Chapter 28: A New Hope!
I don't remember much of what happened after I told Pyrrha I failed to get in. It felt like my whole body was on autopilot. But what I do recall was Pyrrha taking me back inside Granny Lee's place and sitting me down. Once I sat down, I just placed my head on the table and listened to everyone talk around me.
"So, what will he do now?"
"I don't know, he told me this was his plan but now that it failed. I don't know." I heard Pyrrha's voice.
"Can't he just get his letter from the headmaster? He's already here, so maybe he can give it to him?" Reese tries to chime in.
"If what Seth said was true and many tried to apply here, who knows where his letter could be? It could take days or weeks to try and find it. If the headmaster actually tries to search for it." Bolin now putting his two cents on the situation.
As they continued to talk, I noticed that only three people were talking. Raising my head I saw that Pyrrha, Bolin, and Reese were continuing to discuss any sort of plan to help, meanwhile next to me was Arslan, just sitting and eating her food. Ignoring what the rest were saying.
"I got it!" I turn to see Reese standing up. "We can give Seth some forged transcripts!" We all look at her. "You know change his name and send another letter."
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"Um, Reese... That's illegal." Bolin told her.
"Also I don't think the schools will just not look into it when they do acceptances. So that's really out of the question." Pyrrha also said to her.
"Also, I'm not cut out for jail." I told her while putting my head back down.
"Well, it was only a suggestion."
"Yeah, A really bad one." Arslan told her. "So what are you going to do now? Are you just going to give up?"
What can I do?
Not much now, unless I find someone who attended the school or a teacher who works there.
And if I don't... Well, let's hope there is a village that is in danger.
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Okay, I hope that doesn't happen.
"Give up, No. But my options now are limited. My only hope now is that I find a teacher who works there or someone who attended the school. But let's just say I'm not the best at meeting new people."
"What about me?" I turned and looked at Reese.
"You are Bolin's friend, so either you hate me or we are cool for now."
"Nah, we're cool." I see her give me a thumbs up.
"What about Arslan?" I heard Bolin say.
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Seth, don't say anything stupid.
"We are... People... Who are... Going to fight... Yeah." I dreaded not to turn my head right now.
"Okay, What about Pyrrha?" I saw this guy smirk at me.
"Let's focus on the task at hand here!" I quickly changed the subject.
"You know I could help you, Seth. All I will have to do is-"
"Nope, you are not helping on this!" I cut off Pyrrha.
"Why not?"
"Well, One, if you do I will feel bad about it. Dos, I can't do that to you. And Three, I really and I mean really don't feel it's necessary at this point."
"At this point, I think it is necessary." I narrow my eyes at Bolin. "Hey just saying."
"We still got two more months, so I still got time."
"Perhaps I can help." A voice was heard and we all turned to the person we knew.
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"Granny Lee?"
"How can you help?" I ask.
"Well, back in my day when I was still young, I also trained to become a huntress. However back then the way you entered was much more different to now. You had to wait until you were twenty to enter a school. Now they just take children at seventeen, Honestly, the person in charge back then was an old fool who didn't know any better. Putting children in danger and not caring about the-"
"Grandmother you are upset again." We heard Arslan said to her.
"Right... My apoligies."
"No, it's fine. But how can you help me, Granny Lee?"
"Well like I said, I trained to become a huntress. And I did it at Beacon Academy."
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"WHAT!?" We all yelled at this revelation. Well except Arslan.
"Yes. Yes. I know."
"But why go to Beacon? Why not attend Haven?"
"That was my original choice, however. Being raised in Mistral and being one of the most traditional families here. I felt like I needed to see the world. I had my whole life ahead of me at the time. So why not explore it when I had the chance? And I will tell you, it's a decision that I never once regretted."
So if Granny Lee went to Beacon, that means she can help me get in. Huh, what a nice turn of events for me.
"Granny Lee, would you be able to help me get in?"
"Hmm. It has been so long. Perhaps if my name was still in their files, perhaps it could work."
Don't ask her how long ago it was. Don't ask her how long ago it was.
"How long ago was that Granny Lee?" Bolin you dumb fuck!
BONK!
"AH!"
"It's rude to ask a woman her age." I saw her put her cane back into her sleeve.
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We all just stare at her not wanting to know at this point.
