A/N: Short note before the LONG overdue chapter, we have a Tumblr now under the blog RWBY-SOH the contents are mostly the same as the Deviantart (same name) but you can submit asks and we'll do our best to answer any question about the fic or AU as a whole!
Goose stared off into space as night fully descended on the festival grounds. Even with the flashing lights, the sound of buzzers and jingles of the various show games, and the lively Vacuan music all fighting for her attention, her mind was elsewhere, her usually bubbly demeanor replaced with a more subdued and quiet feel. She had a lot on her mind, at the forefront was the most recent team spat, though this one was more serious, resulting in them all going their separate ways to cool off. Belka was ignoring her to train, Liz was staying cooped up in the room, and Lao had gone to talk with Lumi. It wouldn't have made much of a difference tonight, as she had already made plans to hang out with Jin, but the fact that BGEL hadn't had one outing for themselves as a team just felt… wrong.
She tried to fake it as she and Jin went around the grounds, playing games and trying to win prizes, but her mood was in no way improved by her Semblance deciding to go haywire tonight. More and more little incidents kept piling up, such as a ring throw being lost because it had somehow spun up and off the bottle onto the floor here, Jin sneezing just before throwing a ball at some cans, causing him accidently hit the wrong pile, though the young boy who had meant to be playing that pile didn't seem to mind when he was given the prize automatically as a result.
It wasn't a bad night to be sure, at the very least Jin was having fun, even laughing at the most recent game they played when the booth attendant couldn't decide if the dart Goose had thrown was still in play after bouncing off the wall back their way and hitting his forehead at just the right angle to bounce back at the board and pop a balloon. They walked away from that game with the attendant deciding in their favor, with Goose picking a big monkey plushie that rested on Jin's shoulders. Jin snickered as he used a set of extra hair pins to keep the plush in place on his shirt. With Jinzi Jr secured, he turned around for his cousin to see, only to realize she'd paused in her tracks, a solemn look on her face. Doubling back to the young woman, he tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Goose? Goooose?"
"Oh, sorry Jin, I was just thinking."
"Got something stuck in your head again, huh? I get that. For me, it's trains."
"Trains?" she asked with a giggle. She knew his mind would wander to strange places every now and then, but that was a new one.
"Oh yeah, I even had this really weird dream the other night. Scarlet and her mom were trains, Jaune was a train, Jet was a bike for some reason though." The pair shared a laugh at the weird dream, Goose reaching out to hold him in order to keep herself from doubling over at the mental image of Scarlet as a train yelling 'Choo Choo'. "Really though, you seem down. Are you sure you aren't having another off day?"
Goose sighed and shook her head, knowing exactly what he meant by an off day. It was thankfully rare, but some days she just couldn't help but to feel all down in the dumps no matter what she did.
Her parents and older cousins called them mood swings, but it wasn't really a mood swing, not to her anyway. Didn't everyone have off days like that? They weren't some big deal, and she didn't need to bother her friends with it, they already had to put up with her stupid Semblance. She was a big girl, the oldest kid in her generation of Schnees in fact! Her friends didn't need to baby her over them, not when she could just curl up in her bed and play games while having a snack.
Besides, this time it really wasn't just her randomly feeling down. She was just tired of everything going wrong, and feeling like she was the reason everything went wrong.
Her lack of response and solemn expression said it all, and the young Faunus's smile faltered for a moment as he tried to figure out what to do. Looking for a distraction, he eventually landed on a simple strength game called 'Test Your Might'. It was just a rebranded version of the standard strongman game, consisting of three towers, each increasing in height, with a bell at the top and a lever at the bottom that would be hit with a mallet. It was an extremely simple game, but at the moment, that was probably what Goose needed, simple fun.
Putting his smile back on, the large boy put an arm around Goose's shoulders and started directing her towards the game.
"Come on, let's play the strength test. It'll be fun!"
"You go ahead, knowing me, the mallet will probably slip outta my hands and bop you on the head or something."
Jin frowned at her immediate dismissal of the idea, but, determined to include his cousin in on the fun, he didn't let up, walking her over to the game anyway.
"You should give it a chance." he encouraged her with a pat on the back. Seeing a small smile that signaled her resistance starting to falter creep onto her face, he added a bit more encouragement. "Tell you what, try adding one of my kiai's when you swing the hammer"
"You mean that yell you do?"
"It's more than a yell, it's about focus and power. Trust me, give it a shot. I bet it'll help you."
