Chapter 52

'I'm not really sure what to say here. I always knew I'd be terrible at this, though I've never actually delivered a eulogy before. But hey, first time for everything I guess.' Jaye cleared his throat, staring sullenly at the grave before him. Emblazoned on the gravestone was a large Violet, intricately carved, resting above a small nameplate that bore two words:

Indigo Hanazawa

'Smart move back then, pretending you'd lost your aura and baiting him into letting his guard down. Aura control always was your specialty. Now that I think about it, you never did teach me how to form aura blades.' Jaye cleared his throat again. 'I know it was the only way to beat him, but I still wish you hadn't done it though. I really do.'

It had been a whole week since the events of the warehouse, and the boys were nearly recovered from their exertions. Standing on a hilltop, the most expensive burial spot overlooking the entire city, the two boys were gathered quietly around the dark grey stele that had taken everything from them. A little way behind them were the twins, Artemis and Apollo, who were quietly watching their feet as the boys continued to stare at the stone. Jaye let his hand fall to his waist, resting it gently on the pair of elegant swords fastened to his belt by the mechanized sheaths. He ran a finger down the purple handle wrappings, clearing his throat once more.

'Thanks for the swords, I guess. They're lovely. I should know, I mean, I gave them to you.' He scratched his head sullenly. 'You mentioned to me once that if you died, you'd want me to have your swords. You said it was so that even if you were gone, you could still protect me in some way, shape or form. I hope you still feel the same way.' He scratched his head again. 'I laughed at the idea, saying I was far more likely to bite it than you. Guess I was wrong there. I really should have listened to you more.'

He paused for a moment to gather himself, fiddling quietly with the handle of the katana.

'I have no idea where your hometown is, or where your parents were from. I doubt you'd wanna be buried in Mistral of all places either, even if it was where you grew up. You never wanted to tell me where you were born, saying that it didn't matter where you were from. I joked at the time, saying "where am I going to bury you if you died then?". You told me to bury you where you died. Well, sorry that I won't keep that promise, but I think this hilltop is a little nicer than where you kicked the bucket. Plus, it would've been a little hard to dig a grave in a metal floor.' He sniffed quietly, brushing his nose with a hand. 'Sorry, that was a bad joke. God, I wish you were still here to laugh at me.'

Kamina placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, and he grasped it firmly. Jaye sucked in a shaky breath through his teeth, grimacing at the tombstone. He saw his vision blur, and blinked the tears out of his eyes, wiping them with the back of his hand. He made a sound of anguish, staring up at the bright blue sky above him.

'I hope the afterlife treats you well. I mean, we gave it a lot of business so that one's kinda up in the air. I hope they turn out happy for the extra traffic.' He choked, patting his chest to clear it as his throat closed up. 'It's going to be so hard without you. I could hardly imagine life without you when you were here, so now that you're gone I have no idea how I'm going to actually live it. But I guess we'll figure it out. We always do.'

Jaye stepped forwards towards the marker, raising his weapons in his hand. He leaned them against the tombstone, wiping a fleck of dust away from the shield face. Removing the gauntlets from his jacket, he hung them from the edge of the shield, resting a solemn hand on them. He stood there quietly for a moment, clearing his throat again.

'I guess you can have those back. I still remember when you first gave them to me, back when we got the apartment. I guess we have strange tastes in moving in anniversary gifts, and coincidentally we'd both thought of the same thing. I remember being so embarrassed that you got me so many things; the shield, the gauntlets, a new jacket? And all I got you were the swords. It's a precious memory of mine.' He gazed wistfully at the stone. 'I love these weapons, I really do. But I don't need them anymore.' He patted the swords on his waist, smiling at the purple handle wrappings. 'I have you with me.'

The boy turned away from the grave, wiping his eyes with a hand. Kamina held a handkerchief out to him, but he waved it away as he paced down to where the twins were standing. They still didn't meet his eyes, and he watched Kamina place a bouquet of Orchids down on the smooth dirt covering her coffin. He sniffed to himself, wiping his nose with a hand, and Artemis made a quiet sound of disgust.

