A/N: Team PASM has made it to the finals of the Vytal Festival arena. Patrick is not himself, constantly being distracted by the sightings of his own sister. Is she really there? Or perhaps it is some hallucination he's undergoing. For someone who carries a vision Semblance, he cannot see very clearly to the situation before him.

Chapter 43: Vytal Festival Part III - Phantom Sister

After a rousing victory in the tournament, Team PASM returned to their dorm. Team CPER congratulates them on a job well done. Peter is undoubtedly looking forward to a match against Akira in the arena. Patrick's the only one who doesn't celebrate, still puzzled over the sights of his own sister that he can't piece together.

It's nearly sunset, and Marlene, Selena, and Team CPER are excitedly all over Akira. "Akira! That was amazing!"

"I had no idea you were capable of such an attack."

"Mew were PAW-SOME out there!"

"How did your semblance do it?"

"Is this a result of all your meditation?"

Akira feels awkward about this. She's like a celebrity being hounded by her own crazed fans. Now she understands how Selena feels. "G-Give me a little room please." Akira clears her throat before continuing to speak. "It's an Ancient Swordsman technique that has been passed down to my family for generations. It uses the full power of our Chi Semblance to unleash a strike that can bring down armies in a single swing. Or so I've heard."

"After what we just saw, I believe it." Peter says.

"You said you were holding back your power against Harriet, didn't you? If that is true and defeating her while breaking her mech-arms is the result, then that is theoretically possible." Marlene says.

"I wouldn't put high hopes into it. It's only just a rumor. Nobody in my clan has even achieved it since the beginning." Akira says. "That best we've ever done with Zantetsuken was taking down a Leviathan."

"That's still very impressive, Mistress Akira." Rayla says.

"I agree. You really were amazing out there!" Selena says.

As the conversation continues, Marina is standing outside the room, peeking in through the crack of the open door. She smiles as she watches the students get along. Once she is done enjoying the moment, she steps away from the door and leaves.

Marina can't take her mind off of what happened in the arena. The scene replays in her mind: Patrick staring off into space and getting knocked out by Harriet. She doesn't know Patrick as well as Mashika but she can tell something's off about him. She wants to make sure that Patrick's okay if she can find him that is. Marina searches all over Shade Academy for Patrick. She even asked anybody she comes across for his whereabouts.

When he's nowhere to be found, Marina decided to search on the festival grounds. She asked the citizens, and each one answers with either 'Haven't seen him' or mentioned they saw him somewhere some time ago.

Finally, Marina finds Patrick. He's sitting in a drinking bar. Marina saw nearly half a dozen empty glasses. This surprises her, thinking about Patrick drinking underage, especially remembering what Mashika said when he accidentally drank on their little date. Marina sneaks to Patrick's side and finds the glass he's holding is filled with milk. Seeing this, she gives a silent sigh of relief.

"You know you can't sneak up on me that easily." Patrick says.

Marina jumped a little, then laughs nervously. Of course, she should have known she couldn't sneak up on a Huntsman student like him. Marina takes a seat next to Patrick and ordered a decaf black coffee. Patrick and Marina don't say anything the whole time Marina's waiting for her coffee. Patrick can sense that Marina is bothered by something. After a long moment of silence, Patrick breaks the ice.

"What do you want?" Patrick asks.

Marina lets out a sigh before speaking. "I'm worried about you. I saw how you were acting against Harriet and Marrow." Patrick doesn't say anything, just remains silent. "You're a serious fighter, Patrick. I just find it hard to believe that you would space out of the blue like that. Even Akira warned you about Harriet's blow but you were still frozen." Marina observes Patrick's face closely. "You look very tired too. Have you been getting enough sleep?" Patrick still doesn't say anything, but Marina still won't give up on him. "Listen, before you and Mashika came into my life, I was in serious trouble, and I was still hating on my father for the way he treated me. I understand you are a secretive person. But there's clearly something wrong with you, hon. I want to help you. I want to be able to return the kindness you've given me."

Patrick doesn't say anything, but this is a different kind of silence, and Marina can see it from the expression on his face. In defeat, he finally speaks. "I've been seeing somebody. Someone who I haven't seen in a long time...nor I ever thought I'd ever see them again."

"Who?" Marina asks.

"My sister." Patrick says.

Marina is confused to hear this. "I didn't know you had a sister...Wait, you said you never thought you would see her again...Was she..?"

"No, no. It's not that. It's...complicated." Patrick says.

Patrick explains to Marina about Amber. Rather instead of saying that she became the Fall Maiden and left him behind, he just tells her she was going away on a far journey, and never heard from her. He then tells Marina that he was left to assume something terrible had happened instead of saying Amber was assaulted. Marina sits quietly as she listens to Patrick's story. She feels sad to hear this.

"I see. I don't blame you for the way you're behaving. That must be hard." Marina says.

"It's harder than you might think. I just know that Amber would never be up and about out of the blue like that, yet I can't help but feel like it really is her." Patrick holds onto himself as if feeling like he's about to crack under the pressure. "I just feel like I'm losing my mind. That I'm going insane." Patrick's quiet for a short moment, then his body starts calming down. "Amber was the only person I can talk to about something this serious. She's the only family I have, after losing our mother, and what with father hating and blaming me for her suffering and then leaving us."

