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Chapter 61: Weekend Plans
For Carmesi Hueso faith was a fundamental part of being, his belief in the righteousness of the cause he had allied himself with and the man orchestrating it to whom he had submitted himself were pillars which allowed the Komodo Dragon Faunus to push forth through any obstacle, granting him a sense of purpose and surety which had taken his childhood grief and raging, bottomless hatred and fashioned into something purer, useful and productive. It was this unwavering faith and fervent determination which had allowed him to stomach the ignominious task he had been left to undertake upon returning from the island Kingdom of Menagerie; despite his grievous injuries at the hand of the specimen that had been captured he had nonetheless been successful and it was galling to the pride of such a fiery and passionate young man that he had been left to coordinate the kind of villains and scum whose mere existence he saw as the bane of all things. Carmesi carried out the tasks Damascus Nero, his Benefactor required of him though not without complaint however, at that present moment on a bright and sunny Saturday morning he was forced to wonder what he might be doing if his life had not taken this course, a course where he could be summoned like a dog by a text message from a deplorable wretch whom he would much preferred to tear limb from limb than interact with.
Especially given that the text message had read simply 'Yo you've gotta come see this shit'.
The individual in question was one of the lowest of the low, not merely a reflection of Carmesi's estimations of the slightly younger man but also a blunt statement of his place within the structure and hierarchy of the disorganised rabble of a street gang with pretensions of grandeur that he was a part of; a pickpocket who made the occasional foray into car-jacking and armed robberies of those least likely to be able to defend themselves, someone whose actions were so distasteful that even his fellow gang members held him in open contempt and tolerated him solely for the Lien he was able to bring to their cause; vague as that notion might be.
To Nero this particular crook was of note solely because the territory he preferred to operate in included the destinations tourists to Neo Vale frequented, gaudy and overpriced spots avoided by the locals most of the time which were situated close to the cities Inter-Kingdom airship terminals, a steady supply of monied, gullible and painfully unaware marks for the thief who prowled the area save for those few days where student Hunters were travelling in larger numbers; entirely unbeknownst to the crook some of his victims had been strategically placed by Damascus Nero, the unidentified backer who had supplied the gang with the means to expand as part of an elaborate ploy to ensure that valuable goods reached their destinations without those carrying them being informed of the fact, a courier would be robbed, the goods would change hands and the gang member the pickpocket handed them over to would in turn be mugged by a member of another gang who were also funded by the same Benefactor albeit in another guise, from there the goods would be seized by the police acting on an anonymous tip and it would be a simple matter for Nero to have their package retrieved from an evidence locker. A convoluted use of time and multiple proxies, though it was undeniably effective in maintaining control and secrecy as it kept the various parties at one another's throats rather than allowing them to realise that they were each being orchestrated for something larger.
Yet none of that was the reason Carmesi had been contacted and their scale-covered nose wrinkled as he regarded the scene in front of him.
"What am I looking at here?" his voice was a low and bassy rumble as he glowered at the thief whose text he had been forced to answer, a hunched and underfed waif barely beyond his teens with buzz-cut hair, nondescript clothing save for leather gloves which looked out of place in the heat and a small pouch-like bag affixed to him a strap running across his body in which he kept his weapons of choice; Carmesi knew that the thief was a fellow Faunus, not that it would spare him any of the rogue Hunter's disgust yet whatever his Faunus attribute might be it remained out of sight as part of an effort to be indescribable to police.
"Not a damn clue but your boss wanted everyone to keep an eye out for anything weird, that's definitely some weird-ass shit"
"That may be the first thing you've said that doesn't make me want to crush your skull" Carmesi noted, allowing his focus to drift away from the petty villain and towards what he had come to see. In a small park, a field as artificial within the city limits surrounded by bars and restaurants catering to those with more lien than sense who sought an example of Vale's culture but had no clue where to look a gathering was taking place; a crowd of several dozen figures clad in ragged black robes with hints of something bone coloured beneath them, a mass of bodies gathered around a focal point with something unseen at the centre and a din spreading out from them which was having a clear effect on the tourists who were beginning to leave or else stare in obvious discomfort, a sound that could not be called singing with any honesty and was more akin to a wailing, primal chant of sorts; what Carmesi noted was that the vast majority of these figures were carrying luggage that implied they intended to travel.
"I mean I heard that noise, saw the outfits and thought I dunno, rock concert full of weirdos or something" the thief continued talking "Then I saw those masks some of 'em are wearing….They're not White Fang exactly but-"
"Worshippers" Carmesi spat the word out with a level of venomous hate so caustic it seemed to sear the air itself, sneering at the criminal he was forced to tolerate and adding "Congratulations, you're no longer the lowest filth in the area….Now leave, the police will be here to move them along shortly and you shouldn't be here when they arrive"
"Thanks for the heads up" the pickpocket, either unaware or uncaring of the scorn he was afforded by the larger Faunus managed to slink out of view with an innate skill that could rival many Semblances, leaving Carmesi to let out a wordless, death-rattle of a snarl before drawing his scroll and making a video call; eyes never leaving the black-clad figures as he did so.
"Carmesi, you have something to report-"
"Say the word and I butcher them here and now" he bared sharp teeth with each word and moved the device in his hand so that Nero could see the assembled group, empty hand twitching towards one of his blades.
"An understandable request but no" Nero shook his head and pursed his lips.
"Fanatics" the Komodo Dragon's voice grew more hostile still "You have my faith and my trust but these people are worse than the scum; I need a reason-"
"Beyond the fact that you could not possibly do what you want to do without being caught and that an action like that in such a pleasant part of the city, on a Saturday morning no less would cause undue alarm?" Nero answered, arching a thin eyebrow to quiet his underling before adding in a more soothing tone
"I knew something of this groups' presence and of your dislike for them; however rest assured they will not be an issue….They're currently gathering for a pilgrimage of sorts, to Menagerie naturally"
"You allied yourself with….this?" there was an accusation in Carmesi's voice which was reigned in by a simple clearing of the older man's throat.
"Nothing so direct, I simply knew from Albion's intelligence gathering that this group of….Fanatics as you called them was planning of travelling to Blackwater Cove, I had him reschedule their flight to arrive at Port Alistair instead so that they can be a problem for Counsel-woman Adel rather than for us" Nero paused, deep in thought and considering things which Carmesi could not be privy to "Though I am curious as to their leadership….I have my suspicions that all is not quite as it seems there"
"If you want them left alone then I'm leaving….I don't trust myself to stand and watch filth like that cavorting in public. Neo Vale is too soft, other Kingdoms would execute them"
With that Carmesi ended the call and gave the group of crazed, wailing worshippers a final glance; hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever leader had piqued Nero's interest so that he might justify his own lack of action at least a little before spitting on the ground in the general direction of the unnerving cult and stalking away.
