Timbre landed hard on the curved dome roof outside. She tumbled over herself, rolling away from the hole before finally coming to a stop only a few inches from a twenty-story fall to the lake below. The night sky twinkled above her, the broken moon taunting her. In the distance, the spires of Beacon Academy glowed.
Would I be dealing with this right now if I were already there? She thought to herself.
"How dare you..."
Timbre turned back towards the hole she'd flown through. Slowly stepping towards her was the group's leader. They had their gun pointed at her, not wavering even a fragment of an inch away from her face. "Now, stop being so much trouble and come along. I can't promise I won't hurt you anymore because you've really, really made me," they lifted their gun to slam it against Timbre's head, "ANGRY!"
She watched as the butt of the rifle flew towards her. She shut her eyes and reached her arm up to shield her face. The world was about to go dark for a little while, or it might have, at least.
Before the gun could meet Timbre's face, a flash of white slammed into the leader's side.
A woman dressed in a long white coat slammed the leader against the dome. While they were down, she drove her foot into their chest.
"A Huntress?! Seriously?!" the leader shouted. They grabbed the woman's ankle and threw her off. Before she had a chance to recover, they dug their heels into the ground and tackled her at the waist.
They both went flying, tumbling down the curved dome until they eventually slid off of the roof. Seconds felt like days as Timbre waited for any sign of life from either of them, then she heard a splash.
A few more moments of silence passed, "Why must you ruin a perfectly good show?" the woman broke the silence. She poked her head up from the edge of the roof, but the mass of orange curls on her head obscured her face. Thankfully, she had caught herself and dumped the attacker in the lake below.
She pulled herself the rest of the way up, her shoulders sagging in disappointment. Her fingers ran through her hair, straightening it enough for Timbre to see the face of her heroine, "How are you doing, Timbre? Rough night?" she held her hand out to help her up.
The woman who stood before the singer was familiar. Timbre knew her well. Very well. "Carmen?!" she took her hand. She wrapped her arms around the Huntress, hugging her tightly.
"What are you doing here?! Is dad okay?" she stuttered. She could hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances from the parking lot below.
Carmen held her at arm's length and smiled, "He's fine, and I couldn't not be here for your last performance," she smirked, "Your mother would've never let me live it down if I did, you know?" she began tapping her toes on the tiles, "I guess the more appropriate answer would be… 'I'm a Huntress, it's my duty to protect people. I'm a teacher, and I have to pro-"
A loud crack rang out and Timbre felt something warm spray over her face.
Carmen stumbled backwards, holding a hand to her stomach. When she pulled her hand away, it revealed a dark red fluid flowing from her midsection.
"C-Carmen?" Timbre felt cold. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing. But there it was.
Carmen had been shot right through the back.
"No no no no no oh god please no!" Timbre reached out to catch Carmen, but she was already falling and stumbling off of the sloped roof of Koruss Stadium. She could only watch helplessly as her family friend, the woman who helped raise her, fell to the ground below.
"Now to finish you off…" the dark altered voice growled from down the roof.
Timbre snapped her head up, tears streaming down her face as she cried. The leader of the terrorists that had attacked her concert stood before her, aiming their rifle at her. "No… please…"
"Nighty-night, pop star."
Timbre shot up out of her bed when the music blaring into her ears suddenly stopped and something jerked her head to the side. Confused and scared from being woken up mid-nightmare, she looked around the dark room. "Wha-what the?!" She stumbled, grabbing her bed frame to prevent herself from falling to the carpet.
She felt her eyes sting when Sepia held up the bright screen of her scroll up, 'Roland and I are about to have another fight about this symbol thing...'
Oh no. Timbre groaned, still reeling from her nightmare as she threw her legs over the side of the bed, removing the headphones from her face. She wanted to push out the fear she felt in her dream and was glad to have a bit of a distraction. Unfortunately, that distraction came at the expense of her close friend. She stretched, using it as cover to sign back in the dim moonlight flooding into the room. 'I know you must be mad. You wanna borrow my headphones to try and tune him out for a little bit?'
'I just want you on standby for if this comes to blows…' Sepia slowly stood from her bed and flipped on the lamp by her bed. She met Roland's seething glare. This was the fifth time this week alone, 'Listen. I just want you to get some sleep. That's it. Please.'
All of the papers began stacking themselves around his bed, "Sepia, please don't start with this again. If I need sleep, then I will sleep. I'm okay right now though. I am functioning. Do you have any idea how close I am to finding something else new?!"
'You've been saying that since you blackmailed the general's daughter last week,' Sepia rolled her eyes, 'Go to bed. Now.'
"No. I will not be going to bed. Quit acting like you have any idea what I need and don't need to do. I don't need you watching out for me every second of every day!" Roland shouted at her from across the room.
'Maybe if you actually gave me a reason to think that you were fine, I'd get off your tail about it! It's been three weeks since we've actually been able to sit down and watch our favorite show together, and Rime keeps spoiling things for me! I have to sit there and tell her that everything is, in fact, fine between us, and I don't think it is right now! I thought that your obsession was bad after you found that symbol, but that's nothing compared to all that's turned into!' Sepia franticly signed.
Arty groaned and held a pillow to his face. Either he'd drown out the noise or smother himself. He would welcome either gladly, whichever of the two came first.
Timbre stood and put her hands on Sepia's shoulders. "Okay, Moviemaker. Obviously you two need some cooling down time." She nodded towards the door, "How about you and me go ahead and get ready. Get some breakfast, enjoy the sunrise… you know, before we go off killing Grimm."
