"What an awful day to have a staff meeting, do you realize how close it is for the teachers to leave?" Coco asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee and walked around the corner out of the lounge and back into the meeting room. "I'm sure you do, I have only been talking about it day and night for the last three weeks, even before the students started worrying about finals. You and the Xiao Longs, and… I'm not even really sure who the hell else is even going to be here during graduation don't get early starts on their vacations, but the rest of us have cleaning and preparing to do."
"Are you not going to be back for your meeting 3 weeks in then?" Glynda asked. Coco chuckled as she sat at the long table and kicked her feet up.
"Velvet and Lamar are going to stay in Vale while I jet, do the interview quick, and head back," Coco informed her. "Hoping for a three day turn around."
"What are we meeting about," Blake asked.
"Some last-minute notes that need to be gone over," Glynda told them. "The two of you will be busy helping me look over their paperwork so that I can either assign the graduates to the police force per Coco's recommendation, to the council… per Coco's recommendation… or to missions issued by myself… per… Blake, did you write these notes?"
"We do a lot of things per Coco's recommendation," Blake replied with a shrug.
"I had a question," Pyrrha stated raising her hand.
"Go ahead, Mrs. Arc, but you don't need to raise your hand," Glynda reminded her.
"Sorry," Pyrrha replied. "When did you want us to have the grades finalized for our classes?"
"Before you leave for the summer is fine," Glynda informed her.
"Anything else that we need to discuss?" Velvet asked. Glynda sighed shaking her head.
"Are you all in that much of a rush to get out of here?" She inquired.
"Some of us… kind of…" Jaune piped up.
"Nora and I aren't going anywhere," Ren said.
"Even though I want to!" Nora screamed in his ear.
"We need to save lien," he reminded her. She groaned.
"But then we don't get to go out to other kingdoms and kill Grimm!" Nora protested.
"But if we go out and do that, Nora, we won't have enough lien to pay the bills," Ren stated.
"So boring," she griped.
"I for one am glad to see that the White Fang almost seem to have disappeared altogether," Pyrrha stated. Blake stood and prepared to speak before Yang grabbed her hand.
"We just hope they aren't preparing anything too large scale," Yang spoke for Blake.
"What do you think their target would be?" May asked. Yang folded her arms with a smile on her face.
"I've been thinking about it and the best way for them to 'get us back for everything we've ever done to them' is by attacking the Military Advancements and Technology Expo," Yang theorized. "Not only will there be a ton of high priority targets there enjoying cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, but security is more often than not pretty relaxed at that thing since they've had the expo for twenty years now without even so much as someone accidentally forgetting that they still had a pocket knife on them."
"Are you suggesting that they should up security this year?" Glynda asked her.
"If the Fang don't attack by then? Yeah," Yang stated. "I can't imagine the damage they could do if they got their hands on any of the prototypes there."
"Coco?" Glynda said looking over at her number three.
"It'd still be a pretty bold move. Even if the security has never had to act, Atlas doesn't mess around when things start happening, and I anticipate that Sterling will send some of his own men this year," Coco ran the details through her head. "I won't dismiss it though. If a decent-sized protest group with violent tendencies might attack a high profile, high stakes target like this, this would be the best one. I'll let them know to add some men in a few weeks once they start preparing for it in the fall." Yang smiled at her and nodded.
"Thanks!" Yang exclaimed as Blake sat back down.
"The council still riding your ass about Stardust?" Sun asked.
"They will be until I bring them down," Coco noted. "Roman was less of a threat and had less power and they had a worse time taking him down, but since the council gets more keen on absolute peace by the second, it doesn't leave much time for me not to think about it. I'm doing my damndest."
"We know you are," Yatsu supported her from the far end of the table, representing the police force. "With as many small incidents that have been at the school here, I'm still leaving the suggestion of liaison on the table."
"I have to find someone else," Coco noted. "I can't afford to take a single cop out of the field at this point in time." Coco pulled her feet down and leaned forward with a wicked smile. "I expect that we'll have a touch more luck finding the Stardust this year, however. I've got someone hard at work this summer tracking their movements and gathering information on them."
"That being?" Blake asked. Neo pushed her chair out, standing and bowing to all of them.
