18 Ryuus resolve. (1/2)

While Ryuu was slowly entering the depths of meditation, his senses slowly dimmed until it became completely silent. He didn't hear his sister or father anymore, neither did he hear little dragon, let alone hear - he couldn't even feel her existence. It felt like everything was gone, just the emptiness left.

Asura Ryuu: ”Where is this? Why is everything so empty?”, he thought.

Asura Ryuu: ”I couldn't have died, could I? What a joke. If I really died like that, then I'm completely worthless.”

He was trying to feel something, but it was like his brain was not there - he couldn't control anything, he couldn't feel, hear, smell, see, touch or taste anything. Not even his Spirit Sense could help him get out of this situation.

Asura Ryuu: ”Calm down, let's analyze everything first...”

Asura Ryuu: ”Maybe I just entered a peculiar state, like in novels I've read back on Earth.”

He thought about his past life, all kinds of memories flashing through the darkness as he remembered about it.

Asura Ryuu: ”There's a change? Why do surroundings change when I think about my past? Wait I can think now? What's going on??”

As he panicked a bit, everything returned to the darkness from before. He was slowly observing the darkness and suddenly remembered something from little dragon's memories.

As his thoughts reached there, his surroundings changed again while he was floating in that world like an observer who didn't actually exist there.

Asura Ryuu: ”This feeling is interesting, but ... that really took a good six years of my life here. Not that I regret it though, it's just ... it feels kind of strange when you find out that the closest ones to you were an illusion....”

Ryuu's thoughts drifted as he reminisced about the six years since he came here. All those years and everything that happened - Tenko, Akashiro, his mother and father, the forest, the knowledge, those events. Everything that occurred in those years was only an illusion which was used to test him thoroughly. People say that only by knowing someone for a long time, you can truly see his real self.

Asura Ryuu: ”For me, that's certainly a long six years. But considering that my master's actually a million-year-old dragon from the past... I don't know how to describe that short period. It's like a sneeze or a yawn for her.”

Asura Ryuu: ”But anyway, I don't feel resentment because she trapped me in that illusion for six years, nor do I hate her for taking away those near me while in it. My only regret is that Tenko is gone now... Hmm, wait ---”

Asura Ryuu: ”Could that illusion actually be a reality far away from this world?”

Ryuu's thoughts reached this moment, and then ... he began thinking of something which would be considered fantasy in his past life.

Asura Ryuu: ”Then, If every illusion is actually a separate real world, does that mean ..... they still exist?”

He couldn't help but reach this point, after all for a human who had a short lifespan, six years is a long time and Ryuu still didn't adapt to the new environment.

Asura Ryuu: ”Actually, when I think about it right now ... it seemed strange from the start. Why were their names from my world? Why did it have to be a house near a forest? Were not those my wishes in the past life? And a fox that transforms to human, that's obviously from my past.... I was so stupid to not notice anything for those whole six years...”

Asura Ryuu: ”And Tenko ...”

Asura Ryuu: ”Was actually just my past wish taking its place.”

As he realized what occurred, somehow he felt sadness.

Asura Ryuu: ”Sadness? So I can actually feel something in here. Haha, It's kind of silly when you realize that you've lived in your own illusion all this time.”

As Ryuu reached this point, his ethereal form observing the occurrences that were happening already had tears slowly sliding down his cheeks.

Asura Ryuu: ”It is true, as they say, only those observing have the clear picture.”

As Ryuu said that, he glanced once more below him, where the Ryuu from illusion was holding Tenko in his embrace as they were enjoying that moment and tears rushed out of his eyes like a broken dam because he felt a heavy sadness crushing his heart because he lost someone whom he loved four years. Emotions are strange, they can be easily stirred but hardly controlled. And Ryuu found this the hard way. Having his expectations crushed and his feelings betrayed as everything became blurry while he slowly drifted towards despair, Ryuu thought about his life once again.

Asura Ryuu: ”Why does my life have to be this damn hard? Even in the past, the only thing I wanted is love, I wanted to be loved more than anything. I wanted friends, to have lots of friends to laugh with, to have a family and enjoy my life. Why did it have to disappear right after it began? I don't want to be alone anymore.”

