Chapter Twenty-Five

'He's just not a good actor.'

'He's a brilliant actor!'

'He has the emotional range of a plank.'

'He's in action movies, you don't need an emotional range!'

'He's in action movies because he has no emotional range.'

'His death scenes are heartbreaking.'

'And the only reason they keep killing him is so all those people who don't like him will still come see the movie.'

Arc's mouth opens and closes, and finally he says, 'Shut up and eat your candy.'

I check the package. 'Last one. You want it?'

'You need it more than I do.' Arc checks his watch. 'Pyrrha has been gone for half an hour.'

'Didn't you work out when she should come back?'

'Yeah, she said she'd be back by now.' Arc gives the dark tunnel a worried look.

'You should go and look for her,' I say hopefully.

'No,' Arc says impatiently. 'I just hope she's ok…'

'She'll be fine. She's Pyrrha Nikos! Plus, Coco Adel is watching the perimeter. You really think, between those two, the Grimm have a chance?'

Arc grins reluctantly. 'She scares me.'

'Who, Nikos or Adel?'

'Coco!'

'I'd have said both.'

'I'm going to take that as a compliment,' an amused voice said. Arc started to his feet, but it was Nikos, wandering out of the darkness with a smile on her face. 'I'm sorry I'm late,' she added. 'This tunnel doesn't seem to end. In fact, it branches off. I'm sure I can smell fresh air, too.'

'So what you're saying,' I say slowly, 'is that Sky is going to have to come down here and have a look around whether he likes it or not?' I beam.

'I guess where we came in is our best bet for getting out, then,' Arc says. 'Can you walk, Russel?'

I pop Niko's last candy into my mouth and rise. I feel much better, though still a bit weak about the knees. 'Sure.'

We begin to trudge back, slowly this time, Nikos and Arc watching me like hawks. I don't object; it's scary how quickly my strength disappeared. A battered soul is nothing to scoff at.

God, I wish I knew why Nikos fell into the crevice. I can accept her not getting the same sort of damage I did; she landed on her feet, away from the main fall of debris. That's because she was standing several metres to the side, on solid fucking ground! And Arc, he landed after I did, because the bit of debris that snagged him fell first, lodged in the wall, and then caught him on his way down. But he wears armour, he should have landed first because he's heavier than me. I caught him, he knocked me loose, then something caught my spaulder, then something caught him, then I pulled him over the edge, then we both pulled Nikos over the edge –

'Ok, I give up,' I announce. 'I fucking give up. Nikos. What is your Semblance?'

'You can't just ask her that!' Arc says, indignant.

'It's driving me mad!' I exclaim. 'It's not telekinesis, but it's something, because I know we pulled you over the edge with us. And whatever it is, it broke my spaulder, so…' I come to a stop. My spaulder. Arc's armour. A thrown dagger that misses a target from three feet away. 'Is your Semblance,' I say slowly, unable to believe it, 'magnetism?'

One look at her face tells me I'm right. 'Your Semblance is magnetism,' I repeat.

She freezes, her face full of shame and fear, waiting to see what my response is, staring at the ground as if afraid to meet my eyes.

I start to laugh.

She and Arc whip their heads around to stare at me. 'Sorry,' I say. 'It's just – you really –' I have to stop and catch my breath. I'm laughing too hard to get the words out.

'You're not – angry?' Nikos says after a moment, sounding stunned.

'Are you kidding?' I lean back against the wall of the ravine and wipe my streaming eyes. 'I'm furious. But at the same time…' I grin at them both. 'You got to admit, it's pretty funny.'

Nikos and Arc both look desperately bewildered. 'You're taking this… really well,' Arc says.

I shrug at him. 'You don't think it's funny? Your partner can just mess with us at any given point and we wouldn't even know. All of our weapons are metal. I mean, hell, Cardin, Sky and Dove wear armour. Armour, and we had to fight a girl with the Semblance of magnetism?' I start to laugh again, just thinking of it.

'I'm… pleased that you're… not angry?' Nikos says doubtfully.

'Oh, no, like I said, I'm kind of angry about it,' I say, stretching back. 'But not at you. Mostly just that we wasted so much time without even realising it. Plus, you did just try to save my life. I guess we were too heavy?'

'You had no metal on you that I could hold after your spaulder broke,' she says apologetically.

'The Invincible Girl,' I muse. 'Nikos, I have to hand it to you: you are one magnificent bitch.'

'Hey!' Arc yells.

'Fuck off, it's a compliment.'

'Then thank you,' Nikos says uncertainly.

'And I'm telling my team what your Semblance is.'

'You can't!' Nikos gasps.

'Why not? I worked it out fair and square.'

'Because – because –' She struggles for words, looking tearful. 'Everyone will know that I'm not who I say I am. Everyone will know I'm a liar. You can't, Russel, you can't!'

'I said Cardin, not the Vale news,' I say bitingly. 'Besides, what's it going to change? We're not going to suddenly start to practice with other, non-metal weapons just to beat you.' Actually, I totally am, but now's not the time to mention that, I think. 'And I'm not keeping this sort of secret from my team. Sorry, Nikos. You're just going to have to gut up and keep handing us our asses. It'll be tough, but I have every faith in you.'

