Chapter 7: Congregation

Vacuo was a kingdom of harshness. Of lawlessness. The government's influence was thin, and the ones who held power - whether on a small or large scale - were the ones with the strength and ambition to seize it. Even in the capital city, where the kingdom's government was centered, this held true. With enough strength, wit, and will, one could quickly rise through the ranks of society without much to hold them back. Unfortunately, the opposite was true as well, and those without that drive or power found themselves falling through the cracks, scraping together whatever they could to get by.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the slums in the outskirts of the city of Vacuo. In particular, an old building deep in the slums, where a crowd had gathered around a crude, makeshift boxing ring.

Dodge. Dodge. Duck. Block, Cina thought to herself as backed away, narrowly avoiding a flurry of blows to her face. Just need to wait for the timer...

"Looks like Kelley has Cina on the ropes!" an announcer shouted from somewhere nearby. Sure enough, Cina felt the rubber of the ropes that formed the edge of the ring touching her back. "Can she make it out of this, or will this be another easy win for the champ?"

"Come on, you know how this works," Kelley - the larger woman throwing punches at her - said, quiet enough that the crowd couldn't hear her. "Just take a hit and go down. I promise I won't punch too hard."

"They only paid me to let you win," Cina replied, ducking to the side and narrowly avoiding a right hook. She backed away again, this time to the other end of the ring. "If you want a hit that badly, come and get it."

"Maybe I will," Kelley said with a sneer on her face. She approached and threw a punch at Cina's face, but Cina blocked it with her forearm, wincing as her stance faltered from the force of the strike. Another punch came down, and Cina barely had time to duck away as Kelley's fist sailed through the air where her nose was before.

Just wait out the timer, Cina thought as she defended herself from Kelley's onslaught. Unlike the larger woman in front of her, Cina had no professional boxing experience; the closest thing to it was the street fights she managed to get herself mixed into during her youth. Still, a job was a job, and a job was another day without an empty stomach. Just had to wait out the timer, all while dodging and ducking away from this fucking bitch. Apparently, she was the champion of this little fighting ring. Oh, how Cina wanted to wipe that smirk off her face.

Unfortunately, it was taking all of Cina's effort to just keep herself from getting smacked in the jaw.

Wait for the right opportunity, Cina told herself. Block. Duck. Dodge. Back away. She saw frustration creeping up on Kelley's face as her arm drew back. What was she going for? Right hook? Maybe. Cina slipped in towards Kelley's left shoulder and sure enough, Kelley's fist sailed right past. That was the opportunity. Cina's right arm exploded forward, and her fist smashed Kelley straight in the jaw, jerking her head to the side. Cina celebrated in her mind, if only for a moment.

Then, Kelley's other fist slammed into the side of Cina's head, and she blacked out.

"You were supposed to open up the show for Kelley, give the crowd a reason to hype her up. Not smack her in the jaw!" the manager of the fighting ring - Cina had forgotten his name - shouted, holding his head in his hands. "What part of 'go down easy so the champ looks good' don't you get?!"

"Look, the agreement was to lose. I lost," Cina said, nursing her jaw with her hand. There was still a throbbing pain where Kelley's fist had smashed into, as well as a dull ache across the rest of her head. "Can I have my money now?"

"Fine. Just don't expect me to hire you again for this," the manager muttered, taking a few Lien cards from his desk and handing them to Cina. Cina nodded, taking the cards before sitting up and making her way out of the office. She had the money. Time to go back home. Kelley was probably down in the ring, fighting her actual opponent now that she was done hyping herself up on fodder like her. Cina could imagine that smirk on her face. Picture it clearly in her mind.

She shook her head and frowned as she left. Not much she could do about that.

CLANK! CLANK!

A hammer hit a nail somewhere, and the sound reverberated through the construction site. Cina tuned out the loud, metallic noises as she focused on balancing the wooden beam on her shoulder.

"Hey, you!" Cina heard someone shout. She turned to see a man in an orange vest pointing at her. "That goes in the corner over there! Get someone to help you put it up!"

