Character
The warning came a heartbeat too late.
Adelle surged forward and the Dark answered her with hunger, the ancient armor drinking at the edges of her strength. Aselia felt the shift immediately from the stands above as the currents of the Force twisted across the arena. Light and Dark ground together like crossing blades, thickening the air until even the spectators could feel the pressure of it.
Phantom reacted first.
The small spukami lifted her head sharply from where she had been lounging along Aselia's shoulder, ears flattening for a moment as the surge of power rolled through the arena. Her tail curled tighter against the collar of Aselia's armor while she leaned forward, bright eyes fixed on the clash unfolding below.
Aselia's own hand tightened slightly along the stone railing.
She watched Adelle close the distance with a burst of speed, the flash of blue plasma and the heavier arc of the beskad cutting through the haze of dust Mia had stirred into the air. The timing of the strike, the angle of the spin, the refusal to hesitate even with the Reclaimer himself waiting for her.
"Bold move," Aselia murmured under her breath.
Movement in the stands pulled her attention away for just a moment.
Her eyes shifted across the spectators and settled on a familiar figure. For a fraction of a second genuine surprise flickered across her face.
She pushed off the railing and stepped over, Phantom shifting slightly on her shoulder to keep her balance as Aselia came to a stop beside Quinn.
"Well," she said quietly, the faintest hint of amusement threading through her voice. "Yours is not a face I expected to see here."
The wind carried another roar from the arena as the fight intensified. Aselia followed the direction of Quinn's gaze without needing to ask what had drawn her attention.
Reina.
The way Quinn leaned forward, the way her posture sharpened every time the former Jedi moved, made the answer obvious enough.
Aselia's expression softened with understanding.
"…though," she added after a moment, watching the exchange below, "maybe not so strange."
The flash of lightning tore across the arena a heartbeat later as Adelle unleashed it at Isley. The burst illuminated the field for an instant, armor and blades thrown into stark relief as the Dark Side coiled violently around the Reclaimer.
Phantom chirped in surprise at the sudden brilliance of the strike.
Aselia exhaled slowly through her nose.
"She's serious, good. She better be." she said quietly.
Her attention shifted briefly between the fighters below Reina's movements against Mia, Adelle's relentless assault on her father, the rest of the foundlings struggling to keep pace with legends.
For a moment something close to pride settled into her voice.
"Good, they are all taking this seriously."
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