as written by Script and Krysis
In the meantime...
The crowd had continued to buzz with excitement as the next match was called. Valére Castellane against Celeste Hogan. After his twin's performance in the previous match, the onlookers were excited to see how he would fare against one of the Monastic Order's finest swordswomen.
Val stepped into the ring with a serene smile upon his face, apparently entirely free of nerves despite Celeste's earlier ... aggressive performance. The expression was somewhat spoiled by the swell on his lip, but he wasn't about to let that bother him.
After all, it wasn't stopping him stealing away the object of his attacker's fancy.
He held his fencing mask at his hip, waiting to greet his opponent before he put it on.
For her part, Celeste had been trying to chill with her nephew and Charlene between matches, and had specifically not watched either of the twins initial fights. It would have been too confusing to try to sort out which was which, even when it was announced. Besides, she could still feel her lips burning with shame over how she had used Arien and Al earlier.
So the athletic girl had put her fencing mask back on before emerging, knowing that her cheeks would flame when facing Val, and that she wouldn't be able to help an embarrassed grin. "Hi, Valére. Umm. Are you--? I guess your brother didn't tell you?"
Valére raised an eyebrow at this, tilting his head slightly. "Tell me what?"
"I'm sorry, but I kinda kissed him." Celeste wasn't really sure why she felt the need to confess, other than a sense of fair play. "I don't know if that means you'll be pissed, or if I owe you a kiss too?"
"Oh." Valére's reaction was somewhat difficult to read. His smile faded, but he seemed unsure whether to be frowning or smirking - and as a result, just looked confused. Momentarily thrown, he hesitated uncharacteristically and broke eye contact. "I- I'm not pissed. Al can kiss who he wants."
Seeming to find his stride again after that, he looked back up and grinned. "Maybe you can give me one as a prize, when I win."
Celeste gave a relieved sigh and nodded, then quipped back, "Or I can claim one from you, when I win, as my prize."
"Well now, it almost seems as though there's no-"
The announcer cleared his throat at about that point before bellowing through the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen! Valére Castellane and Celeste Hogan! Two bright young stars of rival schools! Your support may make the difference, so be sure to cheer your loudest!" And then aside to the two teens, "The better to hide your flirting. Jeeze, kids, at least wait until you're not in the ring."
Valére grinned impishly, shrugging to the referee in concession, before slipping his mask on and fastening it in place. He readied his rapier, stepping into position and offering Celeste a bow. "May the best man win," he murmured to her, before straightening to wait for the referee to begin the match.
Celeste nodded and saluted Val as she murmured back, "I intend to.", though she suspected that she would find it difficult to use her full strength against this twin. The referee gave the signal and she lunged forward, fully extending her arm and the epee to try to steal a quick point on a hand or arm from Val. It was one of the lighter manuevers she had, one that she was sure she wouldn't accidently hurt her friend with.
Wait, friend? When did that happen? Celeste would be a little off balance right from the start at that realization. She actually cared about these boys, all three of them.
Whilst the sudden lunge might have caught another opponent off guard, Val had seen Celeste's aggressive style at play in her previous match - and, perhaps more importantly, he had a lot of practice in dueling someone with similarly aggressive form. He swiftly drew back away from the thrust so as to be able to bring his rapier across to knock it to the side, just as it was reaching its fullest extension, then darted in to exploit the moment of open guard with a swift riposte to the chest.
Two points to Val already, and Celeste straightened slowly. This was going to be far more difficult than the proselyte had thought. With a troubled frown, she realized she was going to have to adjust her style, draw him close and-- Nope, couldn't stand the thought of hitting him like she had done to Zach either. Going to have to be delicate. When the second bout began, she feinted and probed Val's defenses, hoping to at least score a single and shorten the gap a little.
The shift in Celeste's body language was subtle, but between the two exchanges, Val swore that it seemed like his opponent was hesitating over something. A stray thought, distracting her? Perhaps she’d seen something in the crowd. Either way, it was something he could potentially use to his advantage.
As she began her probing assault, Val fended her off without committing to a response, circling to use the full extent of the arena and force Celeste to focus on her footwork as well as her swordplay. “Something on your mind?” he quipped in a momentary lull between parries, smirking behind his mask. He made no move to go on the aggressive for now, seemingly content to draw the exchange out whilst dancing around her - wearing her down.
"I don't want to hurt you, and I don't know how not to." Celeste admitted bluntly, blinking back the memory of Val's face covered in blood from Izaic's fist. She kept up the pressure, confident that her stamina was sufficient to wear Val down instead. She would be using every trick she had learned from watching the various other fencers in the Monastery over the years to try to win back a point or two.