"Patrick..." That is all Marina could say.

Marina puts a hand on Patrick's shoulder. He doesn't even bother fighting it, Marina can tell from that how depressed he feels. "You know, Mashika had kept treating me like a son, no matter how many times I told her I don't want her to. And now, for the first time, I actually wish she was here. I...feel like I need a mother for this moment." Marina doesn't say anything, but she felt touched knowing how proud Mashika would feel. But, like a flick of a switch, Patrick turns to Marina with a serious tone and a stern expression. "Don't you dare tell her I said that! That last thing I want is for her to get a big head." Marina responds in laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing. For a moment there, it felt like you were back to your old self." Marina says.

"Whatever." Patrick says.

Patrick and Marina spent the next few minutes sitting and drinking. Talking to Marina has helped Patrick calm down from his nerves. When they were done, Marina escorts Patrick back to the dorms they are staying. Patrick is surprised to find his dorm empty. Patrick starts wandering around the grounds of Shade until he arrives at the training grounds. He sees Marlene on the sideline and approaches her from behind.

"Marlene. What's going on here?" Patrick says as he observes the scene before them: Peter is standing against Clawdia and Earnest, and onto the side is Selena, as herself dressed in a maid outfit, looking comfortable and embarrassed. That part has him surprised.

"Just some more of Peter's Temptation Resistance training," Marlene says. "Clawdia thinks he still needs some training after what happened in the first round with Aurora. Only this time, she's upping the stakes."

"Facing two people while trying to ignore a teen idol dressed as a maid. This ought to be good." Patrick looks at Selena, he notices her maid outfit looks very familiar, then looks at Rayla, who is sitting on the bench in her school uniform. Putting the two together, he realizes something. "Wait...Is Selena wearing-"

Marlene quickly interrupts Patrick. "Yeah, try not to think about it."

The match begins. Clawdia and Earnest make the first strike together, and Peter stands his ground to block the attacks. Peter repels them and slams his axe to the ground, creating a shockwave of electricity. Earnest blocks the wave with a Mime Shield, and Clawdia still ends up getting knocked back. During that time, Selena starts to bring on the charm, feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed to do it.

Peter takes notice of Selena. For a moment, he was lost in her charm but shakes it off, just in time to block Clawdia's incoming attack. "Focus, Peter!" Peter repels Clawdia. He throws his own attacks on her and Clawdia either dodges or blocks each of them. On Peter's final blow, Clawdia dodges with a back leap and summons half a dozen of her clones. Peter puts on a serious face as he takes notice of Clawdia's clones. Each of them charges at Peter in different directions.

Peter holds his weapon in front, positioned to counter. "Okay, If I know Claws..." He observes each of the Clawdia's coming right at him. In an instant, he sensed the realm Clawdia and blocked her attack. In doing so, the rest of her clones vanished. While their weapons are locked, Peter begins to repel Clawdia. Peter keeps his eyes on his cousin, only Selena comes into sight from the corner of his eye, and it drags his attention.

Selena is standing there, looking subduce as she says the words in a charming voice. "How may I serve you, Master Peter." Then gives a loving wink.

This alarms Peter as he gives a shocked expression while his face turns completely red. In that instant, Earnest swings an invisible heavy weapon that knocks the large Peter off his feet, then slams it onto his stomach, pinning Peter to the ground.

Patrick gives out a disappointed look. "Yep, I knew he couldn't do it."

Peter lays flat on the ground with his Aura flickering. Clawdia looks down at him with an upset expression. "Mew have got to be kitten me! Mew are about to go up against several opponents, and mew can't stop getting hiss-tracted!"

Peter doesn't say anything, just lays there quietly while shamefully staring into the ceiling. Earnest shook his head, then speaks directly to Clawdia. 'WE SHOULD SEND RAYLA INSTEAD.'

Clawdia sighs. "I've been thinking about that too, Earnest, but Peter's stronger, and hiss Semblance has the advantage fur the claw-ful big opponent from Team BLAK. Peter's our best bet...Assuming he'll get over hiss Purr-vert phase."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Patrick says.

For the next hour, Clawdia, Earnest, and Selena continue with Peter's training. Peter has shown little progress in resisting Selena's charms, but it's not enough to satisfy Clawdia's concerns. They decided to take a break and get some food at one of the booths. The whole time they're at the festival grounds, Patrick's been on alert. He's expecting to see Amber once again. So far, Amber has not made any appearance.

They ordered dinner at the noodle booth. All of them asked for plain noodles, but Clawdia ordered something special. Some Tuna Linguine "Paw-sta". While they ate, they talked about how they are enjoying the festival. Patrick and Marlene didn't bring up how they met SPIKA. Akira knows about the meeting, but they'll tell her later.

After eating, everyone returns to the dorms. Patrick turns in early, still feeling tired from the lack of sleep. The girls don't question it, knowing whatever happened out there could have been fatigue.

