Her dreams were far more chaotic than usual after Raven knocked her unconscious. It was like being in the middle of a raging ocean, the waves knocking her in every direction while she struggled to regain control. There was nothing she could do. Every shove made her want to scream, but her mouth wouldn't work.
Then she saw the blue flames of Kassandra's aura flicker along her skin and warmth spread throughout her body. She fought against it, trying to pat the fire out, but her body betrayed her.
"Calm yourself," a voice spoke, reverberating throughout her entire being like the bass from a speaker. It was her own voice but... different.
Kassandra.
She tried to speak again, but no sound came out. Instead, she channeled her inner voice and tried to talk with her. "What's happening to me?!"
"Relax, Sera," she said, her voice calm and even. "Fighting only makes it more difficult. I'm not your enemy, you know it."
Sera struggled against the invisible force throwing her around like a ragdoll and groaned with frustration. Before she could even blink, an overwhelming tide of images and sounds filled her head like they were being poured directly into her brain. A guttural scream ripped from her throat at the pervasive flashes of memory. Some of them were vaguely familiar while others took her by surprise.
She saw battles, merrymaking, indecipherable snippets of voices and words, random faces and scenery, and death. So, so much death and destruction. And all of it was being dumped into her head like her brain was some kind of messed up bucket.
"What are you doing?!"
"Calm down, and I'll tell you."
"And if I don't?" she winced, trying to resist the never-ending flood of Kassandra's memory.
"...I don't know, but it won't end well," she admitted. When Sera kept struggling, she said, "Isn't this what you wanted? To regain your past?"
"It's not my past!" Sera shot back. "I'm not you! I'm me!"
"...You're afraid."
"Of course I am!" she mentally shouted. "I don't want to change! I want to be me!"
"Sera," Kassandra said, as calm as ever. "It'll be okay. Please, calm down."
"How the hell do you know?!"
"Because both of our lives depend on it."
Kassandra said it with such certainty, Sera actually believed her. Slowly, she forced herself to relax. As soon as she did, the flow of memories became more prominent. Stronger, yet more calm. It wasn't like a raging river pouring into her, and more like a steady stream that filled her entire being. She could feel the memories seeping into her very core, adding onto and intermixing with her psyche.
It wasn't unpleasant, but she still wasn't comfortable. Kassandra's entire life flashed before her eyes in seconds, and it was all she could do not to lose her mind. Especially when she saw Salem's face appear, then disappear in a millisecond.
"It's okay," Kassandra assured her. "You're doing well, Sera."
"W-What's happening?" she murmured, her voice sounding whinier than she'd intended.
"Nothing to worry about. You freed me, Sera. Finally, I can escape this prison. All thanks to you," she said wistfully.
"The red aura," she deduced.
"Yes," Kassandra said. "Ripping it away did the trick. If only I'd known about it sooner... It was fortunate that you discovered it."
Sera took a deep, controlled breath, getting accustomed to the personality and mind of Kassandra Kallisto combining with her own. "What will happen now?"
She didn't answer.
"You don't know," Sera thought.
"No," Kassandra said.
She tightened her non-existent fists. "You're not taking my body."
"Technically, it was mine first," Kassandra chuckled.
"I don't care!" she seethed. "I have things to do, and you're not going to stop me!"
"Relax," Kassandra urged. "I told you. We're in this together. Where you go, I go. Not like I even have a choice."
"Well... Good!" Sera said, relaxing a little.
Kassandra chuckled dryly. "Gods, this is weird. I never thought I could be so annoying."
"You're not a party, either," Sera muttered. "Thanks for that headache, by the way. I think I'd rather shoot myself than do that again."
"That was... unintentional," Kassandra admitted. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Sera. I was just as surprised as you, and... I felt it too. I'm sorry."
"Oh," Sera said, unsure of what to say now. "No point in yelling at you anymore, I guess."
After a few moments, Kassandra continued. "Can you see it? My life?"
