Rogue Huntsman
Fabrication
«»
"How are you two dry already?"
Skyla flicked her wet hands at the leaves of some nearby brush, scattering water droplets into the bushes before patting at her leggings.
The lion and I stared at her for a few long seconds as she kicked at the ground and shook her hands out again.
"Because we're actually competent with what we can do," I offered, catching an annoyed look from her.
"Come on! I'm soaked!" Skyla flailed her arms around again and tried to ring out her hair. "What's a girl gotta do to get un-wet?"
"Stop being annoying for one thing," I replied. She immediately gave me a sour look, almost like being this wet and cold was really that much of a hassle. "Why don't you do it yourself?"
"Because I don't want to microwave myself!" She flailed again.
Part of me just wanted to see her suffer. "You're just trying to get out of doing the work yourself."
She looked appalled, and proceeded to flail again. "N-No I'm not!"
"Then I can shake you out if you'd like," I said. My voice was starting to lose some of its edge as she gave me another wide-mouthed look of insult, then held up her arms in invitation to be picked up.
"Try me," she challenged.
Looks like I was snapping her arms after all-
A silencing, concussive roar whipped Skyla's hair back as she snapped her eyes closed. My own turned to see the lion standing tense beside me, paws digging into the roots and dirt as he ripped the cold temperature out of the air.
Whatever swirling, chill breeze that was settled in the area around Skyla vanished, replaced with a flash of heat and a gale of wind from the lapse in air pressure.
Then Skyla was dry. Frazzled, but dry.
Crystal blue eyes looked up at me as the lion snapped his maw shut, giving me a narrow gaze.
"What?"
He huffed and shook his mane, the tense muscle in his shoulders relaxing before he slowly turned around. The crystal we still had sat encased in a block of white ice behind him. It kept the poison inside it at bay.
For now, at least.
"Thank you, kitty!" An unceremonious fwop and a thwomp cast into the air as Skyla's small frame slapped into the side of the large, white lion's body.
She immediately buried her hands into his mane and fur, smiling widely as she nuzzled him.
Aside from the usual death sentence that tended to follow touching him like this, it really displayed their height differences. Standing the way he was, the lion was still taller than Skyla, and several times the toned bulk a normal lion would be able to muster.
He wasn't hulking or bulging, just chiseled and intimidating in his size. Something that hasn't changed much, since we met.
"You two-" That height difference began to lessen and I watched in disappointment as he slowly started to lower himself to the ground, curling his legs in to rest on his side.
Then he started to purr. Smugly.
"Oh shut up," I growled, stepping past Skyla as she scratched and cooed at the deadly lion on the ground.
"As you instructed, I've prepared the prototype. But I strongly advise not taking it with you until we can solve the power management first," GHOST spoke informatively to Ray as he, Arex, and Kitsuki entered the elevator leading to level 1. "Without a final distribution solution, I can't guarantee it'll function as you need it to."
Ray sighed as he waited for the two girls to settle behind him before pressing an elevator button ahead of him. "I've already told you that I'll figure it out. All I need to know is can it move yet?"
The elevator doors hissed shut before it began its descent, gradually picking up speed.
"It's mobile, yes, but not completely functional," GHOST replied begrudgingly. "It'd just be easier to have that problem solved first."
Ray rolled his eyes as he shook his head. "I'll figure it out. Quit worrying."
It sounded like he was a live testing kind of guy. Someone who prefered to work on trial and error than prediction and looking ahead.
Arex made a mental note to ask GHOST about what he was working on later. But for now, she was busy hiding a little smile as the elevator descended faster.
It was at around the point where she'd start losing her footing, and she was already feeling her weight fade away as it was, so she cast an amused glance to Kit before taking the kitsune's hand.
Marigold eyes turned toward her curiously when she did that, only to widen a little at Arex's lightly drifting hair and smiling face.
Even the phoenix's hair held less mass than her own…
But Arex's grip tightened as the girl floated up from the elevator's speed, Kit quickly pulling the girl back down to the floor once she noticed it.
The little action drew an amused smile out of Arex as the kitsune stepped closer to her. To keep her down.
What she wasn't expecting Kit to do, though, was move into her side and wrap two slim arms tightly around Arex's frame.
To really make sure the girl didn't float away.
Those arms didn't go away, even as the elevator doors opened on level 1.
It wasn't Arex's fault gravity affected her body differently. B-But she guessed she deserved this for not telling the kitsune ahead of time.
"Arex, I trust you enough to know you'll be fine to do what you want to," Ray said as he turned to look at her. "My advice to you is don't get lost, even though GHOST can help you find your way around. I have some stuff to do in the meantime."
The currently sheepish girl nodded her head, a little half-mindedly wondering why Kit hadn't let go yet.
"As for you," Ray added, his eyes fixing on Kitsuki. "Stay with Arex. And don't get yourself hurt. I don't need to deal with that right now."
When he finished speaking, he walked out of the elevator. The two inside watched him collect himself and pace down the white halls to an opening panel, revealing yet another elevator.
After the boy entered, he waved the girls off with a two-finger salute before the panel closed.
"O-Okay…" Arex said breathlessly, glancing down to Kit. Her marigold eyes were still staring at the hidden panel Ray just disappeared behind.
Arms still locked around her.
"You can let go now," Arex muttered, wiggling a little in the kitsune's hold.
Kit looked back at her, eyes gazing slightly up into Arex's. That only succeeded in Arex blushing a little and offering a meek smile.
Kitsuki reluctantly let go after that. She liked holding Arex.
It made her feel like she was protecting her.
Once Arex caught her breath, she turned ahead of them and quickly took Kit's hand again. The hold dispelled that disappointed look from the kitsune's face.
"Let's get going. I really wanna start showing you around," Arex said, excitement in her voice.
Something Kit never really got to hear much of.
So her fox ears perked up as she nodded, smiling lightly as she caught sight of Arex's excited grin.
"You'll love it," the phoenix stated, leading Kit out of the elevator and straight down the hall. Kit noticed a little spring in her step.
She couldn't help but notice, finding herself watching Arex's face and the little actions she did in her growing excitement.
It was almost restless for the phoenix. In that subtle, adorable way.
