CHAPTER IV

Passing on the Torch

"It looks like the best of this year's applicants have gathered together," Glynda said as she watched the feed along with Oscar.

"Indeed," the headmaster said as he drank from his mug. "It's no surprise at all given their lineage, but those other three are fascinating as well, don't you think?"

"Yes. Echo is the only other student we accepted without any combat school record, and yet her movements and tactical thinking are off the charts. And then there's Xanthus. He came from Sanctum with Yuan, but he scored much higher than the latter, the very top of his class."

"And we can't forget the one from Vacuo."

"Right. Perseus is the third son of the head of the Jupiter Family. They're not that well-known for their fighting prowess. They're more shrewd entrepreneurs than anything else, but given the money they have at their disposal, it's not unthinkable that they would have put one of their children through rigorous training. There's also that Semblance of his. I've never seen such a level of strength from a seventeen-year-old boy."

"Well, remember that only eighteen years ago, we saw power from similarly aged people that far and away surpassed what we're seeing now."

"Yes, but that was exceptional. Even now she remains a threat to everyone who crosses her, but she hasn't made a public appearance since her daughter was born."

—

"Lilly, look out!" Leon said as he tackled her to the ground, just barely getting her out of harm's way. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you," she said, rubbing her hip. "Gosh, did you have to linebacker me to death?"

He chuckled before helping her up.

"Our guns aren't doing any damage to it," Xanthus said.

"We've got more incoming!" Ingrid said as an enormous Ursa Major, larger than any they had ever seen, emerged from the brush.

"Huh," Leon said as they faced off with it. "Things are starting to look...grim."

Lilly giggled.

"Leon, really?" Ingrid said.

"Hey, I thought it was creative," Perseus said.

"Don't give him encouragement!" Athena said.

—

"Are we going to intervene?" Glynda asked Oscar, who was refilling his mug from a thermos.

"And steal away those kids' chance to shine?" he said.

"I thought you were concerned about their safety this time."

"I am. But we won't need to intervene. That would only chip away at their confidence and we can't have that happening so early in their tenure here."

—

"Take this!" Perseus said, attacking the massive Ursa. Despite his incredible strength, the Grimm would not go down. It swiped at him and he barely blocked with his shield, the force of the strike pushing him back several yards.

"Echo!" Athena yelled.

Although this was their first time fighting a coordinated battle together, Echo already could figure out what she was thinking. She ran to her teammate, switching to an orange-Dust-loaded arrow for an explosive attack.

"You got this?" Athena asked her.

Echo gave a nod as she vaulted off of Athena's shield. The latter's strength hurled her high up into the air and she fired off an arrow into the Ursa's head, the explosion knocking it off-balance. She quickly turned her attention to the incoming Nevermore and managed to land on top of it. She quickly transformed her bow into a staff and began striking the massive bird Grimm, but blunt force hits were useless against something this large.

She slung her bow over her chest and reached for her quiver, pulling out two arrows, with which she began stabbing and slashing everywhere she could figure. Sensing danger, she leaped off of the bird, trusting in her teammates' ability to catch her. Just as she jumped, the bird maneuvered itself to try and peck at her, but she had already escaped.

Lilly watched as Echo fell to the earth. She quickly went to work, switching Myrtenaster to Gravity Dust and pulling the trigger as she swung at her companion. The effect was to slow down Echo's descent to non-fatal speeds. Echo gave her a nod and Lilly smiled back before the two continue their ranged assault on the giant Ursa.

"Okay, wild attacks aren't working," Athena said as she formed a triangle with Xanthus and Perseus. "Let's take out these Beowolves while the others have the big one's attention."

"Agreed," Perseus said before dashing at their enemies. "Race you for kill count!"

Athena looked over at Xanthus, who shrugged before moving in to attack also. Unlike the others, Xanthus was a dual-wielder. Both swords were identical in appearance, but each had a different property. Only he could distinguish, based on the weight and balance of the sword, which one was which. One was strictly for blitz attacks while the other was reinforced for powerful strikes. He would use both in tandem for this fight against the horde of Beowolves.

Meanwhile, Ingrid and Yuan stood back to back as they were surrounded by a number of other Grimm. Most were nothing more than weak Creeps, but in such large numbers, they could easily get overwhelming.

"Hey," Ingrid said to her companion. "Got any tricks up your sleeve?"

Yuan aimed his weapon, a double-headed Ji halberd, toward the Grimm. He pressed a button and the weapon projected lightning at a group, stunning them in place. Ingrid wasted no time going to work, smashing through one Grimm after another. Four Beowolves were about to descend on her when she leaped backwards, leaving behind two shadow clones powered by Fire and Earth Dust, pulverizing and incinerating her enemies.

"That was pretty cool," Yuan said to her.

