What's this? A chapter that didn't take a bunch of time to come out? A surprise indeed. It would have sucked if a long time passed with a cliffhanger, so here we are. Been feeling good to write GVLP, to be honest.
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 43: Ice Cream and Flowers
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.(Chapter start)
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September 27th (Same day)
Friday
Cloudy
The streets of the waterfront had more frequently patrolling police, Azura noticed as they drove through it. There were already very few other civilian vehicles on the surrounding roads, but given the continuous danger it seemed to pose, no one could blame the Vale police for keeping an eye on the area.
There was also the breach to consider, though Azura could barely remember the night beyond that horrifyingly mutated Beowolf and the Nightmare itself. But there were certainly more police and Atlesian officers moving about Vale as they drove through the city. It was unsettling, to say the least.
They closed in on their destination after mere minutes, and Azura found a dark area to hide Bumblebee within. He turned the engine off, letting Blake get off before kicking the stand down and getting off himself with a sigh. He looked over the bike before examining the area around him.
"I doubt someone would try to steal it...but Yang would kill me if it was." He muttered.
"Says the one who is about to talk to a psychopathic ice cream." Blake replies blandly. "Remind me again why you decided to help her?"
"Because it was the right thing to do." Azura answers as they begin to walk towards their destination with a level of caution, keeping to the shadowed sidewalks.
"This just reminds me of why I'm always out here with you." Blake says with a sigh. "You suck at not getting yourself into bad situations."
Azura chuckles. "And you suck at not helping me, your point?"
"You're just like Yang with this stuff."
"Probably." He shrugs as they quickly check intersecting streets before crossing to the other side ahead of them. "Speaking of Yang, how's that going?"
Blake waits for them to be on the gravel path leading down to the side of the waterfront that they needed to be in before responding with a question of her own. "How's what going?" She shakes her head. "That's neither here nor there right now, we're about to break into the waterfront for the third time in just a few months again. Let's focus on that."
Azura smirked, but let it drop as they slowed down to try and be sneakier. They moved along the fence slowly, close enough to each other that Blake would likely crash into him were he to suddenly stop. Further along the docks themselves, guards could be seen patrolling along, but he did notice a distinct lack of guards down by where they were.
He stopped by a corner of the fence, a mere twenty or so yards away from a cracked open gate, and examined to see if any guards were just hidden well. He found nothing thanks to his vision, turning to Blake as he watched her examine the unlit warehouse.
"Looks like this is the place...no guards at all, either." He whispered, just loud enough for Blake to hear.
"Doesn't seem like anyone is in there either...you think it's a trap?" Blake asked with a whisper of her own.
"Do you?" Azura asked back.
Blake frowns, giving it another look. "It could be."
Azura took a deep breath as he contemplated the possibility. Blake didn't even need to make an argument for why she thought that, he completely understood her concerns this time. Examining the building for himself, he found nothing in particular to suggest that anyone was here, but this was the only warehouse that he could see Neo hiding within.
"Only one way to find out, yeah?" He says. "I'd hide out here, just in case."
"Already planned on it." Blake replied, her amber eyes sharply watching him as she held Neo's jacket out for him to take. "Stay safe, Azura."
"Safe? I'm always safe." Azura retorted as he took the jacket into hand, giving her a smile before moving past the bend and slipping through the opened gate.
He slinked through the shadows, covered by the warehouse so he didn't have to hide very hard from the guards. He did agree with Blake that it was a little too easy to get through, but his only hope is that he didn't find dead guards within.
He slowly grabbed hold of the door handle to take one more look at the direction of where Blake was hiding, making it seem like he was just looking over the land before he entered the building. Forcing his nerves to settle, Azura opened the door with little effort, finding that it made no noise as he did so. He quickly entered the warehouse and closed the door behind him slowly.
The hall was dark and the further warehouse ahead was unlit as well. If Neo was here, she had spared no expense to make her position here unknown. Azura took quiet and slow steps as he approached the end of the hall where it opened up to the rest of the small warehouse, seeing what seemed to be a rather feeble light source flickering past a wall of boxes, small glimpses of it appearing through cracks between the boxes.
Keeping a hand on the hilt of his dagger, Azura kept his slow pace forward. When he reached the end of the hall, he was surprised by a blade suddenly appearing right by his neck, instantly responding with his dagger raising directly to the head of just who he was expecting.
