Chapter 13: Blue-Eyed Jay

Reshan grimaced, sweat dripping down his brow. This Raven, whoever she was, had skill with the blade that seemed unparalleled. She was managing to hold off not one, not two, but three combatants simultaneously for the past ten minutes or so. What kind of training regiment did she practice?

His blade cleaved through where she had stood not a moment before, shield suddenly taking a large hit as the woman retaliated. He gave slightly with the blow, allowing the slight illusion of success to blind his foe while he prepared a strike to her feet.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. Raven had held back on the strike, allowing the Dust-infused blade to do most of the work and blast him away with a burst of wind. He hit the wall with a thud, his Aura nearly depleted. Ruby's mother moved in to cover him, blasting away with whatever she had in her daggers. Raven was forced to engage, while Tai rushed to help him up.

"You okay, kid?" Reshan merely nodded in response, his focus entirely occupied by trying to figure out a way past his foe's whirlwind of steel and Dust.

The issue was, whenever he breached his foe's defenses, Raven was ready with a blast of Dust to force him on the defensive. How was she managing to use so much Dust? She must have had a massive stockpile of the mineral in her sheath, or something of that manner.

His efforts, unfortunately, weren't quite as effective as he'd hoped. Raven hadn't managed to kill him, but he was horrendously outmatched in skill with the blade. It didn't help that she actually had a decently sized Aura, which dwarfed his. She could actually take the hits he'd managed to land, while this one hit had almost taken him out of the fight entirely.

Tai had a few advantages going for him. His fists had proven to be stronger than Raven, and he was able to shrug off most of the blows flung at him. The problem was that he never had an opportunity to make proper use of his might. Raven's blade warded him away whenever he got even close to making contact, leveraging her superior reach to keep her former husband at bay. In addition, he was starting to pant. He clearly wasn't used to extended combat, even though he obviously possessed a not-insignificant amount of martial training. Likely, he was out of practice.

Summer, whose name he'd found out when Raven had screamed it, was the only one having any luck. Currently, Summer was storming around Raven, an expression of fierce anger directed at her foe. Her daggers slashed high and low, striking from every angle imaginable. Raven was fast, but she was starting to lag behind her white-cloaked foe.

She seemed to have some form of teleportation. Every time Raven struck back, Summer warped behind her, snow-coloured petals unfurling to reveal the white-clad warrior thrusting with reckless abandon.

Reshan immediately realized that her strategy was doomed. Raven would catch on soon, and perform a blind thrust to catch Ruby's mother in the act. And even if she didn't, Summer was starting to slow down. She was limping, indicating some heretofore unknown injury.

Reshan stood up, praying to the Brothers that his Aura might shield him from whatever hit came next. While Summer took Raven head on, he dashed in from behind, laying a Soul Shadow behind him to hopefully capitalize on whatever hit he lay next. He thrust his blade forward, hoping the woman in front of him wouldn't have time to react.

He was wrong. Raven must have spotted him out of the corner of her eye, because she swayed to the left. He pulled back his strike, but the damage was already done. Summer's eyes widened as Reshan's blade came within an inch of her skull, the Beastfolk flinching as though burned.

"Sorry!" he yelled. The scarred teen rotated his upper torso to follow Raven's movement, his sword swooping upward from the strike. His Soul Shadow had been wasted by his foe's tactic, and he could seldom afford it. His Aura was hanging on by what felt like a sliver, and each use taxed it.

I've got to slow her down, he thought as Raven darted away, only to crash into his raised shield. Tai grabbed her by the leg, trying to pin her down with a grappling move. He succeeded in yanking her away, but a burst of ice Dust forced him to let go or be turned into a frozen statue. Summer let out an affronted shriek. "Get your hands off my husband, you-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off when Raven raised her hand, a massive wall of wind drowning out the white-cloaked Beastfolk while being blasted away in the gust. "You don't get to speak like that, murderer," Raven growled, raising her voice. "You killed Summer. Just like I'm about to kill you."

