#Lapis Hamelin - Cutscene

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Consecration

Onyx lost count on how long he had spent pouring over these letters between his mother and grandfather. The more he read them, the more he had felt that he had been lied to. He tried to focus on the ones that pertained to the time he came into the Cheshire household and the years following. There were talks of what were to become of him after being given to them by Leroux, ostensibly to be a spy alongside Ivory. This, of course, hadn’t happened. He had been raised as one of their own children. It was never a warm household, he knew, but something still felt off.

Tyrael’s words, words he repeated more than once during their less civil encounters, still bothered him. Your mother loved you.

Why was he demanding confirmation of this? He had been scouring these letters for something, anything positive or warm concerning him. Nothing. He refused to believe that even as harsh a man as Dunstan Baskerville was, his own daughter would lie or cover up her feelings in these letters. Nothing else about them seemed like she did. Still, it was all about how useful he would be and how damaging the situation would be to Jade’s plans. Jade Leroux was dead now, so was Cassandra Cheshire. It didn’t matter anymore, did it? But what did that leave him?

A light shone through the dimly lit office as the door opened. Violet saw Onyx still there, still reading those old letters. Outside of training and missions, this was where he’d been spending all his time. Every day- for hours. She saw a half-eaten meal on a small table that had since grown cold from their breakfast earlier today. Had he even eaten anything since? “Onyx...? Come on, the rest of us are heading out today.” She was still a little shocked they were allowed outside at all, but perhaps that was just for appearances so no one would assume nothing was wrong. “You can’t keep doing this, it’s not good for you.”

Onyx lifted his head silently turned to the bright beam of light from the door. He set his jaw and rubbed his neck. It looked like he hadn’t slept well in days and his once near perfect grooming had begun to fall short. “I will stay here.” He forces out in his now usual harsh whisper.

“No you won’t.” Ivory came in through the door, opening it the rest of the way. Lapis also stood in the hallway with his arms crossed and waiting. “You need to go outside for a change. Listen, did you hear was Lapis and Violet told us about that altar girl? We’re going to go check it out, see what’s going on. We’re not letting you stay here like this. Those letters aren’t going anywhere and if you don’t start eating and sleeping right, you won’t be able to handle yourself on missions anymore. Then what?”

Onyx sucked in a breath and set the pages down. He hated that she had a point. They also weren’t going to just allow him to read in peace. “Fine...” He scoops up the papers and stacks them gently before going to put them back where they belonged, locking the drawer to his mother’s old desk again. “We had better not be gone all day.”

-----------------------

The four stared at the large archway and heavy wooden double doors to the church entrance. A full, unbroken moon with a chain around the edges was embossed in the center of the doors, split in half perfectly. Reliefs depicted mankind on one side, both human and faunus, fighting Grimm on the other door. Behind both were depictions of the religion’s gods of Creation and Destruction.

“I don’t want to feel like I have to say this, but please remember this is a church- my church. No one’s going to expect you to know the rules or taboos or anything like that since you’re just visitors, but be respectful.”

Ivory stared up at the lofty building and its carvings. It was probably more elaborate than anywhere else in Mantle. It looked old, too; pre-war old. “We won’t try to break anything or attack anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. Don’t worry, we’ll behave.”

Entering into the church, the plain white stone of the main sanctuary was nearly devoid of decoration. There were a few old tapestries, wooden benches, a few pamphlets left on a table, the altar at the back, and a few simple doors that lead to places only Violet knew about. It was empty for the most part. A small handful of people sat at some of the benches speaking to a priestess at the far corner while another figure in a simple white and blue robe was sweeping.

Sapir paused from her duties and gave the group a small bow and a smile, focusing mostly on Violet. She beckoned them closer, noting that Violet had brought two more with her. She offered a simple curtsy as greeting.

“Let’s start here. Sapir, this is Team OLIV, the ones I went to Atlas Academy with. I don’t think I actually introduced Lapis the first time. He was my partner at the academy. This is Ivory, and our team leader Onyx.”

Ivory stood as tall as she could, monitoring the girl. If Lapis and Violet were to be believed, this little silent altar girl took down an alpha Grimm with Auburn. “So does everyone in this church get taught how to fight?” She opens immediately, “I heard some pretty impressive things about you.”

Sapir shakes her head. She held up a hand and flashed a series of numbers with her fingers.

Lapis stared at Ivory’s confused state. She didn’t have any exposure to Violet’s silent friend and her bizarre way of “talking”. “Goodfellow, translate.”

“Allow me.” The woman from the back, wearing yellow on her robe instead of Sapir’s blue and wearing a matching miter stepped forward. “The call of the huntsmen is one of holiness. We must all of us prepare for the coming enemy. The Gift of Creation Book 1, Chapter 2, Verse 16.”

Violet stared at the woman for longer than was probably comfortable. She didn’t recognize her at all but here she was, wearing the high priest’s robes. “I... Who are you?”

“You must be Sister Violet. Your family has told me a great deal about you. I am Sister Lucianna. I have been the head priestess of the church for a few years now.”

Violet had a lot of questions. “Wait... What happened to Father Benjamin? And, you don’t have to call me Sister. I’m not ordained like Sap is.”

Sapir shrunk into her robes and set her jaw the mention of the old priest. Unlike many of the others of the church who merely looked up to and respected him, he and the other clergy were the closest thing to family she had. She saw Violet’s sad reaction and knew she had figured it out.

Lapis had hung back from the conversation for the time being, but this sounded fairly familiar. This was the kind of reactions he’d seen on the faces of Pineyard’s villagers whenever one of the elders passed from old age or illness. “I’m sorry.” He offers.

“It is alright. Hurt and loss are natural. Love leaving the soul can be damaging if you do not remind yourself of those you still have around you.” The high priestess offers a comforting smile and a change of subject.

“As for you, Sister Violet, you were once of the choir, weren’t you? I do not believe that the members of the church clergy should hold themselves above our parishioners. I did not take the title of Mother when I was placed in charge nor will I restrict our togetherness to simply those of us in robes.

Ivory listened to the small story. The fact that this woman was newer to this place’s inner workings might explain a few things. “So was her taking up fighting your idea then?”

Sapir stared at Ivory with a stern look, seemingly daring her to continue questioning them the way she was. She takes a few steps forward in a challenging manner before Lucianna holds an arm out in front of her.

“It was.” She answers simply, “Huntsmen do not take all jobs that show up in Mantle and we have a holy duty to fight the forces of Destruction. The Grimm are an unholy blight that must be destroyed. We may not have been in the age of templars for nearly a century and the Atlas council has forbidden non-licensed huntsmen from operating, so I have elected to train Sister Sapir myself and have her take the exam to allow the church to more properly play its part in our struggles against evil.”

Lapis paused for a moment, “That means you’re a huntress, aren’t you?”

Lucianna shrugs slightly and turns around as another visitor comes in and heads to a seat. “A story for another time, I think. Sister Sapir, please see to your duties. You are after all the one who greeted them.” She gives one final smile to the group. “I am glad to have finally met you and your team, Sister Violet. I hope I can look forward to seeing you all again. These are dark times and we must all band together for the coming of Destruction whenever it shows its face.”

Sapir makes a circle gesture with her hands and nods her head as Lucianna passes before turning back to the group. She fixates her gaze on Onyx, who had been standing behind the group silently the entire time. He was dressed well, if slightly disheveled, but more importantly she had caught herself staring at the gnarled scar that made up the base of his left ear where it no longer attached to his head. She snapped her eyes to his when she realized he had noticed.

Onyx stared back for a few tense moments, having not decided to simply glare at the girl. The cold air of Mantle made it more difficult for him to speak than normal and this church didn’t seem to do much with its heating outside of what the city itself provided, so he kept silent and his hands in his pockets. For now, he just kept contact to gauge her intentions. He might have been looking too much into someone staring at an old ugly scar, but it still bothered him.

Ivory reflexively placed her hand on Isengrim’s handle, but didn’t grab it. She knew Onyx wouldn’t do anything too problematic here, but she found the sudden stare down worrying. Then it hit her. This was Onyx’s first time outdoors within Atlas borders with his faunus ears in plain view. He already didn’t like people asking about his ear. She hoped nothing bad would spring from something so petty.

Violet gave a nod to Lapis who was ready to be a big body in the way of a possible issue while she paid attention to Sapir. She knew her friend’s facial expressions by this point, but this was a new one. She watched Sapir slowly walk forward.

Her step was less confident and serene than normal and she  withdrew as she moved. There was a hesitance that Violet had never seen before. Then she flushed slightly as Onyx took a step back and Violet couldn’t help but burst out laughing which caught everyone’s attention.

Violet tried her best to stop her giggling but instead was forced to cut her words into her laughter. “O-Oh my goodness... I... I can’t believe...” She continued her laughing before smiling brightly at Sapir. “You know if you wanted me to introduce you earlier, you could have just asked. Come on! We’re about to head out to eat anyway. See you can come with us! We’ll get a table for you two.”

Sapir froze and cursed herself for being so transparent. She turned around to hide her face and prayed to God it would fade by the time she reached Sister Lucianna. She had never asked for time to herself before like this. She marched away from the others and hoped this wasn’t about to be a terrible mistake.

“I did not agree to this.” Onyx chokes out to Violet, his dry voice causing him to groan in frustration. This was far from healing fast enough for his liking. 

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun! I get to hang out with an old friend, you get a date out of it...” She trailed off with a sigh.

“And maybe I can ask Sapir what else that Sister Lucianna had changed here since I left. I’ll explain after we eat, but let’s wait for Sap and get going. Ivory, can you pick out a place for us?”

---------

“And what sort of question is this? ‘Do not stray from your duties, but know the difference between idleness and caring for yourself.’? You want a break then, Sister Sapir?” Lucianna looked down the large room at the team still waiting by the door and seemingly arguing over a scroll. “I see... Of course you can. However, might I ask a favor? 

“While you are with them, discover what their connection is to Cheshire’s unholy experiment. We may be able to convince Sister Violet and her team to join us in the coming conflict. Destruction approaches and we must be ready. Evil needs to be exorcised from our home sooner rather than later.”

Sapir nods firmly before returning a small smile to her face and rushing back off to where Team OLIV was waiting for her. Once she seemed to have what few things she actually owned with her, they departed. A voice came from the darkness of the small preparation area behind the wall of the altar.

“Is this wise, Sister Lucianna? One of them is from the Cheshire line, the other Reynard. They are evil people and should be excised. Corruption comes in many forms.”

“I think it is good to see Sister Sapir reconnect and find some new friends. Besides, the Cheshire boy is a faunus- not of Tyrael’s blood. He has likely lead a dark life, but I do not believe that they are beyond salvation. As for the Reynard daughter, corrupt though they may be, with effort even the naturally wicked can be brought to see Creation’s holy mission.

“I do not trust this. We must prepare for the battles ahead.”

“And for that we will need allies, Brother Castor. We will see where their hearts lie. If they are good and true, we will have valuable potential templars for the coming struggles against Destruction’s monsters. If they are false, they will be destroyed with the rest of their wicked ilk. Trust Sister Sapir. They do not know it yet, but she will be their judge.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Double Agent Date

Lapis, Violet, and Ivory a sat at a table with their food while Onyx and Sapir had been more than awkwardly set up at a different one. The surprise “date” that had sprung to Violet’s mind was met with a mixture of shock and annoyance from the actual participants, but they didn’t outright refuse. Sapir was mildly interested while Onyx simply went along with it for the time being. For his part, Onyx didn’t think much would come up of this, so he focused on keeping conversation. Information would still be important to have regardless.

Several bad attempts at communication had transpired already. Onyx had tried sign language and Sapir didn’t understand it. She tried to slide her holy book across the table and signal to her verses. Violet could understand that but Onyx didn’t seem to have the patience. He was currently flipping through the book, mild annoyance plain on his face. Onyx had been reading silently. Too much speaking was still horrible for his throat. It made answering difficult. The puzzling nature of the girl’s “speech” would have been a mild chore for someone who could answer back; for him it was almost impossible. Sighing, he just closed the book and slid it back. Neither had any real food in front of them, settling for soup and water. Both of them had trouble swallowing heartier meals for different reasons. He waved Violet over and set his scroll on the table.

Violet got up and did as asked. “I... probably should have thought of this.” She opened her scroll, set up a chat with her scroll and Onyx’s and set it in front of Sapir. “Sorry, this might be easier for both of you.”

Sapir looked a little insulted, but nodded. Her usual method of communication wouldn’t work here if out of necessity than anything else. The fact that Onyx looked to at least be making an attempt at reading her book was a small comfort, though. She motioned for him to respond to what she had tried to start with.

