Heya folks. If you've read VotA, you'd know I'm far behind on it and need to seriously focus on it more. So for the duration of the summer, I'll be posting for both stories as soon as I finish them. Meaning, as soon as I finish writing out a chapter, I'll quickly get it edited and post it immediately. So be on the look out every... eh... 3-5 days? Depends on whether or not my summer courses and eventual job get in the way.
Anyway, announcement done. On with the chapter.
Of Devils and Duelists
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So… looks like they're gone. That notches it down to me and the devil woman then.
Perfect.
Now I can test out my new trick without worry of anyone else around me. I could use Shadow Skin but… there'd be all sorts of destruction then. And Ozpin did ask me not to use it unless it's a real emergency.
Not that I'd be in that kind of emergency.
Turning my head back, I glared at Quinn, who stood a short distance away from me. I only now noticed the various blood smears around us. Likely a mix of Ray and Anoel's given how injured they were.
Sloppy work too. Enjoys playing with her prey then? Hmmm… Definitely not simple minded if she outdid the two of them. Then there's the sword-whip resting on her hip. Gives her decent ranged ability.
I hate fighting her kind. They're too damn annoying.
Frankly, I'm more surprised about the fact she hasn't attacked me yet. Maybe there's some modicum of decency to her?
"So… tormenting blondie wasn't enough for you? Come on, don't you have any hobbies or anything?" I asked her raising up my hands.
Quinn stared at me silently for a few seconds before shifting her weight to her uninjured leg.
"Why don't you cut the conversation and do your job?" she asked monotonously. "I'm sure we both have better things to do."
"True enough I suppose. But this doesn't strike me as a sort of grudge situation," I stated, planting my sword into the ground and leaning forward a bit, "What are you after that you'd mess up those two like some frenzied shark?"
Which if you think about it, wasn't too far off in context.
"Why's that any of your concern? You're here to fight me, are you not?" she questioned in retaliation. "My actions shouldn't spur anything more than that."
"Again, true. But people interest me you see. They've got all sorts of motivations for doing things. This doesn't strike me as a simple grudge. If I didn't know any better… you're desperate for something that he has that you don't. So come on, share with me a bit. You might not get the chance to later."
I'd at least know more before I kill her.
A dry chuckle emanated from her before she shook her head slightly. "You fail to understand what's happening right now. You're a essentially a henchman, all you need to know is that I'm a bad person and you should stop me."
Her left leg supported most of her weight as she leant onto it a little more. "You shouldn't try any harder than that. Getting information is the information broker's job."
"Henchman huh…" I said rubbing my chin, "Well, I guess I am sort of an extra in this instance."
I stood up straight and drew my sword from the ground, twirling it once as I let it fall to my side.
"Sure you won't tell me? Once I beat you, you're definitely not going to like how I'll get my answer from you. Hint hint, it'll hurt. A lot."
"Pain is an old friend."
"And pain's still a mystery for me." I stated rather bluntly, but seriously.
Well… I guess I'll have to lob off an arm. Maybe her legs. They always get more upset about their legs when they're gone and they live after.
"You had your chance. Now we do it the hard way."
Quinn slowly drew her whip out and extended it into her sword form, holding it by her side before she spoke again.
"Stop talking."
"Alrighty then. Do your worst devil woman." I said waving my hand towards me to call her over.
Quinn didn't move, aside from beckoning me over instead. "Why don't you come here? You're already so eager to show off."
A woman after my own heart…
I mean that literally. Next thing I know, I might find that hand of hers in my chest and her fingers clutched around my beating heart.
Oh wait. I forgot for a moment I have unbreakable bones. Right...
My feet quickly pushed off the ground as I dashed at her with my sword raised across my body tightly. I said I was going to take her legs, but I'll start with an arm first to make things simpler.
As I came within striking distance, our swords collided, Quinn parrying my initial attack and deflecting it as she twisted to the side.
You're not escaping that easily.
I shot my left hand forward to grab her face, but she grabbed hold of it and leapt over me quickly. In the air, she raised my arm up a bit and then thrusted her foot into my shoulder with great force as she kicked off me, flipped backwards, and landed a decent distance away from me.
Defensive and nimble… Ugh… I find myself disliking her more and more…
"Hey… Did you just try to dislocate my shoulder?" I playfully asked, raising up my left arm and pointing at her to show how useless that attack was.
Quinn narrowed her eyes as she tilted her head to the side.
No response huh?
Man… Too serious, too serious…
"Don't look so glum. You should be having fun."
While I am getting slightly annoyed, she's at least a better combatant than most people I've faced.
I slid my right foot back and grabbed my sword with both hands as I entered a pose, rearing back my blade and having it pointed towards the devil woman. Then, like mighty Casey at the bat, I moved forward slightly and swung my sword as I let go, letting my sword spin at her rapidly like a sawblade.
Her eyes widened as she rolled to the side to very narrowly avoid it as it crashed into the cargo container behind her.
She wasn't completely unscathed though, as one of the pouches attached to the belt at her midsection was cut clean in half, spilling the small Dust containers onto the shattered concrete ground below her.
Close but not close enough. I need to lure her into a false sense of security with her agility and Semblance.
I waved my hand out then in back towards me, and my sword retracted itself from where it was stuck and spun back into my hand.
Quinn stayed in one spot crouched with her free hand planted against the ground, silcery-grey eyes facing me without a hint of emotion in them. "Tell me something. If you will," she said before standing back up. "Why does any of this matter to you, exactly? What has my business with Ray Chroma got to do with you?"
"Oh? You want me to give you an answer when you couldn't do the same? Oh! I know! How about we trade? I'll tell you, then you answer my first question. Deal?"
Quinn took a more neutral, but still guarded stance. "I'm not going to tell you everything, but let's settle for something vague. Deal?"
"I guess I can work with that."
At least it's something. I've got a few guesses but maybe this'll narrow it down.
"Short of it is I'm here to kill you so you don't bother them anymore. That's pretty much it. Since no one else is mental enough but me to take you on directly, aside those two from before, I'm stuck with the job now."
"Let me tell you something very important, and it's imperative that you listen to me carefully," Quinn replied without skipping a beat. "The Chromas, at least the ones I've met, are not what they seem. And you'd be very wise to keep your distance. Especially from the younger one."
"Trust me. I'm already wary of Ray to some extent. Doesn't mean we can't find some sort of mutual understanding. Eventually." I said shrugging.
"You seem to be under the impression that he wants that," she muttered.
"I'm a man of many talents." I said shrugging, "Whether it involves murdering toast or buttering things… Wait, other way around." I said waving my hands, "When it comes to buttering toast or murdering the absolute life out of something, I'm a very creative and useful person. That's just two examples out of hundreds of others."
"And you think killing me is the best option here?" Quinn questioned skeptically, raising a brow.
"Maybe." I replied tilting my head slightly.
"Let me tell you that I'm not the worst those two have dealt with, and let me also state that if it isn't me, someone else will just take my place," the woman's tone dropped an octave as she spoke. "I've already made myself clear that I'm not going to touch Lylac. She's no longer useful to me. But her cousin is."
The woman straightened his posture as she took a small step forward.
"He'll survive this," she added. "He always does."
"And that's a bit of a problem for me. But you… Oho… You my friend aren't doing this for a grudge." I said waving my hand in her direction.
"That's the question though, isn't it?" Quinn asked as she extended a palm, gesturing toward me. "Why is it your problem?"
"I was asked to. That look in her eyes was genuine terror. I don't see that kind of terror these days, but I can definitely tell what entails it. Can't simply ignore it. Plus, she's a friend of a friend."
Sort of. But we'll keep that part secret.
"What Lylac doesn't understand is that you killing me puts Ray in more danger than it's worth," she stated calmly. "I'm not going to kill him. Just so you know. And regardless of what happened in the past, I'm not going to kill her either. But I suppose that doesn't matter to you, it's clear that you have a one-tracked mind about doing it anyway."
"One-tracked? No, not really. If I really was one tracked, do you think I wouldn't have figured out part of the answer for myself talking with you just now?"
"You're going to try and kill me regardless of what I say. That makes you one-tracked."
"Who knows? I did say I'd try to capture you and find out what your deal is. Then what happens next depends."
A frown made its way on her brow as the grip on her sword tightened slightly.
"I'm not exposing everything to them only to have them kill me for nothing, so no, that's not going to happen."
"Like I said, if you gave me a legitimate enough reason not to kill you and take you captive, then we'd be all smiles and ice cream and figure out something with them. Until then… you aren't giving me much of a choice to take the alternative. Unless, you feel like telling me what it is you're really after…"
"I'd rather die than tell you that. If I won't tell them, you have no hope."
"You're desperate. Very desperate. If the Chromas and worse are as dangerous as you say, you wouldn't be going this far like you have. Which means… you're looking for something. Or maybe… someone?" I asked with a rather fiendish smile.
"You're still so fixated on what I want, that you're struggling to see what I'm actually doing," she shook her head, almost seeming like it was in disapproval. "You don't even deserve to know."
"Ray's your bloodhound. That much I know. And you aren't going to stop until you get what you want."
"My point exactly."
She brought her sword up in a defensive pose as she lowered herself to the floor.
"Just kill me, you've already wasted too much time."
I let out a sigh and rubbed the back of my head, looking back to Quinn with some bit of disappointment.
"You sure you want this to be over so soon? Because if that's the case…"
One simple step forward, and I was already at my destination. I was standing behind her, sword in backhand style and lightly touching the skin of her throat.
"It'll be over before you know it."
"You mistake me for somebody who gives a fuck."
"And you mistake me for a pushover because I seem like a stupid kid."
Quinn spun on her heel and planted a roundhouse kick to my chest to put some kind of distance between us.
"If you were stupid, you wouldn't have tried to listen. You're a stupid kid, because you think bringing me to some form of perverted justice will gain you or them anything positive," she spat as her chain sword extended and heading toward me with its razor sharp edges. "Killing me will only make things worse for them."
I reached out my hand and grabbed hold of that razor chain, wrapping it around my hand twice to get a firm hold on it while my blood flowed onto the links.
"Whatever that may be, I'm sure we can handle it. You're uptop with some of the worst, but not the absolute worst. And trust me, there are things way bigger than you that can make a lot more noise."
