"I've found you all"
A loud crash shattered the silence. The metal counter that had served as hiding spot for the children exploded into a thousand bits.
Eta, moving with the speed of a viper, landed a single kick that disintegrated the metal as if it were dust. The five children, stripped of their cover, scattered in different directions. Felix ran towards the kitchenette's pantry, Rhys darted for a hallway, and Briar and Emmett took separate routes toward the far side of the quarters.
But the twins were faster.
Theta, who had the same speed and agility as Eta, moved immediately. She appeared behind Rhys, her hand gripping his ponytail. She didn't stop or hesitate, simply used the momentum of her sprint to yank him backward, delivering a single, brutal punch to his stomach.
Rhys folded instantly, gasping for breath. She landed a series of punishing blows before tossing him with effortless strength. Rhys was thrown headfirst through a large window, the glass shattering as his body hit the stone balcony with a dull thud.
Meanwhile, Beatrice, in her attempt to escape, caught her foot on a loose floorboard. She fell forward, the book she had been reading falling from her hand and skittering across the floor.
In that single moment of vulnerability, Eta capitalized. She grabbed Beatrice by the collar and tossed her toward a distant wall.
Beatrice slammed into the wall with a sickening impact, the air leaving her lungs as she slid to the floor, still conscious but dazed.
Eta took slow, deliberate steps toward her with a mocking smirk on her lips.
"I must admit, of all six of you, only you never seize to amuse me. you're the first one to trip and fall on your own. You'll probably be the easiest to break. The quickest to pass out."
Eta stood over Beatrice, her face emotionless, save for that mocking smirk. The first blow landed on Beatrice's stomach, a hard kick that caused her to double over in pain.
Eta followed it with a series of brutal blows and kicks, each one delivered with precision. They weren't powerful enough to break bones, but they were precise, designed to inflict maximum pain.
"That's enough, Eta,"
Theta said. She had just returned from the balcony, a smear of blood on her knuckles.
"Stop before she dies."
From behind overturned chairs and beneath tables, the other children peeked out. They stared with wide, horrified eyes at the sight of their friend being brutalized. Felix's face was pale, his earlier bravado gone.
Emmett's expression remained impassive, but his eyes were locked on the scene.
Eta didn't stop. She looked at her twin.
"If she puts up a fight, she won't die."
Theta's expression hardened.
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then she's a waste of a good Calvanite vial. She can't hold her ground, can't attack, just lies there waiting for someone to bail her out."
Theta stepped closer, her body tense.
"Stop this now, Eta. We were told to train them, not kill them. You know how much the Baron values them."
Eta simply sneered, a cold look in her eyes.
"Her worth is proven by her fight. If she won't give it, then she deserves to die."
Felix's knuckles whitened as he gripped the leg of the table he was hiding under.
Rhys, on the balcony, slowly pushed himself up on one elbow, his body full of bruises. Briar's face was filled with terror. They couldn't anything, only watch as their friend was about to be beaten to death.
Beatrice lay on the polished floor, still taking the punishing blows. The pain was intense, something she felt in every part of her body. Tears welled up in her eyes.
* It hurts. *
The thought was like a whisper in her mind.
* I don't want to die like this.*
She raised a trembling but defiant hand to block an incoming kick, but Eta grabbed it and twisted it violently.
*Why is it always me? Every time, it's always me who gets beaten up.*
A thought, born of pain and desperation. Since she was a child, she had been trampled upon, an innocent and fragile soul in a cruel world.
The blows kept coming relentlessly against her broken body. Each one a reminder of all the tortures she's been through.
The whispers behind her back.
The sneers from her peers.
The consistent dismissal from the Baron. She wasn't just being beaten; she was being negated.
Nullified.
Neglected.
A fragile, delicate girl, fit only to be trampled upon by those who looked down on her. She had always been that.
But in this cold, agonizing moment, something snapped.
*No. Not this time.*
The thought was a defiant spark, a first step in a different direction. She couldn't run. She couldn't hide. This was it. The moment of truth.
She didn't want to die, but more than that, she didn't want to die like this. She would not let Eta, or her antics be the cause of her death.
An unfamiliar heat rushed through her. It burned away the fear, the tears, the weakness. All of her life, she had been a victim. She had been stepped on and forgotten. But now she was done being a victim.
The rage consumed her, fueled by every single moment she had ever been treated as less than nothing. Every time she had cowered. Every time she had let herself be trampled upon.
The heat began to show on her body. Her body temperature rising significantly. Her pupils became a thin line. Then she made a move.
The hand that Eta held suddenly gripped back. Beatrice's eyes, once tear-filled and wide with terror, now burned with defiance and determination.
And then the scream came.
"LET ME GO!"
With a speed that seemed impossible for her, Beatrice spun and landed a powerful punch to Eta's cheek. The sound was sharp and resounding, and Eta was sent flying backward. She slammed into the wall, her mocking grin replaced by a stunned expression.
Beatrice rose to her feet. The heat in her body intensified, causing a faint steam to rise from her skin. Her movements were now as precise and economical as Emmett's. Her eyes, once filled with tears, were now blazing with a terrifying defiance. She focused on Eta, and the rest of the world seemed to fall away.
"If it's a fight you're after,"
Beatrice whispered, her voice shaking with rage,
"then I will beat you to a pulp! I won't let you oppress me anymore!"
Eta pushed herself off the wall, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I'm surprised,"
she said, her voice filled with a strange admiration.
"I didn't think you had it in you. You've cracked open the first door to your power."
She took a fighting stance, her manic grin returning.
" At least now i don't have to hold back. Let's see if you can bring out the true power of Point One."