Chapter Fifty One
Change of Plans
"So, how's my little brothers doing?" Genesis asked Jace and Alex with a grin.
It was very different how the academies had sent their students over to Haven that year. The headmasters of Beacon, Shade, and Atlas decided to send their students at separate times to prevent from overcrowding like the year before. Beacon's students were the first to go two week's prior and arrived just a few days before that storm, and then Shade's arrived, and finally Atlas' students had just come in. In the end, it seemed that way had been best for all parties.
Genesis had joined his two brothers in JKDW's dorm room, wanting to spend some time catching up with them before he and the rest of Atlas' students were called for their orientation. Nika was there with him, her bright-red her in its same disheveled and messy look. Alyss was catching up more with her team about how great her life was at the moment and Raine was with her, catching up with her cousin. Barrett had gone to hang out with Aulin, Bell, and Inuvali. Michael and Liza were back in their assigned dorm, unpacking their things. Auron was finishing up with preparing jerky for all their friends, working on dehydrating it. It was a task he always enjoys, even if he acted annoyed.
"We're doing really good," Jace said, "My team is ranked three in combat class. RWBY and JNPR are ahead of us."
"We're rank four," Alex said for his team, "Can't get past Jace and the others for the life of us. And me and Aul's working on getting our grades up and focus on every part of classes. We're joining the crew of a ship to help with taking out aquatic Grimm."
"Sounds exciting," Genesis remarked, "I'm gonna try to become a mechanic. After fixing up Titan and Kimura how I did, I think that might be my second calling."
"How are you gonna balance it out?" Nika asked him curiously, "It's gonna have its challenges being both a mechanic and a Huntsman."
Genesis nodded. "I know it will. I have to start a shop first and get it up and running. If business is slow, then I'll go look at a board for missions. But if I get a good amount of people coming in needing a vehicle fixed, then I'll stay and do that. Hopefully I'll have a lovely assistant to help me out." He finished, casting a smile to his girlfriend.
She smirked back at him. "How else are you gonna keep the business side of things going and stay careful out on missions?"
Genesis laughed. "I'll definitely need you around. How's things on the personal side?" He asked the others, "Like how's your relationships and all of your friendships?"
"Awesome," Jace said and smiled more, "Being Alyss' mate is the best thing in the world. She's always happy, and I just feel that through my Mark and it makes me happy too. Like right now, she's really happy to be able to hang out with Sapphire, Zack, and Heath. That makes me just as happy. And she probably feels how happy I am hanging out with you again."
"That sounds awesome. I'm still really proud that you mated with someone you love," Genesis said, returning the smile at seeing his brother so happy, "What about you, Alex?"
"It's really fun with Aul being my girlfriend," Alex replied happily, "Her attitude about everything makes it hard not to be cheerful around her. If I feel like shit, she just brings my mood back up just by being normal. And Inu wants us to go to Menagerie whenever we go on missions. Both our team and Jace's. He wants us to meet his family and be there for his little sister's birthday."
"Oh yeah, they're helping with gathering materials for the railways," Genesis said, "That's our plan too. Mike and Liza wanna go to learn more about Faunus culture so they can avoid being assholes even more."
Jace laughed. "You telling them what we've been through was the best thing to happen to them. They've really been trying, haven't they?"
Genesis and Nika nodded. "From last year, their grades really jumped up. Sometimes, we have to tell them to slow down so they don't burn themselves out," Nika replied, "Our team actually went to rank five instead of staying at ten. They're getting better."
"So if our teams fight first in the tournament, it won't basically be two on one?" Jace asked with a grin, "Good. Well, even if it was four on two, I'm sure we'd keep it two on two out of fairness."
"I want to go against that fat one that I fought in sparring last year," Nika said, her mouth dropping to a frown, "I'm not letting what he said about my sword go."
Genesis looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You really hold a grudge don't you?"
"I'm still mad at Michael for what he said too. I don't forgive people easily for making fun of what Chroma made for me. It's easier to be around him since he's changed, but... whatever his name is and his team are bullies. I can't stand them."
"Neither can I, but what can we do?" Jace shook his head, "You can't punch them in the face or apparently you're the bad guy, especially as a Faunus. Just have to ignore them and be done with it."
"Except you let Alyss do the ignoring for you." Alex remarked.
"True."
"So do any of you have any plans on moving your Marks up a stage anytime soon?" Heath asked all of her closest friends in her team's room, looking at them all with a bright smile, her jade eyes sparkling with happiness that all of them were so happy.
