AN: Hello again!
Okay. Now, I'm gonna be real.
I just got shivers when one of you told me you got shivers from reading chapter 25.
That's, like, the ultimate compliment! I'm so proud that I consider it my greatest achievement in writing to date.
Like, for reals. I'mma drop the prim and proper formal bullshit act and speak the way I normally would.
It's real fucking amazing and surreal that I managed to pull that off.
Seriously, thanks. That made my day, and it probably made my year, too.
And, again, I'm seriously grateful to everyone that's stuck with me since chapter one. It's been a ride, and if you got worried that this might be coming to a close very soon with how I worded it, don't. I got the ending all planned out and we're not even at the halfway point just yet.
So here's to more shenanigans!
P.S. Ready your combat playlist.
The sound of an eagle was heard in the distance, bringing a smile along with a memory of a certain song to a certain girl. The girl played the sound of a guitar and keyboard slowly rising in volume in her mind for about 30 seconds before she took a deep breath and released it with a clear and powerful voice—her voice echoing and reverberating throughout the academy.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
Lilly sat on the fence of one of the four towers Beacon Academy had, excluding the Grand Clocktower. The tower was quite tall, standing at least over 10 stories high and it was set at the corner of Beacon Academy where it was situated as a sort of watchtower by the cliff overlooking the lake and Vale.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
It was three in the afternoon, the sun was brightly shining down on her, but with how high she was, the feeling of the strong wind blowing on her hair and skin was more than enough to keep herself cooled.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
She was relaxedly and idly swinging her legs back and forth as she sang at the top of her lungs to the tune of Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds To Mars.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
Her eyes were hidden behind a black blindfold that had its long tails energetically swaying along with her long black hair as they were touched by the strong winds. Feeling quite fickle and excited—she chose to skip the first verse and went straight for the chorus because she felt that the winds were simply too enjoyably strong for her to not give the chorus her best.
"We were the Kings and Queens of promise~!"
Her body swayed back and forth, and side to side as she imagined the instrumentals of the song she was singing to everyone and no one.
"We were the victims of ourselves~!"
Her feet bounced and swung to the beat of the drums while her body swayed left and right to every drop that came—reminded of her days of childhood that she'd spent closely and mostly with her mother and father. Sheltered as she was, she didn't feel particularly stifled. Her every whim was granted as long as it was within reason and her parents personally tended to her whenever they weren't busy with work despite having at least a dozen servants around the mansion to do just that job—and even better at that.
She chuckled in her mind as she echoed the words mentally, nostalgic for the past when she'd often force her mother and father to get her all kinds of musical instruments. She started practicing the piano and violin when she was 4, then she moved on to the flute, trumpet, and oboe at 5, the cello at 6, the guitar and bass at 7, the drums at 8, and so on—all the while practicing her vocals. By the time she turned 15, she was already an expert on a great number of instruments that, if she could, she would play an entire orchestra's worth Live by herself.
How exactly that line reminded her of her joyful days when it was meant as a reminder of grandiose dreams that ended in failure and disappointment was a little strange to her, but she simply chalked it up to herself wondering whether she had at least one thing to regret dreaming of in the past.
A second of thought later, and it was a no-brainer—she had none.
"Maybe the children of a lesser God~!"
Her smile spread wider across her face as soon as she finished singing that particular line, fancying the idea that the reason they were the way they are currently was because of just that—children of lesser Gods.
"Between Heaven and Hell~!"
She was by no means religious, but she did like to believe that God or Gods were real. She had no particular reason to believe so, though—she simply liked the idea that such beings were true. If pushed for an answer, her response was always because she thought that it was romantic.
"Heaven and Hell~!"
She stood on the fence as she spread her arms wide open with her palms facing the sky, her hooded coat that was simply clipped around her neck billowed strongly as it was carried by the wind. She tilted her head down, facing the great blue lake further down the cliff.
"The age of man is over~..."
She balanced herself on the fence as her body tilted and swayed back and forth due to the powerful winds. A minor slip could mean life and death to her, and yet she was more worried over whether she could sing the rest of the song perfectly.
"A darkness comes at dawn~..."
She felt emotion welling within her as she slowly lowered her voice further. She took a deep breath and raised her voice a little higher along with a tilt of her head to where she was now facing the great horizon that split the sky and land.
"These lessons that we learned here~..."
The excitement in her heart was barely containable with how her hands trembled as they slowly and dramatically reached for her heart—her voice rising even higher as she sang.
"Have only just begun~!"
Along with the rise of her voice, she spread her arms wide open just like before. Was it a gesture to welcome the planet or was it a dare for anyone to stop her? Even she didn't know, she simply felt excited as her emotions rose with the tone, pitch, and volume of her voice just as the song ebbed and flowed out of her mouth.
"We were the Kings and Queens of promise~!
We were the victims of ourselves~!
Maybe the children of a lesser God~!
Between Heaven and Hell~!"
She quickly took a deep breath before continuing the song, oblivious to the fact that a small crowd had already gathered at the foot of the tower ever since she started singing the chorus—enticed and enthralled by the mysterious and oddly compelling voice that had been spreading across campus. It wasn't as if her voice was extraordinarily loud, it was simply because she stood on a far higher footing than the rest that her voice reached farther and wider than it normally would.
"We are the Kings~!
We are the Queens~!
We are the Kiiings~!
We are the..."
And she took in as much breath as fast as she could before she sang as loud as she could, her voice echoing louder and farther, attracting even those who were within classrooms and dorm rooms—busy with their studies and whatnot.