'Use a tissue for god's sake.' She grumbled, holding out a packet to him, and he took one gratefully. He wiped his nose, ignoring the girl as she made a face at him, and folded the tissue carefully before placing it into his pocket. Kamina bowed to the grave, a fist place over his heart, and jogged quietly down to meet them. Artemis and Apollo nodded to him, and they pushed themselves off the fence they were leaning against as they made for the nearby stairs. Jaye glanced back at the grave as they went. The sunlight gleamed dully off the stone surface, and for a moment he felt like he saw a twinkle out of the corner of his eye. He reasoned it was just the light reflecting off his shield and waved a silent goodbye to the gravestone as they went. Flipping up his collar, he felt a breeze blow past his face, and he followed it, squinting into the sunlight. His eyes widened slightly as it blew, a purple petal wrapped gently in its embrace, and he smiled at it as it rose out of sight. He turned his attention back to the road, where the twins were waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Kamina had strolled on ahead to secure the ferry tickets, and Jaye placed a hand on the twins' heads. Artemis swore at him quietly, reluctantly allowing him to stroke her ears as he stared out over the city of Mire.

At the ferry terminal

'So where to now?' Artemis asked, sipping quietly from the cup of tea she had clutched between her fingers. Jaye crossed his fingers in front of his face, blowing onto them quietly. 'You never actually told us where we're going.'

The four were seated at the edge of the pier, legs hanging out over the water as they waited for their ferry to be ready to depart. Apollo chewed quietly on a bagel, adjusting his bow on his back as he got into a more comfortable position. The twins had managed to retrieve their weapons from the closet back in the inn where Jaye had hidden them while they were sleeping. Thankfully housekeeping in that place was lax, and it only took scaring the crap out of the new guests as they climbed in through the window to retrieve them. Crumbs tumbled down the front of the boy's shirt, and Artemis made a sound of disgust as she brushed them off her brother.

'To Haven. We're going to be meeting up with little Red and her gang of merry friends.' Kamina explained. 'They're Jaye's team from Beacon, or at least one of them is, and they could probably use our help.'

'We still need answers, and since coming here we've got a total of none.' Jaye said, folding his arms as he stared out over the docks. 'Hopefully we'll be able to find out more once we actually get to Haven.' He turned back to the twins. 'Speaking of finding out more, why are you two still here? You could've just left after the battle.'

The two sisters that fought Jaye back in the warehouse had vanished, leaving almost no trace of them behind aside from their shattered blades. The twins on the other hand, had stayed with the boys through the last week, and from the looks of it had no intention to kill them anymore. Artemis shrugged, taking a long sip from her tea.

'It's simple really. That night gave sort of a revelation to us. We've been taking easy answers from lying people for too long.' The girl ran a finger around the mouth of her teacup. 'We directed all our hatred at you three for our parents' death, but when Indigo passed, I felt nothing but sadness. I realized then that you might have been the guns, but you didn't pull the trigger. I could probably kill both of you and feel nothing but regret over what I'd done.'

'Our parents' murder meant something bigger. We're going to find out what that is, and who started it.' Apollo said, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. 'And Indigo died because of us. To some degree, we owe you.'

'Don't say that. She protected you because she wanted to.' Jaye said, shaking his head, peering out over the bright blue ocean as he took a deep breath. 'She made her choice and paid the price with a smile. She gave her life to save yours, and I won't let her death be in vain.'

'Then it's settled.' Artemis placed her tea down on the table. 'We're coming with you, and that's final. Even if you don't want us to owe you, our current goals still align. So, working together would make the most sense.'

'True. But not entirely beneficial for us.' Kamina gave them a weak grin. 'Considering your performance at staying incognito when you were tailing us, it looks like we're going to have to start from the basics.'

'That's right. You lot suck at being covert.' Jaye sighed, shaking his head at the twins as he got to his feet. He stretched out his back, making a sound of satisfaction, and settled his hands into his pockets as he watched the waves move gently across the wooden docks. He raised an eyebrow at the sun, glaring down on them from the horizon, and raised a hand to block the beams that cast themselves across his eyes. 'We've got a lot of work to do, and you lot need to keep up.'

'Wouldn't have it any other way.' Artemis pushed herself off the wooden floorboards, extending her hand to the surly boy. Jaye raised an eyebrow at it, and she waved it impatiently. 'Hurry it up, my hand's getting cold.'

Jaye rolled his eyes, taking her hand in his. He shook it firmly, hesitating for a short moment before pulling the girl into a hug. Artemis made a sound of surprise, placing her hands gingerly on the boy's back. She closed her eyes, rubbing gentle circles into his broad shoulders and patting him on the back. He finally released her, and Artemis cleared her throat loudly.

'Well, that wasn't awkward at all.' She gushed, scratching her cheek. 'What was that for?'

'Dunno, kinda looked like you needed it.' Jaye said, returning his attention back to the waves. He smiled sadly at the ocean as he watched, a shadow passing briefly over his face as he took a deep breath. 'I guess I needed it too.'

