Cinder, the Ashen One

"There is nothing left for me but cold dark ashes of a life I once had,"~Cinder, the Ashen One
Cinder, also known as Cinder, the Ashen One and Cinder, of the Scorching was a unwilling gladiator fighting on-display for the entertainment of others before being merged with a magic spiritA Magic Spirit is a powerful mage/magic user that after death, possessed an enchanted item known as Magic Artifacts. Magic Spirits cannot be separated from their holder until either they die or they are attacked with an Anti-Magic weapon or spell. after death and becoming a Meta UndeathA Meta Undeath is an upgraded version of a normal Undeath as while a normal Undeath is born when someone with a great will to continue living after their demise, a Meta Undeath is someone who's soul refused to die and continued to exist even after something such as disintegration or being mangled. and the only living member of the Silent Citadel universeThe Silent Citadel universe is a generally normal universe apart from being home to Cinder, the Ashen One with no contact or communication to other universes as it is completely uninhabited apart from Cinder, the Ashen One.. He's also the soul-bonded user of the Ashen Greatsword manifested by his life-force and the soul of the magic spirit he fused with. He was created through the melding of life-forces by the Medusa and Chimera making him a half-chimera and half-medusa monster however the chimera part of his body made it so his face didn't turn people into stone. He is also one of the members of The Twelve Lost of OrderThe Twelve Lost of Order are a group of 12 entities, usually humanoids created by Order, before it became one of the Magic Spirits of Hell Spike, to create 12 paladins that would stabilize the multiverses they travelled through. Each member of the Twelve Lost are in possession of some kind of elemental power that reflects their soul, essence, and spirit even if they weren't born with one as Order wove fate in such a way that the 12 would still gain them. Examples would be Cinder being in possession of the fire piece of the Twelve Lost because of his burning passion to do what he thought was right, Umbra being in possession of the darkness piece of the Twelve Lost because of his seclusion to reality and the embracement of the Fallen Library, or Sylvie being in possession of the nature piece because of her love of the forest and generally anything plant or nature-related. and signifies the fire piece of the twelve and the fire within the soul, the burning passion of ambition and bravery, which is quite ironic considering he lost all will to live following The Scorching.
== Appearance ==
Cinder is a moderately tall and slim humanoid entity with features resembling those of many different animals apart from his human ones including furry ears, serrated fangs, whiskers, and claws and orange-tinted beige skin, red or gray fur on certain parts of his body, bright glowing orange eyes, and medium-length orange hair with gray at the tips. He wears a black and gray set of plate armor as well as a black medieval knight-style helmet that covers his whole head except for his hair which lets it flow freely instead of being cramped inside the helm, a set of black-steel gloves that have in-built claws to accommodate his animal-like claws, and armored boots with spiked-tips. Cinder usually has a look of lamentation and looks physically a lot older than what he should appear like as being an UndeathAn Undeath is someone who after death, had a huge reason to continue reason that was important enough that the person can break through their soul barrier and defy death itself to become a practically immortal undead human. especially a Meta Undeath prevents you from aging past you're time of death, which for him was 24 and his skin complexion is much paler than a normal person's.
=== Transformations ===
==== The ScorchingThe Scorching is a form that Cinder used when the rage within him reached its breaking point and the magic spirit that was fused with his soul fueled his rage and gave over control of its own powers allowing Cinder to use much more powerful Ashen Flame and utilize Phoenix Flames as well. ====
As the Scorching, Cinder's armor released an excessive amount of Ashen FlameAshen Flames are a gray ash-like colored and textured flame that constantly exudes ash particles and rapidly burn whatever it touches into a fine gray ash unless put out by enchanted water or something else similar. Ashen Flames are also able to burn water and cannot be put out by regular water as it will simply turn to ash instead of extinguish the flame. Ashen Flames can also kill immortal or invincible beings as the fire can simply burn away the soul and existence of the person itself ending even someone who had fused with a magic spirit. through the chinks in between the different plates and his eyes and hair visibly catch on fire, burning a bright orange and illuminating his helmet. Cinder's gloves also burn off to reveal his true hands burning with the same orange fire that his eyes and hair except they're constrained to be in almost solid form appeared as a orange shell of pure flesh-searing flames coating his hands. Phoenix-like wings formed of Ashen Flame and regular fire also protrude from his back with a huge wing-span covering more than 20 ft. resembling those of the magic spirit he fused with that also shed a constant rain of small Ashen Flame feathers.
