The humming light panels inside their shared quarters had dimmed to night-cycle hues—soft blues and purples casting long shadows across the metallic walls. Kaela lay sprawled on her bunk, flipping a combat knife between her fingers, while Alenya paced restlessly at the foot of her pod.
Vess lounged above, disassembling the core of her wrist drone with tiny magnetic tools. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor, flame girl."
Alenya rolled her eyes. "I need to burn off something before I set the sheets on fire."
The Xerathian twins sat side-by-side, their semi-liquid forms slowly solidifying. Today, they had chosen identical human guises: lean, androgynous teens with silvery-blue hair that glistened like frost. Their robes flowed like water, stitched with mirrored aquatic patterns—left for ice, right for water.
Zii blinked his silver-blue eyes open, adding lazily, "Fight someone. Rhain, maybe. He hasn't moved in three hours. That's not healthy."
Kaela grinned. "Now that I'd pay to see."
Rhain, who had been seated in his usual cross-legged position, eyes closed, sword hovering midair before him, gave no reaction. At first.
Then, softly—
"I accept."
Four heads turned.
Alenya's eyes lit up.
"Wait, really?" she said, already bouncing on her toes.
Rhain stood smoothly, catching the hiltless blade with a whisper of motion. His voice remained calm. "I need to stretch my muscles."
Kaela raised her brow. "Well. Guess we're getting a show."
The lower-deck sparring arena wasn't empty, not entirely. A few mercs trained quietly under dim overhead lights, holographic barriers flickering around combatants. The scent of heat and ozone permeated the air.
Alenya and Rhain stepped into one of the simulation rings. As soon as they entered, holographic fields hummed to life—projecting a customized environment: a cracked, ember-lit courtyard surrounded by floating debris and ghost walls of ancient stone.
Non-lethal settings. Painful, but survivable.
A curved HUD appeared in front of Kaela and the others on the sideline, tracking stats: Qi output, momentum, strike pressure, dodge index.
Vess let out a low whistle. "Fancy setup. Wanna bet? My money is on Rhain,the quiet ones are always strong. 200 creds"
"Alenya, 150 creds" Boro said without hesitation.
"Rhain, 500 creds" Zii countered smugly.
Vess whistled, "Someone is loaded."
Kaela smirked. "100 credits on Alenya. If I don't bet on her she will burn me alive."
"Fair," Vess said. "But if I win, you're cleaning my drone for a week."
"Only if you buff my gauntlets," Kaela shot back.
The twins exchanged a glimmering look.
"Loser buys nutrient bars for a week," Zii said.
"Only the citrus ones," Boro added.
The match started with a flare.
Alenya ignited the air around her in a pulsing burst of flame. She spun forward, arms trailing fire like comet tails, launching two scorching jabs toward Rhain's torso.
He blocked with subtlety—his sword drawing tight arcs, the flames curling around him harmlessly.
She didn't let up.
A sweeping kick. A rising strike. A palmful of molten starfire aimed at his chest.
Rhain dodged with millimeter precision, only parrying when needed, never wasting a single breath.
"Stop holding back," Alenya called, eyes glinting.
Rhain adjusted.
The air shifted.
He vanished—no flash, no sound—just a silent flicker and suddenly his blade was at her shoulder.
She barely reacted in time, flaring her Qi into a burst-pulse, knocking him back with searing heat. He skidded backward, feet leaving scorched trails in the projection's stone.
"Better," he murmured.
"Is it too late to change my bet?" Kaela whispered to Vess.
Alenya launched a whip of flame around herself, forcing Rhain to leap. Midair, she aimed Starflare Shot, a concentrated beam of heat from her palm.
He countered with a downward slash. The sword wasn't coated in elemental Qi—it was something else. A ripple passed through the beam—Void Arc—disrupting it like wind slicing smoke.
They clashed in close quarters now. Fist against blade. Heat against stillness.
Alenya used momentum, jumping off an illusory wall, flipping over him, leaving a trail of fire in the air—
He anticipated it.
She felt the flat of his blade slap against her ribs before she even landed.
She growled. Spun.
He blocked again.
Kaela leaned forward. "He's not even using power—just form."
"Void Sword users don't overwhelm," Vess muttered. "They exhaust you. He's pulling her into a rhythm."
Alenya knew it too.
She backed off, panting slightly, heat waves distorting the air around her. Her arms glowed red now—too much Qi channeled too fast.
"Fine," she hissed.
She dropped into her Starvein Stance—the ground beneath her cracking, flames coiling like a dragon behind her.
"Starheart Ignition."
Her body ignited in a burst of radiant fire. Every strike became an explosion.
Rhain's sword blurred. Not fast—but decisive. He dodged left, parried down, glided backward like a leaf on the wind. For every ten of her strikes, only one came close.
And that was the difference.
She aimed a blow at his throat—he ducked.
She followed with a spinning flame sweep—he jumped.
She flared her Qi for one final gambit—Starfall Crush—aimed directly at his chest.
Rhain let her come.
And in the last moment, as the flame hit, his sword flicked—precise, impossibly clean—and tapped the side of her neck.
The simulation froze.
A flashing marker labeled Strike Registered: Lethal.
Alenya dropped to one knee.
The ring dissolved.
Rhain stood, calm, silent.
Kaela let out a low whistle. "Hot damn."
Alenya wiped her brow, breathing hard. "You know... I think I like you."
Rhain finally spoke. "You're strong. You just need to get out of your head more."
Alenya laughed. "That was a good fight, next time, it won't be so easy."
He almost smiled.
Vess stood and clapped. "Alright, pay up, everyone!"
The twins groaned in unison. Boro handed Zii a sticky nutrient bar with a theatrical sigh.
"You win. Again."
Zii bit into it with smug satisfaction. "Victory tastes like overprocessed citrus."
Back in their room, the tension had changed. Not wariness—respect. The kind forged in blood and sweat.
"You know... maybe we won't all kill each other before we get to Xelthora." Kaela smirked.
Alenya lay back in her bunk, arms behind her head, still glowing faintly from the match.
"He's good," she muttered.
Kaela raised an eyebrow. "Better than you?"
Alenya grinned. "Not for long."