"QUEEEEENS~!"
Just as she strained her voice singing at the top of her lungs, she was surprised when she heard a familiar voice backing her up just as how the song was supposed to go.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
She held the yell as long as she could, lasting at least a dozen seconds before it faded away—carried away by the wind into obscurity and drowned by loud cheers and shouts for encores and autographs. Little did they know, her song wasn't quite finished yet. Pleasantly surprised as they were, they dropped whatever they'd been doing or saying as they followed along with the voice that backed her up as best as they could.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
It was Lilly's turn to be pleasantly surprised when she heard her small audience singing along with her, proud that, despite singing a song completely unknown to this world's inhabitants, she was able to get them to sing along with her on her first time—with a little bit of help from her not-so-mysterious friend, of course.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
So, she smiled wide—wide enough that it was almost painful for her to keep it for long, but still, she did. Because she was simply too happy.
"Ooohh, ooohh, ooooohh~!"
It was as if she just had her own live concert, just as she'd always wanted since her pre-teens. She let the voices of her audience wash over her as she reveled in the moment. After a second, she let herself fall off the other side of the fence—the side where she would die, because unlike the people of this world, she didn't have Aura. At least, not yet.
And so she fell, and the crowds cheered some more, aside for one person, that is. That person rushed out of the crowd and stood right under the falling girl as fast as she could with her arms opened wide, prepared to catch her just in time before she hit the ground.
"Oof!" The person gruntled a little from the force of the fall.
"My hero." Lilly beamed lovingly, wrapping her arms around her savior's neck.
"You were so damn loud I could hear you from the halls."
"And I heard you, my little backup vocals," she said, getting down from her savior's protective hold. "It's a shame you don't sing as much, you would be a great singer!"
"Yeah, nah."
"So, what brings you here?"
"Your singing."
Lilly didn't say anything, she only beamed at the words. The crowd that gathered had stopped cheering and some have already left, though, those that stayed, seemed as though they were waiting for more.
"Are you free right now?"
"Nope, I was on my way to combat class when I heard you."
"Oh, I'm sorry for holding you up."
"Don't mind it, it was my choice to be late when I decided to come here." Her savior took her hand and guided her out of the crowds and back inside Beacon's main building.
"Well, you shouldn't!" She said, easily letting herself be guided away. She could navigate on her own with relative ease as she's got a very good pair of sensitive ears, but she didn't mind. A tiny bit of skinship with her best friend is always welcome.
"Yeah, yeah."
After a short while of walking in pleasant silence with only the ambient sound of students going to and fro being heard around her, her best friend spoke up again.
"By the way," she heard her say. "I think Pyrrha said she was looking for you."
"She is? I wonder why."
"Well you're gonna have to ask her."
While walking through the halls, she eventually heard the sound of metal striking and gunshots before they made a turn into what she believed was a grand room or some such.
"Hey, Glynda, sorry I'm late. This girl was singing on one of the towers and fucking jumped off of it right after while blindfolded."
"Hey! Don't blame me because you heard me singing! You said it was your decision to come to me!" Lilly said indignantly with a cross of her arms and a harrumph. "And I wouldn't have jumped off if I didn't hear you, you know? I knew you'd catch me." She smiled.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Did you walk here looking like that?" she heard Glynda ask.
"Yeah? She needs to rest her eyes."
"While holding hands?"
"Well, yeah, she's blind right now." She heard, but then their voices lulled to soft whispers only those within their vicinity could hear. "Don't tell me... are you jealous?"
"Don't be preposterous. Think back—you walked the halls while holding a blindfolded girl's hand through here. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd be up to something immoral."
"Or I could just be planning to surprise her. Geez, Glynda, leave the dirty thoughts for when it's time for bed—I can help you with those, too, just say the word."
There was a slight pause—Glynda was likely embarrassed and thinking of what to reply, Lilly guessed in her mind.
"Keep quiet, stop being immoral, and take a seat. You can have Ms. Lillianne sit beside you, I need to start the next match."
"Sure thing, Glynda." Lilly felt a hand taking mine before she was gently pulled away. "Let's go."
"Thanks, Tielle."
"I know you can navigate just fine, but I also know that it's gonna take you a little bit of time before you get familiar with this place when you're blind like that."
"You know me so well."
Lilly felt hands on her shoulders lightly pushing her down, an indication for her to take her seat where she stood. And just as she trusted in Tiella, there truly was a seat vacant for her to take.
"I can hear Nora from a few feet away. Are they talking about us?"
"How would I know? I don't have ears as sensitive as yours, Lilly."
"Hahaha! Sorry, I thought it was audible enough for you with how quiet the room suddenly is." Not that it was dead silent, the room was simply preoccupied with murmuring instead of openly chattering and bantering.
"They're staring at you—the students, I mean."
"Well, let them. I'm sure they don't often see a blindfolded girl here."
"Someone's coming."
"Is it Yang?"
"Yeah."
And just as she'd correctly guessed, Yang called out to her as soon as she was close enough.
"Heya, Celeste."
"S'up."
"Hey there, Lilly."
"Hello, Yang."
"I thought you guys had the afternoon off?" Tiella asked.
"Yeah, but we got bored after thinking over the stuff in the meeting, so we just went to Combat Class 'cause that's usually fun."
"True."
"Why are you blindfolded?"
"Because my eyes hurt and I need to give them time to rest, or else I pass out until tomorrow. I don't wanna miss Tiella and Bardy's match after all!"
"Your eyes hurt? But why?"
"It's just a side effect of God Eyes. Extensive use hurts my eyes, going over the limit by a little bit would start giving me headaches, and going way past the limit would force me to shut down."
"Oh, so it's got weird drawbacks like that too?"
She felt a muffled sound coming from her left. She assumed that it was Yang taking a seat to her left while Tiella sat next to her right.
"Yep! It's a bit of a bummer at first, but I got used to it immediately because I was originally blind in the first place. It's just like going back to the way I was temporarily."
They were silent for a moment, so she focused on the sound of Glynda calling students out for the 2nd random selections matchup. After she heard Glynda giving the students time to prepare, she heard Yang voice another question, though she sounded quite hesitant.
"Yeah... so... don't take this the wrong way, but..."
"Yes?"
"I'm, well, sorta just wondering..."
"Go on."
Lilly heard a frustrated sigh from Yang. "Screw it, I'm just gonna come out with it. Why are you here if you won't be able to see the matches?"
Lilly took a moment to giggle to herself after hearing Yang fluster her words out. She heard Tiella chuckling from her right as well. She heard Yang groaning a little before the beginnings of an apology came out, so she interrupted her before she could even finish her first word.
"It's okay, Yang. I'm not offended."
"Uh... okay?"
"And it's a very valid question."
"Mm."
"I'm here because Tiella brought me here."
"Why?" She heard Yang ask, likely more for Tiella than her.
And just as she expected, it was Tiella who replied. "Just because."
Lilly smiled giddily before wrapping her arms around Tiella's. "And I don't mind. I'm beside my best friend after so long and it's far better than being alone."
"Aren't I only your best friend because you don't have a lot of friends?"
"That still counts because I like you the best!"
"What about Bardy?"
"Bardy's more like a little brother."
"A highly volatile and explosive little brother, you mean?"
"Aren't all little brothers like that?"
"How should I know? And aren't you the youngest between us?"
"True, I'm also just an only child. How about you, Yang?"
"About what?"
"Do you also think of Bardy as a little brother?"
"What."
Lilly suddenly felt a light smack on her head. "Stop fucking around, Lilly."
"Oh, so you get to mess with them but I don't." She pouted cutely.
"Of course, they're my students. I've got special privilege to mess with them."
"Whatever!" She stuck her tongue out at Tiella before turning her face back to Yang. "Jokes aside, do you have a little brother, Yang?"
Lilly heard Yang chuckle for a bit before answering. "No, but I have Ruby as a little sister and she's also a puppy sometimes."
"A puppy?"
"Yeah! She gets all energetic and dorky about the things she loves. Like weapons and sweets."
"Reminds me of a certain someone." She heard Tiella comment from the side.
"Who is it?" Yang asked.
"This girl."
She didn't see or feel anything but she was 100% positive that Tiella was pointing at her. So she smiled wide and proud, sticking her chest out and tilting her head up with pride.
"Well, this little puppy's cute as heck, too!"
"I dunno, Ruby's pretty cute herself." Yang teased.
"Ruby's cute, sure," Tiella said, "but is she nerd-about-everything-with-bouncy-big-tits-and-ass-cute? No, I don't think so."
"Well, Ruby isn't gonna lose if it's just cuteness!"
"I think even my Lilly here can top Ruby in her best day!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah, 'oh yeah'."
She felt two soft, plump, and warm things squishing the sides of her head and it made her flick their bellies hard enough for them to back off.
"Ow, damn, Lilly, I wasn't prepared for that."
"Ow!"
"You were squishing me between your boobs!" Lilly said indignantly with crossed arms.
The girls were about to apologize but then they heard Glynda's voice catching their attention once again. "And that's the match. The winner is—"
She went back to focusing on Yang and Tiella beside her because she wasn't particularly interested in what she was hearing from the class. After a few moments, she heard Glynda talking about starting the volunteer matchups. And as soon as she heard it, she immediately raised her hand and called out.
"Excuse me!"
There was a slight pause in the room as the background noise went down before she heard Glynda acknowledging her.
"How may I help you, Ms. Lillianne?"
She smiled and clasped her hands together. "Can I have the first match against Tielle?"
Yang looked incredulously between Tiella, Lilly, and Glynda while, admittedly, felt a little too excited.
Ever since the night before, she'd always wondered how good a fighter Lilly was. She was just a few centimeters taller than her, which would mean that she was way smaller than Tiella. Guessing by comparison to her own height, which is 173 cm, Tiella was at least 195 cm, give or take. And with how Lilly was just a tad taller than herself, she'd guess that she's around 176 cm or so. Though, despite the height difference, Lilly looked like she had a fair bit more muscle than Tiella did.
And if she looked a little closer, Lilly was a lot sexier than Tiella was with how she looked like she was just the right ratio of muscle and body fat. She had the right amount of body fat and muscle mass in all the right places—giving her this perfectly chiseled sculpture look you'd see in fashion magazines with Warrior Goddess themes or museums about old goddesses in myths and legends.
She exuded strength, beauty, and charisma just by standing from her seat. Add her personality and face and you have an incredibly charming beauty with an endearing personality.
