[Note- I did not realize that I gave both Evelyn and Lucille the same name- Evelyne is actually Sylraen. Hope you enjoy your day.]
What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training or something?" Lucy asked without turning her head, thumbs flying across the controller.
Caelen stood in the doorway with a smirk. "You threw down a challenge, didn't you? I figured I'd come to collect my victory."
She made a faint scoffing noise and kept playing. Her character — the scythe-wielding woman dressed in ragged battle robes — was currently annihilating a heavily-armored soldier, not letting his feet touch the ground with a relentless aerial combo.
Caelen stepped closer and watched the chaos unfold. The scythe spun like a whip, tearing the enemy apart in fluid animations. "You know," he said, "I might actually be scared now."
"You should be." She landed the final hit, sending the poor soldier crashing into a wall of flame. The screen faded to black. LORA WINS glowed across the top.
Caelen raised a brow. "Fine. Time for my turn." He grabbed the second controller and sat beside her, leaning forward like he was about to take a math exam.
Lucy barely gave him a glance before flipping the game into versus mode. "Just try to survive."
She stayed with her main, of course. Caelen scrolled through the characters and picked a masked warrior with a massive spear.
Emma walked into the room mid-match and sat cross-legged nearby. "Ooh, is this the challenge?"
Caelen didn't answer. He was too focused — and it didn't help. Within thirty seconds, his character was getting juggled like a hacky sack. Lucy didn't even need to dodge much. She just punished every mistake, her chain-scythe dragging him back into hit-stun every time he tried to breathe.
"KO," the screen declared.
Caelen just stared at it.
Lucy didn't say anything. She just gave a tiny shrug, like she expected that.
"Again," he said.
They went again.
And again.
And again.
Emma watched it all, occasionally giggling when Caelen lost too quickly or leaned in too hard like it would help him play better.
But something shifted. Caelen wasn't just playing anymore — he was studying. Between matches, he started switching characters. A fast bruiser. A zoning type. A teleporting assassin. He wasn't playing the way most people did. He was testing.
Lucy noticed. She didn't say anything, but her eyes flicked to his controller when he input odd movements. He was clearly trying to figure out her spacing, her startup windows, how long it took for her recovery frames to end. He was learning the rules of her battlefield.
"New main again?" Emma asked after he picked a character with a hood and dual daggers.
"Not yet. Just running diagnostics," Caelen said.
The next round lasted almost a full minute. Progress.
In between sets, he stretched his fingers and cracked his neck. "You got nerves of steel. It's like playing a machine."
Lucy blinked at that, then gave the faintest smile. "Machines don't improvise."
He paused. "…Yeah. That's true."
As the evening wore on, the tone shifted. What started as a domination turned into something more playful. Caelen didn't trash talk. He didn't pout when he lost. He kept adapting — not to win, but to get better. And slowly, Lucy began to enjoy the matches differently. She didn't loosen up completely, but her combo choices became more stylish. Less efficient. She was showing off a bit.
Emma leaned her head on her arm, watching them both. She didn't interrupt. Just enjoyed the weird connection forming.
Once the matches took a break, Caelen stood and rotated his wrist. "Alright. Let's try something real."
"You're training now?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.
"Sort of," Caelen replied. "Just the basics. I figured out how to feel the energy already. Now I'm trying to detect it and let it come out naturally."
Lucy didn't give a formal lesson this time. She just stood with him outside, hands in her pockets, and watched. He focused his breath, concentrated, then tried to recreate that snap of energy he felt before.
After a few tries, faint sparks danced between his fingers, then faded. No lightning bolt this time, but it was progress.
"Better than earlier," Lucy said simply.
"I'll take it," Caelen replied, wiping his brow. "Not bad for someone getting destroyed for the last hour straight."
"You're adapting. I'm surprised," she added.
He grinned. "Thanks, I think?"
They walked back inside. Emma was already bringing out juice, and the three sat on the floor, leaning against the couch while the game music played softly in the background.
Lucy leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a second. The house was quiet, the moment strangely peaceful.
"You gonna pick a main soon?" she asked without opening her eyes.
"I think I already did," Caelen said. "I've just been testing your defenses."
She cracked an eye open. "Oh?"
He picked up the controller. "Next time, you won't know what hit you."
Emma giggled, sipping her drink. "I give you two days before she wipes the floor with you again."
"Hey, let me dream," Caelen said, nudging her with his foot.
As another night wore on, they played a few more rounds. And in between the games, Caelen kept refining that lightning, just small sparks, testing when he could release it with control rather than impulse or fluke. He didn't get flashy results yet, but his confidence grew.
Later that evening, Lucy quietly stood up and stretched. "I'm heading out."
They looked at her.
"You're not gonna stay a bit longer?" Emma asked.
