Final Chapter: True Heart

Es stood before the gate to the True Azure, unwilling to let Alex have even a chance of making it through. The boy was fevered and running on fumes at this point, yet still faced down the guardian with the same undying determination he's always had.

Alex lunged across the mystic realm to his target, who vaulted back and landed on the front of the gate, tucking her massive sword behind her until the tip of the blade touched upon her back. She dove down at Alex and swung out as far as her lithe arms would allow, cleaving a thick, wavy crest into the air.

The boy flipped back using one hand as support, and landed with his right fist pulled back. Es landed and flew right at him, swinging the blade up in a clean curve. Shifting his body just a little to the left, Alex managed to avoid the attack and throw his fist down into her face. A shockwave ruptured out, but Es planted her feet hard into the ground and pushed forth against the blood and knuckles buried into her skin.

She managed to force his entire arm back two inches before she mustered the strength to swing her sword at it. Alex reeled his fist back but was cut across the chest instead, leaving a thick bloody "X" scarred across his body. Even as he stumbled back with knees weakened, he didn't lose the look of ferocity grafted upon his face.

Es planted her sword down and used it to leap into the air, where she planted both her feet firmly into Alex's face, taking advantage of his unbalanced state to knock him down. In that same motion, she flipped herself higher up, suspended herself over his fallen body with blade pointed down, prepared for the final impalement.

Alex creaked one of his eyes open and then widened it as far as it would go, letting out a heavy growl as he pounded Es with a frontal burst of air. She was flung back near the front of the gate while Alex stood back up ready to fight again. His arms swung left to right like a broken pendulum, then stabilized right next to his hips. He tightened his arm muscles, blood spurting forth from the pores, and then ran right at Es.

Es blinked once and then leaned forward, meeting Alex's charge with sword extended along the side of her body. Her blade began to unravel into a series of bright white energy ribbons, unveiling a crystalline katana.

"Type: Exterminator…Activated." Es' speed increased, but her body made no sound as she sprinted forward. She was like the wind, silent and graceful. But she was also like the winter, cold and deadly. With one unseen swing of the blade, she sliced Alex's right arm clean from the shoulder.

The boy's body was flung back from the force of the cut, and he watched as his arm shattered apart like glass and disintegrated into the far flung winds. Seeing this, Alex stamped his right foot down on the ground, forming cracks around his heel. Then, fueled by an indomitable rage and a flurry of memories relating towards Shina, his body burst into flames and his eyes turned pitch black.

"GRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Using whatever energy he had left to him, Alex reconstituted his arm by binding pebbles around a twisting thrall of vines that grew out from his bleeding shoulder. He then charged at Es and threw his fist back ready to strike. For one so steadfast in her stance, even she paused in the face of this aberration of anger that kept charging her way.

"Alright, I think that about wraps things up here…" An all-too familiar, casual tone of voice spoke out through the madness, unheard by the boy too wrapped up in his own self-destruction. He would come to heed that voice, soon enough, as his unrelenting charge was brought to a swift and anti-climatic halt by golden chains of lights that pierced into his wrists and ankles. There was four chains for each limb, and all of them along with the boy's body were encapsulated by a complicated set of magic rings.

The energy that once flourished forth from his body fizzled out into nothingness, his limbs were wrenched away from his body to the point that a single inch further would've been enough to pull them clean off, and he was kept suspended in place a mere foot away from a now perplexed Es. After a couple contemplating blinks, Es raised her blade beside her hip and prepared to swing.

"Ah-ah-ah, that will no longer be necessary," That same voice was able to get Es to halt her attack as the one responsible for binding Alex in place stepped in view, hiding part of his face behind a paper fan, "In fact, killing him now would only worsen our situation."

"A-Am…ane…" Alex's response was a weak and furious growl, to which the man only offered him the slightest notion of attention before looking back down at Es, who twisted her body around and pointed the katana up at his neck.