"She'll get the job done," Coco chuckled. Her scroll buzzed and she checked it as she leaned back once more, out of the conversation.
"Are we any closer to knowing who's leading Salem's followers, and what they want?" Pyrrha asked looking a bit nervous.
"Only the council is privy to that information at this time," Glynda explained. "When they think that we need to know, we'll know."
"Sounds like Oz all over again," Jaune mumbled.
"What was that?" Yang asked crossing her arms.
"Nothing," Jaune replied apologetically.
"The council has its reasons for not mentioning things right away," Blake noted. "If they told the public right away what the intentions of the Neo-Salems were, it might cause them to move faster or more aggressively towards their goal. It might even end up getting others involved like the Fang in a power grab that we've only ever seen once before, but I'm sure you remember how that all went last time." Jaune's eyes glossed over and he glanced away.
"Alright, calm down," Glynda hushed them. The first bell of the day signaled, marking the beginning of classes. "That's all the time we have this morning. Again, make sure that grades are finalized before you all start leaving next week. A great summer to everyone that I might not see again before you leave!"
"No, yeah, this is totally the way that I pictured that I would be spending my Saturday before the finals," Tawney told Cobalt as they walked down the tourist-filled street towards the shopping district.
"Just bear with me for a moment, okay?" He asked. "I told you that we could hit the gym, and we will, but first I need to go and get some coffee."
"Before you work out?" Tawney asked. "Does that really sound like the best idea?" Cobalt chuckled.
"I never said that I was going to do any working out," He reminded her. She groaned.
"Then why did you agree to come with me?" Tawney asked.
"Putting the finishing touches on something that I'm making for Bái," Cobalt explained. "I don't want her to see it before I finish it."
"Whatever, let's just make it quick," Tawney said rolling her eyes as the crowd became denser the closer that they got to the shops.
"What's going on, there isn't usually this many people from out of town already," Cobalt noted. "Not to mention that there are other places in the kingdom that are way busier than this during the summer."
"Prices went up on Dust again," a man told them glancing their way.
"Even more from the Atlas explosions?" Tawney asked. He nodded scratching his head.
"They won't have another shipment in for two weeks and everybody is leaving on vacation to spots where Dust isn't all that plentiful," he noted. Cobalt nodded, most touristy locations didn't have the need for a lot of Dust.
"Should we try to stop in there instead?" Tawney questioned.
"Doesn't pay," Cobalt said as his scanner ran the figures for him. "Odds are that all of the product would be gone before we're even halfway to the Dust vendors."
"I wonder what happened…" Tawney pondered as they finally reached the coffee shop and stepped in. It was small, quiet, and empty, save Coco and Velvet who sat at a round table in the corner closest to the pickup point of the counter. Coco banged furiously on her keyboard, only stopping on occasion to take a sip of the coffee before her, and to glance at the barista.
"You haven't even finished your first one, settle down," Velvet scolded shaking her head and reading the paper that was sprawled out before her.
"Do I seem high strung?" Coco asked with a smirk as she tapped methodically, her keystrokes sounding to Cobalt as though she was copying something over from one location and entering it in as data. As the students neared the counter, Coco made eye contact before smiling and waving to them.
"Hey, Mrs. Adel," Cobalt called to her.
"How's it going?" She asked with a nod of her head.
"What can I get you?" The barista asked Cobalt.
"Dark roast coffee with one cream," Cobalt stated.
"And your girlfriend?" The girl asked.
"We're not dating," Cobalt noted.
"And I don't drink coffee," Tawney informed her matter of factly. Coco's shades hit the table seconds after the woman's body reached Tawney's personal space.
"What was that?" Coco asked. The barista stepped away slowly, working on Cobalt's without looking back.
"I said I don't drink coffee," Tawney repeated.
"Why not?" Coco pried, grabbing her by the arms, inches from the girl's face.
"I don't care much for it," Tawney continued.
"Have you tried all of it?" Coco demanded. Tawney tried to break free.
"Coffee is coffee, isn't it?" Tawney questioned. Cobalt waved off the barista and quickly headed for the door.
"Are you mad?!" Coco shouted out.
"Are you?" Tawney asked struggling in Coco's grip. The barista ducked and covered behind the counter as Velvet began to approach.
