Grace sat down in the bunker surrounded by the other council members who all jumped at the slightest rumble from above. The guards that protected them were also on edge but tried to hide it better. She supposed they were trying to recall their training to remain calm under stressful situations.
She alone was completely calm as she continued to read the material that was in her hands. Some other council members noticed and grumbled at how little she seemed to care about what happened around her. It wasn't that she didn't care, she just conceded that there was nothing she could do to change the situation. Her orders were to stay with the council members in the bunker until either told otherwise or the enemy breached the doors.
So instead of worrying about how the situation developed, Grace continued what she was doing before the invasion happened. Reading and studying the reports compiled by Garret Sobel. The material that was detailed in front of her seemed to come from fairy tales but the horrifying application of some of the information made the reading anything but lighthearted. She had learned a great deal in the short time she had access to these documents and was sure that the Queen would be using her as a reference so she did her best to know the tiniest detail in these reports.
Duke Eren sat next to her, the worrying lines on his face and non stop creasing of his fingers screamed he was feeling anxious. He had glanced at her a few times with a nervous look, each time becoming longer than the last. She ignored the stares and continued reading, knowing that while he was concerned about the invasion, something else was on his mind.
The same thing that was always on his mind whenever he spoke with a certain person.
"...did you speak with him?"
Grace's eyes did not leave the report in her hands as she flipped the page. "There was nothing that needed to be said.
The Duke frowned upon hearing that. With all that was going on, now would be a great time to speak. "You cannot mean that, you two haven't spoken in years. You haven't even made eye contact with him in moments or stayed in the same room whenever he comes into my office. At some point you're going to have to try and reconnect with him before it's too late."
The woman's demeanor did not change as she flipped another page. "That is something you can speak to him about as he is the one who chose the course of our current relationship. As for being too late, if something were to happen then all it means is that someone else will have to take his place and I'm sure he already has it arranged."
The older man tried not to grumble or scoff; the matter of factly dismissal of his concerns was familiar when he received them from the person they referred to. He would always have a well thought out answer to any question the Duke could come up with. Even when the questions concerned his death, his answer was usually a dismissal of any concerns that rose from the possibility of his death.
"That may be but he is still your father."
Grace fell silent as she continued reading her book. The older man stared at her hard, hoping to find the slightest sign that what he said registered to the young woman but fifty years of being on the council and reading people did not allow him to pick up anything from her.
He sighed, hopefully one day, the two of them could reconnect when it was obvious that the only thing standing in their way was themselves.
Walter stared at his enemy who stared back with dead eyes that seemed almost bored with the confrontation but the old man knew better. He could see from here the minute adjustments that Rahim made with every move he made. The Captain bent his knees slightly and watched as the young man turned his body sideways making his body a smaller target and allowing his weapon to be closer to his enemy.
For several moments neither of them moved from their positions, each one of them waited for the other to make the first move. Walter supposed that he didn't have to do anything, the longer they stayed like this, the more likely reinforcements would come. Elsa would also have more time to recover, making it that much more difficult for Rahiim to escape.
All the same though, he could tell that the young man was considering all his options and weighing their merits in what he could do. He had tried to kill Elsa; whether he did that out of petty revenge or being practical about the threat she could pose to him, Walter knew the young man wouldn't dare try in front of him.
Rahim was exhausted, there was no denying that. His body had taken too much damage and had used so much stamina in the course of the invasion. Rahim had no mental fatigue and could see everything around him with a fresh pair of eyes not plagued by the stress of battle, his body was weak. There was also the fact that he knew the young man had the memories of Wrath and knew that in his current state he could not hope to defeat the old soldier in a fair confrontation.
Which meant he had to secure an advantage somehow.
Speaking about Walter's failings and poking at Elsa yielded nothing as Stonewell knew better than to get emotional over just words. Especially with someone that had such a defined killer instinct and no trace of remorse in his eyes. It was easy to look at Rahim's eyes and know that he was a fundamentally different person than either Edward or Wrath.
Rahim's eyes belonged to a corpse.
That was the only way to describe them. Any light that may have been in them had been completely snuffed out, likely by the young man himself. It was common, someone who had been treated as nothing but a weapon eventually ended up two ways. They broke trying to remain a person or they killed the person they were to become a weapon. Walter guessed that before Rahim officially joined the Blackdust military, he had already killed that part of himself.
Which meant Walter was facing a weapon who had no remorse or hesitation. He had been one much longer than the young man so he should have the advantage because of the fact he had more experience. Rahim knew that as well so he would be looking for some way to either hamper Walter or turn the tide to his side.
The young man's eyes looked uninterested in his opponent as a whole but the old man could tell that he was furiously formulating ideas in his head. He kept his grip on his weapon lax but at the ready all the same, prepared for the possibility of Walter attacking first. Stonewell remained where he was, he'd wait as long as possible since time was on his side. He would either have reinforcements or Elsa would be able to detain the avenger on her own, either way victory would be theirs.
