A/N: This is the finale of our first volume and we will be taking a short break to recuperate and enjoy the holidays. Our regular two week schedule will be back on track after Christmas.

The tugging of cables and shifting of gears echoed in the small chamber of the elevator as it ascended. Xanthic stood with his back pressed against the metal wall. His heel clicking loudly as his leg shook. "You- you're sure about doing this, right?"

"The real question is if you are." Nivens told him

He sighed, "I know…" Xanthic jumped a little when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open smoothly. The room they revealed was large and circular, its glass ceiling hosted moving gears that suited the clockwork pattern on the floor. After taking a deep breath Xanthic walked towards the large desk at the back of the room and the two adults standing next to it, "You a-asked to speak with me, s-sir?"

"Yes," Ozpin gestured for Xanthic to take a seat.

"I… I'd prefer to st-stand sir. Th-thank you."

"Very well," He took a drink from his mug before setting it down and sitting in his chair. Leaning forward, resting his chin on his folded hands, Ozpin spoke in a tone that somehow managed to be both direct and serious, but also strangely comforting, "I realize you have been through quite an ordeal, but surely you understand there are some questions we must ask you." Xanthic nodded silently. "For starters, do you know why Humanity decided to take you in the first place?"

"Ah… Well, I d-don't know if they had any specific plans… But…" He could feel Glynda's hard stare and wanted to make sure he used the right words. "Wi-with my family history they, um, expected to re-recruit me."

Glynda was about to speak up, but Ozpin had already raised his hand for her to stay quiet. "What was their offer?"

Neither of them expected that kind of question. Xanthic took a small step back and remembered what he had been told the previous night. "I… I don't… It's…" He glanced to meet Ozpin's steady gaze, "He didn't really o-offer me anything…"

"Nothing at all?"

"No, n-not really."

"Not a very persuasive man then, now is he?" Ozpin paused, but didn't really expect to get an answer. "Could you tell me about him?"

"He um… he carried himself, li-like a nobleman. A-and he wore a black cloak, bu-but he was te-terrify-fying…" Xanthic covered his mouth with his hand.

"Could you identify him then?"

"Yes, ea-easily."

"I see." Ozpin leaned back against his chair, "That will be all for now, unless there is something else you'd like to add?"

"I…" Xanthic lowered his hand and looked down at it before taking a deep breath and fixing his posture. He made eye contact with Ozpin for the first time and spoke very clearly, "I would like to ask that you trust me, sir."

Ozpin somewhat hummed and thought carefully before answering, "I think that is manageable, but you should be going now. Your team would probably like some more time with you."

"Thank you, Professor." Xanthic turned to leave, but hesitated.

Nivens spoke honestly, "Ozpin… I know I haven't done much to prove myself, but I don't believe anyone should be allowed to judge how broken we are except for us. And I won't forgive that man for thinking he can."

A small smile appeared on the headmaster's face, "I would very much like to continue this conversation later, Mr. Picto."

"Of course." He smirked, "Life's finally interesting." He left before anything else could be said.


The halls of Beacon were fairly loud as the students were all finished with their classes. Nivens loosened the tie and collar of his uniform and took his jacket off as he walked back to the dorm. Just outside he could hear his teammates voices. Arriving at his dorm room he stopped with his hand reaching towards the handle as he heard his teammates' conversation perfectly clear. "Wouldn't it be better if he can just forget about it?" Amelia argued timidly.

"I don't think so," Riliane said. "You're supposed to talk about things like this, aren't you?"
"If he needs to talk than he will," Olive mediated between them. "Xan knows he can trust us."

"We shouldn't pressure him on it," Amelia decided.

"I guess you're right… I just don't want him to feel alone," Riliane sighed.

"Idiots," Nivens mumbled, "That's what I'm here for." He resisted the urge to punch the door and continued walking. His plan was to retreat to the section of roof that Xanthic and claimed for himself early in the year. Unfortunately his timing couldn't have been worse as he crossed paths with the full SDTM team.

Upon seeing him, Dan's cheery expression turned to a glare, "What're you staring for?"

"Hmm?" Nivens broke eye contact and shrugged, "It's nothing, just glad I don't have to sit in the hallway anymore."

"No one asked you to go down every day."

"I guess not." He sighed, "Probably would've been better if I didn't. Yesterday might've just been another boring day then-" Nivens hand shot up to his head as he got a sudden sharp pain.

He staggered slightly and Tigre stepped forward to support him, "You alright?"

"Fine," Nivens claimed through clenched teeth despite tightly gripping Tigre's arm. "I'm fine. Everything's alright…" He began mumbling and only Moonracer could make out what he was saying, "You're fine, you're fine. I'm sorry… Calm down please…" After a minute of talking to himself, his legs stopped shaking and he let go of Tigre. "Thanks… 'Scuse me." Nivens walked past them and continued to his destination, now at a hastened pace.

