BANSHEE
None of us could get any sort of sleep. Yang and Blake were able to find a trailer for her motorcycle to haul us through the snow, but with fatigue creeping up on us, and the snow storm blowing as hard as it did, we all reluctantly decided to sleep and rest. If you can even call it that.
Every hour on the hour, I would wake up, from nudge my teammates make, and every creek this old house would make would more than enough to ruin my senses. It was a terrible night, and I wasn't the only one to wake up cranky the next morning.
"Oh Ruby, close the window!"
Weiss complained as she tuckered herself in with her blanket.
"Guys come on! We overslept!"
Ruby panicked as she frantically woke everyone up, including her drunk uncle Qrow.
"Uncle Qrrroooow!"
Maria soon woke up right next to me, grumpier than usual.
"Quiet down! Oh for the love of- Who opened that window?"
"I did!"
Ruby yelled.
"We need to get moving, come on!"
It was a struggle, but we all eventually made it out of bed. Oscar and Yang made their way back to the barn to grab the cart, while Qrow took on the liberty of packing more alcohol, refusing to help anybody.
We all gathered in front of the house, trying to plan our next move after everything's packed when Qrow's semblance reared its ugly head once more. The sight of the flat tire was absolutely demoralizing, and absolutely draining. Something's wrong with this place, I could feel it. I've always felt it, I just decided to ignore it last night after... Ozpin.
"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas."
Yang yawned, pointing at the flat tire with droopy eyes.
"It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare."
Ruby argued, but Yang never let on.
"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters... I'm just so tired."
Again, Ruby tried to argue, but even Blake voiced her frustrations.
"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight just to get by."
This is true... wait.
"Last night, I..."
Weiss hesitated for a second, before finally mustering up the courage to finish what she was trying to say.
"I couldn't stop thinking why we're even going to Atlas."
No that's not right. We just had this talk last night, Weiss wanted to go, what gives? Something else is going on here.
"Ruby."
I called out to her.
"Yeah, I know."
She looked at me concerned, finally starting to catch on that this isn't your normal case of depression.
"Oscar, just go find the spare please."
I begged him, to which he complied- after some insisting.
"Guys please, listen we have to!"
Ruby and her team argued, while I swung my head left and right, trying to look for something out of the ordinary, till suddenly, I noticed Maria scrolling through the pages of the book she found faster and faster.
"Something wrong?"
I asked, but got no response.
Her hands begin to shake as she raised the book close to her face, finally realizing what's causing all of this madness happening in the farm. The terror on her face was absolutely mortifying. She didn't even had to say it to explain to me how deeply screwed we really were. Just before Maria could speak, Oscar burst out of the shed running and screaming.
"GRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIMMMMM!"
Behind him was a horde of slim humanoid-like grimm, walking menacingly in a pack. Their sudden appearance stroke something within me that caused my eyes to glow faintly, shaking the exhaustion off of me. When I looked to my right, the same thing happened to Ruby.
"Heads up guys!"
Everyone readied their weapons, and pointed it at the grimm. They're a small pack, but we should be more than enough to handle it, but before we could engage them, Qrow popped out of the house he was just in, weapon drawn.
"There's a pack of... grimm. Right, just my luck."
Qrow too, ran into another pack, but unfortunately for us, that wasn't worst of it.
"Ezra! Watch out!"
Weiss yelled.
I look up to see a woman clad in black, falling from the sky with her sword pointed straight at me. There wasn't enough time for me to move. I was sure I was going to get demolished, but Weiss was able to summon her gravity glyph to yank me out of the way just in time.
"Tch. Damn Schnee."
Swan clicked her tongue in frustration.
"Ezra!"
Blake yelled, as she sprinted at me, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Swan, cocking her arms back, ready to swing her blade.
"BLAKE, NO!"
Blake flinched the moment she realized her mistake, but once again, Weiss came to our rescue. She created a wall of ice that collided with the one that Swan created, saving Blake, but in turn, trapping me and Weiss along with Swan.
With the small village cut in half with two massive ice walls, Ruby and the rest were left to fend for themselves against a horde of grimm, while me and Weiss came face to face with the Black Swan.
"Blake! Ruby! Yang! Are you okay?"
I yelled as loud as I could, but the ice was too thick. I punch the wall as hard as I could, desperately trying to break it, but it was impossible.
"Ezra please, pay attention."
Weiss ducked down, her whole body tensed up, as she frantically waved her hand at me to garner my attention. She kept posture low, and her eyes focused on Swan who was staring us down with her blade drawn.
"I wanted to trap you alone so I can whisk you away from your team, but I guess this will do too."
She smiled at Weiss, taunting her.
"What do you want from Ezra?"
Weiss asked, but got no response at first. Her silence then turned into laughter as the realization of Weiss' question came to her. Swan shifted her gaze at me and twirled her sword in her hand.
"Oh, she doesn't know? You never told them? Ezra? Isn't that a bit rude."
She cracked her neck and looked at Weiss once more.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself, my name is-"
Before she could finish, I swooped in from above, slamming Shirayuki down at her.
"SHUT UP!"
But Swan was able to quickly block it with ease.
"Oh, feisty."
Of all the times we'd fought her, there seems to be one common behavior that Swan likes to do in the middle of a fight, and that's to boast. Weiss caught on to this, and quickly zoomed in at the side, summoning a line of glyphs that catapulted her blinding speed.
With Swan distracted from my attack, Weiss slashed sideways at her gut, but as soon as she did, Swan's body turned to mist and disappeared from our very eyes. I'd normally be caught off-guard, but I've fought her enough times to know that...
"Weiss, duck!"
At my command, Weiss bend her body forward, as I slash my blade towards her, blocking Swan's sneak attack. Weiss quickly spun the cartridges on Myrtenaster, as she rolled forward, swinging it as she stood up, releasing an arrow made out of electricity from the tip of her blade.
"Crafty."
Swan backflipped away, barely dodging Weiss' attack, but I wouldn't let her get away that easy. I grab the shield off my back and threw it towards her, knocking her off balance, while Weiss waved her hand, summoning a flurry of icicles that flew towards Swan.
"Damn it."
Swan tucked her body close, raising her cape, creating a thin sheet of ice to block Weiss' attack, but that too, I saw coming. With my scarlet blade, I created a torrent of flame that wasn't too far behind Weiss' icicles, melting them and turning it to mist, while what's left of the flame destroyed her cape.
"WEISS!"
"GOT IT!"
With a flick of her weapon, Weiss turned the mist back into icicles, bombarding Swan with attacks that almost broke her aura.
"Seems like I underestimated you two, too much. Very well. I'll turn it up!"
Swan pulled another hilt underneath her sleeve, pointing it at me.
"Dance, Shirayuki!"
Weiss' jaws dropped after hearing what Swan said.
"WAIT WHAT!?"
She glared back at me, looking for an explanation, but clearly, now's not the time.
"NOT NOW! HERE SHE COMES!"
With both Banshee and Shirayuki in hand, Swan rushed in, fighting the two of us evenly.
"Is this all you've got!?"
Swan yelled, as she swung at Weiss, but just before she could hit her, Weiss used her glyph to jump higher than usual. She created another glyph above her head, this time, summoning a massive great sword that swung downwards at Swan.
"There you go!"
She spun to the side, acrobatically dodging the giant blade. As fast as she could, Swan sprinted at Weiss using the sword she created, but little did she know that Weiss was luring her to a trap. She snapped her finger, dispelling the existence of the blade, causing Swan to fall towards me.
"FLOW, RYUJIN!"
A torrent of water came gushing out of the ground, dousing Swan in water, and just as quickly, Weiss used her glyph to instantly freeze the water, trapping Swan inside.
"NICE!"
I jumped up in the air to celebrate, but it was premature. The ice prison that me and Weiss created began to crack, causing mist to seep through, till the ice eventually exploded.
"YOU DARE! YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME!"
Swan gritted her teeth so hard, it look like they were about to crumble in her jaw, she gripped her weapon so tight that blood started to come out of it. She looked up at us with eyes filled with rage. The top right corner of her mask began to break, revealing her furrowed brow.
