pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
Weiss was tired after our night out. She probably should have drunk more water. I crawled out of bed carefully so as not to disturb her and I looked down on her angelic face blemished only by that mighty scar. She looked incredibly relaxed and at peace and she sighed softly when I disentangled myself from her. That scar didn't detract from her beauty. It only gave it a sharp accent. I ran my finger down the length of it and pressed my thumb to her lips. She curled up a little and leaned into the touch like a puppy.
If she asked me to kill myself I would do it. If she told me to kill a dog I wouldn't hesitate. So why couldn't I be happy after she specifically requested it. I walked out to the kitchen. I stared at the stove. I lit the burner and I held the back of my hand over the flame.
The pain seared me and I felt my nerves tingle as they died. In their death throes they pulsed and blisters gushed towards the surface. I watched and felt it all with a grotesque luring fascination. The agony was delightful to my confused brain. The feeling was incredibly intense and after so much time spent feeling nothing at all it became a pleasant sensation. The smell of my hand cooking hit me. The scent of roasting flesh and burning hairs drifted through the air.
"Cloud!" Weiss darted in and pulled my hand back. I hadn't noticed her approach and I realized that I was crying a little. "What were you doing?"
"It felt good," I hummed.
"Have a seat. I'm going to bandage you up."
I took a seat in a dining room chair. My hand pulsed in time with my heartbeat.
"I don't know how to help you. I'm so scared for you it hurts. What am I going to do with you? I have no idea how I'm supposed to handle this. Do you self harm often?"
"Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of pain and harm. You know what I mean?" She knelt at my feet and started wrapping my hand in bandages.
"Okay. And how do you define pain and harm?" She asked.
"I don't have a good active definition. Am I in pain in my terror? Is it harming me?"
"I would say so. But this sort of thing. Like this. Cutting yourself or burning yourself. That. Do you do that often? Answer the question for real now."
"Sometimes. Not often. There's something special in the way my nerves tingle as they burn. It's so intense. I really feel it. It's not an unpleasant sensation."
"I thought you were doing well."
"This is me doing well."
"No. I refuse to believe that. I'm going to help you."
"How? I like it."
"Well… can't you do something else? Like holding an icecube? Take a hot shower?"
"I could freeze it," I realized.
"No!" She shouted.
"But I bet it would feel so good."
"Cloud, please. I'm begging you."
"To what?"
"To stop, damnit! Any time you feel like self-harming… just… you can ask me for sex or something. Whatever you want. Just stop hurting yourself. Please. For me."
"You really mean that?" I asked.
"Of course. I love you."
I just sort of stared at her. I watched her kiss the back of my hand and rise. Then she was standing in front of me and I realized she was crying.
"Let me help you. Please. Just ask me. Please stop hurting yourself," she begged. "I'm so scared for you."
"You're beautiful even when you're crying," I muttered. I stared at her red eyes and flushed face.
"Quit trying to flatter me!"
"But you are. You're gorgeous. It's incredible. You ever see something so beautiful that it's terrible? Or perhaps it's so terrible it's beautiful?"
"No…" she whispered.
"You're like that. The connection between my family members and I is like that."
"You're scaring me Cloud. Please come back down to Remnant with me."
"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I have serious issues."
"You do. You really do. Let me help you, please. I can help you Cloud."
"I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"You," I said feeling stupid. "You used to hate me. Then one day you were in love with me. It came out of nowhere and after I killed Ren and Nora. I don't get it."
"You were so honest. I lived my entire life trapped in my father's lies. Then at Beacon you were lying to everyone. Especially yourself. But in Mistral you were so honest. You were honest about everything. You became competent and sure and so very honest. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to react? Suddenly you fit the bill."
"All it took was Pyrrha," I muttered, feeling numb to everything but that pleasant ache in my hand. "Then it took Ren and Nora too. It cost me everything but my wish came true and I got you. Mother took everything from me."
"You still have Ruby and I. She didn't take everything from you yet."
"Give it time."
"Quit saying that. This is serious. I can't abandon you now. You need me more than ever. I'm not going anywhere. Think of Ruby's dream."
