The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 39

As the body of Chthon crumpled into nothingness, Wanda appeared in his place. Chthon replaced Wanda and was fighting using her soul. She then transported both of the souls back to the waking world.

The dragons have returned to their slumber once again within her soul. Wanda was still unconscious. She held her head on her laps as her disciple slumbered. Eventually, she woke up.

The first she said was, "Why does it hurt so much?"

She showed no signs of getting up from her initial position.

"Because of the demon's position, Wanda."

"Ms. Keeper, so is it gone now?"

"Of course, but I would still advise thee to be careful for he is not truly gone yet."

"Yet?"

"Doth, thou think I would leave thee to be controlled by thy demons once again?"

She shooked her head quickly. "No. We will kill that evil bastard next time."

She did not like the word evil. No matter how bad something is, it is neither evil nor good. Nothing ever truly is evil or good. She did not want her disciple to distinguish anything between evil and good.

No matter how bad the lords were, she never called them evil. No matter how the people of her world celebrated the 'extinction' of dragons, they never called them evil. Even the everlasting dragons themselves did not claim the Lordly ones to be evil.

The concept of good and evil never existed within her homeland. Only chaos and order prevailed. A right amount of chaos is called freedom while too much chaos meant anarchy. A right amount of order is called justice while too much of it is called tyranny.

Despite Chthon no longer being able to influence her soul, Wanda could still go off the rails for she does not wield the power of good or evil. She wields the power of Chaos, not evil. Wanda should start thinking more about order and chaos if she wishes to control her powers further.

The power chaos will be useless to her if she thinks of them as evil. It will corrupt her if think of them as good. She should simply see chaos as chaos and order as order. Not good and evil.

"My dear Wanda, I would advise thee not to separate between good and evil."

"Why not teacher, he is evil right?"

"Strictly speaking, thou art the evil one for using the powers he blessed thee and not paying back. I too, am an evil one for preventing him from getting what he should have gotten."

"But he wants to take over me. He wants to use me to his own will."

It seems her disciple has not gotten it yet.

"My little one, tell me, does the cold exist?"

She looked confused at this.

"Of course, teacher, the cold exists. We may not see it or hear it but we can feel it."

"But according to thy physics, is the cold not merely the absence of heat? Thou would not measure how cold a thing is but only how hot it is. It can have a lot of heat but there can also be very little heat. Cold is merely the absence of heat. The word cold only exists to describe the lack of heat. Then how about darkness? Does it exist, little one?"

"Darkness! Of course, it does, teacher. We can see one beside us right now.", she said as she pointed towards their shadow.

"That is where thou maketh a mistake once again, little one. Darkness is simply the absence of light. We can learn many things with light. There are many different colours of light. Light can help us see, it can help us grow, it can guide us, and it can do many other things. But what can darkness do? It can hide things from us, it can make us fear it, it can make things get lost in it, but aren't these the very things that happens due to the absence of light?"

She asked once again, "Little one, does evil exists?"

She could not answer as she rested her head on her lap. They were still in Asgard. Currently, they were sitting under a tree. It was neither hot nor cold. It is neither bright nor dark. Everything was just right. A breeze blew gently as the leaves ruffled and their hair was billowing under the peaceful shade of the tree.

"Remember this little one, there is no such thing as evil. Only the absence of good. We need not defeat evil for we simply have to fill it with good. Evil is created with the absence of good in one's heart. Tell me, does thou think that thy demon hath been exposed once to good since the day they hath been born? They fail to understand it."

"So, you will just tell them to be good and they will be good? Aren't these things that only happen in stories, teacher?"

She smiled mildly at this. She would never get angry at her disciple for questioning her logic. If anything, she encouraged this. After all, she cannot be in the correct place every single time.

"I agree, little one that those are things that only exists in myths and folklores. But to fill their heart void of goodness, we must first make their heart truly 'empty'."

"I don't understand what you mean?"

"Imagine a heart as a cup or a bowl. We must remove the dark and filthy water to fill it with clean water. I meant that we have to remove to 'evil' that fills their heart first in order to fill it with goodness once again."

"So, we beat them up first?"

"Yes, girl, that is exactly what I mean.", she smiled once again at her disciple's antics.

"But beware, my dear Wanda for some cups do not merely work with changing the water. Thou cannot do anything if the cup itself is dirty."

"Teacher, you are confusing me."

"Sometimes, it is the filthy cup itself that is making the water dirty. No matter how many times thou change the water, it will always turn dirty. The heart of some beings are simply evil because they wish for it. They do not want anything for they only wish the world to burn for no reason."

"So, what do I do then teacher?"

She laughed at this. Only this time, it was louder than before.

"Oh, my innocent little girl, thou simply have to crush the cup. Thou can throw it away. Thou can dispose of it. There are many things in which thee can do to one with a dirty cup in their pitiful souls."

"But isn't that bad?"

"I tell you again, my dear girl that there are no such things as good or bad. Thou hath to learn another way of categorizing people."

"How do I seperate them, teacher?"

She let her hand brushed her hair and pulled them softly. The little girl was far more innocent then she thought. She thought her to be more stubborn than she believed.

"That, my little one is something thee hath to learn thyself for everyone have different ways. Some seperate them into success and failure. Some seperate them into useful and not useful. Thou hath to find it by thyself from within."

"What about you teacher? How do you seperate people?"

"Thou will learn of it when the time is right. But for now, let tis thoughts remain a secret with me.", she said as she smiled at her disciple's look of frustration.