Author Notes: Hey! Welcome to chapter 10! Things are about to get serious, but before that I want to say a few things. First off, if you've been reading since the start, thanks for showing interest in my story and I hope you've been enjoying it so far, I really appreciate you guys! Second, as I said before, this first part of the story is coming to a close, call it volume 1 if you will, and that means the posts will probably take longer to update as I try to make sure the chapters are coherent and overall good, for lack of a better term. Finally, I'm going to PAX East this weekend! I'll probably be wearing my leather jacket/some rwby shirt, probably Yang cause that's my favorite! Anyway if you see me come say hi, I'll be the tall one with Yang shirt, leather jacket, glasses and messy brown hair. Now without further ado, enjoy my favorite chapter to write!
What It Takes
Chapter 10: Rift
Basil continued to stare at the email on his scroll. He had just been told that, not only had his home been destroyed, but his younger brother, Cinereus had been killed. They hadn't found a body, but he was assumed to have been crushed by the building or incinerated by the fire. Either way, Basil didn't want to think about it. He and Cinereus had been very close. He remembered taking the airships to and from school with his brother, making idle chit-chat as they watched the water below glisten from the sun. He remembered the times they would fight, childishly, not speaking to each other for a few hours, and then making up, forgetting what the fight was in the first place. They were not just brothers, they were best friends. He had written to his brother everyday about what he was doing, and how everything was going. He would also video call once a week to catch up with him in real time. Now to think he was no longer alive…
Basil grabbed the necklace he wore. It was half of the yin-yang symbol. He had given the other half of the symbol to Cinereus as a parting gift when he left for Beacon. He had wanted it to show that despite the distance, they would never be truly apart. They would always have each other no matter how scary the world got.
A tear ran down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away.
No, thought Basil, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna let my emotions show up and get the best of me.
The door opened making Basil jump.
Celestia and Aurelia entered the room, each wearing their school uniforms. They were talking about the class they had just come from, discussing the lesson that they just had in history. Having put her books away, Celestia turned to look at Basil. He hastily looked away and out the window, hoping that she had not noticed his somber look that seemed evident on his face.
"Hey Basil," greeted Celestia cheerily.
"Hey," Basil replied in a flat voice.
"How are you doing?" she asked, slight concern in her voice.
I can't let her know what's going on, decided Basil, I need to handle this on my own, and I don't need a shoulder to cry on.
Basil turned to Celestia with a smile on his face.
"I'm good," he lied trying to fake cheeriness in his voice, "how are you?"
"I'm doing well," Celestia responded with a smile imprinted on her face, "we just had an interesting history class with Professor Oobleck."
"Oh, that's cool," Basil stated plainly.
There was an awkward silence. The two of them stared at each other, trying to see what the other was thinking, even though it was impossible.
"Well, I better get to combat class," he declared, wanting to end the stare down.
He got off his bed, put on his bomber jacket over his green shirt, stepped into his sneakers, and walked out the door.
Good, determined Basil as he let his smile fall, it seems like they didn't notice anything.
He let out a deep breath; hopefully I can get through the rest of the day without having to deal with these feelings.
And with that, he somberly walked to his class.
Something's wrong.
Celestia had concluded this before Basil even spoke to her. As soon as she had looked at him, she noticed the gloominess on his face, even when he tried to look away. As their conversation carried on, Celestia noticed it even more. It was very clear from his false smile to his controlled voice.
"He's not himself," Celestia spoke aloud.
"Hmm?"
Aurelia looked curiously at Celestia from the book she was reading.
"Basil," Celestia pressed, "something's up with him. He's upset about something."
"You're imagining it Celeste," Aurelia said, brushing away her concern: "He sounded perfectly fine to me."
"You didn't see him like I did," insisted Celestia, "his face looked down trodden and unexpressive."
Celestia paused waiting for a reaction from Aurelia. But Aurelia just went back to reading her book, turning to the next page.
"You worry too much Celestia. If he was upset he would've shared it with us, after all we are his teammates."
She said the last word with a little distain, clearly still upset over how Basil acted around Celestia.
She needs to get over it, Celestia thought angrily, some people just need more time to be comfortable around Faunus.
Besides, Celestia considered, he has gotten a lot better about it recently.
Aurelia looked at Celestia again, watching her look out the window. She knew enough to know what Celestia was thinking.