Onyx wasn’t too sure what to make of the verse she had quoted for their conversation starter- Seek faith in hardship. Destruction seeks to harm. Creation seeks to save. It sounded so esoteric. Were it not for the preachy context, he’d have found the cryptic puzzle a little novel. He noticed she kept examining the old scar on his ear. Onyx grit his teeth and tapped on the scroll. [The ear isn’t something I wish to talk about. You wouldn’t like that story anyway.] He was careful not to use the word ‘speak’. It would be awkward for the both of them if he did. He saw the girl move to touch her book again, intending to slide it over. He quickly tapped out a new message to avoid having to deal with that again, though he imagined he would. [Do you do anything besides your work for the church?]

Sapir glanced down at the message for only a brief moment before doing as Onyx feared and slid the book back over to him again and taking the forced pause to slowly sip at her soup. She had gotten one of the blander ones, not wanting to indulge herself too much particularly on someone else’s expense. She raised her hand and flashed a set of numbers again.

The almost playful smirk on the altar girl’s face, charming though it was, felt almost mocking to Onyx. She was going to insist on conversing on her terms. If it was anyone else being subjected to this, he would have found it entertaining. Being unnecessarily difficult was something he used to pride himself on, after all. Sapir seemed a quick reader given the speed of her answer. Thankfully, so was he. He thumbed through the book to the correct passage. He would have to thank whomever wrote this for being easy to navigate- he suspected that was the point. There is no greater work than to serve those you care about. Love is the root of protection.

Onyx grit his teeth. The woman who he spent his life calling his mother had died seemingly to protect him. He still hadn’t seen any hint of that care or affection in her letters and little of it in his memories. Why his father had allowed him to only see these now was troubling. Perhaps he just wanted to keep him here longer and instill a sense of gratitude for not choking him to death back in Mistral. Lilac had cared about him despite her twisted way of showing it. Perhaps there was something he was missing. He shakes the thought from his mind to find an annoyingly hopeful look in Sapir’s eyes. She could tell he was lost in thought.

Sapir motioned gently to the scroll, hoping he would elaborate. It wasn’t just a good opportunity to get Onyx to open up, but perhaps a way to see whether or not he was open to hearing her out. She needed to know what their connection was to the Cheshires’ sinful project, of course, but they were Violet’s friends and didn’t seem to be wicked people. She reaches across the small table, careful not to knock over anything and flips open a few pages of her book, tapping the passage. Her faunus ears perked up as she smiled warmly.

Onyx instinctively tilted himself backward when Sapir leaned forward, keeping a distance. He glanced down at the new verse, motioning for her to sit back down. Seek to guide with holy ambition; allow no one to be alone in their pain. As appealing as the thought of a quick answer to his newfound personal dilemma was, everything in his mind was telling him to ignore her. She couldn’t possibly understand what he was trying to discover. He needed more than sanctimonious “wisdom” and pithy doctrine. He just shook his head. [I do not need any help. This is a personal matter.]

Sapir looked unconvinced. She looked down at the scroll. It was probably monitored if Violet and her team were stuck taking orders from the Cheshires. As much as she would like to make their conversation a little more personal than translating the Gift of Creation back and forth, she didn’t trust the devices. Instead she slides it to the side, leans in again and mouths the words. Are you in danger?

That was unexpected. Onyx took a glance to his team who were eating tensely at the other table and trying not to stare or monitor them. Violet seemed unconcerned but Lapis and Ivory didn’t look like they knew what to make of their silent conversation. He’d have to address that later. For now he turns his focus back to Sapir and shakes his head. He didn’t expect her to entirely trust his answer, though in this environment his usual conversational tactics were just unavailable to him if for no other reason than speaking was still difficult for him. He looks down at the scroll and also slides it to the side, picking up on the girl’s concern. His father was almost certainly checking their communications. He forces out a slow whisper. “I do not know what you hope to do, but this is beyond you.”

Sapir’s expression turned a mix of stern and concerned. She again mouths her silent words slowly and carefully, making sure he could read her lips well enough. There is an unholy monster in your midst. We can help you. You do not know the kind of evil the Cheshires are capable of.

“Yes I do,” Onyx hissed back, “You’re speaking to one.” He paused both to rest his throat for a moment and allow the fact settle with the girl. He takes a long drink of his water and a second to breath before continuing in his harsh whisper. “The last time I was given an offer ‘for my own good’ it ended with several city blocks being destroyed and hundreds dead. Forgive me if we don’t have an interest in blatantly taking sides against my father right now.”

Sapir wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She had thought the Cheshires were all human. Onyx was clearly a faunus. There was also the consideration that with this knowledge, Onyx may be a tainted soul. Her eyes snapped to his ears again.

“Adopted,” He whispers back, “If you absolutely have to know.” It wasn’t like was hiding it anymore. He had hoped to remain anonymous in Mantle where the Cheshire name far outstripped his face, but that was unavoidable now. Besides, he couldn’t hide forever. It was better to get this out there sooner rather than later. A strange look of relief washed over the girl for a reason Onyx couldn’t pinpoint. He may have to grill Violet about whether that pertained to some teaching of their faith or not.

Sapir remained determined, reaching out and snatching Onyx’s wrist before he could react. She was faster than he had expected. Let me help. She mouthed, Please. We can fight this evil together. Now that she had forced herself so close, Onyx could see the difficulty she was having in remembering how to form the words physically. He almost imagined if she could suddenly talk, she’d sound very slurred.

“The world isn’t so simple as good and evil, girl.” Onyx whispered back, tensing himself when he felt his arm be grabbed. He swallowed hard to keep his throat dry. The talking was starting to bother him again. “Stay out of it, and let go of me.”

Sapir let go and pulled her hand back, returning to her water before slowly withdrawing and closing her book. Neither seemed to want to continue “talking” likely just as much out of exhaustion as frustration. After a few moments she stood up, passes a sad look to Onyx before walking over to Violet’s table.

She sets the scroll down by Violet’s meal and forces a smile, nodding her head.

Violet looked up at her friend before standing up as well, pocketing her scroll. “Is... everything okay, Sap?” Sapir was always a bit intense, but the look on her face was almost defiant. Whatever it was she and Onyx had been discussing, if it could be called that, it worried her. Sapir held up her hand and held up fingers corresponding to numbers. Unlike the others, she didn’t need the book to translate them. Never turn your back from aiding those in peril. ”Wait, what did you two talk about?” Onyx couldn’t have told Sapir about her parents, did he? Before Violet could ask, her friend departed quickly.

Ivory and Lapis looked on with concerned expressions. They looked to their teammates and Ivory motioned for Onyx to come back to their table. He did so leaving the remains of the soup and water glass behind. “What’s going on? Violet, what did she say?”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Lapis comments, “Cheshire, tell us what happened once you feel like you can handle it. That didn’t look like someone who just had a bad date.”

As Sapir left, she held her book tightly, marching back to the Consecration with purpose. No matter what Violet’s team thought, she knew what unnatural energy she felt from that girl who was with them. This ‘Auburn’ was an unholy monster and needed to be dealt with. Sister Lucianna had been correct after all, they would need to get involved forcefully. This meant they would need to prepare for the battles Sister Lucianna promised would come.

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Real Professionals

Auroras stood calmly while he looked at the three armed would-be huntsmen and huntresses in front of him. Hari had the other half of them. This was going to be remarkably easy, he predicted. “How nice of you to already split yourselves up for us.” With a stroke of his quill, a flash of aura went from his page to create a barrier between his trio and Hari’s. It wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds but it was the statement that mattered here.

“So what do you think our chances are here?”

“With how easily they took that Grimm down? We’re screwed...”

“Well we can’t just do nothing. We have to fight.”

“I’m gonna ask you this one more time, little Nyx. You and your friends really want to do this?”

“We don’t really have a choice here. You want to drag me back to Atlas and Molly back to Darcie. I can’t have that.”

“She’s right. You’ll have to force us.”

“As you wish. It’s time for you to see real huntsmen in action.”

Auroras took a careful step back and placed quill to paper with smirk. With several quick strokes flashed toward the trio in front of him as if he were writing his design into the air.

“Brace!” Lapis put up his barrier. Lazuli spun backward as a chained aura duplicate of her brother did the same. Molly took to her wheel and spun around in a circle, trying to strafe the attacks. Lapis took the hit straight on and buckled. His barrier was still standing, but he could still feel that impact.

Lazuli quickly swaps her stance as her duplicate is destroyed by the incoming strokes coming through the air. Lapis wasn’t fairing a lot better. She needed to think to bring more of these to bear. One at a time, she understood that one, and they were connected to her memories somehow. She started thinking of her times with her friends before their capture and a new chain started to form from her heart into a new form. The feeling of her aura leaving her to create the double was still really weird to her. Then something smacked into her and Lapis from behind as new strokes appeared above and then swooped behind them.

Molly felt a similar impact slam into her side and knocked her out of her wheel, which drove helplessly into the dirt before falling over. She only barely managed to land on her feet.

Auroras flashed a quickly dissolving sheet of paper with glowing curls drawn on it in a taunting manner. “I was hoping your weak points would have been a little less obvious, but none of you ever finished school, did you? I’m ready to try again whenever you are. Hari, please tell me your side of this is a little more interesting?”

“Yeah, yeah, keep your hat on.” Hari flipped the brass knuckles of his gauntlets back into place and took a step forward with a raised fist in a mock punch, gauging their reactions. “Yep. I got this.”

Without another word, Ivory leveled her weapon and pulled the trigger, charging forward as fast as she could. She felt her ax bite into steel as it caught one of the gauntlets. She caught sight of Onyx flinging himself upward and creating a new net. 

Violet was keeping her distance from Hari, peppering him with covering fire from her pistols while Ivory charged forward with her ax. At first she thought she was hitting- then she saw blood, not aura.

Hari practically ignored the incoming small arms fire. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t feel it more than he was conditioned to the pain. He closed in on Ivory and one of his knuckles started sparking with a fire dust burst. With a harsh uppercut, he slammed his fist into her and sent her flying upward. “Pretty sure I gauged that right.”

Onyx didn’t have time to plan further, only turn to see Ivory flying in his direction and slam into him, hurtling them both down to the ground. He was about to reach out and create a new line of wire when another of Auroras’s swipes appeared in front of him and solidified his plummet.

Molly picked herself up and looked between Auroras, her lost weapon, and Violet. This was bad. She had to slow things down to think. “I’mgoinginwatchmyback!” She says with increasing acceleration as her perception of the world slowed. She reacted with her body delaying heavily from her mind. She saw Ivory’s ax still slowly floating down to the ground and Hari reaching out to grab it. Violet was charging.

“Waitwaitwaitwait!” She felt something snag her leg and pull her backward. A rope had twirled around her and yanked her into Lauzli’s next attempt at an offensive move.

“Here’s another word of advice, free of charge, if you don’t have a backup plan for losing your weapon- don’t lose it.”

“Got you now!” Violet shouts, flipping herself upward and flaring out her whip to snag his arm. Her other arm reached out as a ball of light appeared at the barrel of her other pistol. She cracked off the blinding shot, but not before the large man swung his free arm around- and Ivory’s ax.

Hari plants Isengrim into the ground by its crescent blade and turns to Auroras’s remaining pair. “Still not checking your back, huh?” He placed his hands by the shallow bullet wounds Violet had made in him and let the blood trickle down his fingers. With a quick movement and a flare of aura reengaging, Hari flung the droplets into the air as they solidified into small hardened knives. “Hurts like a bitch, but I think I can afford to be flashy here.”

With the knives hanging in the air, he quickly gave a series of swift kicks to send them all flying toward the Hamelin siblings. The impromptu daggers hit their targets before the aura gave out on them and they splatted back to the ground.

“And now to finish this off.” Auroras took his time with this next series of strokes. He needed to catch the distances precisely, but thankfully this was a maneuver he knew well. A series of chains came from Auroras’s paper and drug the entire group to them. “Hari, ready the restraints and collect their weapons. You remember the way to the shuttle, right?”

Violet angrily struggled against the aura-created chain and then the real restraints as the former quickly faded away. “What are you going to do with us..?”

“Well you and your team are coming with me back to Atlas. Ty’s got some plans for you guys, like I said. Come on, don’t you all have family up there?”

“If you think I believe for a second that’s actually your plan, you’ve got another thing coming.” Lapis jerked violently before he saw Auroras lift up Briar and his sister. “Lazuli!”

“Molly!”Ivory was shoved into an awkward sitting position and wasn’t able to try and stand like Lapis had. However, seeing him getting harshly kicked back down for his efforts dissuaded her from trying.

“Like I said before, you two are coming with me. Our employer has plans for the two of you. Does ‘Pandemonium’ ring any bells?”