"Observer, you were not given permission to come here." The blade could have cut his neck and the man still would not have flinched. Closing his eyes and radiating with a serene presence, Amane could only chuckle at how staunch Es was to her duties.

"Given the circumstances, I feel you should pardon my intrusion just this once," Amane peered out with a stern glare and folded his fan up, nudging the katana away from him, "Wouldn't you agree, Gatekeeper?"

Es blinked once and then withdrew her blade to the ether, placing her hands closer to her chest and with a stoic expression stated clear as she could, "When you are done, leave immediately."

She then turned around and went back to the gate, disappearing from sight before Amane could walk between her and Alex's line of sight. Chuckling in amusement, the man remarked to himself, "Such a cute little thing. A pity she's terrifying to be around…"

"What…are you…doing?" Alex grumbled, and Amane peered over his left shoulder to take in the boy's helplessness. In a twisted manner of speaking, it was as though he was an artist doing self-critique of his own work. Because of that, he had earned a loathsome glare from the target of his appraisal.

"Honestly, it's not like I enjoy doing this, but…You did pretty much leave me with no other choice." Amane then twirled around and stared the boy straight-on, watching as the boy tried to budge.

"Unless you want to be in even more pain than you are present, I would suggest not even trying to struggle. Those chains could bind even Susano'o in place. At your absolute weakest, you have no chance of breaking free." Amane stated the truth without the slightest pause, waving a hand out beside his hip and putting on a noticeable demeanor of seriousness.

Alex stopped struggling on the spot, instead snapping his mouth out and exclaiming, "Let me out of here RIGHT NOW!"

"And now why should I do that? Perhaps you haven't noticed, but you have been a naughty, naughty boy. And naughty boys' need to be put in time-out," Amane then lowered his brows a little and remarked, "Though in your case it'll be a bit more…permanent, to say the least."

"I. Am trying. TO FIX THINGS!" Alex roared out in a gravely voice, jerking his head forward even as pain tore into the tendons on his neck. Amane nudged his body back a bit and forced a look of surprise upon his face, but then it took only a moment for him to return to his natural, smiling self.

"Really? Trying to fix things? And how exactly does 'removing the Prime Field Devices from existence' fix anything?" Amane then closed his eyes, "Perhaps you do not understand the gravity of such a wish. Undoing their existence means the end of the Master Unit, and I can't even begin to imagine the consequences that would unfold afterwards…"

"I-I was just trying to bring Shina back to life!" Alex pleaded his reasoning to an attentive Amane, who opened his eyes halfway and remarked, "A noble mission, to be sure."

"When the curtains seemed ready to fall, and the ending appeared to be uplifting…The knife was plunged into a life so innocent and unaware, twisting both the hearts of those who watched and those who participated. But unfortunately, as much as I'd like to continue making these apt comparisons, reality is what reality is…The life of the one you care for is gone forever. It cannot be saved, only mourned."

"You goddamn hypocrite…" Alex let out a frustrated growl and begun to hang his head, his whole body shaking within the chains, "So Shina gets to die, but that bitch Amaterasu gets to revive Ragna at her leisure no matter how many times others suffer for it?"

He swung his head up and lashed out at Amane with spit and blood flying forth from his mouth, "HOW IS THAT FAIR?!"

"There's nothing fair about it at all, I agree," Amane gave his sympathies to Alex's plight, adding on to that with, "Make no mistake, I do not advocate what that girl has done, but the world is what it is. Until the time comes for a 'hero' to stand up and change the course of the 'dream', it must remain that way for the sake of keeping this beautiful world of ours intact."

"And I'm sorry to say, but as long as you remain in this world that future will never have a hope of coming to pass." Having been taken aback by Amane's empathy, Alex resumed his piercing glare to the man when he returned to stating the facts.

"You have little reason to hate me, Alex Whiter. Rachel and I did give you sufficient warning, after all. You should have left when you had the chance, but now…Well, like I said before, it's already far, far too late to go back."

