Adele Valreyes vs. Anselm Valreyes

The air is crisp on this cool Corellian night outside Club Fallen. A wave of sound washes over everything, pounding into the heads of everyone even from outside the venue. Members of a dozen different species loiter around outside enjoying themselves as they wait—many in vain—to gain entry into the club. From high above, floodlights aim down illuminating the darkness in large patches, though there are still plenty of shadows where people hide more... illicit types of fun. Bouncers stand on either side of the main entrance and security walks around at scheduled intervals. Behind the club, there's a back entrance used for loading and offloading equipment.

The first floor is dominated by a large, rectangular dance hall. The sound inside is overwhelming, as are the myriad lights of vibrant hues that flash quickly and sporadically with the beat. An undulating mass of lifeforms crash and gyrate against one another, screaming on the floor in some semblance of the word "dance". On either side of the mashing bodies are raised platforms, with a slightly calmer atmosphere. The people there are a little more subdued, but not by much. At the far end of the hall is a massive, raised stage with room for a full band, though currently occupied by a lone DJ and his gear. More bouncers line the hall—hired local muscle—ready to deal with any troublemakers.

Stairs in the back lead to the second floor. Above the dancing masses are a series of crisscrossing walkways stretching from one end of the venue to the other: maintenance access for the various lights and speakers that dangle haphazardly above the crowd. Directly above the stage is a mezzanine with a large, soundproof booth, inside of which is the beating heart of the club. All the electronics flow through this booth, controlling every aspect of the sound, lights, and security equipment...

Between the crush of bodies and all the noise, you may find yourself almost overwhelmed. All you know is that your enemy is here, somewhere, in Fallen mixed into the crowd. Are they alone? Are they lying in wait? It's unclear. What is, though, is that the club is full of sentients. Potential enemies? Possibly. Potential witnesses? Definitely. What are you prepared to do to eliminate your target? Can you slay them without raising the alarm? Or will you instigate a massacre to ensure no one is left standing?

The decision is yours... if your enemy doesn't make that choice for you.

The sun had already set, leaving in its wake a crisp, cool evening. It was perfect for a night spent clubbing. Or for a strenuous workout. Or a fight.

The latter was exactly what they found.

Adele appeared behind one of their assailants, lashing out with her foot to the back of his knee. It broke with a loud SNAP. As he started to fall, she grabbed him by the back of the neck to slam him headfirst into the wall of the narrow alleyway.

A second thug, a Togrutan, had been trying to take aim at her brother, but quickly realized there was a threat that was significantly closer. She started to turn her blaster, her finger already on the trigger.

Adele grabbed her wrist and dragged her arm downward. The blaster fired three times, red bolts searing into the filthy pavement. Drawing on the Force to add to her strength, she struck the Togrutan’s jaw with the heel of her palm.

Despite her pain and a now broken jaw, the Togruta maintained her discipline. She shifted her weight, trying to pull free from Adele's grip. But Adele was stronger, her abilities enhanced by the Force itself. She kept her grip on the woman's arm, dragging her forward to drive her knee into the woman’s solar plexus. The Togrutan doubled over, gasping for air.

Anselm, meanwhile, was having his own fun. He whirled in a roundhouse kick that slammed into a thug’s chest. The kick was accompanied by a ball of fire that seared his face. The thug stumbled backward, blinded and burning.

Movement out of the corner of his eye alerted him to an incoming attack. He made a sharp gesture, and the burning thug began to fall sideways, as if gravity itself had been altered for him. He slammed into another assailant who had his blaster raised to shoot. The red plasma missed Anselm by inches, leaving a scorchmark on the wall behind him.

The two assailants were now pinned to the wall, one stuck under another as if weighted by immense gravity. That slacked only for a second as Anselm held up his hand and made a fist. Their cries abruptly became silent as an invisible Force slammed in on them from all sides, accompanied by the breaking of bones. Anselm relaxed his hand, and the two men fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard in the alley were the distant thump of the bass coming from the nearby club and their own heavy breathing.

It was Adele that broke the silence. “I told you it was an ambush.”

“And I told you we could handle it,” Anselm replied, flashing her a grin.

Adele tsked under her breath and knelt by the now unconscious Togruta. She rolled up the woman’s sleeve to reveal a tattoo on her forearm. It was similar to the one that each of the twins had, though it was not nearly as intricate. It was the marking of their former syndicate, the Ember Flame. “I thought I recognized her.”