She sighed, marked her place and shut her book.
"Look," Aurelia started, "I know you insist that he's getting better around you. But I honestly don't see him changing. It's been two months since initiation; he should be seeing you as a human, not as some animal."
"Some people take longer than others; there must be a reason why."
"Yea," Aurelia explained exasperatedly, "he's discriminatory."
"Aurelia!" Celestia yelled angrily.
"What? You know it's true," Aurelia reasoned loudly, "Wake up and stop with this fantasized image you have of him. He doesn't like Faunus!"
"That's not true! Stop being so stubborn!"
"Stop being so naïve! It's not who you are!"
The two girls stared at each other, realizing what had just happened. They had never fought so vehemently before. During their time at Sanctum, they had always looked out for each other, Aurelia more so than Celestia. To be here now yelling at each other was shocking to say the least. They continued to stand there, staring and waiting for what was going to happen next.
Then, they ran over and hugged each other.
"I'm sorry," Aurelia spoke softly.
"I'm sorry too," responded Celestia, "I shouldn't have yelled."
"I shouldn't have either," stated Aurelia on the verge of tears, "It's just…you're my only friend. I don't have anyone else here and I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I know you don't," Celestia explained, "but you can't protect me forever, I have to be able to do what I think needs to be done."
Celestia released Aurelia.
"And right now, I think Basil needs someone to talk to. I know you think he's just prejudice, but I think there is something more. And in order to figure that out, I need you to help me."
Aurelia nodded, wiping away her tears
"And if there isn't anything else to him, we can get mad at him together, agreed?" Celestia recommended with a smile.
Aurelia smiled back at her, "Of course! We are in this together."
Celestia smile widened. Happy that her best friend was with her on this made her feel great.
Alright, pondered Celestia, now I just gotta plan out how I'm going to approach Basil.
He felt the swords slam into his trident. Startled out of his thoughts, Basil pushed back against Re's swords, hoping to get him off balance. Re quickly backed off though, leaving Basil stumbling forward as Re sidestepped and sliced at Basil back. The impact slammed Basil into the ground, leaving him stunned for a bit.
Basil got up, readying his trident. He looked at his scroll, seeing that his aura was now in the red.
Have to be careful here, thought Basil as Re charged forward with his blades.
Basil switched his trident into pistols and fired. Re blocked each bullet that came close to him, but most of the shots missed completely. As Re approached, Basil activated his semblance creating a green aura around him. Re swung his blade and Basil dodged it at the last second. Changing his pistols back to trident form, he swung down at Re. However, Re was expecting that and rolled out of the way. He switched his scimitars into shotgun form and fired a blast at Basil. His mind went blank as the blast approached him. Unsure of what to do, Basil shielded himself with his arms, forgetting that he had almost no aura left. The impact slammed into him, sending him into the wall.
Dazed and confused, Basil struggled to stand. He heard a voice calling out an order; possibly to call the match, but Basil was too disoriented to tell. He saw a head in front of him, but other than the boy's blond hair it was hard to make out who it was.
"Hey…Basil…okay?"
Basil focused his senses as much as he could and finally saw Re's face in front of him.
"Basil are you okay?" he asked, the concern evident in his face.
"Yea…" Basil said groggily.
Suddenly, Basil felt a spike of pain in his chest and he nearly collapsed. Using his Trident for support, he stood back up, ignoring the pain in his chest. Soon, two more people approached them. Basil, still dazed, saw a boy with purple tinted hair and beard and a bespectacled woman with blonde hair. As they came closer, he recognized them as Porphyrios and professor Goodwitch.
"Are you alright Basil?" asked Glynda with concern.
"I'm fine," claimed Basil, still leaning heavily on his trident.
"You don't look like you're okay" reprimanded Porphyrios.
"Well I am," he said stubbornly but his wavering voice betrayed him.
To prove his point, Basil attempted to take a step, but stumbled a bit when the pain in his chest returned. Determined to prove he could walk, Basil took another step and succeeded without much struggling.
"Perhaps you should go to the infirmary?" suggested Glynda.
"No, I'm fine," insisted Basil. He didn't want to go the infirmary, he didn't want anyone fussing over him, he just wanted to go to bed and sleep away this nightmare of a day. He took a couple more steps without too much trouble, wanting to prove to Glynda that he was fine.
