Rogue Huntsman

by Xera Stark

Sure, he ran a bar, but it wasn't like people liked him. He just had good alcohol. When the past starts finding its way back to the surface though, he and his info-broker infiltrate Beacon for answers, only to find a mute kitsune and a forging introvert on their team alongside them. It wasn't bad, he just despised how much he was actually starting to care for them. (Yuri warning)

53. Taken

Rogue Huntsman

Taken

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They walked up to the mirror, catching something… odd in the reflection. It was them, but they were both… different.

Arex looked younger. Closer to thirteen now, actually, which was really off putting. But considering where they were, she took it with more of a grain of salt than anything else. As for Dante, he was looking around the same age too.

Great. She was shrinking while he was getting bigger.

It was weird. She looked down at her hands and her arms as they got closer to the reflection, and they were as normal as they were supposed to.

So it was just an illusion.

Even though she knew that, it… brought something back in her memories that she really didn't want to deal with right now. So she turned her eyes to Dante's reflection instead of her own. Thirteen was a period of time she couldn't handle right now… not after talking about it earlier and letting it resurface.

Dante's reflection looked different to his usual carefree face. His eyes were… harder, almost soulless. And his garb was entirely black, draped leanly in a tattered robe where all you could see was his silhouette and covering hood.

"Not so bad, little bird. You sure grew up nicely. Definitely taller. I may be slightly jealous."

Right… he could see her reflection too.

Her reflection actually looked a little happy, now that she noticed her young face in the mirror.

"I was pretty short back then," Arex replied, not looking to refute what he said. She didn't exactly grow much, though… 5'5 wasn't exactly tall. "Looks like you grew out of wearing robes."

"Meh, I kinda liked it. Loose, comfortable, easy to fight in. I just got more accustomed to the Eihei Nine uniform I got a few years later. Think of Inuba's outfit, but stylized for guys." He shrugged.

She guessed that was pretty fair. "My clothes are kind of built for movement too, but it leans mostly toward comfort. I… don't really try too hard for style points."

"You know, I could ask Inuba's mother to make you an outfit in your style. And you know, make it easier for you to pop your wings in and out."

"It's not really that much of a hassle as it is," Arex offered back, her gaze casting over her shoulder for a moment as she let the tip of her wing thread through the slit in the back of her sweater. She sewed those herself to be as unnoticeable as possible.

"Yeah, but you can't always wear that sweater of yours. People might think you're celebrating Christmas everyday. And don't you get sweaty wearing that all the time? Especially in the summer?" he asked, eyeing the article too.

"It's a light sweater, and it's pretty thin and airy so I don't get too uncomfortable in it," Arex said, drawing her wing back in. "Heat's never really been a big issue for me. In fact, I kind of get cold easily… so it's just nice to have a sweater handy."

The colors on the other hand were just black and green. On top of that, it was more of an olive green, too. So, she didn't know where he was getting Christmas from.

"Alright then. But don't blame me if you get a box of clothes out of the blue outside your door one day," he said, then focused his attention back on the mirror. "More importantly… Is there a meaning to showing us this…?"

"I'd know exactly who to blame then…" Arex muttered in a sigh. She was kind of used to people throwing things at her, by now.

But his question still brought out some hint of curiosity in her. That, and worry.

"Considering it can look into our pasts, I really don't like whatever the meaning might be," she replied, stopping a few feet away from the mirror. She didn't want to get any closer to it than she had to.

"I'm not so sure this is 'looking into the past', otherwise there'd be a whole slew of memories popping up on the mirror right about now. Rather… it's just reflecting a past version of ourselves… Hey, what age are you about in your reflection? Twelve? Eleven?"

If it knew exactly what they looked like in the past, and what they wore, Arex really didn't want to know what else it could resurface right alongside that. "Thirteen."

"Huh…" he started with a quizzical glance. "That's about this age for me too… Five year old me which I know nothing about until past the age of seven, thirteen year old me in this reflection…" He shivered audibly for a brief moment, as if he came to a startling realization.

"This one's just me at around the time of my bakery first opening, and…" she trailed off, but he knew that part of her story already as it was. That was around the time when the one she was talking about was still alive.

"I figured as much for myself, but… The more I think about it… the more I'm starting to feel this wasn't meant for you or anyone else…"

"Good," Arex murmured to herself. She didn't want it to be.

"As in this was meant specifically for me," the small Dante replied glancing back at the phoenix.

"Kind of why I really don't like this place," Arex said, glancing down at the young Dante for a moment before letting her gaze wander the drearily silent room. "Makes it feel even more like you were targeted now."

"But by who? There's no chance that… um… someone followed Inuba and me here, so nothing from the old days. So then… We're either dealing with a really douchey prankster that has a firm grasp of spatial distortions… Or a stalker with the same set of skills I just mentioned. Personally, I'm inclined to believe option B."

It was only making Arex want to leave this place all the more… "Either way, the sooner we get out of here, the better."

"I know I know, but…" He let out a frustrated sigh while rubbing the back of his head. "Alright… Considering you're… unlikely bendable in opposite directions in the event of spatial anomaly traps, I'll take one for the team and go through one of the doors."

The girl just hesitantly nodded to that. She was bendable, but not… unbreakable, if there was some kind of trap set. Still, if it was safe, she didn't want to wait too long to follow after him.

Him going first was one thing, but her being left alone in a separate room was a whole other thing all together.

"Don't worry. I'll speed walk for you," Dante said, giving her a thumbs up before turning around and heading to one of the doors.

Arex just… followed right behind him, but kept what little comfortable distance she could to be able to react in case something went wrong.

She watched as Dante slowly opened the door, coming to a brief stop as he peeked inside. He tossed a quick look left and right, then entered and closed the door behind himself.

Just in case something did happen.

Silence fell back over the room as the click of the door sounded, and Arex was left shuffling in her spot as the moments ticked by. Her eyes roamed around the room tensely in the two seconds of quietness that did settle, but a soft click from the other side of the room made her jump.

The small form of Dante appeared as a door was tugged open at the opposite wall. It was the door toward the other side of the short hallway that opened, with Dante stepping out a second after.

"Woah… That was some Scooby-Doo nonsense right there…"

"Y-Yeah…" she grabbed her arm lightly as she glanced to the door still in front of her. This was all really coming together now as a maze, especially with what they ran through earlier. And what was worse, it was relying on magic.

Likely a system that would've been hard to cheat their way out of.

"I went through that door and walked straight. No twists or turns or anything. Great… A repeating corridor…" Another sigh of annoyance escaped his mouth. "Alright. One of these four doors will get us out of this spot, or at the very least the next area. Problem is… which freaking door is it?!"

He sounded a bit… angry.

"What makes you think there's even a way out of this portion?" Arex asked lightly, counting the doors now in her head. Something she'd done several times already, but considering how warped this place was, she wanted to do it again. "This place is designed to trap us… so why make a way out?"

"It's the set up. Spatial creations like this one specifically have to follow a gimmick rule. That rule being there must always be a fair and actual way out," Dante explained.

"That's… a weird rule to be bound to. What's stopping someone from breaking that?" Arex asked.

"It's kind of like an unspoken, built in rule for Spatial Magic users when creating a space of this magnitude. If this was just a normal trapping space, the closed off space would be visible on the outside and potentially breakable from both sides. Though, it's best you try breaking it from inside. If you have the power to break it that is."

"Still, can't someone break that rule if they wanted to? What's stopping them if they're powerful enough?" Arex continued, quietly making her way over to Dante now.

"Not unless you were the actual, genuine God, no. That's the only other being I know of that can dispel any magic or get rid of the rules entirely," Dante answered. "Sadly, God isn't here. They're busy."

"Of course they are…" Arex muttered, coming to a stop again near Dante. She kept finding herself standing near him whenever she could. Who could blame her, though, in a place like this? "So… we should just start testing doors? See if one of them leads out?"

"Can't do it at random I'm afraid," Dante explained, shaking his head. "I'm under the inclination to believe the 'correct' door will switch each time we get it wrong. And if one of us just happens to get the lucky door, the other person's screwed. And I really don't feel like leaving you behind, and then struggling to try and find you again."

"If that's the case, then can't we just continuously use one door together until we come out into a different place? If the doors are switching, it'd eventually make that one the correct door," Arex offered, bringing her eyes to the door Dante just stepped through. It made sense to her, at least. "And if not, then that might mean the doors aren't switching on us at all."

He let out another sigh. "Alright, pay attention little bird, since this is your first day, presumably, working with real magic. Stuff like this? There's no simple or easy method of doing things. Not as directly as you're thinking anyway. We just… need to figure out the gimmick with these doors… But what aren't we seeing?" Dante pondered as he walked back to the mirror, staring intently at it.

Working out a gimmick that she had no knowledge of? Which could honestly be anything? Arex at least wanted to bring a little logic into this… like solving an algorithm or something… but if her input was moot, then all she really could do was wait.

Dante was the only person out of the two of them who's actually done this before, anyway.

"You're smart, right?" Dante asked over his short shoulder. "So think of this as a complex puzzle. A game of sorts. These sorts of things can stick out in the least expected ways. So come on, use those mood ring eyes of yours and scan the room through this mirror."

"Through the mirror?" Arex asked, slowly tracking her eyes back to Dante to see him starting to walk back toward the wall with the reflection.

And didn't he say her logic didn't work here?

She slowly followed, coming to a stop beside him as they peered into the glass.

There were lights above each door, above the door frames. Faint, but still glowing. Like little torches.

One of them was out.

"I don't like this…" Arex murmured again, glancing away from the mirror to the door that was missing its light. Outside of the reflection itself, they all looked the same. "Are we really going to test the only door without a light?" she asked, starting to walk toward it.

"Wait, what? Repeat that again please," he asked, quickly facing her.

Arex glanced back and stopped, just pointing to the mirror. "The doors. Each frame has a faint glow coming from the top of them. Only one of them doesn't."

Couldn't he see that?

"No way… Arex, I think you just-"

His voice went silent as his eyes went wide, grabbing hold of Arex's hand and dragging her out of the way of the mirror, where a shadowy hand had crashed through the glass and attempted to grab her. It's arm wriggled about wildly as the two took cover behind one of the large beds.

"Great, a mirror entity too. I freaking hate ghosts! And clowns!" he silently exclaimed, carefully peeking over the bed frame.

Arex eventually mustered enough courage to take a peek as well, watching the flailing, black hand stop a moment before returning slowly back into the mirror's depths. The reflection showed the specter from earlier walking across the room, but she wasn't visible in the room itself outside the reflection.

And when the black, whispy specter phased through the center hallway door, it shook slightly, but the door on Arex and Dante's side didn't budge an inch.

Dante took a breath of relief, then turned to Arex. "Talk about a jumpscare, huh?"

Arex was shaking a little, but she was able to nod at that. "Y-Yeah…" She hated those. "W-We should probably keep away from the mirror, from now on," she muttered.

"Yeah… Now that we know what to look for in the reflection, we don't need to get close to the mirror. So it was… that door, right?" he asked, pointing to one of the doors.

The one Arex first picked out from the reflection earlier for its missing light.

All she did was nod again and give a light hum of affirmation. "Yeah, that was the one."

"Alright, stick close."

They both took another quick peek over the bed frames and moved slowly to the door, opening and walking through it to find themselves walking down a long corridor. A pair of double doors sat at the end.

When they passed through, the room they found themselves in was similar to the last, but was smaller. The beds this time were pushed together in a disorganized fashion with long standing curtains reaching up from the sides.

A loud crunching sound filled the room, both the phoenix and small child glancing at the mirror to see the shadowy specter beginning to pass through until it found its feet touching the ground. Its head, with its long flowing strands of floating hair twitched about sporadically in intervals now and then.

It began to circle the enclosed, claustrophobic room.

Dante and Arex had already ducked down when the specter passed through the mirror, and lowered into low crouches. They kept their footfalls as silent as possible as they moved away from the phantom patrolling for them.

Arex noticed Dante curse silently to himself, and the specter suddenly surged forward. Both of their eyes went wide with fear, expecting the phantom to just round the corner they were around. But it came to a sudden stop, snapping its head as it floated deathly still.

It slowly turned around and snapped again… before patrolling in the opposite direction. Its distorted, feminine voice began to hum, an eerie lullaby echoing enchantingly through the room as it moved. Arex was shaking, barely keeping her balance let alone her breath as she and Dante did their best to remain calm. The two silently went in the opposite direction of the specter's path.

The curtains made moving around it simpler, but it also made it much more difficult to see the mirror's reflection to find their clue to the next door. The sporadic, twitchy surges of movement were what spooked the two the most, especially Arex. But its walking pattern was strangely distinguishable and repeating, the two finding a window in it to get to the mirror.

A moment was all they needed, but that was all they had.

They shifted opposite of the phantom's patrol path as soon as they could, and with their few moments of respite, Dante made his message to Arex clearly and silently.

"The door is right around that loop there," he signed out with his hands and fingers. "We need to make a run for it. After we distract it. And thankfully, the door to the corridor we came from is still open. Can you still use your Affinity?"

Arex looked to her hand, a few brief and silent flickers of flame forming around her fingers. She was hesitant, but she gave Dante a silent nod.

"Good. Fireball one down the corridor, and we'll move around whichever direction it decides to go around. When it gets just about to the end of the corridor, we book it. Ready?"

Another silent but quick nod came from the girl who simply wanted to leave already, but a pensive grimace and a frown made its way to her face at the word fireball.

"Since you're still not all too comfortable with Affinity, we'll use this," he signed out again, quickly pausing so they could move again to keep out of sight.

He lifted up… a shoe.

"Is that yours?" Arex signed quickly, her flames still flickering around her fingertips in a light blur.

"Indeed. Goodbye shoe I bought today from the five-hundred lien store downtown. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

He made peace with his shoe, giving it a final nod of respect as he held it out for Arex.

Arex… waited for him to finish before reaching out, lightly touching the two sides of it with her hands before igniting the fabric in a burning haze.

She… always hated watching fires spread from her touch…

"Hasta la vista, shoe."

With a forceful toss, his flaming shoe streaked with blinding speed into a dual pack of crates they passed by when they ran through the long corridor. The impact shattered the stacked wood in a blaze, igniting the scattered pieces in a vibrant glow.

The specter's body jerked towards the direction of the noise and light, and with it's spastic, twitchy movements, it surged forward with terrifying speed. Only, it wasn't going around the beds like it did in its patrol.

It was phasing through them.

The small Dante quickly spun himself up and over Arex's legs, barely avoiding the specter's body as it went down the path. Without another word, he grabbed Arex's startled hand and yanked her into a quickened, crouching walk. As soon as they could, they sprinted for the correct door.

A few moments later, they burst through another set of double doors, finding themselves back inside the diner.

"Go go go go go!" Dante yelled as he and Arex leapt over the counter and made for the front doors.

Arex was the first to open them, finding a passage of light filling the space inside the frame. She moved to sprint, but paused when she realized Dante wasn't running alongside her.

When she turned around, she saw him standing still at the entrance, looking back from where they came to see the specter had stood in the doorway of the corridor they escaped. Both it and Dante locked eyes for a few moments until it reached out for him. But it seemed different from the entire time it tried catching the two of them.

It seemed… desperate in trying to reach out for him. But the small Dante only looked off to the side before he ran to the passage of light to join Arex. Then they bolted through.

---

Skyla sat with the faunus girl placed snugly in her lap. The small girl's eyes were just peering over the table, barely even tall enough to see, and she had her little hands clasped together on top of her own legs.

The brunette found it absolutely adorable, and she loved the way the young fox faunus just looked curious. She didn't say much, didn't so much as make a noise since they picked her up, but she just had the cutest look in her eyes when she looked around.

Like everything was intriguing to her.

Maybe they were just interesting individuals? Skyla wouldn't blame her if she thought that. A dark knight with bright, luminescent lime green eyes, and a simple girl with brown hair and purple eyes. Each with pasts shrouded in mystery.

Skyla thought it was poetic, but something told her Niro thought otherwise, with the way he was giving the two girls a cold look.

"Hey, if you wanted her to sit on your lap, you should've said something," Skyla spoke up, pushing her whiskey forward just a bit to keep it out of reach of the young four-year-old. She hadn't reached for it, but it was just a precaution.

"What makes you think I wanted that?" he asked, voice oh so desolate and as chilled as an ice-ridden mountain. Skyla was more inclined to compare him to a bowl of mystery ice cream, though.

You just never knew what you were getting. All you knew for sure was that it was going to be cold.

Skyla just laughed a little and lifted her chin, feeling a set of small hands start to play with the ends of her white ombre scarf. "Oh, don't play coy with me, Niro. You want this munchkin all to yourself, don't you?"

"Not really…" Niro's eyes narrowed as Skyla bounced her little lap-fox up and down a few times. The girl's ears fluttered and bounced with her weight, which was just another thing to add to the list of 'cutest things ever'.

Seriously, how could Niro not want this?

"Well it's too late anyway," Skyla said with a huff, draping her arms down to smother that cute child in an affectionate, possessive hug. "Because this one's all mine and you can never have her."

"Perfect. Works for the both of us," the cowboy deadpanned, turning an indifferent, unreadable gaze off to the side. His eyes suddenly narrowed, and Skyla watched his fingers slowly clench again.

But she didn't peg it as out of the ordinary. He'd been doing it a lot since they sat down… At least, until she watched him suddenly shatter his glass.

It wasn't like all the times he'd cracked it from one of her snide remarks or teases. Shards of glass scattered into a pool of whiskey as he crushed the fragments into his skin, Skyla quickly covering the four-year-old's eyes when blood started to spill.

"Are you… alright?" Skyla asked slowly, but she felt a short snap of wind hit her when Niro suddenly stood up faster than she could see, staring intently at one of the walls of the establishment. The only one that faced the city of Vale.

The brunette opened her mouth to say something else, but Niro vanished in that same moment. The door leading into the place slamming closed during the same gust of wind that just blew through the bar.

"Huh…" Skyla murmured to herself, watching as the door's vibrations quieted down.

Niro was in a hurry. He looked… angry, too. Like someone killed his dog or something. But it wasn't just that. Skyla caught sight of a glimmer of alarm and worry passing over his face just before he vanished, leaving her behind without a word.

Maybe a word would've taken too long to utter, she guessed.

"Whelp," the girl quipped, looking down to the young faunus staring worriedly at the door. "Don't worry, I just think something important came up for him. How about we get you back to your family?"

Skyla's voice fell sweetly into the open air as she stood from the booth, lifting the girl up to cradle in her arms for a few seconds before raising her to sit on her shoulders.

"L-Leaving too?" a soft, feminine voice spoke out.

Her waitress strolled over as Skyla sought it out, a warm smile crossing the brunette's face at the way the girl looked at her. It was a worried look, but nothing like the foreboding one Niro held for that frame of a fractional second earlier.

This one was so much more innocent. The waitress thought she'd probably never see Skyla again, if the brunette left. Just a face passing through.

It… was a small wakeup call. Skyla had spent a little too long here, and now she was going to let the girl down by never having a reason to return.

Is it… really such a bad thing to forget about me?

"I might come back, who knows," Skyla said, offering the girl the warmest smile she could, but one that held false promises. "Maybe you can see me in the city some time? I go to a school called Beacon there, if you're ever around."

Skyla made sure to smile, and keep smiling, even as she watched the girl's own slowly fall.

"Oh, right! Here," Skyla quickly added, taking one of her hands off her faunus' dangling ankles to reach into her jacket pocket.

"N-No, no, it's fine. D-Drinks were on the house," her waitress said, one of her hands lightly touching Skyla's fishing arm to stop it.

She'd stopped her right as she found her wallet. "Are you sure? I don't mind paying for the both of us," Skyla assured, gesturing back to the booth she shared with Niro.

"Really, it's all on the house…" The waitress' voice was quiet, buckling in on itself like the best day of her life was beginning to sour.

Maybe it was.

"As long as you're sure," Skyla said, giving the girl a genuinely apprehensive look. It really did hurt… whenever Skyla knew she took it too far sometimes. "I'll head out then. And don't worry," the brunette promised, reaching out to rest her hand on the waitress' shoulder.

The faunus sitting on Skyla reached a hand out as well, placing small fingers on the waitress' head for additional support.

"You're cute, adorable, stutter at all the right times," Skyla listed off, teasing a pleasant blush and one last smile out of the girl's face. "You'll find someone, you just-" have to forget about me "-need to keep looking."

"Y-Yeah…" Skyla watched her dip her chin in a nod, eyes peering up at the brunette. Oh, don't look at me like that. "Y-You're very pretty. I just wanted to say that… before you left," she murmured.

Skyla smiled sweetly at that, moving her hand over to gently lift the girl's chin back up. The faunus atop Skyla's shoulders took that moment to pet the waitress softly too.

"Don't stop being cute," Skyla said in return to the compliment, gently slipping her fingers away from beneath the waitress' raised chin.

With that said, Skyla made her way to the door and propped it open, letting a certain white lion paw his way out into the dirt street before waving to the girl watching her go. Then she left.

"So, you taking off too?" Skyla asked, walking over to match pace with the lion. A distracted hand drifted from her side to rest in his mane, clinging to it gently as they moved.

His head dipped for a few seconds, before giving an affirmative sounding growl. It was disheartening to hear, but she knew it was coming.

"Okay. Take care of yourself, kitty," the brunette spoke softly, coming to a stop when she realized they'd wandered to the edge of the nearby forest.

Her eyes watched him drop the frozen Death crystal he carried in his maw, turning his head back for a few long moments before she noticed a silent shimmer in his eyes.

The gentle caress of frost touched her ear just before he picked his crystal up and left, disappearing into the shade of the trees ahead of them. White fur vanishing into the leaves.

Skyla smiled to herself as she reached a slow hand up, touching lightly at the new weight she felt settled over her ear. Something was tucked in her brown hair there.

Her fingers delicately plucked a chilled, almost feathery piece of ice out of her hair to look at it. And she smiled even more when she saw the detailed, intricate ice rose he'd left for her.

"How sweet…" she muttered, smiling again. Her eyes turned up to meet a pair of hazel orbs looking down at her, and she saw a matching, smaller rose sitting over the four-year-old faunus' ear. "Hold onto that, yeah? It's a gift."

Skyla grazed her thumb over the petals of her own rose as she started moving, heading down the path that took her out of town. The ice wasn't melting from her touch, so she knew she could hold onto it… for a while, at least.

Before she knew it, she'd dropped off the cute little faunus girl at her mother's. But not without a long, heartwarming hug before leaving the girl to her family.

Forget me too, cutie. It was a mental promise. A promise Skyla hoped the young girl understood amidst their hug, before she had to go.

To a kid so young, it would be easier to forget a nameless girl who saved you. But… Skyla sighed to herself, taking a turn down to the market district now that she was back in Vale. She's been wrong before, when it came to kids.

Gathering her usual groceries, Skyla made her last purchase at a stand amidst the crowd. The lady was sweet. She sold fresh fruits and vegetables, a farmer. Skyla made sure to grab a bundle, even if she wasn't going to eat it.

"Before you go, honey," her older voice spoke, catching Skyla's attention as she stopped herself from walking off. "Be careful on your way home. A strange man's been hanging around in that alley just across from here. I've been warning everyone I can to avoid it, just to be safe."

"Oh?" Skyla glanced over her shoulder, turning slightly on her heel to look into the shadows of the adjacent buildings. "That one?"

"Yes. Be sure to avoid it, will you?" the sweet lady asked.

The brunette glanced down into her bag for a few moments, watching the light glint off the ice rose she left atop her collection of food. Maybe one more adventure, today.

"I'll take care of him," Skyla promised, glancing back over her shoulder to give the nice woman a sweet smile of her own. "Promise."

The farmer opened her mouth in uncertainty and shock, but Skyla flashed her a wave and walked off before she could say anything.

She entered the alleyway a few moments later.

It was empty, at least from this angle. Which meant the weird guy had to have been hiding in one of the crevices along the way, somewhere in the middle. These places always made it easy for muggings, huh…?

Long, narrow corridor, plenty of places to hide. Skyla quietly started making her way through the juncture of the buildings, deep in thought.

If you had a gun, this place was definitely the place to be. Dumpsters here and there, receded backdoors leading into the buildings that worked as excellent cubby holes to disappear into. It was dark, so the senses were trying harder to take notice of things.

And boy was getting away going to be hard if you didn't know how to dodge in a straight line.

"Nice place for a walk there, missy," a chill voice sounded from behind her, and Skyla finally looked down from her thoughts.

She was about halfway through the alley, maybe a little more than that. He took his sweet time, didn't he?

Skyla calmly turned and found a gun leveled at her chest, the shady man slowly working his way around to her front before stopping just in her way. A seemingly confident, sure smile rested on his face, if also a little evil.

It was always weird how smiles could look good or evil, and how you could actually tell at a glance which one it was. Maybe it was in the eyes. Or the cheeks? Maybe the cheekbones?

"Empty your pockets and place your scroll on the ground, and you won't find a bullet in your head," he ordered, punctuating his sentence with an audible click back of his pistol's firing hammer.

Huh, it looked like he just grabbed that thing from some default gun store. It wasn't custom made or detailed, or anything really. Just a plain, matt black colt m1911.

She wondered if he'd ever pulled the trigger yet…

"Do you want my groceries too? They're fresh," Skyla voice back, holding up her grocery bag for him to see. She'd just bought them today, so she saw them as pretty valuable.

"What?" he looked confused and shocked, before he gestured his gun forward in impatience. "No. Just your valuables."

Really, he didn't want her groceries? She'd totally rob someone of their groceries if she was evil… "I can give you my shoes too," she offered instead. "If you're into that."

"God, no! Will you hurry up!" He was getting more impatient now.

Skyla heard quiet footsteps coming from behind her, all the way back at the entrance to the alleyway. She needed to hurry this up… she didn't want anyone else getting caught up in this.

Maybe antagonizing him might be fun… Oh, she had the perfect game for him.