Honestly, it was hard for Yang to think of a reason to not like her in the short time they'd interacted. Even when she included the part when she pretty much threatened Ozpin and somehow made all of their knees buckle through some weird pressure whenever she emphasized her words and actions. She still can't wrap her head around how Lilly was able to do all that without making it sound like a Semblance in her head but because Lilly explicitly told them that they don't have Aura but instead Essentia, she had to scrap the idea if she wanted to believe her.
"Lilly's gonna spar with Celeste! Holy crap, someone on Tiella's level! We might finally see what she's like if she tries a little harder!"
"Are you gonna do it blindfolded like that?" Yang asked a little too eagerly.
Lilly giggled and nodded her head. "Yes, I will." She flexed her right bicep and confidently placed her left hand over it as she grinned. "I may not look like it, but I can still fight even without my eyes!"
"Celeste, does she do that often?" Yang asked worriedly.
"No, but when she does, she's alright." Tiella shrugged.
"Very well," Glynda said while adjusting her glasses, her voice spreading clearly through the room. "Please prepare in the locker rooms immediately."
"Two people with no Aura, sparring in class. That's a first."
Glynda thought as she idly followed the two girls moving to the back with her eyes.
Yang walked back to her team's seats and excitedly waited for the two to come out. As they all waited, she was questioned by her friends.
"So why was Lilly wearing a blindfold?" Weiss asked curiously.
"She said it's because her eyes hurt. It's a side effect of using her God Eyes, or so she says."
"So her eyes start to hurt if she uses them too much?" Blake wondered.
"Yup, she says that if she pushes herself after they start hurting, she passes out for, like, a day or something."
Weiss hummed in thought as she took in the new information, clearly, Essentia and Semblances weren't as alike as they all thought.
"I also learned that she's an only child."
"She is?" Blake tilted her head.
"Yup."
"Wait, wait, wait," Jaune interjected. "Isn't anyone wondering why a blind girl is gonna fight Tiella?"
Team RWBY and the rest of Team JNPR shared looks with each other before some of them shrugged while others went into contemplation.
"Tiella said she fights like that sometimes and that when she does, she's 'alright' or something," Yang said with air quotations putting emphasis on 'alright'.
Jaune looked dumbfounded for a little before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw that it was Pyrrha giving him a knowing smile.
"I know that it's a little unconventional, but throughout history, there've always been exceptional people with disabilities that stand head and shoulders above the masses."
There was a slight pause as Jaune thought back on certain war veterans that still fought despite missing a limb or an eye. He even remembered his great grand uncle that fought two peg legs and a missing eye and still came out alive as one of the most celebrated veterans in the great war all those years ago.
"She's right." Ren chimed in with a small smile. "People with disabilities often have something they're exceptional with, and while it may not even things out for them, it makes it so that they're not to be underestimated. And I feel that that is especially so for Lilly."
Everyone thought back to the meeting and most of their doubts about a blind girl fighting the Professional Bully and Team RWBY's mentor were washed away.
"Besiiides," Nora interjected. "She's Tiella's teammate!"
Everyone nodded their heads in acknowledgment and acceptance of Nora's compelling argument. Nothing's ever normal with the Professional Bully when it came to these kinds of things.
"How long's it been since we last did this?"
"About a month, I believe."
Tiella was changed into her usual sports attire though this time, she wore a white tank top over her sports bra. For her bottoms, she wore sports shorts over spats that reached down to her mid-thigh. She wrapped gauze and tape over her fists and forearms as well as the soles of her bare feet going up to her mid-calf.
"Not using your dearly beloveds today?"
"Nope, I left them in the dorm rooms and I don't really feel like going back to get them in my current state."
Lilly, since she had nothing else to wear, simply got rid of her hooded cloak and boots, going with bare hands and bare feet as well.
"Tielle?" Lilly called while focusing on bandaging her own hands and feet.
"What's up?" Tiella answered without looking back.
"Do you have an extra tie? I wanna do my hair into a ponytail."
"Yeah, I probably have an extra in my pocket, hold on."
Tiella copped her pockets for a feel as she's sure that she had at least two extras in case her current ones snap. After a couple of seconds, she found them.
"Aha! Here they are," Tiella said before tossing them over to Lilly.
And without looking, for obvious reasons, she stretched her hand out and easily caught the hair ties Tiella tossed her. She smiled and quickly gathered her hair up for a quick and easy ponytail.
"Thanks."
"Sure, sure."
Lilly stood from the bench she'd been sitting on and lightly stretched her shoulders, arms, and back—causing a few popping sounds as she did.
"Ready to get your ass beat again?" Tiella said teasingly.
"Sounds like violence against disabled people."
"You already know that these hands are E-rated."
"That's true." Lilly smiled wryly while scratching her cheek. "I still can't believe you knocked a 12-year-old out without hesitating."
"In my defense, the kid had a knife and was aiming for me."
"You had guns!"
"You telling me I should've just shot the kid? Aren't you brutal?"
Lilly crossed her arms and pouted. "You know what I mean, Tielle! You could've just easily threatened the child to drop the knife and walk away!"
"I could, but I also could've given him a dose of reality, which I did."
"You're really merciless." Lilly sighed.
They both walked out of the lockers and into the arena as if they were just taking a casual stroll at the park.
"Don't hold back, okay?"
"Only because I know you'll get mad if I hold back on you."
"You're darn right!" Lilly grinned.
Glynda eyed the two sternly, though internally, she was quite curious how the match would turn out. Assuming Lilly was equal to or less than Tiella's level, it would be the first time she would see how the girl would fight when faced with someone she was evenly matched with. Thinking back, her match with Leon weeks ago was their first peek at how she'd do, but thinking further back, she realized that it was actually her match with Cardin when they first saw her giving her best, short as that match had been.
