^^ Eve

Eve launches forward in a blur. Before I can blink, I feel a sharp pain in my back.

She just stabbed me with a knife!

I spin around and see Eve.

Perfect. I can mind control her.

However, before I can establish a connection, she's gone, and I feel another sharp pain in my side.

I close my eyes, and try to sense any minds around me. Her's is moving too quickly to focus on.

Fine, if I can't mind control her directly, then I'll find someone else to mind control.

Nyx is a no go since I can't seem to mind control him. The Duke could work though.

He might kill me later, but it's a gamble I'm willing to take.

I imagine a thread connecting our minds. This move is a little harder, and I haven't practiced it very much. I send a burst of my mana down the imaginary thread.

"Knock her out. Knock her out. Knock her out," I send my thoughts to the Duke. For a moment his head slumps forward, then he lifts it up with a newfound determination.

I'm knocked down by Eve, but she has bigger things to worry about now.

Vines sprout from the ground and wrap around her legs. She quickly rips free of them by flying up in the air. It cuts her legs though but she grits through the pain.

She pulls out a gun, some kind of magic weapon she has and shoots me.

Sadly for her the weapon is made out of mana, which I have much better control of than her, so I transform the bullet to a flower.

However, she's gone again, and I realize that was a distraction.

Bang! I hear a gunshot, and turn around to see she's shot the Duke. He keels over, but gets back up again.

Before I make him attack again, I feel a cold metal blade against my neck.

"And you'd be dead," she says, "yield."

"I yield," I reply. I release the Duke from my mind control.

"EVE WINS!!!" he declares.

Healers rush over to me and start pulling knives out of my back. I yelp when they pull them out. Eve holds my hand as they heal me, and apologizes repeatedly for hurting me.

"Good work on mind controlling me Finn. That was more advanced than normal. You actually were able to give me a more complex command by making me think I wanted to knock out Eve. This allowed me to work for you to the best of my abilities without you having to control my every movement. However, you need to be able to use your power even with a fast moving target," he analyzes.

He continues, "Eve, you did well. You used your speed and flight to avoid Finn's mind control while being able to attack him. But, you should have taken him out at the first attack, instead of just stabbing him in the back. Additionally, you should be more aware in battle. You didn't realize I was being mind controlled. You did have good reflexes though, and as soon as I attacked you were able to break free, but if you were any slower breaking free from the vines, Finn would have had you under his control."

He clears his throat, "In the end, very good fight on both sides. Next, we have Eve versus Nyx!" he announces.

Nyx sighs, "Pitting a demon against a human isn't really fair," he says.

Cocky bastard.

"Hey, don't act like you've already won before even fighting me," replies Eve.

"I might hurt you by accident. How about I fight Finn instead? Nobody really cares if he dies right?" he says smirking.

"Seriously?!?!" I exclaim.

"No, you will fight Eve! She needs more fighting practice, and even if you are incredibly powerful, you need to learn to control it. How will you be able to effectively protect her without knowing her limits or without knowing how to control your powers? You could end up hurting her instead of protecting her," the Duke explains.

"Very well. You have a point," he says.

"Don't worry about hurting me, because I'm going to take you down!" declares Eve.

"Ready... set... FIGHT!!!" cries out the Duke.

A wave of mana leaks out of Nyx, and several healers crumple to the ground. The Duke also drops down on one knee gasping for air. I'm pretty much unaffected, but I can feel the raw power of his mana radiating in the air.

Eve's knees buckle, but she regains her footing. She smiles like a madwoman and blood drips down from her nose.

Nyx extends his hand and tall flames spread in a line towards Eve. Eve dodges out of the way, and runs toward Nyx, trying to close the distance between them.

He sends blasts of fire toward her, but she deftly dodges the flames. One of them hits her shoulder, so she shoulder rolls, extinguishing the flames. The leather on her jacket is charred, and it seems she has a serious burn on her shoulder.

Nonetheless, her burn heals as she continues running toward him. It makes since she is trying desperately to close the distance between them, since she is better at close combat fighting.

When she's about ten feet away from him, she sends a knife hurtling towards him. It happens so fast that I don't even see it. Nyx dodges to the side, and the knife misses him.

Eve pulls out a short sword from a scabbard on her waist and tries stabbing him now that she's in a proper distance to do so. However, he easily moves out of the way, and in the blink of an eye has appeared next to her and twists her wrist, causing her to drop her sword.

Eve slams into him, sending them both crashing onto the ground. They move in a blur, and it seems Eve is now pinned underneath Nyx, her hands gripped around Nyx's wrists, trying to keep his hands that are on fire away from her.

The fire spreads down his arms, burning her hands, and she lets out a hiss.

"Yield. There's no way you can win," he tells her. She grips his wrists tighter, and knees him in the stomach. He flinches for a moments, and she uses this moment to pin him under her.

"Maybe I won't win, but I might as well try everything," she replies.

And with that she kisses him. Nyx's eyes widen, and he returns the kiss.

I'm about to shout something in protest. Do anything to stop this, when suddenly a really bright light radiates from them.

Where they once were is now a pretty woman with half black and half silver hair. Her eyes are the color of red roses just like Eve.

She laughs, and twirls, "It's been so long!" she says.

She disappears, and appears in front of me.

"You look confused. I'm Venus. Nice to meet you," she waves while I stare at her dumbfounded, she continues, "hmm... one of them doesn't like you."

I finally regain my senses enough to ask, "Whe-where is Eve?" I stutter.

"Oh, don't worry, Eve and Nyx are fine. More than fine actually!" she says.

"What is this?" questions the Duke just as confused as me.

"I'm what they mean when they say they've formed a contract with each other. I'm the combination of Eve and Nyx's souls and power into a single entity," she explains.

"Incredible... such power you must have..." the Duke mutters.

I'm barely listening to this whole exchange though, because of a poking feeling I've had ever sense I saw them kiss.

I feel a rage bubble up in me, threatening to spill over.

What the hell is this feeling?

No, I've felt this before. Many, many times.

It dawns on me now why I dislike that guy so much. Every time that bastard gets close to Eve I feel this familiar feeling.

But this time it's unbearable. He's so much stronger than me. He understands noble customs so well, and excels in lessons. And now they have some kind of bond I don't even understand.

Compared to him, how can I even compete?

And that, that is why I really hate him.

But why do I even care? Why is it now that Eve and him kissed do I feel so upset?

It's not like I have a right to be upset.

But why am I always trying to get her attention? Like when I act all cute just to get her to like her me.

God, it's so much worse now that I realize it.

I like her. Like her in a way she doesn't like me.

I want all her attention because I want her to be with me, and only me.

What in the world am I going to do now?

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