"I don't wanna," she stated blatantly like a child. "You might as well just shoot me."

Do it, you wimp.

"Listen lady," he took a startled step back, prompting Skyla to follow after him with her own step, "this gun isn't a joke. I will-"

"Shoot me," Skyla restated. Harder this time. "Do it. You won't."

Coward!

"Damn it woman! I ain't kidding here-!" he yelled, starting to shake now.

"Then shoot me! Pull that trigger with your twitchy finger! Do it!" Skyla yelled back, taking another step forward this time.

He stumbled back and panicked, squeezing the trigger as he did.

There you go! Good boy.

Skyla calmly tipped her head out of the way of the shot, where the gun had been raised in his hasty mind. As soon as the bullet was out of her hair, the brunette shot her hand forward and jammed his finger back with a twist of his gun, tearing it out of his grasp in the same motion. There may or may not have been a crack of bone somewhere in there too.

She quickly put a little pressure forward on his extended arm to tip him, you know, to set him up nicely right before driving her knee into his gut.

He hit the ground hard.

"Wow, you let a girl peer pressure you into shooting her," Skyla deadpanned, stepping forward to stand over him. His eyes shot open amidst his pain and stared up at her, the girl calmly moving one of her feet to press the sole of her boot down into his neck. "Here. If you're gonna shoot someone without hesitation, it looks a lot like this."

She showed him his gun for a split second before snapping it down at him, taking aim the instant the barrel leveled with his head.

And she watched his eyes squeeze shut as a flurry of concussive gunshots blew through the alleyway. She squeezed that trigger until there wasn't a single bullet left, tracing the shape of his head into the stone and asphalt he lied on.

She left a couple clean cuts and grazes along his face for good measure, where the bullets really got close to him.

"Listen, if you don't have the nerve to pull the trigger on half of the population in this city, you're as good as dead," Skyla spoke firmly, turning the gun's handle down to let its empty clip slide out and strike the bridge of his nose. Then she dropped his gun on his face right after. "That half will kill you before you do."

Skyla finally stepped off his neck, leaning down to give his shaking head a nice little pat before stepping away.

Right. Now, how come those steps never got closer?

The brunette turned on her heel and peered behind her, amethyst eyes immediately catching the freeze-frame form of a girl staring at her from the corner of a receded wall.

What? Never seen a mugging before?

"Didn't wanna step in, huh?" Skyla asked slowly, watching the way the girl's stunned face suddenly snapped to attention from where she peered from.

Her observer shuffled awkwardly before realizing she'd been gawking a little longer than she meant to, amusedly holding her hands up in surrender as she stepped out. Skyla was able to see her fully once she did.

Oh, hey, wait a minute. The brunette traced her eyes over the random girl's figure again and realized she recognized her.

The girl stood just an inch shorter than herself, and Skyla was 5'5 for that matter. She had this… petite but developed look going for her, beautiful in that slender way but also startlingly cute.

She wore a white blouse, fitted with a black dress vest with the two tails coming down to the backs of her knees. It paired nicely with the black pleated skirt she was sporting, its trim and interior a contrasting pure white. That particular article reached as short as the girl's mid thighs.

Skyla liked skirts, but she always prefered just wearing shorts herself. That was her biggest complaint with Beacon's school uniform. Still, that short skirt looked good on this girl.

Black knee high boots sat slimly just beneath the hem of it, white zippers running down the outsides of their lengths as Skyla traced her eyes over the girl's lithe legs.

Skyla found it cute how much contrast the girl tried to wear, because the dark colors of the details of her clothing really made her white hair shine. A shoulder-length half-ponytail hung just behind her neck, leaving her side bangs to dangle down to her shoulders too.

It was a nice look on her.

Maybe the brunette shouldn't have taken advantage of her staring awkwardly back like that… She managed to check her out without her even realizing it. Though, Skyla didn't feel so bad about it when she watched where the girl's blue eyes went.

They were checking each other out, so she guessed that made it fair.

Skyla internally shrugged. She liked teasing girls, sure, but this one actually had a lot of cuteness and developed maturity to her. And she's seen her around Beacon, too.

The last time she remembered catching sight of the girl was when she flicked an arrogant dragon faunus on the forehead to win a battle of strength. Knocked her straight onto her butt.

It really is a small world, huh?

Her name wasn't too hard to remember either. It was short and sweet.

Ciel.

A clambering of rushed footsteps took off from Skyla's other side, but she ignored them. Probably just that guy running off.

"Don't worry, I'm not bothered," Skyla eventually said, noticing Ciel was having trouble coming up with something to say. Probably a reason why she didn't step in. Come to think of it, Skyla was pretty sure Ciel was a better fighter than her anyway. "Would've probably done the same if you were in my position."

Skyla gave that offer out as she switched her grocery bag to her other hand, then reached into her jacket pocket for her scroll. She needed to know the time.

"It's Ciel, right?" the brunette asked, flicking her scroll open distractedly to take a note of how late it was. That bookstore should still be open… but it closed in the next hour.

"Um… yeah, that's my name. Yup… Hehehe…" Ciel said, voice light and humorous. It sounded young in pitch, which made sense, given the girl looked maybe a year younger than Skyla was.

Other than that, she just kind of stood there… awkwardly. Hey, aren't you supposed to be all confident and guns blazing and stuff?

"Well, I'll see you around school then," Skyla responded, tossing another look Ciel's way before turning on her heel. She gave the white-haired girl a wave over her shoulder as she started heading out.

"Woah woah woah hey! Uh… God!" Ciel suddenly said, calling after Skyla's retreating form.

Skyla cast a glance over her shoulder, an amused look in her eyes. She knew the girl just exclaimed that, but it really sounded like she was calling her God.

"Not even close. My name's Skyla," the brunette corrected. Why did it look like Ciel was still freaking out?

"I was uh… gonna do something… Snap my fingers and stuff but uh… well… I saw that you pretty much had it…" she eventually reasoned.

Oh, so she really was going to step in to help.

"He didn't want the salmon I bought earlier," Skyla replied simply, turning on her heel now to face the girl. She gestured her bag up just to add to what she said, peering into it. "I had to get serious."

It was decently expensive salmon. And fresh, too. "Stupid prices. There weren't even any good sales today…" the brunette mumbled to herself.

"So… uh, you cook? Food I mean, not… well, you know," Ciel asked.

Was her confidence at school just a mask or something? Skyla stared at the stammering girl for a few long moments, wondering why she was being cute all of a sudden.

"Yeah… Anyway, I was gonna pick up a quick book series to read on my way back, since I'll be passing the local library on the way." Skyla closed her bag and made a short gesture over her shoulder. The store… kinda closes soon.

"W-What book series?" Ciel stuttered again.

Skyla hummed to herself as she looked back at her. "They're by Terry Pratchett," she explained. "There's this character called Rincewind that I like reading about right now who befriended a carnivorous luggage box."

"Woah, you read the Rincewind series? For real?"

Did she really read it too?

"I do. After I finished the Tolkien stuff, I wanted a bit of a change of pace," Skyla continued, quirking a slight brow at the girl. "Are you just saying that, by the way? Or do you actually know the series I was talking about?"

"No no no, I read it," Ciel quickly replied. "Rincewind's escape from Death is actually pretty entertaining. Kinda makes you wonder if he's blessed or something. Or cursed."

"I found out he's cursed, actually. The only reason why he's so good at cheating Death is because he's reallygood at running from things." She really does read it! Skyla smiled at that. "And good to know you actually read it too. I would've thought you were just hitting on me or something."

Skyla glanced behind her again, catching the fading rays of light just outside the alleyway. It only reminded her what time it was.

"It's getting late, and I don't want this fish to spoil, so I do need to go," the brunette said, lifting her grocery bag up again.

"Oh, hey! Why don't I go with you?" Ciel asked. "I've got some things I wanted to get too. Plus, you know, we'd less likely get bothered by some weird guys if we stick together, right?"

"Hm?" Wouldn't two girls attract weird guys?

Unless she was talking about that mugger still?

"Oh, I only took this alley because the market stall lady I was talking with mentioned there was a strange man loitering in it, and not to go this way," Skyla casually explained. That was basically the whole story, yeah.

"Huh… Good of her to tell you at least, right?" Ciel said with a shrug.

"Yeah. She was super nice to me, so I'm glad she warns people about that kind of stuff," Skyla responded, shrugging in return before turning again and heading for the end of the alley.

Though, she had to admit… she was curious why Ciel wasn't acting like her usual self.

Maybe her tagging along wouldn't be all that bad.

So Skyla stopped, one more time, to give the girl a chance to tag along. "Coming?"

One glance back only brought a smile to Skyla's face, because Ciel suddenly grinned excitedly and nodded.

"Sure thing!"

---

The two crashed through one last set of familiar double doors and onto a dusty floor. Arex was the first to get to her feet, rubbing her head as she opened her eyes and looked around.

