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In the end she had to let me go. It was a good thing because I didn't want to come to blows over it. The important thing was that someone with some real power knew of my condition in Vale. That was a win in my book. I wasn't sure if Professor Goodwitch could stop me if I went on a rampage but it was something. Her telekinesis would be hard even for me to get around. I'm not saying I couldn't do it. It would just be hard to pull off. I'd have to close the gap fast and - here I was thinking about killing, again. For no real reason either. I just couldn't help myself I guess.
I had a serious problem.
"What's this?" I asked Rosé. I went back to the hotel we were staying in. The hotel room walls were painted a deep purple with green card carpet on the floors. There was a spinning fan in the room over the only bed and just across the bed was a window that looked out into the mountains which surrounded Vale.
There she was holding a flier sitting on my white and soft blue covered bed next to Red XIII. She was running her fingers along the animal's head in an absent minded way while she read from the paper. She and the dog were depressing the bed where they sat.
"It's uh - nothing. Just some stuff. Don't worry about it."
"Don't try and hide it; I already saw it. What's got your gizzard?"
"It's a flier. For a tournament. I was thinking about asking you if I could enter into it."
"You hardly need my permission. I'm not your parent. Who, by the way, you haven't gone to see at all. What's up with that? If you're on bad terms with your folks just say so. I'm right there."
"I'm not on bad terms with them; it's just the timing - and my training - and I was thinking about showing them with the tournament that I can do this. Do you know what I mean?"
"No," I answered. "You haven't explained anything. You're all over the place."
"Okay. Whew," she exhaled hard and tried to calm down but her next words came out in an excited rush. "I want to ask my parents to watch me compete. So they can see how far I've come. As well as my brother. I don't want them thinking I'm still some kid."
"You are a kid though."
She positively glared at me for that. The heat surprised me.
"What?" I asked. "You're sixteen. I'm still a kid. Don't look at me like that."
"You are most certainly not a kid. You have too much wisdom. You have… adult relationships," she bit out the phrase quickly like it might burn her tongue. "Or have had them. I'm assuming. I'm not prying or anything. I'm just saying."
"You think this is about sex?" She flushed pink as her hair. "What? You brought it up! And sex doesn't make you not a kid. And yeah I've had it. It really isn't such a big deal. It's just something people do. What? What?!"
"None of this is the point! I'm supposed to be mature now."
"You can't even talk about sex without turning so red I'm worried you might faint."
"With you! This is about my parents and brother!"
"Alright quit yelling. I'd be more than happy to help you enter a tournament."
"But do you know what I mean? I want to impress them. I really want to show what I can do. See?"
"Not really."
"Well what's your relationship with your parents like."
"Bad," I deadpanned. In a word it was bad. "But you want to do well?"
"I want to win. I really want to impress them and show off a little."
"Okay. Winning. My partner competed in them a bunch before she went to Beacon, she won a bunch of them."
"But do you have any experience?"
"Sure. I fought in the Vytal festival. The first round. After that we let my partner do her thing and run away with it. She was really good. And I have experience with, like - killing people in real combat. So there's that. Or did you forget just because I said the word 'sex.' See there you are blushing again. Like a virgin."
"I am a virgin," she hissed out at me.
"No shit. That's a cute blush you've still got going on."
She hit me with a little fist. "Gods! Stop it! And I'm not supposed to be cute anymore. I'm grown up now so… so… I'm not supposed to be cute!"
I laughed heartily. "Yeah, real grown up. Not cute. Got it."
"So you'll help me win?"
"Yeah, sure as much as I am able. I'll be your coach and give you advice before each round or whatever I'm allowed to do. By the way, we're heading to a shooting range later and you're checking out guns."
"Guns?"
"Yeah. Guns. So you can figure out how to shoot. And maybe see if you want to combine your weapon with a gun. Your birthday is coming up, right? I'll buy you something mechashift and nice before the tournament. A real huntress weapon for sure. You can say goodbye to your training wheels blade."
"Falchion."
"Sure. Well you don't have to scrap it but all your competition will have real huntsmen weapons. You had better have one too and know how to use it. When's the tournament?"
"Still a month out. You think we have time?"
"Sure. It's all we'll be doing. That and training Red." The dog perked up at it's name being said. "Yeah I'm talkin' 'bout you." I rubbed the dog's ears.
"I don't see why I need a gun. You don't use a gun."
"Yeah but I'm good. And I've gotten shot, a lot. I don't really like them and I've got blade beam and dust. That helps along with a bigass shield. You don't have any of that. You're not slick enough to get away with it. You can't fly. You'll use a goddamn gun. And you know what?"
"What's that?"
"You'll probably like it. You'll probably have so much fun shooting stuff later that you won't want to stop. Almost every other hunter besides me has something which is also a gun. You'll find something you really like and, within a few days after you've tried out the armory, you'll want it combined with your sword."
"Yeah we'll see about that."
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"Okay I admit it."
"Yeah?"
"I really like guns."