"Well... Seth this is great news you will be able to enter Beacon this year." Pyrrha said with excitement.
"Yeah, you won't have to wait next year also." Reese was also excited by the news.
"Yeah, I will. I can-"
SLAM!
With that loud slam, we turn to the person responsible for it.
"Grandmother you can not be serious. Why help him?"
"Arslan you need to-" Her grandmother was about to continue but Arslan cut her off.
"No, I will not be quiet about this, if Haven didn't accept him, it's because he is not good enough for it."
"Hey! Seth is skilled enough to be in-" I place a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder to calm her. She looks at me and I just shake my head.
"See he is not even defending himself how can someone with no backbone be able to help others?"
"Arslan I think that's enough." Bolin now steps in.
"Or what Hori? You will get involved as well?"
"He won't be the only one." Now Reese began to get involved.
"Really you two now, that's fine cause I'm actually g-
"Okay, that's enough! Let's just relax and calm down. We don't need to start another fight here right guys."
"I believe a fight is just what you two need."
We all turn to Granny Lee who was just observing the whole situation.
'Why! Aren't you supposed to be the wise one here and tell us not to fight!?'
"I believe that's an excellent idea, Grandmother. Sapphire already owes me a fight. So how about it? Are you going to fight me or are you going to run like the other times? "
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I turned to Granny Lee and told her something that was on my mind now.
"If I fight her, will this affect you helping me or?"
I see her smile at me. "This will not affect you on that, but It will show me just how much you want this invite from me."
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Well, that answers that question. I turn to Arslan. "Where do you want this beating?"
I see Arslan smirk at me and said "Follow me."
I feel like this is something I am going to regret later down the line.
The location that she decided was a surprise to all of us. I actually had no idea where Arslan was taking us, but at least the good thing was that it wasn't anywhere near the school. So I am really thankful for that on her. But right now we were all just following her to where she wanted this fight. The one thing that actually surprised me was that Granny Lee also came with us and was walking next to her Granddaughter. She had some people watching over her restaurant but seeing that this was a match that her Granddaughter was excited about, she said that 'she didn't want to miss this.' So really for me, no pressure.
"I can't believe you are actually going to fight her Seth." Pyrrha said next to me.
"Hey, I was already going to fight her either way, but now it has a stake."
"Yes, a stake that could have been prevented if you just asked for my help."
"I wasn't going to do that from the start. And what if I did? 'Oh, Pyrrha I have no one that I know off to get me into Beacon. Can you do me a favor and ask someone to help me?' Yea, I was not going to do that?"
"It would have been no probl-"
"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there Pyrrha, and call BS on that lie. I've seen the way you react when people are asking for pictures or even for favors. So I was never going to do that. It's bad enough that you get that everywhere you go, and now for someone who has known you for a long time, I was not going to start."
I saw her put her head down when I told her that, but then she began to walk away from me.
Sigh...' Great, nice going Seth.'
"You two having problems?"
I turn and see Bolin and Reese begin to walk next to me.
"As of right now, Yea. But it always passes, she gets upset with me and later she gets worried. Eventually, we always make up."
"And if you don't?"
"Then I have to be the one who has to apologize to her. Even though I didn't do anything wrong."
"Really? Damn, that sucks."
"Yeah, for some reason Mom just told me to do that. Never knew why but it seems to work."
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"I think you were right Bolin." "See what I told you."
"What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing to worry about Seth, Just focus on your match. Are you nervous?"
"I'd be lying if I didn't say No, but right now I am terrified."
"About how if you don't win you might not be able to get into Beacon this year and you will have to wait till next year. Meanwhile, your friends will be a year ahead of you and will pick on you for being the under classmate?"
Bolin and I both look at Reese.
"Well, it would be what I would be scared of."
"Right... Well, thank you Reese for unlocking a new fear now."
"Don't listen to her Seth, I'll give you some words of advice that my master gave me when I was training. 'Focus on your actions, not the outcome. It is all you can control.' He also told me to pay attention in class but I dozed off."
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"That's actually pretty good advice, Bolin. Wow, who knew you know what to say."
"Seth don't feed his ego, It's bad enough that he made it this far in this year's tournament, so he really doesn't need the pep talk."
"Reese for the last time cut it out and let him feed me with praise."
