"Standing here, I realize
You were just like me, trying to make history
But who's to judge the right from wrong?
When our guard is down, I think we'll both agree
That violence breeds violence
But in the end, it has to be this way..."

Battle Theme

Cast- Arceia, June (SPRP versions)

Setting- deserted wasteland

Words- 7116 between all endings

(( READER DISCRETION ADVISED: VIOLENT CONTENT ))

"I've followed my path, while you followed your wrath
But maybe we're both the same
The world has turned, and there's so many to burn
But nobody else to blame
Staring across this barren, wasted land
I feel the light will be born beneath the blood stained sand..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIS TOTALLY IS CANON. BEAR WITH ME, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arceia's Morning


The agreed upon date had finally arrived. Arceia smiled, almost wickedly. as she rose to her feet. The clock stopped its obnoxious sounds as she clicked it to OFF and began the preparations. Today would change everything, so she had to get the part right. This required an entire day of preparation, so she rose at an early 5AM. Moving over to her closet, she grabbed a favorite outfit of hers- A black skirt that offered for much flexibility, a white blouse with a yellow tie, and to replace her glasses, her purple contact lenses. Her hair was allowed to simply hang freely for now. The shoes she picked were actually combat boots, specifically bought for this.

"It's time Sam." she said softly, as if not wanting a response.

Warming up a healthy plate of eggs and red wine, the woman contemplated the day to come. Here she was, a mere 18 years old, about to do such a thing. All in the name of revenge.

June's Morning


There was no alarm. Rather, June lazily came to around 8AM, stretching and yawning carelessly. She was there, in Astraea Hill, where she had always been. Two years now, and not a single friend made. She wasn't doing so well, but this was all about to change. After today, there wouldn't be a need for such trivial things anymore. June was certain her cousin knew what was coming as well, and both of them would surely never be the same again. In that way, they were slightly similar-- but on that level only. Oh, how June hated that raveness. They were such bitter enemies that it had almost come to blows at a family reunion recently.

Almost.

Her choice for clothing was just her school uniform. She could move about easier that way, after all- it was pretty flexible as it was, so there was no need to prepare a special outfit. What she did change however, was the size of her cargo. Her usual schoolbag was replaced with a large guitar case, and it was perfect for her. A nice black finish, with silver sealing, and a decorative scarab for a buckle.

Completely skipping breakfast, she headed out and decided to enjoy a day in town before the main event.

Mid Day


Arceia made her preparations carefully. Every detail was calculated- just another number and nothing more. No emotion could go into this at all. This was strictly business. Her silly notion of revenge this morning was a tired delusion... Yes, that was it.

Without a moment to lose, she departed the small apartment, taking a moment to visualize every last detail of the inner sanctum she called her room. The picture of Chiyo on her wall, the stack of paperwork on her desk, which had one of those lamps with the poseable head pointed at the top drawer. It was open, and in it, she could see an old photo depicting her as a child. She had a stick in hand, and seemed a bit too happy for one her age- especially considering she seemed to have some mud or dirt on her face. It was a black and white picture so it was rather hard to tell exactly what the substance was, but she was very happy.

That's when she got the phone call.

"Good, you're up." Arceia joked. "I was worried for a minute. Have you started taking care of the basics?"

"Obviously. I started hours ago!" replied June. An obvious lie, and one that Arceia chuckled at. An unusual, deeper one.

"Good, good. I'll wrap up myself. How's the location?"

"As barren and dead as the last time we were there."

"Perfect. I'll pick you up at 5."

"Fine by me. Later."

Click.

Taking in a deep breath, Arceia gave one last look to the room and closed the door.

June hung her phone up, and tugged her guitar case along as she proceeded through campus. The two would have some people to speak to.

Goodbyes


Kendall sat calmly in her room, sipping some tea she had received from Asami in the mail. All was well, except when June arrived. It was a rather sudden knock, especially when one could not even anticipate it for any reason. However, when June called out, Kendall happily announced that the door was unlocked. The June that arrived had a smell about her though- one of a potent mixture. Something of a blend between charcoal and perfume.

