Chapter Thirty-Six

'I wish you had just electrocuted him,' I mutter to Sky as we trudge towards the first aid room.

To his credit, Sky looks guilty. 'If I had known they'd ask you to heal him, I would have.'

We enter the room, and every instinct in my body starts wailing at me to run. Onyx Quarry is sitting up, and though one of his eyes is swollen shut, the look he's sending me is pure ice: crushing, grinding, death-dealing ice that steals the breath from all who venture toward it. Dove is sitting in a chair as far away from Quarry as possible, and he's poised to leap if he has to.

Sky and Cardin take up stations by the door, their hands hovering near their weapons. I advance, my eyes on Quarry, and hold out my hand. Wordless, he takes it. Healing him is awful; I desperately want to gag. I move to release him, but he doesn't let go. His grip is tightening.

'Something smells of sour grapes,' Dove says suddenly.

Startled by the interruption, Quarry's eyes flicker sideways, then around the room more slowly, noting everyone present and watching us. A measure of sanity returns to his face, and he lets me go. I back away. 'Hope the sting's faded,' I tell him. My words are completely polite. My tone and expression is enough to bring him to his feet. Cardin and Sky both step forward, and he subsides. He's outnumbered.

'Please don't make this worse,' Cardin mutters to me.

'How can I possibly make this worse?' I ask. 'We've already beaten his team like a drum.' And if he wasn't a sociopath from the day he was born, I will eat Polaris and Octantis both.

'Russel!' Cardin snarls.

I subside, and turn to check out the rest of QRZS. Spinelle didn't take any damage; she was just thrown clear. Lattice has a few facial bruises that I don't bother with, and Kutt is mercifully silent: Cardin shattered her jaw. I'm really tempted to leave her as she is, but the medics are giving me expectant looks, so I take one for the team and restore her ability to speak. Surprisingly, she stays silent once I have: I think the currents in the air are enough to intimidate even her.

'Good game,' Dove says, rising to join us as we leave.

'Game's not over yet,' Quarry says in a low voice.

'Only for half of us,' I retort.

He smiles, and I turn away, suppressing a shudder at the deadness of him.

I'm met by Yang as we leave the first aid room but surprisingly it's her sister who's the most excited to see me.

'That was so cool!' Ruby squeals. 'That whirlwind was massive, how did you know it would work?!'

'Actually we all thought it wouldn't,' I say, trying to step past her to get to Yang.

'That seems reckless,' Weiss says critically.

'It was necessary,' Sky snaps.

'Alright, calm down,' Dove says with a grin, stepping forwards, able to relax now that we're away from QRZS. 'I'm here.'

Sky slams a fist against his shoulder. 'What is the matter with you?! Do you know how sloppy that was?!' Then he wraps his arms around Dove. 'Do not scare me like that again!'

'It wasn't–' Dove begins.

'You got thrown through a lightning storm in full plate armour!' Sky yells.

Dove opens his mouth, then pauses. 'Oh. Oh, ok.' His face is suddenly several shades paler. I feel my own stomach lurch. Suddenly Sky doesn't seem so unreasonable. Then Dove perks up. 'Pretty sure Russel could have healed that, though. Lightning, Aura damage – honestly, I think we're good for anything short of an actual meteorite strike.'

'Yeah, what was with that?' Cardin asks, turning to me. 'Since when has your Semblance been able to affect Auras?'

I rub my forehead. 'Ok, two things. First,' I barge past Ruby and Yang flings her arms around my neck. For the next few moments we're occupied, but when we're done, I turn to the group. 'And second, I have no idea. I didn't know my Semblance could do that either.'

'I suppose that makes sense,' Sky says.

'No it doesn't,' Weiss disagrees.

'It does,' Sky insists. 'Russel, you said you didn't use your Semblance more than a few times before coming here, and any healing you've done since has either been when you have something else on your mind–' Like passing into a coma from Aura depletion – 'or it's been after the Tournament matches, when nobody would need to be checking their scrolls.'

'So you think…' I begin slowly, thinking it through. 'You think that I've always been able to do that and just never noticed?'

'Must be,' Cardin says. 'Nobody's Semblance evolves this late in life.' Weiss shifts but Cardin doesn't notice. 'Unless it's because your control has gotten better or something.'

