I feel like every time I need to apologize for taking long, but midterms and projects are just murder for me right now. I can barely sleep and I catch a cold like once a month.
Thanks to Astray-Tech and RenQuetzalcoatl for those kind reviews, and everyone who still reads this and puts up with my inconsistent uploading, thank you so much!
I got super out of it to write the chapter, so any inconsistencies please let me know in case, cuz I've been losing my mind recently.
Chapter 69 -The Worst Possible Scenario
Weiss sat in a wide chamber of the clan building on her knees. Wooden boards lined the floor in neatly, tightly packed arrangements. Dark blue banners hung from the walls, each sporting the shining grey insignia of the Grey Wolves.
She shifted uncomfortably on the straw mat below her knees, she was unaccustomed to kneeling like this but one of the conditions for her training was that she'd do exactly as Olwen instructed, so she had to comply.
The old wolf Faunus was knelt opposite to her, a long pipe in her right hand. Weiss noted the tobacco leaves crushed together in the pipe and realized where Elain got her smoking habit from.
"The first step to using your power is to understand the nature of nature." Olwen instructed.
Weiss felt her eye twitch, "Could you be any more cryptic?"
Olwen lit her pipe and took a long pull before bellowing out smoke into the Schnee's face, causing her to cough and bat away the fumes, "Child, what do you think the power is supposed to feel like when used?"
"I…" she began to falter as the reality struck her.
Weiss' brows furrowed as she was deep in thought, the only times the power activated was when she was in danger, so to say she knew what it felt like to actually use it was like saying she'd eaten Dust.
"Like… a semblance…?" she hesitantly replied after a few seconds.
Olwen snorted, "Wrong, but you're not that far off. At least you have some intelligence." Olwen got to her feet and waved her right hand with the pipe in the air. The smoke from the pipe then began to crystalize and drop as they formed smoky cubes of ice.
"What did you just observe?"
Weiss grasped the end of her chin, "You froze the moisture in the air around the smoke?"
"Good but what I wanted you to see was how I did that." She placed the pipe back into her mouth and spoke again, "Most people who acquire the power of an Aspect already know how to use their power from birth, because young minds are easily impressionable, and knowledge is significantly easier to impart on the brain."
"Huh?" Weiss was confused.
"Powers come with a manual. The Maidens inherit the memories of their previous generations, the Black Cat family's shadow power is generationally inherited. The dragon clan and our clan have quasi-sentient power."
"Meaning the power is… alive…?" Weiss prompted.
Olwen nodded, "Correct. The powers of Frost and Fire are alive, and bear a personality, even if they can't communicate directly as we humans do. In order to wield your power, you need to first understand the will of Ice."
Weiss took out the stone that was nestled in her pocket and gazed intently at it. The stone seemed to gaze back as she peered deeper into the seemingly endless depth of the crystal. It began to hum softly in her fingers, the pleasantly cool feeling washing over her hands.
"The will of the Ice is vastly different from that of the fire. Unlike its polar opposite, the Cryoseki is often calm and unwavering, its power trigger varied depending on the user and universal situation. However, do not mistake it's calm for weakness, as you will learn that its bite can be far colder and deadly than one might expect." Olwen continued to explain as the air around her palm began to swirl and freeze up, shards of ice like daggers formed before she threw them at a nearby wall. The steel wall was pierced by the shards that seemed so fragile at first, causing Weiss to gape in awe.
"You will practice here, and until you can manifest the power at will, until you can work in tandem with your bonded power, you will not leave, nor rest!"
Weiss gaped, "WHAT?! You can't just do that!"
Olwen held no expression as she walked toward the door, and exiting it. The sound of forming ice was heard and a lock. Weiss ran to the door and tried to force it open but it refused to budge, so she tried summoning one of her knights with her semblance only for the sword to shatter upon contact with the door, as if the material was impervious to attack.
After a few minutes of frustrated screaming, Weiss collapsed back onto the mat and stared up at the ceiling, where she eventually noticed security cameras at all corners of the room, 'So that's how she intends to monitor me…' she thought.
Sighing to herself, Weiss sat on the mat and held the Cryoseki, "What do you want from me?" she asked it.
