Rogue Huntsman

Indispensable

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Steam poured out of the bathroom door as Arex padded back out from her shower, lightly pressing a black towel to her hair as she looked over to Kit on their bed.

As soon as she stepped out though, a quiet buzz came from her scroll by the nightstand, a light starting to filter through its central slit in a soft blink of bright green.

GHOST probably sent her something. Either that, or someone else had creepily good timing.

She quickly made her way over and dropped the bundled towel onto the bed, her loose sweater still clinging to her skin a bit from the dampness of the steam.

'Ray's ready to give you the money for his processors. Thought you'd like to know.'

It was GHOST, which actually brought a slight relief to Arex's frame.

'He's in the courtyard, laying down by one of the oak trees.'

The phoenix gave a tiny nod before glancing toward her dresser, 'I'll meet him there then.'

She quickly got a fresh pair of socks and threw on her sneakers, pocketing her thin black scroll as she did so while evading a few of Kit's momentary curious glances.

"I'll be back soon. Just need to pick something up," Arex said, giving Kit a small smile before making her way toward the door.

The words brought a slight flick out of one of Kit's ears, gaining a small moment of attention as well, "Food?"

"Not exactly. Just payment for the processors you watched me make." She got the door open a moment later to glance back to a nod from the kitsune, watching as Kit went back to reading a textbook on the bed before slipping into the hallway.

It didn't take long to get to the courtyard GHOST mentioned, Arex's eyes already trying to find Ray through the windows as she made her way through the corridor to get outside.

And with only the couple oak trees out there, it wasn't really hard to spot him out by one of them, furthest from the campus buildings.

When she got outside and crossed the courtyard though, he was still staring up into the leaves of the tree above him as she slowly approached the base of it.

The white stick of a lollipop jiggled about from his mouth as he slid it to the corner of his lips, staring off into something that Arex wasn't too sure of.

"GHOST told me you were ready with the payment," Arex started, keeping her voice soft in case she was interrupting something he was doing.

Ray sat up slightly, lifting a black suitcase decorated with gold trimming from the grass beside him and sliding it over to her.

She was a bit surprised she didn't notice it at first, given its contrast to its surroundings.

"There."

"I… take it you looked everything over?" Arex asked further, carefully gazing down at the case, "I followed the blueprints exactly. Kept from making any adjustments too, in case everything was specifically calibrated and measured for a reason."

"They work perfectly well. I just needed to load firmware on them," He replied evenly, gesturing toward the case.

"Something you designed, I guess?" she asked, crouching down to turn the suitcase more toward her. It was startlingly heavy, forcing her to actually fix her footing for a moment to drag the thing around just to get to the latches.

"Correct, I knew what I wanted when I designed them," he affirmed, "Scroll? You won't need it now that you have your projector."

The boy held out his hand and finally diverted his gaze from the leaves to Arex's eyes.

Scroll… r-right.

She carried it on her just in case she came across him at some point before now, so she gave a small nod before sliding his blue scroll out of her pocket to hand over to him, "The projector was a little much, but I'm glad GHOST has somewhere to stand at least. I wasn't aware she could make purchases on her own."

"She makes her own money just like the rest of us, just her disposable income is a lot more than your average person," Ray explained casually, "Enough to buy a 100k portable hologram projector. As you can see."

"A-and get it delivered that morning… to my dorm room door, no less," Arex finished for him with her own apprehensive shrug, "I didn't know delivery services did that. Especially to a school away from the Kingdom and on a cliffside."

"That's because they don't."

Ray's eyes returned to the leaves above him, rays of light passing through them and partially illuminating his face, "She's smart, therefore, has her own ways of making sure her parcels get delivered in record time."

Smart?

It… felt like GHOST was backed by a supercomputer, which in Arex's honest opinion, would've been shocking if she wasn't.

"She's smarter than any AI I've worked with," Arex replied, fiddling with the clasps for a few moments before getting them to unlock, "or researched."

When she finally got it open, her lips suddenly grew pursed before opening silently, then closing again as she sat back on her ankles in confusion.

"T-this is a lot of lien…" she muttered, eyes roaming over the briefcase stacked to the brim with currency.

"Eleven million. Should cover the cost of parts and labor. On both your parts."

Ray's voice donned a noticeable carelessness as he continued staring at the sky. Flipping his lollipop to the opposite side of his mouth.

"D-didn't you already pay for the parts? And b-both?" Kit helped organize the parts and keep her company, but Arex didn't know Ray saw that.

"Your point?" Ray asked as his violet eyes glanced toward her, but her confused eyes were still staring down at the case resting on the ground, "And yes, both of you. Credit should be given where it's due."

