Watching the outside pass by through the window of an airship, Kagami sighed, lowering her head down as she leaned back, clutching a cup of warm tea in her hands. She had to look away from the city that was now in tatters. Smoke was still rising up from some of the buildings in the distance.
"So... Beacon has fallen along with the world's next generation of Hunstmen and Huntresses... Vale is in a war zone with Grimm and criminals raging... countless people have been killed and are injured right now... Fid and Fif are dead and Prac's ran away back to Mistral... Maya is some double agent who had us all fooled but actually does care for us... and Valentine is actually some innocent woman named Val who was thrown into hell..." She sighed again, her shoulders dropping as she shut her eyes. She let her head lower until her face was over her cup and let the steam rise up through her nostrils. "I'd liked everything a year ago a lot better..."
She opened her eyes, looking up at her teammates. Elise and Cheyenne were both standing, leaning up against opposite walls while Kris was sitting down and leaning back with an arm around her injured stomach.
"And to make things even worse," Kagami leaned back until she was laying down. She gently rested her cup of tea on top of her chest, breathing softly. "I was such a damn jack ass!" She clutched the cup tight and for a moment, it looked as if it was about to shatter.
The area team MACE was in fell silent, the sound of the engine roaring and the wind rushing outside was the only noise that succeeded in breaking the silence for a very long time. Finally, Cheyenne slowly lifted her head, looking up. "It's not your fault..." She spoke quietly.
"It was all of ours in the end..." Elise added, wrapping her arms around herself, still wearing Kagami's hoodie.
Their leader blinked slowly, lifting up her head slightly to look at her team. She softly sighed, laying her head back down while staring up at the roof. "I should have known you weren't still working for the White Fang, Cheyenne. And I shouldn't have gotten so mad for you reading my poems, Elise. And..." She sighed, shaking her head softly.
"And I shouldn't have made assumptions and thought Kris was the mole in Beacon.." Elise looked up from the ground, holding herself tighter. "And I sure as hell shouldn't have red your writings without permission." She gave a soft smile.
"And I should have gone after you guys." Cheyenne took a deep breath, stepping towards Kagami. "The moment I realized and put together everything, I should have come and found one of you and explained. Not... hide like I did."
"And I'm just sorry for everything." The young red head spoke up finally, standing slowly with a slight struggle. She took in a shaky breath, walking towarss her leader. "And I mean everything." She half smile, tilting her head slightly. "Including living if I must." She chuckled softly before groaning.
"Hey," Kagami pushed herself up to sit, holding her tea in her left hand. "You shouldn't be walking. You're hurt and need to-" She stopped herself, watching the younger girl dive into her.
Kris gritted her teeth, doing her best to hold back tears. She held onto Kagami as tight as she could, trembling slightly. "I-I'm... just happy that you are okay and so is Cheyenne and Elise." She sniffed softly, tightening her grip.
Kagami blinked a few times before letting out a sigh with a very soft smile she pulled her arm up, wrapping it around Kris' body and gently began to stroke her back. "Hey... it's all alright now, don't worry about it, okay? We're all..." She trailed off some, hugging the red head a little tighter. "The four of us are all still here..."
Seeing the youngest of them start to cry, Cheyenne stepped over, placing a hand on Kris' shoulder. "She's right. The four of us still have each other, and that's more than others can say. We should count ourselves lucky, especially with how much trouble we got ourselves into this past year."
"And as much as I despised you a year ago," Elise flashed a faint smirk, sitting down next to Kagami before leaning onto Kris. "You're a pretty awesome girl, and I am very happy to have gotten to know you."
With a heavy sniff, Kris clutched onto Kagami tighter, her back bouncing up and down softly as she began to cry. Friends had never been her strong suit and neither had family either. The love her teammates had for her she only felt from her sister, and Jess was gone over half the time. To have these many people around her care for her was something she could only dream about.
After at least a minute, Kris slowly lifted up her head, her eyes red and puffy with strands of her hair dangling in her face. "So what... do we do now?" She asked quietly.
Kagami blinked, reaching up and brushing the hair from her face along with wiping tears away. "Well... I promised Val I would help get that Grimm out of her."
"And the city of Vale still has a bunch of injured people and those inneed of help." Elise added on.
"And don't forget, I still need to help Maya regain herself on what is right and wrong in the world and get her away from the path of darkness." Cheyenne tilted her head back some.
Kris' face slowly lit up with a smile, tears reforming and swelling up in her eyes.
Kagami smiled down at her, stroking her back. "And I'm not ready to go back home, mainly because I'm not allowed to."
"And I still think I haven't had enough adventures for my little life yet." Elise chuckled, pointing at herself with a grin.
"And it's not like I have a home to go to." Cheyenne smiled softly, glancing down.
As the airship started to descend and land, Kagami leaned back, shutting her eyes with a smile. "So even after hell, team MACE is still ready to kick some serious ass." She smirked, opening one eye as she looked over at Elise. "But first, can I have my hoodie back?"