He closed the door with his body and slowly slid down to be sitting, "I should've been more careful, I'm sorry." There wasn't a response. "Hey! You can't block me out when it's this important!"

"I… I do-don't-" Xanthic was sobbing in his thoughts.

"You don't have the option to run away anymore."

"I-I know…"

Nivens stopped talking out loud, "And you're thinking about it all wrong. Unlike most people, you got a new start. You found a new home, at least it was mostly good. But you can make it better if you stop doubting yourself so much."

"Y-you really thi-think so?"

"When have I ever told you a lie? And as for thirteen years ago, that was thirteen years ago. The dead don't matter anymore, but you are still alive and that is what's important."

"H-how can you say they do-don't matter?"

"Because it's true. Until last night you couldn't even remember what they looked like and I know you can't name a single way they've had an influence on you currently."

"I gu-guess… But-"

"But what? We both know that whatever that was with Riliane was because that crazy pink chick messed with your head. You were hyped up on adrenaline, fear, and stress. That hallucination you had doesn't even make any sense and you know that." It fell silent. Not a single thought was vocalised after that. Nivens stayed up there, just looking at the horizon until it got dark and too cold for comfort. He returned to his dorm ignoring his teammates greetings as he collected his pajamas, he hesitated and sighed before grabbing his night cap as well, and left to change in the bathroom.

Xanthic was the one that returned, "I-I'm back…"

"Hey Xan~" Olive greeted him as if he hadn't just been there.

He layed down on his bed with an arm over his eyes and mumbled, "We should go camping sometime…"

"What?" Riliane sat on the edge of her bed next to Olive.

"I remember sleeping in trees when I was little. The way the leaves move… it's relaxing…"


Three days later:

A young rabbit faunus stood in his small hut of a house. The bottoms of his feet were sliced open from the shattered dishes. His blood seeping into the ground. Outside the clear moonlit sky perfectly highlighted the mangled bodies of his family and neighbors. Some had limbs severed. Some had gashes in their sides. Some couldn't be identified. He felt his whole body tremble as his vision flashed to the dark and bloodied factory. Pain struck his head like a bullet and he collapsed to the ground.

...

"MOMMY!" Xanthic woke with a scream. Curling himself into a ball he felt his face drenched in both sweat and tears.

"X-Xanthic?" Riliane got up first and attempted to reach out to him.

He instinctively slapped her hand away, "N-n-no… No no nonono!" He pulled the covers over himself, but his teammates could still see how much he was shaking.

"Are… are you alright?" She touched his side through the blankets.

His body suddenly stopped. "Don't touch me," He said sternly.

"What..?"

"I said don't touch me!"

"S-sorry…" Riliane carefully removed her hand.

"Just buzz off!" Nivens was still hiding beneath the sheets.

"I'm not going to just leave you like this."

"Why not!? I-" He groaned in pain. "H-he doesn't need you! You'll just make it worse!" His semblance began flickering in and out causing each word to be at different volumes.

"How would I-"

"Because you're too much like both of them!"

"Like who..?"

"Just shut up already!"

Riliane shook with anger, but she managed to maintain a calm in her voice. "Amelia, please."

The girl nodded and touched the corner of the bed. In an instant the sheets began to move. They lifted themselves up and folded to the corner she held, leaving Nivens completely exposed. "Why..?" He growled with anger, "Why can't you idiots just leave me alone!?"

"Because whether you like it or not we are a team and you need to realize that means you can trust us."

"It's easy to use a word for your own benefit isn't it." He let out a harsh laugh. "Shouldn't that also mean that you can trust me to handle my own problems?"

"But your problems are our problems now too."

"Bullshit they are! None of you even know anything about me!"

"Probably because you're always contradicting yourself Nivens!"

They both stopped suddenly and Nivens stared at her, "And you wonder why I don't trust people." He stood up and grabbed some clothes from the closet and left.

"Wh-what was that?" Amelia asked.

"Why'd you call him by his middle name?" Olive questioned.

"I… I um…" She wasn't sure if she should tell them, it wasn't her secret to tell anyway.

It was only a few minutes until Nivens returned dressed in a very different ensemble than usual. His grey and blue jacket was cut short and only had one sleeve and the lime green ribbons on his boots were replaced with dark blue. The pants he wore were a dark grey and his tank top a solid white. Throwing his pajamas onto his bed he told them, "Tell Port that I'm sick or something." He grabbed his mask out from his desk and made to leave.

Amelia was trying to understand what was happening, "Where are you going, Xanthic?"

"What, did miss blabbermouth not tell you my real name yet?" He didn't turn to face them, "I'm going out."

"You're skipping class?"

"Yes, I am. Could you not figure that out yourself?" With a groan he left with his mask on. Stopping in the bathroom once more Nivens hung his hat on one of the stalls and pulled all of the bobby pins in his hair out to let his ears fall down. "Gods how long has it been?" He rubbed his hair to mess it up a little and gave a short massage to each ear. "Don't worry, I'll figure this all out somehow." Adjusting his mask one final time he went to the locker room to grab his weapon before heading out into the Emerald Forest.