"Neo." Azura breathed out with a sigh, lowering his dagger.
The girl lowers her parasol, the blade retracting back into it, then stepped back to create distance. A moment later, without any greeting, she nods her head to tell him to follow her. Azura rubs his face with a hand, sheathing the dagger and following after her. He was starting to think that Neo didn't want to be here.
He entered into the light as Neo turned around, her pink and brown eyes seeming to widen with surprise. Azura blinks a few times as he watches her watching him before he realizes what she was looking at.
"Looks like everyone stares at the eye now." Azura said with a quiet tone, smiling sheepishly. "It's nothing to worry about...not that I think you worry for me."
Silence meets his words, so he raises her jacket to get her attention, then tosses it for her to take. The girl already had a black jacket on, but he knew that she'd prefer her old jacket.
"A little weird that you'd know that, don't you think?"
He decides to ignore Summer in favor of speaking to the short girl before him.
"Well, uh, anyway. Why'd you ask for me to come so suddenly?"
Neo nods her head, then waves him over as she tosses her weapon to the side as a sign of trust. When he complies, she crouches down and points to the three maps on the ground, obviously wanting him to examine the maps. Azura crouches down next to her, keeping an eye on her while he examines the map.
Red lines crossed throughout the center map with several points having circles over them with a single word within them, saying 'supplies' or 'safehouse' within each circle. The map on the left was also similarly marked, but had three labels instead of two. There were 'Info' spots marked across the map, some circles were marked with 'Avoid Location', and the new one was a single location marked as 'Secret, but safe'. A glance towards Neo showed that she was typing on her scroll, so he shifted to look at the map on the right instead of asking what 'home' was. The top side of the map had words written on it that simply said 'investigation spots', with several locations spotted across the map. There was one location all the way on the other side of the map, in an area actually outside of Vale itself. It held a single question mark within the large vicinity of the circle, telling Azura that Neo was trying to figure something out. Either trying to find something or some place, maybe even someone.
She was investigating, but what exactly was it that she was investigating? A closer look to the center map showed that she marked one area with 'Atlesian Fleet'. He recalled that Torchwick was apprehended by Atlas, so was he held up in one of the airships that ominously floated overhead? She had a lot of questions to answer.
He looks back at her curiously, seeing that she was actually waiting for him to look at her. Once he did, she offered the scroll to him, which he took with some suspicion coming from Summer.
"She's being oddly...trustable. Playing nice with us."
"So it seems. Perhaps she means well."
"She nearly killed you once, Azura. Remember that."
He had no argument for that, so he let Summer take the win of their little back and forth to look at what she had typed.
"These maps are all marked for your use, I already know all of these locations or intend to learn them. The map on the right is your incentive to help me. All of those locations are tied directly to the White Fang, either old or recent, and we both benefit from searching through them. The map in the center is all of the safehouses that our boss doesn't know about, and Torchwick told me to use them if he was ever compromised. I am giving you these locations as a sign of trust, since they will be required to ease the travel time for you and the supplies for me." It read, surprising Azura with the detail and amount of trust within them.
"Don't tell me you trust it."
"Not all of what I've read so far, but it's a clear sign of trust. Either through actual trust or because she's desperate."
Summer laughs darkly. "I'll just watch your back for you. Luna and I are much less trusting than you."
Azura wanted to say that he could be so trusting because he had Luna always ready to fight if things went bad, but he was well aware that Summer knew that already. The woman was on edge with the proximity of Neo, he felt. He shook his head a moment later to read the rest of her message.
"The map on the left was made originally for myself, but I want you to know specifically that these are locations that I go to for information on the city's underground or areas that I cannot go to. I cannot tell you why I am unable to go there, but know that it's best for you to avoid them specifically at night. The last location, however, is a place you cannot tell anyone about, even Torchwick. I am only entrusting the location to you in the event that something major happens. Something big enough to require being there." The rest of the message read.
Azura frowned, reading the message twice more before handing it back to Neo for her to use when she needed to. There was a lot of information that he had just been given on the spot, so he had to be attentive if he wished to remember it all. Looking over the maps, Azura eventually asked a question to Neo.