Sera searched her mind, trying to remember things she'd never seen before. It was still a raging sea of conflicting sights and sounds. She couldn't focus on any one memory before it disappeared.
"...No."
"Try this," she said. "Think about Argus. The sea. Walking on the beach."
Immediately, several images flashed in her mind depicting exactly what Kassandra had said. Low marble buildings with people milling about in the streets. The smell of food coming from what Sera knew was a tavern. She could see the wooden tables and chairs, as well as watching herself down a tankard of honey brown liquid.
Then she saw the ocean. Vast, and so blue. White clouds dominated the sky as waves gently lapped against the beach. She was barefoot, and she could feel the sand between her toes.
Sera felt herself smile. She somehow knew that this was one of Kassandra's favorite things to remember. This was before she left her home. Argus. The memory confirmed what Ozpin had told her.
Her home was Argus.
"I see it," she murmured.
"I know," Kassandra said warmly. "Do you like it?"
"Yes," Sera admitted. "This is... Wow..."
She let the memory continue to play, like she was watching a video through her own eyes. Remembering walking on the beach filled her with a sense of tranquility she hadn't known since Beacon.
"I am not an enemy, Sera," Kassandra said.
Sera willed the memory to fade, and she was back in the abyss of her dreamscape. "Wake me up. I'm ready."
"I'll try," she promised. "Just... Brace yourself."
Before she could speak, her body jolted as if she was struck by lightning. Kassandra's aura flared within her like a fire had suddenly ignited. Then, she woke up.
. . .
Sera's eyes shot open in an instant. She sat up, then winced as a sudden pain erupted in throughout her skull. The huntress put a hand to her temple and groaned, sitting completely still until the intense throbbing dulled to a slightly more comfortable state.
After a quick glance, she saw that she was in Vernal's room again. Jupiter was leaned against a wall beside the bed, and she was still in the same clothes she'd been wearing before. Pyrrha's shield was on her wrist in its bracelet form.
Good, she hadn't been disarmed again.
"Huh, it worked," a voice spoke.
She screamed.
Sera looked up and felt her heart skip a beat at what she saw. Kassandra Kallisto leaned against the far wall, a smirk on her lips and a twinkle in her azure eyes. Her jet-black hair was the same, only it looked longer than before. Her hair hung past her shoulders, flowing freely with a slight waviness to it. She knew that was just how it'd grown. There was no style or effort put into it. She knew because that's exactly how hers is, albeit much longer now than it had been in Beacon.
She was looking at herself like a reflection in a trick mirror. Kassandra even wore similar clothes as her old outfit. A blue tank top, black skinny jeans, and black lace-up boots. The Omega tattoo that Sera shared rested proudly on her outer bicep. Apparently, Kassandra had decided to do a little accessorizing and ditch the beat-up blue tunic she'd had before.
"What the fuck?" Sera said under her breath. "I've actually lost my mind..."
"No, you haven't," Kassandra said, smiling brightly.
The curtain-door was pulled aside and Raven stepped into the room, eyes going wide when she saw that Sera was awake.
"Finally," Raven sighed, approaching the side of the bed. "Started to think you weren't ever going to wake up."
Sera glanced at Kassandra, then back at Raven. How was she not seeing her?
Kassandra held a finger up to her lips and winked slyly.
Tearing her gaze away from her past self, Sera met Raven's gaze. "What happened?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. I left you at the table, then I heard you screaming. Came back to find you on the floor, practically begging to be put out of your misery. So... I knocked you out, then put you in bed. Kid, you... it was like you were in a coma."
She gulped. "How long was I out?"
"Three days," she said gently.
"Three days?!"
"And... I have some news you may not like," Raven tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword. "Ozpin and your friends have left the city. They've boarded a train north bound, going who knows where."
Sera deflated in an instant. They were gone? She knew they thought she was probably dead, but they just left? What was she supposed to do now, chase them?
