Book II: The King's Dilemma

Chapter 48

Yagami sat on a wooden bench on the bridge, his back perfectly upright as his mother had taught him. The scent of jasmine flowers wafted through the air, tickling his nostrils with their sweet, heady aroma. He remained motionless, his dark eyes fixed on the garden before him.

Mother had instilled the importance of meditation in him, from the moment she had generously taken him in from the lower levels of Mistral.

A bee, drawn perhaps by the floral scent clinging to his robes, buzzed near his ear. It circled once, then twice. Then, without warning, it landed on his arm and stung him through the thin gossamer fabric. Yagami didn't flinch.

By the barbed shape of the stinger, the creature was a honey bee. As Kalman had once lectured to him, choosing to sting an animal would be fatal for a honey bee, compared to a bumble bee or a carpenter bee, since the bee would not be able to pull the barbed stinger out of his skin. Trying to pull itself out of the skin would result in disembowlement and death.

The evolutionary purpose of the barbed stinger was to allow the venom gland more time to pump venom into the victim because the barb prevents the stinger from being removed. The venom gland stays attached to the stinger and keeps pumping venom even after the bee has disemboweled itself. In bees, it's fine for an individual to die to protect the rest of the hive.

Similarly, one might say that it's fine for a human to die for the greater good. Necessary, even.

Not long after, the creature seemed to realize that he had no intention of going near their colony. It had made a fatal mistake.

He watched with detached curiosity as the insect struggled, its stinger embedded in his flesh. The bee twisted and turned, desperately trying to free itself. Its tiny legs scrabbled against Yagami's skin, wings beating furiously. It twisted itself in a circular motion, trying to unwind the stinger.

After a minute, it was luckily able to release itself. But he would not let it go so easily.

The boy caught it with his thumb and index finger before it could escape. It wriggled in his grip, but he did not let go, instead exerting a little more force on it.

"It's futile to resist someone much stronger than you," Yagami murmured. "You shouldn't have attacked in the first place."

What was the purpose of fighting a superior force? For a human, the bee's sting would cause a mild discomfort, at best. In a few days, the venom would be gone.

Exhausted from unwinding itself from Yagami's skin, the bee's movements gradually grew weaker in his grip.

He dropped the bee's carcass behind him, into the flowing river. Perhaps it twitched a bit, and then it died.

There's no use in fighting something inherently superior.

A gentle breeze rustled through the cherry blossoms overhead, scattering petals across the ground.

"Cookie, are you there~" a sweet voice called out suddenly.

From behind a small bamboo grove emerged Yoshimoto Nao. Her hands were behind her back, and she was smiling playfully. Her long, wavy, brown hair cascaded down her back, partially held in place by an ornate headband. The white, layered top gracefully hugged her form; the high collar framed the neck, exposing her shoulders. Her flowing skirt was embellished with subtle gold.

As someone who had formed her very own minor house by challenging and winning against a Sword, Yoshimoto was considered the best among the best. Many commoners admired her, but many nobles feared the rapid change.

"Hello."

"May I join you?"

"Go ahead."

The Sword sat down on the bench beside him.

"It's been a while, Yagami," she ruffled his hair. "Been busy with missions and all that stuff, so I couldn't visit you, sorry about that!"

The first time they had met was a few months ago. Being on good terms, Nao often visited the estate whenever she had time off.

To Yagami, she was someone who always spoke her mind. She felt like an older sister.

"Are you doing well at Sanctum?"

Yagami shook his head. "I haven't unlocked my semblance at Sanctum yet. I may be similar to Mother."

Mother didn't have a semblance either. Not all people who unlocked their aura received semblances. That was true for many nobles as well.

But in combat school, everyone had unlocked their semblance, perhaps because they benefited from the new progress in human knowledge of aura and semblances. Everyone in his class had unlocked one. Everyone except him.

"Semblances aren't so important. Everyone cares too much about them. That's my honest opinion."

"Really?"

"Really," she nodded firmly. "Mistralians care too much about that stuff. It drives me nuts, really," she waved her arms around. "Whatever amazing semblance you have, it can be overcome by someone without it, using the right planning and information. Nothing makes you invincible. Remember that, Yagami."

"I will."

This late in the evening, the crickets had begun chirping. The birds had gone to sleep. In his peripheral vision, he examined Yoshimoto.

She was chewing her lower lip, her gaze tracing something on the ground—the common pill bug or roly-poly, barely visible under the lantern's light. Just as it began to reach the edge of the light, it fell through one of the cracks between the wooden planks of the bridge.

Could roly-polies survive in the water? Yagami didn't know. If not, then it had suffered the same fate as the honey bee.

"I had a little brother."

Yagami looked at her. "Had?"

"He disappeared five years ago. I haven't told you this, but… you remind me of him, somehow," she absentmindedly began to ruffle his hair again. It was soothing. "Even though you guys are complete opposites. You don't really show emotion when he did that a lot like any kid would do. But you feel the same. I don't know why."

"What do you mean he disappeared? Your brother."

