With Ruby's help, Bell unlocked his Aura. According to Ruby, Aura is an ability that all beings that have a soul can practice, since Aura is the manifestation of the soul, so it was different from person to person, in Ruby's case, it was red, in Bell's case, it was pure white like his hair.
After that, Bell tried to activate his Semblance, although Ruby said he should take it easy. Semblances awakened in situations of great physical or psychological stress, Ruby even woken up Petal Burst by accident during training, but Bell was still trying.
Lunch went smoothly, with Bell getting to know more about Tai, Ruby and Yang, although in the case of the latter, the father and daughter duo thought it would be better to ask her directly, but Ruby said she was very nice and that Bell would adore her.
Tai: How about a walk in the city?
Ruby: That's right! – She jumps with joy while Zwei accompanies her.
Bell just nodded, it would be good to see the place. After finishing lunch, they went to Tai's vehicle, which he called a truck.
Bell really tried hard not to show his shock at that, since if the Scrolls were common, so should they be, and him being surprised wouldn't help him avoid questions whose answer would be a one-way ticket to the madhouse.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the nearest city, which was where Signal Academy was. The tall buildings surprised the albino, there were none as tall as the Tower of Babel, but most surpass the common size of buildings in Orario. Bell analyzed the place as a whole to try to get used to it as quickly as possible, but it would clearly be difficult.
Tai took a light walk, where he had to drag Bell and Ruby from a Hunter weapons equipment store, and bought them both some ice cream, Bell wasn't a big fan of sweets, but he never refused something with a mint flavor, and Ruby fell in love with the strawberry-flavored one.
Bell also saw the school, and noticed that it really must be like the Adventurer school he had in Ora-rio, where Tai assumed he was one of the teachers. Another thing he saw was a map and noticed that he was on an island in a kingdom called Vale. When it was getting dark, they decided to go back, but one place caught their attention, it was one of those typical fortune teller tents, Bell had seen some in Orario, when he passed in front of the fortune teller, who was a woman who had the upper part of her face covered by a veil that matched her clothes, she said.
?: A restless soul. – She says, making Bell stop and look at her. – Doubts arise in your mind... you want... an advice?
Bell: And how much will it cost?
?: I do not charge for my services. – She speaks, and with a movement of her hand on the table, several cards in a row appear, almost by magic. – Choose a card.
Bell was suspicious, but had nothing to lose, and went to a random card and turned it over.
?: The Fool. Interesting.
Bell: What do you mean?
?: The Fool symbolizes the beginning of a journey, but also the countless possibilities it carries, after all, on the tarot journey, The Fool goes through all the arcana until arriving at The World, but nothing stops him from stopping in the middle of the path.
Bell: He can be whatever he wants. – He speaks, understanding what she wanted to say, making a woman laugh slightly.
?: Correct. It is the number it represents in the deck, 0. Empty, but at the same time with infinite possibilities, being able to learn everything on your journey, but also never forgetting yourself.
Bell: And what advice would you give based on that?
?: You can be whatever you want, learn whatever you want, but you must never forget who you really are. A journey is not just contained in the beginning and end, it is the middle of it that defines the person, but that doesn't mean you don't have your end in mind to guide you through the middle leaving the beginning.
Bell just remained silent, remembering that he wanted to be a Hero, albeit an unconventional one... where his favorite story, as well as his skill came to mind, after all, before he was the Hero of the Beginning and The Dawn, Argonaut was called The Clown and The Fool, but there was also doubt about the true meaning of learning. When he was about to ask, the woman and her tent simply disappeared.
Ruby: Bell. – She called him, making the albino almost jump. - Is everything okay?
Bell: Yes... it is. – He responds simply, realizing that she hadn't noticed the tent, nor that the aforementioned tent disappeared out of nowhere, before following her to go back to her house.
The next day, Bell had the fortune teller's words in mind, if that was true, his Semblance was certainly Heroic Desire - Argonaut, but there must have been something more, since the image of Ruby using Petal Burst appeared before him to put her out of his mind. Tai took the two to the Academy, since it was a school day, where Bell did a small test, thanking him for the books that Ruby lent him to pass the time, and at the time of the combat test, surprise and understanding emerged. . In the battle against the instructor, where the albino grabbed a pair of twin blades, Bell used Petal Burst to escape, before the sounds of a ringing bell appeared, his fist glowed and he knocked out his opponent with the charged attack of one of the blades, that broke.
Both Tai and the director were surprised, but the director was more than happy to accept the albino and that he could start as soon as he finished his weapons, which made Bell very happy to be accepted.
Tai: What just happened? – He asked as they followed the director to where the materials for creating weapons were left.
Bell: I discovered a part of my Semblance that I didn't know about, or maybe it evolved. – He speaks and Tai's look asks him to elaborate. – I can charge an action of mine, the longer I charge it, the stronger it becomes, and I can use the Aura to speed up the charging, but if I let it follow its course, the consumption is almost 0.
Tai: And that's the part I knew.
Bell: Yes... and the other... I think I can learn Semblance from others. – He says, seeing a look of astonishment. – Yesterday, I met with a fortune teller, and the card I drew was The Fool, and she kept saying that The Fool could learn everything on his journey.
