Familiar Face

Liv swallowed hard, her arms tingling as she shook her hands and bobbed in place. "You can do this Liv," she affirmed. "You just have to go in there and do it or you're going to regret it forever," she told herself.

Their little vacation had gone by even faster than anticipated. The trio had only allowed two full days for this trip in the first place, and now, the morning they were meant to leave, Liv found her only opportunity to actually have a conversation with her parents separated by nothing but a wooden door.

She had never been fully honest with her friends about her complicated relationship with her family for a good reason. She had always kept it vague or told half truths. Sure, her parents had only wanted Liv to be their successors, at first anyway.

Once they had seen her fight though, they agreed to let her attend Sanctum Academy in Argus. When she had neared graduation, they had allowed her to continue her dream of being a Hunstress, at Haven Academy, of course that was until Olivier had chosen Beacon instead and their minds were changed.

She had been a child, and whose fault could that really be?

They would understand.

They knew what she could do, and if she simply explained herself they couldn't stay angry forever about it.

…could they?

This curse was not her fault. She didn't choose for her semblance to be what it was, she didn't ask to be given control over people at the ripe age of six where the power would be so easily abused.

At first she hadn't really even understood that she was doing it. For years and years she would ask for things as sweetly as she could and her parents would always give her whatever she'd asked for.

Back then she just assumed it was their way of keeping her happy while they were busy, that her rich lifestyle was to blame for the constant gifts. Eventually in her teens though she began to realize what exactly she'd been doing, and it was far too late to stop.

And now, in her mid-twenties she finally understood why her parents had spent so much time away from her.

If they hadn't, Liv probably would've asked for the entire world by the time she was Ten…and they likely would've tried to give it to her.

The thing about Olivier's semblance, was that whomever she was trying to persuade had to want it. It didn't matter how small or how large the desire to comply, one percent was enough, they just had to have even the tiniest desire to comply with whatever she suggested, and very early on in life Liv had started learning to pick her words carefully.

Ambur and Mydnight had each had enough desire to forget the things she'd done, and so they had. Her old teammates had always wanted to be Huntresses and Huntsmen on a team at a prestigious Academy with a leader who could give them efficient orders, and so, they had always complied.

Her parents had always wanted a little girl of their own, and when they had the opportunity to use their embarrassing wealth to spoil their perfect only child rotten, they had been so much more than happy to fufill her every request.

Olivier had to believe that they would remember that at least…that some part of her parents' minds knew that it had only worked because it was what they wanted to do.

She swallowed again and pulled the door open, finding her parents inside their sitting room at a small round table, a third empty, child-sized chair between them with its back to a large window. All around the room were portraits of members of her family, including ones of herself and her parents.

They startled a bit since she hadn't knocked, and almost started to stand up, as if to flee or make up and excuse to leave.

Liv held her hands up and spoke before they got a chance.

"Please," she started and took a deep breath, "please just stay," she begged, though without her semblance active.

Her parents shared a look and sat back down. "Thank you," she said breathlessly. "I know that we don't do this," she gestured between them, "and I know why we don't do this," she began but her mother cut her off.

"Olivier you mustn't blame yours-" she said but Liv held her hands up again.

"Yes, yes I must," she insisted. "Not blaming myself, not holding myself accountable for what I've done to us is what got us here in the first place," she said somberly. "Got us to a life where my parents are afraid to talk to me…"

"Sweetheart," her father started but stopped when he realized he had nothing to argue.

"Look I'm…I'm working on it."

"Working on it?" Her mother asked.

"During this trip I…I was able to lift a curse that I had put on Ambur…and on myself."

Lov swore she saw her parents eyes almost light up at that, and watched as they shared another look between them.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled, the words choking her. "I'm sorry for everything I've ever asked for. I'm sorry that I don't have more time to be here and explain myself better but I promise you I'm getting better. I've got a handle on it now. Sending me to school was the right decision, and I'm sorry that I couldn't trust you to make that decision yourself like so many others I made for you," a tear broke free from her eyes as her throat got tighter.