"Exactly that. He went poof!" she emphasized with her hands, "Vanished into thin air. No one knows what happened to him."

She leaned forward, resting her chin on her fist. Her body slumped forward slightly. "At the time, House Yoshimoto didn't exist, and we were just commoners—poor commoners, so no one cared. The nobles weren't going to help us; I asked through the Appeals Bureau and they just ignored me. Never got a response because we were peasants, at least in their eyes."

Mistral was heavily classist, but even in another kingdom, Yoshimoto would have been hard-pressed to find someone willing to help out of pure sympathy. Without money and the fact that there weren't any clues about the disappearance, most people would see it as a hopeless endeavor.

"Isn't that ridiculous? I searched for him, you know? I really did!" she laugh-cried, in a certain kind of hysteria. "You don't know what that feels like, do you? No one was willing to help. Sure, my teammates at Haven helped for a bit, maybe half-heartedly searching for a few months. After a year passed, my mother gave up hope, too. Soon enough, it was just me searching for him."

"So I searched on my own. I searched and searched and searched, and nothing. Not a single hint or trace."

"And what about your father?" he asked.

"He left when I was young—went somewhere in Vacuo, and I haven't seen him since. Went no contact. He was a freelance huntsman, and left out of nowhere," Yoshimoto shook her head. "I mean, who would want to go to Vacuo? That doesn't even make sense. I guess I'm not supposed to understand why he left, anyway. But it still stings."

From his understanding, siblings usually shared an inseparable bond. Just closing his eyes and imagining what life would be like without Kalman… it helped him empathize with Yoshimoto, or at least pretend to empathize with her.

"My brother's disappearance is the entire reason I became a Sword, actually. His disappearance motivated me to work even harder than before. Once I became a Sword and declared a minor house, House Yoshimoto, people began to care. With the privileges of being a noble family, we got access to more resources so that we could look for him."

"But, even still, to this day, I haven't found him. It's really like he disappeared off the face of Remnant as if he didn't like his big sis!"

She clenched her fists, exhaling short, fast breaths.

"I see. That's definitely strange."

"Yeah." Yoshimoto seemed to calm down. "He was around seven years old when it happened, so he would be your age right now, Yagami. It makes me sad. You two could've been great friends."

That probably wasn't true. He wasn't good at making friends. Everyone seemed put off by him for some reason, so that would likely be the case for Yoshimoto's younger brother, too.

"Anyway, even though you guys seem different, your presence feels the same," the brown-haired woman mused. "I don't know why, but that's just the vibe I get."

"I see."

Yoshimoto smiled.

"Anyway, so what'd you think? Meeting the Emperor? What was your first impression?"

Yagami closed his eyes, recalling their first encounter.

The Emperor… he had an appearance anyone could recognize.

A tall, broad-shouldered man. A fine chin. Bronze skin, a subtle glow; a lustrous sheen that was not quite human. Piercing, sea-green eyes—sharp as a freshly-whetted blade. Medium-length hair fell to his shoulders, each strand as dark as the feathers of a raven. He looked like a sculpture made from marble.

A black-based outfit—traditional, flowing robes, with silver and turquoise highlights, which hung off his form. On his left ring finger, he wore a gold and blue ring. He carried no visible weaponry.

His gait was powerful, yet regal. Everything was in harmony, radiating his calm majesty.

When the Emperor had first arrived at the Han Estate, Yagami took him to Father, as instructed. Along the way, unlike many people, Lord Apollyon did not attempt to engage in small talk. Yagami preferred it that way.

But… just standing next to him, he'd felt small, insignificant like an insect. It wasn't an uneasy feeling or wanting to flee, but rather that Yagami felt acutely aware of the gap in strength. It was a gap that could not be overcome, no matter how much effort or training was put in.

A divine gap, as wide as a great ravine.

After they had arrived at Father's study, Yagami had listened and watched Father converse with Lord Apollyon in his study. The Emperor spoke firmly, yet, his words were soft. He gave off not the impression of a statesman, but something far above that.

"He certainly fits the role," the boy finally replied. "Perhaps he surpassed expectations, but I didn't know what to expect in the first place."

"Right? I think he is the perfect fit as well."

Although the Emperor had been overpowering at first, it changed when the Seraphs came. Lord Apollyon's presence altered itself. The subtlest of changes. There wasn't any other way to describe it. It wasn't a personality shift or a tangible change in facial expression, but the atmosphere changed, along with his aura.

The Seraphs really were his friends, even though they appeared far weaker than he did. Most of them were… average. The average huntsman was strong, naturally, but there wasn't anything outstanding or remarkable about Lord Apollyon's companions. Yagami didn't understand why the atmosphere had transformed when they arrived.

Seeing that the conversation had stalled, Yoshimoto elected to stand up.

"Well, it's getting late. I should probably head back to my estate. See you around, Cookie!"

They exchanged goodbyes, and Yagami watched her go. Shortly after, he headed in, too.

-o-o-o-

He had been resting on his bed, reading a book, when the door silently opened on its own.

"Percy."