His current emotional state quickly attracted the creatures of grimm. Within only minutes of entering the woods he was surrounded by beowolves. Nivens cracked his knuckles and activated the plasmic dust in his gauntlets, "Let's go!" He charged at the closest wolf and jumped up to jab his hand through its neck.

After the final one faded into smoke Nivens took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. He stared into the palm of his gauntlets, "See, nothing to worry about anymore. It won't- It can't happen again because we're strong now."

"I know… We should… we should go back and apologize…"

"Fine I suppose. Think you can handle that conversation?"

"I-I think so…"

"Let's head back then." Nivens waited until he knew classes were in session so that nobody would see him in the bathroom as he rehid his ears. He returned to his dorm and at some point while reading his comics his consciousness switched over so that Xanthic was in control again.

"Should we maybe go to class instead of just waiting here?"

"Do you really wanna go to class before smoothing things over?"

"Go-good point…"


After nearly three hours, the teenagers had finally finished their training. They trudged through the hallway, releasing exhausted sighs. Sunshine peaked through the windows of the hallways, casting warm light on their skin.

"Remind me never to upset Professor Port again." D'art said with groan. "God my back hurts."

"I think you really struck a nerve there." Eve admitted. "Although I wish you hadn't brought us all into it."

"What can I say? You all were the first people to pop up into my head." D'art said with a small bow. "You should be flattered."

"I'll punch you." Celeste said flatly. D'art held up his hands innocently. She mostly ignored him and focussed her attention on Riliane, "Y'know you've been weirdly quiet today. What's up?"

"It's… complicated," Riliane replied.

"Is it about Xanthic not being here?" D'art asked casually.

Owen waved the situation off, "Nivens is just being moody."

"Who's Nivens?" Celeste asked.

"H-how did you know about him?" Riliane was somewhat stunned.

"Well you know how Xan's always having like a half conversation with himself?" They all showed a level of recognition and could recall various situations. "Well I was curious and it turned out that the other half was a voice in his head. I never realized it was to the extent of a full split personality though."

"That would explain why he acted so different when we first met," Eve thought outloud. "And his eyes too I'm guessing."

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Celeste was even snippier when speaking to Eve.

She made a sharp "tsk" before responding, "Did you not notice that they change color sometimes?"

"No, why would I notice something like that?"

"Maybe cause he's the only guy short enough for you to look in the eye," Owen chuckled and received a swift punch to the gut.

"But wait," D'art interjected, "What do you mean he's being moody?"

"Whatever happened to him at the factory really got to Xanthic and I think he's been trying to bottle up his feelings for too long." Riliane explained. "So he finally just kind of exploded…" Amelia put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I just hope he's going to be okay…"

The group walked in awkward silence each thinking about the revelation until Olive broke the tension "He'll be fine, I'm sure." She reassured them. "But all of that aside, I'm taking a bath."

"Same, I reek." Celeste said, scrunching her nose up.

"I'll come as well." Replied Eve.

"We'll see you guys later then!" Olive called out, waving to the other members.

"I'll probably stop by the bathrooms later." Amelia added. "I need to ask Professor Peach about this homework first."

"Sounds good." Olive chirped as the three separated from the others.


After stopping by the dorms the 3 girls walked to the bathrooms arriving just in time to see a girl walk out and look at them.

"If you guys want to use the showers, there's only one available. Just so you know." The girl finished before strolling off. Celeste and Olive stared at each other.

"I call dibs!" Olive yelled, sprinting towards the door.

"Oh nono! I need it!" Celeste chirped, tackling the blue haired girl.

"I called it first!"

"It's mine!" Olive said with a yell, muffled by the blue haired girl who threw her behind herself.

"I stink!" Celeste snapped.

"I stink more!" Olive grabbed Celeste's leg and yanked her away.

"Girls girls, you're both pretty." D'art called out, watching the two of them. Owen was next to him, both had clean clothes and towel in hand as they had decided to follow suit and wash up.

"I know I'm pretty, thank you very much." Celeste snapped. She reached for Olive's shirt while the blonde was making an attempt to teleport. Swiftly, Celeste shoved Olive aside and dashed into the bathroom.

"You can't do that Celeste! You broke dibs!"

"Too late!" Celeste yelled out. Owen sighed and shook his head as he headed into the boys bathroom with D'art trailing behind him. Eve yawned and sat on a bench near the wall, laying back and closing her eyes.

"You'll be punished!" Olive shouted. "I called it first! You broke the rules of dibs!"

"Let me get naked in peace!" A muffled Celeste yelled through the door. There were annoyed grumbles from other girls who were in the bathroom. Olive pouted and sat down next to Eve. Then, a grin spread on her face as a plan formed itself.