"We're planning on that when we graduate," Sapphire answered for herself and Zack, "We want to wait so we don't have to worry about going between thinking about that and schoolwork at the same time."
"Even though it would be awesome to do it sooner," Zack said, "But we'd both just rather focus on school for now. We love each other plenty right now. What about you, Aly? When are you gonna try to move your Mark up?"
"Well..." Alyss gave a wide, dopey smile, "I wanna do it on the night of the dance. I wanna do it soon, but not too soon, and I think that would be a good time to do it."
"You'll be having the room from me at least," Raine told her with a grin, "I know Vivi's gonna be there and I'm gonna be going with her after the dance. I don't know about Auron though."
Heath took in the answers from her friends and almost squealed in delight. "Oh gods! I really can't get over how happy I am for all of you!"
"How can you be that happy for me?" Raine asked her, "I'm not mated with Vivi."
"Yet," Heath winked, "Aly's told us all about how you are around Vivi. Only a matter of time."
Raine nodded, a blush on her face as she smiled. "Yeah..."
"When do you plan on asking?" Sapphire asked, "C'mon, you can trust your cousin." She grinned.
Raine laughed. "The cousin that I just found out was my cousin recently," She nodded and smiled, "I'd... like to go to her home in Kuo Kuana sometime. Maybe when we go for the missions and if she's one of our teams' chaperone."
"That's what we were gonna do," Sapphire said, "It would be nice to go to Menagerie and help get supplies built up. Maybe we'll get one to Shira. Mom recently moved there. It's further inland," She explained to Raine, "It would be fun."
"That reminds me," Raine said, "I need to call and ask Remington what he wants to do about getting some Rangers to Menagerie. The last time I called, he said he was on an important mission and couldn't talk. I should call again soon."
"That sounds like an awesome idea!" Sapphire exclaimed, "If people see that Rangers are helping out there, then they might start trusting Faunus more and then the councils might actually have a railway built to it!"
"Plus Raine is hoping that they'll be assigned there. Her and Vivi," Alyss grinned, "Just so Raine can be with her in her home."
Raine shrugged, a small blush growing back on her face. "That's a big reason, yeah. It would be good for everyone too. Maybe they can help with colonizing a bit more of the whole continent, at least until they hit the deserts."
"Stuff is hopefully gonna get better all over Menagerie with that," Zack said, "I'm definitely moving to Shira to live with Saph and we're gonna relax for awhile, move into our own home, and then move our Mark up a stage."
"That sounds like a great plan for you both," Alyss said, "I don't really know mine and Jace's plans immediately after we graduate. I think Jace probably wants to get to work as soon as he gets his license. I kinda do to."
"Just take it slow," Heath suggested, "We all know how much you two wanna go help people, but you can afford to relax for a little bit. But that isn't until after we graduate, so let's not think on it until it gets here."
"Right. We shouldn't get carried away focusing on the future," Raine said, "Right now is what matters."
"Yeah. Now and the people we love is what matters." Sapphire said, leaning against Zack.
Raine sighed, shaking her head. "Man, I wish I could lean against Vivi right now."
Alyss glanced at her. "It might not be the same, but you wanna scritch my ears?"
Raine laughed at the offer. "No, it won't be the same, but I'll do it anyway."
Auron wiped sweat from his brow as he waited in the communal kitchen. Having two dehydrators, both his that he had sent over in his truck and the school's, made the room very hot. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, regretting that this had been the day he had chosen not to wear his ice dust-laced duster.
He had been there since he had woken up that morning. He hadn't said a word to any of the arrivals from Atlas, too busy with finishing up what was nearly everyone's favorite snack. He would say hi to his friends soon enough. He checked the time on his scroll and grunted, standing out of his chair. He walked over to the his dehydrator and took the very top part off, the one that sent heat throughout the entire thing. His dehydrator had seven racks to it while the school's had ten, each one filled with pieces of jerky but the pieces were spaced out so they would completely finish.
Auron set the top to the side and checked each piece of jerky by hand. He knew they were ready, feeling that they were dried out enough. He took each piece out and put it in his teeth, then he put the rest in individual bags, zipping them when they were full. Halfway through his dehydrator, he heard a knock on the wall behind him.
"Would you like some assistance?"
Auron turned his head, seeing Bell in the doorway. "If you want. Still got another two batches to put on after this."
Bell nodded and stepped over next to him as he moved to the other. "Just put 'em in a bag 'till it gets full." Auron told her.