"Great," she said with false enthusiasm. She remembered a conversation they'd had before leaving. "Atlas," she thought aloud. "They're going to Atlas."
Raven's eyes widened slightly. "Figures. That's where the closest other Relic is. Good luck getting in, though. The whole kingdom has been on lockdown since Beacon fell. Ironwood's gone crazy."
"Crazy?" she asked. "That doesn't sound like him. He was always so... stoic."
"Doesn't change the fact that he's shut down all communication and transportation in and out of the kingdom. No one even knows what's going on in there anymore."
"Atlas or Ironwood's head?"
Raven thought for a moment. "Yes."
Kassandra strolled right up to Raven with her hands on her hips and leaned in close to her, inspecting the side of her face. "Resourceful one, isn't she?"
"How do you know all this?" Sera asked, trying not to look at Kassandra for too long. Apparently, Raven just couldn't see her. That really made her think she was crazy, after all.
"Told you," Raven smirked. "I know things. When I came back from Mistral, I posted someone in the city to keep an eye on them. You're welcome, by the way."
"For what? Telling me I have to track my friends across the country and somehow sneak into Remnant's most highly guarded kingdom since, like, ever?"
"Pfft, you should've seen the wall they put up around this castle in Vacuo. Gods, that thing was-" Kassandra said.
"I think I know where they're going," Raven said, inadvertently cutting her off. "There's an Atlesian base on the coast. Probably heading there to try and get a ride to Atlas."
She took a second to process that. "Can, uh, can I see a map? I don't really know the area well."
"I do," Kassandra smirked. "I doubt it's changed too much since my time."
"Grandma," Sera thought. Kassandra frowned.
Wordlessly, Raven left the room. She was back within seconds, holding a rolled-up piece of parchment. The bandit laid it out across the bed in front of her and jabbed her finger at a mass of land on the right.
"This is where we are, right beside Mistral," Raven said, then slid her finger up, all the way across the ocean and to a mass of whiteness. "Here's Atlas. And here," she pointed at a small dot on the coast of Anima. "Here's where the base is."
Kassandra's eyes widened and she looked at Sera. "Argus."
"Seriously?" Sera muttered, looking across the map.
"Looks like you're in for a long trip, kid," Raven chuckled.
"And what's stopping you from just making a portal that takes me to them like poof?"
Raven shifted. "I... can't. Not anymore, at least."
"You can't?" she demanded.
"I tried after you had your incident," she explained. "It wouldn't work. Not for Qrow and Yang, I mean. I don't know how, but they've somehow severed the connection that allowed me to use my semblance. Sorry, kid. You're on your own."
Kassandra shrugged. "Not entirely. Don't worry, I know the way there like the back of my hand. And now, you should too," she smiled warmly and tapped her temple.
Sera sighed and put her face in her hands. "Great. I walked the first half of Anima, and now I get to walk the other half, too."
"Well... No," Raven said. "Just take a train like your friends. It'd take you straight to Argus."
"Yeah, screw walking," Kassandra scoffed. "Let's ride in style. Whatcha think? I've never seen a train before. Well, besides the one you crashed into Vale."
Sera ignored her and looked up at Raven. Surprisingly, she looked kind of worried. Sera wasn't sure what to think of that, but at least the Maiden wasn't trying to sentence her to death via gang violence again.
"Okay," she said. "So... What?"
Raven shrugged and rolled up her map. "Think you can walk?"
She thought about it, then swung her legs over the bed. She felt... normal. Her legs supported her weight. After taking a few test steps, she nodded at Raven.
"Good," the bandit leader smiled softly. "Come on," she nodded towards the wardrobe, and Sera followed her. Kassandra trailed after them, looking just as curious as Sera felt.
"What're you doing?" she asked.
"You're not going to make it there in a T-shirt," Raven chuckled as she sorted through racks of clothing. Vernal had a very impressive array of blue and brown clothes, but Sera still didn't feel comfortable with the idea of wearing a dead girl's stuff.