D'art and Owen walked out of the boy's bathroom soon enough to see an upset Celeste sitting on the bench next to a seemingly sleeping Eve. Her face was red with anger as she held nothing but a towel around herself. The two boys flushed slightly and looked away.

"Celeste what are you doing?" D'art questioned out of the corner of her eye.

"Waiting for Olive to give me back my clothes." Celeste stated angrily. She didn't seem to mind or care that she was half naked.

"And why did she take your clothes?" Asked D'art.

"She broke the rule of dibs." Eve muttered without opening her eyes, still half asleep.

"Ah right, that." Owen said with a snort.

"Hey Olive! Hurry up and give me my clothes!" Celeste yelled at the door. There was a pause before there came a reply.

"You broke the rule of dibs! No clothes for you!" Olive called back gleefully.

"I'll come back in there and take them myself!" Celeste threatened.

"So why don't you?" Owen asked calmly.

"Cause she's just gonna teleport if I go in," Celeste muttered.

"Guys, what's going on?" Amelia asked, walking towards them. She glanced at Celeste and blinked, surprised. "Why is everyone yelling? And why is Celeste half naked?"

"Olive stole my clothes." Celeste snapped. "I'll pound her when she get's out!"

"Riiiight. Well that's great and all." D'art began. "But I'm getting hungry, Owen you want to head out for something to eat?"

"Gee, thanks for helping." Celeste muttered. D'art held his hands up.

"What can I say? You broke the rule of dibs."

"I'll punch you." Celeste said flatly.

"That has to be your reply for everything." D'art replied nonchalantly.

"But Celeste," Amelia began, "She probably just put them in your dorm." Celeste stared at Amelia with her mouth open, about to counter her. But after a few moments of thoughtful silence, her mouth abruptly snapped shut.

"Honestly!" Celeste muttered as she readjusted her towel and stomped back to her room.

"But Eve, you want to come?" D'art asked, ignoring them both.

"I'm still waiting for an open shower." Eve said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Girls are slow."

"Says the girl." Owen snorted. "Feel free to use ours, no one is in there." He joked. Eve opened one eye and stared at him.

"I might take you up on that." Before anyone could add anything to the conversation, another girl exited the bathroom. Eve sat up abruptly and was about to stand up, But before she could do so Amelia, who had not been paying attention to the conversation earlier, gave the others a quick wave before disappearing behind the door.

"And there goes another one." Eve said with a sigh before leaning back and closing her eyes.

"You have to seize the opportunity." D'art said. "Leave no mercy."

"Yeah thanks D'art. I'll keep that in mind." Eve said, not noting the sarcasm. D'art nodded and gestured to Owen.

"Let's go." The two boys uttered goodbyes before disappearing around the corner.


Celeste stormed into her dorm room, shaking with fury when she saw her clothes in a pile on her bed. On her pants, was a small sticky note with the words "Dib Breaker! XP" on it. Muttering to herself, Celeste crumpled the note and threw it over her shoulder in the wastebin.

"Stupid Olive." She muttered. "Stupid, stupid, stupid-" She was about to continue before a soft voice interrupted her.

"Hello? Eve are you here?" Celeste glanced over her shoulder, surprised when she saw Riliane peering into the dorm. The blue haired girl's cheeks flushed when she looked down, realizing that she was still half naked.

"O-Oh. Riliane, hey." Celeste greeted, grabbing her towel and yanking it upwards, despite knowing that Riliane couldn't see her. Hearing her voice, Riliane's eyes flicked towards Celeste and brightened.

"Oh, Celeste!"

"Er-umm." Celeste stuttered. "Were you looking for Eve?" She questioned finally.

"Um, yeah I was thinking she'd be back here by now. But that's okay, it was a minor thing… So what're you up to?" Riliane asked tilting her head to the side "Everyone else was going to eat so I figured you would be with them."

Celeste stared at Riliane and then back at her clothes on the bed. "Um, nothing" she replied quickly, clearing her throat. "Just, cleaning the beds."

"That's… responsible of you." Riliane said slowly.

"Sure." Celeste said hastily in response. The two were silent. Finally, Riliane stepped inside causing Celeste to swallow nervously.

"So, how are things between you and Eve?" Riliane questioned.

"Eve…? They're...okay." Celeste replied.

Unconvinced, Riliane walked closer and sat on the bed across from her "Okay?" Riliane mimicked.

"Okay." Celeste repeated again. She debated silently changing while she talked to Riliane, but ultimately decided against it.

"Why just okay?" Riliane questioned.

"Well," Celeste began, awkwardly sitting on her own bed. "We haven't really talked since the factory." Her towel was still damp, and as she sat, she could feel the water transferring to her sheets. Celeste grimaced.

"Why not?" Riliane asked, unaware of her predicament.

"Because I'm still mad." Celeste said finally. "Because she didn't even tell us about that pink haired girl before, and even now, she won't elaborate on it. "

"Did you ask her about it?" Riliane asked finally.

