Year 2050

  Month 3

  Location: Mercier Gym

  The rhythmic thud of gloves against a punching bag echoed through the gym, punctuated by Emmy’s crisp instructions. “Keep your guard up! Pivot on the ball of your foot—there, like that!”

  Emma wiped the sweat from her brow, her breath coming in short gasps as she continued the combination her sister had demonstrated. Three jabs, a cross, then a hook. The bag swung under her assault.

  “Better,” Emmy nodded. “You’re still dropping your right when you throw the left hook. It’s a habit we need to break.”

  The gym had a different atmosphere now. Pablo’s nameplate had been removed from the office door and replaced with a simple “E. Rain, Owner.” A small but dedicated group of members worked out around them.

  “Can we take a break?” Emma asked, flexing her taped hands. “I’ve been at this for an hour.”

  Emmy glanced at the clock. “Five minutes. Get some water.”

  Emma collapsed onto a bench, grabbing her water bottle. “I don’t know how you do this all day. My arms feel like noodles.”

  “You get used to it,” Emmy said, sitting beside her sister. “Besides, you’re improving faster than I expected. Maybe you won’t need Dante or me protecting you all the time soon.”

  “With you as a drill sergeant for a sister I better be improving.” Emma grinned, nudging Emmy with her shoulder.

  Emmy’s expression softened as she looked around the gym. “Still can’t believe this place is mine now. All because Dante decided to put Pablo in his place.”

  “Speaking of Dante,” Emma said, “have you heard from him? It’s been weeks.”

  Emmy shook her head. “Nothing. Lucian says it’s some family business, but he’s being weirdly secretive about it.”

  “The Merciers are always secretive,” Emma replied, stretching her arms. “I still remember how shocked I was when I found out who Dante actually was.”

  Emmy nodded. “I was teaching you how to do some math problems you were having a hard time with when dad was watching the news that was reporting the latest Mercier weapons contract. And there was Dante’s dad, standing there shaking hands with the military.”

  “Yeah we grew curious about his family after that and made the mistake of asking dad to teach us more. Dad wouldn’t stop talking about it all week,” Emma said with a groan. “Going on about how the Merciers came from one of the original governments that formed the city. They’ve been weapons manufacturers for generations.”

  “Hey, did you know they were blacksmiths?” Emma asked.

  “I know! I did the WebSearch checks. According to the WebSearch page, the family started as blacksmiths making swords, armor, and war machinery,” Emmy replied with unexpected enthusiasm for the topic.

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  “Then some king — I forgot his name — commissioned them during a huge war. They supplied half the army’s weapons and armor.” Emmy continued.

  “They gained noble titles after that.” Emmy said

  “I heard the Merciers became minor nobility because of how well their weapons performed in battle. Their craftsmanship literally changed history,” Emma countered.

  “After that, uh… I don’t know, that’s all I caught before my drama came on.” Emma finished with a shrug.

  “Yeah I was there, remember? When Dad mentioned it about a thousand times,” Emmy rolled her eyes. “I swear, he was more impressed by Dante’s last name than anything else. Remember how he kept asking if Dante could get him a tour of their weapons facility?”

  “So embarrassing,” Emma cringed. “Thank god Dante got over it. He was so mad at us for not keeping his secret.”

  “Remember how we actually met Dante?” Emmy asked suddenly.

  “At the Police Appreciation Gala,” Emma nodded. “Our families first big catering job outside the restaurant, we went to help dad out.”

  “Dad was so nervous,” Emmy laughed. “Triple-checking everything, making us wear those ridiculous matching outfits.”

  “Mom nearly had a meltdown when she dropped that tray,” Emma added. “And there was Lucian, helping her pick everything up.”

  “He was so nice even back then but his ears were so big!” Emma giggled.

  “I know right? I tried not to stare, I really did!” Emmy covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.

  “Mom was so mad at us,” Emma said. “She kept giving us that death glare from across the room.”

  “Lucian was cool about it though,” Emmy added. “He just laughed and said his dad told him he’d grow into them eventually.”

  “We all chatted for abit then he introduced us to all those important people.” Emma said. “As the Police General’s son he knew almost everyone, and so many people were sucking up and trying to know him.”

  Emmy nodded. “That’s how we met that awful Commissioner’s son. What was his name?”

  “Don’t remember,” Emma frowned. “Total jerk. Started making fun of us because we were helping out the catering.”

  “That’s when everything got awkward,” Emmy continued. “Lucian didn’t know what to do. You could tell he wanted to say something, but...”

  “But his dad was right there talking to the Commissioner,” Emma finished.

  “And then out of nowhere, this kid we’d never seen before walks up,” Emmy smiled. “Dante just appeared beside Lucian like he’d been there the whole time.”

  “‘Oh, you must be from one of those families,’” Emma mimicked, lowering her voice to imitate Dante. “‘The ones that are to poor to afford teaching their kids about manners.’”

  “The commissioner’s son turned so red!” Emmy laughed. “Started sputtering about his father being the Commissioner.”

  “And Dante just looked at Lucian and said...” Emma paused.

  “‘Is that supposed to impress us? My friend here is the Police General’s son, and somehow he manages not to be a complete embarrassment,’” Emmy finished. “I’d never seen someone shut down a bully so fast.”

  “We all ended up sneaking out to the garden,” Emma recalled. “Eating desserts and talking until dad found us.”

  Emmy looked at her gloves. “A Little over two years passed just like that I guess.”

  “Then there was that day at the park,” Emmy nodded, a small smile on her lips. “You were what—fourteen?”

  “And you were nineteen, showing off your fancy fighting moves to those cute guys.” Emma teased

  Emmy laughed. “I wasn’t showing off.”

  “Please! You were totally trying to impress that guy with the red and blue highlights in his hair.”

  “Maybe a little,” Emmy admitted. “And then you had to go and embarrass yourself trying to copy me.”

  Emma groaned at the memory. “Don’t remind me. I was scraped up and humiliated.”

  “Ok break time is over come on, let's get back to training,” Emmy said.

  “Yeah yeah… I really do hope Dante’s ok though.” Emma mumbled.