"You want me to help you...how, exactly? And why?"
He examined the maps until he saw a scroll in the corner of his vision, once more taking Neo's scroll to read what she had to say.
"I can't investigate it all myself, and alone would be a death wish if I were to be caught. And yes, before you ask, my semblance is known by them and being mute tends to make sneaking out in the open a hassle. You are needed because of what you bring to the table alongside my skill set, and because you did promise to help me get out of all of this trouble with Torchwick. You'll either be investigating alone or with me for the locations. Some locations are abandoned, some are not. The benefits are your own investigation into the White Fang being furthered and I get closer to breaking Torchwick out."
He read the final part of her message a few times before realization came to him, turning to Neo with surprise.
"You intend to break Torchwick out of an Atlesian airship? Are you insane?"
Neo rolled her eyes and raised a hand to gesture for her scroll back. When she finishes typing, she turns it to him to read.
"Not even Atlas can keep him from me."
Possessive. Did he mean more to Neo than it seemed to him?
"Let's not go and humanize her just yet." Summer comments from within.
Azura tries to not react to her words, choosing to carefully pick his words for Neo in a decision to speak to who was around him instead of inside of him.
"Right. Well, the only other important question I have is that unknown area...what do you think it is?"
A few moments of typing produces an answer. "Unsure, but assumedly a White Fang base. Likely not their main location."
Azura frowns at the idea of them being so close, but chooses to move on. "How likely do you think it is to get Torchwick out?"
Neo's eyes narrow and Azura bites his tongue as his shoulders relax and he tries to appear at ease instead of defensive.
"Okay, off limits question. Sorry." He says, seeing her posture relax. "Let me try something else. This 'safe secret' location, it's special?"
Neo nods, but does not elaborate further. As much of a trusting olive branch she was extending, she clearly did not want him to know what that area was unless it was specifically from a 'major' event. He just had no clue what event could be major enough to use this location. Regardless of who she was, Azura would respect her privacy.
"And you call her the insane one…"
"Not now, Summer."
"Alright...only go to it if a major event occurs, something dangerous. Hm." Azura says aloud, garnering another nod from Neo. "How will I know what to do? Just follow your lead and messages?"
She was already finishing a response before he stopped talking, like she knew what he would ask. "You'll follow my lead and help when I ask. Also, I am aware of your school requirements. To remain confidential, I'll only ask for help in times that work for both of us."
The idea of them being confidential and a secret between adversaries reminded Azura of the fact that Ruby knew about it and that Blake was currently outside. He only considered telling Neo about that for a moment before quickly and roughly shoving that idea out of his mind. As much trust as he was willing to give Neo, nothing good would come from Neo knowing that someone outside of him knew of this. Best case scenario, she'd only want his head. Worst case, she'd want all of their heads. Neither were okay in his mind.
He quite liked the location of his head, if he could be honest.
"Huh. Well, thanks for being considerate with the secrecy of it all." Azura said. "Wait, does that mean you know my schedule?"
Neo simply raised an eyebrow before she shook her head in denial. That somehow didn't make him feel any better.
"So, I take these maps for my own use?" Azura asks, getting yet another nod. "Okay. I'll be sure to hide them away as soon as possible."
He pauses as Neo touches his arm, causing him to look at her calmly despite Summer's shadow movements itching for him to follow. He couldn't blame her for the defensive reaction, so he kept his focus on Neo as he tilted his head. It took a few moments for Azura to realize the unspoken question, where he sighed.
Blake was going to totally chew him out for this, especially for not being able to give an explanation.
"Which safehouse do you want me to drive you to?"
Neo smirked, bending just past him to point to a location. It was away from most of Vale, but outside of the rather packed waterfront. Only issue was that it was likely more than 20 minutes to get there from their current location
Azura looked at the maps once more to make sure he knew where she wanted to go before he began to fold them up. Two of the maps were small, while the last one was larger, so it wasn't hard to group them up and slide them into the large inner pocket of his sweatshirt, though it did require him to zip it up to keep them safe and secure.
"Right. Let's not delay that any further, then." Azura said, standing up.
Neo follows suit after him, his gaze studying her. She stares up at him once she sees him staring, pink and brown eyes looking closely into yellow and silver. Summer stayed silent while Luna kept still where she was, floating just behind Neo. Eventually, Azura speaks.
