Ash was alive. That fact alone surprised him sometimes.
He'd been lying in a warm bed for what felt like days. Sometimes it was hard to tell. The room didn't have clocks, and the windows only showed light when the healers wanted them to. The healers had done everything they could. And these weren't just ordinary healers—they were the best the world had to offer.
Slowly… his body began to feel like it belonged to him again. The pain dulled. The pressure behind his eyes faded. He could move his fingers without flinching, and when he tried to stand, his legs didn't collapse underneath him.
And Ken... Ken was healing, too. The medics said he was lucky. The artifact Ash had strapped to his head, the Catalyst, had absorbed most of the damage. Without it, Ken's body might've broken apart the way Ash's almost had. But still, even with that protection, Ken had been unconscious for a long time. Longer than anyone expected. Long enough for Ash to sit beside his bed every single day and wonder if he'd wake up again.
Ash never said it out loud, but the silence scared him. And somewhere inside that silence, Ash's mind had begun wandering back to the things he didn't remember. The things he should remember.
That evening when he ran away from the crowd, the statue, the assassins, the thing that nearly broke him, it was still hidden behind a curtain in his head. No matter how hard he tried to look back, it was like staring into a cracked mirror. Blurry flashes, sounds that didn't make sense, and faces that flickered in and out of existence.
And in all of that confusion… one person remained clear.
Gabriel.
Ash hated the idea of not knowing. Not because he thought Gabriel was lying—though maybe he was—but because it made Ash feel like he didn't own his thoughts.
So he got up.
Still sore, still moving like an old man, but he walked. He left the room behind and made his way through the strange halls of the sanctum they were being kept in. It didn't look like a hospital. It felt more like a temple crossed with a palace. The air always smelled clean, like wind after rain.
Ash found Gabriel near the edge of a terrace. The man didn't sit. He never leaned. He just stood, as if gravity didn't quite apply to him. The sky stretched wide behind him. Pale gold clouds drifted through the air like ink in water.
Ash stood there for a long moment, just watching his back. Then, quietly, he spoke. "You took something from me."
Gabriel didn't flinch. Didn't turn. "I did."
Ash stepped closer. "Why?"
Now the divine man looked over his shoulder, just slightly. His face wasn't cold. It wasn't gentle either. It was calm. "Because you were falling."
Ash said nothing. He waited.
"Your mind would've refused to wake up," Gabriel continued. "You were... slipping. What you saw, what you went through—your soul wasn't ready to carry it. Had I not intervened, Ash… you wouldn't have come back at all. Not as yourself."
Ash looked down. He wanted to scream that it wasn't his choice to make. That nobody should have the right to step into your head and pull out what they didn't like. That even if it hurt, he should've been the one to decide what he could handle.
But…
Some part of him did remember. Not clearly, not fully. But enough to know Gabriel might be right. He had been slipping.
He remembered the feeling of his bones cracking from the inside. The fire in his blood. He remembered screaming without knowing why. He remembered looking at his own hands and not recognizing them.
He remembered something else too: terror. Ash sighed and leaned against the railing. His hands gripped the cold metal like he was afraid of falling again.
"I still think you should've asked," he whispered.
"I couldn't," Gabriel said. "You weren't in a state to answer. Sometimes mercy looks like betrayal."
Silence passed between them. Heavy. Not awkward, but thick with everything unsaid.
Ash closed his eyes. "I need another favor."
Gabriel didn't answer. But he was listening.
"It's about Ken," he said. "He… he went through a lot. He will try to hide it, but I just know he will never heal from it. I want you to erase his memory of this too. All of it. The whole thing."
Gabriel turned to face him. His expression darkened just a little. "You're asking for something heavy," he said. "It's not like wiping dust from a table. His pain has already shaped him. Erasing it means rewriting who he is, even just a little. Are you sure?"
Ash hesitated.
That was the question. Was he sure?
No.
He wasn't.
He nodded. "I am."
Gabriel didn't speak again. He just breathed out. A soft, steady exhale. The room shimmered. And just like that, it was done.
Ash returned to Ken's room quietly. The healers nodded and left him alone. He sat down beside the bed, like he always did, and waited.