'You know what? That sounds great.' Sepia grabbed her choker and tied it around her neck, 'I don't need to deal with this right now. I'm going to end up saying something about how much he's acting like his stepmother.'
"Excuse me?!" Roland stomped over in front of Sepia and glowered down at her, "You cannot be serious with me right now. It is four o'clock in the morning. I get it. You're not a morning person, but that was below the belt."
'Right, because you're the most civil person in the room, huh? You know what you're talking about, and us three are just being unreasonable for telling you to calm down. Blackmailing and manipulating people is all fine and well as long as you're the one doing it, right?' Sepia pushed past him and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Timbre looked to Roland. She wanted to be angry, but at that moment she was just concerned for her partner. She slammed the door behind her as she headed down the hall after Sepia.
"Ugh… Why does he have to go and give me a reason to like him, and then turn around and give me a reason to hate him? Oh, look at that! He's trying to connect with the Faunus here to help heal and stop being a prick! Wait, no. Please. Please stop going nuts over all of this. Come on, think of us!" she ranted to herself while jogging down the stairs in her pajamas in the direction Sepia had gone, "Jeez…"
Upon reaching the ground floor, Timbre caught up to her partner. Wide awake from the jolt of her nightmare and concern for Sepia, she found the energy to catch up to her. After seeing the sheer hostility between her and her boyfriend, she wanted to do anything she could to help. "Are you going to be okay, Sepia?"
Sepia raised her hands over her head to sign back, 'I'm okay, as always. I just want to cool my head. If I'm not at the mock mission today, don't worry. I'm really okay,'
Timbre reached her arm out. She didn't know what else to say to her. At this point, the only thing she could think to do was give her friend a hug, but before she could give her that bit of comforting consolement, the short girl ran straight out of the main doors to the dorm and out into the early morning light.
"Sepia!" but it was too late, she was already gone. Timbre sat alone in the lobby area of the dorm, the dim fluorescent lighting making the usually active sitting area look lonely and sad. With Sepia gone, the details of the nightmare came flooding back. The cool night air blowing through her hair. The bright lights of the city shining in the dark night. The blood pouring from Carmen after she got shot by the Grimm Brotherhood leader the night she was attacked. Despite telling herself that it wasn't real, tears streamed down her face.
This wasn't the first time she'd had this same dream, though. Ever since her nightmares had started back, she'd gone to sleep blaring music through her headphones. It had helped dampen the horrific images of her mom disappearing into shadow, but recently, the dreams began centering more on herself. The most common imagery involved the night of the incident at Koruss Stadium.
Timbre sat down on the couch and held her head in her hands. She was tired of these nightmares. She was tired of the fear. She wished there was something she could do to stop them.
Looking across the lounge, she found herself staring at the chair that Epazote's mom, Sofaira Weaver, sat in on the night she had a sleep-paralysis induced hallucination of someone sneaking out of her room.
No. There was someone sneaking out of my room. She told herself for weeks that Sofaira was right, but the more she thought about it, the more she found herself unable to accept it as truth. Thinking about that long talk they had had with the Spider Faunus that night, Timbre remembered what she had told her, her team, and the Rhea sisters: "I'll be working out of a counseling center in downtown Vale while I'm here."
"Maybe I could use some counseling right now… Everything's such a mess right now..." She was tired, but didn't want to go back to sleep. Looking out the window, the sun had fully risen over the horizon. Had she really been sitting there that long? She decided that she'd given enough time for the temperament in the room to calm down. Her clothes and stuff were up there after all. She couldn't go all day in pajamas.
After unlocking the door, she slowly pushed it open in order to gauge the conditions inside. The lights were still off, but a good stream of orange light poured in, coating the carpet in a soft morning glow. She could hear the shower in the bathroom going. At first she thought it had to be Roland, but she quickly learned that that couldn't be the case when she heard heavy snoring coming from the Faunus's bed.
About time he got some sleep. She reached down to the floor, where her MP3 had fallen after Sepia yanked on her auxiliary cord. Upon looking at the screen, she noticed that the song that was playing when she woke up was paused.
Has that always been in my playlist?
One of her most well-known songs, "One More Notch" was displayed along with the cover art of her debut album "Downtown Blitz" where she was smiling as she walked down the nighttime streets of downtown Vale. The same album art was on the poster Sepia had over her bed. Timbre had listened to her own music tons of times before, but ever since her final concert, the only time she'd heard her own voice singing was when it came over the radio or when she caught Sepia dancing to it. She swore she had removed all the songs from "Downtown Blitz" off of her MP3, but apparently she missed one. No wonder I had a nightmare of that night. The music must've gotten my mind thinking of it…
Putting the device back on the bed, she half considered getting back under the covers and going back to sleep, but she knew she had to get ready for the mock mission.
Just as she had finished pulling out her clothes for the day, the bathroom door opened. Arty stood there in nothing but a towel around his waist. "Oh jeez!" She giggled, averting her eyes as Arty let out an embarrassed shout of surprise. Even after a full semester, there were still some awkward moments about sharing a co-ed dorm room.
"Timbre!?" He sputtered, quickly running back into the bathroom. He felt his face flush, "I thought you and Sepia went to get breakfast?!"
"Shhhh," Timbre could barely hold in her laughter as she looked over to Roland, "You'll wake Cranky." She walked up to the door and placed her back to it to continue their conversation without making too much noise, "We were going to, but she's… pretty upset, Arty. She ran off without telling me where she was going."