She nodded and began. "I have not seen you all day. I should have known you would be here."
Auron chuckled. "Yeah, I had to get this done. Still got a few more hours to go too. You feel like stickin' around for that?"
"Hmm, I will stay and help you for a bit. I wished to talk to you."
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"Well..." Bell hummed as she thought, "What is it like to be in love?"
Auron glanced at her. "It's a pretty great feelin'. For me, I'm happy doin' anything that'll make Shyla have an easier time more than I do for anyone else. I do that 'cause I love her more than the world. She can make me smile more than anyone, an' she can ask me to do anything an' I'll do it to the best o' my abilities. Kinda like anyone in love would do for their girlfriend or boyfriend."
"You are smiling just by saying all of this." Bell observed.
Auron shrugged, keeping his apparent smile. "I guess I am. What makes you ask a question like that?"
Bell sighed. "I am only curious about it because... I have never known what being in love is like," She said sadly, "You all know I am asexual. Relationships such as that do not interest me, and I am not sexually attracted to anyone. Seeing every one of you happy with your partners makes me feel... sad. But, I am happy for everyone as well. That outweighs my own sadness, but it makes me feel lonely..."
"I... really don't know what to tell ya, Bell," Auron said, halfway through emptying the dehydrator, "I'm sorry you feel like that. It must be pretty hard for you around all of us, then."
"Oh, no! It is not anyone's fault I feel this way!" Bell assured him quickly, "I only... I-I wish I could feel love for someone like that... that way I could return Inu's feelings..."
"He loves you?" Auron asked lightly.
Bell nodded solemnly. "I have noticed for a long while that he has had feelings for me. It was at the end of last year when I realized it. I know he cares for me more than anyone else, and it is not because he thinks of me as his sister. I do not want to tell him I am not interested. I would hate to break his heart, but he knows how I am. I do not know what to do..."
"If I was you, I'd tell 'im," Auron said, "It ain't gonna do 'im any better if ya wait. In fact, it might actually hurt 'im more if you put it off. Just try to talk to 'im soon an' tell 'im lightly. It probably won't change 'im from carin' about ya. He may just want to be alone for awhile, but I got no clue."
"Right..." Bell said sadly, finishing up on emptying the dehydrator she was at, "I need to tell him for his sake. If I can stand to face him about it, then I will tell him soon."
"I'm sure it'll be alright, Bell. You told anyone else about it?"
Bell shook her head as she stepped back, letting Auron put the next batch of jerky in the dehydrators. "I only just now wanted to tell someone about it."
"It's good that you got it off your chest. I hope I helped out some."
"You did," Bell said truthfully, "Now I know what I should do. Aly is with Sapphire, Jace is with his brothers, and Aul is with Barrett and Inu. I needed to talk to someone and I did not want to intrude on anyone's time together."
"You wouldn't be intrudin' on anything. They'd all be glad to help ya with this if you asked 'em."
"That is true, I suppose," Bell sighed and sat down in a chair, "I believe I should go back before they begin to worry."
Auron nodded. "Alright. Thanks for the bit o' help with this. I'll put a bit extra in your bag like I'm doin' with Alex an' Aul's."
"Oh, you do not need to do that. I was glad to help."
"Doin' it anyway." Auron laughed.
"Of course you are." Bell shook her head and grinned a bit, then she left the kitchen.
One month later
"Alright! Time to hopefully get a mission to Menagerie!" Jace exclaimed as he led his team out of their dorm.
"Yeah!" Alyss cheered, "I really wanna meet Inu's sister and help get the railways started."
"I'm just hoping that the councils actually see that Menagerie would be worth it to make a railway to." Raine remarked.
"Either they'll realize it, or they'll keep being stupid about it." Jace replied.
"Yeah, I kinda doubt they'll do it any time soon." Auron said.
"Wishful thinking, though." Alyss said.
Raine shrugged. "Maybe when some Rangers get posted over there."
"That would be real good even if they didn't get a railway from it." Auron said.
Raine nodded. "Right. I'm sure being the chieftain of Menagerie is pretty tough for just one person. A couple Rangers to help Ghira with those things, plus three to four more around the villages is gonna help a lot more. One from each kingdom already should do it."
Within five minutes, they all arrived at the auditorium. They met up with their friends and family. They chatted for a bit until Headmaster Lionheart gave them all the briefing of what missions they could take and couldn't take, and he told them all that there was an influx of missions in the past few months that needed to be addressed, mostly for the supply gathering missions.
