Fantasy Assassin in a modern world

152 The Movie’s ending

The movie continued onward, a little boy approached the powerful Ancient Martial Artist his eyes red from all the crying, but the little boy stood in front of the Ancient Martial Artist with determination. The little boy then bowed his head and spoke in a loud voice, he was not shouting but his voice echoed through the village.

“Old man please teach me martial arts!”

This little boy was the protagonist of the movie, during the attack some of the Caladrius were able to reach the village and kill some people, among those that were killed were the parents of the protagonist. To protect him his parents made the ultimate sacrifice.

The protagonist never wants to feel so powerless ever again and didn’t want anyone to feel the same way as he did which is why he wanted to learn martial arts from the old man.

Seeing this scene reminded Loki of his own past, but unlike the child in the movie, Loki already had enough power but even then he was still unable to save the person most important to him.

The old man shook his head and rejected the protagonist. Even though he was rejected, the protagonist never gave up and followed the old man throughout his travels. In the beginning, the old man did not bother with the child, but over time when he saw the child learning by simply watching him, he was amazed at the talent the child had in martial arts.

Even with that knowledge he never officially taught the child instead he would show him a few moves every now and then. The protagonist was able to learn all of the moves the old man showed, and in time he was even able to create his own set of moves.

The movie fast-forwarded to a few years into the future, the old man who was so powerful at the beginning of the movie was now on his deathbed. The protagonist was no longer a child but a young adult.

“Young one, do you still wish for power?”

.....

“...”

“Hmm, you already have enough power but you still want more... Young one, you have inherited everything I have and more, to me you were like a grandson... This is why I hope that you could let go of the past that shackles you and become free.”

“Old man... I cannot let go of the past, I do not have the right to be free.”

Those words that were spoken by the protagonist resonated within Loki’s very soul. He already knew a brief summary of the story by reading it on the internet, but he did not know the finer details. Almost everything about this protagonist was similar to him, the way he lived his life was something Loki could understand.

Unlike before when he was only slightly interested, this time Loki was truly invested and it was no longer an act. He wanted to see how the protagonist’s story ends.

“... I see, then I hope that you won’t regret your decision, my... little... disciple... ”

The old man died, but the protagonist did not shed a tear as he watched his master take his final breath. Yet, despite not showing any kind of emotion he stayed by his master’s side for a whole month, unmoving. After that, the protagonist burned his master’s body and took his ashes, and scattered them on top of the mountain were his master used to live.

It was at this point the protagonist started his lone journey saving those that could not save themselves. He dedicated his entire life to saving others without worrying about his own safety, it was as if his own life was worth less than all the others.

The protagonist continued on his lonely path and was hailed as a hero by other martial artists, and as a benevolent God by the commoners. There was even this one woman, a powerful martial artist that showed great affection for the protagonist but he remained oblivious to her feelings, and even when the woman directly confessed to him the protagonist did not respond in kind. 𝘧𝐫𝑒𝗲𝑤ℯ𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝒆l. c𝚘𝓂

“I’m not worthy of your affection, I do not deserve it. I’m just a ghost of the past, while you’re a person of the present.”

In the end, the protagonist continued his lonely life for the sake of others. It then came to the point that he no longer felt joy in saving others, he no longer felt hatred for the enemies he killed, and he felt nothing as he became a sword for justice.

The climax of the movie was when the people he protected turned against him. The ancient martial artists who started feeling threatened by his power and accomplishment used honeyed words to convince the people that the protagonist was a fake hero. The public opinion quickly changed and the protagonist did nothing.

This was the part where everyone watching was surprised. Even Loki was stunned by the protagonist’s reaction to his situation. He simply accepted his fate, he did nothing to change it.

‘Why?’

Even the people who read the novel were surprised, this was a different ending from what was written in the novel. In the novel’s version, the hero fought bravely against his fate and showed the masses the true enemy. Yet in this version the protagonist allowed the people to capture him. The day before the trial the woman who loved the protagonist secretly entered his jail. She asked the question everyone had.

“Why don’t you escape? if you wanted to no one in here could stop you. Why are you accepting your fate so easily?”

The protagonist looked into the woman’s eyes and smiled before he gave his answer.

“Why should I fight it? If I fought how many would die before people start to believe me? I cannot be the cause of so many innocent people’s deaths. So if my death calms them down, if my death makes them feel secure then it would be a worthy death.”

“Why do keep thinking about them, even though they don’t care about you?”

“Because they have a future and I’m just a ghost of the past.”

Hearing his answer and seeing the calm look on his face, the woman knew she could not convince the protagonist and could only reluctantly leave. The next day, the protagonist had a trial was found guilty, and was executed on the same day. As his life was about to end, he once again heard his master’s voice asking him a question.

“Do you regret it?” The protagonist smiled as he answered.

“No.”

After giving the answer the screen turned dark, and the credits started rolling. The people in the movie theatre had mixed reactions to the ending of the movie. Many were outraged that the ending of the movie was so different from the novel, others were deep in thought about the message the movie was trying to convey, and then there were those that actually found the ending of the movie better than the cliche good ending of the novel. On the other hand, Loki was deep in thought as he resonated so well with the protagonist, and he was sure that he would make almost the exact same choice, all but the ending.

‘Is that really what I want my ending to be?’

The protagonist had fulfilled his mission to the very end, but was it worth it? Was that truly the correct path to take, to be so bound to the past that you could not see what was in the present? Seeing it from a third-party perspective, Loki was realizing something but he could not fully grasp it as of now.