"June, where have you been? You smell like a mineshaft!" she joked.

"I was getting Torrent."

The teacup hit the floor with a crack, spilling whatever was left over into an untidy pile of ceramic shards and warm fluid.

"W-why? You have no need for that thing!"

"Look, I can't really go into detail, but I'm going out to test it for a while later tonight. i wanted to come by and apologize for not being able to escort you to the picnic like you wanted."

That's right, today was Valentine's Day.

"Test it? What would you ever need to test it for?!" Kendall was almost in hysterics. She was a little too aware of what Torrent was and the last time June had it.

"Arcy and I are doing a little--"

"No, please... Don't do this." Kendall made the best attempt she had at hugging June from her voice alone, but when her arms reached out, all she'd felt was a large black case. Her fears gripped at her and she backed away, shaking.

"Y-you can't... I love you both..."

"Love you too Ken, but this has to go down. I can't let this go until we get this out of the way. And if we both come back--"

"If?!"

"-- Maybe this'll even put all this crap to rest. Please don't cry."

It was a bit late for that. So, seeing familiar blue hair approach the dorm room, June backed away and ran. She couldn't stay too long and risk Kendall telling somebody before Arceia picked her up.

Arceia said no goodbyes. She simply left her room mate a note.

"Gone to settle the score. Don't save me dinner."

Meeting


It was 5 on the dot that Arceia met June at a local cafe. June was just finishing a smoothie when she saw the car pull up- A nice, sporty little black thing, sunroof included. It had a purple interior LED setup, with the seats being almost the same black as the shell.

"You ready?"

"Let's roll." June threw her drink away, put the guitar case in the back seat, and got in. The girls eyed each other for a moment, before Arceia drove off. The ride was almost completely silent, right up until they left the city. Further away still, as they came to almost half an hour of silence- No music, no conversation, nothing. It took June a moment, but she made the first attempt at conversation.

"I remember this. We camped out here one year." she said.

"Yes, and it was fun. We should do it again sometime." replied Arceia, that same wicked smile from this morning coming to her. "What year was that? 2005?"

"Think so. Just us, good times."

"Good times indeed. My first actually."

"You too eh? No wonder I want to punch that pretty face of yours in."

"The pleasure's all mine, love."

The conversation became so systematic that it was hard to tell when one was insulting and the other was not. They almost began speaking over each other, casually discussing everything gruesome that they wanted of the other, until the site came into view. A forest cropped up into sight, and both of them took a deep breath.

"Looks good." Arceia remarked. "Almost good enough to make me wanna put this off."

"Almost." June nudged her. "But you know we can't."

"Right. No hard feelings."

The car stopped, and Arceia opened the trunk while June grabbed her guitar case. From the trunk, Arceia seemed to grab a camping chair's case and slung it over her shoulder. The two ventured into the forest together, leaving the car and the world behind.

Showdown


After a small hike, the sun had very clearly almost finished setting. The location was exactly as the two remembered it- A large clearing with a small, sandy spot right in the center where a campfire once rested. The trees did a good job of masking the area, and it was a good two miles or so into the forest anyway, so it would be silent out here.

"So, what'd you bring?" asked June.

Arceia took the case from her shoulder, and allowed it to slide off the item inside. The sun caught the steel of the scabbard perfectly, shining into the others' eyes. A very nice English longsword- pretty standard build, clean finish, but very clearly sharpened.

"Can't beat the classics right?" she mused. June nodded.

"Course. It's just like class all over again."

As June said this, she opened the guitar case. Inside it was a standard build Katana, which she unsheathed by flicking her arm forward, flinging the scabbard to the side.

"Yep, just like class. But, we have one addition." Arceia took a deep breath and, from the inside of the case that had fallen, she took out a small handgun.

"It isn't loaded, but there's one shot in the bag. I figure... If this gets too messy, neither of us deserves to suffer."

"A cadence of her last breath, hm? Devious as ever."

"I learned from the best."

There was a moment of silence, before June lowered her head.