Like Dark Entities and Angels. And other creatures and things.
"It's those things that will crawl out of the cracks in the walls to kill them long after I'm gone, and you're so goddamn moronic for letting that happen… And thinking you can help them deal with that."
I didn't want to drop my sword, so as I spoke, I raised it up with my hand as if I were making note of levels from low to high.
"Street thug. Drug dealer. Crimelord. Giant robots. Military government commanders and generals. Beasties of all shapes and sizes that can easily kill a man or woman, and entities of untold power. What on this spectrum do you think I'm actually afraid of? Much less incapable of killing?"
Quinn actually let out a dry laugh in response to my question before shaking her head.
"You think that's what I'm talking about? You really don't have a clue." she asked incredulously, yanking her sword and pulling herself toward me to deliver a double kick to my chest.
I let out a quick huff of air and pulled her back towards me with her chain to deliver a side-kick to her stomach. It was strong enough that I was expecting it to maybe damage her soon enough to stop her from moving but… oddly enough, no cry of pain or even a grunt.
Ah right… She has that nuisance of a Semblance of hers. So it works on physical attacks too.
Perfect. This makes using my technique so much more satisfying when she actually takes damage.
And so she rises again like nothing even happened.
"Fill me in so I can start planning."
"I'm not trying to protect them from such pathetic obstacles as you just listed. I'm trying to protect them from themselves, you fool."
"Aw, you really do care."
"I care enough to actively stop him from finally tipping over the edge. And you have no idea just how close he's getting to it," Quinn uttered darkly. "And the only thing preventing it is her."
"I'll admit, Ray's volatile. But come on, do you expect me to believe he'll go full darkside and start planning world conquest? Or destruction? Or whatever stupid nonsense villains come up with?"
"He's already conquered one, and nothing is to stop him from conquering the other," she replied callously. "This is what happens to a world that does everything it can to spite a kid so young. And believe me when I tell you that he won't stop until it's done. That is why you need me, whether you like that, or not."
…
So he's one of those huh…
And here people say I can't relate to others all too well.
"So what? You're the checks and balances then?" I said rushing forward.
We exchanged a few swipes, most of which I blocked, but that annoying sword whip of hers kept cutting me up regardless. And even worse, it wasn't breaking regardless of much force I put behind my strikes. I mean, I was restraining myself so I didn't outright kill her but…
We soon came to another clash as she wrapped her chains around my sword to lock me into place.
"Call me whatever you want, but he needs an anchor, and the only one he has right now is so desperately fragile," Quinn retorted, relentless in her assault and defence.
This was getting annoying…
"Yeah? And who do you think made her so fragile?" I asked kicking her away as the chains unraveled from my sword.
"Lylac was fragile before I found her. You want someone to blame? Go find her parents," Quinn answered immediately. "When she goes, and she will go, nothing will stop Ray from tearing this rock a new one."
"Don't be so sure of yourself. Family's important. You don't just drop that kind of thing and leave unless you're the lowest of the low."
A dagger was drawn out of Quinn's boot before she threw it with laser precision toward my face, an attack that was effortlessly swatted away with my index finger.
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how stable do you think they are?" Quinn asked tauntingly, throwing another dagger. "Spoiler alert; it's not very high."
I caught that other dagger between my teeth like a rose from a samba dance, and spat it out into my hand as I toyed around with it.
"Lylac's not in the best condition mentally, and for good reason. People get scared. So I'd say a five, maybe a six since I'm generous. Ray… Well… Ray's an angry whatsit that'd bite your ankles off, but he isn't crazy. Somewhat." I said contemplating my own answer before I straight tossed the dagger at her, "He's more rational than insane."
"Now then, let me correct you on both parts. Lylac, despite her outward expressions, is very much near losing herself, and that was something happening long before I came across them," Quinn clarified snappily as she caught her dagger and tossed it aside. "She's been driven crazy by the same goddamn things a lot of girls have, and most of that stems from loss."
She took a step toward me and deployed her snake-like sword, its pointed tip very nearly grazing my cheek before it retracted and she was forced to dodge a wave of my Aura.
"Loss, as in losing things that mean the most to her, which is exactly what's happening right now, something you'll never understand because you don't know them like you think you do."
"I understand loss plenty."
To a much greater extent most will ever realize or know...
"She's losing something else right now, something you're all blind to," Quinn pointed out, gritting her teeth. "So you can all sit there on your thrones and declare me a monster, but I know the truth. Know just how close she is to losing her cousin."
No, you're a shark, but we're not here to point fingers.
Still… Ray can't be that much on the edge like she claims. Maybe that's how she knew him then.
I don't know.
…
If Ray does decide to try to Skynet us one day… will I be prepared for that?
"And when that happens, she'll lose herself. Someone will then be forced to kill that boy. Because while he listens to reason now, don't think for a second that he'll listen once his only anchor is gone."
Well, good thing he hasn't lost it yet. Or will for the foreseeable future.
She has Anoel from the looks of it. And by default, that means she has Ezdeil on her side to a degree.
Death would not want to fuck with that. I would know. He didn't want to fuck with me either. It's why we used to play chess on Sundays instead of trying to kill each other.