The stone hummed twice as if it wasn't sure what she was asking.
She decided to try and do what Olwen did, extending her palm and concentrating on the gem in her hands, visualizing the air freezing, at first there was the inkling of cold on her fingertips before the feeling fizzled out just as quickly as it came.
It was then she realized it was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought.
Thus began Weiss' hellish training.
Meanwhile, outside of the main building, Nova and Ruby were gathered in Randolf's house. House was more or less an overstatement, it was akin to a shack.
Instead of the modernistic style of the other houses, it was more of a glorified tool shed, the floor was stone cold concrete and the living space was barely more than enough for a bed and a stove, yet somehow, Randolf had managed to hang various equipment on the walls. Mechanical-looking spears with two prongs hung in rows on a shelf while what seemed to be assault rifles and high calibre snipers reminiscent of Crescent Rose could also be seen.
"Quite the arsenal you have here," Nova pointed out, he was returned to his male body as he sat in the chair.
Ruby was frantically ogling at the guns like a hyperactive child but quickly hit her head on the ceiling after jumping too hard, thankfully she landed safely in Nova's lap.
"Oh, I didn't realize it was raining cuteness… I would've put out a barrel," He commented, smirking as he saw the blush rise on her face.
Randolf rolled his eyes, "Spare me your couple's banter. Qrow told me it was bad but holy shit you two are disgustingly cute…"
Ruby felt a sweat drop form on the side of her face, "Uh… sorry?"
Qrow stumbled into the room, stone-cold sober and a serious look on his face. Randolf also turned to face the couple with a similar expression, the level of seriousness on their faces was enough to unnerve them.
"Oi… uncles… what's with those looks? Why'd you call us here?" Nova gazed back, Ruby also calmed down and got off of Nova.
Qrow and Randolf glanced at each other for a moment before nodding together, "Nova," Randolf started off, "Qrow and I had been thinking… it's time to become King."
Nova blinked rapidly several times, "HUH?!"
"For more than a century, the Faunus people have been divided and dispersed, chaotic and uncontrolled. This lead them to split them up and factions like Olwen's were born. The Faunus people need to come together under one banner and unite. It's time to revive the glory of the Royal Family."
Nova was at a loss for words, "Where is this coming from…? Why so suddenly…?"
"This isn't sudden, but rather, a consequence of your own actions. You and your sister." Qrow said while folding my arms, "This is your fault."
"My fault? The fuck are you talking about?" Nova was confused now.
"It'll be easier if we start from the beginning to help you understand the current situation…" Randolf sighed deeply before pulling a chair and sitting down next to Nova, "As you are aware, the Faunus people are still dispersed. Progressive cities like Vale and Mistral have little to no discrimination, but the underlying problem persists in that Faunus, especially old clans like this one, won't co-operate with humans."
"And we need people to unite if we are to ever defeat Salem," Ruby input, completely serious. "To do what Ozpin could not…"
Nova was hesitant and disturbed, "But what's this about being my fault? How do I fall into this?"
There was a light chuckle, it wasn't from Randolf or Qrow, it was from Ruby, "You seriously don't see it?"
"Kid, are you not aware of what impact you've had? The prince who survived, the man that they couldn't kill. The star of the Vytal Festival, the idol that turned up one day and shocked the world. On top of that, the speech you gave at the tournament moved the hearts of thousands of people," Randolf said, there was no hint of exaggeration in his voice. "In their eyes, not only were you a symbol, but you fought and died for people regardless of race."
"Your sister and mother rallied the people of Menagerie against the White Fang, you turned up in a blaze of glory and showed the world that you were still alive when they thought you were dead. Like it or not, to the people who know who you are, you're an idol, and it's time to become a symbol of peace, a beacon of hope." Qrow finished.
Nova was shocked, all this time, he'd just been doing what he wanted, "But… I'd been doing these things because of my own desires…"
Ruby flicked him on the forehead, this was the reason she had to be here, since he trusted her word more than anyone else. She realized why Randolf wanted her present for this conversation, it was to convince Nova to take this path.
The reaper wasn't a fan of forcefully pushing her lover in a direction that would make him uncomfortable, but, even she could see, that this was what he was meant to be.