== Personality ==
Cinder is usually is a constant state of depression and self-lamentation due to the accidental genocide of his world and he does have self-harming tendencies however, due to being a Meta Undeath, he would always heal within seconds of any injury and while it usually would've been cancelled due to Cinder losing his will to live, the magic spirit within him prevented him from dying. He is very gentle and kind to others he meets that just pass through universes (the dimensional travelers and what not) yet treats himself harsher than even his worst enemy and tries to be social yet fails miserably due to a lack of serious socialization with anyone but himself and the immortal ghost living in his head for over 80000 years. He can however turn that depression into anger when needed and when enraged his whole demeanor shifts from a self-loathing depressed man who's whole family and people were killed to a rage-filled slaughter demon who'll destroy anything that may have angered him to quell his wrath.
== Skills and Abilities ==
* Sword Handling
* Combat Thinker
* Ashen Flame Commanding/Transformation
* Super Strength
* Enhanced Speed
* Resurrection
* High-End Regeneration
* High-End Immortality
* Enhanced Reaction Speed
* Flame Immunity
=== Transformations ===
==== The Scorching ====
* Sword Handling
* Combat Instinct
* Perfected Ashen Flame Commanding/Transformation
* Enhanced Super Strength
* Super Speed
* Phoenix FlamePhoenix Flames are usually a dull orange or bright red and can be used to both heal and burn allies and enemies alike even going as far as to bring someone back from the dead once. Phoenix Flames will continue to burn until either the affected person's soul and body is burnt to ashes or the user willingly stops the fire (not accounting for magical interference and such). Manipulation
== Weapons ==
* The Ashen Greatsword: An enchanted greatsword created by Torin the Phoenix of Ashen Flames that he subsequently possessed after he died making it a magic artifact that Cinder, the Ashen One became the user of via his life-force and the magic spirit within it fusing that is coated in burning Ashen Flames that cannot be separated from him due to becoming soul-bonded with it. The blade itself can be broken however it will reconstruct itself back to its original form while the handle and hand guard are unbreakable by any conventional means refused to even crack from impacts comparable to a nuclear bomb explosion. The greatsword can also create both Ashen Flames and normal flames appearing as slashes of fire zooming through the air that unlike the regular fire created by Cinder, is literally solid fire (theoretically impossible but anything is possible with enough magic) being able to cut right through things and people alike as easily as a hot knife through butter. While holding the weapon, Cinder's control of his Ashen Flames increases by a fairly large margin and can even create other weapons from the gray flames instead of a greatsword such as a lance, a pair of throwing daggers, a mace and small battle hammer, a large battleaxe, and a chain with a large blade on the end.
== Relationships ==
=== Torrin the Phoenix of Ashen Flames ===
While Torrin and Cinder have known each other for quite a long time, they don't really talk much and only have occasional conversations in his mind space and are more like distant cousins that sometimes meet up though they do have a close bond as well as an understanding for each other's emotions to the point of being able to sense when either one is secretly hurting. When they do have conversations however, they're like old friends meeting again as they just talk or have fun as much, as they can because Cinder welcomes anyone he can actually talk to without feeling incredibly awkward and Torrin because he hasn't seen anyone apart from Cinder for over 86000 years. Torrin was the only one Cinder could turn to after he lost everything during The Scorching and also the one who helped Cinder claim vengeance on Norris and for both of those things, Cinder was thankful to Torrin for, but also subsequently ashamed for misusing his power to accidently burn the entire planet he was on to this day, even after Torrin stated directly that he didn't mind and that it wasn't' Cinder's fault.
