only heard Astaroth's laughter. He forced himself to run faster, pushed himself harder. He just had to get to Ashe. Was she all right? He knew better than to call out to her, if she were hiding and Astaroth were just playing a cruel trick on him, he didn't need to be the bait to draw her out.

His ears flicked at every sound, his nose picked up a strange scent, darker and something akin to burnt oil when the laughter stopped and was replaced by a single drawn out scream. It was Astaroth's scream, it sounded as though he were in pain, however, there were no signs of a fight or a struggle as waves of heat billowed on the wind with such a force that it knocked Varuo back. It was just like that time before when Ashe had turned into the Firebird. His eyes wide, fear deeply rooted in his heart, he no longer cared if this were a trap or if this were something else entirely, he needed to find Ashe, now.

"Ashe!" he roared as loudly as he could, only to choke on the ashes that were picked up by the wind. A tall orange pillar shot through the sky and Varuo shook his head as he watched a firebird launch itself into the sky. "No, not again, Ashe!"

Waves of heat and smoke and ash rippled on the wind, but one thing was for certain, Varuo caught Ashe's faint and chilling scent. Clawing the earth to fight against the rippling winds of fire, Varuo dragged himself closer and closer to the base of the orange pillar, determined to follow Ashe's scent until he found her. There under the obnoxious sickening glow of the orange light was Astaroth holding Ashe's limp form in his arms. Both of their bodies glowed gold, a sign that Astaroth's power had finally overcome Ashe as he stood straighter, grew bulkier, and laughed wildly as the power filled him with his hair whipping about madly as the Firebird chose its vessel.

Author's Note:

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Please remember to leave a comment or review and share your thoughts and opinions about this chapter with me. If you like it enough, please share my story on your socials.

Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter.