CHAPTER XXVI

The Golden Girl of Vale

Athena examined herself in a mirror as she geared up for a training match. July was only a week away and these days were all they had to prepare for the tournament. The confirmed teams that would represent Beacon Academy included four from the first-year class, Teams APEX, LILY, ORNJ, and PDTR, eliminating even some fourth-year competitors that were slated to be selected early in the school year. The third-year class yielded Teams SQRL and GOTE, while both the second-year and fourth-year classes offered one team each.

"Ready?" Perseus said, standing next to her along with Echo and Xanthus.

Athena looked at her team. Everyone was armed and ready to go. She gave them a single nod before leading the way to the training hall, where they would participate in what was essentially a mock tournament, complete with team matches and solo duels. This was exactly what Athena had trained for all her life. She didn't get her title for no reason. She was the best at Signal and making her way to the top of Beacon, if she wasn't there already.

She looked at her spear and shield for a moment, saying a short prayer to both. Pallas's reach was unrivaled and Aegis was unbreakable. Combined with her ferromagnetism Semblance, she and her two implements were a single, unified weapon system. The three at her back were no different. Though four individuals, working in tandem, they formed the perfect team.

The first match was against Team PDTR. This quartet was the most aggressive out of the four first-year teams, probably the most aggressive in all of Beacon. Their strategies involved opening up with blitzes, the clear goal to overpower and overwhelm their opponents without giving them any time to work out a strategy. It was an extremely effective maneuver and every single member of the team was well-suited to the task, particularly Demetri Holland, who, despite his use of gauntlets, was so quick as to close the gap between him and his opponent in record time. She needed to be careful of him. His gauntlets were equipped with a chain grappling system which he used with incredible tactical effectiveness.

The other members were just as dangerous. Paolo, despite his constant debonair style, was a formidable opponent. He wasn't team leader for nothing. Most of their strategies and tactics were formulated by none other than himself, though the others also had their own ideas, which he was very much open to. He understood better than most the importance of team solidarity and that was one thing Team PDTR excelled at.

"I guess we should pick our pairs now," Theo suggested as the two teams walked up to the center of the ring. "It makes perfect sense for Paolo to take on Athena, since they're both spearmen. I've got a sword and shield. Perseus, shall we dance?"

"Sure," Perseus said, feigning disinterest. "I've got nothing better to do."

"I guess that leaves you and me," Demetri said to Xanthus. "Dual-wielder against dual-wielder."

Raiden eyed Echo, who took note of his lack of visible weaponry. He was the most memorable out of all of Team PDTR for his unconventional fighting style. Rather than sticking to a staple weapon, he specialized in throwing knives, with which he was so accurate that he could nail a flying nevermore right in the neck. It was impossible to tell just how many he had left underneath that cloak as well, particularly because he made it a habit of retrieving his thrown projectiles.

Echo had also seen him in close combat as well. Along with the potentially dozens of throwing knives he had under there, he also possessed at least two combat knives, with which he was lethal enough to take down an Ursa Major with fewer than ten strikes. She needed to be careful of him.

Assistant Headmaster Goodwitch sounded the start of the match, upon which Team PDTR wasted no time in proceeding with a frontal assault. Athena led her own team forward, flanked by both Perseus and Xanthus while Echo fired arrow after arrow at their opponents. The formations quickly broke as Echo continued to harass the opposing team with arrows so precisely launched that she was able to send them soaring between her own teammates without hitting them and striking her opponents.

"Raiden!" Paolo yelled to his teammate, who, without a word, broke from the melee and went after Echo to suppress her ranged support fire.

The team's archer found herself dodging flying knives while returning fire with arrows. It came to a point where both were dodging projectiles from mere feet away from each other. Echo noticed him reaching for his two combat knives and she quickly transformed Sentinel into a staff and engaged him in close combat, barely dodging what appeared to be an assassination strike from her opponent.

"Your team's pretty good," Paolo said as he clashed spears with Athena. "It's no wonder they call you the Golden Girl of Vale. Or is that just because of your beautiful hair?"

"It's my hair," she said with a smirk before redirecting his spear and swinging with her shield, only barely missing his face.