They were back in the diner. The real diner, not the one shrouded in black. And the first thing she saw was the glow of light glinting through the boards of the surrounding windows.

It wasn't as bright as a sun's rays would be, but there was still light. And from the looks of it, it must've been coming from street lights outside.

"It's night…" Those were the first words Arex muttered before looking back at Dante, expecting him to still be small. But she quickly took a step back as he pushed himself to his feet.

Oh… he was normal now, too. And taller than her, again.

"Sweet! I'm me again! Tall me! Whoo!" he cheered, throwing his hands up.

"Great…" Arex voiced quietly, leaning to peer behind him at the door they just got out of.

All it gave off was the image of a dark storeroom. Nothing ominous about it anymore.

"Why do you make it sound like that's a bad thing…?"

"Because now I have to look up at you again when I want to see your face," Arex replied, grabbing her arm as she lifted herself up onto the balls of her feet in one small bounce. The small attempt at extra height did nothing to reduce that gap. She was 5'5. He was easily 5'11. "Well, we're finally out," the girl said with a sigh.

"That we are…" Dante replied, dusting himself off. "So, how was your first day at magic camp?" he asked. His voice held a tone that made him almost sound like a parent questioning their child.

Arex's eyes fell on him again for a long few moments, staring incredulously before turning and heading for the door. "It sucked."

"Ah come on, it wasn't that bad. Besides, it's not everyday you run into an extra-dimensional being possibly trying to pillage your soul. Or you know, other things, like playing Organ Chess."

Arex got to the door and tested it, cracking it open with a sigh of relief before pushing it the rest of the way out. She stopped when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, um…" Dante said. "I am… really sorry for being a pushy little hellion. I honestly didn't have all too much self-control really…"

If this was about how they opened up to each other about their pasts, then…

The girl's head dipped as she took a breath, peering back at him with a partial side glance. "I'm used to it, so don't worry about it."

He shook his head, from what she could tell without looking at him. "No, but I am really, really sorry about it. Childish curiosity just… drove me to want to know more about you. I mean, you're a pretty interesting person once someone manages to get to know you a little bit more that is."

'Interesting'. Arex internally grimaced. She never liked it when people took an interest in her past. Those years were a period of her life she knew she'd never get over… so why did it keep coming back?

"Like I said, just don't worry about it… or bring it up," she replied, slowly turning her gaze away again to look outside at the empty street.

"Trust me. I'm saying nothing to no one about anything. Not even me," he offered in return. "But we should hang out more, and see what crazy stuff we can make at the forge. And you know… maybe the occasional field trip with magic stuff involved," he said, eagerly raising up his hand. "High five friendo!"

She immediately left him hanging by finally stepping out of the diner, holding the door for him. "I'm never going on another field trip like this one. But… I wouldn't mind the other things. As long as they're normal, and in a place I actually feel comfortable in. Like the forge room."

"Deal." Arex flinched a little at how quickly he agreed. "But hey, I do have some books about stuff involving magic if you want to read 'em sometime. Perfectly safe, promise," he replied, trying for a pinky swear this time instead of a high five.

She considered it with a glance to his raised hand, but again, just gestured him outside and shook her head. "I'm not really that interested in magic. Stuff like this really puts me on edge, so… I think I'll stick to my own studies and projects. I'll never be able to use that magic anyway."

"You never know. Circumstances can change…" he said, snapping his fingers, "just like that. I mean, you might be some sort of Archmage or something for all we know."

"I doubt that," Arex muttered, glancing out to the closed storefronts now.

"Can I at least get a handshake? I should at least get that much since I helped get us out," Dante asked.

If she didn't know any better, he almost sounded like he was whining.

Arex let go of the door and let it swing closed as she moved onto the sidewalk, letting it shut in his face.

He caught it before it hit him. "Meh… It'll happen someday! Maybe!"

"Unlikely," Arex corrected, but there was the tiniest smile on her face. "Right now, I'd rather just go home."

"Can we get bagels on the way?" he asked. "I'm actually a bit hungry for once. I'll buy. And, well, drive. If Ghost doesn't try to murder me with my own car."

"I thought you didn't need food," Arex responded, crossing her arms on the sidewalk.

"That I don't. But I do like to eat sweets and pastries here and there," he said, stepping out onto the sidewalk with her. "Inuba's doughnuts are just to die for…"

"But hers are the only ones you'll eat," Arex voiced again, remembering what he said when they first met. "I did kind of take that personally, by the way."

"Hey, I never had your sweets before, so I wouldn't be able to tell. If you bake some one day, I'll happily try some."

"Don't hold your breath. Kit's probably going to eat what I set aside for anyone else," the phoenix responded, glancing back to him now with a small smile. "But I'm thinking of opening back up the bakery during a weekend off. Once things settle down, anyway. So you can try it then."

"Exact time and date and I will wait outside for hours. Kidding, but also not kidding. I'll probably be there thirty minutes before opening." He paused a moment, having a sudden thought. "Maybe ten minutes."

"Ten minutes and there'll probably already be a line," Arex admitted with a thoughtful tilt of her head, trying to run the math. "A lot of my usuals really miss it…"

She felt bad about that, but it couldn't be avoided with Beacon on her plate now.

"I will be first through the door… No matter what!" he proudly declared with a brief pose. "Do you run the place by yourself?"

"I do. And you know I can just let you in if you get there super early…" Arex offered quietly. "I'm not going to make you stand outside just because I haven't flipped the sign yet."

"Ah… You're so nice Arex! Really!"

"Or, maybe I won't…" Arex finished, glancing back to him, smile still present. "I'm not that nice."

"I know nice people when I see 'em. To me and some others, you're definitely part of the nice person club."

"Yeah, keep thinking that." Arex didn't want to sound bashful, so she went a little sarcastic instead as her ears picked up the gentle purr of Dante's car.

Sounded like their ride was going to be here soon.

---

"You know, he said we'd have the place to ourselves, but…" Ano leaned back as she glanced around, taking in the quiet ambiance of the empty, spotless dining area. "You'd think he would've left a few staff people to close up."

"It does seem kinda empty in here," Ly replied as she scanned the area around them. "Even the other customers seem scarce…"

"Well, it's past the usual closing time for this place," Anoel figured with a soft sigh. "And it makes sense not to bother his workers with asking them to stay overtime just for us two."

"And here I thought we'd scared everybody off," Ly commented lightly as she daintily picked at what remained of her food. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Anoel rolled her eyes playfully before looking back to her date, watching her fiddle with her fork. "It wouldn't, but the place is empty. I don't even sense the owner's heat anymore."

The info-broker tapped the table lightly with the pads of her fingers before looking a little confused. It wasn't like Agila to leave before his restaurant was closed up.

"Isn't that disconcerting to you?" Ly asked, her teeth lightly biting into her bottom lip as she dropped her fork and gazed around the restaurant. "Who's going to lock up once this place is closed?"

Ano figured she'd have to do it, with the way things were going. But it wasn't like him to leave that responsibility to her without informing her first.

"My apologies for the wait," a man's voice spoke from nearby, approaching their table.

Anoel's tapping immediately slowed as she tensed a little in her seat. She hadn't sensed his heat at all… but she swore she gave the building a small little sweep.

He… wasn't giving any heat off.

She drew her eyes over to him and spotted his white waiter's apron first, which meant he seemingly worked here. Ash colored hair nearly reached his chin in a slightly messy style, just a few stray strands coming down from his bangs to the bridge of his nose.

Ano quickly took in the rest of his appearance from there. Black dress pants, tucked white long sleeved dress shirt, black dress vest, sleeves rolled up. He looked like a genuine waiter, save for the band around his waist. It was black, hanging diagonally with silver edges and a formally written "A" at its center.

Anoel just felt it was odd to see a new face this late at night, considering she'd been spotting out the rest of the staff every once in a while as the date went on.

Her eyes quietly regarded his through the man's rectangular-rimmed glasses, finding a pair of shimmering silvery gray irises calmly looking back at her.

"The owner had an important matter to tend to and left both the restaurant, and you, in my care. As I recall, you both partook of the main course. Was it to your liking?" he asked with a smile.

"It was, thank you," Ano replied curtly, but reservedly. She didn't recognize his voice either. Which worried her, considering she knew the face and voice of just about everyone in the city.

"Who might you be?" the info-broker asked lightly, resting her arms back onto the table as she sat up a little. "Agila never mentioned hiring anyone new recently."

Ly stayed quiet as Ano spoke, silently watching as her eyes alternated between her date and the new waiter.

"I was a new arrival in Vale yesterday and was searching for work. The owner was kind enough to oblige after proving my capabilities, hence why I shall be in your service for the remainder of the night," he said with a bow.

That didn't sound right.

"Mind if I ask where everyone else went?" Ly perked up as she questioned politely.