"We'll get him out, and figure out what the White Fang are really helping for. I promise."
Neo is the first to break eye contact, giving him a sidelong nod before retrieving her parasol. With another glance, she begins to grab what few belongings she had here before moving to extinguish what little light existed in the building. Azura simply moves out of her way, staying silent.
Would-be murderer and sadistic criminal, it seemed even Neo had a soft side. One for Torchwick, but a soft side nonetheless.
"If it's even real and not just a fake personality to get on your own soft side."
"I know your concerns, Summer. I'm still cautious of her, given she nearly killed me last time." Azura said mentally to the woman. "But I trust her enough to know she cares for Torchwick."
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.(Line break)
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September 28th
Saturday
Rainy
"Come on, Blake! You know I didn't really have a choice!" Azura said, keeping his voice down as he spoke to the black-haired girl to his right, both seated in chairs.
The corner of the library's first floor held the two Faunus as they seemed to bicker between each other. Luna was idly watching from behind, the only sign of her to Azura being the arms on his shoulders and the occasional tip of her tail flicking into his vision. Dark clouds covered what was supposed to be an early afternoon sun as rain hit gently against the windows and ceiling.
"Still had to run and jump across rooftops to try and keep up with you." Blake responded blandly as she looked at him. "Do keep in mind how that isn't exactly painless if you do it a hundred times in a row."
Azura winced, remembering the joys of rooftop running and jumping from Mountain Glenn. "Yes, I know. And I'm really sorry for that, I owe you a favor for it now. It's the least that you have done for me."
"A favor?" She asked, her amber eyes narrowing. "I'll keep that in mind."
Azura smiled nervously. "I do not like the look in your eye."
"Then you won't like the look in Yang's eyes." Ruby says as she passes him on his left, taking the seat directly across from him, making him more nervous.
"She is rather upset, I'd say. Be grateful I talked her down somewhat." Weiss says as she walks by, placing a hand on his shoulder momentarily before moving to sit next to Ruby and across from Blake.
A hand slapped against the back of his head, forcing a wince out of him despite pulling his aura up to damp it.
"And yet it still hurts…" He muttered, daring a glance at Yang.
He was met with the blaze of her red eyes before they flowed back into the lilac purple they were known for. "I hope the damn slap hurt, it's the least you deserve." She says as she pulls a chair from another table to sit between Weiss and Ruby.
"I think she knows." Blake mutters to him, causing him to groan and tap his forehead against the table.
"Thank you for the info, Blake." He said, his voice muffled by the table before he lifted his head up to look at the three girls before him and Blake. "Uh...hello."
Several moments of silence met his hello before all eyes fell on Ruby herself, who was looking at him with her mouth slightly hung ajar, like she couldn't say whatever it was that she needed to. When she does speak, she just groans to herself and looks away from everyone as she speaks under her breath.
"I'm not even upset anymore…"
"Well, I certainly am." Weiss said, directing the conversation as her regal posture in the chair gave her an aura of authority. "Azura…"
"Wait for it…!"
"With all due respect, have you lost any shred of intelligence in that mind of yours?"
"There it is!" Summer says with an amused tone.
"Uh…" Azura began, trying and failing to not look at Blake as she kept shifting her head away from Luna playing with her cat ears invisibly.
His lips quirk slightly upwards as Blake glares at him, catching on to the feeling of coldness touching her ears.
"Azura, stop getting distracted by...by…" Weiss demanded, faltering as she tried to figure out what was going on. "Is Luna messing with Blake?"
"No." Azura replied.
"Yes." Blake mutters.
Azura stifles his laugh as he returns to the real question Weiss had asked. "Well, back to whether or not I have any intelligence, the short answer is no and the long answer is yes. And I'm all out of short answers, aren't I?"
"You most definitely are, you damn idiot." Yang says, putting effort forward to keep her voice quieter for the library. "You're lucky that Bumblebee doesn't have so much as a dent in it."
Blake stiffened slightly, despite Luna's playfulness, while Azura kept as much of a straight face as possible. There was nothing he wanted more in this moment than for it to be unmentioned that he had given a ride to the exact girl that had made this whole situation a reality.