'But I absorb physical injuries, that shouldn't do anything to Auras,' I protest.

'I guess you must absorb all the damage that someone takes,' Yang says. 'When you healed Cardin, your own Aura dropped, but then it came back up again when you suppressed the injury.'

'So I take the damage that an injury has inflicted to the person's Aura as well?' I say. Then I shake my head. 'This is too weird.'

'Hey, you won!' Yang says cheerfully. 'You're going into the doubles round! Uh, who is going into the doubles round from your team?'

'We haven't decided,' Cardin admits.

'Speaking of the doubles round, we're about to miss the first fight!' Ruby says urgently.

'Oh, shit!' Dove blurts.

We hurry to our seats just in time. Overhead, the faces of Sustrai and Black flash up on screen, along with Coco and Yatsuhashi.

'This ought to be good,' Yang says with glee.

'What did those two do that makes you want to see them get pummelled that bad?' Dove jokes

'Who?' Sky mutters.

We all look at him. He shrugs at us. 'I'm just saying, it's an even money fight.'

'Coco is going to cream them,' I say with authority. Then I remember Black's confidence when he stepped into the ring against Pyrrha, and I hesitate. 'I…think...'

'We should take bets,' Dove says. Then his eyes widen. 'Oh my god! Cardin! What the fuck is wrong with us? Why aren't we taking bets and using your Semblance to rig the fights? Seriously, we could clean up.'

'Wait, what's Cardin's Semblance?' Yang asks, confused.

'So Yatsuhashi and Coco, huh?' Dove says hastily.

'Dove, you moron,' Cardin sighs. Then he turns to me. 'Though, if your Semblance turns out to be long-range... you could always help.'

The fight starts, but I'm not paying as much attention as I should be. I'm too busy mulling over this new aspect of my Semblance – or, if Sky is right, this old aspect of my Semblance.

We use our Aura to protect us, but surely once you've been injured and your Aura drops, the damage should be done. On the other hand, if I can transfer physical damage, why not Aura damage too?

To my right I can hear Ruby gasping at the fight, but I still can't muster up any interest for it. This has unsettled me more than it should. I don't resent my Semblance (much) any more, but I do dislike that it's started doing things without consulting me. And – I'm feeling ashamed. What else could I have achieved if I hadn't turned away from it? What am I able to do that I don't even know about? What if Cardin is accidentally correct and my Semblance is long-range? I feel like I've missed out on my potential because I didn't even try, and the worst part is I know I'm right to feel that way.

Sky thinks I've been doing this forever and just never noticed. He might be right. The first time I healed it was one of my foster-brothers, before I became a Huntsman with a scroll. The other few times were during training, and nobody would have thought to check their scrolls to see if that graze they had suffered had done anything to their Aura. Since then – Blake, and the combatants… I hate not being sure, no matter how likely or plausible it seems.

I watch with detached interest at Black serves Yatsuhashi his head on a platter. Coco has disappeared into the forest, and the cameras set up in there can only give us flashes of green and brown, but to me it looks like the green is winning. Then a limp figure comes flying from the trees and hits the ground, and it's over for Yatsuhashi and Coco.

'Oh, no,' Ruby says, sounding like her heart is breaking. I have a feeling she hero-worshipped Coco to a small extent; and why not? Coco was a small, pale brunette who used a weapon that was twice as big again as its owner. Ruby could do worse for role models. Apparently, she could also do better, though.

I watch Sustrai emerge from the trees to join her partner and I wonder if Quarry has made me paranoid or if the momentary smile on Sustrai's face is as cruel as it looks to me.

There's an hour-long break between matches for lunch. I kind of wanted to spend it with Yang but apparently her uncle is in town and she and Ruby had promised to spend that time with him.

'Hey, out of interest, what does your uncle look like?' I ask, not sure that I want the answer.

'Um, he's pretty tall and thin… red eyes… messy black hair…' Yang shrugs.

I don't know why I'm surprised. Realistically speaking there was only one other person Corvus could have been. Still… shit.

Since Yang is unavailable I decide to spend the break with Cardin instead. Dove and Sky have wandered off together, so Cardin and I grab some stools at a noodle booth and settle in. We're halfway through our meal when someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around. I reach for my blades, thinking Quarry's come back for round two, but it's a different frothing psychopath.

