{Rune of Truth : I do not plan on waiting for him to wake up though, I will send his consciousness to face his fears and traumas. Only when he overcomes them can he truly become someone who has no weakness at his own level. Strength that ignores the mind is incomplete, and I will not allow him to remain incomplete.}
{Rune of Harmony : See. That is what I was saying. Being so cruel and direct, if only he has comprehended me to 1%....Tsk!! You always choose the harshest path when a gentler one could have worked just as well.}
But the will of Rune of Truth ignored the senseless banter of the other Runes. Currently only he could communicate with Ash. For the others to communicate with him, Ash would need to comprehend 1% of their essence.
1% was a threshold that unlocked some of the sealed powers of a Rune. That included communication as well. And because of that reason, after one comprehends 1% of any Rune, the passive effect of that Rune or any skill created with that Rune would strengthen noticeably.
That was why even if the Runes wanted to communicate and guide Ash, they could not do so. They were sealed, and they remained sealed even now.
But what was something that could seal even the Runes? That was a mystery for another time.
And so, Ash was once again sent into a darkness filled space, with nothing but all sorts of trauma filled memories surrounding him. The white void was gone, replaced by shifting fragments of scenes he wished he had forgotten.
Time passed, and before long Ash regained his consciousness.
First, he looked around and called out to the Rune of Truth, but after receiving no answer he simply stayed silent, his voice fading into the empty darkness without response.
With everything he had gone through, it would not be a lie to say that everything he just experienced could have been an illusion.
But Ash knew for sure that he had faced the will of the Rune of Truth, and that could not be an illusion. The pressure, the voice, the intent behind it all had been too real.
Still, looking at all these memories floating around him, Ash already had an idea of what he had to do.
He was not stubborn to the point of foolishness. In front of the Runes he was weak, and from what he could guess, he would have to overcome all these hidden emotions and traumas if he wanted to escape this place.
If he were to satisfy his ego by doing nothing and staying still, he would only be wasting his own time.
Sometimes one must swallow one’s pride to move forward in life, even if that pride is the only thing keeping them standing.
And thus, Ash decided to face all the things that had troubled him unknown to himself.
According to the psychoanalysis theory created by Sigmund Freud, human decisions are influenced by the unconscious mind, which stores traumas, hidden desires, and childhood experiences that silently shape one’s actions.
If Ash could resolve these issues, he might benefit himself in the end, not only by escaping this space but by strengthening his own mind.
And like that, time passed.
1 week passed.
During this time, Ash confronted all sorts of memories one by one, reliving moments he had long buried, and he was surprised to find out that they were not as hard as he had made them out to be in his mind. The fear he had attached to them over the years was heavier than the memories themselves.
Sometimes, it is not about what you have to face that matters, sometimes it is only about what your mindset is while facing that thing.
That alone can create one hell of a difference.
In Ash’s case, it was not that these deep buried emotions were overwhelmingly powerful, but that his mindset had been fixed in a way that he did not want to face them at all. He had already convinced himself that confronting them would lead him into despair and fear, and that silent assumption gave those emotions control over him.
But unknown to us, sometimes things are much simpler than what they appear to be. A high and insurmountable task may look terrifying from a distance, yet it may shrink the moment you take that one step toward it instead of endlessly imagining the fall.
In the end, that one daring step toward the impossible is what makes things possible. And there are not many people who have the courage and the right mindset to take that one step when doubt whispers louder than reason.
But Ash did, and he succeeded.
He succeeded, but only one truth still remained that he had yet to face. And it was related to Nancy.
The darkness around him felt heavier when her name surfaced in his thoughts, as if that single memory carried more weight than all the others combined.
He was a little fearful, his heart tightening at the thought of what he might uncover, but still, with a determined heart, he chose to confront it.
His vision changed, and he was confronted with memories of Nancy and Ash when they first met.
The scene unfolded clearly, like fragments of an old film playing in the darkness.
Watching those memories, Ash realized that it was not Nancy who approached him, but instead it was he who approached her. He saw his younger self standing awkwardly, hesitating for a moment before walking toward her.
If viewed from the perspective of that child Ash, it was indeed normal. A lonely child reaching out without fully understanding why. But when Ash watched it from a third perspective, detached and calm, he began to notice something he had never questioned before.
He did not notice it at first, but as more and more memories passed before his eyes, repeating small gestures and expressions, he slowly understood that child Ash had approached Nancy for protection.
It was a selfish action on Ash’s side, or rather a subconscious attempt to shield himself from those bullies who cornered him when no one else was around.
The main point was simple. Ash approached Nancy to protect himself. He stayed close to her, talked to her, tried to make her laugh, tried to appear dependable. At that age, he did not understand manipulation, yet his actions naturally made Nancy grow fond of him.
More and more memories passed before his eyes....and more and more.....small moments of laughter, quiet conversations, shared silence.
But even then, Ash did not see overwhelming love or obsession in the eyes of his younger self.
There was attachment. That was undeniable. When you spend enough time with someone, especially in a lonely world, that person becomes special. They become familiar. They become safe. The same happened with Ash. He grew attached to Nancy because she was the only constant in his unstable life.
Even after he went to the rehabilitation center, Ash’s attachment remained with Nancy. In a place filled with strangers, routines, and cold evaluations, she was the only memory that felt warm.
And when he went through those memories again, slowly and carefully, it was only then that he realized something uncomfortable.
He had killed those kids not to protect Nancy, but to protect himself.
He did not want to be dragged down, blamed, or turned into a scapegoat. He had already been abandoned by his relatives. All the property and assets left behind by his parents had been taken away. Trust had already been crushed out of him.
So he acted first.
Not out of love.
But out of fear.
Out of insecurity.
Out of the instinct to survive before someone else decided his fate.
More memories passed by, and he realized that it was only after spending more time with Nancy in the rehabilitation center that romantic feelings began to grow. Before that, it had been dependence and attachment, nothing more.
It was still unclear to him whether those feelings had developed naturally in shared loneliness, or if they had been subtly encouraged by the psychiatrists in an attempt to make him more emotionally responsive.
That doubt lingered quietly in his mind.
Then, as if their purpose had been fulfilled, the memories slowly dissolved, fading piece by piece, leaving Ash alone in the darkness once again.
This time, the silence felt heavier than before.
So, it was not attachment born from love, but a love born from attachment....
The thought lingered quietly in his mind.
Well, it did not matter anyway. And it would change nothing, to be honest. The past would remain the past, regardless of how clearly he now understood it.
But what he could say with certainty was this, he now knew everything about himself.
Not the different versions of himself that he chose to show to different people. Not the masks he wore depending on the situation. Rather, his true self. The selfish parts. The fearful parts. The calculating parts.
He knew what he was.
He knew who he was.
There was no confusion left, no comforting lies to hide behind.
Although, it would not matter now. The implications of this realization would only reveal themselves later, when choices had to be made and consequences followed.
And as he accepted that truth without resistance, the darkness surrounding him slowly receded, like a tide pulling back into an unseen ocean.
He found himself inside another darkness.
But this one was familiar.
It was calm. Vast. Silent.
Surrounded by towering Runes that floated like ancient pillars in an endless void, their faint glow illuminating the space with shifting symbols, he realized he was back inside his soul space.
He had returned.
***