She’d been hoping that she was wrong, that maybe this was just a band of cutthroats looking for a couple of easy marks. But no. The markings indicated that they were part of the syndicate’s hit squad. Part of their father’s hit squad.

“It’s a moot point. I doubt she’ll be bothering us anymore tonight.” Anselm brushed off his clothes, checking to make sure he hadn’t got any blood on him. Satisfied that he hadn’t, he hiked his thumb in the direction of the alley entrance. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Adele tore her eyes away from the tattoo and whatever thoughts that threatened to drag down her mood. “Go where?”

“Into the club. That’s why we’re here, right?” Anselm tilted his head, listening to the throbbing bass. Even from here, he could hear the melody of the upbeat dance music playing inside. “You’re gonna love Club Fallen, Dele. I was just here a couple days ago with a few other Arconans. It’s really great.”

Adele frowned slightly. “You still want to go? Annie, that’s probably not a good idea. You know they’ll have a fallback team. We should track them down and deal with them. Or at the very least, we should get out of here. Who knows how many they brought?”

“Sure, there’s probably more of them. But I’m not gonna let that ruin our evening. Why bother hunting them down, when we both know they’ll come looking for us? We can deal with them then.” He crossed the alley to extend a hand to help her up. “Besides, we deserve a break after everything that’s happened.”

“I’m not sure how relaxing it’d be, knowing there’s a pack of people watching the doors, waiting to kill us.” Adele reached up, grasping her brother’s hand and letting him pull her to her feet.

“We’ll make it work.” Anselm offered her another grin. “He’s already ruined so much. I’m not going to let him ruin our evening too.”

There was no need to ask who Anselm was referring to. Adele already knew that he was talking about their father. She let the comment pass. “That’s short-sighted, Annie. Listen. We need to be strategic here. All it’d take is one minute of inattention for them to get the drop on us.”

Impatience flashed in his eyes. Adele recognized the look easily enough. He used to get it all the time whenever Father tried to teach him anything. He folded his arms over his chest. “I get it, Adele. But the way I see it, it’s always going to be dangerous. So, I refuse to let either him or fear rule me. He wants us to be frightened. Well, I’m not going to let him stop me from living my life.”

Adele gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing at his words. But she refused to lose her temper. She took a deep breath. When she spoke, she did her best to keep her voice even. “I’m not afraid, Annie. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“No, you’re letting him dictate our actions! We’re free of him, sis! We’re free to live our own lives. So, let’s live them! Let’s go and have fun and actually enjoy ourselves. We can handle whatever he throws at us.”

Adele pressed her lips together as she studied her brother through narrowed eyes. There was no arguing with him when he got this way, she knew that from experience. For her part, she was getting tired of listening to him talk about their father, talk about their old lives, as if it was some awful experience. Sure, it was hard, but it was not nearly as bad as he insisted it was. “Look,” she said, her voice heavy with anger. “I need some air. You want to run away and ignore the situation? Fine. Go on into the club. I’ll do a sweep of the area and join you once I’ve taken care of things.”

She could see the hurt and anger at her words, but was in no mood to placate his feelings. She started to turn away, but he grabbed her by the shoulder. “No. We’re not done here.”

Anselm could feel the cold rage building within him, and he hated it. That was one of his “father’s” lessons to his children. To embrace the rage. To build it up within and control it, then unleash it on their enemies with devastating results. For Anselm, that meant the increase of his raw Force power. Anselm had always been the twin with the overtly flashy, powerful powers, and the rage would consume him until he felt like a demon. Adele - being the more covert - channeled her rage into fierce and pinpoint strikes. They were two sides of the same coin, and even now, he felt that divide.

His eyes narrowed on his sister, the golden rings burning around his pupils. His hand held her shoulder (not overly hard as he had no desire to cause her pain), forceful enough to keep her from simply walking away. Her head slowly turned, first to stare at his hand, then to match his gaze. He could see the same fury burning in her eyes, the silver rings around her pupils like cold shimmering flames.

“Anselm, remove your hand from me now, or I will remove it myself.”

There had been so much tension between them since their joining of the Clan. Arcona accepted them as they sought asylum from the Ember Flame Crime Syndicate, which he gladly accepted, but Adele never wanted this. He knew that, but he couldn’t let her go back. He knew what their father would do to her now. She wouldn’t be safe from his fury. But now that tension had reached a boiling point. He would never admit it to her, but he needed her in his life, and he felt guilty for her current predicament.

