Rogue Huntsman
Uncertainty
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The first things Ano felt when she woke up were an overwhelming sense of soreness and a soft weight laying over her left wing.
It took a few extra moments to realize she wasn't lying in a bloody puddle in the rain anymore… or that her back wasn't sprawled out over the jutting metal and stone rubble of the collapsed building.
She was… on a soft bed.
In a warm room.
Her dull senses were sharp enough to realize the sun wasn't out, the darkness of her closed eyelids making that known as she came to.
Tired eyes slowly drew open as a quiet, strained breath entered her slightly parted lips. Her head was propped up by a fluffy set of pillows, her wings starting to slide ever so slightly against the silk sheets as they tried to wake up too.
Those eyes eventually drew into slivers of glistening color as she realized where she was, resting back again in the familiar bed she was placed in.
She was in Ly's apartment… somehow…
Did… Ray take her back here?
Something glowed faintly in her peripherals, her eyes opening fully again as she glanced down and lifted her head.
A small, holographic girl was lying on her exposed stomach. Her head was propped up by the hands supporting her chin as she kicked her raised feet around behind her, curious face draped in a digital hoodie.
Anoel's gaze immediately tilted as she felt her head quirk instinctively, staring at the small figure with confusion and intrigue.
The projection's head tilted with her.
Ano would've stared longer, but the tiny girl soon shifted her support to just one of her arms as she raised her other over to her side.
Pointing to something next to Anoel on the bed.
The phoenix's gaze followed the direction to the silently sleeping form of her sister curled up over her wing, hands loosely placed against the bed in front of her pale face.
Moonlight from outside seemed to illuminate the room in the same moment, dark clouds passing overhead.
Arex was… here?
How?
The sight was almost too surreal for her. Anoel quietly pressed her hands into the bed just enough to slide her frame down a few inches and move closer.
She brought herself level with her sister, despite all the irritating pinpricks and lashes aggravating her skin.
She just wanted to lie next to her as she slept.
The faint blue light in the corner of her eye faded into nothing as Ano heard the sound of the bedroom door click shut.
If this was any other time… she'd sense to see if she recognized their heat signature.
But she was a little too out of aura to do even that.
A weight eventually settled at the foot of the bed, Anoel's gaze staying on Arex's sleeping face as that movement came to a quiet standstill.
She could probably guess who it was.
"She flew all the way from Beacon to get here in less than 30 seconds… just to make sure you were still alive."
It was Ly's voice who spoke out softly against the silence, Anoel's gaze growing lax just as quickly as it grew uncertain as the phoenix lifted her hand from the bed.
With a reserved tenderness, she gently brushed Arex's bangs out of her face and tucked them behind her ear, illuminating more pale skin in the moonlight of the window.
"Sounds like her…" Ano replied quietly.
"It could have been avoided though…" Ly whispered under her breath.
It could've. Ano knew that. But the uncertainty in her eyes grew as her gaze softened, feeling an aching pain start to settle in.
She was expecting this to go differently…
"Are you mad?" Anoel asked with a subtle quiver, suddenly feeling the weight of everything she'd done start to weigh down on her.
She was expecting Ly to yell at her. Curse at her. Hate her. She was expecting something to happen for what she did… and almost did.
But she couldn't bring herself to just let it go. She couldn't just let Quinn go...
"After picking you up and putting you back together, praying that Ray's heart didn't stop for the third time, and bringing myself to fake a smile to calm your sister's nerves… I didn't have the time to be angry."
Anoel grimaced at every little thing Ly listed off.
Her voice was so collected, calm in the peaceful silence of the room, but there was emotion there that wasn't addressed.
Emotion Ly was consciously leaving out.
"So no, I'm not mad… I'm worried."
That part hurt even more, bringing out more and more of that uncertainty in Anoel's eyes as she felt confusion start to sink in.
Why wasn't she mad at her…? She'd done everything she told her she wouldn't do, and nearly got herself killed doing it. Nearly got Ray killed while doing it.
T-This was the p-part where everything she did wrong would come full circle.
Anoel slowly dropped her hand from where it softly stroked Arex's cheek and turned a dull gaze to Ly sitting on the bed.
But all she could see was the back of her shoulder, and the side of her face in the moonlight.
She was looking away from her.
"How's Ray?" Anoel found herself asking, despite everything else she wanted to say. He was there with her, and he fought for her.
But she had nothing to show for it but a bruised and battered body.
"He took a spear through the chest to save your life, despite having no reason to do so," Ly responded quietly. "He's alive, but barely functioning. Won't stop him from waking up tomorrow though…"
Ano's eyes narrowed as her chest stung at those words, feeling her heart turn to lead and threaten to pull her down with how far it dropped.
It was all the more reason to be angry with her…
That was her fault.
Her gaze drifted to the side as she drew in a shaky breath, feeling her brittle self start to close in. Her voice wasn't even above a whisper anymore.