"Alas, the day was long before we had the pleasure of your arrival. I thought it best that the rest of my coworkers leave for the night and take a much earned rest after a hard day of work."

"Forgive me for asking in return then, but Agila isn't exactly a fan of hiring just about anybody," Anoel spoke up now, giving the man a pensive but calm look. "He's a stickler for anyone new. Leaving his entire establishment in your hands…? He must really trust you."

"I'm a man of many capabilities. But to be more precise young miss," he said glancing to Anoel. "He left it to 'our' care as employees. As a new worker, seeing the exhausted expressions of my fellow coworkers pained me greatly. And so I asked of them to return home for the night to allow me to handle the rest."

"Odd," Anoel chided openly, resting her cheek in her hand to convey a small passiveness to her nature. "Agila assured me that he'd see us off before we left. He was quite adamant on meeting the 'very special someone' I was taking out with me."

"He had a family emergency I'm afraid and left in a hurry. He asked me to convey his regret in not being able to meet the other young miss."

"Awe, I hope his niece is alright," Anoel replied, sinking into her hand as she let her eyes roam back up to their new waiter's gaze. "She's his favorite."

"Ah yes, I heard him speak highly of his niece earlier. To have a family to love and care for truly is a wonderful thing…"

"It is, actually," Ano replied. "You don't have any?"

"Unfortunately, I have long since been seperated from my family. Part of the reason for my arrival in Vale is to find them again soon, if possible."

Anoel hummed softly before glancing to Ly, reaching over to take her hand before moving to stand. "Well, I hope you find them. I'm sure you're more than capable. And to help out, we'll cut your night a little short."

"Mayhaps I suggest some desert before you are… whisked away for the night?" he said, quirking his eyebrows.

The phoenix smiled politely as the two stood in their heels, Anoel brushing down her silky black dress for a moment. "I think we're fine, thank you."

"Are you sure? I can have it out in but a few more minutes since I've already started working on the special."

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience then," Anoel replied back with a small smile. "We're quite full. And I'm sure you're eager to lock up once we leave to continue with your own night."

"A shame…" he said, walking off to the side. "And here I thought you would have the pleasure of having my chocolate gateau cake before leaving."

"Well, as you said, it's not quite done yet. And I'm sure you can enjoy it yourself. We don't want to intrude on your night anymore than we already ha-"

"Poke~"

Anoel's voice fell flat as a numbing touch tapped the back of her neck. The arm she had wrapped around Ly's waist suddenly lost all feeling.

W-What the hell…?

"Now, before you attempt anything, I would advise that you not waste your efforts in using your Semblances," the man spoke, leaning down between the two. "And in your case Ms. Anoel, your Affinity."

Anoel was already trying to tap into it, but the numbness spread to the rest of her body and froze it up before she could.

And with it, she… couldn't feel her Aura anymore.

"I've nullified your Aura, therefore nullifying your Semblance, as well as your Affinity. And before you ask, it isn't anything so simplistic as a standard nullification. It's so much more," he said, straightening back up.

The phoenix grit her teeth as she slowly narrowed her eyes. Their clear path to the door ahead of them grew more and more blurred. But even that feeling felt sluggish and straining as she growled through pressed lips.

She couldn't even move her jaw. Who the hell does this guy think he is?

"I've taken over your nerves entirely as well. See?" He nodded, then she felt the unnerving feeling of her arms raising up to clap twice. "Complete and total control."

An asshole, that's what. And he was ruining her date.

Her numbed jaw tensed, trying to squeeze the life out of her loose fingers and turn them into fists. All she had left was the overwhelming urge to stab him.

"Before I give you the chance to speak, I feel it my duty to advise you that you won't be able to shout either. Inside voices only I'm afraid. But… to offer you more incentive…"

His hand raised up, and from the corner of Anoel's eye, she could see Lylac's head slowly twisting toward her, stopping just at the point of capable tension.

The point just before the threshold of snapping it.

Anoel's heart sank as her body grew colder, despite the seething feeling of anger trying to force its way back to the surface.

Did he... really have the control... to make Ly kill herself?

What the hell was he after?!

"I really don't enjoy these types of tasks, but it is a must I'm afraid. I am only here for you and you alone, phoenix."

"T-Then… leave Ly… out of it," Anoel growled, the high tension on her jaw subsiding just enough for her to speak.

Ano's gaze tried to switch to Lylac. From what she saw, Ly's eyes were scared, but their dark blue hue glared at the man with an unbridled malice all the same.

"I'm the one you want. Not her." Ano's eyes tore away from Ly's face to find the man slowly stepping in front of them, that dull, numbing sensation seeping deeper into the rest of her body.

"No need to restate the obvious. So long as you understand you're in no position to do anything whatsoever…" he said, flicking his hand downward to return Ly's neck to its original position. "Then nothing happens to dear, sweet Lylac."

"Y-You son of a bitch…" Lylac growled as her eyes flicked to his own. "I'll fucking kill you."

He let out an amused chuckle. "Worse than you have tried, my dear. Now then, on to business." He pulled up a chair between them, resting his chin in his hands. "Due to my capabilities, I unfortunately must be the one to capture you and bring you in."

"You're dead," Lylac continued as her eyes stayed locked with his. "I-It may not be me that d-does it... but you're fu-"

Another flick of his hand and Lylac's voice cut off. "Yes yes, so have you and thousands of others have told me countless times before. A very old story, one of which I've unfortunately heard too many times before."

Anoel just grit her teeth further as she tried to force some marginal amount of heat into her muscles. "You have me. Why don't you just let her go and get on with it?"

Lylac was in danger. Very real and sudden danger, and the simple feeling of it made Anoel's entire being feel sick.

Something that actually sank in faster and harder than whatever paralyzing ability he used on them.

"Of course. As soon as I take you, however, I don't quite want the pleasure of taking on your mad dog yet. That's a task reserved for someone else in the future."

"Then you should know the longer you keep me here, the closer he gets," Anoel growled back.

He chuckled briefly. "Now consider this…" he said leaning in closer to Anoel. "At what point did you assume he was in any position to catch me?"

"You think he cares about any position he's in?" Anoel's low voice spoke back, darkening eyes leveling with her captor's. "Even if he was powerless, he'd claw through whatever Hell I was dragged into to get me back."

"Heh heh… Believe me when I say Hell is quite vast my dear."

"He. Doesn't. Care."

"And neither do I of Ezdeil. His time will come soon enough. Not by my hand, but… soon enough by another's. Now unfortunately, our time is up," he said, standing from his chair. "So with this, I bid you adieu, Lylac Chroma. And as for you, ms. Anoel… we'll be going on quite the adventure together."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she couldn't help but feel disgusted under his cold, numbing touch. But as her vision grew startlingly darker, her body and his vanished in a streak of silver-gray Aura.

Lylac stumbled forward as soon as the stifling grasp on her nerves came back to her, her eyes darting to where Anoel and the man vanished before she felt her legs buckle to the ground.

"N-Niro…"

Her voice was breathless at first, but as her lungs drew in air, she let out a blood curdling scream of desperation.

"Niro-!"

The lights around her flickered just as the wall to her immediate right blew inward, debris crashing through the room as her numbed senses slowly turned to the familiar figure standing nearby.

Green eyes fell to her before turning to the chair in front of her collapsed frame, then to the door.

He didn't say anything as she breathed raggedly, nerves firing across her body to try to get some semblance of control back.

"H-He took her…"

But she still managed to breathe out a few words as she watched his hands draw into tight, straining fists.

"T-That asshole took Anoel…!"

---

Kitsuki poked at her seat warmer to turn it off as GHOST drove her back to the alley where they last left Dante and Arex. Or at least, that's what the pixie filled her in about.

She must've missed it when she fell asleep.

"We're here," GHOST calmly stated, turning her gaze to the kitsune with a little smile. "Probably won't be long until they get back, so continue to make yourself comfortable. That's all you've been doing anyway."

Kit didn't want to get comfortable again, though. She felt bad about putting Arex in a position that left her alone with someone.

Her eyes drifted to the front door of the diner as it slowly opened, spotting her partner and Dante step out into the night air under the nearest street lamp.

The girl looked tired… And Kit was right, Arex was exhausted.

---

"It might be too late to ask, but everything good with you?" Dante asked, turning to Arex once the car pulled up. "Nothing… displaced internally, or feel weird?"

Arex didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but she tried to offer him a small smile, despite feeling physically exhausted from what they just pulled off. "Not that I know of."

Her eyes turned to see the car slowly come to a stop at the sidewalk just ahead of them. Then she saw Kitsuki push the passenger door open and step out.

"You're awake," Arex voiced softly, watching as Kit ran her hands over her tails before pushing her car door shut.

The kitsune gave a tiny nod of affirmation.