The dry heat of Menagerie's late summer morning was, as ever anathema to the sensibilities of a born Atlesian raised in the cold of the tundra and intermittent darkness with regulated climates of the Hive-Cities and so Athena-Jade Slate had been reduced to lurking in shadows in a manner that would be far more fitting for her partner, though the Bear Faunus found herself smiling fondly to herself as she noted that Zirconia would likely be able to make it seem far more impressive and more than a little alluring.
She derailed that train of thought before it could gain momentum and continued on her way.
She was fortunately far removed from the bustling commercial hub of the city and the pulsing and endless mass of crowds that would likely be filling it given that it was a Saturday and that late morning was drifting steadily into afternoon, the blistering sun reaching its' zenith overhead. Instead she was in a decidedly upper middle class area of the city and making her way down a familiar street at a leisurely pace, having asked the driver of her taxi to deposit her some distance away to give both a measure of privacy and a chance to stretch her legs with the brief walk to her Aunt's house. Her destination soon came into view and upon reaching it she followed instructions that had been given to her, making her way through a door that was unlocked and opened by an artificial intelligence that registered and identified her as a welcome guest before she had stepped through the front gate then venturing through the house and out into a well maintained garden with rose-bushes alongside several other flowers and the small beginnings of what might have been a strawberry tree; all of which was on the opposite side of the garden to a deliberately cleared area which served as a landing and launchpad for a vehicle that was not present at that moment. It was none of this which attracted Athena-Jade's attention however, her sapphire blue eyes fixed on a much closer sight, namely that of her Aunt Ruby in a floral shirt, worn unbuttoned over a tank-top and a pair of sunglasses whose lenses where vaguely strawberry shaped as she lounged on a comfortable deck chair, an empty chair close by with a table bearing a pitcher of juice and a plate of cookies between them.
"Hey squirt….Nope, doesn't work for me; only Uncle Qrow can make it cool" Ruby finger-gunned at the greeting only to shrug as she devolved into her own musing.
"It think it's the glasses, they take something away from it" Athena laughed as she strode over to where her Aunt was sitting and threw her powerful arms around her shoulders for a crushing hug, finding it returned with equal strength.
"Holy grapes you've gotten strong, I bet you can bench-press your dad now" Ruby chuckled as the two broke apart.
"He'd teleport if I ever tried, then probably kick my ass the next time we sparred" Athena noted, pouring herself a glass of juice "No Aunt Penny?"
"We had to use the school transports for a mission at the start of the week, she took that as incentive to tune up the Pearl and take it out for a test flight….She'll probably be back soon unless Nickel gets wind of it and decides to visit her in mid-air" Ruby answered with a shrug and a faint smile, knowing well that her wife treated the personal craft that the two of them had in fact lived out of for several years with the same degree of love and attention which Ruby showed to Crescent Rose.
"Would have been nice to see her as well, I know I see you in class but it's not the same….You're Professor Rose; I wanted to talk to Aunt Ruby today"
"You can talk to me any time" Ruby assured her niece, lowering her sunglasses to peer over them for a moment as she both caught a hint of some emotion in Athena-Jade's voice and at the same time tried to keep her own words measured despite the welling of pride and gratification "Is something bothering you AJ?"
"I just thought we could paint our nails, try on clothes and talk about cute boys" Athena offered a toothy smirk that could only be described with the words shit-eating as she lounged back in her seat and Ruby let out a slow breath in response, massaging the bridge of her nose.
"I love Weiss, I really do she's one of my oldest friends….But she was an absolute jerk back then" the observation was made without a hint of malice and the faintest hint of laughter found its' way into the words.
"She knows she was, she's said as much" Athena nodded, helping herself to a cookie "I just got reminded about it talking to Summer and TJ last night, they send hugs by the way" the mention of her children made Ruby smile for a moment, she heard from the regularly despite them having moved away for college and having lives of their own beyond Port Alistair but the surprise was a pleasant one, even if the older woman's features did become a little more stern a moment later.
"You're distracting, that's not like you. That means it's serious" Ruby sat up straighter and removed her glasses "What is it….Are you still hurt after that accident in Arslan's class? Is the Fuego girl bothering you again? You haven't gotten into drugs have you?…..You're not preg-"
"No!" Athena exclaimed with a little more force than she'd intended, more indignant than she'd expected "Who would I even-In fact no don't answer that; ugh….It's….Personal stuff, mental I guess….I could have gone to Counsellor Daichi about it but I just, I'd rather it be someone I know"
"Okay, anything you tell me is between the two of us unless it can't be for your own good" Ruby assured her, hearing the halting way her niece spoke and her rare uncertainty that spoke volumes.
"It's with the Vytal Tournament coming up and….Well you know what happened at the last one I went to, you were there at Vale-"
"I think I see where this is going" Ruby refilled her own glass, an excuse to avert her eyes for a moment as painful memories bubbled to the surface "You're worried about reopening some old wounds?"
"I guess that's it" the Bear Faunus shrugged her considerable shoulders "I-I came to Breaktide instead of Atlas so I could try and do my own thing, prove to myself that I'm not just a rich kid coasting on the family name and that I don't need favours….I know that Professor Adel wouldn't give me any but I'm just scared, scared that I'm gonna freak out when I get there and let my team down if I get in the stadium-"
"And you are absolutely entitled to have those worries" Ruby assured her reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder "What happened in Atlas was horrible for a lot of people and having scars afterwards is completely normal"
"I know Felix was claustrophobic for a while" Athena murmured.
"It was hard for him to go anywhere with a forcefield" Ruby nodded "After Vale I was a mess….I thought I'd lost Penny, I did things that I am not proud of because of that. We can all heal, but the healing changes us. For what it's worth I know the student counsellor at Halo Academy and he has first hand experience as well"
"You're assuming that Team MARZ are gonna make it to Vale" Athena managed a grin before a fraction of a second before folding in on herself "Astra offered to take the heat from the rest of the team if I say I don't wanna do it but everyone would know….Are you gonna tell me that you wouldn't be a little bit disappointed if I backed out?"
"I'm telling you that your happiness and well-being comes first" Ruby's tone was stern but warm "If that's the choice you need to make then I won't be disappointed….As much as I would have enjoyed seeing Team MARZ win, but I think you've already made a decision; you just needed some moral support"
"I guess so" Athena admitted with a somewhat guilty smile "I don't wanna let my team down, not Zirconia…."
"So, you two?" Ruby interjected, seeing the fond expression on her nieces' face as the pale girl trailed off at the thought of her partner; that alabaster skin flushing slightly in response.
"I, we're…." Athena-Jade sagged "It's complicated and I don't know if I messed things up".
"I've helped save the world from the Queen of the Grimm, twice. I can do complicated" Ruby beamed "So let's paint our nails, try on clothes and talk about cute girls"
"You suck, you suck so bad; you are the suckiest" Athena intoned dramatically before erupting into giggles "And I'm gonna need something stronger for this"
"I have red and white wine….Do not tell your mother that I let you drink" Ruby's tone was faux serious, dampening the effect of Athena-Jade's initial protestations that she was eighteen years old and could drink legally in both the Kingdom of Atlas and Menagerie; laughing again as she and her aunt retreated out of the stifling heat.