The way she bounced on the balls of her feet as they walked, causing the ends of her raven hair to toss and drift in the soft wake of her movements. Or the way her focus seemed so narrowed, like she couldn't wait to reach the goal she was strolling toward.
Kit ended up watching Arex more closely than her actual surroundings. So, it was going to be easy to keep her hands to herself.
Especially since Arex was the only thing she wanted to stay near in here.
When they reached a T-junction in the hallway, though, the sound of soft, rapid footfalls quietly sounded from around the corner.
And Kit couldn't help but notice Arex's growing smile as they slowed down a little.
The soft footsteps grew louder before a balayage-blonde haired girl slid around the corner in her knee socks and short blue dress, smiling brightly as her gaze met Arex's.
"Hello!"
Arex's free hand rose in a tiny wave as Kit's eyes drew to the girl in front of them. The blonde was taller than the phoenix beside her.
But only by an inch.
So the kitsune had to look up just that tiny bit more to meet the eyes of the new arrival. Someone four inches taller than herself.
Weird… the girl had GHOST's voice.
Kit wondered why.
"Are you always just sliding around whenever you can?" Arex asked amusedly, Kit noticing the phoenix's gaze trailing down over the blonde's legs to her socks.
"It's fun to do when I'm running around. I like running," the girl responded happily. "It's like walking, but faster."
Kit's ear twitched as Arex actually giggled a little at that. Her marigold gaze turned up to catch Arex hiding an amused smile behind her hand with mirthful eyes.
It was cute.
"Anyway, Kit, meet GHOST. As in, the official GHOST," Arex said, dropping her hand back down to her side and turning to Kit.
The kitsune turned back to the blonde in front of them, then met Arex's gaze again. Then turned it back to the blonde.
That wasn't GHOST.
GHOST was a small little pixie.
Not a girl taller than her.
A confused tilt of the kitsune's head formed as she stared, trying to put it all together.
"You may be more familiar with me like this," the girl said as she held out her hand. GHOST appeared on her palm, waving tinily but enthusiastically to the kitsune.
Why was this girl trapping GHOST in her hand like that?
Kit slipped her fingers free from around Arex's hand for just long enough to sign, still confused.
"Pixies aren't supposed to be big."
Both the girl, and the pixie in her hand smiled at the same time. "They're also not supposed to be sliding across polished floors wearing knee high socks."
Kit stared for another few long seconds before blinking silently. "But… how did you get so big?"
"I'm actually much bigger than this…" GHOST replied. "But, if it helps…"
The holographic avatar faded away before the physical GHOST approached the wall to Kit's left, holding out her hands as a small panel lifted away to reveal a tiny, physical GHOST.
The solid, pixie GHOST then leapt into the cupped hands of the bigger one. Leaving the blonde girl to walk back over to Kitsuki and hold her hands out to her.
"I can be smaller like you're used to."
Kit's eyes lit up at seeing GHOST standing proudly in the blonde's hands, situated at the ends of the girl's fingers as she looked at Kit.
The kitsune faintly smiled and held up her own, cupping them together. GHOST stepped onto Kit's hands with a little weight in her small, but light step. Making the new discovery even more real.
She looked just like her holographic form now.
So Kit was satisfied.
But after a moment, Kit turned her eyes to Arex, who was staring adoringly at her holding the little body of GHOST in her hands.
Kit wanted something… and was hoping Arex would be able to read it in her eyes.
She didn't want to put the pixie down to sign it.
After a few seconds, Arex just sighed and turned her attention to the blonde again.
"She wants to keep you. The little you."
The blonde smiled warmly at the phoenix. "Most of my bodies can't leave the Vault, but… that one can if she really wants it. It just needs recharging every now and then."
Kit did want it, but after a few moments of staring at the little GHOST in her hands, she couldn't help but look back up with a new thing she wanted.
She quickly lifted her hands up to her head, letting GHOST step off between her ears to be able to sign something.
Then with a firm, unwaveringly indifferent face, Kit signed it.
"I want a little Arex."
The blonde girl looked at her before turning her eyes to Arex and scratching the back of her head, the phoenix herself locked up in an embarrassed, confused fluster.
"I may have already gone and made one, actually…"
Kit's eyes grew bright with excitement as Arex's eyes went wide in disbelief, her fluster only getting worse.
"I got bored and thought it would be fun. To program a digital profile of you with all of your quirks and mannerisms into a basic, self-learning artificial intelligence…" she said awkwardly as she looked to Arex apologetically. "And… a scale model robot that happens to match your entire body, including wings down to a nanometer of accuracy…"
Arex's mouth fell open with an uncertain stare, before snapping it closed and just gaping at GHOST for a few long seconds.
"O-Okay…" the phoenix finally breathed out, completely at a loss of what she wanted to say. She didn't look offended at all.
Just… incredibly embarrassed.
And flattered.
"I wanna see it," Kit signed firmly, flicking her ears at either side of the little GHOST's body.
She soon felt small hands grasp at her ears and hold onto them, the small pixie sitting down on her head soon after. Kit didn't mind.
A small, almost inaudible tapping could be heard coming from the large window to their right.
Kit's eyes immediately snapped to the noise as Arex almost hesitantly looked as well. The white fox watched more intently as a small figure ran along the sill on the outside of the window.
White tails immediately starting whipping about as she silently gasped, wanting to hold it.
A pair of miniature wings sprouted out from inside the little olive sweater the figure wore as a panel shifted open, making an entrance for the tiny girl as she flew up and inside the hallway. The little Arex landed on the palm of the blonde girl's hand.
"She's designed to mimic you to the best of her ability. And like that one there," she said as she pointed to GHOST sat on Kit's head. The small figure still held onto the kitsune's ears to keep steady, "she can leave the Vault, just needs to recharge herself every so often."
Kit was already making grabbing motions at the air in front of her for the little Arex. She really wanted to hold her.
That only brought a stronger blush out of Arex as the real version herself dipped her chin a little, still at a loss of what to say.
"S-She's cute…" the phoenix muttered, eyeing up her smaller version. "If I'm allowed to say that."