Goose tilted her head, not entirely sure how yelling would make her hit better or stop her Semblance from acting up, but he was the resident expert on hitting things hard. Swallowing her nerves and deciding to go along with it, Goose walked up to the attendant, an older man with an easy going smile who perked up at the approaching customer.
"Hello little lady, here to test your might and win a glorious prize?" The man said with a flourish of the mallet, adding some extra flair to the rather generic game with standard prizes. Still, it was enough to get a little giggle out of her.
"Yup, one game please." she said, pulling the required amount of Lien from her bag, and handing it off to the man, who unlocked the little gate, allowing her inside the play area.
"Alright, all that's left is for you to choose your challenge!"
"I want to play..." She trailed off, not actually having decided on which of the three towers she wanted to try. "That one."
She impulsively pointed at the largest of the towers, standing at roughly sixteen feet tall. At a glance, it felt the least likely to go wrong, as even with her Aura, it was the least likely that she'd accidentally hit it too hard and accidentally knock the bell loose or something silly like that. For once, she was confident that she'd finally win a nice simple game.
That was until she saw the sign on the side that read: DELICATE EQUIPMENT: NO AURA USE!
The no Aura rule was intimidating. Not that she was in bad shape, but, having grown to rely on her Aura in fights and training, her confidence in her ability to win the game went down the drain. But she was in too deep to back out now, so, picking up one of the large mallets, she stepped forward. Tucking a strand of white hair from her face, she steadied her stance, her fingers tightly wrapped around the handle of the oversized mallet as she focused on her target. If her aim was even a little off, she'd miss, and knowing her stupid Semblance, would probably hit something at just the right angle to send it flying somewhere, and after that, it was a coin flip as to whether or not something got set on fire. Taking a deep breath, she braced and-
"WAAA!" she screamed, mimicking her cousin's kiai as best she could.
A moment later, she brought the hammer down on the lever of the strength test bell with all her might, sending the weight all the way to the top where it hit the bell with a triumphant DING. Behind her, Jin cheered along, as did the old man, who even clapped for her.
"You were right! Yelling does let me hit harder!"
"That's not exactly what I meant, but you've got the right spirit."
As Goose walked back over to set the mallet down, the attendant walked over to a tall wall adorned with various prizes, motioning to it with his mallet with a similar flair as before.
"So little lady, what prize did you want?"
"Hmm…" Most of the prizes were simple enough, some assorted trinkets, some cups that were labeled with the Vytal Festival's logo along with the year 100 AGW. The larger prizes were predominantly simple plushies, and among them, she found what she would be bringing home, a small avian shaped plushie with black cloth making up the body and a white plastic mask adorned with red paint. "The Nevermore please!"
"One Nevermore for the little lady!" The man said, plucking the Nevermore from the wall and handing it over to Goose, who held it to her chest as the man waved them off, wishing them a good night as he drew his stall's shutters and flipped the sign over to "closed".
"That's cute, what're you gonna do with it?"
"Gonna give it to Dad, it reminds me of how he looks as a bird."
A part of Jin had always been curious about how that worked. It had always been explained to him as a side effect of his Semblance, like how Mama's eyes turned red and her hair burst into flames when she used hers, or how Mommy's shadow clones could take the properties of Dust if she made one while some Dust was activated on her person, like in a vial or bullet. It was just one of those things they just accepted as being a weird thing no one could explain, kinda like how Aunt Ruby's Semblance turned her into rose petals specifically, and allowed her to basically fly.
As they walked and talked, a tall, cloaked figure bumped into Jin, making him jump out of his skin. The memory of the dance was still fresh in his mind, and his hands immediately balled into fists, only for the figure to continue walking by, not even acknowledging that they'd bumped into him. It wasn't an interaction that was out of the ordinary for Vacuo, just another example of their so-called hospitality, but it was a wake up call to Jin that there were far too many people around. Even with the night coming to an end, the crowd hadn't dispersed all that much. What was worse was that a lot of them were in cloaks and shawls, obscuring their identities and even just their basic appearances.
Noticing her cousin pause, she looked back, noting his distant expression and the way his hand absentmindedly held his right shoulder, the same one that had been stabbed the night of the dance. Seeing the same faceless crowd as Jin, Goose acted quickly but gently.
"Hey c'mon, lets go sit over here for a minute where the crowd is less dense." Goose suggested, already pulling him away from the crowd towards a small bench.