How was she channeling that much Dust? Something wasn't adding up here. Raven hadn't even been holding a crystal when that wall had been thrown up. Was she infusing it into her body directly? It didn't look like that- there were no Dustlines running across her face. Those were the typical markers of someone who had given up all hope of surviving a battle, charging in with crystals stabbed in a suicidal attempt to take as many with them as possible before the pain of having Dust in their bodies overcame them.

Reshan snarled, bashing Raven over the head with his shield. She parried with her blade, letting the wall dissipate while Tai went to check on his wife. "I warned you." Raven took one hand off her katana, waving the gloved appendage at his feet. To his surprise and amazement, ice crystals started to grow, anchoring him to the ground.

Ooh, pretty- OH, SHITE!

He braced himself for the coming strike. With his legs pinned like this, there was nothing preventing Raven from running him through with her blade.

It never came. A wave of wind blew, knocking his opponent off balance. She turned, only to find Summer's daggers approaching at too fast a velocity to dodge due to them being thrown. They connected, causing Raven's aura to flicker. Reshan could see the Beastfolk over his foe's shoulder, and the sight caused his eyes to widen as his mind filled with information on what exactly he was looking at.

Summer was levitating slightly, her toes gently grazing the dusty earth. A vortex of air surrounded her, blowing dirt and dust (the non-mineral kind) to and fro. Her eyes blazed with a black light. He had no other way to describe it. The flames burned, but the light produced was… inverted. Where canine ears would normally be illuminated, they were more difficult to see, like a cloud was hovering over them. Instead of being brighter, they were darker.

This world is so strange, he thought.

"You want proof I'm me? Well, here you go!" With a shrieking sound, the earth began to rumble. Raven turned to face the radiant warrior.

She… she was one of the SACRED MAIDENS?! But Ozpin had said they didn't exist!

Perhaps he didn't know, he thought. Something to worry about later.

In any case, Ruby's last instructions suddenly made a hell of a lot more sense. If Summer was blessed with the Brother's Power, then protecting her had just become a sacred duty. He started to shimmy his feet, trying to break out of the ice.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Please. Summer actually stood a chance when we dueled. You can pretend all you want, but unless you can show a modicum of strength, I'm going to end this here and now." She gripped her blade, slamming it into her sheath before pulling out a blade that gleamed black as night. Gravity Dust, if he had to guess.

The ground underneath Raven erupted in a column of dirt, fragments of earth flying in every direction. Reshan had to raise his shield to avoid being blinded by the outpouring.

So this is the power of a Sacred Maiden, he mused. He couldn't help the grin that grew on his face. Raven didn't stand a chance against that level of power. Now if only he could move away from the roiling vortex of earth that was about to pulverize him.

Tai, thankfully, came to his aid. With a quick punch, he shattered the ice holding him. There wasn't any cover around, what with the training ground being so flat. All he could do after moving out of the way was try and shield the man as best he could, and hold on as the cloud of dirt separated him from the beautiful blue sky….


This was going worse than she had thought it would.

She quickly activated the Dust in her blade, diverting the onslaught by creating a small bubble of inverted gravity around her. She'd tried to avoid using her Maiden powers to avoid detection, but it appeared that her enemy didn't care about some stranger seeing. Idiot.

When they were planning the raid, Raven hadn't accounted for the power of the Summer Maiden. She also hadn't thought about Qrow getting knocked out of the fight before it began. Vernal had assured her that the cannon was accurate, but clearly not.

Damn fool.


Vernal paced back and forth, grumbling under her breath while Shay finished reloading the cannon. It was a beautiful piece of work- an old Atlesian Howitzer from the Great War. It had taken some work to fix after they'd bashed it up in the raid, but it was worth it. Usually ended a fight before it began. Raven would make a portal back to camp, they'd fire, and if she'd positioned it just right, the unlucky bastard who tried to stand up to her got a face full of artillery.

Shay grumbled, heaving the shell into the cannon. "Where's the boss?" he muttered. "I thought this was supposed to be quick."