These two began to have a little push-off with each other and I was now stuck in the middle. But seeing them have fun, it made me take my mind off the fight that was about to happen.
"So any advice on what I'm walking into?"
Both stopped and looked at each other.
"Well, She has been runner-up for the past three years and is always upset by losing to Pyrrha."
"She also fights hand-to-hand. So you have an advantage on that." Reese points at the weapon on my back.
"However her Semblance is something to be careful of. But I feel like you already know what it is."
"I actually don't know what it is."
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"WHAT!" Both said in unison.
"What do you mean Seth? She has been using it since last year when she fought Pyrrha!"
"Yeah, to be fair I just ignored last year's tournament since I already knew Pyrrha was going to win it. So yeah that might be my bad." I said while rubbing the back of my neck.
Both just looked at me dumbfounded over this revelation.
"So are you guys going to tell me?"
Both looked at each other and nodded their heads.
"Nope!" "We already gave you enough info on her. So the rest is up to you."
Dam these two. Well at least I got something, she is skilled enough to be able to make it far in the tournament. She fights hand-to-hand, and her Semblance is a mystery. I also know that she has that dagger around her arm, and she can tie me up with her bandages. So I will have to try to avoid that.
"This looks like the place."
I looked up and saw the said place.
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"Why are we at a park guys?"
The location was a park, Mistrals National Park. This place was filled with people and lots of trees, we followed a road that led us to a nice clearing big enough that it almost looked like a ring. Well, at least here we won't have to worry about causing damage to anything.
However, there was one problem that I was now realizing.
We started to form a crowd.
The moment we arrived almost everyone saw how the runner-up of the Mistral tournament was here and also how. 'The Pyrrha Nikos' was also with her. People started to talk and once they did, they started to follow us. Some tried to get close but a quick glance from Arslan made them back away from us. They might wonder why we are here.
Well, they are about to find out.
"So how is this going to work? Fight until we drop or until our Aura breaks?"
"Simple Mistral tournament rules, submit your opponent or break the others Aura."
"However I will be adding one more rule just for you two." Granny Lee soon steps in front of us. "Keep it inside the clearing, we don't need you two fighting all over the place, especially now that you two have gained an audience."
Arslan and I both looked at each other and nodded our heads.
"Good now get into position. I'll be keeping an eye on you two, so consider me the referee of this fight. You have two minutes to prepare."
With that, we both went our separate ways and kept a distance from each other.
This is it, my one chance to get into Beacon. I feel like I need to win this fight no matter what. Damn drunk if you had just updated your contact then this would have been a simple fight but now. I have so much to lose.
I take Saltatio Favillae off my back and inspect it to see that I have everything ready. Then I opened my jacket and took out one of my grenades just in case. One simple flash grenade. Got to keep the classics.
'Get in the zone Seth, I got this.'
Off in the crowd, a group of three were now discussing what they were about to see.
"So who do you think is going to win this?" Reese wonders to the others.
"My money is on Arslan. Don't get me wrong Seth is good but from what we saw yesterday he might have a problem." Bolin informs her.
Pfft
Both looked at the person who made that noise and saw Pyrrha just crossing her arms.
"Who do you think Pyrrha?"
"Seth is going to win this."
"Really? Why?"
"Seth told me about how you guys were fighting yesterday, a group of people right."
"Yeah." Both said in unison.
"Well, when it comes to fighting against a group, Seth tends to be more sluggish. But when it's a one-on-one, he's the best that I know."
"But you can beat him right?"
"Oh, of course I can... However, when we fight hand-to-hand." She looks back at the two who are beginning to walk toward the center. "He is the best out of all of us."
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Both looked at each other wondering if this was true, but seeing as Pyrrha had her eyes on the field, this was going to be something.
"But Arslan still has her semblance, even you have problems with it."
"..." Pyrrha said nothing on that.
The three all just looked at the two, whatever this battle was going to be, and whatever its outcome, a few questions would be answered but a lot more will be asked.
Walking toward the center of the area, I began to fix my gloves.
"So, you won't be too mad once I win this, right?" I ask Arslan.
"You know, you talk way too much Sapphire." Arslan takes a stand and gets ready to fight.
"Yeah, that's one of my worst features." I took my weapon off my back and took aim.
"Are both fighters ready?" Granny Lee said toward us.
We both nod our heads.
"Very well..."