"Well… that sucks…" She could hear him getting dressed behind the door.
"Yeah…" She bit her lip, scared to ask the question on her mind. "Hey… Arty?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been having… problems. With my nightmares… They've been acting up again." She looked to the papers scattered around Roland's desk, "I think all this tension has been getting to me and… would you mind if I went to the clinic where Ms. Weaver's working from? Get some help since she seems to know more about dreams than anybody else?" She was scared she'd make Arty mad. He already had Roland flaking on the mission and now she was asking to do the same.
"Um… yeah. Sure. Go ahead."
She was surprised, "Are you sure? I can wait until after we get ba-"
The door opened again, this time Arty was fully dressed and smiling, "Timbre. I said it's okay. I don't want my team putting themselves in harm's way if they don't think they can handle it." He pat her on the shoulder, "Go talk to her. Sepia and I should be able to handle Team MTLC and the Rippers."
In a short burst of thankfulness, she wrapped her arms around her leader, "Thanks Arty. I'll find out a way to make it up to you!"
He uncomfortably pat her on the back, "Um… no… problem?" He wasn't good at the whole 'showing emotion' thing.
"Tell me all the details later! I'm gonna go to breakfast and find Lurida or Xannie. I've lived in Vale my whole life yet I have absolutely no clue where any counseling center would be. They probably know which one Ms. Weaver's at."
Arty picked up his pocket sketchbook."They've been on a mission for the past couple of weeks. A follow-up check on Mikado since the… well… you know."
Timbre felt crestfallen. She didn't want to bother Team GLXY if they were off on a mission.
"But, if anyone other than the Rhea's would know, it'd be Frost. With all she knows about emotions and stuff, I wouldn't doubt that she knows where all the offices are in town. Heck, maybe Alabaster introduced her to Ms. Weaver since they seem to have so much in common!"
She shrugged, "Maybe. I'll find out though. Good luck today! And sorry… again…"
Arty rolled his eyes, "I said it's fine, Timbre. Now go get ready before I wake up Roland and blame it on you."
"Thanks, jerk." She laughed as she closed the bathroom door.
"Hey… Everest, can you please save some bacon for the rest of us?" Rime grumbled as she watched her mountain of a childhood friend scarf down the mound of bacon in front of him.
Watching from the other end of the table were a couple of the foreign Faunus students from the new 'Faunus Clique' that had formed shortly after the Vytal participants arrived. Eden, a Deer Faunus from Mistral, and Neila, a Blue Jay Faunus from Vacuo, had grown to be pretty close over the previous weeks. Both were friendly towards everybody and had an interest in meeting people from the other kingdoms. It wasn't a surprise that they'd hit it off quickly.
"Does… does he always eat like this?" Neila asked as she snacked from a bag of sunflower seeds.
Rime laughed nervously as she pat Everest's back, "Haha… yeah… he does."
"Hey, Rime!"
"Timbre!" Rime perked up when she saw somebody that already accepted her and Everest's eccentric dispositions. She jumped to her feet and gave the international pop star a hug. "I heard the screaming from your room this morning. Roland at it again?"
Timbre winced as she reflected on the morning's events. "Um… yeah. He's taking an off day today."
"But aren't you guys going on your mock mission with McGouran today?"
"Well… yes, and no. I'm not going either. I was wondering if you've seen Frost."
Rime thought for a moment, "Last I heard from her, she was going to the library. I thought it'd be funny if she was actually going to check out some of the secret romance novels we found there last semester, so Zero went to see if that was the case. She'd apparently already left when he got there. So… I don't think she was going for the romance novels, unfortunately..." She realized how much she was starting to ramble, "In other words, no. I have no clue where she'd be."
There was a small clattering noise from behind them. Dozens of sunflower seeds spilled from Neila's mouth and clattered to the wood of the table.
Timbre saw that the two Faunus girls were gawking at her with wide eyes. She gave a pleasant smile, "Oh god, not again…"
"So Dante and Roland weren't lying?! When they said Timbre Forté they meant the Timbre Forté?!" Eden laughed as she jutted her hand out, bits of rope wrapped around her wrist. "I've heard so much about you from my partner… she's Roland's half-sister. We're both huge fans of yours. I'm Eden Green, Team READ of Mistral. It-it's an honor to meet you in person!"
Timbre took her hand and shook it, "It's nice to meet you too, Eden. I'm sorry to say but… Roland hasn't really talked about his siblings' team that much, and I haven't really been around Dante a whole lot..."
Eden waved it off, "I'm not surprised. I understand how the Wells kids can be." She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, "They're all a bit crazy. It's fine."
The Blue Jay Faunus pushed her bag of sunflower seeds towards Timbre, "Can you sign my seeds!? I don't have any paper… but I would love to have your autograph!" She made an awkward chirping noise, which startled Timbre and Rime.
"She apparently does that when she's nervous." Eden laughed.
"Guys. Guys. You don't have to be so formal about it." Rime began to lead Timbre away from the table. "You have the rest of the semester and the tournament to talk to her. Remember, she's not a celebrity here. She's like the rest of us. A normal, everyday, Huntress in training being taught how to fight and kill monsters."
"Neila here's a bit of a celebrity too, you know." Eden added quickly.
The sky blue feathers in Neila's hair ruffled up, "Eden… shut up. I'm not a celebrity."
"Right, you're just one of Vacuo's most well-known up-and-coming archaeologists nad a member of the only team in history to manage to discover a new variety of the Creatures of Grimm in their first year of training."
