Vivi's shoulders squared.
She exhaled, and the dust around her feet settled.
Vivi tightened her grip on her short-sword. The Thread of Heal hummed in her veins, keeping her stamina at peak efficiency. She felt light, endless.
Then again, Vivi used the gate.
She was three meters away from her. Then, she was behind her.
She stepped through the fold in space, carrying her momentum. She slashed at Lily's back.
Lily's instincts were incredible. She sensed the shift in air pressure and spun, bringing her katana up in a desperate block.
CLANG!
This time, Vivi didn't hold back the weight. The force of her blow buckled Lily's knees. She groaned, sliding backward, her boots carving grooves in the stone.
Vivi didn't let up. She pressed the assault.
Slash. Thrust. Bash with the pommel.
Her short-sword was a blur of steel. Lily was forced entirely on the defensive, her katana moving frantically to keep my blade from her skin.
Lily gritted her teeth, her face twisted in a snarl.
She activated her Thread of Oblivion.
Suddenly, she vanished from Vivi's perception. Visually, she was there. But her brain refused to acknowledge Lily. It was like looking at a blind spot. Vivi's combat instincts screamed that she was alone in the arena.
But Vivi felt the displacement of air to her right.
Vivi didn't try to block. She opened a Gate the size of a dinner plate right where her blade would be.
Her katana plunged into the portal. Vivi opened the exit portal directly above her head.
Her own blade came down on her.
"No!" Lily shrieked, barely twisting out of the way. Her own sword sliced a shallow gash across her cheekbone before she could retract it.
Blood sprayed—bright crimson against the grey stone.
She stumbled back, panting, blood dripping from her chin onto her white combat gear. She looked wild, desperate. Her stamina was draining; Vivi could hear the ragged gasp of her breath.
Vivi looked at the cut on her face. The red streak.
Her heart seized.
Vivi stopped moving. Her sword arm lowered. The adrenaline that had fueled her evaporated, replaced by a cold pit of nausea.
"Lily...," She took a step forward, reaching out. "It's true. I don't know what you feel, but everyone's worried about you. We are here for you."
Then she poured her heart out, "I just want you to be happy, Lily. I am your sister. I love you more than anything in this stupid world."
Then, for the first time, Lily answered. "You don't understand shit! You don't know how it feels when your father wishes you were dead." She talked with a hoarse voice, raw emotions blending in with a rough voice. "You don't understand what it feels like to speak with a friend whose mother was killed because you were incompetent. You don't fucking understand when you develop hate for your own sister, even though.....even though that sister of yours had never wished you any harm."
Vivi kept quite letting Lily get her feelings out, though her eyes had become moist.
Lily picked herself from the ground, small droplets of blood dripping from her face.
"From the moment I was born, I have just been accumulating failures. You think I don't love you or that stupid idiot." She said reffering Lex. "No! It's just that maybe I'm not as strong as I believed myself to be."
She let out a humourless laugh
"I am struggling to stand against you, even now."
Vivi was quiet for a moment, then she said, "If you want, I can surrender right now. This doesn't mean much to me if you want to win."
"Why would I ever want that?" Lily hissed, clutching her sword, though her hand was slippery with sweat. Then she looked at her gullible big sister. "If you truly want to mend things between us, fight me fairly. Pummel me to the ground, I don't care," she spat with intensity, then once again pointed her katana straight.
"But fight like you mean it. Don't disrespect me with cheap things like that ever again."
Vivi looked at her with a familiar look.
"You know, on the mountain, I really thought I would lose you," Vivi said. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't heal your and Verya's poison. That experience was the one that made me realise that I have taken my sister for granted. I don't want our last memory of each other to be a bad one," she said
Then she inhaled a deep breath and said with a final conviction, "I will fight you like I mean it."
The sisters finally looked each other in the eye, a quiet understanding breathing onto the arena. This was not a flashy display of power that many of the students wanted to see. This was a conversation the sister desperately needed.
After a moment, both of them moved again, this time with more conviction and intensity.
Their blades clashed one after another.
Then, after an intense clash, Vivi stood atop Finalising the match. She gripped her sword tightly, and her breathing was heavy.
Lily gasped breathless, feeling the thrill of the fight, her lips curled upward.
Then she opened her mouth, urging her. " Do it"