"It's just… I don't remember this being in the price range we agreed on," Arex spoke out quietly, part of her breath a little too short to fully voice her words.

"You never gave me an exact price. So, I just paid in full, plus 1 mil for the fox," Ray replied evenly, "Congratulations. You're now a millionaire."

H-he was over exaggerating the price of those parts by a… h-huge margin. And Arex couldn't wrap her head around why.

She wasn't at all opposed to paying Kit her share. Probably more than it, with how much was in the case.

"I-it's still too much," she muttered quietly.

"Well, it's there, so you can take it or leave it, I really don't care."

Was Sentinel really this well funded to be throwing lien around like this…? Arex couldn't help but just… stare…

Down at the case, up to his lounging face, back down to the case, even the tree. She didn't know how else to say that she wasn't comfortable taking a payment this large.

"I-I-" Now she just couldn't speak, let alone think through the simple idea of actually bringing the case back to her dorm room and stashing it somewhere to eventually transfer into her account.

What was she even supposed to do with 11 mil in physical lien lying around beneath her bed?

Could she even be inconspicuous about it…?

"Solar flares like this don't happen every day, did you know that?" Ray eventually broke her thoughts nonchalantly, still gazing upward, "I've been keeping an eye on the Sun recently, observing its magnetic field. The last time they'd been this big was four months ago."

"A-and that doesn't hurt your eyes?" Arex asked, finally forcing her gaze away from the money to trace it to his eyes.

"I'm immune to it. My eyes are accustomed to all light conditions. A hereditary trait."

Hereditary… Must be nice, not having to worry about any kind of visibility issues, "I'm just… surprised your eyes don't get damaged at all, staring at it for so long. Let alone able to see the flares bursting without any kind of magnification."

"You ever tried welding and accidentally forgot to flip your mask down? Or been hit by a flashbang?" Ray asked, violet eyes still staring up.

Arex just shook her head to both. She'd never been in either of those kinds of positions, or forgot to actually take that precaution when working.

"Both of those instances are examples of what my eyes are capable of enduring," Ray continued, "They're also really good at spotting an Affinity user."

H-he… wait, what?

As he said that, he turned to look at her with a neutral expression. A gaze that felt anything but neutral.

How? Arex felt herself almost fall back from his calm gaze as she nearly lost her balance, but she carefully took a tighter hold of the case in front of her to keep her in place.

She didn't know if she could believe him on that or if he was just trying to draw something out of her, and she already knew she failed that last part.

"I-I don't see how you'd be able to see something like that if major research organizations haven't been able to find a way to detect it yet."

"You're right. I can't spot that with just a glance," Ray admitted, and for the first time since she got here, actually moved enough to sit himself up fully, "I've been trying to wrap my head around something for a little while, but couldn't connect the dots until now. Why did a world-renowned, anonymous blacksmith choose to come to Beacon? Because from what I could tell, this place is a waste of your time."

Waste of time… That was the lowest on Arex's list, amongst a long series of other reasons why she was attending Beacon.

But she only needed one of them to be here.

"I don't suppose you'd be satisfied if I told you it was just for personal progression, would you…?" she asked slowly.

"I'm not brain dead, there's always more to it than that. And it's almost always personal."

The girl's voice just drew quiet, falling into a mutter, "Then why ask for it, if you know it's going to be personal?"

"Because there are better places than this to train an affinity."

Ray's eyes glowed slightly with that response, indicating a more serious demeanor.

Something she was hesitant to even want to address.

"I don't know anyone, or have any kinds of connections, to find anywhere else but here," Arex spoke with a sigh, feeling closed in all of a sudden, "It's not like my sister's willing to train me, or anyone else I know."

"Controlling it is something instinctual, no one can teach you how to use it, you have to learn it by trial by fire," Ray replied, shaking his head, "Quite literally, in your case. A barren field in the middle of nowhere is better than this puppet factory of a school."

She would've found herself almost agreeing to that… if she hadn't already tried it, "Controlling it is the only thing I want to do. E-even if it's just enough to-"

She stopped herself there as she lightly grabbed her arm, finding herself just wanting to leave instead of confessing just how much she was actually afraid to touch her affinity.

His eyes had stopped glowing now, but she still looked away. Even if his gaze was softer.

"It's not something I want to try alone." Being alone when she tapped into her affinity was the last thing she wanted to try.

She heard him sigh with a soft rustling in the grass, "Look, I'm in no position to judge you for possessing an affinity you can't control. Point is, Arex, I know for a fact that the faculty and the facilities in this place aren't equipped to handle it."

He paused for a moment, and that was enough to draw her strayed attention back. He distractedly plucked a few blades of grass out from beneath him before he turned to look at her.