Hearing his name be called, he turned to see Pyrrha, and couldn't help but smile. She was leaning against the door frame, the yellow light from the hallway illuminating her figure, clad in robes. She was wearing two loose, gold bracelets.

These days, it felt like she kept coming to see him—a ritual, of sorts. Not that he minded seeing his girlfriend, of course.

"Do you keep sneaking out to see me or something? I didn't know you liked me that much…" he teased. "Just make sure you don't get caught or Haven might have some consequences for you~"

Pyrrha swiftly closed the door, but even in the dim lighting, her blush was visible.

"Shut up, idiot. You're my boyfriend, of course I like you," she coughed into her fist, "Moron."

"You're here for something else, though, right?"

"Yeah. I wanted to ask you something," she strode over, sitting near the foot of the bed. She met his gaze, her emerald eyes sober. "You didn't tell them everything. Why didn't you tell them about the primordials?"

"I thought you might ask me that." Percy sat up slightly. He bookmarked the page where he left off and closed the cover, placing it on the nightstand.

"I didn't tell them because they're not ready to hear that kind of information, Pyrrha. That includes Ozpin."

"But what about trust?" she pleaded, "We're a team that works together. That's what's allowed us to come this far. If we don't have trust, what do we have? When the others find out that you've been hiding this from them, what will they think?"

"You're right of course. They won't be happy," he acknowledged. "But let me ask you this: What do you think will happen if I tell them that millennia-old deities I can't defeat are coming to Remnant to revive the Greco-Roman pantheon—formidable deities from another world?" his low tone conveyed his sense of urgency. "That these deities want to establish places where humans worship them, as fast as possible, by any means necessary? Even if that means total destruction."

"…They would feel complete despair. They might not even try to win," she bit her lip. "Having to beat Salem, then those… primordials."

"Exactly. I'm doing it for their safety, Pyrrha," he stared into her eyes, the intent clear in his gaze. His hands clasped hers. "For your safety."

"…I had thought about it," she admitted in a low voice, looking down. "I think I realized it, too. I just don't want to see you bearing all of the weight like you always do. You always try to take everything upon yourself. It's not… it's not right. I haven't forgotten about that vision, either."

He leaned forward, inviting her into his arms. As they wrapped their arms around each other, he closed his eyes, trying to engrave in his mind the feeling of her heart beating against his. The sensual weight of her body.

"You mean the one Salem showed you?"

She wordlessly nodded.

"It could be fake, you know. Or only one of the possible outcomes. But I'll be careful, I promise," he murmured.

"I'm sharing the burden with you. As much as I can. You and I, we're burdened by knowledge," a bittersweet smile crossed his lips, although she couldn't see it. "You're my champion, remember?"

"Yeah. I still don't know exactly what that means."

"Me neither," he exhaled. "Everything I know about the gods has come from when I was a demigod. Ascension, champions… it's all new to me."

She hugged him tighter, wrapping him further into her embrace. "Just be open with me, then. Whenever you're having problems. I'll always be here for you. We'll figure this out together."

"Thank you, Pyrrha. Really."

Her fingers drew small patterns on his back. "Any time."

They talked about trivial things together, like the time they'd spent at Beacon, and all the memories they'd shared, even though it'd only been a couple months. Talking with her, the time quickly passed. Thirty minutes, then an hour.

"Hey, Percy."

"What is it?"

"…Wanna go out?"

"What?"

"I know a few spots around town," she held her hand out to him, smiling widely.

"No, but don't you have to get up early in the morning?"

"You already got Lionheart to put us on the improvised schedule starting tomorrow, so our morning is free. In other words, I can sleep in as long as I want," she threw herself onto the bed, grinning. Her crimson hair splayed out behind her.

"Sure, sure. But why do you want to go out? It just seems kind of random. Not that I'm against it or anything."

"Who cares?" she sat up suddenly, her face nearing his. "I'm asking you out on a date. D-A-T-E," she enunciated every letter, getting dangerously close to him. "Get it, Cloud Brain?"

A… date? Date? She wanted to take him on a date? His mind clouded over even more when she pressed her lips against his, pushing him against the headboard.

"Yes, a date, where we wander around late at night and enjoy the city with its wonderful views." she paused, a smirk crossing her lips. "Ha ha, you're all red and flustered like a baby."

"Shut up," he groaned, pushing himself out of bed. He slid into the Mistralian sandals. "Let's go, then."

"Also, Cloud Brain?"

"Get it? Because you're the Stormbringer and have all those fancy titles. Clouds have nothing up there, like you," she winked as she tapped on her head with a finger.

Cloud Brain. Like Seaweed Brain, but different at the same time. Annabeth must have thought of him like the sea—unpredictable, wild, exciting.

Pyrrha linked him with the sky—calm at times, a serene blue sky, but also wild, riddled with storms. The name was unique in its own way, just as Pyrrha was unique in her own way.

But of course, he couldn't let her know that.

"Ha ha, very funny, Pyr," he rolled his eyes.

"You're smiling," Pyrrha crooked a finger at him. He turned away and opened the door.

"Am not."