'Thrush, I need your help,' Coco Adel says without any preamble.

'Coco,' Yatsuhashi says plaintively at her shoulder, but she ignores him. She's staring at me intently.

'I need you to heal me.'

I swallow my mouthful of noodles. 'There was nothing wrong with you but that you got knocked out for a couple of seconds. What is there to heal?'

She shifts from foot to foot. 'Can't you just generally heal me?'

I'm starting to get irritated. 'I'm not a pick-me-up.' I think? 'If there's nothing actually wrong with you then there's nothing for me to heal.'

Velvet steps forward and lays a hand on Coco's shoulder. 'Coco… let me.' she turns to me. 'During the match, Coco saw Yatsuhashi.'

'Sounds logical,' I say, not getting it. 'They were fighting together.'

'She saw him in the forest,' Velvet says.

Cardin frowns. 'He never made it to the forest.'

'I'm not going crazy,' Coco says furiously. 'I saw him, I know I saw him!'

'Did you tell the medics?' Cardin asks.

'They said it was combat fatigue,' Coco says resentfully. 'But it wasn't!'

'I can't heal mental–' I stop myself. 'Or maybe I can,' I say thoughtfully. 'I guess I've never tried.' Normally I'd tell Coco where to go, but I want to know. Curiosity killed the cat, and it's doing a real number on me. Using my Semblance has shown me how little I know about it, and I desperately want to change that. The idea of part of myself being out of my control is anathema to me.

'Mental illness is more complicated than physical injuries,' Cardin says to me, warningly and with all the sensitivity of a speeding train.

'Only because we don't know enough about it,' I counter.

'But what if you get too crazy to use your Semblance to suppress it?'

'Hey!' Coco yells. We both ignore her.

'That'd suck pretty hard, but I'm pretty sure I can use my Semblance to check what's wrong with her before I actually take the injury,' I point out.

'I think it's a bad idea,' Cardin says firmly. 'Bodies are one thing, minds are another.'

'Look, I can repair bodies and I can repair Auras,' I say. 'Who's to say I can't do minds as well?'

'You repair Auras as a side effect of bodies,' Cardin says.

'I have to at least try, though,' I point out. 'And I mean, combat fatigue isn't as bad as it could be. Adel could be batshit crazy, after all.'

'Batshit crazier,' Cardin says with a grin.

'Oh, ha ha,' Coco says bitterly. 'Are you going to help me or not?'

I hold out my hand. 'I'll try.'

She grabs my hand and I close my eyes, concentrating. My Semblance reaches out, and for the first time, I realise that I can distinguish between Auras.

I always knew who I was healing, but I always thought that was just because I had known intellectually. Now I can see that each Semblance - I guess tastes different is the best way of saying it. Cardin was like a tree, solid but alive; Blake was like cobwebs, soft and clinging. May Zedong was kind of like celery, crisp and tart. Quarry's was like oil, thick and toxic. I don't remember the rest of BRNZ and NDGO because their wounds were so superficial and I healed them so hastily, but Coco – she's like hot concrete. Warm, but unyielding.

She's also perfectly fine, as far as I can tell. My Semblance is just hanging out, not reacting to anything.

'I don't think there's anything wrong with you,' I say, letting go of her hand.

'I saw him!' Coco insists, and I realise that she's genuinely afraid.

'Maybe you had a moment of combat fatigue in the arena itself,' I say, making my voice more gentle. 'Maybe it's gone. Or maybe I just can't help with mental stuff.'

'That's all you can suggest?' Coco spits.

'Well, have you considered that maybe Yatsuhashi can replicate like everyone else in this damn Tournament and just decided to mess with you?' I say, giving up on being nice to her. 'God knows I'd be tempted.'

'I did not,' Yatsuhashi says.

'Then unless Sustrai can shapeshift or conjure up illusions, which I think the commentators might have mentioned, you should go and see a real doctor,' I say flatly. Port and Oobleck hadn't referenced Sustrai's Semblance at all during the fight, I remembered that much, and they had been diligent about identifying Semblances for those viewing at home. If she had pulled something like that on Coco, they'd have pointed it out.