"Well," Glynda started, "It looks like you can walk, but you should head back to your dorm at least. Porphyrios, help him get back to your dorm."
"Alright," Porphyrios agreed and grabbed Basil's other arm to help him walk.
Together they walked awkwardly out of the battle room.
They walked down the hall for a few minutes in complete silence. Basil was quietly cursing himself for his lack of good judgment.
I said I wouldn't let my thoughts get to me, thought Basil angrily, but I let thoughts of Cinereus distract me.
Frustrated at his own incompetence, Basil tripped over his own two feet. He would have fell flat on his face, if it hadn't been for Porphyrios catching him at the last minute.
"Thanks…" Basil said appreciatively.
"What's up with you today?" inquired Porphyrios bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Basil questioned, feigning ignorance.
I don't need someone to sympathize with my problem. It's my burden to bear, no one else's.
"You seemed distracted today," continued Porphyrios, "you barely blocked your opponent's blades, your bullets were completely off point, and you didn't even attempt to evade the shotgun blast."
Basil hung his head. Porphyrios had just now shed more light on his failure to perform in combat. Basil rapidly tried to think of an excuse for why he was so absent-minded.
"Sorry…" started Basil, "didn't get a lot of sleep last night…"
Porphyrios looked quizzically at Basil. At first he thought Porphyrios was about to call his bluff but instead, he just accepted Basil's answer.
"Well, get more sleep. We can't let your tired lack of focus drag this team down."
"Yea…I'll get right on that…" replied Basil, exhausted both physically and mentally from the day's events.
They reached the dorm room and pushed the door open. It was empty, save for some scattered books and papers from the girl's daily study sessions.
They take their education seriously, Basil realized as he slumped onto the bed. His chest was still in a lot of pain, but he refused to show it.
"You hungry?" asked Porphyrios, "I could bring you something from the dining hall."
Basil's stomach felt empty, he hadn't eaten dinner due to the untimely news of his brother's death. But he did not feel like sitting at a table of people who might want to talk to him. And while Porph may have wanted to bring something to him, he didn't want to burden his friend.
"No thanks Porph, I ate before class," he claimed.
Porphyrios looked Basil up and down and then shrugged.
"Suit yourself," he said and he left the room.
Basil tried to lie down on the bed, but sat up almost immediately due to an even more intense pain in his chest.
I must have broken a rib or something, Basil recognized, I should probably take some pain medication.
He tried to stand up, but the pain in his chest flared up, and he sat back down. Mustering up more strength he got up, wincing again at the pain, and started walking toward his bag. Pulling out a couple pills, he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and downed the pills with a drink and sat back down.
Knowing that his aura would heal him eventually gave him little comfort as he sat on the bed with nothing but pain and misery to accompany him.
He sat there, ignoring both sources of agony in order to remain as composed as possible.
It's my burden to bear, he repeated to himself, no one else's.
Celestia and Aurelia sat at a table in the dining hall. Together they had come up with how they were going to approach Basil about the topic at hand.
"Okay now remember," Celestia spoke, "when he sits down don't try to force him right away, just talk normally and lead into the conversation about what's going with him."
"Got it," confirmed Aurelia, "and no getting angry unless he's being stubborn."
"Right, we need to let him know that we are here for him and that he shouldn't feel the need to keep things from us."
"Right," agreed Aurelia, "oh here comes Porphyrios."
Porphyrios walked through the crowd, his muscular build; long hair and beard making him stand out like a sore thumb. He was still dressed in his blue tunic and white cargo pants, showing that he just came from combat class. Seeing Aurelia and Celestia at a table with their uniforms, Porphyrios moved toward them and sat down with his food.
"Where is Basil?" inquired Celestia, knowing that he and Porphyrios had the same last class today.
"He's in the dorm room," Porphyrios answered, "he got hit with a shotgun blast from Re during combat today."
Celestia's eyes widened in concern, "Is he alright?"
Porphyrios shrugged, "He's having trouble walking, but he insists that he's fine. He also said that he had dinner before combat class."
Celestia and Aurelia both looked at each other. Both of them realized that Basil getting injured might relate to what Basil was going through.
"Did he seem distracted at all during the fight?" Aurelia asked.