"No." Celeste admitted sheepishly. "I...I don't know. I just don't feel like...talking."

"Oh." Riliane said softly. "A-Am I bothering you then?" Celeste stared at her, confused before she blinked.

"No, not you Riliane. I always want to talk to you." Celeste muttered, mainly to herself. Riliane, however, caught it and a light pink spread across her cheeks.

"I see…" Another awkward silence filled the air. Finally Celeste cleared her throat and continued.

"So. Riliane."

"Yes?"

"We always talk about me. So why don't we talk about you?"

"Me?" Riliane asked, surprised. Celeste nodded.

"Well…" Riliane said slowly. "There isn't much to talk about. Everyone else seems to have an interesting, tragic, or cool past. But mine is just… normal."

"Normal?" Celeste questioned with doubt in her voice.

"Well I mean… not many things that you would consider exciting ever happened." Riliane clarified. Celeste stared at her before chuckling.

"That's a good thing, There's nothing wrong with having a simple upbringing with loving parents, in fact I would have given a lot for something like that."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely." Celeste said with a nod. "So tell me about your past, I don't know much about it."

"Well…" Riliane said slowly, not having ever given her life story to anyone, "I-I grew up in a really big house in the middle of the country. My parents were really protective of me and I wasn't really allowed to go outside nor into town. But I could have practically anything I want. Dresses, toys, anything like that.

"That's a good start." Celeste said with nod. "What else?"

"It was really lonely." Riliane continued. "I don't have any siblings, and my parents were usually out doing work. So I only had the maids and tutors around, and they were always too scared to play with me, because my parents were so overprotective. So most of the time I only had my toys." Riliane sighed and leaned back. "But whenever my parents were home, I always enjoyed myself. They would read stories to me, and play with me as much as I wanted." Riliane laughed to herself, smiling warmly. Celeste's eyes rested on the blonde, watching her contently as she continued to speak.

"They would always try to help me with things. But I would always refuse and kept trying to do things they said I couldn't do on my own... I got so many bumps and bruises. There was this one time where I got this huge bruise from falling down the stairs." Riliane's lips curved up into a smile. "And then my parents got into a big fight over how slippery the steps were. Which was kind of stupid, since it was carpeted…" Riliane trailed off. "Um sorry, I guess i'm getting kinda off topic."

"I don't mind. Actually, I kind of envy you." Celeste admitted finally, surprising even herself.

"Me? Why?"

"Because I never had that. By the time I was adopted, I could no longer simply enjoy the time I had. I was always on edge, always bitter and annoyed. I was angry at everyone, everything. I still am honestly." Celeste finished quietly.

"You're not angry all the time." Riliane said with a shake of her head. "I mean, you can be stubborn, and hot headed, and a bit crude… B-but you can also be really sweet. After all, you don't pity me just because I'm blind or treat me any differently."

"I wouldn't say that." Celeste murmured. I think of you very differently than the others. She thought. "Well you make me less angry." Celeste continued. "So when you are around… I guess i'm not always mad"

"Well that's good then! Because I think you're an amazing person Celeste, so you should too." Riliane said innocently. Celeste flushed profusely and nodded.

"Well... I better get going," Riliane stated "Everyone else is probably wondering where I am"

"Yeah... thanks for the talk." Celeste replied slowly, looking down from embarrassment.

"You should talk to Eve by the way. I don't think you're as mad at her as you think." Riliane added. Celeste was silent, and then she looked up.

"I will." She said with a faint smile. Celeste walked over to the door and waited for Riliane to follow. The blonde stood up, and walked nearly out of the room before she tripped on a spare pair of jeans on the ground. Celeste turned around, just in time to see Riliane fall on her. The two crashed into the ground. Celeste's head smacked against the floor as she cried out. She rubbed her head and frowned, feeling an uncomfortable pressure on her chest. Then she froze. Riliane was on top of her, with a confused look on her face.

"Celeste, what-" The blonde trailed off, her eyes widening. Color flushed into her cheeks as she realized where her hands were. Jumping off Celeste, Riliane fell back onto the floor and stammered. "I-I-I'm s-sorry! I just- I fell and- and I didn't know-"

"YOU'RE FINE!" Celeste said loudly, yanking up her towel more and covering her chest. "N-No Problem!"

"Why aren't you wearing anything?!"

"I'm wearing a towel!"

"Why are you only wearing a towel then?!" Riliane demanded, her face red. "W-Why didn't you say anything!"

"Because! You don't just say, 'Hey by the way, I'm half naked! Thought you should know! Not like it would get awkward or anything!'" Celeste defended loudly shakily standing up. "A-Also who falls like that?! It's so cliche!"

"I can't help it!" Riliane cried out. "I fall sometimes"

"T-Then stop falling!" Celeste yelled back.

"It's not that easy" Riliane shouted back adamantly. The two girls were silent, their faces red. Breathless, Riliane stood up and faced away from Celeste.

