IN ANOTHER LIFE...
Blake
We went into the city with joy, relief, fear, and confused all at the same time. Happy at the fact that finally, we got a break, after everything that happened to us, seeing the city of Argus over the horizon is like a breath of fresh air. But the questions that haunt us, not just the one that Jinn left behind for us... Eliza, for one. Who is she? And why is Ezra so insistent on keeping his mouth shut about all of it?
More secrets...
"Don't worry."
A voice from behind me, yanked me off my train of thought. I turn around in search for the source of the voice amidst the crowded street of the Argus port, till I found Yang, wearing a soft and tired smile.
"He'll come through. All of this is a lot for all of us... maybe he just needs space?"
True, but the way she's talking about Ezra makes me think that she knows who this Eliza is.
"Yang..."
I hesitated.
"Do you know who Swan- Eliza is?"
Yang flinched for a second and scratched the back of her head, all the while smiling awkwardly.
"Yeah, kind of... he might have mentioned something about her. Never directly, but I have a feeling I'm right."
She raised her head and looked at me before looking away just as quickly.
"You know, when we were together..."
I can see why she flinched, but none of that matters to me right now. I just wanna know if Ezra is okay.
"Then tell me who she-"
But before I could finish protesting, Yang cut me off.
"It's not my story to tell, Blake. That and I don't wanna assume."
I know but...
"I see where you're coming from, but really? More secrets? I'm tired of not knowing."
Just then, Weiss came crashing in on our conversation.
"How do you think he feels?"
How he feels? I- I didn't even think about it.
"When I was trapped with him back at the farm."
Weiss continued.
"He was in pain the whole time, fighting somebody that you know- no that's not right. The kind of pain and sorrow in his eyes I've never seen before, but I can only think of one thing that can evoke such strong feelings."
The three of us stood there in silence, after realizing what Weiss had just said. None of us had the courage to say it out loud, except for Ruby.
"Family. If I was forced to fight any of you... Yang. I think I'd have the same look as he had."
The thought of Ezra being related to Swan is a hard pill to swallow, but Weiss is right, if I'm struggling to comprehend all of this, then I can only imagine what Ezra must be feeling right now. Before any of us could fall further into our thoughts, Nora appeared out of the crowd.
"Cute! Boy! OZZ!"
When Jaune and Ren appeared, the three of them seemed just as relieved to see us as we do them. Though I struggle to find the courage and energy to tell them what we just found out.
"Blake, where's Ezra?"
Jaune came close to me with concern written all over his face. The things we're about to tell them, we have no answers to, but this one I can.
"He went on ahead. He said his reputation anywhere Atlas related is worse compared to the rest of Remnant, so he left us for safety reasons... I think."
Tired we may be, we still have work to do. Everyone collectively knew that sitting down and taking a nap would probably be the best course of action we have, but with all this anxiety looming over us, we couldn't help but to try and make a plan to move forward. Unfortunately, even in Argus, we hit a snag in every single corner we took.
The Atleasian office, Caroline Cordovin, refused us access at the port to travel to Atlas, even with Weiss in front of her. Of course, Maria antagonizing Cordovin didn't help but even so. Ozpin is gone, and Qrow never really sobered up. But by far the hardest thing we ever have to face when we got here was telling Jaune and his team the true nature of the relics.
"JAUNE! Please!"
We found our way back to Saphron's house to come face to face with what we already knew was going to happen. The moment we told them what we knew, Jaune went into a fit of rage and punched the wall next to him.
"Everything we did was for nothing!"
He screamed while he wagged his finger.
"That's not true."
I try to console him, but even the usually perky and upbeat Nora was down in the dumps.
"Really? Cause it sure does sound like it."
Ren too, was awfully talkative today.
"If Salem can't be killed then how are we supposed to win this?"
And alas, Ren has asked the question that stumped all of us when we first found out. Now they're caught up.
"Wow. Great plan everyone."
Jaune's frustration and sarcasm echoed loudly across the room, but no one bothered to say anything, because we're just that- lost.
"Look, none of this is great, but we're not the bad guys here."
Oscar came out of the blue to try and calm Jaune down, to no avail.
"Are we sure about that?"
He pointed his finger at him, with rage pouring out of his eyes.
"He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this, how much longer can we even trust him!?"
Anger started to consume him so much that he failed to realize that he already had Oscar by the collar, pinned to the wall. It wasn't until Weiss came over, and placed her hand over his shoulder that he began to calm down.
"Jaune, please." Weiss whispered. "Calm down."