It might be complicated, but Zirconia Shadowmoon was at least a subject Athena would be happy to discuss any time.
An initial plan of jogging through the city as opposed to limiting themselves to the campus of Breaktide Academy had been transformed into something else entirely when Regalia had offered to accompany them and Astra found that they did not mind this development in the slightest.
They had made good headway initially, the residents of the districts closest to the academy moving aside at the sight of a pair of teens with the striking physiques most commonly attributed to Hunters and wearing sweatpants which bore the emblem of Breaktide Academy even if the tank-tops the two of them wore did not, with more than one individual managing to deduce that Astra, with their noticeable antlers was likely the source of the Aura construct which had felled a Grimm on the edge of the city a week ago and calling their thanks after their retreating form.
The two of them had changed course soon enough however once the two, who had elected to skip breakfast had found themselves hungry enough to at least temporarily pause their exercise and from there Regalia had led the way; Clan Aiktishaf had ventured into the city several times during the summer, sifting through wreckage and aiding in the extermination of any lurking Grimm as they searched for trapped survivors, bodies or worrisome issues like gas-leaks with Regalia herself aiding these operations frequently, using both her jetbike and familiarity with at least some parts of that city to great effect; consequently that knowledge of the city had been expanded and this had naturally, predictably to her partner given the Racoon Faunus an intimate knowledge of where to find food in the areas of the city that had been hit the hardest. The route was not one Astra had intended to take however the Deer Faunus could not begrudge the change in destinations, especially not once the nomad proved herself to be as good as her word and led them through a maze of remaining structures, construction and demolition sites, heaps of detritus, road closures and other impediments in order to bring her partner to one of several businesses that had sprung up in the area, the scale of the recovery operations had ensured that the limited amount of cafes and diners that had existed in the area before could be filled to capacity and still not tend to even a third of the hungry workers and so food stalls and trucks had appeared to make the most of the opportunity and it was from one of these new businesses that the two had gotten their breakfast.
Astra could not help but think of it as an oddly profound statement on the tenacity of people, a statement which Regalia had echoed when they had voiced it.
From there things had veered into territory of questionable legality.
"If we get caught we could be in some serious shit" Astra noted "And look I'm normally the reckless one but I feel like getting caught trespassing here is gonna look bad"
"It's not trespassing, it's part of the city and we live in the city….Besides nobody's working here now" Regalia countered as though it were an obvious answer, a product of an upbringing where almost all of the available space was indeed communal.
"That's not…." Astra trailed off and chose to focus on the task of climbing a structure whose stability he was not entirely sure of.
Regalia had led the pair to the gutted remains of a sizeable apartment block which had been half-destroyed by the Creatures of Grimm and then further ravaged by fires that had torn through it in the wake of the initial attack to produce a ruined, twisted and blackened husk of concrete steel and rebar that would certainly need to be demolished and rebuilt entirely at the first opportunity and now the two of them were in the midst of scaling the ruins, moving from remaining stairwells to clambering threw holes in floors and ceiling to traversing exposed lengths of pipes and Atlesian steel girders which had formed the initial superstructure of the tower.
"Come on, we're almost there" Regalia called down as she led the way, a task which Astra noted she had not needed to use her Semblance for which gave them a sense of confidence, it implied that she had done this before and already knew the route; though that confidence was tempered as they watched their partner swing herself out of a window, use the shattered remains of a balcony to leap up onto the floor above and begin crossing a maze of holes where only a small amount of pipes and broken floorboards were in any fit state to be trodden on.
"Will you please be careful" Astra grumbled between huffed breaths as they followed her lead "You're making me dizzy just watching you"
"Heh, it's fine; my people learn to do stuff like this as kids….It's part of the adventure" Regalia answered, bushy tail swishing as she underlined her point by turning to face Astra and skipping backwards over several uncertain footholds before leaping up and grabbing a short length of cabling which had fallen from a hole in the ceiling and led on to the roof; lean and well defined muscles of her arms and abs visibly rippling and coiling beneath her brown skin as she pulled herself upwards with a single motion.
"Now you're doing it on purpose" Astra pouted, the gesture made less effective by the chuckle that escaped them before allowing themselves to be helped up onto the roof of the ruined apartment building.
Allowing them to get a full view of what had become of Port Alistair.
"It's something huh?" Regalia noted as she perched herself on the edge of the roof and patted for Astra to join her which the Deer Faunus did and gazed out at the expanse of apartment buildings, factories and network of roads which stretched from where the breached and largely repaired perimeter wall was located towards the city, all of it intersected by ongoing repair work where cranes and scaffolds surrounded builds like some monstrous mechanical form of creeping ivy.
"It is….I've seen bigger though" Astra admitted.
"I bet you say that to all the girls" if were not for the change in inflection Astra might not have guessed that Regalia were quoting tome movie or other and quickly found themselves with their partners' arm clamped around their shoulders as their laughter and wheezing gasp of utter shock at exactly what had been said threatened to send them over the edge of the roof.
"Okay, maybe we should stand back a little" the Racoon Faunus shrugged, leading Astra to relatively stable ground and sitting on the flat surface of the roof once more "I just liked the view, I found this spot over summer….I can use my Semblance on most of Port Alistair from here, or at least the damaged parts; I could see my people and the city at the same time while the Aiktishaf was here. I wanted to show you something cool before it got knocked down.
"It's definitely cool" Astra nodded, appreciating the gesture for what it was though their words were limited by the fact they were still catching their breath and wiping their watery eyes in a way that smeared their makeup as little as possible "I can't wait to show you the views in Neo Vale, you'll love it"
"Is it as big as they say?"
"Do you say that to all-" their attempt to turn their partners own joke back against her was met with a playful shove which Regalia followed up with a long stretch of her arms overhead, abs flexing once again as she spoke.
"Port Alistair is the biggest place I've ever seen and everyone says Neo Vale is bigger….My people gave me these new goggles with a built in mask because they're worried there either won't be enough air in the highest parts of that the air is poison"
"Okay that last part is a little bit rude, can't lie" Astra snorted good naturedly, taking a moment to adjust the porcelain-white frame that sculpted their antler as it regrew and massage the point where the appendage met flesh "But yeah Neo Vale is huge, take this entire area of the city and then stack it on top of itself a few dozen times, then make a few dozen more of the stacks you end up with. The crazy part is that it's actually less populated now; after the war when some of the Hive-Towers and the wall were destroyed we expanded outwards but a lot of people moved to the other settlements that were being built, so it's a bigger city with less people in….And it's still probably three times as busy as Port Alistair on a slow day"
"That sounds….Exciting" Regalia admitted, the claustrophobic notions that might plague another listener being far less effective to someone raised aboard a roving dune crawler and far too little to outweigh the notion of travelling to one of the largest cities on Remnant, one with a rich tradition of producing outstanding movies and Hunters of a legendary calibre.