"It's not all just coffee!" Coco shouted letting go of Tawney before doubling over with her fists clenched. "There's americanos! Italians! Vacuo puts ice in theirs! Mistral infuses theirs with Dust! Don't even get me started on Atlas!"
"But it all tastes like coffee," Tawney states plainly as Velvet tried to drag Coco from the counter.
"There are options for monsters like you! Chai tastes like tea! Flavored mochas are typically more syrup than coffee! Frappuccinos are the girliest coffee drink you can get!" Coco explained while Velvet pulled harder on the woman who refused to move.
"I'm good," Tawney assured her.
"At least try something I recommended for Oum's sake!" Coco pleaded. Tawney shrugged with a smirk.
"Maybe next time," Tawney offered.
"Coco, calm down," Velvet begged. Coco brushed her wife off, recomposing herself as she sat, glaring at Tawney who waited at the counter for Cobalt to return, sipping loudly on your coffee. "Do you want to take a break?"
"She will try coffee," Coco swore. "Even if I have to waterboard her with it." Velvet stared at Coco, shaking her head.
"Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?" Velvet asked. "Plus she wouldn't really be tasting it at that point."
"It was the first thing that came to mind!" Coco defended. Cobalt reentered the building and chuckled awkwardly.
"That'll be all," he informed the barista as he handed her the lien. He looked at Tawney and sighed.
"What?" She asked.
"You really thought that was a good idea to say with Coco sitting right there?" He stressed motioning to their teachers.
"She doesn't scare me," Tawney scoffed. Cobalt's jaw dropped and he took a step back.
"You better sleep with your eyes open," Cobalt warned her as they left, the crowd outside even more dense than before.
"Is it really that big of a deal?" Tawney questioned.
"To Coco, it is," Cobalt informed her. "She won't rest now until you've tried something from the options she recommended."
"Come on, Yatsu! I can help keep an eye out for the Fang or the Stardust Gang. Large crowds like this are the perfect opportunity for them to try something crazy, and you know that I would give up anything just to be able to help out the police force for the day!" Eliana begged him as he stood outside of the city's largest Dust shop, making sure that things didn't get any more out of hand than they already had.
"As helpful as that would be and as much as I know you want to, you know that I'm not allowed to do so without consent from Glynda and she's not willing to give it to anyone less experienced than a fourth year, even if you did take down the crime syndicate in Mistral," Yatsu replied.
"Then let me help without consent, nobody needs to know!" Eliana noted. Yatsu sighed, shaking his head. She groaned, slipping the short way through the crowd towards any alleyway that would let her escape the mass quicker than a direct route back through them. She kicked at the dirt that had gathered on the worn-down pavement. "I know you'd tell me to be patient, and that my time will come… but waiting sucks when I know that I can help now! Not to mention they let Neela fight the other day at city hall with Coco… though Glynda was pretty worked up afterward… and I guess I don't need to worry mom any more than she already is…"
"Elli!" Cobalt called out as he and Tawney escaped the crowd and walked with her.
"Hey guys, did you hear what happened?" Eliana asked as she gave them the moment to catch up to her.
"We did," Tawney informed her.
"Strange that they lost an entire shipment of Dust, it would have had to have been a pretty large airship to be carrying that much Dust," Eliana noted. "Was is Strakh or someone around here?"
"They didn't give us much info outside of the fact that it went missing," Cobalt told her.
"Who told you?" Eliana pried. Tawney shrugged.
"Just some guy who was in the crowd of people," Cobalt noted. They walked a little further, reaching one of the streets again as Eliana stopped in her tracks, clearing thinking hard about something. "Eliana?"
"I thought that the two of you were going to the gym, how did you end up in the shopping district?" Eliana pondered. Tawney chuckled as Cobalt sighed and turned to look for traffic.
"We are, but Cobalt just had to have a cup of coffee and that just turned into this mess with Coco that I don't have the time to get into the details with," Tawney blurted out. Eliana nodded before looking at Cobalt.
"She told Coco, didn't she?" Eliana asked.
"Yes," he nodded. Eliana shook her head and grabbed Tawney by the shoulders.
"You are a brave, brave soul, and I wish you the best of luck," Eliana informed her. Tawney broke free and headed across the road with them on her heels.