"They say imitation is the highest form of flattery," the blonde idly commented, extending her palm out toward Kit as her grabbing motions grew more desperate. "I actually have one for all of the members. It's just something I do to pass the time… Little Ray keeps jumping off of things and breaking his legs though… It's getting annoying to keep fixing them."
Arex seemed to grimace at that, but Kit was smiling as the blonde let the little Arex hesitantly step into her hands.
Kitsuki immediately brought the little version of her partner up close to look at her, eyes focused in an adoring, observing gaze to take in all of the little Arex's details.
It… looked like a perfectly shrunk version of the phoenix.
Even the wings were duplicated accurately. Maybe even with the same number of feathers.
Though, Kit wondered if the blonde knew about the spots on Arex's wings that were sensitive.
So Kit reached a slim hand up and gently plucked the little Arex's wing out. Her touch fanned it outward before brushing the back of her knuckle against the interior crook of the smooth, black wing.
To her surprised delight, the little Arex blushed and tightened up a little in her stance, chin dipping just like Arex's did when she got flustered.
The real Arex was mortified, and blushing darker than the little figure in Kit's hands.
Kit was keeping her.
And nobody was going to stop her.
"What's his name?" Skyla asked, her sweet, grating voice accompanied by a low, softly rumbling purr. She sat comfortably on the ground beside the resting lion, her scratching much light and tender compared to her excitement from earlier.
"He doesn't have one," I lied, watching her eyes flash in recognition of the false information. "You'll spoil him if you keep doing that."
"What? That sounds like he doesn't get enough of this," Skyla replied. Her brow knit in disappointment as she ran a hand down the length of his frosty white fur, her slim fingers disappearing into the ocean of white they glided through. "He should get more pets more often."
"He's Grimm," I stated bluntly. I wondered if that even fazed her. "People don't take kindly to Grimm enough to reach out and pet one, let alone a wild lion."
She looked like she was contemplating something. For a long few seconds, her amethyst eyes watched the way his fur rolled beneath her passing hand. And I specifically noticed how she was mesmerized by the rise and fall of his breathing body beneath her touch. "But this one's different."
No shit. "Most aren't white."
"Or self-serving," Skyla continued, her eyes rising to the lion's relaxed face. His smug look was gone. Apparently, he didn't want her to see it.
Just me.
"He doesn't act like other Grimm do," she added, reaching up to ruffle his mane. "How did you meet him? Do you know what tier he is?"
Great. All the questions she'd been building up over that last half a day were starting to come out. And I had every reason not to answer her.
But knowing what she'd sooner assume forced me to.
"He's a high-tier Dremoha. And he met me, not the other way around. Wasn't mutual either." I wasn't even a year old back then, so I didn't have a choice in the matter.
What kind of kid would actually want to be raised by Grimm?
"How high-tier we talking?" Skyla asked.
"If the leisure stunt with the ocean wasn't enough showing off for him," I started, giving the lion my own sour look before I turned my gaze to the Death crystal encased in ice. "The only thing higher than him is an Omega."
"An Omega…" the girl muttered quietly, her fingers starting to slow slightly in their ministrations. Her touch was starting to grow distracted. "Are there any…? Omegas, I mean."
I almost scoffed at that. It was a loaded question, one society really didn't want answered if the erasing of Kerillor's fall was anything to go by.
Humanity didn't want the general public to know Omegas existed. They only wanted Dremoha to be common knowledge, but that didn't even include Dremoha at a tier even remotely close to the lion resting on his side in front of us.
No, apparently, that was too 'scary' and 'threatening' in its possible extinction-level destruction. Grimm fed on fear, after all.
The world felt that when the trade-island of Kerillor disappeared off the face of the planet. An Omega awoke, pissed, and raised a red sun on the surface of the ocean to raze an island to the deepest trench of the sea. The streams of black polluting the scarlet sky was the fear in the hearts of every civilization who witnessed the event.
Something that was seen from every continent.
Fear like that, on a mass scale, could easily mark the end of any world. So, obviously, the best course of action was to lie to the masses and sweep the whole extinction of an entire faunus race under the rug and burn the pages out of every history book that so much as made mention to the island.
Just like that, it was almost like Phoenix Faunus never existed…
And boy did that piss a lot of people off.
The Great War was quick to follow as those tensions rose.
It's kind of funny, actually, knowing Arex and Anoel might be the last of their kind. And here they are trying to get between the legs of other girls.
Better hope some miraculous breakthrough happens in the scientific community to support offspring for those kinds of relationships…
"Just one," I finally answered. As far as I knew of, the Omega that destroyed Kerillor was the only one of its kind.
The world better hope it was the only one.
It was enough to bring about the end of everything if it woke up again. It's had centuries to incubate with Dust Cores. And if I'm right, it's sitting pretty with both a Life Core and a Death Core down there, soaking in that combined energy as it hibernates in Kerillor's grave.
Waking that up now… would be exponentially more devastating than when it awoke a century ago.
"If… the Omega fought your lion…" Skyla's voice fell soft, her hands going back up glistening white fur to settle in the thick mane just over the lion's shoulder. "Could he win?"
Could the lion win? If he fought with all his power?
"No."
Not even close.
Kitsuki's ears happily bounced on her head as two small, miniature figures circled the bases of her furry appendages.
Small hands rubbed through the fur of each one, Kit wondering if their intrigue would ever melt away enough for them to sit still.
But the constant ear massage was enough to keep her in a perpetual state of lulled bliss as she watched Arex and GHOST work.
"Okay, extend your wings for me please?" GHOST prompted Arex kindly. "Fully, if you don't mind."
Arex slowly did as asked, letting her wings fan out from where they were furled at her back. GHOST seemed intent to keep these short tests going.
This was an extension of the medical check from before, only, this one was more directed toward her anatomy.
After a few seconds, her outstretched wings reached their full wingspan. But she couldn't help but tip her gaze down with a faint blush at having them so open and in view.
She was so used to hiding them all the time.
Each one spanned about seven to eight feet in total length. And their thinner, sleeker appearance made them almost feel weightless for her.
This was just the most of them she's shown anyone other than Anoel.
"7 feet, 4 inches, or just about 223.5 centimeters. They're longer than I thought they'd be…" GHOST mumbled as she tapped a tablet scroll to mark it down. "Do you mind if I touch them? I wanna map the bone structure."