“Y-Yeah...” Molly admitted. That was Darcie’s center of operations. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the woman- her and Jade were the closest thing to parents she had, but it was still concerning that she sent these guys to capture her by force instead of sending a message. Lazuli and Ivory were probably the reason. She wanted to be sure that she’d come along.

Lazuli stared at her brother and his team, trying to give a reassuring look. “We’ll be fine.” She finally says, “Just focus on keeping yourselves safe. If... This is what I think it is, Molly and I will be okay. I promise. We’ll come back for you.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Onyx hisses, “What about this situation is ‘okay’? After all the trouble we went thr-” He feels his voice catch his in throat and replaced by a wave of pain and grits his teeth.

“Onyx, don’t strain your voice. You’re still healing...” Ivory stares carefully at Molly, seeing the conflict plain on her face. “I trust you. Both of you. If they wanted us dead, they’d have done it already. We’ll get through this- I hope.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: New Beginnings, New Dangers

“Well, I guess we have good news and bad news. Good news is we get to start Ivory and Molly’s huntress career early. Bad news, we’re surrounded.” The group that now consisted of Team OLIV, Lapis’s younger sister Lazuli, and Ivory’s former partner in crime Molly stood in a ring surrounded by far more Grimm than they had anticipated when they were told of a ‘swarm of monsters a team would be useful to take down’. Swarm was a bit more apt than anyone really was comfortable with; there were dozens of spider-like creatures that would let out screeches as they crawled closer and those jaws looked poisonous. A team they were, but professionals they were not. This was going to take some creative teamwork.

“Alright, everyone, split up and take a section!”

Violet turned toward one section of the creatures as they charged. She flared out her whips and hurled herself upward and over the Grimm, a flurry of cracks and blows staggered several of the creatures while surrounding ones were blown apart one by one.

“I’ve got backup, keep pushing!” Ivory stuck herself in a kneeling pose, braced by one of her targets locking her in place while she carefully turned and blasted at any Grimm that got too close to their area.

“Got it!” She landed on one of the spider-creatures and jumped again, shooting at the grounded monster, causing a spit of bile to misfire and hit the ground. She aimed down and a brilliant flash followed her next shot, blinding the pack with a loud popping sound.

Lapis kept to a defensive, leaving his shield up as he pushed forward slowly. He saw the giant buzzsaw contraption of Briar’s drive through the spiders with her in it, chopping off legs and sometimes abdomens as she passed, but many were making their way to him. He blocked and parried with his shield and weapon, shoving any away that tried to leap at him.

“You know, I could use a little help here!”

“I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it!” Molly ran her weapon through the pack and with a pivot, flinging herself toward Lapis with her hand out. “Tilt-a-Whirl!”

“Wait, what’s Tilt-a-WOOOOAAAH!” Before he finished his statement, Molly grabbed his arm and let the momentum swing them around, throwing her in a circle with her saw being carried in the wide arc to batter and slice the surrounding Grimm. Lapis only had time to brace himself and keep from falling over from the force before he put his weight behind his arm and flung her off into the distance and into an oncoming second wave. She landed frustratingly expertly with the saw’s teeth biting into the oncoming Grimm and her perched on in the inside and waving.

“Woo! Let’s hear it for team attacks!”

Lapis stood up and popped his shoulder to make sure it was still in place. “You’re supposed to plan that out ahead of time! That was my shield arm, too...”

“We got ‘em, didn’t we? Besides, everyone else is doing fine.”

Lazuli watched “her” section of Grimm tangled up in a web. They weren’t dead or even injured, but they were busy. She looked up at the dizzying array woven through the sparse trees around them where Onyx was lounging.

The web tightened as Onyx looked down at Hamelin’s sister with an expectant look. Would that he had the vocal strength to throw his voice again, he’d have reminded her to start firing. Despite her time as the Arena’s prisoner honing her skills and unlocking her semblance, she had little to no experience with Grimm yet.

He tightened it again as the Grimm tried ti wiggle free. Sure he made it look effortless, but he wasn’t going to be able to hold this forever. One creature gets loose and tries to skitter up his wires to get to him. He dodges and rakes his claws around to dispatch it, but now the rest were getting free.

Lazuli wasn’t used to this implicit teamwork that her brother’s team did. She’d have to think of a way to handle what was about to be a rain of spider Grimm. Shooting them directly was only doing so much. She looks up to Onyx and realizes there was at least one thing she could do- but it would be a long shot. “Hey! You trust me, right!?” Onyx clung to his web and gives her an incredulous look. “I need an answer! Are we friends or not?” She heard a barely audible and scraping sound that closely resembled “Yes, now do something!” before she closes her eyes for a moment and springs into action.

“Good enough.” With visible effort, she jumped from wire to wire as carefully as she could before her aura began to glow and manifest a figure next to her, connected at the chest by a spectral chain. Said chain connected to the duplicate of Onyx wasn’t nearly as strong as others were. In fact this was probably her weakest one, but she hoped that would change with her time with Lapis’s team over time. From what she managed to figure out her semblance was strictly related to personal bonds and her duplicates were only as strong and the friendship and trust between her and the one she was trying to recreate. The duplicate Onyx grasped her hand and helped hurl her into the nest. Lazuli swung her weapon with precision, taking out spiders as she ascended while the duplicate followed suit and kept her stable. It couldn’t mimic his weapon’s finer details but she managed to clear out the web before slipping on one more wire and falling.

“Uh oh...” The duplicate faded as she lost focus. To make matters worse the mess of wires weren’t easy to grab. She fell about almost to the bottom before something stopped her fall.

“You need to work on your balance.” Onyx’s scratchy voice responds, having already sped to the bottom to catch her and set her back down.

A loud bang signaled the end of the swarm as Ivory took out one more that was about to lunge at Violet. With the group calming down and brushing themselves off, Violet spoke up. “I think we did it.” Then the rustling got louder, followed by a tree melting.

“Oh right, the big one...” An enormous version of the spiders they had fought before crawled into view, venom dripping from its fangs.

“Everyone get ready!” The group takes up fighting poses again before a translucent stalactite crashes from above into the creature.

Onyx was the first to panic, followed by Ivory. The rest looked more confused and stunned. A figure stood behind them with a stack of paper bunched up in one arm and a quill in the other.

“Pardon the interruption, but my partner and I have business to discuss with the lot of you. I have to say between the number, the open job searching, and your.. distinctive features,” The man glanced accusingly at Molly’s massive buzzsaw weapon, “You are almost comically easy to find.” The Grimm roared again as it recovered from the blow to the head. The man just sighed and with several blindingly fast strokes of his quill, spiked chains materialized from around him and entangled the large Grimm.

“Let’s not waste time. Hari, get rid of that thing.”

“No problem.” A larger man, this one covered in scars shown off by a small vest with a combination of brass knuckles and gauntlets followed close behind. He charged the creature and slammed his fist right into the monster’s jaw, causing it to reel from a dust explosion. Several more blows followed, assisted by more of those aura swipes as the other man kept sketching on his paper. With one more strong blow to the head, the Grimm fell to the ground before it could do anything.

Hari turned to face the six. “See that kids? That’s how the pros do it. Call it a free lesson courtesy of Uncle Hari. Auroras, why don’t you explain this one?”

“Who are these guys?” Lapis muttered to himself. They were easily outclassed. Professional huntsmen had been sent for them? Was this because of Briar and Reynard?

Lazuli cautiously stepped forward. “Who are you? You said you had ‘business’. What do you want with us?”

“Auroras Hallward and Hari Lackey of Blood Brothers LLC,” Auroras responded, “We were sent to locate and escort you to our client. You are of great interest to a few interested parties. Normally confidentiality would prevent me from explaining who that is. However, I have been given leave to extend a more public offer first.”

“You’ve got a couple of options here.” Hari points specifically to Team OLIV, “I’m pretty sure your parents are all worried about you kids wandering around on another continent. We’re here to take you home and put you to work. Onyx, Ty’s got an offer for the four of you. No hard feelings or anything. Come on, your old man’s got a lot planned and he’s willing to give you all jobs.”

Onyx stared hard at Hari. Those names were familiar- old teammates of his father before he turned to business. He always did wonder why he had never met them before while Cobalt Ymir was around. Ivory spoke up instead.

“You want us to believe Tyrael Cheshire wants all of us? After what happened to Lilac...” She pauses for Onyx’s sake. She didn’t want to reopen the old wound; it was still his sister after all.

“Wait.” Lapis stepped between Auroras and Lauzli, “You said four of us. What happens to Briar and my sister?”

“That is our other job here.” He stares at Molly with keen intent, adjusting his glasses. “Your mother misses you, you know. She wants to accept you back and you’re welcome to take your friend with you.”

Molly’s pulse raced. Of course Darcie would come looking for her. Why didn’t she think of that? Part of her was scared of how she would have reacted to Jade’s death. She had taken it pretty hard herself, but she had the comfort of being swept up in finally being a huntress. Something was still wrong. “Why would she send mercenaries instead of her own people to find us?”

“We were already going this way and it’s basically getting paid twice for the same job.”

Lazuli looked to Molly worryingly. “Y-You can go if you want, but I need to stay with my brother. Family’s more important than friends sometimes... I.. I get it.”

“Wh-What, no! That’s not it! C-Can’t you just tell her I’m okay? I’ll come back once I finish-” Whatever she was doing.

Violet gave a hard look to Hari at his comment. “Did you really talk to anyone besides Onyx’s dad? How do we know you’re telling the truth here? My dad gave us his blessing to get out here and get our licenses.”

“Ty’s the man with the offer. Besides, Auroras made the deal. Talk to him.”

“Perhaps I should rephrase. Our job, as we were paid to do, is to locate and bring the lot of you two the parties that want you. The offer is a generous one that our employers took time out to offer you. However, your compliance is not a required factor. If you choose to resist, we’ll simply have to take you there by force.”

“And there it is... Everyone get ready for a fight!”

“Can we handle these guys?”

“I don’t think we have a choice. We have to try!”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Silent Sister, Part 1

The team had known that the missions they were supposed to be accompanying Auburn on were going to be hard. They were highly-rated, very dangerous missions meant for experienced huntsmen often in very hazardous locations. This first one took them into the area outside of the city to help clear out Grimm from an old temple.

Auburn was bundled into a cloak that protected her from the wind and snow, clearly unhappy with the arrangement. Tyrael was the one picking the missions, which was fairly annoying. He didn’t seem to understand that not only could she handle these, but she didn’t want to help some ridiculous century-old temple no one ever visits anymore. The cold was supposed to be the biggest hurdle for the mission. They even sent a guide to meet them there to “make sure the sanctity of the holy site was preserved” or some other nonsense. “Hey, blondie, what’s so special about this temple again?”

Violet already explained the temple’s significance three times already but Auburn never seemed to actually pay attention. However, instead of just giving the short version, she decided to start over partly to pass time and partly to annoy her. “The Consecration of the God of Creation is an old Mantle faith that’s been around since before the Great War. It holds the belief that the gods of creation and destruction are in perpetual conflict. Humanity, including faunus, are made by the God of Creation and the Grimm come from Destruction and his attempts to destroy his brother’s work. This temple is the tomb of Saint Alger, one of its earliest adherents in Solitas who brought the faith from the Mistrali Empire three hundred years ago. It’s the most important holy site in the region and now there’s apparently a giant Grimm rooting around in it.”

“And you volunteered because your family follow that faith and that’s why you volunteered, blah blah blah. I didn’t need the whole story. You could have just said ‘It’s an old tomb of someone important to my dumbass religion and we’re killing the monster in it before it scratches the wrong important sconce’ and left it at that.”

“And you could have paid attention the first time!”

“Enough.” Lapis barks, not bothered nearly as much by the cold as the other two and making strides ahead of both. “We’re almost there, I think I see someone ahead; think that’s our guide?”

The trio approaches the entrance to a snow-covered entrance to the tomb. The stone was weathered and faded with the passage of time. Inside the archway a faunus girl draped in a sideways cloak and matching bunched up muffler stood there. She nods politely before her head snaps to stare right at Violet, recognition lighting in her eyes.

“Sapir!?”

The two stare at one another for a few moments before a smile creeps across both of their faces and they rush to each other and quickly embrace.

Lapis watches this with curiosity, wondering what the odds were of this. So was this their guide? The mission brief said the guide was a member of the church  who oversaw this temple but this girl was dressed very much like a huntress. “You two know each other?”

Violet backs up a few steps, her smile not leaving her face. “It’s so good to see you again, Sap.” Her smile scrunches into a slightly confused look, “What’s with the outfit, though? You didn’t leave the church to become a huntress, did you?”

Sapir keeps a content smile and simply shakes her head. She adjusts her cloak that covered most of her right side and lifts her left hand, flashing a series of numbers: 2, 1, 5.