"Your own desires? Nova Flareheart, you are a dork, a smug dumbass and a reckless idiot, but you are not liar, at least not to the people who matter, so can you look me in the eye and tell me it was all selfish? Can you tell me you didn't do the things you did because they were the right things to do? Because you wanted to see a better world?"
Nova's eyes shook, "I…" he gazed into hers. Silver stared deeply into Red and Black and no matter how he tried to answer, the words just wouldn't come out.
Millions of thoughts flooded through his head. This was a responsibility he didn't need. His responsibilities in life were taking care of those close to him, and now he was asked to take care of an entire race? How could he possibly undertake such a task? He was just one person.
No… he didn't have that luxury anymore.
Nova let out a dark chuckle as he passed his hands through his soft white hair, "Destiny fucking sucks…"
"…?"
From the time he stepped foot out the door ten years ago, the moment he chose to pick up a sword and swear vengeance on the man who ruined his life, all chance for calm had flown out the window. He wanted to curse his heritage, curse his ancestors for this mess he had to clean up now, but it made no sense since the dead could pay no recompense.
He might not have wanted his path to go in this direction, but, he could blame no one but himself for the choices he made, he had to be responsible and do the right thing, and so he did.
In a half-baked shed of a house, within the biting cold tundra, miles away from civilization, in a rickety plastic chair, Nova made up his mind.
"I'll do it," he turned to their nervous faces with a half-smile, "If I'm going to become a king, I will not bear this responsibility alone. After all, a King's power is only topped by his people."
Randolf smiled warmly. He'd been terrified that Nova would reject him, lash out and scorn the idea, but this was a positive development.
"Good," the wolf Faunus grinned, "You'll start by learning diplomacy…"
Nova paled, "I'm going to what…?"
Ruby laughed hard, "Oh this is rich!"
"Hold up, you too young lady, someone has to look after this fool while we're not around," Qrow said making air-quotes implying an underlying meaning.
Ruby grasped it instantly, she'd learned to read between the lines and was no longer the naive girl she once was, "B-But w-we're not yet…"
"See she even said 'yet'." Randolf shrugged, "Unless you wanna wash your hands of him for the rest of your life…"
Ruby gaped in shock, she couldn't believe that they were putting her, putting them as a couple, in this position.
Even Qrow was appalled, "Wulf, that's going too far… they're still kids they…"
"Kids? Qrow, the fate of the world rests in their hands and you're saying this?"
Ruby had a dark expression.
The dragon saw how uneasy she was, "Ruby you don't need to… you shouldn't feel obligated to stand by my side and if you were still unsure about things I would never hold it against you," Nova said, reaching out for her hand.
Ruby looked up, grabbing Nova's hand fiercely and challenging Randolf's gaze, "I'm in. Unsure about things? I wouldn't give this dork up for the world… I was just irritated you wanted to do things so unromantically," she folded her arms.
Randolf looked shocked at her tone, "I… apologize…"
After some time in the hut, discussing the details of their training of sorts, Nova and Ruby were allowed to head back to the clan hall.
The dark of the night sky was illuminated with the dark blue, pinks and greens of Aurora Borealis. The stars blanketed the multicoloured background, enhancing the beauty of the atmosphere.
The tundra was peaceful and quiet, most residents were inside and it gave the couple the feeling of isolation, as if they were temporarily separated from the world.
Normally they would've been holding hands and walking cheerfully, but the earlier conversation had Nova slightly on edge. Randolf had indirectly made them contemplate 'the question'. The very question that plagued every couple after they'd been dating for years. Ruby was indirectly asked, and she indirectly answered, but the real words were never said.
Nova hated it. He hated that they weren't able to say things the way they wanted, the timing just wasn't right and he especially disliked how Ruby was put in that position, but he couldn't fault Randolf, it was all done for a greater purpose.
Ruby seemed to sense his distress and made a reach for his right hand, but Nova flinched away, making Ruby nervous.
"Nova I…" she started but Nova interrupted.
"Ruby Rose. We've been together for two years… there's been a lot of things in between when we first met and now…"
Ruby was speechless for a moment as she realized what was about to happen, the tension in the air was too much.