"Sorry I fell asleep on you," she signed, ears turning down for a moment as Arex gave a small smile.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't want to wake you." Arex's eyes turned to GHOST, peering at her through the windshield. "How long was she asleep for?"

She honestly had no idea how long they spent inside. It was already dark out, it had to be longer than it felt…

"The whole time," the AI responded promptly. "I wasn't really paying much attention."

"In any case, problem solved," Dante interjected. He sounded like all this was just in an average day's work. "And I'm no longer mini-me. Thanks guys."

"I… didn't really do much," Arex muttered, smile turning a little ashamed. She was more just the company, really.

"I did nothing," Kit added, a lazy look crossing her face. "How did you grow up so fast?"

She liked it when he was smaller than her.

"I found a large quarter tank of milk. And drank it," he answered Kitsuki first. "And you were invaluable help. Your flames worked like a wonder in distracting that… whatever it was…"

"It wasn't really much of a fire… it was more just your shoe," Arex replied. Though, it helped the crates he threw it into were filled with something flammable, considering the fires spread over a much wider area than she was anticipating.

Kit's head tilted for a few long moments as she danced her gaze between the two, eyes falling into a determined, curious stare. "Where was the magic milk?"

"In a separate plane of existence from this mortal realm," Dante answered immediately. "One which you should never want to go to. Ever. Even if you want to grow taller."

Kit frowned before shrugging a single shoulder, turning her gaze back to Arex. "I'll just get milk through Arex. Are we leaving soon?"

The phoenix took those words with stride. Or rather, her eyes blinked with a wide, incredulous stare before she hesitantly shook her head, blush creeping in. "I-I can buy milk for you, if you want."

"It needs to be special milk."

"I-It will be?" Arex offered with a small squeak. Where would she buy special milk…? Maybe almond milk would work. Or chocolate milk.

"We can leave whenever they get in the car. I'm sure we all have things to do. I know I do…" GHOST spoke out amidst the descending awkward silence over the conversation.

Kit's chin dipped in a satisfied nod as Arex felt her soft blush quietly die away, but she turned her gaze to the sky when she noticed Kit's eyes watching it fade into her pale cheeks.

It really was late tonight. Even with the night sky overhead, it was hard seeing the stars with all the lights around, a few of them flickering softly.

"How late is it?" Arex asked idly, turning her gaze to the street light flashing over the diner windows.

"Midnight," GHOST replied calmly. "Ly's probably waiting for you two at the apartment."

Arex gave a small nod as she looked back to GHOST in the car, only to see her hologram flicker for a moment in the windshield. Wait, flicker? The engine of the car suddenly died with an eerie silence. The startling drop of its noise cut into the street, letting a chilling nervousness settle over Arex in the next breeze.

The phoenix immediately pulled out her scroll, flicking it open to let the slim projectors she recently installed unfold. "GHOST?"

Arex booted into the Sentinel bios from her CPU chip, something that directly connected her to GHOST wherever she was in the world. But as soon as she got in, her screen blinked with a connection error.

H-How…? They weren't that far from a scroll relay. That was impossible… their secure network was even connected through the CCT's.

"My signal's down too. Which shouldn't be possible considering where we are…" Dante spoke from next to her, Arex sliding her scroll closed as she frowned.

The buzzing of the lights ahead of them grew in the heavy silence of the empty street, any semblance of other human life long gone in the lateness of the hour. And that only added to Arex's growing nervousness.

"You can drive us back, right?" Arex asked, eyes turning to the dead car. "Once you get it started again?"

"Yeah, of course. But the car dying too… Something's not right here…" he said, glancing around them.

Arex turned to Kit as her partner poked the dark windshield of their ride, watching as her tails swayed slightly in the night air.

Air that was feeling awfully cold, all of a sudden.

"W-We're… still not in that dimension… are we?" Arex asked slowly, the flickering of the street lights starting to spread to the others now. She could feel the temperature slipping away from the air, and her breath shook all the more.

Every light down the entire row of city blocks flickered rampantly. Maybe it was the cold sweeping through the area, or an energy surge happening nearby, but the buzzing noises filling her ears drowned away what little mental stability she thought she had when they got out.

"No, it was limited to the diner. It has no way of expanding outward at all, especially since we dealt with the singularity," Dante said, voice trailing softer near the end. "This… is something else."

Something else…? Arex's legs felt stiff, her eyes transitioning over the lights down the row over and over again. She just felt… tense.

And that tension tore a squeak out of her like an alarm as the street lamp above them shattered. Sparks rained down from the busted glass as her shoulders pulled tightly into her body, frantic eyes watching as the breaking bulb above them set off a chain reaction.

A matching concussive noise rang out in waves as every bulb running down the streetline shattered one after the other, shooting down the sidewalks before the night left them in a looming darkness.

"I-I t-think we should… g-go now…" Arex murmured, nerves flaring through her throat. Her legs felt like lead now as she tried to move them.

They stayed stuck to the ground. Her muscles were sore from before, but they were starting to ache a lot more than they were just a few moments ago.

"That's going to be difficult for you at the moment… There's an energy current flowing through the ground that's tensing up your muscles, making it hard for you to move," Dante stated before looking back into the darkness. "I know you're out there. I can feel the evil radiating from you. Come on out so we can have a little 'talk'."

Arex's eyes turned down to her frozen legs. She… suddenly realized a subtle twitch shaking them from the ground up. Like an impulsive, tiny vibration running through her body.

No wonder why her legs ached so much…

Her eyes widened in worry as a pang of urgency hit her. She quickly glanced up to Kit, the girl's own eyes were locked on the ground between her stiff legs by the car.

The movement in her tails was completely still, the twisted bundle of fur settling between her legs as her ears drooped heavily atop her head.

"Kit?" She looked scared… Petrified. And Arex's mind flashed with the same images of Kit's terrified face when she locked herself in that closet during one of Beacon's storms.

The phoenix's shaking skin drew cold as Kit's gaze slowly made its way up to her, wide eyes staring back at Arex in a growing look of disbelief and fear.

That dread immediately filtered into Arex's own eyes as she tried to force her legs forward, to get to her. Even if it was just slightly enough to start closing that distance they had.

"D-Dante, c-can you-"

Arex's entire body reeled in shock as the energy shooting up from the ground surged, a stifled cry of pain ripping out of her throat as a loud series of echoing crashes stormed down the street.

Every storefront window broke in a series of parallel, thundering crashes. Bursts of glass cascaded in outward explosions mirrored across every stretch of road. And Arex had to snap her eyes closed as the scattering glass struck her side.

"You should try your best not to move," a male voice spoke, and the waves of raining shards stopped. Those words froze her more than the electricity coursing through her body, grinding her mind to a stop. "Breaking that connection you have with the ground means you're no longer grounded."

Arex tore her eyes open to see a fading streak of light flash in front of her… Directly behind where Kitsuki stood. A pair of piercing gold eyes peered from over Kit's shoulder. The kitsune's body went rigid as a slim, sparking finger pressed into the side of her neck.

Platinum blonde hair drifted in the dead wind from the lean boy slowly starting to wrap his arm around Kitsuki's waist, keeping his frame situated behind the girl as the energy coursing through the area began to escalate.

And Arex felt her jaw struggling to move as it tensed beneath the oncoming waves of electricity, eyes narrowing at the sight of the boy touching her partner.

A hidden blade moved through the dark just behind him, carefully aimed at the new arrival's neck, but that sickening smile twisted across his lips grew before a golden light erupted from his irises.

The gold-colored material of his jacket surged before he and Kit disappeared, a blinding streak of lightning arcing into the air before rapidly darting to the edge of the building across the street.

Arex had just enough movement to turn her eyes and watch as the teen appeared at the top of the building's edge, holding an unconscious Kit in his arms as he smiled down at them.

"Consider this a formal invitation to my manor, miss Arex," the boy spoke down at her, and the twinge of her name shook her in a growing tremble as she tried to urge her body to move again. To do something. To say something. "But I'm afraid I must be on my way. Guests are soon to arrive, and I mustn't keep them waiting at my door for too long, now can I? After all, a Chroma is always worth making a little time for."

Chroma…?

That youthful, condescending voice grated Arex in every way before another flash erupted from the building's roof, the figures silhouetted in the night sky vanishing in a blurred streak of golden lightning.

"N-No…" Arex finally managed to get out, the tightness in her jaw melting away before she felt her numb legs give out.

Dante's swift arm caught her and lifted her up into his arms before she could collapse fully, her body growing limp as the electrical current finally left it.

"As unfortunate as this may sound, I know now he's the person I was looking for…" Dante slowly said, eyes fixed on the scorch marks streaking up the side of the building.

Arex's wide eyes stared at the ground, wanting to fall to pieces as her mind ran too rampantly for her to get any thoughts together. "Whois he…?"