Rahim's fingers tightening on the cane was the only warning Walter got before the young man turned around and ran toward Elsa. The blonde was caught off guard by his sudden change of interest and could not move fast enough before Kai stood in front of her protectively as the young man approached. Stonewell was sprinting behind him, his pace much faster than Rahim's and was easily able to catch up.
That was too easy, the runt is nowhere near this slow…
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Rahim planted his foot, spun on his heel, then swung his cane at Walter even though the old man wasn't in range yet. Walter almost mentally scoffed when he watched the outer layer on the cane slide along the blade before heading his way. Not allowing himself to slow down, Stonewell leaned out of the way of the bottom portion of the cane but caught a glimpse of Rahim lunging at him with the sharp point of his revealed weapon.
The blade glinted as it approached his chest and just before piercing him, one of Walter's blades slammed into the side of it and knocked the steel off course, scoring a nick on the man's shoulder. Watching Rahim slide beside him thanks to the surprise thrust, Walter lifted his foot and stomped on the young man's calf to cause him to fall. Rahim's leg buckled and with no left hand to catch himself, he fell to his knee.
The young man felt his knee touch the ground and rolled into his left shoulder to avoid a flash of steel from pinning him to the ground. When his back touched the ground, he spun his legs to briefly get Walter to move away before planting his feet and standing up in one movement. The two of them were now once again facing each other yet had swapped places once again with Walter between him and the onlookers with Rahim closest to the main door.
Stonewell stood and glanced at his left shoulder, the small nick on his arm showed that his opponent may have been exhausted but still very dangerous. He was able to switch between running away to turning in place and striking a pursuing enemy. Then when he was countered and left vulnerable, he instantly rolled to get out of harm's way and used his legs to both keep danger away and recover to his feet.
There was no question he was competent, Walter would say someone like him came once in a generation to be as skillful as he was for his age. However…
"You're dead."
The Captain's words were simple and not those of rage that whispered the promise of death to his opponent. His face took on a sagely appearance, one full of wisdom gained from experience. Rahim recognized the expression, it was the one the old soldier would take when he spoke of his past or gave advice that was quite insightful and usually right on the money. The young man saw no reasoning in why Walter was saying something like that at this point, he wasn't angry, or seemed fully committed to killing his opponent.
In fact, it seemed that the Captain was holding back despite the words he spoke.
Rahim theorized that perhaps Walter was letting his human emotions cloud his rational mind. Earlier, he was correct in labeling the avenger as a threat to Arendelle given all that he knew and that he tried to kill Elsa without any provocation. He also knew that his job was to destroy any threats to Arendelle and by extension Elsa, holding back was not something he should be doing in this situation.
Yet there was no hesitation in his actions, no regret in his tone, or any sign of mental anguish in his eyes.
The young man should forget the Captain, with their current position, he could turn around and truly sprint out of the throne room. Earlier, he had ran fast enough for Walter to catch up if he tried hard enough and hoped on catching the old man when he tried to stop himself when Rahim pivoted and stabbed at him. Now, he could sprint with all his worth and was quite confident in his ability to escape. The guards were likely still contending with Gluttony and even if they were right outside, he knew that they would hesitate to capture or kill him if given the order, that short hesitation would be all he'd need to escape.
Despite the logical part of him telling him to run, he found his lips moving instead of his legs.
"Explain."
Walter laid one of his spadroons on his shoulder and cracked his neck before speaking. "You're dead, there's no other way to explain it. Regardless of whether you escape or not, you're going to be killed. You've got nowhere to go, you've been banished from your home, plan to run away from your new refuge after attempting to kill the ruler there, and the only other place you can go, you'll be killed by the people there. I assume that after escaping here, you will be seeing Talib or Abraham. Both of which molded your life in the way that was beneficial to them and made you into their weapon."
Rahim's eyes narrowed at the third mention of 'Abraham'. In all of his time as Rahim, Wrath and Edward; not once did anyone mention the notion of knowing Father's actual name. Even Grand Pabbie said that the Father never had a name four hundred years ago.
If that was true then how would Walter know his actual name was Abraham?
His rational mind reminded him that Walter could be lying, trying to stall for time. It was a viable and tactical strategy that added more reason to Rahim turning on his heel and escaping now that he had the chance but the more he stared into the old soldier's eyes, a feeling deep inside of him grew.
Curiosity.
Rahim was becoming increasingly curious about how much Walter actually knew and if he was in fact truly a human.
Too many things did not make sense about the old man, he was far too skillful and able bodied for someone of his age. Even though he never disclosed his exact age, Alrick described as old when they first met and Jorgen was the only one who considered the Captain young but compared to ancient looking man who needed a cane to get around, Walter's age became more of a mystery.