The phoenix kept her wings outstretched as she peered slightly back at GHOST, taking one of her arms into her hand as she shrunk her shoulders a little bit.
"S-Sure. And they have to be," Arex murmured. This was one of the few things she actually knew for certain about her anatomy. "Flight wouldn't be easy if they were any shorter."
"Yeah, I figured that," GHOST replied with a smile as she approached Arex's right wing, gently placing a hand close to the base. She let it slide across the top of the wing slowly as her eyes focused on keeping a constant speed. "I'm giving a localised x-ray and ultrasound scan of your bones, mapping their dimensions."
Arex hugged her arms to herself tighter as that touch drifted over her feathers. She had little control over her wing curling up into GHOST's hand as it slid further down. "Okay…"
When that hand reached the tip, GHOST pulled her arm back and turned her emerald gaze to her tablet.
"Fascinating… they're thinner than even the thinnest recorded avian faunus wing we have…" the AI muttered as her eyes glued to the device. "No wonder you're so light."
Arex's gaze only lowered further as she wondered if she could lower her wings yet. "I don't think they're made of the same material most bones are. They're flexible, and I think they're less dense too."
She knew they were hollow, but it was nice to hear it confirmed.
"To find out further, I'd have to stick you with a needle. But I don't wanna do that since you're uncomfortable with it," GHOST replied, turning her gaze to the phoenix.
The word 'needle' had already tightened the muscles in Arex's body, an ashamed gaze peering back at the AI. "I-I'd really rather not deal with needles. Can't a more precise x-ray determine it?"
"Not for chemical analysis. But it's not important right now. I'm more interested in mapping your insides out at the moment," GHOST said, smiling a little.
That… made Arex pale a little, at the wording used.
"Say your most delicate bones break, it's easier to reconstruct them if I have a base to work from," GHOST explained, turning back to her scroll. "That said, we have a full body scanner for your organs. You'll need to strip down. Clothing tends to disrupt the results a little. Just underwear will do."
Arex's eyes immediately went a little wide before falling again, finding their way to Kitsuki sitting in her little chair at the edge of the room.
The kitsune was completely out of it as the two small robots on her head played with her ears, tongue almost lulling out of her mouth.
So Arex actually found it a little easier to nod her head.
"There's a changing room right next to it, so don't worry about exposing yourself for too long," GHOST reassured. "Given that I'm distracting your partner to the best of my ability, you shouldn't feel too uncomfortable."
"Y-Yeah… thanks for that," Arex replied quietly, letting her wings curl back toward herself and drape from her back. "Is it fine if I keep my wings wrapped around my torso for the scan?"
Arex's voice fell into a lighter and meeker tone, gaze turning toward GHOST for a moment.
"If you can keep them tightly wrapped around your body, yes. The scanner uses an ultra high-frequency sonar, so if there are any gaps between your wings and body, it'll disrupt the image. Hence why I said to strip down." The AI walked toward a hall in the hospital, briefly turning to face the phoenix with a smile. "If you'll follow me please."
Arex… didn't like the sound of that. Sure, she had her wings wrapped around herself almost 24/7 whenever she was awake, but she didn't know if it was an airtight seal.
She'd even find herself shifting them around and moving them out just slightly to create a pocket of air against her body for comfort.
B-But…
The phoenix quickly realized GHOST was still waiting for her, Arex following the AI as she kept a low, embarrassed gaze down at her walking feet. "I-I know you said strip down, but I'm… kind of not…"
She was starting to trail off as she let her legs move on their own, drifting her narrowing eyes further and further away from GHOST's frame.
"I can turn around if you'd like, even keep my eyes closed," GHOST filled in for her, amused smile brightening a little.
Arex frowned, despite feeling a little more at ease with GHOST saying she'd look away. "A-Aren't you the one running the scan, though?"
How much would turning away even help?
"I'll see them in the end result, even if you were running with full underwear. But for your comfortability, me not directly staring would help, no?"
Arex's blush only seemed to get worse, but she gave a tiny nod to that. "It would help…"
"See? Thought so. But in all honesty, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," GHOST replied with an air of concern. "It's for checking the health of your organs, and given the alternative… it's much less invasive."
"I-I prefer the scan," Arex responded, finding it in herself to draw her gaze back over to GHOST as they walked. "And I'm as curious as you are about my body. I've never had it looked at in depth before, so I want to know what makes me… well… Phoenix."
"We make it a priority to maintain the health of everyone who works for us. This helps us just as much as it gives you peace of mind." GHOST offered her hand out to Arex as they stood before a wooden door in the sterile hallway. "When you're ready, we can go in. You can use the curtain to take your clothes off in privacy, then I'll begin the scan. It takes about 5 minutes, using the highest grade components we can construct. So it's much faster than what you'll find anywhere else."
Arex glanced to the door for a few long moments, but she ultimately decided this was something she wanted to do. Especially because, as far as she was concerned, research done into Phoenix kind hit a wall when the hunts stopped.
There were too few left for the scientific community to actually maintain the tests they were interested in running.
So, this was something she'd always been curious about.
Maybe she'd be able to find out why it was so interesting to them.
"It will, and I'm happy to help wherever I can to make maintaining my health easier for you," Arex spoke slowly, reaching her hand out to let it fall gently in GHOST's own. "Do you need my wings spread out for the scan?"
"The scanner is the size of a small room. So long as they don't obstruct the front and back of your torso and abdomen, you're fine to have them loosely fanned out," GHOST instructed clearly, opening the door to the scanning room. "This is the control room, where I'll be monitoring the scan."
The AI pointed to a pair of circular doors at the end of a small corridor, a pair of curtains hanging just before them.
"Through there is the actual scanner. Once you've stripped, I'll open the doors for you. Just walk and stand in the middle of the room, marked with a white circle, and stay as still as you can for the duration of the scan." GHOST laid out her directions in a collected manner as she took a seat on a swivel chair in front of the desk. "Oh, and don't forget to breathe. It looks and sounds scary, but it won't hurt you."
Arex was… actually glad GHOST reminded her of that. She probably would've tried to hold her breath for the procedure.