"Relax," Kassandra rolled her eyes. "It's just clothes."
"Yeah, but..." she muttered.
"What?" Raven asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Nothing," she said. "I just... don't feel right about wearing her clothes, since, you know."
"She's dead?" Raven murmured. Sera nodded, and the bandit leader sighed. "Look, it's better that you get some use out of them. If not, they're just gonna get divided amongst the tribe. So..." Raven pulled out a navy-blue military-style looking jacket with more pockets than it needed. She held it out to Sera.
"Not really my style..." she muttered, eyeing the jacket.
Raven laughed. "Better than nothing. Here," she tossed her a blue hoodie, then a pair of dark brown pants.
Thankfully, the clothes were rather simple compared to what she'd seen Vernal wearing before. Sera wasn't sure if she could pull that off.
"Jeez, do I have to buzz my hair short too? That'd really bring the whole thing together," Sera looked at the clothes in her arms.
"No, but it'd be a good look on you," Raven shrugged.
"Funny."
"Just put it on," Raven joked, then left the room to let her change clothes.
Sera sighed and laid the hoodie, jacket, and pants on the bed. Kassandra went to her side, pinching her chin with two fingers.
"What're you thinking?" Kassandra asked.
"You already know," she replied. "I know you can read my thoughts, and all that cryptic bullshit."
"Well yeah, but I think it's better to talk things out," she laughed.
Sera shrugged. "Good point."
"So...?" Kassandra nudged her, and she actually felt it. It was like Kassandra was actually there, and not just some sort of apparition.
Ignoring it, Sera sighed and pulled the hoodie over her head. "I'm thinking I'm tired."
Kassandra nodded in understanding. "I get it. After a while, everything can get a little overwhelming. But you can't give up, that won't help anyone. Not your friends, and certainly not yourself."
Sera changed into the pants, and they fit a bit too snugly. Damn skinny jeans, she thought. Then she slid her arms through the jacket's sleeves and shook it to get the thing to sit comfortably. She grabbed Jupiter, collapsed it, then clipped it to her belt loops.
"Who said anything about giving up?" Sera met her eyes, and Kassandra grinned.
"Atta girl," she said, then blinked out of existence. That was a new one.
Sera left the bedroom and found Raven packing a leather backpack. She looked over and saw Sera approaching, then showed the pack to her.
"Some supplies for you. I couldn't spare much, but it should be more than enough," she flipped the top flap closed and buckled the backpack shut.
Sera nodded gratefully. "Thank you. I..."
"You don't need to say anything else," Raven cut her off and handed the pack to her. "There's a bit of Lien in there, too. Should cover a train ticket."
She slipped it over her shoulders and gave the woman a wary glance. "What do you want?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean what are you really hoping to accomplish by helping me? It couldn't all just be to try and show Yang and Qrow you're not as bad as they think you are. So, what is it?"
Raven took a deep breath and looked out the window. "Like I said before, it's the right thing to do." She met Sera's eyes. "And I'm kind of hoping you'll kick Cinder and Salem in the teeth when you see them. Maybe the fight isn't as hopeless as I once thought it was."
"Come with me, then," she said. "Go make things right. We could use the Spring Maiden on our side."
Raven smirked lightly. "I'm afraid I have to decline. Someone still has to look out for those idiots outside. And the further away I am everything, the better. Can't risk Cinder getting the jump on me and taking the Maiden powers."
Well, great. She hadn't really wanted to take Raven, but it would've been nice to have that big scary aura blade on her side. Then again, having to camp out with Raven Branwen sounded terrifying. Especially if Kassandra decided to chime in, and Sera got caught talking to herself.
"Suit yourself," she said, then headed towards the door.
Raven's expression softened. "Sera."
She stopped.
"Give 'em hell, kid," she gave a firm nod.
Sera held a hand up in farewell, then stepped out of the tent.
. . .
"So, favorite color?" Kassandra asked, walking beside Sera with her hands folded behind her head.
