Chapter 10

Alone

People were avoiding Adam and he was very aware of that. The only person who seemed to enjoy his company was Ceres and she was nowhere to be found.

"She better not be snorting again." - he murmured, polishing his blade.

"She's not."

Raven suddenly was standing in front of him with hands on her hips.

"She went to take care of Grimm in the north of our camp." - she added - "And I'm keeping an eye on you when she's gone and it's a real pain in the ass."

"I cut off Yang's arm." - he said suddenly - "Now you have perfect opportunity to kill me."

Raven chuckled.

"Ceres told me the story. I don't have to punish you for my daughter did it already."

"I aimed to kill her and I don't miss with my sword. I saw a bird for a second though."

"That's none of your business. You failed to kill her and that's all that matters to me."

"I won't fail next time she tries to kill me." - Adam warned.

"It's her business. I couldn't care less." - Raven replied - "I just don't want you to cause trouble in my camp."

"I'm just sitting here minding my own business, as always."

"Do you still work for Salem?" - Raven asked, slowly placing her hand on her weapon. Adam couldn't not notice it.

"I work with Ceres if that's what you mean. And I don't care about Salem as long as I'm with her."

"You really do care about her."

Adam cackled.

"I don't need to care about her to stay with her. She proved me a lot of times she can take care of herself. She doesn't need me to care about her."

Ceres used her space-reverting spell to heal herself and stabbed the last Grimm with lower end of her khakkara. She was sweating a lot, but she was also proud of herself. For the first time in years.

She got rid out of her clothes and jumped into the lake. Cold water washed off her exhaustion. She was still having cold sweats that made her remember the horrors of her addiction. She was still addicted and she knew that. Her addiction made her steal, lie and humiliate herself. And that humiliation could never be washed off by the waters of the lake.

But now with Adam to guard her she had an opportunity to really stop using. Nobody ever cared enough for her to really make her question her illness. She had been running in circles of her own hell for so many years she could never think of letting the drugs go.

She was still taking meds Adam gave her, but she was slowly running out of them and she was scared what would happen without the tablets.

She was not able to function without putting chemicals in her body and she hated herself for that. She had many reasons to hate herself, but that was the biggest. Dust, pills and more pills. Her whole life was based on chemical substances.

"You look like you are severely depressed; do you need antidepressants on the menu?" - Adam cackled. Ceres turned back to him.

"That is not funny." - she said angrily - "Turn around!"

"It's not like I've never seen you naked." - Adam shrugged his arms, but did as he was told to.

"Please let me keep my basic human decency I just recently got back."

Ceres got out of water and started to dry herself with a small towel.

"Do you keep that towel in the same place you were keeping my weapon in? Because I've never seen you carry it around."

"Yes I do." - Ceres sighed and put her clothes back on - "You can turn around now. What are you doing here?"

"I went out looking for you. I thought Raven's gonna kill me anytime."

She laughed.

"You chopped off her daughter's arm for gods' sake."

"I would never suspect Raven of caring about Yang."

Ceres stretched her body and sat down on the ground. She took a sip of water from the bottle Adam gave her.

"She does care. She just cares about her in her own, a little twisted way."

"Parents." - Adam cackled - "Family."

"Do you have any family?" - Ceres asked and averted her eyes to Adam. He was quite tall.

"Not that I know of. What about you?"

"Kinda popular story. Dead parents, orphanage, the Faunus took me in. Until, you know, the wipe." - she replied - "Classical story of a child from lower parts of Atlas."

"I always hated that place."

"I'm never going back there." - she shrugged her arms - "Not even Salem is going to force me to do that."

Adam sat next to her.

"Ceres, together we can have everything we want. Why won't we just go and take what's ours?"

She looked at him.

"Because I don't want everything, Adam. I want a little."

"I don't understand that, Ceres, how..."

"Just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should. That is the difference between you and me, Adam. I can understand I shouldn't do things. "

"And how does your addiction fit that way of thinking? Because I'm goddamn sure it doesn't."

Ceres blinked and slightly moved away from him.

"Adam…."

"So this is it. That is what kind of hypocritical person you are."

She stood up in anger.

"Don't you dare to insult me for what I am and for what I'm trying to be!"

Adam stood up too.

"Why not? Why can't you see what you are missing? Because you are missing a whole point, Ceres! Together we can..."

The girl clenched her hand on her weapon.

"It is you who don't see! It is you who desire power too much! Why can't just take a little bit of the things you can have instead of destroying everything you cannot have?!"

Adam drew his sword and pointed at her. Ceres was careful enough to avoid his attack.

"Now you're doing it again! You want to force me to accept your way of thinking that is destroying us both!" - she screamed, jumping behind him and trying to defend herself - "And that is why Blake left you! This is why everyone leaves you!"

Adam attacked her furiously, aiming at her stomach, but she blocked his sword with Planetaria.

"How dare you say something like that! I loved her!" - he screamed, unlocking his semblance towards Ceres, but she was quick enough to avoid it.

"You just almost killed me, Adam!" - Ceres yelled, once again defending herself - "Are you aware of what are you doing now?! You could have killed me with that attack! Me, of all people!"

He stopped for a moment, panting. When Ceres finally thought she spoke to him with reason, he attacked her again.

"Maybe you should be dead, instead of making a fool out of me!" - he screamed. Ceres blinked in shock. She blocked two next attacks, but the third reached her and now she was bleeding from her arm.

"Adam, do you hear yourself?! Stop for a moment!"

Ceres barely avoid decapitation and casted a spell on her body to reverse the wound.

"And I believed you were my friend!" - Adam screamed, aiming at her stomach again. He was so full of anger and fury Ceres couldn't believe it.

"I am you friend you stupid goat idiot!" - she screamed, throwing away her weapon - "If you want to kill me, kill me now!"

And he fucking did it. He attacked her when she was unarmed. But to his surprise, his sword landed on the ground. Ceres wasn't there.

"I made you believe I was standing there." - she said and then she burst into tears - "You were trying to kill me. You wanted to kill me."

And upon hearing her cry, Adam let his sword out of his hands and realized what he had almost done.

"Ceres, I..."

"Do not fucking dare to come near me." - she said, pointing her weapon at him - "Or I'll turn you into catatonic vegetable."

"Ceres, please..."

She was crying out loud.

"I should have known better. You're a monster and you'll never change."