Lucy looked at them both, Caelen's relaxed grin, Emma's warmth, the sound of the game still humming behind them.
"…I'll stay next time," she muttered and turned quickly, walking out the door.
Emma watched her go. Caelen looked down at the controller.
"She's weird," he said.
"She's learning," Emma replied.
-
"What the hell are you doing? Just stop moving around already!" Lucy shouted, voice strained with frustration as she whipped her scythe in wild arcs. The sharp black chains sliced the air again and again—but they caught nothing.
Across the screen, Caelen's pink-gloved character—a girl in karate gi and twin buns—kept super-jumping around like a grasshopper on caffeine. Her momentum was impossible to track, and each time she landed, she slipped in a jab or kick before bouncing away again.
Caelen was laughing the entire time.
"Finally! Luck is on my side!" he howled, grinning like a child who found a cheat code. "You mad? You look mad. Don't lose that face—frame it. I wanna screenshot it!"
"Shut. Up." Lucy growled, her cheeks flushing red, not just from irritation, but possibly embarrassment. She gritted her teeth and tried to bait him in, but every time her scythe landed, Caelen's character bounced right back, chipping away at her health bar like a pest.
Then—snap.
Caelen saw the tiniest opening—Lucy missed a forward input—and struck.
With precise timing, he triggered the girl's special move. His character dashed in, ducked under the scythe, and grabbed Lucy's character by the leg. There was a slow-motion pause, a satisfying beat, and then the pink-gloved girl spun the scythe-wielder overhead and smashed her into the floor like a ragdoll. Sparks and light burst from the screen as she leapt into the air, charged her fist with glowing pink energy, and drove it down onto Lucy's stunned avatar.
K.O.
The arena fell silent. The screen flashed Victory in big, bold letters over Caelen's side.
Caelen stood up slowly, arms raised like a conquering champion. "FINALLY! Witness the birth of a legend!"
He puffed out his chest and put on a ridiculously deep, heroic voice. "Our battle was fierce, warrior… but only one of us walks away!"
Lucy blinked at the screen. Her hands loosened around the controller. Her character's broken frame flickered and vanished.
"…Why was that so fun?" she muttered. Her voice was quiet, almost confused. "Is this what normal feels like?"
Then, without really thinking about it, she reached over and grabbed Caelen's hand. Her fingers wrapped around his, not tight, but curious, like testing if something solid was really there.
"You'll pay for this," she said in a low, defeated voice, mimicking his exaggerated tone.
Caelen raised an eyebrow—and then burst into laughter.
That was the final straw. Lucy's face turned red.
"Oh no—no no no—stop laughing!" she shouted, trying to smack him, but instead she just covered his mouth with her hand, eyes wide, panic flooding in.
The room froze.
Emma, who had been watching with a strange, almost glowing energy around her—like a warm flicker of divine amusement—let out a soft chuckle. It was as if her energy itself responded to the scene.
Caelen and Lucy both looked at her. Lucy, still holding his mouth, suddenly realized what she was doing.
She snatched her hand away like it was on fire, turned her back, and mumbled something under her breath.
Caelen leaned back on the couch, still grinning. "You know, for someone who kicked me around all week, you're taking this pretty hard."
Lucy huffed. "I can't believe it took you almost a week to win a single match… and now you think you're better than me?"
"You're just mad the student found a loophole," he teased.
"And you're the one who said cheating's just fighting in an illogical, underhanded way," she shot back, repeating his own earlier justification.
Caelen nodded sagely. "Exactly. A wise man once said that."
Lucy crossed her arms, but her mouth twitched into something not quite a smile, not quite a frown. More like… peace.
She stretched her arms above her head, back arching slightly as she let out a long breath. She didn't know why, but her whole body felt lighter.
Calmer.
More of her.
Like some part of herself she hadn't felt in years had been let off its leash, just for a little while, which was weird on how quickly it was being drawn out.
Like—maybe—she remembered what being a kid felt like.
She didn't say any of that, of course. She just looked at the two of them—Caelen with his crooked grin, Emma watching with warm, quiet eyes—and she wondered:
…Is this what friends feel like?
Her cheeks flushed again, and she turned away before anyone could see it.
Caelen didn't even see Lucy's face—he was too hyped, too focused on the thrill of finally beating her. "One more match," he grinned. "I'm ending your streak for real this time."
Lucy chuckled and sat down again. "We'll see if that was just a fluke."
Caelen blinked. She smiled.
That caught him off guard.
Behind them, Emma softly whispered, "We did it."
Caelen glanced at her, amused. "We?"
She smiled gently.
He thought she was just happy for him
If you're enjoying the story so far, don't forget to drop a Power Stone! and maybe drop a comment to let me know you are enjoying my work. It helps a lot and tells me you're loving the journey too.
(More chapters coming soon!)