She doesn't respond. She just looks sick and scared. It's unnatural on her. Again, I cave. 'You know,' I say in a casual tone, 'I have to be honest, I kind of think using your Semblance like that makes you more impressive. How many people have ever realised? You've got mastery over your Semblance, you've got mastery over physical combat, and you've got mastery over psychological warfare and marketing. I mean seriously, what more do you want? Actual divinity?'

I look over to grin at her. 'I'm telling my team. They'll keep it to themselves, but don't be surprised if Cardin shows up and asks for lessons in how to be you. As I said: you are a magnificent bitch.'

Nikos is looking shocked and – slightly proud? Man I'm good. 'You're not nearly as unkind as you make yourself out to be, are you?' she says, her voice trembling a little.

'If you tell anyone, I'll deny it,' I warn her.

'I agree with Pyrrha,' Arc says. 'You're a surprisingly good guy. I don't suppose you could use our first names, though? It's just weird talking to you. You're the only one who uses our surnames. Why is that, anyway?'

'Habit,' I say without thinking.

'What, they only use surnames in Vacuo?'

This is getting too personal. I start to walk again. 'We should keep moving.'

We get to the place where we came in. 'Is it just me,' I say thoughtfully, 'or is there a lot more rubble than there was?'

'It looks like the rest of the building fell in,' Nikos agrees.

'Glad we weren't here for that,' Arc says. 'You reckon we can climb up onto it?'

We all step back and take a look. There are lots of planks, lying crazily against the walls of the crevice. There are bricks and chunks of masonry everywhere, and there are iron girders sticking out here and there.

'You should just make a ladder,' I say, pointing at the girders. 'Like, put them up and just hold them in place for us. With your Semblance. Of magnetism.'

'Can you do that?' Arc asks Nikos solicitously.

Nikos shrugs. 'There's certainly no reason not to.' Meaning if I hadn't worked it out you would have let us stay stuck down here? Thanks, Nikos. Thanks a bunch. 'Are you up to climbing, though, Russel?'

I check my scroll. 'I'm in the amber. I should be fine. Uh… Don't suppose you guys would agree to not tell anyone I fainted, yeah? Kind of embarrassing.' And, of course, Cardin would jump to the conclusion it was my Semblance.

'You need to rest and recover,' Nikos says sharply.

'But you still won't tell them I fainted?' I ask hopefully.

Arc rolls his eyes. 'We won't tell them you fainted.'

It's a surprisingly simple maneuver. As Arc and I stay well out of range, Nikos places her hands on the girders, and then, with a grunt of effort, she steps back and raises her hands into the air. With a groan of protesting rock, the metal rises into the air and leans against the wall of the crevice.

'Go,' she calls, her voice steady.

We jog forward and start to scale the metal. It's textured and rough, and gives us plenty of grip. As we scramble up, I start to breathe heavily, but I make it to the stop, and so does Arc. 'You know,' I pant, watching Nikos wrap a second and third girder around the first to hold it in place so she can climb out, 'Your partner has a lot of potential to be absolutely terrifying.'

'Jaune! Russel!' a delighted voice calls out. I turn around, and am flattened by Nora Valkyrie, who has decided the appropriate way to greet me is to hurl herself into a flying hug. We hit the ground and skid back towards, the crevice, but Belladonna, appearing out of nowhere, fires her weapon and wraps the ribbon around my leg, then jerks us back to safety. I hit the ground for the second time in ten seconds and seriously consider just not getting up.

'Valkyrie,' I say, my voice surprisingly calm. 'Get off me.'

She leaps to her feet. I disentangle Belladonna's ribbon and look at her. 'Thanks.'

All three teams are there, and all of them are gaping at me. 'What happened?' Cardin yells.

'Building fell on me,' I say, getting up. 'Why do you ask?'

'You are covered in blood,' Sky says flatly.

I glance down. I'm a gory mess. 'Huh.'

Nikos leaps out of the crevice, rolls, and comes to her feet in the same smooth movement. I sigh and wish I could chalk that one up to magnetism. 'Hello again!' she says brightly.

'Why are you guys here?' Arc asks. We start to walk towards the campsite. Cardin, Sky and Dove are keeping a close eye on me, and I sigh again. I forgot that their scrolls were linked to mine. They probably got a warning when I collapsed.

'We couldn't do anything to help you with that building breathing down our necks,' Sky says. 'Ruby and Weiss went to get the team with the heavy weapons so that they could break the building down. I figured at least we'd have room to work that way.'

'Sky's Semblance is great!' Rose says brightly. 'He knew when you guys left to find another way out, so he said we could just knock the building into the crevice and you guys could maybe climb out!'

We reach the campsite and I start to rummage in my pack for fresh clothing. Before I can pull anything out, someone kneels down next to me. I look up, expecting to see Cardin or Sky, but it's Yang. Before I can say anything, she seizes my wrist and checks my scroll.

'I already promised Nikos I'd chill out,' I say quickly.

She meets my eyes, and wordlessly rises to sit around the fire.

I change my clothes and wash the blood off my face, then return to join the others around the fire. It's only midday, apparently, and Ren is cooking lunch.