In one swift motion, Swan jumped towards me, causing Weiss to slide in between us. She raised Myrtenaster up and summoned a glyph to block her attack.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY."
Swan cocked her arms back as far as she could, and swung them just as hard, but the moment it made contact with Weiss' glyph, her blades shattered. The impact was so violent that it knocked her down on the ground.
"She's-"
I cut Weiss off as we both stare at Swan down from a distance.
"Tired. I know. She's been chasing us since Haven as a wanted criminal, and betrayed her colleagues. Probably had had no rest- no energy left."
All this time chasing us without a proper meal, no sleep, no allies, and fighting us in between. I'm surprised she could fight as well as she could. I guess I'm glad she couldn't, otherwise, me and Weiss definitely wouldn't stand a chance.
Weiss lowered her weapon and looked away.
"Should we... finish her off?"
She asked as pity began to befall her eyes, a thought that Swan and I absolutely hated.
"Finish me off? HAHAHA. Screw you, Schnee!"
Swan groveled on the ground, forcing herself to stand up.
"Stop it. Please, whatever it is you came here for, you won't get it. Not in this condition. Please..."
I begged and begged, but it only made Swan angrier. She wrapped her bloodied hands her weapon that no longer had any blade on it.
"Dance, ShiraYUKI!"
She forced what's left of her mist to create a white blade for the final time, as she rushed me and Weiss once more.
"Get ready!"
Weiss yelled, but I gently pushed her to the side. I raise my Shirayuki up and waited for Swan to clumsily swing her Shirayuki at me, but before her blade could make contact, the ice crumbled in her hand.
Swan's jaws dropped and her eyes wide open in shock.
"What was it you told me? Cut from the same cloth... your semblance can never truly hurt me."
Her hands began to shake, causing her to drop her weapon.
"No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening!"
She raised her hand and placed them on top her head, and began murmuring to herself like a maniac. She was defeated, and she didn't know how to cope with it. This... this is what became of my sister. Looking at her now, I couldn't help but feel the same pity that Weiss did earlier. I reach out my hand, filled with the smallest of hope that maybe this can work.
That Eliza can come home... to me.
But before that fantasy of mine could even have a chance of happening, Eliza erased all of it by smacking my hand away.
"NO!"
She yelled. Swan flicked her hand, causing a hidden dagger to drop from her arm squarely into her hand, while she slashed at me. But Swan was simply too tired to conjure up any meaningful attack.
"It's useless."
She blindly swung at me, missing every single strike, till she clumsily tripped on herself.
"Just stop this please."
She crawled towards the hilt that she dropped earlier, desperately trying to reach for it, but she doesn't even have the energy to close her hand anymore, let alone summon another blade.
"HOW!?"
Swan screamed.
"How is she responding to you more than me? How is your blade so much powerful than mine? She's just as mine as she is yours!"
I sighed, and looked away, unable to bear the sight of what my sister has become.
"Has the tribe never thought you? The meaning of the name... Shirayuki… mother, I chose that name out of love. Not spite, not hate, and with no desire to be stronger. I chose it because I want it to embody what mother has always wanted for me- for... *sigh* My blade is stronger because it's made from love."
I looked down at Shirayuki and smiled, knowing fully what it meant.
"You will never defeat me with your Shirayuki, nor will you ever defeat me with Banshee... that creature is born out of darkness, not love, it has no relation to you. All it does to you is glorify that one thing you're extremely greedy of: power."
After hearing what I had to say, Swan stopped dead in her tracks. She lifted her back up and knelt down in front of her weapon. At first I thought she'd given up. Swan began to sob uncontrollably, as Weiss stood right next to me.
"Ezra, come on. Ruby still needs help."
I stare at Swan one last time, contemplating on what could have been, but before I could turn my back on her, she tilted her head towards us. The entire right side of her mask was degraded and gone, fully revealing the right side of her face- her crying face.
For the first time in a long time, I got to see the face of my sister.
"Love you say?"
She whispered with a pained voice.
"You're so arrogant and naïve that you think you're the only one capable of love?"
Me and Weiss stood there silently, as we watched the mist from her semblance gently swivel around her.
"You think Banshee is a symbol of power? Do you even know who Banshee is?"
