Team MGAT and CSRD (minus Sebastian) were all crowded in the hallway between the two team's rooms, trying to figure out where the hell Sebastian went.
"Guys, we have to go find him." Cyrus said pressingly.
"Ok, and how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Axel rebutted. "In case you've forgotten, we HAVE been looking for him. For the past day. And we still have no idea where to even start."
"Well he has to be around here somewhere, right?" Ainsley asked. "I mean I talked to him just a little while ago, by your guys' room."
Axel's mouth dropped open in shock.
"You WHAT?! And you didn't think to let us in on that because…?!"
"Like I said at lunch, you all were sitting on your asses." she said, gesturing with her hand as she said it. Axel shook his head.
"Ok, fine. Did he say anything? Mention where he could have gone?"
"I didn't get much out of him," she replied. "Although he probably went to talk to Ozpin." she replied. "I told Ozpin to talk to him, after all."
"I reiterate: YOU. WHAT?!" Axel yelled in disbelief. "Geez, we might as well just have asked her from the beginning."
"Sometimes it just takes action." She shrugged, turning away and crossing her arms.
Now it was Cyrus's turn to be dumbfounded.
"If you knew where he was, why did you just stand there and let all of us freak out for the past 15 minutes?!"
"Because this wasn't your problem to deal with," a voice said from down the hall. The group turned to see Sebastian rounding the corner. "It was mine."
The entire group piled on top of Sebastian in a group hug, relieved to see him feeling alright.
"Guys please. No, really... stop… I… can't breathe." Sebastian huffed out the words while being hugged to death by everyone. They let him go and Cyrus spoke up.
"Well look who's finally up and attem! How are you feeling?" Cyrus spoke with joy and Sebastian just gave him a smile.
"I'm doing better. Ozpin gave me some words of encouragement to help. Figured it's about time I told you all the truth." Sebastian walked into the room and everyone else joined him, sitting on the other beds or the floor. Sebastian twiddled his fingers for a moment.
"Where to start?" He mumbled out the words rhetorically.
"How about the beginning?" Ainsley looked at Sebastian with a smile.
"Alright then, the beginning it is. I guess it all started back about two years ago or so. As some of you may or may not know, I'm actually not one hundred percent faunus. See, my mother was a faunus and my dad was a human. They met when my father was on a trip for his job. He's a craftsman of sorts you can say. They really didn't give me all the details on how they met, but one thing after another, here I am. Now of course, someone such as myself would be considered as something that shouldn't exist, considering the fact faunus and humans aren't exactly the best of neighbors. My Dad was skilled enough to make himself the most realistic pair of animal ears I have ever seen so that we could live a normal life in Menagerie while I grew up. Around the time I was fifteen, a group of humans came to our little town and were trying to actually speak to us on matters of peace. These groups were few and far between of course, but this was a matter my parents were well in line with obviously. So we all came out and decided to go to see them to hear what they had to say. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the White Fang showed their faces. Naturally, both sides got into a quarrel, and I, with all my superb luck, happened to have gotten caught in the crossfire. A fight broke out and I decided then and there, that I would stick up for the humans. Naturally the White Fang took exception to one of their own helping out humans. In the end of the scuffle, our side lost and they found me still trying to protect some of the younger humans that were there."
Sebastian paused so everyone could catch up with everything he had been saying. The group nodded, and he continued.
"They beat me down and dragged me back with them to Vacuo. I never got to see my parents again after that. Once they settled me down in one of their facilities, I was strapped to a chair and bound by rope. Several White Fang members were in the room with me, Sierra being one of them. I asked them all what was going on and one of them pulled out some files they had collected on me and my parents. Needless to say, they were repulsed by my very existence. Afterall, the current White Fang despised humans, so it was no wonder that a relationship between their kind and their enemy, one that spawned someone like myself, would never fly by them. They did, however, give me a chance. They asked that I'd abandon my human compatriots and join up with their cause. They tried to tell me everything the humans had done to hurt the faunus, toying with my emotions. From what I knew about humans, from my father, and those that I met that day, I couldn't agree with the White Fang. I told them that I refused to see their way, that I would place my faith in the chance that humans and faunus could live together in peace. With that they considered me a traitor. They said that if I couldn't see their way of thinking, then I'd see their way of retaliation."
