The LGHT of My Soul

Leingod · Nov 9, 2016

Chapter One – Welcome to Vale

As I looked down upon the city through the airship window, seeing people so small they seemed like ants as they moved in a busy, orderly swarm through the narrow streets, I couldn’t help but feel far removed from it all, detached from the affairs of the world below. Like some almighty sky god perched high atop a mountain, looking down on my weak mortal subjects and just waiting for the opportunity to smite some poor fool with lightning.

So basically, the same thing I usually do when I’m really high up and looking down on people. The feeling, not the smiting people with lightning from on high. Though if I could… nah. I turned around and got back in my seat as we began to land.

“Welcome to the city of Vale. Please check all luggage before disembarking,” the artificial female voice said over the intercom as the airship landed. “Current time is 9:43 AM. Current temperature is a pleasant 68 degrees. Thank you for flying with Borealis Airlines, and have a safe and happy day.”

“About time,” I muttered to myself as I grabbed a drab gray luggage case.

Almost as soon as I’d disembarked I saw a guy who was holding a sign with “Morgenstern” written on it. He was an older man, tall and thin, with a receding head of whitish-gray hair and the biggest mutton chops I’d ever seen in a living person. His posture was as rigid as a flagpole, and he was wearing a military dress uniform in a very ugly mustard-yellow color.

So the moment I step off the airship I already see someone in the military, I thought to myself as I approached. The more things change…

He caught sight of me as I walked up and belted out a greeting in a voice only a few decibels below a shout. “A-ha! You must be young Mr. Morgenstern! Excellent, excellent, a pleasure to meet you, my boy!” He stuck out his hand fast enough that it would probably knock someone out if it hit them. After a moment’s hesitation I presented my own, which he shook vigorously as he continued to talk as though he was addressing me from the other side of the room.

“I am of course Colonel Mustard. Well, not technically a colonel anymore, you understand, been retired for years, but a soldier once is a soldier forever, that’s what I say! Nowadays, though, I spend most of my time imparting all that I’ve learned in young and promising pupils such as yourself at Signal. But of course you could certainly guess that, clever young man that you are! I had the pleasure of looking over your transcripts and I must say I was quite impressed! I know there was some difficulty in arranging your transfer to Signal, but I assure you that you shall find the quality of education at our fine institution unmatched by any school but Beacon itself!”

I blinked in confusion as he blathered on without pausing for more than a moment to catch his breath, all the while still shaking my arm like it was an old-fashioned water pump. “I’m… glad to be here?” I replied uncertainly.

“Excellent! Glad to hear it, my boy! Now come along, we have a bit of a trip ahead of us to get to Patch and your complementary tour of the premises!” he declared, turning on his heel and suddenly walking away at a march. Feeling even less sure about my recent life decisions than before (if that were possible) I followed him.

The Colonel (as I quickly learned he referred to be called) brought me to Signal Academy, where I'd be studying for the next year, all the while prattling on about the merits of the school while I only half-listened and fought off a loudmouth-induced headache, giving the odd “I see” or “interesting” when he paused for a moment so as not to seem rude and piss off one of my teachers.

He also pointed out the nearby neighborhood where the orphans and foreigners usually stayed in what was called “cooperative housing” or just “co-op” while attending school. One great thing about training to become a Huntsman is that almost all of your expenses can be paid for at every step of the way if you need it. There’s simply too great of a demand for Hunters to let little things like money get in the way of making more of them.

“As I’m sure you’re well aware, Signal is one of the oldest and most prestigious Combat Schools in Remnant, being one of the very first founded at the same time as the Hunter Academies and the entire system of creating Huntsmen and Huntresses,” the Colonel lectured loudly as we walked up to the doors of the school.

“Yeah, I did do some reading on the school when I decided to transfer here,” I told him, vainly hoping that would convince him to drop the subject.

“Excellent! Then we can skip the generalities and go right to the interesting details of this school’s history!” he proclaimed enthusiastically. I sighed internally. I actually love studying history, even really mundane or trivial history, but I was already starting to get a headache from this guy’s complete lack of volume control. It’s one thing when someone just can’t shut up, it’s another thing entirely when he practically shouts every word as he does so.

We had just walked through the main doors, and the Colonel had just started his lecture, when a whole different voice started yelling.

“Colonel!” a high, reedy shout rang out through the halls, accompanied by the footfalls of a tall, reedy man who looked to be in his thirties or forties as he ran up to us. His plum-colored suit (with tweed jacket) was in disarray, as was his prematurely balding hair. He looked like a very stereotypical university professor, except for the plush plum color.

As he reached us, panting for breath, the Colonel put a hand on his shoulder. “Professor Plum! Are you alright? What seems to be the problem?” he asked, concerned.

“Someone… someone started a food fight in the cafeteria, and it’s become just short of a full-blown riot! I haven’t been able to find Professors Branwen or Xiao Long anywhere! I can’t – someone needs to stop them!” the now-named Professor Plum cried out plaintively in between gasps for air.

“A riot! Ah, that brings me back!” Colonel Mustard said nostalgically, and still very loudly. “Did I ever tell you about the time that I was serving in-”

“Shouldn’t you be getting around to stopping that food fight?” I cut in, hoping to stop him before he really got started.

The Colonel frowned. “Hmm, yes, I suppose I probably should. But I had intended to give you a tour of the campus to help you become acclimated…”

“Please, there’s no need to go out of your way to do that,” I said firmly. “Really, you can go. Right now. I’ll be totally fine, I swear.”

“Colonel, please! They had just managed to break into the kitchen when I ran off, who knows what they could be doing right now!?” Professor Plum implored him as he stood around pondering what to do.

“But I can’t just leave the boy without someone to show him around this campus and help him through this difficult period of adjustment…” the Colonel pondered aloud.

“Colonel, he’s sixteen years old, not six!” Professor Plum replied desperately.

“He has a point,” I agreed, only slightly less desperate.

The Colonel more or less ignored both of us. “Be that as it may, my wife has always told me that it’s eminently important that…”

As the two began a heated argument, my attention was captured by a group of a half dozen girls – very pretty girls, at that – who were passing by, chatting with each other. Among a tide of color, my eye was naturally drawn to one in particular.

What drew the eye at first was her hair. It was the longest, most voluminous hair I’d ever seen, and I’d never seen hair that I would honestly consider “golden” until now. It was like a waterfall of wavy golden threads spilling down to the small of her back.

Once the hair captured my attention, the rest of her grabbed it and refused to let go. Flawless skin and striking purple eyes, warm but with a glint of mischief in them. An outfit that called attention to the fact that puberty had been inordinately kind to her and she had done a very good job of working with it, considering how toned and fit she was.

For just a second I didn’t realize who it was. But then it clicked, and my eyes widened in a combination of shock and recognition. One of them! Already!?

She stopped as her eyes caught mine and I blinked once, hard, hoping that she didn’t notice I’d been staring a bit. The teasing glint in her eyes and the curving of those perfect lips into a slight smirk told me that I probably wasn't that lucky. The accompanying wink confirmed it. The only response I could come up with was a sheepish grin and a shrug of my shoulders.

When she stopped, her friends stopped with her, first looking at her in confusion and then following her gaze – their eyes passing over Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum arguing so quickly it could only be a common occurrence – onto me.

“A-ha!” the Colonel cried out as though in epiphany, startling everyone in the hall. He pointed at the group of girls.

“Uh… something up, Colonel?” the blonde asked.