"I'm sor-"
"I forgive you, Ano…" Ly interrupted as her eyes finally turned to her. "I'd already forgiven you when you came here covered in your own blood… and I don't care how much you hate hearing those words. I. Forgive. You."
The girl stood from the bed and walked closer to Ano, kneeling by the side of the bed as she continued. Ano's pained eyes only grew increasingly more distant the closer that comforting warmth grew.
"I don't care if you broke your promise. I don't even care if doing so nearly got both of you killed. But what I do care about… is the fact that you're still here. Alive."
Anoel tried to keep her gaze away, struggling to find the smallest of ways to let it dully stay staring at the pillow on the bed, but it closed away instead.
She just felt cold and broken, hearing those words in Ly's soft, forgiving voice. Hearing that quiet, caring tone despite what she did.
Her entire body shook slightly on the bed as she opened her eyes, dark blue irises shrouded in a gleam of water as Ano finally brought her gaze to find Ly's in the shimmering light of the moon.
"W-Why won't you just hate me…? Why a-are you even forgiving me?" Anoel's voice broke as the first of her tears were shed, cascading down her face in a silvery glisten against the window's light.
Ly's hand made its way to Ano's cheek as she slowly climbed up to sit beside her. "Because it would be too easy to hate you... You made a mistake, and yeah… it was a big fucking mistake… but that won't ever change my opinion of you…"
Ly dipped her forehead down to rest it against Ano's, the phoenix's crying eyes trying to fight the aching pain shooting through her heart every time Ly spoke.
"And no matter how much you beg or cry… I'm not going to punish you for it or push you away."
Anoel's watery eyes softened in their lost stare, lips quivering the more she looked into Ly's firm gaze.
That part broke Ano... The growing uncertainty overwhelmed her, tear-filled eyes finally squeezing shut as she dropped her head away from Ly's and let it fall against her shoulder.
Her own shoulders started to shake as her breathing turned ragged, numb fingers taking a tight hold of Ly's shirt as she broke down.
This wasn't fair.
H-How was any of this fair?
She was supposed to hate her. She was supposed to be angry. She w-wasn't… she wasn't supposed to forgive her.
S-She...
Ly's arms moved to cradle Ano as she cried against her, fingers soon running through the phoenix's hair as Ly embraced her broken form.
"You jump through flaming rings just to help other people, but you won't ever let anyone do the same for you…" she whispered gently into Ano's ear.
Anoel's grip grew tighter as she buried her face further into Ly's neck, just falling more and more apart at the words Ly was uttering.
"You need to learn that you're not the only one who gets to care… because the only parts of you I hate most are the same things I love best, Ano."
Ly slowly climbed onto the bed as she cradled Ano's head against her, sliding onto the covers to lie down next to her.
Anoel's loose arms immediately pulled herself against Ly, aching legs drawing in as she clung to the warm body holding her.
They stayed like that for an hour, Ly just holding Ano against her as the phoenix's walls finally came crumbling down.
Who knew keeping myself busy from Anoel could be this… straining.
Sure, I could find jobs to eat up my time. I did that for my first weekend at Beacon. Ozpin knew I wouldn't stick around willingly for two days without any kind of obligation holding me there.
But now I had to fill my time even more… considering she wants to do this on her own.
Did I feel left out?
No.
This was her personal business with settling a vendetta she's had brewing since she was 13. She'd wanted to slit that woman's throat ever since.
And now she has the chance.
But she wants to do it alone.
Without me.
Fair enough.
If I can't kill her target, I'll just have to find something else to kill. If I was even allowed to do that, anyway.
'Why were you at the docks?'
Kit didn't sleep last night, so it was surprising to see her lift her head and ears from the pillow she'd been clutching at the sound of the ping.
My scroll's ping.
Anoel was getting curious… or angry.
'Had a job.' I sent back, silencing the scroll to keep it from annoying the kitsune on her bed.
'No you didn't. You wanted to be there.'
I did have a job, but it was an unpaid one. And one I didn't want to tell her about.
'I got curious.' I replied, cold eyes watching the cursor flash a few times before I heard shuffling come from across the room.
Kit was getting up.
Shouldn't you be napping in your tails… or something…?
'You don't get curious.'
'Of course I do.' Learning anything wasn't possible without some hint of that. 'Didn't I have Arex teach me a thing or two about cooking?'
'That's because she hated the fact you were training her for free.'
That… would not be what I'd call 'training'. Training involved work, pain, and some level of progression. She had two of those.
But actual, real progression wasn't one of them. No, just getting better with a sword didn't quantify a gain of experience if you didn't know why you were holding the damn thing in the first place.
She was getting better in one category because that's what society wanted of her.
She was getting better at using a tool effectively because she was supposed to.
Arex was only distracting herself from the one thing she wanted to train, but couldn't approach.
'Point is, Niro, you were at the docks last night. I want to know why.'
Like hell I was. Sure, I was standing on a shipping container watching the fight unfold, but did I really need a reason?
Reasons meant the presence of a purpose. Or even a desire.
I lacked both of those.
It's why I didn't have a drive.
'You're lying to yourself right now, aren't you…?'
No. I was monologuing the logistics of humanity in a nutshell, and my lack thereof.
'Why are you dodging it?' Anoel persisted, four messages stacking together on my screen as I read the words over again.
She wanted to know why I was there? Fine. 'I was there to break a promise. Just like you.'
Ano knew how much I loathed making promises in the first place. Let alone making ones impossible to even keep.
Breaking them was even worse, but nothing beat making a promise and knowing you were going to break it.
But some things couldn't be avoided.
'Whose?'
For once in your damned life, Anoel, stop second-guessing every little thing you do and think.
Nobody was a saint.
Nobody was asking you to try to be one.
'Yours.'
It was yours, Ano. Yours was the promise I wanted to break.
Her messages went silent for a long few minutes, long enough for me to finally realize the odd lapse in pressure on the bed I sat on.
My eyes turned down to look past my scroll, finding Kitsuki curled up at the foot of it.
When the hell did she get there?
'I asked you to keep out of it.'
Anoel's message finally flashed onto the screen, forcing me to drag my gaze back to the black scroll glowing abrasively in my hands.
'You asked me to let you die.' That wasn't part of the deal. That was never part of the deal. Did she think I actually wanted that?
'Would you have stepped in… if I was?'
Would I have…? I flexed my glove for a second as I tipped my head back, burning the white color of the ceiling into my mind.
Come to think of it, I wasn't thinking when I followed her to the docks. I didn't need to.
That was where I needed to be. I didn't know I needed a reason to be there.
That reason was what she was trying to claw out of me.
How could she though... if I didn't know it myself?
I could send her almost anything for my answer. Like she would've been fine, or there were others already on the way to help, or Quinn wouldn't have killed her, or the fact that she was holding her own just fine during the fight itself.
'Yes.'
But I wasn't going to lie to her.
She wasn't going to be fine. Quinn would have killed her.
And she wasn't holding her own well at all. She was pretending to. She ran in there and left everything behind with Arex and Lylac.
She wasn't fighting to win.
She was fighting to lose.
And she almost did.
'What am I to you, Niro?'
What was she to me?
Was it unfair to just say 'everything'? To say she was the only one that seemed to care I existed?
To admit she was the only reason why I didn't go nuclear when my father was shot?
'That's not a question I know an answer to.' I typed back.
There was another pause before she responded.
'When you find your answer, I'll be waiting to hear it. In person, if you're willing.'
Don't say things like that.
You never know how long you'll be waiting for.
But I guess that's a lesson she chooses never to learn.
It wasn't long before morning had come and gone. She wanted to spend it with Arex and Ly after messaging Niro, and she did.
For what she could of it, anyway.
But this?
This was… unnecessary.
Ano usually never felt humiliated. Ever.
And she still didn't feel it here either.
But she had to admit, it had to be pretty humiliating for him to think his words were actually doing something.
"Un. Be. Lievable."
Dante had the nerve to be berating them.
"This has by far been the most boneheaded, irresponsible thing I've ever witnessed in my life. Excluding my counts of occasional stupidity within recent years."
Anoel's arms just crossed as she leaned against the couch's back frame, choosing to stand on her battered legs instead of sitting down while he ranted.
She didn't want to feel like he was talking down to her. Which it definitely felt like anyway.
Ray didn't look all too bothered. He was sat at the breakfast bar.
Calmly eating cereal.
"You, I expected this from if you knew what was going on, to which I still would have said 'utterly stupid move'," Dante continued, pointing to Ray. "But you? Come on. You're supposed to be the smarter one here."
His gaze fell on Ano, but all she did was roll her eyes at it.
"I think you have that backwards," she muttered back, glancing to Ray by his cereal bowl. "He's the smart one. I'm the emotional one, thank you very much."
Then again, they both let their emotions run rampant at the docks.
"No, I don't have it backwards. I have it pretty much right considering I'd expect something this stupid from Ray, not you."
"And what makes you think you know me?" Anoel cut back harshly, snapping her gaze back to him. "At what point did you ever decide that you can take one look at me and read me like an open book?"
"Let me tell you something Littler Bird, I've worked with your type dozens of times before in all sorts of situations. I know how your type thinks and operates. And, I know for a fact when they do stupid things like this, they're the first to die unless a miracle swoops in from the outer confines of the universe. Which thankfully in your case, it did this time."
He wanted to categorize her, was that it? "You still think you know me… It just comes down to classifications for you, doesn't it? Little folders you store your precious little associates in to classify all their predictable decision making. Not everyone falls into your little sorter so perfectly."
He let out a faint laugh briefly. "You think so huh? You're more naive than I thought. True, it's not entirely perfect. But if you could actually know what I was thinking, you'd know I don't believe in perfection. And you'd certainly know my predictions of outcomes are very much spot on."