"I told them what I knew, Azura." Ruby eventually said, trying to soften the blow of her more sharp-tongued sister and partner. "And Blake told me only as much as you did."
"Well, you failed to mention that detail, sister." Yang said with an annoyed tapping of her fingers on the table, looking over at Blake. "You knew about this? How long?"
"Since the beginning." Blake stated calmly. "It's...proven to be…" She glances at Azura, her ear twitching away from Luna's finger, much to the mute woman's delight. "Quite the odd scenario."
"That's one way to put it." Ruby said, her social awkwardness evident by the nervous laughter. "So, you knew since just after the incident at the docks."
"Since...just about August, yes."
"It's been a thing for that long?" Weiss asked, genuine surprise on her face. "How has nothing majorly bad happened to you since then? Isn't this the girl that attempted to kill you?"
"Yes, she is that same girl." Azura answered, a muffled chuckle escaping him. "Still very violent, but a tentative trust has been made between us. A mutual agreement of benefits."
"And with that, I made the same agreement with Azura." Blake offered, putting her side of the story in. "Keeping him safe was my priority, and he gets information on the White Fang. At least, that's how it was at first."
"You two are taking this way too casually!" Yang said with a growl as she made to get up, stopping herself and releasing a breath as Ruby touched her arm, then sat back down. "This girl...as Weiss said, she attempted to kill Azura. Are the two of you actually dumb enough to believe this is an okay situation?"
"Yang, I understand that you are concerned, even if you show it rather aggressively, but I can tell you that I am rather protected." Azura said, trying to placate the easily angered blonde. "Not only do I have Blake and my own ability to defend myself, but I have Luna and Summer as well. Summer has...made me a much better fighter, enough to make me feel slightly like I cheated for it, and Luna always has my back. No matter what happens, she'll be on my side."
"Regardless of that, it's still a stupid thing for you to do." Weiss said, her arms crossed. "Why didn't you come to us for help? Were you forced into it?"
"No, I agreed to help her. It was my own decision to make, just like it was her decision to choose to come to the person she nearly killed for help." Azura answers, glancing around to make sure no one who was unwanted was near. "Summer suggested I speak to Blake about it, and eventually...she spoke to me before I spoke to her."
"Did she ever tell you why she would come to you for help? I mean, it just doesn't add up." Weiss continued, putting a hand to her chin in thought. "I mean no offense, but you lost hard to her at the docks."
"Well…" Azura started, glancing at Yang and Ruby before exhaling heavily to brace himself for the reaction. "Summer, when she had control...kind of kicked Neo's ass within seconds. So...I went from being useless to her to being one of the easiest 'best shots' she had for her goal."
Ruby's silver gaze snapped to him in moments, while Yang's eyes narrowed.
"And what goal is that?" Yang asked slowly.
He tried to ignore the underlying tension in the words, leaning in to quietly tell them. "She wants out of the plans of the White Fang and the person running the show behind them. Her and Torchwick both want out of it."
Weiss looks at him with disappointment. "I'm...unsurprised to find out that all it takes for you to be idiotic and help a criminal is for them to tell you they want out of the current largest threat against Vale." She sighs. "And you believe her? That it's truly what she wants?"
"Yes." Azura replied without hesitation. "She has given me a chance to learn more about the White Fang's plans and operations, which is what Blake and I, what all of us, benefit from. The cost is simply helping two people come out alive of it all without a threat."
"Sounds rather suspicious to me. I think she wants something else from you...coming directly to you for help, given your circumstance, makes it just seem rather off to me." Weiss comments, her thoughts once more taking over her social skills.
"I have to agree with Weiss on this one." Yang says. "And well, you're you, Azura. You trust anyone once you're comfortable with the area you are in." She turns to Ruby. "And you, sis?"
Ruby was looking off in the distance, concentrating intently on something in her mind, it seemed. She glances at Azura, as if gauging something, then speaks.
"I believe him and Blake."
"You...do?" Weiss asks in surprise. "You...certainly did not seem to believe it beforehand."
"Well, I was just...being irrational…" She retorts weakly.
Yang raises an eyebrow. "More like defensive."
"Shut up!" Ruby whined. "I'm just concerned for him and Blake."
She sighs to relax herself, speaking again only when her words were met with silence.
