Fight Against Fate: Chapter 16

Alec stepped away from Rosa once the match was called and glanced at his broken sword. He waved it back and forth lightly and shook his head. “Well that’s rough. But thank you for the match,” he bowed his head to her. “Gonna have to find a way to fix this thing.”

She looked ready to say something more but instead she lowered her head as well and broke her glaive down into two pieces. “Dio said not to underestimate you. And I did that very thing. I deserved this loss. Well fought.”

“Hey don’t beat yourself up,” Alec said shaking his head at her. “You’re awesome. Definitely one of the best people here. And even though what I said was for fateless you’re in there too. If someone thinks you’re not an amazing fighter send em my way. I’ll set them straight.”

She looked at him shocked and then started laughing, holding a hand over her mouth. She finally leaned her head back and laughed entirely shaking her head. “My sister said that you are a strange man. I guess she was correct in that regard.”

“Your sister?” he repeated and she pointed at Roxanna and he balked. “That woman? She said some crazy stuff to me. Do you know what any of that stuff meant?”

 Rosa shook her head and turned sliding both halves of her glaive into her belt loop. “I don’t pretend to understand what my sister sees in this world. I just know that when she speaks, it is wise to listen. Good luck against him. I look forward to enjoying your match.”

They both walked off the arena, going to separate sides of it. As Alec approached the pair of his friends, he laughed hoisting his broken sword and both came to his side Lee smiling and Felix shaking his head.

“Somehow you still find ways to surprise me my friend,” Lee said and clapped him on the back. “I would never have thought to pull something like that off.”

“Hey you can thank Felix for that,” Alec motioned to him and his coach rolled his eyes.

“I would never have told you to break your sword to get to that point,” he took the broken sword from his hands and sighed.  “What am I going to do with you Alec?”

“Help me win this whole tournament?” he suggested with a meager shrug.

Felix gave him a look that should have been withering but it just made Alec laugh more. Felix finally laughed as well. He reached toward his hip and unfastened his sword and held it out to Alec. “Use my sword in the finals. It hasn’t seen a lot of use so it’s not likely to get broken in the middle of the fight. Assuming you’re not going to do something dumb.”

“Oh come on. When have I ever done anything dumb?”

Felix opened his mouth raising both his eyebrows at him but Alec took the sword from him and stepped forward kissing him lightly. That cut off anything that Felix was about to say or berate him about. When he pulled away Felix blinked rapidly trying to find the words again but Alec was still grinning at him.

“I’ll listen to all of your complaints and name calling after I beat Dio,” he said smiling and walked back toward the Arena.

Lee wrapped his arm around Felix and chuckled, “Let’s get ready to cheer him on.”

“Yeah. Cheer him on. Definitely,” Felix blinked rapidly and clapped his hands together. “Let’s cheer him on.”

While Alec walked into the arena he could hear the arena cheering and he assumed that they were doing it for Dio but as he listened he realized that it was definitely for the both of them this time. The fact that he had any kind of supporters was surprising to say the least. As he looked at Dio he closed his eyes and remembered the last time they’d been on opposite sides of one another.

They had been thirteen. Dio’s fate had been made known by then and he was the pride of their village. Over time Dio had been taken out of the same circles as he was. Even Felix had been getting taught in different environments. The fated had to be polished and groomed for success.

Alec hadn’t thought much of it because he did get to see them still. Still got to spend time with the both of them. They were still friends and that’s what meant the most to Alec. But Dio had called him out to the field to talk. He wouldn’t tell him why. Just that to meet him before sundown.

And so he did. And Dio was there staring at the sky. The three of them used the field to spar all the time, sneaking out at night to fight, to enjoy the stars and just spend time together. Dio turned to stare at him as he approached and back then he wasn’t as good as keeping his face blank. Trying to create the cold mask that he would eventually become his norm.

Right now, he was struggling with something under the surface. Something bothering him enough to furrow his brow and force his hands into fists. “Hey Dio. I’m here. What’s up?”

Dio stared at him and fought to keep his face blank and he was succeeding for the most part. “I wanted you to hear it from me instead of someone else. This is the last time that you and I will talk like this.”

Alec blinked slowly, “What?”

“This is the last time we can do this. You’re a fateless. I’m fated. This village is going to hold me back. You are going to hold me back from what I’m destined to do. To be.. So I’m cutting the strand here.”

Alec shook his head as he spoke and tried to process it. Tried to understand it but it was like he was speaking a foreign language. “Come on Dio. Quit messing around.”

Dio shook his head and glared at him, “Don’t make this harder than it has to be Alec! It’s for your own good. Mine as well.”

Alec looked down, his shoulders shaking and suddenly ran at him throwing a punch as hard as he could. Dio took a step to the side, grabbing his arm and flipped him into the grass. He twisted his arm and kept him there. Alec shouted at him through his tears and shook his head, “I thought we were friends Dio!”

He stared at Alec and started to walk away, “Not anymore.”

Alec opened his eyes and stared at Dio across the arena from him and finally smiled, “You thought you could get rid of me huh Dio?”

Dio nodded slowly and rested his hand on his sword, “Trying to get rid of you. I should have known better at this point.” Dio drew his own sword and crossed it over his dagger before leaning into his stance. “If you get hurt for this I won’t take responsibility anymore.”

Alec drew his sword and brought it up over his shield. “Let’s settle things.”

“Begin!”