"If they were so spot on then why weren't you there?" Ano asked with a huff, biting through the pain as she tightened her crossed arms over her chest. She didn't want to deal with this right now. "And I don't need to know what you're thinking to know what you're planning. It's engraved in every tiny little action you do."
"Neither of you should have been there," Ray finally spoke from his seat at the breakfast bar.
His spoon dropped into his bowl as his gaze bore into the splashing milk.
"Quinn isn't either of your problems, so your desires to get even with her are completely void of any logical reasoning."
"That wasn't me trying to get even with her," Ano growled, her irritation dangling by a very thinly drawn thread as she switched her gaze to Ray. "That was me taking four mental years of pain and trying to drive it like a stake back into her desolate heart."
"Still doesn't make it your problem, Anoel…" Ray muttered in reply, still focused on his bowl of cereal. "Hell… She isn't even Ly's problem anymore, either."
"It doesn't matter who's problem she is now," Dante said, looking between the two of them. "The fact is that she is a problem that needs to be dealt with using an actual, thought out plan. Not some half-cocked scheme a twelve-year-old makes on the spur of the moment."
"Funny. That's what happened the first time I got rid of her," Ray replied evenly.
"If you call that 'getting rid of her', you really are stupid. Whatever hocked up shit plan you made back then clearly didn't work, because she was still standing there and nearly ghosted the two of you with minimal effort."
Ray slammed his spoon down against the surface of the bar before pushing himself to his feet. A harsh crash striking the ground as his stool toppled over, Ray moving to stand eye-to-eye with Dante.
"Really? You think I didn't fucking notice that?" he spat, violet eyes faintly glowing. "I didn't exactly have the best tools and equipment as an enslaved twelve-year-old back then, Dante. So why don't you shut your fucking mouth and cut me some slack. Or is that too hard for you and your holier-than-thou demeanor?"
This was getting annoyingly out of hand.
"Sit down before you hurt yourself, Tinman. And listen to what others have to say for once. Or is that too hard for you?"
"Before I hurt myself? What the fuck are you going to do exactly? Stab me?" Ray angrily gestured to the patch on his bare chest, the one covering the hole through his body.
"Me? Oho, I'm just gonna stand here, watching you pathetically flail your arms at me to no effect, and also watch you break your own wrists of your own accord. So think very carefully before you try to take a swing at me."
"I didn't wake up to be antagonized by an arrogant piece of shit. So don't come here and start."
"And I didn't walk into a blatantly obvious trap and nearly get myself killed. Nor did I agree to help kill someone without thinking very carefully how to do so. So, sit down and shut it."
"Think?" Ray snapped, fury burning in his harsh, amethyst eyes. "We didn't exactly have time to think, you fucking moron! You think she'd give us that luxury?! How brain dead do you think she is?! If we didn't go, it was her life on the line!"
His finger pointed to Lylac standing outside on the balcony, peacefully enjoying her company with Arex.
"And I'm not saying you shouldn't have gone! Now for the last time, sit down and listen!"
Ray turned around aggressively, walking straight toward the balcony. "Nothing you have to say is going to rectify this situation. Nothing. Neither of you has a fucking clue who you're dealing with and I refuse to wait around for her to get away again."
Ano was getting fed up with this. Actually, she'd reached that point far before now. But this was getting them nowhere.
"You're right. Nobody has a clue what we're dealing with," Ano muttered dryly, Ray's steps drilling to a stop as his hand fell to the balcony's door. "Not even you…"
"I know that she's after me... Not Ly. Not you," Ray turned to look over his shoulder, glaring at Dante behind glowing eyes. "And you don't even have the right to be here."
"And that's the problem," Anoel said, leaning away from the couch to face him. "Do you have any idea what it would do to Ly if you died? Or fell back into Quinn's hands?"
"Yeah…" Ray darkly chortled as he muttered the affirmation under his breath. "I know exactly what it would do. But it's better me than her."
"It's better nobody sacrificed themselves than somebody. But none of us should give her any more reason to kill anybody than we already have," Ano replied.
"That I agree with," Dante cut back in. "But honestly, answer this for me, no sarcasm or anything involved here, how difficult would it have been to send word for backup? One word, three letters. SOS. And I would have gotten to you very, very, very quickly."
"You haven't figured it out by now…?" Anoel's voice fell in volume and tone as she dropped her arms to her sides. "This. Isn't. Your. Fight."
"You asked for my help. And with what little you managed to whisk away from my head, you of all people should have known people and things like that devil woman are my area of expertise," Dante retaliated. "You asked for my help, and I would have unquestionably given it at any moment's time."
"Yes, I asked for your help. But what kind of solace would that bring if you came in and dealt with her just like all the other little side projects of yours you like to take up? All for the sake of the people she hurt? There's no point in taking that away from them. Sure, you can help, but you never get it through your head what exactly you should be helping with instead of what you think you need to do to take something over."
Ano moved past Ray now, turning just half a gaze back to Dante.
"And I'm shocked. Honestly, I am. I thought you above anyone else would know that sometimes you have to become a monster to deal with things that are far worse than yourself. That 'devil' woman you want to deal with so badly? She's no different."