Tai: But how did you associate your Semblance with that?
Bell: Well... – He says, turning red with embarrassment. – I called my Semblance Argonaut, which was a character from a hero book. – He gets redder when he hears Tai laughing. – And before he was called Hero he was known as The Fool.
Tai: Can you learn just by seeing?
Bell: I don't know... Ruby explained in great detail what she knew about her Semblance... and I've always been a quick guy... maybe with other Semblances it's different... although I felt strange.
Tai: Normal, Ruby complained a little at first. But this is a very interesting Semblance... but how are you going to call her?
Bell: Well... I guess I'm going to have to start calling her The Fool.
They arrived at the supply warehouse and Bell almost felt like Ruby when she saw cookies. Tai and the director couldn't help but laugh when they saw the albino analyzing everything. He really wanted to maintain dual wielding, but he had no problems with spears, two-handed swords and even scythes, although the latter he only used once and it was because of some equipment problems, not to mention, that he wanted to add these 'rifles' as a whole. Bell took everything he could.
When they got home, Tai took Bell to where Ruby stayed to build Crescent Rose. Bell quickly began his work, as he had been building things since he was 6, although he stopped because of being kicked out of the Mansion, it was simpler than he thought it would be. Although some details of the 'firearms' were still confusing to the albino.
Then he started with the part he knew. A pair of twin blades, one white and one black, both with red details that resembled the Firebolt. He saw in some Ruby mechanics books about junctions and plugs, and had to redo the blades to add a part that would serve the purpose as well.
He spent the rest of the day making and remaking only the parts of the blades so that they could be transformed into another weapon, and only came out of his reverie when he felt someone touching his shoulder, causing him to let out an unmanly scream, being followed by a laugh from Ruby.
Bell: Ruby! – He exclaims completely red.
Ruby: Sorry. – She says, still laughing. – But dinner is about to be served, and Yang wants to meet you.
Bell just nodded and left things as they were, and followed Ruby into the room, he saw the full table, Tai and the one he assumed was Yang. She was a pretty young woman, who Bell guessed was at most two years older than him, she was a little taller than him too, fair skin, lilac eyes and long golden hair that turned pale gold at the ends, as well as a pompadour. on top of the head. She was wearing a brown jacket that left her belly exposed, a golden brown trim with short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs, a yellow top underneath the jacket, which had the symbol of a burning heart that Bell guessed. be the Yang Emblem, and black shorts.
Ruby: Bell, this is my older sister, Yang. Yang, this is Bell.
Yang: Hey! – She says excitedly while extending her hand. – Nice to meet you cute, Yang Xiao Long.
Bell: Bell LeBlanc. – He says, a little red from the sudden compliment.
Ruby: Yang!
Yang: What? He is, he gives the image of a rabbit... and being red makes him even cuter. – She adds with a smile of amusement when he sees Bell's face, which only intensifies the current coloring.
Bell realized that Yang and Aisha Belka would be good friends if they met, although he doubted that the blonde would go into the same branch as the Amazon, but they both gave the air of teaching someone to swim by pushing them into the water, directly and with extreme confidence.
Tai just glared at the albino while Ruby was still indignant.
Yang: But why all this reaction, little sister? By any chance... – She speaks in a provocative tone, where her sister seemed to understand and denied it. – Then there's no problem. – She speaks as if it were nothing, leaving the duo that just arrived without a reaction. – Come on, I'm hungry.
They ate and talked, where Yang was really possessed by what she heard when Bell talked about what she suffered, where she also said that her mother Raven Branwen left her and Tai shortly after she was born, with Summer being her real mother, much to Tai's discomfort and joy.
After they ate dinner, Bell took a better look around the room, while Yang and Ruby went to their rooms, where saw a photo of Tai with a woman who resembled Ruby a lot.
Bell: Is that Mrs. Summer? – He says taking said photo.
Tai: Yes. Summer, Raven, her twin brother Qrow, and I were part of Team STRQ.
Bell: STRQ... took each one's initials...
Tai: Yes, it's always like that in a team... oh, you went alone.
Bell: Yes... then some colleagues joined... but we didn't think of a name. Ruby looks a lot like her.
Tai: Yes... and Yang looks a lot like her mother, but takes after my color pattern, although the eyes were a surprise.
Bell: Don't you have a photo of Yang's mom? Not even on the team?
Tai: When she left... I kept them all. Even before she went, Summer did more mothering than she did. Bell: I wish Yang saw Summer as a mother.
Tai: And I did it... or rather, Summer did it, but somehow, she found out about Raven. Bell: What about the Qrow that Ruby called uncle?
Tai: He visits from time to time, besides being a teacher for a while at Signal Academy, he was the one who taught Ruby using a scythe.
Bell just nodded, he really wanted to meet Qrow. After talking a little more about the team's performance as a whole, Bell went back to the workshop, he had some ideas now, and grabbed all the books he had there in hopes of understanding things better.
Bell didn't even notice that he no longer had the desire to be a Hero who improves people's lives solely through destroying things for a long time... but he was determined to be the Hero who went to the front lines.