"I think it can be helpful. I mean, we can more easily learn about the White Fang from it, and Azura does have a point about how protected he really is. He's probably the most protected person at this table."
"It's also one of the main reasons for why he's in this mess in the first place." Weiss interjected.
Well, in that case, why don't we all get involved?" Yang asked, her eyes holding a fire of energy.
Azura glanced at Blake, who was looking at him. "Well, I don't think everyone here being involved would truly help. I trust Blake enough to help me if I need it, just as I trust Luna to."
"And you trust Neo enough to not stab you in the back?" Yang asks, her temper flaring momentarily at his refusal for them to help.
"Yang." Blake said, causing the girl to take a moment to breathe. "It really is for the best if it's just Azura and I. You three are not the best with this stuff, stealth and all, and the smaller the group is, the better."
"She also has no idea that you three know." Azura added. "And I'd like for Juniper and Pyra to not know either. The less, the better."
"We can't do that!" Ruby says strongly, straining to keep her voice quiet.
"That's absurd." Yang comments afterwards.
"No." Weiss says, shaking her head. "I don't like it, but he has a point. None of us are the best with stealth and keeping low profiles, Blake being the best and Azura being the follow up to her."
When Ruby and Yang seemed prepared to protest further, Azura spoke to try and further explain.
"Think of it like this. Blake and I are out in the field and finding information on the White Fang, which leaves the three of you to focus on general information regarding the still on-going dust robberies and who was really behind that breach."
"Exactly." Blake affirmed. "Though, now that we're signed up, we can't particularly back out of the Vytal festival. And that starts in just a short few days alongside the festival."
"It would look weird for you four to not show up." Azura added. "Too weird."
Silence fell over the table as no arguments against Azura or Blake came up. The three girls before them looked between each other before they all nodded, though none of them seemed to be particularly happy with it. Weiss frowns as Ruby sighs, her ice blue eyes staring into Azura like she had about a thousand more questions to ask. Yang was the first to get up from her seat, her temper seeming ready to boil over. She was also the first one to speak.
"Well, not much else we can do. Not only do they both make good points, but they're both stubborn enough to refuse the help as it is." Yang says, her calm words contrasting her sharp and frustrated face. "I'm out of here."
The girl walks off, failing to appear like it didn't bother her. Azura watches for a single moment before glancing at everyone. When his gaze fell on Blake, he saw that she was staring after Yang with a look of concern. A rare emotion to come to the girl, he knew. When she finally made eye contact with him, he jerked his head towards Yang to silently tell her to go after the girl.
Blake stood from her own seat with a sigh. "I'll go see if I can calm her. And maybe get a second key to Bumblebee."
The next to leave was Weiss, who paused to whisper something to Ruby, then continued past Azura without a word. Azura winced, well aware of the treatment Weiss was giving him. She was not particularly happy about this, as he had seen, but he would need to give her time before trying to appeal to her.
His eyes flicked back to Ruby, who was playing with her fingers. Luna floated gently behind her with a look of mixed curiosity and concern, which were feelings he felt from Summer as well in this moment as he looked at Ruby. Something big was on her mind, so he decided to try and ease her into it instead of trying to get her to spit it out.
"You have a guest, you know." He said, smiling as he kept his hands resting on the table. "I'd look up."
Ruby blinked as she came back to reality, looking at Azura as the words registered in her mind, then looked up. Azura activated his semblance, careful to keep the ethereal cloak that normally appeared from doing exactly that, and Luna's face appeared to Ruby. The girl stared up before a smile grew on her face, her nervousness visibly decreasing as her shoulder relaxed. Luna smiled back, then poked Ruby on the nose with a silent laugh.
"Cold!" Ruby said with surprise, shrinking back slightly before laughing to herself.
"That's my mother for you." Azura said with a chuckle. "Always trying to cheer someone up with her antics."
He waited for Ruby to rise back up in her seat once Luna pulled away, deciding to let Luna stay physical as Ruby came back up. The girl looks back up at Luna as the woman does what she was doing earlier with Azura, resting her arms on the girls' shoulders, then looks back at Azura. Azura tries to keep himself looking peaceful and open as he speaks again.
"What's up, Ruby?"