"Goose, you don't need to baby me just because I'm a few months younger."
"I just… I don't want to see you get hurt again."
Hearing her voice soften like that made Jin cave, letting her pull him over to a bench away from the crowd. The momentary break from her melancholy having passed, he wrapped an arm around his cousin in a hug, knowing that while this break had been for him, she needed it just as much as he did.
"Are you sure you're okay? I heard about what happened."
Goose nodded, knowing there was no point in lying.
"Did Lao tell you?"
"Well, Lao told Lumi, and she told me."
"I just… I'm tired of all the fighting."
There were a lot of ways the situation could have been handled better. For starters, Belka probably could have talked with her team about it instead of entering the dorm room, her head held high, still riding the euphoria that came with getting their most significant win in months and announcing that she had sent in the paperwork for herself and Goose to proceed into the next stage of the tournament.
"Absolutely not!"
It was no surprise to anyone that Elizabeth had a problem with the announcement, whether it was because she was being shown up in the tournament or because she hadn't even been asked her opinion on the matter, Goose didn't know, that would've required them to actually talk instead of just yelling insults and trying to browbeat each other's point of view into each other. What was more surprising was that Lao was clearly also bothered by this decision, his typically stoic expression was, mostly, still there, but his lips pursed in a way that was just a touch too forced, and his brow had furrowed a bit. Even Goose felt uneasy about the decision, as while she did really want to advance to the next stage, Belka going behind their backs like that left her feeling uneasy. She could also feelLiz and Lao's anger whenever they glanced her way, even if it wasn't directed at her.
"I wasn't asking for your opinion, Elizabeth!" Belka snapped back even louder, trying her best to assert her authority over niece. "Goose and I are going onto the next stage and that's final!"
"Give me one, one good reason why it should be you instead of me! My Semblance is actually useful in a fight, I'm more skilled, and my Aura is better, so why are you more qualified to move on than me!?"
Every word Elizabeth said made Belka bristle even more. It got to the point that, even with the tan she had acquired thanks to their stay in Vacuo, her face had clearly gone red.
"Because you're a fucking idiot who only thinks about herself in a fight!" she exploded, the smaller girl flinching away from the venom coming out of her outburst. "I'm sure you have it in your dense little head that our failures are all my fault, but you are just as much to blame for our reputation as a failure. You are the most argumentative and stubborn little bitch I've ever had the displeasure of working with! If you'd actually paid attention to that last fight, to any of our team fights instead of trying to one up Lumi, Lao wouldn't have been eliminated. So no, I will not sabotage us by sending out someone as petty, small, and short sighted as you. If this were a real combat scenario, you'd get us all killed!"
Elizabeth reeled back. This was more than the little snipes they'd taken at each other throughout the year; this was all the anger and frustration pouring out at once. So much anger and vitriol was being sent her way that she didn't know how to respond to it all.
"That's not, I don't- You can't just blame me!" Liz shot back, failing to muster up the same anger in her attempt to defend herself. Deep down, she knew she'd played a part in their lackluster performance. No one member could completely sink a team, but the idea that she had directly caused a good portion of it was hard to argue, especially with it being thrown in her face that Lao's elimination was solely on her.
"Get it through that impossibly thick skull of yours, that you're not as good as Lumi, and if you don't get over it and start using your head as something other than a battering ram, that you never will be." Belka spoke, anger and venom in her voice.
The silence that followed was deafening as the two glared each other down. Elizabeth shook with rage, being too mad to even speak. How dare she, how fucking dare she say that to her as if she even paid even the slightest bit of attention to how hard she worked. She was supposed to be their leader damn it, someone supposed to lift them up, and instead, she was pushing her buttons, and putting her down. She didn't have to take this.
With a growl, Elizabeth stormed past Belka, shoulder checking her as she made her way to the door, swinging it open and slamming it shut as soon as she was out, leaving Belka to huff.
"What is wrong with you?" Lao finally spoke up, his usually stoic expression contorted in a mixture of disappointment and disgust.
"Lao, nothing I said was wr-" Belka winced at the boy's reaction, trying to remain calm and explain herself before being cut off.
"You didn't say it because she needed to hear it, you said it to hurt her." His tone held the same emotionless cadence like how he usually spoke, but there was an added coldness to it that stung more than if he had a proper outburst. For once, Belka didn't have to guess how he felt, his disappointment was more than clear. "Considering how much it hurt you to be on the receiving end of that treatment, I expected more from you."