"Isn't that what the padding's for?" Val joked in response, maintaining his defence - though it was becoming increasingly apparent that he couldn't keep this up for much longer. "Come on, I'm not-"
But there was only so much talking one could do in the middle of a fencing match, no matter what the movies might suggest, before one's focus slipped when it mattered. Val cut off mid-sentence as Celeste successfully slipped past his guard to land a strike to his leg, a hiss of frustration escaping from between his teeth.
Celeste stepped back slowly, letting Val get himself back together while the point was called. "Not made of glass? I know. Glass doesn't bleed." She tried to joke, but her tone was a little too sad for it to be completely light-hearted.
This time she acted like she was going to resume the grueling chase around the arena, but would quickly switch to being aggressive again for a moment to see if Val was off balance enough to let the ploy work.
Unsure how to respond to the somewhat sombre remark, Val was silent as they prepared to face off once more. It seemed, however, that he'd had much the same idea as Celeste. They danced for but a few moments, exchanging feints and parries, before almost in unison they went in to strike.
Their thrusts landed within a second of one another: his arcing up to score a solid strike to Celeste's midriff, whilst hers clacked against his mask. The referee quickly called his decision, with both of the pair scoring one.
Celeste winced at the blow to Val's face more than the bruise that would blossom where his weapon had thrust against her padding. From that point on, there would be openings that she missed, or hesitated to use, though she didn't exactly give up either. When the gap widened with Val's skills, she would grit her teeth and use her training, but throughout the match, Celeste averaged a single point behind.
Finally it was down to nine points for Valére, and eight for the dark-haired girl as she saluted him once more. It was still possible for Celeste to pull a win out of the bag, and on the sidelines her family was bellowing encouragements.
Sweltering beneath his mask from the drawn out engagements, Val was frowning as they took up their positions for what was potentially the final bout. He simply could not make heads or tails of Celeste. Whenever it felt like he had the edge, she would seemingly find a new reserve of motivation and steal the next point from him. He got the feeling that he shouldn't be winning this. That for some reason, the proselyte was still holding back.
It was the first time he'd spoken since the third engagement, and the creeping onset of fatigue was apparent in his voice. "Last chance to give it your all." His tone wasn't goading, nor joking - it seemed a rare moment of sincerity from one of the devilish twins.
Celeste gave a burst of laughter and did seem amused, "Maybe I just don't want to fight Al when he is mad.". Counter to her words, the girl put forth a rather grim assault, but a very focused one, trying to end the bout quickly with a killing blow.
The final exchange seemed to be over in a flash. Valére deflected Celeste's initial strike, but his riposte was similarly parried. Both of the pair were on the aggressive, but neither let their guard slip in the process. After a half dozen clashes, the crowd was on the edge of their seat, struggling to track the dancing blades.
The end came when Valére deliberately let his guard slip for a brief instant. He knew that Celeste was seeking a lethal strike to claim the victory, but if he could use that knowledge to land one in return, then with one point apiece, the match would be his.
So as Celeste struck at his exposed flank, he answered with his own strike. Though the thrust to his side stung like a motherfucker, his rapier found its mark on her mask, in a mirror of their earlier exchange. It wasn't the most graceful way to end a match, but a victory was a victory.
It took a moment for Celeste to realize that her point had also found the mark as she was so busy staring at the tip of the sword so close to her face that only the well secured mask had saved her eye. Then she straightened slowly, pulling back cautiously as she admitted, "Well done. You used my tactics against me and won the battle, despite personal cost. A ploy worthy of a great warrior."
Her long hair was wet with sweat as well as she groaned and pulled off the mask. "All things considered, will you take a raincheck on your 'prize', Val?"
Valére breathed a sigh of relief as his victory was announced to the crowd, lowering his rapier and pulling his mask free. He smiled at Celeste's praise, shrugging his shoulders. "Warrior? I'm not sure about that. There's a lot of difference between points and blood, after all. I'm a little more willing to give one up, than the other."
He winked, then ran a hand through his own soggy hair. "And a raincheck would probably be for the best. Or else we might rain on each other, and nobody wants that."
As the crowd continued to cheer, he turned to offer a brief bow - showboating far less than his brother. His eyes quickly located Inarin in the stands, and he flashed a grin and a wave to the proselyte before he turned back to Celeste.
"I'll see you around, Celeste. And I'll be sure that me and Al put on a good show for you next round." With a final grin, he turned and swept out of the ring, heading back over towards his brother and Arien.