Porphyrios looked up from his steak and stared curiously at Aurelia.
"Yes he did, why?"
Celestia leaned in toward Porphyrios and spoke in a low voice.
"Before he left for combat class today, Basil seemed down about something. It became more evident when we started talking; he spoke flatly and tried to fake a smile. After that he quickly left for class, as if he was trying to avoid conversation."
Celestia exchanged a quick look with Aurelia before continuing.
"So Aurelia and I determined that something must have happened that caused Basil to act so differently and that we need to get him to open up and make him realize we can help."
Porphyrios stroked his beard for a bit, letting what the girls said sink in. After a couple of minutes pondering, Porphyrios spoke:
"That would explain his poor combat ability in class today, and if what you say is true, fixing the problem is the only way to get him back to how he was."
Celestia smiled, "Thanks for understanding Porph."
Porphyrios grumbled at the nickname but nodded his head.
"The only question is, how do we go about it?" inquired Porphyrios.
"Well here's the plan…"
Basil cringed as he felt another stab of pain in his chest. The pain medication had finally taken effect, so some of the discomfort had passed, but there was still some pain every now and again. Frustrated with his situation, Basil leaned against the wall next to his bed.
As he sat there, thoughts of today's events ran through his mind. He remembered waking up this morning and eating breakfast as normal, going to his classes and then taking a break in the dorm. Other than being unfocused in class, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, yet the entire day Basil felt as if something bad was about to happen. His thoughts had come true that afternoon right before his combat class with Goodwitch. That was when he had received the email about his brother, and from that point, things had gone downhill. He reflected back on his fight with Re and the thought that crossed his mind before he was hit with the shotgun blast.
He felt his eyes begin to tear up as he thought more about it and hastily wiped them away.
Stop it, scolded Basil to himself, crying about it isn't going to do anything and I don't want anyone to see me like that.
Basil sighed and then winced as he felt another sharp pain in his chest, making him more frustrated than before.
I just wish today would end, hoped Basil, This day has been awful.
The dorm door opened and Basil turned his head to see the rest of the team enter the room from dinner. Basil's stomach rumbled as he remembered that he hadn't eaten dinner today. Once again Basil descended into self-pity when he was addressed.
"Hey Basil," Celestia spoke as she sat down on her bed, "how you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Basil replied with a bit more force than he intended, "I took some pain relievers so it's not as bad as it was."
"I don't understand why you don't just go to the infirmary," commented Porphyrios while polishing his weapons, "if something is bothering you, you should get it checked out."
"I'm fine," Basil insisted, but had no other retort to that statement.
"You sure you're alright Basil?" inquired Aurelia with concern evident on her face.
"Yes," Basil stressed tiredly, "I already said I took pain medication to dull the pain."
"That's not what she meant…" Celestia stated her voice trailing off as if she wasn't sure how to continue her train of thought.
Basil all of a sudden felt nervous; he knew exactly where this was going and wanted nothing to do with it.
"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Basil said evasively. If he could avoid the question enough maybe they would give up.
"You've been very off today," remarked Aurelia, "you barely spoke to us in the dorm earlier today, you seemed very evasive when you did speak."
"You were also very distracted during combat class today," observed Porphyrios, "I have never seen you distracted in combat class."
"I told you, I didn't sleep well last night," Basil claimed desperately. He could feel the tears welling up. His breath started coming short as his hands shook slightly in his lap.
"That still doesn't explain why you were barely talking to us before class," reasoned Aurelia.
"It also doesn't explain why you're being evasive right now," claimed Porphyrios.
"Or why you skipped dinner today."
"Or…"
Basil felt the tears welling up more and more. The sudden onslaught of questions and accusations completely engulfed Basil. He was so overwhelmed by the constant barrage that his feelings started to overcome him. Panic began to enter his head as he realized that he couldn't escape from this situation. Anger washed over him as he became increasingly frustrated with the position that his teammates had put him in. Misery, which he was already swimming in, started to drown him.
Then he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"We just want to help you," came Celestia's soothing voice, trying to reassure Basil.
In the back of his mind, he knew that Celestia meant well and was just trying to calm him down, but in his current state, he only saw it as another source of frustration.
"I don't want any help!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, violently shaking off Celestia's hand.
Everyone stood in shocked silence at Basil's outburst. He was pretty sure that the entire hall had heard the shout, but at this point he didn't care.