"Huh," I said non-committal.
"Wow," Rosé laughed. "You are such a fucking asshole. Good gods above. I can't even admit that you were right."
"I literally said nothing."
"Yeah but it was in the way you said it."
"Okay. Okay."
"Can't you just be humble about this?"
"So which one was your favorite?" I changed the subject.
"Gods where do I begin? They were all so much fun. I think I liked the rifles but there were so many. And I don't even know anything about firearms. How can I even describe what I liked about each one?"
"I don't know. If it was a sword you could talk about the weight and balance and the way it tapers to a point. With guns it's just like 'they sure shot good.'"
"It's about more than that." She brushed me aside and flicked back her hair. We walked down a Vale street by night. It was lit up by holographic street lights. She hadn't stopped shooting until they kicked us to close down.
"I wouldn't know. I just stab things. Which weight did you like the best. Let's narrow it down."
"I really liked the assault rifles and submachine guns. The high impact sniper rifles were nice but I can't imagine swinging that around. I like swords too. It needs to be both."
"Are you sure? Now's the time to commit to a change if you're going to."
"I like swords. The anti-material rifles are out. The pistols were nice but I want something to really hold on to."
"There were some big pistols."
"I know. I know. I liked the assault rifles though. Can we commission one that turns into a blade? Like it unfolds and scissors into like a double edged sword. That would be so bad ass."
She was swearing more. I think that was my fault. I was a bad influence on her. In probably a lot of ways.
She seemed excited and I had the money. Sooner would be better if she really had made up her mind. She did try dozens of guns out to see which ones she liked today.
"We'll sleep on it and come back tomorrow. We'll try them out again. We have time. Then we'll find an engineer and get your weapon done."
"But that will take so long," she whined a little and I just looked at her judgementaly.
"I'm not buying you something we're not absolutely sure will work best for you. You're going to spend a lot of time at that gun range. Even after you have your new weapon. I can't train you how to shoot. I don't know how. You'll have to practice a lot if you want to be competitive. Your sword play is fine but no matter what we do your gun play will be weak before the tournament."
"Do you think it will be a problem? It seems like an obvious weak point."
"You'll have dust which you've gotten good enough at to probably manage it under pressure. Everything is harder in a real fight. Literally everything. But you're good with your sword. I suppose we'll find out whether it's enough in the moment. You sure you want to register?"
"You trying to talk me out of it?" She fired back. She had some spice to her tonight.
"Not really. It can probably only be good for you. You lose, you learn. You win, you have learned. That sort of thing. Now what about your parents?"
"What about your parents?" She shot back.
"Discussion of my family is off the table. I'm on bad terms with every single member of my family. You are not."
"You don't know that. My parents and I have had rows."
"It can't be anything like the fights I have with my parents. It's really bad. Trust me on this one," I pleaded a little.
I kicked a stone down the sidewalk and watched it bounce elliptically. It was getting fairly late and we pretty much had the streets to ourselves. There was the occasional passerby or odd couple out for their evening stroll but aside from that the streets were empty and devoid of cars.
It was almost nine o'clock. Your average Joe was getting ready for bed for a long day ahead. Our schedule was a great deal more free. The only thing ahead of us was a long day at a shooting range and then I suppose I'd have to find an engineer. If Ruby were here she could design it in a heartbeat. But I didn't have her here. I found myself longing for her company. She was not just my girlfriend. She was my best living friend and my very first one at that. It was hard not to ascribe importance to that.
She knew all about guns as well. She'd be able to help and train Rosé where I just could not. I found myself lacking in a lot of ways and unable to relate to Rosé due to my upbringing and short life. I didn't know what it was like to be as young as she was. I didn't know what it was like to have parents. I had my fake memories but they were exactly that. They weren't real.
"So you like the weight of submachine guns and assault rifles. What caliber do you want? Which is more important to you? Having a high rate of fire or more stopping power?" I asked Rosé.
She walked and thought for a long moment. "Well I want to go as high caliber as I can if that makes sense. And I suppose I want each shot to matter more so I suppose I prefer stopping power over a rapid rate of fire."
"Then you want a decently sized assault rifle. Let's see what we can do. Like I said we'll come back tomorrow and see if you change your mind but it looks like we're closing in on what you want. And it should be doable. An assault rifle sword combination is far from impossible or outlandish. Sort of the opposite. At least as far as huntsmen weapons go. You can really go nuts with that. You can have an underbelly shotgun or grenade launcher."
"I don't think that those are for me…"
"I'm just saying you can go pretty wild with the customization of it. Make it really suit your needs."
"Well I'd like the option to rotate through different models of fire. Automatic, three round burst, and semiautomatic. That sort of thing."
"Sounds like a good idea. Let your tool do the work for you. That's all I'm getting at."
"Gosh I'm just so excited. I'm going to have an actual huntress weapon. Thank you so much. Not just for this but for everything. You know… I… I just really appreciate it. None of this would have been possible without your help."