There was also the fact he was so perceptive about almost everything and knew much more than he ever let on. Edward's idle thoughts that Walter Stonewell wasn't a human had merit to them. All the more reason to escape, if his opponent wasn't just a human and something else entirely then he was at a severe disadvantage.
"What use would they have for you now that you've fled from an exhausted Elsa who we all know is a credible threat to Abraham? Even if they overlooked you running, those who rule will send those who follow them to their deaths for an ideal set by their Kings and Queens. You are nothing but a weapon for your King that will continue to use you until you become useless which means, for weapons like us, death."
Rahim thought a scoff would be appropriate but didn't consider the action worth the effort. He expected some insightful words that hummed with ageless wisdom but only received an obvious observation of the world around them.
"Then by that logic, every soldier who serves a King is already dead." The young man gestured to the open gates. "That includes all the guards who signed up to protect Arendelle. Are you saying that their deaths are meaningless since they are expected to die serving the crown?"
"In a way, yes, their deaths are meaningless…"
Elsa was horrified and looked ready to vehemently deny such an accusation when Walter continued.
"...but not by them serving the crown. What makes their deaths meaningless is the fact they were killed not by their enemy, but the fact they were killed by war. In the face of war, everything becomes meaningless; love, pain, strength, weakness, ideals, race, gender, all of it means nothing to war, it takes from anyone it can."
Rahim's curiosity was once again stoked by the Captain's words. Objectively, Walter was right, war held no preference. It took whoever it could, wherever it could, however it could. While war was a great time to cultivate new technology and methods to advance humans' intelligence as a whole, the wasted potential of all those killed in that war would always dwarf what people knew now compared to what they could know if all those people who died were focused on bettering the world.
Talib always held the belief that war was a completely meaningless colossal waste of effort as everyone who participated always lost something in the conflict. Why would humans continue conducting wars when they always lose something. It could be a person, a place, emotions, or beliefs, war took from everyone in some way.
However, as long as people existed, war would never die. Talib had said that Father planned on educating the whole world, likely to stop people from throwing their lives away. Rahim never cared about the notion of educating the world, Wrath was his only concern, now that he had completed his goal, he didn't have an opinion on anything.
He supposed Walter was right, he had no purpose now that he'd gotten his revenge in a convoluted way.
The only thing driving him now was survival and freedom. He had been caged by Wrath for so long that now that he was free, he wouldn't go back to that hell.
…but suppose he did escape, where would he go?
Walter's words kept his thoughts running in circles until he found himself seeing that his words held merit. He did have nowhere to go, what was left for him now that he'd given up everything?
He felt his desire to escape beginning to lessen and the logical part of his mind screamed at him to not listen to the old man. That this was all a ploy by Walter to destroy his will to fight.
Stonewell knew his words were having an effect on the young man since he hadn't attempted to run now that he could. His face may not have betrayed any of his thoughts but his actions did. Rahim was wholly listening to the Captain, his words had his undivided attention because they rang true and even though the young man didn't contribute much to the conversation, Walter still knew what he was thinking.
It was an advantage of course, making Rahim question what the point of his actions were and his place in life now, but Walter wanted to get a point through to the young man.
"I've told the runt that after killing my father, a commander in my kingdom's army took me in and molded me to who I am today. What I did not tell was who I was before my father's death. As I learned of your childhood Rahim, I've come to see you as who I was as a child and after getting your revenge, you were who I was after I killed my father."
Hearing his actual name from the Captain's mouth was a surprise. A method used to foster a connection to convince someone of something, Rahim's logical mind warned, but the young man all the same listened.
"I've been where you've been. Being thrown into hell as a child, trying to retain the good parts of yourself before killing them off because they were distractions for an effective weapon. Not caring if you lived or died, accepting that it was either success or death and not allowing any hesitation or remorse to fill your mind knowing it would cripple you and make you that much more likely to fail. Even after achieving your goal, there is nothing left for you so either you let yourself die or be used by someone else to have a new purpose because it's the only thing you know how to do."
Walter's voice took a whimsical tone as he seemed to be remembering something from the past. His eyes grew far away and his age began to show, the mighty and stalwart Walter Stonewell finally showed that underneath the brave, just, awe-inspiring Captain was an old man who had seen so much from this wretched life and was tired.
"I've watched so many people die and have killed even more because they were in my way. I never let their lives weigh me down, never let the idea that their lives lead up to being killed by someone who wouldn't even care to remember their name. To this day, I can't even begin to remember the names of all the people I've killed, but I do remember the reasons. 'Because they were in my way' was the main one, other times it was orders from others, then it came down to seeing if I could."
Elsa couldn't bring herself to speak as she stood there drunk off this new information about someone who never brought up his past. She always saw him as the scary guard that her father trusted greatly, she knew his home was consumed by war but such a vague description was nothing compared to what she was hearing now.