Vernal wasted no time in slapping him. "Shut up, dude. If she hears this, we're both cleaning the outhouse for a week."

In private, she shared his concern. This was supposed to be an easy operation.

So why was Raven taking so long?

Damn fool.


And what was with this little pipsqueak? He was a real nuisance, always darting away before Raven could land a decisive blow. She'd only barely managed to tag him.

It was now obvious what had happened. Summer must have been caught and interrogated by Salem, before executing her to take the Maiden power, and giving it to this imposter.

But what if-

She silenced the traitorous thought before it began. Doubt was for the weak. And in any case, it would distract her from the fight. The Bandit Queen of Mistral could not afford to be distracted.

With a small shift in position, Raven altered the structure of the inverted gravity bubble around her to send her crashing through the side of Summer's relentless assault, dirt particles catching in her hair. She landed roughly on an uneven patch of grass, turning to face her foe with a fresh blade of ice Dust slotted into her modal hilt.

"Enough of this!" she growled. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the shaggy boy trying to approach her on softly padding feet. Too bad he was given away by her fool of a former husband.

Without looking, she thrust a hand backward. A large formation of ice particles briefly flurried about before coalescing into several large spikes. Tai's eyes widened before he jerked the sword-wielder out of harm's way, bearing the brunt of the assault so he could charge his Semblance, Punishment.

When the nascent team STRQ learned what Tai's Semblance was, they'd had a hard time taking him seriously. Being able to translate kinetic force into sound wasn't exactly the most impressive thing Raven had ever seen.

The fact that he usually utilized the output in the form of wordplay didn't help either.

She'd grown up in a tribe where failing to master one's unique abilities could spell certain death in a raid. The chieftain had seen someone use a Semblance that could rotate a round object to carve bloody swathes through her opponent, attaching blades to a disc. The resulting spray had given her the nickname 'Bloody Marie'.

After thinking for a split second, she smiled. If he was willing to take hits for this twerp, she was all too happy to oblige.

With a quick twist, Raven darted toward the two guys, legs pumping. As predicted, Summer tried to cut her off by raising a series of earthen bulwarks. Pfft. Please.

With a mighty leap, she proved exactly why she was the wiser of the two. If you couldn't use your power correctly, why even bother? All 'Summer' was doing was making sure her 'husband' would be alone with her.

Perfect.

Raven tucked herself into a roll, letting her blade ward off any assault the pair might throw at her. Coming up, she cut Tai's legs out from under him. He hopped over her blade, his cargo shorts flapping slightly in the wind. She'd always hated those things.

The teenager leapt over Tai, blade catching the sunlight. With a war cry he declared his total lack of smarts, leaving him overly exposed for a strike without too much force behind it.

Letting a small amount of her power bleed out, Raven scorched him with a burst of fire. His hastily raised shield deflected the miniature comet, motes of ash flaking away. The teen growled before letting his shield lead the rest of his airborne charge. It was easily dodged, causing the boy to go into a roll past her in order to put distance between them. With that issue temporarily taken care of, she turned to Tai.

"Gotcha, honey," she purred. With a quick thrust, she closed the distance between them. The blonde brawler ducked underneath the attack. He then grabbed her hand, pulling her into a bear hug.

He's pinning me, she realized. Which had to mean…

A low rumbling announced the imposter's arrival. With a sound like thunder, Raven's vision was obscured as dirt threw itself at her, sacrificing itself for the sake of the Summer Maiden. A miniature dust storm surrounded the bandit chief, blotting out the light. She started to cough as dirt crept down her throat, filling her mouth with the taste of mud.

"Raven… why are you doing this?" the Faunus pleaded. The bandit chieftain silently applauded her acting skills. Those were actual tears leaking out of her eyes.

Raven's low growl was muffled by the crust of rapidly hardening earth she found herself in. It was a smart way of trying to cripple her- the sensitive mechanics of her sheath were vulnerable to small particles clogging the gears. Just one more reason why she hated going to the beach.

How would she know about that?