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"Fight!"
Once I heard those words I was about to shoot, but I quickly stopped myself from doing that.
With widened eyes, I lowered my weapon. 'This girl... So this is why she chose this place to have our fight.'
Behind Arslan, I saw a few people standing behind her a good distance away but still behind her. If I were to shoot and she dodges there was a chance of someone being injured. And since this place was not protecting these people this really made me change how I approach this fight.
Looking at her I can see her smirking at me. Then she began to run toward me.
'Okay, I guess we are doing this up close then.' I flipped my weapon and got ready for her.
As Arslan was approaching me she began to move her right arm and threw a punch toward me but what surprised me was that her dagger was thrown towards my face. With quick reflexes, I was able to raise my weapon and block her attack sending the dagger away from me.
Arslan then took this opportunity to head in the other direction of her attack and send a punch my way. After blocking her weapon away I can easily block this punch, all I have to do is-
Wait why is she smirking?
Looking at her right arm I saw her bandages also being sent away almost like it was tied to something.
'Oh, clever girl.'
She then pulled her arm back to her and sent a punch toward me. With no time I aimed my weapon toward the ground and shot once so the recoil made me spin.
BANG!
Everything felt like it was in slow motion once I shot, with me getting turned and sending a kick toward Arslan's chest, making contact and her dagger making contact to the left cheek of my face.
Gaining my footing back I turned to face Arslan who was getting back up, meanwhile, I placed a hand on my face to feel if it was bleeding. It wasn't.
'Thank you, Aura.'
I kept my eyes on Arslan who was now spinning her dagger with the bandage around her right arm.
'Got to be careful with that.' I then began to run at her to begin my attack.
If she wants to fight me head-on, then I will fight you head-on.
As I got close to her she began to throw every form a punch my way, with me being able to parry and block her attacks, however, she was able to dodge any counterattack that I threw at her. With her trying to land hits at me as well.
She was quick but not fast.
With each strike, we both became more desperate to land a hit on the other, but one advantage that Arslan had, was the element of surprise. Since her weapon was hidden, I couldn't tell if she was about to use it or not and that was going to be a problem in the long run. So for now I just need to keep calm and anticipate her strike.
And when she did.
She was able to break my defenses, and with a slash going upward I was able to block it however she sent a palm strike toward my stomach that made me drop my weapon and send me backward.
Landing on my back I raise my head only to see Arslan jump and head directly toward me, with no time I roll out of her way and send a kick once she landed. But she didn't stop there, she kept on inching close and close as I kept on backing away from her. With each kick I sent she was able to counter and block the kicks I sent.
Rolling to the side I reached for my belt and pulled out my grenade and threw it at her feet. She saw this and quickly backed away.
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However, nothing happened. Getting back up I see her with a confused expression on her face. I just smirk at her and walk towards the grenade that I threw and pick it up.
Showing it to her. "I need to pull the pin off for it to explode. Don't get too scared of me."
"Cheap trick Sapphire."
"All is fair in a fight Arslan, no matter how badly you want this win." I raised my fist and took a stand.
We both charged at each other once again.
"They both look evenly matched. This fight can go either way if they continue like this."
"Yeah, but Seth already revealed one of his tricks to her, so I don't think Arslan will fall for it again." Bolin informs Reese, "However Arslan still has a trick up her sleeve as well. And depending on how Seth reacts to it, he might be in trouble."
As both continued to talk, Pyrrha just kept an eye on the match itself. Looking at how both competitors were giving their all in this fight. How after each strike they wince from the blow. Or how after they locked hands with each other they were trying to outdo the other.
It made Pyrrha feel something inside her that even she didn't understand.
But seeing them both go at it now, made her want to get better herself as well.
"Pyrrha!"
"Yes! What is it?" She quickly turned to see Reese who was trying to get her attention.
"I said, what do you think so far?"
"Oh, well." She looks back at the two and turns back to Reese. "Hard to tell as of now, but I feel like this will only get more intense as it goes on."
"Yeah, it will, hopefully, Seth wins this."
"Yeah, I hope so too."
Okay, so how's it going so far?
I spit to the side of me and crack my knuckles.
Honestly, not been bad so far, but I feel like we both were seeing how far we can both take this, and seeing her now, I could tell she was not even trying.
Well, that makes two of us.
