The fight dragged on longer than Rhian expected.
He couldn’t get the upper hand, not once. Every move he made, Nia had a faster one waiting.
When he closed in, she slipped away or punished him with those sparks. When he stayed back, she fired bolts that forced him to move.
And dodging them wasn’t easy.
The bolts weren’t wide or loud. They ca in short bursts, fast and targeted, always from a different angle.
Sotis it was her hand. Other tis it sparked off her shoulder or even her leg. She didn’t need ti to build up energy. She just moved, and it ca.
Rhian lunged forward again, trying to break the rhythm. He stepped to the side mid-dash and aid a sharp strike at her waist, but she dipped low and caught his arm.
He braced, expecting another shock, and sure enough, it hit.
The current jumped into his ribs. His muscles clenched tight. It wasn’t enough to drop him, but it made his next strike useless. He pulled back and reset his footing.
His breath ca harder now. Not because he was tired, but because she wasn’t slowing down.
He circled, eyes locked on her. She wasn’t even sweating.
His own body had started adapting. The more he moved, the more stable he felt. The pain faded faster.
His muscles felt tighter, more responsive. But none of it was helping him close the gap.
Nia stood with her arms slightly raised, loose and ready. Sparks crackled across her skin every few seconds, uncontrolled in appearance, but sohow never wasted.
Rhian rushed again, forcing himself to keep pushing. But the result was the sa.
She dodged, countered, or stunned him. Again and again.
And every ti he thought he caught her pattern, she changed it.
Rhian felt like this could go on forever.
And the worst part, she didn’t even look tired.
She wasn’t panting. She hadn’t slowed down. Her hair wasn’t even that ssy. The sparks still rolled across her arms like she was just warming up.
He stepped back, lifted both hands, and exhaled.
"Okay... okay."
Nia slowed to a stop, grinning.
Rhian shook his head. "You win. No sha in admitting it. But I still want to know."
She raised an eyebrow, arms relaxing at her sides. "Seems you owe one."
He walked up to her, not trying to hide the fact that he was still catching his breath. His eyes moved, taking her in fully now. She stood still, letting him look.
He stepped closer, reaching out without hesitation.
His hand rested briefly against her side, sliding across the faint outline of sparks still dancing on her skin. She didn’t flinch. The electricity buzzed under his touch warm, steady, controlled.
It wasn’t just power. It was part of her now.
"You’re not the sa," he said quietly.
Nia tilted her head slightly, watching him. "Neither are you."
But she still didn’t explain.
Rhian nodded, his tone calm. "Very strong, I see..."
Nia gave a small shrug, but her smirk stayed.
He looked at her for a second longer, then added, "If you don’t mind asking... why were you ignoring ?"
That wiped the grin off her face.
She coughed once, looked off to the side, then scratched her cheek as if sothing on the wall had suddenly beco interesting.
"Ah... well," she said, clearly stalling. "You know, I’ve been training. Things got busy."
Rhian raised an eyebrow. "For three days?"
She didn’t answer imdiately.
He crossed his arms.
Nia let out a breath. "Fine. I wasn’t sure how to talk to you, okay? Things were weird after the trial. I thought you might’ve figured sothing out... about ."
Rhian didn’t respond at first.
He just watched her.
Rhian nodded slowly. He didn’t want to push her further. Maybe that loss to Justin had hit her harder than he realized. She never said much about it, but he rembered how quiet she’d been after.
He let it go.
He leaned back a little and exhaled. "So... what’s the favor you’re going to ask for?"
Nia paused, then gave him a small shrug. "I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I think about it."
Rhian narrowed his eyes, amused. "Mmh. Mysterious much?"
She smiled, walking past him toward her bag. "Lady’s gotta keep her secrets."
He watched her for a mont, then smirked.
She was back to being Nia again, but sothing underneath had changed, and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to notice or not.
Nia turned to face him again, her expression softer now.
"Anyway... you should’ve ranked up by now." Her tone wasn’t teasing. She sounded genuinely concerned.
Rhian waved it off with a small gesture. "Don’t worry about it. I think I’ve finally figured out why it’s been held back."
She tilted her head slightly. "Oh?"
He gave her a look and smirked. "Gentleman’s gotta keep his secrets."
She narrowed her eyes, catching the throwback to her own words.
"Cute," she muttered.
Rhian chuckled, then glanced at the burn marks still faintly glowing on the dummy behind her. "But seriously... thanks for the fight."
"Anyti," she said. "I don’t pull punches."
"Yeah," he muttered, flexing his shoulder. "Noticed."
Rhian stepped toward the door, stretching his arm a bit as he moved.
"By the way," he said casually, "have you been keeping up with what’s happening in the city? The news says it’s getting bad."
Nia nodded, her expression shifting. "Yeah... I’ve seen it. There’s a lot of tension between evolved and the governnt. Protests, raids, curfews. So places are on lockdown already."
Rhian went quiet.
He looked away, jaw tightening slightly.
Truthfully, he didn’t care.
Whatever civil conflict was brewing between the factions, he had no intention of getting involved. He wasn’t looking to pick a side, or throw himself into so war he didn’t believe in.
His problems were personal. Focused.
That ss in the city wasn’t his fight.
But even as he told himself it wasn’t his concern, Rhian knew that stance wasn’t set in stone.
He could ignore the protests, the raids, the politics. He could keep walking past it like it had nothing to do with him.
But if soone he cared about got pulled into it, if Nia, Ash,(Aras and Iris) or even the Doctor ended up on the wrong side of a crackdown, he knew he wouldn’t stay out of it for long.
He might not choose a side now, but if the people he loved were ever put at risk, choice wouldn’t matter. He’d be in it. Whether he wanted to or not.
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