Which she already knew she couldn't do for 5 minutes.
She slowly nodded, eyes still on the curtains as she made her way down the short hall and closed them. It was a small, slightly spacious enclosure just before the sealed doors into the next room.
Her eyes traced down for a moment to look at the hospital floor, taking a guess that it was probably going to be cold once she stepped out of her shoes.
She eventually did as asked. Once she'd built up the nerve to, anyway.
Arex tucked in her wings to make the removal of her sweater easier, folding the thin fabric up to rest with her shorts and shoes on a nearby bench. Her ankle socks were the last to go, the phoenix sitting down for a moment to slide them off.
When she lowered her light feet to the floor, she grimaced for a moment at the cold, smooth surface against her skin.
And the open air against her chest only reminded her of why she was so hesitant to agree to this earlier.
Having a pair of wings was great and all…
But it made comfortably wearing a bra almost impossible.
And as she stood up, she couldn't help but let her wings wrap back around her torso like a corset to cup over and cover her bare chest for the time being.
"Whenever you're ready, Arex, just approach the doors and they'll open automatically. Bare in mind that once you're in, I need to lock you in for the duration of the scan. If it's too much for you though, shout, and I'll turn the machine off." GHOST informed her as she purposefully kept her gaze averted.
"I-It's fine," Arex replied back, a small shiver slipping through her voice as she hugged her arms to her slender body. She was never a fan of being this bare in a sterile environment… It only made her feel unnaturally cold.
And there wasn't much she could do about that aside from heat the air around her.
But she didn't know what that would do to the test, so she held herself back from doing it.
After a few moments of shuffling around, she got herself to move forward and into the next room. Its doors sealed shut behind her as she padded inside.
The scanning room was… bigger than she thought it'd be.
And colder.
Her eyes scanned over the well-lit reaches of the area, gaze roaming over the domed ceiling arcing over the floor and walls before falling on the illuminated white circle at its center.
She carefully and lightly padded her way over to it, situating herself as centered as she could before slowly unraveling her wings from her chest.
Their ebony tips fell to the ground as she stretched them out a little, letting them drape laxly at her sides. She kept them as away as she could from her front and back.
Her eyes fell on a set of mechanical arms connected to a pivot point at the center of the ceiling, just two of them.
The appetures at their ends were enough to let her know those were going to be running the scan itself.
A small breath made its way into her lungs as she silently prepared herself, before turning her eyes forward again and trying to stand still.
"Okay. You can scan now," she voiced.
"Stay in the circle, keep your head and body straight, and keep breathing," GHOST reminded her one last time before Arex heard the doors lock behind her. "Starting the scan now."
Light began to flicker to life on the arms before they slowly began spinning around the girl, gradually picking up speed as mechanical whirring and an almost inaudible humming resonated through the chamber.
As their pace quickened, she felt a mild pressure start to rise against her body. The room's temperature started to rise slightly as it did.
Her breathing drew shorter from it, but she kept it under control as best she could.
The arms reached a steady pace as a 5 minute timer appeared on the wall in front of Arex, counting down as the scan continued.
She didn't realize how hard standing perfectly still was going to be until she saw the timer ticking down…
And she couldn't help but mentally whine at the clock's unnaturally slow pace.
"Whiskey," I said. My attention was too stray to look at our bar waitress right now. I needed something to drink after that stunt in the ocean, and the excruciating talk afterward.
Who knew explaining things could be so annoying? Professors do it all the time, and to people who don't even listen to them.
That must be infuriating…
I'm surprised they're not all serial mass murderers.
"I'll have what he's having." The brunette across from me was more or less glued to me at this point. Or rather, she was persuaded to stick around with that lion constantly rubbing her side.
In fact, for a Grimm, he was taking a startling liking to Skyla. Someone innately annoying with the mask she puts on to invade the personal space of others.
Now, all that was left was to wonder if she was a lightweight. And for the love of humanity, did she have to bring a bowl of ice cream in here? It's a bar.
You don't make rootbeer floats out of whiskey and Cookies and Cream ice cream.
"W-Would… h-he like a-anything?"
God, the waitress stutters almost as much as Arex does when she's under social pressure.
I finally looked up at the girl. Her eyes were cast down, staring hesitantly at the lion resting his head in Skyla's lap, under her 'pleasant' ministrations with her petting. His tail was sweeping by the waitress' legs.
I was surprised she was willing to stand so close to his sitting body, but with how little of the booth's table she could reach with him there, she didn't have much of a choice.
We brought a white lion into the bar. So what?
I looked around at the empty establishment. It wasn't like we chased the customers away. They were already gone by the time I walked in here. I knew this small little village.
It was quaint. Small, but populated enough to be somewhat well defended. I visited whenever I needed anything from the brewery here, which specialized in whiskey. But I more or less just imported most of the stock.
I only visited when Grimm activity was too high for travel in these parts.
Which was why people weren't exactly eager to be near me over here. Considering I can walk in and out of grimmlands without a problem.
You'd think they'd look up to something like that, but it only made them more fearful. I would be too… if a strange man clad in black visits a town on lockdown, and clears the Grimm problems with a mere leisure walk.
Just for a stash of alcohol to carry home.
It was good alcohol. Just dangerous to procure, for most.
"Get him some milk," I answered, blandly might I add.
Our friendly neighborhood Grimm lion gave me a disgusted look.
"What? Don't cats drink milk?" I returned the look with an irritated one of my own, earning a snarl from his nestled maw.
"I think he wants something meaty," Skyla voiced instead. Why did she always have to ruin everything? "Do you have steak? If you do, just bring it uncooked. And a lot of it."
"W-We do."
The lion purred at that.
Greeeeaaaat. Skyla was only making her relationship with that lion even better than it already was.
The waitress nervously left with our orders after that.
"His stomach was rumbly, so I figured he was hungry," Skyla said, her hands rubbing into the lion's mane as she sat back in her booth. She was across from me.
I was half-hoping the weight of the lion's head on her lap was enough to make her uncomfortable. Because at least that would be gratifying enough to watch as we temporarily stayed here.
No.
She looked content.
Like a chipmunk on crack.