Sebastian turned around and lifted his shirt up slightly so everyone could see the scars of whip lashes and constant beatings engraved on his back. He lifted it down and turned back around, only to see everyone shocked and saddened, Ainsley even covering her mouth with her hands.
"You all just saw the result of that retaliation. What felt like minutes of blacking in and out, was hours of pain and torture. I couldn't handle it all. I had felt something boil up in me that I never felt before. A strong sense of unbridled rage and anger. Little did they know, I still had a small steel ball in my pocket, the same one I use in combat. It was a gift from my mother. A little toy to play around with. Not a typical gift, but it was one I enjoyed using and still cherish even now. Without even realizing I was using my semblance, I lifted it into the air and I…" Sebastian struggled to continue. His friends all looked at him and Axel put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder, letting him know it was okay.
"I used it to kill everyone in that room except Sierra. I got myself out of the chair and I ran. I kept running until I couldn't run anymore, but I still kept going. It was at that point I was on my own. I was who knows how far from my home, my family. All I could do was just run." Sebastian took a few breaths to relax himself. Dreaming of what happened that night was one thing, but having to talk about it was another thing entirely.
"After that, a White Fang group led by one very-pissed-off Sierra, chased me down all across Vacuo. With each encounter with that group, I became more angry, more unhinged. I took my own kind's lives multiple times, lives of innocent people. Eventually at some point I ventured into Vale, eventually coming across someone who would tell me about Beacon Academy. I had wondered if Beacon was a safe place for me to finally get away from the White Fang and Sierra, from the pain that burdened me. So I applied and got accepted. The rest you guys should already know by now. I'm not saying you all should trust me as I am right now. I can't also expect that you are all fine with me being a murderer. I won't even ask for any of your forgiveness." Sebastian looked at everyone, this time confidence in his voice.
"However, I want to earn that trust back. I'm going to stay here at Beacon to learn what my purpose should be and how to deal with my pain and use it to make myself a better person. Most importantly, I want to remain your guys' friend," he said as he turned to look at the rest of Team CSRD. "And to remain your teammate."
The group sat for some time, attempting to process everything that they had just heard. It was indeed a lot to take in. Eyes slowly fell on Damien, as he was skeptical from the start. He stood there, his hand on his chin, deep in thought. After a minute, he took a deep breath before he opened his mouth to speak.
"Look, man." he started "I'll spare you the personal details as to why I don't trust you, but push comes to shove, I don't. Hell, if it were up to me, I'd get you out of the school-"
Before Damien could finish his thought,a collective gasp was heard around the room, and all eyes locked onto Damien. Cyrus stood up and grabbed Damien by the shirt.
"Excuse me?" he asked threateningly.
"How could you say that?!" Ainsley chimed in. "He has been nothing but good to you guys since you got all here, and you're going to let his past ruin your friendship?"
Axel rose from his seat as well.
"Yeah, man. You can't hate on the guy for stuff he did two years ago."
Damien shoved Cyrus off of him, and in the heat of the moment, began to focus on the debate at hand.
"Years ago?! We had to hold him back from murdering Sierra DAYS AGO," he yelled, holding his hands out in disbelief that no one else could see his side. "And what would have happened if we weren't there? He would hav-"
"It doesn't matter!" Cyrus yelled back. "Because we WERE there. And he didn't. And we can be there to help him through it so that he won't."
"Cyrus is right." Ainsley added. "You guys are his teammates. You guys promised to look out for each other, because that's what teammates do." She turned and looked at Sebastian. "And what's more, is that we're his friends. And friends don't give up on friends." she gave him a slight reassuring smile, Sebastian returning one back.
"You didn't let me finish, guys." Damien's voice broke the silence. Because I was gonna say I'd have you out of the school to get you the help that you need." He approached his teammate. "But, you have tried to find help in other areas. So, do you truly believe that staying here is your best…" Damien struggled to find the words he was looking for. "Course of action?" The half-faunus gave him a nod. "Well then, I'm gonna have to do my damndest to find a way to trust you again, cause whether I like it or not, you're my teammate."
