Okumura Syndicate Ending 1

Chapter 181: The Beginning Of The End

Aster awoke, the darkness dissipating slightly into the room. He lifted himself up with his arms, and looked around, trying to remember where he was. His vision was still fuzzy and his hearing was muffled due to whatever happened while he was blacked out. "Fleur? Demitris?", he uttered into the abyss, but there was nothing. No sign of either of them in the hazy void. "Hello?". He yelled louder now, "Answer me!". Still, no one responded, only the faint echoes of whispers filling the space. Aster sat there, confused and scared, "Please, somebody help me, please!! Somebody help me, please!!!", his cries echoed throughout the void, but nobody was coming.

Eventually, Aster decided to give up. There was no point trying, he had been abandoned, so what else did he expect from someone who was supposed to be dead four months ago? He stared profusely at his missing arm, the vexing thoughts how what happened to it plummeted him even deeper into the darkness. After sitting for awhile in silence, he heard his friends' voices echoing from behind, "Aster!", it sounded muffled, but nonetheless it was familiar. "I'm here!", he exclaimed. Despite his desire to hold them once more, his doubts that it will ever be the same again pulled at him like the strongest rope in the world, hopelessness.

Through all this however, there was a light coming closer to his direction, as he heard a set of footsteps approaching from the distance. They were too heavy to be Fleur's, too consistent to be Demitris's. Could it be? To his shock and overwhelming surprise, Aster saw Rou right next to him. It can't be real, can it? "Aster, I'm sorry...", he muttered. "Am I dead?", Aster solemnly asked the large man behind him. "Afraid not, your story isn't over, Aster, neither is Fleur's or Demitris's. All three of you have fallen unconscious is all...", informed the blue haired man.

"I failed... I couldn't save my comrades and I failed you.", answered Rou softly, staring off into space. "What?", Aster inquired. Rou chuckled softly, "I failed, I wasn't enough to protect my comrades, I couldn't bring them happiness...I failed to keep myself alive...". The words sunk into Aster, was he so selfish to only see his own side of things, his own grief? "Rou, I'm so sorry...", he said with much pain in his chest. "No, it is I that should apologise. I was selfish, you were a victim of circumstance. If there's anything you need to ask, I'm right here, but who knows for how much longer...", the capo expressed.

Then, suddenly, he seemed to change his mind and said, "Actually, I know exactly what you want to ask me, but you'll probably hate me for the answer."
"Why would I hate you?" inquired Aster, surprised. "Because you deserve better.. You deserve happiness... Your heart has always been purer than mine, and you always tried to do the right thing... I couldn't live up to your ideal." said the spirit sadly. Aster couldn't take it, he needed to know the question. "What was I going to ask, Rou?", he asked sincerely. Rou sighed, "You want to know if Fleur and Demitris are okay...".

Aster nodded, his emotions bubbling up inside him. Rou smiled weakly. "Well...they are alive, but you may be disappointed by what I'm about to show you...". Aster didn't care, he was so willing to find out of his friends mental and physical health, he could handle anything Rou shows him. The capo pointed his hand into the darkness, letting his ice from a large wall within the abyss, a blurry image began to form upon the frozen surface, and there they were, visions of Aster's friends, just as frustrated as they were in the fight

Their faces were full of sadness, fear, and anguish, their movements slow and melancholy. Was it regret? Or was hate growing inside them as Aster feared? "That's why I'm here, in this dreamlike state... Because you love them...because you can feel their pain. I don't deserve the chance of redemption, but they do, even if they never forgive each other in the process. I never thought that the day would come when I'd actually lose everyone that matters to me, but I'm afraid I've done it already, you can still change Aster, and so can they...", said Rou with sorrow filling his tone.

However, before Aster could process any of this information, the vision changed. No longer could he see Fleur and Demitris, but he could see Vox, surrounding the entire area with his presence. "Shit, I forgot all about Vox!", he yelled, afraid that he was going to be obliterated at any second. Rou's spirit remained with him, a calming presence behind him, "Don't be alarmed, Aster, he won't hurt you here, just stay still, there's someone who wants to see you...". Frantic movements became confusion, someone wants to see him? He remained still as Rou instructed, waiting for his reappearance.

Finally, there he appeared in front of him, a ghostly figure clothed in purple robes and wearing furs across his body. As the figure walked, his body became transparent, and Aster could clearly see the person's features. "Pallette?", he questioned, recognising his face. "You can't hear me, but that doesn't matter. What matters is you're still here, and you're gonna listen to me now...", said Pallette sternly. "Listen to you, why?", replied Aster in an almost sarcastic manner. "All three of you have fallen unconscious because of something Vox has done. I've revealed him to you once before, but now he is about to become something none of us within this world has seen before, something powerful, something that we cannot comprehend. I can't let him go that far...".

"Rou, weren't you adamantly against attacking Vox? Why now are you hanging around with Palette of all people?", Aster asked angrily. "Because by the time I realised I was wrong, I had already set myself up for death...it ruined my peace...", confirmed Rou. The young soldier started to tear up, "Nothing to worry about, it's only the future of the entire known boundaries of this world...", said Palette, with a rather sarcastic reassurance. "I'm not sure I can handle this...", replied Aster anxiously. Rou looked into his eyes, "Aster, you can do anything you put your mind to, I've seen you face so many things as your superior, now it's your turn to be the leader of your own life...".

Palette cut into their conversation, "All the more reason to rid Vox from this world for good...", he stated proudly. "I didn't prepare for this, and I certainly didn't choose this. If this is going to be more than one fight, one battle and it's over, then I'd like to know something...", Aster pondered. "And what is that?", asked Rou. But before Aster could give any more input, he began fading away, "Wait! I'm waking up? I have so much more to ask!". As he travelled ever further from his routine and closer to his fate at rapid speed, Aster was thrust back into consciousness.