Amane waved his right hand out and a giant black and blue-ish rift opened up below Alex, which Amane began to step away from as the edge reached his toes. Taking out his fan and unfurling it before his face, he continued to explain, "Your tenacity is impressive, but even it has it's limits. Once I seal you away within the Boundary, your body will break down until only your soul remains, where it shall stay trapped inside forevermore. And without your body to use as a conduit, that gaudy stone you carry around will no longer be able to interfere with the Master Unit. Thus, the world shall return to the way it was before, continuing as though neither of you had even appeared."

Alex widened his eyes and stared at the man, leaving his mouth agape as his body was being dragged towards the Boundary. Budging his head down, he watched as his feet were swallowed by the rift in a couple seconds, followed by his lower legs.

"And I'm afraid that, unlike the young lass, your life shall not be mourned. Farewell, Phoenix of Destruction…" Amane waved the fan before his face and closed his eyes.

His body now absorbed halfway into the Boundary, Alex raised his head up and defiantly screamed, "AMANE! You son of a bitch let me out of here! This isn't fair! AMANE! AMAAAAAAANEEEEEE!" He was swallowed into the infinite darkness, his screams diluting into an empty silence.

…

…

…

"tick…tock…tick…tock…"

There was a sleeping darkness and a weightlessness surrounding Alex's body. He was adrift in a sleep that only now he seemed to be waking from. It was a slumber so deep, that he didn't even think or feel a thing occur around him. The first thing he experienced upon awakening was his eyes creaking open, and his head feeling as empty as the air he breathed. Partway into his first breath, Alex's eyes widened all the way and his heart started to race without explanation.

He swung his body upright out of the fancy king-sized bed he was nestled within. His head throbbed, a sensation running through the top of his brain similar to a brush made of metallic fibers scraping along his skin. His memories were frazzled and took a bit of time to reconnect together in order to make a coherent narrative for him to recognize, but once they did he froze up and found his body riddled with goosebumps.

"I'm…alive?" The first thing he noticed was the sensation of his own fingers brushing along the side of his throbbing forehead. Most notably for him, it was his right hand that touched his face. He pulled his hand down and stared at it with perfect and clear vision, squeezing the fingers shut and not suffering from any pain. His arm was flesh, blood and bone again, looking even better than it was before.

The pain in his brain continued to spike every few seconds as his body and mind adjusted to the present circumstances. His eyes tried to force themselves shut, but he kept them at a mild squint while moving his head around to observe his surroundings. The Victorian era style aesthetics stuck out like a sore thumb, as did the Halloweenesque décor.

"Rachel's…castle? What am I doing he-…" He paused for a moment, a discrepancy in his memories causing him to instead think, "Back…here?"

He gave his head a brief shake and grit his teeth down, "Wait, no…Why would I think…that? Shit, something's not right. I-I was…being plunged into the Boundary…a-and then…"

He looked up and gave a brief glance to his surroundings one more time, his vision now a little shakier than it was before. Though his body was full of life, the atmosphere around him was not. It was a strange sensation, one that would not go away even as Alex tried to divert his attention from the subject. It dug it's claws in, and left his body cold.

He lifted his head up and pulled his hands away, drooping them on top of the bed as though they were as stiff as stone. Torn between the confusion of the present and the rage and loss of the past, Alex didn't know what to believe, assuming what he was seeing was even real to begin with.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake!"

Alex's eyes widened, his heart tightening into a twisted knot, and before he knew it his head was turning on it's own towards the moonlit windows to the left. Bathed in that beautiful, pale, crimson light was a sight that defied what the boy could make of reality, and that was Shina Aurora. She sat by her lonesome, the light accentuating her relieved smile and glistening her hair.

As she tilted her head and giggled, Alex continued to stare at her, making her entire body the object of his fixation. Head to toe, everything looked the same as he remembered her to be. Her beauty was preserved, untouched by even a droplet of blood, and for her everything appeared to be normal. He blinked once, then twice, then a third time, unsure if this was a dream or yet one more nightmare before he went completely insane.