Her parents seemed almost stunned silent and she had to actually pause to check if she was accidentally lacing her words. She felt only a small amount of relief when she affirmed that she wasn't.

Then, she did on purpose, "if I've ever forced you to forget something, I want you to remember it now." She saw the order register on her parents faces for a moment before they began rubbing their faces into their hands. "Hopefully it wasn't too much…" To her surprise her mother held up one hand to ask Liv to wait a moment, even though she was still using her other to sooth her now clearing head. It wasn't forceful, just a silent request.

Liv sniffled and wiped her eyes carefully trying to not mess up her makeup. After a moment or two her parents began to speak.

"Olivier you must understand…it seems like you do…that we are…" her mother tried to articulate but began to fumble. "Your father and I are well aware of how your semblance works…we always wanted to give you everything we had, we are your parents," she shrugged.

"I know," she breathed out very fast, trying to control her shaky breaths.

"We didn't mean to encourage what you were doing, we knew what was happening but we…" her mother started again and wiped her own eyes.

Her father picked up where she had left off though and Liv watched as her took his wife's hand. "We were always afraid of what would happen when we stopped."

Liv nodded and more tears streamed down her face. "I know," she said shakily. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I can't tell you how awful I feel about it all the time."

"It's our fault just as much as it is yours," her mother said, standing, slightly shaken from the table.

Liv took a step backward out of reflex, but then her father was up from the table, and her parents arms were around her, and she had nowhere to go but forward. Her head cradled between her parents shoulders for the first time since she was a young girl and the tears began to flow heavy as her breath hitched. "I'm sorry," was all she could say over and over again as they tried their best to comfort their daughter.

"We're proud of you Olivier," her mother said softly and Liv's entire word seemed to freeze. Everything but the tears seemed to stop as the words wormed their way through her ears.

"You…you are?" She asked, shocked as she looked up and met her mothers gaze. "How can you say that," incredulity in her voice.

"You knew what you wanted out of life, and you didn't let anything stand in your way," her father smiled softly. "That at least is something to be proud of."

"You've been through so much," her mother continued. "Your friends, your surgery…you've stuck to it no matter what life threw at you, even the things you couldn't control haven't beaten you," her mother scrubbed her thumb across Liv's cheek.

"But I thought," Liv shook her head and tried to make sense of what she was hearing. "I thought you'd be angry, I thought you always wanted me to stay home and learn the business."

"Well we did," her father shrugged.

"We do," his mother insisted. "We would love that, but that doesn't mean we get to choose what you do with your life sweetheart."

"Perhaps we pushed it a bit far when you were younger, but we know that that just pushed you further away from us, and from home."

"I…" Liv stammered. "I don't know what to say," she sucked in a short breath through her nose.

"You don't have to say anything dear," her mother smiled. "You've said more than enough. You know you are always welcome here, and you always will be," her mother kissed her gently on the cheek before her father pressed one to her forehead and they both held her there for several moments. "We know you've got to get going."

Liv sniffled and let out a long breath, "I do," she confirmed. "I…I love you guys okay?" She smiled shyly. "I'll be back."

"We know, and we love you too," they hugged her tight for only a moment longer, and almost before she realized it, Liv was out in the long driveway jogging to catch up with her waiting friends.

"So?" Mydnight folded his arms across his chest, a knowing smile not very well hidden on his lips.

"You really need to stop eavesdropping," Olivier sputtered, half laughing and sobbing.

Ambur moved to meet her friend and held up a readied make-up wipe and Liv couldn't help the embarrassed laughter anymore. She did her best to stand still in the chilled winter air as Ambur tried to fix the lines of her slightly smudged work. "You know how it went," she confirmed.

"Feel better?" Mydnight asked.

"Loads," Liv sighed happily, "like I've never felt before. I know this vacation was supposed to be for all of us, I'm sorry I kind of hogged it."

"Yeah well," Ambur said as she crumpled the used makeup wipe and shoved it into the side pocket of her backpack, "in your defense I didn't expect my problem to get worse instead of better."

"We'll be alright," Mydnight insisted and took his Sunflower's hand, squeezing gently. "We'll figure it out in Argus."