"Sure," she riposted with a smug smile.

They left the building, then the estate. Where they had been, all was quiet and dark. The top of the mountain, where his estate was placed, was sparsely populated. But, just descending a few levels changed things drastically. Below them, Mistral seemed alive, even at night.

Oval, red lanterns adorned with golden tassels lit the streets, casting a warm glow that danced on the cobblestones. The air was filled with the hum of chatter, the distant sound of music, and the occasional clink of glasses from open-air teahouses and taverns. Market stalls were still open, selling everything from exotic spices to intricate silk garments, adding vibrant colors and rich scents to the night air. The canals that wound through the city reflected the lanterns, creating a shimmering, magical effect on the water.

"Well, let's grab some dessert first."

-o-o-o-

After they returned to their living quarters for the evening, Blake found that she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about seraphs and Percy or Apollyon, and how the White Fang had been basically silent this entire time. It was making her uneasy.

She sat up from her bed and slipped out of the room, noting that Yang was still snoring, and everyone else was asleep. The corridor was dark and dim to the normal person—it was lights out, past 2 AM. But she had the night vision of a faunus, so she had no trouble navigating the hallway.

The carpet muffled her footfalls—there were no wooden boards that creaked. Haven must have replaced the boards recently. Up ahead, she saw a monkey's tail vanish from her vision. It happened so quickly that it could have been a figment of her imagination.

There was only one monkey faunus on this floor, she was sure of that. What was Sun doing up so late?

She decided to follow him. Did he have a secret rendezvous? This late at night?

He stopped, and she stopped, mirroring his movements. A tired, late-night security guard passed by, holding his flashlight in only one direction.

They continued on their journey. Sun never looked back to check if anyone was following him. Soon, they reached the outside, and Blake waited to see what Sun would do.

Instead of running off into the city, he trekked into the park and then plopped down on a wooden bench. His elbows were on his knees, and his head was in his hands. He was tense. His tail curled and then hit the back of the bench repetitively.

This was one of the few times Blake had seen Sun like this. Actually, scratch that, had she ever seen him like this before? He had seemed cheery back at the Han Estate, but had that been merely a facade?

She hesitated to reveal herself. She didn't want to disturb him. But, at the same time, she wanted to be able to comfort him, or perhaps understand him.

Sun was always this cheery, life-of-the-party type of guy. It didn't seem like anything could hurt his mind. He was like the opposite of her: not moody, not brooding, and never suspicious. While the White Fang often sat at the center of her mind, Sun's mind was focused on the finer things in life.

That was why watching the monkey faunus act like this was a shock. She ultimately decided to reveal herself. Maybe she could help him.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"…Hey." Sun barely gave a reaction when she joined him on the bench. She sat close enough so that he could feel her presence, but not so close that they touched.

"Is everything okay?"

"I think so. Well, I hope so," he amended. "It's a lot to take in."

"It certainly is. How are you feeling about it?"

"Anxious, I guess. It's not very often that your friend gets converted into a god," he said dryly. Blake laughed.

"But in all seriousness, I'm not super worried. I just couldn't sleep."

"I see."

Two brown leaves lay on the ground, a few paces away, stuck to each other with either mud or rain. There had been a light drizzle earlier. A sudden gust of wind caused them to flutter gently away from the bench.

"When I talk to you, a lot of the time it's about huntsman-huntress things or stuff related to that. Sometimes, I want to talk to you about other things, other stuff, even if it's not that important.," he confessed. "Even if it's just for a little while. You get what I mean?"

Blake regarded him for a moment, then offered him a small smile.

"Yeah. I think I understand."

Blake had to admit that she wasn't the best conversationalist. But she would make it work. Just for him.

Above, the rolling, dark clouds blotted out most starlight. But here and there, one managed to shine through, like a flitting beacon.

"You're originally from Vacuo, right?" she spoke.

"Yeah. We never had this kind of weather. The clouds, I mean."

She stifled a laugh. He glanced at her, puzzled.

"No, it's just that you're talking about the weather like everyone does in small talk," she clarified.

"Oh."

"Not that it's a bad thing, but, you know," she giggled. "So anyway, just tell me about it."

"Uh huh, uh huh," he bobbed his head up and down. "Am I supposed to rant to you about my life story?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Okay. I gotcha." Sun glanced back up at the night sky, prompting her to follow his gaze. "Well, as I was saying, we never got this kind of weather. Water is scarce over there, as you could probably guess."

"I never knew my parents. I was raised in an orphanage."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Sun said. "It's super common in Vacuo. Vacuo is where kids get left behind—dumped for the desert. A lot of people do it because they can't afford to feed their children."

"Dumped for the desert? What do you mean?" she asked quizzically. "Does everyone travel a lot?"

"Yeah. Think of it like this. Vacuo is the capital, and that's where Shade Academy is—the academy for training huntsmen. Outside of the capital, sandstorms ravage the entire place. Vacuo is like the eye of the storm; everyone else moves every few months, sometimes every few weeks," he finally tore his gaze from the sky.