Ruby looks at him briefly before averting her gaze again. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am." He answered firmly. "You're worried about something to do with Summer and I. Which, speaking of, also leads to your frustration of...let's say, what I've been up to since just before Mountain Glenn."
Ruby hesitates as she considers the words, conceding as she speaks up. "She, Neo...she came to you because of Summer, didn't she?"
"She knows of Luna as well, but yes, that was a good portion of the reason." Azura admitted, shrugging. "Torchwick and Neo are in deep trouble with the way the White Fang are operating, if the breach means anything."
"How are you sure about that?"
"Torchwick practically told me. Master thief or not, he hasn't lied in a direct engagement yet."
"There's no way to say that for sure. He's a bad guy."
Azura sighs, having expected the answer. "Don't you find it odd that Neo wasn't there with Torchwick at Mountain Glenn?"
"I mean, kinda?" Ruby asked awkwardly, doubting herself momentarily. "I did expect her, but it seemed like no one saw her."
"That's because she wasn't actually there. She was in Vale, scouting out locations...that's where our stream of information on the White Fang has come from ever since. Well, the start of it, at least."
Ruby nods, unable to argue with that. "And Ozpin? If you've gone down one side, surely you've gone down the other. Ozpin is trying to help the world, right? To stop the Grimm. I mean, he's the headmaster of Beacon, he has to be."
"He hasn't asked anything of me beyond what happened in our mission." Azura lied, disliking the taste it left in his mouth. "He's been helping with my situation with Summer."
Ruby looks down. "Nothing to do with...with what he suggested?"
"No." He answers, exhaling heavily. "I think, at this point, a full separation is off the table. Something tells me it would be too dangerous. Also, Summer refuses to."
"That's mom for you." She responds, trying to laugh it off. "Does it have to do with the eye?"
"What do you mean?"
"Mom's silver eye. The, um, the damage around it." She explains. "I hope it doesn't. Because, well, um...I kind of have two of them, and if there's some weird issue with them, I kind of want to know before anything happens…"
Azura smiles. "No, nothing bad will happen to you because your eye color is silver." He chuckles, crafting up a half-truth. "This happened because of the Nightmare."
"I heard that it...well, it did something very evil to you indirectly." Ruby says, trying to skirt around saying it directly. "Is it the very same one?"
Azura looks just past Ruby to Luna, whose humorous demeanour vanished with the reference, then back to Ruby.
"Yes, it is." He said simply. "The Grimm is extremely old, so it does not act like most Grimm. It's older than even that extremely large Nevermore way back in our initiation. So, what I think is that it came for me. I am of Luna's lineage...so, uh, take that as you will."
Ruby gasps as realization hits her. "A Grimm would want such a thing? I never even thought of that as a possibility!"
"I didn't either, until it showed up in the breach. That basically confirmed that it was hunting me this entire time." Azura says, laughing to lighten the dark topic. "Kind of makes me the Grimm and the Nightmare the Huntsman, honestly."
"Well...I know mom…" Ruby begins, licking her lips as she pauses momentarily. "She also fell in battle to a Grimm. Makes me wonder if something similar would happen to me. It would be kind of craz...Azura?"
Azura barely heard his name get called as a sharp pain struck his head, raising his left arm to hold against his head with closed eyes as Summer reacted poorly. After a few seconds, it subsided and he began to slowly open his eyes again.
Ruby was in his face when he opened them fully, concern written all over her face. The ringing finally faded as she called his name once more, feeling the cool touch of Luna brush his arms as she held onto them.
"Azura…?"
"I'm okay...I'm okay." He said, regaining his composure. "Ghosts just don't react too great to these topics."
"I'm so sorry. I knew that, but I couldn't help but speak like the dumb idiot I am." Ruby responded. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's not your fault, Ruby. I didn't even know Summer would react like that." Azura said, ignoring the fact that he totally did know she'd react strongly. "She never did that before."
He gripped his left wrist under the table, hidden away from the nearly stood up Ruby, in an attempt to steady his shaking hand. He severely hoped that what happened to Summer would not happen to Ruby.
"Still, I'm sorry." Ruby says, biting her lip. "I...don't think I should ask any more questions. They keep causing you problems."
"Well, that's a shame. Sounds like I'll need to annoy you into asking your questions, then." He said, acting sad as his hand shaking began to vanish.