"Stop being dramatic," Tawney scolded.
"She really has no idea what she's done, does she?" Eliana whispered to Cobalt.
"None," he replied quietly.
"Well, it was nice knowing you anyways," Eliana called out as she left them at the fitness center and headed down the sidewalk towards the bookstore.
"You know Neela's not at work today, right?" Tawney asked. Eliana smiled.
"I know!" Eliana called back disappearing around the corner. She let out a long sigh, she was well aware of the fact that Neela wasn't working, the Faunus had informed her several times that morning that she was going to have a sister day with Shadow while her parents went on a date, leaving Eliana to fend for herself to stay entertained. No sweat! She could do that! She didn't always need to have Neela around… that'd be crazy… and asking too much of Neela, right? Eliana opened the door to the shop, the bell above the door informing Fox that someone had entered and he glanced down the main aisle, smiling and waving at her as she approached the desk, noting that the rest of the building seemed empty aside from the two of them.
"You're one of the few people that I can think of that would be here on such a nice, summer's day," Fox chuckled. "What brings you in today? The next Ninjas of Love won't be out for a couple of weeks, and the movie just premiered, I'm surprised that you and Neela aren't seeing it today." Eliana laughed and blushed, looking away from him.
"I'm not sure that I could watch something like that with Neela," Eliana informed him. "It's a bit raunchy." Fox chuckled.
"You think I don't know that?" Fox asked. "They don't keep them in the adult section for nothing." They both shared a short bout of laughter before Eliana exhaled sharply and glanced around. "What are you thinking about?"
"I don't know how to explain it," Eliana told him. "When I'm with Neela, I'm not lost like this. Everything seems right and I feel at ease… she makes me happier than anything else in Remnant." Fox smirked.
"Must be nice feeling like that about someone," Fox told her. She looked at him hard and took a step back, waving her arms slowly.
"It's nothing like that," Eliana assured him. "She's like a sister to me…" Eliana looked at her hands. "That's all…"
"Maybe you should go see that movie to take your mind off reality for a while," Fox interrupted her thoughts. "I remember how stressful attending the academy was." She looked at him, beaming her signature smile with a nod.
"I'd have to try and sneak in," she informed him. He raised an eyebrow as he moved closer to the counter.
"Why's that?" Fox asked. Eliana chuckled, waving him off as she walked quickly towards the door.
"No reason! Thanks for listening!" Eliana yelled back at him. She stepped out and took a deep breath. She's like a sister to me… I wouldn't be able to live without her… maybe it's best that she hasn't found anyone to fall in love with… Eliana shook the thought from her head. Feeling that way wasn't fair to Neela, if falling in love with someone would make Neela happier, Eliana would support it… but why was Eliana even worried, Neela hadn't found anyone, she didn't even seem interested in anyone. Eliana could feel her nerves wearing on her. What was this?
"Eliana," Lykos called out. Eliana turned around to see him with Bái and she felt this weird pang of jealousy seeing them hold hands which subsided suddenly.
"Seems like everybody is out and about today," Eliana laughed. "What are you guys doing?"
"Bái and I just finished up some training that will help her control her powers better and so we decided to make a trip down here to the city and get some food," Lykos explained.
"Cobalt's treat," Bái exclaimed happily. "He threw some lien at us and told us not to spend it all in one place." Eliana chuckled.
"That does sound like Cobalt, guess you guys got lucky having the rich kid on your team," Eliana noted.
"For situations like this, yeah," Lykos admitted. "But your team better not drop their guard."
"Oh?" Eliana questioned.
"Team CBLT will be number one next year!" Bái declared throwing a fist in the air. Eliana smiled, finding it hard to believe that anyone had ever considered this girl to be a monster.
"I don't know about that," Eliana scoffed. "Team NITE has everything going for them." Bái tugged on Lykos arm to keep him moving and he laughed as he waved to Eliana.
"We'll see," Lykos replied as they left her alone once more and the summer sun suggested that she find some shade. They'd become a tight-knit group, Team NITE, and CBLT, each of them with their own goals. Neela to become the best, Ilia to outrun her past, Titus to protect the people he cares about, Cobalt to be a hero, Bái wanted to control her power, and Tawney wanted to… be better than Neela. Lykos was harder to read… and then there was Eliana. She told herself it was so that she could join the police force and help people like her father had, but was that truly the reason? Was there something else? Someone else? Eliana cleared her throat.