Team LILY was seated at ringside, each one observing the fight closely. Not only was it possible that they would face each other in the tournament, it was also a good idea to take notes from two of the best teams on campus, how they responded to what tactics the other team threw, how effective each tactic was against other tactics, among other things.

"APEX's teamwork is tight," Leon said as the match devolved before reorganizing under Athena's command.

"She has complete control over the battle," Ingrid said. "And PDTR doesn't even realize it."

Yuan looked over at Lilly. The smile she usually wore was gone, replaced by an intensity that was reserved for hardened soldiers. She must have been modeling what Athena was doing. That made no sense, though. Teams LILY and APEX operated in completely different ways. While Athena was strict with keeping their formations in order, Lilly was the opposite type of leader, placing absolute trust in her teammates' ability to adapt and adjust to any situation, granting them nearly total freedom and discretion. More often than not, this led to some awkward positions where they couldn't figure out what to do, but their team instinct was growing quickly and all four would regularly synergize with near perfect unity in the midst of battle even without any planning in advance. For practical purposes, this made them no different from Team APEX in their combat effectiveness.

"What do you think she's thinking?" Leon asked Yuan.

"I'm not sure," he said, considering the fact that Lilly had begun to get better with her rune power, which she had yet to employ in any of their training matches thus far. She continued to rely on her Dust cartridges loaded into Myrtenaster instead. Perhaps it was her way of hiding a trump card. That wasn't her, though. It was far more likely that she still hadn't mastered it enough to be able to use it effectively in a real match, instead nurturing a more reliable method of attack.

But there was also something that bothered Yuan deeply. He was the only one who knew of her regular excursions into that parallel world, where she would fight monsters and such in order to defeat other people's inner demons. He had absolutely no idea as to the nature of that world, whether it was safe for her or extremely dangerous, whether she was being smart about her approaches or totally reckless. Yuan wasn't one to doubt his leader, though. The fact that she was still alive and sitting here with them told him that she knew what she was doing. He only wished she could trust in her team more.

Or perhaps she was sparing them from whatever horrors that place had to offer. After all, ever since she began her excursions into that world, she seemed to change as a person, growing less and less cheery and more and more severe, as though a heavy weight were placed upon her shoulders, one even heavier than the legacy of the Schnee name.

"Shit," Leon said, standing up with Ingrid as the match between Team PDTR and APEX reached a critical point. Echo had just had her aura depleted below 15%, the threshold for defeat in the tournament. She was out of the match. Xanthus took a hard hit from both Raiden and Demetri, who worked together to knock him out of the ring. It was now all of PDTR against Athena and Perseus. The latter didn't last long with Demetri, Theo, and Raiden pummeling him to the point that his aura broke.

"That's some control," Yuan said, referring to the fact that the three PDTR members stopped their assault the moment Perseus's aura broke, keeping themselves from injuring him.

"Yeah, they're not on the tourney roster for no reason," Leon said.

Lilly was on her feet now as well. Athena's face was stern, reflecting the perfect focus of the Golden Girl of Vale. This exact scenario was what she was so well-known for, to be faced with insurmountable odds and come out on top no matter what.

Team PDTR approached her carefully, maintaining formation. This team wasn't filled with morons. They all knew what she was capable of and just how powerful her Semblance was. At any moment, she could commandeer even their weapons and use them against their own wielders. Her Semblance's only weakness was the inability to control more than two objects at a time.

To everyone's surprise, Athena was the one to attack first, hurling her spear at Theo, who blocked the powerful strike with his shield, which rang with the force of the impact. Her spear came right back to her, courtesy of her Semblance.

Raiden threw one knife after another at her, but she didn't need to block with her shield. Even as she fought Paolo spear to spear, her awareness of her surroundings was so keen that she was able to use her Semblance to alter the course of each of the throwing knives mid-flight, preventing any from hitting her.

"Why does she keep going after Paolo?" Theo said, still recovering from that intensely hard hit from her spear.

"She's trying to take out our leader," Demetri said. "C'mon!"

Before they could even engage, she had thrown her shield at them, which bounced off of Theo's own shield and Demetri's gauntlets. Even as all of this was happening, she continued to magnetically deflect each and every one of Raiden's throwing knives.

"Heh," Paolo said, exchanging strikes with Athena. "It's no wonder you're at the top of the roster. Honestly, I don't mind getting taken out by the best."

