"Again!" Coco yelled. Titus lifted his swords to block, but Neo once again maneuvered it out of the way easily and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back onto his butt. He sat in a daze for a moment, looking at the blades before finding his feet once again. He struck a pose and prepared to block again but Coco grabbed his arm and he glanced over at her blankly. "Titus, I want to help you get better, but I don't know if today is the best day to do it." Titus shook his head and exhaled.
"It has to be today," Titus told her. "With the new quarter starting Monday, I'm going to be too busy to train later this week or even next week I'm guessing." Coco shook her head.
"What good is it going to do to train if you're clearly distracted by something?" Coco asked. "Is it Ilia?" He glanced at her again. So even the teachers knew that she was missing that morning, despite not having regular classes that day.
"No, it's not Ilia," Titus replied. "I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling." Coco smirked.
"If only you could protect yourself physically as well as you do emotionally," she told him. Coco waved Ilia over who was already walking towards them. "You don't have to tell me, that's none of my business unless you feel like I need to know. But perhaps we should wait to train until you have this all sorted out."
"Hey Titus," Ilia said as she stopped next to Neo who was stretching. Coco smiled and Neo noticed, glancing between Titus and Ilia. Neo smiled as well and nodded at Coco.
"Ilia, where were you this morning?" Titus asked. She blushed and rubbed the back of her head.
"Funny story…" Ilia began.
"Ilia, Titus has a problem that he's not willing to share with us. He doesn't know how to describe it," Coco explained. Her smile grew fiendish. "I don't suppose you could help us pull it out of him." Titus glanced over at Coco.
"What? You just said-" Titus rebutted, but Coco folded her arms and turned away.
"If you don't mind Ilia, could you lend us a hand in getting out of him? Neo, can you teleport to her locker and bring her weapons?" Coco asked. Neo nodded and was back in a flash, strapping them to Ilia before she could react. "A friendly match between teammates, and it'll help Titus get this thing off of his chest."
"Mrs. Adel-" Titus attempted to protest. Ilia sprinted in, her blades plunging straight for his chest. Titus knocked them away with one of his swords as he slid back. "What's the big idea?!"
"Defense training? Isn't it obvious?" Ilia asked. "What would push you to try harder than ever than deep-rooted pain that you're holding on to. You're very defensive when it comes to feeling emotion, but you're lousy at protecting your body. This is just going to force you to have to do both."
"I didn't agree to this!" He exclaimed. Ilia moved to dash forward again, Neo grabbing her as she did so and teleporting behind him, only a few feet away. He heard them… No, he felt them appear behind him. In a swift moment, he spun the Dust selection wheel and slammed his left kopis into the ground, sure he would stop them. A wall of stone rose up behind him and separated them.
Neo moved Ilia again, reappearing before him and in a frenzy he set the other blade to gravity, striking the air and sending her back as he removed the other from the ground. Coco slid in from his blind spot, opening fire and taking some of his aura as he slammed one blade into the wall behind him, and burst of wind Dust shattering it, and throwing the other blade into the ground before him, creating a wall of ice.
What was this sudden feeling that had come over him? He had never needed to fight this hard before, the atlesian soldiers were always a piece of cake to handle. But they also never wanted to probe his mind, and at this moment, the three of them posed a very real threat to Titus's security. It was terrifying and invigorating all at the same time. Instincts he was never aware of.
Both blades sunk deep into the earth as a pillar of rock lifted him high into the air above them. He maneuvered quickly, blocking Coco's bullets and noting that Ilia had disappeared. He had put himself at a slight disadvantage, breaking line of sight before for defense, but allowing Ilia to take a body in the process, but which one? Neo gave him no time to think about it, as she was falling straight for him from above. He threw both of his blades up.
He slashed at her moments after she had landed on his swords, missing her narrowly as she leapt gently and lightly over the attack and landed on his shoulders. He reached up to remove her from her perch, but she hooked one of his kopides and wrenched it away, throwing it to the ground below. He grabbed her leg with his hand that was now free and threw her off, shattering like glass as she hit the ground below. Titus swung his sword, a shockwave of gravity keeping Coco and Neo from making a move as he destroyed the pillar below him and took off running for his other kopis.