Nova opened his mouth to continue his sentence, but the right words just weren't forming on his tongue.
Ruby saw the struggle on his face and smiled warmly. With a swift motion, she reached up and placed her index finger on his lips.
"You don't need to say it. I know what you want to say, but you and I both know those words should be said when the time is right. A war is on the horizon and death is always knocking on our door. Let's express those words when we're not about to die, alright?" Ruby said with a sad smile.
Nova swallowed the lump in his throat, "Ruby… what if we don't get that chance?"
"No 'What If's', okay?"
"But…"
"No buts either. We're gonna see the light at the end of the tunnel, just hold onto me and I'll guide you to safety," she said before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a tender kiss.
-Back with Weiss-
The ex-heiress had spent the next day and night struggling to work with her powers. While unsuccessful in most of her attempts, she did learn three things. The first was that fighting to control the cold was detrimental to her progress, if she forced the stone to perform a task there was backlash. The frost growing up her arm was proof of that.
Secondly, visualizing how she wanted the ice to manifest was increasingly difficult. At first, she thought it was a simple concept, but now she realized that the structure of ice was ever-changing and inconsistent, and required an understanding of the base crystalline structure.
Thirdly, was that Olwen was an even bigger asshole than she first believed. Not only did the woman ignore her cries despite the constant observation, but she received no water, only dry food. "That fucking stuck-up bitch," Weiss grumbled as she tore off a bite of dry bread.
As time drew on, she felt her body become weaker and her mind dizzy. The average human couldn't go very long without water, around three days max, but despite it being only a few hours, Weiss was severely weakened. It was most likely due to the increasing cold of the room and draining of her stamina from practice. Eventually, she succumbed to sleep on the cold floor.
She was awoken by a light tapping on the door, like a small hand knocking against the metal. Dragging her weak body across the floor, she stumbled to the door where she was now at eye level with the small compartment where food was delivered through. The window slid open to reveal two sparkling blue eyes.
"Weiss? Oh my god you look awful..." It was Luna on the other side, concern marring her beautiful features.
The Schnee let out a weak chuckle, "This is nothing..." her voice was raspy from dryness.
Luna flinched from the sheer cold that was coming through the opening, "Grandmother isn't awake right now so do you need anything?"
Weiss bit her chapped lips and uttered out, "I..." despite her needs, she didn't want to disrespect the training, no matter how harsh.
Luna understood instantly and disappeared, after a moment she came back with a bottle of water and handed it to Weiss who drank it gratefully.
"Thank you, Luna," she said with a smile.
Luna clenched her fists, "Locking you in here like this... that woman has no conscience..."
Weiss just sighed heavily, "I still can't manifest my powers... the cold hurts and I'm not sure what to do..."
"Um... well my brother would be better to explain this, we were born knowing with the knowledge but had to work hard to learn how to control that power, but fire never burned him. He often said that he treated the fire as his friend, not as a tool," she said sheepishly, embarrassed by her inability to articulate her meaning.
Weiss grasped what she was trying to say, "A friend huh... that... sounds helpful... I'll give it a shot."
Luna smiled weakly, "Good luck Weiss..."
The Schnee didn't quite understand the mixed expression on Luna's face. She looked... scared...
-A few hours earlier in the clan library-
For Luna Sapphire Flareheart, she was in a precarious position. While she did enjoy learning about her powers by studying the various books Olwen possessed, they didn't help her to become stronger. She understood that the Stone of Death, the Fragment of Remnant that was nestled in the hands of Onyx Steelemane, was the origin of her power. It explained why the stone resonated with both of them during their fight, why it favoured her over him, since she was its natural born user as compared to Onyx who was no doubt forcing its will... but the question was how?
How did Onyx bend a Fragment of divinity to his will? Her mind raced through her experiences. There had to be some clue as to how. Even Nova was at the mercy of his powers... that was until he had the serum injected into him.
"That's it!" she exclaimed as she slammed closed the book she was reading, as an epiphany washed over her. Onyx had used the nanomachine serum to bend the will of the stone and enhance his own powers. Nova had used the serum to fix himself and evolve his powers, so the answer was natural.