The mist around her began to shake violently, thickening with each rotation.
"Do you even know who HE is?"
Swan's crying face changed to that of anger, but not the one she usually wears. This was different like she was angry not for herself, but for someone else.
The mist began to thicken so much that it lifted her hilt up above her head, swirling around it till it converged to a single point. Eliza stood up and reached out for her hilt that slowly descended to her hand, like a power from above was blessing her with it. The surging mist continued to spiral till it magically morphed into the color black.
"You dare speak of love!? I will show you what love can do to a person!"
The black mist began to harden, forming the shape of a blade.
"SCREAM! BANSHEE!"
As soon as Eliza called out to her blade, it created a shriek so loud that it caused the ground beneath us to shake
"What's happening!?"
Weiss yelled.
All of a sudden, a grimm's arm protruded from the snow, one after the other. Soon, me and Weiss were surrounded them.
"No way, are they responding to the sound that sword made?"
Weiss asked as she prepared to fight once more.
"I don't know!"
It was as if Swan was rejuvenated. She dashed towards me with such ferocity, with black blade in hand, and once again, Shirayuki began to shake like it wanted to fight. Once more our blades collided, and with each strike, Shirayuki created a gust of mist from the point of impact, whereas Banshee screamed with each hit, sending the grimm around us into a frenzy.
"Swan stop! You're gonna kill all of us! These grimm, they're-"
With a monotone voice, Swan cut me off.
"Out of control."
We fought each other to stand still, swinging at each other till our arms fell numb. Every now and then, a grimm would lunge towards us, but Weiss did her best to keep them in check, but even Weiss was starting to feel overwhelmed.
"Ezra, make her stop!"
"I'm TRYING!"
I stared Swan straight in the face, to try and reason with her, but looking at her emotionless face now, it's clear that there was no one there to reason with. She had no smiles left to give and no more insults to throw at us. Much of her aura is gone, and she's draining what's left of her life force to fight.
"You're serious aren't you!?"
She's gone completely mad. At first I just thought she wanted me, but I can tell she's taking a different approach.
"If I can't convince you to come with me, then no one will have you!"
Eliza jumped at me, but quickly turned to black mist before I could hit her, then phasing back behind me with a sneak attack that I barely blocked. Her attacks were fierce and relentless, and her strikes were strong, pouring every ounce of her life with each swing.
If I don't meet her intensity, then I'm never going to see my friends again, never going to see Yang, never going to see Blake again. If Swan is fighting like she has nothing to lose, then it's time I fight like I got everything to lose!
Swan effortlessly dodged my attack, then followed it up with a kick in the chest, knocking me off balanced. She swung her blade down, but Weiss was quick on her feet. She summoned a glyph that not only blocked her attack, but did something peculiar with Banshee.
As soon as Banshee came in contact with the glyph, the blade began to shatter slowly.
"Of course, it'd be a Schnee."
Swan groaned, shifting her gaze at Weiss. Swan ducked down and swept her leg under mine, knocking me down on the ground as she dashed towards Weiss.
"No you don't!"
Before I could catch up to her, Swan dismantled Banshee, then recreated it just as fast, causing it to scream, and sending the grimm in a frenzy once more, blocking my path.
"Weiss!"
Weiss tried her best, but Eliza quickly overpowered her, as she too fell on the ground. With black blade in hand, Eliza made her way towards Weiss, who was frantically crawling backwards, away from Swan.
"Leave her alone!"
But the horde of grimm prevented me from coming any closer. Swan lifted her sword up, intent on killing Weiss.
"NO! STOP! ELIZA, NO!"
Just before her blade could touch her, the ice wall she created earlier exploded, knocking both Weiss and Eliza out of the way.
Out of the smoke came Yang and Blake with their weapons up, quickly rushing at Swan, keeping her busy.
"Ezra!"
Ruby yelled.
"Hold on, I'm coming!"
Ruby looked exhausted. She had her arms wrapped around Oscar, using him as a crutch, and beside them was Maria.
"Listen child, like I told you. Focus."
Ruby nodded, and took a deep breath with her eyes clothes. She straightened her body and calmed her breathing, till she gently opened her eyes, revealing a flash of light that incinerated the grimm around us.