=== Glade Liber ===
Though Cinder and Glade only met once while alive and only for a short 24 minutes, they have a deep respect for each other after learning each other's reason to fight respectively and regretted having to try and kill each other even though they both didn't really have a choice in the matter as well as forming the beginning of a friendship through combat although that outcome was cut off when Cinder died (for the first time). Glade was the more open one of the two, being the person to attempt friendly chatter before the match started and was successful in gaining the respect of the Chimera gladiator while Cinder was more to himself and didn't really embrace the friendly banter until he found out her reason for fighting. During their fight, both would complement each other's proficiency in using their own weapon and fighting skills and also asking more personal questions about their life and what they plan to do with it, which shows that if given the chance to, they would've been great friends. After Glade was forced to kill Cinder, she pondered whether or not fighting was even worth it if she was going to end other dreams and had a mini-existential crisis in the middle of her next match where she would give up in the fight and almost be killed by her opponent before Cinder (who had resurrected at that point) torched Norris' stronghold, allowing the gladiators to escape with the attention being drawn away from them. After she was saved from The Scorching by Alice however, she would spend many nights awake and wondering what happened to Cinder after she had left the universe with Alice.
== History ==
=== A Tale of Burnt Ashes ===
Cinder was created by the Medusa and Chimera melding their life forces together to create a living soul which turned out to be Cinder before Medusa was shortly killed afterwards and Chimera left him as a baby like how all monsters do after they spawn children which left him to be found by a group of travelling mercenaries who one day while passing through a forest, saw little Cinder, still a baby crawling in the wood-littered ground in Karminia. The mercenaries would take Cinder with them and take care of the small baby who aged and developed at a rapid pace, already looking like a seven-year-old and knowing how to speak fluently and walk and run around at age three and was taught how to hunt and use weapons, most noticeably, the sword. The mercenary group had already seen Cinder's strange animal features and exotic behavior and learned it was just a part of him and grew used to the times he would randomly consume massive amounts of flesh or chase small animals and he basically became part of the group especially after having his first successful hunt where he and another member of the mercenaries, Adrian, managed to track down and assassinate an important political figure.
Things were good for the most part, Cinder had a home, shelter, friends, and a group of people he could call family which unfortunately came to an end as during a night travelling through an uncharted piece of land near the west border of Karminia, they stumbled across a rebel camp who thought they were soldiers belonging to the country when they were really just passing through the area. Most of the mercenaries were killed while the rest were either captured or were forced to flee while Cinder was captured and knocked out before being kept inside of a prison cell in the camp and was transported to one of the major cities while he was asleep. He would then be sent into a fight club unwillingly where he would wake up in the basement with only one message from his captors fight or get executed in front of thousands. He chose to fight and so he did for years and years as he would enter the ring of death over and over again until eventually when he was 19, he met the owner of the gladiatorial fight club, Norris who proposed he becomes a hitman for him in return for his freedom, seemingly a good deal, Norris actually planned to send Cinder on a suicide mission to a rivals territory planning on using him as a tool to weaken him however, Cinder refused, swearing to rather die than serve the one who had forced him to kill so many. A tradition that Cinder made while in the ring was that when defeating an admirable warrior, he would take a small chunk of their flesh and devour it to make sure that a small part of them would live on with him and he would always be able to remember those who should've lived yet had the unfortunate circumstances of meeting Norris.
Five years would pass before Cinder would enter the ring one day to find a serious challenge on the opposite side of the arena, Glade, who had met a similar fate to Cinder's a few years later than him being involuntarily signed into Norris' gladiatorial fight club and someone who wanted to desperately escape Norris' control and find her family outside of the ring. Glade and Cinder would have a small conversation before the match started a tradition among the unwilling fight puppets to know your opponent and their reason for fighting before initiating combat as Cinder would tell Glade about wanting to end Norris and his arena for forcing even children to fight till they died and Glade would tell Cinder about wanting to meet anyone, even a distant cousin who could be related to her. Both had admirable reasons for fighting yet only one could still come out alive due to the rules imposed on them and Norris signaled the fight to start as the bell rang and the warriors would clash blades, Cinder fighting with a steel two-handed longsword, and Glade fighting back with dual curved sabers. Cinder would eventually lose as Glade managed to sneak in a fatal stab wound to his stomach and he would die knowing he at least fell to an admirable fighter yet still having the burning desire to kill Norris and so after his corpse was thrown into the trash pile, his soul would prevail over death itself.