"This isn't about me trying to take over your deal. This is about two things, Anoel. The first, you have a resource, free of charge basically, that has worked in this area countless times before. Use it. And the second, this is about preventing a catastrophe. I get this is personal, for both of you. But it's no excuse to throw yourselves aimlessly at the dark and expect to come out alive."
"That wasn't aimless," Ano muttered under her breath. "And I wasn't expecting to."
The seal of the glass door cracked as she slid it open, the coastal breeze slipping through the curtains before threading through her hair.
"The reason wasn't aimless, I respect that much. But the method… Did you think for a second even what that might've done to your friend? Your sister? Nosferatu even? What if Shades and I never showed up at all?"
Ano's gaze turned dull as she dropped her head to the side, letting the corner of her eyes peer down at the floor beside Dante and Ray behind her. "I did… for far longer than a second."
She caught a glimpse through the curtains of her sister and Ly on the balcony, leaning against the railing by the pool.
They were out of hearing range.
"I'm thankful the two of you actually showed up. Don't get me wrong there. But I can't stand by and let you solve the personal problem that's been a plague to Ly and Ray's wellbeing."
"I'm not asking you to hand this over to do it personally or anything like that. I'm asking you take me with you next time so I can make sure you come home afterward. Alive mind you and very much intact."
"Then try to understand the gravity of the situation before you lecture us for doing our job…" Ray quietly muttered to himself, staring at his clenched fists. "You claim a lot for someone who has nothing to show for it, Dante."
"I understand perfectly. I just don't want a repeat of this event anytime soon with worse results."
"You don't though, all you've been told is that we want her dead, but you don't know exactly why we want it that way," Ray replied evenly. "She's not your typical, run-of-the-mill villain."
Ano brought her gaze away again as she let it level softly on the conversation Ly and Arex were sharing just outside. "She's a person."
"Your case isn't the first I've seen. Nor the last unfortunately. But that's exactly why I'm frustrated with what happened to you guys, and specifically with you two. So please, let me actually help next time rather than just being willy-nilly about it."
"If this case, these exact circumstances, are something you're familiar with, then you'd do better to show some goddamn consideration before lecturing me over the one thing I know how to do," Ray replied, turning to face Dante directly. "They may have asked for your help, but I didn't. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't want it anyway. I don't know you, and you don't know me. So how am I expected to trust you with less than three interactions?"
He paused, taking a moment to walk over to the breakfast bar.
"You keep speaking like this was a complete and total failure, but it wasn't. And I'll tell you why, right now."
He picked up his empty bowl and spoon before carrying them over to the sink and placing them inside, quickly washing them as he lifted his gaze to Anoel and Dante.
"The Quinn you saw last night isn't the same Quinn I knew. She's behaving carefully. And that's a big fucking change for her. The Dust she used on me was a prime example of that."
"She wasn't just behaving carefully," Anoel replied softly. "She was desperate."
Desperate to find someone.
Someone who was taken from her.
"Desperate how?" Dante asked.
"Like if she doesn't act now…" Anoel muttered back, "she'll lose something forever."
"And she needs me to find it. Which begs the question…" Ray added.
"What is she after exactly...?" Dante said, raising a hand to his chin. "How desperate was she?"
"She was fighting dirty, not methodically like she usually would. And where she would be playful and taunting, everything she said was spoken with an air of purpose," Ray listed evenly. "The fact that she's desperate for my help means she doesn't have a lot of time to find what she's looking for. It's making me question if we have to kill her…"
"We don't," Anoel answered for him, voice dead in the fading wind.
"Shit…" Dante said, as if he had a realization. "I think I understand what she's after. And you may be right, we might not exactly have to kill her."
"Now you know that you don't understand it perfectly, fortunately for us, you're not a complete idiot," Ray said back.
"I was talking about your motives before. I didn't necessarily think about hers given she was slapping you about like a wet fish."
Ano didn't think either of them knew what was really going on.
It wasn't as easy as understanding the simple fact that she's after something.
It only went as far as coming to terms with why she was after it so desperately.
And Anoel was still trying to come to terms with understanding why she suddenly didn't want to kill her anymore…
Like she'd always wanted to ever since she met Ly.
Like she'd always thought that woman deserved.
"Either way… She wouldn't fight that hard unless it was something very important. More important than any physical object or-"
"It's a person," Anoel cut him off, drifting her gaze away from the two on the balcony to her feet. "She's after a loved one."
"I was gonna say that, but thank you for pulling the rug out from under my feet," Dante said, briefly raising up his arms.
She could feel Ray's interest silently pique at her words, even without looking at him.
"So she spent a year and a half torturing us because she was after someone she cared about?" Ray asked incredulously.
"I'm not saying what she did was right," Ano clarified, her grip on the door starting to loosen. "I'm saying she had a reason behind it all. I still can't forgive what she's done, but we have a way to turn her away from the two of you for good."
