Yeah yeah, it's been a long time since I updated. Sorry about that. Here's the long-overdue finale to Dreams, Past and Present.
Alex emerged from the place between dimensions smoothly, stepping out of it as though descending from a staircase. His power was now so great that the very fabric of that dimension bent itself to his every whim, with hardly any effort on his part. White snow tickled his face as he stepped to the crisp carpet of icy powder below him. A soft crunch followed.
To say that he felt good would have been an understatement. His body thrummed with power. The fight with Xela had been difficult, yes, but not because Xela had matched him. Alex could barely keep a lid on it, trying desperately not to destroy the entire plane of existence. He was somewhat drained, yes, but he could have defeated his foe a hundred times over before he began to really feel any fatigue.
The shining light of Mercury caught his eye. Flickering through the heavy snow, it shone softly, calmly, beckoning Alex. He was drawn irresistibly to its siren call. With a flash, he was gone.
He reappeared at the beacon's aerie, smoothly landing on the ground. His robes fluttered in the breeze, their soft rippling the only sound in the peaceful silence, save for that of his own breathing. Except for one thing...Another was there already, wearing cerulean garb and crying softly, kneeling near the beacon's light. The flash of his Warp alerted the person to his presence. Turning, long hair fluttering in the wind, cerulean eyes met ocean blues.
There were no words exchanged; none would have been sufficient. All that was passed between the two were warm embraces and breathless kisses. Tears were cried, in quantity sufficient to fill the Karagol Sea. But above all, happiness – finally, true happiness, filled the hearts of both.
In the dimension between worlds, Xela hung, bitterly lamenting his defeat, but also relishing the pain that this scheme would cause. Vortex power, dark and evil, swathed him like a violent cloak. Some days had passed since his defeat at the hands of Alex, and he wanted – needed – revenge. His soul hungered for it as a starving man does a feast. He would have his vengeance, of that he was sure. Peering through the twisted lens of his view of the world, he saw that the brats that had thwarted the Luna Tower plan were walking across the bridge to their cabin. Laughing madly, he poured his energies into reality, manifesting an enormous Vortex.
The sensation struck Alex without warning. The pain from such a large Vortex being thrust into the world hit Alex like a ton of bricks. He cried out, falling to his knees. Mia heard his cry from the other room of the house they now lived in together and ran to his side. "Alex?! What's going on?" she cried out, panicked that Xela was trying to take over him again. "Xela...he made a Vortex, a massive one...by Isaac and Garet's cabin...near Mount Aleph...and the Venus beacon..." Alex ground out. "Have...to stop him." He grabbed a Psy Crystal he had loose in his robes and crushed it, the pure Psynergy flowing from it refreshing his senses and shielding him somewhat from the debilitating effects of the Vortex.
"I thought you defeated him! Why is he still trying to do this?" Mia exclaimed. Alex grunted. "He's a power-hungry evil Adept. There's no accounting for his thoughts. I will be back...and he will not be." Alex disappeared in a flash, and Mia sat there for a moment. Despite the fact that he was undeniably the most powerful person in existence...she couldn't help but worry about him...
Pain. Unbearable, searing pain. Pain that encompassed the entirety of his being. The Wise One was not accustomed to pain. But this...this was pain.
As a creature of pure Psynergy, the Wise One was exceedingly susceptible to the Vortexes that Xela created, if they were big enough. Normally, he could easily quell them. But the one that was near Mount Aleph...it was far too big for that. He could feel his very essence slipping away.
A flash lit up the Star Room as Xela walked casually into reality. "How good to see you again, O Wise One," spat the evil being. "How kind of you to facilitate my return to this world."
"So...you are responsible for this," rumbled the guardian. "I am still capable of banishing you, unless you do not remember the events that transpired so many eons ago." Xela's face broke out with a hideous, maddened grin. "Oh, yes, I am quite aware of what happened then. I remember very well how you stole what was rightfully mine! What I worked so very hard for! I remember the agony as you bound me into that tiny stone. How would you fare, I wonder, in the same situation?" Manic laughter reverberated through the chamber. The Wise One's form began to diminish as more and more power was sucked from him. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't concentrate past the unbearable pai –
And it stopped, suddenly.
Xela's evil laughter cut off as another flash lit up the chamber. Alex floated in front of him, a purple ball held tightly in his outstretched hand. "Is this...your doing?" he ground out. Xela's eyes bulged.
Alex's fist glowed, and the fell Vortex contained within it disappeared.
"Things will be different this time, Alex," sneered the ancient evil, trying to regain his composure. "I have drained away the power of the Wise One himself. How do you think you will fare against the power of the one being who surpasses us all?" Alex regarded the being across from him with fiery, contemptuous hatred. He swung a fist at him and landed a solid hit on him, making Xela double over, coughing. "I think that this will be the last time you will trouble this world, bastard." With this, Alex grabbed one of Xela's hands and squeezed. A sharp squeal of pain forced itself past Xela's lips, and he yanked his hand out of Alex's grasp, wincing as he tried to nurse his broken fingers.
"I am still the stronger. And yes, I know about the Vortex you were planning to unleash on Imil. You forget how powerful I am now. I know what you did to Alexander. To your own brother. For that, I do not forgive." Alex's hand rose and Psynergetic bonds fastened themselves around Xela. "For Alexander's sake, and for Mia's sake...for the sake of the world, you cannot be allowed to continue your ways." Naturally, during all this, Xela was cursing, screeching, and doing his utmost to escape, but to no avail. Power gathered itself in Alex's hand and grew. Xela's screams grew louder, proportional to the size.
Then it released.