"What are we doing, Arcy? Talking all pleasant like we aren't about to kill each other... We're monsters."

"You can stop hiding things around me you know. I thought we were closer than that." Arceia replied, that same smirk returning. It almost accompanied a giggle, but she held herself back. June's eyes widened, and she allowed herself a moment of pause to fully take in what the girl had said before nodding, and rubbing her face against her clothing.

A skin colored spot began to show on the sleeve as she did so to it, and where her once perfect, pale skin was, there now rested a deep scar trailing down her eye to her cheek.

"That's better. It makes you look so much hotter anyway." said Arceia, taking a step inward. "We should probably start this before I start the flirting though."

"R-right..." June took her blade into both hands, gripping it against her hip, facing behind her. Arceia grounded herself fairly well, her smirk cracking into a low giggle. From behind her bangs, her eyes were closed- She was imagining her movements.

As if on a simultaneous clock, they dashed forward in unison. June landed a strike to her foe's blade, easily sliding along the metallic surface until the crossguards met. That was their cue to step back and make a new move- Which Arceia did first. Her attack aimed at June's legs, in an odd slash which she expected to fail. When June caught the girl's blade against her own, it was the prime moment. The angle of the blades allowed Arceia to parry the block, sending June's weapon back. The next slash was aimed vertically at June's shoulder, to which the only thing that saved her was a quick sidestep, albeit very offbalance. She fell over, and Arceia shook her head.

"What's wrong?! You were so into it a minute ago!" she giggled out. Something was up- Something that nobody on campus would ever see. This was Arceia angry. It didn't happen often, and the last time it had, she had almost raped Chiyo, but that was still mild.

"What happened June? I thought this would be special! Our love dance!"

Another slash aimed vertically, which June managed to block from on her back and roll away.

"Don't you see? This is all we have! You and I, we're meant to be this way!"

Arceia's taunting was something June was rather used to. What Arceia wasn't expecting was a reply.

"Arcy... Stop this. You're not psyching me out this time." she began, again blocking an incoming blow from the girl.

"We both messed up last time. Nobody can deny that! But... Was it really this bad?"

June's guard was failing slowly and surely.

"Oh, it was great! You found all my sweet spots so quickly!" Arceia shot back. Whatever sanity was left, very clearly was gone. "So good in fact that I never wanted it to end. And then, just like that, it was morning and you were gone!"

"I..."

She was.

"I know. But we're family! Even if it's not by blood, what we did was wrong! I had to clear my head okay?"

By this point, the fight had devolved into Arceia knocking June's weapon from her hands, and June making the best attempts she could at dodging things. Eventually, Arceia caught the girl in a dodge, but just barely. The cut only sank into her arm, and it wasn't too terrible. Terrible enough for June to completely lose balance and fall over, clutching the wound, but that was all.

"You left me there! You rejected me and left me for dead after taking me!" despite how horrible the memory was, Arceia announced it with a giggle, placing her weapon to the side of the battlefield close to Junes. At that point, she kneeled down and took a closer look at the wound. The Lulim uniform stained with blood was sickening.

"And now you're insulting my life's work bleeding on my colors!"

A slap to June's face, followed by Arceia... Kissing the wound. Almost as if she enjoyed the metallic taste of the blood.

"I could've died. I could've gotten lost forever. I could've... I could've never gone on that trip and maybe I'd still have had my innocence to give to Chiyo!"

She kissed it again, sticking her tongue into it as if it was some kind of make-out session. June's pain kept her from reacting, except to kick the girl off of her. When Arceia came to look back to the girl, her face was covered in the blood. It looked strikingly familiar to the picture in her desk.

"Y-you... Y-you've become a monster..." June managed, clutching her arm. It was still bleeding, though less so- The cut was far less severe than the amount of initial bloodshed would have admitted.

"Me? ME?! The monster here is you!" Arceia shot back. She let her head sink, the hair that was once neat and organized completely messy-- The once so calm and quiet girl was a broken shell. So much for emotionless business.