"I don't want your help! I didn't ask for your help! I don't need your help! So just shut the hell up all of you!"
Basil took deep breaths as he tried to calm down. He felt hot tears trying to escape as he let out his anger, but Basil blinked them back as he observed everyone's reaction. Porphyrios seemed unphased by his outburst, which didn't surprise Basil at all. Aurelia's mouth hung open as she started in shock at Basil; she had not expected him to get so angry. But it was Celestia's face that stuck out most in Basil's mind. Her hand was still hanging in the air where he had shaken it off. Her face had fallen into a look of hurt and sadness. Her eyes trembled, as if she were about to cry as well. She looked like she had just been slapped across the face.
Realizing that he had caused all of this pain to one of his teammates, no to one of his friends, was unbearable for him and he felt the tears returning in full force. Not wanting his friends to see him like this, Basil turned and ran out the door.
The three of them stood there in stunned silence. They had assumed that trying to address the issue would allow Basil to feel more secure about sharing the information with all of them. But now, Celestia realized that it was the worst thing they could have done.
He didn't want to tell us about what happened, realized Celestia, and we just tried to force it out of him. What kind of friends are we?
Celestia moved toward the door.
"Where are you going?" called out Porphyrios.
"I'm going to find him."
"Are you sure that's the best idea?" questioned Aurelia, "I mean he seemed like he didn't want to talk at all. Not to mention he didn't really want anything from you."
Aurelia was a bit ticked off about that.
"You were just trying to help and he tried to get as far away as possible."
"No, it wasn't that," spoke Celestia, "he was overwhelmed by us persistently questioning him."
"And you think going after him to question him further is a good idea?" asked Porphyrios quizzically.
"No, I'm not gonna push him. I'll just be there to support him."
Celestia turned to Aurelia, "Sometimes you just need someone to be there for you. Especially if you feel like the whole world is against you."
Like what you did for me Aurelia, Celestia thought, silently hoping that Aurelia would understand what she was saying.
Thankfully, she did.
"Alright," Aurelia sighed, "good luck."
Celestia smiled in appreciated and then turned to Porphyrios.
"Fine," he conceded, "as long as what you're doing doesn't screw things up further."
Celestia's smile widened as her leader agreed with her.
"Thanks guys," acknowledged Celestia.
And with that, Celestia walked out of the room to go find Basil.
Basil sat near the edge of the rooftop as he stared out at the rest of the academy. The lights from the other dorms danced before him, shining brightly against the darker buildings. Basil shivered and curled up on himself. Hot, silent tears ran down his face as, once again, his thoughts overwhelmed him.
My brother's dead, my chest is in pain, and now I'm pretty sure my friends all hate me, thought Basil dejectedly.
He let out a shaky breath he suddenly realized he was holding in. Basil did not understand why it was so hard for him to hold back his emotions this time. Normally he was able to conceal how he felt and was able to get through the day. He remembered back at Signal, any time he felt there was something negative, or something was wrong, he would bottle it up. He learned from his father that being emotional is a weakness, that they cloud your judgment. Basil would try his best to keep it all inside, but sometimes it was just too much.
I haven't lost it that badly for a long time, Basil pondered, maybe it's just become way too much for me to handle now.
It was at this moment that he heard light footsteps behind him. His heart sank, knowing it was one of teammates. He did not want to deal with the repercussions of his previous actions just yet, but it looked like he had no choice in the matter.
He wiped his tears away from his face with the sleeve of his uniform.
"Hey," Basil addressed the person behind him in a slightly shaky voice, without turning around.
"Hey."
Basil recognized the voice as Celestia's, and his heart sank lower as he remembered her face when he hastily left the room.
"Look I'm sorry about what happened in there," Basil apologized hastily, "I didn't mean to lash out like that."
He took a deep breath and released it, "I'm just dealing with a lot right now."
A silence hung in the air as Celestia walked over and sat next to Basil.
"I know you said you didn't want help," she started tentatively, "but you need to know that we're here for you no matter what."
Basil looked up and met Celestia's gaze; her blue eyes gleamed in the evening light. They swam with tenderness as she continued to speak.
"We're your friends. We're here to help you. That's what friends do."
Basil let out a weak smile and looked back out at the evening landscape.