"Oh, you actually talk," she said, aiming her staff to fire at a Creep trying to sneak up on him.

He shrugged.

"Leon!" Lilly said before firing Myrtenaster at an incoming Alpha Beowolf. Her Ice Dust attack froze the monster in place and Leon finished it with a quick swing of his sword.

"I owe you one!" he said with a salute before engaging a number of other Grimm.

At the same time, Athena and Xanthus struggled against the giant Ursa. The Nevermore accosting them from above made this fight even more difficult than it should be.

"This fat tub o' shit needs to die already!" Perseus said, joining them.

Echo landed right behind them as well before Lilly and the others ran to their side. All eight faced off against the massive Ursa, which let out a roar that would have blown anyone else away with the wind force alone.

"Rah, rah, rah, this!" Leon said, shooting his gun to no effect.

The others began firing away as well, goading the beast to attack. The moment it began to move in, they scattered and attacked from all directions at once with a combination of ranged and melee attacks.

Sensing danger from up above, Echo turned her attention to the incoming Nevermore and fired four arrows in quick succession. The first three were loaded with Earth, Ice, and Fire Dust, the resulting cloud of debris disorienting the giant bird. Her final arrow was loaded with Explosive Dust.

Let your aim be true, she thought to herself as she released the arrow, nailing the Nevermore right on the head. She smiled as it flew away to recover and attempt another attack later. Her job was done. She was able to keep that enemy off of her team while the rest gave the giant Ursa everything they had.

"Take this!" Perseus said, leaping up into the air and forming himself into a human cannonball with his shield as the impact point. The full force of his attack stunned the giant Ursa.

"My turn!" Xanthus said, pulling the triggers on both of his swords before swinging wildly, projecting slash waves powered by Ice and Fire Dust.

"All right, my silent friend, it's our turn!" Leon said to Yuan, who joined him in the attack.

"Lilly, you have any extra Dust on you?" Ingrid said to her companion.

"Huh?" Lilly said. "Oh, yeah." She reached into a pouch and pulled out a vial of orange colored Dust.

"Perfect."

Lilly joined the assault as Ingrid attacked with a shadow clone infused with the orange Dust she had given her. The Ursa was knocked right off its feet by the resulting blast.

"Athena, now!" Leon yelled.

The elder of the twins leaped up high into the air, shield hanging from her back, spear held in both arms. She drove down into the enormous Ursa's skull, getting all the way through until the tip of her spear was in the earth.

"Nice work, warrior princess," Perseus said, leaning his sword on his shoulder as he approached her.

"Wasn't just me," she said. "That took all of us."

"Maybe so, but you made it look easy."

She chuckled.

"Nevermore!" Echo said, aiming at the giant bird Grimm along with Lilly.

"Leon, you ready?" Athena said.

"It's gonna take more than just you and me, though," he said.

"That's what I'm here for!" Perseus said.

"Hah, let's do this!"

Leon stowed his sword and ran at them full force. They grasped him by both of his hands and hurled him at the Nevermore with all their strength. Lilly watched as he soared at their enemy, drawing his sword mid-flight. With the press of a button, it transformed into a giant pole weapon. It was no longer a sword, but a scythe. Lilly couldn't help but gawk as he sliced right through one of the giant bird Grimm's wings, sending it falling to the earth.

He turned around mid-flight. Lilly was awestruck by the finesse with which he had finished off their last enemy. He seemed to be floating back down to the earth, scythe held out to the side in his right hand, hair and jacket blowing in the wind.

Ingrid reached over with her hand to push her chin back up. Lilly shook her head. She hadn't realized her mouth was open. She looked over at her partner, who chuckled.

"Careful," the Faunus said. "Don't want him to know you were admiring him like that."

"But he was so...cool..." Lilly managed.

Ingrid couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, you definitely don't wanna stroke his ego by telling him that."

"Yes!" Perseus yelled, leaping up into the air. "That was friggin' awesome!"

"Slick work, my friend," Xanthus said, bumping fists with Leon, who also bumped fists with Perseus.

"You, mister Leon, have style," Perseus said.

"And you have a hell of a throwing arm," Leon said.

Lilly lagged behind with Echo as the rest of their team marched back to the cliffs, where Oscar and Glynda were awaiting them.

"Hey," Echo said to her.

"Hmm?"

"You did good."

Lilly smiled back. "Thanks, but you and your bow are so awesome I mean that was so cool how you used different kinds of Dust and stuff for different Grimm and that big kaboom! and boosh! and wha-pow! that was so awesome!"

Echo couldn't help but giggle quietly. For a while, she forgot how low she probably ranked among these other students. For just a bit, Lilly's excitement and innocence took her mind off of all the bad things in the world.