"Mmhmm," Cina mumbled, her reply probably drowned out by the ambient construction noise as she made her way over to where that guy had pointed. Her mind wandered. How much money would she have after this? Enough to pay rent? Enough for food? She wasn't sure. In the back of her mind, one thought persisted.

Cina really wanted to punch Kelley in the face again.

"One hundred... two hundred... two ten... two twenty..."

Cina muttered to herself as she counted the money in her hands. Some of it was from the fighting ring. Some from the construction job. It wasn't a lot. If she managed to hold the job through the month, she'd have enough to cover rent. Some left over for food. Maybe a little extra, if she spent it wisely.

Something smelt nice. Cina looked up. The smell was coming from a nearby stall, across the street.

"We've got all your baked goods here! Fresh bread, bagels, cookies, pastries, whatever you're looking for!" the girl behind the counter shouted. Her eyes landed on Cina, who was still standing and staring at the stall. "You there! You wanna buy something?"

"Uh..." Cina said, making her way across the street to the stall. She looked around. Could she afford fresh bread? The market usually had stale loaves at a discount. That usually fit into her budget. But fresh? She was in the middle of mentally counting her money when her eyes landed on a small chocolate cake in the corner, hidden by a stack of croissants. Oh yeah. What day was it? It was her birthday, wasn't it? How long had it been since she had celebrated her birthday?

Well, she did have a few extra Lien. Maybe she could treat herself.

Cina made her way down the alleyway, ignoring those she passed by - usually beggars down on their luck or shady characters doing acts that weren't quite legal. Finally, she arrived at her destination, an old-looking shack stuck between two apartment buildings. Taking a rusty key from her pocket, she unlocked the front door and, after a bit of effort to get it unstuck, pushed it open.

"I'm home."

Of course, nobody was there to respond. The only things to greet her were her mattress and an upside-down box she used as a makeshift table. She closed the door behind herself, double-checking that it was locked. Break-ins were all too common in this part of town, after all. Once she made sure that nobody would be getting in, she made her way over to the makeshift table and sat down on the cold concrete floor beside it, putting the cake she had bought earlier on top of the box.

Cake for dinner. She'd be so excited if she was fifteen years younger.

"Oh, right, no utensils," Cina muttered. She had meant to buy something to eat with sometime, but never got around to it for one reason or another. Sometimes time, usually money. She looked around her dilapidated apartment for a moment before sighing.

Well, that left her hands.

"Happy birthday to me..." Cina muttered, tentatively scooping out part of the cake with her bare hand before bringing it up to her mouth. It was soft. The icing was a bit too sweet. At least it was chocolate. She liked chocolate. It seemed decently filling, too. Maybe she could save some money and skip breakfast tomorrow. Or even lunch. "Happy birthday to me..."

Cina later went to bed with a stomach full of cake and hands stained with icing.

"What do you mean you don't need me anymore?"

"I meant what I said. Construction's moved forward, and we don't need as many workers now that most of the structure's in place."

"So, what do I do? I need money for - "

"Not my problem. Go find another job."

Cina grumbled, peering over the shoulder of the man in the orange vest towards the construction site one last time before turning and heading off down the street. Her stomach rumbled. The cake had done well to keep her stomach occupied through the morning, but the fact that she hadn't eaten anything since the previous evening was starting to rear its head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few Lien cards. How much could she afford to spend without that income?

Money was more important than food now. Maybe she'd head to the local job office. Maybe there was something she could do there.

There was nothing Cina could do there. Every job was either taken, out of her skillset, or way too dangerous, like hunting Grimm outside the city. Dejected and hungry, she walked out of the job office and reached into her pocket to pull out a few Lien cards. Rent was due, what, in a week? If she bought something to eat, could she afford to pay rent? But then again, she needed to find something to fill her stomach. Hungry now, or homeless later?

Or maybe Cina just had to find another way to make money. That would solve both problems. But where? Maybe the fighting ring again. She did still want to punch Kelley in the face one more time. But after what the manager there had said...

Well, it didn't hurt to try.

"No."

"But I - "

"What part of 'don't expect me to hire you again' don't you understand?!"

"I just - "

"Get out of my office!"