Well, she could have seen the replays from the Vytal tournament.

No. That's a ridiculous conclusion to come to from some old tape. I… I think I may have the wrong conclusion.

Well, there was one way to tell if this really was Summer. And luckily, said reason was currently wrapping his arms around her.

Raven's eyes were covered by the dust storm swirling around her, so she figured she could drop her cover for a brief moment. Calling upon her powers, she raised her hand and summoned a small burst of air to blast away the crust that had built up around her face. There was still a ton left in her hair, but a good scrubbing once she was back at camp would take care of that. It would be far easier to just cause the dirt to fly away, but if Summer saw that happening, she'd realize right away that Raven hadn't used the Dust in her blades. If that happened, the Faunus would be able to deduce that something was amiss.

Summer might have been an airheaded idiot, but there was a damn good reason why she had been chosen as leader of team STRQ. Beneath that bubbly exterior lay a clever and shrewd mind, capable of connecting seemingly unrelated details to paint an amazingly detailed picture. Give her a napkin and three buttons, and she'd figure out how they all related to each other.

The teen didn't give her a chance to speak, however. Appearing out of the whirlwind, he hacked at her midsection. Raven groaned as she felt her Aura flicker.

"Leave. Her. Alone." he threatened. "This is your last warning." The words, softly spoken, seemed to carry over the storm.

"And what's it to you, pipsqueak?" she countered. "Last I checked, you don't exactly have a stake in this. Run along like a good boy and let the grownups talk."

He frowned. "Judging by what we just did, I don't think you'll be just talking."

Tai chuckled, shifting his grip. "Better get yourself some sunscreen, Rae. You just got burned!"

Summer stalked up to her, shoulders stiff. A thunderous expression was affixed to her face. Raven screwed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the scolding she was about to receive.

"Raven… we've always had our differences," Summer admitted. Her tone softened. "But please, you've got to believe me! I'm not whatever you think I am. Once Qrow wakes up, he'll agree with me. Just… uh…."

She cracked her eyes open. The boy was currently on one knee in front of Summer, with his head bowed and a fist on his chest.

What the hell was wrong with this kid?

"Uh… what are you doing?" Summer asked. The teen lowered his eyes. "Is this not the proper thing to do in the presence of a Sacred Maiden?"

Okay, now she was confused. The kid figured out that Summer was a maiden, so the first thing he did was worship her?

There were so many alarm bells going off in Raven's head that she almost missed the fact that the miniature dust storm surrounding them dissipated. Thankfully, she didn't. She started generating as much electricity through her body as possible, electrocuting Tai. His muscles locked up, preventing him from letting go. His Aura was plenty strong, but something like this would take him out with ease.

Summer cared for each member of team STRQ like family. But she'd always had a soft spot for Tai. So the one true way to ensure that this really was Summer….

…Was to hurt Tai so bad that Summer would have to intervene, or lose the bumbling blonde buffoon. Lucky for her, she was right next to him. And she happened to have a very sharp weapon…

His Aura broke with the sound of shattering glass. With a crack, she slammed the back of her head against Tai's nose. Her ex-husband staggered, letting go.

The teen triggered an Aura clone in a desperate attempt to take her out in a single hit. Neat trick. It didn't matter, though. Raven's blade had already found its mark.


This couldn't be happening.

The thought tore through Yang's mind as she ran with her unconscious uncle slung over her shoulder. She had to be dreaming. That was the only explanation for everything that had happened.

Mom coming back? Unbelievable. Telling them that Ruby apparently had some sort of super power? Ridiculous. That she'd somehow been stuck in some sort of time bubble in the same space as a legendary beast? Absurd.

Raven coming to kill her?

That was the only thing she found remotely believable.

"Where is everyone?" Weiss growled. She had her rapier held at the ready while she kept watch behind them for some sort of pursuit. Thankfully, there was none. Either Raven didn't care to follow, or she was being held back by the trio that had stayed behind.

