Mi Adelinetta // the young elites

Reaper

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In which Enzo doesn't die (I really hope I didn't spoil anything :O).
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Adelina Amouteru
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Raffaele is dead.

Inquisitors drag his body from the arena, a bloody trail following in their wake. I stand halfway across the stone path, the invisibility I've woven over Violetta and myself flickering uneasily.

I stumble back, the haunted call of a balira echoing in my ears. I hear mourning, hatred, pain, fear, and so much fear in the call that my illusion shatters, and I throw everything I have at Teren.

He turns.

Smiles.

"If only the Reaper had shown," he says. "Then your dear Messenger might have lived."

Fury surges through me, and I tremble with the power fighting against the restraints of my veins.

"I'm going to kill you," I tell him. Violetta winces. "I'm going to rip out your eyes and-"

"Adelina." Violetta tugs on my arm but I give a thrash, shaking off her hands. She will not stop me. Not today.

My ghosts linger in the corner, their depthless eyes boring holes into me.

Yes, my father says. His smile is grotesque, a dark abyss of nothingness. Show me what you've always been.

The other phantoms laugh, mocking me. I push them to the back of my mind—now is not the time.

Teren moves closer, unaffected by my illusions. I grit my teeth furiously, and that's when my power vanishes.

I gasp, the sudden loss sucking the strength from me. Violetta. She tugs on my arms, and I'm too dazed to resist.

"Come on, Adelina," she says. There's a seriousness in her voice that makes me listen despite myself. At the end of the bridge, Lucent wraps her arms around my waist, though they are stiff and distant. She drops Violetta and me on the back of a balira, and I can't help but think that none of this should've happened.

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Adelina Amouteru
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Raffaele is dead, and it's my fault.

Enzo could've won the duel. He could've done anything, if only I hadn't stopped him. When we arrived at Fortuna Court, he was awake, still locked in that training cavern, and livid with rage. Until he heard of Raffaele's death.

Now I sit at on my bed, watching the other Elites murmur amongst each other. They won't let me stay. I don't want to stay. I don't deserve to stay.

"Adelina," Enzo says carefully. He lacks its usual warmth. In his place is a barely contained beast, its eyes boring holes into me. "Your actions have lead to the death of a friend, brother, and Dagger."

His words, from a prince to his subject.

"You have to leave."

Even though I'd prepared for this, known this was coming, the words still hit me like a brick. I swallow, refusing to meet Enzo's eyes. I know what I'll see there: disappointment and hate.

"I'll be gone by morning," I say. My voice is quiet. So, so quiet.

"No. You go now."

The fury slams into my chest, stealing the air from my lungs. But I stand and leave through the front door, snatching a dagger from the wall on my way. Violetta doesn't need to see this—she did nothing, and will be invaluable to the Daggers.

The air outside is crisp. I have nothing to bring with me to my death. And I know I will die, too; I head for the Inquisition Tower, where Teren will be waiting.

It takes too little time to reach the building. The guards at the door don't stop me—they don't know I'm here to kill Teren. I walk through the gates, but then the door shudders open, and leaning against the doorframe, still dressed in Raffaele's blood, is Teren.

He smiles, a wicked thing.

"I've been waiting, mi Adelinetta," he mocks.

My heart pounds in my ears. I'm not sure if the red haze is from Raffaele's blood or my fury.

"You keep your word," he continues. "But I promised my queen your head, and I also keep my word."

He steps forward, arms wide. Inviting. "Just try," he says. "Kill me."

I rush at him.

He skids out of my path with infuriating ease, robes spinning around his feet. He draws his sword. The metal whines. I unsheathe my dagger in turn, its lethal edges beautifully sharp. I lunge again, but, faster than I can move, Teren grabs my neck and throws me against a pillar wall.

Somewhere in my peripheral, the guards advance closer to my fight.

Mine, mine, mine. Teren is mine to kill.

I bring my dagger into Teren's shoulder over and over, each slash healing moments before the next makes contact. I let out a wrenching scream.

"Shh," Teren whispers. My dagger is nothing but a nuisance, and he bats it out of my hand. I resort to punching his face. "If only the Reaper had shown," he says again.

I kick as hard as I can, but he barely acknowledges it. Teren lifts his sword to my throat. I go still.

"Such a pity," he says quietly. He tilts his head, studying me. "Such a pity you had to be a malfetto. But the gods aren't fair like that." He purses his lips. "I'll see you in the underworld, little malfetto."

I don't realize his sword has broken the skin until a trickle of warm blood slides down my neck. He purses his lips, then—

Something—someone—is attacking the guards. Fire blazes, its tendrils setting the dry grass ablaze.

Enzo, some small part of me says.

The guards die within moments. Teren releases me.

"Run, Adelina," the figure says.

I run and don't turn back.

+*+*+

Dedicated to @rucasfanfiction for giving me this prompt ^-^ hope it was what you wanted (it took me way too long to figure out how exactly I might do this and deliver :')