They fought for hours.
Not to kill Lee held back, always holding back, trying to find the opening that would let him reach Inyocha's heart. And Inyocha... Inyocha fought like a man who wanted to be stopped. His attacks were powerful but sloppy, desperate, full of openings that a true killer would have exploited.
"Why are you doing this?" Lee demanded, parrying a strike that would have taken his head off. "Why are you building this engine? Why are you hurting these people?"
"Because I have to!" Inyocha shouted, shadows swirling around his fists. "Because the world is ending, and someone has to be strong enough to survive it!"
"The world isn't ending! The Sleeper is still asleep! We have time "
"We don't have time!" Inyocha's voice cracked. "You don't understand, Lee. You don't know what I've seen. What's coming. The things that live beyond the stars, the things that have been watching this world for millennia, waiting for it to weaken. They're almost here. And when they arrive, light won't save you. Friendship won't save you. The only thing that will save you is power. Raw, absolute, unlimited power."
"What have you seen?" Lee asked. "Inyocha, what did you see?"
Inyocha's eyes went distant. For a moment, he looked like the twelve year old boy Lee had met in the Sunken City scared and alone and desperate for someone to understand.
"I saw the end," he whispered. "I saw the stars go out. I saw the gods die. I saw everything turn to nothing, and I saw the nothing smile."
He attacked again faster this time, more focused. Lee barely dodged, the shadows grazing his cheek, leaving a burning cut.
"I'm not going to let that happen," Inyocha said. "I'm going to build a world that can survive. A world of shadows and strength, where the weak are consumed and the strong endure. It won't be kind. It won't be fair. But it will exist. And existence is all that matters in the end."
"That's not true," Lee said. "What matters is how we exist. What matters is the people we love and the bonds we share. What matters is "
"Love?" Inyocha laughed. "Bonds? You think those things matter when the stars are dying? You think the gods care about your feelings?"
"I don't care about the gods," Lee said. "I care about you."
He stopped fighting.
He lowered his sword.
He stood there, defenseless, in front of the most dangerous person in the world.
"Lee, what are you doing?" Kira screamed from the tower's entrance. "He'll kill you!"
"No," Lee said, his eyes locked on Inyocha. "He won't."
Inyocha's hand was raised, shadows gathering around his palm, ready to strike. His red eyes burned with rage and confusion and something that might have been fear.
"Why won't you fight me?" Inyocha demanded.
"Because you're my brother," Lee said. "And I don't fight my family."
"You don't know me. You don't know what I've done."
"Then tell me. Show me. Let me understand."
Inyocha's hand trembled. The shadows around his palm flickered and faded.
"I've killed thousands," he said. "Maybe tens of thousands. I've drained their souls. I've turned their bodies into puppets. I've done things that would make the demons themselves vomit."
"I know," Lee said.
"And you still want to save me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lee smiled that open, friendly smile that had disarmed so many enemies over the years.
"Because everyone deserves a chance," he said. "Even the ones who don't think they do."
Inyocha stared at him.
The shadows around his hand went out completely.
And for the first time in three years, Inyocha Han cried.