Soon, Lionheart was finished, wishing them all luck when their missions began the next day. Teams JKDW, APCT, SLVR, GLSS, and SHRA exchanged looks.
"So, we're all in agreement of what we're doing?" Jace asked them all.
Everyone nodded. "This will be an enlightening trip," Tyr said, "I hope we can be of good assistance to the people of Menagerie."
"Some of us are gonna get to spend more time with our families too." Sapphire added.
"And some of us get to meet family." Alex said.
"While some want to learn more about how not to be assholes around Faunus." Genesis said with a grin, bumping his shoulder against Michael.
"Gen!" Sapphire yelled, "Don't cuss!"
"Sorry." Genesis apologized.
Michael sighed. "I'm still trying to make up for the crap I pulled."
"It wasn't crap, it was my tail," Jace laughed, "I keep telling you not to worry about that. I met Alyss because of that and I'm happy."
"Still, we want to learn more about Faunus so we don't accidentally insult them or be offensive." Liza said, glancing to see Zack and Inuvali staring at them cautiously.
"At least you're working on it. Right, Zack?" Sapphire asked her mate.
He nodded. "As long as they don't go back to what they were and mess with you."
"We promise we'll try not to." Liza assured them.
"I suppose we should split up and go to different boards," Inuvali stated, taking his eyes off them, "It might be quicker that way."
"Good idea," Aulin said, "Let's meet up outside when we all got our missions picked. Sound good?"
Everyone agreed to that and went to different areas in the auditorium. JKDW found a short line at a holoboard near the stage and waited behind a team from Haven. They waited patiently, knowing that selecting a mission was difficult unless a team saw something on the first page or knew what they wanted to do.
"A Beringel? Screw that!" One of the students ahead of them exclaimed, making Jace's ears stand straighter in attention.
"Well, the description says it apparently has one arm. We could take it out." The girl's teammate said to her.
"Oh no, Sara. I'm not going anywhere near a Beringal after what happened to that village. One arm or two."
"One-armed Beringel..." Jace echoed in his mind, clenching his fists.
"Did she just say what I think she said?" Auron asked lowly.
Alyss and Raine nodded. "She did," Raine affirmed, crossing her arms, "It's... doubtful that it's a coincidence."
"Axel..." Jace muttered, turning his eyes downward as he remembered what his father had told him and his friends during their visit.
Alyss put her hand over his forearm. "Calm down, sweetie. We don't know if it's the same Beringel or not."
The students in front of them apparently chose a mission and Jace moved up, followed by his team. He went to find what was in Menagerie, but he hesitated as his fingers hovered over the screen.
"Guys..." Jace started, putting his hand back to his side.
"You thinkin' about changin' plans?" Auron asked him.
Jace sighed. "I... don't know..." He replied, "Let's just see what it is. It can't be that same one."
He quickly found the mission and pressed the screen, causing the page to come up. The whole team read what the description gave them.
"Last year, the village of Miras was attacked by a roaming horde of Grimm. A large group of fifty with a Beringel that was at the back. Most of our people escaped unharmed, but the Huntsman that protected us fell in battle after cutting its left arm off. One of our guards blinded its eye with a stray gunshot and caused it to retreat, but it was too late for the Huntsman to be saved. We have since relocated and returned to rebuild, but one of our hunters saw the very same Beringel in the woods one mile away from the village..."
"We feel that this could provide valuable experience for a team of Huntsmen-in-training, considering the Beringel should by all rights be weakened prey. If it had both arms, then we would give this to only professional Huntsmen. We hope this will provide a learning experience for any team that takes this mission."
"Oh my fucking Oum..." Jace gulped, clenching his teeth and his fists, "I-it's the same one..."
"What do you wanna do, Jace?" Auron asked, "I know we were gonna take one in Menagerie, but..."
"You want revenge." Raine stated plainly.
Jace nodded slowly. "Yeah... I want that fucking thing dead. I want Axel to rest easier. I just..."
"Jace..." Alyss pulled his face toward her and she gave him a look both hard and soft, "Your uncle died because of revenge. Haile said the Grimm killed his wife, and the Grimm killed him and you want revenge too. D-Don't do anything rash..."
Jace sighed and hugged her. "I know that, Alyss. And... I don't want to fight it like I have nothing left to lose. I want to fight it like I have everything to lose. Axel lost his wife and he felt like he lost everything. I haven't lost anyone, and I want to keep it that way. I want to let Axel rest easier..."