Following his partner's lead, Lao got up from his seat and went out the door, closing it much more gently than Liz had, leaving just Goose and Belka in the dormitory.
Watching her partner, Goose saw something worrying. There was a mix of emotions in her eyes consisting of both anger and disappointment, but beneath it all, there was a hint of satisfaction at finally being able to get one over Liz in an argument, even if it cost her Lao's respect.
Biting her lip, she stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on Belka's bicep as she spoke.
"Maybe we should rethink this, me and Lao can follow a plan if you and Li-"
"No. I tried being nice for almost a full year, and look where it's gotten us. The laughing stock of Beacon thrown into a situation we have no right to be in because the Headmistress insists on putting me through a trial by fire. You and I are the only ones on this team with even a semblance of cohesion, so we're the ones proceeding. Please, I need you to trust me. They'll come around when they see us win, I promise."
Belka's plea was nothing short of desperate. She still spoke with the bravado and confidence granted by their previous win, but now she couldn't hide the panic in her eyes, the need for someone else to buy into her narrative, to believe in her for once.
And while Goose didn't really believe in her, she just didn't have it in her to be the one to crush her leader in that moment.
"Okay. I trust you."
Goose sighed, resting her head on her cousin's shoulder. It was hard having teammates who were constantly at odds, especially when one of them was usually the underdog. She didn't want Belka to feel like she was trying to team up on her too, but at the same time, she couldn't just let Belka get mean or go behind the teams back like she did…
"How did you guys get over your fighting?"
"A crazy lady tried to kill Scarlet and Lumi."
"Oh, right… think you could find her again?"
Jin was the first between them to break, a snort of laughter breaking through as he covered his mouth. He knew he really shouldn't have laughed, but still found it hilarious regardless. His older cousin broke not long after he did, joining his bout of laughter at the joke, even if it was admittedly in poor taste.
Their unified laughter ended up getting a bit of attention, most of whom paid no mind, but upon spotting them, the focused yet gentle eyes of Argentio locked onto them, recognizing Jin right away. For a moment, he hesitated, knowing it wasn't his place to speak on the feud that had sprung up between his leader and the boy, but seeing as how things had turned sour so quickly and over something so small, he supposed he really couldn't make the situation any worse. Walking over, Lapis following suit at his side, the young knight coughed to get the cousin's attention.
"Excuse me, can we talk?"
Seeing the pair, Jin tensed for a moment, recognizing the two as Noah's teammates, but the worry passed as he saw their relaxed figures. Neither of the two looked like they wanted a fight, with Argentio even holding out his hand in a placating manner.
"You're part of NAYA. Argentio, right?"
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the dance." he said, choosing to answer Jin's question with a simple nod rather than words. "Noah… isn't usually like this."
"Even if that's true, your friend hurt my cousin's feelings." Goose said, rising to her feet, a small scowl on her face. "He didn't do anything wrong."
Seeing as how Goose was determined to fight this battle for him if he didn't speak on it himself, Jin stood up. He couldn't bring himself to be mad, not at them. He'd been in the position of apologizing for Lumi more than once, so he understood where they were coming from for trying to defend their friend.
"Look, I'm sure he's a good guy and all, but Goose isn't wrong. He was acting like a jerk over nothing. I don't even get why he's mad when Uncle Sun isn't."
"You're right, how he acted is unacceptable, and on some level, he knows it too."
"But you guys are still on his side?" Goose said with a frown, finding the situation feeling a little too familiar.
"There's not really a side to take."
Lapis rolled her eyes at the awkward interaction, stepping forward to take over.
"What he's trying to say is that Noah may be a big macho-brained bone-head, but he's still our captain." She caught herself a little too late, cringing at her accidental use of Noah's self imposed title. "Ugh, leader. I can't believe that idiot got a princess to call him cap'n."
The last word was spoken as more of a mockery of Noah's own fake pirate voice than anything else, her annoyance clearly on display.
"Wait, did you just say you're a princess?" Goose asked, partially looking for an excuse to turn the conversation away from the awkwardly similar situation, but also genuinely curious to find out if she was talking with genuine royalty.
"It's not something she should be saying so casually." Argentio answered, looking down at the winged Faunus as a scolding tone entered his voice, something Lapis either failed to notice or just ignored.