Practice and training could only take her so far, the wall she had hit in climbing to her limits had been reached. There was only one path left for her, and that was to use the serum that her mother had developed for her.
The only problem with that idea was that there were clear warnings by her mother, and evidence from Nova himself. The serum was dangerous, not only was it physically painful to remodel ones body, but there was no clear prediction on the outcome. Nova survived because of his willpower and semblance, and even then, there were side-effects.
He might've been on the brink of death but her mother held clear warnings that she wasn't mature enough to handle the burden, but who was her mother to say that? The woman who had been missing for most of her life? She loved her mother, but she knew that she was ready, she had to be ready, or else she would continue to be left behind.
Luna refused to be stuck behind her comrades while they all evolved and grew stronger, even Oscar had gone through intense pain and hardship to grow. Success could not be achieved without a little blood, sweat, and tears, she couldn't be sheltered forever.
Still... she was afraid, but fear was only stage one on her staircase to evolution.
The morning after she had her interaction with Weiss, Luna confronted her mother and Randolf as they sat in the clan dining hall, eating breakfast. Nova and Ruby weren't present since they were with Qrow, so it was the perfect time for her to bring it up. Half of the reason why she was afraid would be her brother rejecting the idea, but without him around, she could make the decision.
Randolf could feel her burning gaze from across the dark oak wood dining table, and raised his head to look at his niece.
Elain who had been contently munching on a chicken sandwich also looked up from her meal, "Sweetheart, is something wrong?"
Luna closed her eyes before speaking, "Mother, Uncle Randolf. I've decided." the fire in her eyes instantly alerted them.
"The serum that mother developed for me... Uncle Randolf you still have it right?"
Both adults choked on their food, "I do but, Luna you can't be serious...?!" Randolf pounded his chest in an effort to subside his cough.
Luna's gaze was deadly serious.
"Kid... that... you understand what you're saying?!" he knew but had to confirm.
Luna nodded, unphased, "I need to become stronger."
Elain rose up from her seat, "Luna Sapphire Flareheart, I will not allow my only daughter to undertake such a dangerous and potentially damaging trial! You aren't ready!"
"Not ready?" The blue dragon's eyes glowed with power, "I've fought monsters, four-armed mechanical Faunus, the White Fang and even Onyx himself, and you're telling me I'm not ready? I've broken every bone in my body on several occasions and you're saying I'm not ready?"
Elain flinched back, her daughter's words were precisely why she was afraid. She was the one who performed the surgery on her daughter all that time ago, she knew the extent Luna would push to protect people, and half the reason she refused to give her daughter the serum was because making her stronger would inevitably place her in more danger. She'd already consigned her son to this path, but she still had hope for her daughter.
"How can I, as a parent, let you do this to yourself? NO! You need to be protected... as my daughter... I..."
Luna read her mother's mind, "I know what you want to say, but you know very well that I'm ready. I can't sit idly by while everyone is out there fighting, and I will only become a burden to protect. Remaining the way I am would only put me in more danger, so if you want to protect me, make me stronger."
Elain realized she couldn't fight her, even if she was her mother, there was only so much she can say, "If only your father was here, he'd... no he'd believe in you, trust in your choice. I need to do the same..."
Randolf silently nodded in understanding. The baby had left the nest a long time ago.
"Let's begin the preparation."
-One Week later in Atlas City-
The remaining members of ASHNRWBYJNR were stuck in Atlas, working odd jobs as official Huntsmen and Huntresses. On their off time, they spent it training under the Ace-Ops, though the latter of whom realized that in terms of combat prowess, the team weren't that far off of them.
The main thing that seemed to be a consistent theme was their semblances. Despite being one of the first powers they achieved as a fighter, none of them were fully comfortable with the extents and limits of their power.
It had been one week since their last contact with their leaders, and as such, Yang and Jaune had taken temporary command during field operations. The positions naturally fell to them since they were accustomed to the burden of those roles, especially Jaune who already acted as a pseudo-leader to his old team despite the merging. The new arrangements were comfortable, no one complained since there was rarely a change in the pace of their assignments, but one constant thought strain rang true for them all, and that was the burning question "When will they return?"
The council elections were underway and Robyn Hill, Jacques Schnee were already aiming at each other's throats through viscous verbal debates and heated campaigns.