"Who leaves their first lover alone in the forest, the morning after taking her innocence? Who tries to pretend it never happened for years? Who shows no apology over it or even attempts to make it right?!"

"A-arcy..."

Arceia punched the girl's stomach.

"Don't call me that! You don't have the right!"

June, kneeling over, caught eye of Arceia's blade behind her. While Arceia was continuing her angered speech, June began to think of how to get to it. It wouldn't be easy, but hopefully it would be enough. She heabutted Arceia, who tumbled backward, giving June enough time to make her way to the blade as best she could.

By the time she had it, she was down to one arm- the other one soaked in blood and generally hurt too much to use She was also very winded. But, she held the blade up to meet Arceia, who was by this point holding June's katana.

"This is it, isn't it? Apologizing now won't do me any good, and you won't think to accept an offer will you?" June said, between gasped breaths.

"Offer?" the raveness lowered the blade, but not without making sure she held the other one down with it. "What kind?"

"Simple..." June took the blade in her hand and gave it to Arceia.

"Your life was in danger because of me once. I know I screwed up. We both made some mistakes... But here... You can put my life in your hands."

She lifted her neck up, drawing a line across it with her thumb.

"Do it, if you really hate me so much. Just know, I treasured that night, I treasure you... And Kendall is expecting us both tonight for dinner."

At the mention of the girl, Arceia snapped back to reality a moment.

"She knows?"

"I made sure she did. I expected you'd gotten better than me, since I took more to fencing, so i wanted to make sure you remembered you and I have families back home... The same family matter of fact."

"Y-you're lying... Kendall wouldn't be able to handle knowing that. She'd have called me by now."

"On what?" June mused, her good hand going to Kendall's cell phone, which was in her own pocket.

"... You told her we were going to kill each other, and then stole her phone?"

"Yup."

"Just so I'd have nowhere to go home to if I did win."

"Bingo."

"And so that I had to admit defeat, in order to make sure the biggest crybaby in our family didn't grieve herself to death."

"Cool plan right?"

"... I admit defeat."

And that was when Chiyo woke up from her strange dream.

"Let me touch your skin
Let me see your eyes
You will taste this sweet pain
You will like to suffer for me"

ARCEIA THE RIPPER


"See the light in my eyes
Feel the razor blades on your skin
See your sparkling blood
Let me drink your life"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENDING 2- ARCEIA THE RIPPER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are we doing, Arcy? Talking all pleasant like we aren't about to kill each other... We're monsters."

"You can stop hiding things around me you know. I thought we were closer than that." Arceia replied, that same smirk returning. It almost accompanied a giggle, but she held herself back. June's eyes widened, and she allowed herself a moment of pause to fully take in what the girl had said before nodding, and rubbing her face against her clothing.

A skin colored spot began to show on the sleeve as she did so to it, and where her once perfect, pale skin was, there now rested a deep scar trailing down her eye to her cheek.

"That's better. It makes you look so much hotter anyway." said Arceia, taking a step inward. "We should probably start this before I start the flirting though."

"R-right..." June took her blade into both hands, gripping it against her hip, facing behind her. Arceia grounded herself fairly well, her smirk cracking into a low giggle. From behind her bangs, her eyes were closed- She was imagining her movements.

As if on a simultaneous clock, they dashed forward in unison. June landed a strike to her foe's blade, easily sliding along the metallic surface until the crossguards met. That was their cue to step back and make a new move-

A move that spelled almost instant victory.

Arceia took that time to stab directly forward, which caught June square in the abdomen. It wasn't on anything vital, but it definitely went all the way through. Tauntingly slowly, the ravenette kept pushing the blade further and further in, twisting it sharply as she did so every so often, until she was close enough to kiss June's lips. There was a long pause there, in which Arceia managed to break herself away from June and walk away slowly. June was standing, in severe pain, but making not a sound. She was a strong girl to be fighting back those screams so well, but Arceia wanted to hear them, and badly. She made her way slowly to the gun she had brought, and the ammo with it. A decent distance away, at that, giving enough space to fully appreciate that Arceia had a large red spot on her clothing from the wound she left on June, as well as a bloody hand.