"You mean… the whole princess and knight thing isn't just some act like Noah's pirate voice? You're a real princess?" Jin asked, similarly surprised and a little in awe. While he knew and was close friends with people that were considered royalty in certain circles, he had never met a genuine member of any royal family before now.
The way Lapis smiled at the recognition of her status didn't go unnoticed, the young Faunus absolutely having mentioned it on purpose so her status would get some recognition. It was something Argentio had easily picked up on from experience, staring the girl down with a thoroughly unamused glower.
"That's right, but I bet you'll never guess why."
The pair from Beacon put their heads together and started to think. That is to say, they literally bumped their heads against one another, each stroking their chin in a mirrored gesture as if to try and combine their brain power through contact and sheer stubbornness.
"Maybe it's because of her pretty bird wings? I haven't seen any Faunus trait that looks quite like that." Goose eventually suggested, unintentionally causing Lapis to gasp in offended outrage.
"I- a bird? A bird!? How dare you! The Yddraigwens are not some simple Bird Faunus. We are proud Dra-"
Now, Argentio had to step in, placing a hand over Lapis's mouth before she yelled her people's history at them until she was blue in the face. He ignored her teeth biting into his finger to try and make him release her, instead turning his attention back to the pair of confused Beacon students.
"I'm so terribly sorry about her, she's…" The way he trailed off told Jin everything he needed.
"I get it. Believe it or not, Lumi is just as bad once you get her started."
The two men locked eyes, Argentio seeing the recognition and a hint of amusement in Jin's violet orbs. He couldn't fault him for that though, he'd probably also get a chuckle out of seeing someone else in his position.
"Good luck to you both in the tournament. Hopefully the next time we meet, it'll be on friendlier terms."
"Probably not, Belka really wants to kick your leader's butt." Goose said, trying to laugh it off, but said laugh trailed off as she remembered that there was no joke to be made. She wouldn't dare repeat what colorful language Belka had used to refer to the pirate-themed boy, but she really hated him.
"Hopefully for her, that doesn't happen." he said with a small but genuine smile before finally releasing Lapis, who spit on the ground, wiping her tongue before stomping her feet and turning away with a huff. "My Lady, please, this behavior is beneath someone of your station."
With the use of the phrase 'my lady', Lapis finally seemed to relent, begrudgingly holding her hand out for him to take. Her wings did a little flutter as he took her hand, leading her into the thinning crowd toward Shade's dorms.
"Was that meant to be smack talk?" Goose asked, genuinely unsure what to make of that interaction.
"I think it was just confidence, he trusts his leader." He understood where they were coming from, he trusted Scarlet with his life, despite her own abrasiveness, and the fact that she had her own quirks that could make it easy to misunderstand her. Deep down he knew that if things were different, he and Noah could have been friends, but that call had been made for him by Noah's own anger and insecurities, leaving him with nothing but what ifs.
Meanwhile, Goose hummed to herself as she looked up, taking in the shattered moon overhead as she once again got lost in thought. Confidence in his leader, huh? Maybe she needed more of that herself…
The ride home was completely silent. Usually, Lavender would break up the quiet of travel with questions about their objective, her father, or if she couldn't think of anything better, just make observations about their environment, but right now, she was at a loss for words. Really, she'd say just about anything to keep her mind from wandering off, thinking of the life she'd thrown away.
While they may have started as a simple distraction, she had grown to cherish the periods where there was nothing but idle chit-chat with her and her 'sister', which made the fact that she was the cause of her current hesitation to speak all the harder to swallow.
Without her breaking the silence, Henna was happy to ride home without even a word being spoken, feeling the breeze through her hair seemingly without a care in the world despite the murder she'd just committed. It was hard to believe that the carefree woman had just decapitated a mother. Did she really have no reservations about what she had done? She didn't act like it, and just looking at her, Lavender saw nothing but pride, and that made her stomach churn. Even with her actions seemingly serving the Goddess in a twisted way, the act was nothing short of monstrous cruelty that she desperately sought to make sense of.
For a brief moment, her anger started to fester, and she opened her mouth to ask how she could be okay with doing something so inherently wrong. Then, she remembered how Henna held her blade at her, looking ready to gut her in her fury, and she closed her mouth once again. It was a strange feeling, to feel so far away from her sister while she was pressed right against her. There had to be something wrong with her, something outside of her control. Maybe it was that power. It was nothing short of divine, so maybe it had some unintended influence on her, or maybe she was falling to the same delusions as Moon, that senseless killing and bloodshed was what their Goddess wanted.