"Okay," she breathed nervously and tried to calm herself.

The trio began walking down the long pathway and made their way out onto the sidewalks, back the way they had came from days earlier.

They hadn't really left the Vineyard for their entire stay, and only now could see how different the town looked in the daylight compared to the pitch blackness they had arrived in.

Liv had known of course how small the change would be, but Ambur and Mydnight were a little shocked to find that almost nothing had changed.

The sun was likely bright that day but they couldn't much see it. The heat of it had rapidly melted snow that morning and a low fog hung over the entire town. Even the street lamps were still on and their beams looked fuzzy and unfocused through the fog.

There sort of people they had seen the other night were still out in force, perhaps even more so this time. Sure, it was a Saturday, and Mydnight in particular couldn't exactly criticize people for day drinking after their stint in Mistral, but to say that this was hard to look at would have been an understatement.

Usually they only had to see Qrow like this, but there were dozens of people already drunk and staggering between the bars and under tents near the densely packed market already, and it was hardly noon.

Through the streets they walked, not too worried of course, their abilities were more than enough to keep them safe here, so the mood was plenty casual, especially for Olivier who Mydnight mentally noted almost seemed to walking with her shoulder back and her head held high for the first time that he'd seen in years.

A small smile made its way over his lips at the realization, feeling proud and glad for their friend who had been so low for so long. Liv hadn't been herself since before Beacon fell, more than anyone he still knew.

His lips parted to say so when his nose caught a whiff of something.

Ambur had had her eyes on him all the while, a slight fit of jealousy threatening her mental state as she had noticed Mydnight watching their friend walk ahead of them. She has been about to say something to when Mydnight's mouth had opened but no words had come out.

Mydnight's feet planted to the walkway and he stopped so fast that Ambur nearly yanked his arm before she too stopped and dropped his hand from hers.

"Mydnight?" She asked, her curiosity briefly overshadowing her jealousy.

Mydnight took in a deep breath of the scent and his eyebrows furrowed, his lips turned downward in confusion. The smell was unique or anything, he'd smelled it hundreds of times in his life and he didn't understand why this instance felt different.

"Lilacs," he mumbled, and took a step away from Ambur toward a run down bar at the side of the road. The crowd was dense, lights shining through the fog in a strange haze.

"Mydnight what is it?" Liv asked as she walked back to meet them and stood beside Ambur. She could almost feel the heat coming off of Ambur's skin, her friend trying her damndest to not blow her top after being ignored.

"Sorry," he glanced back at them for a moment before looking back into the crowded doorway. "I think…we know someone in there?" He wondered aloud and started toward the door.

"Know someone?" Ambur raised a skeptical eyebrow. She and Liv shared a look. Liv shrugged and followed the wolf boy into the crowd.

"I think by now we should know not to doubt his nose," Liv said and Ambur followed behind her.

Mydnight tried to push through the crowd as gently as he could, and as he did he felt Liv grab the back of his coat so as to not lose him in the densely packed bodies. Even with her heels Liv barely came up to the shoulders of most of the crowd, and he tried to slow down so as to not yank her along. Every once in a while he would stop and sniff at the air and the girls would wait, rather impatiently, for him to pick a direction. As they got farther inside the commotion grew and the overwhelming voices of the crowd only became more intrusive.

It sounded like cheering to Mydnight, but he really couldn't be sure with how all the voices assaulted his mind, and how little he could focus on anything other than the smell of lilacs growing ever closer. It drowned out even the smells of beer and sweat that were likely drowning his two companions at this point but the thought never even crossed his mind.

"Why do I know this smell," he mumbled out loud as they broke through the crowd. The smell wasn't in the crowd, nor was it even what the crowd was facing. The dozens of people packed into the tiny bar were all looking toward the right hand wall, where the trio could now see there was a live band playing, hence the cheering.

What Mydnight smelled however, was sitting at the bar before them, face down in an empty plate, potentially unconscious, with a half full drink loose in the grip of one hand and her the other limp on the countertop.

The three of them stared down at the girl and took in what they could of her appearance, Liv and Ambur's mouth dropping open silently.