"Getting tired Arslan? Or do you need a break?"
Pfft..."Funny coming from you Sapphire, I can tell you are already tired of me hitting you."
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Well, that was not the response I was expecting. It's almost like she was excited about us fighting. Man, I guess she really is fight-hungry.
"Well then let's keep going!"
"Yes. Let's continue this." I see her fist begin to glow a yellow color, It was like she was pushing her Aura to her hands.
'Oh, this is going to hurt a lot if she lands a hit on me.'
I saw her rush me and with no other options, I just needed to dodge to the best of my ability and try not to get hit.
So that's what I did.
Dodge, Dodge, Dodge, Block.
OW FUCK!
Okay, don't block! Big mistake. I kicked her away and began to rub my left arm.
'Focus on the part that hurts and... Ah much better.'
Okay so she can focus her Aura as well, that's really good to know all I need to do is keep a good distance and I can-
I felt something rap around my right arm and saw that it was Arslan Bandage.
'Oh, son of a Bitchhhhh-" I get pulled by her, and as soon as I got close to her, she sends a punch my way.
Catching myself before her punch connects, I grab her bandage and quickly duck under her punch, once I got behind her I tie her up with her own bandage, Restraining her and begin to choke her out.
"Let... Go...You..." I feel Arslan put her hands on my arms.
"Shhh, Go to sleep sweet child, and sleep well." I put more pressure and soon she fell to her knees.
Yes! It's working! Soon she will pass out and then I will win this match. Huh not too bad Seth. Soon I will go to Beacon and-
OW! OW! OW!
"Shit!" I let go of her and get punched in my stomach sending me a few feet away from her.
"Ow! What was that?" I looked at my arm and saw my jacket had a few burn marks on it. "What? What did she do?" I looked back at Arslan and saw her stand up and turn to me.
But what got my attention was that her hands were now glowing yellow and on fire.
"Oh... Shit."
"Well, the kid is done for. Looks like Altan is finally using her Semblance of hers." One onlooker said.
"Yep, there is no way that he can win this now, Shame he was putting up a good fight too."
"Well, what do you expect from Mistral tournament runner-up?"
As people continued to talk the group of three all looked with anticipation on the match. All three of them didn't bother taking their eyes off the fight because it could be over in an instant.
"This is it, Seth. Let's see how bad you want this win." Bolin Said with anticipation.
"I'm sure he got this." Reese said as she kept looking on.
"He does, Seth is determined, he can do this."
"Hot trick, so is that your Semblance or dust?"
"This is my Semblance Sapphire. And I'm afraid your path ends here..." Arslan began to take a stance getting ready to continue fighting.
Damn, that was a cool quote.
"Well, as long as I still stand I will not give up just yet." I raise my fist.
"Good." Arslan threw a punch.
That sent a fireball towards me.
'WTF!' I roll out of the way.
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'Okay, so she can throw fireballs at me. What the fuck dude!' I got back up and saw her get closer to me, getting up quickly I dodged her strikes but the more I dodged her hits the effect of the heat took effect on me. Dodging her hits was simple but when she punched there was a little after-effect of the heat that was causing me problems.
I feel like the heat was so intense that it was making me sweat a little. A punch from her and mixing it with fire was going to hurt a lot and if I tried to parry any of these punches they would hurt a lot. So the best course of action for me was to just dodge and hopefully, I will get a chance to counterattack.
"Come on Sapphire you were so sure you were going to win. What's wrong can't take the heat!" Arslan toyed with me trying to get me to attack back.
"You really going to make jokes now? What happened to the serious look you had yesterday I feel like-" I was cut off when she finally landed a hit to my chest and kicked me in the side, sending me toward the ground.
I felt my Aura flash a little from that hit.
I raised my head and saw Arslan standing over me. "Get up, I'm not done yet." I see her step back to let me get back up. She could have finished me right there but she was telling me to get back up. Like she was trying to prove something here.
Slowly I got back to my feet and looked at her while holding my chest where she punched me. I looked down and saw a small burn mark on there.
'Great I hope this doesn't stain my jacket later. Mom is going to kill me.'
Looking at her I see her take a stance with fire in her hands.
'This is not looking good Seth, come on think of something. My grenades? No, they might not work and even if I get some distance she can just shoot fireballs at me. My weapon? Nope, one wrong move and someone could get injured. Damn her for picking this place. All I have left are my songs and.'