"Hey! It's paleontology not, archeology. Paleontology is fossils, archeology is people. Get it right! And Team DINO discovering the Trex back then was a fluke!" She snapped back, "Damascus and Oliver are the only ones that really like to soak up the limelight for doing that."
"T-Trex?..." Timbre stuttered quietly.
"Yeah!" Neila rolled her eyes, "It was your normal everyday basic-level search-and-destroy mission out to the ruins of a village around one of the Vacuo oases. A Grimm herd was getting a bit too close for comfort to a settlement, so we signed up to go take them out. We began to drive the swarm out towards one of the nearby mesas and all of the sudden BAM! Giant Tyrannosaurus Grimm! We had no idea what we were fighting but, of course, Damascus managed to take pictures with his scroll and Oliver was able to take a bunch of notes about its mannerisms." She sighed and smiled as she looked off into space, as if remembering a pleasant time, "Almost died that day. Good times. Good times."
Timbre felt the images of the night with Oro flash into her mind. "I'm sorry… I… I have to go." She began to run off. Rime stayed on her heels.
"What? Was it something I said?" Neila called after her.
She was suddenly hit by bits of bacon as Everest chomped down on a particularly crispy piece.
"So…" Eden began, "Do you eat like… any fruit or vegetables or anything?"
"VERY. LITTLE." Everest boomed with a full mouth.
"Hey, Timbre!" Rime grabbed onto Timbre's red sleeve. "What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Rime. I didn't mean to look… crazy, in front of your new friends."
"Timbre. C'mon. We're all crazy around here."
"I might be a bit worse than that, Rime!" She realized how loud she was being. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Rime, you're my friend, right?"
She shrugged, "Well, I like to think that I am."
Timbre took a deep breath and began to tell her the truth, "I've been having… pretty bad nightmares… about a lot of things. My mom dying. The attack in the Emerald Forest. That night at Koruss Stadium..."
Rime grabbed Timbre for a hug. "Oh man… Timbre. That's rough…"
"But now… they're getting worse. This morning I woke up after having a dream where Carmen died trying to protect me back at Koruss, right before I got shot myself."
"Holy crap, T…" Rime thought for a moment, "That's why you were looking for Frost…"
"Well, not to just talk to her about it. I was more hoping to ask if she knew where Ms. Weaver from Mistral was working. She's a counselor from Sanctum that came in with the visiting students. I would've asked Lurida and Xannie, but I haven't seen them in the past couple of weeks. Apparently Team GLXY's been on a follow-up mission to Mikado Village."
Rime smiled, "Timbre! You could've asked me!"
Timbre gave her a strange look, "Wha-"
"Frost's my leader, T! I know Team FREZ may seem pretty dysfunctional, but we've learned to talk a bit." She grabbed Timbre's wrist and began leading her out of the building.
"Hey! Rime! What are you-"
"I'm taking you to Vale to where Frost's mom works. I don't have anything big to do today, and I like hanging out with my friends."
"Wait… Frost's mom?"
"Where do you think she learns how to do all that zen psychology hoo-ha?"
"Well.. What about Everest and-"
"He'll be fine." She laughed sinisterly, "I think it'd be hilarious to see how much 'fun' that Eden and Neila have with him while I'm not around."
Timbre chuckled as she kept pace with the shorter girl as they made their way to the airship dock at the end of the entry courtyard, "You're a monster."
Rime skipped along the cobblestones giddily, "I know. I take pride in it." She scrunched up her nose, "Have I seriously never told you that Frost's mom was a counselor?"
The small brick building sat across from the docks. The setting was perfect for a counseling clinic. The calm sea breeze, the lack of traffic, even the pleasant view of the ocean made the area an island of serenity among the normally bustling docks of Vale.
Timbre and Rime climbed the narrow flight of stairs to the upstairs office. The sitting room was warmly lit. The walls were a pale blue. Flowers, both real and in paintings, were scattered around, giving the room a more homey feel.
"Wow. This is... a lot nicer than I was expecting for a dockside counseling office." Rime said as she looked around the comfortable room.
Timbre laughed as she inspected one of the paintings. Bright yellow flowers stood in front of a deep red background. The artist's initials 'J.P.' were scrawled lightly in the bottom right corner. "Huh… looks like something Arty would paint for his mom. She runs a flower shop back in Atlas you know. Maybe I should ask who painted this so he can look it up lat- Lurida?!"
The purple Rhea sister, dressed more casually in black jeans and a dull violet t-shirt, sat in the corner of the waiting room. She looked tired like she did some days when the coffee maker was broken and she couldn't get her morning fix.
"What are you doing here?" Rime blurted out.
Lurida sneered as she looked up. Apparently, they had interrupted a nap she was taking in the waiting room of the clinic. "Why is nothing going right for me?..."
Timbre knew Lurida would be touchy, she always was when she was tired. "Arty said Team GLXY was off on a mission to Mikado. You guys just get back or-"
"Yeah. We just got back, and Xannie wanted to see Ms. Weaver immediately. Let's just say that our sleep wasn't the best while we were away. Things get a little crazy when we're in the thick of it."
Rime tilted her head, "What do you mean?"
Timbre remembered the night she learned about the 'Twin Dynamic' and Xannie's Semblance. She found it best to try to move past it. "Wait, so Ms. Weaver's working out of here?"
Lurida narrowed her eyes at her, "Yeah, why?"