'Don't worry, no one's forgetting you!' Kamina seized Apollo by the shoulders, wrapping the now struggling boy in a bear hug. Apollo groaned, punching the faunus boy as best as he could as he protested, and Jaye raised an eyebrow at the two as Kamina proceeded to baby the boy in the most embarrassing way he could think of. He shook his head hopelessly, sucking in the sea breeze, and returned to watching the waves.

On board the ferry

'I guess that face means you have questions.' Jaye reclined in the chair by the window, peering out of the circular cubby hole at the dark waters behind. The light bulb flickered for the fourth time that evening, and he glared his distaste at it. Artemis nodded her head.

'I'm going to be honest, in spite of everything that's been said, I'm still finding it a little hard to get over the fact that you killed our parents.' The faunus girl sighed, crossing her arms in thought. 'But I guess that's something we're just going to have to come to terms with.'

'If this is how difficult it is to reconcile one assassination, I don't think I'm going to enjoy the rest of them.' Jaye shook his head at the girl. 'But I suppose that's to be expected. Let me just say, I didn't want to kill them, I really didn't. But it was necessary to cement my position with the Faction.'

'I get that part. I'm guessing it was something like your trial by fire?' Artemis asked, and she sighed as Jaye nodded. She leaned forwards onto her knees, interlacing her fingers in front of her face. 'On the night you left, you took something; a brown pouch. What was that?'

'That, my dear, was something that risked the existence of the entire Faction.' Jaye said, earning a curious glare from the girl. He waved her away. 'I'm getting there, be patient.'

'It was our first assassination as a team. And our first mistake.' Kamina explained, tapping his fingers against the wall of the ship. 'The mission was simple; retrieve evidence that could be used to prove the existence of the Faction. If brought to the wrong hands, it could have exposed us to the governments.'

'The evidence was actually about corruption in one of the biggest dust production companies at the time besides the Schnees.' Jaye interjected. 'I forget the name, but they were a benefactor of the Faction and were currently under covert investigation by your parents over controversial labor laws.'

'Worst of all, it was child labor.' Kamina shook his head in disgust. 'Cheap and easy to obtain, especially in a Kingdom like Mistral where laws are about as effective as using a toothpick to stab someone.'

'Mistral facts aside, the way they were pulling children off the street was simple. They paid the Faction to deliver homeless kids to their doorstep, then hired them to work in their dust production lines for little more than half a meal a day and a straw bed.' Jaye rocked his chair back and forth, balanced precariously on the back legs. 'While that part couldn't really be linked back to the Faction directly, nor was there concrete evidence, it was the trigger that started your parents' investigation of the company. While digging around, they just happened to come across pieces of evidence regarding an abduction attempt of the Schnee Dust Company heiress, Weiss Schnee.'

The twins glanced across each other, and Jaye waved away their inquisitive faces.

'I'm getting there. The CEO of the company at the time, Wilfred Crooke, thought it would be a great idea to snuff out the Schnees so that they could gain a better foothold in the dust market. Therefore, kidnapping Jacques Schnee's daughter seemed like the perfect blackmail to force him to merge their companies' assets with Crooke taking full control.' Jaye made a "understand now?" gesture at the twins, who gave him a blank look instead. He sighed heavily, placing a hand on his face. 'Basically, the attempt failed, but recorded conversations plus a paper trail of money pointed heavily towards the existence of an underground association that dealt in these types of services.'

'It became too much of a loose end to be left alone, so we were ordered to make sure no one found a single shred of evidence about the Faction.' Kamina said, shaking his head. 'That meant killing anyone that could potentially have read the contents of the pouch. All just to make sure that the evidence, which would likely not have compromised the Faction in the first place, never got the chance to potentially cause trouble for us. Sorry that you have to hear it from us, but your parents were killed by a maybe.'

'We're not proud of it.' Jaye sighed getting up from the chair and moving to the window. He stared out of the circular cubby hole, watching the waves pass gently by as they splashed against the ship hull. 'It was a necessary step to prove that we were important enough to gain a foothold in the hierarchy. And it did.'

'Considered as our first job, pulled off without a hitch. No faces caught on camera, no injuries, and no one who mattered survived. It sent a message; we were just getting started.' Kamina extended his claws briefly, running a cloth down the long blades. 'And start we did.'

'We gained a hell of a reputation at that point; running missions and assassinations for any number of clients.' Jaye placed a hand on the windowsill, drumming his fingers dully against the glass. 'In the end, we each gained reputations that were feared by all members of the Faction. Kamina was named the orange flash, as that was the last thing you'd see before death. Indigo was called the Untouchable; she was known for finishing most of her fights without a single scratch.'