He also apparently loves junk food. Go figure.
"Future's not set in stone. There's plenty of time to change that"
The woman let out a huff of air from her slightly parted lips. "Time's running out, kid. This isn't something that can be stopped. Ray will tip."
"Only if he's being forcibly pushed." I said taking a step forward, "Lylac won't let it happen. And neither will the rest of us."
Quinn shook her head with a smirk. "Like any of you can do anything to stop it. You're lying to yourself and it's pitiful."
"I've pulled people out of worser conditions."
Literally, I've pulled people out of Hell. And other transdimensional locations.
Quinn swung her sword at me again, something I sidestepped before parrying another.
But then she paused for a second, eyeing me without so much as a flicker of emotion.
"You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped."
"I'm a very convincing person. I got you to open up a little didn't I?"
"Only to the condition I stated. I've given you is a vague answer, not a full one," she retorted condescendingly. "Don't think this is all of it, because you still don't know what I want. I'm just telling you what you need to know before I watch every single one of you helplessly watch them fall."
"Sure. Let's start with you first."
Once again I dashed forward, and regardless of how ready she was, she wasn't going to slip through my fingers this time.
She blocked my sword swing easily, but that was just the setup.
My freehand shot forward, and she used her chain to get in my hand's way, but no matter how deep she cut into me, or how much my blood flowed like water in that moment, my hand still made its way to her face. I smashed my palm into her face to stagger her backwards. She thought of course it was futile, that I can't hurt her.
But the next few seconds proved that wrong.
My technique activated, and I swung my sword outwards and across her body. She didn't react for the first few moments, but my smile of victory told her something was wrong. When Quinn looked down, clearly, she was startled a brief moment and let out a small cry of pain as she slid back on her heels, putting distance between us.
"C-clearly…" she stuttered before falling to her knee, spitting out a wad of blood onto the ground. "You w-want what I've warned you about to happen…" She coughed slightly before trying to stand back up again, her Aura trying to patch up the damage caused. "At this point, you all deserve to suffer from it."
"Nope. This was me just testing my new trick I made special for you. I wanted to see if it worked, and it did. And…" I said pointing at her, "I wanted to make you absolutely aware of the fact you're not so invincible. That I can without a doubt kill you if I want to."
Her gaze was on the floor before it turned upward to face me. "I know I'm not invincible… that would only extend my already miserable existence. But it's better than having to see all you hold dear die, isn't it?"
What is she implying..?
…
No… She couldn't have...
"In the end…" she continued, actually flashing a tiny smirk. "Who's the real winner here? Death is an escape, not a punishment."
I chuckled at that statement.
"Trust me. After death can be a whole lot worse."
I raised up my sword to strike her down a final time, but something pushed me back with enough force to get me off my feet briefly.
My eyes trailed down to my stomach as I spotted a small hole, and quickly looked back to see a small beam trail of midnight blue Aura fly off into the distance.
Luckily, I found my bearings and skidded to a halt, looking up to see the new arrival sling one of Quinn's arms around him as he kept his silvery colored top-break handcannon trained on me.
The Midnight Huntsman had arrived.
"Oh look, another white knight joins the fray, how convenient…" she muttered under her breath.
"With your current state of affairs, it's sufficient to say retreat is your only option at this point, Quinn."
"You take me for a coward? He beat me, so let me die and fuck off."
"I take you as a person who is persistent in living to reach the goal she set out for herself. You still have something to find, don't you? Is dying one of your priorities currently?"
"Don't patronize me you self-righteous hypocrite."
He let out a chuckle before the hollowed out eyes of his skull like mask turned to me.
"I'm afraid we must cut things short for tonight, young man. Until next time."
His body and Quinn's body quickly began to sink within the shadow on the floor, and I sprinted forward as fast I could. When I got close enough, their bodies had already sunk into the shadow, but I still turned my blade downwards and plunged it into the ground.
The shadow managed to evade me and make it's escape, but I wasn't about to let them get away so easily.
And so I chased the shadow, leaping over and ducking under the wreckage of the warehouse as my eyes trailed the movements of the shadow. I even shot out some of my Aura swords to hit it, but it was evading those too.
Damn it..! It's like trying to hit a frigging mini clown car that's been juiced up..!
The shadow eventually made its way into a darkened area. As if that would help.
I have night vision eyes ass clown.
…
Sort of. They're not really night vision, but…
Ugh, useless things in my brain… Focus up.
I stopped walking and stood still as my Shadow Eyes took over, the white glow of my irises trailing the floors and walls as I searched.
"You're an interesting individual to come up with a countermeasure for her Semblance in such a short span of time, young man. I'm very impressed."
That voice of his rang out all around me. Echo effect?
Damn… He knows I can see well enough in the dark and knows that since he's using a shadow, I can't entirely spot him, leaving me with sound. But now he's even messing with that to throw me off…
This bastard is appreciatively clever, but still infuriating to fight.
"We'll be going now and leave you be, young man. Go home. There'll be another day to pursue this fight."
Waiting makes me anxious.
…
I think he's gone. Which means… The Midnight Huntsman and Quinn escaped.
Damn it, what a mess…
Now we've got another problem on our hands.