"So…" she started, her amethyst eyes turning to me. "With that whole 'ocean freezing then crashing together thing', do you think the people here heard it?"
Heard it? That crashing rumble was deafening up close. A sound like that could easily carry itself and be heard miles inland if the hills and forests weren't enough to muffle it.
"With how many trees were in the way, and the small mountain range, they might've," I said. I wasn't certain just how far the sound traveled, but we weren't about to find out. Not unless we asked-
"Excuse me!" Skyla called out, waving to our waitress.
I will brutal kill you. You know that, right?
The waitress quickly scampered back over from the bar, eyes solely on Skyla as the girl flagged her down.
"Did any weird, loud noises come through here lately?" the brunette asked, eyes innocent. Screw off with that mask already.
"I-I'm sorry?" the waitress replied nervously, tucking some of her hair away from her ear. Out of nervous habit, of course. It was a silent signal to 'say that again, but a little dumber so I'm not confused'.
"She's wondering if you heard an ocean fold in on itself a few hours ago," my voice cut in, low and blunt.
The waitress' stare switched to me in a stunned stuper before I noticed the tiniest, dumbstruck shake of her head. Confusion riddled her face soon after.
The sound didn't travel this far.
"Nevermind! Thank you," Skyla said, pulling the waitress' attention back to her. "That's all. And you're very cute, by the way."
Our waitress gave another stunned look before straightening up, letting the chestnut hair she tucked behind her ear fall against her blushing cheek. Maybe she was trying to hide it.
"E-Erm, thank y-you?"
Skyla nodded with a pitched "mhmm!" before smiling, watching the waitress walk off in a fluster. Probably making sure the girl felt her eyes on her the whole walk back to the bar.
Subtle, Skyla.
"Your specialty must be subtlety," I commented dryly, sarcastically. And Skyla knew it too.
"It's my middle name," she quipped back, giving what she probably thought to be her lion an affectionate rub between the ears.
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if her middle name actually did juxtapose her entire existence. "You're infuriating."
"Oh, I know." Skyla waved dismissively at me, in that infuriating kind of way, with that infuriating smile. "So! You and mister lion seem to get along. Almost like you two can speak to each other, but without saying a word. Just subtle glances say everything."
No shit. "That comes with the territory of knowing each other for a long time," I replied, giving Skyla an irritated stare. Maybe that drink would make this a little more bearable.
And make killing her a little sweeter.
"How long have you two known each other?" she asked. There was a wonder in her eyes, a genuine curiosity.
Behind that, she hid a look of sadness. Something told me she already put it together.
"Seventeen years. Nearly eighteen, now," I answered. There weren't many blanks to fill after that. That was my age in years. Precisely, my age, down to the year I was born.
It's felt a lot longer than a measly number like that…
"Okay." That was Skyla's only word. She didn't look surprised or astonished, so that was conclusive proof she already knew.
Good for her.
Maybe the lion told her. Because clearly he favors her over me all of a sudden. I wonder why.
"What was that even like?" she asked, pushing what she was allowed to be curious about. "To be raised by Grimm like tha-"
"I said I knew him for that amount of time. I never said he raised me for all those years. But tell you what," I interjected. "Let's double back for a moment and not talk about this. Instead, let's switch the subject to something you'd actually be interested in."
"Oh? Okay, like what?" she wondered aloud. But it took her a moment to say it, giving her time to take in what I rattled back at her.
I actually couldn't believe I was doing this…
"You." My reply was short. Blunt. And entirely head-perking for the girl in front of me.
Because she gasped.
"Me?!" Now she was reeeaaally pushing it. "You, Niro Ezdeil, want to know about yours truly, the mysterious Skyla Xerious?"
"Actually, I do," I replied through grit teeth, watching the way her face grew in intrigue. It was aggravating. "Because I don't like talking to a mask."
"Well! I don't like talking through one. So fair is fair, I guess," she replied evenly, sustaining our little eye contact. Her mask still wasn't down.
Maybe I could break it off her.
"Let's start things off easy, then," I replied, paying careful attention to the way her eyes shifted back to me. And the way her petting of the lion's head didn't still in the slightest.
Her coolness under pressure was even more aggravating to deal with.
"You're intelligent. Perceptive. You can spot a well-obscured lie in a calmly said sentence and somehow make it seem like you believe if full heartedly, while obviously you dug the truth out of it," I said to start. Her eyes stayed on mine as she hummed along with the words, almost seeming distracted.
She wasn't distracted in the slightest.
"You can read social atmospheres better than most. Act on them and solve them like some one-sided rubix cube. Banter with anyone without feeling a lick of any real emotion yourself. Feel literally fearless in most extreme scenarios. The magic of the Death Core being the only exception," I continued. And she stayed unnervingly sweet and calm with her ministrations and occasional bites of ice cream. "Don't even get me started on how easily you can pinpoint a broken seam in any one person and rip into it, going straight through personal space to dissect what makes that person who they are."
My list was only growing, and she didn't seem fazed.
"And now you're sitting in a bar, with a man with no morals and a king Grimm resting his head on your lap. You just escaped near death, saw a half-dead Dremoha try to kill the both of us, and now know of the existence of a Core that's literal purpose is to kill everything it touches. And I tried to use it on you."
What the hell was this girl made of? If I didn't already know she wasn't, I could've easily shrugged her off as some sort of hell-incarnate, suicidal social engineer with a triple specialization in human therapy on all levels, sociopathic creativity, and complete and utter stupidity.
But she was none of those.
Why the hell am I so invested in this?!
"Oh, thank you," Skyla finally said, but not to me.
Her gaze was turned up to see our waitress. She was less nervous than before, still shaking, but less nervous. She was carrying our drinks, along with a second tray of raw meat. Stacked in a tall pile.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but just couldn't get it out. So she made a move to place one of the trays on a nearby, empty booth…
But dropped our drinks in the process.
The waitress squeaked and jerked her hand, only making things worse as the falling glasses began to spill our whiskey.
Please. Just stop.
I reached out, hearing the searing shriek inside our white lion's growl as a quick frost flash-froze the drinks. The chilled glass fell comfortably into my hand just over the table, Skyla's own leisurely reaching out to catch her own as our waitress stared in shock.