Coco guided him with her gunfire, forcing him to arc towards his target and waste some of his speed blocking some of the bullets directed towards him. Titus slid to a stop, swiping his blade as usual and swiftly picking up the second, a wall of fire separated him from the women now and he turned to retreat to the dorms. He had no intention of defeating them but simply escaping them so that Ilia couldn't pry into his mind. Perhaps Coco had gotten what she wanted out of this lesson after all, but he hardly understood why they were pushing the matter so hard. They could do nothing to help, only he could take care of the problem at hand.
There he was again, assuming that he needed to take care of his problems alone and head on, as usual. He was at odds with himself now, he had told Eliana what had happened, and since then, he had slowly opened up more to his teammates, but he still felt he was superior to Neela and he still felt he deserved the leadership. There was no honor in refusing her command, he would be compliant and do what was asked of him. What if he had led the mission against Stardust? Neela had done her best but was left with a scar that would forever remind her of the failure. Titus was strong, he could have taken Orion and Sirius alone.
Titus planted his feet and began running, only to be cut off by Neo. He didn't have time to slow his momentum, he was going to run full on into her extended parasol. There would be no time to block with his kopides. Was there a wrong and right way to handle this situation? Did he actually have another option available to him? Did he not have time to think about it, or was he in too much of a panic? He decided to take the blow and moved quickly to counter, but as he spun around to face Neo again, Ilia had leapt out of her host, using her blades to block his and kissing him hard on the lips.
That was it… He had lost. In a less than a second, she would enter his body and have near complete access to his thoughts and secrets. The problem now was that Ilia seemed to be lingering a bit longer than expected. Titus waited for another moment before finally shoving Ilia back away from him. She smirked and Titus looked at the three of them as Coco approached.
"Well, you lost, but you did much better than you usually do," Coco told him. He chuckled and rubbed his neck.
"Yeah, I guess I did," He agreed.
"Still a terrible kisser. Much worse than the guy I kissed last night," Ilia told him. Titus's eyes grew wide.
"Is that where you were?!" He demanded. Ilia walked away.
"Maybe…"
"You kissed him on the first date?!" Titus yelled. He chased after her. "Hey!"
"Come on," Ilia told him. "I need to let Neela know so she can call off the search party."
"Titus, I know that something is wrong, why won't you talk to me about it?!" Natalia demanded as she slammed through the door of the recruitment building as Titus left. "We can work through this! We've been through worse!" Titus spun around and stopped in his tracks, prompting Natalia to slam into his chest.
"There's nothing wrong, and if there was, I wouldn't need your help to get through it," he told her blankly. She looked at him in the eyes for a long moment, examining them for a hint.
"It was Admon, wasn't it?" She asked. He shoved her back and continued walking away again. "Why won't you let me help you?! Don't you still love me?!" There was a silence in the plaza as everyone around had stopped and was watching the two of them. He had told her that, hadn't he? He had meant it. But if he didn't do this alone… Admon's words droned in his head, it was all he could hear. Both of them choked back their emotion the best that they could.
"You're being unprofessional," Titus told her. She bit her lip.
"Titus…" She approached him. "Let me help you." Her voice was filled with pain and anguish. Titus turned away once again. "Don't leave."
"I'll be training privately from now on with General Branwen," he told her. "Goodbye, Nat." She grabbed his arm and he flinched out of instinct, unable to stop himself as he backhanded her. Soldiers around them let out a gasp. He looked at his hand for a moment before looking at Natalia who felt her lip.
"What did you do to Titus?" She asked shaking her head. It was the last thing he remembered before her fist connected to his jaw.
Titus sat up fully before his eyes had time to open and his chest heaved from the panic. Had it really happened? Was it all a dream? Perhaps he was back in the barracks at Atlas, maybe he had never left the comfort of home. That's what he hoped for at least, but as his mind caught up with him it was obvious that he was in the dorm room at Beacon, and that he truly was being haunted by the mistakes of his past. Why had it come to his mind now, did seeing Camellia trigger this?