“Miss Black!” he said, causing the mocha-skinned girl immediately to the blonde’s right to start. Even though Signal didn’t have a uniform (a fact that was confirmed with one look at the varied ensembles of the group in front of me), she was wearing a somewhat schoolgirl-esque outfit with a black knee-length skirt, crisp white blouse with a patterned black and white blazer worn open over it, and Mary Janes with knee-length white socks. Her wavy black hair was held back in a ponytail.

“Uh… yes, sir?” she asked.

“Miss Black, this young man here,” he said, clapping me on the back (causing me to grit my teeth in annoyance at the sudden, over-familiar contact), “is our newest student, fresh from Atlas! As the student council’s vice president, perhaps you could guide him through this period of transition by giving him a tour of the campus?”

The black-haired girl tilted her head and gave me a considering look, then looked at the blonde girl.

“Actually, sir, the student council is meeting in fifteen minutes, so I don’t think I’ll have enough time,” she replied. “But I’m sure that Yang here could give him the tour.”

“Wait, what?” the now-named Yang said, turning to look at the black-haired girl.

“An excellent idea! Miss Xiao Long, as the child of one of our illustrious professors, surely you would be willing to help welcome our newest student and help him acclimate to this new environment?” the Colonel asked.

Yang turned to look at me again, as did her friends. One of them giggled a little, not that I could blame her; I had gotten some pretty good luck in genes in this life, and I had taken a lot of care in my appearance and health to capitalize on that.

“Yeah, alright,” Yang finally said. “I’ll show him around a bit.”

“Excellent! Now that that’s settled: Come, Professor Plum! The game is afoot!” Colonel Mustard cried out as he dashed off without so much as a backward glance, Professor Plum frantically running after him and trying to catch up, already panting.

“Wow, that guy’s out of shape,” I observed to myself out loud.

“Well, he only teaches literature and a few art classes, so he doesn't really need to be in shape,” the schoolgirl vice president explained. She put her hand out to me. “By the way, welcome to Signal. I’m Dahlia, student council vice president.”

“Right, thanks. I’m Lucifer,” I said, shaking her hand.

“And this is Yang,” she said, pointing at the blonde. “Since I’m busy with student council duties, she’ll be taking you on a tour of the school.”

“Hello~,” Yang said, stretching out the word and saying it in a very sing-song way as she waved a hand.

“Uh… Nice to meet you,” I said awkwardly, trying to keep from showing how disconcerted she was making me and avoid staring again. The fact that one of the girls giggled a bit told me I was failing badly.

“Oh by the way girls, the student council is absolutely swamped with work right now; do you mind going with me to help out?” Dahlia asked, turning around to the other girls.

“Hey wait, you were complaining yesterday that you had nothing to- Ow, my foot!” a girl with soft pink hair and a laurel wreath cried out.

“Yeah, of course we’ll help!” said the girl next to her, a chipper-looking girl with bushy brown hair and a slight overbite.

“Great! Yang, Lucifer, we’ll be going now, have fun with your tour!” Dahlia said, waving as and the other girls quickly left, Dahlia dragging the pink-haired girl by the arm while she complained about her foot.

“… The hell was that about?” I asked.

Yang sighed. “I have dumb friends is what that was about,” she said wearily.

“So is all this normal?” I asked. “Weird teachers and rioting students?”

“Nah, that’s not really normal,” Yang said. “We find totally different ways to be crazy every day around here.”

“I want to think you’re messing with me… but I’m not that optimistic,” I replied, a sinking feeling in my gut.

“Welcome to Signal,” Yang said with a grin.

For the rest of the lunch period Yang showed me around the campus, pointing out places of interest and giving a little commentary on them. Case in point:

“And that’s the library, where nerds read and people with a test coming up cram,” Yang said, pointing at a pair of large double doors.

“Well with a description like that, I wonder which category you fit into?” I asked sarcastically.

“Hey, I don’t really have anything against reading for fun. I’ve got some books I like. It’s just not really high up on my list of things to do, you know?” Yang explained.

“I guess I can understand that,” I said with a shrug. “Personally, I love reading, but as much as I wish otherwise, it really isn’t for everyone.”

“Good, I get enough grief about it from Dahlia,” Yang said with a roll of her eyes, though not with any real distaste in her voice.

“Let me guess: she’s the diligent type who always gets on your case for not studying enough or challenging yourself intellectually.” I'd known a few people like that. Heck, I've been that person for a friend more than once.

“Big time,” Yang commiserated. “She’s always talking about whatever book she’s reading, trying to get me to read them with her, stuff like that.”

“So speaking of your friends, what was up with them ditching us like that? That pink-haired one made it kinda obvious she didn’t actually need their help with student council stuff.”

Yang sighed and palmed her face. “Yeah, I might as well tell you; they’ll just keep trying if I don’t. My friends got this idea in their heads that I need to get a boyfriend, so they’ve been trying to set me up with every decent-looking guy they can find. You’re just the newest one.”

“Excuse me? ‘Decent-looking?’” I repeated in mock-offense. I gestured at myself. “I dare you to look at this and say it’s anything less than spectacular.”

Yang put her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. “Alright, alright, every ‘hot’ guy they can find. That better?”
“It'll do,” I said with a smirk, crossing my arms.

“Heh, right. Anyway, they keep trying to set me up with guys, no matter how much I tell them I’m not interested.”

“So… Is that because you’re into, you know, not men?” I asked searchingly, not sure whether I should be disappointed or excited at that prospect.

I mean, wow.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Yang asked with a teasing grin.

“Oh, so is that how we’re playing it?”

Yang looked at me for a moment, then shook her head. “Nah, that’s not the reason. I’ve just… got too much stuff going on in my life right now to really want to get into the dating scene, you know? I mean, it’s fun to tease people, and I go on a date or two sometimes, but never anything serious. Just mostly hanging out, blowing off some steam, stuff like that. Anything else just gets too complicated.

“So, if you were getting any ideas…” she trailed off awkwardly.

“Right, no, I get it,” I said, holding up a hand. “I’m not really in the market for that right now either, actually, so it’s definitely fine.”

“Oh, good. So… friends?” Yang said, holding out a hand.

“You have to have this talk with every guy before you make friends with them, don't you?” I asked as I shook her hand.

“Nah, just most of them,” Yang said with a grin, which got a light chuckle out of me.

The moment was broken by a bell going off, signaling the end of the lunch period.

“Crap, I need to hurry; Colonel Condiment didn’t give me a hall pass or anything to get me out of going to class,” Yang said. “Hey, the headmaster’s office is down the hall and to your right. You should probably go there to get your schedule and everything sorted out. Talk to you later?”

“Definitely,” I said with a wave as she ran off to class, then began to make my way to the headmaster’s office.

So… that was one member of team RWBY, and from what I could remember her sister and the apparent leader of the team was also at this school.

Man, that felt weird, I thought with a frown. Is this what it’s like to meet someone you’ve watched on TV? It was a weird mix of strange and familiar; I had known intellectually that she was a real person, but it was so odd to just… talk about books and relationships with her.

Just wish seeing her had jogged some of those memories. It was incredibly frustrating, since those irritating memories and impulses that refused to leave me alone were the whole reason I had bothered to transfer to this school in the first place, leaving behind everything and everyone I knew in Atlas.

Seeing no reason to keep sitting around feeling annoyed, I opened the door and introduced myself to the secretary. After a short wait, I was allowed into the headmaster’s office, where the plaque helpfully informed me (or would, if I hadn’t already known) that his name was Dr. Nigel Black.

“Hello Mr. Morgenstern, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you face to face,” Dr. Black said. He was… incredibly generic-looking, somehow. Just imagine a dark-skinned, black-haired, clean-shaven, middle-aged man wearing a smart black suit and you’ve got everything I would be able to remember about his appearance later. His voice was soft and pleasant, though, and the warm “favorite uncle-esque” smile he gave seemed genuine.