"I-I'm so sorry!"
"Save it for people who actually care," I replied, setting my frozen glass down. The solid form of my whiskey immediately melted back into its liquid state, swirling to a standstill in my glass at its rapid transition. The ice cubes inside clinked to life as it did.
"R-Really, I-I'm sorry," she tried again, backing up slightly when she met the crystal blue eyes of the resident lion in our booth.
The one who actually stopped the drinks from spilling, instead of making things worse.
"O-Oh gods..." Our waitress froze up as the creature's white mass slowly stood from where he was sitting, lifting his head from Skyla's lap to turn to her.
She didn't even dare to move a muscle as the lion calmly pawed at the ground, taking a few slow, deliberate steps toward the waitress in his methodical, silent way. That was one of the terrifying things about creatures built for killing.
When they eyed you, and moved with the silent intent to approach you and circle you, you never knew what was running through its mind. Whether it wanted to spare you, eat you, kill you for sport, leave you without a limb.
The mere slowness of his movements skyrocketed the tremoring beat of her heart, and she started to shake.
By the time he reached her, she was two beats away from passing out.
And with even more deliberation, I watched in mild amusement as the lion craned his head up, easily reaching her shoulder in height to calmly clench his maw around the tray of meat she'd yet to set down.
Then he gingerly took it from her. Her breathing slowly began to even back out after that.
So after a calm nuzzle of thanks against her limp hand down at her side, he made his way back to the booth.
Then ate his food at Skyla's feet near the frozen Death Dust crystal, where she bounced her heel over a pair of crossed legs.
"Thank you for the drinks," the brunette chirped innocently again, directing her soft, grateful voice to our staring waitress. "We'll be sure to tip you plenty if you keep our drinks coming. And make sure the kitty's well fed, okay?"
Skyla swirled her whiskey gently against the rim of her glass for a moment, clinking the ice inside it as she offered the young girl a pleasant smile.
She seemed to buy it, given her slow, tiny nod. Then Skyla gave her a small wave in return as the waitress clumsily whirled around and walked off.
"Okay!" Skyla said, snapping her attention back to me now. "Anything else nice and complimentary you wanna say about me? Or should we just continue our date with idle chatter and some nice drinks?"
I nearly crushed the table when I heard a chortle come out of the lion beneath it.
Anoel and Lylac had been working on each other's dresses for about an hour now, hiding away in separate rooms to make the reveal more surprising.
Ano just hoped her melding of colors actually looked as good to Ly as it did to her.
The dress she picked out didn't have a long, trailing skirt like she'd always imagined fairy tale princesses to wear.
It had decent length for sure, but the soft fabric slid against itself with a long slit for breathing room. The material was silk, backless, and mapped out to form around Ly's figure nicely once she was inside it.
Ano made sure the front wasn't too revealing, figuring the thin straps and full reveal of her shoulders and nape were enough to draw attention.
Especially from Anoel herself.
The colors of it were a soft mix of blue and pink, both colors mute enough to avoid clashing on the attire. It instead gave it a slimming flow following those melding colors down over the contours of the light dress. Almost like a glimmering ocean at sunset.
Which Ano already knew she'd be tracing all night.
But now that she was done, she was waiting anxiously by the door to their master bedroom. Her careful fingers held the dress by its hangar behind her back, gently swaying it as she bounced restlessly on the balls of her feet.
It was… surprisingly nerve wracking, wondering what Ly's reaction might be to seeing what Ano turned that pretty blue dress into from the store.
A heavy, relieved breath could be heard through the door as Anoel caught movement on the other side. Soft, padded footfalls headed toward her before stopping just on the inside of the closed bedroom.
"I trust you're done too?" Ly called out in question from behind the small obstruction between them.
Anoel bit her lip a little as she shuffled in the center of the hall. "Mhmm. I trust you haven't been peeking?"
"You know my semblance only works effectively in close proximity." Ano could hear the grin in the thief's voice as she replied. "And if it's any consolation, I'm not using it now either."
The phoenix smirked a little in her relief, standing a little straighter as she stilled in her antsy movements. "Well…? Gonna come out?"
"Only if we agree to close our eyes then swap," Ly replied a little demandingly.
Anoel slowly drew out the dress she held tenderly in her grasp and took a step forward, moving herself just a few steps from the door before closing her eyes. "We can. But I want to see your reaction."
"That's why we open them once the exchange is completed," Ly stated, the excited grin in her voice becoming increasingly obvious. "It'll be fair that way."
Ano couldn't help but roll her eyes a little at how childish they were being, but the nerves she was feeling at the prospect of showing Ly the dress she was about to wear all night and seeing her own… It really made her feel anxious.
And excited.
The info-broker soon quietly sighed before tilted her head, eyes still closed as she held the dress close to her chest. "Alright. Well, I'm ready whenever you are."
Anoel heard the door open and Ly step into the hallway before her. The heat signature of a gentle hand delicately pinched the dress she held and she felt the sensation of silk brushing against her own hand.
She gently took the material into her grasp and cradled it, as if moving her hands just a little faster or more abrasively would destroy the material altogether.
But she patiently waited for Ly's call to open her eyes, feeling that nervous anxiousness trickle into her chest to quicken her heart's beat in the meantime.
The dress felt so soft. Maybe it was because it was silk she hadn't been intently touching over the past hour, or maybe it was just the fact that Ly's idea to have her close her eyes only made her hands curiously aware of what they were trying to feel.
"Okay… open," Ly instructed giddily.
Ano took a slow breath as she cracked her eyes open, Ly letting her own eyes open to reveal the pink orbs Anoel was so fond of. Those shining eyes very quickly began roaming over the colorful dress she held as her breath hitched a little.
Anoel may have cheated a little in their game. Her eyes focused on Ly's face before even attempting to look down just yet to engrave the look of bashful adoration Ly just donned.
"I…" the thief was speechless as an admiring smile curled on her lips. "It's beautiful..."
Those two words brought a smile to Ano's own lips and finally gave her permission to look down to see what draped comfortably in the grasp of her delicate fingers.
It was a black, short-skirt, backless dress with a slimming style to its overall shape. The hem of the skirt looked long enough to reach her mid thigh, and the front was very modest with how much it covered.