"Seriously?" Sera raised her eyebrows.
"Come on, I'm trying to make conversation! So what is it?"
She rolled her eyes. Ever since she left the Branwen camp, Kassandra's been pestering her for information and trying to talk to her. Sera just wanted to hurry up and get to Mistral. Thankfully, they weren't far away now. It hadn't taken as long as she thought it would. She could see the city's lights on the mountain, but she wasn't looking forward to the climb she was going to make.
"Purple," she said.
"Figures," Kassandra laughed, skipping ahead of her.
Skipping. Really?
"What is with you?" she asked, watching the dark-haired girl ahead of her.
Kassandra turned and walked backwards, smiling at her. "What? I've been cooped up in your head for months, and I'm finally out. Can't I just enjoy it?"
"Well, yeah, but... I kind of thought you'd like, stay in my head or something. And you could make me move before, when I was fighting."
"I told you, I'm just along for the ride. Well, kind of. I want to help too. But I mean, I guess I can still make you move?" Then her eyes lit up. "You wanna test it?"
"...Later," she said, then kept walking.
"Aw, come on!" Kassandra whined. "Just for a minute!"
Sera knit her eyebrows and stared at Kassandra, like she was looking at a child complaining that she wasn't getting what she wanted.
"Holy shit, I hope I'm not as whiny as you," she cast a glance at her past self.
She'd made it to the tall, winding staircase that led to the city. Sera took a deep breath, then began her ascent.
"I am not whiny!" Kassandra appeared in front of her, the air shimmering as she manifested on the staircase.
"Yes, you are," Sera grumbled and kept climbing. "Look, I get that you're excited, but could you calm down? This is already weird enough without you asking me what my favorite ice cream is."
"Then what do you want to talk about?" Kassandra appeared a dozen steps ahead of her, bending over slightly with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.
Sera stopped, taking a deep breath. This was like dealing with a hyperactive Ruby or Nora that ate too many pancakes. "Okay, you're right. We should get along, since we're stuck together."
"Exactly!" Kassandra said. "So?"
She inhaled sharply, then kept walking. The climb up the stairs was slow-going, but at least she wasn't alone. Not really, anyway.
When she was about three-quarters of the way up, Kassandra asked a new question.
"So, what's with this Weiss chick? You've got a lot of feelings about her," she said as she walked up the stairs beside Sera.
"Uh..." she faltered.
"You like her?" Kassandra quirked an eyebrow.
It was a little weird to talk about it with someone else. Sera has never had feelings for someone before, and it made her uncomfortable. Not like bad uncomfortable, but the thought of Weiss now made butterflies flutter in her chest and warmth blossom through her head, face, and the rest of her body. But she couldn't deny it. After the time they spent in Mistral, she'd officially developed a crush for the Schnee heiress. Well, ex-heiress, but still.
"I think so," she said shyly. "I don't know. I've never..."
"Liked someone?" Kassandra grinned.
"...Yeah."
"Eh, you'll get over it," she shrugged. "After the first time, it gets easier. Still, my money was on the blond one. She's fun."
"How do you know?" Sera scoffed.
"Your memories, duh," she rolled her eyes.
She didn't like having someone just as sarcastic as her in her head. So, she just had to be herself.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot I had the fuckin' world's best psychic here," she deadpanned.
Kassandra raised her palms. "Ooh, look who found her funny bone."
"I was funny long before you came along," she said.
"Sure, sure," she chuckled. "It was pretty funny when you were tearing into that orange-haired dude with the little sword and douchey robes."
Sera cracked a grin at the thought of when she'd insulted Phoenix. That had to be some of her best work yet, and it was very much worth it.
"I think some of my own smarminess must have rubbed off on you," Kassandra laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
Again, Sera was shocked that she could actually feel Kassandra's touch. It was jarring.
"I don't think I'd use a word like 'smarmy' though," Sera said.