It wouldn't make sense for her to follow them, anyway. Her goal was to kill-

Yang clenched her eyes shut, trying to bury the thought. She didn't want to even think about losing Mom again. Not right after they had been reunited.

The funny thing was, she'd been kind of hoping that Raven would come. Not anything like what was going on right now. But if Mom was seemingly able to come back from the dead, then surely Raven could at least stop by, right? Was that too much to ask for?

Yang had been mad about that for most of the morning after Dad had dropped his bombshell of a reunion. Why couldn't Raven come? Did she not care? Or did it just not even register as something important?

It also didn't help that Uncle Qrow had accidentally let slip that he still talked to his sister, and had KEPT IT SECRET for the past thirteen years! She still wasn't sure if she should be happy when he woke up, or just knock him out for the second time.

Ruby came back from her scouting venture, puffing as she materialized out of a storm of petals with a panicked look on her face. "I can't find Professor Ozpin anywhere! I checked the library, the tower, he's not in the break room either!"

Blake came back from the offices, a flustered Professor Port trailing behind her. "Found help."

Before Yang could make a sarcastic comment, a green- haired whirlwind breezed past, yelling instructions at about the same speed. "IwillgotoassistwhilemycomradetakesQrowtotheinfirmary!"

Without giving them time to process what he'd said, Professor Oobleck rushed towards the training field.

Professor Port heaved deep breaths, hands on his knees as a bead of sweat crept down his nose. "E-erm, yes. Miss Xiao Long, I will relieve you of your burden." He straightened his bent back, standing up to his full height once more. "Go find Professor Ozpin. He should be in his quarters." Yang handed off her uncle, who was muttering something unintelligible.

"Gotcha!" Ruby immediately blurred into a storm of petals as she dashed off towards the teacher's quarters.

"Wait- KNOCK FIRST!" the professor yelled after her. "If I'm not mistaken, he is in the middle of an…erm… well, let's just say he won't be pleased to be interrupted."

Blake looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What is he doing?"


Ruby banged on the door for the fifth time to no response. What was so important that he wasn't responding? Sure, he had a sock on the door. But this was an emergency!

"Professor! I'm coming in!" she shouted. A muffled cry was the only response. Ruby gasped. He must have been trapped!

Bringing her rifle to bear, the scarlet reaper shot the lock off. She kicked down the door, preparing to fight whoever had kidnapped Professor Ozpin.

She was greeted with a sight that forever scarred her young, innocent mind. Professor Ozpin was indeed bound and gagged, as she had expected. What she hadn't expected was a furiously blushing Professor Goodwitch in the room.

The complete lack of clothing was also unexpected.


He should have been scared.

Reshan was feeling many different things at that moment. Confused, determined, a tad angry. But not scared.

Which was weird, considering that he had just witnessed perhaps the most grotesque sight he had ever seen in his short life.

Tai screamed, hands futilely grasping the blade piercing his stomach. Raven had stabbed backwards, locking eyes with a horrified Summer while her husband writhed in agony.

He did notice the faint sensation of heat on the back of his neck, but his Semblance and its mysteries could wait. Right now, he had to get Tai to safety.

Rushing forward, Reshan heard Tai hit the earth with a pained groan while Summer let out a gasp before disappearing in a burst of petals. Good. She would survive. Raven simply looked at him and scoffed.

"Sorry, kid. Time's up." Her eyes ignited with a blazing blue fire, just like when she had been pinned.

The scarred teen felt his pumping legs sink into the earth with a squelch. Looking down, he was both surprised and not to find that the ground had turned to mud.

She hadn't used her blade, had she? There was something wrong here. Her eyes were just like Summer's, though the colour was thankfully far lighter. And normal. There was something wrong here. Raven was one of the Sacred Maidens. Except she was using her power to kill her colleague.

Heresy. Utter blasphemy. The Maidens were chosen for their kindness, their wisdom and foresight by the Shade of the Wizard. So how was it possible that Raven was such a horrible person?

Raven started to walk towards him, an unreadable look on her face. Fear? Regret? "I can't let you walk away with what you know. Trust me, this is mercy. There are things out there that would kill you to find me."