—

"I'm not surprised that the twins were the ones to finish off the fight," Glynda said, "but it seems the team that got the gold knight pieces is going to have a bit of trouble with leadership."

"Yes," Oscar said. "Both Athena and Perseus have strong, alpha personalities. Xanthus won't have a problem following orders from either and Echo is more of a support member. I wonder how things will play out."

"Who will you select as their team leader?"

"That's not solely up to me. Which way do you cast your vote?"

"Well, like you said, it can go either way between Athena and Perseus. I have a feeling you may play favorites, though."

"Nonsense. I am perfectly capable of being an impartial judge."

"What about the team that got the gold queen pieces? None of those four have strong leadership qualities. In fact, I'd say they're all more independent than anything else. Ingrid specializes in surprise attacks while Leon is more of a head-on type of person. Yuan is a strong technical fighter. It's Lilly I'm worried about."

"She just needs time to blossom."

"I see. I think I know which way that team is going."

—

"Congratulations to all of you," Oscar said. "All one hundred applicants might not have made it this year, but the thirty-two of you have proven yourselves capable of staying alive and, more importantly, keeping each other alive. At Beacon Academy, we place high value on the ability to cooperate with your teammates, and every single one of you has shone brightly."

He and Glynda proceeded to call out the new teams, which were decided by who picked up which chess pieces during the initiation. Each team's leader was determined by a vote from key faculty members, with the tiebreaking vote going to Oscar. It was he who decided the leader of Team APEX.

"Perseus Jupiter," Oscar began, "Echo Atalante, Xanthus Xenon, and Athena Rose. You all recovered the golden knight pieces. As such, you will, henceforth, be known as Team APEX, led by Athena Rose."

"Hell yeah," Perseus said, turning to Athena and saluting. "It's a pleasure to be of service, ma'am."

"You can count on us," Xanthus said to her before pushing up his glasses.

Echo gave her a smile.

"I will do my best," Athena said, standing with the utmost of confidence.

"Leon Rose," Oscar continued, "Lilly Schnee, Ingrid Belladonna, and Yuan Ren, you've recovered the gold queen pieces. From this day onward, you are Team LILY, led by none other than Miss Lilly Schnee."

"W-What?" Lilly stammered. "M-Me?"

"Hey, congrats!" Leon said, putting an arm around her.

"B-But why me?"

"Cuz you're good enough to be our leader," Ingrid said with a smile.

"I-I didn't even do anything out there."

"Sure you did. You kicked ass, just like the rest of us."

Yuan nodded in agreement.

"See? We're not the only ones who think so."

Lilly looked over to Team APEX, all of whom were clapping for her. She turned to the audience as well. It seemed their applause was louder than it was for the other teams.

It must be because we're the last to be announced, she thought. Yeah, that's gotta be it. Cuz I'm nothing special at all. Why would they be clapping for me so much? She paused in thought. Oh. Right. My name.

"What's wrong?" Ingrid asked her.

"Nothing," she lied through her teeth.

"Leon, it's because you're creeping her out."

"What're you talking about?" Leon said.

Without a word, Ingrid removed his arm from around Lilly's shoulders.

"Oh, my bad," he said, wrapping his arm around Ingrid instead. "If you were getting jealous, you coulda said something."

"Oh, my god," Ingrid said.

"Hey, Yuan! Get in on this!"

Yuan shrugged before joining his team for the photo opportunities. As the media surrounded them, asking questions and giving congratulations, Lilly found it difficult to keep smiling with all of the comments about her family.

"Hey, hey," Leon said to one reporter. "Where Lilly comes from has nothing to do with her being our team leader. She's our leader because of her own strength and courage."

She glanced over at him. His attention was focused on the mob of people. His confidence was astounding and she found it difficult not to smile. Her eyes wandered elsewhere and spotted Team APEX. Athena and Perseus were definitely made for the spotlight. Perseus stood taller than Athena, probably right at six feet, and he was muscular. Athena also had a strong build.

Xanthus was no introvert either, granting all of the reporters the most earnest, yet technical answers he could give, including the strategies with which they approached initiation and the team tactics they had to employ. Lilly caught Echo's pale green eyes. They gave each other small smiles.

"Hey," Lilly said to her team. "C'mon! Let's get pictures with Team APEX!"

"See?" Leon said to the reporters. "That's why Lilly is the leader of Team LILY! Come, now, you won't want to miss the rare opportunity to capture, on live TV, the diplomatic prowess of our leader!"

"Oh, brother," Ingrid said, rolling her eyes as they joined Team APEX.

Both teams linked up for a photograph. The teams' leaders stood together in the center with the rest of their members to either side.

"Congrats on the position, Lilly," Athena said as the cameras went crazy.

"You actually deserve your spot," Lilly replied. "I probably got this gig only because of my last name. Your bro would totally do better as team leader than me."