“I have to say, it was quite a surprise to everyone involved – myself included – when you suddenly decided to transfer to another school on a completely different continent,” he continued, flipping through papers in a folder.

“Like I've said many, many times already, I decided to apply to Beacon next year and thought it might help my chances to come here. Signal has a lot of Beacon graduates on staff, after all,” I said, speaking almost from rote.

“Including myself,” the headmaster noted with a smile. “Again, while your request for a transfer was unusual, especially when you only have one year of combat school left, we’re certainly glad you decided to join us here, however brief your stay.

“So, how have you found our school so far?” he asked conversationally.

“It’s… interesting,” I hedged. “Colonel Mustard was very… enthusiastic, with his introduction.”

“‘Enthusiastic?’ That’s one of the nicer things he’s been called,” Dr. Black said with a chuckle. “Algernon is a bit of an acquired taste, I’ll admit, but you’ll find that he’s an excellent instructor.”

Oh wow, Algernon? I thought to myself in wry amusement. No wonder he wants everyone to call him Colonel.

“As I recall though, the Colonel had to go deal with that… incident, in the lunchroom. What have you been doing through the lunch period?” he asked curiously.

“Before he left, he asked a student to give me a quick tour; Yang Xiao Long.”

“Ah, Taiyang’s daughter,” Dr. Black said. “She’s a bit of a troublemaker, and I really wish she put as much effort into her bookwork as she does combat training, but Miss Xiao Long is one of our most promising students and a fine young lady. I’m sure she’ll do an excellent job of helping you acclimate to this school.”

“Uh… Okay,” I said, not sure how to respond to that.

“Now, I’m sure you’d like to get settled in quickly – you have a big day tomorrow, after all, first day in a new school and all that – so I’ve got your schedule here, as well as a key to the cooperative house you’ll be staying in while you’re attending Signal,” Dr. Black said, sliding a sheet of paper and a key with a tag on it that had the number of my house on it. I thanked him as I took them, looking over my schedule.

“Now, were there any questions you had for me, Mr. Morgenstern?” the headmaster asked.

“None that I can think of right now, Doctor,” I admitted. “I should probably leave you to your work.”

“Very well. Just remember, my door is always open to you,” Dr. Black said as I stood up, shaking my hand. “Welcome to Signal Academy.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I’m glad to be here,” I said, a little more honestly than the last time I’d said it. Looking over my schedule again, I stepped out of the office… and then promptly realized I’d meant to ask for a map of the campus.

“Well… I can’t just go back in and ask for it now,” I thought aloud. “I’d look like a tool. Well, Yang showed me around most of this place; I’m sure I can find my way around.”

“God damn it, I have no idea where I am,” I cursed thirty minutes later. In both this life and my last, my sense of direction has always been horrible for some reason. And since everyone was in classes, I couldn’t even ask anyone for directions.

I really need to find the door out of here, I thought to myself as I looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. If I’m still wandering around aimlessly when everyone gets out of class, I’m going to look like an even bigger tool than if I’d just walked back in and asked for the damn map. And some asshole decided to lock all the windows. Wait, is someone talking?

Straining my ears, I noticed that, indeed, I could hear someone talking, and it seemed to be coming from around a corner. Keeping my footsteps quiet, I walked up to the corner and leaned my head over to check.
Well, this brought back memories. A short, scrawny kid being threatened by a big ugly bastard. I certainly remembered a lot of scenes like this, though not usually as an observer. My hands unconsciously curled into fists.

Well, do unto others and all that, and I'd certainly wished someone had had my back a lifetime ago. So without really thinking it through I called on my Semblance, and my hand began to glow with bright white light.

“Hey!” I called out, then struck my hand out just as the big guy turned toward the sound, causing him to catch a face full of the blinding white light that shot out from my hand like a beam from a flashlight.

“Ah!” he yelled, dropping the kid and putting his hands to his pained eyes, trying to rub the blindness out of them.

I quickly ran down the hall towards him. Once I was halfway there, my run turned into a jump, and I twisted in midair so that by the time I reached him, both my feet were planted firmly into the side of his face. Already off-balance from his blinding, he went flying himself and landed with a crash several feet away.

“Come on,” I said firmly, grabbing the kid’s arm and pulling him up. “Let’s go.”

Dumbfounded, the kid could only nod and follow as I pulled him away. We hurried out while the would-be bully was still blind and dazed.

Once I felt we had attained sufficient distance, I let go of the kid’s arm and stopped. I looked around hopefully until I realized my surroundings were no more familiar to me now than they were when this mess started. So much for good karma.

“Um… thanks a lot, sir!” the kid said nervously. “I, uh… I don’t really have anything to give you for…”

“Forget about it; I did that for my sake more than yours. I can’t stand bullies,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Oh, uh, that’s… I mean, thanks anyway, though,” he said. “Uh… My name’s Oscar Glen. What’s yours?”

“Lucifer Morgenstern,” I answered. “Actually… there is something you can do for me.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know where the front door is?” I asked.

“The… the front door?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

Oscar just looked at me for several long moments, as if unsure of what I had asked. Then, he pointed to his right. Following his finger, I saw the front door.

“… God damn it. Every fucking time.”

“Wow, you’re staying in the same house I am, sir!” Oscar exclaimed as we stood outside the address noted on the tag on my key; I’d told him he didn’t need to follow me, but he’d come along anyway. I briefly considered telling him not to call me “sir,” but truth be told I kind of liked it.

“So how many other people are in this place, anyway?” I asked, looking at the decent-sized building.

“Counting you and me? Six,” Oscar said.

“Six, huh? Great,” I grumbled as I opened the door. I hated sharing my personal space with other people. I’m the kind of person who needs a private space to be away from everyone else every now and then.

“Oh, it’s not too bad. The others don’t really spend much time here; they mostly just use this place to sleep,” Oscar assured me as we stepped inside.

The co-op house was built specifically to house students attending Signal who didn’t have homes of their own on Patch or the city of Vale itself. As such, it was built like a cross between an actual house and a dormitory, with more bedrooms and bathrooms than a house this size would usually have; in this case, six bedrooms and three bathrooms. There was a large living room in the middle of the house with an attached kitchenette and dining room. The living room was pretty bare, just two long couches and an admittedly nice TV. Someone had, however, been kind enough to set up a video game console.

“Your room is that one,” Oscar informed me, pointing at one of the nearby doors.

“Thanks. Gotta ask though, shouldn’t you be in class right now?” I asked.

“Oh, well, yeah, probably,” Oscar said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “But I mean, I only had two classes left today anyway, you know? I’ve got pretty good attendance the rest of the time, so I don’t think I’ll get in too much trouble if I apologize…”

“That right? Guess this place is more forgiving than my old school. Well, whatever, it’s your choice to make,” I said with a shake of my head. “They already moved my stuff in, right?”

“Yep; brought most of it in this morning,” Oscar confirmed.

“Good. I should probably get to unpacking but… eh, screw it. You got any good games?” I asked, pointing at the console in the living room.

“Do I!?” Oscar exclaimed in excitement.

After ordering a pizza and playing video games with Oscar for a while, I had finally gotten around to unpacking. Well, unpacking the stuff I’d need in the morning, at least. Everything else I was probably just going to leave lying around in the boxes until I needed it. Procrastination has ever been a 'friend' of mine.

I thought again about why I had come here. I still wasn’t sure I could change anything. I didn’t even know what was coming, much less what I could do about it. The only things that told me something was going to happen at all were hazy memories of an ominous opening narration and a feeling of dread I couldn’t quite shake when I thought of the future.