Ray's voice grew quiet. "I think I can speak for the both of us when I say we just want her gone."
"That's good and all, but I don't think simply saying 'we know' is gonna get her off their backs. If she believes Ray is her best bet at finding this important person, she'll keep persisting unless she has a different resource available. And unless you have one…"
"Then I'll find whoever she's looking for…" Ray responded. "And let bygones be bygones."
"I need to start digging around," Ano tacked on firmly, turning a glance back to Ray to let him know she wasn't letting this go. "I'll find whatever relations she's had and what her past was like. Not everything can be erased."
He nodded in response. "Once you find them, if you find them, I'll do the rest."
Ray turned to Dante. "In the meantime, you promise to keep us alive?"
"Do you really need to ask me that? Of course. I'll keep her and anyone else off your backs."
"Good. Then it's settled. We find this missing person, then bring them to her. And hopefully, she'll fuck off for good."
If only it were that easy…
"How's the whole 'genius inventor' thing working out for you? On top of the baking, of course," Ly asked Arex chirpily.
"It's not really a 'genius' kind of thing, to be honest," Arex replied softly, glancing back toward her sister and the two with her behind them before looking away. "It's more me just messing around. But it's working out, I guess. It's a side project."
"You're making money off of it though, right?" Ly questioned in response. "Wouldn't make sense if you weren't."
"A bit," Arex replied with a small grimace. She didn't like the sound of making money off it. "I get credit and royalties for inventions, and get paid for the occasional contract, but most of my projects are just my own personal interests. They all go up into a public domain at the end of the day."
Ly shrugged a little. "Well, you know what they say; if you're good at something, don't do it for free."
"I guess it's not really for free, still," Arex offered with a small shrug. "I make decent pay from it. But I'm more interested in just seeing how far I can get with the work I do."
"That's fair enough, so long as you're making enough to fund it and pocket a little on the side after paying bills, there's really no real reason to take it to the extremes," Ly commented, smiling at the younger girl.
Arex found her gaze trailing away from that smile after she saw it, feeling too bashful to really address it. "I am. What I make from it either goes toward future project materials or the bakery. There really isn't too much that goes into pocket."
She wasn't a professional. It was more of an amateurish passion for her.
"I bet that stupid bribe that my idiot cousin gave you isn't helping much either," Ly remarked, giving the boy a narrowed glare for a moment before turning her gaze back to the horizon.
"Y-Yeah…" Arex actually felt a little ashamed of being forced into a position to accept that case of lien, leaning more heavily into her arms on the railing. "I don't really know what to do with that, to be honest. I've never had to deal with that much before."
"You want my advice?" Ly asked, turning to face the phoenix with an earnest glance.
Arex gave a tiny nod as she glanced back at the woman, the tip of her sneaker tapping against the marble ground.
"There are two useful ways of getting rid of that floating cash; you can store it away, maybe a personal bank or vault. Something like that," Ly spoke honestly, with a sincere tone and expression. "Or you invest in something you think is worthwhile. Putting money, time, and dedication into it so you can watch it grow."
Arex's smile turned a little sheepish as she sought out Ly's gaze for a moment, an unsureness lingering in her own. "I'm probably going to invest it into something. I don't like the feeling of having that much stored away anywhere I live… and I wouldn't really use it for much, either. My projects really aren't ambitious enough to need a large funding."
"The kid you got it from built an artificial intelligence matrix at age 12. I don't really blame you for not wanting that much physical cash on you," Ly replied, gently placing her hand on Arex's head and rubbing her hair a little. "That much money puts a target on your back anyway."
The phoenix didn't like hearing that last part, despite dipping her head a little and blushing faintly from the touch to her hair. "That's… kind of the reason why I use an alias, just to keep my personal information away from the public."
She couldn't help but sigh as she gave a little, tiny smile, but it held much more concern than it did amusement.
"People probably think I'm rich or something, with how many projects enter circulation." The sour truth of it was that Arex wasn't a deal maker. She only made enough to break even and fund projects.
"There are two types of people in this world, sweetheart. You have your thinkers, and you have your doers," Ly replied, smiling down at the younger girl. "I look at you and I can safely say you're both. You deserve the money you earn because you think hard and work harder to achieve your personal goals."
Arex looked away at that, her unsure gaze coming back again. "My personal goals aren't really as ambitious as your cousin's, though. And I don't really know how to get them to be."
Ly gave Arex a sympathetic gaze as she placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "They don't have to be. He lives and breathes this stuff, it's all he's known for years. But what he does affects a larger scale of industries and markets than what you do. So don't worry about it."
Arex gave a tiny smile in return for the gesture, but her unsureness only got worse. "Is it bad that I kind of want it though? To actually start aiming a little higher than I am now?"
"Not at all. Expansion in your shared line of work is natural. If you want to aim higher and raise the stakes, then go for it. No one's stopping you but yourself," Ly's voice was gentle and considerate of Arex's uncertainty as she lightly shook her head, the woman's hand squeezing her shoulder a little more.