"Wait until you see the anti-grav platforms, your Semblance will be able to pick up everything from there" Astra added "Halo Academy is actually based on one"
"You think we'll actually be able to qualify for the tournament?" Regalia asked hesitantly "I want to try but, we're gonna be up against the best-"
"We're Team MARZ, we are the best" Astra answered reflexively before pausing, a momentary look of doubt on their features as they considered Athena's position and their promises to her before nodding again "Yeah, yeah I think we can qualify and win the whole damn tournament"
"The stuff dreams are made of" Regalia breathed out with a wistful smile on her face as she considered the idea, pausing before she added "Did you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
"Not really, maybe train more….Maybe have a luck round a few scrapyards and see if there's any busted cars I can pick up with the lien I made over the summer; it wasn't even enough for second hand really so I'm gonna have to pick up a real busted piece of shit and fix it up"
"Bad news" Regalia winced.
"Seriously?" Astra's expression was openly galled.
"Yeah, repair work means scrap metal prices are going up; they can melt down old cars faster than they can import the amount of steel they need….heh, my people traded for a lot of it as well" Regalia was apologetic, seeing the way Astra visibly sagged at the realisation that a plan had crumpled and patting their back in response.
"Ah well" the Deer Faunus shrugged "You know what we should do though….But it's gonna mean getting to the ground and coming back up here"
"This sounds like one of your crazier plans, I'm listening" Regalia laughed, deciding that this might be one of the rare situations where she could allow herself to enable her partner, this was after all hardly a high risk situation.
"We've gotta get drunk" Astra nodded sagely, explaining as they saw the surprised look on their partners' face "Seriously, it's a Neo Vale tradition….Teenagers sneak into places they're not supposed to be all the time; if you sneak into a building site or somewhere like that to hang out then you've gotta get drunk there, it's a rite of passage. No good drinks either, I don't care if we're old enough to go to a bar….This has to be done with a bottle of the cheapest, nastiest shit that claims to be cider but is lying about that you can find; White Lightning, Frosty Jack or something like that"
"That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard" Regalia let out a barking laugh before hopping to her feet "It's a good thing I'm not riding Clunker….Let's do it"
Astra noted that despite that they had claimed their plans for the weekend would likely have otherwise involved moping and trying to avoid Wolfram and that getting drunk and enjoying some harmless teenage idiocy with their best friend was a far greater use of their time and that they were immeasurably thankful for Regalia's continued friendship.
Having Wolfram Ironside as a team leader had meant that the other members of Team WULF had been forced to become accustomed to a rigorous and demanding regime of self improvement, a prime example of this being that it was already passed noon on the first Saturday since students had returned to Breaktide Academy and the four teens were still in the campus's admittedly impressive gym. To Wolfram himself it was therapeutic, though he could see the steadily mounting irritation on each of his friends' faces and decided that he would grant them a reprieve in short order; a decision aided in no small part by the particular viciousness of Diabla's latest barrage as the two traded blows in what was intended to be a light sparring session.
The Mantle-born fighter as always having a slightly different understanding of the term.
In the brief moments between exchanges Wolfram managed to cast a steely grey eye around the gym and see that Laser had left the pull-up bar where he had been showcasing the surprising grip and upper body strength years of scuttling through the Vaccuan Overspill had granted to his deceptively lean frame and was now making conversation with a group of students who had brought a pair of expensive looking speakers to attach to their scroll, the sight gave Wolfram a fleeting moment of pause as he noted he should probably interjected before his questionable team-mate to the opportunity to steal from a classmate. Ursinia was also close by and had in fact managed to draw an audience which Wolfram noted might otherwise have been more interesting in his ongoing sparring match, the Scorpion Faunus being in the midst of a set of squats and holding a barbell with a truly ludicrous amount of weight on it whilst her fellow students, many of them the new intake of First Years cheered, yelled encouragement and in several cases blushes so fiercely it was almost indecent.
Wolfram could not pay attention to his surroundings for long however as Diabla' right fist rushed by his left cheek with frightening force.
"Hey, calm the fuck down!" he urged, words having an undeniable bite to them as he was forced to remain on the defensive when Diabla followed the motion of her punch into a sidestep and spinning elbow strike from the opposite arm with enough force to make Wolfram slide back even as he blocked with his forearms, a definite escalation beyond light sparring.
"Stop getting distracted" Diabla countered bluntly, continuing her spin into a roundhouse kick which Wolfram checked with a simple rise of his leading leg "They're not even here anyway"
"Okay that was below the belt….Ursinia put you up to this?" Wolfram snarled, the implications and insinuations being obvious enough to grasp and rankling enough to send him out on the offensive once again; left jab being blocked by his team-mate only for a follow up right hook to glance off her chin as she sought to shift her weight and as his arms moved back into a guarded position Wolfram managed to grab Diabla by the shoulders briefly enough to deliver a knee to the sternum and press the advantage with a heel kick to the chest only for the onslaught to be halted by a wild backhand from Diabla forcing the two fighters apart and leaving them circling one another.
"We both know it's not her style; she was….Fixing to give you a good and stern talking to mind you" the way that Diabla switched into a passable approximation of Ursinia's distinctive country drawl, something she had ample time to listen over the summer caught Wolfram off guard and nearly had him laughing out loud despite himself, only for the unexpected attempt at a joke to be followed up with a much more expected haymaker which he weaved around, retaliating with a few quick jabs in the process.
"No, Ursinia and Laser and worried about you" Diabla couldn't help but sneer a little as she continued "And normally I wouldn't make it my business, but you dragged us all here so now you're getting in the way of my plans for the weekend just because you can't work out how to talk to your ex….Dick move to be honest"
"You had plans?" Wolfram snorted, a mixture of annoyance, taunting and genuine surprise in his tone with the latter being a largely fair response given Diabla's usual aversion to most attempts her classmates had made to socialise with her.
"Fuck off" Diabla spat, reigning her agitation in enough to manage a fierce grin which quickly wavered and gave way to something more self conscious than Wolfram could remember seeing from her "I was gonna gonna call Huckleberry today, just talk for a while"
"Well, thank me for the workout then. You can take some thirst trap photos and-" Wolfram snorted, not even managing the salacious wink they had intended before Diabla cut them off with a roundhouse that was in turn a feint for a high kick which caught him in the cheek and sent him staggering back several paces.
"You deserved that" she noted flatly.
"Yeah probably" Wolfram shrugged, taking it in his stride.