While Jacques certainly had the support of most of the people of Atlas, and/or had them on payroll, Robyn Hill was the predicted winner by majority, since not only did Mantle hold most of the population, but Robyn had the people's hearts. She knew what they wanted and they saw her as their own, not just a political figure.
Tonight was the night that things would change for Atlas and Mantle, it was the night of voting. Robyn and Jacques had their respective campaign parties as votes were cast, and Ironwood sent the Ace-Ops to Robyn Hill's party for protection, at least that's what it was on the surface.
Ironwood wanted to establish good standing with the potential next head of the council, even if their last encounter left much to be desired, there was no bad blood.
"We shouldn't be taking the day off like this. There's still so much to do and things are still so uneasy…" Ren said with downcast eyes.
"Why're you so uptight Ren? Calm down a little…" Nitro said with concern for his usually calm friend.
"It's not… I'm… ugh. Look we still don't know where Ruby and the others are and we don't even have a plan on how to deal with Salem," he fumed, venting his anger.
Nora looked at him with deep concern in her eyes. In their week of training, Ren had been pushing himself harder than he did before, and she was afraid that it was tearing at his mental.
"Jinn said that she can't be killed. We all saw the same thing, Salem couldn't even kill herself, the pool of infinite death couldn't end her life. What's the point in mulling over it now when we need to focus on what's in front of us?" Yang said with a blank expression, not bothering to look back at the boy who was trailing behind her.
"…Well Jinn said 'Ozpin' couldn't kill her, so maybe someone else could…?" Nora voiced.
Ren clenched his fist in anger, "Then who? Ruby? With her Silver Eyes? She can barely control the power." Then he saw the look on his team's face and realized he wasn't the only scared and confused person. They all were, but they were doing their best.
He bit his lower lip and simmered down, feeling bad for blowing up the way he did. Maybe they were right, maybe he really did need a break.
"One day wouldn't kill us I guess…" he muttered to himself. He saw Nora looking hurt at his tone earlier, and he wanted to reach out to her but she just shrunk back, making him feel guilty.
"Besides, when was the last time we had a break? We can't keep fighting all day every day. We're just people," Jaune pointed out trying to comfort him.
The team entered what seemed to be a large and decorated building in Mantle, and while it wasn't grand, it was still passable as a gathering site.
As they entered through the front door, they were immediately greeted by the gleaming eyes of Penny Polendina, "OOOOH! You guys are here!" she squealed as she zipped around them looking for Ruby, "Uh, not to be rude but where's the rest of your crew?"
Yang smiled and ruffled the android's hair, "They uhhh… have another mission and couldn't make it tonight, so it's just us."
Penny squinted at them before smiling cheerfully, "Okay! I'm sure whatever friend Ruby, friend Nova, friend Luna and friend Weiss are doing must be important right? Come on! This music is sensational!"
Hex felt drained just by that interaction, "Has Penny always been like this?"
"She's besties with my little sister, I think that alone should answer your question," Yang said chuckling.
Ren felt the festive atmosphere wash over him and his anger and fear slowly being scrubbed away.
"Well, since Nova and Ruby aren't here, we're in charge of you guys, so don't break anything," Yang said gesturing between her and Jaune. "But have fun okay?"
And so they dispersed.
In the backroom Yang and Hex had followed Penny to where she was stationed, there they encountered a rather surprised looking Marrow.
"What're you guys doing here?" he asked curiously.
Yang shrugged, "Just came to hang out with a friend," she threw a thumb at Penny who squealed and made an attempt to glomp Yang, who easily sidestepped it causing the android to crash onto the floor comically.
Marrow raised his eyebrow, unimpressed, "… Cute. Don't distract me, we need to be vigilant in-case…"
"In case of what?" a new voice said, as they all turned to see a blue-haired woman with a trident show up, slamming it in front of Marrow angrily.
"In case someone tries to start trouble," Marrow affirmed, folding his arms.
The woman smirked, "Oh really? That's why we're here, so feel free to take a hike!" she was sporting the uniform of the Happy Huntresses, the protectors of Mantle.