"The cities themselves are moving from place to place to avoid the terrible storms. In that process… well, it's not like the kid gets completely left behind for the desert. They stay with the group, but the parents don't take care of them anymore. There's really only one unspoken rule in Vacuo: if you're strong enough to survive there, then you are welcome there."

"Survival of the fittest."

"A lot of the people that you'll meet there are bandits, huntsmen, or mercenaries. None of them really care about the law outside of Vacuo. It's hard to enforce anything out there."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

The level of lawlessness in that place… it was probably like the lower levels in Mistral, but much, much worse.

"So I was one of those kids. My parents couldn't feed me, so I became an orphan," he shrugged. "Honestly, I don't blame them. Vacuo is definitely not the best place to live."

"Do you know where they are, or where they went? Anything about them?"

He shook his head. "But I grew up with others in an orphanage. Foster parents, if you will. They weren't super nice or super mean, just average I guess. Took care of me, all that good stuff." His gaze had turned back toward the sky.

"There was never enough food to go around, though. One meal a day, two if we got lucky. That's why I got along by stealing," he confessed. "Petty theft, pickpocketing, that kind of stuff. Obviously I know it's wrong now, but younger me didn't care."

"Did you ever get caught?"

"A couple of times," he snorted. "I had a friend—best friend, actually. We stole stuff together, and we were pretty darn good at it too. Usually, we picked guys that looked like they didn't know where they were going, or guys that looked too weak to stop us."

"The first type of guy was the best type. He wouldn't even realize we took something, so we would pretty much always get away with it. The second type of guy sometimes saw us, but that's when we'd lose him in the crowd. We'd always choose the first type over the second if we could. Picked a whole lot of pockets that way," he laughed nostalgically. "We were the best pickpockets in all of Vacuo, you best believe it," he beat his chest with his left fist exaggeratedly. Blake stifled a laugh.

"One day we picked the wrong guy. He was a middle-aged guy, probably in his late thirties or early forties. He looked weak and frail, so like always, I came from the back and my friend started chatting to him. That's Plan C, by the way."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "How many plans did you guys have?"

"Around ten for ten different situations," Sun laughed, scratching his neck. "Anyway, this one was because my friend was a yapper who could talk to anyone all the time about literally anything. It was also because I was a faunus with a long tail, so you can imagine that it would be easier to catch me in a crowd."

"So this particular guy, I tried to slide his wallet out of his back pocket, and that's when he caught me. Grabbed me by the wrist," he grabbed her wrist suddenly. "Just like that. It was a vice-like grip, and he did it all while still talking to my friend, straight out of some kind of action movie!"

"My friend went pale and tried to run, but that guy grabbed him too," Sun looked at her, "I mean, he wasn't trying to ditch me or anything, that was the plan that we had set up together. If one of us ever got caught, we were supposed to run and try to come back later."

"Yeah, makes sense. You must have been scared. But you also deserved it."

"Haha, sheesh, you really don't mince your words. But you're right. I was scared to shit when he dragged us into an alley. That guy wasn't weak or frail at all. He was crazy strong."

"He was a huntsman?"

"Ding ding! Exactly," Sun nodded. "Pretty nice guy, actually. Gave us a stern talking-to."

The monkey faunus crossed his arms and sat straight up. Then, in a gruff voice, he began speaking. "You two have some potential. I own a dojo. I'll train you and you better become good little huntsmen. If you refuse, I'll hand you over to the police. Obviously the police wouldn't care about two shitty little pickpockets like us," Blake giggled, "They probably would have let us off with a slap on the wrist. But we didn't know at the time, and we were scared shitless. So then he treated us to dinner, let the orphanage know that the dojo was taking us in, and the next morning, we started our training arc, pretty much."

"So you weren't inspired to become a huntsman but forced," Blake shook her head, a smile on her face. "It's a dangerous profession, though."

"Yep. But we grew into liking it. The two of us, we trained super super hard. Once we were old enough, we tried out for Shade Academy."

"Obviously, we didn't get in," he joked, the two of them sharing a chuckle.

"So what'd you do?"

"What anyone else would do in the situation," he shrugged. "We hopped on a boat, journeyed across the sea, got caught for being stowaways, helped the crew with chores for the price of the passage, and then went to test our luck at a different academy."

"At this point, what else am I supposed to expect from you," Blake shook her head, "So Haven Academy… And you passed that test?"

"Yeah. We both managed to pass the test and got our teams soon after. He was assigned to Team KRTS, Team 'Kratos'—Liu's team, so we didn't get on the same team, but we stayed friends. Team KRTS soon became the strongest first-year team in Haven Academy."

Wait, Liu Kalman?

"Huh? But I'm pretty sure Liu doesn't have a team… What happened to them?"

"They died on their first mission, just a few months in. It was a freak accident, really. Turned out there was a Chill infestation."

They really existed? Chill… the type of Grimm who took over the bodies of people. Blake had never encountered them herself—a type of Grimm was straight out of legend and history books.