Her voice was startlingly steady, but the desperation in her tone was the only emotion she managed to convey.

"I don't know who he is exactly, but I know one thing for certain now."

Her breathing was starting to grow shallow as she closed her eyes, trying to stop her body from shaking any worse than it already was.

"He's the one who killed Kitsuki's previous partner."

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I'm part of a Discord server now? Link below.

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Oh the woes of college… At least this was a big chapter with a turning point. Maybe the Omake can help lighten things up?

Remember Sylvius? The condescending guy Niro spoke with and pursued? The Maestro who owns a Lightning Dust mine and a Lightning Dust Core? Yeah, that guy (I hope)!

I mentioned a long several chapters ago when Arex and Kit were at Beacon that a certain chapter would come creeping back up with real importance. That chapter was titled "Afraid". It featured Kitsuki's paralyzing fear to a certain element.

As for Ly and Ano's date, well… I wouldn't expect any mercy from Niro's end.

For now, Favorite and Follow the story.

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

Also! If you wanted to speak with me more freely, I'm part of a Discord server with a handful of authors. Feel free to drop in and say hi and stay if you want to stick around.

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[ discord . gg / YU8A6Bp ]

Don't forget to remove the spaces if you do use the link. FFN is finicky with formatting.

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Omake: by Xera Stark

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Arex felt surrounded. No, she felt trapped right now as she tried to manage her hectic breathing and handle each question one at a time.

And the situation didn't help her emotions if she had to call each of them by name. Their masculine name.

"Okay, okay. Wait." The phoenix slowly breathed out, shuddering as she got some of her hyperventilating under control. When she opened her eyes, she drew her legs up onto the bed and eyed the three girls standing in her room carefully. "I'm renaming all of you."

"Seriously?" Ray asked in her more… submissive but still somehow firm voice, already hating the idea.

"Yes, Rae. I'm changing your last letter to an 'e' in my mind," Arex replied dryly. She felt the bed shift for a moment and found Kitsuki settling down beside her, the phoenix resting herself against her partner's weight before eyeing the other two. "As for you two…"

"Call me Nira," Niro said- or rather, Nira cutely stated, voice soft but clear.

God Arex still needed to get used to this…

"That leaves you," the phoenix finished, eyeing Dante and her more endowed form, compared to the other two. Did she really have to wear the tight clothes?

She could've gone without it…

Just saying.

"How's Danni?" Arex asked.

"Meh, it's pretty good," she said with a shrug.

"Would you rather me call you 'Dante' in public then? Seeing as you clearly don't like the name," Arex retaliated, a tense huff leaving her lips.

"Hey, I was agreeing with you alright? Don't twist your wings into a knot," Danni replied, giving Arex an attractive but sour look.

Just stop.

Stop looking hot…

"Okay-" Arex blinked and straightened up slightly as she flicked her gaze to the sound of her closet door sliding open. Nira was gently ruffling through her hanging clothes. "Hey, I didn't say you could borrow anything yet."

"Just browsing," Nira replied calmly, humming as she leaned herself back and forth amidst her searching. "Can you teach me how to cook again? Do girls cook? I feel like I need to know this…" she voiced out in that effeminate, cute voice.

Damn it! Did she have to sound so endearing there…?

"Y-Yeah, sure," Arex murmured. It honestly looked like Nira's personality switched out all its aggressiveness with curiosity… and undying cuteness.

The latter was a real thing. Arex knew it was.

Because Kitsuki existed.

"What the hell do I do when downstairs starts bleeding?" Rae asked, taking a look down the front of the jeans that were too big for her. "It better not start now."

Right… Arex turned a narrow gaze to the blonde. "You stick a tampon in."

"A what?" Violet eyes turned to Arex as she lifted her head.

"The thin and round cotton thing numbskull. Almost like the round cotton swabs they use at the dentist," Danni answered.

"No… no it's not like those at all…" Arex deadpanned in a disbelieving, insulted tone. "There is absolutely nothing in common with that…"

She actually looked genuinely disgusted.

"Are you so sure?" Danni asked with a challenging smile.

"Also… define 'in'," Rae asked a little skeptically as her brow furrowed.

Arex sighed exasperatedly and put her head in her hands. "I am not answering that…" Her skin paled a moment later.

She was in no way going to graphically describe that. Or demonstrate it.

"Just look it up or something," the girl sighed, lifting her gaze to fix Danni with a curious stare. "What about you? Won't your healing just stop it or something?"

It was a natural process, but still…

"Huh… Never thought about that before now… I'll ask my sister when I get the chance," Danni answered simply.

"I wonder why you never thought of that…" Rae murmured sarcastically as she shuffled over to one of the beds and sat down, pulling out her scroll and quickly typing something.

Arex shook her head at all this, tossing a desperate glance to Nira in her closet. "What about you, Nira?"

The short girl's green eyes turned her way before shrugging, going back to browsing Arex's personal closet. "I'll probably bleed."

She sounded… so casual about all this.

A blue scroll suddenly flew across the room and struck the far wall before falling onto the bed beneath it. "No way. No! I'm not doing that!"

Arex turned back to Rae and sighed, loudly. "You have to."

Rae fixed her with a harsh glare. "Like hell I do! I'm cutting this womb out!"

The phoenix physically grimaced in pain at the thought. "How do you know that won't affect your male alternate form?"

"I-I…!" The girl paused before retaliating, visibly thinking it over. "God dammit…"

"I can help you if you need," Nira's voice spoke out from the closet, head and hat buried in a wall of sweaters as she dug around.

"I don't think you helping will solve this kind of problem…" Danni replied.

Nira poked her head back out of the closet for a second as she gave Danni a determined, firm look. "Sure it will. She won't have to do it, and I won't have to call Ly to do it for her."

Please no… "Nobody here is calling anyone," Arex stated clearly, her voice hard. She did not want Anoel or Lylac finding out about any of this.

"I…" Now Rae sounded like she was hyperventilating. "w-would rather… build a-an igloo in the middle of Solitas and live there for the r-rest of my life, than let Ly find out about this," she stated very sternly and clearly, gesturing to her lithe body strewn in oversized clothes. But not without a few stressful squeaks in her voice here and there.

"Hey, look who I have on speed dial!" Danni exclaimed with a smug smirk as she brought up a holographic screen.

"Danni, I also have Inuba on dial too," Arex interrupted, glaring at the girl. "And your siblings."

"So?" she asked, unimpressed with the threat.

"Fine," Arex sighed, plucking her scroll up from where it rested on the bed as she heard a camera shutter go off beside her. Several more firing soon after as Kitsuki took a few pictures.

"You know little bird…" Danni walked over to Arex. "I discovered something really interesting ever since I changed into this form."

Her tall form easily towered over Arex as she stood before her. "I'm actually far more predatory in this state. You understand, don't you?" she asked, leaning in closer.

Arex instinctively leaned away from the breach of her personal space, her eyes narrowing at the white-haired girl. But she couldn't stop the flush of red passing through her cheeks.

"Typical… stuck in the middle of a huge problem and this one makes a joke of it…" Rae muttered to herself disdainfully as she crossed her arms.

The phoenix looked away before she felt another shift on the bed, the thump of a scroll dropping onto the sheets echoing quietly as Kitsuki pushed Danni away.

Then silently sat herself down in Arex's lap with a territorial look in her eyes.

"Just making sure she knows before she thinks about hitting send," Danni said with a shrug. "I'm much faster than you think I am."

"And much more perverted, apparently," Arex stated in a dead tone.

"Hey, Arex?" Nira's adorable voice called out, almost sounding lost.

The phoenix gazed over Kitsuki's shoulder to see the raven haired girl standing with two outfits in hand. Neither of them had her usual accompanying sweater, but both of them were a tad more loose and sleeveless than she'd like.

"How come you don't wear any of this and just wear those sweaters all the time? You'd look good in these," Nira asked.

Arex nervously flushed red at that.

"Yeah, no kidding. You should show off more," Danni proudly said, patting Arex's back a bit forcefully. The action only made her feel worse.

"Are there any jeans in there?" Rae's voice asked quietly.

"Nope. Doesn't seem like it," Nira replied.

"Sweatpants? Leggings?" Rae listed almost desperately.

Nira's head dipped in a short nod before smiling softly. "Plenty of those."

A relieved sigh escaped Rae's lips as she stood up quickly. "Good, then I'm taking these off."

"Do you need her underwear too?" Nira asked first, unknowingly stunning Arex again with a sweeping blush of embarrassment.

"Can we not rummage through my underwear drawer? Please?" Arex squeaked out, shooting the hardest glare she could Nira's way.

"I'll give them back," Rae returned quickly, reaching for her waist and beginning to pull her oversized jeans off.

"I don't want them back!" Arex yelled, her blush spreading to her ears again before Kit turned around in her lap and covered the phoenix's eyes.