A Time To Talk.
After having searched for a long time for any signs of the Beast, team LSBL haven't found anything. Hard to believe that a grimm of that size could be so difficult to find. It became more and more clear why this was considered a special grimm. It was smarter and more cunning than most other grimm, which made it harder to find... and even harder to kill. Disappointed by their failure to locate The Beast, the team along with Byleth entered one of the abandoned buildings, where they could rest for the night, and resume their search in the morning.
"I will take a look around the area and make sure it's secure. Then I will guard this place while the rest of you sleep" Byleth instructed.
"You're not gonna get some rest, professor?" Lucina asked.
"I don't need to sleep to rest. Don't worry, normally I spend days without sleep when on missions" Byleth assured before she left on her patrol.
"Days?" Bernadetta asked in surprise.
"Well her reputation sure is well earned" Severa commented.
"Indeed. Well you heard what she said, let's get some sleep" Lucina said.
Everyone nods and tries to get comfortable for a good night sleep. Which was much easier said than done. As they were trying to sleep, their minds were full of different thoughts. Not just by their failure of capturing the beast. There was something else bugging them. In the end, only one of them felt brave enough to finally say something.
"Hey... are you girls awake?" Lyre asked.
"Yes..." Lucina confirmed.
"Yeah..." Added Bernadetta.
"Of course I am. Sleeping in an stranger's house isn't very easy" Severa said.
Lucina looks at Lyre "Is something on your mind, Lyre?".
"Yes... do you girls remember our encounter with that Black Knight guy?" Lyre asked.
"The guy who made us all look like pushovers? Of course we remember. How could any of us forget such a humiliation?" Severa asked.
"It's not just the fact he beat us... but what he said to us. Do you think he had a poin? That we aren't really huntresses... and we are held back by our weaknesses? I want to believe he only said that to screw with us... but it almost felt like he could read us like open books" Lyre said.
There was a silence. Lyre had a point. All of them wanted to believe that the Black Knight was only trying to play mind games with them... but he knew exactly what to say. He didn't know any of them, yet he was able to point out their flaws so easily... and he was right about each one. Where they really huntresses? Or where they just children playing huntresses?
"Damn it Lyre... why did you have to bring that up?" Severa asked, but she didn't really sound annoyed.
"Sorry... it's just been on my mind recently" Lyre said before she looks at her tail "In all my life of being a faunus, I have never been a stranger to hardships... Everyone knows being a faunus is not easy. Constantly being targeted of discrimination and hate, just for being what we are... But despite that, I never gave up hope, I always believed things could change, that our lives would be better, and we could live alongside humans... but my sister didn't feel the same".
"Your sister?" Bernadetta asked.
"Yes, my sister Lethe... She had a... different view of the world. We used to stick together. We are twins, but she was born before me, so that made her the older sister, and as the older one of us, she was my rock. Our parents were never around much, so she kept me safe, defended me from those who wanted to hurt me. She was so cool... but then, The White Fang showed up" Lyre began and everyone could tell her story was going to take a dark turn "When members of the White Fang found us, I could tell just by the looks of them that they were no good... But Lethe felt differently. When they offered us a chance to join, she didn't even bother asking me for my opinion and made me joing alongside her. At first, I only stayed because of Lethe, but as time went on, the White Fang's atrocities became harder to ignore... in the end, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave... I asked Lethe to come with me but... She refused. She believed in what the White Fang were doing and she refused to leave... And she outright told me to leave the decision makings to her, because I was incapable of making any good decisions on my own...".
"Lyre..." Lucina whispered.
"I admit, when she said that... I was angry and hurt. But when I ran away from the White Fang, I realized something... She was right. All my life I let Lethe take care of everything. She was the strong one, she was the smart one, and she was the one who knew who and what she wanted to be. I had depended on her so much, I didn't even know who I was without her... That is why I joined Beacon. Because I believed becoming a huntress would finally give my life some meaning... And finally allow me to figure out who I really am, and who I want to be" Lyre finished.
Everyone remained silent after hearing what Lyre had to say. And what she said made everyone think about their own flaws.
"You know what? I can sort of understand how you feel. My family life wasn't perfect either" Severa admitted.
"Oh yeah, you made it really clear how you feel about your mom" Lucina said.
"You missunderstand, I don't hate my mom, I love her... I only hate her reputation. Everyone knows who she is. The great and powerful Cordelia, a genius who embodies everything a strong huntress should strive to become... now I am not saying her reputation wasn't earned. Everything people say about her is true, she is a genius, even though she hates being called that for some reason" Severa began before she sighed "But being the daughter of someone like that, comes with an overwhelming amount of expectations. While I was growing up, everyone expected greatness from me, but no matter what I did, I was always overshadowed by my perfect mother. In the end I couldn't take it anymore and I lashed out at someone who made fun of me for being 'The weak daughter of the great Cordelia'. I beat them down so much my mom had to pull me away. She scolded me good for that, which I was happy about, because it was one of the few moments she spent some time with me".