His grip on Oscar's collar slowly loosened, dropping him on the ground. Just then, the front door creaked open, as Ezra awkwardly slid in.
"Hey yo. Did I miss anything?"
Ezra wore a purple hoodie over his usual armor. He had on a black jeans paired with an athletic shoe that's as dark as his pants, and on top of his head was a beige beanie that covered everything up to his eyebrows and out of everyone here, Ezra was the only one smiling.
"At least we know you're okay."
Jaune somberly looked at him before looking away.
I made my way towards him and gave him a hug, as he wrapped his hand around my shoulders.
"So, I'm assuming you guys know?"
He asked, but got no response. There was no need to. The silence in the room says it all. Not even Ezra's presence was enough to calm the situation down. Jaune looked down on the floor before deciding to leave the room, and honestly if you ask me, it's probably for the best that he did. I just wasn't expecting for Ren and Nora to do the same.
"Are they going to be okay?"
Ezra asked.
"I don't know. I think, it's better if everybody had some time off alone."
I say that under the pretense of me wanting to be left alone with Ezra while I try to at least get an answer to one of the questions that's been weighing heavily on my mind. I know Ezra too needs some time to process all of this for sure, but I couldn't help but be selfish about everything. I just need to know who Swan is. Who Eliza is. With that in mind, I drag Ezra out of the Arkos residence and invited him to walk with me through the busy streets of Argus.
"That went about as well as I expected."
Ezra quietly murmured to himself.
"All things considered, they handled it pretty well. I honestly thought there would be a lot more commotion than that."
To which Ezra could do nothing but chuckle.
"How... uh, are you handling all this?"
He placed his hand inside the pockets of his hoodie and shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Honestly, I think a part of me don't even wanna think about it, and the rest of me is starting to agree. Ozpin's been at it for LIFETIMES, and the world is arguably still the same. Sure Beacon was bad, Haven was bad, but I'm sure worst things have happened in one of his old lives."
Ezra looked down on the floor, as we made our way through the crowds.
"What if we just let go?"
This isn't the apathy grimm talking, this- this is what he truly feels right now.
"You don't mean that do you?"
Ezra ignored my question and proceeded to lift his head up, only for him to stare blankly into the distance. I wrap my arm around his and leaned my head against his shoulder, but not even that made him look at me.
"I don't. I don't mean it... it's just... I thought- when Ozpin was outed by the lamp, I felt afraid. Like the whole situation with me and Beacon was repeating itself. Sure, I wasn't the culprit this time, but people still lost some things even though they weren't directly connected to me and Cinder. When I heard everything, a part of me flinched. I don't wanna lose all of you again, especially you, Blake."
I tried to console him, but he kept on talking.
"It's not even just fear. I resolved myself in front of Ruby, telling her that I'd go through with this journey despite Salem, but I never really stopped and think if I should, and I feel an insane amount of shame and regret for saying it."
"But you decided, now, that you'll still go with her- with us right? Together? To Atlas."
I ask, nervously.
Ezra softly smiled at me and nodded, though I can still see the fear and hesitation in his face. Something he wouldn't show to the rest of the gang.
"Yes, of course. Always, Blake. Wouldn't leave you hanging."
A part of me feels happy that he doesn't show to everyone else how vulnerable he is right now, that he'd always be stoic and confident in front of our friends, but at the same time, it worries me that now that he's allowing me to see through his veil, I know that he's just as lost as I am. Just as lost as we are.
"Thank you. I know we'll figure this out together... my only question know is..."
Ezra sighed, seemingly knowing what's coming.
"Swan?"
He casually asked.
"Y-yeah. Who's Eliza?"
I waited and waited for a response, but all I ever heard from him was the sound of his footsteps banging against the brick road beneath us.
"Ezra?"
He closed his eyes and rubbed the palm of his hand on the side of his face.
"I wish I could tell you but-"
I cut him off.
"But what? Why won't you tell me? E-"
Ezra raised his voice momentarily, then lowered it just as quickly.
"BECAUSE I'm not... ready."
I let go of his arms and jogged in front of him, forcing him to look me in the eye.
"What aren't you ready for? Do you not trust me enough to tell me who she is?"
He held his hand out and placed them on the side of my shoulders, gently squeezing me.
"It's not that. Of course I trust you."
"Then why? Is she an old lover? An old friend?"
Ezra shook his head and sighed.
"Perhaps family then?"
Hearing me say that suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
"She's family isn't she?"
Reluctantly, Ezra nodded and looked away.
"I don't know. That's the truth."