Fucking perfect.
(Ciel POV)
Man… The snack machines at Beacon don't have anything good at all… Just some healthy junk that "recharges electrolytes" or "relieves muscle fatigue".
Blech...
And so our heroine finds herself walking the semi-dangerous streets of Vale, all alone, and very hungry.
Okay, not really hungry like "oh god I'm starving" hungry, but I want to eat something good damn it. Cafeteria's closed, and the machines don't have great snacks.
So that's why I'm walking down the streets in downtown Vale. I'd use a portal, but I want to find something new.
Hence why this is like a quest for me, like in Phantom Souls, or Grimm Hunter World.
I kept walking with my fingers interlocked behind the back of my head, looking around for anything that was just a simple store or shop. No restaurant or anything, just something simple. But again, new stuff.
Sorry Ramen shop guy, next time maybe.
"Empty your pockets and place your scroll on the ground, and you won't find a bullet in your head."
Bullets in heads? That sounds like trouble.
"Do you want my groceries too? They're fresh."
"What? No. Just your valuables."
"I can give you my shoes too. If you're into that."
Hey… I think I know whose voice that is. The girl's not the dude's. Don't care much about him.
I slowly walked over towards the corner of the alleyway and stepped a bit quicker when I heard the guy shout.
"God, no! Will you hurry up!"
"I don't wanna. You might as well just shoot me."
I peeked my head around the corner and saw some shabbily dressed guy holding a gun to the girl's head.
Hey wait, I do know that girl. She's-
"Listen lady, this gun isn't a joke. I will-"
"Shoot me. Do it. You won't."
Wow, she's as cool as cucumber. But seriously, she shouldn't antagonize him like that, otherwise he'll-
"Damnit woman! I aint kidding here-!"
"Then shoot me! Pull that trigger with your twitchy finger! Do it!"
Oh damn..! Alright, time to step in a bit.
I began whispering quickly, "Time be sti-", then saw the flash and heard the gunshot ring out from the alleyway.
The girl quickly tossed her head aside as a blur of lead drilled itself into the brick wall just to my left, my eyes catching sight of a soft flutter of brown hair before a pale hand snapped up and snatched the man's gun.
Bone's cracked for a split second as she twisted it out of his grasp and stepped forward in the same moment, driving her knee into his gut to crumple him to the floor.
"Wow, you let a girl peer pressure you into shooting her..." she cut dryly as she delicately placed her sneaker against his windpipe, and I could practically see it begin to crush beneath the pressure she added behind it. "Here. If you're gonna shoot someone without hesitation, it looks a lot like this."
In a flash and a rapid concussive burst of gunshots, asphalt and stones tore up around the man's planting head as she traced the shape of it with his own bullets.
And gave him a couple clean cuts and grazes while she was at it.
Wow! This girl honestly does not give a fu-!
"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," she spoke firmly, letting the empty clip of his gun slide out and strike his face before dropping his gun too, "That half will kill you before you do."
…
…
I think I'm in love...
"Didn't wanna step in, huh?"
Huh, who's she-?
…
Oh crap, did she notice me?! Don't notice me senpai! Or kouhai! Whatever! It's just a figment of your imagination!
...
...
Amethyst eyes peered back in my direction, and after a moment of actual thought, I realized they were directed straight at me.
Crap…
I did something of a side shuffle with my hands in the air to surrender as I came out from my hiding space, seeing the badass girl just brush off her hands like nothing happened while dongless ran away in absolute terror.
She didn't even drop her grocery bag...
And noticing it now, it looked like she'd just gone to a grocery store.
"Don't worry, I'm not bothered. Would've probably done the same if you were in my position," she said, switching her bag to her other hand to reach into her pocket for something.
I was definitely right about whose voice that was, now that I see the rest of her.
She had a black crop top on beneath her black jacket, its thin sleeves rolled up slightly to make movement a little easier.
A white ombre scarf rested on her shoulders, draped delicately around her neck, its ends frayed and trailing down from where the majority of it rested on her chest.
It paired well with her brown hair, actually.
Going down, the jacket's tail traced down to just where her shorts ended, if not just a little lower than them.
The shorts themselves were rather short actually… starting black at the waist and gradually fading to purple running down to her mid-thighs, where the shorts ended.
Black leggings clung to the lithe legs as I shamelessly followed them down to her similarly colored combat boots.
Wow, now that I looked at them… she had some really nice legs. And she probably knew it, too.
…
Must… stop… staring… at beautiful legs..!
Gah!
Their power is too strong!
"It's Ciel, right?" the girl asked suddenly, my eyes finally breaking away from the spell they were under to catch her looking up from her scroll.
That was probably what she was reaching for from her jacket pocket.
Gah, I'm so distracted…
"Um… yeah, that's my name. Yup… Hehehe…"
I feel dumb now… She was even quirking her delicate brow now as she looked at me.
Shoot, she must think I'm dumb too…
"Well, I'll see you around school then," the girl voiced out, giving me a small wave over her shoulder as she turned and started leaving.
"Woah woah woah hey! Uh… God!" I said slapping a hand to my head.
What's her name?! I've seen her in some of my classes, but I can't even remember her name?! I can memorize stupidly complex algorithms as soon as I read them, but I can't remember a name?!