Auburn stares at their guide with a mixture of annoyance and a glance that she hopefully screamed ‘I have better things to do right now.’ “What the hell does that mean? Hey, you, what is she doing? Is this some weird vow you people practice?” She points at Violet expectantly.

“Not to agree with Huldre, but I’m confused too.”

“It’s verse,” Violet explains, “Sap can’t talk but she’s memorized the Gift of Creation and, well, so have I. So this is just kind of a thing we do to talk to each other. She normally doesn’t need to talk to anyone else except the priests most of the time. Don’t worry, I’ll translate.”

“So what’s this one say?” She really didn’t have time to be deciphering holy books just to talk to their guide. At this rate she was wondering if they even really needed one.

“It means ‘Advance the expression of your faith in your works.’ So basically Sap decided to take up fighting to help out more.” Violet tilts her head and examines Sapir’s outfit a little, “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing this? What changed? I thought you were an alter girl.”

Sapir turns around and flashes another number sequence with her left hand before starting down the pathway and beckoning the others to follow.

Violet looked confused. She would have just responded but she knew Lapis and Auburn were going to want a ‘translation’. “Wait, ‘Obey the precepts of the holy orders’? Someone ordered you to do it? Encouraged?” She was hoping for the latter. Outright demanding an ordained sister to take up a trade was something that fell out of practice before the Great War. There were a few very old fashioned sects still roaming around, but they were usually absorbed and moderated by more contemporary churches quickly. Sapir didn’t respond to the question, only continuing to walk forward. She’d probably have to go to the church later for the full story.

Lapis and Auburn didn’t approach for any small talk as they made their way downward with their silent guide. Sapir and Auburn were quick to avoid small hazards in the dark, but Violet had to take out a flashlight in the darker areas for her and Lapis. The stairs leading down to the inner sanctum had long since collapsed and and the drop to the floor below where the body lay was a very long drop.

“We could jump, but it’s dangerous. We’ll need to rappel down.”

“No, you will.” Auburn takes a few steps forward as her eerie shadows materialize from the busted steps to let her follow downward. It was still strange not having her previous landscape-warping illusions, but this more physical manifestation of her semblance, apparently a side effect of the aura transfer altering how her semblance worked, was very useful. Auburn knew she’d have to take some time to practice the nuances soon.

Sapir watched this display with clear discomfort on her face. She could tell that semblance was... unnatural. She looked to Lapis and Violet wide-eyed and pointing at her.

“It’s... complicated.” Lapis states as he backs up a few steps. “You two rappel down if you want. I’m jumping.” With a slight running start, Lapis jumps from the steps and a shimmering blue shield appears in front of his arm, he points it downward so he could roll into the impact.

Violet pulls out one of her pistols and jams the spike into the rock, testing it’s hold before releasing the cable. “Sapir, do you need to borrow my other one?” She winces and nearly falls off the step as a loud crashing noise like a hammer hitting bricks resounded right next to her. Sapir had jammed a claw coming from a flail larger than her head into the stone where she held tightly onto a long chain. Violet presumed she had to have been storing that thing under the cloak. “Fair enough...”

The four reached the lower level and looked ahead at the large inner sanctum. From what Violet remembered of the tomb’s history, the entrance had been dug out until the workers had found a cave. Seeing it as a sign, they chose that spot to bury the dead saint and build the rest of the tomb around it. The actual sarcophagus was dwarfed by the massive dank surroundings. The ground was latticed with bits of ice and cracks in the floor and cave wall were everywhere and was illuminated gently by faintly glowing dust that shone through the cracks giving it an eerie look. Still, the stone held regardless which further cemented the idea of this place being miraculous; but this dark cavern also meant that Grimm could hide and grow in the depths.

Lapis tried to scan the area while Violet panned the scene with her flashlight. “So what kind of Grimm tend to live down here?” He asks hesitantly, pulling out his weapon and keeping the safety on for the time being. He was ready to flip it off and fire as soon as he could.

“Vampires,” Violet responds, “They look kind of like huge bats and they have tongues that can shoot out and stab you, and a sonic screech on top of that. The best thing to do is keep it grounded once it shows up. There’s probably going to be a bunch of little ones, too. It’s probably further in.

Auburn smirks and stalks off ahead. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s flush it out and be done with it.” She rushes ahead almost silently, jumping off of bursts of her own shadow to keep air and speed, jumping off walls when needed.

Sapir narrows her eyes and throws a stern, almost judging gaze at Violet and Lapis as if faulting them for bringing Auburn here. She had no respect for this place. She dashes off after Auburn, waving to get Lapis and Violet to follow her. She drew out her large flail and begun building up momentum by swinging it overhead.

Lapis watched the two faunus dash off and barely held back a smart remark, keeping the thought to himself. Typical... Whether that was a faunus-directed comment or a situational-directed one was something he’d have to decide later. “Ah hell... We’d better go after them, Goodfellow. They’re going to draw out every Grimm in the cave like that.”

“Hey, wait!” Violet reaches out to call the two back but it was clearly too late. She lets out a frustrated sigh and readies her pistols again. “I don’t think even Auburn can handle that many. Vampires tend to be small but they come in pretty big numbers. The alpha, though... that thing’s huge. They’re going to need backup.” Besides that, she was really worried about Sapir. She had never seemed the fighting sort in her life. What was an altar girl suddenly doing with a weapon like that?

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The New Normal, Part 4

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m finally back in Atlas. I’m sorry Lazuli and I worried you so much from vanishing. I hope my letters have found their way out to you, but I want to let you and everyone else know I’m okay. I was given my license and I’m going to be starting doing some small jobs around Atlas to start. I can’t come back home yet. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep my promise but when I finally come back home, I want to be somebody everyone can be proud of and depend on.

Lazuli’s still training in Mistral with a friend. She’s safe after all but with the towers out I don’t know if she can get a letter to you yet. She told me to tell you she’ll come home as soon as she can, that’s a promise.

Tell Olwen and Bianca to behave themselves and to help you guys around the house. They’re getting old enough to do more than just play in the snow, right? Measure their heights for me so I know how much they grew when I finally get back home.

Love, Lapis

Lapis put the letter into the postbox with the extra stamps and prayed that the mail delivery in Mantle actually went out to the far villages. He was already tired of Atlas proper and decided to descend down to Mantle with Violet, who apparently had her own things to take care of. The city was big and didn’t really have a lot of trees or greenery to it that weren’t part of advertisements. He hated it here already.

A crashing noise caught his attention as something had been tossed into something else in an alleyway. It sounded suspiciously like a trash can being knocked over. Then he heard some yelling. Not an officer or soldier in sight. Maybe this was why these licenses came with a right to arrest. He sighs to himself and heads to the alley.

The sight he was greeted with was some down on their luck faunus guy getting kicked around by two thugs. He didn’t even know the context but they were laughing and didn’t seem to care much about robbing the guy. Lapis peered from behind a dumpster to further gather the situation for a moment.

“Please! Stop, I didn’t mean to trip anyone! I just wasn’t paying attention!”

“Yeah? Well that’s for not paying attention then! What’re you good for anyway?” The first guy looked like he scraped his arm on something in a fall. Nothing big but that didn’t seem to be the problem.

“Hey, relax, he can’t help it. It’s them horns of his. It’s like he’s got blinders 24/7.” The other guy sounded mocking and started imitating bull horns with a charging leg motion.

Lapis approaches and stands firm in the alley, his hand resting on his weapon near his back, the other flashes his scroll with the huntsmen license. This wasn’t exactly how he planned to break in the new job title, but he happened to be here. “Hey, gentlemen. What’s the trouble over here?”

The two thugs turn around and raise their hands reflexively before calming down. “Trouble? Oh there ain’t no trouble, buddy. We’re just... having a dispute. Yeah.”

“Just a little one. No harm done, right?” The man on the ground got another light kick, “Right?”

“R-Right!” The faunus on the ground tries to scramble up to his feet but he’s tripped down again and falls on his face with a thud.

Lapis stares with his usual rigid unmoving expression. “You know, I’m no cop and I’m pretty new to this, but this looks a little more like assault and battery to me. Want to give me a good reason to let you guys be on your way?”

“Oh this ain’t no assault. We’re all friends here. It’s just a little good fun, you know?” The smaller of the two thugs smiled, “Besides, if you don’t know the rules then how can you tell us what it is we’re doing wrong?”

“Well we can start with that guy not being allowed to stand up.” Lapis counters, “So let’s start with that.”

The two relent and let the man up to his feet while the big guy steps forward. “You know, I can tell you’re a reasonable man. You ain’t like those soldiers that just club you over the head and tell you to shut up and follow the rules. You know them rules ain’t really fair. It’s all for them fancy rich folks and huntsmen and stuff. So how’s about you let the three of us just get on our way and you go back to enforcing the real rules for the people who cause real trouble. That’s fair right?”

Without any warning Lapis punches the big guy in the face, sending him flying back several feet. “You’re right. I’m not like those soldiers because I don’t feel like I need to tell you what to do. I’m a huntsmen. I don’t care about what the law says you should or shouldn’t do. I care about protecting the people who deserve it, and right now, that’s not you two. Any questions?”

The big guy slowly scrambles to his feet and his friend helps him up, then they run off further into the alley. The faunus man steadies himself back on his feet with a mild look of shock. “Th-Thanks! I was just on my way home from work and these guys just jumped me! I mean, I guess I did trip one but it was an accident. Blind spots, you know?” He points to the jutting horns on the side of his head.

“Whatever. Just try to be more careful next time. You might not conveniently have someone nearby to help you next time.

The man nods hesitantly, but didn’t look to be in a hurry to leave. “You said you were a new huntsmen right? H-Have you tried the job boards yet? I mean, if you’re looking I know a guy who’s looking for-”

“I’ve got a lot of my jobs picked for me, thanks... Besides, I’m not looking for extra money.”

“Right um... Hey, can I at least get your name?”

“Lapis.”

“Lapis, okay. So, when you said you were only interested in protecting people who ‘deserved it’ what did you mean? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I wanted to do this in the first place because of the people who don’t have any way of defending themselves. I don’t care about the people who can already fend for themselves.”

The bull just nods as if pretending to get it, but really not. “W-Well, thanks anyway. It’s good to see that some people still think like that. I’ve gotta get going home, though. Thanks again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t overthink it. I just happened to be here.” Once the man was gone, Lapis pulled himself out of the alley and looked at his license. Why did he just pull it out like that at first? It’s not like he was planning on doing anything official. It wasn’t even a mission. He was just there. 

“I can’t let the title get to my head. I made a promise to my home, not these people.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Silent Sister, Part 2

Continued from Part 1

“They can’t have gotten that far ahead, can they?” Lapis says with frustration as he rushes into the tunnel. There was a Grimm in the back reaches of the tomb and both Auburn and their guide had decided to rush ahead.

“Keep your weapon out, Lapis.” Violet encourages. She had already drawn both your pistols. Vampires aren’t very strong Grimm, but there’s usually a lot of them in one place. We can’t get overwhelmed.”

A loud screeching noise from dozens of sources echoed further down the cave, followed by the sounds of combat. Then a flood of bat-like Grimm came flying toward them.

Lapis steadies his rifle and fires off shots into the blackened cave. The Dust illumination only barely helped aim. The burst fire took out of a few, but it was clear they weren’t going to take them all out before they got here. “At least we have a funnel.”

“Get ready to put up your shield when they get close.” They couldn’t get surrounded in close quarters like this. The tunnel was narrow and Violet knew that if too many of those bats let off their sonic screeching at once, it could collapse the tunnel. On top of that their darting tongues could do some serious damage if one wasn’t careful. She steadied her shots, focusing on the ones who opened their mouths, blasting off the heads of the Grimm in small blackened clouds. Then she got an idea. “Cover us, Lapis. We’re charging through!”

“Right!” Lapis put up his shield and swapped his weapon to its melee form and planted the aura barrier in front of him. Violet stuck close behind as he bull rushed through the cloud, letting his barrier take the impact of any screeches and darts that lashed out at them. To say the screeches were loud was an understatement. Lapis grit his teeth and forced himself to keep focused on just covering their headlong rush through the cave. Violet kept on his heels, ducking under his shield and firing on any Grimm that tried to get under it. The tunnel started to widen, giving them more room to work with. It opened into a large open area with glimmering stalactites overhead. They looked behind them to see the swarm of small Grimm giving chase.

“Now we have some room!” Violet pointed her pistols at the swarm and glowing lights formed in front of the barrels. She fired off both “shots” of her semblance, resulting in a loud and bright bang that staggered the bats. Several quick volleys finished most of them off, as the others started to flap away.

“Took you two long enough to get here.” Auburn taunts, “I hope you two aren’t tired out by the first wave. Then again, this is a mission meant for someone like me, not you.”