"Find what? The fact that you're a Maiden?" Reshan's voice had taken on the tone of the officer. Why him? He wasn't listening to his song. He started to lift his body out of the ground, groaning with the effort.

Not like it would help. He didn't have a way out of his predicament. He was going to die at the tender young age of five days old. She would run him through with that sword, and then she'd finish Summer off.

Wait….

Where was Summer? And for that matter, where was Tai?

Behind his opponent, a lone petal floated on the wind, carried away to some unknown shore. Summer must have warped him away while Raven was distracted. All that remained was a lone dagger-firearm hastily dropped.

Ah. That might work.

He would likely die. That was unavoidable.

The heat on the back of his neck started to blaze. It was like someone had taken a freshly forged blade out of the cooling barrel and laid it upon him.

There was a way to accomplish his mission. His mission wasn't to survive; it was to stop Raven. That gave him opportunities normally not available.

His vision started to tint a deep blue. Roaring, he heaved himself out of the ground. With a desperate leap, he clumsily tried to whack Raven with the flat of his blade. She easily dodged before directing a slash at his stomach. Reshan got his shield up to protect his organs, but the weight, combined with his terrible footing, sent him crashing back down right where Tai had lain a moment before. The scarred teen's face scraped the dusty grounds.

Perfect.

Noticing the lack of a certain blonde brawler, Raven clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Looks like I'm going to have to find them after I take care of you."

He couldn't let that happen. He turned himself over so he could at least meet his death with both eyes open. If he could just slow her down….

A faint buzzing caught his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the silhouette of the strangest creature crossing across the face of the sun.

It had what appeared to be four circles attached to its body in lieu of wings. The body was somewhat like a small crate, with a small black orb protruding from where he assumed the head was. It hovered perfectly in place, not budging an inch. What was it?

The Sacred Maiden groaned. "Stupid drones." Turning to him, she took a deep breath. "Sorry, kid. I'm doing this because I have to. Nothing personal."

Reshan's expression grew cold. "If you're going to kill me, then get it over with."

He'd never see Dr. Oobleck again. They would never again get the chance to debate, or to learn anything ever again with him. No more coffee. He'd never learn what the weird bird in the sky was. No more-

Focus, a part of him seemed to say. Whining is a distraction. Concentrate. Don't think about your fate.

His fate was something worth crying for. Certainly, dying to defend someone was a heroic act, and the correct decision in this case. But he'd only just been born into this life! Why had the Brothers deemed that he be taken?

He should have been scared. Hell, he should have felt terrified. But all he could think about was the task at hand. Any other emotion was whisked away.

Raven leveled her blade, holding it up by her ear with the tip pointed at his heart. "Any last requests?"

Hmm. He didn't expect her to be so polite. He crawled up to his feet, praying that his plan remained concealed in the back of his trousers.

"When I'm dead, I want you to look Yang in the eye and tell her you killed me." If he was going to die, he wanted Yang to realize that the woman standing before him wasn't worth considering as a mother. If she honored the request, it would burn any chance that they would have at reconciliation.

Reshan dropped his sword and shield, letting his last defenses clatter to the ground as he held his arms out to the side. He forcefully dissipated his Aura so Raven could see he was defenceless.

"I'm ready."

I hope I am, he thought. If this failed, Summer would find herself under threat once again. He had to succeed. He had a job to-

Reshan's eyes widened momentarily as an epiphany tore through his mind.

HOLY SHITE! That's my Semblance!

He and the officer both had known they would die. Both of them had a duty to accomplish. And both of them were planning on fulfilling the latter by means of the former. Their situations were the same. Their actions were the same. So they became the same person.

But why did listening to a song trigger his Semblance? And why-

Focus. This is a distraction.

With that, any thought of his Semblance left his mind. He braced himself for what came next.

Reshan could barely follow the strike. One moment, Raven was standing approximately three meters away, a look of regret briefly marring her face. The next, she had closed the distance. Her expression had hardened, but he could see the beginnings of a lone tear.