"But…I-I'm sorry… I really didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." Celeste said with a sigh. "It's my fault for being half naked, I guess."

Riliane cleared her throat. "But umm...I should probably go for real now."

"Yeah that would probably be for the best." Celeste replied, still rather embarrassed.

"Sorry once again." Riliane added timidly. "Um… bye"

"Hold up," Celeste said quickly. "This," She pointed between them, "Did not happen. This stays between us. And us only." Blushing again Riliane left without a word, prompting Celeste to sigh dejectedly before going to get dressed.


A few halls down, Riliane was still distracted thinking about her encounter with Celeste when she entered their dorm and was startled as Xanthic spoke up, "Um… Goo-good afternoon…"

"Oh I um, didn't think you'd be back… T-this soon I mean," She quickly added.

"S-sorry… I um… well Nivens uh…" Xanthic trailed off not acknowledging Riliane's nervous state.

Taking a moment to collect herself, Riliane continued "But why can't you just talk to me about things in the first place instead of apologising about it afterwards? We are partners after all."

"Th-that's…" He lowered his head, "Sorry… I just- He says not to w-worry, but… H-how can I n-not!?"

"Worry about what?" Riliane sat across from him remembering how she was swatted away that morning.

"I…" Xanthic sniffled and tried to keep himself together, "I don't wanna be a-alone again…"

"Then why not talk to people? Why do you try and push us away if you want friends?"

"That's… that's not what I s-s-said…"

"What?"

"I don't care if I have a lot of friends or not. I just… I need to have somebody besides Nivens who I know actually cares… An-"

"Do I not count for that?" She interrupted, "I've tried as hard as I can, but you just refuse to open up to anybody."

"Be-because getting at-tached means ge-getting hurt."

"But isn't the risk worth taking?"

"No… It's not… I… I don't wanna lose a-anyone again…"

"What do you- Wh-who did you lose..?" Riliane asked cautiously

"E-everyo-one…" Xanthic began shaking again at the remembrance of his vague and twisting memories.

From the quivering in his voice Riliane assumed he was crying, "Hey… I-it's alright." She tried to figure out what the right thing to say was. Xanthic's mouth opened as if he was saying something, but no sound came out. Off put by the silence Riliane spoke up again, "Xanthic?"

"I think he needs a break," Nivens strained to say.

"Oh um… I-Is he going to be alright?"

"He can still hear you, y'know. And he'll be just fine."

"Are you sure? Because this morning…"

"It won't happen again."

Riliane was going to say something, but she was stopped as door opened and Amelia walked in "Oh, Xanthic is back" she stated with disinterest as she looked around the room "Is Olive not back yet?"

"Weird," Nivens shrugged, "You two usually aren't separated a lot."

"I think that's how partners are supposed to be…" Amelia replied

"I still think you all are overrating this whole team thing, but whatever."

"It's Nivens, right?" Amelia continued

"Oh, so you did tell them then," he said towards Riliane.

"They wouldn't stop pressuring me about it" Riliane stated quietly "...and CODE found out too because Owen read my thoughts…" She added dejectedly.

"Whatever then, that's what I get for telling somebody in the first place, I not too surprised."

"That's a bit-" Amelia was cut off by a giggling Olive that suddenly appeared on her bed.

"I think Cel learned her lesson today~"

"And what might that be?" Nivens was already annoyed by her presence.

"She learned a valuable lesson about dibs."

"Dibs? Isn't that some stupid thing children do to get what they want?"

"Not at all! It is the pivot stone of preventing conflict and preserving friendships!"

"If you say so, just say it quieter please."

"Your head hurts?" Olive asked in a less ecstatic tone.

"Yeah, something like that." Nivens sighed and spoke to Riliane again, "So what did you leave out?"

"Um, it was really just the stuff you told me before we met with team Sandstorm." She told him.

"Oh, how sweet. You do have some respect for my privacy. Though, I don't really mind telling that story when they already know that I exist."

"Are you sure… It was pretty personal…"

"So am I." Nivens spoke nonchalantly about everything, "I guess you could say I'm technically only 13, because Xanthic was born like a normal person. It wasn't until he turned 4 and Lucent croaked that made everything difficult and complicated. Claire went into grieving and basically forgot that she even had a son, but it was also at that time that everyone found out about the faunus labor thing. So what little time Orelon spent away from Claire he was trying to deal with that. Keep in mind Xanthic was also kept a secret from basically everyone till he was 12, because they wanted to protect his privacy or something like that, so let's just say it was really difficult on him. To try and keep himself from going crazy from the loneliness he made himself an imaginary friend, which would be yours truly."

The three girls were silent for a moment and they took in the new information. Riliane was the first to speak again, "You never told me your family used illegal faunus labor."