"WHAT!?"
Eliza yelled in shock, causing her to lose focus, and lose sight of Yang.
"RIGHT HERE!"
With a clean uppercut, Yang sent Eliza flying.
"Hiya!"
Blake threw Gambol Shroud up in the air, wrapping it around her leg before pulling down on it, and sending Swan down the well.
"What're you doing?"
Maria yelled at Qrow, who was startled for a second. He held in his hand a bottle of alcohol with a piece of cloth sticking out.
"R-right!"
Qrow threw the bottle down the well and ignited it with dust mid air, causing it to explode as soon as it fell down.
"NOOO!"
I yelled at the sight of Swan blowing up, but Blake quickly ran up towards me, as she wrapped her arms around my waist.
"LET'S GOO!"
With all her might, Blake pushed me towards the trailer hooked up to Yang's bike as we made our way out of Brunswick Farm, with a horde of grimm still chasing after us.
"I gotta go back!"
I yelled, but Weiss and Blake held me back.
"NO! ELIZA'S STILL THERE! DAMMIT, LET ME GO!"
Oscar grabbed me by my cape and yanked me downwards, before Blake sat on top of me to pin me down.
"NO! WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!"
Her tears began to drop on my cheeks, as I slowly calmed down. I took one deep breath, and placed my hand on her cheek to reassure her that...
"Okay, we're not going back... I'm okay, we're okay."
Blake wrapped her hands around me, as we all drove farther and farther away from the grimm. Silence engulfed all of us, as we gathered our thoughts and processed what just happened. Once more, Maria opened up the journal she grabbed off the house and read it out loud.
"The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always."
Out of curiosity, Oscar grabbed the book from Maria.
"Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired."
Tired, just like we were. It seems the Brunswick Farm's owner's plan worked, though it would seem it backfired on them.
"Not strong or ferocious... just like the journal said, which is why seeing those grimm in a frenzy like that is unbelievable."
Maria raised her voice and looked at me, to which everyone else of course rightly followed.
"Ezra."
Weiss asks.
"Who is she? Swan?"
Then Blake.
"Eliza..."
All of a sudden, the bike came to a complete halt. Even Yang was staring at me, but her look was a little different from everybody else's, because she knows. Back in Beacon, I told her about Mountain Glenn, about my family. I told everyone of course, but I chose to omit one small detail to the rest of my team back then- to make Yang feel special.
I never told Ruby, Weiss, and Blake about Eliza, but Yang... she knows. Probably the moment I yelled her name.
Everyone waited for me to tell them, but I couldn't, I didn't want to, because I wasn't ready to accept what my sister had become. It's too painful for me to talk about, and Yang realized it. The moment she saw how much pain I was in, she knew I wasn't ready.
"I didn't mean any of it."
Yang spoke, grabbing everyone's attention.
"When I questioned our purpose, about the universe not wanting us to go to Atlas. I didn't mean it. We can't quit, we have to take the lamp to Atlas."
RIIINNNNNGGGG!
All of a sudden, Ruby's scroll started to shake.
[Incoming call: Jaune]
"Hello?"
The voice of Jaune echoing in her scroll caused Ruby's eyes to tear up.
"Jaune..."
[RUBY! You're safe! Are you? Is everyone safe?]
Ruby laughed at how panicked Jaune was.
"Yes! Yes we are! Where are you?"
But before Jaune could answer, Yang smiled at us and pointed over the horizon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination."
Everyone stood up and smiled at the sight of Argus, but I decided to hop off.
"All right everyone."
Blake leaned in on the side of the trailer with concern painted all over her face.
"I, uh, am wanted at Atlas before any of this started, remember? If you think the world hates me now, then wait till you see how Atleasians react when they find out I'm OWL. Trust me, it's better this way."
She reached out her hand, but the thought of it all... Ozpin, the Relics, Salem, Eliza were a bit too heavy for me to lift my hand and reach back.
"Ezra..."
I forced a smile her way and folded my helmet up.
"I'll see you on the other side, okay?"
With that, I ran towards the cliff and glided away from the rest of the team, with my heart still as heavy as when we left the farm.