The focus of appeal in the design was clearly her neck, back, shoulders, and legs.
The shoulder straps were thin, and a series of similar straps wrapped around in an overlapped 'X' that looked like it'd settle over her collarbones and cross over the center of her upper back.
The last two straps looked like they'd slip horizontally over her lower back, the upper backless area open and free for movement of her wings if she wanted to bring them out.
It was perfect… the way the black material matched the ebony color of her wings. She'd be able to show her wings just a little bit and no one would ever know her dress was backless.
But the real effort Ano found in the dress itself were the gently glinting gems nestled in the fabric. Small, citrine crystals lay beautifully scattered about the dress in a flattering but spread out array of glistening lights.
Each one reflected the dim light of the hallway with a bright, almost luminescent shine, and she couldn't help but think Ly chose those specifically because they resembled her burning fire.
"Yours is beautiful too…" Ano slowly murmured, ashamed of using the same word Ly used to describe the dress she'd given her. But she couldn't think of anything else to call it right now.
And she only really wanted to do one thing with it.
"I'm putting it on," Anoel stated firmly, casting her eyes back up to see Ly's own staring at her.
"Right now? It's only just past lunch. We have a while yet," Ly replied softly, eyes staying on Ano's. "But… I'm not opposed to seeing you try it on beforehand… 40 carat citrine gems hand stitched into a black silk dress had better look as expensive as you deserve it to be."
The redness Ano didn't even know was in her cheeks steadily rose as she smiled again, holding the dress up slightly to cover her lips because of how stupidly happy she felt.
It was just her glistening eyes peering over the fabric that Ly could see.
"I doubt I deserve to wear a dress even a tenth as expensive as this is, but I'm more than happy to try it on just to see how it all fits," Anoel muttered. "And to see how you like it on the figure you made it for."
"Seeing you in a 1.5 mil dress would make my day," Ly simpered, her smirk widening as she gazed into the phoenix's eyes adoringly.
It only made Ano's blush spread to her ears, which were proudly on display due to her leaving her hat in the other room. "Probably not as much as it'll make mine when I see the face you make once it's on…"
"What are you waiting for then?" Ly asked playfully, placing a hand on her hip as her own dress draped over her other forearm.
"You know I can't put it on myself," Ano grumbled quietly, lowering the dress she held in front of herself just slightly to give Ly an amused look. "You get to watch me put it on and see the final product. Unless you want me to struggle in there."
"Maybe the thought of you struggling gives me sadistic gratification?" Ly replied complacently.
Anoel scoffed playfully for a moment as she rolled her eyes. "Well, I can always try to change on my own with these sore arms. Kinda disheartening to hear you get more gratification knowing I'm in pain than seeing me without any clothes on."
"I'm pulling your leg," Ly remarked with a little giggle as she grabbed Anoel's hand. "C'mon then, you had me sold with the thought of you wearing no clothes anyway."
"Isn't that always in your thoughts?" Ano asked cheekily as she let herself get tugged into the room with a small smirk, kicking the door closed behind them again once they were inside.
Ly turned a half-lidded gaze back to Ano as they entered the master bedroom. "Always."
Okay, let's see… Skyla's character is getting questioned, Niro's desire to kill is rising, my white lion is getting fleshed out, Arex's anatomy is being revealed, GHOST's weird passtime is known, Kit's desire to take Arex has been noted, Ano and Ly are prepping for their date by being kids…
I think that went well. I hope.
Good little character developments and discoveries. I want the conversation between Skyla and Niro to be revealing for their two character designs.
So, it'll continue in the next chapter.
Upcoming things get interesting for the rest of the characters in the meantime.
On another note, Skyla and Niro talk about their semblances in the next chapter. It'll be pretty revealing for the both of them, I think. If Niro's willingly talkative.
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
Omake: by Xera Stark
"I'll be honest with you," Skyla said, riding on the back of her white lion. "I never imagined you to be an animal person. Do you have a pack?"
"No." Niro's voice was dead. Devoid of all joy, care, devotion, breath. It was cold. And he was very dead.
"Are you sure? I think there's probably a pack of cute lil Grimm ducklings out there, missing their mamma Niro!" Skyla reasoned, sounding so sure of herself.
Niro would rather die. "We have a Death crystal. I will swallow it. And there is nothing you can do to stop me."
"Oh, oh, oh! What if their real mother was gone, and they needed to imprint on someone to learn how to survive?!" the brunette's voice was only getting louder with intrigue as her mind stormed with obviously logical ideas of her non-fantasy. "And that's how they ran across you! They needed someone to take care of them!"
"Eating it now," Niro deadpanned, almost crushing the crystal in his hand as he raised it to his mouth. Ghastly hands scurried away from his skin, as if trying to get away from him as he went to take as big a bite as possible.
Only for Skyla to slap it out of his hand with her extending arm. Niro's dead eyes watched the crystal careen over the edge of the cliffside they'd been walking along, a look of horror and murder settling in his gaze.
"How could you just abandon them like that?!" she yelled, pulling the white lion to a stop by the mane and taking Niro by the sides of his face. "They needed you! How could you just leave them to die?!"
"You. Are. Insane." Niro's voice was somehow more dead and angry than before. His body was firmly planted and didn't budge an inch either, leaving Skyla to vigorously shake herself around as she tried to shake him.
"You killed them! They were your family!" she wailed.
"If they even existed, I'd happily let them die," Niro replied. He kept his voice dry, lethal, and so, so ready to cut into Skyla's very being. If she freaked out over the death of cute animals?
He was going to massacre every last one of them.
"Y-You monster!" Skyla shook herself harder against Niro, arms still trying to shake him as he stared at her.
His next words were interrupted by a shake of the brush nearby, and Skyla stopped in an instant.
Tiny, unmistakable little quacks chorused from the bushes as the two watched a line of black, red-eyed ducklings march out of the foliage. All of them had little black cowboy hats nestled on their heads at varying tilts.
Each of the little ducklings stopped, one by one, bright eyes locking with Niro's.
The lion beneath Skyla died laughing. Skyla herself died squealing.
And Niro threw himself off the side of that very cliff.