Colin's posts

"Ah... right." Ash said.

"Whatever, then." he said dismissively.

"...hm." he then mumbled, before his eyes widened.

"W-wait...' he stammered.

"If... if Lindsay can die over and over again... and... and the mana goes to ME... over and over again..." he said, trailing off and looking at his body.

"Ohhhhhhhh no..." he muttered.

"I get the feeling I'm at risk of becoming a monster." he concluded.

At the moment, he was not being allowed visitors... however, when he looked out the window, he saw a familiar figure hovering outside it on his demonic wings.

He waved slightly, before looking around, and slipping inside the room.

"I'm essentially a demon." he said.

"The hell do I care about what the staff says." he chuckled, before sighing.

"So. Looks like you gave us all another scare, huh?" he asked, concern in his tone.

Ash was silent, now more confused than angry.

"I... ah..." he stammered.

"Wait..." he said, grasping at his head.

"Okay, so they fused him with a phoenix." he said. "Well, guess HE was success, at least..." he mumbled, looking away.

"But result in a Fyrane being killed on sight?" he asked her.

"Why? The hell does THAT mean?" he asked further, before looking at Rylie.

"....and can you please stop hurting her?"

Ash looked over at Rylie, saw the runes crawling across her skin, and then looked back at Rowena.

"Don't call her an 'irritation'!" he demanded, his anger growing even more apparent.

"She's the only reason I'm even still alive right now." he told her, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"And here you are, flaunting that evil rune that belongs to that evil family name." he growled.

"And what do you mean he died!? Then why did it happen AGAIN!?" he exclaimed, before pausing.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

"FIRST time!?" he asked her.

"What does that even mean!? People die, and that's it!" he exclaimed.

"There are no 'next times'!" he declared.

".....are there?" he then asked, clearly growing more confused.

Aly was... quick to respond, to say the least.

Within minutes, paramedics were there, tending to him.

Aly and Arissa went as well, and Ryker was just staring at the text.

"....." he was silent, before starting to fly off.

"I need to get to the hospital. FAST."

"STOP IT!" Ash yelled.

"Enough!" he said.

He then got between Rowena and Rylie, and stared into Rowena's eyes.

At this point, the fear that she had seen in him before... was gone. Completely gone. There was now anger in them. Anger and confidence... but mostly anger.

"You!" he said.

"What the HELL gave you right to even TOUCH me!?" he demanded. "Let alone threaten the woman that's been raising me, when she stepped in to stop you from potentially hitting me AGAIN!?" he asked.

"And where do you get off having ANY sort of attitude towards me!?" he then asked, a black aura of flames unconsciously flaring up around him now.

"Especially after you lied to me about what happened when the rune went out of control back at the inn!?"

Ash froze when he saw her... but then relaxed a bit.

And looked miffed.

"....good." he said.

"Know what? Good." he repeated.

"I have some things to ask her." he growled, sounding unimpressed.

He then completely turned and faced her, crossing his arms over his chest.

He wasn't going to go to her, she had to come all the way to him.

Ash paused for a moment.

"Wait..." he said.

"Wait, you're... you're right." he muttered, seemingly having an epiphany.

"I DON'T have to seal people with it." he realised.

"I can try and stop it before that happens." he went on.

"...I NEED to learn how to control it!" he then exclaimed, determination in his tone.

Ash shook his head.

"I don't want to trap ANYONE." he told her.

"At ALL." he said further.

"The rune is evil. It's bad, and it does bad things." he continued.

"I don't want to be evil or bad." he went on, before pausing.

"I don't want to be like... Mother." he whispered.

Ash shook his head.

"I..." he stammered.

"I tried to hold it in." he said.

"Which is to say, I tried to contain it in my body?" he told her.

"Did I completely fail?" he asked.

"How far out did the rune go?" he asked further.

"Or... well, were you not able to tell?"

Ash nodded.

"Yeah." he replied.

"I feel it." he said.

"I feel stronger. More powerful. I feel more mana inside me." he continued.

He then sighed, and looked away.

"I'm sorry." he apologised again.

"I almost did it. You were almost gone forever..."

Ash was shaking. Quivering and shaking. And he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

But he nodded.

"O-O-Okay." he stammered.

"B-but... but you're n-not mad?" he asked through his slight sobbing.

"I... I made you g-go away..." he went on.

"The ch-chain... it started to f-form in my hand..." he continued.

"Why? Why did that h-happen?" he asked.

"That was the same was when Lindsay... d-died." he told her. "The EXACT s-same feeling. Why did it happen AGAIN?" he asked further, clearly confused, scared, and feeling very guilty over what he had just done.

Aly was worried as well.

"Hm." she muttered.

"Well, tea might do them both some good, but not if they're not here." she reasoned.

"I'm going to text Eke." she then said, grabbing her phone.

Hi sweetie, how are things going? she sent him.

When he saw her, his eyes lit up with relief and happiness.

He hadn't done it. He hadn't sealed her away.

But then he realised he'd technically done it. It just hadn't been permanent.

And that horrified him.

He immediately started to back away from her.

"Rylie, you're here. You're back where you were." he told her.

"I'll leave. I'll go away." he went on.

"I'm sorry!" he then shouted, before turning and started to run... but then tripping and falling on his face.