"I hope to regain your trust one day, Damien", Sebastian told him.
"Well, that's one day out of the next couple years, so no hurry." Damien said, trying to relieve the tension. "The only thing I ask of you now is to promptly get your head out of the sand and get your act together. Cause we have a problem."
"What's going on?" Sebastian tilted his head, worried that something bad happened while he was out of it.
"Somehow Cardin knows about you."
"What?! How?" Sebastian was taken by surprise. He thought he had kept his secrets away from everyone that wasn't his friends or Ozpin.
"I don't know how exactly he did it, but that's a matter we'll get to eventually. That being said, he wants us to meet him and his team in the Emerald Forest in five days."
"For what?"
"Fight night." Damien sharply replied. "CSRD vs CDRL. If the four of us don't show up, they blow the whistle on this secret. So yeah, that's happening right now."
"Tch." Sebastian flicked his head back. "That isn't a whole lot of time to get back into the swing of things."
"You'll be fine," Cyrus replied."Just go ahead and take some time to get back into fighting shape. We'll leave you two alone for a while." Cyrus said as he, Axel and Damien walked out of the room. As the group rounded the corner, Axel turned his attention to Damien.
"Sorry, man. I misjudged you. I fully expected you to shut him out."
Damien chuckled. "I mean, I did survive as long as I did on the streets by avoiding killers, but Sebastian isn't the 'intentional murder' kinda guy. He just reached his breaking point. We've all got one. But he almost reached it again the other night, and I'm concerned about what happens if–key word: "if ''-it becomes a recurring problem. And I hope to the gods above that my concerns are for nothing."
Cyrus, learning from his mistake, let Damien finish his thought to completion before making a comment.
"Okay, point taken, but like I said, though, he didn't reach his breaking point."
"Only because we were able to stop him at the last second, which is why if our next fight with Sierra is sooner than we think, Sebastian cannot go after her on his own." The team nodded in agreement.
It was then Mola's team's turn to take their leave. Ainsley gave Sebastian a comforting smile before walking out, and the door slid shut, leaving Sebastian alone. He sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind turning over in his head. He had four days to get himself back into shape or else it could mean the end of his time at Beacon, or anywhere else.
"What the hell am I going to do about all this?" Sebastian fuzzled with his hair. "I mean, oh yeah, just give a great speech on how you're magically going to fix your problems at Beacon. You have four days Sebastian! Four days! I need to psych myself up so I can fight again." He grabbed his left hand, stared at it, then balled it into a fist. "But am I strong enough to do it? If I try to fight again… I might lose it. I can't risk it. At the same time, I have little choice but to fight, or I risk losing everything I have here." Sebastian continued to think to himself, trying to find the answer to his problem.
Two days had passed, the deadline for the fight between the two teams closing in fast.
"How you holding up, Sebastian?" Cyrus checked in in the morning.
"Fine, I guess. I just can't seem to make up my mind if I'm able to fight or not."
"You still have two days, so don't push yourself," Cyrus reassured him. "Besides, even if you aren't in top shape, we can still kick Cardin's ass."
"I wouldn't doubt it. They're a bunch of pushovers," he joked.
"You guys comin'?" Damien looked at them, pointing towards the door. "I mean unless you both don't want first dibs at breakfast."
"Yeah yeah, I hear ya," Sebastian replied, rubbing his neck.
The team collectively left for breakfast, and Team MGAT was already waiting for them at the usual table. Everyone chatted casually for most of the time, until Axel raised his fork, a half-eaten sausage link dangling from the prongs.
"Question," he began, waiting to have the entire group's attention."Why is it that the only thing we seem to do anymore is train for the tournament?"
"Maybe it's because we aren't the highest ranked teams or something?" Trucy guessed. Axel nodded. She brought up a valid point. Both teams weren't exactly on everybody's minds at school. Despite rumors of a few members here and there, both teams slipped into obscurity all the time.
"You've got a point there."