"Frost's mom works here. Every time any of us get in a fight she brings up how her mom taught her all of her psycho-analytical mind-freak mumbo-jumbo. I used to hate it, but you know, the past semester has possibly been the most peaceful and relaxed I've felt in a while!"
Lurida looked annoyed, "Huh… Alabaster never mentioned that to us during our orientation briefing."
Timbre was the one to start asking questions now, "What do you mean?"
"Every second-year team that gave tours during orientation got brief descriptions of those in our tour groups. Yamuna gets told all sorts of sensitive details like the fact that Alice Crims' father runs shady gambling houses across Sanus and Anima and openly voices his negative views towards Faunus, but she never relayed to us that Frost Aurora's mom was a therapist."
"Huh… weird." Timbre shook it off as a misunderstanding. Yamuna, being a Faunus herself, probably focused a bit more on the girl with an openly prejudiced father rather than the girl with a mom working in a counseling center. It seemed everyone was trying to find some sort of conspiracy to follow all of a sudden. She walked up to the check-in counter as Rime took a seat next to Lurida.
She smiled to the young receptionist, who, like many others, gasped when he found himself face-to-face with Timbre Forté. Thankfully, he went on with his professional manner.
She cleared her throat, "Hello ma'am. How can I help you today?"
Timbre smiled back. "Hi. Yeah, I was told that Mrs. Sofaira Weaver was temporarily working here, and she told me I could come here for a visit?"
The receptionist pointed to the door to his right, "She's right in there, but I'm sorry to say she's already talking to another patient."
Xannie. It obviously had to be Xannie.
Timbre cursed to herself, "Oh, right."
"If you want, you can visit with one of the other specialists if they don't have any appointments."
Timbre went to say it was okay and that she'd come back later, but she suddenly found Rime jumping up beside her at the desk.
"Is Mrs. Aurora here?" She turned to Timbre, "If Frost's mom is anything like she talks her up to be, she'll be able to help you with your nightmares by just looking at you."
The receptionist gave the girls a confused look. "I'm sorry… who?"
Rime and Timbre returned the confusion. "Mrs…. Aurora? She works here doesn't she?"
The receptionist just shook his head, "I'm sorry girls, but I've never heard of a Mrs. Aurora working here. I can do a quick search to see if she works at one of the other clinics in town."
Rime shook her head, "No. No way. This is the exact office Frost told me her mother worked at. Are you one-hundred-percent sure that there isn't an Aurora here?"
"Ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to either calm down or leave. I don't want you upsetting any of the other clients."
Timbre grabbed Rime by her shoulders, "It's okay. I'm sorry about her. We'll be heading out now."
Rime's eyes darted around as she tried to figure everything out. "There's… there's no way… She's drilled that into our heads… She even gave us this address..."
"What was that all about?" Lurida said as she impatiently tapped her boot on the hardwood floor.
Timbre continued to lead Rime towards the door. "Rime must've made a mistake. Frost's mom apparently doesn't work here and now she's freaking out."
Rime held a hand out, stopping them from going into the stairwell, "She said they've never heard of her, Timbre!" She looked panicked as she began nervously playing with her necklace. "This… this doesn't make sense."
Timbre held her and looked her in the eyes, "Hey. Rime. Calm down. You're doing that thing again where you freak out when you misremember something."
"I'm not misremembering anything, Timbre!"
Lurida suddenly stood up, hurrying them out of the door, "C'mon. Let's go somewhere else and talk about this." She glared back to the receptionist, "When my sister comes out, can you tell her I went to meet some friends for a cup of coffee?"
The receptionist clacked away at his computer, obviously ready for the loud-mouthed girls to leave. "Yes, Ms. Rhea, I will."
"Thank you." When they hit the street, Lurida smacked Timbre and Rime on the backs of their heads. "What were you two thinking coming in there and causing a scene like that?!"
"Hey!" Timbre rubbed her head, "I was just trying to see Ms. Weaver about my nightmares, just like you and Xannie did!"
Lurida remembered how distraught Timbre was that night she believed someone broke into the dorms. "Okay, I'll believe that for now, but what about… Hey! Get back here!"
Rime was already storming down the street. The confusion was making her head hurt. She felt angry and lied to. How dare they treat her like she was making things up. There was no way she was remembering things wrong. She felt someone grab onto her loose hoodie and begin dragging her around the corner, perpendicular to the direction where she was heading. "Hey!"
Lurida had an iron grip on Rime's jacket and Timbre's sleeve. She was getting to the bottom of this.
"Hey! Lurida!" Timbre protested, "What are you-"
"We're going to the cafe you ARTS guys made the mistake of telling me about. When we get there, we're going to figure a few things out, because I'm with pipsqueak here. Something's weird." She furrowed her brow and morphed her face into a scowl. "I always thought there was something funny about her."
Lurida took a sip of her espresso and eyed the dark screen of Rime's scroll. Timbre sat quietly across from her with her usual tea and scone. Rime was quickly guzzling down her vanilla bean blended iced coffee, her legs bouncing as they waited for the reply.
After what felt like hours, her scroll finally chimed and the screen lit up.
Rime reached out, but Lurida snatched it up first. She read over the message from Zero. "Well, that confirms it. Zero and even Everest remember the same name." She slid the device across to Rime. "She's not crazy, but why would your leader drill in a lie to you about something so benign? And so often?"
Rime shook her head. "I don't know, okay? I'm just as weirded out as you are."