She personally believed, without a hint of doubt, that she could defeat Tiella in a serious match easily. There were very few people in the world that could match her Telekinesis, after all. But that's only if Tiella focuses on giving it her best and not her all.
"Because Tiella giving it her all would mean sinking Beacon Academy down the lake after attracting every single Grimm in the continent—at least, theoretically."
Extracting herself from her musings, she closed her eyes before focusing back on her task at hand.
"Ms. Lillianne, Tiella, are you both ready?"
"As ever."
"Yes."
"Good." Glynda turned her back on them to face the students. She lightly cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses once more before stoically glancing at everyone in the room. "Attention, students."
The students, as soon as Glynda got their attention, quickly dampened their noise to listen intently lest they catch the ire of The Good Witch of the South herself in her own class.
Once she's sure that her students' attention was on her, she carried on. "This match will be different from the usual as both of our combatants will be sparring without the protection of their Auras, as indicated by the lack of their profiles on our screens."
And suddenly the crowd bubbled into surprised and incredulous murmurs for the next few moments, understandably, Glynda thought. Though, she must gather their attention sooner or later.
"Students," she said sternly. And as if on cue, the students paused whatever they'd been doing in favor of listening to their Combat Instructor. "Please watch carefully as I'm sure you'll all learn at least a thing or two from this exchange. There will no doubt come a time when you'd be forced to fight without your Aura should you truly pursue a career in Huntsmanship."
She paused, gauging her students' reactions. "I, too, have been forced to fight back when my Aura had been depleted a few times, so trust me when I say that it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to experience as a Huntress to date. And I believe that watching this particular matchup will be good for all of you."
The students went silent as they all contemplated Glynda's words. It certainly carried a lot of weight when it came from someone as well-known as her.
Tiella walked up from behind her with a wry grin. "I think you're blowing this out of proportion. It's still just a spar, if you wanna give them something educational, take 'em out into the fields and give them a dose of reality."
Glynda gave Tiella a look before answering. "You'll see what I mean once your match ends." She walked past Tiella to the side of the arena. "Are both combatants ready?"
Tiella glanced at Lilly, who was simply smiling where she stood, before looking back to Glynda to give her a knowing grin.
Tiella stood a good 10 meters away from Lilly while doing her light dynamic stretches while Lilly did the same, hopping from one foot to another while stretching her shoulders, arms, and neck. After a bit, they both met at the center to bump fists before going back to their original places.
Tiella took her usual relaxed combat stance while Lilly was stiffly bowed low towards Tiella with her fist touching her open palm in front of her before she stood somewhat upright as her head was still slightly bowed. She widened her stance with her legs shoulder-width apart and her open palms were held in front of her, facing the sky—or ceiling, in this case.
The crowd was silent in eager anticipation, and while at least half the students were still skeptical about the supposed blind girl, they couldn't wait to see what a match between fighters without Aura looked like.
As if to sate their curiosity, Tiella made the first move by going for a mad dash for Lilly.
Lilly's ears twitched slightly and waited for Tiella's footsteps to be loud enough that she could practically feel where Tiella was stomping on. She could hear the extremely subtle whistle of the air as Tiella threw a punch for the right side of her head, to which she reflexively raised her right arm to meet and block the offending fist.
Expecting to be blocked, Tiella aimed for a jab with her right fist going for Lilly's chin like she did the night before, and just like her first punch, it was easily blocked by Lilly's left forearm.
Tiella pulled her left arm back to defend herself from Lilly's stab, her fingers aiming for Tiella's face. Tiella made a spiral motion going inward with her left hand to parry Lilly's attempt at blinding her before going for a chest blow with the same left hand she'd used.
Lilly was pushed a few steps back but easily returned the gesture by going low with her hands on the floor and sweep-kicking Tiella off her feet. Tiella leaped ever so slightly with just enough height that she would drop back down almost as soon as she'd jumped, though, before she came down, Lilly's other leg was already aiming for her midsection.
Unable to maneuver herself in the air, she steeled herself for the incoming kick. She was sent skidding on her side for a few feet before she rolled up to find Lilly standing already, poised back to her original stance.
Some of the students—especially Weiss, Blake, and Yang—couldn't believe that Tiella was caught and brought down so early and so easily in a match. By a blind girl.
Uncaring of the crowd's surprise and bewilderment, it was Lilly's turn to come charging in. As soon as she ran up to Tiella, she kicked low with her right, jabbed high with her right, threw a left hook going middle, then a right straight going for Tiella's chest.
And to answer, Tiella met the low kick with her own low kick, then caught the right jab with her left hand, elbowed the left hook down, and crossed her arms to scissor and lock Lilly's forearm before her fist was only an inch away from hitting her.
Tiella took back the offensive by twisting her body to the left while tightening her hold on Lilly's forearm. She forcefully kneed Lilly on the side as she was tilted awkwardly, unable to fully block the blow that made her take a sharp breath due to pain. Not one to miss a beat, Tiella capitalized on Lilly's minor disorientation with a strong right backhand, forcefully turning Lilly's cheek away only to follow up with a devastating haymaker with her right fist, square on Lilly's unprotected face.
Or at least, about as unprotected with Lilly's left hand catching Tiella's fist just before it hit her in the face.
Lilly tightened her grip over Tiella's fist while Tiella coiled her left arm over Lilly's right arm and locking it by gripping Lilly's elbow.