I didn’t think of myself as a hero. Both before and after these memories came, my motives for wanting to become a Huntsman were basically all selfish. Fame, money, freedom, power: all things that are easily obtainable for a skilled enough Huntsman, and all things I’ve always wanted very much, in as large a quantity as I could manage. I certainly had nothing against helping people, of course; I'd even be willing to do so for free, depending on the circumstances and my mood. But that was more of a happy bonus than anything else as far as my career choices were concerned.

And sure, coming to Signal, and later going to Beacon, would be good for that plan. But still, I was risking myself against some unknown, uncertain future threat, when as far as I knew I could easily avoid it just by avoiding Vale. I had hoped that acquiescing to those irritating whispers of my past life that kept trying to drive me to Vale would quiet down when I finally did so, maybe even tell me something useful. Neither had happened. Fleeting wisps of emotion and thought flickered through my mind whenever I was idle just as they had for over four years now, and the memories that were like waking dreams that I could call by closing my eyes were still infuriatingly vague when it came to any knowledge that would actually help me understand just what I’d gotten myself into.

Sighing, I tossed and turned a bit in my new bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. I hate sleeping in unfamiliar places. Both now and ‘before.’

Leingod · Apr 24, 2016

Name: Lucifer Morgenstern
Gender: Male
Height: 5’9”
Color: White (and gold)
Emblem:

Appearance: Tall, thin and muscular, with a handsome face and a regal bearing. His skin is olive and his hair is black, thick and curly, and always immaculately styled and oiled. He is fairly vain, and takes good care of his appearance. He has bright green eyes.

He wears a tight-fitting black long-sleeved shirt with a deep v-shaped neckline that ends just past his heart, white pants with a belt, and black steel-toed shoes with gold laces. His emblem appears on the buckle of his belt. Over his shirt he wears a long coat, colored white with gold buttons and trim. It’s worn open to keep from hindering his mobility.

He also wears gold-colored plate armor on his arms and legs. One gauntlet covers his left arm up to the shoulder, while a smaller one on his right arm ends at his elbow. He also has greaves that reach to his knees. The gauntlets do not cover the palms of his hands or the front of his fingers, in order to keep from hindering his manual dexterity and sense of touch.

Weapon: Longinus – The wrist of Lucifer’s left gauntlet houses a mechanism that contains about forty feet of very thin but strong golden wire balled around a spool. The cord is attached to the butt of a white spear with a golden spearhead. In its base form, Longinus is a 5-foot long short spear, but it can be extended to twice that length at a moment’s notice. The butt of the spear has a rifle-like firing mechanism that can be used to propel it further with greater speed and power when thrown, and the wire can be retracted so that he can easily retrieve his weapon after throwing it. This same mechanism can be used to propel Lucifer himself. The gauntlet contains a mechanism, connected through the cord to the Dust chambers, which allows Lucifer to activate the Dust at will, even if he is not holding the spear itself.

Semblance: Morning Star – Lucifer’s Semblance is creation of, and control over, light. This manifests as the ability to change the color (temporarily or permanently) of objects he touches, and to either emit light himself or cause objects he touches to emit light. This light can be as dim as a candle or as bright as a spotlight, but the stronger it is, the more narrowly it must be focused – his most common use of this power is to create a narrow, blinding beam of light and shining it in the opponent's eyes. Lucifer can also create an orb of light that, for an instant, burns brightly enough to temporarily blind anything that doesn’t cover its eyes. When combined with Dust, Lucifer’s light gains unusual properties; most commonly used is combining his lasers with Burn Dust to create lasers that can actually cause harm instead of merely blinding opponents.

Theme Song: I May Fall

Name: Yang Xiao Long
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Age: 16
Color: Yellow(/Gold)

Emblem:

Appearance:

Weapon: Ember Celica - A pair of retractable gauntlets that can fire shotgun shells when Yang punches with them. Depending on the shells used, the shotgun can be either a close-range or mid-range weapon. When not active, they retract into a pair of bracelets.

Semblance: I Burn - When her Semblance is active, Yang gains power equal to the damage she takes. When activated, her eyes turn red, and as she gains more power, her hair (and eventually body) begins to glow and takes on aspects of fire.

Name: Ruby Rose
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Height: 5'0"
Color: Red (and black)
Emblem:

Appearance:

Weapon: Crescent Rose - A very large scythe that can transform into a high-caliber sniper rifle. The rifle component can be used in scythe form as well, both to attack and for propulsion.

Semblance: Red Like Roses - When her Semblance is active, Ruby's speed and reflexes are drastically increased to the point that she can move and react faster than most opponents can see. When activated, her motions create illusory rose petals that fade from existence before they can touch the ground.

Name: Shiranui Hinata
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6" (in geta)
Age: 16
Color: Red (and white)
Emblem: A hollow red circle with a long pointed line suggestive of sunrays coming from the top and bottom

Appearance: Slender build with porcelain skin, straight black hair that reaches halfway down her back when worn loose, and amber-colored eyes. She wears red eyeshadow and lipstick.

She wears a wig of very long, shaggy white hair like that worn by a kabuki actor, as well as a red metal mask that covers only the lower half of her face. An opening for her mouth is shaped like the snarling maw of a demon, complete with fangs. In addition, her body is decorated with tattoos in swirling red patterns – in the clothes she usually wears, only the ones on her face are visible – one on her forehead of her emblem, and two curved marks just under her eyes.

Her clothes are reminiscent of a miko (shrine maiden) uniform, with a white kimono and red hakama (loose, baggy pants). On her feet, she wears white tabi (form-fitting socks with a separation between the big toe and the other toes) and a pair of geta (elevated wooden sandals) with a metal base. Her hands are wrapped in bandages.

Weapon: TBA

Semblance: TBA

Name: Oscar Glen
Gender: Male
Height: 5'0"
Age: 14
Color: Forest green (and brown)
Emblem:

Appearance: Short and scrawny, with soft features. His skin is tanned and his hair is brown and wavy, and he doesn't cut or comb it often enough. He wears large glasses in everyday life, but switches to goggles in combat. His eyes are hazel.
He wears a forest green t-shirt and brown cargo pants, along with hiking boots, a camouflage-patterned hooded jacket that's at least one size too big for him and which he wears with the front open, and a forest green bucket hat. His emblem is sewn on his jacket, just over his heart.
Weapon: TBA
Semblance: TBA

Name: Björn Järnsida
Gender: Male
Height: 6'6"
Age: 16
Color: Brown
Emblem:

Appearance: A bear of a young man, with a large, stocky, hairy body. His hair is deep brown, shaggy, and unkempt. His features are rough and far from handsome. His eyes are a piercing blue.

He wears thick brown leggings and a thick, padded brown jacket that looks like it's made of bear skin over a white undershirt, with steel-toed boots. His emblem is on the back of the jacket.

Weapon: Ironsides - A pair of large round shields that strap to Björn's forearms; his emblem is painted onto the face of both shields. In addition to providing a powerful defense, their edges are sharp enough to cut and the front of the shields are set with Burn Dust gems, with a mechanism to create explosions from the front of the shield when triggered.

Semblance: TBA

Name: Doctor Nigel Antoine Black (nicknamed "Mr. Boddy")
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"
Age: Appears to be in mid-40s
Color: Black

Name: Colonel Algernon Mustard
Gender: Male
Height: 6'4"
Age: Appears to be in late 50s, early 60s
Color: Mustard yellow

Name: Professor Edgar Plum
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8"
Age: Appears to be in his mid-to-late 30s
Color: Plum

Leingod · Apr 24, 2016

Chapter Two: The First Day

At 7:30 the radio in my alarm clock flickered to life, waking me up to the sounds of an early morning news broadcast. I blearily gathered up my clothes and a towel and walked to the nearest bathroom, my sleep-addled brain ignoring everything around me.