"Now are you gonna stop fucking with my business and handle your own" Diabla demanded "You're acting like a dumb-ass avoiding Astra, especially when they clearly want to work things out"
"Yeah but I don't know…." Wolfram raised their hands in abject defeat yet Diabla was not so cruel as take advantage and land another blow "I'm not good at this-"
"And you think I am?" his team-mate shot back "Figure it out, quickly….You're making an idiot of yourself, which is a shame 'cos I do actually like and respect you"
"Don't get soft on me now Diabla, we've got a Vytal Tournament to win; I need that killer instinct of yours" Wolfram saw her glower at that and decided to change tact a little and followed up with a half-joking challenge "Tell you what, I was planning on staying here for most of the day but if you can floor me this round I'll call it a day for the whole team-"
"Done" Wolfram barely saw her move, she was simply circling him and waiting for an opening one instant and then in the next he was laying flat on his back with a panting and sweat-covered Diabla straddling him after she dived across the space between them and tackled him to the ground, seizing his upper legs and denying him any chance to counter.
"Okay fine, deal's a deal" Wolfram couldn't help but laugh faintly whilst Diabla hopped back to her feet and was already in motion, stepping towards her gym bag before he had finished speaking; running a hand through her hair and working out a crick in her neck as she called back to him.
"Now stop being an idiot and fix your damn problems"
"You got it" Wolfram's stomach lurched at that, but they were thankful nonetheless. He suspected Diabla was honest when she said that neither of the other members of Team WULF had put her up to this intervention of sorts, largely because she would not need to be convinced to do so by anyone outside of herself. Despite the way they often butted heads the leader of Team WULF was immensely thankful for his stern and unrelenting friend and the way she brooked no argument and tolerated no nonsense.
She was admittedly scary, but Wolfram convinced himself that it was simply how she had learned to show affection.
Zirconia Shadowmoon was, somewhat unusually for a Saturday afternoon still within Team MARZ's dormitory.
The Grasshopper Faunus had not been confined to such a limited space all day however and had ventured to the campus shooting range after breakfast for a session with multiple purposes, firstly it had been exactly as it had seemed on the surface with Zirconia impressing those around her, especially the new freshman students through a display of her expert marksmanship, her ability to program new settings, parameters and challengers into the targeting systems of the range to challenge herself further and in no small part the overall charisma with which she carried herself. Secondly the foray had been a chance to subtly check on the status of the limited amount of backdoors she had managed to install into the academies' systems over the course of the last year, allowing herself some idea of exactly what tools she would have at her disposal in her efforts to follow her guardians' instructions and see what the Professors knew of Gestalt-Prime's continued existence and from there she had taken the calculated risk of venturing towards the staffroom and loitering outside, listening to the few members of the faculty who had made themselves available despite it being a weekend on the off chance that one of them might utter something which she could report; this had ultimately proved fruitless yet Zirconia did not consider the effort entirely wasted as she had at least managed to briefly discuss one of her assignments with the relevant teacher upon being spotted.
Once she had been identified remaining in the immediate vicinity had been deemed too great of a risk and so Zirconia had made her way back to her teams' dormitory and produced a rarely used or even seen, yet impressive laptop from the bottom of her suitcase where it had been hidden beneath layers of protective padding and plugged her scroll into the device; from there she began using experimenting and using the backdoors she had planted into the automated yet customisable aspects of the campus such as the firing range and the outdoor training area as an angle of attack to gain greater access into the greater bulk of the data she required.
After some time it became painfully clear to Zirconia that her efforts would be for nought and that she alone, whilst skilled did not have the time or resources to breach the countless layers of security that had been put in place; she had once tried to hack Velvet Scarlatina's laptop and she had thought the even had given her an idea of what to expect in terms of resistance yet it had become clear to the rogue within mere minutes that the defensive measures of Breaktide Academy had been improved astronomically, which she noted was likely in no small part a result of her own failed attempt to steal from Coco Adel's office. Accepting defeat, albeit with that being an indication of something in of itself Zirconia had returned her laptop to its' hiding place and begun looking for another way to occupy what remained of her Saturday afternoon.
Just in time for Athena-Jade to enter the dormitory.
"I thought you were visiting your Aunt?" Zirconia noted calmly, privately glad that she had hidden the laptop when she did as there was still too much to be unpacked between them before the Bear Faunus was made aware of certain truths.
"I did" Athena nodded as she made her way over to their bunks and leaned against the frame "Professor Adel contacted Aunt Ruby and Penny, said they needed them to come in for a meeting….I got a ride back though"
"Did Professor Adel mention what the meeting was about?" Zirconia waited with bated breath until Athena shook her head and stretched.
"Aunt Ruby thinks some of the new kids have probably gotten into the city somewhere or something dumb like that….Did you do anything fun today, you haven't been cooped up in here all day right?" Zirconia noted the slight difference in her partners' tone to its' usual refined Upper Atlesian dialect, the emphasis on certain sounds and roughness of others being much more common to the Lower Atlas dialect her father likely still spoke which, combined with the slight flesh which crept from her cheeks down her neck and passed her collarbones brought her to the realisation that Athena was slightly tipsy, which was quickly followed by thoughts regarding her Aunts' ability to fly whilst intoxicated before she realised that she had been simply staring at the shorter girl without answering for an inordinate amount of time.
"I visited the range, spoke to some of the Professors about assignments"
"On our first weekend off?" Athena gasped in mock horror "Hops if I'd known you were at a loose end I would have asked you to come with me, it might have made some things easier….Or actually it might have ruined some things completely….Never mind, forgot I-"
"Athena is something bothering you?" Zirconia asked hesitantly, catching the way that her partners' eyes had dropped midway through her uncharacteristic rambling and failed to meet her own since, the snowy haired and pale girl looking anywhere but at her. The question however was enough for sapphire eyes to once again meet mismatched pink and orange, a bittersweet, almost pained smile on Athena-Jade's face as she let out a sigh.
"I wanted to apologize for kissing you before….It was a mistake"
"Oh" Zirconia's shoulders sagged under a crushing, yet entirely internal weight that slumped her entire body into an undignified slouch and yet Athena continued onwards, eyes closing as though trying to visualise the next words in a speech she had prepared beforehand.
"I….I think you're great Hops, I really do and I've like you as more than a partner, more than a friend for a while. But I shouldn't have done what I did, it was the wrong time and I put you on the spot….I guess I made you uncomfortable and that's why things have been-"
"Athena-Jade Slate will you please stop talking and making a fool of yourself, you magnificent idiot" Zirconia's rasped words were filled with exasperation and adoration in equal measure in a way that was impressive given that her voice did not raise above its' usual quiet murmur; yet still brought her partner to a total and complete halt, an almost hopeful expression on her face.
"Can I try that again?" she managed a toothy, wavering smile and Zirconia repositioned herself and patted the spot beside her on her bed, indicating for Athena to join her; then swiftly continuing to speak as the shorter but more muscular girl sat beside her and stiffened reflexively so as to not accidentally invade her partners' space.
"What happened….Mistake isn't the word I'd use" Zirconia's brow furrowed and she swallowed thickly, forcing herself to ignore the way her heart hammered in her chest as she sought out the words she needed "It was a surprise and perhaps the timing was….Questionable-"
"I, we were leaving for the summer and after everything that had happened I told myself I was gonna try and be honest about my feelings and I felt like I was running out of time" Athena admitted.