"Rule one: be smarter than everyone else in the room, even if it's just sounding smarter," Kassandra said.
"...Right," she said.
She arrived at the top of the stairs and looked across the city of Mistral. Finally, she'd made it. Civilians milled through the streets going about their business. Some glanced in her direction when they'd seen someone enter the kingdom, but ultimately paid her no mind.
Without waiting a second, she marched in the direction of the house she had stayed at during her time in the city. Kassandra blinked in and out of existence, commenting on random things she saw in the streets of Mistral. A cat lounging across a table that reminded Sera of Blake, a pair of old men shooting the breeze in their chairs, a particularly unflattering person that Kassandra threw a few choice insults at. You know, about the average Mistral experience. Even if that last bit was a little cruel, Sera couldn't resist cracking a smile at the particular vernacular Kassandra used.
Winding through the many narrow streets of the city, she found her way to the house without trouble. After all, she'd learned the layout pretty well when she'd been living here.
When she made it, she just stared up at the house for a while. Sera knew she wasn't going to find her friends inside, but she still hoped they'd somehow be there. Taking a deep breath, she tried the knob, and it was locked.
"Fantastic," she exhaled.
Kassandra appeared beside her, manifesting out of thin air. She shrugged, "Just kick it down. Who's gonna care?"
With a grunt of indifference, Sera stepped back and swiftly kicked the door as hard as she could. It flew open and hit the wall, but at least she could get inside now. So, she did. After closing the door behind her as best as she could, she made her way into the living room.
All in all, the house looked exactly the same. There were a few dirty dishes in the sink, the couch was askew, and the curtains were all drawn. The remains of a shattered vase laid across the floor, and she had no idea why.
Sera checked the rooms. All of them had been emptied of any personal belongings, and that only solidified that no one was here. Her room, however, still had most of her things in it, thank the gods. Apparently, her friends didn't see a reason in taking her stuff with them. Or they kept it here for safe keeping. She hoped it was the latter.
She rushed to her dresser and pulled out as many of her clothes as she could, discarding Vernal's clothes in favor of a purple tank top, white jeans, and a spare pair of black lace-up boots with violet soles she'd bought long ago. A quick glance in the mirror brought a smile to her face.
"Not bad," Kassandra whistled, appearing out of nowhere and leaning against the wall.
"I know," Sera winked slyly, then turned around to search the rest of her things.
After taking a count, she found that she had a few changes of clothes, her pouch of Dust crystals, a box of shotgun shells for her Boomstick, and her old traveling gear she'd taken on the trip to Mistral. Her canteen, a bag of jerky, and a lighter she'd used to start campfires when they didn't want to waste flame Dust.
She stuffed as much as she could into the backpack Raven gave her, then slung it over her shoulder. There was only one problem—she couldn't find the jacket she'd bought from Lavender. She knew she'd left it hanging in the closet, but instead, she only found a single empty hanger.
Someone must have taken it. They had to, because the thing just wasn't here. That was upsetting, but when she remembered she was going to be heading into much colder climates, she figured it'd be better to not have it with her. With that in mind, she put on one of her old black and violet hoodies and stuffed the blue jacket into her bag.
Once she had as much as she could carry in her backpack, she sighed and fell onto her bed. If this was going to be her last day in Mistral, she wanted to enjoy the soft mattress a bit longer.
Then Kassandra appeared next to her, laying at her side with her arms folded behind her head.
"This was it, huh?" she asked, staring up at the ceiling.
"What?" Sera looked over to her.
"The room where I was finally able to talk to you," she explained.
"Oh. Yeah." She turned her head to gaze at the ceiling.
A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed between them. Honestly, Sera still just couldn't believe that Kassandra was even here, out of her head. But also still in her head? The whole thing was confusing.
"How can you make yourself, like, appear? No one else sees you, except me," she asked.
"That?" Kassandra raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, to be honest. Whatever you see, I see, and it just kind of happened. Didn't take long to figure out, though."