"I appreciate the thought," Basil acknowledged in a flat voice, "but they're my problems and I don't want to burden them on you guys. It's better if I deal with them on my own."
He continued to stare solemnly into the sky as Celestia let this last statement sink in.
"But you don't have to," she whispered quietly, "believe me I've been in a similar boat."
Basil looked back at Celestia to see her staring at her hands as she spoke. Her face was solemn as she continued:
"Back at Sanctum, my old school, I was always picked on for my heritage as a Faunus. There would always be some kid around the corner, waiting for me to come by, so they could tell me how I was inferior; different. I had always thought that sharing my problems with my friends would either worsen the situation or that I would be bothering them with something that wasn't their problem."
She looked up from her hands and out toward the landscape in front of her.
"But when I met Aurelia things changed. She found out about the bullies and helped me to stand up for myself. She would always listen when I had an issue with someone discriminating against me, or just Faunus in general. So, I would always share my problems with her, and you know what? It helped. By talking about my issues, it felt like I had removed something from my chest. Every time I told Aurelia about it she would always support me and my thoughts about it."
Once again she locked eyes with Basil.
"I'm very thankful to have Aurelia as a friend. She has helped me through hard times just by talking and supporting me."
Celestia looked away, wiping a small tear away.
Basil looked away as well.
Is she right? Would it be helpful to talk about the issues rather than bottling them up? But what if it just makes things worse? Negative actions make me seem weak and vulnerable. But my friends would be supportive of me, right?
Basil sighed deeply; I guess it's worth a shot.
"I got an email today," Basil began, as if just telling a story.
Celestia turned, her head cocked to the side in curiosity.
Basil looked her at her again.
"It was from my mother back home. We usually keep in contact every week to check in with each other. Usually I'd video call my family in the library and we would all catch up with each other. It was mostly me and my brother talking though, we could go on and talking about the simplest of things."
"You're both very close huh?"
"Yea," Basil replied with a half-smile, "he and I are best friends, and we're inseparable. He's attending Signal just like I did, said he wanted to follow in my footsteps. Before I left I gave him a very special gift."
Basil reached into his shirt and pulled out his necklace. It was on a silver chain and took the shape of half the yin yang symbol. Basil held it in his hand as he spoke.
"I gave Cinereus the other half to this necklace, to show that no matter what, we would always be together, even if we weren't physically there."
His smile faltered as he reflected back onto the point of this conversation.
"But now…"
Celestia frowned as well, "What happened?"
Basil's eyes began to swim as he tried to tell her what happened, "I got an email a couple hours after lunch. It was from my mother as I said. And she told me…she told me…"
Tears started to form; he could feel their salt slowly drifting down his cheeks. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and turned to see Celestia, ready and able to support Basil with what was going on. For the first time in his entire life, Basil felt ready to openly convey his problems to someone else.
"He's dead…"
And with that Basil lost it. Thankfully, Celestia was quite ready for it. She embraced Basil as he held onto her, sobbing into her shoulder, unrelenting tears held back the entire day, finally released from his eyes, falling onto Celestia's jacket. He cried, uncontrollably, for a good ten minutes before he finally started to calm down, all the while Celestia held him there, knowing from experience that it was all she could do to help him right now.
At last he pulled away; his tear-streaked face looked away from Celestia, embarrassed by his display of neediness.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he apologized quietly.
"It's okay," she replied, "it's unhealthy to keep your emotions in all the time."
They sat there for some time, not knowing what else to say.
"What happened?"
Basil turned, wiping his eyes in the process, "What?" he asked, confused.
"To your brother, did the email say what happened?"
Basil looked away and stared out at Beacon again.
"I'm sorry," Celestia apologized quickly, "I shouldn't have asked."
"No it's fine," Basil said, "I want to talk about it."
He wasn't quite sure why he wanted to, whether it was the fact that he had finally voiced his what was on his mind or that Celestia was just easy to confide to. Either way Basil felt comfortable for the first time that day and wanted to discuss what happened.
"The email said there was a fire a few nights ago. Several houses were set ablaze, nobody knows why, none of them were close to each other. My house was one of the ones that caught fire. My parents were trying to get out with Cinereus when gun fire was heard. Next thing they knew, bullets were shredding the entire house. They couldn't tell whether or not there was one shooter or multiple, but it was clear they were trying to make sure no one survived. Cinereus then got caught in the cross fire and fell out the window. When my mother had gotten out, my father tried to go around the house to find him, but the house collapsed before he could do anything."