"Huh? No, don't do that. Please don't do that."
Azura smirks, slowly releasing his wrist. "She might be my other half, under these circumstances of sharing a body, but she's still your mother. It's important to me that you, and when Yang is fully ready, to get the answers you deserve. Summer feels the same way, even if she cannot share that sentiment to you at the moment."
Surprise crosses her face before it relaxes into a soft smile. "You are too kind, Azura."
"No." Azura responds with a shake of his head. "You are the one who is too kind. I am simply trying to repay that kindness to you."
"Okay, okay...only one more question, though." Ruby says, conceding to him. "I don't want to take up too much of your time."
"Up to you, but one more it is. So, what're your questions?"
Ruby taps her fingers along the table, thinking her words out. Azura watched her passively, patient enough to let her come up with whatever question was on her mind. When she looked over at him, he gestured for her to speak.
"This question is related to mom." She starts. "Does she...still want to see Yang and I? I know it's a dumb question, but with how you describe her sometimes...I just wonder if she's the same woman that I heard about in dad's and Yang's and Uncle Qrow's stories."
Azura pursed his lips, looking out the wet window before he spoke. "Ghosts do change as time goes on...but they still retain some core aspects of their living selves. Luna has become more distant and seemingly always lost in thought as a ghost, but she's still lively and cheerful. I sort of tie her down in a way, which would mean that she found me very important before death." He explains, chuckling. "Well, I'd hope that my mother cared about me like a mother would, but you get my point."
He looks over at Ruby now, looking her in the eyes. "Summer wanted me to kill her, you know. KIll her again, I mean. She knew I possessed the ability to kill, given that I can physically touch ghosts." He let the words sit for a moment before speaking again, once he saw Ruby's eyes widen. "But I reminded her about you and Yang, about how she wanted to see and speak to the two of you again. She's...I won't lie, Ruby, Summer is very likely a changed woman from who she was when she was alive. But who she was, some of those core aspects, like who she loved and continues to love, will never change."
Relief came to Ruby's face, blinking away the watery look of her eyes. "Ugh, I'm sorry about the reaction. I am just so glad to know that."
"Don't worry about it, Ruby. It's expected." Azura says, trying to comfort her. "I know you have emotions too, even if you try to hide them as best as you can."
Ruby looks away, appearing uncomfortable with the words as she absently plays with her fingers with her arms stretched out across the table. Azura sighs quietly, pushing his hands forward to hold them around Ruby's already clasped hands while Luna shifted into more of a makeshift hug for the girl.
"You don't need to tell me about them, Ruby. The last time you did, I know you were extremely uncomfortable." He said softly, knowing he had her attention, even if she wouldn't look at him. "As I told Weiss, as I told Blake, and as I will tell anyone who needs it...just know that you aren't alone. You have me and Luna, Summer even. You also have your sister, your family, Weiss, Blake, all of team Juniper, and Pyra. Just, know that you aren't alone."
Ruby smiles, hiding it beneath her cloak. "Thank you, Azura."
"Anything for a friend." Azura says with his own smile. "And hey, at least you can cover yourself in a fight. I'll be cheering for you guys in the tournament."
"What about your team?" Ruby asks, a gleam of humor in her eyes as her muffled voice speaks.
Azura laughs lightly. "Okay, I'll be cheering for you guys slightly less than Juniper. But that's still a lot of cheering, you know."
"I'll be sure to get you water." Ruby assures, slowly removing her hands from Azura's. "That sound fair to you?"
"Well, thanks for the help ahead of time, then."
"Anything for a friend." Ruby says, echoing his earlier words.
"Always." Azura responds, echoing the sentiments of the saying.
.
.(Chapter End)
.
And there we are. So, I'm sure it might surprise someone here that this 'upset Ruby and co.' didn't last longer (if we disregard Weiss and Yang not being the happiest of campers about it), but Ruby herself does not hold grudges against those she cares about. She's not the most negatively charged person, is my point.
Also, hope you guys are liking the lineup for Neo. She's been fun to write, if a bit difficult to do well. Being mute does make for an interesting time writing a character.
So, chapter 44 is when volume 3 technically 'starts' for GVLP. It's been six chapters since V2 ended, so I'm excited to finally get into it.
Hope you have a good day/evening!