Cina lowered her head, grumbling as she stomped out of the office of the boxing ring manager - she still didn't remember his name - and into the alleyway beside the building. She reached into her pocket and pulled out what Lien she had once again. It was still the same as last time. So was the question. Hungry now, or homeless later? She searched her brain for other ways to get some cash. Maybe panhandling? But nobody was gonna drop a cent for her in the slums, and the wealthier parts of the city had cops to push the beggars back down here.

Cina's stomach rumbled. Maybe some food would help her make a decision.

"I don't have too much in that shack anyways. Maybe I can find a bridge to sleep under," Cina muttered to herself as she made her way down the alleyway, away from the boxing ring. There's gotta be more construction somewhere around here, right? Or some other labor job? Maybe I can just snatch an apple from a stand while nobody's looking...

Something was moving further down the alleyway, catching Cina's attention and knocking her out of her thoughts. A large, intimidating man with a baseball bat was standing at the far end of the alley, in the direction she was headed. Cina knew what part of town she was in; she knew to avoid suspicious-looking people, so she turned around to go back and try an alternate route around...

... only to be blocked the other way by a smaller, but no less threatening man with a knife. Cina swore under her breath.

"Alright, turn out your pockets and nobody gets hurt. I ain't afraid to use this," the knife man said, gesturing toward Cina. She looked back at the guy with the bat, who was walking forward and shortening the space she could move - not that she could escape, considering her two assailants were on both sides. She reached into her pocket and felt the money. The last of the Lien to her name. Sure, giving it up was probably the best thing to do if she didn't wanna get stabbed or bludgeoned over the head, but if she did so, she'd have nothing to eat. And probably nowhere to sleep once she got evicted.

Plus, Cina was getting pretty irritated. Between the hunger, the lack of jobs, and the looming threat of eviction, she had just about had it with whatever bad luck was running her way today. She felt an inexplicable, illogical surge of confidence - or was it arrogance? Either way, despite her empty stomach, she somehow felt full of energy, as if someone had suddenly connected her to a spigot and put it on full blast. She raised her fists like she had yesterday, in the boxing ring.

"Come and get it," Cina said, spitting at the knife guy's feet.

"It's your life," the knife guy said, shrugging. He suddenly lunged towards Cina, his blade stabbing forward towards her chest. Another surge of energy welled up inside Cina. Time seemed to slow, and her eyes felt as if they were burning up - though not in a bad way. Ducking past the knife guy's thrust, she rushed forward, throwing an uppercut towards his chin.

Ka - CRACK!

It was as if lightning had struck. A blinding flash blinded Cina for a moment, followed by a thundercrack that made her ears ring. The next thing she knew, the knife guy was sailing several meters overhead, smashing into the side of the building along the alleyway before crashing down to the ground in a heap. Cina looked down at her fists. They crackled with electricity, with sparks running up and down her arms like fireflies. That inexplicable energy still surged through her body, pushing through to her hands as they crackled wildly.

It felt good. She felt good.

At that moment, the guy with the bat seemed to shake himself from the stupor of seeing his partner get launched two stories up, since he let out a shout as he charged Cina with his bat. Cina turned to face him. She smiled as he raised his bat, bringing it down straight towards her head. Her fist came up.

Ka - CRACK!

Another thunderclap. The bat shattered, splintering into wooden fragments that sprayed across the alleyway as the man who no longer had a bat recoiled from the force of the blow. Cina didn't let up, driving her fist straight into the man's chest. She heard ribs crack as the strike sent him flying down the alleyway, where he tumbled to the ground and lay still.

Gods, that felt good. Cina had no idea what this was, but she felt amazing. Maybe she finally awakened her Semblance? About time. She made her way over to the knife guy, who was still unconscious on the ground, and started searching through his pockets.

"Let's see... alright, this is pretty good," Cina muttered, pulling out several Lien cards. They added up to a lot, more than she was carrying on herself. She pocketed all of it and, after a moment of consideration, grabbed and pocketed the man's knife as well. "Thanks for that. I'm gonna go see how much your friend over there has."