"I said revenge was a fool's pursuit as it led even more to fall at my hands. All those people who allowed their lives to be consumed with the notion of honoring the dead but what they fail to realize is that, they aren't honoring the dead. All they are doing is consoling themselves for their loss. What person would want someone they love to drown themselves in sadness and hate trying to avenge them and risk being killed by the same person?"
The old man stared at Rahim with no judgment in his eyes, just a sagely stare to convey his message. "Your mother wouldn't have wanted you to wander this life with no purpose. She wouldn't want you to kill the person she loved and brought into this cruel world. I don't know your mother but I do know that despite my damned soul and me being a terrible parent, I would want my daughter to find something she loved and believed in and follow it."
Rahim didn't immediately respond; he could see that Walter was genuinely bearing his soul to another. It was a rare and almost mythical occurrence that had the young man feeling a faint tug at his heart.
"You said I was dead and have nothing left, what do you expect me to do? Surrender myself and allow Wrath to walk out this room as you so aptly put it?"
Walter stuck one of his swords into the ground before extending a hand to the young man. "I don't expect anything from you, but I can help you find your way where both of you will have a life."
The young man's eyes went to the outstretched hand before returning to scanning the whole of the old man's body. He noted that Walter still had a hand on the sword across his shoulder but Rahim could feel his heart telling him to take Stonewell's offer. Wrath's memories of the Captain, vouched for Walter's offer to help them find their way. He was supportive in his own way but ultimately pushed others to be better.
Wrath's memories flooded through his mind along with the feelings that were attached to them. The happiness and content feelings that he had never experienced in his life were intoxicating. They welled up in him and made his mind consider if he could have those things for himself, maybe a wife, children, a home.
The thoughts were strong enough to pull him away from how bleak the world could be.
Elsa held her breath as she watched Rahim consider Walter's words. Deep down, she wanted Edward back and the assurance that Rahim would never hurt anyone she cared about. However, she hoped that the avenger would listen to the Captain. She knew how much it scared Edward to have memories of Rahim's life as well as his after and wanted them both to find a semblance of peace that she felt everyone deserved.
Hope flared in her chest as she watched him take a step forward with a blank expression on his face. He walked with measured steps and there seemed to be no hostility in his posture or eyes as he now stood in front of Walter. In his hand was Walter's cane sword but it remained at his side as he opened his mouth to speak.
"That honestly does sound pleasant."
Rahim's face took on another emotion; longing. Walter knew that he was interested. He hoped to see the young man drop his weapon and take the outstretched hand.
"However…"
Rahim's face once again grew emotionless as his eyes grew a brilliant red.
"...it seems only Wrath's heart finds such a pursuit to be worthwhile. I, on the other hand, know it's a pointless pursuit that takes away from more practical matters."
The young man didn't take the opportunity to attack Walter's outstretched hand, all he did was get closer to the old man until they stood a meter away from one another. Walter's face remained as it was for a few moments before his eyes looking at the ground in an almost regrettable fashion.
"Is that so? What a shame…"
The old man dropped his hand before reaching over and wrenching his other weapon out of the wooden floor. One would think that he should be more worried, with Rahim so close and in swinging distance, but Walter could tell the avenger for this rare moment wasn't going to attack. Looking over his shoulder to see Elsa, he gave her a tired smile with an apologetic look.
"Elsa, I'm truly sorry. I wanted nothing more than for you and your sister to find happiness in this terrible world. It honestly didn't start that way, I couldn't care less about you two when I first met you both but back then I couldn't see that the two of you had the same spark your father did. He was a wonderful and wise King that tasked a monster like me to look after his two daughters. Perhaps it was to make sure that the two of you didn't make the same mistakes I did, or he wanted to know you two would be safe, or maybe that he wanted the two of you to be my shot at redemption. Regardless of what his reasoning was, I have come to love and care about the two of you as if you were my own children. I had hoped that I could keep the both of you from going into the dark place that monsters go to so they can do the things they do…"
Walter then turned back to Rahim and his eyes zeroed in on the young man and his face looked as if he was possessed by a demon. His teeth were bared, his eyes pinpricks, and his face stuck in a perpetual snarl, ready and willing to rip apart anything in sight.
"...but it looks like I'm gonna have to go to that place."
Rahim's eyes narrowed before the two of them clashed without warning. Walter flew at Rahim with both his spadroons; thrusts, slashes, and bunts rained down on the young man endlessly who was forced to retreat as he dodged or deflected each blow. Elsa was barely able to follow them before but now, she could barely make out the two as they moved with such violent ferocity and speed. It was as if she was looking at fireworks, she could hear and see the sparks of each time their weapons hit one another and with each exchange, the light coming from the spark would further obscure her vision.