Sapir glanced back at Violet and Lapis with a grimace that seemed to be a mixture of concern and annoyance. She held up her hand and flashed another series of numbers, then pointed to the ceiling.

Lapis follows the point upward and sees one of the stalactites was a different color than the others. It looked like it was covered in bone- and it was moving. “Let me guess, something about not waking sleeping beasts?”

“She said, ‘Be ever vigilant in the presence of evil.’ but, yes, I think we woke it up.” Violet says, bracing herself. The alpha vampire was enormous. It flapped its wings and let out a horrifying screech, shaking the area around it. All four huntsmen and huntresses buckled under the sound. 

Auburn recovered before the rest and stared up at it with a grin on her face. “How about you all leave this one to me. After all, that’s why I’m here.” A bundle of her shadowy semblance gathered around her feet and she spring-boarded off of it, flinging herself into the air. With a flick of her wrists, she sent out her blades curving into the air, slicing into the creature’s ears and wings. She kept one on each of her holsters and was using them to spike into the other hanging stalactites to keep herself airborne.

Lapis wasted no time readying his gun for another set of shots. “Aim for the mouth, right?” He lined up a shot just as the massive creature opened its jaws and shot. It bounced off of the bat’s armored face and then looked right at him.

He put up his shield in barely enough time to deflect the blow from the monster’s darting tongue. He felt his entire body lurch sideways from the impact. That thing was the size of a street light’s pole now that he saw it up close. “Can we really handle this thing?”

Auburn was darting around the hanging pieces of rock with expert precision. she was mostly dodging and flinging her blades back out to hit the monster’s wings, but seeing the less-prepared group below distracting it was useful at least. “Maybe you can’t, but-” Another loud screech distorted the area around Auburn. She managed to vault herself away from the sound wave itself, but she watched as several of the stalactites were crumbling and falling.

“Oh, right, the big ones are smart...” Auburn dropped to the ground and dashed through the falling debris, waves of her shadowy semblance forming a barrier around her. She was still getting used to the change, but she had to admit swapping from changing the terrain with illusions to having them become a physical morphic aura to manipulate was a good upgrade- if an unintended side effect. Holding the solid forms took a lot of concentration, though. She wouldn’t be able to do anything big with it just yet. In a way she felt like she had started over when it came to relearning her semblance.

Sapir swung her flail in a broad arc above Lapis and Violet, crushing any falling rocks that were directly above them. This wasn’t going to be enough. Whatever it was this Auburn thought she was doing, it was more destructive than helpful still. She turned to Violet, who had ducked behind Lapis’s shield again. Those two definitely had a partnership down well. This must be her teammate from Atlas she had heard about. The altar girl ducks behind the shield as well and glares at the Grimm, then back to Violet. She begins signing her verse again.

“Sap, is now the time?” Violet snaps back, taking a moment to make sure her memory of the holy book wasn’t incorrect. “Trust the wisdom of the holy servants... I hope that means you have a plan.”

Sapir smiles, nods, and holds out her right hand, her left still clutching the chain of her weapon. She mouths the words ‘trust me’.

Violet takes her old friend’s hand and she could see their auras lattice around where they touched. Then she felt an almost painful lurch as she saw the color of her aura drain and flow into the other girl. Violet let out a yelp as all the strength left her, like she just had her aura punched through from a powerful attack. It was going to take a while for her to recover from that.

Sapir’s aura seemed interlaced with the color Violet’s normally was. The extra yellow lattice radiated off of her as if only barely clinging to her own like some kind of armor. The residual aura, the source of a huntresses’s exceptional strength, speed, and stamina would give her a boost needed to fight the creature. She looks back to Lapis and nods to Violet with clear intention- guard her.

Lapis did as ordered, even if he didn’t like this one bit. “What the hell is she doing!? Now we’re down both of us because you can’t fight and I have make sure you don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

Violet gets up weakly, “I can’t use my semblance or protect myself from any attacks, but I can still fire. Just cover me. We’re still in this.” She steadies herself and double checks the ammunition in her pistols.

Sapir hopped up to one of the fallen stalactites and watched Auburn’s movements. She was circling around on the ground and bringing the creature’s attention back to them, practically ignoring the safety of the rest of them. She’d just have to keep the demon’s attention on her instead. With a powerful leap, she soared toward the flying Grimm and twirled her flail. Curved spikes extended from the massive steel ball and they shot out in pairs, attached by chains to metal plates forming two heavy pronged attacks. The extra aura flowed from her into the two sets of spikes, reinforcing the attack. The spikes dug into the beast’s wings, puncturing them. The chains reeled and brought her in closer, swinging down and pulling it downward and causing it to loose its footing and crashing down to the ground.

“Well it’s about time one of you did something.” Auburn swept below the Grimm with Sapir and her shadowy aura built up in front of her, forming a large spike. It was a bit annoying that she had nowhere near the range she used to with her illusion, but at least it would do damage. The creature was pierced through and let out a horrible scream before it started to dissolve.

With the largest of the evil creatures banished, Sapir turned to face Auburn with a look of suspicion and condemnation. She was still tensed, as if prepared to keep fighting. She approaches the shadowy spike, and swipes her hand against it. Immediately a small chunk of the fixture was ripped off of it and the residual aura started to coat Sapir’s hand. Her eyes went wide and she shook her hand violently, flaking it away.

Auburn held up her arms to recall her blades back to the discs on her wrists. “Okay, what is your problem? Besides not talking like a normal person, I mean. Don’t go touching other people’s... semblances like that. Do you know who I am!?” She cursed her lack of a real word for what it was she just saw. What kind of semblance just snatched up aura like that; and what was that reaction? The only thing she could think of was that something about how the Borealis procedure made her aura “feel” weird to this girl. She wanted to dismiss it as not her problem, but the girl just kept glaring at her.

Violet stood up and Lapis lowered his shield once the fight was over. She was still worried about what it was that Sapir had just done and what it meant. “H-Hey. We’re done right? Let’s get out of here before anything else comes back.”

Sapir relaxed her tense stance and nodded. Her flail had bunched back up and a few plates actually pulled back, revealing a censer underneath that began gently spewing incense. She made a motion signalling them to go. She would still have to re-sanctify the place after all.

Violet nodded, probably the only one who understood that. “Okay, we’ll see you later. I’ll stop by the church after you’re back okay? It was good seeing you again, Sap.”

“You sure we should just leave?” Lapis questioned, “There’s still plenty of Grimm that could be around.”

“I think she’s more than capable of handling herself. Besides, it’s cold, our target’s dead, and if sister silence over here wants to stay and blow smoke everywhere, let her. I’m leaving.” Auburn turned and after a reassuring nod from Sapir, Lapis and Violet reluctantly followed.

She waited until the trio left the holy site before finishing her ritual cleansing and pulled out a scroll from her pocket. The signal was really bad out here, but a simple text message should send. She hated using the thing, material possessions weren’t something she was meant to care about, but it had been insisted upon. She sent the update the first chance she knew it would go through.

[Sister Lucianna, the holy burial site is cleansed of evil.]

[Good. Did the huntsmen treat it with the proper respect?]

[One of three. Violet, my old friend, has again returned to Mantle. I will introduce you once she comes back to the church.]

[What of the others?]

[One is an outsider, I cannot say. The other is walking sin. Her aura is unnatural- blasphemous. This is not the simple heresy of cybernetics.]

[Tell me more when you return, then I will send Brother Castor to investigate. This may be Tyrael Chesire’s unholy Borealis Project. See if you cannot learn more from your friend and her team. If not, pray they do not fall into the crossfire.]

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Because We’re a Team

Lilac stood in front of Ivory, her limbs glowing sickly colors. She was shaking as was her opponent. “Is... Is that it!? You’re almost out of tricks you know. Why do you keep bothering?”

Ivory staggers and leans on her ax. She wasn’t down for the count by any means, but this fight was taking a heavy toll on both of them. In all honestly, she was pretty sure it was sheer willpower keeping her going. She could only hold off Lilac for so long. “All I have to do is keep you here. I just have to hold out!”

“For who!? Who could you possibly have left as backup!? Jade is almost certainly dead by this point and his psychotic partner isn’t about to come to your rescue! Face it, you have nothing left, Reynard! I want to see the hope spill from your eyes before I kill you! What could you possibly be waiting for!?”

_____________

Lapis fired and slashed through several more of the ball-like drones that drove around them, trying to fire or explode to block their path. Lapis lead his sister, Violet, and Molly down the narrow street they were being lead to. “There’s a lot more than there used to be. We’ve got to be getting close!”

“It’s a warehouse half a block down. It can’t be hard to miss with the fight going on!” Molly shouts back. She had only been able to keep up with her injuries, not really participating in the combat despite dragging her gigantic wheel with her.

A barrage of the drones comes flying off the rooftop. “Down!” Lapis urges the three underneath his arm as he holds his barrier upward. The impact created a large explosion that send them all back. After scrambling back up, they turned around to the sound of more beeps and tire screeching.

“How many of these things did she build!?” Violet says double-checking her pistols. “We can’t just keep shooting at them like this, they’re just going to keep slowing us down.”

Lazuli spun around just in time for the sounds to be confirmed with a small group of the ball drones wheeling toward them. She raises her weapon to take more shots and standing. She flips it into its melee form to try and swing at an oncoming on, only for it to be deflected and bounce harmlessly against a wall where Violet shot at it to disable it. She had to do better than this. She had to think back to how her semblance activated that first time in her fight with Jade. All she could remember was being overcome with thoughts and memories of her friends and how much she wanted to protect them. Maybe that was where her part laid. She stands firm and faces the rest of the oncoming drones.

The sounds of her brother turning and trying to protest registered, but she couldn’t quite hear what he was saying. She was too focused. This wasn’t just about saving the person they were after. She had to make sure the people around her were safe as well- 

All with the help of the people in her life close to her. 

Something finally made sense as she makes the single connection all of the images that fought with her had in common. “You guys go ahead. I’ve got this.”

“No offense, kid, but no you don’t!” Molly returns, doing all she could to stay out of the way of everyone’s fighting. “If it was me, maybe I could do something about this but-”

Lazuli stood staring at the oncoming drones, reaching her hand out as if completely ignorant of the oncoming danger. “What was your name again?”

“Why is that important right now!? We need to get to Ivory!” There was no response from the girl. Molly didn’t really know a lot about her during her time at the Arena- Jade had taken a special interest in her and even brought Darcie in to check her out, but she had been absent for a lot of whatever happened to bust her out. “It’s Molly!” She finally blurted out. “There, are you happy!? Now help us out here!”

Lazuli gives a faint smile no one could see with her back to them. “Molly. My name’s Lazuli.” She finally turns around faintly and holds out her hand. “I forgive you.”

“Yeah. Awesome. That’s swell. We’re going to be best friends now.” Molly said dryly, and taking her hand. Her hand trembled for a moment. This was something new- the idea that someone went through everything the Arena could throw at them and she had the... whatever it was to forgive her? It gave her a moment of pause. “Hey, as cute as it is that you’re being nice to me a few minutes before we’re all blown up, how is this helping?”

Lazuli closed her eyes for a moment before letting go. “Just trust me.” She turns to face the oncoming drones and twirls Winterfang to block the oncoming shots, focusing on her breath and some thoughts. She took in the moment- that small spark of a kind gesture, that connection. She spun around and launched herself forward toward the pack of drones and a faint chain flew from her. Attached to it, a difficult to see form spun a circular shape at them and the impact sent them all flying, some in pieces. The shaky mimic of Molly lasted on a second before disappearing again. 

“What the hell was that!?”

“Woah, cool semblance! If you can keep that up we can get to Ivory!”

Lapis met his sister’s confident and serene gaze. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I think I finally figured this out so... hopefully. But someone needs to stay behind and take care of these things. Molly, stick with me. If you go back there that woman’s going to try and kill you first, isn’t she?”

Molly stood up a bit more firmly, trying her best to ignore her weakened state and roared her weapon. “Dammit, why do you have to be right!? Alright, but if you’re going to save Ivory, I’m not letting anything happen to us either. I’ve been through worse. Let’s go.”

Violet quickly heard a different beep and checked her scroll before pocketing it with a nod. “Let’s not waste any time. Onyx will be here soon. He’s following my signal. Come on- we’re almost there.”

_____________

Ivory let loose a broad swing to crash through a barrier of pointed icicles that appeared in her way. Lilac had taken to launching projectiles and obstacles to wear her down.

I have to keep going. I have to trust Molly will find help.

Jade couldn’t be dead. She had this... feeling she couldn’t shake or describe. There was an assurance in the back of her mind that Molly was going to come back and that she’d show Lilac that people did care about her enough to come back for her. Her companions- they were a team, right!? Her team would come for her. Jade, Robin, Molly... they’d be here.