"I am though."

His final comment hit her harder than the rest of them, something that only fueled that small seed of worry in her about this whole conversation.

This school was one of her few options, and she already knew there was a small chance of Beacon being able to help her. But she immediately held her lips tightly together to hold back any kind of response, just staring at him for a few long seconds before directing her eyes back down to the grass.

He'd already paid her. She could just leave.

He clearly knew more than he let on about Affinities, and she didn't want to test just how much more he knew in worry that his interests in it were a bit further than just an innocent offer to help her gain control over it.

"Why are you offering…?" she asked softly, feeling her legs tense in an urge to just get her up and moving, but the numbness in them kept her in place.

"I understand that my shady behavior and the people I work for are enough to make you doubt my intentions. It's clear you already have enough on your plate without Sentinel knocking on your metaphorical front door," Ray spoke slowly and clearly as he looked at her, "I also know, that from your perspective, I have nothing obvious to gain from helping you control your erratic power, but… knowing that I've given you this offer will hopefully make you reconsider your options. If you'd let me, I'll help you, but your decision is entirely at your discretion."

Her discretion also meant that she didn't have to give her decision right now… or anything close to it, "It's easy to say, but it's hard to trust someone I still know little about. It doesn't help that you keep most of your motives hidden, either."

He had a lot of them, too. From what she could tell.

After a few more moments, she slowly forced herself to her feet, dragging the heavy case with her as she took a step back. It was hard for her to say anything more.

"I've spent half of my life dealing with secrets, so I hope you understand when I tell you it's a prominent difficulty spilling them to people I don't know," Ray responded evenly, "or understand."

She understood that. She really did. But trust for her was never easy, "Guess we both have trust issues."

He didn't say anything in response to that, but she knew she was right.

She almost felt numb as she realized just how much her arms were straining down from the case's weight, shoulders already drawing in tightly to her body as she lowered her chin.

She didn't want to say or ask anything more, so she slowly turned around and silently backtracked the way she came.

Leaving him where she found him.

Anoel almost felt dead as she left Ly's apartment.

It was hard enough trying to keep to that happiness she was exuding to keep Ly's thoughts away from last night's encounter. If it even worked at all. But it was even harder trying to cling to the false hope that telling Ray would even do anything.

Or not telling him.

She tried convincing herself that telling Ray would end poorly. Hours of her thoughts all boiling through her as she poured over drinks at some random bar she stumbled across in the corner of downtown Vale.

She didn't want to bother Niro with this, assuming his bar was even open.

Wherever he is.

There was nothing in her mind that even remotely convinced her that any of her choices were the easy way to go, or the right way. They all led back to Quinn, whether all parties actually knew about her or not.

And all of them got Ly hurt.

Even this one.

But Ano would rather damage what little of a relationship they had between one another than wait for Quinn to come around and hurt Ly all over again, like she did in the past.

And losing Ray would hurt Lylac the most.

It just left her one option.

It didn't help that the one option she had was the hardest one to get herself to follow through with, if it meant going behind Ly's back like this.

Tell him… or wait for Quinn to find him and do it for her.

They both didn't sit well, but it wasn't like this was ever going to be pretty.

Anoel would always choose to hurt herself over letting anyone she cared about get hurt instead. Especially when she could step in their way and take that pain away…

'We need to talk.'

It was an unsent message that's been sitting on the screen of her scroll for an hour now, cursor still blinking tauntingly as she swirled the liquid of another ice-clinking drink around in her refilled glass.

She needed to send it. She had to. But she knew, as soon as she did, she couldn't back out of it.

Not like she wanted to.

"Relationship problems?"

Anoel's eyes glanced up in a distracted glaze to see the bartender standing in front of her, cleaning one of his spare glasses with a white cloth.

She pursed her lips for a moment before setting down her drink, gaze falling back to her scroll in a blank, neutral stare.

"Something like that," she muttered breathlessly.

His face didn't seem to change in the reflection of her alcohol.

He just set down the shining glass he was cleaning to replace it with another wet one.

"Your fault or theirs?" he asked.

"Mine." Or it will be, anyway.

"Something they can forgive?"

She looked away at that to hide her dull grimace, burying her eyes in the shadow of her hat, "God I hope so…"

"Then stop drinking," he continued, his ease in the tense silence of this part of the bar almost unsettlingly reminiscent of Niro's, "You wasting away here won't fix anything."

She knew that. Everybody knew that. But she knew it more than anyone.

Still…

"Can't a girl just be depressed for a few hours…?" she muttered in question, lifting her glass again to tilt its cold rim up to her lips and take a sip.

It burned, but she'd rather feel something than nothing right now.