Once I got out an hour later, showered, shaved, dressed and in all other ways looking fantastic, I was awake enough to actually take in my surroundings and remember that there were other people in this house. I could hear the other two showers running, some guy with sandy hair was waiting impatiently outside of one of the bathroom doors, and Oscar was eating Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes at the kitchen table.

“You know that stuff is awful for you, right?” I asked in greeting as I checked the fridge for something to eat. I wasn’t kidding, either; it was basically Frosted Flakes (before they reduced the sugar content, mind you) with a whole bunch of marshmallows. Anyway, time to see what we’ve got to work with for breakfast: soda, orange juice, purple stuff…

“Well, yeah, but it’s got a Pyrrha Nikos action figure at the bottom!” Oscar said in his own defense.

I poked my head out from behind the refrigerator door to look at him. “Oscar, I’ve gotten enough cereal box toys to know that they’re cheap plastic crap. Pull the other one.” Crying out loud, did no one here ever eat anything that didn’t come out of a can or a box? I’d have to do some shopping later…

With a sigh, I took out a carton of milk and closed the door and grabbed a bowl and a spoon. “Pour me a bowl.”

“But you just said-”

“I know what I said, but sugar-coated sugar with milk is better than no breakfast at all.”

After a quick breakfast, Oscar and I left and headed to school, where I separated to get to my first class of the day (via a map Oscar happened to have lying around from his orientation).

Despite the expectations Yang had set me up for, class (which she was a part of, to my ill-disguised surprise) was actually very normal; if it weren’t for the fact that nobody had to wear a uniform, I’d almost think I was back home.

The fact that my first class of the day was Math of all things pissed me off to no end, though. I hate math classes.

The second class – Language – was pretty normal, too, and as I walked through the halls to my next class I began to wonder if maybe Yang was just snowballing the new kid when she acted like every day would be filled with food riots and bombastic teachers.

Proving that I should never be optimistic about anything ever, it was at that very moment that a red blur blindsided me and sending me crashing into a wall amid a shower of inexplicable rose petals. I hit back-first, sliding down into a sitting position.

“Ugh…” I groaned, shaking my head. “The hell just hit me?” I felt movement in my lap and looked down, my eyes widening with shock.

In my lap was a small girl with deep red hair that deepened almost into black as it got to the roots, wearing a black and red corseted dress with a frilly skirt, black leggings and a huge red hood, was shaking her head to clear it as she tried to get up.

“Ow, ow, ow…” she whispered to herself. “Okay, that was a bad idea…”

“I’ll say,” I said flatly.

“Ah!” Startled, Ruby Rose leapt to her feet, blushing scarlet and reaching a hand out to help me out. “Sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to hit you like that, it’s just that I need to get to my next class fast and I decided to use my Semblance which probably wasn’t a good idea since I only figured out what it was a few weeks ago and I still haven’t really-”

“Whoa, whoa, breathe, kid,” I instructed her, getting up and dusting myself off. She was talking almost as fast as she’d been running. “Look, just… it’s alright, just be more careful next time you do something like that, alright?”

“Uh, yeah. Uh… sorry,” she apologized again, wearing an expression reminiscent of a sad puppy.

“It’s cool. I wasn’t exactly responsible with my Semblance when I first got it either,” I said reassuringly. “I don’t really have the right to get pi-er, mad.”

In my defense, no one in that stadium suffered any permanent loss of vision.

“Thanks, uh…” she trailed off searchingly, possibly trying to figure out whether I’d said my name.

I was about to give her my name, when a light seemingly went off in her head.

“Hey wait!” she exclaimed with a gasp.

“What?” I asked, stopping in the middle of spreading my arms up into the air and stretching to work out any kinks being thrown into a wall had given me.

“Oily black hair…”

“Hey, oiled, not oily,” I corrected. “There’s a difference. An important one.”

“Gold armor on his arms and legs…”

“Well, it’s not actually gold, I just color it that way. It’s actually made of…”

“You’re Lucifer Morgenstern!” she said, pointing at me.

“Really? I had no idea,” I said dryly, grabbing her hand and putting it down. “And while we’re pointing out things we already know about ourselves, you’re Ruby Rose.”

“How do you know that?” she gasped.

“It’s written on the bottom of your boots in crayon,” I explained. That wasn’t the real reason, of course, but I couldn’t help but point it out.

Confused, Ruby lifted up one of her legs and looked at it. “What? I don’t… Dad!”

“Dad? Why do you think your dad did it?” I asked.

“Because it’s the third time he’s done it this year! It makes me look like a little kid!” Ruby pouted adorably.

“No, your body makes you look like a little kid. The crayon is just insult to injury,” I replied with a smirk.

“Hey!”

“Eh heh heh. Sorry, couldn’t resist when you gave me an opportunity like that,” I apologized. “So did you hear about me from Yang?”

“Yeah, actually. How’d you know? Did she tell you about me?” Ruby asked.

Uh… Shit. No she didn’t, and if Ruby mentioned this to her she would know damn well she didn’t. “No, I… heard someone mention that she’s your sister. Wondering whether or not you were adopted, I think,” I lied. Given how little they resembled each other, it seemed like something that people might think. Actually, it might be true, for all I knew.

“Oh. Well, we’re not,” Ruby said with a frown, in a tone that suggested she’d heard it before and didn’t like hearing it now.

“Hey, I didn’t say it, I’m just repeating something I heard,” I lied again, raising my hands in surrender, which got Ruby to relax. Putting my hands down, I changed the subject. “So… Yang was talking about me?”

“Pft, not like that,” Ruby said with a snicker. “She was just telling me why she didn’t eat lunch with me like she usually does.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. She and I already had that particular talk.”

“Yeah, right…” Ruby muttered.

“Brat,” I huffed, grabbing her hood and throwing it over her eyes in a fit of petty vengeance.

“Hey!”

“You!” a voice bellowed from behind me. Turning around, I saw the guy who was picking on Oscar yesterday. He didn’t look particularly happy.

Well, shit, I thought.

“You’re the punk who blindsided me with that light and then kicked me in the head!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know that; I was there,” I pointed out casually. “Though I kind of thought you hadn’t gotten a glimpse of me. So what tipped you off?”

He gave a rather ugly smile. “With that runt Oscar around, I didn’t have to,” he said.

“Hey! What did you do to Oscar!?” Ruby demanded.

“Wait, you know Oscar, too?” I asked, before shaking my head and turning back to the bully. “Wait, no, save that for later. What did you do to Oscar?”

“Hah, as if I needed to do anything to that wimp,” the big guy scoffed. “I just threatened him a little and he sang like a canary.”

“Yeah, that does sound like Oscar…” Ruby admitted under her breath.

“Not to be rude, but what’s he even doing at a combat school if he collapses under pressure that easily?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter!” the guy exclaimed loudly. “What matters is that I’m going to get you back for what you did, you coward!”

“How? Are you going to keep yelling until I go deaf, to take revenge for blinding you?” I asked, rubbing one of my ears. “Because you’re well on your way. Seriously, inside voice, man.”

“Make all the jokes you want, little man-”

“Okay. You look like a bear got plastered and had sex with an actual bear, and then somehow had the bear’s kid,” I quipped.

“I wasn’t being serious!” he screamed, the veins in his neck pulsing from rage.