“Face facts!” LIlac shouts, landing on the ground and shuddering as more and more dust courses through her. She was running low on the painkillers and was starting to feel the searing sensation of it in her blood. “There is no one coming to get you! No one cares about you! You betrayed everything you’ve ever had and now you’re paying the price for it!”

“IVORY!” “REYNARD!”

The shouts were said in unison as shots rang out, peppering the area around Lilac in bullets.

“What!?”

“What!?”

Lapis and Violet managed to batter the old door off what was left of its hinges to stare down Lilac Cheshire, weapons drawn.

“You know, out of everything I expected to show up- this was not it. Why are you here?” He tone was ice cold as she glared down at the two figures. No, wait... There was one more.

“...Why? You three of all people?”

Onyx strode silently into the doorway as well. He rubbed his neck knowingly. He wasn’t really wanting to strain his voice further- but perhaps he’d have to.

“Because...” He began harshly and slowly, “This must stop.You’re accomplishing nothing anymore. You’ve destroyed everything but what you set out to.”

Ivory stared at them for a while. Onyx, Violet, Lapis... they had shown up. The team she was going to sell out to Jade. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t supposed to work out like this. Why were they here? She didn’t deserve their help. This had to be a coincidence.

Violet kept her gaze on Ivory, though. “It’s over.” She says in a kinder tone that she had imagined it sounding, “We’re here now. You can rest.”

“Wh-What...? No, this is some kind of joke! You can’t just show up and save me like this! It doesn’t make sense! Why!?”

“Why? Because we’re huntsmen and huntresses and it’s the right thing to do. Because someone came to us and said that the only person they care about was in danger. Because no one else was going to stop this psychopath from destroying the entire district and all those people just because she hates you.

“And because, as much as I want to say you deserve everything that’s coming to you, we’re a team and we’re going to end this as one.”

Lapis steps forward, gripping his weapon tightly and holding back the urge to charge right now. This was the person responsible for the deaths of so many of his friends- and a lot of his own old hatreds. It was like staring down all of his personal demons rolled up into one wretched person. “So... you’re the one, huh?”

Lilac scrunches her face and continues glaring. “Whatever it is you think is going on- it doesn’t concern you.”

“Pineyard,” he continues, “Logging village a little bit outside of an old dust mine that got attacked by a riot wielding your weapons.”

“Seriously!? Let me guess, you’re here to avenge your stupid little town, right?”

“Not anymore. This is about something way more important than that. Killing you won’t bring anyone back- but I sure as hell can make sure no one else has to go through what we did because of you. I have a feeling you’re not going to stop here.”

“We’re not here for us. We’re here to stop you for the sake of the people we care about. We can deal with Reynard’s boss later. Right now what matters is you don’t hurt anyone else!”

“You see that, Lilac!? I’m not alone. Maybe I don’t deserve it. They probably should still hate me for what I did, but right here right now I’m going to hold my promise. We’re stopping you and I’m going back to Molly alive.”

“We all are. I can’t call myself a real Goodfellow if I backed away from this now. My dad wouldn’t, my mom wouldn’t, I think even Robin wouldn’t... This is where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to do.”

“I told you this was madness the moment I heard about it. Now...” Onyx lets out a cough and wipes his face, gritting his teeth and resuming.

“Don’t strain your voice, Onyx, we’ll call the shots. Just focus on the fight. Ready team?”

“So that’s how it’s going to be? Fine. I’ll rip you all apart myself.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Interlude: Picking Up the Pieces

Violet wasn’t sure how long she had stared at her uncle’s body at the modest funeral they had put together. Several grateful people in the kingdom had helped donate materials or money to give a proper burial one of the huntsmen who helped save people from the attack that was currently being blamed on cult that grew out of a White Fang splinter group. She hadn’t heard about Cobalt Ymir’s death until after it was all over. It had taken several weeks for things to return to what was as close to normal as they could be anymore.

“Do you think he would have been proud of us?”

“If he knew half of what we had to do to get here, I’d say so. Lapis stood nearby with what was left of their team. They were the only ones of the four present save for Lazuli who decided to stay for emotional support. Ivory didn’t dare show herself and he didn’t even want to think about Onyx right now. Everything about the end of that fight still haunted him. “He believed in us, even when we didn’t.”

Violet forces a smile and nods, wiping some tears away. “You’re right. What matters now is that we don’t forget that.” She turned around when she heard her name being called.

“Hey there, Sundrop, I hope I’m not interuptin’ anything. I need to talk with you for a bit, okay?”

“Sure. Hey, Dad, I don’t think you ever met my partner from Atlas. This is Lapis and his sister, Lazuli.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“You guys need a minute?”

“Actually, you might want to stick around for this.” Shin explains, “We’re going to have to head back home soon.”

“We can’t go so soon!” Violet protests, The Dustwings aren’t really in good enough shape to help the city rebuild yet. They’re going to need huntsmen and huntresses out here.”

“You’re right, but I want to know if you noticed somethin’ about those safe houses. Notice how empty they are?”

“They look packed to me.” Lazuli notes, watching the throngs of injured and recently homeless crowding around the area. ”Violet’s right. There’s too many mouths and not enough help. We can’t just... not do something. Maybe you need to leave but we can’t. If we send a letter home I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“That’s exactly the problem. Tyrael Cheshire packed up his goons masqueradin’ as help and left already. He snuck his way back to Solitas and to be blunt, our families might be danger. The Dustwings will have help soon. That militia that saved Haven’s still around, I think.” Shin looked to Violet with a nod. “I spoke with your brother.”

“You found Robin!? What happened?” Violet caught her breath and cursed herself for having missed him again. “Where? What did he say?”

“That ‘Red Arena’ might be gone but it won’t be long before Cheshire just throws his money into a new project. Robin claims he’s going to target us soon. We need to get back to Mantle to make sure nothin’ happens to them.”

“Dad....” Violet shook her head, “Mom’s a huntress, too, I think the two of you can take care of yourselves. I- I can’t leave yet. The Dustwings need help and we’re here to do exactly that. Besides... we have some people who need us more than ever now. Lapis and I might have homes to go back to, but half of us don’t.”

Shin let out a sigh. “You know, he told me you’d say that. I guess I should accept you’re a big strong girl now. Here.” Shin holds out a scroll to her. “Hold onto this. We managed to get some replacements for everyone. It’s got a message for you, too.”

“What’s it say?” Lauzli says, peering over Violet’s shoulder.

Violet opened the scroll to an audio message. She recognized the voice instantly.

“Hey, Sis.

Sorry I didn’t catch you when I talked to Dad. Well, I guess I’m sorry about a lot of things. I know it won’t make anythin’ better but this is all I’ve got for now. You did a good job out there, you know? I’ve got some information on this scroll you’ll need to know. Jade didn’t work alone. He’s got friends- and if you stick around, you’ve gotta watch out for them, and don’t think his old paycheck’s going to forget what happened to his daughter, either. But, hey, you kids took down some pretty nasty people. So long as you stick together, you’ll do fine.

“I’m not gonna say you won’t ever see me again, but I’ve got my own things to take care of right now. In the meantime, keep bein’ who I couldn’t, and tell that tin can of a Lieutenant I said hello, would ya? We went to Atlas together.”

“I'm bad at showin’ it, but I love you, Violet.  Make everyone proud.”

“Robin... I just finished crying...” She smiles and rubs her eyes gently.

“So you’re staying then?” Lapis asks after a few more moments. “We’ll need to find Reynard soon. I don’t really want to leave her or her crazy friend unattended.”

”I can go find them,” Lauzli replies, “I think you guys need to get a few other things straightened out. Don’t you both have people to say goodbye to still?”

______________

Ivory takes a deep breath, having gotten far away from the small gathering in the ruined square. She and Molly made it a point not to be seen by anyone. They were recognized by a lot of the populace in the district. She feared retaliation for Jade’s failure to protect them as promised. The news that he had been killed had not been kind of either of them, but Ivory felt a strange serenity in it. Though, she had her family and Onyx growing up. Jade Leroux was a lot of things to her- a mentor and master first and foremost but to Molly he was the closest thing to a father she likely had. She entered one of the ruined houses where they promised to meet. “Hey, how are you holding up?”

Molly sat in the middle of her ring weapon, letting it rest on the floorboards. “About as good as I can be. Honestly, I’m glad we’re both still alive but...” She balls her hands into fists and starts shaking.

“What are we going to do now? No one here’s going to give us anything. They have new real heroes now, right? They don’t want us. Even your stupid team is being talked about.”

“Yeah, well as far as fuck-ups go this could have been a lot worse.”

Ivory spins around and draws her ax immediately. “What are you doing here!?”

“I’m here to come clean, okay? I’m layin’ it all out on the table to let you figure out what to do next besides sit here and not know. Yes, I killed my uncle. I basically killed Jade, too. I’m not askin’ you to forgive me for either of those things and I ain’t here to gloat.”

“Then what!?” Molly darts up and spins around, standing with her wheel around her. “You’ve always hated us!”

“You’re right.” Robin says, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. “You want to know why? I want you to look at my little sister and then ask yourself, what if she wound up like you? How about you look at Darcie and her crazy parade and ask if you want to see each other in a place like that years from now?” He watches the two girls stare at him and then each other in awkward silence. “You’re wasted potential is what you are. I made my choice when I had a mind to do so. You were snatched away as kids. I ain’t blind. You two are damn near siblings to one another and as weird as it’s gonna sound comin’ from me, I’m glad for it. So I’m tellin’ you right now- you can either sit here and cry over what you lost like Lilac Cheshire did, or pick yourselves up and have your own fuckin’ lives for once.”

“And do what? We can’t just become huntresses just like that! What, do you think we’re just going to pick up our stuff show up with your sister and her friends and walk off into the sunset like some stupid fairy tail!?”

“Why not? S’what I’m doin’. Well, sort of. See, I’m plannin’ on makin’ Tyrael Cheshire’s life a livin’ hell and all his buddies with his creepy business partner at Ciar to boot; so I’m grabbin’ my old team together. We’re about to make some noise and make off with whatever we can in the process.”

Ivory trembles as she thought of Onyx, holding his bloody body in her arms. ���We all fought together in the end.” She mutters to herself, “M-Maybe we can do it again.” She turns to Molly and holds out her hand.

“I’m not doing this without you, you know that. I promised I wouldn’t abandon you. You won’t be alone again.”

Molly didn’t say anything for the longest time. She heard Robin’s footsteps leave the building without even saying goodbye. “Sure, fine, just stalk off...” She says to herself before staring at Ivory. Her mind flashed a moment to that girl from the Arena.

‘I forgive you.’

“Fine.” Her reply was reluctant and slow, but maybe something good could come out of this. “You know... I always wanted to be a huntress as a little girl.”

“We can at least give a shot, right?”

_____________

“It is going to take a while to rebuild.” The elderly huntress says, having donned a new mask and walking the streets. The kingdom had already heard rumors of the elusive “Mother Marianne” sighted in Mistral- it was time to show that face again.

“Yeah.” Morado still hadn’t even begun to process everything he had learned about his fiance in recent weeks, let alone grieving. “We’re staying right here, though. Mistral’s not about to turn us over to Atlas needing us as much as they do. Besides, I should have been able to stop this. Lilac... If I had known maybe I could have done something more to help her.”

“Some would take you for a fool, but I believe we need more people like you in this world, Lieutenant. But if I may be so bold as to give you some sage advice, don’t dwell on who you couldn’t save. Look to see who you can. It will never get easier. I can promise you that.

“Every victim, every lost soul, every life lost still hurts me whenever I come across it. Having a heart is not a weakness, but do not let it turn into guilt. You have to be the one these people look up to now. You’re all they have left anymore.”

“Lieutenant!” “Marianne!”

Lapis and Violet rushed to their side, breathing heavily. They had been running back and forth looking for them. “There you are. We needed to talk to you.”

“Did something happen?”

“Well, sort of? Not yet. We’re going to be leaving soon. Lieutenant, if I could have permission to-”

“Granted.”

“That was... quick.”

“We’re grabbing Reynard and her crazy friend to try and set them back up. Hopefully in a way that won’t get anybody arrested or killed this time, but we need to get them out of the kingdom first- at least until things calm down some more.”

“Rather noble of you to give them a second chance.” The elderly huntress replies, “They will need good guidance to put themselves back together, let alone on the proper path.”

“Let’s just say we owe our team leader a favor. Before that collapse, he still tried to reach out to his sister even when she tried to blow us all to kingdom come. If he could believe in a second chance like that, we can.”

“Besides, there’s still whatever Robin left on this scroll. Something about another operation like Jade Leroux’s. Apparently he wasn’t alone.”

