Chapter Seven: A Goddess Before My Eyes

Two days before the exam

Nova was in the library at the back looking for poems she could use to confess her love to her dark-haired lady in black…. She, unfortunately, didn't know her name yet, but that didn't concern her too much. Nova was certain that she'd learn her name eventually; she was determined to talk to her…. she just wasn't sure how. She'd lost track of time due to being lost in a book of poems…... well, one poem specifically, when she heard the library door open. Nova thought nothing of it because people come and go from the library all the time.

"Oh good, no one is here," said a feminine voice with a shaky yet relieved tone.

Nova looked up from her book to see who had spoken, and then she saw her; the girl dressed in black that had captured her heart. Without speaking she watched her scan the room to make sure she was alone. No one could see her from where she was sitting, but she could see everything, so if she remained quiet, she would never know she was there.

"I can finally finish my book in peace," the girl said as she pulled a book out of her school bag, sitting at a table.

She caught a glimpse of the book and noticed that it was the second volume in the "Ninjas of Love" book series. This sparked her interest because she was looking for that exact book. Nova figured this would be a good conversation topic, but she was still nervous about going up to her.

After 15 minutes of watching her read, Nova finally got the courage to go and talk to her. She shut her book and placed it on the table in front of her. She took her eyes off her for 2 minutes while she put her belongings in her bag. When she looked up, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw she was still there. Nova stood up and slowly started walking over to her table. She had her head down as she walked towards her table.

As she got to the table, she raised her head to find that she was no longer at the table, but her stuff was, so she figured that she must still be in the library.

She turned to go look for her and she was suddenly right in front of her.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WATCHING ME!? WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR!?" The girl yelled at her, and before she had a chance to answer any of her questions, she started ranting. "You're working for the White Fang, aren't you? I bet you are and you're trying to get information about me and my family. Well, I'm not going to tell you anything, no matter how much you torture me!" She finished her rant, panting a little.

"Umm, I don't know anything about the White Fang, or even who your family is. I just wanted to say hi. I'm new here and I don't really know anyone or anything about the school," Nova said calmly.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry," she said nervously, scratching the back of her head as she glanced at the floor nervously.

"I'm Nova," she said with a smile as she held out her hand to her.

"B-Blake," she muttered, putting her hand in hers.

As she was about to shake her hand, she leaned down and kissed the back of her hand gently, which left her shocked and blushing a light pink.

"I also wanted to inquire about the book you were reading," she said letting go of her hand.

It took a couple minutes for her brain to start functioning again after the shock of her kissing her hand, "Oh, umm, it's volume two of "Ninjas of Love" she responded, "What about yours? I saw you put a book away before you came over here," she asked softly, sitting down at the table where she was before.

Nova sat down beside her and pulled out her book, "It's called 'Famous Love Poems: Volume 4," she said showing her the book.

"Wait, you like poems too?!" Blake said getting excited, not paying attention to the full title of the book.

"Yes, I do. I love all books; I hardly leave the house without a book in my hand," she told her with a grin on her face, she loved talking about books, so she got excited at every chance she got to talk about them.

Blake's face lit up with excitement when she said she liked books. It occurred to her that maybe there was someone special for her after all, "Read me a poem, please," she said softly, her head resting on her hand as she watched her, slowly becoming infatuated with her.

"Alright," Nova said, opening the book to a page she had bookmarked, skimming the page until she found the one she wanted.

She cleared her throat and started read.

"A Goddess before my eyes

by: Ruben Baez Torres

You are a masterpiece

A goddess before my eyes

You surpass the beauty of any female

Even the most beautiful rainbow in the sky.

As unique as a falling star

As rare as the Taj Mahal

There is nothing you don't have

You were born with it all.

A jewel beyond compare

Nothing like you we will ever see

You make me feel special

For the kindness you show me.

You are a goddess before my eyes

No other like you on earth

My world completely changed

The Second of your birth."

Blake wiped a tear from her cheek as she sniffled softly, "Wow, that was beautiful, Nova."

"I'm glad you liked it, it's one of my personal favourites," Nova whispered softly, smiling at her.

"...Read me another one?" Blake said after a few seconds, her composure regained.

"I'd love to" Nova responded, flipping a few pages in the book before picking another poem to read.

Blake sat silently, listening to her read her a poem, slowly falling in love with the sound of her voice. She could listen to her voice all day every day. In fact, she was slowly picturing spending the rest of her time at the school with her.

Meanwhile, Jezebel was wandering around the courtyard when she bumped into Sun and a girl she'd never met.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was off in my own little world as they say," Jezie apologized, nervously ranting a little.

"No worries, Jezebel," Sun responded with a friendly smile. "Have you met my girlfriend Nora?" he asked, motioning to the girl standing beside him.