He would come back to the living realm as a Meta Undeath, and would wake up in the midst of a pile of corpses as he wondered if he had been given a second chance at life and decided he wouldn't waste it this time, as with his new found strength, immortality, and regeneration, he would break into Norris' stronghold and venture into his armory noticing, a secret room and forcing his way inside to find the Ashen Greatsword, still burning with Ashen Flame, placed on a stand in the middle of the room. Cinder would be immediately drawn to the weapon, placing his hand on the hilt as the Ashen Flame would spread from the blade to the hilt before spreading up his arm and consuming his body as the magic spirit within would fuse with his soul and Cinder would wake up in his mind scape, as if he was dreaming, now with another resident, Torrin the Phoenix of Ashen Flames. He would be confused as would anyone after seeing a long-dead ghost of a mage randomly appear inside their head before Torrin explained the situation of how because he touched that weapon, his soul became linked with Torrin's and that a Meta Undeath had never fused with a magic spirit before and that he now held the power of the Phoenix of Ashen Flames. Cinder would leave his mindscape shortly after before testing the weapon and burning Norris' stronghold to nothing but ash. Norris however wasn't going to be killed so easily and using his own magic spirit, revived every slain warrior that died in his ring including a copy of Cinder himself who after realizing what Norris did, tormenting those who lost their lives to combat even after death, he became so angry that he lost all control, unleashed an entire firestorm of Ashen Flame, destroying most of the revived warriors, and tapping fully into his magic spirit's power becoming The Scorching. He would cut through the remaining undead, dispatching them with finesse and making sure to cremate them so they could finally be put to rest until he met his revived self where he wouldn't bother using his sword and instead simply incinerated the re-made body with a pillar of Ashen Flame.
The surrounding buildings and forests quickly were consumed by flames as the Ashen Flame feathers burned everything they touched and that fire would spread to anything that could burn making a large chunk of Karminia ruined ash-covered buildings as Cinder would only be left with Norris alive, who had somehow managed to survive the flames consuming the city around them. Norris would proceed with battle as Cinder easily defeated him with the sheer power held behind his figure as he would stand over Norris' fallen figure still alive but badly injured from several fourth-degree burns before Cinder would grab him by the throat before igniting him completely not with Ashen Flame, but regular fire, to make his death as painful as possible. He would extinguish the flames only to reignite them immediately afterwards, repeating this process over and over as the magic spirit within Norris would keep him alive and healing making it all the more painful before eventually, Cinder would summon a massive torrent of Ashen Flame burning Norris' body to ashes putting an end to him painfully and brutally however Cinder would continue blasting the spot of ash on the ground that once was Norris repeatedly with increasing power before he would eventually engulf the entire country and then the planet in ravaging flames.
Cinder came to his senses a few hours later, looking around to witness the annihilated city they once lived in and realized that he was the one who caused this destruction immediately attempting to find anyone who had possibly lived through the storm of flames yet found nothing except one note, written on a small piece of paper in black ink, seemingly unaffected by the destruction around it, not even dust coating it with just a name: "Alice". There was something else on it too, an infinity symbol intertwined within the name seemingly glowing with a faint blue-ish light pulsating from the ink, other than that, there was nothing around Cinder, nothing in the whole country, nothing in the whole world left, except burnt ashes.
In the Epilogue of the story, it shows Umbra of the Fallen Library, searching through the bookshelves of the Fallen Library and commenting about the difficulty of finding Cinder, as he is only member of the Twelve Lost not currently aware of the others' existenses when a figure, shrouded in a black mist, warps into the library with a flash of green light and after defending itself from Umbra's assassination attempt warns him not to continue the search. It explains that Cinder will be found soon enough but for now he will take part in something much bigger than him, and searching for him, no matter how much, will yield the same results before waving goodbye to Umbra and vanishing from the library's bookshleved corridors.
== Gallery ==
== Trivia ==
* Cinder's unofficial theme is Iron Lotus from the game Library of Ruina and his unofficial battle theme is Find Your Flame by Tomoya Ohtani.
* The section in Cinder's Character Infobox about him hating fire and anything burning is actually correct, meaning whenever he's using his Ashen Flames or Ashen Greatsword, he feels disgust and immense disdain, being reminded of his past misdeeds, basically making using his powers psychological torture.
== References ==
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Chimeras
Category:Asexuals
Category:Lawful Neutral
Category:KingOfDeath's AU