My eyes widened remembering what else I got.
'I could try to use that, but it's been so long since I actually done it. But what other choice do I have.'
Remember what Mom said to me. 'Feel the wind, Nothing else matters, just feel where the wind is blowing.'
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Nothing.
Great well I guess time for plan B then.
I raise my hand and place it over my heart.
"Alright Arslan, let's go round two." I tap my heart.
"Tiger's Lair!"
Jago's Theme: Tiger's Lair
As the music began to play, I did the only thing I knew how to do. Keep up with the beat. I began to walk with the beat of the music toward Arslan and once I was close to her I kept my distance and started to walk around her.
She kept looking at me wondering if I was going to attack her and when I didn't, she sent a fireball towards me.
As it got close to me, I was able to dodge it by spinning my body around and keeping my eyes on her.
'This is a dance, and I need to have her keep up with my pace.'
"If you are just going to dance then I will end this now!" She rushed toward me and threw a punch, just for me to simply dodge it, and even if I felt the after-effect of her flames I just kept on following the music.
She then began to throw a barrage of punches and kicks that I was dodging and soon her punches were becoming sluggish that it gave me the opportunity to attack her back.
Dodging and attacking was now my strategy and with her losing her temper all I would have to do was keep up and dance my way to victory.
'I got this, with her being upset now I can capitalize on her sluggish movement. I just need some good punches and I can beat her. Don't lose focus now and -'
I felt something around my leg and saw Arslan's bandages.
"Got you now." She said with a triumphant smirk.
"Fuck."
I soon got pulled toward her and felt a kick to my stomach again. But this time I got sent away from her and just for good measure as I was flying away, she sent a Fireball to me that connected to my back.
Falling to the ground in pain I felt like I was hit by an explosion at my back, damn this hurts way too much. Come on move, this can't be the end just yet.
'Push it to the limit!'
As soon as I sang that, I felt the wind around me.
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'Never gonna give you up' More wind.
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'Somebody once told me' At that point I felt the wind begin to wrap around me.
Okay, this is actually pretty useful now. Looks like I'm not done yet.
The crowd around began to cheer for the victory that Arslan had done.
Arslan just looked at the down body of her opponent and waited for her grandmother to call the match.
But when she didn't, she looked at her and saw her keeping an eye on both of them.
"Grandmother, the match is over. You can call the match."
"It's still not over, dear. I think you still have to continue."
That got Arslan confused by it. Looking at her opponent on the ground she soon realized that whatever she was hearing from him was still playing and soon she saw him beginning to get back up.
"You can't be serious he can barely stand up. If this continues, he might get even more injured than he already is."
"You wanted a fight with Mistral Tournament rules, so you are getting one. So if you want it to end break his Aura and end the match or you can submit him."
Arslan turned back to Seth who was now on his feet and beginning to open up his jacket, revealing a white shirt with some dark red color around it. She then sees him tap at his heart and makes the music he was playing stop.
He once again taps it and removes his sunglasses. Yelling out.
"Shadow Tiger's Lair"
Shadow Jago/Omen's Theme: Shadow Tiger's Lair
Arslan throws a fireball at him hoping this would end the match, but what happens next shocks her.
Seth sends a kick toward her Fireball making it explode.
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"How did he..."
Arslan began to throw more fireballs at him, but with each attempt, he kept kicking the air and making them explode before they even got close to him.
With that not working Arslan decides to deal with this close range, and hopefully put an end to this fight. So she begins to run at him.
But as she got close she could have sworn she could hear Seth talking to himself.
"Don't call it a comeback,"
"What?"
A punch connects to Arslan's face making her stumble back a little.
"Bring it on, Arslan!" Seth said while raising his fist ready to fight.
Arslan hands thrust forward, fire at full power aiming toward Seth's body. But Seth raised his knee taking the hit. It confused her at first knowing this would injure his legs. But it confused her even more when he sent another kick to her side making her slide back.
"Don't you dare stare"
"What are you even saying? And why did I just feel wind just now?"
Seth then began to rush her and as he got closer to her, she could feel the wind around her pick up. Arslan gritted her teeth and used her bandages to try to catch Seth's arm before any punch connected to her.
