"…bugs," Ghira repeated. "You… collect bugs."
"Well not like… live ones," Summer explained, suddenly feeling very stupid as she walked along the beach next to the massive man. The beach house was nearly a mile behind them, barely visible atop its sandy hill. "I mean, sometimes they're alive and I kill them, but I have to be careful about it. It can get a little… ethically questionable."
"Do I even want to know?" Ghira asked, giving the girl his full attention as he spoke up to be heard over the evening waves.
"Probably not," Summer admitted with a shrug. "But I mean, you can't just swat 'em without breaking 'em. I have a collection of pinned and mounted rare bugs… but I only keep a few displayed in the dorm."
"Worried someone might break them?"
"Taiyang's not a fan," Summer said with a grin. "And spiders? Forget it. Raven kills them, because the boys get all squeamish. I just wish she didn't kill them so violently, so I could have more of their corpses. Kinda hard to pin a splat to a display board."
Ghira shivered and reached up a giant hand to scratch at the back of his neck.
"I… also greatly dislike spiders…"
"Seriously?" Summer asked with a wide grin. "But…"
"Just because I am large, that doesn't mean I'm somehow tougher than you," Ghira said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Besides… Vacuan bugs are a bit… different."
Summer perked up, skipping along the beach ahead of Ghira and turning to face him as she walked backward. Their time out along the shore had already lifted her mood… and try as she might to embrace it, Summer felt exactly as guilty as she thought she might over it. All that was left was to try to hide that aspect of her thoughts behind a smile.
"Different how? You've got my interest, for sure."
"Well, not just different from Sanus in terms of… collecting," Ghira warned. "I'm sure you've heard about how important it is to maintain aura up in Solitas?"
"Well yeah," Summer answered. "Otherwise you freeze to death pretty quick."
"It's equally important here," Ghira warned. "One bite from some of the local insects, and you could end up in the hospital… or worse. Vacuo is filled with dangerous creatures, and the bugs are no exception."
Summer pulled a face, but it lasted only a moment. In its place, a mischievous glint took up residence in her eyes.
"…don't suppose you'd be willing to show me where to find some of those deadly creatures…"
"Summer," Ghira admonished. "You really want to risk your life for such things? Your role is now more important than ever, and even veteran hunters tend to avoid areas known to have nests of the worst insects."
"Well, then tell me where they are so I can avoid them," Summer tried. "Wouldn't want to stumble upon them accidentally."
Ghira heaved a sigh and shook his head, not at all amused by the obvious attempt at pulling information out of him.
"I doubt that you would. They're almost all underground…"
"…we need to turn back," Adam said as he looked at the screen of his scroll. "Immediately."
Porella raised a brow as she focused upon her sketchbook, where she was making a drawing of the carved symbol. A photo had already been taken, but the woman had busied herself with recreating it manually as well while the party waited for word from Bartholomew.
"Let me guess- it's a symbol for 'traps' in an ancient language I'm unfamiliar with? Or maybe just good old 'danger' instead? I'm not particularly worried, either way. More… interested."
Adam looked up toward the two huntresses. Velvet was looking right at him with narrowed eyes. She knew he was hiding something.
"I… can't say," Adam answered lamely. "I mean, I don't have specifics, Bartholomew just said it's… not good."
"Bullshit," Velvet accused with a roll of her eyes. "The man never shuts up, especially when it comes to history. He would never leave you in the dark if he recognized the symbol."
"He doesn't," Adam lied, fumbling for something convincing. "He just said he recognizes the… language. It belongs to a… a cult."
"A cult?" Porella asked in a tone that told Adam he had immediately made a mistake. "Well, now we're definitely exploring deeper. Can't say I've ever run into one of those, despite what all of the old movies would tell you about the job of treasure hunting."
"Tell me they're cannibals," Velvet said, mirroring Porella's excitement. "Or at least some sort of very obviously evil group of people. Wouldn't mind getting the opportunity to kick the asses of more than just grimm down here."
Adam heaved a sigh and rubbed his forehead, feeling rather stupid. He should have known that the word 'cult' would just rile the two of them up… and the fact that calling Those Above All a cult wasn't really a lie made it all the worse.
"I don't know," Adam replied. "He just said they're not something to mess with. Have you ever run into any… uh… camps, or temples beneath Vacuo?"
"Camps, yes," Porella answered as she snapped her small notebook shut and pocketed it. "Entire temples? That would be an exciting find, but I doubt that any buried down here would be intact. Partial ruins, maybe, but those would be incredibly dangerous to explore. Here's hoping."
"You want to find incredible danger, down in a place where no one can find us?" Adam said in disbelief.
"Don't be such a buzzkill," Velvet insisted as she walked a few feet into the waiting tunnel and held her scroll aloft, a light from the front illuminating the way forward. "C'mon. Let's see what there is to see."
Adam gave Porella an uneasy look, and the woman merely gave him a nod in return before moving to follow Velvet.
