TBATE- A force to be reckoned with

Reunion

'How?' Alexander thought, what remained of his body floating aimlessly in the confines of space.

'How did he beat me? Was I not strong enough?' His remaining eyeball rolled around in its socket, resting upon his adversary, expecting to find smugness, pride, and satisfaction.

But none of those were evident on his face, merely pity, pity for the man Alexander once was, and pity for a dead world, what could have been magnificent reduced to rubble.

Alexander raised his only functioning arm, missing three of his fingers, he raised it in hope of reaching his adversary, reaching the level he had, then perhaps he could bring her back.

A futile attempt from a man without hope, a broken man who had regained some semblance of sanity.

Perhaps his was a lost cause, perhaps he was never meant to have happiness, to be with the one he loved.

His eyelids began growing heavy, a warning that the end was coming, and sleep tried to claim him, but in his last moments, Alexander fought. He fought with all he had, he could not give up, not when he had reached this far.

He grunted, forcing himself to move, and as an ice mirror formed in front of him, he saw the extent of his damage.

His heart beat freely and for all to see, below it lay his first core, a swirling mass of blue and black, eviscerating any foreign mana that came near it. His second core lay right below it, and an eldritch amalgamation of decay mana, aether, and stasis. Below that, nothing.

That was all that remained of him, one functioning hand, a half-melted face, his upper torso with his heart hanging out, and his two cores.

Maybe, if he absorbed the power of his adversary, maybe then he could do the undoable.

Stasis mana slowly coalesced behind Fayden, and Alexander tried violently to get closer to him, stretching his arm out in hopes it would reach him. But he never did, neither did he have to.

For in his carelessness, Fayden failed to notice the mana amalgamating behind him until it was too late, and the blade pierced through his chest, through his core.

The shield of nacht around the chaos that was his core sealed up almost instantly, but the damage had been done.

Fayden buckled forward, pressing his palm over his sternum, agonizing pain racked his entire being and his body spasmed.

Alexander grinned, he had succeeded, all he needed to do now was to devour his power. He pushed himself forward, using what remained of his mana to get closer. His goal was so close.

Fayden could not control his body, all he could do was hold back the screams, even as he saw Alexander approach.

'I have to get out of here!'

Space warped around him, and time seemed to slow down as Alexander approached, so close, so very close. Inches from contact.

And then, a hole ripped open in the universe and sucked Fayden in, leaving Alexander alone in his universe.

'So this is it then?' Alexander thought, his hand touching nothing. 'I'm sorry Claire, I failed you."

"You haven't failed yet Alexander." A voice reverberated across all of space-time, male, female, young old, one could find every property in it.

And a being materialized over him, his face completely wreathed in shadows. Alexander could barely make out a nose and a mouth, but nothing else, almost as if his mind was making up features for a being he couldn't comprehend.