"Wait, did she neglect you?" Bernadetta asked.
"It's more complicated than simple neglection. She was just always so busy being a huntress that she rarely had time being a mother. And since my father has been a no show my whole life, I couldn't really rely on him either. I decided that I wasn't going to become my mother, but my own person. That is why I want to become a huntress, so the world can finally see me for who I am, and not for who my mother is" Severa declared.
After some more silence, surprisingly Bernadetta was the one to speak next "At least you two have something driving you. I have non of that. I am nothing more than a weak coward".
Lyre looks at her "Come on Bernie, that's not true-".
"Yes it is! Stop pretending just to make me feel better. It's no secret that I am scared of everyone and everything. It's been like this for as long as I can remember. My father wanted me to be an obedient wife, so he could make me marry a rich man and increase my family's wealth, I was nothing but a tool for him to use. And to make it worse, I wasn't even allowed to make friends. My father told me never to befriend anyone, least of all a commoner. He said commoners are scum and that he would crush any that tried to come near me" Bernadetta said.
"He really did that?" Severa asked in shock.
"Yes... because he was likely worried that I would fall in love with a commoner, and since they are not rich, it would ruin his plans. And he wasn't joking. Anytime a commoner tried being nice to me, my father would have his guards drag them away and beat them to the point they would be to scared to ever approach me again... I wasn't even allowed to befriend a cat. My father had full control over my life... until the night I was sent to Beacon. When an assassin broke in to our home, my mother sent me to Beacon, where I would be safe... or she saw it as a good opportunity to finally get me away from my father... She was among the few who really did care about me" Bernadetta finished explaining "Then I met Yang, and she is everything I want to be. Strong, confident and fearless... everything I'm not".
Lucina looked at her teammate as she listened to each of their life stories "I wish I could relate to you all on your hard past. But truth is, I can't. I never had any problems with my parents, and my life was mostly peaceful. I have a beautiful and loving mother, along with a strong and funny father, and both always made time for me. I don't have any deep or dark secrets about my past. It was mostly fine... But there was one thing that happened to me, that helped making me who I am now".
Everyone looked at her, curious about what she would tell them.
"When I was a kid, I loved adventures, so I would often sneak away to explore. One time I went in to a forest, and while you would think I ran in to some grimm, I didn't. I walked to a river, and like a the clumsy girl I was back then, I slipped and fell in. I was so close to drowning and I really believed I would die... until a hand reached in to the water and pulled me out. As I was gasping for air and coughing out water I looked up and saw a beautiful huntress. She helped me get home and she told me that wanting adventures was fine, but I should wait until I was old enough for it... and she also told me that my bravery could make me a great huntress one day. And after that, I began training with my parents until I was old enough to join the academies" Lucina explained.
"Well, despite you almost drowning, you didn't have that dark of a past. You might be the most normal one among us" Severa said before she chuckled "And that is a good thing. We could use someone normal to keep us sane".
Lucina chuckled "Well, I am the leader after all".
"So who was the huntress that saved you?" Lyre asked.
Lucina blushed in embarrassment "I kind of forgot her name... but she did look a lot lik Ruby, just a lot older".
"Interesting. Well, safe to say we are all a strange bunch" Severa said.
"We are. But try thinking about everything we've achieved ever since joining Beacon" Lucina said before looking at Severa "You wanted people to see you for who you are, and now you have friends who cares about you for who you are, and not for who your mother is. Not to mention you have a girlfriend now".
Severa blushed but smiled "You're right... Blake really made my life better".
"And you Lyre, you wanted to figure your life out and make your own decisions. And you chose to come to Beacon and you chose to approach Weiss, despite her distrust of Faunus. And you succeeded in befriending her, proving you were right about humans and faunus getting along" Lucina said to her faunus teammate.
Lyre smiled with pride "Yeah, I did. Weiss is really nice once you get to know her".
Lucina then looked at the smallest member of the team "And you Bernie, you say you are a weak coward, but look back at everything that's happened. You are scared of so much, but you never even once abandoned us. You always stuck with us, regardless of your fear. There is a saying: Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of it. And you have proven this many times. You are braver than you think Bernie".
Bernadetta was surprised before blushing a little "If you say so...".
"Team Building!" Lyre cheered, earning annoyed looks from her friends, making her chuckle in embarrassment.
However the happy moment was ruined when loud footsteps were heard. Everyone were immediately on high alert as they rushed to the windows and looked outside. In the distance they saw something approaching them, and they could feel the footsteps all the way from where they were. And it became more and more clear what was approaching them.
"Is that...?" Bernadetta asked in worry.
"Yes..." Lucina confirmed with narrowed eyes "The Beast has arrived".
The Beast got closer before rising up on it's back legs and let out a loud roar that could be heard from miles away.
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Tell me what you think.