Her matted and ruined long hair was teal, well, it had been teal before, and black underneath. The dye was quite faded and her hair was caught in her many piercings, some in her ears, and one in her left eyebrow. There was bits of food in her hair as well, and stains on her black and teal corset, black jeans and several rips in her fishnet body suit that ran underneath it all.

They all three stared down at the girl in bewilderment, Mydnight more than either of them seemed extremely confused.

"Uhm…is that who I think it is?" Liv ventured as she held her fingers over her nose. This entire bar smelled like beer and sweat but this girl almost smelled like a corpse.

"I think so," Ambur breathed and waved at the air in front of her. "Is she dead?"

"I don't think so," Mydnight cocked his head to one side. "I can hear her breathing."

"Oh gods, please tell me you're here to get her out of here," a voice came from behind the bar and the trio looked up to find the bartender approaching them. The man looked exhausted, and not just from the huge crowd behind them.

"How long has she been like this?" Mydnight pointed down at the woman.

"She's been in here for three days straight, said she was waiting for someone," he rolled his eyes. "Her tab is through the roof or else i'd just throw her out in the street."

Mydnight huffed and cursed his nose for getting them into this situation. He turned around and held up his pointer finger for the barman to wait a moment. "What do we do? We can't just leave her here."

"Why can't we?" Ambur raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest.

"Ambur come on she's gonna fucking die in here," Liv gestured at the unconscious woman again.

"Just because we met her one time doesn't make us her parents," Ambur whispered loudly.

Mydnight rolled his eyes and turned back around. "What's her tab?"

"I'll make it five hundred if you get her out of here without her puking everywhere!" He said quickly, taking the opportunity to be rid of her.

Mydnight fished out his wallet and Ambur rolled her eyes and growled impatiently. Liv stepped up to the woman and began to remove her face from her empty bowl, and gently pried the half full drink from her hands. "Come on," Liv huffed toward Ambur as Mydnight got his card back from the bartender.

Ambur whined a little before joining Liv and taking one of the girl's arms over her shoulders as Liv took the other. She was out cold and completely dead weight, and the trio began the slow process of getting her through the crowd and out into the cold winter air.

By the time they had made it out onto the sidewalk the girl was mumbling to herself and semi-conscious. They dragged her away from the populated bar and found a vacant snow drift to set down against. She was already pouring with sweat, and when they set her against the snow it began to visibly let off steam slowly as it joined the fog around them.

Mydnight set down his backpack and produced one of their large traveling water bottles and unscrewed the cap, before he let some drizzle out on top of her head.

Liv almost laughed at the sight, as the woman began to sputter and wave her arms lazily to try and stop the unpleasant feeling, and Mydnight stopped.

The trio watched as she began to blink and wipe out her eyes, cradling her head as her teeth began to chatter rather quickly as she began to shiver.

"Neo," she moaned painfully and slurred. "Neo isat-you," she squinted up at them, delirious.

However, as her eyes began to adjust to the scene above her, the realization clear as day on her face turned to confusion, and then panic, until her eyes were bugged out, absolute terror plastered on her face as she surged backward into the snow away from them.

"No! No I didn't do it! It wasn't me!" Her panicked pleading came with her hyperventilating and the three friends became even more confused. "It wasn't my idea, you have to believe me!" The panicked woman shoved her hands down into her pocket and produced a ragged handful of bills and a scroll with a heavily cracked screen. "Please just take whatever you want. I swear it wasn't my fault!" She began to cry as she dumped the items on the sidewalk and struggled to get to her feet but fell back in the snow.

"Woah woah," Liv held her hands out and laced her words as fast as she could, "calm down, we aren't here to hurt you." She shared a concerned look with her comrades and watched as the girl started to slowly begin to calm herself and go into a sort of trance. "What the hell was that about," Liv leaned down and handed the girl back her money and scroll.

"I'm not sure," Mydnight ran his hand through his hair, "but whatever she thinks she's telling us, she's telling the truth," he shrugged.

"Yo, are we just ignoring that she just called out for Neo? Like, Neo-Neo?" Ambur interrupted haughtily.