"What's going on here wags?" Robyn said entering the area, she had an amused smile on her face. Marrow stiffened at the nickname but made no effort to bark back.
"Nothing, the general is just concerned about security risks, ma'am." He said standing at attention.
"Oh look, blondie and the Zephyr's daughter," Robyn said flying past the now irritated looking Yang.
Hex quietly tugged on her girlfriend's hand to calm her down.
"Look, I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, and we all need to learn to get along. I wish for nothing but equal opportunities for everyone, Atlas, Mantle, and Faunus." Robyn said with a warm smile.
Hex narrowed her eyes, why did she separate Faunus from the generalization?
Marrow folded his arms, "I hope you plan to do all that equality thing legally."
Robyn, the blue-haired girl and the sheep-girl Faunus shared a look and burst out laughing, "Wags, we've only ever been legal!"
Marrow rolled his eyes, "Right… sure…"
She then left to give her speech on stage.
Jaune was stuck with Nitro while Blake was left with Ren and Nora in an awkward, third-wheel atmosphere.
Blake felt like the odd one out, while she was good friends with everyone, she wanted to let Yang and Hex have their time and Jaune and Nitro, being the bros that they were, had already gone off galivanting, no doubt raising all sorts of hell.
"You know, we should've brought Anastasia!" Nora pointed out realizing they left her back at Atlas.
Blake placed a finger on her lip, "I think she'd only have fun if Weiss was here, she'd just feel awkward otherwise."
"Kinda like Oscar. We did ask him to come but he insisted on staying behind in case Luna tried to contact him," Blake pointed out.
"Yeah he's such a good friend to her, they really seem to get along well," Ren pointed out calmly.
"Friend? Surely there's more to it than that…" Nora placed her hands on her hips and directed attention to Ren.
Blake suddenly felt the extremely awkward vibe she was giving off and quietly disappeared into the shadows with her power. It was probably a good idea to socialize on her own.
"What else would they be?" Ren countered, now awkwardly shifting on his legs.
"Certainly two people who have been through so much together and have such clear chemistry, it'd be a lot more than, 'just friends'," Nora said now borderline furious.
"What are you trying to imply Nora?"
"I'm not trying to imply anything, because I'm sure that Oscar has the ability to communicate his feelings to her when it matters!"
Ren suddenly felt the heat build in his system, "Nora I… you know I'm not good with words…"
"No you're not. You're never good with words. Your little meltdown earlier is proof of that, Mr. I can't stop for five seconds and acknowledge what's right under my own nose?" her eyes were clearly building a fire.
Ren felt genuine fear crawl over him, "I'm sorry about that… I…"
"Sorry won't fucking cut it Ren. I'm sick and tired of this shit. I've put up with your bullshit communication for years Ren, YEARS! I'm so fucking done. You goddamn well know how I feel, so give me an answer, and I want the words, I'm tired of reading between the lines." Nora's face was red as she turned away from him.
Ren was thoroughly shocked to his core, "I… I… Nora… I…" he reached out to her, choking on his own words, until he saw it. The singular tear running down the side of her face, glinting like a shining reminder of how much hurt he caused.
But how could he just speak the words now? This was years upon years of bottled up feelings, how could he control himself so that it didn't just explode like an over-shaken bottle of pop?
Nora had thoroughly lost herself. She wouldn't be seen in this place breaking down, so she made a move to leave, "Ren… I'm… sorry… I… forget everything…"
Ren couldn't handle it anymore and spun her around, grabbing her by the shoulders as he stared into her tear-filled eyes, "Nora, I love you, and I'm sorry for taking so long to say it…" the words were said with such conviction and determination as the normally expressionless face of Ren was now clouded with worry, fear, warmth, and care in a complete blend of emotion.
Nora's dam of tears burst forth as she reached up to his collar and yanked him down to meet her lips, the two enveloping in a passionate kiss that resonated with years of emotional build-up.
Blake silently watched from the shadows, going 'Awwww'. She was reminded of a certain blonde monkey, probably getting himself into all sorts of trouble, half-way across the planet.
Though her mind began to wander, she couldn't help but feel a distinct prickling on the back of her neck, like something was wrong. She wanted to brush it off, she wanted to ignore the nagging sensation, but she knew better than to doubt her instincts.
