ASHER

As I cradle Blaze in my arms and stare around inside the mirror I notice that I'm back in the Chaosgrove and I can see myself standing next to Blaze just before she got stabbed. I glance back at the actual Blaze in my arms and frown before looking back to the one from the past. I watch as Corliss readies her spear and aims it at Seiko, who is fighting Aella, and out of the corner of my eye I see Salem scowling and leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, almost as if he were jealous of something. I rush over to a nearby tree and place the actual Blaze next to it to make sure that she's not in the way of anything and I race over to the past Blaze, who doesn't seem to notice me. However, as I continue to run towards her the me from the past seems to glow and fade away. I gasp in surprise and come to a halt when a different me appears, a me that looks the same, except his eyes are reddish-orange and the rune on his arm is glowing.

"Well?" The other me snaps, "What are you doing just standing there? I would never let the ones I love get hurt."

"What?" I stare at him in confusion, "I wouldn't either but--"

"Not knowing how to use your powers is no excuse," The other me scoffs and crosses his arms, "You're me. You're Asher Maddox. Look at how pathetic you're being. Stop it, it makes me want to slap you."

"But I don't...How am I supposed to..." I trail off, looking for the right words.

"Tsk," The other me glances off to the side, "I knew it would come back to bite me if I were to lock part of myself away."

"Wait," I say slowly and he looks back at me, "You're the other half of me? How are you here? How is that possible?"

"The Plane of Mirrors mirror that you entered with the Time Seal summoned me to be a part of your mirror. You have to accept me in order to save Blaze. I locked myself away so that all of the realms would be safe from the person who captured me after Aella, Alder, and I all escaped with the others. I knew information that they would've greatly appreciated," Other me explains, "There was no other option, seeing as how I had no escape. I've been with you for all of your life, watching over you, feeling everything you feel, seeing everything you see. I'm a part of you."

"If it'll save Blaze then I accept you!" I shout.

"It's not that simple," Other me scoffs and rolls his eyes, "As for Blaze, she's something special, so don't screw it the hell up, got it?"

"Yeah..." I trail off as I think about Blaze, "I know. So how do I accept you?"

"It's simple, you idiot," Other me sighs, "And believe it or not I was a very cheerful child. Tsk, look what happened to me. Oh well, I'm sure that part of me still exists somewhere. Anyways, in order to accept me you have to do just that. Accept me. Come to terms with your problems with me. Time behind us is moving in slow motion, but you'd better hurry. Once you accept me it'll go back to normal."

"You piss me off, you know that," I snap and narrow my eyes at him.

"And why is that?" He smirks and raises a brow.

"You won't help me. You lock away a part of me, well I locked away a part of me -- so technically I'm mad at myself, but you're here so whatever! And I'm mad at you because you won't explain things to me and you suddenly appeared out of nowhere and I'm expected to have these great powers whenever I don't even know what I can do and you're a real pain in the head, literally too, whenever the memories start coming back. And then all of these feelings start coming with you and almost every time I see Blaze I want to kiss her until I can't breathe and I can't tell if it's you or it's me or it's both of us!" I shout and fail to notice the flames beginning to surround me.

"What else?" Other me asks.

"I hate you! I hate you! My life was so much easier before you appeared! And I hate you the most because you may have actually made it better for me, but I'm afraid! I'm afraid, okay?! But if my destiny is to become the best Flame Sorcerer that there is then I'll gladly take it if it's who I'm meant to be and I'll do anything to save Blaze!"

"It seems you've come to terms with your feelings towards me, then," Other me smirks and starts to glow slightly, "Even if you might not fully know it yet, but I think you do."

Other me begins to fade away as more flames surround me and swirl around as if they were alive. The flames eventually swirl the entire way around me to form a giant dragon made out of flames and it flies around me and the still remaining flames before disappearing after going a few feet above my head. The black, orange, and red rune on my arm glows and a dragon becomes added to the rune and the rune tattoo also gains more symbols to it and now covers a bigger portion of my bicep. Memories from my other self suddenly rush through my mind and I hold my head in pain as my eyes widen to keep myself from falling over from the pain.

"Protect her..." I hear the voice of my other self in my mind.

Suddenly time returns to its normal speed and I race over to Blaze, unsure of what I'm doing, but with a sense that I'm doing the right thing.

"No!" I shout as the crystal shoots towards her and I jump in the way.

I close my eyes and prepare myself for death, but instead I find a wall of flames and energy protecting me, just like it did whenever Blaze and I practiced earlier, whenever I open my eyes. The crystal crashes into the wall and shatters into pieces before falling to the ground. I turn my head and look in the direction of actual Blaze before running over to her and picking her up in my arms. She shifts around slightly and nuzzles her face against my chest while gripping my shirt with her right hand.

"Blaze?" I whisper and my eyes scan over her.

"Mmm, Asher?" She mumbles and slowly opens her eyes.

"Blaze!" I shout and twirl her around happily, to which her eyes widen in surprise and she yelps.

"What are you doing, idiot?!" She yells.

"You're alive!" I laugh happily.

"I..." She glances around, "This is real?"

I nod and she smiles happily at me before wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me. When she pulls back she notices that my tattoo is different and she gasps and runs her fingers over it lightly.

"It's beautiful..." She whispers.

"You're beautiful," I say and smile.

"Asher," She says after she sees her past self standing in the Chaosgrove for a moment, "Where are we?"

"We're in the Plane of Mirrors. Bellatrix used her magic and sacrificed herself for a century to give me the chance to bring you back, but..." I frown for a moment, "We should be going back right now, so why aren't we?"

The scene before us seems to ripple and it changes to a different one, but only a few minutes before where we were.

"What's happening?" Blaze gasps.

"I'm not sure..." I stare at the scenery in confusion.

"Wait," Blaze says as her eyes land on Alder and Aella, "What's that?"

I look to where she points and I stare at the two of them in curiosity. Blaze gasps and my eyebrows arch in surprise whenever Alder kisses Aella and I hear a scoff come from the right. I turn my head in Salem's direction to find him staring at the two with anger flashing in his eyes and jealousy written on his face. Suddenly the image begins to fade away and I can feel that we're being pulled out of the mirror. As we land outside of the mirror I look Blaze in the eyes and her eyes search mine.

"I wonder what that was about..." Blaze whispers.

"Yeah," I say and my eyes flicker over to Aella, Salem, and Amorette, "Me too."