"That could be anybody," Liv shrugged. "Surely there's more than one person on Remnant named Neo."

At the mentions of the girls name the teal haired woman looked back up at them through glassy eyes. "Neopolitan?" She breathed in her stupor. "Have you seen her?"

"See?" Ambur held her hands out and looked between the others.

Liv and Mydnight shared a slightly nervous look and crouched down beside the woman. "Your name is Xanadu Blackwell, yes?" Mydnight asked her.

The girl's nervousness and tears began to return to her face as she swallowed hard and tried to speak without her voice cracking. "I swear it wasn't my fault," she choked the words out."

Mydnight held up a hand to try and calm her and he nodded his head. "I know you're telling the truth, can you please just nod if that's your name."

Xanadu nodded slowly and bit her lip hard as she fought back tears. Her makeup, or what was left of it, was everywhere. Completely ruined, runny and crusted and real patches everywhere they shouldn't be.

Mydnight looked at the others, "we need to know what she's talking about and I don't think we are gonna get it in this snow drift."

"Oh no," Ambur held her hands up, "no no no have you both lost your minds?" She almost yelled. "In the one going crazy but even I know bringing her with us is an awful idea!"

"What else are we supposed to do Ambur?" Liv asked. "She's hungover and half dead. We can't just leave her here like this when she's apologizing for something she 'didn't do to us,'" Liv said as she motioned air quotes with her hands.

"She's talking about the freaky shapeshifter girl that wants to murder your sister and her team!" Ambur did yell this time down at her partner. "We can't trust her!"

Mydnight sighed and turned back to face Xanadu, the girls teal eyes filled with tears and fear and pain, bloodshot from not sleeping for three days. "Do you swear you mean us no harm?"

She nodded.

"I need you to say it, please," Mydnight said softly.

"I don't wanna hurt anybody," she sobbed. "I promise."

Mydnight stood and held a hand out to her, Liv holding her hand out as well. "Come on, we're gonna miss our train, we've gotta hurry."

They pulled the girl to her feet and she asked, "train? Where are we going?"

"Argus, if you're willing to come with," Mydnight said but she dropped his hand.

"I can't go," she pleaded. "I've got to wait here for Neo."

Liv and Mydnight shared another glance before he spoke again. "How long have you been waiting for her?"

Xanadu seemed a little stunned at that question, before she started counting on her fingers. "Uhm…maybe…three…maybe four years?"

"Four years?" Liv asked shocked, and it was only then Xanadu seemed to realize she was still holding Liv's hand and yanked it away.

"She said she'd come back," Xanadu insisted.

Mydnight shook his head. "Look, I promise that if you come with us you'll have a better chance of seeing her, okay? Our friends…run into her all the time."

"They…they do?"

Mydnight nodded and Liv took the girl's hand again. "Do you have anything we need to grab? Do you have a place here?"

Xanadu shook her head. "I've got everything I own in my pockets…I think," she said genuinely and Liv felt her heart sink a little more.

"Come with us, okay?" Liv insisted and the taller girl turned to face her, her face barely registering any agreement, but there was no hesitation left either.

"Alright," Xanadu breathed nervously. "I'll come with you."

(End of chapter)

message from author: hey guys, just typing this in afterward. I' m not sure if yall know this, but fanfiction's view counter and alert notification system have both been broken for about three weeks now. i've uploaded 3 chapters of AMBR in that time and of course because the counter is broken i have absolutely NO idea if yall are reading these new chapters or if the story followers are getting notified that new chapters are even being uploaded.

If you are seeing this and reading it please please PLEASE leave a review for me, this fanfic usually pulls in hundreds of views when a new chapter goes up but the story hasn't received a single review since 2020, over 3 YEARS AGO. If you like it, I'd you hate-read it, if you just wanna say who your favorite character is or what character you hate the most, doesn't matter, please consider leaving a review on the story. It would do a lot to keep me motivated and engaged now that I'm getting zero feedback from my fanfiction stats page since the website is so broken right now.

Thank you all for reading and I'll see you in the next one 3