Ken stirred a few minutes later, groaned dramatically, and cracked one eye open.
"Bro…" Ken mumbled, voice scratchy. "Tell me you didn't kiss me while I was asleep."
Ash blinked. And then he laughed. A real laugh. Sharp and ugly and beautiful at the same time.
Ken tilted his head. "What? Why're you crying, man? Did I die and come back looking hotter?"
"Shut up," Ash said, wiping his face.
Ken was confused, yet he smiled. Ash leaned back in the chair, feeling something inside him finally settle. He had his best friend back.
The choice he made was selfish. No doubt. Maybe even wrong in some people's eyes. But in that moment... it felt like mercy.
**
Ken was sitting on the edge of the bed, still tired but doing better. There were more colors on his face now, more expression in his voice. It should've made Ash feel happy. But it did not fully. There was a knot in his chest that tightened every time Ken smiled too easily.
"So... did we find the blacksmith or not?" Ken had asked him, poking at the bandages around his arm. "The last thing I remember is you and me jumping through space like lunatics."
Ash looked down at the sword, which he had brought with him. A blade forged in chaos, soaked in memories he couldn't quite name.
He forced a smile and held it out. "Yeah. We found him. He was kind of a weirdo, but... he made this."
Ken squinted at the sword like it was something alien. He didn't reach for it. He didn't even get close. He just stared, and his expression, just for a second, twisted.
Ash noticed it immediately.
Ken laughed nervously and tilted his head. "Couldn't you find a better one? This one gives me the creeps for some reason."
Ash froze. There was something in his voice. Something small. A leftover emotion. A faint flicker of familiarity. Ken didn't remember what had happened. Not truly. Gabriel had wiped it from his head, smooth as glass. But Ash could see that something remained.
And that scared Ash more than anything. He didn't say anything. Just nodded. Laughed it off. Placed the sword down beside the bed and changed the subject. They talked about dumb things after that. Video games. The taste of hospital food. A nurse who looked like a movie star. Anything to avoid silence.
Ash stayed for an hour. Maybe two.
Then he left. He told Ken he had to meet his dad. His father lived on a small and quiet planet, although Ash had insisted his father to live with him many times, but every time he refused saying he didn't wanted to involved in hero bullshit and just wanted some peace.
Their relationship was complicated, built on old memories and cold dinners. But Ash still checked in when he could. Still tried to be a good son, even if he didn't always know what that meant.
His father was sitting on the couch, watching some old war documentary. Same as always. He didn't look surprised when Ash walked in. He rarely did. He just nodded and pointed toward the fridge like Ash was some roommate who owed him rent.
Ash gave him a quick smile and sat beside him. The silence between them was familiar, but not comfortable.
"Where were you all this time?" his dad finally asked.
Ash blinked. And then, like with Ken, the lie came without hesitation. "Mission," he said. "Top-secret stuff. We were sent to scout out a collapsing planet. Everything was dead. Just a few monsters. Barely got out alive."
His father looked at him sideways. Raised one eyebrow.
Ash shrugged. "They paired me with Ken. He was useless as usual."
A dry chuckle from his dad. It wasn't true, of course. None of it was. The mission, the escape, the whole clean story wrapped in sarcasm and military terms—it was all made up. But his father didn't press. He never did. Ash had his own way of avoiding things, and he was starting to see where he had learned it from. They sat there for a while, watching soldiers die on screen in black-and-white.
Eventually, Ash stood up.
"I'll come by again later," he said. "Let me know if you need anything."
His dad waved without looking. Ash stepped outside. The air was colder now. People passed by, some laughing, some quiet.
He walked aimlessly. Letting his thoughts swirl. That was when he saw a massive screen across a tall building. At first, he thought it was an ad or something political. But then he saw Gabriel's face.
The words beneath it read:
"Assembly of heroes, called by Lord Gabriel. Urgent Attendance Requested. Meeting Begins in 43 hours."
Ash stared at it for a long time. His mind slipped back to the planet. The one they'd landed on. He hadn't thought about it much in the moment. There'd been too much going on. But now, standing here under the quiet city sky, it all started to settle in.
Why had Gabriel been there?
He shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes still fixed on the glowing screen.