She grinned.

"So, I just gotta ask. Why wait? You could've taken us out a long time ago. Fighting you is like fighting four people at once."

She didn't respond, at least not verbally. She swiftly redirected Paolo's spear before trapping it on the ground and striking him on the head with enough force to instantly shatter his aura. Without even a split second wasted, she turned her attention to Demetri, focusing all of her offensive power on him. She hurled her shield, knocking him off balance and using her Semblance to redirect it at the other two while she lunged at Demetri with enough power to force him out of the ring.

Displaying her fighting prowess once more, she outmaneuvered the attacking Theo and went straight for Raiden, who pulled out his combat knives to engage her in close range. Before reaching him, though, she twirled around and throw both spear and shield at Theo, fighting both opponents simultaneously, using her Semblance to do battle with Theo as she engaged Raiden hand to hand, avoiding his knife strikes while whittling down his aura with merciless pugilism. She eventually landed an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying as his aura broke.

She turned back to Theo, who found it impossible to fight against a floating sword and shield with no wielder to strike. She recalled both Pallas and Aegis back to her side and attacked, ultimately overwhelming an already exhausted Theo, forcing him to his knees as his aura failed. He looked up to face the point of her spear.

"Fucking hell," he panted, standing up. "I've seen your videos, but that was just, something else completely."

"Good match," Paolo said, shaking her hand with a grin plastered on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Perseus asked him as they shook hands as well.

"It took Team APEX to take us out. That's what I'm happy about."

"You don't mind being second place?" Echo said, her arms crossed.

"Not when first place has Athena Rose on it."

"This was pretty much what I expected from Team APEX," Demetri said, shaking hands with Xanthus. "But what I really want to see is Team APEX against Team IVRY."

"Team who?" Athena said.

"Team IVRY," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "They are a third-year team from Atlas, currently holding the undefeated record at their academy."

"Basically Team APEX except third-year," Paolo said. "Okay! Team LILY and Team ORNJ, it's your time to shine!"

—

"Hey, don't be so down in the dumps," Leon said to Lilly as they left the training hall to get some coffee.

She didn't answer, continuing to look straight ahead as she led the way. The others all exchanged glances. They each wanted to say something to cheer her up, anything, but they all knew that this was something Lilly needed to do for herself. After all, this was nothing more than a repeat of the first week of classes, when she scored poorly on her tests.

"I know," Leon said. "Let's go play some videogames, get our minds off of it."

Lilly continued to maintain her silence, rigidly walking forward. Leon caught Ingrid's eyes. She was shaking her head in disappointment. He turned to her and threw his arms to either side in exasperation, mouthing out the words, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

She put a finger to her mouth, silently miming a "Shh!" to him.

He threw his head back in surrender and turned to the front, catching up with Lilly, who looked over to him before making eye contact with the rest of her team as well. She said nothing, but they all felt the ache in her heart. That disappointment at herself was tangible through her forlorn eyes.

Yuan joined her side. "Wanna run through some team tactics later on?" he said. "After we rest up with some coffee."

She looked up at him. She hadn't realized how tall he stood. She guessed he was maybe five-foot-ten, just an inch shorter than Leon.

"Team ORNJ's teamwork was spot on. It was no surprise they were able to isolate us individually and deplete our auras and knock Leon out of the ring."

"You're right," Lilly broke her silence. "I just...I never wanted to seem like I didn't trust you guys or anything like that."

"C'mon," Leon said. "You're our team leader. We expect you to call the shots when necessary."

"Well, mostly it's because I didn't even know what shots to call. I guess I've been relying on you guys a little too much."

"It's good to rely on us," Ingrid said, "but having an overall battle plan is also important."

Lilly sighed. "You guys would have been so much better off with Athena."

"Hey," Leon said, barring her way with his arms across his chest. "Are you saying you wanna abandon us?"

"Huh? N-No, that's not what I'm saying at all."

"I'm just wondering. Because there's a lot of stuff you've been doing completely alone lately."

She didn't answer. Yuan also held his tongue, keeping his promise to her.

"You might think we're better off with my sister as our leader," Leon continued, "but the rest of us don't think so."

"Yeah," Ingrid said. "You're our captain for a reason. Because you understand us more than anyone else."