Unless she had lied about her Semblance, of course. But what would be the point of that? The contestants weren't given access to competitor information, and even if Port and Oobleck let the cat out of the bag, that sort of thing Coco was not some sort of one-hit-wonder Semblance that needed the element of surprise to be effective. It could be reused in a later fight.

'I don't need to see a doctor,' Coco spits.

'I agree,' Cardin says, surprising us all. 'If it was just one occurrence, in a high-stress environment, then I think you're fine. After all, it was only a tournament match.'

Coco stares at him for a long moment, then mutters 'Damn you,' and strides off, followed by Yatsuhashi and Fox. Velvet lingers to shoot Cardin a grateful look, then hurries off after her team.

'What just – did you just –' I'm so confused.

Cardin looks sheepish. 'I just made her realise that if it happened once it could happen again. I mean, a tournament match isn't as stressful as battle. If she's developing PES then she needs to deal with it now, right?'

'You're a good dude, Cardin,' I say warmly, turning back to my lunch.

'Yeah, well… since Dove told me I need to stop being so narrow-minded, I've kind of been trying to work out how people work, you know?' Cardin says diffidently. 'Like, what makes people tick. So I can kind of guess what I have to say to get people to react in a certain way.'

I start to say something then check myself hastily. 'Ok, but don't go overboard with the whole chessmaster thing,' I say instead. 'I think Coco got that you were making a point for her own good, but if you try to start manipulating people–'

'I'm not going to turn into my father, if that's what you're worried about,' Cardin says coldly.

'Kind of,' I admit. 'I'm glad you're trying to understand people better, though.' I cast around for something to say. 'It's really – big of you.'

'Did you just call me fat?'

I've just taken a mouthful of noodles. When I start laughing, I almost choke, and Cardin has to pound me on the back.

We meet up with Sky and Dove after lunch and watch the rest of the matches together. When the tone sounds to signal the end of that day's matches, we're returning to our dorm when my scroll beeps. I check it; it's a summons from Ironwood.

'What did you do?' Cardin asks with interest, seeing my face pale.

'Nothing!' I protest. 'Maybe he's going to tell me he wants to pay me more money?' I say hopefully.

'Doesn't seem likely,' Sky says solemnly.

He's probably right. 'Shit. What did I do?' I ask out loud.

I report to Ozpin's office as requested. Ozpin, Ironwood, and Goodwitch are all present. There's a seat in front of Ozpin's desk that they gesture me into, and I'm struck by mad notions of a prisoner in the dock.

'Thank you for coming, Russel,' Ozpin begins.

'Look, if this is about rigging the tournament matches, that was Dove's idea!' I blurt out.

There's a moment of silence. 'It isn't,' Ironwood says finally.

I feel myself flushing. 'Ah… never mind, then.'

Ironwood stares at me for a moment then visibly makes the decision to move on. 'Russel, when you healed Cardin Winchester today, you affected his Aura.'

'Yeah?'

'Do you know how you did that?'

'Pretty sure it was my Semblance. I could be wrong, though.' A little part of my mind points out that snarking at authority figures is a bad idea when they own an army, but habit is a cruel mistress.

'Mr Thrush,' Goodwitch says sharply.

'No, I don't know,' I say irritably. 'I didn't even know I could affect people's Auras until today.'

'So you have no idea?' Ironwood pressed.

I'm about to give him snark when I catch sight of Ozpin staring at me. His face is so grave; it's like having ice Dust thrown on me. 'I talked about it with my team,' I say reluctantly. 'Sky – Sky Lark – he thinks that when I absorb the physical injury, I take the damage to the person's Aura that the injury caused, y'know? So I took Cardin's broken arm–'

'And you took the damage that receiving the broken arm did to his Aura also,' Ironwood says. He looks excited.

'Sky reckons I've been doing that the whole time, and I've just never noticed,' I add.

'And what do you think?' Ozpin asks.

I shrug. 'It makes sense.'

'Russel, there's someone I'd like you to heal,' Ironwood says.

'Of course there is,' I mutter. 'Where are they?'

'Before we tell you that,' Ironwood says, 'I need you to swear that you will never discuss what you see.'

'Sure.'