The young man frowned as he was forced on the defensive. He chided himself for allowing Wrath's feelings to push him to do something illogical. When he realized it was Wrath who felt that Walter's scenario was pleasant, he couldn't help himself from clarifying that fact plainly for the old man. He also couldn't bring himself to lie to Stonewell, Wrath's feelings of admiration and respect for the Captain killed any lie that the avenger could think up. Finally, he held his blade when Walter had turned his eyes away from him because he felt a fleeting moment of sadness that came from denying the possibility of finding peace.
Because of Wrath, he was currently on the defensive with one arm, fighting Walter who he could tell was actually trying to kill him now. His swings were a flood, they were never ending, constant, and each one was filled with the full weight of Walter's non waiverable instinctive intention to kill. Rahim tried to sneak in a thrust or two to break up the old man's momentum but there was no wasted movement in the old man's deflection of the thrust before continuing forward.
Each swing Walter took barely missed the young man but as the blades passed, he felt the air rush they sliced through rush past him to fill in the gap of air left behind in their awesome wake. Rahim could tell from the sounds and feeling of the blades barely missing him, if any one of them connected, he wasn't sure if his muscles could stop the blade from sinking in. He was confident in his bones, stopping him from losing an appendage or protecting his organs, but he couldn't afford letting Walter butcher him.
He jumped over a sweep of Walter's blades that would've gotten his lower intestines to fall out and flourished his weapon to get a thin slice on the Captain's arm as the young man landed. Walter didn't care to notice as he continued unleashing his flood of attacks. He swung at Rahim's head who leaned out the way before he swept his foot and caused the young man to fall on his back. Flipping his right spadroon in his hand and holding it in reverse grip, Walter slammed it down where his opponent's head was.
Rahim felt the air leave his lungs as his back hit the ground and was barely able to roll out the way of the stab that embedded the blade into the floor. He rolled a few times and raised his weapon expecting Walter to continue his assault but the old man had stopped. Stonewell turned his head slowly and looked down at Rahim as he yanked his weapon out the floor and slowly advanced.
"You should've ran, you might've gotten away but now I'm gonna to use every bit of my being to kill you. I've told the runt this multiple times, but you're fighting with one arm, doing so greatly hampers your ability to win. The fact that you only have one arm and with the way you've been fighting, you're never going to beat me…"
The young man hopped to his feet and held his weapon in front of him in preparation of the next shower of attacks.
"...it's no wonder Wrath let you win, you're a pathetic weakling, and your brother isn't here to save you."
Rahim froze, those words went into his ears and bypassed the logical portion of his brain and went straight to his memory banks.
Talib looked at the thirteen year old Rahim who was in the fetal position on the ground, sniveling and crying from the beating he just recieved. Shahbaz had been sent out of an assignment leaving Rahim to contend with their father on his own. The alchemist had pushed his youngest harder than ever before today.
A dozen prisoners of war had rushed him all at once and while he managed to beat three of them, the other nine had thoroughly paid him in kind. It was so bad, Talib himself had to interfere so he wouldn't lose the tool he'd been so carefully cultivating. The process was slow and his youngest showed no more potential than an average foot soldier. The alchemist was close to giving up on him, his oldest was a prodigy and all that he really needed, his failure of a son was a deadweight.
"Get back to your feet, do you think someone will be around to save you? You need to be able to think your way out of every situation, surrendering and hoping they'll stop is an illogical thought process."
Rahim had tears in his eyes as he remained in the fetal position, he didn't dare speak or lift his head. He knew that he'd shown weakness and showing any more to his father would only get him a harsher beating. The times when his brother would leave allowed Talib to focus all his efforts into personally overseeing his progression. During those times he was pushed the hardest. He kept telling himself that as long as he held out until Shahbaz came back, everything would be fine since his brother would demand they'd both be given a break.
Shahbaz was his hero and just needed time to save him.
That was the one thought that kept him going. However, this time was different, Talib had pushed him harder than before. This last week, he hadn't touched or read anything at all, he had only been physically training. He fought prisoner after prisoner, executing them one by one with each of them becoming progressively more dangerous. One on one fights were hard but with his smaller size and knowledge of the body, he was able to get enough glancing blows to crawl his way to the win.
He was never the aggressor and would always allow them to attack first then he countered. The aggressive killing instinct his brother used to endlessly hound's quarry was something he didn't have. He was a reactive fighter, always giving ground to find that opening to win. Talib had told him that, it was an illogical to only fight in such a way since it relied on his opponent attacking and wasted time effort better spent on other endeavors.
Which was why Talib sent him into the pit with twelve killers that all rushed him at once and didn't allow him to patiently wait. They had been given blunted weapons so he would not be killed too quickly but each swing that connected jarred him and his bones. He couldn't adapt to their sheer numbers and found himself on the ground hoping they would stop or one of them would hopefully kill him painlessly, if it wasn't Talib interfering himself.
"Is this what you did when your mother was killed?"
Rahim froze, Talib never mentioned his mother.