As Cina made her way over to the man who she had just punched across the alleyway, she willed the energy to stop, and it obeyed. She willed it to activate, and it surged through her body again, her eyes burning once more. That was good. She could control it. She made a mental note to figure out what exactly she could do with her newfound abilities later. But for now, she had an unconscious guy to loot. She smiled. Her money problems had been solved, and she felt stronger than ever.

Still hungry, though. But at least she had money to buy food now.

"Order number 55! Double cheeseburger and large fries!"

"That's mine!" Cina shouted, scurrying up to the counter and grabbing the bag from the man standing on the other side. She made her way over to a table by the window and sat down before practically dumping the contents of the bag out in front of her. She quickly unwrapped the burger and took a large bite.

Oh, that tasted good.

How long had it been since she had enough money to eat out? Too long. Up until now, she had been scraping by on the cheapest that money could buy, besides that cake from yesterday. Sure, fast food wasn't exactly gourmet, but it was a welcome treat. After chewing down and swallowing the chunks of burger in her mouth, she took another big bite. Just as good as the first. She felt the hunger pangs in her stomach quickly ease up.

"And it's all cause of... whatever this is," Cina muttered, looking down at her hands. She concentrated, and a surge of energy welled up from her chest into her arms, causing small sparks to shoot off from her hands and dissipate into the air. Then, she relaxed, and the energy faded. Her Semblance, probably? Well, it couldn't be anything else. And what a strong Semblance it was! The feeling of uppercutting that knife guy into the air and slamming the guy with the bat across the alleyway was unlike anything she had ever felt before. What else could she do with this?

Whatever it was, it was probably her ticket out of poverty.

I'd probably be queen of that boxing ring with this, Cina thought to herself as she grabbed some fries and stuffed them into her mouth. Nice and crispy, with a hint of salt. Hell, I could probably aim higher. There's gotta be some good combat gigs out there...

Out of the corner of her eye, Cina noticed someone push open the door and enter the restaurant. Some girl wearing a thick coat. Huh. What the hell was she thinking? Vacuo was hot as sin, and even at night, some of that residual heat remained, especially in the city. And what was she dragging behind herself? Some sort of rusty pipe?

And why was she coming towards Cina?

"Uh... you need something?" Cina asked as the girl with the rusty pipe came to a stop next to her table. She looked at Cina's food, then at her. The girl's stare was cold and blank as she looked up and down Cina's body, then at her face.

Then, she raised her pipe.

"Shit!" Cina shouted, jumping out of her seat just as the girl's pipe smashed down through the chair she was sitting in moments ago. As chair fragments sprayed across the floor, the atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly turned hectic as people rushed to leave. Meanwhile, the girl's eyes were focused entirely on Cina, her stare unwavering, unblinking.

"What the hell do you want? You friends with the guys who jumped me or something?" Cina asked, throwing her burger onto the table and raising her fists. "You wanna take this outside? Cause I - "

The girl suddenly launched forward, fast enough that Cina could barely bring her arms up in time to block the pipe swinging towards her skull. The force behind the strike seemed inhuman, knocking Cina off her feet and sending her sailing through the window of the restaurant. It shattered, and Cina landed among the glass shards onto the sidewalk outside. Her Aura flickered momentarily.

"Alright, if that's how it's gonna be," Cina muttered, concentrating and pulling at the energy deep in her chest. It surged through her body as sparks danced along her skin. Her muscles felt supercharged, and her eyes blazed bright as she focused on the girl with the rusty pipe. She dashed forward, leaping through the window back into the restaurant as she threw a lightning-charged punch towards the girl's face.

The girl leaned to the side. Cina's fist sailed cleanly through the air.

She's pretty good, Cina thought as she turned, throwing a jab towards the girl's chest. The girl stepped back, avoiding the strike. She swung her pipe upward, aiming right at Cina's chin, but Cina ducked to the side and threw an uppercut at the girl's chin.

Ka-CRACK!

A thunderclap rang out through the restaurant as Cina's fist connected, sending the girl bouncing into the ceiling before crashing to the floor, where she crumpled into a heap. Cina took a moment to catch her breath as she watched the girl silently pick her up, her expression as still as stone despite the blow she just took.