"Uh, well, see..." Elise trailed off, poking her fingers together with an awkward chuckle. "Valentine sorta completely tore up the jacket papa gave me... and I needed a new one..."
"So you decided to take mine?!" The girl with jade hair sat up some more.
"Yeah," Kris looked over. "My hoodie got torn to shreds by the blonde demon, but you don't see me stealing a new one."
"Weeeeell..." Elise slowly stood up as the door started to open. "I kinda... really like this hoodie!" She spoke quickly, slipping through the crack of the still opening door and bolting away.
Kagami sighed, shaking her head softly with a smile. "Well... I guess I need something new."
"What on earth was that about?" Jess asked, walking through the now open door while pointing out of it.
The three girls inside the ship all smiled, laughing softly as Kris spoke up. "It's nothing, Jess." She shook her head. "Just Elise being Elise."
"Okay..." The older red head nodded, her brows raising slightly before she smiled and shook her head. Children were children, no matter what has happened to them.
The four girls were lucky enough to have Julia house them, give or take Kris who had to deal with her sister's embarrassing stories about her for the entire day. Though, once the team finally fell asleep, they stayed asleep. Even Jess crashed and burned from exhaustion. The Fall of Beacon had taken a lot of out everyone.
Even those who caused it.
Outside of the kingdom's walls, in an abandoned village, in a house that wasn't completely demolished, Val was laying on a bed. With an old blanket wrapped around her, she was curled up and sound asleep. It was only when she heard a door open did she flinch awake, quickly looking over.
"S...Sorry..." Nihilus spoke in a hushed tone as he stepped inside. "I didn't mean to disturb you. You can stay resting. I just... have information for you." He sat down on the bed next to her, his hands folded together in his lap.
"What...?" Val yawned, shifting around slightly with sleepy eyes.
"Thanaton found Maya." He looked away for a moment before looking back. "She brought her back here but... she seems out of it. She's barely eating ot drinking and just sits and stares off in the distance. It is even freaking Thanaton out."
Giving a say, she rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She thought all about the horrible things that she, that Valentine had done to her and forced her to do. "Well... I'm sure she'll come through at some point. Because once Valentine comes back, she's going to want to go to war."
He nodded, waiting a second before slouching. "So what... do we do now? Do we still work with the White Fang or what? You're the boss here..."
Val hesitated, shutting her eyes as she spoke. "No more killing." She nearly whispered. "We fight for ourselves and only ourselves. We only kill when we have to, that means when someone tries to hurt one of us. We can stay here a build a place up away from those people. We can't let the military or police see or catch us."
Nihilus gave a slow nod, standing up. "Understood." He gave a soft smile in her direction. "Now rest up while I explain to Thanaton and deal with her complaints about it."
As he started to walk off, Val reached out, stopping him by grabbing his wrist. "Nihilus... wait... I..." She trailedo ff, his eyes meeting hers. She gulped, looking away. Her mind was boggling over how the twins came to be in this whole mess because of her, yet she still didn't have the heart to tell either of them. Expecially Nihilus. She sighed, pulling her arm down. "Nevermind..." She mumbled. She had to tell them the truth one day, that day was not today though.
"Okay?" He raised his eyes brows, shacking his shaggy blue hair before walking off with a wave and a smile. "Later, rest up then." He shut the door behind him, doing his best to hide his slight smile as he held where Val had been holding his wrist. "Rest well..."
Several days past before those of team MACE were up and moving around again with ease. And even though Kris denied her stab wound didn't hurt that much, the three others on her team knew very well it still did.
But before this team of brave girls could go back to saving people, there was one thing they needed to do first.
"Come on! Jess! Please!" Kris begged on her knees, hands above her head as she pleaded with her older sister. "Please! Please! Please!"
"Give me one good reason." Jess crossed her arns, looking down with narrowed eyes. "If I give it to you, Julia will have my ass."
"Come on..." She groaned, arms dropping. She then pointed back at her friends behind her. "We can't help people out if we are wearing clothes that are in tatters and from the worst day in forever!"
"I... I have to agree." Kagami mumbled. "We do sorta need to go clothing shopping. Even I agree with that."
Jess finally gave in, rolling her eyes. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a credit card with the Atlas symbol on it. "You three have one day." Her eyes narrowed. "And if Julia asks, you stole it from me."
"I'm sure I can talk Captain Caesar into being fine with it." Kagami flashed a smile. "I mean, I did save her life after she was stabbed a bunch in the back."
"And how many times has she save you?" Jess said with a smile.
She froze, blinking once before giving a nod. "Okay um... okay." She nodded some more.
"I believe that means a lot." Elise chuckled.
"Thanks, sis!" Kris shouted, jumping to her feet as she snatched the card away. "We'll only get what we need!" She turned, bolting out the door as her three other friends followed.
"You know," Julia spoke up, walking out from the shadows with some struggle. "Those four really are something else."
"They're also incredibly lucky." Jess sighed, looking over at her orange haired captain. "How are you feeling today?"
She sighed back, softly shaking her head. "I still feel like someone stabbed me twenty three times in the back, but Vale is in need of assistance and the General has put me under helping them rebuild."