"If anything, they'll probably have us all fight each other!" Gemma exclaimed with a laugh. Axel's jaw clenched and his hand instinctively went to his ribs. She may have enjoyed herself, but he'd rather not have a repeat of the last time.
Sebastian threw down his fork.
"If that's the case, I have a bad feeling about today's class," he uttered, face half full of the jumbled mush of breakfast food that was haphazardly shlopped on his tray.
"Why's that?" Mola responded. "And don't talk with your mouth full!"
"I mean have you seen my condition as of late?"
"We all have, but you look better," he reassured.
"Heh. It's only in my look, that I seem better. Fighting in this condition, as it were, would be tough." He looked down at his food and stuffed some more in his mouth.
"If anything, we're all here to help, Sebastian!" Ainsley smiled at him.
"Thanks everyone," he replied.
"Not to cut the conversation short," Damien butted in. "But we have class in three minutes."
They all quickly got out of their seats, put their trash away, and sprinted off to class. Waiting for them was an impatient Glynda and some other classmates. Glynda looked at them with a face that nobody wishes to see when late.
"I see some of you don't wish to take this class as serious as others." Her eyes glared at both teams. "Since you are late, I will let you know what happens when you are late. For today we will have one member from Team CSRD go against one from Team MGAT."
Everyone from both teams hung their heads in complete and utter shame. Sebastian purposely kept lower in his seat so he wouldn't be chosen. He, under no circumstances, wanted to be picked. However Mola raised his hand without hesitation.
"I'll volunteer for my team!" Ainsley looked at him like he was crazy.
"Very good. Now which of you four would like to join him?"
"Actually professor," Mola said, "I would like to fight Sebastian." Sebastian looked at him with a face that read 'are you kidding me?!'
"I too, would like Sebastian to fight, since he has been rather discrete with his classes the past week or so."
"But professor I-," Sebastian interjected, before seeing the death glare from Glynda.
"No buts, Mr. Skobeloff. Get down there."
Sebastian reluctantly left his seat and headed down to the arena, watching as other students mumbled to one another discreetly. Mola joined him on the opposite end, drawing his bastard sword, getting at the ready. Sebastian half assed his fighting stance, looking unwilling to fight.
"Begin."
Mola instantly charged at Sebastian, giving him no space to breath. Sebastian did his best to avoid Mola's string of attacks, using his semblance when he couldn't. Sebastian backed himself against the wall playing on defense. Mola jumped at him, swinging his sword downwards. Sebastian rolled out of the way, leaping back to his feet. Mola flicked the sword down and the sword split in two, each half pointing outwards, forming a crossbow, a small arrow and launching mechanism appearing on the inside. Mola clicked the trigger, sending the arrow flying straight to Sebastian, who avoided it. Mola grabbed another bolt from the pouch clipped onto the back of his pants and loaded it into the crossbow. He fired it again, aiming at Sebastian's feet. On impact with the ground, the bolt exploded into a ball of light that shone right in Sebastian's eyes. Blinded, Sebastain raised an arm to block the light from his eyes. Mola flicked the sword back up, changing it into its regular form going straight at Sebastian. The two struggled until Sebastian barely broke Mola's attack, but instead of hitting Mola's exposed front, Sebastian jumped back. Axel and Cyrus looked at each other surprised.
"What?" Cyrus expressed surprise with Sebastian's lack of attack. "Why didn't he hit him?"
"He can't," Damien said. "With what happened to him in Vacuo, it's fair to assume he can't give his all against people. Even worse, is that Mola is his opponent. Mola knows that Sebastian lost that ability and is using it against him. Sad to say, but Sebastian might just lose."
A standoff occurred between Mola and Sebastian. They stood still until Sebastian started talking.
"Mola please stop this. You know I can't do it, I can't fight you!"
"That's why I'll have to teach you a lesson. Painfully."
Mola ran at Sebastian again, feinting a swing, then struck Sebastian's head with his left arm. He followed up with a swift kick to Sebastian's leg, knocking him off , Mola struck Sebastian with the sword's hilt and then delivered a strong swing with his left arm to Sebastian's chest and flung him back. Mola transformed the sword into the crossbow and loaded another special bolt. He fired it off and during its mid-air flight towards Sebastian, it exploded, sending Sebastian crashing into the wall, dropping his aura level on the above screen down to yellow. Sebastian fell to the ground flat on his stomach. He struggled to get up, almost not even wanting to. Mola looked at Sebastian with pity. He knew Sebastian was stronger than this.