Considering I can break the sound barrier just trying to swat a fly with my hand, the head slap I gave myself would hurt if I actually felt pain!
"Not even close. My name's Skyla." the girl said, stopping again as she cast an amethyst glance over her shoulder.
If the shortness of breath wasn't enough, I think my heart did the thing where it stopped for a moment or two.
Though, that might be a serious heart problem.
...
Who am I kidding, I can't get those.
"I was uh… gonna do something… Snap my fingers and stuff but uh… well… I saw that you pretty much had it…"
Not to mention you took care of that guy in such a badass way.
"He didn't want the salmon I bought earlier," Skyla replied, turning to face me now as she peeked into the bag clutched in her left hand. "I had to get serious."
Who doesn't get serious when salmon's involved?
Foxy makes good salmon…
"So… uh, you cook? Food I mean, not… well, you know..."
I've been watching too much Breaking Bad lately.
"Yeah…" Her soft eyes narrowed for a moment as I heard her mumble something under her breath about expensive fish and not being able to find a good sale.
She looked really bummed out about that.
"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 said, closing her bag.
She even reads..! My heart can't take much more! Critical hit! Natural 20!
"W-What book series?" I managed to say.
I caught a little hum come out of her throat as she glanced at me again for a moment.
I immediately wanted to hear it again.
"They're by Terry Pratchett," Skyla 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?"
Has the charmer finally been charmed?! Woe is me!
Though I guess joy is the better word? I haven't read all too much Shakespeare despite big brother wanting me to.
"I do. After I finished the Tolkien stuff, I wanted a bit of a change of pace," Skyla continued, quirking another brow at me. "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. 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 really good at running from things," Skyla replied with an amused little smile. "And good to know you actually read it too. I would've thought you were just hitting on me or something."
Please god I hope she didn't hear that silent shriek of mine.
Though the dumb look on my face would've given me away if she paid close enough attention. Thankfully she looked the other way a few moments so I could collect myself.
"It's getting late, and I don't want this fish to spoil, so I do need to go," Skyla said, lifting her bag up for a moment to remind me she had groceries with her.
"Oh, hey! Why don't I go with you? I've got some things I wanted to get too. Plus, you know, we'd less likely get bothered some weird guys if we stick together, right?"
"Hmm?"
She did that hum again.
"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 stated casually.
Was she being serious?
"Huh… Good of her to tell you at least, right?" I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Yeah. She was super nice to me, so I'm glad she warns people about that kind of stuff," she said with a shrug of her shoulder, turning away from me again to start heading out.
Only this time, she stopped for a moment and glanced back at me.
"Coming?"
I didn't really care if I had that stupid grin on my face at this point.
"Sure thing!"
If it's not one thing, it's another.
God…
The flip flapping Midnight Huntsman. I mean seriously, why was he even there? Back up?
No, couldn't be back up because Quinn was just a dumbfounded as I was seeing him there. Was he just walking about and decided to help her out?
Damn, this makes no sense and it's making me angry…
And let's not forget her disturbing revelation about Ray…
I haven't known Ray long, but I know what I know. He's rational, not insane. And with whatever cybernetic enhancements he has built into him, I'm more than certain that holds true.
But still… if something like that were to happen…
…
Would I..?
"So much blood…" A soft, female voice spoke gently.
Huh? Who's..?
"Try to ignore it," Another returned, male, but he sounded like his voice was slightly muffled by something. "We're just here to make this all look like an accident. If that's even possible…"
Yeah, good luck dumbass. How does this even look anything close to being like an accident? It looks like a kraken just tried to have angry relations with a dragon.
And it didn't end up with them being happy in the end.
"No, that's not what she said at all, were you even listening?" The girl replied admonishingly. "GHOST told us to cover up anything that can tie us to this place. Putting big emphasis on the words cover and up."
"If it's all the same to you, that task is easier said than done… this place is a mess," The girl's partner muttered casually. "You ever notice how it's always us that gets the clean up duty? I'm starting to suspect that's the real purpose behind our recruitment…"
The girl very audibly sighed. "This is what happens when we get here last, and it doesn't help when you stop to get a drink."
…
This is mildly entertaining. And it's making up for the fact I lost the dynamic duo. Just a little bit though.
So I silently crept over to a piece of rubble and sat on it, watching the two of them continue their conversation.
If only I had some root beer…
The male was… a lot taller than I expected, wearing a suit of black heavy armor that still allowed for flexibility.
I also found out why his voice sounded muffled, as he wore a helmet with a 'T' shaped slit, obscured by a golden visor.
On his back, he had a sizeable kite shield and sheathed sword mounted diagonally for easy drawing.
My eyes then focused on the girl that was with him, almost pleasantly surprised to see a pair of fox ears flicking idly on top of her ginger head.
She wore a dark grey sleeveless coat, accented with gold and amber detailing on the folded collar and zipper that ran down its center. Her legs were covered be a pair of black cargo shorts that only reached down to below her knees, and on her feet was a pair of black and orange canvas sneakers.
She was easily the light one, quick on her feet too if her lack of armor was any indication.