Seeing that it was a success catching his right arm she began to pull him so he could come towards her. However, it didn't work.
Cause on the other end of her bandage she saw Seth begin to tie it around his arm. making them both be connected by it.
"I'm gonna knock you out"
Seth then began to pull Arslan toward him and started to throw punches toward Arslan's body and face. Each time Arslan tried to back away or run, Seth pulled her back in to keep on hitting her.
Arslan Aura started to flare up, knowing soon her Aura would break. So she had to fight fire with fire. And began returning some punches as well.
Both people were throwing punch after punch. Making the other take one punch and returning it to the other. Soon both Auras were flickering that this last punch was going to decide it all.
"EAT THIS SAPPHIRE!" Arslan screamed with her fist covered in fire.
"Mama said knock you out!" Seth yelled with wind forming around his fist.
Both were determined to end this fight. Not caring what the outcome was.
They were just happy, to have this fight.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"I think he is waking up."
I heard a voice, but I didn't know who it was.
"Hey, Seth are you with us man?"
Opening my eyes, I was hit by a bright light.
"Ah fuck! Why is it always a bright light!" I said while rubbing my eyes.
"Oh good, he's fine. False alarm."
Removing my hands from my eyes I was met with Bolin and Reese just looking at me.
...
...
...
"What happened?"
"Well... You want the good news or the bad news?" Bolin informs.
"Tell me the bad news first."
"Are you sure?" Reese asked me.
"Yea, how bad can it be."
"Well... You became public enemy number one to a few people now."
...
...
...
"How?"
"Well..." He showed me his scroll and it was a video of me pulling Arslan toward me and punching her repeatedly in her face.
...
...
...
"So what's the good news?"
"Well, Granny Lee said she was going to help you out. Sooo, Yay!" Reese told me trying to cheer me up.
"So who won the match?"
"It was a draw." A new voice was heard and I turned to it only to see Arslan walking inside the room.
"A draw... So does this make us even or?"
"For now it does, but if you want to be technical with this, I did wake up first. But I don't want to count that. Since it was not a decisive factor. So, for now, it's a draw."
Well, at least it's over now. She got her fight, and I got my opportunity. It was a win-win for all of us.
"However, I have decided now that from this day forward." She points at me, "You will now be my rival."
...
...
...
"Excuse me... What!"
"You heard me, Once I beat you fairly, I will move on to Nikos, so for now you are in my way." I see her lean in close to me. "And I hope you are ready Seth, because one day I will be stronger than you."
...
...
...
"Neat."
She backs away from me and nods her head. "Wonderful, I will be seeing all of you tomorrow for the rest of the tournament. Goodnight." With that Arslan left the room leaving the three of us alone.
I turned to Bolin and Reese and asked. "What just happened?"
"I'll tell you what happened, you somehow were able to get Arslan to call you by your first name. Something even us can't do." Reese informs me.
Well, that might be good, I think.
"By the way where am I?"
"Oh you are in the hotel you were staying at. Pyrrha was kind enough to get you this room for the rest of the week."
Damn it Pyrrha, well now I really got to make it up for her later.
"And where is she right now?"
"Well let us just look." Bolin grabbed the remote of the television and turned on the channel where the tournament was being broadcast. There we saw Pyrrha beating the ever-loving shit out of some guy with pink hair.
"Poor dude."
"Seth, I think you really need to make it up to Pyrrha after today."
"Yeah, I think you are right about that man."
"Oh, and by the way, what happened back there? You know with your kicks and the wind?"
"Oh, well..." I raised my hands at them not knowing how to answer and said, "Magic... I guess, Ehe."
By the end of the week, the tournament was coming to a close and still, your remaining champion is...
Pyrrha. It was always going to be Pyrrha. Like for real, if you thought it was someone else well you were mistaken.
And like all the other years it was Pyrrha versus Arslan. A match that really got intense when we saw it. For one both were narrowing their eyes when they saw each other in the ring. Must be a big rivalry for the two of them. But when we all cheered for both I could tell that inside the arena they were in. There was some sinister shit that was going on there and it felt like it was targeted towards me for some reason.
Oh well.
After the match, we all made our way toward Granny Lee's place to celebrate with all of us together for this final time. Before we all went our separate ways, But I felt like later down the line we would all see each other again.