“Adele, you can’t just keep walking away from this…from me. We’re together in this. We have to move on from that life.”

Adele’s gaze hardened at his words before she turned away. With reflexes like lightning, a loud crack sounded in the alleyway as her fist lashed out and connected with his jaw. He let her go as he stumbled backward, his bottom lip split from the strike. Adele’s breathing had quickened, and her eyes looked almost manic. She’d finally snapped.

“Together? We’re together in this? Is that what you just frakking said to me?” Anger rolled off her so intensely that he was almost blinded by it. “You made this choice, brother. You decided to abandon our father, to abandon me. You left and sold us out to this Clan of freaks and outcasts. I had no other choice. What was I going to do, Anselm, kill you? No. I couldn’t do that. So I did what I always do. I protected your worthless ass, and now our father - the man who made us what we are - wants me dead. Wants both of us dead!” Her voice continued to rise as Anselm could do nothing but watch all her repressed emotions finally break free. “I was his most trusted, most loved, most ardent supporter! I did whatever he asked me. I blackened my soul and made so many terrible choices for him! And for you. All to keep you safe. All so you could keep your god-forsaken honor!”

Anselm wiped the blood from his lip. He could see the lightning crackling at her fingertips. She was losing it, at the brink of madness. He needed to save her, to pull her back from the abyss. And he knew only one way.

“Fine, sister-mine. Blame me for all of your troubles. Blame me for all your mistakes. Hold me accountable for your sins. I can take it. Give me all your hatred.”

Adele’s eyes went wild at that. The line had been fully crossed.

“You sanctimonious son of a bitch!”

She lost it. All the anger, the turmoil, the resentment aimed at him. Adele’s mind was racing at top speed, and her overwhelming rage fueled her movements as she launched a series of quick, aggressive strikes at him. Anselm knew her style, having trained together for their entire lives, and he matched her movements blow for blow. Refusing to hurt her, he redirected her strikes and countered her attacks, staying on the defensive. Their stances remained balanced and disciplined, neither showing a hint of superiority over the other.

“Is that all you have, Del? I expected better from the Princess of Embers.”

“Frak you!”

Feigning a right hook, Adele took Anselm by surprise as she switched up her movements. Gone was her balanced aggression, and she grabbed his arm before throwing her full weight into flipping him over her shoulder. He hit the duracrete floor of the alleyway hard, feeling the skin of his cheek rub raw against the ground. It stung quite a bit. With a quick jerk of her body, she locked him into place before punching him several times on his right side.

Anselm groaned in pain as she hadn’t been pulling her punches, and he knew he’d be pissing blood the next day. He couldn’t help but be impressed by her, clearly having taught herself some new moves in secret. But great minds, it seems, think alike, as he’d done the same. Using his size to his advantage, he overpowered her lock and pushed himself off the ground, knocking her off him. If she wasn’t going to hold back, he’d stop doing so as well.

Bringing his hand up to the level of his face, Anselm wiped the blood off his scraped cheek, and he smiled a predatory smile. Down the alley, the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention; there was a crowd.

“Hey guys, there’s a fight out here!

“Oh, frak yeah!”

“Shit, son, let’s watch!”

Adele seemed not to notice, or if she had, she didn’t give a womprat's ass. Anslem didn’t love having an audience for their sibling spat, but she wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Adele seemed almost excited by the hits she got in on him, so he returned the favor. When she launched herself at him, he deftly countered her blow, driving his elbow into her solar plexus. Her breath had been knocked out of her, and he followed up with well-aimed strikes to her joints and a destructive blow into her gut, making her double over. Even with his punches pulled, Anselm had always been stronger than her.

“I thought you were going to show me our father’s strength. If he taught us oh-so-much, shouldn’t you be winning right now? You were the best of us, right? Where’s your lightning, Del? You’ve never held back before, so why now?”

Adele regained her composure, wiping the sweat off her brow. Her eyes seemed to almost glow with righteous fury as she scowled at her twin. Catching her breath, she wore a near-animalistic smirk.

“You want to see lightning? I’ll show you lightning!”

Sparks began to glow from the tips of her fingers, and all her rage and fury were being channeled into her hands. Her face went almost manic as time seemed to slow between the two siblings. Her control was faltering, and Anselm realized just how far her emotional state had fallen up to that point. He’d been prepared for this, but like a screeching warning, the Force alerted him to the growing crowd behind him. If he dodged her lightning, the onlookers would be hit, and most likely someone would die. He couldn’t let that happen.