Or maybe… maybe it was her own fault. Maybe Henna was just sick of being weighed down by her.
Upon reaching the hotel, the young Faunus remained silent, going through the motions of getting off the bike and following the older woman into the lobby. She immediately made her way towards the stairs just off to the side, wanting to get away from the stench of blood and regret. But as she started to wander off, a firm hand pulled her back.
Henna observed the younger woman, her gaze less reprimanding and more gentle and caring. But it felt hollow, like an act meant to make her forget her own transgression rather than any genuine remorse. For a brief moment, it was like looking at a completely different person, just with her sister's face. She was unable to pull away as Henna pressed their foreheads together, an act of affection she'd once relished in suddenly feeling cold and empty after what had happened.
"Hey," Henna began softly, stroking Lavender's cheek. "You did good out there, despite your mishap at the end. I'm proud of you, and I know your father would be too."
Those words had been said to her more than once; when she'd first put on The Queen's Servants, the first time she'd landed a blow on her instructor, and when she'd impulsively devoted herself to the Goddess. Each time, it elated her, taking the knowledge that her father would have supported her path as reassurance that leaving her home after just turning fifteen was the right decision.
Now though, Henna's praise was accompanied by a singular query. Why would that be something her father was proud of?
Once again, she didn't voice this question, instead trying to act unbothered, but she couldn't summon the look of joy those words filled her with any other time, barely being able to look her in the eyes.
"Thank you, Henna."
Even the words felt empty.
Eventually, the two parted and Lavender made her way down the hall. She didn't remember making her way through the halls, her mind consumed by the memories of Durga's screams, the look of agony on her face, and that unknown power that Henna had taken. Before she knew it, she had arrived at one of the many identical greyish-brown doors that made up the hall of rooms, only, it wasn't her room. It was Romeo's. She couldn't imagine why, he probably wasn't even awake at this hour, and if he was, she'd imagine he wouldn't want to see her anyway after their fight. Still, she found herself unable to move away, instead reaching out and turning the handle, expecting to find it locked, only to pause as she heard the quiet click of the latch pulling back.
That wasn't like Romeo to leave his door unlocked, so maybe he wasn't even there anymore. At the club, he'd often stay out for hours, getting drunk and flirting with anything with a pulse and a pretty face. Still, a part of her hoped he was inside, she needed him, after everything that happened, she just needed to know he was still there for her. She didn't care if he was even awake, she'd just crawl into his bed for the night and he could yell at her or kick her out in the morning, right now, she just needed that same feeling of safety, that same feeling of implicit trust she felt when she learned they'd be lying low together.
Entering the room, she knew right away that things wouldn't be that easy, seeing her brother tensely pacing by the bed, running a hand through his unkempt hair in an attempt to straighten it before giving up the act and cupping the back of his head in his hands. She hadn't seen him this upset since… since the night she'd run away. Knowing she'd put him through even a fraction of the grief she felt over Henna's threat made her chest tighten with guilt. Slowly, she closed the door, hoping to go unnoticed for a moment longer to compose herself, but the click of the latch was a lot louder closing than opening, and he didn't need her Faunus senses to hear it.
Romeo turned with quiet fury, looking ready to throw a punch at the sudden intruder, only to pause upon seeing Lavender and not some robed nut job coming to proselytize at him. While his expression softened, it was only to the extent that he no longer looked ready to fly off the handle. He was still furious, that much was clear, but the look of aggression he bore was just replaced with a mixture of disappointment and pity, the same look their mother had given her the night she ran away. A look she didn't need, not tonight, and not from him of all people.
"Well, someone was out late." he spat spitefully, using a tone of disgust that she'd never thought he'd direct at her. "Get all the blood washed out already? Or is this another one of your little fuck ups I'll need to clean up?"
"Can we please not do this right now?" she growled, trying to hold back and not take her anger out on him. There was too much going on, too many thoughts swimming through her head to try and argue with him without having a breakdown.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did things not pan out how you imagined?"
Her frustration returned. Damn it, why was he doing this? What purpose did kicking her while she was obviously down serve? She didn't want to fight with him right now, so, knowing that she'd probably snap if he pushed her any farther, she clenched her jaw shut, moving over to the dresser and dropping her coat onto it, pulling the sleeve of her purple shirt down to hide the injection mark on her forearm where she'd stung herself earlier. The last thing she needed was him to have more ammo to use against her, he clearly didn't want her around in the first place, so there was no reason to give him even more of a reason to want her gone.