As if sharing the same idea, they both forced their way out of the other's hold by throwing their arms up and out. Tiella was the first to attack with a high right jab and a low left hook.
Lilly was hit with the high jab in the face but managed to block Tiella's left hook with her right elbow. She then countered a series of quick and heavy alternating punches aiming for Tiella's entire upper body.
Tiella unceremoniously took the first 5 lightning fast strikes on her face, chest, and shoulders, but after a quick backstep, she closed in once more to trade blows with her own quick and heavy punches, all the while never forgetting to throw one or two kicks every few punches.
Lilly ducked under a high left straight to turn to her left while her stance was low, sending a powerful roundhouse kick at Tiella's exposed left midsection, sending the far taller girl a few steps to her right.
Tiella grinned while lightly feeling for her left underarm, she was sure that it was gonna have a big fat bruise the next day, but she couldn't care less because goddamnit did she miss the sensation of a raw beatdown. She sent a quick low kick with her left foot at Lilly, which was easily blocked, just as she was hoping for before she jumped and turned in the air, extending her right foot out for a devastating spin kick that came crashing down for Lilly's left temple.
Tiella landed with her body turned away from Lilly, knowing full well that Lilly took the full brunt of the kick. Lilly rolled on the floor for a few feet before she unsteadily stood back up, dizzy from the kick that nearly knocked her unconscious.
"Up for more?" She heard Tiella say. She could literally feel Tiella's smug aura oozing from her words, taunting her. Though, they both knew that it wasn't going to work. Taunts never work on her.
"I'm just getting started."
"Good, because I think we're done warming up." Tiella grinned viciously, loudly bumping her fists together.
"That was a warmup?" Weiss asked in incredulity.
Who knew that a fist fight could be so engaging and blood pumping even when she was just watching from the sidelines? Who knew that a match between people with no Aura almost physically hurt to look at?
It made her cringe every time a blow wasn't blocked as if she almost felt the pain herself.
"That looked like it hurt a lot." Yang whistled.
"Everything looked like it hurt a lot, even the blocked attacks look like it hurt a lot!" Jaune exclaimed.
The others were glued to the match, intensely taking in everything they were watching. To the two combatants in the arena, it was likely that all they did was nothing special, but to the people who'd never considered fighting without Aura before, it was fascinating to see how each blow seemed to carry even more weight than they usually would.
They didn't doubt that even with Aura, those strikes would be painful, considering Tiella's streak of knocking her sparring partners out in just a few blows in most matchups, so seeing her doing the same without the almighty protection of Aura made them question the two girls' sanity and endurance.
Though, it was mostly their sanity they were questioning, rude as it was to think so.
Unaware of the onlookers' bewilderment, Tiella and Lilly carried on to their unofficial round 2.
Tiella's expression was sharp as she took a more aggressive stance. She had her left foot forward with her right foot back. Her left hand was balled into a fist and held up at chest level while her right hand was more relaxed with an open palm held closer to her body.
Lilly changed her stance as well, entering a stance similar to a taekwondo stance with her fists clenched. She took a deep breath and slowly released it as she relaxed her fists, letting them relax and open almost as if it was a welcoming gesture for her opponent.
Seeing Lilly's stance, Tiella quickly understood her intentions.
"Kiddie gloves are off, then. This is gonna get bloody."
She felt her entire body tense up, muscles bulging and veins throbbing before she calmed down with a slow and steady breath released.
They both moved at nearly the same time, though, unlike before, they were carefully walking towards each other—wary of the other's strike range and sudden movements.
The moment Lilly was within Tiella's range, Tiella quickly struck. She very subtly but forcefully spun on her toe, aiming for a nose-breaking jab that was nearly missed by the audience due to its sheer speed.
Lilly easily pulled her head back a few centimeters, just enough that Tiella's jab missed by a hair's width, though, the force of the jab carried enough wind with it that it parted her fringes slightly. As soon as Tiella's punch missed, Lilly instantly closed in before Tiella managed to fully pull her fist back. Lilly, at extremely close range, struck with her palm at Tiella's face, only to miss by a hair's breadth as well because Tiella managed to tilt her head to her right just in time.
And from there, another series of lightning fast, heavy blows were being traded.
Tiella locked Lilly's extended palm strike in the pit of her arm before sending a right corkscrew that aimed for Lilly's heart, never forgetting to include spin for every move she did from there on out.
Lilly tilted her body to the side, the punch barely missing as it grazed her left breast. She used the momentum from dodging to counter with a few heavy kicks aiming for Tiella's temple, thigh, waist, and temple again, only for it to be blocked by either of Tiella's leg or forearm.
Unperturbed despite her attacks were successfully blocked, Lilly suddenly let herself down while clinging onto the arm that locked her own, sending them both on the floor, rolling, only stopping when she was on top of Tiella, though, Tiella never let go.
Lilly straddled Tiella and tightly clung her legs around Tiella while she repeatedly bashed Tiella's head with her left fist and elbow. Tiella struggled for a while, covering her face and head with her free arm every time Lilly attacked. Most hits she managed to block but the ones that got past her defense she really felt if the dizziness she felt was any indication. She kept blocking until she had enough and met Lilly's crashing fist with the sharp of her elbow, causing the girl to wince in pain for almost breaking her own fingers upon impact.
Taking the moment when Lilly reflexively pulled her fist back, Tiella struck her with a blow directly to her stomach and threw more punches going up to Lilly's chest, neck, and chin.