He slowly tossed his legs over the side of the bed and stared into the dark room for a moment, listening to the methodical breathing of his sleeping teammates. Thunder rolled outside and he looked out as lightning danced across the dark storm clouds of the night. He watched out the window for a few moments, the rain hadn't begun falling yet. It was as though it was waiting for something, but what? Titus quietly excused himself to the hallway and closed the door behind him, dialing Winter's number.
"Titus. What's going on? Do you know how late it is?" She asked as she picked up. Titus sat against the wall and looked at the scroll. Nearly 11. Damn, hopefully, he hadn't woken her up. "Is everything okay Titus?" He sighed.
"Everything's alright General Branwen, I just thought that I would call and give you a progress report before we start our next quarter tomorrow," he explained.
"Couldn't it have waited until the morning, Titus?" She asked. She was right, why would he call this late unless something was weighing on his mind. She chuckled so softly that he almost didn't hear it. "How is everything? Grades are good I would assume? I've been getting updates of a different variety from Weiss." Titus furled his brow.
"Like what?" He asked.
"She told me that you were involved in a game of capture the flag with your friends," Winter told him.
"A training exercise," he explained. There was a pause.
"Any luck with semblance training?" She asked. He returned her laugh from before a sighed.
"I've been so busy with classes and other specialized trainings that I haven't had time," he told her. "As soon as I have time available I will."
"Like I told you before Titus, unlocking your semblance will help you realize your full potential," she told him. He nodded to himself.
"I know." Another long pause. "Winter… General Branwen. Have you talked to Nat… Natalia Ironwood?" He didn't know how to explain it, but he could feel her smiling on the other side of the scroll. "Have you spoken with Lieutenant General Ironwood recently?"
"I'm sorry Titus, but I haven't heard from her since I assigned her to an undercover mission shortly after you and I began training together," Winter told him. "What made you think of Ms. Ironwood?" He groaned as he slowly stood.
"No reason." He waited for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. "If you talk to her soon, will you tell her that I'm sorry for how I treated her?"
"Of course." They both promptly ended the call, leaving Winter alone in her study, a smirk set on her face. "So the Gargoyle's heart is no longer stone."
Titus re-entered the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him again and standing at the front of the room for a few seconds. Lightning scattered once more, the ensuing crash louder this time, as Ilia's silhouette filled the open window. He approached her cautiously and leaned against the wall beside the window. Ilia stared out into the sky, her eyes captivated as her mind was enraptured with the light show. Her breathing was slow and relaxed and Titus hesitated, waiting for her to initiate the conversation. She rubbed her arms, the air outside was chilled. Titus wondered if it would rain that night or snow.
"It's funny how something as simple as rain can be taken for granted," Ilia said when she finally spoke. "It doesn't rain very often in the desert."
"We get more snow than anything in Atlas," Titus told her. Ilia reached her hand out, feeling the breeze and looking at the tattoo on her wrist. She watched the clouds, eagerly awaiting the rain.
"I love it and I hate it," Ilia said. She looked back at Titus. "What was it earlier today? What was on your mind that had you so distracted?" Titus frowned.
"I…" Ilia swung her legs in, sitting with her back to the outside.
"I haven't called Vincent back yet," Ilia told him. "Do you want to know why?" Titus wasn't sure how this was relevant to what was weighing on his mind. She slid off the window sill and moved to Titus, showing him her wrist. "Lyrics to a song called Cold. It was the first tattoo that I got when I was old enough." Ilia's hands fidgeted. "They're for my mother…" Titus looked at her, her hands trembling more than fidgeting now.
"Ilia…" Titus began.
"I've never told anyone this… I've never talked about my mom's death since it happened," Ilia said. She looked up at Titus, a tear slipping from her eye. "You think you're the only one with demons?"
"Ilia… I…" She moved quickly and her fist slammed into his chest, his aura rippling visibly.
"We're not going to do this alone anymore!" She shouted at him. Her fist slammed into his chest again, he stumbled back. He noted Neela and Eliana stirring behind Ilia. "No more hiding our pain!" Another blow. "No more pretending that everything is okay!" And another.
"Ilia," Eliana spoke softly. Neela stood, holding her hand up behind her, silencing her friend.
