Balance of Darkness

Arcade

   "One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!" Richard chanted as she marched back and forth in front of their base. Triste sighed, but smiled. 

   "You're not going to sneak up on anyone being that loud," Triste warned, but Richard didn't seem to care. 

   From the other side of the arena they heard Lithium shout something along the lines of 'You can't run from the king!', causing both Richard and Triste to laugh. 

   "How much do you bet he's chasing Lithium?" Richard smiled.

   "I don't make bets that I know I'm going to lose," Triste laughed. "They are the cutest couple that I've seen in awhile."

   They sat in attentive silence for a period of time, shooting Luna about six separate times.  

    "It's nice hanging out with you again," Richard finally said. "It's been years since we've done anything together. It's a shame our parents stopped hanging out."

   "Well it's obvious why," Triste replied, to an empty stare from Richard. "Wait, you don't know?"

   "No," Richard shook her head. "Why?"

   "Mom and Uncle Jonathan never got along," Triste explained. "She was always purely business, and Jonathan got mad at her for how mean she could be sometimes."

   "...Is she mean a lot?"

  "Hell yeah," Triste snorted. "Everything is about her image, her companies image, our image as family. You should've seen her reaction when I came out to her."

   "That bad, huh?"

   "You have no idea."

   Richard shook her head sadly.

   "You know what?" She suddenly half-shouted. "Screw her! You're an amazing human being, and if she can't see that, she needs to learn to be a better mother."

   "Thanks, Richard," They smiled. "That means a lot."

   They smiled for a minute, both happy to be in their cousins presence. For a moment it was serene and peaceful.

   "Victory!" Fleur and Luna shouted as both Richard and Triste's vest flickered out. "Revenge is sweet."

   "Agreed, although I'm more of an Avenger," Nyxium smirked as he fired a few shots, dropping the two enemies. "Now, where is that other nuisance...?"

   Their game finally ended with Blue Team winning, although Nyxium and Lithium tied for overall points. 

   Since there was a fairly large arcade attached to the laser arena, the group decided to get some pizza (because it's not an arcade without pizza) and play some games before Richard, Triste, and Luna headed back to their penthouse and Nyxium and Lithium went back to their hotel. No one knows where Fleur lived, but probably near a garden.

   Nyxium and Lithium immediately challenged each other to a game of air hockey, and Fleur abandoned her attempts at watching when the puck almost took out her eye. She instead took Luna, who was quickly becoming like a little sister to her, to play some other games.

   Richard and Triste settled for enjoying some slices of pizza and soda. It was relaxing, and they mostly exchanged jokes and laughed at their competitive friends almost destroy the hockey table.

   "They're going to break someone's finger!" Triste giggled as they took a sip of diet Dr. Pepper. 

   "They're always like this," Richard sighed, although she smiled as well. "I always knew they were going to get together."

   As they exchanged some casual chatter until Richard's phone started ringing. 

   "Ugh," She groaned. "It's my dad, sorry. I'm going to outside real quick."

   "I'll make sure no one mugs you," Triste said as they tagged along, only half kidding. This part of town was frequented by the wealthy, and it was common knowledge that some robbers eager for a quick buck would rob rich kids.

   Triste hung back by the door as Richard chatted with her father, trying not to listen in. It sounded mostly like Jonathan was just checking up on her, and Triste relaxed as they realized it was nothing urgent.

   "Hello," Someone greeted from behind Triste. They twirled around to see a tall, beautiful woman with fire-like orange hair and cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her skin was as smooth as paper and almost as white, and her clothes were obviously expensive.

   She was beautiful, and all signs pointed to her being a nice, fairly wealthy woman, as everything from her smile to her sweet voice would suggest.

   Except for her eyes. They were like ice, a cold, blue calculating gaze fixed on Triste that made a shiver run down their spine. 

   "Could you please stand still, dear?" She asked, her voice washing over Triste like honey. "And don't mind if your friend leaves with me. I'm a friend of her fathers."

   Triste found herself nodding along. Of course they wouldn't mind, if she was a friend of her fathers then neither Richard nor Jonathan would mind, would they?

   So Triste stood their, in a half daze, until Fleur walked out, looking for her friends. She calmed down when she noticed Triste.

   "Oh, hey Triste. Do you know where-" She froze when she noticed Triste's glazed over eyes through her thick glasses. "Shit."

   "Oh, Fleur?" Triste asked, snapping out of her trance like state. "What happened?"

   "Where's Richard?" Fleur asked urgently.

   "She went with that lady..." Triste suddenly opened her eyes wide and paled, looking horrified. "Why did I let her go with that lady? Richard obviously didn't know her. God, I'm such an idiot-"

   "Come on," Fleur commanded. "We need to tell Nyxium and Lithium about this."

   As the two came into Nyxium and Lithium's view, their smiles both faded when they noticed the look on Fleur's face.

   "What happened?" Nyxium asked, worried.

   "I think Karine is back."