"I assumed you already knew, most people do. Why else did you think faunus hate me so much when they find out who I am?" He crossed his legs and leaned back, "And in case you're wondering, once she got a hold of herself Claire gave every faunus worker the option to either leave and receive a very generous pension or continue with an increased pay rate as compensation for the time they weren't. But despite that being over 10 years ago nobody wants to let it go." Nivens thought to Xanthic, "There is one way probably that could get them to all stop, though."

"Y-you agreed with me that we wer-weren't going to do that."

"Yeah, think about how nice it'd be to not have this constant pain though." Nivens didn't get a proper response to that and dropped it. "So, any other questions?"

"Oh! I have one," Olive cheered. "When you fight, do you guys take turns or what?"

"That depends, with 7-Up and usually Goldeneye that's all Xanthic, because I can't keep up with the calculations and our semblance is split."

"What do you mean, split?" Amelia asked.

"Xanthic's a muffler, while I'm an amplifier."

"So then… Your weapon is set up for each of you to use one half for the type of combat you're both better at!?" Olive deduced.

"That's right, I don't have the patience to shoot and Xanthic doesn't have the confidence for close combat."

"Nivens, um…" Amelia began. "Wouldn't it… Well wouldn't it be a lot easier if you just told people about yourself in the first place?"

"Like I told Riliane before, answers lead to questions and there are some questions I don't want to answer."

"Would that include asking why you call your parents by their first name?"

"No, that one's easy; I don't see them as my parents. After all, neither of them even know about me, they just think Xanthic has an issue with talking to himself too much. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Orelon figured something out beyond that."

"Hold on," Riliane mumbled, "Xanthic said something just a bit ago about losing a lot of people close to him..?"

"He did, didn't he…" Nivens crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "That was probably just him being confused because of the hallucination that pink chick gave him."

Do you mean Yukina?" Amelia asked.

"I don't care what her name is. She pisses me off."

"We never knew you met her."

"Well I did, and I wouldn't mind once more."

"I don't think that's a good idea… She beat D'art and Owen at the same time."

"Then I guess I know how to practice." He sighed, "But whatever, I'm hungry." Nivens got up and switched his jacket, "Do you guys wanna get something?"


Having decided to follow Riliane's advice and return to where she last saw Eve, Celeste found her fast asleep on the bench outside of the bathrooms. Sitting down next to her, Celeste waited awkwardly for a few minutes before not so lightly tapping Eve to wake her up.

"What was that for?" Eve asked with a frown, not getting up.

"I want to talk to you." Celeste muttered.

"Okay…" Eve said slowly as she sat up. "What is it?" Celeste, who was still looking away, scratched her face.

"Tell me about her." She said finally. "About Yukina." Eve blinked, slightly surprised.

"Yukina…? That's random."

"Yeah."

Eve sat up and bit her lip, "Um. She's interesting."

"And that totally answers all of my questions." Celeste replied sarcastically.

"And, well, we met in training camp."

"Training camp?" Celeste asked.

"That's what we called it." Eve added. "It was where Humanity trained the kidnapped faunus. I call it a camp but it was more of a prison." Eve looked down. "They would take those who had potential and train them there. But if you weren't good enough they would...get rid of you."

"So what happened?"

"I had been there for at least a year already. She was new, I saw her getting bullied, so I helped her." Eve paused and leaned back. "She reminded me a bit of myself. Just angry and… vengeful. She wanted to hurt those that hurt her. Like me. So I took her under my wing and trained her." Celeste nodded slowly and Eve continued.

"We did everything together. She was like a sister to me."

"So how'd she become so...murdery?" Asked Celeste.

"Because I left her." Eve said quickly, as if she couldn't stand saying the words. "Because I abandoned her in that place. And I never bothered to look back." Celeste looked at her in surprise. Eve glanced at her friend.

"You have to understand. I had grown up there for the majority of my childhood, believing that what I was doing was right. That I was fighting for good. And then one day I suddenly found out that it was all a lie. I was unsure what to believe, so I didn't say anything to anyone." Eve looked away, "And then one day there was a huge mission. And I mean huge. Half of the people in Humanity were gone that day. That was my opportunity to escape… so I did."

"You didn't bring Yukina with you?"

"I couldn't." Eve admitted with a pained expression. "I didn't have enough time, I couldn't find her. So I left. I left her to them… and then I tried to erase her from my memory… she must have realized that I abandoned her. And then she probably slowly became corrupted." Eve sighed. "I suppose she was always a little corrupted, just under the surface there was a part of her that wanted to hurt-and only hurt. But it was like she was holding it back. After leaving her I think that part of her ruptured and took hold of her."

"But now she kills members of Humanity?" Celeste asked.

"Apparently," Eve nodded, "She probably found out the truth after I left and couldn't escape for a while. She probably thought I was dead too. It would have been better that way." Eve tugged her blanket over herself so it fell over her face. "I'm a terrible person." Eve said finally. "I was selfish to leave her, and now I'm getting what I deserve."

