Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the Bleach characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo: the genius behind the captivating manga that started it all. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.
Under A Sky Of Dust
Prompt: The sky is falling...
A/N: Alternate events.
He'd expected that blow to be the last, to be the one that ended his endeavors. But he was still here, still breathing, still in pain. Everything around him had simply lost it's luster. Bland, cold, and dark was the world in which he now lay, hands scraping against broken shards of concrete buildings as he fought to pull himself up again. There was no strike that sent him to the ground again. Just the face that he'd hated for so long watching him with the utmost satisfaction.
It was a hole in his head, the fact that he'd missed his last shot. His blow had been diverted, soaring off into the distance to collide with an untouched portion of the imitation city. That was when he had fallen. Golden wings had been clipped, those of a savior, leaving him to drop under the influence of gravity.
His only companions now were blood and regret.
But he could see the glee in those heartless eyes as the enemy had vanished, the way they reveled in his defeat. He'd been their last chance to set things right, to ensure that the tale ended as everyone wished. But he'd failed. Everything he'd given hadn't been nearly enough. Had he been given more time, had he known that Aizen was the traitor from the start, perhaps he could have finished things sooner. Due to his ignorance, his lack of strength and understanding, the worlds he knew were about to come crashing down, everything grinding to an abrupt halt.
They were gone now, and he could feel them. Their souls crying out for justice and gratification. But he couldn't give it to them, couldn't even face them. He'd failed them all. His friends, family, all who had set their hopes upon him. Were the survivors so much as spared, he had little reason to doubt that they'd end up suffering more than this. It would be a kindness for that bastard to just let them all die.
He began to sink, touching the earth as he had moments before. He'd just wanted to see them smile. To know that he hadn't given everything he had in vain. But he had. He'd failed. His training hadn't been enough to protect everyone. He'd broken the promise made to his mother years before. The one wherein nobody else would die because of him. But now, everyone he loved, all of them, were gone.
And he was the next to go.