The reassurance helped, but it also didn't help that Arex's anxiety always held no qualms happily holding her back from the things she finds intimidating.
And that… was unequivocally intimidating.
There was no way around that.
"I want to…" Arex spoke with an exasperated sigh. "But I'm really good at holding myself back. I've never really had much guidance, so nobody's helped me move forward but myself. And things like this always feel impossible for me."
"Ray didn't have it either. Sure, he had a little boost from his father, but the rest he did by himself," Ly spoke assuredly as her smile brightened a little. "I get that you may not have his iron will and his intolerance for failure, but honestly, I think he takes this stuff way too seriously sometimes."
"Yeah, he does…" Arex returned, casting a small amused smile to the side. "I've worked with him a little, and that was more than enough to see his work effort. It's just… I'm not like that. And I don't think I can ever become like that."
She hadn't received a boost from anyone. She was afraid of failure. She didn't have a strong will. Sometimes her determination wasn't even enough to get over her own fears.
She was lacking in all of those.
"You're two very different people, but you share a passion for the same thing. What you lack in confidence and determination, he lacks in patience and a collected temperament," Ly explained carefully. "I've seen him work, he gets irritated quickly and breaks more than he creates sometimes. I imagine you're not like that."
"W-Well, no… not really," Arex muttered back, quietly lowering her gaze. She guessed that was something she had going for her.
"My point exactly."
Ly tilted her head as she spoke, a little smirk crossing over her lips.
"You're capable of progression just as much as he is."
She honestly didn't really see herself like that. Not the way Ly was seeing her, it seemed. But Arex found herself giving a thankful smile anyway.
She wasn't confident enough to say that Ly may have been right, but it was good to know somebody believed in her.
Even just a little bit.
"I can try, I guess. But I hardly know where to even start," the phoenix responded. "Or how to do it."
"I can't give you that answer, I'm afraid. That's something only you can figure out." Ly's hand rubbed the top of Arex's head before she turned to face Anoel.
Arex dipped her chin again under the action. That wasn't going to be an easy thing to figure out.
"You going to idle there all day, or are you going to engage in a conversation?"
Anoel had been leaning against the railing nearby, her arms laxly placed on the guard to help her weight stay standing. She felt sore, but not enough to weigh her down entirely.
"I was just waiting to see if you could talk some confidence into Arex. She always struggles with that," Ano said, turning her gaze from the sea below to Ly's own.
"She's a smart girl, she can do it if she tries," Ly responded evenly, sparing a soft glance to the younger phoenix.
Anoel watched Arex shy away from the words again before Ly's gaze turned back to her.
"As for you, I think you'd like a bath, no?"
Ano's body visibly went a little weak at that thought, head tilting just slightly to entertain the relaxing idea.
Her wounds weren't deep. They were just plentiful enough in number to litter her body and suck her aura dry.
She'd be fine enough to soak in a tub of water for a little while.
"That sounds nice," she answered earnestly, drawing her gaze to her sister as she gave the girl a soft smile. "Arex, honey, I don't want you staying in the dorm for a while. If Kit's there, can you two pack some bags and come back here?"
Ano's eyes drifted back to Ly's, silently apologizing for dropping this on her.
"Would you mind looking after them for a while? Maybe a week? I need to help Ray with something once I'm on my feet. We think we have a doable plan."
Ly nodded. "You already knew the answer to that before you asked me."
Of course she did… Anoel couldn't help but see the small trace of excitement in Ly's tired gaze, finding the prospect of her finally spending some time with Arex adorable.
"You've always wanted to meet her," Anoel replied teasingly, shooting an amused glance to Arex's confused face. "I figured you'd like to spend a little time with her now that you have. And you get to meet her cute little partner too."
"I only wish it was under better circumstances, but there's not much anyone can do about that now. Besides, it sounds like fun. Now take your clothes off, you need to be cleaned," Ly replied in an uncharacteristically excited tone of voice, flashing Anoel a toothy grin.
Ano's own gaze narrowed in challenge at that as a hot blush began to form, a little startled to hear that kind of statement leaving Lylac's lips.
Usually she was the one to say those things…
"Well, nothing like overbearing danger to finally get you two together. And I don't know if you noticed, but I can't exactly bend my body around right now to get out of my clothes," Anoel responded evenly, turning herself around to lean her back against the high railing behind her. "You put me in them this morning. Not me."
A small smile tugged at Ano's lips as she saw her sister's growing discomfort with the way the conversation was turning.
Arex's face was already cutely red, and she knew that Anoel knew about it. So she was quick to do as she was asked and slipped her wings out of her sweater, quietly taking off from the balcony to head back to their dorm.
"Getting old already, Ano?" Ly asked cheekily, raising a brow. "Or is this you asking for assistance again? I don't mind taking your clothes on and off."
Anoel opened her mouth to respond, but her blush only got worse as she snapped it shut, turning her head away. "I-I just need a little help."
Someone else's footsteps made their way across the marble balcony as they spoke. "I'm going out, got business to attend."