"Throwing in the towel? Giving up already? The Sebastian from before wouldn't be so pathetic!" Mola yelled at Sebastian, berating him. "Look at yourself! Can't even fight one person can you? If that's the case, allow me to end that dream of yours right now."
Sebastian knew exactly what Mola was referring to. But it wasn't that simple for Sebastian. He knew what it meant to fight back, what it meant to use his power.
"What happened to the guy who wasn't afraid to get dirty? Did he run off? As you are right now, you're stuck in a cage."
Sebastian didn't want to think about it, about the way he used to fight. But he knew, he knew that fighting was essential, however wrong it felt back then. He needed to fight. Even now he needed to stand up, just as he had done in Vacuo.
Every time I fell, I fought to get back on my feet. Even now, that hasn't changed. For me to win, I must fight!"
"Good. This match was starting to get one-sided," Mola replied.
Sebastian got into his real fighting stance. He was going to have to face his fears, whether he wanted to or not.
"Let's do this Mola!"
In the blink of an eye, Sebastian was facing Mola down, catching him off guard. He threw out a flurry of strikes that Mola guarded, using the flat end of his sword, driving him back on his feet. Sebastian took out Siberia, and with his semblance immediately used it to add more pressure to Mola's guard. Mola struggled to catch his breath, struggling to adapt to the series of attacks that followed. With time, Mola saw an opening in Sebastian's onslaught of moves and went to counter. Sebastian smiled, jumping over Mola's horizontal slash, causing him to have to turn around to face him. By the time he did so, Sebastian was already leaping off of his arms, twisting his body as he propelled himself legs first, spinning and driving his legs into Mola's quick thinking guard with his sword, like a drill against concrete. Mola was barely able to deflect the weight of the move, Sebastian getting launched off from Mola. He hit the ground softly and still using his momentum, lunged at Mola, striking him with a flurry of windmill kicks.
Sebastian landed, pretending to go for another attack, but instead used his semblance to slide across the ground on his back, getting past Mola's reach. Sebastian brought himself up on his arms in a handstand. Using this position, he swung his body around using his legs to attack Mola, getting struck by both legs and sent rolling across the ground. Sebastian got back to his feet and Mola did the same, going into crossbow mode mid recovery. He loaded and shot another arrow at Sebastian. Mid run, Sebastian threw Siberia at the arrow causing it to be redirected upward. He used Siberia again to distract Mola, the arrow coming down and exploding right in front of him. Sebastian retracted Siberia back into his hand and planted his feet firmly into the ground, finishing Mola off with his palm strike.
Sebastian walked towards Mola who laid on the ground, having Mola's sword go into his hand. Sebaatian pointed Mola's sword at him.
"This fight is over Mola. I won."
Glynda looked happy at the results of the match. "The winner of this fight is Sebastian!"
Everyone in the room clapped as Sebastian pulled Mola up.
"Thanks for snapping me out of it," Sebastian said to him, expressing his gratitude.
"Don't thank me Sebastian," he replied. "You got back up to fight all on your own. Even still you didn't have to go that far with beating me." He laughed off the pain.
"I had to. Gotta give the fight my all right? Besides, you had me there for a while. If I hadn't used all my tricks, I might have actually lost." The two laughed for a while before returning to their seats.
"This concludes today's bout. Remember to study hard and train even harder. Next time we'll be doing paired battles." Everyone exited the room, Team CSRD and Team MGAT meeting by the entrance to the room.
"What a fight, you two!" Gemma exclaimed her happiness with a gleeful smile.
"You certainly had me on the edge of my seat," Axel added.
"The main thing is," Sebastian said, "is that I'm ready to take those bastards on now. I'll fight them with everything I've got."
The teams walked together, heading back to the dorms, chatting all the way there. Soon, Team CSRD had to face off against Team CRDL. Whether they wanted to or not.