Lilly, after taking heavy blow after heavy blow, was forced to loosen her grip around Tiella's waist and legs. Tiella took advantage of this by forcefully rocking her lower body upwards, bringing Lilly along what was essentially a backflip that started with Tiella lying down. Tiella steeled her core and carried Lilly's weight until Lilly was overhead and crashed down head first onto the arena's floor.
A sickening crunch was heard and everyone, even Glynda, was worried about whether Tiella just broke Lilly's neck. With Lilly down, Tiella unsteadily stood while taking labored breaths, never once taking her eye off Lilly as she did.
After a few seconds, Lilly rolled to her back and did a kip up with her back turned to Tiella. She almost had the students believing that she was fine until she landed on her feet and wobbled out of balance, barely catching herself before she fell face first on the floor again.
Both Lilly and Tiella took a short respite from bashing each other's heads in for a few moments, so Glynda carefully inspected them in the meantime. And almost as soon as she did, she found Tiella with a bleeding nose, a cut lip, and a cut on her right eyebrow, while Lilly had bloody teeth if the blood she just spat out, was any indication, as well as how she seemed to carefully cover her stomach protectively with her left arm.
"You're really merciless," Lily said, practically gasping the words out while struggling to breathe.
"You'd get mad if I don't take you seriously, right?" Tiella grinned while taking deep breaths as well, though she was a little annoyed that her vision was slightly obscured by the blood coming down her right eyebrow. "Shit, it won't stop bleeding—the cut's deep."
"If you were actually serious..." Lilly said, raising a finger tiredly. "...you'd be giving me more than just that already."
"You're forgetting..." Tiella took a sharp breath in as she straightened her back before slacking again. "...that this is just a spar."
Lilly smiled, "Then take it as a fight." Entering her combat stance once more.
Tiella cocked her head cockily to the side while wearing a half-grin. "Well, shit, if that's what you want." She pressed her thumb over her left nostril before she forcefully blew air through her right nostril, sending blood on the floor that had been clogging her nose for a while now. She wiped her nose with the same thumb then rubbed the blood onto her shorts before entering her combat stance as well. "Better stop hitting like a little bitch and come at me for reals."
The pressure Tiella was giving off was nearly palpable even to those from the far back of the classroom. They couldn't understand the feeling at first, though everyone felt that it was something they've experienced at least once before.
Lilly didn't say anything, she simply grinned big and wide, delighted that Tiella was willing to play along with her. She slowly uncoiled the bandages around her hands entirely. Following the act, Tiella did so as well, all the while never letting her gaze move from Lilly.
And so, the unofficial round 3 began.
Glynda couldn't help but worry.
She worried over Tiella whose eyebrow wouldn't stop bleeding.
She also worried, albeit a lot less, for Lilly who seemed like she'd drop to the floor at any given second.
Even more so when she noticed that whenever she looked at Tiella, she felt this odd but familiar sense of dread, she reckoned that it was similar to what her first encounter with the Grimm was like. Tiella's eyes turned a different kind of sharp and fierce. She guessed that Tiella was about to show everyone what she's truly capable of.
Admittedly, she was very excited, but even more so, she was worried.
Tiella's circle of friends were completely immersed in the match that was happening in front of them. Any thoughts or comments they had they didn't voice. When they saw Tiella bleeding, they half-expected the match to end already with Lilly's win but the both of them were acting like it was nothing more than a minor scrape.
Although, knowing the girl herself, they figured she really will treat the cut as a minor scrape.
While lost in their musings, they almost failed to notice Tiella and Lilly casually walking up to each other and that their hands and forearms were completely bare of the bandages.
"Are you ready?" Tiella asked nonchalantly—as if she was just asking Lilly out for a walk.
Lilly nodded her head while wearing a sweet smile. "Are you?"
Tiella sidestepped to her left the moment she saw Lilly send ax kick where she stood, and in an instant, a cloud of dust engulfed the two, obscuring them from the view of their audience.
From within the dust cloud, they heard the sound of "something" whipping through the air. It was almost like the sound of a whip after striking nothing but air, but it sounded far too thick to be a whip or something similar. And for every "whip" that resounded, the cloud of dust was moved, until it no longer could as it settled.
With their view no longer obstructed, they all slowly understood what was making the odd sound.
Tiella threw blurry jabs and straights at Lilly, to which they were dodged with just a hair's breadth between them, her ponytail ruffling violently in the air as an after effect. She applied spin for every attack she made, which was already something she'd never done in any previous spar before. However, her punches were greatly different in that, compared to the usual ones she did, as Glynda recalled—she pulled her fists back as fast as she threw them every time she struck.
And it was that small difference that made the strange whip-like sound.
"She's causing tiny sonic booms with her punches!?"
Glynda couldn't believe her eyes and ears even when the whip-like sound repeated almost rhythmically throughout the arena. She'd no doubt that even the students found what was happening to be absurd.
Not one to let herself lose, Lilly held less of her physical strength and speed back as she weaved through Tiella's onslaught of machine gun punches. She listened intently to every high-pitched whistle in the air coming from Tiella's insanely fast fists. She wanted to counter, but she simply couldn't. Tiella wasn't letting up at all and it even felt to her like she was going faster with how she was dodging more frequently.
She could try to block a punch, but she feared that that would be the end of it. Not counting the loud booms in the air almost always disrupted her hearing, just the idea that catching even just one of those punches made her believe that whatever she blocked it with would end up broken.