"Don't say that. You've got what it takes to lead your team."

She sighed. "I wish I could believe you."

"It's not me you've gotta believe in. It's yourself."

—

It was evening when Lilly made it up to the CCTS tower. She was supposed to have called home last night, but it was impossible to get away from the tour group and from Athena and Ingrid. She was not going to miss this chance, though. She looked through her scroll. Vale was a number of hours behind Oasis and her mom was probably asleep already. Still, she had to at least leave a voicemail.

"Where can I connect you tonight—oh, Miss Schnee!"

Lilly sighed. "It's okay, you don't have to address me so formally."

"W-Well, I mean—"

"I just wanna connect with my mom, please."

"All right, then. One call to Oasis coming right up."

Lilly watched as the Atlas operator's face disappeared, displaying the Atlas logo as her call was patched through. She closed her eyes, sighing to herself. Why did she have to act that way toward a complete stranger? She was just doing her job. It's not as if she were intentionally trying to brown nose just because her name was Schnee—

"Lilly?" her mother's voice sounded as her face appeared on the screen.

Lilly was going to greet her when she suddenly found herself with tears blurring her vision.

"Lilly, are you all right?"

She nodded quickly. "Mom," she managed. "I've missed you."

Weiss managed a smile. "I've missed you, too, hon. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter," she sniffled. "I just..."

"Did someone hurt you?"

She shook her head before wiping her tears away. "No, nothing like that." She spent a few seconds regaining her composure. "They made me team leader, you know. And take a wild guess what the team's name is."

"Team LILY?"

"Did you watch the broadcast?"

Weiss nodded. "Of course I did. I wasn't gonna miss that for the world."

She sniffled again. "Why did they make me team leader?"

"Because you have what it takes."

"Mom, you know I'm the only one here who didn't go to combat school, don't you?"

"You didn't need any of that. How did you do during the initiation?"

She recalled the battles with the Grimm. "I mean, I survived it."

"Not from what I hear. You've already learned to use Myrtenaster without me needing to teach you."

Her melancholy instantly morphed into sass. "Yeah, mom, about that. You never taught me how to use this thing. I had to figure it out while flying through the air!"

Weiss began laughing.

"That's not funny! I thought I was gonna die!"

"No, you weren't. You have an aura, silly."

"Yeah, but the landing would've really hurt!"

"Tell me about your team."

"Oh, oh, so we've got two boys and two girls on our team and my partner is a Faunus girl named Ingrid Belladonna and our other two teammates are Yuan Ren and Leon Rose and there's this other team that we're good friends with too and it's led by—"

"Lilly, what have I told you about your energy?"

Lilly shrank in her seat, her voice shrinking with her body. "Sorry, mom."

Weiss chuckled. "Anyway, go on."

"So, Team APEX is led by Leon's older twin sister, Athena Rose, and they've got a guy named Perseus Jupiter, a girl named Echo Atalante who's really good with her bow! and a guy named Xanthus Xenon, who's got glasses and is really smart and likes to talk about theoretical stuff and he's got two swords and—sorry, I almost did it again."

Her mom couldn't hold in her chuckle. "So, you're all good friends already, huh?"

"Yeah! I guess."

"And that's what makes you a good leader."

She didn't answer.

"You've already made friends with seven other people on your first two days."

"Eight, if you count Penny, our really pretty tour guide!"

"Exactly. You've already made eight friends on your first two days at Beacon and you made it through initiation with your team, all eight of them, I'm guessing."

She nodded.

"To be able to bring people together is a quality extremely important of a leader. You can't just be good at fighting or smart or come from a rich background. You also need to be able to compel them to follow you." She looked to the side in thought.

"Mom?" Lilly said.

"It's nothing," Weiss replied, wiping a small tear from her eye. "I just...knew someone from a long time ago who had the same qualities about him."

"Oh." She refrained from pushing the issue any further. It wasn't usual for her mother to cry and she didn't want to open any old wounds that might be there from her days at war so long ago. "I mean," Lilly continued, "I'll try my best."

"And that's all I ask for," Weiss said. "I don't care if you're not an A+ student. I just care that you give it everything you've got. And if your 100% is a B, that's fine with me."

"What if it's a C-?"

"Well, now you're pushing it."

They both shared a laugh together.

"I didn't wake you up, by the way, did I?" Lilly said.

Weiss shook her head. "Not at all. I've had my scroll beside me all day. I figured you'd call after the Beacon Initiation Ceremony."

"I promise to make you proud, mom."

"Lilly. I'm already proud of you."

"Great, now I'm gonna cry again," Lilly said, feeling the tears well up behind her eyes.

"I love you, my darling."

Lilly smiled. "Love you, too, mom."