As her manicured hand darted forward, Anselm appeared in front of her, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Force lightning began to stream from her hand, but he grabbed it, drawing the electrical energy out of her and into himself. He was dissipating the power, but it was becoming too much for him, so he pointed his left hand up and let the building energy siphon through him, bursting forth into the skies above.

The crack of thunder bellowed down the alley, and the civilians began to run in fear. Adele's hands shook with a slight tremor, and Anselm had smoke drifting off of his body and clothes. Both siblings began to feel the mounting fatigue of overusing the Force and grew apart. Despite gasping for breath, Adele’s glare didn’t subside; she still aimed her anger at her brother. Anselm met her gaze, sighing that this wasn’t over yet.

“Haven’t we had enough of this, Adele?”

“You said you wanted my sins. And I have so many left to give back.” Her voice sounded so…broken to him.

“Then let’s finish it already.”

In near-perfect synchronicity, the two siblings grasped the hilts of their lightsabers, and twin amethyst blades hissed to life.

The twins stood facing each other, their lightsabers humming quietly in the cool night air. Anselm had fallen into a familiar stance, half-facing her with his violet blade held above his head. As she watched, he stood up a bit straighter, his expression smoothing. Probably using the Force to ignore the pain of the blows she’d landed on his side.

The scene was a familiar one. How often had they stood in these exact stances, duelling for their father’s approval and the entertainment of his capos? More times than she could count. She knew Anselm’s moves, his tactics. How he thought. Yet she had never been able to beat him in single combat.

What’s more, he now had new tricks. The way he’d redirected her lightning? That was new. She took a few paces to her right, away from his dominant hand. She kept her movements slow and her weight evenly balanced. “You redirected my lightning. How long did it take you to figure out how to do that?”

“Not long. It’s just something I’ve been messing around with,” Anselm replied with a sideways grin. Despite his seemingly calm appearance, she could see the rage burning in his eyes.

“That’s just like you,” she growled. Force energy flooded her muscles, and she instantly felt lighter, faster. She lunged, aiming a slash at his midsection. Sparks flew as twin violet lightsabers met. His movements were preternaturally quick, as if his every movement was guided by the Force itself.

“Everything’s just so karking easy for you!” She lashed out with her foot to trip him, but he was already retreating backward. She closed the distance, getting inside his reach. Slash to the shoulder, feint, thrust to the midsection, attacking as quickly as she could. But he deflected every blow. “You never even had to try!”

Though her attacks didn’t land, her words did. Anselm’s eyes narrowed. “It wouldn’t have mattered. I was never going to be good enough for him. Neither of us were.” He made a quick gesture toward the scars on his face. “I figured that out the night he gave me these.”

That gesture turned into a quick shove of his hand. An invisible wall of Force slammed into her, knocking her back a few steps. She barely had time to regain her balance before he was on her, lashing out with lightning-fast attacks. Feint, deflect, dodge. Always keeping her on the defensive. She took a deep breath, redirecting her power for a second, long enough to focus on a spot behind him.

She appeared there a heartbeat later, and gave a bitter laugh. “You’re an idiot if you think a few scars are the worst thing he can do. And while you were compromising mission after mission with all that honor bullshit that uncle filled your head with, I had to pick up the slack.”

Adele charged, her lightsaber raised in an overhead strike. She vanished at the last moment, appearing a few steps behind him. He pivoted, his blade meeting hers. They stood, locked in a contest of strength and will. “Do you have any idea how many people I killed just to protect you? All so you could pretend to be a hero.”

“You’ve got a bizarre definition of ‘protecting me’, sister-mine,” Anselm lashed out with his foot, sending her stumbling back a few paces. He surged forward, following the flow of the Force. She barely brought her blade up in time to deflect his lunge. “Don’t pretend you didn’t want to be his favorite.”

She brought her weapon up and around into a slash. This time, he was the one who teleported, appearing a few feet to her left. “Of course I did! But you were always the heir he wanted. I had to work twice as hard to get half the esteem he had for you. Oh, he made that obvious enough, even though I worked so hard to prove him wrong.”

“Jealousy, Dele? Really?” he quipped sarcastically.

Adele laughed, harsh and ragged. “Oh, I know! Joke’s on me, right? I was the only one who didn’t see what was perfectly obvious to everyone else. I’m a total kark-up with weak powers. On my best day, I couldn’t even come close to my perfect, powerful brother.” Her words tasted like a bitter pill in her mouth “I couldn’t even keep our family together.”