“Wait, if the first bear wasn’t actually a bear, what was it?” Ruby asked.

“Uh…” I trailed off, trying to think of a way out of this. I really didn’t want to have to explain bestiality jokes involving big hairy gay men to this girl.

“I…” the bear-man was just as unable to come up with something to say.

“… I’ll tell you later,” I finally said. MUCH later, I added internally. “And… don’t ask your sister, she won’t know either. In fact, don’t ask anyone, and I’ll get you ice cream or something.”

The big guy shook his head to clear it, then apparently decided to try to go back to his threats despite the way Ruby killed the mood. “Alright, look, I’m going to get you back for that sneak attack yesterday, alright? Next class is Live Combat for the fourth years; I’m going to challenge you, beat you up in front of everyone, expose you for the coward you are. Got it?”

Yeah, his heart just wasn’t in it after that.

“Got it,” I nodded. “You’re delusional and think you have a chance of beating me.”

“… I am going to enjoy beating you into the ground a lot more than I should,” he growled, before turning away.

“Wow, you’re really calm about this. He kind of looked like he wanted to strangle you,” Ruby observed.

“Oh please. Guys like that are always all talk,” I said dismissively, drawing on the experience of… well, maybe half a life in all between both of them, if we go by lifespan. “He’ll crumble the moment I start fighting back.”

“But… I’m pretty sure he’s one of the strongest guys in school,” Ruby said.

“… What?” I asked dumbly.

“Yeah, I think a lot of people say he’s like, the third strongest student in Signal or something,” she recalled, before a bell ringing caused her to realize something. “Oh no! I was supposed to be in class already! Gottagoseeyoulatergoodluckinthefight!” she yelled, rushing off with her Semblance again, leaving me alone in the hallway to ponder my fate.

“… What!?”

Okay, this won’t be so bad, I assured myself as the bell rang and Live Combat class with Professor Branwen began. Yeah, I freaked out a little at first because I made an assumption, but it’s fine. I was one of the best fighters in my school, so it’s not like I’m outclassed or anything. I can just use my Semblance to blind him again, then go to town on his ass. Easy.

“Alright, everyone,” the black-haired, caped professor slurred after taking a pull from a hip flask. “You’ve all been here long enough to know the drill. We got a new student all the way from Atlas, and the fights lately’ve been getting’ kinda boring. So to fix that, today’s gonna be Rules Matches.”

After wondering how the hell he got away with drinking during class, I decided I already didn’t like this teacher. Rules Matches meant that a certain rule would be put in place for a spar, and breaking that rule would cause instant disqualification. There were plenty of rules and plenty of ways of deciding them, and I had no idea of what I might get. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything that would give me too big of a disadvantage…

“So… who’s first?” Professor Branwen asked.

“Me!” the big guy declared by pumping a fist into the air, then pointing at me. “I challenge him.”

“Going right after the new guy, huh?” Branwen said with a smirk. “Yeah, alright, go for it. Björn Järnsida versus Lucifer Morgenstern. Now let’s give this baby a spin to see what kinda match you’re in for…”

Pressing a few buttons on his scroll, the tipsy professor called up a holographic game show wheel that then proceeded to spin. There wasn’t any indicator of which squares meant what until it came to a stop, when the panel that the indicator landed on suddenly flipped over to reveal… an abstract human figure holding up a hand that was radiating blue energy, with a large red X over it.

“Alright. This match’s rule is No Semblance. Hope you don’t use yours too much, kid; you’re in for a real bitch of a fight otherwise,” Branwen said to me with a chuckle as he took another long pull from his flask.

I hope you blow your liver out on that shit, I thought viciously as I stepped into the ring, hefting my spear.

Across from me, the now-named Björn had two large round shields strapped to his forearms. If he held them the right way and hunched over, he could probably cover his sides completely.

“You ready for your beating, little man?” Björn taunted as the countdown to the start of the match began.

“I’m glad you’re willing to include me, but it’s the person receiving the beating that gets to call it theirs, not the one giving it,” I retorted. God damn I need to learn when to shut the hell up. Well, on the plus side, if this school runs on prison rules I’ll be untouchable if I can actually pull this off.

“Aaaaannnnddd…. start!” Professor Branwen declared as a bell rang to start the match.

The arena was a rectangle, about forty feet by twenty, with walls on three sides. The walls were bare plaster, the floor lacquered wooden planks.

The two of us circled each other cautiously, both of us looking for an opening to exploit. If what Ruby had said was true, he was probably pretty good with those shields, which means he’d have a difficult defense to penetrate, and he’d likely be able to make any hits he got in count.

He’s probably not especially fast, though. Even without his size, those big shields aren’t exactly wieldy-oh shit!

Björn apparently got tired of waiting for me to make a move and rushed me with surprising speed, swinging his shielded arm to hit me with the rim.

But just because he was faster than I expected didn’t mean he was faster than me, and I brought up Longinus to block successfully, though the impact forced me back several inches.

His attack wasn’t over, though. He spun around one-hundred and eighty degrees to attack again, then repeated the motion, repeatedly spinning around and building up momentum so that he could continually try to slice me up with the rim of his shields. I was able to block every blow with Longinus, spinning it to force away the blows in an attempt to slow down the assault, but the blows kept forcing me back.

When the back of my foot hit the wall, I realized he hadn’t really been trying to hit me. He wound up for a big blow, confident he could just keep whaling on me until I was too tired to keep blocking.

Instead, I just ducked under the blow and quickly rolled around him, making a horizontal swing with my spear immediately after getting to my feet behind his back.

Without looking, he caught the spear with a shielded arm and spun around to face me, knocking Longinus out of the way.

I quickly jumped up and planted my feet on his approaching shield and raised my spear to attack, intending to use this position to score an attack to his head before dismounting.

“Ahhh!”

Instead the front of the shield exploded, sending me flying towards the opposite wall. My legs were stinging with pain for a moment before Aura sorted that out, and I turned around in midair to take the impact with my feet, essentially standing on the wall for a moment. My legs coiled like a spring and I launched myself back into the fray, spear in front of me ready to stab with the full force of my forward momentum while he was (hopefully) not expecting an attack.

But with greater speed than I would have credited him with, Björn batted me in the side with his shield, detonating it again and sending me slamming back-first into the wall.

Before I could even begin to fall, he had rushed forward and slammed the shield into me, pinning me to the wall, then detonated his shield again.

“Oooh, looks like this ain’t gonna last much longer,” Professor Branwen said, sounding very amused.

I barely registered those words as Björn removed his shield and let me fall to my knees on the ground, gasping in pain for a moment. My Aura was taking longer to take away the pain, a sure sign that it was beginning to run low. I sunk Longinus butt-first into the ground, as if to use it to pull myself up to my feet.

Björn, clearly thinking he had nothing to worry about anymore, grinned savagely as he loomed over me. “You ready to end this, little man?” he taunted.

I chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I’m ready to end this,” I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Then, for the first time in this fight, I fired Longinus.

What had looked like me using it to support myself was actually just me preparing to launch it straight at his chin. It struck him dead on with enough force to lift him a few inches from the ground.

I leap to my feet and unleashed a flurry of blows with my steel-plated fists and feet, finishing it off with a knee to the gut that turned into a flip-kick that got him square in the jaw and knocked him onto his back in a momentary daze. I then retracted the wire that connected Longinus to my left gauntlet, sending the spear right back to my hands just as my opponent started to get back to his feet, shaking his head to clear it.