On her back was a single-edged straight sword, but what most caught my attention was the fact that the blade seemed to be constructed out of two distinct elements. A harder, more dense metal for the spine of the weapon, with a softer, and lighter metal for the blade.
It was well kept too, as it shone even in the dim light of the moon in the overcast sky.
The pair of them seemed to be rummaging through the destroyed dock, looking for something to cover Anoel and Ray's tracks.
Kinda felt sorry for them…
"Well…" The armored guy spoke. "I found Ray's guns. He'd be pissed if he lost these."
"Yeah…" His faunus counterpart sighed in response. "I'm collecting a bunch of bullet casings over here."
She looked tired.
Didn't surprise me, honestly.
Ah, now I get it. They're the clean up crew. The repo people. They erase evidence and make sure it isn't linked to someone. And given who they just mentioned…
Looks like Ray's been keeping secrets...
"Pyro, remind me why we do this again?"
"Because it gets us paid a stupid amount of money… You try finding a cleaning job that pays us four-hundred grand a month," Pyro replied as she bent down and picked up another brass casing. "This is what allowed us to afford our house in the first place…"
Four hundred grand a month? Crap, I'd take that job and get this done in thirty minutes or less.
Are these two in a relationship? This midnight soap is actually getting interesting! I really wish I had my sisters Semblance somedays. I could use it to grab snacks or whatever and and enjoy myself.
The dude sighed before turning to face her. "Point taken… still a pain though."
She stood up straight and yawned, a little squeak escaping her throat as she stretched on the spot.
Pyro nodded before sighing once again. "I know… but given what we had before, this is easy work. So we ought to be grateful."
"Probably if you get four hundred thousand a month." I said, finally speaking up.
Both of their heads snapped to me after hearing that, but my eyes caught Pyro's hand immediately drawing her sword and maneuvering herself into a poised and defensive stance.
"Well yeah but-"
"Knox!" Pyro hissed, turning her head to the side to glance at him before returning to face me in full, fox ears folding on her head.
"Hello~" I said waving briefly.
The pair stayed silent for a few seconds, two eyes and one visor staying on me and watching every movement I made.
"Who're you?" The faunus girl demanded, brows furrowing on her pale face.
"Who're you?" I asked in response.
Her eyes flicked down to my hands for a moment before focusing back on my own.
"Pyro, you need to relax," Her companion spoke calmly. "It'd be pretty obvious if he was hostile, considering he could have attacked us while we had our guard down."
The girl only stiffened in her spot, earning a sigh from her friend as he took a couple of steps toward her.
"Listen to that guy, he's pretty smart. Because…" I snapped my fingers, making hundreds of Aura Swords appear around them in an instant, "I can do this."
The guy, Knox turned on his heel to face me with extended arm. "Look, aggravating her isn't gonna help, pal. Just put those away, she's jumpy."
"I am too given I just got attacked by a shark and then shot by the Midnight Huntsman. Twice now. So who the heck are you guys?" I asked again.
"Look, doesn't matter who we are, but since you haven't attacked us," he turned to face Pyro as his hand lightly touched the tip of her sword and gently pointed it toward the ground, the girl somewhat relaxing in her stance, "and we're not going to attack you, let's just agree to keep things civil, okay?"
"We don't know if he's still not going to attack us, Knox…" the girl growled as her frown deepened.
His other hand, the one not keeping her sword at bay, slowly made its way to the top of her head as he tenderly stroked her ears. "Well, we didn't bother to ask, did we?"
"I'm plenty civil. And I'll still remain civil. So, names and who you work for."
Know sighed before looking at me through his visor again. "It's company policy to not disclose who we work for, but we can give you our names if you ask nicely, how about that, huh?"
Once he was sure Pyro wouldn't raise her weapon again, he took his hands away and let them fall by his sides as he stood next to her. "It would also help your case if you put those things away, because we're under no obligation to tell you anything if we feel threatened. Really, it's a terrible way of making someone's acquaintance…"
"Hey, insurance policy and all that. Besides, you said she's twitchy, so I'm being cautious. That, and in the event you have someone in the distance trying to snipe me, well… I get to bring two new friends with me to the afterlife."
They'd be going alone since… well… I can't die.
"I know from experience that it's nice to have an insurance policy, so I feel you on that but... C'mon dude, I just coaxed her into relaxing, cut me some slack," the guy countered, holding his arms out defensively. "We're not a threat to you, so don't be one to us, please?"
…
I could kill them and their potential sniper in under ten seconds if I got shot at...
"Or you could just sit there in silence and let the tension brew, that's just great, thanks buddy…"
"Hey, I'm thinking strategically in the event I get set up, alright? You wouldn't be the first to try."
The guy literally facepalmed as I said that. "You gotta be kiddin' me, right…? We got sent here to clean up bullets and leftover weapons, at what point do you think we'd try to set you up like we were expecting company?"
"Oh fine you big baby…"
I snapped my fingers and the white and black swords shattered like glass before phasing out of existence.
"Understand if I get assaulted at any moment from any angle, there'll be fisticuffs, yeah? And by fisticuffs, I mean pointy things jabbing you from different angles to give you two some really nice acupuncture."
Gotta lay some ground rules at least.