However, being ignored only served to make him angrier. After everything he'd done for her, everything he'd put up with, she didn't get to just ignore him!
"Guess a pat on the back doesn't make the taste of putting an innocent person in the ground any easier to stomach, does it?"
That stopped her in her tracks. The snide comments had been frustrating before, but insinuating that she was capable of what Henna had done hurt far more than she was ready for. She just couldn't win, could she? Not bloodthirsty enough for Henna to be happy with her, but too much for Romeo to even respect her. Deep down, a part of her knew he was in the dark about how brutal and bloody the woman's death had been, but she wasn't thinking clearly, she had come to him for comfort, not to be treated like a monster by her own brother.
"I didn't kill her." she spoke with a sneer, sticking just to the facts to try not to let him see how much his words stung.
"For some reason, I find that a bit difficult to believe."
Of all things he'd said to her, that shouldn't have been her breaking point, especially after having to endure Henna's stoic act and go along with her, pretending everything was fine while fearing for her life had started driving her mad well before he'd started to tear her down further. No, it was the way he said it, like he had so little faith in her as a person, that pushed her over the edge. She thought that by bringing her siblings together, she'd have her family together, but she'd found a way to screw everything up, to involve him with a woman she was beginning to realize she didn't know as well as she thought.
"Of course you don't believe me! I'm never fucking good enough, am I!? Why do I even try? Obviously I'm the problem, right? Mom didn't want me, Henna doesn't really want me, and you only even put up with me because I'm your sister!" the young Faunus exploded at her brother, tears of anger trailing down her cheeks.
"Fuck you, Lavender!" More silence followed the outburst, leaving the young Faunus unable to respond, shocked at the anger in Romeo's voice.
This time, Romeo didn't shy away. Normally, he tried to calm her down when things got bad, but not this time, instead meeting her outburst with one of his own. If she wanted to run around making these reckless decisions, then she'd have to deal with the consequences of her own actions. Lowering his voice to avoid eavesdroppers but losing none of the venom in it, he leaned in close so she could hear every word.
"You're really going to say that to my face after everything I've done for you? Do you honestly think I'd be here, willingly surrounded by a bunch of wackjobs if I didn't love you? If anyone else helped kill a Huntress, I'd shoot them on the spot!"
She wasn't ready for that, he'd never spoken to her like that before, and his words cut right through her anger, hitting the scared little girl beneath it all where it hurt. She knew she'd been pushing him, trying to make him see things the way she did, to see Henna the way she did, but all she'd done was make herself a burden to him, and drive him away. What was worse was the nagging voice in her head telling her that it was all for nothing.
That's when the realization set in, that she might actually lose him too, all over a stupid, childish fantasy that everyone but her could see through like glass.
"I'm sorry!" She broke down, the sudden change from rage to desperation throwing Romeo off from continuing his rant. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please don't be mad, I'll do anything, just please, please don't go! Don't leave me Romeo, please!"
Her mind raced. He was going to leave her, and she was going to be alone again, unloved and unwanted.. He had that same look of regret and frustration in his eyes that she saw in their mother's, a cold, empty look that didn't even attempt to hide how badly he wished he didn't even have to look at her. The same look that caused her to lash out and attack him when she finally hit her breaking point almost four years ago.
She couldn't take it, knowing he looked at her the same way as their mother did, not when those thoughts threatened to consume her. Without thinking, she lashed out with her tail, the tip of her stinger plunging into her bicep deeper than she had meant. The venom did little for her physical pain, but soon her mind would be numb and she could lose herself in… something else, anything else.
"What the fuck!? Did you ju-" Horror didn't even begin to describe Romeo's reaction to his sister injecting herself with her own toxin. Gods damn it, how could he have been so stupid!? That brute had said it right in his face and he just let his obviously unwell sister handwave it as a meaningless taunt. He wanted to puke as her eyes glazed over and the tension in her body slowly melted away like a junkie finally getting their fix. Worry overtook anger as she started to wobble, losing her balance and tumbling forward.
Leaning in, he barely caught her in time. While she wasn't heavy by any standards, the sudden dead weight in his arms made him stumble onto the floor with her, his knees taking the brunt of the impact and no doubt disturbing whoever was unlucky enough to be below his suite further.