Shina looked at him as well, their eyes locking into perfect synchronization. She smiled and cracked a jolly little joke, "You look pale Alex. What, has Rachel gotcha seeing ghosts? Hehehe!"

Alex leaned towards the edge of the bed and stretched his right hand out with Shina unaware he was doing so until his fingers brushed the left side of her face and stroked the skin down to her neck. There was warmth, a warmth that could only come from her skin so silky and smooth. It was a sensation too real to be replicated by any dream or nightmare.

The boy's body warmed up, and with a sniffle his eyes began to water. Shina then looked at him and said, "Silly Alex, I'm not a ghost! For a second there, I was worried that you-"

In the blink of an eye, Alex threw his arms around her chest and pulled her in until her face was buried against his chest. He held on tight and shook his head, his tears flying out onto her shirt while she widened her eyes and stammered, "Wh-wh-whoa! W-What's gotten into you Alex?!"

"You're alive…You're really, really alive!" His joy was palpable, unable to be broken even by the quibbling of his voice.

"U-Uh course I am! There's a few s-scrapes 'ere and there, but I AM alive!"

"I-I know you are, s-stupid…!"

"H-Huh? Ummm, you ok Alex? Not that I don't appreciate the hug but…" Before she could finish, Alex lifted her body up and looked her straight in the eyes. He could only see just a bit of her clearly as the tears muddled his vision, but what he was about to say to her was as clear as could be.

"Shina…I love you." Short and to the point, the boy's admission was true to his heart. Shina stared at him and blinked a couple times, her cheeks starting to turn a bright shade of red.

"H-H-H-H-H…HUH?!" Her mouth stood agape and with eyes widened she stumbled upon her words and said, "I-I'm sorry, c-c-could you repeat that?"

"I love you. You're the most important person in my life, and I never want to leave your side EVER again."

Shina shifted her gaze to the left and then the right, followed by focusing them forward and with a cutesy giggle saying, "O-Oh…I-I get it!"

"You do?" Alex's eyes widened and he anticipated what she had to say. Shina closed her eyes and grinned, the red on her face fading as she replied, "Y-Yeah! Terumi roughed ya up pretty good…Y-You're just a little loopy after all that."

She whirled a finger in a loop beside her face, pushing her tongue out through her lips and letting out what was meant to be a playful "Cuckoo!"

For Alex though, that remark was a bullet through his heart, causing him to shake his head and state again in a sincere panic, "I-I'm not loopy! I'm being honest!"

Shina took her right hand and patted it down onto Alex's gloved hand, saying in a calm, somewhat worried voice, "You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard after all that, Alex. M-Maybe ya should lie back down and gather your thoughts, ok?"

Alex stared in abject disbelief. There was now a wedge in his heart, a sharp, painful one born of rejection. Shina opened her eyes and looked at him just the same as she would normally, the twinge of an innocent smile now acting as a symbol of mockery to him. His hands shook and he pulled them away, laying both on top of the bed. He bore his entire heart to the one he loved, and she brushed him aside as though he was a madman.

Alex couldn't recognize if it was the suddenness of his declaration that threw her off, or if she simply did not love him back. His energy drained, the boy's body became heavy and he fell back onto the pillows behind him, his eyes staring towards the ceiling. The two were silent, looking away from each other as Shina fiddled all her fingers close to her chest and looked sullen, a tiny blush appearing back onto her cheeks.

Though his mind was plagued with disappointment, Alex was finally able to piece together something that should've been obvious sooner. He was back in Rachel's castle, meaning that this was right after he got out of the coma Terumi put him in.

"But that couldn't mean…That was all a nightmare, was it?" Alex closed his eyes and reflected on the events 'past'. Everything he had heard, said and done was real. There was no denying those events, except that if he was now in the castle, none of it made sense. The Boundary does have a connection to many points in time and space, but the way Amane worded things suggested the exile was meant to be a definitive end to his life.