"The Prince, Sword of Mistral, Heir Apparent of House Han, all those titles, and somehow he couldn't do anything," Sun laughed mockingly, "What a joke." His broken tone said he didn't believe in his own words, though.

"It sounds like you blame Liu for what happened," she ventured. "Wasn't there a supervisor?"

"Yeah, a huntsman supervisor. But he wouldn't have been allowed to interfere until it was too late," Sun stared ahead. "My guess is that Liu made the wrong decision and it split the supervisor and Liu away from the other three. The success of Team KRTS was mostly due to Liu's absurd strength, anyway. The others were in the top twenty, maybe top ten in the year—no slouches, but Liu was their leader. He was the Sword of Mistral; everyone depended on him."

Sun's gaze turned to his palms. "I know I shouldn't blame him for what happened. He probably just made a mistake like a lot of people would."

"But you still feel resentful," Blake finished for him. "You want someone to blame. A scapegoat."

"…Basically. I know it's not right, but that's how it is. That guy would probably have my head if he ever found out."

"How long ago was this?"

"I only found out a few days ago when I came to Mistral," he admitted.

"I'm sorry."

Sun laughed, "I feel like you're saying this too much. You didn't have any part of it, anyway. So you should quit saying that."

"It's just instinctual. In Vale, a lot of people say it—"

"People here in Mistral will take advantage of that," he interrupted her. "I'm serious. That's just how it is. Pride and face matter a lot; showing sympathy is part of it."

"Okay, I get it. I won't say it anymore. How did this turn into a lecture?"

Sun blinked and then cringed. "You really just made me sound like my old teacher."

"I'm glad you came to your senses." Blake leaned her back onto the bench again. "It's late—or early, I guess. We should head in."

"Let's go then."

Just as they stood up from the bench, the hair on her nape stiffened.

Sun must have sensed it too, for they both wordlessly dove to the ground.

The bench they had just been sitting on exploded into pieces. Blake shielded herself against the shards using Gambol Shroud. Sun had ducked behind a nearby tree, to her left.

"I guess that didn't work, huh? Figures." A man with dark hair emerged. She quickly marked him. Was that a White Fang mask?!

Those eyes…

Sharp, yellow eyes—like snakes. They made her shiver. Her senses shot into overdrive.

How had he snuck up on two faunus? Blake was sure that there hadn't been anyone remotely close to them…

He was White Fang, so he must have been a faunus. Even though it was dark, the three of them were faunus, which meant they could all see.

But that stealth… Was that a semblance or his ability?

"H-Hey man, did you get lost or something? You know this is Haven Academy, right?" Sun said.

"Yeah. You two must be Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong. I would say 'Nice to meet you', but that would be lying."

"Wow, you're really—"

The distance between Sun and the faunus closed in a heartbeat. The glistening, green tip of a silver knife—Poison!

Sun launched himself backward, the knife scraping his chin. Using his staff, he tried to block the follow-up strikes. The man was moving so fast that Blake didn't dare to shoot, lest she hit Sun.

There were several seconds before Sun suffered damage. Up, right, left, high-low, shoulder to hip, bottom right, top left, the attacks came rapidly and consecutively, and each time the knife collided with Sun's staff, Sun's stance collapsed. His dust explosions from the weapon triggered, but they didn't seem to affect the faunus in the slightest. Sun was being cornered, the strikes so swift that he wasn't even granted time to use his semblance.

Ability. The man was both faster and stronger than him, but the technique… the technique presented the largest gap.

Every time Sun went to attack, he was repelled with the least amount of effort by the man. Sun was clearly fighting at his favored range and comfort zone, where he should have been at his strongest.

And yet, with no use of a semblance, he was being beaten down with ease. Every time he tried to move, every time he tried to counterattack, he was digging his own grave. This man was exceeding him.

A fist landed deeply in his solar plexus, driving a spurt of saliva from his mouth and winding him of breath. The next one sliced across his face, but by turning, Sun just managed to convert the blow into a graze.

While they had been fighting, Blake double-tapped her necklace, activating the suit she'd received from Atlas. The feeling of the nanobots was… strange, but this was no time to think about that.

Then, Blake saw an opening. She zig-zagged, creating shadow clones to confuse the faunus, before thrusting Gambol Shroud into his stomach.

Or where his stomach should have been. Their enemy reflexively parried with his forearm and performed a sweeping kick—striking both of them in one go.

Blake grabbed the dazed Sun. Leaving shadow clones in her trail, she leaped backward to avoid the man's pursuing attacks.

"Damn, he's fast," Sun coughed, hunched over. A droplet of blood fell from Sun's chin. The knife had cut through the aura at that point. Surely Sun had realized the attack was coming, but the knife had been able to cut him regardless.

"Where'd you get that nice thing?"

"You're poisoned," Blake replied, keeping her eyes on the enemy. "Be careful."

The strength of the attacker was astounding. Was this one of the new Apates in the White Fang? She didn't recognize him at all, and she definitely would have taken note if he was a member during her time.

"What are you trying to do?" Blake called out to him, "Did Adam put you up to this? Or was it Sienna?"