"Guess you're tougher than you look," Cina muttered, watching the girl look up at her. The girl readied her pipe once again, but Cina had already rushed forward, throwing a flurry of lightning-charged jabs at her chest and chin to keep her on the defensive. It was working; while the girl was dodging or blocking more punches than Cina liked, the onslaught gave her no time to strike out with that pipe of hers. The girl tried to step back to avoid Cina's strikes, but Cina followed, stepping forward with a strong right hook that caught the girl across the jaw. Her head snapped back as she stumbled away. As she turned back around towards Cina, her eyes suddenly flared up with a white glow.

Huh, Cina muttered. What was that? The girl's semblance? She brought up her arms to defend herself as the girl swung her pipe towards her. Her hits were strong, but Cina was able to block them before -

CLANG!

Cina's arms exploded - or at least, it felt like they just did. The pipe smashed into Cina's arms with the force of a semi truck barreling down the highway, shattering her Aura and sending her flying out the restaurant window and across the street before her body crashed into a building on the other side. Pain radiated out from her arms. She tried to push herself up, but her left arm collapsed from underneath her as it felt like the inside of her arm was being stabbed by hot knives.

Fuck. Was her arm broken?

Cina tentatively tried her other arm. It hurt, but it worked. Letting her probably-broken arm dangle down uselessly, she slowly stumbled to her feet. She could still feel the energy welling up in her body. Huh. Didn't Semblances deactivate when one's Aura was broken? Well, Cina didn't have time to think about that now. She looked up to see the girl with the rusty pipe crossing the street, her eyes still glowing white.

"What the hell do you want?" Cina spat at the girl through grit teeth. The girl didn't reply. Of course she didn't. Why would she? She just kept that stupid stony expression over her face as she brought up her pipe once again. What to do? If that pipe hit her again, she was probably done for, given the girl's strength. And all she could really do was punch back - but now, only with one arm.

No, wait. She had something else. Cina reached into her pocket and grabbed the knife she had taken from the mugger earlier, flipping it open and exposing the blade.

Maybe this'll work better, Cina thought, concentrating all the energy she could muster into the knife. It glowed brighter and brighter until it was white-hot, sparking and arcing with electricity as if it were an actual lightning bolt. As the girl leaped forward and swung her pipe down toward Cina, she stepped to the side, dodging the attack before lunging forward and stabbing straight toward the girl's throat.

Ka-CRACK!

Lightning struck once again. Electricity coursed across the girl's body as her Aura shattered just like Cina's had moments ago. And yet, the knife didn't stop, piercing forward and burying itself into the girl's neck, all the way up to the hilt. Both Cina and the girl froze as Cina looked at the blade now stuck straight into the girl's throat.

Oh shit. Did I just kill someone? Cina thought. But the girl had attacked her first. It was fine, right? Yeah, it was fine. Still, she just -

CLANG!

The pipe struck Cina's chest. She flew back, tumbling down to the sidewalk. More pain. This time, from her chest. She had heard some cracking. She was having trouble breathing; each inhale caused a sharp stabbing sensation. Were her ribs broken? Probably. She coughed, and a metallic taste welled up in her mouth. She knew that taste. Blood. But never had she tasted so much of it. Probably more than her ribs were broken, then.

What happened? Hadn't she just killed the girl? So why...

Cina heard footsteps. She tried to look up, but it took the greatest effort just to move her body. Everything hurt. Her body was on fire. She managed to roll onto her back, only to see the girl with the rusty pipe standing over her. Her eyes were no longer glowing. They had that same expression, though. That same blank expression. And the knife was still buried in her throat.

Cina watched as the girl reached up and grabbed it, slowly pulling it out and throwing it to the side.

All the while, not a single drop of blood spilled out of the hole in her neck.

That's not fair.

Cina watched the girl raise her pipe into the air.

Damn. I didn't even get to finish my burger.

CLANG!

A/N: And that's chapter 7! Sorry for the wait, holidays and work and all that.

Thanks for the reviews! I think this is my most reviewed story now, passing Journeys of a Mercenary. Go read that if you want, I think I've put more effort into that than this (it's on hiatus RN though). Also, y'all have some interesting theories on pipe girl.

Anyways, thanks for reading! See you next time; hopefully I'll get these chapters out sooner.