In that instant.
He was beautiful.
The most beautiful person she'd ever seen.
Standing beneath the sun, she was looking at an angel atop a river of blood.
Her presence did not escape his notice. Immediately, his head turned to meet her eyes. It was a sudden realization as his eyes met hers. Like, oh, of course, this is what it was like to be acknowledged, but also acknowledged truly.
Horrible. It was a horrible feeling. To be seen. To be loved. To become human once more.
His eyes had this unique aspect to them. An extra glimmer, or something she just couldn't quite get. Something subtly pleasant about them, but undeniably.
He spoke warmly, almost arrogantly, but not at all, there was this air of transcendent confidence pouring off of him. It was radiant.
"It seems that nowadays, everyone I meet is always so unhappy. Tell me, why are you so sad?" His words only confirmed her thoughts.
"Do you know why every good thing that happens to me just seems to crumble away?"
"Perhaps, they were never good in the first place."
"Never good, huh..." Her eyes sank, her despondency becoming more apparent.
"What will you do now?"
"...'
She couldn't speak. As the seconds ticked, darkness swirled within her soul, coalescing into an ultimate answer.
Even with this beauty in front of her.
"I want to destroy it. Everything."
"I believe you."
It was something within his tone. Sincerity, understanding, sympathy. All that and more conveyed in those words, all through his tone alone.
This darkness didn't stop growing. She could feel it. Matching her agony, her gift grew massively. Faster with each ticking second. Like falling into a void and becoming a comet. The rate of power being gained was rapidly accelerating.
The eyes of the beauty changed. Could it be?
"You're gonna stop me?"
"I've never been the charitable type. But..." He looked up and thought about it, almost unseriously, considering they both felt she could successfully back up her want, "I guess this seems like the right move to make. Yeah. I'll stop you. Here and now."
"You don't seem like that type of person... so why?"
"Maybe it's just me being a bit dramatic... but I also believe you can actually destroy the world."
"So?"
His smile widened warmly. "Now that's just a silly question."
He vanished. "Hey lady, right now, within this region I'm the strongest there is."
Behind her, facing away, he spoke as he looked up at the sky. "Ya sure you wanna do this?"
"I don't care anymore."
It didn't matter who this man was. If she thought more about it, she'd further regret killing such a light. So she erupted. In her outburst, she released a wave of black claws, cleaving through everything. Yet, unlike the many who'd she'd killed before, he did not fall.
The untouched, charming boy was now a few meters away. "Let's talk some more."
Lifting his leg up and releasing a fusilade of kicks, he brought it down and bent his other leg, squatting into skandasana. A wide squat over mostly one leg, the other straightened out. Moving the straightened leg to his front, he lifted it up vertically till he was in an exaggerated pistol squat.
As he stretched, moving to his other side, he continued on. "I changed a little while ago, I got better at talking, so I'd like to have some more words with you before we change back."
She stared in silence as they did an entire ritual of moves. So loose, so jovial, this man. "Come, take a deep breath with me. Let's clear our minds before ya try and kill me."
He took a deep breath, "Now exhale."
No. She refused, clenching her fist as she trembled in rage, she forced her displeasure to boil. She couldn't listen to this man, else she'd stop, her choice becoming null. She had to follow through. Otherwise, it just felt like she would be invalidated.
Her rage, her sorrow, her despair. She refused to let go. Absolutely not.
"Have it your way. My name's Lucks. Can I get yours?"
"My name is Astrict. Astrict Natheless Dyes."
"Astrict. That's a fun name."
Silence.
He spoke, his voice clearer than any others she'd ever heard. It was an utterly bedazzling phenomenon. It was seldom something so basic could be so incredible. "You're really pretty. I wish I'd met ya an hour earlier. I woulda totally been head over heels." He smiled cheerfully, "Although, I'm not sure if you would like me as much, haha, since frankly I'm actually acting pretty outta character right now. Although, I'm sure the same could be said for you."
Her change. Did he understand it? It seemed that he did. And her agony grew.
"Enough of it."
"Ah. Apologies for taunting you so cruelly. I didn't mean to mock your misery." He spoke sincerely, but this apology did nothing but add to her anguish.
He opened his mouth, and as discomfort spiked within her, he closed it, not saying anymore. Relief washed over her... as this emptiness swirled nebulously within her.
Instead, he removed his shirt. Countless scars adorned his being. He was majestic in the way an animal was, yet it was soon completely drowned out by the serenity in his form.
"Sorry." He apologized again. And she felt seen again. A horrible aching feeling as her head threatened to burst.
This discomfort, misery boiling from her intestines and heart, radiating to her back and eyes. Black bloomed from her figure, spearing towards the enlightened one before her.
She ascended, desiring to draw towards the skies and escape the clutches of this man's vision.
She desired the light to be scattered from this world, crushed into nothing, and so the sky was blanketed in her darkness.
The black sky split into countless streams, aiming to completely destroy the only one able to stop her. He vanished. Soaring to heights even higher than hers, he descended, and they crashed into the earth.
Slamming his foot into her back, he pried the wings off her, and they scattered into the wind. A thousand more sprouted, with the intent to pierce him a thousand times. Stabbing into the ground for support, she was propped up by a multitude of them acting as limbs.
To her displeasure, he was untouched. Farther away than ever, he appeared, and even quicker he closed that distance.
______
As Astrict looked at the man walking beside her, she snapped out of her reminiscing. Tall, he was about an inch taller than her. He had short to medium-length wavy hair. His eyes were a dark color, in fact, they actually had a secret to them that nobody would really realize unless they looked closely, which she always did. His right eye was brown, and his left was actually closer to black. If you ever shined a light into them, the difference would be apparent.
Looking at his face, he betrayed very little emotion, nearly expressionless. His eyes showed a great roughness in him. She couldn't help but think about when they first met.
He was so different back then, thinking about a direct comparison between now and then was jarring. Back then, he could honestly be described as her perfect preference in men. A soft and confident demon, ready to steal a lady's heart.
At least, that was her opinion of it after a couple of years. He didn't really show any demonic side, other than their battle.
It was always a bit of a shame she never got to see more of him back then.
At least, with her in a different state of mind. She was far too prickly of a state when they first met. And after their fight, which she'd won(technically?), she ended up learning he was naturally prickly.
"What're ya lookin at buddy?" He called her out amidst her thoughts. She rolled her eyes in amusement.
"You, you fool."
"It's creepy, look away." He smirked.
"When did you become such a brat?"
"When ya started calling me one."
She placed her fist on his shoulder, no power behind the blow. "Tch. I ought to put your ass in time-out."
"Ya upset you had to spend some time out of yourself?"
"Ahhhh! Don't remind me. I'm tired of that shit they fed me. Let's go somewhere fancy."
The man placed a hand on his chin... now did she mean a good food spot... or the arena?