Basil once again looked into Celestia's eyes. Her dog ears twitched slightly as she thought about the email.
"I'm sorry about what happened," she said and put her hand on Basil's shoulder, "it must be really hard to deal with."
Basil nodded, "It is, especially when it's probably my fault."
Celestia cocked her head, confused, "How is it your fault?"
Basil sighed, "My father was a huntsman once, but when he married my mom he got a job at the Schnee Dust Company branch in Vale. He wanted a less dangerous job so that he could spend more time with his family when they started one. Everything was great until the White Fang attacks increased."
Basil glanced at Celestia, "I assume you know who they are and why they would attack the company?"
Celestia nodded; naturally, the White Fang would attack a company that abused Faunus labor.
Basil gave her a solemn look and then continued.
"My father started taking his old weapon to work, to defend himself from any attacks that may happen. It worked fine, until one day he returned early from work, bloody and beaten. He was badly cut and had a few broken bones. Nobody knows how they were able to infiltrate the company, but it was assumed they had inside help. He was given time off, but that didn't prevent the White Fang from continuing to try."
Basil sucked in some air as he prepared to tell Celestia the scariest moment in his life.
"That night, the White Fang snuck into our house. They broke in to try and finish off my father. Thankfully I had woken up at that time, I'm not sure why, but regardless I heard several footsteps from downstairs. I knew something was wrong so I grabbed my trident and silently headed downstairs. I saw five White Fang members in full uniform with masks and swords and pistols. Having the element of surprise, I attacked. I was barely able to hold them off long enough for the police to show up. The White Fang were arrested on the spot."
Basil took another breath and looked at Celestia, waiting for her response.
Celestia looked away from Basil and out toward the center of Beacon.
"So," started Celestia as she rubbed her ears with one hand, "you feel responsible for this event because you think it was retaliation for what happened that night."
Basil nodded, "If I hadn't stopped the White Fang, my dad would've been killed, but now because I stopped them my brother is dead."
Celestia shook her head, "No," she spoke firmly, "If you hadn't stopped them the White Fang would have killed you and your family. You stopping them saved everyone in that house."
"But Cinereus was still killed later," Basil countered, tears starting form again.
"There was no way you could have known that," Celestia reasoned, "you shouldn't regret something that you couldn't prevent. Everything you have done to this moment has made you who you are. Regretting anything in the past means that you regret apart of yourself too."
They sat there silently for a while. Basil knew she was right, but feeling like there was nothing he could have done was not in his nature. After a few minutes, Celestia broke the silence.
"So, I'm assuming the whole White Fang thing is why you feel weird around me, right?"
Basil looked away, not wanting to look Celestia in the eye, "Yea," he answered, embarrassed, "I was raised by my dad that the White Fang were not to be trusted and I guess that evolved into a distrust of all Faunus. At least that's how I felt before."
"And now?" Celestia inquired hopefully, "Do you trust me now?"
Basil looked at Celestia; he really took in all of her features for the first time in this moment. Her eyes seemed to stare straight into his soul. Her pink hair flowed lightly in the evening breeze, falling back into place neatly after it had passed. And her ears twitched every so often in anticipation for his answer. In this moment, Basil knew exactly what his answer was.
"I do," he answered, "I trust you, and I'm ashamed that I didn't trust you sooner. I'm sorry for the way I acted all semester and I hope that you can forgive me, because I sure as hell want to make it up to you."
Her face lit up like a firework and she pulled him into a friendly hug.
"Oww," Basil cried out as he felt the stabbing pain in his chest flare up again.
"I'm so sorry," Celestia apologized immediately, "I forgot about your injury."
"It's fine," Basil replied with a grimace.
"Maybe I should bring you to the infirmary," Celestia commented, "someone should really look at it."
"Yea," conceded Basil, "that's a good idea. Afterwards I'll explain what's going on to Porph and Aurelia; they deserve to know as well."
With some help from Celestia, Basil stood up and started to walk to the infirmary. Basil met Celestia's gaze and they both smiled, knowing that there days of avoidance were over, and that their days of friendship were right on the horizon.