"Did you hide, cry, and hope everything would be ok when she was killed? Where was that person to save her? There was no one there but you two, she died because she hid and hoped everything would be ok. Hope is such a useless and illogical emotion, she could've ran, she likely wouldn't have gotten away but she had a better chance of survival. Instead, she waited and was killed protecting her pathetic son who imitates her and is waiting for his brother to save him.
Each word struck a chord in the young boy and stoked his anger as he listened.
"Shahbaz would've fought instead, hell, he already did to protect his mother. If he was there she might be here today but instead she was stuck with a pathetic weakling like you, who can only cry and hope someone will save him.
The memories of that night flashed in Rahim's mind, the fear of being discovered, the devastation of watching his mother be killed right in front of him, and the guilt that came from him being too consumed by fear to do a thing.
Then he imagined Shahbaz, with no fear, leaping from his mother's arms and fighting. His older brother would never hide or back down when something he cared about was threatened.
Rahim idolized him, wishing he could be just like him. Never before had he ever been jealous of how capable his brother was, until now. Shahbaz always saved him, he always felt as long as his older brother was there everything would be fine but the second he was gone, things were hopeless.
His father's words were like searing knives being stabbed into his heart. Each one hurt so much he wanted to scream the pain away, but they made sense. Talib's main point of their training was to think logically and what he said made sense. Waiting for someone to come save you depended entirely on if they knew you needed to be saved and they could deal with any number of things that could keep them from coming. Shahbaz would always come back, he was too strong not to but what if something happened to his ship along the way and he was forced to wait?
It would delay him and leave Rahim in whatever situation he found himself in.
The young boy hated feeling hopeless, he hated that he was sitting here crying and taking beatings waiting for his brother to return. He hated Talib for making his life hell, but most of all, he hated himself for not being able to do anything to change it.
With that last line of thought, something snapped.
Talib's hand shot up to catch the small boy's wrist as it swung the blade in his hand in an arc to cut off the alchemist's head. Talib looked at the wrist before staring at the boy, the tears were there, but the soul crushing rage that burned in his eyes showed that something drastic had changed in the young boy.
That was the day Rahim found his rage.
From that day forward, he didn't need anyone to save him. He cut off any feelings that would cause him to break down and cry while allowing his hate to grow. He remembers trying to kill Talib and failing, but he didn't receive a beating for doing so. Instead, Talib truly began to mentor him, the multiple tutors were dismissed and the alchemist invested so much time into the youngest that became a soulless killer.
Shahbaz returned, expecting to see his little brother rushing to greet him with tears in his eyes. Instead, he walked in on Rahim mercilessly cutting his opponents down. Their fear of the young boy made them hesitate and he picked them apart for it, each strike pushed him forward and them trying to retaliate often led to their deaths as he instantly and perfectly countered.
Walter's words brought back the fire that drove most of his life. Rahim's face transformed, gone was the emotionless canvas that was his face, it was replaced by a stern expression with eyes so cold they burned when someone looked inside them.
Rahim didn't wait for the Captain to close the distance, he leaped forward with his cane sword in hand and swung. Walter saw the attack but couldn't move completely out of the way in time as he was cut from his left shoulder down to his left pectoral. Blood gushed from the wound but Stonewell didn't think about that, he stared at the young man who locked eyes with him and knew that the both of them were now fully committed.
Walter did not allow himself to be bothered by Rahim's shift of demeanor, in fact, he allowed himself to be inflamed by it. He let loose the floodgates of another downpour of attacks expecting the avenger to go back on the offensive but instead the young man matched him blow for blow, not giving an inch anymore.
He was actually taking ground now.
Stonewell swung in time to clash with Rahim's blade as the young man dashed by him. Their strikes collided and sent up a cloud of sparks and pushed the old man back. Instantly regaining his footing, Walter rushed forward to meet the young man's next attack. Rahim's fighting style shifted into that all or nothing fighting style the runt failed to properly utilize due to his hesitance.
Rahim's variation lacked any such weakness, his attacks were fiercer and aimed at any open spots he could see in that split second between strikes. Had he had both arms and that katana of his, Stonewell was sure the young man would've cut through his spadroons but with one arm and his stolen cane sword, his spadroons held.
The avenger ducked under a swing before diving forward and getting a shallow cut on Walter's side. Rolling back onto his feet, he dashed to the old man's opposite side and swung at his back only to be blocked by Walter, blindly placing one of his weapons behind his back to protect himself. In the same motion, he turned with his other blade swinging in a wide arc to where he knew Rahim would be.
The young man once again ducked under the swing but felt a shin catch him in the chest again and kicked him away. He was able to brace himself and skid to a stop with his teeth bared as he dashed at Walter once again. Stonewell flipped his right spadroon into a reverse grip then in a feat defying his age and body, cartwheeled and attacked with his feet first.