"Then allow to me be honest in return" Zirconia exhaled slowly, realising that this was a decision that could not be unmade no matter the consequences "I haven't had much, or rather any experience in dating and romance or anything like that….I do know that I have feelings for you, I also know that I don't let just anybody kiss me-"
"I-"
"However" Zirconia pushed through the interjection "….I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what these feelings lead to"
"Oh" Athena-Jade's eyes widened "Oh!"
"Unless you'd rather forget this entire-"
"No!" the Bear Faunus tired to measure how forceful she sounded at that, hoping she did not sound pushy or desperate before adding "I mean I haven't exactly, I mean I don't….Okay, let me do this properly. Zirconia, can I take you on a date sometime?"
"On one condition" Zirconia flashed her a lopsided smirk as she caught the brief hesitation on her partners' face "Let's not call it a date, it will make things awkward….Especially if the press find out"
"Deal" Athena-Jade laughed, fighting the urge fist-pump enthusiastically or let out a whoop; though making no effort to fight the urge to reach out and rest her hand on top of Zirconia's, blushing intently as her partner laced their fingers together slowly and leaned comfortably against her shoulder and bicep.
Ruby and Penny Rose were largely unsurprised to see that Velvet Scarlatina was sharing her wife's office as the two of them entered, it was after all a weekend and as such the usual duties each of them shared as members of the faculty should by rights have been set aside, making this meeting an exception the norm which both Ruby and her wife were eager to hear an explanation for. Ruby had received word from her employer and long-time friend whilst she and Athena-Jade had been lounging in the yard of the Rose family home, returning to it with a salad and bottle of wine only for Coco to cut the enjoyable afternoon short with a short scroll conversation requesting her presence which had been followed by another call from Penny, the copper haired android informing her that she was already aware of the situation and was making her way back from the settlement of Maiden-Gate which was steadily nearing completion where she had been visiting Nickel, who had taken several refugees from Port Alistair into her fold. In short order the Pearl had come soaring into view and brought the two women, along with Athena-Jade to the academy.
And Ruby would be lying if she said the sight of Velvet sat on Coco's lap didn't irk her just a little bit given the circumstances.
"Oh no don't get up for us, it's fine" she snorted, managing the impressive feat of rolling a cybernetic eye as Velvet hopped into a standing position with a barely perceptible squeak and a guilty expression plastered across her face; Penny merely smiled and waved good naturedly whilst Coco matched Ruby's eye roll with one of her own that was visible over the rims of sunglasses she lowered just for the effect whilst treating her friends and comrades to a weary, yet unmistakably feral smile.
"I wouldn't have called you in but it's time sensitive….But I did prepare a piece offering to compensate" she said as Ruby and Penny drew close, reaching under her expensive and overlarge desk to produce a bottle of wine far more valuable than what Ruby had been previously enjoying, along with a sizeable plate of nachos.
"She stole Reese's leftovers out of the staffroom fridge….Again" Velvet snorted.
"Should I be more concerned that you make a habit of stealing from your employees, or that this is what friend Reese considers to be leftovers?" Penny noted with a smirk as she took a seat and adjusted her sundress whilst Ruby remained standing, draping her arms over her wife's freckled shoulders and fighting the urge to let out a sigh for the sake of professionalism.
"So what's the emergency? I haven't heard sirens for a Grimm attack, no radio chatter about attacks anywhere else either" the implication that this was an undue intrusion into her free time being unmissable, though followed up with a joking comment "If you wanted to hang out Coco you could have said"
"One day I will have time to take you up on that" the slightly older woman snorted.
"Are any of the students in immediate danger"
"Only if they keep trying to mess with my programming" Velvet grumbled, catching the questioning looks being cast her way and adding "Someone brushed up against firewalls earlier, given where it came from it was almost certainly one of the new kids trying to change their high score on the shooting range to show off for someone….We need to put a warning against that in the handbooks we give out at orientation"
"None of the students read those" Ruby shook her head.
"The point is" Coco cleared her throat, getting the conversation back on topic "That the students are fine, I called you in because I received word from a concerned citizen, which I had Qrow verify and I wanted to get a second opinion on something before I take any definite action….And maybe ask one of you for a favour"
"Come and look at this" Velvet waved the pair over and began opening a series of images on Coco's computer as Ruby and Penny stepped around the desk, giving the pair of newcomers time to properly take in what Coco and Velvet had already seen and discussed to some extent.
"Who was the concerned citizen?" Penny asked, expression mildly revolted as she studied the images.
"Damascus Nero of all people" Coco noted almost offhandedly "This little get together made a few of his people late for work and messed up a few deliveries, when he chased up the reason he passed information on to Halo Academy to ask if there was anything that could be done about such an obvious breach of the piece"
"Interesting" Ruby murmured "I mean, it fits the whole 'stupidly rich guy being annoyed at inconveniences' routine and from what we know of Nero he does genuinely care about Vale….If Qrow is still interested in sounding him out this might be a good opportunity to make contact"
"Indeed" Penny nodded in agreement with her wife's assessment before turning to Coco "But in the short term, how does this affect us?"
"Because that group is on their way here" the Headmistress grimaced "Their flight to Blackwater Cove has been redirected and they'll be landing at Port Alistair later tonight"
"Should we be combat ready?" Penny enquired, once again studying the group of several dozen individuals clad in ragged black robes and masks clearly styled to evoke the Creatures of Grimm yet in a far more primal and deliberately primitive fashion than those once worn by White Fang militants, all of whom seemed to be gathered around the focal point of a single female figure whose face was similarly obscured; the entire affair putting Penny in mind of some of the fringe religious sects that could be found in the outermost reaches of Vaccuan territory, where they had fled to avoid persecution for their incomprehensible and often-times deeply unsettling beliefs, yet even those desert cults seemed far less organised and distinctly less well funded and mobile than whatever this sight truly was.
"They won't be staying here long" Coco answered, in a tone that suggested that this fact was less comforting than one would expect.
"The group have some amount of funding and coordination" Velvet added "They cancelled hotels and transport from Blackwater and already booked fresh transport from Port Alistair, they've rented a pair of buses, no drivers which have been left at the airship terminals; everything is above board but where they're going raises some eyebrows….the crater"
"The crater?" Ruby's eyebrows rose and her knuckles clenched at the mention of the gaping chasm inflicted like a wound into the centre of Menagerie; a veritable pit of corruption whose source or influence could never quite be located or carved out no matter what weapon was used against it which had existed for almost thirty years now in a state of near total stasis and consistency, a bleak monument marking the place where Salem's living fortress had once stood.