"Well, this was no fun." mocked Arceia, taking the ammo in hand. "I was expecting more than this from the woman who I gave myself to. I'm the finest slice of meat you know, so only the finest can have me."

The gun was loaded, and the girl before her was now kneeling down, the sword supporting her in a most painful way, while she panted for breath. She knew what was coming--

"Seems you just need to know that I'm out of your league. Now how to teahc you?"

"Y-you... Bit--"

Bang.

...

June was alive. There was a bullet in her shoulder, but she lived on. And in that bang came a scream, which Arceia seemed to bask in.

"That's more like it. Good girl." Arceia made her way back over to the bleeding out cousin she loved, and picked her chin up. "Now, one last kiss for your lover before you take a nap?"

June spat blood at the girl, landing neatly against her cheek.

It was the last thing she ever did.

Several hours passed, Arceia not moving from the spot she was at, sitting upon what was once her cousin and contemplating her choice. Or rather, the lack thereof. She really wasn't in the right mind just then-- Well, no, she liked it, so maybe it was right.

"I see... So, this is what killing feels like." she spoke to herself. "Not bad."

Finally, she stood.

"I won't exactly be welcomed on campus anymore once word gets out, and I know for a fact that this is going to get linked to me somehow. I'm a bit stuck now."

Her motions were slow and smooth, picking up the body and slinging it in her arms bridal style.

"If I've done it once, I'm also likely to do it again." she smirked, looking down at the girl in her arms.

"The fear in her eyes... The sound of her lungs emptying for the last time... It was kind of beautiful. Not to mention, the way her body limply fell into my arms. How quickly the warmth drained.... It's rather interesting."

The dried blood from the conflict was not even remotely touched- She liked it there.

"I must investigate this further. I feel it's a part of me that I have been missing for far too long."

From that day on, news reports and Internet videos would talk of the mysterious "Arceia the Ripper" who would always leave a bloody kiss mark on her victim's necks as her calling card. The strange part was, when genetically tested, the blood was always the victim's own, and any tissue that might have been on the mark to figure out who she was, seemed to also be of the victim- As if they kissed their own necks with their own blood. The details of how this is possible, the media would like to omit.

Chiyo knows though. She saw the death of the young June Kohma vividly in her nightmares. A sight rivaling this would surely drive any person mad, no?

"Heart in my mouth
My head in the clouds
I can feel it rising
Bound to the Earth
We could ascend
I'm realizing"

JUNE THE IRON FIST


"The air is electric
It heightens the senses
I can feel it charging
I'll never forget it
We're transcending
And I know it's starting"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENDING 3- JUNE THE IRON FIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are we doing, Arcy? Talking all pleasant like we aren't about to kill each other... We're monsters."

"You can stop hiding things around me you know. I thought we were closer than that." Arceia replied, that same smirk returning. It almost accompanied a giggle, but she held herself back. June's eyes widened, and she allowed herself a moment of pause to fully take in what the girl had said before nodding, and rubbing her face against her clothing.

A skin colored spot began to show on the sleeve as she did so to it, and where her once perfect, pale skin was, there now rested a deep scar trailing down her eye to her cheek.

"That's better. It makes you look so much hotter anyway." said Arceia, taking a step inward. "We should probably start this before I start the flirting though."

"R-right..." June took her blade into both hands, gripping it against her hip, facing behind her. Arceia grounded herself fairly well, her smirk cracking into a low giggle. From behind her bangs, her eyes were closed- She was imagining her movements.

As if on a simultaneous clock, they dashed forward in unison. June landed a strike to her foe's blade, easily sliding along the metallic surface until the crossguards met. That was their cue to step back and make a new move-

June managed to summon enough willpower to kick straight ahead, rather than slash. The blade in Arceia's hand was sent back a bit, out of her reach.

"Sorry, but this is my turf now." she declared, tossing her own blade behind her and readying a stance once again. This time, her arms went up as if boxing, yet her legs continued to move about, dancing against the ground. A hand ghosted to her nose, and flicked it tauntingly. She was keeping very light on her feet- A martial artist of her caliber knew to do so- Imagine yourself levitating.

