Amalgamate

Fallen

"I did not want this, Demetrios!" Icari sobbed, molten eyes meeting the matching ones of her twin, her wings curling around her torso as if seeking to provide herself some sort of comfort from the soft feathers. Demetrios scoffed at the sight, his eyebrows drawn over his eyes in his frustration.

"Would you have rather died?" He hissed in return, dark wings bristling behind him. "My actions saved your life, Icari! You should be thank—"

"Yes!" She suddenly snapped, jolting up from her kneeling position, looking every bit like the General she had been as she glared up at him, wings flapping once in her irritation as her tears clung to her cheeks. "Yes, Dem, I would have rather died! I had worked my entire life for this, for the war to be over! I would have died, but we would have won the war, finally!" The General exclaimed, though her expression quickly fell as the truth of the moment sunk in. "But, your actions made my entire life... Everything I worked for, it was... It was for nothing."

"Not for nothing, Sister," Demetrios responded, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, looking as if he was simply playing with her now. "You did win the war. Despite my deflection, your actions turned the tides."

"We—How do you know that?" Icari narrowed her eyes, all of her wings eerily still behind her.

"Well, only one of us was comatose. I was able to see your victory, the very moment you peaked in your life," He stepped closer now, looming over Icari. "You should be thrilled. Or, was it simply your entire life's goal to die in battle as a martyr, like those Valkyries you always admired as a child?"

"I—You... You know better than anyone that—"

"That you just wanted to die for the cause, to have the slightest chance of being a hero," The taller twin laughed, the noise cold and mocking, lowering his voice in the next moment. "You never cared for the cause, Icari, just as I never did. Scoff at me all you like, act like you're better than me if you wish, but just as you always said, I know you better than anyone."

Icari didn't respond in a way that Demetrios would have expected from her, in the manner she always responded to his goading. Instead of raising her voice, the younger twin rose her hand, fingers splayed as her palm faced his chest. For the first time in their lives, Demetrios found himself on the receiving end of Icari's magic, barely having the chance to widen his eyes before a bright flash of light sent him flying several meters backward. The twins were both silent, able to feel their mutual surprise across their link, neither one quite able to process what had just happened. Icari recovered from the shock quicker, stumbling back with jerky steps then turning sharply on her heel, her mottled wings flapping once, twice, then a third time before lifting her into the air. As she flew away, leaving Demetrios stunned on the grass, she allowed the faintest hint of remorse to flood their bond, though she couldn't bring herself to glance over her shoulder to meet his burning gaze.