After a couple dry blinks, he looked to his right and patted down the lump resting on his hip. The Gaia Temporis was there, just like always, "…Did you…send me back in time?"

Widening his eyes, Alex threw his upper body up and grit his teeth. Shina swung her body around and exclaimed, "W-Whoa! Easy there Alex!"

"F-Fuck! Terumi still has the artifact piece! I-I know where that bastard is, I'm going to go after him and-"

"…Eeeeeeeh?" Shina blinked her eyes a few times and then giggled, Alex swinging his head to give her a nasty glare before she said, "See? Ya really need the rest Alex!"

"…What are you talking about?" Alex was insulted by her pure nonchalance at the situation. Winking her right eye, Shina reached behind her back and then extended her right arm straight out before her chest, the artifact piece laid atop her palm.

Alex's mouth went agape and he shook his head back and forth twice, raising his hands to rub his eyes and glare deep into the stone's engravings. It was real.

"Da-da-da-DA! One artifact piece, ready to order!" Shina proclaimed with utter glee before Alex swiped the stone from her hands and stammered in rapid succession, "How?! When?! What?! Where?! Why?!"

"I'd've thought you'd remember THAT much at least Alex! After all, ya saved us a WHOOOOLE lot of trouble chasing that down again!" Shina was ecstatic, but Alex could only continue to look at her with the utmost confusion.

"I mean, if Terumi didn't lose his grip on the stone when you cut his legs, who knows what might've happened!"

"I…caused Terumi to drop it?" Alex's right eye began to wince shut as he was forced to think back on that moment. He remembered Terumi retreating with the artifact piece, but his brain told him that what Shina said was true. The two sets of memories intertwined but neither superseded the other, making it unclear as to what was true.

"That's…right…?" He murmured, as Shina then plucked the stone right out of his hand and held it up before her face.

"Hehehe! Four down, one to go! We're so close, I can almost taste it!" Shina gave the stone a pump in the air as though it was an extension of her fist. Even after the bitter taste of rejection, Alex would never stop being glad to see Shina in a good mood. Choosing to keep that mood up, the boy waved his hand out and said, "Here, let me piece it together."

Shina handed the stone back over to Alex, who used the Gaia Temporis' space manipulating powers to shrink it down enough to fit in with the other three pieces that Shina kept in her pockets. Then, he handed it back to her, with the two of them staring at each other for a bit before Alex decided to speak up.

"…So, I guess we can just…leave now?"

"If you're up for it. I really, REALLY think you should get some more rest though…" Despite Shina's request, Alex pushed the sheets off his body and turned his legs, planting them on the ground and pushing himself off the bed. His landing was shaky, but he positioned himself upright in a couple of seconds.

"I'll be fine. There's no reason to stay here anymore." Alex stated, and with a smile Shina pulled herself up from the chair and stretched her arms above her head.

"Yeeaaaah…As much as I'd like to say goodbye to Noel, it's probably for the best that we go."

"…That's right, they'd all be alive now. Or perhaps they were never dead to begin with…" Alex closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, shaking his head afterwards. The two of them then left the room and went to find Rachel, thanking her for the assistance in keeping Alex safe and rested. The vampire made no indication that she remembered anything, and by that point the boy began to bury the 'nightmare' deep within his subconscious.

After being teleported back to the real world, Alex formed a large bubble of air around his and Shina's body, carrying them away from the planet in record time. By themselves once more, Alex looked over his shoulder and saw Shina contemplating the combined artifact in her palm. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it right after. Shina noticed this and opened her mouth as well, but ended up responding in the same manner as he did. The two looked away from each other, unable to say what was on their minds…

…

…

"…Hmm, am I all alone this time? A pity, really…I am going to miss our little talks together."