"You should be resting though, ma'am." She took a step towards her.
With a faint chuckle, Julia turned on her heels and started to slowly walk off. "I'll rest when I am a dead woman who is six feet under all because some idiot decided to assassinate me while I am general!"
Jess rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "At this rate, you'll be dead before you become general! You've been a captain for five years!"
"And at this rate, you'll get no paycheck! Considering whatever they buy is coming out of your pay!" She shot back with a smile.
"Damn it..." She muttered, her head lowering some.
"We're in the middle of the beginning of a war, Jess!" She looked back. "I need resources and allies, not new clothes!"
"Pretty sure you can't wear a shirt with twenty three holes on it, ma'am!" She half chuckled.
There was a moment of silence before Julia flashed a twisted grin. "Five laps around the whole facility! That's an order!"
Jess simply chuckled more, giving a nod followed by a salute. "Ma'am yes ma'am! And you know you love me!"
"You're making it very debatable!" She called back before leaving the area.
As team MACE strolled down the streets to the nearest clothing shop, Kagami couldn't help but notice a woman walking on the other side of the street in time with her and her team. She glanced over for a split second before looking away. She quickly looked over at Kris, sticking her hands in her pocket. "Hey, remember that lady with blue hair?"
The red head glanced up, nodding slowly. "The one we met twice? Yeah? Why?"
"Well..." She eyed the other side of the road. "I believe she's spotted us for a third time."
Kris blinked a few times, glancing over before looking back at Cheyenne and Elise. "Hey," She whispered. "Don't freak out, but someome is following us."
"What?" Cheyenne eyebrows raised.
"Shhh," Kagami hushed her up quickly. "Don't let it show we know." She looked at Elise with a nod. "You know what to do."
The brunet gave a nod, stepping aside before a cloud of smoke wrapped around her and she vanished.
On the other sighed of the street, Aero paused in her walk as she saw Elise vanish. Her brows raised before she grunted, Elise's arm wrapping around her neck. "Kagami said you've been watching us and we've caught you three times." She grunted, the two disappearing and then reappearing inside an alley way which the rest of the MACE girls quickly walked down.
"Mind explaining all of that?" Kris crossed her arms, eyes narrowed.
"Well, in all honesty," Aero sat on the ground, resting her arms on top of her legs. "I was making sure you weren't dead."
"We'll we aren't." Elise took a step towards.
Giving a nod, Kagami stepped up. "And we'd all like to know who you are."
"Seeeeeeee..." Aero looked down, tapping her fingers on her legs. "Oz said I couldn't tell you exactly... buuuuut... since he's missing in action..." She smiled, pointing at herself. "I'm Aero, and the lovely letter A in team MACE." She rose to her feet, dusting herself off.
"Um... what...?" Kris' shook her head some, pointing back at Cheyenne. "No you're not. She is."
She sighed, glancing between Kagami and Elise several times before looking down with a saddened look. "You know, you two really look like your mother's... a lot really..."
"What?" Kagami took a step back, her hands balling up into slight fist.
Elise tensed slightly, standing her ground. "Who are you?" She demanded.
"I told you," Aero reached up, playing with the panda pennant around her neck. "My name is Aero and I am the letter A in MACE."
Each of the four MACE girls took a step back. After a second, Kagami took two steps forwards and held out a finger, pointing to the blue haired woman before them. "Explain right now."
"You might want to be sitting-" Aero started before she was cut off.
"Explain now." Kagami demanded once again. "Three times you have been caught watching my friends. I want answers."
Giving a sigh, she glanced down. After a moment, she stuck her hands in her pockets and looked up. "You're just as protective as your mother..." She whispered to herself before shaking her head. "Anyway," She leaned back against the alley wall. "Like I said, my name is Aero and I'm the letter A in MACE. My MACE, not yours."
"There's two of team MACE?" Cheyenne stepped up.
"I don't know what Oz was thinking, but yes." She nodded. "And Eleanor," She pointed to Elise. "And Midori," She pointed to Kagami. "Were my teammates along with someone named Cherry."
Silence fell across them, Kagami and Elise both looking at each other before they both turned to face Aero with narrowed eyes. Elise couldn't picture her mother fighting and Kagami was finally piecing a few little details she noticed over the past year but never took into consideration.. "You have three minutes to explain." They both demanded.
"Yeah, yeah." Aero sighed once more, stepping through the group of girls. "But not here. How about a nice little candy store or some place that sells hot chocolate?"
"Isn't she... an adult...?" Kris muttered before grunting as Cheyenne put her hand over her mouth.
"Shhh." The Faunus insisted.
Gritting her teeth, Kagami spun in her heels and walked right behind Aero. "You better have a damn good story." She wanted answers now.
Aero stopped dead in her tracks, Kagami nearly running into her. The woman glanced back, her jaw tensed. "No one ever said my story was a good story..." She muttered before looking forward with narrowed eyes and a glare. "It's a stroy of pain and suffering to be honest..."