"She grew up with you guys, though—" Lilly began before Leon cut her off.

"That's enough," he said. "I won't hear another word about this crap. You're not a bad leader, okay? If anything, you're the one that holds this entire team together. If it weren't for you, we'd be nothing more than four individuals fighting in the same battle at the same time. But it's you that each of us turns to when shit starts to get rough and it's at that instant, watching you fight on even in the worst possible situation, that we all get the strength we need to keep going. Sure, whatever, you might not have the tactical prowess or whatever my sister has, but you have something no one else has. You have the heart."

She looked down at the ground.

"That won't do," Ingrid said. "Chin up, partner."

She slowly turned to Ingrid. She was smiling at her. That was all that was needed for Lilly Schnee's smile to gradually return to her face.

"It's been too long," Leon said. "I was starting to miss that smile."

She looked up at him. She had never seen that expression on his face before. It was a mixture of longing and melancholy with a tinge of hope underneath. She hadn't realized until now just how integral she was to this group. Her hopes and dreams were their hopes and dreams. The team bore her name for a reason.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "First, let's go get some coffee. I'm thirsty."

"You know that's just gonna dehydrate you, right?" Ingrid said.

"That's why you drink water after!"

She shared a chuckle with Leon and Yuan. Finally, they had their leader back. Perhaps they could make it in the tournament after all.

—

Lilly looked out the window as night fell. Everyone from their two teams was in their room tonight. The four boys started the videogame party before Echo joined in, replacing Xanthus as Perseus's teammate against Leon and Ingrid, the latter of whom had subbed in for Yuan.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Athena asked, standing next to Lilly.

"Just the moon," she said. "I wonder how it doesn't just float apart with all the pieces of it like that. Oh, right, gravity. That begs another question, though. How does it continue to float around like that instead of just falling back in place together?"

"You sound like Xanthus," Athena chuckled.

"Well," Lilly said, facing her and mock-pushing up non-existent glasses.

They shared a laugh before turning to Xanthus, who joined them at the window.

"What's so funny?" Xanthus asked before Athena reached over to push up his glasses. The two girls looked at each other and began laughing again.

"You dealt with Demetri's grappling hooks pretty well," Lilly said.

"Thank you. You know, Lilly, despite your loss against Team ORNJ, I must say that your team operates really well for going in with almost zero planning."

"It's not almost zero, dude," Leon said even as he concentrated on the racing game they were playing. "It's exactly zero."

"Even more impressive. Despite zero planning, the four of you are able to coordinate almost by instinct. As if your thoughts are all the same."

"Well," Lilly began, "it's really mostly us going in, me getting into trouble, and then the three of them bailing me out."

"We call that tactic the D.i.D.," Ingrid said.

"D.i.D.?" Xanthus said.

"Yeah," Leon said, "Damsel-in-Distress."

Chuckles went around the room.

"And the brave Knight of Roses comes to rescue his lady, huh?" Perseus said.

Ingrid turned to Leon, who was as red as his jacket.

"That's it," Leon said, "Get some."

"What?" Echo said.

"How the fuck?" Perseus said.

Leon had stolen first place from Perseus and Echo, who were neck and neck.

"Hash-tag-get-rekt, bitches," Leon said, dropping his controller on the carpet as the leaderboard showed up, placing him at the top.

"Hacker," Echo said, dropping her own controller and folding her arms across her chest.

"Don't be salty."

Lilly chuckled before looking back out the window. Yuan was the only one in the room who knew what was on her mind. She was thinking about how to get stronger. And the best place for her to do that would be in that other world, where she could train to her heart's content. The problem she didn't consider was that training herself was one thing. Training herself alongside her team was another thing altogether.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," Lilly said, throwing on a light sweater and heading out.

"I'll join you," Ingrid said.

"No, it's okay. I just need some time alone for a bit."

They all watched as she left the room.

"She's taking the loss pretty hard," Perseus said.

"She'll be fine," Yuan said, catching everyone's attention. "If anyone can get over a slump, it's her."

Of course, he withheld the reason he had such confidence in her. The others assumed he was thinking the same thing they were, that she wouldn't give up no matter what. While that was indeed true, Yuan figured she'd be in that parallel world again, training until she couldn't do anything else anymore. He only hoped that she wouldn't push herself too far.