"You betrayed the cause," he waved his hand around, "I've been tasked to eliminate you."

A dull thud—a grenade lay at their feet.

"Move!"

Again they dove away, but this time, the shrapnel stung their backs, stinging Sun's aura. Blake's suit took the brunt of the damage.

That man! He must have pulled the pin behind his back and released it while he was talking. Blake watched his hands carefully, in case he pulled the same trick again.

"Call Pyrrha."

Blake wasn't proud to admit it, but as an ex-White Fang member, she always knew when to bail on fights. This was definitely one of them. The attacker was using a knife, not even his real weapon.

"What?"

"I said call her, right now. She should be in the dorms. I'll hold him off."

"But we'll get caught out after curfew!"

"I don't care, call her!" Blake hissed.

"He ruined our alone time…"

"Stop whining!"

"Trying to call Pyrrha Nikos? The Invincible Girl? That won't do."

A black spear shot out toward her.

Blake jumped backward. Sun stayed behind her as he fumbled with his scroll.

Pyrrha would be able to stop the spear. If Blake could just—

The spear pierced the place she had been standing. She'd leaned to the left to avoid the black spear again, but this time, barbs shot out from the shaft, almost as if they were alive. They rushed toward her, and she bent over backward to avoid them, then rolled twice to get away.

Blake swallowed, her throat dry. If she hadn't had the suit on to enhance her flexibility, she probably would have lost an eye.

The spear—it was made of Grimm flesh.

Was the White Fang working with Salem?! No way, no way…

Again the attack came in a flash.

The flurry of strikes rained down on her, and it was all she could do to protect her vitals. There were dozens of barbs protruding from the tip and shaft of the spear, writhing like they were alive. She brandished Gambol Shroud, parrying them away.

The faunus darted forward like a bullet, swinging his spear. No sooner had she turned away one strike did another one land upon her, and every time she went to counterattack, she found that there was none to be made—not a single viable opening.

Having finished his call, Sun jumped in with two of his clones. But, with a simple swing of his spear, the man instantly disposed of the two fakes.

The two of them weren't very experienced with each other as partners fighting, but they adapted to each other's movements. His nunchucks, then her katana, then his staff, and her pistol. The suit even enhanced her movements and speed.

And yet…

He took them two-on-one, beating them down with his technique. They attacked incessantly, but every time he responded, it was both defense and offense—a duality of movement. It was both blocking and attacking, like a parry blended into a strike.

This White Fang member was beating them down effortlessly, without so much as a hint of exertion. Heavy breathing couldn't be heard, and sweating couldn't be seen.

He turned his focus upon her, now. It was all she could do to block his attacks.

Strike by strike, every time their weapons collided, she was being beaten down, like a master against his pupil. Even though he was stronger and faster than her, just like Sun, once again the largest gap was ability.

Pure fighting ability, pure technique. They were being completely outclassed.

She vividly understood now. If she blinked, she would miss it. Every hit, every move, they were scattered across her body and so fleeting that they stretched her aura to the very limit, like a thin blanket instead of the hardened wall it should have been.

It couldn't be helped. She had to protect her vitals and leave everything else up to the suit and the sparse layer of aura available for the other parts of her body as defense. She could only afford to take those hits.

Because there was no dodging that black spear. Whenever she went to dodge, she felt as though the spear would hit its mark anyway. Was that some kind of semblance or supernatural ability? No, no.

It was sheer ability.

The same thing that had happened to Sun was happening to her. And she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Sun tried to distract him, but their opponent pushed him away with the spear. There was no dodging it; Sun had to block using his gauntlets.

As the man pursued her, Blake left shadow clones left, right, and center, her semblance enhanced by the technology of the suit, but it wasn't enough. The faunus was ignoring her clones entirely as if he could distinguish between which were real and which were fake.

A bruising kick to the ribs, followed by the snaking barbs, growing like branches. She felt the force through her suit, causing her to stagger.

The man swung wide against Sun, shooing him away as if he were a fly. She took the opportunity to fire her pistol, denting away some of the barbs. But, just as soon as the spear had lost its barbs, it regrew them. It really was made of Grimm flesh.

One grew out, then doubled, then tripled, growing exponentially. The faunus burst forward, the velocity too much for her to handle. She used her katana to block away her vitals once more, but other spots were left unguarded as a result.

The barbs effortlessly pierced through the nanotech of the suit and what little aura was left at those non-vital spots.

Two grazed her forearm, drawing blood. But Blake let out a cry of agony when one embedded itself in her thigh, so deep that it pounded against bone. There was a sickening, hollow crack, followed by another.

Frantic, she tried to kick away with her other leg. It should have dislodged, but the barb wouldn't come out.

"Blake!" Sun shouted.

Inside, she felt the barb expand. The barb itself had barbs that wouldn't allow it to pull out! It was like a hook that was stuck in her flesh.

She tried to kick away again; the barb moved a little. Fuck, fuck. Another agonized wail came out of her throat.

Sun had cloned himself, and the two shining copies jumped forward to protect her. They kicked the man away, but he didn't let go of his spear.