"I used to be part of the White Fang!" Neela blurted out. They all looked at their leader, a stunned silence blanketing them until it was destroyed by the rolling thunder outside. Emotional exhaust filled the room like a mist as they watched Neela. "I was born into the White Fang. When I was a child I was terrified of humans… and the fact that the Atlesian Army killed them didn't help. I have trust issues because of it…" Neela inhaled deeply, refusing to become emotional. She nodded once. "But it has also made me stronger."
"I choose to be alone because my mother died," Ilia spoke softly. She turned away from Titus so that they could all hear her. "It was a rainy night like this, one of the only times it had rained that summer in Vacuo. A car accident. It was so bad that they forced a closed casket ceremony on us." Ilia looked at her trembling hands again. "My father…" Emotion caught in her throats and she balled her fists, shaking them violently. "He orphaned me! He told me that I looked too much like my mother and that he couldn't bear the pain! He's a coward!"
Titus understood now. That's why Ilia always preferred to be alone. She didn't want to risk being hurt again. And Neela. Neela would stay by Eliana, even if Eliana rejected her romantically. Eliana must have been the first human aside from her mother that she learned to trust. They were trying to overcome their pasts, but he was still playing the role of a gargoyle. Now was the time to begin moving forward again.
"Back when I was completing my training to become a Lieutenant General, I was under the watch of General Admon. His ideology bordered on sociopathic." Titus looked at Ilia who was completely taken with him at this moment. "He tried to kill my family and told me that if Winter, Qrow, and Ironwood hadn't shown up to save me, my family would have died, as would I. He's right." Titus sighed as he stared out the window. It felt good. He didn't know how or why, but a weight had been lifted from him, but he was taken off guard as Ilia wrapped her arms around him.
"Titus, if you're going to think of us as family, you need to learn to trust us more," Ilia told him. "Don't you think so, Big Brother?" Titus chuckled. There was something about the way she said it, a bit of snark despite her tears.
"We don't expect you to get over it right away," Eliana said as she crawled off the bed. "Just… let us help you. Just because you need our help doesn't make you weak. We make each other stronger, and we're stronger together!" Titus rubbed the top of Ilia's head. Just like Glynda said when he arrived. Titus reached out his arm and waved Eliana and Neela in, Eliana tearing across the room before Neela could react. Neela smiled and completed the embrace, Ilia, and Eliana in the middle.
"Okay, guys! Space! Please!" Ilia exclaimed. They all chuckled and let go as Ilia took a few steps back, brushing herself off. Rain began to gently grace the earth and Ilia looked at the droplets collecting on the open window sill. She leapt up, slamming the window close before running out of the room and down the hall. Titus and Neela looked at each other for a moment before they all chased after her. She leapt down the steps, vaulting the banister and tore out of the building.
"Ilia!" Titus yelled. Neela shook her head as they chased her. They were going to get so much crap for all of this yelling. Ilia laughed and spun with her arms out, letting her skin take the rain.
"It's so refreshing!" She exclaimed. Neela smiled at them as Eliana splashed by, grabbing Ilia's hand and pulling her into the grass. This was it. They were slowly becoming a team, weren't they? Neela chased after them, she had spent enough time in the woods and wilderness that rain didn't bother her in the least. Titus wasn't sure that refreshing was the right word. It was cold and reminded him of the rain back home. Lightning flashed again, he was sure that he saw the after image of Admon with his rifle, but it was only a memory, wasn't it? Admon couldn't hurt him now and if he tried…
"Titus, join us!" Eliana exclaimed. Titus nodded and ran for them. If Admon tried anything now, he had his teammates to help him.
"I'm just saying that if it were up to me ma'am, I would hold every meeting here in Vale. It's a good centralized location, it doesn't get all that cold. I mean, they have a normal winter season, but it's better than the bone chilling cold up in Atlas. It's also not as dry as Vacuo, not that I'm complaining, just stating the facts. I still think that all of this could just be done over video conference or email or something similar but then we would 'lose the human element', but to be honest I just hate having to put up with Siobhan and Sterling every meeting. Don't get me wrong, they're doing a great job with Mistral, but they just think that they're better than the rest of the council. Ruby actually is stronger than the rest of us, but she never flaunts it," Dorian told Olesia as they took their seats.
