1 The Flaw of Power

I was always told growing up that if I was strong enough I could protect those that mattered to me. I could protect them from all the dangers of the world letting them live a complete life without fear.

That would be wrong though, there is no life that is without fear. Fear is an emotion and there is no way to remove emotions without a different course of action. I met people that stood at the absolute peak of the world but still feared the rising sun. With the rising sun was the start of a new day and with a new day came a new set of challenges. No matter how strong one grows there will always be someone strong, at least that is what I always believed.

I awoke every day wishing to protect every person close to me. So I grew stronger and stronger without a slowing pace making myself unrivaled. That is the exact outcome too, my dream had come true. I was strong enough to protect, I had reached the point to where I would protect each of them. I didn't stop growing stronger though, I was unpleased with plateauing.

Then there was my greatest fear, and in a way, you could relate it to everyone else's. I too feared the course of time but not my own, the course of time for my friends. Their times had come to an end without any way of stopping it for I couldn't control time.

I was the strongest person in existence but trumping time was still impossible. I was forced to watch them grow older and soon lose their lives while I was alive and well. I held their lifeless bodies in my arms as I stood by their sides in their final moments. Each and every time my eyes would be flooded with tears never ever finding a point of stopping.

Then soon they were all dead each and every one of them. I was alone in the world having grown so strong that time moved slower all around me. The words I heard growing up once more reverberating throughout my head echoing off the confines of my skull. Power, the ability to protect all those that mattered to me.

What use was it though? In the end, they were all dead and I was alone and bored. What use was power when the use of it was gone? What point was there for my whole adventure when it was fruitless?

No matter how many times I slammed my wrists on the ground or how many times I gripped my hair in frustration nothing changed. There was no answer to my questions, so day after day I was left alone and bored.

Then I was greeted by a blond haired girl as she floated through my isolated forest a plain white dress adorned her body. Her hair was long and looked similar to a pale yellow glow of a dulled sun, her eyes were like an ocean with rays of sun glistening off its surface. Her skin glowed comparable to the full moon on a cloudless night. The world was still in the dead of night but no matter where she stood rays of lights streamed down on her body. The beauty she held was not supposed to be possible for someone of her age.

I was stunned at the moment unsure of what I should do. For years I had been here in the life alone without a second soul. Turning away I walked thoughts of regret going through my mind. When someone dreams of greater desires when they are finally not met the pain of the loss sticks with one much longer. I was simply one step away from fulfilling my lifelong dream but at that exact moment, the world enacted the one thing he couldn't control, time.

I had already been entrapped by this dream of a quest for greater power but in the end, had still lost everyone. So long as I still have a say in this life, the mistake will not be repeated.

The world isn't so simple. At the moment of turning around, she noticed my presence calling out to me.

I vanished from that place in that exact moment. If the world didn't wish to be simple I would change the world, or at least try once more. If it would work, is unknown.

You will never know the outcome unless you try. Every fight you run away from is another one lost.

My greatest battle had already been lost though, my greatest quest had already ended. Doesn't matter how strong one becomes they are unable to avoid the control of time. Even me having stood at this peak am unable to avoid the course of time.

Sitting once more in silence I stared up at the stars. The simple things in life will forever be something one can enjoy, "On the darkness of nights, or the dullest of days when another stand by your side you will not be alone.

As a person dreams of the peak they lose track of the ground, they lose track of themselves.

Don't lust for power, lust for companionship.

Don't envy those strong than you, envy those surrounded by friends.

Don't be prideful of your own strength, be prideful of the people you call family.

Don't obsess over money, stand in poverty with friends.

Don't be lazy when with others, be lazy alone.

Don't feast isolated from the world, feast arm in arm with your brothers and sisters." My voice was quiet yet both raspy and hoarse.

"You know those who don't follow their own advice are called hypocrites," a happy feminine voice spoke behind me.

Turning around the same girl from the forest was there floating forcing me to look up at her.

"Been awhile Aster," A smile was across her face giving her an even greater beauty.

The greater question would be how she knew my name though, that is a story for another day.