As his mind became clouded, Ryuu forgot a lot of things and didn't even pay attention to the surroundings. Even though everything was dark, in front of his eyes memories were flashing uncontrollably pulling him to the pit of despair. But right at the end~

Asura Ryuu: ”HAHAHAHA! Fate, it's you!! You were the one who did this to me, just you wait! Once I become strong enough to control my own life, I'll come to you for my revenge!!! Do not think that I, Asura Ryuu, am easy to bully and be played with!!! I may not be able to even keep myself alive as weak as I am now, but I'll definitely become strong enough to control you and take everything back that you took away! I swear on my life, right here, right now!!!”

Anger, regret, despair, and sadness mixing with each other made him laugh like a crazed man with a broken-down mind.

Asura Ryuu: ”So this is how it feels when emotions reach extreme? Laughing even though it hurts, hahahahaha, this is so fucking hilarious. I even forgot myself for a moment there, good job Ryuu ... you actually did it again. You gave fate the control over yourself... what a failure I am, aren't I?”

Ryuu asked as he opened his own eyes, which were now completely different from before.

Vertical dragon pupils with red irises surrounded by shining light resembling the stars, which pierced the darkness and that same pair of bloody-red dragon's eyes had a vicious glow in their deepest parts. As they say, eyes are the window to the soul, so it seems like that also was true.

Asura Ryuu: ”But thanks to this, a failure that I am finally did something. Thanks to that surge of emotions, I found you all, didn't I?”

Ryuu asked while staring at the darkness.

His eyes suddenly turned from red to ten-colored and numerous dragon roars reverberated.

As a pair of ten-colored eyes looked on in the darkness, one by one, nine dragons manifested from the darkness in front of himself, with one dark-green dragon in the human form appearing slightly behind him.

The first one to appear was a pure blood-colored crimson dragon with red eyes. His scales were sharp and big, extremely overbearing. When Ryuu looked at that dragon, his soul moved and all kinds of emotions appeared at once, but they did not have any influence on Ryuu because all of them had their own counter - happiness and sadness, anger and joy, despair and relief. Like Yin and Yang, they kept each other in balance and thus, Ryuu wasn't influenced by them at all.

Asura Ryuu: ”So you were the one responsible for making me feel other's emotions, eh?”, Ryuu asked while slowly moving his hand on the crimson dragon's scales. The dragon did not answer, whether it couldn't or it just didn't want to was unknown to Ryuu. What he was sure of, however, is that his Crimson Dragon Soul Spirit is the one responsible for making him feel emotions of others, as well as his, with clarity.

He then glanced at the other eight dragons each having different color, but to his disappointment, Ryuu didn't feel anything from them except that those dragons were part of him and he was sure that he would one day understand what each of them represented. Ryuu could only smile at them, and then slowly turn around as the nine vanished into the darkness.

Asura Ryuu: ”Little master, sorry for losing myself back there. It isn't easy to control your own emotions like a human, you know. I hope my master can forgive me.”, Ryuu said while he fell down on his knees and bowed with head lowered all the way down.

Little Dragon: ”Humph! You have some nerve to doubt your own master. What? Am I not good enough compared to your imaginary Tenko? HMPH! You really have some nerve to forget about me, and what about your new family, isn't your surname Long in this world? You don't want to be alone, yet you forget about the ones closest to you. You little.... you're really a pain in the ass to deal with!!”

Ryuu looked at this little girl which pretended to be angry on purpose and couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Asura Ryuu: ”Sorry that I doubted you and accused you. That's why I swear I'll take my revenge against those that want to control me and make my life harder even if it is Fate herself. Having once experienced it, I definitely don't want to go back to that feeling of helplessness.”

Ryuu said apologetically, while he slowly stood up ...

Asura Ryuu: ”I hope master will forgive this foolish disciple because disciple understood himself better because of this incident, so it can be taken as Master giving me my first lecture.”

Ryuu slowly came in front of her and hugged her tightly: ”Little master, thank you for helping me understand what is truly important. Thank you for showing me the way ...”