"Come along. Given the amount of discoloration and moss in and around the carving, it's quite old. We're unlikely to find any of these apparent cult members alive. At best, we'll encounter bones, or perhaps trinkets. You're jumping at shadows, my friend."
"Maybe…" Adam considered. "But I… I don't know. I've got a lot on my mind right now. Maybe I am just being stupid and whiny…"
"Care to share?" Porella offered as she lit her own scroll and began examining the walls of the small tunnel. It was wide enough for her and Adam to walk side by side behind Velvet, though they had to crouch slightly to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling. "What's said beneath Vacuo stays beneath Vacuo."
"I'd… rather not," Adam admitted, lowering his voice as he kept his eye on Velvet walking ahead of them. "Especially with Velvet here…"
"I see," Porella said mischievously. "So, it's like that, is it?"
"…maybe," Adam replied, both out of uncertainty and to throw Porella off of any other lead. "I don't know where she and I stand, and it's all personal. Let's focus on the task at hand."
"So businesslike," Porella teased.
"As were you, at the museum," Adam balked. "What happened? I like being businesslike. Your entire demeanor changed the moment we set out, and you just seem to be getting more and more… giddy."
"What can I say?" Porella asked rhetorically. "I love what I do. Down here, or out in the Land of Darkness or some other ancient, long-forgotten, danger-filled area that no one's set foot in in ages, I feel alive. Even if you're scared, isn't it at-all exciting for you to see all of this?"
"I'm not scared," Adam tried, though he didn't sound convincing at all. "And I just… I don't really get excited."
"That's… a little sad," Porella said with a frown. "And something you should work on. You don't even feel a thrill in combat?"
"…sometimes," Adam considered. "Generally, though, I just want to get it over with. I wouldn't say there's any joy in it anymore…"
Except when killing racist scum, Adam thought to himself, not daring to say it aloud. Somehow, he didn't think Porella would share his feelings on outright murder. A human would never understand why he had done what he did in the back alleys of Beacon… nor was he ready to admit aloud the feelings the act elicited.
"In that case, you have my apologies for dragging you down here," Porella offered.
Adam paused, lagging behind for a moment in the tunnel. Porella didn't notice at first, but turned to walk back to him once she did.
"What? Why?" Adam inquired. "You brought me along as a bodyguard, and I chose to follow you out of interest."
"Is there interest?" Porella asked earnestly. "I thought, perhaps, that you were interested in the potential history down here, especially if it ends up having something to do with the faunus. But seeing you now, without any sense of wonder, adventure, or satisfaction… it almost feels like I'm pushing you along. If all I wanted was a guard, I could easily have hired one. This wasn't just business, Adam- after seeing you so angry about the Land of Darkness display, I thought doing something like this would be something you found fun. I guess I misread you."
Suddenly, Adam couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt for his total lack of enthusiasm. He was knee-deep in a history that most would never get to see, and it was an opportunity that most would never have. That fact was something that Adam understood well, and he had even said as much to Kali to try to convince her to tag along… and yet, upon arriving at the site, all excitement had vanished. It was just another job, and Adam rarely, if ever, had 'fun' while on the job… or at all. Adam knew that Porella was right about his mental state, and the knowledge only frustrated him more.
"I…" Adam started, only to breathe out, deflating a bit as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "I thought I cared about this, too. I even started a fight with my friends over it, but… I have no idea what I want. It's not important right now. We need to catch up to Velvet."
"She's a strong girl, she'll be fine" Porella said dismissively as she folded her arms over her chest and gave Adam a stern look. "Seriously- are you alright? You say my mood has changed, and yet here you are…"
Adam paused, closing his eye and letting out a frustrated little noise that echoed in the confined space of the tunnel.
"It's not your job t-"
"This isn't about anyone's job!" Porella interrupted. The genuine anger in the huntress' voice caught Adam off guard, and he opened his eye to find her looking incensed. "I asked you a question, and if you want to make it about 'the job', then think about it this way- we're heading into uncharted territory, and there could be all sorts of dangers up ahead. I need you at your best, if you want to 'be my guard', Adam. So, I'll ask you again- what's going on? Is your head on straight, or do I need to be concerned?"
Adam took another breath, suddenly feeling intimidated by his temporary employer.
"…no."
"To which question?" Porella pressed, her tone easing back to something less angry and more curious. "I'm asking because I give a damn, but if I have to pull teeth with you and make this into business, I will. I don't want to, but you're stubborn enough that it might be a necessity."
It was only then that Adam had an important revelation- there was a very, very good chance that he would never see any of these people again in a matter of weeks. What better opportunity was there to be truthful, and see what came of it? In the worst possible scenario, he would be back at Beacon in no time, and nothing he said would follow him there… especially given the fact that none of his friends seemed to have interest in the museum at large other than Bartholomew, who never pried.
"…no. I'm not alright…"
Author's Note:
More Adam next time…
-RD