An ovular gap opened up in empty space, a being coming through and speaking to the other without a second's wait, "Oh? I had no idea you missed me so fondly."

"Ah, so you are alive. Or rather, that version of you is."

"Yes, yes…The me of this branch has met their end at the hands of the maiden's spear. Though I am not the same person you knew, I hope we can speak to each other just the same as we did before."

"Ha, I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. Though first, I must mourn the loss of friendship my other self must now be experiencing."

"How bizarre that you would do so, knowing that these events would come to pass."

"I suppose you are not mistaken, old friend. So, I presume everything has transpired as you predicted it would?"

"Only if the transference was successful in this branch."

"Yes. The boy knows of the other timeline."

"And he is none the wiser to what had transpired?"

"Ha! A funny sentiment coming from you, considering not even I know what had transpired."

"…All that matters is that the boy reacted exactly as I expected. He speaks so highly of himself, believing that he is a hero meant to save everyone…But he's nothing more than the ultimate hypocrite, a being designed only to kill everyone."

"Even I am a bit surprised at how well your baits succeeded in luring the boy into your trap."

"Yes. First I used the doll to wear down the boy's patience and increase his desperation…Then, I used the snake's vessel to churn the fires of vengeance within…Later, I positioned the Mad Dog perfectly in place, using him to sow the seeds of hatred towards the boy in the hearts of those who lie beyond the static veil…Finally, I used the would-be god to sever the boy's connections to sanity, and unchain the beast within. The Observer at the time, however, was not someone's whose actions I had anticipated…Even though what he did worked towards my benefit all the same."

"That 'Amane' is a curious fellow. Even with all the time I have observed, I have been unable to decipher his origin."

"…Fufufu, I suppose that is fair play in this game of mine."

"Is something else the matter? You rarely smile like that."

"…A 'hero' created by an 'author' that ultimately becomes a 'monster'. The tale of Amaterasu is honestly an interesting story, wouldn't you agree?"

"A tragedy that could have easily been avoided, had humanity not been consumed by their own avarice."

"…Indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me, there is still one last loose end I must attend to."

"Ah yes. It would be quite a mess if 'they' were to find out about what you did with 'him'. I will see you again soon, old friend."

….

….

Meanwhile, in the abandoned city of Ishana…

Down in the Cauldron area, Terumi, still inhabiting the body of 'Hazama', walked around in circles with a look of downright irritable frustration plastered across his face.

"Ghhhh, that goddamn Elemental Overlord. His tenacity really pisses me the FRIG off!" Cracking a wide grin, he then calmed himself down a little and remarked, "But that's alright. I'm certain where that little runt is holed up now. I'll just have the Phantom take me to that shitty vampire's castle, and reclaim what's rightfully mine!"

"Fufufu, and here I assumed that snakes never lost their prey once their fangs sunk in…"

"What?" Terumi turned his head as a twisted, distorted voice called out to him, the being in question emerging from a vertical gap. They took on the appearance of a mass of violet static with the shape of a naked human, their gender undefined, and each step they took left a brief imprint of static onto the world.

"Oh, it's you. You have got…SOME NERVE…to show your face around here after your big hiccup!" Terumi approached the being, who opened up a 'mouth' just a tiny bit as the man leaned down and glared them with his glowing yellow eyes.

"Cause last I checked, I was promised the ultimate power! Something big enough to make even Amaterasu shit her goddamn pants! But now I'm empty-handed, because YOU didn't live up to your end of the bargain!"

The being didn't say a word at first, then was cold and precise to the man, "The Phoenix of Destruction has left this world behind. You have missed your chance."

"…Shit." Terumi bit his lower lip and let it squirm for a bit before turning around and brushing his arms out, "Whatever. I'll just go back to Plan A then. Least then I don't have to rely on a worthless piece of shit like you."

"…Yes. I am so worthless that when you were done with me, you were planning to 'kill me', weren't you?" The being's mouth didn't move until they were done speaking, at which point it widened into a thin crescent smile and creaked like rusted floorboards.