Readying Longinus, I fired it to launch myself forward. As Björn brought up his shields again to block it, I switched to a different form of Dust for my spear and triggered it. My spear’s head was electrified, and I switched my attack from a thrust aimed at his throat to a chopping motion aimed at his legs.

Björn realized what was happening and tried to jump back, but couldn’t keep from getting clipped by the electrified spear, which hit with the voltage of a cattle prod and sent him sprawling, stunned, to the ground.

I knew it wouldn’t last long, so I wasted no time in kicking away one of his arms to expose his torso and jabbing down with the still-electric Longinus, holding it there for a few moments.

A loud alarm blared, signaling that the match was over.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Professor Branwen called, prompting me to withdraw my spear. As Björn got up, stiff, sore and groaning, I spared a look at the big display screen above me that showed our Aura levels.

Lucifer Morgenstern: 41%
Björn Järnsida: 23%

Damn, all that and I’d only barely gotten his Aura down below 25%? Sheesh… And my own Aura had gotten even lower than I’d thought. That was cutting it way too close.

The professor took another swig from his hip flask with a satisfied sigh. “Alright, so Lucifer Morgenstern wins. Whoo. As for the fight… eh, I’ve seen worse. 6 out of 10.”

“What!?” I exclaimed, indignant.

“What, you expected me to be impressed by that?” the drunken instructor said in a mocking tone. “Please. You won that fight because your opponent was dumb enough to stand around taunting instead of finishing you off. Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid; you’ve still got a long way to go before you hear any praise from me.”

I glared mutinously at him, but couldn’t really think of a retort; if I was honest with myself, I probably would have lost if Björn hadn’t given me that opening to turn things around. Knowing a lost argument when I saw it, I just shook my head and turned around to head back to my desk.

The reception I got from my peers was much more gratifying than the teacher’s. Several of them were gaping with shock or looked clearly impressed (and in a few cases, admiring).

As the next match began and Professor Qrow turned to give the sparring students his attention, Yang whispered to the person next to her, causing a chain reaction of whispering that finally reached a boy sitting next to me, who looked at Yang, nodded, and got up from his seat as the blonde did the same, switching seats.

“Hey Luce,” she said casually as she sat down. “Don’t-”

“Wait,” I said, holding up a hand to interrupt her. “Did you just call me ‘Loose’?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, yeah, no, I’m not going to accept being called that,” I said firmly.

“Oh, you want something else?” Yang asked with a teasing grin. “How about Lu? Oh, I know, how about Lucy? Or Lulu?”

“… That’s not funny, Yang,” I said, annoyance creeping into my voice as my brows furrowed.

“Speak for yourself.”

“Seriously, why would you need to make up a nickname for me? ‘Lucifer’ is only three syllables long and it isn’t exactly hard to pronounce.”

“Well yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” Yang asked. “Besides, ‘Lucifer’ kinda sounds… off somehow, y’know?”

“No, I don’t know,” I said, though in truth I used to feel the same, before I got used to being named after the incarnation of evil. Inasmuch as that’s possible. That said, I had to wonder why Yang, who couldn’t possibly have any knowledge of Judeo-Christian lore, would feel the same way? “Lucifer” is just a name that means “light bringer” in this world, after all.

Maybe it’s just one of those words that get an instinctual reaction from people, like the way a lot of people find the word “moist” intrinsically disgusting for some reason.

“Look, I’m not going to have this argument here, too,” I said firmly. “Just call me Lucifer.”

“Alright, fine,” Yang said with a roll of her eyes that didn’t fill me with confidence about the odds of her not using more nicknames.

A slightly awkward silence passed before I decided to bite the bullet. “So… was there a particular reason you changed seats like this?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Wanted to tell you don’t worry about Uncle Qrow; he’s like that with everyone,” Yang assured me as the third sparring match of the day began.

“What, you mean a drunken dou- Wait, he’s your uncle?”

“Yeah. My dad teaches here, too, actually.”

“Oh.” I was just going to hope she didn’t realize that I was about to talk seven shades of shit about Professor Branwen. Or hope that she was simply self-aware enough to realize that, well, he came off as a bit of a drunken asshole, whether he had a point or not.

“So what was up with the grudge match with Björn, anyway?” Yang asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You spill something on his comic books or something?”

“Wha-comic books? No, he was bullying this kid named Oscar, so I blindsided him, with both a kick to the head and actual blinding. He threatened Oscar to find out who I was,” I explained.

“Wait, he was threatening Oscar?” Yang asked.

“What, you know him, too?” I asked, before I realized something. “Oh, right, Ruby’s your sister. Yeah, he had him up against the lockers and was threatening him.”

Yang shook her head. “Yeah, that sounds like him. Listen, he’s not too bad, usually, but he’s really thin-skinned; takes offense at the tiniest stuff. Some stupid ‘manly honor’ thing. I’ll set him straight after class, alright?” She took out her Scroll and started fiddling with it.

“Not really sure someone who shakes down a kid half his size qualifies for ‘not too bad,’ but alright,” I said with a shrug.

Once class ended, Yang strode purposefully up to Björn, who was sitting at his desk looking down in the dumps. Having nothing better to do, I followed.

Björn did a double-take when he saw Yang and I approach and seemed about to try to get out of his desk, but Yang beat him to it, slamming a hand down on his desk in front of him.

“You know what this is about, Björn. Come with me, and no excuses.”

“But he-”

“No. Excuses,” Yang repeated, a threatening undercurrent in her words.

The three of us left the classroom, Yang leading the two of us. I spared a glance at Björn, but he was too busy staring at the ground to notice. He had an expression like he was being led to his execution.

After a few minutes of walking, we ran into Ruby and Oscar. Oscar seemed to be enjoying himself immensely until he saw Yang coming towards him out of the corner of his eye. His face paled and he tried to jump into an open locker and shut himself in, but Ruby grabbed the door by the handle and struggled with him to keep it open.

“Hey, Ruby. Thanks for keeping him here,” Yang told her little sister with a bright smile. “I’ll take it from here, okay?” She grabbed hold of the locker door, and suddenly Oscar’s struggles to close it were completely useless; the door didn’t even budge.

“No problem. So he did it again?” Ruby asked.

“Probably,” Yang said with a sigh. “Got Luce her dragged into it, too.”

“Did we or did we not have this conversation not ten minutes ago?” I asked testily.

“Oh, by the way, Yang, I’ve been meaning to ask: what’s a bear that’s not a-”

“Ice cream, ice cream!” I mouthed frantically to her behind Yang’s back.

“A bear that’s not what, Ruby?” Yang asked, turning her head to her sister.

“Uh… nothing, never mind,” Ruby said innocently.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear!” Oscar yelled frantically. “Sir, help me, she’s crazy! She-Ack!” He was cut off from his pleading when Yang reached into the locker and pulled him out by his collar.

“Alright, Björn: why did you start a fight with Oscar this time?” Yang said, ignoring the green-clad boy’s frantic struggles to escape her iron grip.

“Because I am not a ‘whiny scrub!’” Björn exclaimed, filled with righteous fury. “There was no way I was going to let what he said stand! Especially when he’s just a cheating, camping little punk!”

“Hey, it’s a legitimate strategy!” Oscar cried indignantly, but he shut up when Yang glanced sideways at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Okay, so he was griefing again. Thought so,” Yang said. She held Oscar up to eye level and addressed him. “Listen, Oscar, what did we say was the rule?”

Finally realizing the futility of trying to escape, Oscar’s struggles ceased, though he couldn’t quite bring himself to look Yang in the eye. “Don’t say anything over a screen or through a scope that I wouldn’t say right to their face,” he recited glumly.

“And did you break that rule, Oscar?”