The point of Anselm’s blade dipped an inch. His rage dimmed at the sound of the pain in her voice. “Hey. Dele, come on.”

“No!” Adele scrubbed her eyes angrily with her free hand, swiping away the tears that burned them. “You wanted my sins, brother! You know, I was actually happy when you left? I thought I finally had a chance to prove myself. So yes, I took the slave trading mission, just like father wanted. I hated it, but I picked up that weight since you were too honorable to touch it. And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, I karked that up too!” She felt a tightness as she recalled the blaring klaxons, the thick smoke that seared her throat and lungs, the pain from her injuries. The blank-eyed stares of the dead.

Her lightsaber slipped from nerveless fingers and clattered onto the filthy pavement. She tried to stop talking, but the words continued between heaving breaths. “There was fighting… and the drive core got damaged… and so much fire everywhere… and our crew and all the other people… everyone died… all because I was stupid enough to believe….”

Adele sank to her knees, her face buried in her hands. A moment later, she hear Anselm deactivate his lightsaber. “Stop it, Dele. Just stop.”

But she couldn’t. She continued in a ragged whisper, more words rushing out with every breath. “I have to fix this… I have to make up for it… all those people… it’s all my fault….”

Wordlessly, Anselm crossed the space between them to wrap her in a fierce, protective hug. And that was when the dam broke. Adele burst into tears, her whole body wracked with soul-rending sobs. All of her rage, frustration and fear poured out of her in a rush of emotion, with no regard for the crowd of onlookers who had reassembled at the mouth of the alley.

Anselm didn’t say a word. He simply hugged her until the tempest subsided, leaving her feeling ragged, drained and numb. She broke free from his hug and scrubbed her face with her hands. She felt better now. Lighter. As if a fraction of the weight she’d been carrying had been lifted from her shoulders.

But at what cost? “Do you hate me now?” She asked the question hesitantly, fearing his response.

“I’m pretty pissed off, yeah,” Anselm replied with a tired grin. “You did just say some pretty awful things about my sister just now. If you were anyone else, I’d kick your ass.”

“Anselm.” Adele studied his face intently.

His grin vanished, but the concern in his eyes did not. “Look, I meant what I said. We’re in this together. We’ll figure the rest out.” He stood up and offered her a hand.

Relief washed over her. She took his proffered hand and let him pull her to her feet. It was only then that her exhaustion hit her, the weight of weariness from both her liberal use of her powers and her outpouring of emotion.

Anselm stretched and cracked his neck. Though the motion was casual, Adele knew he only did it when he was tired as well. “So, you still want to go track down the backup team?” His voice was casual as he asked.

“No,” Adele said. “You’re right. They’ll probably find us, especially after that light show you put on redirecting my lightning. We can deal with them then.” She paused for a moment, before adding, “Do you still want to go into the club?”

“Nah. We should probably go somewhere and talk.” Anselm made a face. “Just… with fewer kidney punches, okay?”

There was something in his comment that she found inexplicably funny, and she began to laugh hysterically. It felt like the first time she’d laughed in a long time. It felt good, like a cleansing rain after a scorching day. “No promises,” she said at last.

The hum of the two lightsabers echoed in the alleyway. One blade resonated with the energy in its wielder’s body, and the other resounded louder and more intensely, matching its wielder’s rage. From high above them, the darkened sky seemed to react to the charged atmosphere between the siblings. Anselm felt a cold, wet drop fall onto his cheek…and then another. Slowly, the pattering of rain seemed to drown out everything else around them. Steam rose off both siblings as the water soaked their clothing and bodies. Neither twin moved; their eyes remained locked, and some internal war was waging between them.

Lightning flashed overhead, and Adele struck. Teleporting forward, closing the distance, her purple blade arced through the rain as Anselm met it with a flash of light. The Princess of Embers whirled through the alleyway in a cyclonic fury. Chaotic and unpredictable, her strikes clashed against Anselm’s, and the crystal within her saber sent slight shockwaves with each lock. ​ Adele leaped overhead and slashed downward at her brother. He batted the blade away, staying defensive for the moment. Her face gave away the rush of emotion fueling her assault. Anselm kept his concern hidden. He knew she wouldn’t be able to keep this up. She was tiring out, but so was he. They were both far too stubborn to admit it.

​“Too much for you, Annie?” Adele snapped. “You’re not fighting back. I know you’re not this weak—unless Arcona has rubbed off on you. I’d hate to think you weren’t taking me seriously.”