'Jaye was named Niflheim for his cold demeanor and tendency to freeze people to the bone.' Kamina slapped the boy on the back, earning him a glare from the raven-haired boy. 'And Damian was the Airwalker, since his semblance was perfect for getting him around places undetected.'

'While he excelled at assassinations, Damian was the least well known out of the four of us.' Jaye said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. 'He was known for being silent and deadly, what with his semblance letting him cross any surface without making a sound. No footsteps in the air, you know?'

'But he fell short in the combat department.' Kamina made a "what can you do about it" face. 'Not that he wasn't good, just that he was much better at assassinations. But that led to a lot of disrespect from the combat specialists in the Faction.'

The twins exchanged curious glances, and Jaye held up a hand to stop their questions.

'He was a finesse killer, but the Faction respected strength. With how his semblance was, it was tough for him to prove his strength in battles, since it would be tough for him to escape if he was detected.' He held up three fingers. 'I could just turn the place into a literal Niflheim if I needed to fight my way out. Kamina was basically a deadly, damn near light-speed ninja. Indigo could see attacks before they came. But all Damian could do was pace in the air.'

'Not the best semblance for group fights, you know?' Kamina shrugged. 'Great for getting in and out unseen and undetected, great for solo fights too since you could attack from any angle, but not so great if you've got like fifty people shooting at you while you run.'

'That caused a lot of resentment in Damian.' Jaye sighed, plopping down on the bed. He pulled his leg up, hugging his knee to his chest. 'He was determined to prove that he was better than us. And that led to all this.'

'He trained you to kill us. He did that to the two girls we saw that day as well.' Jaye sighed, dropping across the bed with a groan. 'Now we've got to be on the lookout for them too. Two more potential assassins coming for our lives, how wonderful. And here I was hoping we wouldn't have to be looking over our shoulders every five seconds.'

'Either way, it's time we strike back at the Faction. Damian might be dead, but he's not the only dangerous one. And we're…one short.' The room went quiet again, and the twins shifted awkwardly on their beds with bated breath as the two boys stared solemnly at the floor. Kamina shook his head.

'Sorry.' He smoothed out his shirt. 'But either way, you'll finally be able to get your revenge on the Faction. And sooner or later, you'll probably run into that benefactor we were talking about. We'll start hunting for information once we're in Mistral, but only after we meet up with little red and her merry friends. We've got some introductions to do.'

'I'm a little excited to meet this "little red" that you keep talking about.' Apollo finally spoke up, smiling a little to try to lighten the mood. 'She must matter to you a great deal.'

'She was my leader back in Beacon.' Jaye explained, rolling over on his bed, picking at the covers. 'I wouldn't say we were particularly close, but we got along.'

'He's dating her sister.' Kamina added. 'You'll recognize her the moment you see her. Tall, blonde, gorgeous. A little fiery, but Jaye's into that.'

'Shut it you.'

'Wait, I thought you were with Indigo?' Apollo blurted out. His sister punched him in the arm, and he made a "what?" gesture at her as he rubbed the spot. He swallowed nervously as he caught Jaye's eye, and the raven-haired boy sighed.

'We were together, but we weren't by the time you found us.' Jaye explained, getting up from his bed. 'I mean, she kissed Kamina right in front of you two. If we were together, don't you think I would've sent Mina in to search your room instead?'

Artemis frowned at the boy, folding her arms over her chest.

'Wait, you searched our room?'

'Huh, did I say that?'

'Yes, you did!'

'No I didn't.'

'Bullshit.'

'Oh would you look at the time.' Jaye pulled his sleeve back, staring at his bare wrist. 'It's skin-o'clock. That means it's time to sleep. I call dibs on the bathroom.'

An orange flash darted across the room, and Jaye swore as Kamina swung the bathroom door shut in his face. He cursed the faunus boy through the door, glancing over his shoulder at the now fuming twins. He heard sniggering from the other side, and he slammed his fist into the wood.

'Shut it you fox bastard! You're just as guilty as I am!'

'Sorry can't hear you, the water's too loud!'

'The water's not even running you daft arsehole!'

Artemis grabbed the boy by the shoulder, and Jaye sighed aloud to himself as he turned to face her. A stiff smile was plastered across her face, and Jaye crossed his arms at the girl.

'We did what we had to at the time. I stand by that decision.' Jaye declared, staring defiantly at the girl. 'You two were out to kill us anyhow, all's fair in love and war.'

'Oh make no mistake; I'm out to kill you right now.'

Next chapter is Mistral, yay!