Rahim was caught off guard for a moment and could only lift his arm up to take the full weight and force of the acrobatic maneuver and knocked him off balance. When Walter landed, he was already flowing into his next attack with both his blades coming down in the same movement of his landing, scoring two long cuts on the young man's chest. When he fully landed with both his fist into the ground to support himself, Stonewell launched another kick from his back leg that had all the freedom to benefit from the force of the cartwheel, him crouching down to catch himself with his hands, and having the room for a spinning back kick.
The young man saw the kick coming and stepped to the side before trying to cut the underside of Walter's knee. The old man saw the attempt and was only able to pull his leg back in time to get a small cut versus having the muscles under his knee being cut. Slamming his foot back down, his face scrunched up in pain for a brief instant before leaping at Rahim again and the two of them traded blows that had them skid away from one another.
Walter regained his footing some distance away and mentally tallied his wounds. He had a few cuts here and there that were irritations rather than concerns, which was good but knew if they build up, he'd grow weak from blood loss. Checking his opponent, he could see the battle taking a toll on him as well. Due to the long string of battles, the runt's shirt was torn apart, leaving him showing off his scarred chest with its two fresh wounds. The old man could see the tautness of each muscle accompanied by a thick sheen of sweat and the occasional twitching of his arm from gripping his weapon so hard.
This battle was getting to him.
Stonewell then glanced at his spadroons, both of them becoming horrendously chipped from the clashes. It was to be expected, they were thin blades made mostly for stabbing. He glanced at Rahim's weapon and frowned that while it was chipped, it was in better condition than his weapons, which meant eventually, his weapons would break before his opponent's. He either needed to finish the battle before that occured or come up with a way turn that eventuality into an opportunity.
Rahim sneered at Walter, the old soldier was a more than troublesome opponent. The way his attacks flowed into one another seamlessly was unlike anything the avenger had seen before. He was also unpredictable with his moves, always mixing up his swings with kicks or shoulder bashes. He needed to either limit Walter's movement or learn all of his attack patterns. He could tell that while the wounds he inflicted were not significant, they could build in number and eventually slow Walter down but he wasn't sure he could hold out long enough. His body screamed at him to rest, or even to run so that he could escape but Rahim found himself rooted to this spot.
Wrath had so much respect and admiration for the man in front of him, he could feel those feelings alive and well inside of him. The more he felt it, the more he started to hate Walter, the old soldier was arrogant and insufferable. Rahim could feel Wrath's feelings of guilt building inside of him and ruthlessly crushed it, he felt guilt, he had killed that long ago. Having someone try to bring those feelings back to life that made him helpless, infuriated him.
He thought that he'd outlived petty emotions that were a distraction and could remain logical but Walter had unlodged some of his more raw emotions that he funneled into his battles. Logically, he knew that he had nothing against Walter, the old soldier was only fighting for the sake of Arendelle's security. Rahim knew that if he escaped, he'd likely never see Watler ever again, but the way Walter challenged him, fought him, pushed him to ignore his limitations…
…it was almost as if he was fighting his brother.
The thought made him, for a split second, wish that Walter could save him from his life.
Crushing that thought, Rahim rushed Walter once again, both pleased and dismayed that his opponent rushed toward him with no intention of holding back.
Elsa watched the two men trade blows with one another with no intention of stopping. She wanted to yell at them to stop but was afraid that one of them would get gravely injured if she spoke. She didn't want Rahim to be hurt as she wasn't sure Edward would come back if Rahim was killed and she of course didn't want Walter hurt as he was an important part of her life.
She was no warrior but she thought that Stonewell had the advantage despite the small wounds he accumulated, seemed to have an answer for all of Rahim's attacks and several times had tripped up the young man. That being said, she could see blood spilling on the throne room floor, everytime they clashed more and more of it flowed from their blades.
It wouldn't take long until one of them died, thinking about that made her feel so useless that she clenched her fingers and bit her lip.
A gentle hand enveloped hers as she looked at Gerda who had a pained smile on her face. The older woman could probably tell what she was thinking and felt the same.
"You just need to have faith."
The blonde turned to the older woman with a reluctant expression, she knew that she should put faith in what? That Stonewell would win and Edward would die? That was a scenario she wasn't hopeful to see. The handmaiden must've seen the thoughts in her eyes because she spoke again.
"You should have faith in Walter, not in his ability to win, but in what he's fighting for. Look at him." Elsa turned to see Stonewell with that scary face matching Rahim blow for blow, holding his ground, and using his hands and legs to trip up his opponent. She remembered him saying that he was fighting to kill so she didn't know what Gerda meant.
"Walter is hard on anyone he teaches but truly he's harder on himself. He feels that he's a monster in every sense of word and doesn't deserve forgiveness or redemption. What he said before, about putting all of his being into killing, that was something the old him would've said. He may not see it, but your parents knew the same way me and Kai knew that he changed. He's not the monster he used to be, he became the protector that your father entrusted to his precious children and kingdom. He would do anything to protect the people he cares for even if that meant tearing his own heart out."