An obvious lie, but if he's so willing to hide the truth that he'd lie must mean she is family in sort of way.
"Fine, don't tell me. Can you at least promise me that when you're ready, you'll tell me everything. No holding back this time. No more secrets. No more LIES."
I can tell that last one caught him off guard, to see him so shocked that I figured out that he's lying.
"Of course, I'm sorry, Blake."
I gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek, which he returned by hugging me tightly, like he was draining something out of me. Just from this one hug, I can tell that he's exhausted, even more so than I am.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
I ask.
"Yeah. Just gotta figure out how to get to Atlas, yeah?"
In an attempt to lighten the mood, I held on to his hand and smiled.
"You wouldn't happen to know a guy would you?"
Ezra chuckled as we swung our arms out and continued walking.
"Ha! Unfortunately, no. The Nest didn't migrate here- well they did, but not very long. I did see some shops and locations marked by them, but they're mostly abandoned. They probably caught wind of the Dust Embargo and quickly moved on to Atlas to avoid this exact same issue we're faced with. So no, unfortunately, I do not know a guy."
He smiled at me as he tightened his grip on my hand.
"But, I did wanna visit a friend. Wanna come with?"
I smiled back at the thought of meeting this 'friend' of his.
"Ooh, didn't know you had any besides us."
"HEY!"
"Kidding! SO, where does he live?"
Ezra closed his eyes and smiled.
"Friend is a she actually."
A what? I'm assuming he saw my reaction cause he quickly apologized and explained.
"Don't worry, you know who she is."
Huh? We scoured our way throughout the city, passing through streets and alleyways that he called shortcuts, till we eventually entered a park that had a statue in the center. It wasn't clear what the statue was at first, but the closer we got, the more I understood what he meant by visiting his female friend.
"Hello, Pyrrha."
Meanwhile...
Ruby
The stress of it all is too much, honestly. The biggest unknown now is Jaune and his group. Our team has mostly resolved to push on... well, as much as we can at least. I tried my best to calm down, but I just can't. It's probably why I found myself right next to Ms. Calavera outside of Saphron's house.
"If you're tired of not knowing, how about we discuss that eyes of yours?"
She mischievously grinned at me, while she swayed her legs back and forth on her chair.
"OOOH! Yes ma'am, I would be honored."
Though my attempts at being polite was met with brash hostility.
"Oh sit back down. Let's start with you do know. Tell me?"
Maria asks, as she leaned back on her chair, eagerly waiting for me to answer. It doesn't matter how much she waits, or how patient she is, I can't fully answer what I don't know.
"Uh... Silver-Eyed people are supposed to be legendary warriors. Or something. And at the Fall of Beacon, I turned a giant Wyvern into stone."
I tried my best to answer, but unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for her.
"Oh, boy."
She shook her head and sighed.
"Look, if I already knew everything I wouldn't be asking for help!"
But Maria could only sigh at my answer.
"Yelling..."
She said softly, as I realized that my emotions have gotten the best of me.
"It's not your fault. I had my father to teach me, and even he didn't have all the answers. But what she told me makes sense, given what I've seen."
Maria smiled at the thought of her father crossing through her mind.
"Was he a Huntsman too?"
I ask, taking advantage of her sincere smile.
"It wasn't really an official title back in his day. I only knew him as an old soldier and an excellent teacher. I never attended one of those fancy academies of yours, but I scored higher on the license exam than any other Huntsman or Huntress that day."
This at least, we have in common too, acknowledging how great our fathers are.
"You must've been proud."
But Maria wasn't too keen on getting compliments herself.
"Heh, he would've scolded me for showing off. He'd never been able to find much information about our abilities. Just legends of warriors whose eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting the light of the world onto darkness. He found so little, in fact, that it made him cautious. How could such powerful bloodlines be so rare? Unless something was actively seeking to destroy them."
Actively seeking?
"Salem..."
To which Maria nodded. Still that doesn't answer the question...
"How about Tribe Snow? Have you heard of them before."
Maria began to stare off into the distance, as her mind began to drift off for a few seconds.
"Tribe Snow... hmm, yes."
My ears perked up, as a thousand questions began flooding my mind that I was practically paralyzed on the spot, a fact that Maria seemed to have noticed.
"Salem wasn't the only one seeking to destroy silver eyed warriors you know? How my father came to that conclusion, and how I lost my eyes was because of them."
She smiled for a moment, before continuing to drift off once again.
"From what I've heard, the tribe was keen on reproducing the strongest of warriors. They held a belief that they are strongest bloodline, but also believed that there's room for more. That's why they marry their kin, or they mix their blood with other families."