Timbre tried to be sympathetic, "Look, maybe she has some things she'd rather not tell others. I mean, look at Roland. He lied, hid, ran, fought, punched, kicked… whatever to prevent telling us the truth last semester. Who's to say Frost isn't doing the same?"
"Because Frost isn't hiding, running, fighting, punching, or kicking. All she's doing is lying." Lurida tilted her head back, draining the small espresso cup. "What else can you tell us about her? Maybe there are more inconsistencies between her supposed 'life' and the real world."
Rime fiddled with the bright blue gem hanging from her neck. "Well… the first night she really opened up to me, she told me that her father died in a mine collapse when she was young, and her step-father worked in the same mine."
Lurida pulled a black and neon purple glove out of her pocket and slipped it onto her right hand. "Where was the mine?"
Rime shut her eyes as she tried to remember the details. "Um… in Vacuo, near the border."
Lurida swiped down with her index finger, bringing up her holographic screen. After a few taps and swipes, a map of Sanus was brought up. Little blips appeared across the map along with one large symbol perfectly at the halfway point of the Vacuo-Vale border. She shook her head as her eyes scanned lines upon lines of historical data. "Well, well, well… lie number two."
Timbre covered her mouth to prevent scone crumbs from spilling out, "Say what now?"
"Xannie and I grew up in a research facility, right here," she pointed to the large symbol on the border, "It's an observatory that studies outer space and aviation. Our parents lead some of the projects there. Growing up, we interacted with a lot of mining groups that came through the area, but I have never heard of a mine that had collapsed nearby." She tapped on one of the blips, "The closest mine to the border that had a collapse that ended with fatalities was way too far away to be considered 'on the border' and wasn't even in Vacuo. If Frost is actually in her late teens like she should be, then that's wrong too, since the collapse was also fifty years ago." She tapped on another blip, "There was a collapse on the Vacuo side around the correct time, but nobody died and, like that first one, was way too inland to be considered 'on the border'." Before either of the other two girls could question her research, she held a hand up, "I lived my whole life right there. When you live on kingdom borders, you tend to know everything that goes on along that boundary." She snapped her fingers, dissipating the hologram.
Timbre was starting to feel the same way Rime did. She had confided so much to Frost. She had been the first one at Beacon besides Carmen she had opened up to about Koruss and now here she was, learning that parts of Frost's life story were a lie. The list was still growing, too. She was going to talk to her about nightmares too.
Nightmares.
Timbre was suddenly back the night she saw the shadowy figure in the doorway. She remembered what Roland had told her after the next morning. "Roland… Roland found her."
"What?" Rime looked up from her whipped-cream covered cup.
"Earlier this semester, when I saw someone in the room. Roland went to chase after the intruder. He went upstairs while Sepia went down. Turf caught up with him and when they got to the roof… Frost was there. He accused her of being in our room and, of course, said something about the Grimm Brotherhood. She got mad and… we're sure that's why Team ARTS and Team FREZ haven't really done much together this semester."
"That's why?..." Rime tapped her gem again, "She never told us that… All she said was that Roland was running his mouth again. I did find it weird how she seemed to hold a grudge about it. She usually gets over stuff like that within a couple of days or so."
"So the secrets and lies keep piling up." Lurida stood up, "I'm gonna need another espresso… or five."
With Lurida gone, Rime felt herself comfortable to ask Timbre the question she had on her mind. "Timbre… you really don't think Lurida's on to something and Frost's actually…" Her knuckles turned white as she wrapped the silver chain tightly around her fingers, "with… them do you?"
Timbre shook her head and put a hand on hers to reassure her, "I'm sure there's a reason for this, Rime. Don't worry."
Even as she said it, Timbre didn't believe her own words.
.
"Okay. So when I get back to campus, I'm going straight to Alabaster's office and telling him about this." Lurida fumed as they climbed the stairs to the counselor's office. "Normally, I'd let it slide like I did with Wells, but with all this Grimm Brotherhood nonsense going on, I'm not taking the chance any longer. It's dangerous to keep secrets in a time like this, even if you're innocent." She pushed the door open just as Xannie and Ms. Weaver were leaving her temporary office. Xannie was smiling widely, obviously happy with the conversation she had with the Faunus woman.
"Ah, Ms. Rhea…" Sofaira stopped when she remembered that there were two 'Ms. Rhea's' in the room. "Lurida! Did you enjoy your coffee?"
"Yes, I did." She replied bluntly.
"Good! Oh, and Ms. Forté, it's so good to see you again! I'm sorry I couldn't meet with you earlier. I was right in the middle of talking to Xannie here about her and her sister's recent bout of nightmares while on their mission."
"What happened to patient confidentiality?" Lurida griped.
Xannie waved her off, "It's fine Lurida. Everybody gets nightmares." She waggled her finger in front of her sister's nose, "You don't need to make a big deal out of it."
Sofaira turned back to Timbre, "So, dear, what did you want to talk to me and Mrs. Aurora about?"
All of the girls except for Xannie went wide-eyed.
"Wha-" Timbre stuttered, "What did you just say?"
"You and your friend came by asking for Mrs. Aurora and I earlier, didn't you? Are your nightmares flaring up as well?"
"Did somebody call for me?"
The girls turned to find a pale-complected woman walking out of one of the other offices. She had shoulder-length white hair slicked back to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She was dressed professionally in a grey jacket and light blue skirt. She accessorized with a few white crystals set into silver fixings. Her light grey eyes were unmistakable.
As Timbre looked her over, she couldn't help but feel an air of familiarity emanating from the woman. She wasn't sure where it was from at first, but she finally decided to put it in the most obvious place.