Elsa knew that, she knew that Walter would do anything and everything in his power to protect the people behind him. Arendelle was blessed to have such a wonderful Captain of the Royal Guard to defend the monarchy but her bond with Edward filled her with worry and dread. Right now, he was an enemy of Arendelle, Walter tried to get him to back down but Rahim denied any attempts to do so and seemed bent on fighting.
Stonewell didn't have a choice, he had to kill Rahim to protect her and Arendelle.
"Edward is part of the people he cares about."
Elsa turned to Kai who had not moved his eyes away from the two men fighting. The plump man had been silent and kept his eyes trained on Walter the entire time with a resigned frown and a clenched fist. The blonde woman could tell that it was hard for him to watch but he continued to do so. She knew that the two of them were an odd pair but Walter actually had a lot of respect for the butler and always treated him with it.
Kai knew Walter for many years and when they first met didn't trust the rather crude and disrespectful man who had the gall to fight and beat King Agnarr to a pulp. Yet over the years they grew to respect and trust one another in their duties. Kai knew that he would never hold a candle to the old man in combat or be able to protect his monarchs the way the Captain could but even so, the least he could do was watch and have faith.
He hadn't seen that murderous face in a long time but could tell it was easier for Stonewell to put it on and fight then try and be the guardian he was sworn to be. Kai didn't grimace and cringe at each cut that Rahim managed to score on Walter, his face remained the same as he watched Walter push himself further than he had before.
You better not leave me by myself to watch out for them because you think you don't deserve this life.
Walter and Rahim met each other in a clash of steel and pushed against one another so much that they were almost nose to nose.
If you let yourself die for that stupid reason, I'll never forgive you!
Their blades were wisps of light as they collided with one another constantly. The two men continued rushing at one another, trying to outmaneuver the other with either speed or distractions. They flipped, dodged, weaved, sidestepped, or even knocked away their opponent's weapon with their bare hands.
Walter slammed his sword hard into Rahim's and held them there; he had briefly glanced at his weapons earlier and could tell that it would be soon when his spadroons' blades would snap. Rahim's was in better condition as he made sure to attack with different areas on the blade to prolong his weapon's use by dulling the blade evenly and not allowing any deep chips to form. He had thought maybe the young man wouldn't notice his weapon's state due to him meeting the old man blow for blow but no such luck. It was likely he was also waiting for that moment when the spadroons would break, meaning the old man needed to make a move now.
Reversing his grip, Walter swung at Rahim's hand hoping to disarm the man but he just rotated his wrist forcing their joined blades to block the incoming one. This forced the two men to become closer as they struggled against one another.
"What's wrong Walter, you've started slowing down, have you perhaps finally run out of stamina?"
"Just taking my time. You'll be dead all the same so why not enjoy this? It's been quite a while since I've fought like this."
Rahim glanced down at their blades before sliding his blade down to Walter's hilts and stabbing into the guard where the Captain's fingers were. Twisting his hand, he angled the blade's edge toward Stonewell's fingers then sliced at them. Quickly reacting, Walter let go of one of his spadroons and watched Rahim whip his blade for a slash that doubled as a way to toss the spadroon away. The Captain dodged the slash but his spadroon was sent across the throne room before embedding itself into the throne room chair.
That left Walter with only one sword and Rahim closed in on him again but this time unleashed a barrage of slashes that forced him to take a knee. Stonewell blocked with the flat of his blade and braced it with his palm as he watched the young man smash his blade on his continuously. The attacks never ceased but they all seemed to be aimed at the same area, Walter instantly figured out Rahim's intent and sidestepped one heavy swing then in the same motion, grasped his weapon with both hands for a horizontal strike to capitalize on the young man's mistake over committing to one strike.
The avenger instantly halted as if he was prepared to recover from Walter's sidestep then ducked under the attack and with the same move Stonewell just did, leaped up with his sword flowing with the move. Walter barely brought his spadroon up before it was cut in half, time seemed to slow down as the two of them made eye contact and witnessed the deciding moment of the battle.
Elsa's heart shattered with Stonewell's blade. He was on his knees and he had just lost his weapon. She could see Rahim's face and knew that he was about to seize this golden opportunity and she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"WALTER!"
Rahim dropped his weight and tried bringing his sword down as hard as possible to cleave Walter in two. He had won. He had disarmed him and they were so close that there was no way the old man could dodge in time.
The avenger's blade met flesh and blood flowed freely on the ground following Elsa's shriek.
Hope you guys enjoy a new chapter, I had some time to crank this out, I've got no power but I do have an inverter and a charger with a truck so I could use my laptop hope you enjoyed Walter vs Rahim and stay tuned for more chapters.