'I'm very serious about this, Russel,' Ironwood says. 'I have the authority to make you disappear forever if you violate this promise, and I am more than prepared to do so.'

I stare at him for a moment, completely lost for words. 'Is threatening your medic really such a good idea?' I ask finally.

'In fact, it isn't,' Goodwitch agrees. 'And that should tell you exactly how serious we are about this matter.'

'Ok,' I say finally. 'I swear. Oath of silence.'

Ironwood actually slams his hand down on the desk. 'This is not a joke, Russel!'

'And I'm not joking. I'm taking it as seriously as I take anything,' I say, irritated.

'I think you could find something more meaningful to swear by, Mr Thrush,' Ozpin says quietly, surprising me and Ironwood both.

'Fine,' I say. 'Look, you want a promise?' I press my hand to my spaulder strap. 'I swear on the soul of the girl that I loved that I will not discuss what I'm about to do.'

Ironwood finally calms down. 'Thank you.' Then he, Ozpin and Goodwitch moves towards the door. 'Please follow me.'

They lead me to a normal looking elevator that's tucked away in an alcove. We get in, and Ozpin inputs a code that has more numbers than I ever thought possible. The elevator drops sharply, and I finally start to wonder what exactly is going on.

'So the person you want me to heal is a dragon, right?' I say finally, when after a solid minute the lift shows no signs of slowing. 'Who lives in the centre of the earth on a giant pile of gold?'

'Not quite, Russel,' Ironwood says. The doors open and I step out, into a massive cavernous room that does nothing to dispel my dragon theory.

'What is this place?' I ask, turning a circle as I walk. 'It's like a church.'

'That's classified,' Ironwood says.

'Ohmygod,' I mutter under my breath. I'm sure they all hear me, but only Goodwitch reacts: she shoots me a surprisingly sympathetic look.

As we reach the end of the hall, we finally come to the main event. There's a machine of some sort set up against the far wall. 'Here is the church, here is the steeple,' I murmur, unable to stop myself.

As I get closer, I can see that the focus of the machine is an upright container. Although it's rounded in shape and has a glass front, I'm struck by thoughts of coffins.

'Open the doors, and here are the people,' Ozpin finishes.

I advance on the container, drawn to it. Inside is a… girl. Just a girl, wearing white underwear and nothing else. She's dark-skinned, with a brown bob. Her face is covered by a massive – burn? It looks almost like an acid burn. Something is radiating from her; something that makes the hair on my arms stand on end. This whole place is full of an eerie sense of anticipation, of ravens on the gibbet or mourners by a waiting grave.

'Who is she?' I ask. My voice echoes in the empty air.

'She's a Huntress from Atlas,' Ironwood says. 'She was engaged in testing a new weapon for me. During the exercise her Aura took damage.'

'Her Aura took damage?' I repeat. 'I don't heal Auras –'

'You managed to heal Cardin's,' Goodwitch says.

'Yeah, but I told you, that was, like, an incidental side-effect,' I say, walking closer to the glass. 'I mean, how does an Aura even get damaged? Depleted, sure, but damaged? Is that possible?'

'It's possible,' Goodwitch says. 'We don't understand how it happened ourselves, which is why we're having trouble fixing it.'

'What was she testing?' I ask curiously.

'That's classified,' Ironwood says firmly.

'Seriously?' I let out a snort of laughter. ''Cause the idea of a weapon that damages Auras is pretty damned terrifying. And you wonder why people aren't fans of the Atlas military...' I realise what I've said and stop dead. Because really, what sort of purpose would that sort of weapon have except for domestic strikes? 'Did you develop a weapon that targets Hunters?' Grimm don't have Auras, after all.

'No!' Ironwood says, exasperated. 'It was an accident!' He sees me looking at him suspiciously and rubs his forehead. 'Russel, if I had deliberately developed a weapon that damages Auras, would I be this upset that it had worked?'

'Ok, fair point.'

'We're getting off topic,' Ironwood tells me. 'Can you heal her?'

'I don't know. Can we pull her out of this thing?' I rap on the glass.

'Stop that!' Goodwitch snaps.

'We have to leave her in there,' Ironwood says. 'It's the only thing keeping her alive.'

'I can't heal her if I can't reach her,' I say, turning to glare at him. This place is putting me on edge.