A guttural scream tore itself out of her throat as the barbs came out in a fountain of crimson. Her leg couldn't hold up; she collapsed onto the ground. Fuck, something was broken.

"Blake! Are you okay?!"

Sun grabbed her. She could just barely make out the sight of his frantic, blue eyes.

"I called Pyrrha, but she's not in the dorm. She said she was coming as fast as possible. At least another few minutes."

She cursed. What kind of coincidence was this? Pyrrha somehow wasn't in her room—

Sun's clones in front of her dissolved into sparks, and the black spear soared toward the space between her eyes.

Sun's staff deflected it away.

"Blake, can you move?"

"Y-Yeah."

The white tips of his fingers gripping his weapon gave away how scared he was. Right now, they were truly in a life-or-death situation. Something neither of them had experienced before.

Before, they always had aura. Huntsmen never fought until there was no aura left—they always had at least three teammates that would back them up. But currently, Blake's aura was in the red, almost gone. Sun's aura must have been in the yellow; she couldn't check her scroll because they weren't on the same team.

She began crawling away—or trying to, at least. Every move, every attempt to crawl, it was excruciating, and a trail of blood stained the grass. So she gave up.

She propped herself up against one of the remaining wooden fragments of the bench, forcefully pressing her wound with both hands. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, controlling her inhale and exhale. She just had to control the bleeding long enough for help to arrive.

Now that the adrenaline had subsided somewhat, she felt the pain emanating from her right leg and her torso, where her ribs had suffered damage.

Sun was on the back foot, just like in his previous engagement. That frightening speed from the man was on display once again. He seemed even more urgent this time; he was fighting with a monstrous amount of force, somehow even faster than before.

Sun took the full brunt of every hit from the opponent's barbed spear by blocking with his staff. Good choice. Seeing her injury, he didn't dare perform the same strategy that Blake had done.

He abandoned all hope of winning, and instead, focused on sheer defense. Barbs slipped through here and there, nipping away at his aura, but he was able to get them away before they could do any large amount of damage.

But the rate of exchange was extraordinary. Ten, no, twenty percent aura being drained in a matter of seconds by that spear and those barbs.

The man brandished his spear down onto Sun's staff with a great force, and then slammed his heel into his stomach.

He changed strategy abruptly. Like a sudden gale, he began beating Sun down using neither technique nor brute strength, but a mixture of both. He brought the tip of the spear down again, and again, and again, each time finding the perfect spot to slip past Sun's defenses.

She had a feeling that if she blinked, Sun would be done for. The same thing that happened to her would happen to him.

So, for his sake, she couldn't blink.

Don't blink, don't blink, don't blink—

The faunus slammed his spear into the spot between Sun's eyes. Realizing he couldn't block in time, Sun pushed all his aura to that spot, so much so that it manifested into a yellow outline.

Except their attacker's spear stopped just short of it.

A brilliant feint.

Instead, his knife pierced Sun's torso, sliding in between the ribs. Sun let out a pained gasp that turned into a howl when the man twisted the blade, causing a horrible grating noise against the bone. Blood gurgled from his mouth.

"Sun!" Blake shouted desperately. Were they really going to die here? No, there was no way!

Sun was going to die. They were going to die.

The thought drilled into her mind, a relentless, horrifying certainty. Her heart pounded against her chest, and the edges of her vision blurred.

Sun was strong. Sun was fast, and powerful, and clever! But here he was, getting torn apart in front of her eyes. She could barely move, her leg was a throbbing mess of pain, and her aura was almost completely depleted.

Blake's mind raced. This couldn't be happening.

Where was Pyrrha? Why wasn't she here yet? Every second felt like an eternity. She had to do something, anything, but what? Her weapon felt heavy, her thoughts sluggish. She was failing him.

Go, go!

She forced her body to move.

Pain shot through her leg, but she had to move! Her grip tightened around Gambol Shroud. They couldn't die here. Not like this. She had to find a way to hold on, to fight back.

They had to survive.

She propelled herself off the bench, but she didn't make it very far before her body collapsed again. The faunus ignored her entirely.

He withdrew the knife and then stabbed again, but Sun hadn't lost focus. He pushed his aura to the spot, deflecting the sharp edge. Using the shaft of his spear, the man clocked Sun on the side of the head and followed it up with barbs that drained away his remaining aura. Sun's aura evaporated in a blazing yellow as he collapsed onto the ground.

Then, their attacker abruptly froze. In a frantic, almost crazed manner, he yanked the spear's barbs out of Sun's body and burst into a run, disappearing into the darkness.

Two figures in the distance hurriedly ran to them. It felt like an eternity before Blake could see their faces.

"What happened?!"

Pyrrha and… Percy…?

"Blake, which way did he go?"

She tried to utter something, but the words caught in her throat. Instead, she mustered all of her strength to point in the direction where the faunus had gone.

"I'll chase him. Pyr, call a bullhead right now!"

"On it!"

Those were the last words she heard before she closed her eyes, and darkness overtook her.

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Next Chapter: September 15th

-thann