"You do realize that it's okay to call me Olesia, right? You don't have to be so tense and formal," Olesia informed him. Olesia glanced up from her papers as Dorian nudged her and pointed towards the door. There she was, Ruby Rose. The woman was by far the most decorated Huntress of all time and debatably the most powerful. Her cape more or less floated as she slowly entered the room, grabbing the attention of everyone, the last few meetings she had been out on a mission and had returned successfully. She took her seat beside Qrow and whispered something to him before he replied with a nod. Ironwood also entered the room, a refreshing change of pace considering that the man had been ill for the past few months.
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Ruby called out. "I'm pleased with the fact that everyone was able to make it out today. I'd like to get this meeting underway so that we don't need to waste any more of each other's valuable time than is necessary. Who would like to take the floor first?" Winter stood, glancing down at her notes and clearing her throat.
"First I'd like to give an update on the military and its findings over the last few months," Winter told them. "We've recently been able to pinpoint the location of a large White Fang sect that developed over the last few years in Southern Atlas, being led by Benjamin Taurus. We are trying to bring the situation under control and are analyzing the information that my stealth and extraction teams are reporting. We would like to take them in, or at the very least disband and disorganize them, with as few casualties as possible."
"What's does it matter, they're just a bunch of animals," Siobhan remarked. Olesia slowly stood, Siobhan, watching her with a smirk. Sterling stood as well, turning to face Siobhan.
"Siobhan," Sterling said. "You will not speak like that here. You are entitled to your opinion and are free to think whatever you like, but I will not tolerate you to speak ill of our Faunus companions as such. Another quip like that and I will find myself a new second. Are we clear?" Siobhan nodded, looking slightly shocked, but Olesia wasn't sure why. The woman had been completely out of line. Olesia sat back down and Winter waited for Sterling to follow suit.
"We've also begun to triangulate the location of the Vale sect with the help of the Mistral, but it has been a long difficult process. The area we suspect them to be hiding out in is massive, and every time we get close enough to pinpoint the camp, the men that I send in disappear. I've only sent in two battalions because of that, I'm waiting for Sterling's men to collaborate with ours and see if we have any other options," Winter told them. "The events transpiring with the Fang have caused unrest in Menagerie with our mining operations. The council on the island is in full cooperation, but there's a sense of fear. Any further excavating has been delayed until the issue at hand can be resolved. Next month the SDC will be hosting a charity ball in the meantime to try and replace the funds lost due to lost time." Winter nodded at Ruby and sat down, everyone waited for a long minute before Qrow stood up.
"An update on Vale. Let me first say that our… 'experiment' of sorts at Beacon went over fairly well. Through close collaboration with Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch and our head of information in Vale, Coco Adel. She took one of our best team of first years at the school and assigned them to a mission that had them try and prevent a hand off between a mystery tech provider and the Stardust Gang. On paper, the mission was marked as a failure as the children were unable to stop the trade and the dealer, but we got plenty of intel out of the exchange," Qrow told them removing a device from his pocket and tossing it into the middle of the room. The disc spun on the floor for a moment before light poured out from it, forming a holograph of a masked woman.
"What are we looking at?" Ironwood asked, a rasp in his aging voice that he couldn't seem to shake.
"What you see here Jimmy is a reproduced image of the individual that made the exchange with the Stardust Gang. I would like to point out a couple of things that we've noted that may seem obvious, but deserve to be mentioned. For one, the mask that she's wearing isn't only to conceal her identity. It would seem that it was made out of a hybrid Dust alloy. If our knowledge of Orion's gauntlet would suggest anything, either this mask doubles as a weapon or means to amplify a semblance as well, probably something mind related," Qrow said. The image changed to the device that had been handed off. It was small and round, roughly the size of a baseball. "Look familiar Sterling?"
"It looks a lot like an EMP prototype that my research and development team was working on," Sterling informed them.
"Excuse me, how do you know that the perpetrator's mask was made of a Dust alloy?" Siobhan asked derailing the conversation. Qrow smirked.