​“I have no desire to hurt you, Dele. You wanna fight, I’ll fight, but I’m not going to push this too far.” The blood from Anselm’s cheek mixed with the rain, lines of red streaming down his face.

​“Then you’re as weak as father said you were!”

​Launching herself forward, Adele raised her saber high and slashed down hard. Anselm brought his blade up, and when the twin amethyst blades connected, her crystal released another shockwave of energy as white light flashed in the rain. The twins’ eyes met. Violet irises mirrored each other’s glares, gold and silver rings burning with intense passion and fervor.

​“Frak what our father thinks,” Anselm said with a low growl. “He never knew me…but I hoped you did. I guess I was wrong.”

​Anselm was done playing around. No more defensive measures. If she wanted him to fight back, he would. As if she could sense the shift in him, Adele’s eyes gleamed.

​“It’s about damn time.”

​Shoving hard, Anselm pushed his sister away, and their lightsabers disconnected. In the rainy night, the purple blades glowed ferociously, and he took a strong stance. He raised his blade horizontally above his head and held the hilt firmly, balanced and ready. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and pushed everything out of his head. There was only this night…this battle. Nothing else registered as his world went quiet.

​Copying his sister’s earlier move, he teleported in front of her and began his offensive. His strikes were wild and dangerous. Adele had been right; he had been holding back before. But no longer. He threw all his strength behind each blow, and while Adele blocked them, her arms shook under the pressure. Her eyes widened at his ferocity as his attacks built momentum and speed.

​He was fast…faster than she’d seen him move before. She was forced to switch her grip and stance, leaving her Ataru training behind for a bulwark defense. Three blows came in unrelenting succession. He swung at her leg, her arm, her waist. Adele was running out of steam as she felt the full force of his overwhelming power.

​“Still think you were just protecting me all these years? You think I need your protection, sis? I’ve always been better than you! Stronger! Faster! More powerful!” He swung hard at her shoulder. Adele blocked the blow, then fell, knocked off her feet. She rolled back up, breathing heavily. “I’ve always held back! You think father just chose you? You think I never wanted his love, his respect, his acceptance!”

​Another swing nearly razed Adele’s hair.

​“I let you have it! I gave up any hope of being his chosen son to protect you from worse fates! I did what our mother begged me to do, and you hate me for it? You treat me like I’m beneath you? You’re beneath me; you always have been!”

​Adele realized that Anselm was the one losing control now. Her fury ebbed as she saw she’d been outclassed. All her anger, all her rage, had been aimed at her brother because she thought he’d left her and abandoned her. She had to carry all their father’s pride and desire alone. She thought he never cared. His words now showed that she was right. Except they didn’t. She could feel it even now.

​Beneath the anger, the resentment, the fear, she could feel the caring. The love. Protection. He cared. Their telepathic link showed that. She felt the floodgates open, and all their years of history, years of repressed and bottled-up emotions, came barreling through. But it was all so sudden and overwhelming. She couldn’t contain the toxicity welling up inside her. Words flew from her lips before she could stop them.

​“Frak you, Anselm! You held back all this time? I call bullshit! I’ve always been the better sibling! I’ve always been the child our father wanted. He couldn’t wait to get rid of you!”

​Sabers hissed and screamed as they met mid-slash repeatedly. Sweat poured down their faces, mixing with the downpour. The blades and metal hilts steamed in the cold night air. With a final rage-filled yell, the twins clashed again, and Anselm’s raw strength overpowered Adele. She fell backward, her strength waning as her blade disengaged and slipped from her grasp. Anselm tripped forward, dropping his own weapon as fatigue overtook him.

​They crashed onto the ground together in a heap, both breathing like they couldn’t get enough oxygen. Their eyes no longer burned with shared turmoil, but with unshed tears breaking free. They both needed this release. Everything between them lay open and bare for all to see—or rather, at last for them to see. Slowly, the two sat up, unable to look at each other. They’d both said things…unforgivable things. Things that could break them.

​“Dele?”

​For several moments she couldn’t respond. Finally, she looked up and met his eyes. They were just like hers. She saw the depth…the despair…the scared sibling who didn’t want to lose his sister. She didn’t want to lose him either.

​“I’m…I’m sorry, Annie.”

​“I’m sorry too, Dele.”

​He pulled her into his arms, and they sat in the alleyway underneath the still-falling rain. Only the lingering music from the club broke the quiet storm around them.