Ashray

Ashray
Title	Guardian of Zipangu
Hometown	Zipangu
Current Residence	Zipangu
Gender	Female
Race	Unknown (current) Human (original)
Affiliations	Dunas Asia
Status	Alive
Name (Other Servers)
JapanMS	アシュレイ (Ashurei)
ChinaMS	阿舒蕾 (Ā shū lěi)

Ashray is one of the three Guardians of Zipangu, formerly entrusted with the power of time travel before exchanging it for the power of immortality.

Story (Post-Remaster)

Ashray's storyline was remastered in the Neo Tokyo Update.

Guardians of Zipangu

Ashray, alongside Asia and Dunas, was an exile from another dimension who arrived in Zipangu. All three of them were bestowed special powers by the world in order to protect Zipangu, with Asia having immortality, Ashray having time travel, and Dunas having reincarnation. The three then became the Guardians of Zipangu and used their powers to help the land, during which time, Ashray and Dunas became lovers. The three Guardians performed many miracles for the people of Zipangu and protected the ancient magic of the land by splitting the primal power that had created Zipangu into five pieces, known as the Five Elements of Zipangu - Fire, Metal, Water, Earth, and Wood. In order to prevent the power from falling into the wrong hands the Guardians distributed the Five Elements to five different Yokai, who became known as the Guardians of the Five Elements, with the duty of Guardianship being passed down from Guardian to Guardian. Eventually, however, Ashray learned that Zipangu was fated to be destroyed by a wave of energy that would swallow Zipangu whole. In order to stop it, Ashray asked Asia to swap powers, though Asia refused, as she believed that Ashray merely wanted the power of immortality so that she could live with Dunas, her lover, forever. Ashray then used her power to travel into the future, where she spent thousands of years fighting the Blaze Army - machines controlled by a powerful AI called the Blaze Core, which sought to wipe out humanity.

The Key

Millennia later, Asia encountered Ashray in the year 2102, where she learned that Ashray had been fighting the Blaze Army the entire time. Ashray revealed the truth about the wave and explained that she had been planning to stop the wave by sealing it within her own body, which was why she had wanted the power of immortality in order to contain it without dying. She also explained that she had entered over ten million futures and had learned that simply sealing the energy wouldn’t be enough, and that they would need a key to change the destructive energies of the wave into creation, which would allow them to recreate the destroyed world. Asia and Ashray then swapped powers, after which Ashray absorbed the energy into her body, though she was ultimately unable to contain it within herself, resulting in it bursting out and destroying Zipangu. Meanwhile, Asia traveled back to the past and told Dunas about Ashray's plan. However, Dunas believed that humanity - as selfish and self-destructive as they were - were fated to destroy themselves no matter what. Refusing to allow Ashray to suffer for their sake, he planned to force the apocalypse to happen before Ashray absorbed the wave into herself, believing that Ashray would have no reason to sacrifice herself if humanity was wiped out first. Dunas then began his plan to possess Mareu, the daughter of the creator of the Blaze Core, whom he used to command the Blaze Core into ordering the machines to turn on the people of Zipangu. Meanwhile, Asia waited in Kamuna for ages until she encountered a traveler whom she believed to be the key. With Asia's help, the traveler attempted to jump forward in time and stop Dunas from wiping out the resistance against the Blaze Army.

The Final Enemy

Eventually, the traveler successfully stopped Dunas and defeated the Blaze Core, after which Ashray approached them and reunited with Dunas. Asia then warped into the future, where Ashray told the traveler that they needed to tame the destructive energies of the wave inside her. She then absorbed the energy of the wave into her body, causing her to be consumed by Aufheben, a high-energy being who destroyed dimensions. As the traveler fought Aufheben, Ashray's strong willpower allowed her spirit to occasionally emerge from within Aufheben and subdue her. As the player continued fighting Aufheben, Zipangu was ultimately destroyed. However, after the player defeated Aufheben, the destructive energies of the wave were transformed into creative energies, allowing Zipangu to be recreated. Dunas, who had changed his mind about the player, used his power to manipulate souls to gather all the casualties of Aufheben to repopulate the world, allowing himself and Ashray to be reborn together.

Story (Pre-Remaster)

Guardians of Zipangu

Centuries before the present day, Ashray was a child who grew up in Zipangu. She, along with two other children named Asia and Dunas, learned black magic from the Black Mage. Each of the three children learned a unique power, with Asia having immortality, Ashray having time travel, and Dunas having reincarnation. The three then became the Guardians of Zipangu and used their powers to help the land achieve unprecedented prosperity, during which time, Ashray and Dunas became lovers. Eventually, however, Ashray learned that Zipangu was fated to be destroyed in a cataclysm known as the Distortion, a ball of energy that would swallow Zipangu whole. In order to stop it, Ashray asked Asia to swap powers, though Asia refused, as she believed that Ashray merely wanted the power of immortality so that she could live with Dunas, her lover, forever. Ashray then used her power to travel into the future, where she spent thousands of years fighting the Army of Blaze - machines controlled by a powerful AI called Blaze Core, which sought to wipe out humanity. Millennia later, Asia encountered Ashray in the year 2102, where she learned that Ashray had been fighting the Blaze Army the entire time. Ashray revealed the truth about the wave and explained that she had been planning to stop the wave by sealing it within her own body, which was why she had wanted the power of immortality in order to contain it without dying. Asia and Ashray then swapped powers, after which Ashray absorbed the energy into her body, though she was ultimately unable to contain it within herself, resulting in it bursting out and destroying Zipangu. Ashray and Asia then wandered the ruins of Zipangu, where they discovered the Acacia Chronicle, which documented the entire history of Zipangu. Ashray then had the last-resort idea of changing the past in order to stop the Distortion from having happened in the first place. Knowing that only one of them could travel back in time, she asked Asia to use the power of time travel to go back and alter Zipangu's history. Asia reluctantly agreed and leapt back in time, leaving Ashray stranded in the ruined Zipangu. Asia then used the Acacia Chronicle to help her influence the events of Zipangu and avert the Distortion from taking place.

Dunas' Plan

When Dunas learned that his lover was trapped in a purgatory timeline with no way out, he vowed that he would free her from her prison. He began manipulating the future by undoing Asia's actions to stop the apocalypse, ensuring that their timeline would branch into the future in which Ashray remained trapped. Using Asia's time warp to leap into the future, Dunas possessed Mareu, the daughter of the creator of a powerful AI named Blaze Core. Using Mareu, he commanded Blaze Core into ordering the machines to turn on the people of Zipangu and trigger the Distortion. Asia stood against him and eventually recruited a traveler of Maple World into helping her stop Dunas. As the traveler attempted to remedy the timeline, Dunas continued interfering in order to thwart their efforts. In a last-ditch attempt at ensuring that the Distortion would take place, Dunas summoned a powerful being called Aufheben, who began destroying the world.

Reuniting with Dunas

As Zipangu began to fall apart, their timeline branched into the purgatory timeline in which Ashray was trapped. From the dimensional crack of their two timelines fusing, Ashray emerged and reunited with Dunas, whom she brought with her into her timeline. After the traveler stopped Aufheben and averted the Distortion, the dimensional crack closed, trapping Ashray and Dunas in the purgatory timeline. Asia then vowed to find a way to free Ashray and Dunas.

Gallery

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  Ashray's original NPC Sprite
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  Artwork of Ashray
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  NPC Portrait of Ashray
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  NPC Portrait of Ashray
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  NPC Portrait of Ashray
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  NPC Portrait of Ashray