Xela was surprised to find himself still alive when the blast hit. A sudden loss registered, though, and he shrieked in horror as he found that his connection to his Psynergy had been all but severed. The shriek echoed curiously, as if he were trapped in a bottle. Horror dawned upon him as he realized that he was bound, once more, in a blue stone. "I will be dropping you off the edge of Gaia Falls. You will be one of the first to see what is over the edge, and the only one to live after you do...long after you go over the edge," growled Alex.
Xela whimpered inside the gem.
As soon as it had appeared, the Vortex in front of Mia disappeared, leaving her out of breath, panting to try and recover her lost power. With a flash, Alex reappeared in front of her, holding a blue gemstone in his hand, so tightly that veins stood out in high relief on the back of it. He didn't say anything, but instead fell to his knees and hugged Mia with everything he had. Surprised, Mia returned the embrace. It was a long while before either let go. Once they released each other, Mia looked at him questioningly. In response, he held up the blue gemstone. A tiny figure stood inside it, screaming faintly and pounding on the inside walls. "Is...is that Xela?" Alex nodded. "It seemed fitting. I plan to drop him off of Gaia Falls. Let the void finish what should have been taken care of long ago." Mia laughed with some amusement. "To think he once was trying to take over the world. Now he's like a hamster." Intrigued by the idea, Alex sat in thought. "Maybe I won't drop him over the edge..."
Some months later, after the issues with resolving Alex's survival and other isues with various matters, the Warriors of Vale and their children all gathered in Imil. Alexander, along with his advisor Conservato, were in attendance. With no small amount of convincing, Blados and Chalis were also in attendance, having been freed from Xela's evil influence by Alex's intervention (the Empyror was also freed, but he unfortunately was unable to attend due to health issues).
Alex was the first to speak at the meeting. "I believe apologies are in order, from me to most of those present." Blados coughed. "I stand corrected – all of those in attendance. We have all suffered at the hands of someone who should long ago have been eliminated. That person is now in attendance." Alex smiled as several people started looking around anxiously. "Don't worry, he's harmless now. Mia opened the door leading to the living room. A small blue gemstone, somewhat larger than it was previously, clinked into the room, with a pint-sized tyrant screaming bloody murder inside.
Silence reigned for a good ten seconds before uproarious laughter burst out from all those present, save Felix, though he chuckled heartily. Alexander stood up, still laughing, followed by Conservato, and both walked over to the hamster tyrant. "Hello, brother. I see you're having quite the ball!" Conservato laughed at that, though the mini-devil in the gem was not amused, and began shooting off tiny Psynergetic sparks, the only power left to him by Alex. This only served to set off more laughter among the audience, several of whom were gasping for breath.
Once everyone had calmed down, Alex resumed speaking. "Initially, I had planned on dropping him off the edge of Weyard, but this seemed rather less dignified. And considering the harm he has caused us all, that would be too simple a fate." The squeaking from inside the gemstone petered off at this. "I have thus decided to keep him here in Imil, unless his brother has any objections?"
Alex looked at the ancient king, who chuckled heartily. "Nay, you may keep him. Let him stew inside that gemstone. We have our own issues to deal with in Lemuria, and a tiny relative clinking around inside of a ball doesn't nee to be one of them." Angry squeaking was heard from inside the gem. Alex picked it up and was able to make out a few words, laughing at some. "He doesn't like being called your brother, apparently." Alex shook the orb a little, causing the pint-sized terror to fall down, inducing more rage and shooting of Psynergetic sparks, some of which rebounded and hit him in the eyes. Pained squeaking ensued. "Anyway, let us take our minds from the sad situation this little guy is in and move to eating! We have a banquet set up in the other room, if you would care to follow me."
Things at the banquet went very well. Aside from a spectacular incident caused by Blados's sword, nothing amiss occured. Alex and Mia sat together, happy simply to be together again and to see their friends happy as well. Tyrell made an ass of himself by stuffing nearly an entire chicken in his mouth. Garet choked on a bone twice from trying to eat drumsticks like candy. Chalis flirted shamelessly with Alexander, who spluttered indignantly at a particularly lewd suggestion (since the Golden Sun dawned, the king had seemingly grown younger, which was a good excuse for Chalis to flirt with him). Conservato, as per usual, was uneasy around Piers, but the latter did not notice or did not care about the senator's mood.
Some while after the eating stopped the festivities started. Naturally, Felix and Blados paired off, comparing swords and swordsmanship skills. Jenna spent some quality time with her son, as she had not seen him for quite a while. Isaac and Garet talked in private with the Lemurian king, discussing possible courses of action on how to bring Lemuria back into the worldview. Conservato, of course, was somewhat against this, but since the revelations of certain facts, he had sworn to keep a more open mind.
Walking away from the hubbub of the party, Alex and Mia leaned against each other, both nursing glasses of Imillian wine. "You're back," Mia giggled, already a little tipsy. "Yes, Mia...I am," Alex murmured back. He breathed in her scent, heavy with the fragrance of flowers. "It feels like a dream...if it is, I never want it to end," she sighed. "It's not a dream, Mia...I'm really back. And I will never leave you again. You are my world."
Together they gazed at the rising moon, its shimmering beauty holding the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
IT IS DONE
FINALLY.
I will be reworking some sections that I am not pleased with, like the early chapters, where I focused too heavily on comedy. Don't expect those to be out any time soon, though; I'm chewing my way through a Master's and I have a ton of classwork to do.
...should be working on it right now, to be honest...
Anyway, here you go. The final chapter of Dreams, Past and Present.
May your hearts be forever light, and the sun at your back.