Forming a core

When Liam opened his eyes, he found himself floating in the small pond that had now somehow become even smaller. He looked around and saw that the garden itself was somewhat destroyed.

"Hmmm? Did I do this?"

Liam only remembered fighting inside that black space so he didn't understand why the outside was so damaged.

He thought about it for a moment before his mind wandered back to the person whom he had faced inside that black space.

All along he assumed that he was fighting his own mirror image. It made sense because maybe he was fighting his own mental demons to become stronger.

But at the last moment, he had unmistakably seen someone else. 

He only managed to catch a glimpse of that person's face. He could not even remember that face right now but he clearly remembered the feeling.

It was as if he had seen him somewhere before but he couldn't quite figure out where.