"The dream…" I whispered like I was trying to remember something I'd forgotten. I still felt polarizing numbness except for where I torched myself. I felt slow and incompetent.
"The dream," Weiss agreed. "Come on Cloud. I want to ice your hand. What am I going to do with you? You can't just hurt yourself. We care about you. I care about you. You're scaring me and I don't know how to help you. What would Ruby do?"
"If Ruby saw that she would have a panic attack. She would have no idea how to help me either," I pointed out.
"She would have some idea."
"No. She wouldn't. Don't tell her."
"That's not up for discussion. I'm not going to tell her. You are."
"Oh fuck me. Don't make me, please."
"Don't hurt yourself, please," she countered. "You're forcing me hand. I'm going to get you better or die trying."
"I would never have even thought about asking you out again."
"What do you mean?"
"In Mistral or Atlas. I would never have asked you out again."
"I rejected you so many times. That's to be expected."
"But I'm glad for how things turned out. Is that weird?"
"Not really. At least I don't think so."
"You're really all I have."
"And Ruby."
"But she's not with me. And I know that's my fault. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you saw."
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
I had a meeting with the Engelberts. I owed them for killing Hazel and for getting involved with the bombing. It would be remiss of me to not acknowledge my obligations to them. I could probably force them to bow before me but you got more flies with honey than vinegar. Two favors wasn't so bad for their continued help. Lila's power was useful for knowing when my enemies were in town.
This time I met on their terms in the spirit of good faith. It was an old red brick and mortar warehouse on the far side of town. I parked my bike outside and set down the kickstand with a flick of my ankle. Then I marched up to the door and pulled it open to step inside.
There were rows and rows of boxes on shelves. I pulled one down and took a look. White powder. Hyper. It wasn't my drug of choice despite the rush it provided. And the propsychotic tendencies were just too risky. With THC and CBD there was at least an antipsychotic involved. I was fairly sure that it was the combination of both that made weed work for me. It wasn't unheard of for someone to be on mood stabilizers and antipsychotics and then something like dextroamphetamine. I'd never tried amphetamines. Maybe they were super good. I set the box of powder back on the shelf. Weiss wouldn't approve. Do it for her you fucking moron. Don't try amphetamines even though it would probably be super easy to get your hands on some.
"I was going to say that that would have cost you," it was Noir's voice. "Not interested? I never get high off my own supply. It's bad for business."
"I've tried it. It's not for me," I said. I looked over at where Noir was leaning against one of the racks.
"Really? That's a shame."
"I'm more of a greens guy. I get them from Junior."
"Then you're really buying from us. We run most of the drugs in this town through intermediaries like Junior."
"Most but not all the drugs?" I asked.
"We have some competition."
"Is that what you need from me? I owe you two favors. Nothing personal about attacking you at Juniors. I just needed you to understand me."
"It was nothing personal and you didn't kill me."
"Is that what you want to hang your hat on? I thought you would be more pissed off at me."
"Where would that get me? I can't do anything about you."
"That's true enough. So, two favors. What do you need from me?"
"We want to borrow Neapolitan's powers," Lila stepped in on the other side of me and I was boxed in by the two of them between the shelves. I didn't feel threatened. I could kill one then probably take the other. I walked around just a heartbeat away from killing anyone thanks to Omni-slash. I'd proven that when I used it to one-shot Raven Branwen. I was probably the most powerful hunter alive and I could keep pace with up to three of my sisters at once. They must not be as advanced in magic as I was. Or it was Limit Breaker in play and making me just overall better at everything including magic. Or maybe it was magic making Limit Breaker better. It really was impossible to say.
"What for?" I wondered.
"A robbery. The details aren't super important. We'll be breaking in on our competition and stealing their supply and we could use someone as dangerous as her with her powers," Lila explained.
"Done," I agreed. "That still leaves you with another favor."
"We were going to maybe hold onto that one. We might need it later," Noir commented.
"A wise precaution," I muttered. "You have my number if you need me."
"Just Neapolitan is fine," Noir declared.
So they were scared of me. Makes sense. I was a powerful blind spot in their powers and I had proven I could floor either of them in a second or so. That was fast even with hunter reaction times. Most hunters would take time to die. I could bypass that and go for the kill.