This had to be Frost's mother.
"But… but…" Rime stuttered uncontrollably as she pointed back and forth between the woman, Sofaira, and the receptionist.
Lurida stomped up to Sofaira, getting up close to her face, "What are you people trying to pull here?"
The Mistrali therapist looked startled, "Lurida. What are you-"
"Don't play dumb with me!" She shouted and pointed to the other woman without taking her eyes off of Ms. Weaver. "Who is she?"
"That's Mrs. Aurora! Her daughter is one of your classmates!" Sofaira was certainly frightened. She seemed to shrink against the wall, the spider legs on her back scrunching in closer to her body.
"Lurida… please." Timbre reached out to her.
"Yeah, sis, you're being really scary." Xannie added.
"Are you serious right now?" She snapped back to Timbre. "Less than a couple of hours ago Mr. stuck-behind-a-desk over here told us he'd never heard of any Aurora working here and now by some miracle here she is and everyone seems to know who we're talking about?"
Sofaira looked to the receptionist with her face contorted in confusion.
The receptionist shrugged in return.
"I call bull on all of it." Lurida began to stomp towards the woman that was introduced as Mrs. Aurora. "I'm only going to ask this one. More. Time." Her long purple ponytail began to float upwards, no longer held by gravity's force. Vases of flowers began to float up into the air. Some of the flower paintings hanging on the wall began to be pulled away, barely holding by the strings on their backs. "Who. Are. You?"
The white-haired woman shrunk back, terrified by Lurida's show of power.
"Lurida!" Sofaira shouted at her, but she went ignored.
The receptionist began to reach for the phone to call for the police, but Sofaira reached one of her segmented spider legs out, stopping him from dialing.
"Please… stop this."
"Not until I have answers! I refuse to be treated like some sort of naive child! Timbre, Rime and I all know that this is all a lie! We know Frost Aurora isn't who she says she is and I bet more than anything that this is all some sort of trick by the Gri-"
There was a loud whizzing noise as something silver and lined with neon yellow flew towards Lurida, making her fall to her knees.
The vases fell to the ground and shattered and the paintings slammed back into place against the walls.
Everyone turned to Xannie, who stood there with one arm extended, panting heavily and looking just as scared as everyone else. A black and yellow glove stretched down her forearm.
Lurida struggled against her sister's rings as they held her wrists together like handcuffs behind her back. "Xannie! Let me go!"
"You're acting like a lunatic, Lurida!" She shouted back. She looked to everyone who worked in the office, "I… I'm so sorry… I don't know what's gotten into her…" She raised her hand through the air, forcing the rings to pull Lurida to her feet.
She began to whine as if on the verge of tears, "Lurida… I'm so sorry… but you left me no other choice…" She grabbed onto her sister's arms and began to lead her towards the door.
"I'll be taking her back to campus now. I'm so sorry about the mess!" She looked to Sofaira, "Thank you again for meeting with us today! I promise… I'll…" She wanted to say 'I'll make sure she'll behave next time' but she honestly felt like it'd be better if they never showed their faces around the office again.
The entire time she was being led down the stairs, Lurida was shouting and cursing, trying to break free from her restraints.
Timbre and Rime looked to one another, back to the adults in the room, and then back to the stairs.
Shockingly, Ms. Weaver was giving them a warm smile, "Go on dears. Go make sure your friend is… okay…"
Without another word, Rime was out the door as if her life depended on it, and Timbre was close behind.
.
When they hit the sidewalk, Xannie expanded her rings, letting Lurida's hands free before returning them to her own wrists. To anyone who didn't know her, they looked like a set of designer bangles in their deactivated state. "What is wrong with you?! Did you drink more than four espressos at once again?!"
Lurida pushed her sister away, "You don't know what you just did! I was trying to find out the truth!"
Xannie shook her head, "What the heck are you talking about, sis?!"
Lurida quickly yanked her glove back on and showed Xannie the map and pictures of the messages from Rime's scroll. "Frost Aurora is a liar and apparently a damn good one since she's been able to hide things this long." She moved closer and lowered her voice, "I bet you more than anything she's that infiltrator that Onyx has been rambling to us about since the first-years got attacked."
Xannie felt like her sister was losing it, "Lurida… this is crazy… you can't just go around throwing accusations like this. A few inconsistencies doesn't make her an infiltrator!"
Lurida shook her head and ran her hands through her hair, "That's your problem. You know that? You only look for the good in people." She pointed back to the office above them, "Out of all the times we've been there this semester, have you ever seen that woman before?"
"Look, Lurida, people are constantly coming in and out of that office. It's a temporary place for a lot of specialists. Besides, we've only ever been there to see Ms. Weaver!"
"But it's supposed to be the permanent office of Mrs. Aurora. We have a whole list of the things Frost has lied about, you're just not willing to see it!"
"Because I want to be sure before we try bringing it up to Professor Alabaster! People hide things, Lurida! I mean… look at you!" She gestured to Lurida's hair and face.
"You're really going to go there right now… aren't you?"
Xannie pouted, "Yeah… maybe I am."
Lurida only nodded back. "Okay then."
Just then, Timbre and Rime came out of the building. Before either could ask why the twins looked so angry and serious, Lurida latched onto their arms.
She began to lead them away for the second time that day, back towards the cafe. "Just go back to campus. I'll see you at dinner." Xannie called after her, but she was having none of it.
.
A few blocks away, once they were well away from Xannie and back at the cafe, Lurida let go of Timbre and Rime's arms.