"I fucked up." she whispered, sounding as delirious as she looked. "I didn't kill her! I didn't, I swear I didn't, but Henna… H-Henna…"
"Stop talking," he whispered, leaning her over to face the floor so if she threw up, there was no chance of her choking on her own vomit. His mismatching eyes went to the sleeve she'd pulled down earlier, finding more injection sites. Most of them were scars, fading, but never fully going away. One of them was far more recent though, looking to be just a few hours old. "Fuck, sis, these look like track marks, how much have you done this?"
"Jus-" She slurred her words, groaning as a sudden bout of nausea hit her. She'd injected too much in her haste to numb herself, so she didn't even think, just saying the first thing that came to mind. "Had to fight, mug people, hurt people, made it easier. Didn't need to as much after Henna."
"What happened out there?" he grimaced, turning her head to make her look his way.
For a moment, the small woman just stared at him, her brow furrowing as she tried to recollect what she'd seen. While she knew what had happened, visualizing it was suddenly impossible without another memory bleeding into her warped reality, be it Azrael mocking her, or Neo's cold stare. Then again, maybe that was a blessing.
"She butchered that woman. Sawed her head off…" Vaguely, she recalled a memory from the day before, a mention of a daughter the woman had. "Someone's going to find out their mom got ripped apart, and I helped. You're right, I'm just like…"
She swallowed, unable to finish the sentence. Romeo didn't say a word, he didn't have to, they both knew what she was.
"You must hate me, like Henna."
"What? I don't hate you, I'm pissed at you, yes, but I could never hate you." he whispered quickly, trying to dispel the thought from her head before it clicked. "Wait, Henna?"
"I just wanted to know why, then she got mad, sh-she pulled her knife out an-." She looked towards her brother, seeking answers, comfort, warmth, really anything to make her feel less alone, less unwanted, less like a mistake.
"Did she hurt you?" He looked her over quickly, seeing no serious wounds, just a few scrapes and bruises. But nothing that looked like a cut from the knife he'd seen at Henna's side.
Lavender shook her head. No, she would never, but if that was true, then why had she threatened her? She knew what it meant, but the implication of that moment was too much to bear right now.
In her delirious state, her mind bent her memories once again. For one brief moment, Henna was holding her knife at her neck, though this time, the blade was pressed right against her skin. She could feel the sting of the sharp edge just barely breaking through the skin, sending a sliver of blood down her throat. Then everything morphed, and suddenly, she isn't the one being threatened anymore. She's holding the blade, pinning Romeo down in the ruined apartment building she had hid in before he found her.
She'd done worse, she had tried to hurt him and only turned back because her guilt wouldn't let her leave after he'd saved her. What the hell was wrong with her?
"Is this how I make you feel? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I put you through this."
Romeo didn't say a word, just pulling her further into him. Yeah, it was a fucked up situation, but he wasn't going to let it get to him.
"Do you trust me?" She nodded her head weakly in response. "I'm gonna look into things, find out what's really going on around here. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of being kept in the dark."
She focused her mind to listen along. Yes, answers, that was what they needed, there was a reason for all of it, there had to be. She needed to know, even if it was an ugly and painful revelation, then at least she'd have something more than her own mind telling her how worthless she was.
"I wanna help, I need to know why she's acting like this, see if I can snap her out of whatever this is."
Romeo went to refuse at first, seeing as she'd already been put in danger just by questioning Henna's orders. He didn't want to put her in more danger by spying on the openly violent members of a cult, but the fact remained that he couldn't do this without her, she knew her way around far better and knew more about them, and without her, he'd be going in blind.
"Can you get me into the compound?"
"I think so, we're supposed to meet back there after the tournament for something important."
Well, that was ominous, but it was probably the only opportunity they'd have at this without being spotted.
"Okay, just play along until that point. When we get in we'll find out what the hell this little trip was really about. And maybe knock some sense into our sister."
He tried to keep the sneer out of his voice as he called that woman 'sister', but it proved to be pointless, both because the word audibly made him want to vomit, and because Lavender had already drifted off. Okay, he had a plan now. As soon as they were allowed the opportunity, they'd sneak off and find evidence of what was happening, and when it inevitably turned out to be some completely insane doomsday plan, he'd send the evidence to Ruby to make sure it was dealt with. If Henna really could be reasoned with, then he'd make an attempt to talk her out of this madness, for Lavender's sake if nothing else. If not, he'd put a bullet in the snake's head without hesitation.