"If no one else wants to step the fuck up to a Beringel, then I think we need to be the ones that do it an' put it down." Auron declared with a bit of heat in his words.
"That Beringel got extremely lucky if it just lost its arm and its eye," Raine remarked, "Maybe it's time it ran out of luck."
"We'd be disappointing Inu, though..." Alyss said quietly, "He really wants us all to meet his sister on her birthday. He's gonna be sad that we changed plans."
"So you're in?" Jace asked and Alyss slowly nodded, "We'll make it up to him when the year ends. We'll all get his sister some gifts and we'll go to Menagerie for a few weeks. But for now... is everyone agreeing on going on this mission?"
Everyone nodded and Jace put their team name in the box on the screen, which lit up green and he confirmed it. Jace took a deep breath as he looked up toward the heavens, then he felt Alyss' fingers wrap around his and he looked back down.
"C'mon. We're holding up the line." She told him.
"Right," Jace said and looked back at the team that was behind them, "Sorry about that."
Jace led his team through the crowd of students and outside where they found SLVR standing near a small fountain, chatting with each other. Jace and the others met up with them and Bell noticed the look on Jace's face.
"What is wrong, Jace?" She asked him.
Jace sighed and looked to Inuvali apologetically. "Inu... I'm sorry, but we're not going to Menagerie for a mission."
Inuvali looked shocked at the answer. "Why not? I was looking forward to you all meeting Vanille... I already sent an email to my parents and they said she was so excited to be meeting so many new people."
"I know, Inu, and I'm really sorry, but..." Jace looked down, "Something came up that I wanted to take care of."
Inuvali sighed. "Vanille is going to be so disappointed."
"We'll try to make it up to her and you during break after the tournament, I promise," Alyss assured him, "We'll get her gifts and get her a cake and it'll be a late birthday."
Jace chuckled. "I didn't think of that. I suggested the end of the year, but we're doing what Alyss said."
"I'll make some jerky for her," Auron said, "If she likes it, then she'll have a huge bag of it to snack around on."
"I'll get her something she likes," Raine said, "I feel so bad about not going at least to meet her and your family."
"Yeah..." Jace rubbed the back of his neck, "I felt bad as soon as I put our name in for this mission."
"What mission is it, anyway?" Alex asked.
"It's gotta be something big if you put it over meeting Inu's family," Aulin noted, tilting her head as she looked at Jace, "The question is how big?"
Jace nodded. "Well-"
"Jace! I gotta talk to you!" Genesis called from the doors, coming out of the building without his team.
Jace tensed up a bit and Alyss squeezed his hand, sending a feeling of calmness to him. Jace took a deep breath and calmed himself as Genesis arrived at them. "What did you need to talk about?"
Genesis sighed. "Did you... see that mission?"
Jace nodded. "I did. It's what we chose."
Genesis nodded back slowly. "I was about to put our team in, but before I could confirm it said it was just taken."
"What mission are you both talking about?" Bell asked them.
"There was a mission given by the mayor of a village called Miras. In the snowy parts of Anima," Jace answered her, "One of the hunters there caught sight of a... one-armed Beringel."
"A one-armed..." Aulin's eyes widened, "Is it the same one?"
"It is," Genesis said, "It even said that it killed a Huntsman after he took its arm off. That was our uncle, Axel Reznor."
"Your uncle?" Bell echoed, "I am sorry to hear that he passed..."
"Th-thanks..." Jace said, his voice catching in his throat a bit, "I want to go after it and hopefully give Axel a bit more peace after his last few years alive. I know he's back with his wife right now and he's at peace with that, but I'm not letting a damn Grimm or anything get away with hurting or killing someone I love."
"I'll tell Vanille that you had to do something for your uncle, then," Inuvali told him, "I didn't know about him. I'm holding you all to what you said."
The four nodded. "Tell her that we'll meet her as soon as we can after the tournament ends," Raine told him, "We're gonna throw her a party to make up for it."
Inuvali nodded. "I'll tell her."
"Are you gonna tell dad?" Alex asked Jace, "I'm sure he'd wanna know that you're going to fight the same Grimm that killed his brother."
"Yeah, I'm gonna tell him later," Jace replied, "I'm not hiding it from him."
"That wouldn't be too smart," Genesis remarked, "We'll still be going at least. Hopefully nothing bad happens to you on this mission, Jace."
Jace gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah, If something bad happens to me, I'm done with missions."