The day passes. It's the middle of the night and all of PASM are soundly asleep. Patrick is the only one who is moaning and turning in his sleep.

In his dream, Patrick is younger, and he's watching the Vytal Festival Tournament with his sister Amber. The crowd cheers as the battle goes on, both teams down to two members and their Aura levels running low. Patrick just observes the opponents as they fight, completely ignoring the deafening roar of the crowds cheering.

"It's quite impressive, isn't it?" Amber asks.

"I don't understand. Why are these people fighting?" Patrick asks.

"They're Huntsman and Huntresses...Or will be, they're just students." Amber says. "See, Huntsman and Huntresses are protectors of cities and kingdoms of Remnant. And our mother, she was a Huntress too." Amber looks up to the sky with a smile on her face. "Sometimes, I hope to become as great as she was."

"Great...as she was." Patrick says, staring at his sister. After a moment, he then looks down with a sad expression. "What if...what if I can't be like her either? What if...I instant become like him?"

Amber's expression softens upon hearing that. She wraps an arm around Patrick and holds him close to her. "Don't say that. You're nothing like him. You are your own person. Only you get to choose who you to be. Nobody else." Patrick doesn't say anything, just still saying nothing. Amber returns her attention to the arena. "Look, that one's about to activate his Semblance."

Patrick returns his attention to the arena. He then activates his Scope Vision to get a closer look at the act. He then smiles and cheers for the student. Amber can't help but smile and laugh at the sight of her little brother enjoying the entertainment.

Patrick then wakes up, in the middle of the night. He sits up in bed, moaning tiresome. He couldn't go back to sleep, feeling lost in the dream he just had. Ever since coming to the Vytal Festival, when he's been seeing her everywhere, Amber has been on his mind. Having a dream reliving a past event he had with her, one that is a happy memory, is something he didn't expect.

Patrick heads to the nearest restroom, splashing cold water onto his face. After turning off the sink, he stares into his own reflection in the mirror before him. He is not the innocent little boy he once was. He's nothing more than a different image, but of what? A Huntsman? A Mercenary? Or something else he doesn't want to think of?

Once he's had enough reflection time, Patrick starts making his way back to the dorm. The hallways are long and dark, and he just walks half asleep. But suddenly, the air chills when a voice fills it and reaches his ears.

"Patrick..."

He freezes in place, eye darted wide open and his breath shaking. He knows that voice, and he can feel her presence. Right behind him. He slowly turns around, as if afraid of seeing a terrifying ghost that stands right behind him. Giving to how he feels, he might as well be. Amber stands at the very end of the hallway, just standing there smiling while looking right at him.

Amber off a wave as she starts walking down the hallway until out of his sight. "What...Wait!" Patrick starts chasing after Amber. He turns in the direction she went only to find her at the end and walking down the next hall.

Patrick continues chasing after his sister, constantly hearing his name being called by her voice as if it were inside his head. He followed Amber until he reaches the gates of Shade. From there, he can no longer locate Amber. So he decides to do his job and track her down.

Patrick quickly, but quietly, returns to his dorm. He changes closes, equips his weapons and devices, then heads out. By the door, Patrick hesitates. He looks back at his sleeping teammates. Ever since coming to Beacon, he thought he would be protecting his sister by himself. Now he's about to discover what it is he keeps seeing his sister and is leaving his team behind.

Taking a deep breath, Patrick closes the door as he leaves. The girls remain quiet and sleep, except Selena who shifts her sleeping position and mumbles in her sleep: "Five more minutes, Plumette."

Patrick leaves Shade, making his way through the city, dodging and hiding from Huntsman and Police Patrolling the night town. For one of the patrollers, two guards are walking by the barrel Patrick is hiding inside, having a conversation as they walk.

"Hey, do you know the Wi-Fi Password?"The first guard asks.

"It's 'Shade' but replace the S with a Money Sign and capitalize the D." The second guard says.

"Sounds silly. I sure hope Mistral or Vale don't have passwords made out of their Academy's Names." The first Guard says.

The guards walk off. Once they're gone, Patrick sticks his head out with a disappointed expression as he says, "'B3acon£'" he jumps out of the barrel and continues his search.

Patrick finds himself lost in an alley. He tries to figure out what to do next until he hears it again. "Paaaatrick." Patrick turns to find Amber walking away at the end of the alley. He chases after Amber once again. Every corner he turns and every street he arrives he finds himself further away from Amber rather than closer. Whenever he sees any policemen patrolling the streets, he hides and waits them out until it's clear. Once in a while, Patrick loses sight of Amber, but her siren calls.

Patrick follows Amber all the way to the city limit. Beyond these walls is a burning wasteland with endless hordes of Grimm and crumbling ruins. Not to mention clans of killers and thieves and crumbling ruins.

Patrick takes a deep breath, grabbing hold of the hilt of one of his blades. "I swore I'd help Amber. Whatever's going on here..." Patrick draws out his sword. "I'll find out the truth."

He then walks into the desert night, without fear, without hesitation, in search of his sister.