Chapter Seven: Tears of Flame
"And now introducing...Team ZERO!", cried a fourth year student over the loudspeaker, with a raging applause resonating through the room.
Team ZERO were nothing less than appalled as they entered the sparring arena. The seats surrounding the ring were filled to the brim with students of all grades. Their opponents, Team ARES stood on one end of the arena, all readying themselves. Areana was smiling devilishly as she ran the blade of her kopis sword along the spiked melee gauntlet on her left arm, her blood-red eyes boring into her opponents. She was equipped with a black light-metal cuirass and red steel shin guards. Her sister wore the same uniform from the training room, save for a few spare Dust cylinders around her waist. Roland had donned a chainmail top with hardy leather boots and gloves, a broadsword attached to his hip, his viridian eyes blankly staring at Ella, causing her to blush again. Sirena stared over at Rizu as she sheathed her twin rapiers, the bottom of the hilt in the shape of what seemed like a microphone. Her body was hugged well by a dark green knee-length dress with matching combat heels.
Team ZERO took their places, lined up perfectly on the opposite side of the arena, weapons ready. Ella could feel her gloves light up as her heart raced excitedly. Zane stared menacingly at the other team (though managing to take a wink at Eos, who only reacted with a slight tilt of her head). Orion seemed more tough than usual, the grip he held on his axe, Starbreaker, was tighter than normal. Rizu cocked his revolver and tapped his blade once, smirking slightly. It was then that Professor Ozpin took the mic from the student from before.
"Welcome students. Today will be the first of many sparring days. Each of these days will have different conditions and different teams will fight. On this glorious day, we have Zane Noctis, Ella Blaze, Rizu Fall and Orion Maxima as Team ZERO. Their opponents are Areana Nikos, Roland Chevalier, Eos Nikos and Sirena Sinbad. When you are ready...begin", Ozpin finished, sounding ominous, yet intrigued, sitting down next to Professor Goodwitch.
As his words echoed, the crowd began to roar with applause, cheering them on, some students even making bets. When the applause died out, the arena was deathly silent, an intense vibe hanging in the air. Rizu's teammates could hear the gears whirring and grinding as his grip became taught on his weapons. Ella could feel the heat begin to build in her gloves, her hands balled into fists as the silence continued.
Roland took his stance and drew his sword, holding it with two hands, seeming to be in a defensive position. Areana leaned forward, ready to strike as her sister stood upright, looking like a goddess. Eos' whip was fully extended and trailing behind her, the length of it glowing a bright red. Sirena drew her rapiers and held them pointed down at her side, her eyes focused and cold. As Zane was about to charge, he froze, his eyes widening and his breath short. His gaze fell upon a tattoo on Roland's neck, partially concealed. It was the shape of a black blade.
"...it...can't be...", he barely muttered.
Ella looked to him carefully,"Zane?"
"...the...the Faunus...he's...HE'S MINE!", the teen cried wrathfully, his swords drawn and brimming with energy as he charged towards the weasel.
Orion gasped as he saw Areana rush towards his comrade, prompting him to fling his titanic axe toward her at full force, only for Eos to tangle the handle in her whip's mighty grasp and sending it back at him. The lion luckily grabbed it, charging into the fray. Areana tackled Zane down with a shoulder charge, sending him flying, only for him to recover. She was shocked to see the look of not focus, but rage on his face.
"This is supposed to be a friendly spar pal", she warns.
He growls lowly,"Get out of my way before I kill you too!"
Her eyes widened as he slashed waves of lightning and fire energy at her, barely able to dodge them. Glynda Goodwitch gasped softly and stood up, only for Ozpin to sit her back down with a shake of his head. Ella rushed in to help Orion, launching flaming orbs at Roland. In response, he raised his sword, the edges extending into the shape of a shield, blocking them burning spheres with ease. As the flames subsided, Roland charged with the shield out in front, trying to ram into Orion, only for him to leap over him, swinging his axe at Eos, only to miss by her agile movements and dodges. Areana began to get angrier, having trouble keeping Zane away from her comrade.
"Look punk don't make me knock you out!", she howled, slashing at him fiercely, steel meeting steel.
Meanwhile Sirena and Rizu were clashing to the sidelines, her swift, flowing sword swipes and thrusts being met with his rhythmically times blocks with his tonfa blade, trying to trip her up with shots from his revolver, occasionally tapping his knee plates to 'see'. Their rhythms were in sync, each one trying to overcome the other. The brunette huffed as her former master cut a strand of her bangs, seeing her hair fall to the floor as gracefully as a ballroom dancer.
"Still a little too slow", Rizu marked, twirling his blade in a figure-eight.
"Humph. We will see who's too slow!", she cheers, charging in again.
Orion roared with vigor as he kept swinging away at Eos, missing every swipe. She was simply too agile for his heavy build. Her whip lashed him several times over, luckily not too hard.
"You have become strong Orion. Yet you lack finesse", Eos chimed.
He huffed,"You're fast as ever Eos...but I have gotten better. I will beat you!"
"You will not. Because your team has yet to learn to work together", she warned.
He growled a little, and although he didn't want to admit it, his team was completely scattered. Ella's flames were wild and unfocused. Rizu was focused too much on one opponent. Last of all, Zane was letting his rage consume him, making his attacks sloppy. They had to work together if they were going to succeed. Roland reverted the shield into it's sword form and began slashing at Ella, barely missing his attacks.