All of this in line with Professor Ozpin told us so far.
"But mixing blood is a dangerous game, entangling yourself with Tribe Snow meant that you either succeed the experiment or you die. That's what's most likely happened with mine. I reckon my ancestors dabbled with the experiments of the Snow's and found ourselves blessed with silver eyes, but unfortunately, our blood isn't up to par..."
Swan mentioned the same thing before, that my eyes were... dirty.
"You see, Ruby, the Snow's are the progenitors of the silver eyes, from what I've seen from what Jinn showed us, descendants of the first humans created by the god of light. The purest of blood. We on the other hand, inherited their powers, but are unable to use it to its full potential."
The faint glow that Ezra and Swan had. It's different from how mine is used. All I can do is point my eyes in a direction and incinerate grimm, Ezra on the other hand seems like he bottles up all that energy and strengthens his entire being. His power increases exponentially so long as his eyes glow.
"When I lost my eyes..."
Maria continued.
"It was likely because Tribe Snow wanted me dead. My family had served its purpose, and I am no longer as pure as they wanted me to be."
That's just awful... but it does beg the question, is that why Swan was so keen on getting Ezra? For the Tribe's experiments? To maintain purity, and progress the bloodline as pure as it can be. I guess we'll never know, considering Swan's... dead.
Or is she?
Yang
Hours have passed without me even noticing, but the city of Argus is enormous, it was bound to take this long at least to look for a young boy. What Jaune have said must have been the final straw for him. How could I blame him? The weight of countless lives rest upon his shoulders, unwillingly, and in time, he too will disappear, surrendering his life to a cause we now know have no foreseeable end to.
If I was Oscar, I'd run too. Question is, where?
"If I was Oscar, where would I go... ?"
This is pointless. Faced with circumstances like that, I'd walk aimlessly, which is exactly what I'm doing now. Which isn't exactly pointless. You follow a path through and through and you tend to miss some things. Sometimes, wandering around can take you somewhere unexpected. It led me to Beacon at one point, led me back to my sister in Haven, and now, back in the presence of an old friend.
Right in front of me lies a plaque:
IN HONOR OF PYRRHA NIKOS, ONE OF MANY STUDENTS WHO FOUGHT VALIANTLY AT THE FALL OF BEACON
The statue of Pyrrha.
Looking at her now is bringing up so much memories of our time in Beacon. Memories from another life, one that I so badly wish to come back to. I'd recall the days before where I'd get jealous of her talking to Ezra, even though we weren't together together yet. Now it just seems silly and uncalled for, but it was really because of her and her support that me and Ez became happy.
In the end, I never truly understood why Ezra confided in her so much...
"So I hope you'll forgive me, that I'm only starting to try now, Pyrrha."
Oh boy, I feel stupid, talking to a statue.
"I- I screwed up. You cheered us on so hard, but I never really kept my end of the bargain. You were always there for us, you consoled Ezra when I had my... Ha! Tantrums, and you kept us steady when our boat started to rock."
Tears began to well up in my eyes, as not only the memory of Ezra and me still being a thing came flooding in, but the memory of Pyrrha as well.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed us most. Ezra was, like a true friend. I was too busy moping around in my room. I should have been like you, I should have put forth what my duty actually was instead of feeling sorry for myself, I should have put the people I love first like you did."
But I didn't.
"I was told but an old lady once..."
I rub the necklace around my neck while recall the memory Ezra's grandmother.
"Moments of reflection are good for the soul, but regret solves nothing. Whatever trials you face from being entangled with my grandson, make sure you do things without regret as you move forward, and never look back."
I look up to Pyrrha with a bright smile.
"So I won't... No regrets from now on. Everything I do, I do with passion, like you- like I do."
It was embarrassing at first, but after voicing everything out, it's kind of soothing. Is this why Ezra always talked to Pyrrha all the time? Sheesh, had I only known, I would have bugged her a lot more back then.
"I would love to stay a little longer and chat, but..."
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Jaune, drowning in his sorrows in the nearby bench. I pick up the maple leaf near my boot and raised it up in the air, gently holding on to it in between my fingers.
"One thing I did find curious about you Pyrrha, was that you always reached out your hand to help me and Ezra, but never once followed your own advice when it came to Jaune. Can't say I blame you, so this time let me help you."
I slowly loosen the grip on the leaf as soon as I felt a gust of wind blowing towards Jaune.
"I'm not the only one you need to talk to tonight. We'll meet again someday, Pyrrha. Maybe in another life..."