The scarred teen gasped at the fiery pain he felt in his chest. Lowering his gaze, he saw a black hilt protruding from his chest. Blood started to pool in his mouth. She must have ran through a lung.

Focus. Pain is a distraction. Do your job.

The pain grew muted. It didn't vanish, but it felt like another person was feeling it.

"Kid… I…"

The blue tint grew until he could barely see. When his mouth opened, the voice that emerged from bloodied lips was more that of the officer's than his own.

"You did this because you had to."

Raven stiffened when she felt an arm circle around her back, pinning her body to his own.

"So did I."

The other arm pulled Summer's abandoned dagger-pistol out of his back pocket. With a wheezing yell, he jammed it into Raven's sheath.

Then he fired.

One of the problems with Dust-wielders was the fact that they went into battle carrying a highly volatile substance. One hit could both prove to be a fatal strike and deprive the wielder of their weapon of choice. Raven, thankfully, was not an exception to that. The problem had been getting to the substance. Her sheath appeared to be reinforced, preventing him from merely trying to hit it with his sword.

The firearm had been the greatest gift since ground wheat. The fact that it generated both a miniature explosion in the barrel and sent a projectile out at high speeds (heat and pressure were great ways to cause the energy within the crystals to be released) meant he had two near instantaneous methods of igniting the Dust.

The next problem had been getting close to her. Raven was clearly beyond his skill level when it came to a sword. Not to mention, she might have decided to send him up in flames. Being a Sacred Maiden meant that there was no way for him to live.

But he didn't have to live. He had to stop Raven. Blowing up her sheath would mean she couldn't fight out in the open for fear of exposing her secret. That would severely hamper her ability to assault Summer. Reshan could have just run her through with the dagger and try to kill her, but he had no idea of knowing if he could have succeeded, what with her Aura still being intact. Not to mention, the idea of murdering a Sacred Maiden just didn't feel right. Even if she had just tried to murder someone.

Given how skilled she was with the blade, there wasn't much of a chance for him to get close to her.

Thankfully, he had a way of accomplishing that. Unfortunately, that way was getting run through with a blade.

With a sound of shattering glass, the sheath exploded in a beautiful shower of sparkles. Raven shrieked in pain as her Aura shattered, exposing her entire left side to the inferno/blizzard/thunderstorm/whatever other elemental effects were contained in the blade.

Reshan should have felt all of this, too. He was just as close to the sheath by this point, having firmly embraced the woman.

Pain is a distraction. Complete the mission.

He didn't feel any of it, however. He held on for dear life, trying to keep Raven from detaching the sheath from her belt. His right arm snaked around Raven's flailing limb before snapping shut, pinning it in place. He could vaguely feel a light sensation of burning on the right side of his body, but that didn't matter. He just had to hold on.

Eventually, his grip faltered. His Aura broke, and the pain rushed in to replace it with a fiery vengeance. He screamed, collapsing to the ground. His entire body felt like it had been cooked from the inside out. Reshan crumpled inward.

Despite the pain, the scarred teen could not help but feel a grim sense of satisfaction. He had accomplished his mission. Raven's entire left side was scorched thoroughly, with veins of ice running up and down her flank. Her massive mane of hair was singed, with a few sections still on fire. She wasn't going anywhere.

Reshan stared up at the sky, tears streaming down a face that bore the largest smile he'd ever worn. He could hear a faint shouting, but such things no longer mattered. The sky was beautiful. Such a brilliant shade of blue.

So… beautiful….


A/N: Hey, everyone. I am so sorry that I disappeared for so long- a lot of IRL stuff basically means that it is almost impossible for me to write more than a half hour at most. Anyways, I'm back. Sorry about that.

Please drop a review! I really do appreciate it. It isn't easy doing this kind of thing consistently- I have no idea how some blokes like Coeur do it every day. I have a hard enough time doing one story, and he does like ten or twenty. He probably has some kind of superspeed Semblance.

Next Chapter: July 27