'And then,' he's explaining to Dove, 'you make the sauce in the same pot with the water you used to boil the pasta.'

'And then you add the rosemary, right?' Dove asks, a look of intense concentration on his face.

I sit down, opposite Yang. 'Yang,' I begin, my voice low. I'm interrupted by Ruby Rose, flinging herself down beside her sister.

'This has been a crazy day,' she begins.

'Ruby!' Schnee says, in an exasperated voice, walking past and seizing Rose by her hood. 'Come on!'

'Wait, what are we doing?' Rose asks, confused.

'We have to go and get Coco for lunch, remember?' Schnee says.

'I don't remember agreeing to this…' Rose's voice trails off as Schnee physically hauls her down the passageway. Belladonna goes with them without a word.

Yang forces a smile at me. 'Sorry. Little sisters can be a pain. What were you saying?'

'Just that–'

'Hey, how hungry are you guys?' Dove calls from the fire.

I bite back a groan of frustration. 'Very!' I call in a clipped voice.

'Like normal very, or very-very–'

Sky leans over and says something in a low voice to Dove. Dove quickly looks around on the ground. 'Uh, we're going to grab – more plates.' He and Sky quickly disappear into the room where the equipment is stored. Cardin takes one look at my face and follows them.

I turn back to Yang. 'Yang, listen, I really need to–'

Arc plops himself down right next to me. 'Man, I'm starving! Something about falling into a hole in the ground really…' He trails off. Maybe he's wondering why Yang and I are both glaring at him.

'Let's go and – find Ruby!' Nikos says quickly. 'Come on, Jaune!'

It seems to work, so I turn my glare on Valkyrie and Ren. Ren just raises an eyebrow at me, but he still puts down the spoon and says calmly, 'Come on, Nora. Let's go and make our sleeping bags.'

I draw in a deep, calming breath and turn back to Yang, then start to laugh. 'This is pathetic.'

She's smiling too. 'What did you want to say?'

I open my mouth and my brain freezes up. Oh god. What do I say? What can I say? There's only one thing. 'You – were going to tell me something, and I cut you off.'

She knows what I'm talking about. Her face tenses, and she looks down. 'Just that my mother was a Huntress who went on a mission and never came back. So – I know how it feels, to lose someone. And it wasn't a kitten at age ten,' she adds with spirit.

'I'm sorry I yelled at you,' I say.

'I'm sorry I surprised you,' Yang says.

There's still a feeling of things unsaid. 'Violet,' I begin, and stop. 'I would have told you,' I begin again.

'It's fine,' Yang says, not looking at me. 'Ruby and I didn't even tell our teammates about our mother for a semester and a bit.'

'It's not that,' I say. 'I would have told you she died. But the truth is… she killed herself.' I'm looking at the ground. 'She put her weapons down and she let a Grimm kill her. And I was there. But… I don't think she knew. I don't think she wanted me to see that. I think.'

For a long moment, Yang is silent. Now I'm the person who can't look at the other, for fear of what their face might reveal. Her voice, when she speaks, is almost emotionless. 'Ruby and I aren't full sisters, y'know. When I was a baby, my mother left me with our father and disappeared. I thought Ruby's mother was my mum too… and then she died, and Dad told me the truth.'

I look up sharply. 'So you do know…' I trail off. She does know what? How it feels to be abandoned? How it feels to be not enough to make someone stick around? How it feels to bear guilt for something that's not even close to being your fault?

It doesn't matter. She does know.

We meet each other's eyes, and we smile. 'Russel,' Yang begins, her voice soft.

Right on cue, Coco Adel appears out of nowhere like the Ghost of Christmases Ruined by People Dropping In Unexpectedly. 'Where is everyone?' she demands, and sniffs the air. 'What's burning?'

'Ren's sauce,' I sigh, throwing myself over to the fire and frantically stirring. 'Whatever, he can probably save it with tarragon or something.'

Coco eyes me. 'What happened to you?'

'I got crushed under the weight of your ego,' I snap.

'Brat, please. If I wanted to crush you, you'd be dead,' she sniffs.

'God forbid things be that simple,' I mutter, casting a quick look at Yang. To my relief, she's smiling. Maybe they actually could be.

The rest of our group appear from the shadows, and Ren begins to dole out pasta with a sad shake of his head over the sauce. 'Brown sugar?' Dove suggests hopefully.

'Not in this instance,' Ren says.

'I like it,' Schnee announces. 'It tastes - smoky.'

'If you give me four helpings I'll take it to the others,' Coco says. 'Oh, and Blake, here's your bag.' She tosses a small knapsack at Belladonna. Belladonna catches it, looking startled. 'Next time, don't leave things lying around outside.'

'My bag?' Belladonna repeats. 'This isn't my bag.'

'It has your name on it,' Coco says impatiently. I glance over; she's right. Blake Belladonna is written on the canvas in thick, curling letters.

Still looking confused, Belladonna opens the bag.

BOOM.

The actor that Jaune and Russel are discussing is Spruce Willis. Since Jaune wanted to take Weiss to see his movie, I'm guessing he's a fan.