"Yeah, you changed your clothes," Sera snickered. "Trying to copy me?"
"How does someone copy themself?" Kassandra laughed. "I just wanted to upgrade a little, that's all. It's not my fault fashion got better in the last few hundred years."
"Hundreds of years..." Sera muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "How do you feel about that? Since, like... everyone's-"
"Dead?" she asked. Sera nodded. Kassandra shrugged. "Not sure, really. All this doesn't seem-"
"Real?" Sera finished.
"...Yeah. I had a close friend. Gus. We went everywhere together, saving villages and fighting Grimm just about every day. Eventually..." Her shoulders fell and her lips tightened into a frown.
"You got together," Sera said, a flood of faint memories flashing through her mind. She'd seen the guy in that flashback dream long ago. Tall, muscular, dark hair and dark eyes. The guy almost made Hazel look like a joke. Not as big, but definitely much stronger. Especially in the scenes she saw where he had a massive two-handed sword that cleaved an Ursa in two as easily as she would a Creep.
When a particularly sensitive moment popped into her mind, her face went warm. She shook it away and forced the images to disappear. Sera cleared her throat and tried to focus on the conversation.
"You got with a guy named Gus," she snickered.
Kassandra raised an eyebrow. "If he was here to hear you say that, he'd kick your ass up and down the kingdom."
"I believe it," she shrugged.
A new question popped into her head, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to ask. Sera frowned and kept her eyes on the ceiling.
"What is it?" Kassandra asked. She'd immediately detected a shift within Sera, as if her body temperature had suddenly elevated.
"It's just... how exactly did you, y'know... die?"
Kassandra pursed her lips. She was silent for a few moments. Finally, she said, "That's a long and sad story that will have to wait for another time. But I didn't die. At least, not in the traditional sense."
"I don't think there's a way you could be more complicated," she sighed.
"Do you want to hear my life's story or do you want to catch that train?" Kassandra chuckled.
Sera picked her head up. "Good point. Let's get outta here. This place is starting to get depressing."
She got up and grabbed her pack, then headed for the front door. Before leaving, she halted, walked backwards a few steps, then opened the refrigerator. It was completely bare, apart from one tall glass bottle. Sera smirked, grabbed the People Like Grapes, then twisted the top off and walked out the front door.
The shadows had lifted.
. . .
Less than an hour later, she was sitting on a bench and waiting for her train to leave. It was the weirdest thing. Apparently, the tracks had been damaged and only just now were in working condition again. She had a feeling that it had something to do with Weiss and the others. At least the repair crew worked fast.
A huge crowd of people were swarming the station trying to get out of Mistral, and a good portion of them were heading for Argus. That train in particular needed a lot of extra huntsmen onboard to work security, and she almost didn't get a seat until she flashed her student huntsman license and volunteered to help.
And Kassandra was back in her head, but the dark-haired girl couldn't resist manifesting to do some random activity while Sera sat patiently. For a while, she was engrossed with a strange cube-shaped toy with colored squares that rotated and spun. Apparently, the objective was to get each side of the cube to have one corresponding solid color. Kassandra became frustrated when she couldn't get the last blue square to match with its corresponding side and threw the toy across the station, but it disappeared into a puff of smoke just at it reached the apex of its journey.
"Even with an imaginary toy, you couldn't solve a puzzle?" Sera raised an eyebrow.
Kassandra grimaced and plopped down on the bench next to her, then crossed her arms stiffly and mumbled about stupid squares.
Jeez. Maybe the two of them really weren't that different.
Anyhow, she was sitting on a bench near the boarding gate and checking her gear when she caught a rather interesting conversation between two huntsmen.
"...Attacked on the way to Argus. There was a huge flock of Grimm!" the first one said. He was a tall guy with green clothes, dark skin, and a dreadlock ponytail.
"Seriously?" the other, a huntress with all black clothes, pale skin, and black hair asked. "We're supposed to fight that on the trip?"