"That works for me. Send me the details and I'll pass it along to Neo. It's a pleasure doing business with you both. And keep me in the loop on my names."
"That sort of bombing is bad for business. What were the girls going for?" Noir asked.
"The satellite probably. Destroy that and wipe us back down to the dark days," I explained.
"International comms are good for us. Faster communication always is. Why would they attack the satellite? I can't imagine what someone would have to gain by doing that," Lila pointed out.
"If you were trying to destroy the kingdoms you would start by doing that. That's what they are after. These people don't care about the crime game. They want to blow it all up and sift through the ashes. That's why I'm trying to stop them. That's why I'm willing to work with you two. Even if it means getting my hands dirty it's worth it to try and stop them."
"So you are one of the good guys," Noir decided.
"Careful. I'm really not so pure of heart as that. I've killed people in the past for the slightest provocation and even less than that. I've straight up murdered people for the fun of it. I'm not some grey angel. Not even close. I'm something new."
"You're threatening us again," Lila noted.
"Just reminding you. I am not nice. If that's all, I'm out of here."
"It is," Noir said. "You're welcome and get out of our faces."
I turned on my heel and started walking towards the exit. Lila leaned out of my way as I passed her. Our eyes met for a moment and she looked away. She took in the sight of my wrapped hand. Was she scouting for weaknesses? She wouldn't find one there.
I walked out of the storage facility and straddled my bike. I started it and took off.
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
"So we're not in trouble?" Yuma asked.
I had team RYPP gathered in my office. Things had cooled down a little and I wanted to talk to them about the bombing.
"What for?" I wondered right back. "You were attacked. There was an explosion. How is that on you?"
"Well we didn't stop them. The bombers or the Engelberts," Yuma muttered.
"It was never your job to stop them. You did more than anyone asked you to. No one is going to say that what you did was a bad thing. Quite the opposite. I just wanted to ask you if you saw anything noticeable about the bombers or criminals. Did you see them use their semblances? That sort of thing. You're definitely not in trouble and you did well. Now leave them to me and the authorities. We'll take over. You should just focus on your studies and learning how to be huntresses."
"We didn't see the Engelberts's semblances in action…" Rosé trailed off.
"But the man they killed ate dust. As in lots of it," Pine pointed out. "He didn't seem bothered by it at all."
"Hazel Rainart. He and I ran into one another in Mistral. He had a pain nullifying power. It's good that he's gone. He was a serious threat. Now for the bombers."
"They were three girls and they all sort of looked alike. I would even say that two of them were nearly identical," Peach said.
"Did you engage them at all?" I asked.
"Only for a moment or two. Then they took off into the Atlas ship. We're not sure what they wanted. It may have had something to do with the new satellite," Pine decided.
"That seems likely. Bringing that down would have kept us in the dark. It's a good thing that they failed."
"Um, Professor? What happened to your hand?" Rose asked.
"I burnt it on my stove. Didn't have my aura up. I was caught unawares."
"You lowered your aura on purpose?"
"The details aren't important."
"But it's not like you're a bad chef. I've seen you cook."
"My hand isn't important. Let's stay focused on the bombers: the girls and the large man, Hazel Rainart. He was a wanted man in Atlas and Mistral. You all helped take him down. Well done."
"It was mostly the Engelberts," Pine dismissed.
"What happened to those girls you went after?" Peach asked.
"They were trying to launch that ship up at the satellite. I managed to force them to retreat before they could start their plan to cause chaos. They killed the crew before I could stop them and we made a mess out of the bridge."
"It must have been three on one," Yuma commented. "How did you do it?"
"This may come as a shock to you all but I'm a talented huntsman with some real power behind me," I smiled softly and scratched my chin. "Most of your teachers here are."
"Like the headmistress?" Peach asked.
"Particularly the headmistress. Well, if you girls can't remember any more details for me you're dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day."
They filed out and I was left alone with my dog. I reached out with my burnt hand and scratched the animal. It sniffed Weiss's bandages a little and licked at my hand.
"It's not a big deal," I informed Red.
It let out a massive doggy sigh.
pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq
-WG