"Hard to answer that when the girl I'm looking at's been depressed for far longer than just a few hours," he replied back, setting down his second glass to pick up a third.

The gaze she hid away grew narrowed as she dipped her head, lowering her glass away from her face and back to the bar countertop beneath her arms, "Reading people isn't always the first thing you should do."

"Neither is drinking under the stress of your problems."

She didn't like how much he sounded so familiar there, "I was just about to head out, anyway."

One more tip downed the rest of her drink, dropping the icy glass to slide it forward for him to take away as she pushed herself to her feet.

Her gaze came to rest on her scroll again, a dull glare still filtering through her clouded irises for a long few moments before she numbly plucked the device from where it rested.

It was only the soft sound of the bartender placing down his third glass that drew her scarce attention back to him for a moment.

"No, you weren't."

She hated him.

Because he was right.

So she sent Ray her message and left.

"What menial thing have I done now?"

Menial sounded too innocent for this, but Anoel's gaze was too dull to make fun of his question.

They were outside, pulled away from the rest of the school in one of the most secluded gardens of the academy.

She chose it because the groves of trees and flowers were thicker here, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't also just want something pretty to look at while she drew on darker thoughts.

Her gaze eventually fell unfocused, dropping onto the lilac bushes around them, wondering if she could see through the branches if she stared for long enough.

"Ly doesn't want me here," she spoke softly, letting ebony bangs drift slightly in the passing breeze as she cowered lazily away against the tree she leaned on, "She doesn't know I'm here, either."

"And this is my problem?" Ray stood a healthy distance from Ano, leaning against a tree of his own with his arms crossed.

"I'd rather it be yours too rather than just Ly's to bear," Anoel clarified, watching as the colorful textures and hues of the garden's flowers swayed in the wind, branches and leaves all bristling together.

She could feel his eyes narrow, even sense the subtle light starting to emit from his violet irises, "You have my attention."

And he had hers…

Mostly.

"I'll preface this by saying you can't go to her after you know. I don't want to drag her into this more than she already is. She'll get hurt the more I do."

"I'm not liking the way you're speaking about her…" Ray's voice dropped an octave as the illumination in his eyes grew brighter, "What exactly is this?"

Her strayed gaze finally turned to him since they met up, eyes more unsure than he's probably ever seen them, "You won't run off as soon as I say it, will you?"

His eyes narrowed, "I can't promise anything until I know what it is."

"You won't know what it is unless you promise," Anoel countered, eyes almost looking pained as her voice sounded pleading, "I can't let her get hurt."

"If you believe that I can't just leave and find out for myself, you're sorely mistaken," Ray responded lowly, "I live and breathe secrets, getting this from Ly will be as easy as asking for it."

"Ly's the one who begged me not to tell you." Anoel's voice fell in volume as much as it did tone.

"And yet here you are…"

"I'm here because not telling you will only hurt her in the long run far more than she's been hurt in the past."

"Then you had better tell me what it is that's hurting her so I can fix it," Ray's countenance felt malicious. But she knew she deserved that.

"Fixing it will take nothing short of removing it as a problem permanently," Anoel responded just as softly, despite his change in demeanor, "so it'll never come back again."

Why was it so hard to just say it…?

"Again? Implying whatever it is has done it before. If you want to play 21 questions, I'll leave right now and seek my cousin, because at least, from her, I'll get a straight fucking answer."

"I'll give you your straight answer then."

Her voice hardened in its response, drawing back from how far it'd receded in its usual volume.

"Quinn's alive. And she's looking for you, Ray."

His slowly brightening eyes immediately shot to full glow as his entire body stiffened, and while his face held its usual neutral expression, she could see several red flags flashing brightly behind his irises.

He didn't have a response.

She didn't want one.

So she gave him her own.

"We need to kill her, Ray. It's the only way she'll stop."

His eyes had drifted from her to the ground, but after hearing her speak they immediately shot to her fearful white eyes.

The same color she couldn't bear to see in her own sister's eyes.

"You don't need to tell me what I already know."

Ray's voice was a whisper as he began to walk past the info-broker, stopping right next to her as he caught his breath.

"I did it once before… and I'll fucking do it again."

Whelp, no Niro this chapter, still. But I felt he'd get in the way a bit if he was here. He's always doing his own thing…

I wonder what he's up to. Probably something to do with that lion, actually.

As for the prominent issues at hand, yeah, a witch hunt is underway. Somebody's getting hurt and Anoel wants to be the one to stand in the way of that frontal assault.

She hopes it'll work. If not, then she'll keep trying until it does.

Guess we'll see how that goes, since it's all unavoidable.

For now, Favorite and Follow.

I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.

Cya XP