Lilly Schnee stood at the edge of the arena with the rest of her team, awaiting their opponents' arrival. Theirs was the first match of the Vytal Festival, Team LILY against Team IVRY. The first round would be a battle between Schnee heiresses. Though Lilly was the eldest of her generation, Ivory, her aunt Winter's daughter, was the one who took the Schnee mantle upon herself, excelling in every way possible, being the youngest person ever to enroll at Atlas Academy.
Even now, she held the record. Despite being only fifteen years in age, Ivory was already a third-year student, admired and loathed equally by her peers and superiors. She had mastered the Schnee family Semblance before she was even ten years of age, surpassing her own mother's scores during her tenure at the academy.
On the other hand, Lilly only made it into Beacon Academy through a recommendation by her mother, the hero of the Labyrinth War. Lilly hadn't achieved anything for herself, attending an ordinary high school in her hometown instead of a primary combat school like everyone else at the academies. Of all thirty-two students accepted into Beacon this school year, she was the least prepared. And yet, in spite of all that, she had gone a long way, developing her own fighting techniques and succeeding in her own manner.
Even now, her determination to prove herself worthy of inheriting her mother's name was stronger than ever.
"We've got this," Leon said as he stood beside her.
She turned to him. He wore a smug grin as always.
"I don't care how good your cousin thinks she is," Ingrid said, standing to her other side. "If we can keep up with Team APEX, we can take Team IVRY down."
"Just remember your training," Yuan said from beside Leon. "As long as we stick together, they can't beat us."
"Lilly Schnee," Ivory said as she and her team squared off with Team LILY. "You've been a disgrace to the family name for far too long."
"Seriously, though," Leon said, folding his hands on top of his head. "Do you really have to be such a dick, Ivory?"
"This is between me and my cousin, Rose. Stay out of this."
"If you've got beef with our team's leader," Ingrid said, stepping forward, "then you've got beef with all of us."
"You can stay out of this fight as well, Princess of Menagerie. The Belladonnas have no quarrel with the Schnees. This is a family matter."
"She sure has a big mouth for someone so small," Yuan muttered, making the rest of the team chuckle.
"Don't think I didn't hear that," Ivory said, drawing Elfenbein, her Dust Saber. "If you wish to underestimate my strength just because of my age and stature, you're in for a surprise."
"Whatever, princess," Leon said. "You're just mad because Lilly can rock her dress better than your little Atlas military uniform. That, and she's an inch taller than you. Is constant anger a small-person thing?"
"Guys, please," Lilly whispered. "Don't provoke her any more!"
Ivory couldn't help the smile on her face. There was no way the top-ranking team in all of Atlas Academy was going to lose to a second rate first-year group. Even as the environment changed around them, she did not break her gaze for a moment. Her sights were set, and the instant the bell rang, she swung Elfenbein outward, creating twelve glyphs in the air to launch an explosive barrage of all sorts of Dust attacks.
"Holy shit!" Leon said as he and the rest of Team LILY scattered to dodge the incoming assault. "Hey! I was just kidding about the small-person thing!"
Ivory wore a grin as she created glyph after glyph, soaring at Leon with incredible speed. He quickly drew his sword, engaging Ivory in a short bout before she moved on, Viktor taking her place against Leon.
"Lilly!" Ingrid yelled as Ivory rocketed at her cousin, but before she could run to aid her team leader, she found herself face to face with Renata, Team IVRY's stealthy assassin.
"Great," Renata said. "The only Faunus on the team and I have to be paired up against you."
"What's wrong with the Faunus, huh?" Ingrid said, gripping her staff tightly.
"Just that your senses are too keen for my own good," she said before drawing her katana and engaging Ingrid.
"What's wrong, dear cousin?" Ivory said, delivering an onslaught at Lilly, who barely managed to block and evade. "Why aren't you fighting back?"
Lilly didn't answer. Part of her still hoped that she could reconcile with Ivory, but she knew that she was too far out of reach, especially with the rage burning in her eyes now. She would have to win this fight if she were to have any chance of earning Ivory's respect. Then again, beating her might only serve to increase her ire.
While the others fought duels with their respective opponents, Lilly and Ivory faced off in the center of the ring. Lilly's constant smile was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a fearsome glare. She held nothing against her cousin, but Ivory's incessant taunting pushed her to her limits. On top of that, she was more determined than ever to come out on top.
"You have no right to bear Myrtenaster," Ivory said, pointing Elfenbein at Lilly. "Lay down your weapon. I would hate to have to humiliate you in front of all these people."
"No," Lilly said sternly. "My mother gave me this weapon for a reason. Yielding it to you would bring more dishonor than anything else I could do."
"So, you're going to be stubborn, huh? I guess that's something you inherited from our family. And your hair color. You don't even have our eyes or our Semblance. You're nothing more than a bastard child."
That was the last straw. Lilly's grip on Myrtenaster was tight, her knuckles whitening. "You take that back," she seethed.
Ivory grinned. "It's true, isn't it? Your father is nowhere to be found."
"I said, take that back!"
"You'll have to defeat me if you wish to earn my respect, Lilly Schnee."
Ivory held out Elfenbein, forming roughly two dozen glyphs all around, each one ready to launch a devastating Dust attack against Lilly, but the latter wasn't one to be taken down so easily. She, too, held out her own weapon, Myrtenaster, that Dust Rapier handed down to her by her mother. Having been the only one not to have attended a primary combat school, Lilly was the only one here who did not have her own crafted weapon. Instead, she inherited her mother's weapon, and beyond that, her legacy.
"Do you think it will be so easy, Ivory?" Lilly said, her clothes billowing with a quiet wind surrounding her.
"Hmph," Ivory scoffed. "Let's see if you can take on a full barrage!"
"Give me your best shot! Just remember that you're challenging the daughter of the Silver Maiden!"