Ly's head snapped to Ray standing on the ledge of the balcony, her eyes widening as he let his center of gravity tilt toward the ground below them.
"Ray don-" she made an attempt to stop his descent, but could only watch as his frame fell from 40 stories, hearing a loud crash and the wailing of a car alarm a few seconds after.
"Whelp… he was useful while he lasted," Ano quipped, peering over the edge after him. "He's probably fine."
Ly let out an exasperated sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "He'll be fine… but if Quinn and gravity fail to kill him, I'll do it myself…"
Ano hummed softly as she crossed one ankle behind the other, getting comfortable on the railing again. "And here I was hoping you'd slay me first."
Ly let her body relax with a deep breath as she crossed the small distance between them and lifted Ano up in a bridal carry. "Not before I get you clean."
Ano's body was way too sore to protest as it was, but it wasn't like she wanted to say no to Ly picking her up.
It was actually kind of exhilarating. Giving her body's control up like this.
It brought another soft blush to her cheeks.
"As long as you don't mind getting wet, I'm not opposed to that," Ano voiced cheekily again, a happy flutter in her tone.
"Only one between us that'll really be getting wet is you. I said that I wasn't going to punish you for acting reckless, but that doesn't mean I don't expect you to make up for it," Ly replied evenly, carrying Ano inside and walking through the living room.
Anoel went quiet as they headed toward the hallway, Ly's words reminding her of last night's events when she woke up.
She… had a lot she wanted to make up for.
When they reached the master bedroom, Ly came to a gentle stop, turning her gaze back down to see Ano's distracted one.
"And you can start by having a bath. I can feel the tension in your muscles through your clothing."
It took a moment, but Anoel returned the comment with a slight smile. "As long as you're okay with giving me one. And… I do want to make it up to you. All of it."
Ano's voice grew softer as she looked away again.
She owed her so much more than that, but it was a place to start, at least.
Ly's gaze softened as she brought Anoel's eyes back to stare into her own. "You know that I'll jump at the opportunity to help you, even if I have been running on no sleep. As for you making it up to me, I'll take your word for it."
The thief spared a moment to plant a light kiss on Ano's warm cheek before pushing the door open and entering her bedroom.
Anoel's response got caught in her throat from the rising heat in her face, the info-broker uncharacteristically dropping her gaze away after the chaste little kiss.
It was rare for Ly to do that.
Lylac set Ano down on the bed once they crossed the room, moving to open the door to the private bathroom after letting Anoel's balance come back to her.
"After the bath, you should get some sleep," Anoel finally voiced out, gaze watching Ly make her way into the bathroom. "I'll start thinking of ways to make it up to you while you do."
A small sigh escaped Ly as she returned to the bedroom after letting the faucets run. "I'm not going to do that until your sister and her partner are here, need to make sure they get settled before I can allow myself some rest."
Ano sighed at the response and placed a hand against the bed, letting it support her weight as she leaned forward and gave Ly a soft but firm gaze. "You can let me handle that. I don't want you pushing yourself and eventually crashing."
"By the time they get here, either Ray will be back, or one of the other two will wake up. You can barely stand, let alone help those girls settle down. I'll be fine."
Anoel's gaze grew softer as her breath left her, biting her lip. Ly was right. "Promise me you'll sleep as soon as they're settled."
"Only if you promise not to push yourself once I do," Ly countered, sharing the same gentle look.
Ano's gaze dropped, but she needed to make up for breaking her last promise.
She didn't want to do that again. She didn't want to ever do that again.
"I promise," Anoel voiced softly, bringing her gaze back to Ly's eyes. "And that's a promise I won't break."
"Good."
Ly wasn't hesitant to kiss Anoel again, only this time, it was on the lips.
She was tired, and didn't possess the willpower to restrain herself like she usually would.
The soft contact immediately drew a quiet squeak out of Ano's lips the second before she kissed back, locking up slightly on the bed under the action.
Her blush from before came back stronger this time, and she couldn't help but breathe a little more shakily at the sudden lurch of her heart in her chest.
These kisses were starting to catch Ano off guard, even if she saw them coming.
They just felt… different. Somehow.
And she sucked at hiding it.
Okay, I have an important question to ask.
Because this current arc is centered around Anoel and Arex (due to Quinn's involvement), Niro's honestly taking a very harsh backseat for most of it.
I'll be getting to him, and he'll be getting involved again once the thingy happens that I have planned down the line, but he'll be pretty uninvolved leading up to it.
Soooo… I was thinking of throwing him into a few Omakes at the ends of these upcoming chapters (something Shepherd239 suggested). Things that can humorously juxtapose his character.
It's honestly just a way to keep him involved without destroying the delicate plot currently in-place.
Let me know if that's actually worth it to see. Otherwise, Niro will be a no-show for a little while.
His role here isn't as important as it will be down the line. I might be able to fit small segments of him in, but this arc really does focus on Ano and Arex. He takes back over after them.
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