Ella huffed as she dodged, seeing her teammates all around start to lose control, beginning to falter and tire. Her heart raced as her breathing became short and sharp, her eyes watering. Her mind began to crack, dark memories flooding back like a tidal wave. She gripped her head like she was in pain, her body quivering like leaf. Ella fell to her knees, leaving Roland confused yet he left her to aid his own team. One by one, Ella saw her friends fall in defeat, yet in her eyes, they were dying, and she was powerless to save them. As the whole of Team ARES approached her to land a knock out blow and win the match, they were shocked to see strange glowing symbols and glyphs forming around her, rotating around her. They began to shine brighter and brighter as Ella stood, her eyes now a bright gold.
"Y-You...you will for this...mother...", she seethed, heat now emanating from her.
Areana stood confused,"Mother?"
"You will pay for this! You will b-", she was cut off as Roland had snuck around and struck her head with the pommel of his sword, knocking her out.
The crowd was deathly silent, no applause as everyone was in shock of what had just happened. Ozpin stood up and took the mic again.
"Team ZERO...come with me to my office. Everyone else...dismissed", he ordered dryly, heading off to his chamber.
Orion stood up and carried Ella, her now resting peacefully. Zane and Rizu sheathing their weapons and following Ozpin to his office. As they sat themselves down, with Orion setting Ella in her own chair to rest in. Ozpin just sighed as he sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose before locking his fingers together and looking at them.
"Okay...so let's start with Zane. This was supposed to be a friendly sparring match, not a fight to the death. Yet the way you fought and what you were saying...correct me if I'm wrong but you wanted to kill Mr. Chevalier", he said cautiously.
"Well maybe that wouldn't have happened if you did proper background checks on your students and not let terrorists in your school!", Zane shouted.
"I'm not sure I follow, Mr. Noctis."
Zane sighed,"That kid has a tattoo on his collar area. It's the symbol of the Grimm Blades, the extremist group behind the deaths of my father and my brother, along with other members of the Noctis work force"
"You think he was the one who killed your father?"
"No. But his father is one of the conspirers behind it. One of the members responsible was Jacque Chevalier. I have no reason to believe that he is any different than his father, especially if he bears the mark", he seethes.
Ella's eyes started fluttering open, rubbing the back of her head and groaning a little in pain. Her eyes had gone back to their normal color.
"You okay?", Rizu asked, hearing her groan.
"Y-Yeah...just...head hurts...", She mumbles.
"Miss Blaze...please tell us what happened in there...", Ozpin was practically begging to know, concern laced in his tone.
Ella sat there, her eyes drifting to the floor like a child in trouble. She crossed her arms, a stream of tears cascading down her cheeks. Her voice was shaky as she began to speak.
"My mother died when I was really young...I wanna say about four. My father met someone new when I was seven. She was a cruel woman. She would always break things and blame me for it so my father would yell at me. This woman didn't love my father. She was just using him for his wealth. My stepmother milked him for everything he was worth...and when she could take nothing more, she...she killed him. I was twelve. I ran away from home. I couldn't last that long so I came back", she took a shaky breath before continuing,"When I returned...my stepmother was sleeping with some other man. I was so angry...so hateful. I needed revenge. For my father...and for myself. I snuck into the house and while they were asleep, I soaked the bed and the room with gasoline from our shed. And then...I threw in a lit match. I watched from outside my house in the cold, watching my house burn down...and listening to the dying screams of my stepmother and the other man", she sobbed a little, hiding her face.
The rest of Team ZERO and even Ozpin paled at the story that was being told. They couldn't believe that she had done something like that. Ozpin sighed softly.
"Did the police not catch you? I mean...for all intents and purposes they could have arrested you"
"There wasn't enough evidence. The police declared the cause of the fire a stray cigarette and sent me to a foster home. The feeling I got from burning her...it made me feel powerful. So I swore to myself that I would become powerful. That way I wouldn't let anyone I care about get hurt ever again...but...I was too afraid up until now to have any friends. So when I saw the team losing on the battlefield, I got scared and I began to remember my stepmother. So that is why I wish to be a Huntress", she finished.
The room fell silent, the others trying to process the information they were fed. Ozpin cleared his throat as to break the silence.
"We'll Miss Blaze. I believe you have the potential to become quite powerful. Just...remember to use that power for good. Okay?", he asked.
"Of course Professor", she sighed in relief that she wasn't being arrested or expelled.
"Besides...you now have a set of wonderful friends", he chimes, standing up.
"Yeah...I just gotta control my flames", she muttered, feeling ashamed still for losing control.
Zane just smiled,"Don't worry Ella. You got us. Right Orion?"
Orion smiled and pats her back,"Yeah! Right Rizu?"
"...yeah", a slight smirk was visible on his face.
The group chuckled a little bit, standing and turning to leave the room at Ozpin's discretion. Ella turned around and looked to her headmaster.
"Thank you...sir", she smiled.
He raised his mug to her,"Remember Ella, power will not fill the void your father left"
She smiled softly and nodded before departing with her friends. Ozpin's smile vanished as he sat back down, shaking his head. From behind the curtains that draped behind him, Glynda Goodwitch approached him.
"What do you think Professor?", she asked.
It took a moment for him to reply,"I want a sharp eye on Miss Blaze and Mr. Noctis. We need to make sure...that they stay safe"
A/N: And there we go! That's chapter seven! If the action scene was bad I'm sorry I don't have too much experience. Oh! I have a few things to talk about. Number 1! To clear the air here, yes I do write all of this on my phone. I do not have a PC to type on and I am a lot more efficient here anyway. Number 2! I urge you all to make an account and follow me that way if I have little contests, gimmick and such you can all PM me and I can reply. Also works for OC requests and such. And to all who have given me OC's thank you again! See you all next time!