Her eyes darted through the crowd, scanning up and down for anything out of the ordinary as Robyn Hill gave her speech.
The vote scores were tallied at 45% to Jacques and 55% to Robyn, it was a sure win so they'd begun celebrating.
Suddenly the lights went out, pitch-black enveloped the facility as not only did the building's power go out but the entire city block. No light could be seen whatsoever within the building, and panic overcame the people. Nora and Ren held each other in fear, Yang and the others in the back were instantly on edge, the same went for Jaune and Nitro, but it was too dark to see.
"Calm down everyone, it's just a power outage!" Robyn tried to dissolve the panic.
A scream erupted as within Blake's enhanced night vision, did she spot the glint of metal sraping across the floor. She wasn't fast enough with her shadows as the metal which she could clearly see was now a tail, strike down a civilian, blood spurting from his chest as his muffled choking was heard, his body falling limp to the floor.
Before she could move again, a flash of something unknown came singing from the ceiling, it whirled like a disc and cleaved two more people in half before returning to its owner's hand.
The warm blood sprayed onto nearby people accompanied by the metallic smell, and no matter how hard people tried to deny it, they knew what it was.
Panic ran rampant through the crowd as people in their mass confusion and fear began to tear at each other to escape while Robyn desperately tried to calm them down despite not knowing what was visually happening.
Only Blake, Marrow and Penny with their night vision acted, running out from their posts and engaging the enemy.
It was too difficult for the Faunus to make out fine details, but Blake clearly saw the scorpion tail of Tyrian Callows and the shining chakrams of the other assailant.
Tyrian silently chuckled as he whipped his tail through the darkness, striking at Blake who narrowly avoided it and counter attacked, only to have her attack miss due to depth perception.
Marrow tried to maneuver his weapon, but the boomerang blade was too large to swing without hitting a civilian, so he raised his fists to strike at Tyrian.
"Who are you?!" Marrow demanded as he tried to slug Tyrian.
"Wouldn't you like to know puppy?" the madman cackled as he backflipped and grabbed a civilian, dragging them in the path of Marrow's strike causing the operative to falter and stumble, dropping his guard long enough for Tyrian to upper cut him so hard that he flew up into the air.
Blake tried to use the shadows to grab Tyrian, but without a clear line of sight, she couldn't determine her target. The sheer amount of shadow that existed in pitch black darkness was too much for her brain to control and once, and she was overloaded in an instant with a strong migraine.
Penny on the other hand was desperately trying to maneuver through the panicked people to strike at the unidentified assailant who was actually Tyrian's brother, Thorian.
"The protector of Mantle… it would be a shame if those blades were to strike down the very people you swore an oath to protect…" Thorian chuckled as he acrobatically swerved through the crowd to avoid Penny's swipes, before turning around and throwing the chakrams.
Penny avoided them easily, "You can't hit me with such petty tricks!"
Thorian growled, " I wasn't aiming at you…"
Penny's eyes widened in fear as she quickly spun around to intercept the disks that were seconds from decapitating a civilian.
As soon as she stopped the disk, it bounced off her floating blades and ricocheted back to him. The chakrams were originally Gale's as he ran his fingers over them in his hands. He'd been using for them for quite some time, as for why they were in his possession, they were bequeathed to him by his so-called friend.
If he was being honest he didn't really give a rat's ass about Gale, but a partner in crime was still a partner, and the blades were pretty nice.
A few more attacks were sent forcing Penny to consistently act as a shield to the people to prevent any more deaths. The man was giving her no room to breathe.
Penny came to the horrifying realization, that she couldn't win this fight without collateral damage…
Suddenly Thorian looked up at the ceiling then down at his watch which lit up in the dark, "Well, unfortunate as it is… time's up. We'll continue this fight some other time right little miss clockwork?"
When the lights turned on, all that was left were the bloodied corpses of three people, and a lone Penny Polendina, standing with the same red on her face and blades, looking terrified. On the screen that once displayed the votes, now showed Victory to Jacques Schnee.
The worst possible scenario had been achieved.
That's all for now folks, again I don't know when I'll get time off again, but I hope it won't be as long as this one.