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," she stated firmly. "It means so much to me. It isn't nothing," she repeated.
"I only meant that you are welcome," I raised my hands in surrender.
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Neo and I went out by night. There was a club with a reputation in Vale. They said that Junior knew everything that happened here in the city and it was time for me to pay the seedy place a visit.
The club was nice. Lots of glass in pillars and on the dance floor. High windows on each side with harsh white lights and cool greys to go along with it. It was nicer than the Den had been. The Den had been seedy but this club was high brow. There were guards all over with hidden weapons and red glasses. Security was good in this place.
The Hei's ran this town with Malachite support these days. That meant Xiong was the man to talk to.
I walked up to the bar. The man behind the counter looked me up and down and took in the sight of Neo in her usual non-disguised form.
"What can I get you?"
"Three shots of vodka and your sugariest girliest drink for my friend here. She has a sweet tooth. I also need to talk to Junior. Is he here?"
The man in glasses and hat started pouring and mixing drinks. "Junior is not seeing anyone today. You can make an appointment if you like but I have no idea when he can fit you in."
"He's going to want to see me. I can offer him a great deal. Tell him who I'm with - that Neapolitan is with me. He'll want to take the time just to make time. Thank you," I finished with that because the man slid my drinks to me and Neo. I slammed back two of the shots immediately but the third I held onto in a free hand to savor.
Neo began to suck down her own fizzy drink. It had two scoops of vanilla icecream in it and the liquid was bright red.
"I'll pass along your message. You'll still have to wait a while even if he makes an exception. Neapolitan is well respected around here. Who should I say is here to see him with her?"
"It's Strife. Cloud Strife. And thank you very much. I'm more than happy to wait. I am interrupting his schedule out of nowhere. I'm happy to make an appointment if you can put me in contact with a secretary or assistant."
The man checked his watch and eyed up and down the bar to see if anyone needed waiting on. Then he turned and left. He walked out from behind the bar, around a corner, up some stairs, then finally out of sight through a door.
I slammed back my last shot and had a look around. I watched people move their bodies out on the glass dance floor. A girl in a tight blue skirt was swaying her hips and grinding away at a young man's pelvis. An older gentleman who didn't quite have the moves was just standing in the center and waving his arms around with his feet planted still. One girl was holding the corners of a long pink dress and swaying her body as she firmly fisted the flowing, floaty gown aloft. Her head bobbed in time with the music with her eyes closed. She was thoroughly enjoying herself and knew what to do with her hands so as to not look silly but that was easy in a big dress like that.
"Junior will see you now."
I turned with my head spinning a little from the three shots.
The man had returned and was swaying on his feet impatiently. He had work to get back to. Every moment he wasn't working he was falling behind in a bar like this. He probably got two breaks on an eight hour shift. I might have just stolen one of them.
"Neo, come along. Yeah, you can bring your smoothy. Is it any good?"
She nodded sucking down the red liquid through a straw. Then she took the provided silvery spoon and swallowed a bite of icecream she scooped from the glass. Icecream for the icecream girl.
I followed the man the way he left. We went back into some offices which had the same style of flowing glass and white lights. The lighting was so harsh in this place. No wonder all the workers and guards wore sunglasses. This glare was terrible.
We came across an office with closed doors. The man leading me stopped and knocked three times hard.
"Come," a voice beckoned from inside.
The man opened the door for me and Neo to reveal a large red and brown desk with a giant of a man behind it. He had about a half dozen inches on me. And I was plenty tall. He was even more broad at the shoulders than I was as well. Even sitting down I could tell that much about him. He was big. His name was ironic, got it.
"You're Cloud Strife? You're Neapolitan's new handler?" He asked in a baritone.
"That's me. And she's my friend if you so please."
"You planning on taking over Roman's old place in the hierarchy?"
"That got him killed. So no. I came to trade favors with you. I want information and if you want some people dead or something stolen I'm your man. You need someone tortured I can do that too."
"I see. What information do you want from me."
"You ever hear about a man named Hazel Rainart? No? That's fine. But if you do I want his location so I can kill him. In exchange for that I'm at your service."
"It seems favorable to me. Assuming you can do what you say you can. I have little reason to doubt your prowess with Neapolitan behind you. She wouldn't follow someone who wasn't clever or strong or both. Why do you ask for so little?"
"It's a good policy."
"You want me in your debt."
"It would be better if we were friends. Then such silly things as debt could be forgotten. I can be very good for any kind of business you're running. And if you think of something else I can do for you instead of murder or torture I can do that as well. Think it over. There's no rush. Let me give you my number and I'll be on my way."
"That's it?"
"Yeah. That's it. That's all I want. I can be very profitable to you and I don't have many limits. Take my number. Give Aurum in Atlas a message about me if you don't believe me. And you can hold onto that favor as long as you like and you can call it in whenever. I just want Hazel Rainart. Sound fair?"
"It's more than fair. I shall consider it closely."
"Good talk then. Have a good evening and thanks for your time."
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-WG