"I mean…the other 'you' said as much." Terumi hadn't given the person's words any heed until then. He turned himself around but then froze in place, a sensation even he could not explain.

There were many limbs stretched throughout the air behind the being's body, all of them composed of them same 'material' as they were. They cracked and creased like wild growing roots, and ensnared within them were many things. The pieces of Izanami's body, down to the last joint, were spread atop her bloody robe. Relius had been left impaled on top of Ada's claws, but the rest of the doll was nowhere to be found. Then there was Azrael, whose guts had been torn out and replaced with his cut off limbs.

Terumi shook for a moment, but then laid a hand on his hat and glared at the being. He whipped his other hand up and exclaimed, "You think that's gonna frighten me? Boy howdy, you got another thing coming, you stupid bitch!"

He launched Ouroboros out, the serpentine head plunging deep into the being's chest. Terumi cackled, exclaiming at the top of his lungs, "Succumb to madness and die die DIE! Ehehehehe!"

"…Madness?" The being's mouth once again only moved to display emotion, slumping into a curious frown before thrusting open into a wide and pale grin without teeth. Ouroboros shook and flew out of the being's chest, only now it had taken up the properties of the Hiriirokane.

"W-What?!" Terumi's face widened before his vessel was impaled through the heart. Terumi's true spirit form, a squirming, lithe phantom with one green eye and unnatural veins sprawled out, was dragged out of the vessel and planted against the wall on the other side of the room by his own chain.

"T-This is impossible! How could you possibly have gotten a hold of that accursed power?!" Terumi yelled out. In the blink of an eye, the being was floating right in front of them with their hands hung out, neither one having even a finger of their name.

"You do not know what true madness is, Yuuki Terumi. You gaze upon me, and yet can only see a fragment of what I truly am. Only those truly seeped in the art of madness…Can bear the weight of what I am."

"What…are you?!"

"…What is an ant to a god? What is a god…to the eternal, ever-growing infinity? I am everything, I am nothing…But for now, I am fear." The limbs of this being stretched out and dug into Terumi's spectral form. His eye twisted back into his head as his body shriveled up and curled.

"And even as you forget everything that I am, you will never, ever escape the fear I imprint upon you. It has been fun, Yuuki Terumi, but a 'pawn' such as yourself must be sacrificed before the 'knights' can take notice."

"G…Ghh…GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Terumi screamed into the void, enduring a pain unlike any other. He would never know how long it would last, but when it was through he had been returned to his vessel. And the being, having performed their purpose, undid the demonstration of their power and brought back those who had been slaughtered.

"But that fear…Shall only be a fraction of what I deliver unto you, Phoenix of Destruction. But you, and all the others who dare to watch, shall see what I mean soon enough…"

CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS PART 4 EX STORY 5

THE END!

Author's Note:

And after many months, the BlazBlue arc of the story is over. It turned out to be just a TINY bit longer than I anticipated, but it was all necessary for the sake of the story.

Saying that now, I do wish to address a matter that's come up recently in the reviews. Mostly, I don't mind the fact that some of you may see Alex as a Mary Sue. Being honest, him being kind of one is an important point to this story. But on that note, if you want to bring up criticisms of the story, please do so as an actual user. When you're a guest, I can't hold discussion with you over what you've had to say, and that sucks because there's this big review sitting in this story now regarding the Azrael chapter and I can't speak with the guy because he posted it as a guest. So yeah, that's all I had to say on that matter.

I'm sorry to all the BlazBlue fans out there who might be angry at me now for killing off a bunch of characters. Don't think of it as me hating the series or nothing. BlazBlue's one of my favorite video game series, after all.

Anyways, now that this story is over, I'll be taking a week break to take care of a bunch of shit, then I'll be back here for the next arc of the story...Where I'll be taking Alex and Shina to the devastated world of Mega Man X. See you all later, and thank you for reading.