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"Madeline, was it?" Yang Nan asked her.
"Yes?" the young woman turned to the older one.
"I would like to speak to you in private if it is possible" without waiting for her answer, the woman turned around and led Madelina into the same place she had been in with the siblings "Tell me Madeline, did you know your father?" she shook her head "The people here knew him well. He was one of the first to marry outside of Ta Lo and he brought your mother here "You also came from Ta Lo as Shang Chi and Xialing, so I offer you the very same welcome you deserve for it"
"Thank you Nan" Madeline smiled; grateful she now knew where she came from.
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Ф
Madeline followed Yang Nan out to where Xialing was watching the younger kids train, Madeline wearing her brand-new armor similar to Xialing's but in a darker red than Shang Chi and with golden trims.
"You're not in your father's house any more. In Ta Lo, we train as equals. Youve been in the shadows long enough, my child" Yang Nan told the Xu daughter.
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Katy drew her bow and released the string, letting the arrow sail nearly perfectly at the target.
"Guang Bo, you saw that? That was tight!" she shouted to the older man who shook his head.
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Madeline had joined Xialing as the other woman trained since Nan had asked to train privately with Shang Chi.
"You're good" she told the younger woman in Chinese Mandarin as she twirled the rope dart around and cutting the bamboos situated around her.
"Want to join?" Xialing turned to her with a smirk.
"Sure"
Xialing watched in amazement as the golden bracelet that she had seen peeking out of Madeline's wrist several times and was now fully visual, started to slither down the woman's arm until the head of the snake was on the floor and the tail was now in her hand.
"Cool" she said with wide eyes as she twirled the rope around her waist making the octahedron turn around behind her.
"Ain't it?" Madeline smiled proudly.
As Xialing threw her darted rope at Madeline, the other girl ducking her head under.
Hitting the whip against the floor as hard as she could, the spine of it straightened stiff creating a staff.
"Even cooler. Holy shit" Xialing said in a daze.
Madeline thought it was rather amusing how the usually stoic younger woman reacted to her weapon.
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Katy and Shang Chi had reunited after they had both asked for a short break from both their training, although one teacher was glad to get one of the students out of their hair for a bit, more so than the other.
"Been looking everywhere for ya. You okay?" she asked her friend.
"I'm not who you and Madelaine think I am" he said somberly.
"You already apologised for that" Katy waved him off "We're good
"That's not what I'm talking about" he retorted.
"Okay. What, what is it?"
He took in a breath and went on to explain what he had wanted to explain for a long time.
"When my dad sent me to find the man who killed my mom I told you I couldn't go through with it. I lied. I thought that I could change my name, start a new life, pretend like it never happened. But..." he sighed "She would hate the person I've become"
Katy stared at him for a few long seconds, thinking of a soft way to respond since Madelaine was usually the one who took care of these things when Shaun or Katy got all depressed, but she tried.
"Your dad trained you to be an assassin when you were seven. He sent you on a hit at 14. You realise how messed up that is, right?"
"My mom is dead because of him. And now he's coming to destroy her home" his expression turned dark "A blood debt has to be paid by blood"
"What are you saying?" she looked up at him in confusion as he had stood up from the ground.
"I'm gonna do what he trained me to do. I'm gonna kill him"
"Alright big guy, you do what you think is best" Katy patted his shoulder unsurely.
"I think we should look for Madelaine first" the dark ambiance lightened around him when he mentioned their other friend.
After Nan had led them to where Xialing and Madelaine were practising they found themselves staring in shock and awe at the fight happening before them.
Apart from that day in the bus, they had never seen the Italian woman they were so familiar with fight properly, and yet here she was. Dodging hard and fast blows from Xialing, a fighter trained from a young age, and with the upper hand as well.
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Madelaine dodged the other woman's strike as she let the pointed tip of the rope fly past her head, moving away so Xialing wouldn't have the chance to wrap the rest of it around her body and capture her.
Her best option when fighting with the weapons they were using was to get up close and personal, and so she did exactly that.
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Xialing could honestly say she didn't even see it coming. One moment Madelaine was on the defensive, dodging her blows rather expertly, and the next she was right in front of her, her movements fast as a snake's as she weaved around Xialing's rope.
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Madeline could feel the familiar tingle of the adrenaline spike as if this place was encouraging her to do more. Move faster, strike harder.
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Xialing's eyes widened and a smirk raised to her lips as Madelaine mirrored her expression. The other woman's pupils were blown wide (a bit like when the Italian looked at Xialing's brother) and the remaining visual color of the eye had started passing from honey brown to a more golden color.
It had been long since either of them had had a decent fight, even with Xialing participating in fights back at her empire, so it actually came as a breath of fresh air for a change.
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"Holy shit! Are you seeing this Shaun?" Katy let out a laugh and looked up at her friend "Shaun?"
She saw he had his eyes fixed on Madelaine with a soft smile raising at the corners of his lips despite him now seeing his sister fight gruesomely with his friend.
"Oh my god this is priceless" Katy chuckled "Hellooooo? Anybody home?"
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YOU ARE READING
ℭ𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔉𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔰 || 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤 ℭ𝔥𝔦 𝔏𝔢𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔫 ℜ𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰
Fanfiction.҉ .҉ .҉ Madeline Liu moved with her mother to San Francisco at a very young age after her father died. When she was grown and after the death of her mother, which left her all alone, she got a job as a valet parking cars where she made friends with...