"It's not illegal to go there, plenty have people have gone for research purposes….Granted not all of them came back" Coco said, adjusting her glasses as she added "But, given the specifics of this group….well-"
"You're right to be suspicious" Ruby nodded, silently noting that the only reason that the Crater had not been cordoned off was for fear of inadvertently unearthing or awakening any truly heinous creations that Salem had left behind in her first defeat, something which Ruby might have missed during her battle against the Queen of the Grimm which had led to roads and settlements being built in a way that deliberately avoided the place and further to that, the only reason that access to the Crater had not been forbidden was that thus-far even the most foolhardy of thrill-seekers had chosen to avoid it.
"So the question is how do we handle it" Velvet sighed, summing up the matter succinctly, to which Coco replied.
"It looks like they're planning on driving overnight, but that's still going to take them plenty of time to get there. I think we should have someone rendezvous with them and try to get a feel for what they're doing or talk them out of it….Legally of course, don't directly threaten them" she paused and considered "I was also thinking that taking Teams MARZ and WULF along might be a good idea?"
"Why?" Ruby asked, teeth grinding even as she forced herself to reserve judgement.
"We agreed last year that those two teams are going to be given additional training, they've got the drive and the ability for it, as well as the knack for finding trouble" Coco paused, waiting for silent nods of ascent "So it makes sense, I don't expect this situation to turn violent….those people are freaks and idiots but they're not dangerous, they've all got valid ID which we ran, they've got faces under those masks. This should be a lesson for the students to learn how to deal with belligerent, but not directly hostile people; let's be realistic with each other Ruby so far most of their interactions with people in a professional setting have turned nasty"
"Okay, I'll admit that makes some sense" Ruby nodded, allowing herself to relax a fraction "So who's taking them out?"
"I was honestly looking forward to going myself and helping Velvet" Coco shrugged "But other issues came up….Penny, would you?"
"It would be sensational" the copper haired woman beamed.
"Don't be so sure, you've had teenagers….It's gonna be a surprise mission first thing on a Sunday morning" even that comment from Coco however was not enough to dampen Penny's spirits; a condition which Coco couldn't help but envy a little.
Astra Mars was fully prepared to admit that they were perhaps a little too drunk for their own good by the time they, along with Regalia had returned to Breaktide Academy.
The Racoon Faunus had, somewhat predictably set off in the direction of the canteen within moments of them both half-sauntering, half staggering through the main gate although Astra felt that they could reasonably be blamed for that as they, as the more experienced drinker of the cheap and decidedly unpleasant swill common to all teenage recklessness had noted that food, preferably a mixture of carbs and grease would ease the effects and prevent the following morning from being too uncomfortable; with that Regalia had departed slurring her words only slightly as she offered to get Astra something as well. The leader of Team MARZ, whilst thanking their partner for acquiring food that would certainly be enjoyed had opted for another tried and tested method of hangover mitigation, that of continued exposure to cold fresh air and so had wandered mostly aimlessly throughout the peripheries and outermost nooks and crannies of the expansive fortress-like campus until finally coming to a halt on one of the many bridges and walkways between two raised points and leaning against the railings as they stared outwards at the city.
The sights Regalia had shown them from the vantage point she had found had been impressive but this was equally so and Astra couldn't help but feel a little homesick as they took in the sights and sounds of Port Alistair at night.
Darkness fell and the glaring, blazing sunlight was replaced by the overhead lighting of the campus in the immediate vicinity, with street-lights placed around the grounds towards the front and both blinking lights intended to guide arriving aircraft at the various landing pads and floodlights around the outdoor training areas to the rear. In the city itself Astra could see myriad lights including, if they strained their eyes the various neon displays of various nightclubs which stretched into the sky all whilst the night air grew steadily colder, enough for Astra to pull their leather jacket around themselves more tightly but not enough for them to retreat indoors. Taking in slow and steady breaths of cold air to steady themselves and feeling the dull fogginess of poor quality alcohol starting to slowly fade away the Deer Faunus had turned away from enjoying the view, first sending messages to their parents individually and letting them both know how their first week back in Menagerie had gone and then after that fiddling with the device in a more unfocused way that saw them turning their attention towards listings for used vehicles for sale only to let out an annoyed sigh as they were inevitably disappointed, Regalia's earlier words proving true as the rising price of scrap metal pushed even vehicles that Astra would never allow themselves to be seen in entirely out of their meagre price range.
"That bad huh?" the voice was familiar and one that made Astra freeze, eyes widening a fraction before they forced their expression into one of neutrality, or as close to it as they could manage and turned to face Wolfram, mildly annoyed for perhaps the first time that they had to look up to meet his eye.
"Hi" they managed, pleased that they didn't sound quite as lost or feeble as they suddenly felt in that moment but still having no idea what exactly they should say, being reduced to the single word non-answer as they searched for any sought of clue in their ex-boyfriends' demeanour; being caught off-guard somewhat by the fact that Wolfram looked almost as unsure as they did.
"So uh….Something bothering you?" he nodded vaguely at the scroll in Astra's hands, toying with his hair in a way which Astra might have realised that he had picked up from them unconsciously if they had been in any state of mind to notice such things, instead they merely let out another sigh and angled the device so Wolfram could seen the screen.
"Had a licence for a year and haven't seen a car in my price range that isn't falling apart yet; it's even worse now"
"Yeah the scrap metal prices went up….Laser was a pain in the ass over the summer, determined to get every last nut and bolt he could weigh in" Wolfram chuckled and shook his head, no doubt remembering some choice moments between the two of them "Still, they'll probably drop again in a few months"
"Did you come looking for me just to talk about second-hand cars and economics?" Astra fought to sound nonchalant, only to be left fighting the urge to wince as they realised that the result was far more harsh and dismissive than they had intended; Wolfram for his part paused and was visibly shocked despite his own efforts to mask the way the comment had stung, shrugging slightly and taking a spot beside Astra as he spoke again.
"Diabla gave me a stern talking to, told me I've been acting like a dumb-ass and causing problems by trying to avoid a problem. I don't want that, so here we….Doing this"
"Whatever this is" Astra breathed out, trying desperately not to sound bitter.
"Yeah" Wolfram nodded and swallowed thickly "Whatever this is….And it can't be what it used to be"
"I know" Astra's voice cracked "I know and I shouldn't be upset by it, I should have accepted it over the summer but damn it….Wolfie I didn't even fully come to terms with the fact I love you until after I fucked everything up"
"I….Please don't make this harder than it needs be" Wolfram's voice was low and quiet, yet still undeniably pleading "Because I love you too Astra, always did and if we get back together then we're just gonna keep hurting each other and fucking things up until we hate each other….I don't want that"
"Neither do I" Astra screwed their eyes shut "So what happens now….We just carry on not talking in class?"
"I was hoping….that maybe we could be friends, I hate to say it like this because it sounds like something it isn't but we brought out the best in each other when we were friends; we both need that right now" Wolfram studied Astra's features and their new darker attire and styling for a moment before adding "Unless you wanted to just ignore-"
"No friends sounds…." Astra trailed off "I think I can manage that"
"Things are gonna be weird no matter what we do" Wolfram sighed leaning against the railing of the walkway and staring up at the broken moon "No hard feelings?"