"Cheers!" We all raised our glasses and took a toast.
We all ate and drank to our respective ages. Nothing that would get us in trouble with the owner of the place and had a good time.
"So what are you guys planning now? Any big events close before we all become huntsman in training?" Reese said to us all.
"Not much really. If anything in a few months we will all be working even harder than before but we will be close to becoming real huntsman and huntresses." I chime in.
"Yeah, Seth will go to Beacon and the rest of us will head to Haven."
Pyrrha when she heard that she began to choke on her drink, making me tap her back to help her.
"What's wrong?"
"Well... You see... I am also heading to Beacon as well."
...
...
...
Bolin, Reese, and Arslan all looked at Pyrrha with widened eyes but before they screamed out in shock. I had to tell them.
"Keep it a secret guys. We don't want any unwanted attention here." I quickly tell them.
"So you two will be heading to Beacon then?" Arslan asked.
"We are." Pyrrha and I both nod our heads.
"Well, good luck to the both of you." She nods her head towards us.
"Wait, isn't this year's Vytal tournament gonna be hosted in Vale?" Reese informs.
"If that's the case, we might even face off against each other. In the biggest stage of them all." Bolin said.
"A team of four versus a team of four." Reese joins in.
"I feel like you three will make a perfect team if you guys get paired together." I tell them.
"Yeah, you think so?"
"For sure. All you need is one more and you guys will be all set."
"And what about you two? All you need are two more and you two will have a team as well."
"Well, we will see what we have to do."
"Yes, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha tells them.
"Let's just hope there are plastic chips." I whisper to myself.
"Hmm?" Pyrrha turns to me.
"Nothing!" I turn my head away from her and See Granny Lee walking toward us.
"Hope all of you are enjoying the food." She asked.
"As always best food in all of Mistral."
"Yep!" "The best!" "As always!" "Thank you, grandmother."
"You are all too kind. One more thing. This is for you young one." She hands me an envelope.
I grab it from her and open it. Inside was a letter of verification by a graduate student who attended Beacon Academy. With a name at the bottom from Yuen-cham Lee. I raised my head toward her and saw her smiling at me.
"You earned it young one. Good luck towards your future."
I nod my head and remember how to say thanks in old Mistrilian. "ArigatÅ Yuen-cham Lee"
She bows her head and I bow to her.
'Always show respect to others, That's what my mom always said to me about Mistral. Because they will always show respect back in time.'
SLAM!
We all turned to the entrance where we heard that slam and saw a group that we hadn't seen in a while.
"Granny Lee the spiders await your answer!" A bunch more people wearing purple began to enter the restaurant.
'Well, she also did say, sometimes you need to beat some sense into them as well.'
We all looked at each other and nodded our heads and got up from our table.
One more before we leave Mistral. Man, this place can be really eventful.
"So I will see you later Pyrrha take care!" I waved to her inside her car as she drove off. I turned and saw my house.
Sigh..."I'm back." I reach into my pants pocket pull out my keys and open the door. Once inside I placed my weapon on the floor and put my bag on the ground once I heard footsteps.
I looked up and saw my Mom looking at me like she hadn't seen me in years.
"Sweet heart, your back..."
I smile at her and remove my sunglasses. "I told you I'll be back." I see her get close to me and hug me.
I feel her embrace me harder than before, almost like she did when I was a baby. Not wanting to let go, scared that I might disappear from her grip.
She then looks at me and smiles. "Come we have a lot to talk about."
She begins to drag me towards the living room and sits me down.
"Okay... But you can't be mad at me."
A/N: And done. So here is the thing...
We are about to head to Vale next and if you know you know who we might meet next. Sadly one song is going to be cut from this story... For now, I will do a little flashback to explain a little bit.
So yeah, up next is Vale and the beginning of the end.
So I will see you next time.
Oh and before you ask. I looked it up and for some reason, Arslan can throw fireballs. Don't know how but she can. Maybe Dust but since we don't know what her semblance is (Might need to actually read the books now.) We are going for it and call it her Semblance. Calling it Fire Fist for now. I'll work on it later down the line.
So, thank you for reading and I will see you all next time.
Oh, one more thing. If you guys can help me out here.
1: Add one more letter- I can do/Original plan.
2: SONG- Will be a pain
3: MUSC- Meme
4: JAMS- I put effort