"Won't do any good if this ends too quick now will it?"

Arciea took a second to think, and finally shrugged, readying herself by stretching one leg behind her, and crouching slightly. Her stance rivaled that of a certain famous orange gi wearing warrior.

"This is a bit cruel, for you, Juney." she mocked.

"Y'know what? Screw this revenge business. I just wanna kick your bottom."

A kick to the chest sent Arceia back- But not before a drop to the ground and a bit of a roll. That was one Hell of a kick! As she began recovering, June was visibly tossing Arceia's removed blade over near her own.

"No cheating now, child." said the 'demon' as she was called sometimes. Those eyes and that hair just shouted demon to some, she guessed.

"And now I must remind YOU of what 'they' say, honey." Arciea made her stance again, this time adjusting her back leg slightly. It was more wound up, like she was about to dash forward.

"Children are cruel."

And on that, she did dash forward- Straight into a clothseline which June blocked with her forearm. There was a knee thrust into June's abdomen, and then another.

"And I'm VERY in touch with my inner child."

A headbutt to send June back a few paces. With the opening, Arceia threw a punch into June;s gut, then an elbow against her back, and finally threw the girl against the ground. June was a quick one to recover though, her sheer athletic build used to such abuse. She stood almost instantly, wincing a bit but otherwise fine, and readied her stance again. This time, she punched forward- One high and one low, which Arceia did not see. It caught her stomach, and when she-who was physically far weaker- had to lurch over in pain, June lifted her leg above her head, and straightened it out before dropping down a loud axe kick against Arceia's back. She almost bounced off the ground from the snap of this kick. Instead though, her face was buried in the dirt, and June backed up.

"Show me a good time, Arcy!" she beckoned, clapping her hands as if to call a dog to her. "Now this is a fight!"

Arceia was pretty much down for the count already, but that was a given. Her body was far less muscular, and as if that wasn't emphasized enough, June sat down and started to pat the girl on the head- Not mockingly, but more in victorious sympathy.

"You cooled down yet? C'mon Arcy, let's not drag this out any more. I wanna kick your bottom, not kill you."

Arciea rolled over and grabbed June's arm.

"You... You're not pitying me!"

That little act of pity must have been what Arceia needed to gain her strength back, because she dug her hand into June;s clothes enough to rip the jacket from her body and then kicked herself up. She was definitely breathing hard, but she was on her feet. Under June's jacket was just a black blouse with some cyan trimming. It didn't fit with her uniform at all, which is probably why she was wearing her jacket over it.

"Some fight left in you, huh? Alright."

June took Arceia's obvious trap with ease- She overpowered the incoming attack and grabbed Arceia's hand, squeezing it as hard as she could while pulling the girl backwards into herself. It was an old martial arts trick- Use the enemy's force against them by pushing and pulling them along. Once Arceia lost her balance, June gave her a sharp knee to the gut as if to repay the one she had been given, and then flung the girl behind her.

"Come on, don;t drag this out any more!" June called, catching Arceia before she fell and pinning her to a tree.

"Don't make me hurt you any more, Arcy..."

Arceia took a glimpse at her abdomen to see the red spot behind her blouse- It was blood. her blood. Not a lot, but it was there. She also noticed it coming down her cheek and her forehead- She was messed up, and bad. June's lucky shot at the beginning turned this entire thing around.

June, not getting an answer at first, pushed Arceia more firmly against the tree before backing up. She wound up a kick and planted it firmly into Arceia's chest, which actually managed to break some bark behind the girl.

"Blood..." muttered the wounded Arceia. "My blood... I never noticed it sparkle like that..."

"Come again now?" asked June.

"Yes... More."

"Say... What?"

"Make me bleed more!"

So, she was going crazy. probably from the wounds. Maybe she had a concussion Her head was a sensitive spot after all. June decided to end this fight here, and end it quick. She walked over to the swords, and took them both- then used them to pin Arceia's clothing to the tree. She herself was probably too wounded to pry herself off now anyway. A stabbed sword against each side of the tree, with the ravenette's arms bent around it backwards.