“If I may see that?” Marianne had a feeling she already knew what it was about. Jade’s sadistic other half was just as ruthless as he had been and perhaps even more twisted. “I would like to copy this. You will not need to worry about her.”

“I hope you don’t plan on keeping me out of the loop this time. If there’s something else going on, we’re staying to help.”

“It is a long story, I will have to tell you later. For the time being, children, do not worry about Darcie. I have an old score to settle with her. I worry that Leroux’s death will make her more unpredictable, though. It is best if you leave that to us. Go find your friends and get ready to go.”

______________

“We’re almost there.” Lauzli announced, leading Ivory and Molly out to a clearing outside the kingdom. It was surprisingly easy for them to leave with all the commotion. She stayed a small distance from the two, but kept feeling eyes on her.

“H-Hey. Kid.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for... you know... back during the fight. Not the ‘saving me’ part the... ‘I forgive you’ part.”

“I managed to figure out what your old boss was doing. How he was doing it. You guys didn’t realize did you?”

“We’re... still... processing that.” Ivory states, trying to ignore a suppressed angry look from Molly. The idea that their emotions were being directly toyed with through a semblance was a heart-wrenching thought, but a long time without it present felt strange. Things made a bit more sense with that context but she worried what that took away from her actual feelings. Where did any actual ideas or thoughts begin and Jade’s old influence end? Was that really a bad thing? She couldn’t imagine Molly wasn’t going through a similar internal crisis.

Lapis was standing firmly next to a large rock, his gear ready to go already. “You all set? I know a few nearby villages that know my face. We can get you some work and get your feet wet. You sure this is what you want to do?”

“What else do we have anymore?” Molly admits, her tone more flat than it used to be, “You sure you’re okay having two people who tried to kill you follow you around?”

“Oh, I’m not worried, we put our best in charge right beside yours truly.”

Ivory frowns, unable to really bring herself to reach for her ax like she used to. “It’s not going to be the same without him.”

“No one said it has to be.” Violet keeps walking through the trees to another figure waiting nearby.

“I did say we put our best in charge.”

_____________

Tyrael Cheshire had been quieter than usual ever since returning to Atlas. He had been absorbed in work both regarding retrieving money from Jade Leroux’s failed operation as well as the troubling news of the deaths of both his children. The official record deviated from what actually happened, of course, but it affected him nonetheless. Today would be when that turned around.

“Sir, Auroras Hallward here to see you.”

“Auroras Hallward of Blood Brothers LLC at your service, Mr. Cheshire. We will offer you the absolute best in elite mercenary services! No job out of the question for the right price and-”

“Auroras...”

“Fine, fine. Take all the fun out of it. Really though, Tyrael it’s been nearly twenty years since you seriously contact us and it’s for a job? Cobalt has seen us more than you and he’s on a military schedule.” The man removed his hat and adjusted his glasses before setting a large stack of papers on Tyrael’s desk.

“I heard you both just came back from Mistral. How was that?”

“Cobalt is dead.”

“I’m sorry. Repeat that?”

“One of my investments tried to manipulate and double-cross me and got Cobalt’s family involved. He was killed for his efforts to remedy the situation himself.”

“So that’s why you called us, is it? Is this because you don’t want to mix business with pleasure for the sake of revenge or were you just being kind enough to allow the rest of your old academy compatriots to share in it? He was just as much Hari and I’s friend as he was yours, you know. But surely, you wouldn’t call us for simple revenge.”

“You’re correct. I have a list of people I will need you all to hunt down. First is Robin Goodfellow, the man who killed Cobalt and was, to my understanding, instrumental in helping Leroux’s operations fall apart. The next is a group of young huntsmen and huntresses that are responsible for my daughter’s death. Find and bring them to me, dead or alive. In the meantime you will be covering for Redmond while he reestablishes my presence in Mistral.”

“That’s quite a lot for us to do at once, you know. It won’t be cheap. Of course, if you had told Hari that we were after Cobalt’s murderer I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to do it regardless.”

“Not... that that’s an invitation to work for free. We do still have a business to run. You know how it is.”

“Where is Hari by the way? I specifically asked for both of you to show up.”

“Currently locked up, I’m afraid. With our workforce cut in half it’s been a bit difficult to keep up the money to-”

“Auroras, you charge millions. You simply haven’t given yourself the time.” Tyrael waves a hand and two large briefcases are placed one on top of the other at the side of the desk. Tyrael slides Auroras’s stack of blank papers aside and lets it open to reveal a large amount of lien. “Half of your payment down as per your usual.”

“This is... actually more than usual, Tyrael. You’re not about to add another job onto this are you? You know we don’t stack work.”

“The second one isn’t for you.” Tyrael replies, “That is to get Hari out of jail. Do that, then begin your work. You are to kill Robin Goodfellow, find what remains of my son’s old Atlas team and bring them to me, and make sure that Leroux’s associates do not swipe away what is still rightfully ours.”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣+ Lapis and Lazuli

Send me 🗣+ the names of 2 muses on the blog, and there will be a random conversation written involving them.

“I still can’t believe we’re following this crazy girl to go save Reynard.”

“It’s a little surreal, isn’t it? But look at what’s going on; the fires, the captures, it’s chaos out there. Someone has to do something. Why shouldn’t it be us?”

“You’re right. It’s like Goodfellow said- We’re the good guys. This is what we do.”

��Besides, I think this will lead us to who destroyed our home and killed all our friends.”

“All the more reason to prevent it from happening again, right?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Yellow-Eyed Monster

“I really hope we’re not lost.” The had been carrying the injured huntress Lapis had apparently brought with him to find her for nearly an hour now. She hadn’t heard from the others yet, though, so there was no telling if they had found Shani or not.

“Me too,” Lapis admits, hoisting Marianne over his shoulder. It was hard to determine where help could actually be with everything either destroyed or blocked off. They managed to stay ahead of the fires when they started, thankfully, and had stuck to the burnt out areas in the meantime. Everywhere was empty, though.

Turning a corner, they found a nearly destroyed neighborhood with a large crater in the road. “Man... what happened here?” This wasn’t just the fires; a fight had broken out sometime earlier. It wasn’t old either. He could hear an engine buzzing. Lapis wasn’t sure what kind of vehicle it was, but it didn’t sound very big. From around the corner, a swerving wheel took a turn too hard and the ‘driver’ flew out and collapsed on the ground. The wheel kept going for a short while until it fell over and what was now revealed to be a sturdy bladed saw slowly rotated to a stop in a pitiful sputter.

“Ugh.... H-Help....” The girl that was flung from the weapon was face first on the ground and looked very bit of a mess. Her clothing was torn, her hair looked awful, she was covered in old burns, and just looked like she had gone through hell and had just forced herself out of it.

“What...? What was that?” Marianne titled her head up to look at the figure on the ground, but Lapis kept a distance.

“You! You’re-! You were with him!” Lazuli starts, drawing her weapon. “She’s one of Jade’s people, be careful.”

“Please... You need to help. It’s Ivory, if I don’t do something she’s going to die!” The girl looked like she wasn’t going to be in any condition to fight and the pleading voice made it difficult for Lazuli to keep her weapon steady. She looked right at Lapis. “You! You were on her team right!? She showed me pictures! Please, you have to help!”

Lapis stared at Molly questioningly for a moment. This wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. He watched Marianne while keeping his weapon ready in front of him. This could still be part of that trap he worried about. “Is she telling the truth?” The old huntress was very good and picking out lies.

Marianne stared at the girl for a while. Her own face was still mostly obscured by a hood but her scratchy voice appeared to pierce through the conversation with a pointed question. She tries to steady herself, but it was clear she was having difficulty doing anything more than standing. “What is your name?”

“Look out!” Lazuli caught the glint of something whirling by and threw herself into the mystery girl’s way just as two blades swung by them. Lapis deflected another that looked to be aimed in his direction.

The blades swung back to a figure on a half-collapsed rooftop as they snap back into the circular holsters at her wrists. “I should have figured I’d find you if I followed her.” Auburn gave a cheerful smile with a wicked look in her eye. “Isn’t this just a treat? I get to see you surrounded by bunch of people who can’t defend themselves. Well guess what you’re stuck doing until I feel like I’m done with you. Want to make this simple? Get up here and let me finish what was supposed to happen back in that fight.”

Lapis wastes no time firing, but the girl just jumped out of the way when he raised his gun, letting him chase her with the bullets and she jumped from roof to roof, until she plunged herself into a collapsed part of one of the buildings and out of sight.

The other girl rose to her feet shakily. She jolted around with arcing static as she stood. “I hate to break it to you, but that won’t work... I trained her this last year. Besides, we don’t have time for this!”

“She is trying to attack us as a distraction. If we can leave, then we can rescue your friend.” Again she tries to stand up straighter and Lapis catches her as she buckles.

“Neither of you are in any position to go anywhere! Besides, I don’t really owe Reynard any favors lately. I’m sure she can take care of herself.”

“We’re huntsmen, Lapis. Are we really any better if we leave someone to die?” Lazuli interjects, “Auburn’s after me. I can protect Marianne. You go with that girl and help. Besides, I’ve seen her fight, if she’s in that condition the situation’s really bad. I’ll catch up.”

Lapis gave a stern stare to the burned girl but nods. “Fine. But you’re not driving that thing.” He points to the buzzsaw, picking it up. “I’ll carry this. Can you run?”

“Y-Yeah... Thank you.” She starts to dash ahead in a clumsy way, still trying to fight back the pain of the dust she’d been injected with.

“Wait. Wait!” Marianne tries to shout as the two rush away. “What is your name!?” She stood there with a look of shock half visible under her hood. There’s no way...

“Been waiting here this whole time you know.” Auburn says as she kicks down an already half busted door only hanging on one hinge.

“What is your deal!? Why go through all this just to get at me!? That’s half the reason you didn’t help us in the first place, right? Why do you hate me so much!?”

“You know, I would have thought it was obvious but I guess that just goes to show just how much dumber than me the rest of you are. There’s just so much to hate about you! I crawled my way out of everything thrown my way because I know how important it is to be strong. I was ready for the world no matter if it was ready for me or not. I’m smarter, stronger, and wiser than any of my peers and I was destined to be the one at the top. Then you show up with a sob story about your precious little mining town, some hacked up weapon whose design you stole from your brother, and no semblance, and all of the sudden you have all the friends, admirers, attention; and when you finally get your semblance you manage to live through something you absolutely shouldn’t have!

“Everything you have, everything you don’t deserve! It. Should. Be. Mine!” Auburn readies her weapons with a dark look on her face. “And I’m going to kill you to take it all back!”

“Th-That’s it? You’re just jealous!? I-I can’t believe you! Everything the rest of us went through was just because you couldn’t stand not having what someone else did? Well sorry, but I’m not going to fight you because you want it. There’s someone here right behind me who needs my help- and I’m going to defend them. Now let’s go.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Unexpected Aid

“What the hell happened!?” Lapis’s first words on seeing the battered Marianne were probably the wrong ones, but it was the only thing that he could think of. It looked real bad. Did being chased down by that guy with the hat really take that much out of her? Just how strong was this guy?

Lazuli and her friends gazed on in a muted shock. The blood was something she had been unfortunately desensitized to during their time as the Arena’s prisoners, but her brother’s reaction was worrying.

Mother Marianne let out a bloody cough, her mask no longer hiding the numerous burns and scarring on her face. She looked up at them with her one good eye. The fact they were more concerned about the fresh wounds than the old ones was comforting at least.

“We need to get you to a hospital.” Lapis says, rushing over to help the old huntress to her feet. “What happened out there?”

“Put up a hell of a fight in what she did.” A voice came from the direction of a squirrel who had hopped up on a small ledge.

Lazuli had to double-check to make sure she was seeing this correctly. The animal was new but the voice was familiar. “Wait, you’re-”

“That’s the guy who was arguing with Jade when we were first caught!” Arvinda blurted out, staring at the squirrel with her ax drawn, but the blade inactive.

“Hey, cool it!” The animal replies. It appeared to be straining to have its head forced toward them somehow. Occasionally the squirrel would fidget and move around as if it was held in place against its will. “Besides, you hack this thing up it won’t inconvenience me much. You’re not gonna find me; this thing’s just the messenger. Now shut up and listen to me. You want to know where your little friend is, right?”

“You know where Shani is!?” Lazuli called back. “Is this more of your stupid games? We’re not going back to your bloodsport.”

From several buildings down, Robin let out a irritated sigh. Kids were always so impatient. He kept his eyes closed for now considering he couldn’t see in front of him anyway. Displacing his senses into animals he touched was useful but inconvenient in other ways and just plain disorienting if he used more than one. “You want me to answer the fuckin’ question or not? Truth is, I swiped your friend out of there a while ago. She was off to some other place to take care of some owed debt. I didn’t bother figurin’ out exactly where. You listen up and I’ll tell you where I hid her. In exchange, you keep off my back while I sort out some business of my own.”