"Yeah yeah… we get it, you'll hurt us if we hurt you, it's not rocket science," he replied somewhat exhaustedly. "I think I can speak for both of us when I say we're too tired to deal with this and then get into a fight. Let's all just chill out and go about our night."
"Like I said, we're cake. And by the way, you two already gave your leader away."
"We know Ray, if that's what you're referring to," Pyro finally spoke up in response, letting out a small breath as she slid her sword back into its scabbard on her back. "Probably a lot better than you do, since he's not technically our leader."
"Nope, but at least he's aggravating enough to do this sort of thing… So then… he actually is a head honcho of Sentinel…"
Ray gave himself off a bit with his… mannerisms. And introduction. I did some digging and reading, and the Chromas have something of a complicated history. Whatever there was anyway.
"Wow… you really don't know Ray then… This is normal…" She said softly as she shook her head.
"I'm a classmate and he's sort of an asshole. Figured he was up to no good on occasion."
"Sort of?" Knox asked amusedly, his voice brightening up a bit.
"I was being generous given his… circumstances."
"How long have you known him? Out of curiosity."
"Since coming to Beacon. He's made it a habit to speak of my partner. And that makes me very twitchy in retrospect."
They both exchanged a glance between one another before turning back to me, Pyro being the first to speak. "What did your partner do?"
"Kick his ass in combat class without roasting him alive." I simply answered.
Very proud of Inuba by the way.
"Ray doesn't insult people unless he's trying to get rid of them or if they've done something to irritate him," Knox said matter-of-factly as he gave a half shrug. "I can promise you that wasn't it. The guy doesn't get upset over losing a spar."
He seems like a child to me. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
"Whatever. Unimportant. So you two are Sentinel's cleaners?"
They both simultaneously shook their heads.
"Not specifically, we're just the only ones available to do it, everyone else being otherwise preoccupied with other parts of the aftermath, we'll be going once we're done," Knox responded carefully. "Just gotta drop off some stuff before that though."
Pyro turned to him with an apprehensive look on her face. "I don't think we should talk so freely about what we do… We don't even know him."
Her partner only nodded in response.
"It's fine you know. Lylac hired me on. Sort of. Does it count as being hired if I'm working for free currently?"
"Lylac's not part of Sentinel like we are, so while so you seem like a great guy and all, we can't actually tell you anything about it, sorry dude…" Knox replied as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "It kind of defeats the objective of it being a secret organisation."
"Then I'll have to interrogate Ray about it one day. That way I can maybe get a decoder ring from a cereal box too."
"Good luck with that…" Pyro muttered mostly to herself with a grimace, but I still heard it anyway.
"Yeah, about that… Ray wouldn't tell you how he's feeling under torture, so you can probably imagine that he wouldn't even give you a hint about Sentinel," Knox tacked on as he adjusted the gauntlet on his left arm.
I can imagine him talking at the end of it I tried interrogating him.
I've learned… quite a few methods in my years thus far.
"I can find out either way you know if I genuinely pursued it."
"Don't see why it'd interest you. Only part of Sentinel that goes public is the hacking side, and that's deliberate," Knox countered. "If it wasn't, you wouldn't know about the group's existence."
"Nor have any interest in it, because we don't do a whole lot," Pyro continued.
"You sure about that… what was his name… Knox?"
The boy nodded in confirmation.
I smiled at them with a silent chuckle.
They're funny. I'm glad I stopped by instead of walking away.
I brought up my holographic display, seeing I got a new message from an unknown sender.
Shades maybe?
Regardless, it had an address. Encrypted too so no one could pull it off my Scroll.
Smart.
"Well, I'm going to make sure Ray's still got his arms and legs and see how the other one is doing. Man they took a nasty beating…"
I mean really, it was just… painful to see them. It made me shiver a bit and thankful I couldn't feel pain. Or have injuries for long.
"You two kids have fun." I said waving them goodbye as I started walking in the opposite direction.
"Hey, we went against our better judgement to talk with you about something that we're explicitly not supposed to talk about, and you're not even gonna bother helping us with this? Well, that was a waste of effort… seems Ray has a point…" Knox called out annoyedly.
"Do you complain about everything dude? In case you forgot, shark lady and the Midnight Huntsman escaped, and for all I know, they could be plotting Ray's and everyone else's demise very minute."
"I only complain when the circumstances we're in are bullshit, which is exactly what they are right now," The guy replied immediately, voice still possessing the same inflection. "If you're not gonna help us, don't expect us to be so nice if we meet again. It's common courtesy."
Ugh… I hate complainers… If I hate anything more, I'll find myself listening to Linkin Park with Ezdeil one day.
Fine. I'll throw them a bone.
"Alright. I'll give you a gift." I said snapping my fingers as I walked away.
I took the time to examine what they were searching for specifically and spread my Aura out beneath their feet to gather the "trash". Me snapping my fingers basically assorted everything they were looking for into nice, neat piles, making it easier for them to bag it all and get this done significantly quicker.
The impressed hum I got was the only bit of payment I needed.
Offer thanks to the noble gods Xera Stark and HydraFlow for their incredible assistance. Writing with them is always fun.
I've got nothing much else to say. So with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story.
Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!
Bye-bye now!