"Alright, psycho. Enough. I've won."

"I don't care about that anymore." said Arceia. "You won the moment I lost my weapon. I just want to see more blood."

"Y-you're... Unwell. I can't return you to the public in this condition."

"What will you do then? Kill me?"

And so, June turned herself into the police for murder that afternoon. But not before several hours of sobbing, and painstakingly digging a grave for her cousin with her bare hands.

Boy Chiyo, you sure have some weird dreams.

"Don't walk away
And leave me without a reason
When there's too much to say
That hasn't been said
I know I was wrong
And I'm sorry for making the same mistakes
Don't walk away"

RECONCILIATION

"Can you really throw away
All the times that we've recovered
One another
And I know I make it hard
But how long should I pay for being
Unappealing"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENDING 4- RECONCILIATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are we doing, Arcy? Talking all pleasant like we aren't about to kill each other... We're monsters."

"You can stop hiding things around me you know. I thought we were closer than that." Arceia replied, that same smirk returning. It almost accompanied a giggle, but she held herself back. June's eyes widened, and she allowed herself a moment of pause to fully take in what the girl had said before nodding, and rubbing her face against her clothing.

A skin colored spot began to show on the sleeve as she did so to it, and where her once perfect, pale skin was, there now rested a deep scar trailing down her eye to her cheek.

"That's better. It makes you look so much hotter anyway." said Arceia, taking a step inward. "We should probably start this before I start the flirting though."

"R-right..." June took her blade into both hands, gripping it against her hip, facing behind her. Arceia grounded herself fairly well, her smirk cracking into a low giggle. From behind her bangs, her eyes were closed- She was imagining her movements.

As if on a simultaneous clock, they dashed forward in unison. June landed a strike to her foe's blade, easily sliding along the metallic surface until the crossguards met. That was their cue to step back and make a new move-

There was a loud crash, the sound of both blades colliding repeatedly at a quick pace. Several times, the girls matched each other move for move, dodging and parrying each other with relative ease- It was looking to be a dead even battle. Nobody was giving way, and neither girl seemed to be able to get a shot in at the other at all. Surely, eventually, one of them would cave... Right?

Two hours later, when neither of them had, it was looking to be something that simply could not end. Arceia was more winded than her opponent, but that didn't mean June wasn't tired as well. Still, each time they made a move, the adrenaline from their hatred of each other pushed them to give it their all.

"Not... Bad." June commented, her blade dropping to the ground below. She was using it to support herself at this point- Much like her opponent was doing.

"You too..." replied Arceia, her eyes shifting to the blade in her hands. It was dented and imperfect now- This match had taken quite the toll on the weapons of both girls, it seemed. They both started to laugh a little.

"What the Hell are we doing?" asked Arceia. "We're idiots."

"You noticed?" replied June. "But hey, it's a good workout right?"

"Yeah..."

A long pause followed the banter, in which both girls finaly took note of the night as it had finally fallen. The stars were bright- very bright. The moon too, which was full this night. It was lit enough that they could see each other vividly, the weapons in each other's hands glowed against the moon's light.

"Give you one thing, Arcy, you're more durable than I expected."

"Heh..." Arceia managed to stand. "Where do you think I got that from, hm?"

June stood as well. Both allowed their weapons to fall to the ground below them, and started slowly-and exhaustingly- approaching each other.

"So, is this a draw?"

"Looks like it," June replied "Shame we didn't get to settle anything."

"I think we did though."

"How d'you figure?"

Arceia took a hand to the sky, and stared up at the moon.

"Take a look, June. It's just like that night. But this time... You're still here."

A moment's silence.

"I suppose I am... I'm sorry Arceia-chan. What I did was just..."

"No. Stop right there." Arceia returned her gaze to the white haired girl before her. It seemed she had finally cooled down, after all. Any hints of that crazed girl from before seemed to have vanished. "I don't want an apology. I just want an explanation."