"Man do I feel off today," she spoke to no one in particular. She wished that she had Neela with her, checking her scroll for the time. She only needed to make it another hour or so, she could do it. Fox's idea was one that she could get behind, and she made up her mind that she would try and sneak into the movie without anyone noticing. The worst that could happen is that they threw her out and scolded her. Maybe she needed a disguise first or maybe she could pass as old enough. If she found an open side door she could find a uniform lying around and enjoy the sweet silver screen smut from a seat next to the projector, the perfect spot to sit as there was no risk of anyone sitting in front of her, and she wouldn't be able to hear anyone having side conversations nearby. The perfect plan.
She checked the screen times, noting when it had started and recalling the first few volumes of the series, concluding that if she was quick, she'd make it in time to watch the main character confess her love to the ninja she'd known her entire life, moments after he betrayed her. And the next scene was more than likely watered down considerably for a more general audience since it had a rating of R and not X. She inhaled sharply, puffing out her chest as she approached the door, only to have it swung open in her face and knock her back onto her ass. She found herself dazed for a long moment before shaking it off and looking up to see Yang extending a hand with a blushing Blake standing beside her.
"Hey Elli, what are you doing here?" Yang asked. Eliana gave a manic laugh as she pulled herself up and made several discernable noises of confusion.
"Just, you know. Came to see a movie, obviously. You guys?" Eliana retorted.
"Same," Blake abruptly replied. Yang glanced at her, Blake and Eliana both avoiding eye contact.
"Which movie?" Yang questioned.
"The new Spruce Willis film! He's getting old, you never know when it might be his last!" Eliana blurted. "What did the two of you see?"
"The same!" Blake answered again without thinking. Yang turned to Blake confused before looking back at Eliana who was white in the face.
"That's not true, we came to see that Ninjas-" Yang began before Blake clamped her mouth and created a clone to help restrain her.
"Ninjas of Ancient Remnant!" Blake inserted. "It was an action-packed historical kind of experience thing that was great. A lot of really exciting parts, Yang cried at one point." Yang bit her fingers and forced her to let go, jumping back with a yipe.
"Blake looks kind of like the protagonist," Yang noted. Eliana thought about it for a long moment, much longer than she should have, her mind forming the scene before her.
I had to kill the rest of the clan, Blake! It was the only way to stop you from leaving me!
I would have gone with you anyways, Yang! I love you!
And then…
Eliana turned bright red and swiftly headed down the road.
"The books are probably better, wouldn't want to ruin the idea that I have in my head of what it should look like… I mean, how they look and act! Movies, they never get it right!" Eliana shouted. Yang shook her head before looking at her wife.
"Are you okay?" Yang asked her. Blake folded her arms.
"No!" Blake yelled at her. Yang shrugged and wrapped her arms around Blake, pulling her in.
"Come on, it took your mind off things for a while," Yang noted. She pulled away enough to look Blake in the eyes. "We can try out some of the stuff we saw tonight if you want." Blake looked into Yang's eyes and smirked.
"Maybe," Blake replied.
"Sounds like a yes to me!" Yang announced loudly.
"Calm down," Blake said shaking her head. Yang wrapped her arm around Blake as they walked down the road.
"Things have been nice the last week or two," Yang reminded her. "The Fang are gone for the moment, Ruby has them running scared. Stardust Gang has calmed down a bit since the incident at City Hall. You've gotten some sleep the last couple of nights. Things are finally looking up for the first time in a while, though I'm still a bit chagrin over the fact that we have to be at the school for the graduation ceremony."
"You know as well as I do that it was chosen at random like it always is," Blake offered.
"Two years in a row though?" Yang asked. "Seems odd."
"Not that odd since most of us are placed into the hat as couples," Blake explained. Yang grumbled.
"Whatever," Yang pouted. "Want to go see how Neela and Shadow are doing?" Blake nodded and smiled.
"Of course," Blake agreed.
Hopefully, the Dust situation gets better! Ironically, next week, Chapter 120 - Dust Found!
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, 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, and make sure to wash those hands!