"Well, hopefully not. There haven't been any sightings on the route since then, but you never know."
"Gods. Let's hope it stays that way."
Sera frowned and closed her pack. What the heck had the others gotten into while she was gone? She hoped they were okay. Knowing them, they were probably already halfway to Atlas with no clue that she was hot on their trail.
A bell rang nearby. Over a loudspeaker, a woman's voice said. "Now boarding for Argus." Then repeated it another few times.
"I'm sure they're fine," Kassandra said. "I don't think a few Grimm would keep that group down."
"Yeah, you're right," she smiled lightly and stood. "Still, I don't think they'll make it much longer without my charming presence."
"...If you say so." Kassandra flashed a grin and disappeared.
Sera slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the boarding gate. The huntsmen she'd unintentionally eavesdropped on gave her a sideways glance as she strolled past them, then snickered to each other. She stopped, looked over her shoulder at them until they averted their eyes, then kept walking.
"The hell are you?" the guy with the ponytail asked.
She stopped and turned to them, holding up the plastic badge that hung from her neck. "Security for the train."
"They didn't tell us we'd be getting another huntress," the huntress with the black outfit crossed her arms, her eyebrows knitting together. Sera couldn't place her accent, but it sounded strangely familiar. It reminded her of Velvet Scarlatina's, yet completely different. More refined, somehow.
The two huntsmen were so completely different from each other, it was a little jarring. The guy was clearly a people person. Kind-spirited, inviting, boisterous. The girl seemed like the very idea of social interaction made her want to draw a weapon. That was fair, though.
"Last minute addition," she shrugged and let go of her badge, letting it dangle once more. "Problem?"
"Not at all," the guy smiled warmly. "Name's Isaac. Forgive my colleague's sour attitude. Her name's Bela. She's a little nervous, given that only half of the last train that went to Argus made it there."
The girl crossed her arms tighter, her expression souring. "I'm not nervous. Just cautious."
Bela's eyes made Sera do a doubletake. They were so pale blue, she wasn't sure how anyone could be born with eyes that bright. Then again, Ruby's eyes were the color of quicksilver, so...
"Sure, sure," Isaac chuckled.
Sera glanced between the two of them and sized them up. She got the impression that they were at least decent fighters since they were huntsmen, but who knows how good they actually were?
"How many huntsmen are gonna be onboard?" she asked. "Just curious, I mean."
Isaac shrugged. "With you, we're at lucky number thirteen, eh?"
"Thirteen huntsmen on one train? Seems a bit overkill," Sera raised her eyebrows.
"The kingdom didn't want to take any chances after last time," Bela said.
"Hope it's enough if more Grimm show up. From the sound of it, your friends got into some nasty business on their little train ride," Kassandra noted with a tinge of humor.
"...Yeah," Sera frowned slightly. She felt a sense of uneasiness emanate from Kassandra. In turn, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. "What is it?"
"Just... a feeling. There's something off. Keep your finger on the trigger, yeah?"
Sera frowned. "I don't have a gun anymore, remember?"
Kassandra scoffed. Every time she did that, it felt like someone was poking her brain with a cotton swab. It was weird.
"Still. Eyes open."
"Fine, fine," Sera said. "What're you so worried about?"
Before Kassandra could respond, Isaac kept talking.
"So, you from around here? I don't think I've seen you around Haven," he said kindly.
The loudspeaker chimed in again, announcing last call for boarding, and all three of them jumped into action.
"We better go!" Isaac exclaimed, snatched an olive-colored suitcase from the floor, then sprinted towards the train.
Bela rolled her eyes and went after him, looking as sour as ever. Sera just blinked and followed the two strange huntsmen. Well, at least she wouldn't be the only person capable of fighting onboard. But Kassandra's warning put her on edge. For the entire walk to the train, she felt like she was approaching the edge of a cliff that she was about to be shoved off of.
It seemed like wherever she went, trouble followed.