"Shut up." Celeste snapped. Eve glanced at her, surprised. "There's nothing wrong with looking out with yourself, it's normal. I understand that you would feel bad for leaving her, but that gives you no reason to just accept that you were a terrible person and be done with it. If you want to make amends, you have to fix the problem."

"But I can't-"

"You can!" Celeste replied adamantly. "If she was your friend once, then maybe she can be your friend again."

"I thought you didn't like Yukina." Eve said finally.

"I don't." Celeste said with a snarl. "But if you can get her on our side, that's better than if she roams free killing people."

"Yukina." Eve said softly, looking away. "On our side."

"I don't know if we'll see her again." Celeste admitted. "And I can't say anything for sure. But when she saw you, she didn't look like a psychopath. She just looked...broken... I think she still cares for you." Eve was silent.

"B-But I couldn't care less what you do." Celeste finished, clearing her throat.

"Thanks Celeste." Eve added, her forlorn expression slowly disappearing. "So we're cool now?"

"Yeah, we're cool." Replied Celeste.

"Although, I didn't know you typically cheered people up."

"I don't," Celeste stated quickly, "I'm just doing this cause Riliane told me to earlier."

"Oh just cause of Riliane, huh?"

"Yep."

"I see," Eve said shortly. Celeste fidgeted. A few minutes of silence passed between them. Then, without saying anything, Eve stood up and walked towards the girls bathroom.

"There have to be a few showers open now, so I'm gonna take one. I'll see you later?"

Celeste smiled a little "Yeah."


With so much cleared up during the day the night felt more peaceful than before as moonlight streamed through the window of the ROXA dorm casting faint shadows on the opposite wall. The three teenage girls were all fast asleep, but their male teammate slowly sat up and searched the room to make sure none of them had woken. He got out of bed and used his semblance to prevent making any noise as he got dressed and opened the window. Crouching in the windowsill he hesitated with a sigh and turned back at his partner, "I'm sorry Riliane." He jumped out, landing in a tree and climbing down to the ground. Xanthic quickly made his way into Vale.

The street lamps lit the city in a greenish glow. Among Xanthic there were only a handful of citizens walking about, though they all kindly ignored each other. With his destination clear in his mind nothing else mattered as he turned a final corner. He stood in front of the pizza place they had almost visited yesterday. Light seeped through the drawn blinds. Xanthic knocked and the door opened to a man with blue eyes set in a glare down at Xanthic making him take a step back. "I still don't believe you two are related."

"Stop frightening the boy and let him in already, Basil," A voice called from inside. The man stepped to the side and closed the door after Xanthic entered. The restaurant smelled heavily of garlic, tomatoes, and bread. Xanthic walked to the only other person in the room, he was sitting with his back to the door in the farthest booth. "I am glad you decided to come," he said as Xanthic sat down across from him.

"I-it's good to see you again father," Xanthic avoided the gaze of his orange eyes.

"I would have prefered meeting elsewhere," Orelon looked around with disdain. "Perhaps you might be able to tell me why we must be here, I only witnessed the aftermath."

"I-" Xanthic's mind went back to his encounter with that strange girl and his whole body shook with fear.

"You what?"

"I don't-"

"You were there, you must know something." He adjusted his dark teal glasses with a gloved hand.

"I-it was a girl, pr-probably 15 a-and she had pi-pink hair…" Xanthic was trying his best not to gag or cry, "I ha-haven't seen so much blood si-since Tenji-jiku Botan…"

"No one there was competent enough to defeat a little girl?" Orelon scoffed in disbelief. "If she continues to be a nuisance then I will have find some way to take care of her."

"Father… um…" The nightmarish vision was still replaying in his head.

"If you have something to say than say it," Xanthic's stammering always irritated Orelon.

"Ri-right… Well," He turned his head downward, "D-do you ever think I was a mistake?"

"A mistake?" Silence fell as Orelon had to think about the question for a while, "No. I have never desired to have a child; however, I understand that it was a necessary burden for Claire." He noticed Xanthic wasn't quite satisfied with that response, "Keep in mind that if I thought you were no more than an annoyance, then I would not be trusting you with something like this." He leaned over the table, "Speaking of which, I called you here because I need to hear your official answer to my request."

Xanthic's shaking slowed and he looked up to meet his father's stern gaze, "Y-you weren't… lying before right? About w-why you're doing… this."

"You should know by now that I would never lie about Claire."

"Th-then it'd… I'd be honored to join The Guardians of Humanity's Crystal."

A smirk appeared on Orelon's face, "Good. Meet Basil here in three days and he'll give you the briefing." His long dark grey coat and dark brown ponytail lifted in the air slightly as he spun quickly on his heel to exit the building.

Xanthic tried to follow him out, but Basil stopped him, "Same time and bring your weapon."

"Y-yes Mr. um..?"

"Winchester."

"I-I'll see you then Mr. Winchester"

"Hopefully you inherited something from your father."

"Ho-hopefully…" Xanthic agreed meekly before being allowed to return to Beacon.