"Right..." June sighed. "You always were one for the details."

"Right."

"Okay, then." June took a step further, and lost her balance. She wanted to approach Arceia and hold the girl- To make sure sure knew that June was never mad. It didn't work out, though, so she decided to stay on one knee, head facing the ground.

"We were... Not all there that night. Even you can't deny the heat of the moment took over." she began, her hand clenching into a fist. "When I finally came off cloud nine, I realized how badly I'd just screwed us up. I knew I couldn't face you again as anything you'd want."

"But--"

"Let me finish." June hit the ground, hard, with her fist. She was now on both knees, her hands balled against the ground. She looked like she was ready to bow down to an emperor or something.

"I wanted to be your friend still! I... I didn't want to lose what we had already! But I also didn't want to give up what we had just made, either... I was torn, and being around you wasn't helping me choose properly. I had to get away for a little bit. Clear my head..."

"And that took all night?"

"Yeah... Well, no. I just got lost, myself. You think this is my only scar?"

At this, Arceia took a step down, putting a hand to June's shoulder.

"You... Got lost in the forest? Overnight?"

"Yeah. And while trying to find my way back, I... Kind of got attacked."

"By what?!"

June managed a small laugh.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. But there's a reason I don't run track, Arcy."

"So that's why you..."

"Why I'm always in stockings. yeah."

"... Can I see it?" Arceia asked. June's head finally raised, in her eyes there were clear signs that she had been crying. Quietly, but surely crying. June was a prideful one- She wouldn't let anybody see her do this if she didn't love them. This was information not lost to the ravenette before her, too- And it sank in pretty strongly. June cared. All this time...

"Sure..."

As she spoke, June rolled down the stocking on her left leg. It was hard to see from the angle, but her outer thigh had a nasty, red gash down it- One that looked like it never healed properly. It ran down her leg, and seemed to continue beyond the stocking as well. It was pretty big, too big to be from any animal... And then Arceia noticed it was actually three scars that were just very close together. A claw, if she had ever seen one.

"What did this to you?"

"I told you, don't worry--"

"Why didn't you shout?! I could have come to help you, dammit!"

"I didn't want to put you in danger too. This way, if I went down, it would only be me."

Arceia's hand had ghosted to the scar, running along it softly. It felt rough, and elevated from the rest of the skin. it was clear that surgery was needed to patch this up. And she got it because she was protecting Arceia...

The ravenette held back no longer, and pulled June into a sobbing embrace. All the rage that had been held for so long, and she hadn't even known that June was in danger that night. Danger because of Arceia... If she had never allowed June to get so far with her, or if they had never gone out that night...

"This is my fault." she finally managed.

"No. Arcy, never think this was your fault. I got lost. I chose to fight it instead of run. I chose not to call for help. It was all my stupidity."

"But if I hadn't set up this trip--"

"No what ifs, Arcy. Please... We can't dwell on those. What happened is done with. We have to live with that. No matter how painful it is, we have to remember that it's a part of us."

"Part of us... Yeah..."

"A part that I wouldn't trade for the world, wildcat attack or no... Oops."

"You... Fought off a wildcat? At that age?"

"I've been training my whole life, Arcy."

"What kind?"

"Just a panther..."

"Panthers are black. You fought off a black wildcat, in the middle of the night, at that age, by yourself?"

"I... Yeah."

Arceia helped June stand up, and offered another hug.

"I'm the real idiot here, then. Please... Forgive me."

June accepted the hug warmly.

"You never needed to be forgiven. I was the idiot."

"We're not having this argument. Let's just admit we're both stupid and make up for lost time."

June smiled, and began to run her hands down Arceia's back, as if to comfort the girl who she knew was inevitably about to break down again.

"Anything to have my Arc-Nyan back. But I promise I won't get in between you and Chiyo."

"Thank you... I'm gonna propose, you know. I'm sorry I can't be there for you in that way, but..." her voice broke again. The tears came back. "At least take me back as a friend."

"Of course. Now, let's go see Kendall. She's expecting us."