The girl in a pink skirt called Nora smiled and waved, "Hey, welcome to Beacon," she said kindly.

"Thanks, I'm Jezebel but I mostly prefer to be called Jezie," Jezebel said, smiling at the two of them.

"Nice to meet you," Nora said to Jezie before she turned to Sun, muttering something in his ear which made his face go red and his tail stick almost straight up. Nora giggled softly, "we should get going, but I hope to see you around," she said to Jezie as she pulled a stunned Sun away by his hand.

"Okay, bye I guess," Jezebel whispered, sighing because she was alone again.

As much as she enjoyed being alone, at times, she wasn't particularly fond of it.

She'd been wandering for a while when she came across two boys having a conversation a few feet in front of her. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying even with her faunus hearing. So, with her curiosity taking over she tried to get a little closer without being detected.

"Man, I can't wait until I find a girl," the dark-haired boy said to the light brown-haired boy who was reading a book.

As you've said several times already…..." the brown-haired boy said a little annoyed. "You know, if you're so intent on finding a girl, why don't you stop pestering me and go socialize with other people?" he said, shutting the book he was reading.

"Sheesh, someone's a little cranky," the dark-haired boy said jokingly as he walked away from the other boy.

He was walking right towards Jezebel.

Jezie panicked and dove into a bush that was near her, so the boy wouldn't see her and think she was eavesdropping, which she was, but he didn't need to know that. After he passed her, she quietly walked out of the bush, casually brushing herself off. She glanced up, noticing the one boy was still there, and he'd resumed reading. From her point of view, he looked like he was about her age and good looking.

She decided to just walk casually by him, but as she was walking by him, her tail swished and brushed against his leg. She, however, didn't notice that this had happened.

"Excuse me," A voice called out from behind Jezie.

"Y-Yes?" Jezebel stuttered nervously, turning to look at him.

"I couldn't help but notice the peculiarity that you have two faunus traits," he said.

"Oh, umm thanks," she said nervously, turning to continue walking.

"Wait, please!" He was jogging to catch up to her. "I'm sorry that was weird, I was just caught off guard by your beauty. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he said softly, standing next to Jezie.

The young girl's tail swished back and forth as she thought about his words, "It's alright and thank you for the compliment," she said, smiling kindly at the boy. "My name is Jezebel by the way," she said, introducing herself, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Ignous," he said softly, gently taking her hand, bowing slightly over it and pressing a light kiss to the back of it. "It's a pleasure to be able to acquaint myself with such a beauty," he whispered against her hand.

Jezebel shivered as he whispered against her hand, her tail wagging slightly faster than before, and her ears were perked right up. "I umm…. Th-thank you," she stuttered out, shocked slightly by his words.

Ignous released her hand and straightened back up, "Why don't we go somewhere and talk?" he asked her, a small smile on his face.

"S-sure," Jezie said, still in shock and not thinking straight.

Star was in the courtyard practicing her fighting skills and using her semblance since Nova had forbidden her from being attached to her side from now on. She was pissed, so her sword was blazing extremely bright, and it was hot enough to melt stone. She hated the fact that another girl had caught her sister's eye. In her mind, twins stuck together, no matter what.

She was so busy being upset and cursing her sister that she didn't hear someone walk up behind her, "Hey that's a pretty cool weapon you have there!" said a masculine voice from behind Star.

Star spun around and levelled her sword with the guy's neck, "Who the fuck are you, and why the hell are you sneaking up on me!?" she questioned, her sword dangerously close to his neck.

"Woah, calm down, I was only complimenting you on your weapon as I was passing by to go to my dorm room," he said with an eerily calm tone.

She just stared at him, perplexed by his calm tone; someone who has a flaming sword aimed at their neck, "Why are you so calm?" she asked cautiously.

"Well I figured you wouldn't try anything because attacking fellow students is against the rules unless it's for class and I can also do this…." his voice trailed off as her sword went out, even though she was still putting her aura into it.

"What the hell!?" she exclaimed as she stared at her smoking sword that was no longer on fire.

"Name's Zeriph, and my semblance is taking over other people's semblances, therefore making them useless," he explained, introducing himself in the process.

"Star…." she said as she processed what had happened and what he said, "Uh, my name is Starlight, but I prefer Star, and that's a pretty handy semblance," she spoke further, having regained her composure and put her sword away.

"Nice to meet you Star," he said softly, smiling at her as he started to walk past her, "I was on my way back to my empty dorm, you wouldn't want to come with me, would you?" he asked her, putting a little emphasis on the word empty.

Star being young, stupid, and easily persuaded said yes and followed him back to his dorm room where he advanced on her…