"As I've said before, Mrs. Adel really knows her stuff, even just by looking at it," Qrow explained. "Now, we're not really sure what Mercury and the rest of his crew need an EMP for, but I'm sure it's bad news." The image disappeared and was replaced with Tyrian. Olesia shifted in her seat. "Lastly, we think that Mercury might be working for the Neo-Salem Movement." There was a massive shift in the room as Sterling stood. Dorian leaned over to Olesia.
"Did he just say what I think he said?" Dorian asked Olesia. "That can't be!"
"Qrow that is quite the bold claim, considering that we were ensured that the Neo-Salem's were wiped out with the conclusion of Salem's War. Her power was lost with no host to inhabit, and the Maiden's Powers were used to seal the gate to her realm. Even if we assume that they are still around, why?" Sterling asked. "They gain nothing from it. Are they just pissed that we killed off their fake deity?"
"I assume they'd like to avenge her death, much like we did when Ozpin died at Cinder's hands. And the White Fang resurfaced after all this time, is it really hard to believe that maybe Salem's followers were lying in wait until now?"
"But why would they wait?!" Sterling shouted. "It doesn't make any sense!"
"Look, Sterling, I don't have the answers, but we are doing everything in our power to get to the bottom of this mess," Qrow told him. Sterling sat forcefully in his seat and Olesia watched him for a long moment. How had this happened so quickly? Just a few months ago, the world seemed to be at absolute peace, but now it seemed that the two biggest problems that loomed around the era of The Fall of Beacon had returned in full force. She hoped that they were jumping the gun with the idea that the Neo-Salem Movement had been revived. Salem had caused such discord and disarray between the kingdoms in the first place. Qrow finally took his seat and Sterling stood.
"In addition to the assistance that we have lent to Vale by working side-by-side with Atlas, I'm pleased to announce that my military's services have been put to use in Vacuo now, with the full acceptance by Olesia and Dorian. I'm pleased that we could work something out and I look forward to working with their small yet powerful and growing militia to try and take down that bastard Strakh. Above everything else I will be working closely with Olesia in investigating where and how her military assets are being stolen by Strakh and his men," Sterling told them.
"I'm depending on the two of you to figure this out," Ruby told them. "Strakh is amassing a lot of power and if we don't do something about it soon, we may have even bigger problems in Vacuo. Mercury's faction is still small enough that they can be taken down easily if there is an uprising, but I don't want to see Shade fall into the hands of that crime lord. Understood?" Olesia and Sterling both nodded in acknowledgment. "Is there anything you'd like to add before we come to a close Olesia. We were all made aware of Tyrian's attack on your home a few days ago, but if you have anything to add, we're all ears."
"Thank you, Ruby, but I think that will be all for now," Olesia said. They all stood.
"You're all dismissed then. I want to see progress in all areas when we return in two weeks," Ruby told them. They all filed out of the room quickly, as though they were all being forced to get along even though they secretly hated each other. Ruby, Qrow, and Winter stayed behind, Winter bade Ironwood farewell as he left for his airship.
"Any luck on Vytal?" Qrow asked. Ruby looked at the door again to make sure that it was closed and turned towards the back of the room.
"I'm in the possession of some pretty detailed notes as to what the relics are and how all of this came about," Ruby told them. "I'd rather not discuss them here. Any chance the two of you can meet me tomorrow at Beacon?" Qrow shrugged.
"Why not next weekend at Shadow's Birthday Party?" Qrow asked her.
"It's only for your ears and Team RWBY still," Ruby explained. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Alright, count me in," He told her removing his flask. He turned to Winter.
"Ironwood and I have much work to be done before the next meeting. Qrow can fill me in the next time he comes home," Winter told Ruby. Qrow kissed his wife, letting her leave and standing in silence with his niece.
"This was all supposed to die with Salem," Qrow said.
"Come on Uncle Qrow, you know as well as anyone that Remnant always has something up its sleeves." Ruby's eyes glinted and flared silver. Qrow watched her, cocking his head. "I always feel like The Brothers had something more planned for us, for everyone. I just can't figure out if it's something good, or bad."
It appears as though every member of NITE has had a weight taken off of their shoulders. Next Week: Chapter 34 - NITE vs. Cobalt / Vytal News!
A big thank you to Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!