Timbre rubbed her wrist, sore from Lurida's angry death-grip. "Lurida… what are you doing?"
Lurida leaned against the counter and ordered another three shots of espresso. "I'm hopping myself up on more caffeine for tonight.
Rime finally spoke up, "What? Why?"
"I'm going to wait until that place closes, and then I'm going to get my answers."
Timbre watched as she balanced the three small cups in her hands. "What do you-"
"You saw the room that woman came out of. I want to see what's in it. There has to be something there that proves that there's something going on at that office to make a cover for Aurora."
Timbre realized that she was talking about breaking and entering. She lowered her voice and leaned in as they sat down, Lurida already downing her first shot. "Are you crazy? What would Professor Alabaster do if he heard you were planning on breaking into a local clinic? Much less what he'd think if he heard you were trying to bring a couple of first-years along! You... you'd get expelled!"
Rime bit her lip, "Look. I know Zero and I have done some questionable things sneaking around and stuff, but that's on a whole different level!"
Lurida downed the second cup of liquid energy, ignoring Rime's comment. "Look… Timbre. I know we've never been on the best terms… but you and Rime are the only ones who're willing to see the issue here. Xannie… she's being too thick-headed to see past what she wants to see." She looked between the two first-year girls before her, who were staying silent to allow her to rant. "You do believe I'm not crazy… right? I mean…"
Timbre shook her head, reaching a hand out to Lurida's jittering arm, "No, you're not. There's definitely something weird going on. I'm just…" she remembered how Sepia had gotten really angry when she found out about Roland blackmailing the general's daughter, "not sure about your plan of attack."
"Same here," Rime added.
"Okay…" Lurida finished her last shot, "then how about this. You two at least stand outside and message me if anybody starts coming our way. If I get caught, you run and I'll stay behind and take all the blame."
Their minds were sent reeling. Was she really willing to take punishment for something like this and let them get off scot-free?
Timbre didn't like the sound of Lurida's new plan. "But you'd get exp-"
"I don't care, Forté. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'll suffer the consequences. But if I'm right… then there's no telling how many people could be saved."
Rime tried to speak up, "But-"
"Please, stop it with the buts and uncertainty. Just say you're either with me or not on this."
Timbre and Rime could see the determination in Lurida's eyes. She was so sure about this. There was proof. They saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears how there was never an Aurora at that office and then all of a sudden there was one. Deep down, they were sure they wanted to learn the truth just as much as Lurida did, and it was obvious that the only way they'd get information quickly would be to do what Lurida was suggesting.
"Well?" Lurida waited expectantly, tapping her foot on the ground beneath them.
Timbre looked to Rime. Apparently, they were in agreement.
Hesitantly, Timbre nodded. "Okay. We're in."
The same dockside road was much more eerie at sunset. The high tides allowed the waves to lap repetitively against the shore and made the boats tied at the docks to dip up and down in the water. The wind had picked up, causing an unsettling whistle to blow from the smaller nooks and crannies in the row of buildings. There was a lack of street lamps on the road, plunging it into near-black darkness that could hide all sorts of dangers, despite the sun having just set.
To Lurida, Rime, and Timbre, the darkness was a blessing as they tried to casually stroll up to the door up to the counseling center, now long empty as it had closed up shop hours before.
"Okay, Timbre, you just stand over there and keep watch. Rime, you go down the street a little bit. If either of you see anybody coming my way, message."
Timbre didn't feel comfortable. She began to realize how much of a bad idea it was to have someone as recognizable as her to play lookout. "Lurida… I'm starting to have second thoughts…"
"Don't chicken out and run away now, Forté." Lurida snarled.
Timbre looked up to the dark windows of the building. Despite them being the only people in the street, she couldn't help but feel like there were eyes watching them from the shadows. She began rubbing her arms against the chill of the wind.
Rime pulled at a lock of dull blonde hair as she began walking backwards towards her position, "Do you even know what you're looking for?"
Lurida shook her head, "No. But once I find something that proves that that woman we saw earlier today isn't Frost's mother… or really anything that ties this building to that whole web of lies, I'll be right back out, okay?"
Timbre nodded. "Okay, just be quick."
Lurida ran up to the door as Timbre stood on the other side of the street near the docks and watched as Rime hurried towards the corner.
Lurida cursed when she realized just how dark it was in the stoop leading to the stairwell. She could barely see the door, much less the lock she was trying to pick with her bobby-pins. For the third time that day, she pulled out her glove and activated the hologram. Instead of using it to show information, she was using it as a flashlight. A bright purple light illuminated the doorknob, giving her a clear view of the keyhole.
Timbre felt a chill run down her spine when she saw what was spray-painted in black on the door. She didn't know how Lurida hadn't seen it.
There on the wood, plain as day, was the wheel-like symbol Roland had allowed to consume every waking moment of his life.
"Lurida! Get away from there!" Without even thinking, she flicked her arms, bringing both halves of Klavier down around her wrists.
Lurida hissed, shushing Timbre, "Are you trying to get us caught!" She felt something wrap around her waist and tighten. Her bobby pins clattered to the ground just as she heard the tumbler inside the lock turn. No matter how much she tugged, the woven silver cord constricting around her wasn't letting go. "Timbre! What are you doing?! Let go of me you idiot!"
Timbre pulled with all of her might to get Lurida away from the building just as the office exploded, bathing them in bright white light, intense heat, and shattered glass as fire blew out the windows.