[Self, Poliro's End] - The Flame Quelled

Just where had time gone? How long has it been...how many years? Who even am I anymore...?

A vast forest made for a good escape. When they feel powerless, no one could find them there. Of course, they found themselves here a lot in the many years gone by. A soldier unable to fulfil his duty, absconding the battlefield? Why? In spite of his feelings, this man was by no means "powerless." This was the flame reaper, Poliro. This man had fought with beings many would consider to be almost god like in their power and survived to tell the tale. But maybe a part of him deep down wished, he hadn't.

In a sense, he had been dead for a long time. His memories had grown blurry. But he remembered dying and waking up in a new place. The afterlife. He wanted to know what killed him, so he could take revenge. A vain reason to live your afterlife, but his motivation to become a warrior stemmed from that one vague memory he retained in his human life.

But that man found a reason to live beyond revenge one day. When he had trained extensively, he had ended up a member of the Gotei. His captain was a nice girl who helped him grow even more, as he unlocked his full potential. The two eventually.. would fall in love. He didn't think it would really be possible, but the reaper found love.

Its a funny name, 'the flame reaper' - like really? It seemed like the construct of some edgy kids imagination. But he hoped maybe he'd be remembered one day if he ever passed away fighting. Now he just didn't care for such a thing. It didn't matter to him either way if he was remembered or not. As far as Poliro is concerned, he had served his time in this world.

The love he found would come ultimately to define the rest of his life, even in her unfortunate death. She contracted a illness which ultimately claimed her and this shattered the reaper entirely. To make matters worse, a beast inside him had took hold. A rogue hollow had found its way into his soul, combined with the grief of loss, transformed Poliro into a being you call a Vizard.

His grief was overtook by a desire to survive and not to forget the one he loved. He managed to control this new inner hollow and gain greater power as a result. But even with that power, he couldn't find himself a reason to be. He partook in a lot of events. Battles in cities, joining the Vizard organisation. He was once pushed to the brink of near death, only to survive and reach a higher state.

But power is meaningless without any will to use it. Not even when he met a powerful shinigami that defeated him at his prime, could he find a will to get stronger. Revenge became meaningless to him a long time ago, he knew he would never be able to claim it. Thus, it came to be that this once powerful vizard was merely a forest hermit who just existed and watched many days go by.

He had seen better days. His facial hair grown to considerable lengths, his clothes in ruins. This definitely was not the Poliro many might have been accustomed to. He had found himself a top of a small mountain, looking over everything. He remembered it all, the battles, the adrenaline. In the moment, he enjoyed this type of conflict but as he grew older, the reaper became very jaded and disinterested in such things.

He was not a reaper anymore, merely a shadow of one. After hundreds of years of being, life had grown tiresome. He had came to the cold, nihilistic conclusion. There was no point to continue. With his hollow perfectly controlled, he could not intervene to preserve its own life. Poliro had decided, the only thing left for him to do, was take his own life. Maybe that way, he would find the person he loved most again.

He had no regrets. It wouldn't be worth dying if he did. There was simply nothing left for him to do in this world. The fighting, power, all of it was pointless to Tensol. No amount of power would change this world for the better and he knew the gears of the universe would carry on just fine without him. He saw the many, many years of his life go before his eyes as he took out his blade.

"Are you seriously fucking doing this? I wished for a more glorious death if it was gonna happen."

The voice of his only real friend. The hollow inside. How sad, the being that once tried to completely dominate his body and soul was now the only thing he had left after years of isolation and lack of contact with the world and universe. A testament to the pity that has became the Reaper's existence.

"For fucks sake. I can only accept this since you're always the one in control. Fuck you, you coward."

In his last act of defiance, the flame reaper couldn't help but bear a grin. This means in the end, the final enemy was himself and in this situation, they had full power over them. In this last battle, Poliro Tensol was the victor. As the sun blared brightly, he wondered what was next, beyond death. He didn't want to waste too much time bleeding out as he committed the deed. On the top of this mountain, he stood looking to the sky, the reaper run himself through with his blade, piercing his heart as he began to bleed profusely and he dropped to the floor in shock.

He had considered just living the rest of these days out, but he never saw a point to it. As a spirit, the prospect of existing almost in a immortal way was terrifying if he was going to be like this forever. This felt much less scary by comparison. The pain was unbearable, as being impaled in the heart would be... but it'd be over soon, it didn't really matter. That gave him some comfort.

With his heart destroyed, the blood flow through his body would cease and his organs would begin to shut down and he began to blackout. Poliro could begin to see his beloved Ayane one more time as he started to lose consciousness.

"I'm so glad.. I got to see you one more time.. goodbye Ayane. I love you.."

The final words of the flame thought to be immortal, as it quelled itself. It wasn't much longer until Poliro lost consciousness. Without a beating heart, he couldn't be alive - it was the heart that defined if we live or not, after all. Poliro Tensol, the Flame Reaper, was dead. Despite the end of this story being sad and almost cruel in a way, he had found peace in his final years and had felt like he had done some good for the world.. just like his Ayane wanted him to.

Surely, there will be another in this world who will inherit the blazing, powerful soul Poliro had and carry the torch to do good in this world and stand up for those who needed it. For Poliro however, he found no true joy in fighting to be the good guy. After all, his motivations for power were ever so vain.

Whoever knew of this man certainly would not forget the power he possessed, his shortcomings and his fighting spirit to never surrender even in the face of god like power. That was the true way, of The Flame Reaper.