'Those machines are hooked up to her,' Ozpin says. 'They're essentially an extension of her, which means that you can access her through them.'

'If you say so.' I take a deep breath and press my hand to the glass, then I reach for my Semblance.

'–think he's waking up. Russel?'

I groan. I feel like I've been set on fire. My head is pounding, my vision is blurred, I'm nauseous and my skin and bones ache. Every single muscle in my body has cramped. I gag; someone grabs me and elevates my torso and positions a bowl under my mouth, and as if on cue I begin to throw up, acid burning my throat. My stomach is empty after only a few seconds, but I keep retching, totally helpless to stop.

After what has to be at least five minutes, it finally ends. My body is still throbbing and now all I can smell is vomit. This is not my best day. Memories of my conversation before fighting QRZS floats to the forefront of my mind, and I realise that I can finally use the phrase 'every fibre of my being' and know what I'm actually talking about. I feel fundamentally wrong, in my body, in my mind, and in my soul.

'Are you feeling better?' a familiar voice asks as the hands lower me back to the ground.

I squint against the lights, managing to make out Ironwood after a few minutes. He and Goodwitch are kneeling next to me. Ozpin is standing over them, watching me with unreadable eyes.

I look around blearily. I'm lying on the floor in the recovery position, a series of medical items forming a semi-circle around me. I don't know how much time has passed. There's an IV attached to my hand, with a familiar-looking bag of red stuff attached.

'I know, I know… more sap,' Goodwitch says, tracking my eyes, trying to sound flippant. 'Lie still and let it work.'

'What…?' I whisper. I haven't felt like this in my life; draining myself healing Blake didn't hurt as much.

'You had a seizure of some sort when you activated your Semblance,' Ironwood says. 'Apparently you can't heal a damaged Aura.'

I am so glad that I was able to confirm that for him. Goodwitch sees my face and offers me a juice box with a straw. I desperately want to throw it at her, but that's just not possible – yet – so I sip obediently instead. The sweetness makes me want to retch again.

'Just rest, Mr Thrush,' Ozpin says. 'It was an experiment that didn't work out. We can be glad you didn't suffer any permanent damage.'

At his words I raise a shaky hand and touch my face. It's smooth and unmarked, but it itches as if there was a burn there.

'I'm sorry, but I need to leave,' Ironwood says. 'Russel, lie still until you've–'

'You'll never fix her,' I say. Talking is as much agony as I imagined it would be, but I don't even care. 'Whatever happened to her…' I clear my throat. It doesn't help. I still sound like someone has tried to strangle me. 'She's not normal anymore. She never will be. You can't help her. You should just let her die.'

Goodwitch's eyes widen, but Ironwood and Ozpin both look unsurprised. Sad, but unsurprised. 'I'll keep that in mind,' Ironwood says softly. 'Thank you for trying.'

I lower my head again, feeling it spin. As I blink, I can see the body in the coffin. I left a handprint on the glass; it's right across her heart.

I'm sorry, whoever you were. Not a Huntress from Atlas; that much I'd swear is bullshit. But you were someone who was very important to these very important people, and more fundamentally, you were someone. I'm sorry I couldn't heal you, but I'm not sure anyone could.

And if it makes you feel at all better, my partner is probably going to kill me too, since it's possible I'll have to fight in the tournament tomorrow and I can't even stand up right now. Nor can I tell him why I'm in such bad shape, though I'm sure he'll ask at length.

At least you'll have company in the afterlife, if they ever let you reach it.

So a few points: Russel didn't use the pod because the pod is specifically to transfer Aura. On the other hand, since Aura can be transferred by the machine, Russel can access Amber's Aura through contact with the machine.

Russel passed out when he tried to heal Amber basically because he's male. In the show I got the impression that Amber's Aura was intact and that it was her Autumn Maiden magic which had been divided. However, the magic is tied to Amber's Aura, which Russel can access. So Russel is trying to absorb Amber's magic to heal it, which he can't do for a number of reasons. For one thing it isn't an injury, as such, for another he has nowhere to absorb it too because he has no magic of his own, and finally, as I said, he's a guy so he couldn't use the magic anyway. When he tried to transfer the injury, he tried to access something fundamentally alien, and it shut him down hard.