Ash just collapsed to his ass.

"....." he was silent, and looked at his hands, before sighing.

"So he's alive." he said.

"Good." he said further.

"Fat load of good it does." he then mumbled.

"Still don't know where he is..."

Ash turned angry again when she said what she did before vanishing.

"You don't get to say that." he said.

"You don't get to threaten me like that." he growled.

"Stupid cow." he spat, before going to Rylie.

He looked at her, and placed his hands on her stomach, before trying to use his mana to override what Rowena had done to her.

"....I hate her, too." Ash responded.

"I don't like it when she shows up." he said.

"She has no right to." he muttered.

"And she talks to me like... just... ngh." he growled, before spitting off to the side.

"Are you okay?" he then asked.

"Will you be all right, at least?"

Ash just bit his lip, and nodded.

"Yeah..." he said quietly.

"We should." he agreed.

He then looked around.

"Where?" he asked.

"Should we go back to Azazel?" he asked her.

"Or find a place that's... closer?" he wondered further.

He then looked skyward, and saw they only had about an hour or two left of daylight, so they'd need to find a place relatively quickly.

Ash was always confused about that. Rylie seemed like the type that could handle anything, and she was more than capable of defending herself... so what was it about after dark that was so bad. Especially for her.

He never questioned it, though, figuring if there was something after dark that made HER wary, it had to be bad, and he'd do good to go along with it.

But his curiosity was coming to a head, and he knew he'd have to ask her eventually.

For now, he just nodded.

"All right." he said.

The next day, after they had spent the night at the nearby inn, they were in the woods, and Rylie had just come back after scouting the area for any potential threats, when she saw Ash looking like he was having troubles with something.

That's when she saw the rune start to stretch out from his feet... but it was slow... and then it stopped. Then it retracted back inside him. Then it came out again.

It looked like he was trying his hardest to control not only the mana, but the rune itself, so he could effectively USE it.

Ash, who seemed to be a bit weakened now, just sighed.

"I guess." he said.

"Maybe..." he mumbled.

"I mean, I can get it to go out and back and stuff." he went on.

"...but controlling the strength is something else entirely." he admitted.

"It's always as strong as it can be." he told her.

"And I can't seem to make it weaker."

Ash was speechless for a moment.

"Ah... I..." he stammered.

"Are... are you sure?" he asked.

Rylie nodded in response.

"O...Okay..." Ash said.

He then got quiet, and concentrated... as the rune shot out at her at alarming speed. However, just as it got to the tips of her feet, it came to a screeching halt.

"NO!" Ash exclaimed.

But it was too late, the rune spread out, and across Rylie.

Instantly, she felt the pull of the rune, and her body started to disappear.

However, just as she was about to completely disappear, Ash willed the rune back to him, and she became 'solid' once more.

She hadn't started to become a chain link, but... it did not feel good. At all.

"Sorry!" Ash exclaimed, guilt-ridden.

Ash appeared to be stunned.

"I... uh..." he stammered.

"Okay?" he replied.

"I thought for sure that... you would be mad." he said.

"I almost... made you go away again..." he went on, growing quieter.

"I lost control of the rune again..."

"......all right." Ash replied.

"All right." he then repeated, sounding a bit more confident.

"I WILL get this right." he told her.

"I WILL control this rune, and NOT have another outburst ever again." he promised.

"I don't want to hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it." he said.

"And I don't want to see HER again." he added, venom in his tone when he said that.

"EVER again." he growled further.

After that, years and years passed, with Ash gaining more control over the rune, and more and more power boosts coming his way. He was getting to be a very strong individual, and seemed to be fast approaching his Mother's levels.

But he never wanted to talk about her.

They were currently on their way to Azazel's inn after being away for a little over 2 years, with Ash smiling as they walked.

"He'll be surprised to see just how strong I've gotten." he commented to Rylie.