"Nah….I've got no right to be upset really" Astra shook their head, before Wolfram could comment on that they changed topic "How did you find me?"
"Saw Regalia in the canteen, she said you needed some air and you weren't in your usual spot in the bleachers" Wolfram shrugged. Astra was about to answer that, most likely with an observation that Regalia was likely trying to repay the damage done with their previous discussion with Wolfram the previous semester yet before they could speak the brief silence was intruded upon by the sounds of two scrolls vibrating in unison; the two team leaders quickly checking their devices and seeing that they had received identical messages.
"Extra training on a Sunday morning with no warning beforehand?" Wolfram demanded indignantly "That's some bullshit, what if I'd been out at a bar tonight?"
"Definitely bullshit…..It's a punishment and I haven't even done anything wrong yet; I haven't had time!" Astra exclaimed, with an utter sincerity to the final part of their comment which left Wolfram doubled over with laughter.
That moment alone doing an unbelievable amount of work to heal the rift between them, even if things would never be what they once had.
Author's Notes:
So, first week of second year is done and we have some plot, some teasers, some cuteness and most importantly some catharsis….What else could you want on a Saturday.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I feel like we can all relate to Carmesi here, like no matter how much you believe in your cause there are days that make you think "For fuck sake, really?"
Nothing good can come a text message like that.
Some insight into how Nero keeps all these different factions from realising they all work for the same person and that they're being used….He's basically laundering smuggled goods through them.
So, a cult of some sort; naturally they're going to have some part to play later on….I've got a definite aesthetic in mind for them that I'm gonna enjoy putting into words.
The question is, how fucked do they have to be for Nero to consider Carmesi's request "Reasonable".
AJ really cannot get Zirconia off her mind, she's got it bad.
Yes Ruby is in her late forties and a respected, even legendary Huntress….Which is exactly why she can wear strawberry shaped sunglasses, who's gonna say shit?
Ruby will never have the same vibe as Qrow no matter how old and bad-ass she gets.
Holy grapes, bless the DC comics.
Yes AJ just said that, because it's one of those canon lines that should be referenced.
Even the cool Aunt has to be cringe at least once…..The fact it was immediately followed by support means she gets a point back.
"I've helped save the world from the Queen of the Grimm, twice. I can do complicated" humble brag of the year.
Ruby is an aunt with wine, but not a wine aunt.
I feel like Hunter academy uniforms or tracksuits are a well recognised thing in any of the Kingdoms' capital cities and anyone with sense immediately moves out of the way.
It doesn't matter how bad the world gets, in the midst of any war, natural disaster or whatever else….There will be someone selling some absolutely filthy fast-food and that is a sign of human tenacity that tells me that we're gonna be okay.
Ah the Nomad rules or ownership.
I'm not even sure where the idea of having them hang out in a ruined building came from, probably at least partly inspired by the post-Leviathan stuff in Worm, cos that city got wrecked….Also a fun chance to show that Regalia is just like the kids from Clan Aiktishaf that Grapeshot saw, her spacial awareness and agility are insane.
"I bet you say that to all the-" because what are limits and decorum really?
Astra's reaction to hearing what Clan Aiktishaf think of Neo Vale was funny.
"We're Team MARZ, we are the best" they said what they said.
The stuff dreams are made of….Because Regalia needed a movie quote here.
No car for Astra yet, the team will have to make do with getting towed on a glyph like they have been.
Astra's way of thinking is straight from my misspent youth….You find yourself in a random location where you absolutely shouldn't be? Well then you've got three choices, get drunk, fuck or graffiti the place.
Yeah Wolfram is a taskmaster, you're only getting a Saturday off if Blackwater Cove's football team are playing.
They're second years now….Which means there are a whole class of First Years who want six and a half foot tall, buff country girl Scorpion Senpai to notice them; as they should.
Diabla going country, now there's something you didn't know you needed.
"You had plans?" harsh, but not unjustified consdiering.
Wolfram absolutely deserved that kick for the thirst trap comment.
"Done" and tackled him to the ground instantly….What do you even say back to that.
Zirconia is doing her double agent routine, giving us a little idea of just how good she is at it….But ultimately getting nothing of any immediate use and not being able to hack into anything restricted like Coco's computer, which is definitely not integrated into the main academy system the way you'd expect given that she uses it for shady cabal stuff.
"Did Professor Adel mention what the meeting was about?" not even trying to be subtle.
Hops stop using her being flushed as an excuse to stare at her chest.
Oh you thought I was going to have these two continue to be dorks who don't know how to communicate indefinitely and fall into cliché nonsense? Nah, we communicate over here.
Not-date pending, prepare for adorable.
Ruby was wine-tipsy on her weekend off, her wife was gonna be home soon and they had the house to themselves….Ruby was, let's be entirely honest here down to give/receive an absolute railing that lasted until Sunday morning and then work called and wrecked that plan.
Reese getting her food stolen is gonna become a recurring joke, I can sense it.
So Velvet saw Zirconia brush up against the improved security, but given that it looked like was coming from the firing range and that it was the first weekend of term, it looked like a new student fucking around.
So here it is, Nero has made the cult of fanatics who we know nothing of yet Coco's problem by having their flight redirected and then making sure Coco knows about it.
The Crater….The sight of Salem's old fortress; because why wouldn't creepy black-robed bone-masked people want to go there.
Coco's logic works, so now we're getting some more team bonding and extra training.
Both cold fresh air and carbs are great for dealing with being drunk.
Well, at least they're talking now….But dear God that initial awkwardness.
"Whatever this is" taste that? That's bitterness.
So there we have a brief heart to heart or at least an attempt at one, let's see how that pans out in the long run.
Both Astra and Wolfram are right in their responses….For my younger readers, those of you who haven't entered the workforce yet; take this advice from your grizzled old Uncle Pariah: Make sure that your managers understand two things about overtime, that it requires a 36 hour minimum heads up, if they want you in on Saturday morning then they need to tell you on Thursday afternoon and secondly that it is always optional, they're asking not telling.
Thank you to Lurkweed for their reviews on the last chapter.
Less 'Fantasy radiation', more 'Fantasy asbestos or blacklung'...Ruby's already in her late forties at this point, given the shortened life expectancies of Hunters she's probably got nothing to worry about.
Yeah Nero's trusting Zirconia's judgement and letting her try and convert AJ as a side-project, it's not part of the plan but it doesn't conflict with it directly.
I think AJ has definite reason to be gunshy about the tournament.
I've honestly got no plans to have Diabla meet her parents again, I feel like there's a point where there just can't be any healthy reconciliation and it would be better for her to just move on and grow.
I think I've said it before but Silco from Arcane has a definite similarity to what I was aiming for with Nero's vibes long before I saw Arcane...He's doing a lot of underhanded shit, but it's for a cause that he genuinely thinks will make things better and he does love his adopted daughter.
Yeah, AJ and Hops is gonna be a whole thing.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.