After all, if something as small as the tip of a whip can make the human skin bleed no matter how thick the calluses are, what can a fist-sized 'whip' do?
"She's gotten so much faster than before, it's almost unbelievable! She's done it! She's mastered it!"
Lilly barely dodged another punch that came for her left cheek, grazing her, leaving a sharp cut that couldn't have come from something as blunt as a fist clenched fist.
"She's become a Master of the Flicker Arts!"
Lilly couldn't help but beam at her dear friend's latest accomplishment as pride and joy welled in her heart.
"Karen would be so proud that there's another master like her now!"
Tiella threw a right feint, though, with how fast it was thrown and pulled back, it may as well have been another sonic punch. The feint barely reached Lilly's chin before it was pulled back and a left body blow aimed at Lilly's core.
Lilly, caught by the feint, pulled her head back to dodge but immediately felt the air rumbling much stronger from below, where she received a direct hit that only registered as soon as she noticed she was already flying meters away. A sickening crunch echoed loudly as blood spurted out of her mouth as all the air in her lungs escaped her.
She rolled a few meters more on the ground as her mind went blank from the pain and to her, it felt as if she was hit by a car running breakneck speeds except all the pain was compressed to the size of a fist on her solar plexus.
"I... messed up."
She tried to get up as she heard Tiella running towards her.
"I got too excited for Tielle... that I forgot about how she was now treating this as a fight."
She put a hand on her knee for support as she struggled to push herself upright, spitting out more blood when she did.
"I can't possibly call myself her equal if something like this stopped me in my tracks."
Lilly's eyes glowed brightly from behind her blindfold. Her breathing she slowly stabilized after much struggling, her footing she had steadied just in time as she was struck by a knee to her face.
At least, that was how Tiella half-expected to happen.
"Round 4 it is." Tiella thought to herself, blood rushing through her entire body as she savored the strain her muscles were feeling intensely.
Tiella's knee was blocked when Lilly caught it with her left hand. She freed herself by kicking off the girl and landing a few meters away. As she took the time to breathe, she glared back at Lilly glaring at her with eyes brightly aglow.
Without taking her eyes off of Lilly, she blinked. And the next thing she knew, the world went sideways and that she was moving at high speeds with Lilly all but disappeared.
Lilly had been standing beside Tiella, eyes burning a bright purple hue. She was slowly pulling her fist back while releasing her breath after taking a heavy stomp forward, causing cracks to form beneath her foot, before bouncing the energy off of it into her fist for a devastating blow to the side of Tiella's head.
Tiella crashed onto the ground after flying for what she guessed was at least a dozen meters from where she stood, spider web-like cracks appearing under her. Dazed and in pain, she felt a chill down her spun that made her duck reflexively, just in time for her to go under a kick that likely would've broken her neck had she bit a split second slower.
Tiella jumped up like a spring while turning around. There, she saw Lilly in the middle of a revolution from her kick that nearly missed, already switching legs to throw a straight kick upwards to kick Tiella away in the air.
Tiella saw the move and quickly grabbed onto Lilly's leg to maneuver herself in the air around her kick. She then used gravity plus her weight to bring Lilly's leg down, the sharp of her elbow already poised to smash at Lilly's thigh.
Tiella's elbow struck and it shocked Lilly's body through sheer pain, pausing her in her attempts to pull herself away from Tiella's hold. Capitalizing once, Tiella pulled her left arm far back while her right arm was coiled tightly around Lilly's leg to keep her from escaping.
Tiella took a sharp breath in, spinning on her toes as she inched her left fist forward at lightning speeds—the destination, Lilly's chin.
With only a scant amount of centimeters between Tiella's fist and Lilly's chin, the sound of bones shattering resonated loudly as Tiella was sent flying in the opposite direction as she was negated by an unknown force while Lilly simply plopped down, gently cradling her thigh in agony.
Tiella sucked sharp and labored breaths in, biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood as she shakily beheld her left hand in front of her—fingers shattered and mangled.
"I-I'm sorry!"
Tiella had a hard time directing even a little bit of her attention to anything else, but she heard the sound of Glynda's frantic voice and heels clacking, running towards her.
"I didn't mean for your fist to—!"
"So that's why there was a barrier there..." Tiella grinned, eyes half-closed as she fought to stay awake. "Good... call..."
And the last thing Tiella saw was Glynda anxiously looking back at her while saying something she couldn't understand before she finally passed out.
AN: Hello again!
I'm sorry if this chapter isn't much but, you see, there's this itch I've been wanting to scratch for weeks now and I really needed to get on with it or else I'll only be distracted by it while writing further along.
The itch, if you haven't guessed, is writing a fight scene.
Worry not! I will release another chapter at least of equal length next time!
To answer some of the reviews, I'm happy to know that you've been enjoying Lost Star immensely! It's an honor, really. And as for the confusion with Lilly's Essentia, I purposefully made it like so and would like to go into it, along with the others, in further detail at a later chapter.
As for supporting the Original Maidens theory, I actually found it funny when I read that review because I never knew there was such a theory in the first place. I watched V6, saw the episode, then concluded that it was canon without stopping to question whether it might simply be a theory with how heavily it had been implied. Of course, I'd be fine with being proven wrong, but until then, I'd like to think that Salem gave birth to the first four maidens, then killed her husband and kids because she's a cunt.
Do let me know your thoughts, thank you!