This sounded way too much like a trap for Lapis’s taste. It was still a bit hard to take that Goodfellow’s missing brother was one of these monsters. “Why should we believe you. What do you get out of this?”

“Mostly, rubbin’ this in Jade’s face. I didn’t like his plan to keep usin’ students for the games. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Sides that, gettin’ my sister involved is where I draw my line. Call it the one of the few standards I’ve got. Go ahead and call the goddamn police to go with you if you really want, but I’m not stickin’ around here anymore.”

Lapis watched Marianne lift her head to stare at the squirrel. She lifted a hand up to touch where her mask was. Now that she was closer it looked like her nose was broken, too. 

“We can trust this...” She says with reluctance. “I saw that rage against what your sister went through with my own eyes.” Without another word the squirrel departs.

Lazuli saw the determined look on her friends’ faces. They’d have to take the bait either way. “We’ll need to split up. How are you guys holding up?” Lauzli asks her friends. The three of them nod. They were just as shaken as Lazuli still was given the long time they spent but they could help. “You guys go find Shani. Lapis can I can help her. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Take this with you.” Lapis tosses one of them his scroll and motions to Marianne. “Her contact is in there so we can touch base. Don’t do anything too reckless. We still don’t know if this is a trap or not.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Following the Trail

“What happened here?” Lapis stood in a practically empty street. There were pock marks and a huge ditch that looked like it had been blasted into the pavement. A fight obviously happened here but how long ago? He kept his gaze on the huge scar in the road. “That wasn’t made by a normal weapon.”

“Agreed. However, Grimm are unlikely to enter a protected city. No, there were people fighting here.” There was no sign that the locals who had shut themselves up in their homes were going to talk. If anything, they could be tipping off whatever crime lord ran these slums.

“What’s that?” A smaller scoring of the road caught her eye and the masked huntress stepped closer to something that looked almost like a buzzsaw had cut through the road, swerving around and getting away from something.

Lapis watches the wavy rip in the pavement cautiously. “We’re following that, aren’t we?” He says, pulling out his gun and keeping it at parade rest.

“It is our only clue. It runs deeper into the slums towards an abandoned school district. We may have finally located their hideout’s general location. Or at least one of their safe houses. Getting in is going to be the tricky part.”

A few miles of following the trail brought them to an increasingly armed series of back alleys. They looked like pedestrians but too many of them were too watchful and had the telltale stance of someone who had a weapon at the ready. Two armed strangers were going to catch attention. “Hide your weapon if you can.” The entrance to several buildings were guarded but it looked like they were letting someone in to the abandoned school building itself.

Marianne recognized him immediately. Robin Goodfellow walked up to the entrace while the guards very quickly got out of the way. “Hey there. Here for the games,” He says, flicking his hand up in a lazy wave, “The new event’s startin’ soon, right?” A few other men and women followed. Several looked like high-profile Atlas socialites and wealthy business owners.

“Think we can get in through that way? It looks like they’re taking guests.”

“These buildings always have side entrances. However, you should not be facing that man alone. Stay here. I will try to provide a distraction while you head in through the back.” With that, she scaled the alley wall and crouched up on the roof. She fired.

She rose up and continued to fire, plinking shots off of fencing and walls. Several gate guards pulled up firearms and started returning fire, which she easily blocked with her blade.

Robin grabbed his hat and ducked only long enough to pull out his off-hand weapon and return fire. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kiddin’ me! What the fuck are you doin’ here!?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t come after you, Goodfellow?” She calls back down to him. “Now, where are they!?”

“You know, Lady, you’re really startin’ to piss me off!” Robin returns fire again, his bullets shattering the concrete lip of the roof’s edges. The huntress deftly skipped back and was unharmed. Great. “Hey! Tell the boss I’ll have to miss the show. I’ve got somethin’ to take care of.”

That was as good as he was going to get it. Watching the huntsmen rush after, he almost tripped over himself at the sound of ‘Goodfellow’. He thought of his old Atlas partner and her missing brother. He was pretty sure he was the only one out of the team to have been told about him. So he was involved in this mess? That was going to complicate things.

No, there’s no time to worry about that. Focus on Lazuli.

He needed to get into that building. Taking advantage of the distraction, he rushed along the half-wall with the old monument sign, using both to cover his movements as he reaches a rusted back entrance likely used by cafeteria staff to load up food for students before this place shut down. He pulled out his rifle and shot at the two guards on that door before rushing in to knock them out. They were too distracted by the bigger shootout to respond in time. He kicked in the rusted door only to be met with pain in his leg.

He sucked in a breath and tried again. This time, he steadied his shoulder and readied his semblance. With a heavy shove, the old metal finally gave way. Several people in the back room responded with shock and one was knocked out by the flying door. The smell hit him before anything else. It was rancid. What was worse was the sudden drop of a corpse on the ground by two men carrying it into an open freezer. What the hell was this place!? To think he was worried about whether or not he’d be doing the right thing by shooting anyone just a few moments ago.

“Hey there.” He says with a cold calmness, leveling his gun at the surprised thugs. “I have a few questions about where my sister and her friends are. And what the hell’s in that!?”

A few too many of the thugs panicked seeing their unconscious fellows on the ground behind Lapis to respond otherwise. They ran. “Tell the boss!” One shouted.

“Oh no you don’t.” He got one in the leg, who collapsed in pain behind the others. Lapis walked up to the man and turned him around, planting his foot on the man’s chest and leveling the rifle into his face. The old missing poster fell onto his the man’s face.

“You didn’t answer my questions yet. WHERE IS MY SISTER!?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Silly Meta Stuff 6

The madness continues.

“And what’s this?”

“Oh no...”

“Well isn’t this amusing? I’ve always been one to watch for patterns so I think I’m going to go ahead and see how well I measure up to someone else’s attempt.”

“I’m seeing ‘fanfic’ and relations to a Beacon team ringing fairly heavily here. I presume that is their frame of reference? I think many of these can be skipped in this circumstance. I was never given the pleasure of speaking to Ozpin’s surprise prodigy or her team. I was told they were even given a senior mission in their first year. I still can’t believe the lad made that decision...”

“Do we really have to do this again?”

“You already did this? Well I’ll spare you the embarrassment. Let’s see... The simple one... a semblance? I’d have to say that one doesn’t apply.”

“You never actually showed me that.”

Marianne extends her hand and a sickly green mist sprays from it, dissolving the glove on her hand revealing a scarred and damaged hand. The nearby signpost crumbled into rotted mulch.

“....What happens when you use that on people?”

“I can’t.”

“GOOD!”

“Don’t be so shaken, it’s not as gruesome as you believe. Next is... oh dear.”

“Tragic backstory?”

“Are you surprised?”

“Let’s see... old masked woman who lives in the forest, sounds like a halloween decoration, and has a semblance that literally rots things? That doesn’t really strike me as someone who had it easy. Your parents-?”

“Died of old age, mercifully, but I suppose that still counts even though I doubt that’s the intention of its inclusion. I’ll take the third as well. You’ve just seen my hand. The rest of me isn’t much more appealing.”

“So the mask isn’t just for show, got it. I was wondering what that coughing was about earlier. Anyway... faunus.”

“Human, none of this applies. I’m not... angsty, am I?”

“Creepy and foreboding but not ‘angsty’. Bad news, though. I found overpowered.”

“Hush, young man. I’m a mentor figure. It comes with the territory.”

“Still racked up more drinks than I did.”

“I think I will call that a sign that we’re overdue for stopping to eat. We’re close to a settlement so let’s see if we can’t trade for something cooked.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: The Decision

The following conversation takes place following the White Fang attack on Beacon Academy and subsequent battle. 

“No one will blame if you don’t stay.”

The General’s words were probably mean to be more rallying than helping. No one really wanted to leave who felt they could help. This did not mean everyone stayed.

“What do you mean, ‘we’re leaving’?” Violet snapped bitterly. “You’re serious! You’re seriously going to leave all these people to die to save your own skin!”

“I believe I made my instructions very clear. There is no point in dying for this. There are far too many Grimm not to mention insurgents and from what I’m seeing, the military’s hardware has either failed them or we’re in the midst of a coup. Either way, staying is worthless. Get on this ship! I am making that an order!”

“Violet, we can’t fight this. Onyx is right. All we’d be going is dying with everyone else. We need to evacuate. This place... This place is lost. We have to accept that.”

“You’re worse than a coward, Cheshire. Isn’t this the whole reason we’re here!? Is that what you want people to see!? All the armed huntsmen running away!?”

“This coming from the man who refuses to call himself one. This is Ozpin’s mistake for not seeing this coming and refusing the warnings. Let them burn and die in their own folly. Anyone foolish enough to stay and fight deserves whatever fate they’re given.”

“I can’t believe you... Uncl- Major, please talk some sense into them!”

“My duty is to evacuate those who wish to flee. Apart from that I am to see you safe home to your families. If your team leader chooses to evacuate then I will ready the ship.”

“Fine. Save your own sorry hide, but I am not getting on that ship. I don’t care what your ‘orders’ are.” Lazuli and the other younger pre-academy students should have evacuated by now, but he didn’t know for certain.

“He’s right. What would Dad say if I came home with my tail between my legs?”

“And what would he say to me if I came back with your corpse? No, am not allowing you to go out there.” Cobalt takes a step forward. Lapis draws his weapon. Violet hesitates to do the same.

A single shot is fired behind them. A large wall of reinforced ice dust separates them from the rest of their field of view. “This is not our fight. Get on the bullhead.” He looks up as a large Grimm circles around them. He points his gun up and fires at it. The creature dissolves in a fireball before it hits the ground.

“You worthless, self-serving bastards! You’ll leave them all to die!” Lapis rushes forward without another thought.

Ivory takes a quick sidestep, using the long reach of her weapon to arc around Lapis’s guard and quickly strike him down in the back. She angles her weapon again and fires the gun backward, launching the flat of the blade against the back of his head. A crater formed in the ice wall behind them, spraying shards everywhere. He was knocked out cleanly.

Onyx gave a stern stare to the shaking Violet. Whether it was in fear, rage, or some combination of the two he didn’t care to analyze. “So would you like to spend the rest of our trip to safety out cold as well?”

Violet could barely hear her own thoughts over the sheer blinding hatred of just abandoning what was probably one of the worst events in modern history. “You are worse than a coward, Onyx Cheshire...” She mutters in a low venomous tone, mirroring Lapis’s earlier condemnation. Dad had said that the Cheshire family was one of utter monsters, but she hadn’t seen it up until now. Ivory didn’t surprise her. She never did seem to do anything but take his orders. “Fine... If I don’t have a choice, I’ll go.” As much as she would rather go out fighting at least trying to save lives than do this, she knew she wouldn’t even be able to get that far if not even her uncle would step in to keep Ivory away from her. She stared the person she now refused to call her team leader. “Count yourself lucky if I ever speak to you again.”

She turns her head angrily to her uncle. “Put me in the cargo hold if you have to but I am not going to share this ride with them.”

“I would not advise that...” Cobalt mentions, “It is a long way to Atlas.”

 “Drop her off in the shipyard for all I care. We’re leaving this failed academy to its fate.”

Ivory hoisted Lapis over her shoulder. He was heavy. She watched Violet insistently tuck herself in with the crates and boxes in the back while Major Ymir got everything ready with the pilot. Tyrael must have pulled some strings with the right bribes again. They had the ship to themselves. She glances to Onyx. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“This is the right thing to do for us. That’s all that matters.”

“....You’re right. Let’s go.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Silly Meta Stuff 3

“Alright, Sis... I’m doing this because I want you to succeed. Now you’re going to start Atlas in a few years and I want you to look at this.

“What... is this? Uh... I actually don’t know what my semblance is yet. I’m kind of worried though. Tragic backstory?”

“Why worry?”

“The village, Lapis... I was ten when the riots happened. I still have nightmares... How much is that going to affect me when I start fighting?”

“You don’t have to worry. I went through it already. I’ll try and help you through it.”

“Mom and Dad are still alive. I definitely want to keep it that way. I’m not really good at being emotionless, I don’t have any disability, we don’t have anything to do with Grimm, who are all these people this keeps referencing?”

“Belladonna’s team. Don’t worry about it. You haven’t even met them.”

“Well here’s one I can say for certain. My weapon is based on yours.”

“Wait, what?”

“Well why not? I mean you’re the only hunstman I know anyway. We all look up to you, Lapis. You told us you’d come back a hero! I think you will. Why not emulate that?”

“I’m definitely ‘underpowered’ but that’s because I’m still in training. So how’d I do?”

“I think you have a better shot at the hero thing than me, Lazi. Besides, I’m not a huntsman, remember?”