2 days had passed since the end of the battle royal, most people spent their time recovering from their injuries and planning for the upcoming tournament.
"Dammit"
Bennet kicked one of the legs of the bed, "I just realised the only way we are gonna get to fight each other is in the finals!"
Kitayuu studied the tournament brackets and noticed that as well, "What are the chances huh?"
"What?"
"My first match is with Axel, that guy hates me for some reason, and if I manage to beat him. There is a chance I will fight Raiden, who probably hates me even more. Sometimes I feel like this was intentional."
Bennet looked at the brackets again to see who he would have to potentially beat, "I have to fight Gepard. That guy came 5th during our first assessment, just great. Keqing is guaranteed to win her round which means I have to fight her!"
Kitayuu thought for a moment, "We did improve a lot during our time off. I think we also did close the gap of power between us so there is still a glimmer of hope. We just don't have much room for mistakes"
Raiden was busy in a field out of the main area of Fontaine, Furina had allowed him to fight the clockwork mecha in private until the tournament started. A pile of destroyed machines were before him and got bigger as he broke more and more. Before he engaged in combat with another one, he heard a familiar voice, "Bold of you to tell Focalors that it was my request to have you train here. You know I don't like it when someone puts words in my mouth."
Raiden turned around to see his mother walking towards him and with a snap on her fingers the clockwork mecha that Raiden was about to fight lost power and collapsed in an instant, "You struggled during those few days in the arena didn't you?"
Raiden quickly defended himself, "Struggled? Didn't you see? I had the most eliminations out of everyone by fa-"
"Don't you DARE talk to me like that!"
A bright flash of light blinded Raiden and before he knew it the entire area behind him had been decimated in an instant. The only thing intact was himself and he noticed a familiar geo barrier surrounding him. Another familiar voice came from behind the Raiden Shogun, "You knew I was watching weren't you, otherwise you wouldn't have carelessly thrown that attack that could easily kill anything caught in it. Unless of course my shield is protecting it"
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Ei turned around and saw Zhongli with a glass of wine in one hand, "I must say your son put out quite the performance there"
"He lacks patience, acts on impulse and always reveals everything to the enemy"
Zhongli took a sip of wine, "The opposite of my student wouldn't you say?"
Raiden put on a frown at the mention of Keqing
Ei, "Ah her? She did put on quite a remarkable performance, her control over electro is already better than the average fighter."
Zhongli, "Your son did put up quite the fight against her, honestly I've never seen Keqing get that caught off guard unless she is sparring with me. However..."
Ei raised an eyebrow
Zhongli, "Nevermind, let's go get you a drink"
Ei decided to let it go and sighed, "Don't expect me to stay for long, I just need something to calm down"
Raiden clenched his fist tightly as he watched the two Archon's walk off. The rage inside him rising, "I will win"
A sudden movement in a bush caught his attention and without a second to waste, Raiden threw a wind blade into the bush, but there was nothing there. Feeling frustrated from the earlier encounter with his mother, Raiden decided to go back to his room. However, he was not alone. On a tree next to the bush that Raiden attacked, Keqing stood there silently watching Raiden walk off. She didn't know how to feel. However, a wave of sadness washed over as she saw the boy that hated her most walk away into the sunset, suffering in silence.