“Yes…”

“Then you know what has to happen,” Yang intoned solemnly.

“But-! But-!”

“No buts! And you!” she said, turning back to Björn and making him lose the expression of glee on his face at Oscar’s plight. “What did I tell you about beating people up just because they make you mad?”

“Hey, I was justified! They both insulted me repeatedly! He blinded me and then kicked me in the head!” Björn yelled, pointing at me.

“Eh heh heh. It’s true, I did do that,” I agreed, chuckling a little at the memory.

“Of course he did! You’re six-six and built like a brick outhouse and you’re threatening this,” Yang replied, holding up the skinny, barely five foot Oscar, who looked even less threatening than usual. “And what do you do instead of explaining yourself later? You threaten Oscar again to find out who he is, then you pick a fight. Are you starting to see the problem here?”

“This is a combat school! What’s wrong with using violence to solve our problems?” Björn asked plaintively.

“Nothing until you start trying to break people’s bones over every little argument,” Yang retorted, giving Björn a glare that made the huge teen shrink in on himself a little. “Björn, what was the rule we agreed on?”

Björn sighed, and recited, “No physical fights over a game, hobby or personal interest unless they agree to it.”

“And did you break that rule?” Yang asked.

“… Yes…”

“Then you know what has to happen,” she said.

“Please, no! Anything but that!” he begged, falling to his knees and clasping his hands as if in prayer.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What the hell is going on?” I asked Ruby, as the two of us stood on the side and watched.

“They’re both really into video games and they get way too personal and mean about stuff,” Ruby answered. “Oscar’s usually pretty nice, but as soon as he thinks you can’t touch him he turns into a total jerk and starts insulting everyone, and Björn thinks every insult needs to be dueled over, so this happens every couple of months.”

“So they’re morons and I got involved in this crap for nothing,” I concluded, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Kinda, yeah.”

“So what’s the punishment?” I asked.

“We take away something they can never get back,” Ruby answered happily.

“Well, that sounds… dark.”

“Does it? Weird. Oh, and I want a quintuple-scoop strawberry ice cream sundae with cookie dough.”

“Great…”

“Please, please make it stop!” Björn blubbered in anguish.

“It’s too much! This is just too cruel!” Oscar cried.

“Soaring Ninja Wins! Total Annhilation!” the game’s announcer proclaimed.

“And that makes… about 91 wins without taking a single hit,” Professor Branwen said casually as he took a sip from his flask. “9 more to go. Pass the controller.”

“You’re evil!” Oscar whined as the tearful Björn handed him the controller.

“I’m a teacher, kid, it’s in the job description,” the instructor said with a chuckle. “And ‘Send.’ There we go, everyone can stay up to date on how well you two are doing.”

“New Challenger Approaches!” the game declared.

“Please, sir, I’ve got family on my friends list! And actual friends! Do you know how hard it was for me to get those!? You can’t do this to me!” Oscar pleaded.

“Hey, don’t tell it to me, kid; I’m just doing this as a favor to my two favorite nieces.”

“Also, we sneak him a glass of that Mistralian brandy he really likes but can never find in stores that Dad doesn’t let him have,” Ruby explained to me as she ate her sundae at the dining room table, totally ignoring the anguished cries of the two nerds on the couch as her uncle stomped them with contemptuous ease and then uploaded the videos and sent them to everyone on their contact lists, while Yang read some of the comments the videos generated aloud.

“I can’t believe I almost got the crap beaten out of me over a damn video game,” I said, a sour look on my face as I scooped a spoonful from my small cup of banana ice cream.

“Well, you’d have probably fought him eventually anyway, right? It just would have been less personal and ‘I’m gonna break your face, grr,’” she said, trying to deepen her voice in imitation of Björn. The effect was as inaccurate as it was adorable.

“I guess, but it’s still kind of galling to stick your neck out for someone, and it turns out they were only in trouble because they’re a dumbass.”

“Soaring Ninja Wins! Total Annhilation!” This announcement was followed by fresh anguished tears from Oscar.

“Though I do admit, seeing this is pretty cathartic,” I admitted with a sadistic grin. “Although, with all the crying and screaming, you’d think we were disembowling puppies in front of them or something.”

“Ugh! Don’t say that!” Ruby exclaimed, a look of horror on her face.

“What, too gruesome? Yeah, sorry, not used to talking to little kids.”

“I am not a kid!”

“You kinda are, kid,” Professor Branwen called over his shoulder.

“He’s got you there, Ruby,” Yang said, flipping through the comments for good ones that were also PC enough for her little sister’s ears.

“I notice you don’t even deny that you’re little,” I pointed out.

Ruby said nothing and simply glared at me as she shoveled more strawberry sundae into her mouth.

Elsewhere…

So you completed all the assignments you missed, right?” Dahlia Black asked as she handed another girl a piece of paper.

“Yes. Thank you for bringing them to me, Dahlia,” the other girl said. She was a little over five and a half feet tall, with a slender build and skin like porcelain, wearing a thin red cotton yukata. Her coal-black hair was completely straight and reached halfway down her back, though she was in the process of putting it up into a bun.

Much more eye-catching than any of that was the bright red tattoos decorating her face. On her forehead was a hollow red circle, with two long, thin lines emerging from the top and bottom, and under each eye was a curving line that mirrored her eyebrows.

“So you’re sure you’re all better now?” Dahlia asked in a concerned tone. “I don’t want you to try to go back to school before you’re ready.”

“I know, Dahlia, I’m fine now,” her friend assured her, her voice gentle, though her face betrayed little expression.

“I hope so. So did I tell you about the new boy? He’s pretty cute,” Dahlia said with a smile.

The other girl simply rolled her eyes as she finished putting her hair into a bun. “Dahlia, I have told you before: I am not interested in dating. Nor do I particularly care about boys who are ‘cute.’”

“Would it change anything if I said he beat Björn in a sparring match today?” she said slyly.

The girl grew visibly interested. “He did?” she asked curiously.

“Heh, thought that would get you,” Dahlia said with a smirk. “Yeah. It was pretty close, though, and Professor Branwen said it was only because Björn stopped to gloat. But it was a No Semblance match, so I’m not sure if he could have beaten him normally.”

“Hmm… what is this boy’s name?” she asked, tilting her head a little.

“Lucifer Morgenstern. I tried setting him up with Yang yesterday when he first got here and got her to show him around, but she told me no dice later,” Dahlia said with a sigh before perking up. “So that means he’s available for you, guilt-free!”

“Lucifer Morgenstern…” she repeated to herself quietly, before a smile began to form on her face. “An odd name. I rather like it. I think I’ll see if he’s really as good a fighter as you claim tomorrow.”

“Great! You can- oh, not again, Hina!” Dahlia exclaimed. “Can’t you show any interest in a boy that’s not about wanting to beat them up in a fight!”

“I can,” Hina admitted. “But I don’t.”

“Ugh. What a waste of a cute guy. He’s going to get beat into paste…” Dahlia said mournfully.

“Now, now, Dahlia. He may turn out to be a surprise,” Hina said reassuringly to her friend.

“Ugh, yeah right. Yang’s the only person in the whole school you don’t beat most of the time, and even it’s mostly even! I mean, just because he beat Björn doesn’t mean he’s as good a fighter as Yang, does it?”

“I’m hoping that that is exactly what it means,” Hina said, a hint of a smile on her face.

Leingod · Apr 24, 2016

Chapter Three: Greet the Rising Sun

Like yesterday, I got up at 7:30 and was ready for the day and actually awake by 8:30. Unlike yesterday, I had gotten some actual food and thus had a decent, relatively healthy breakfast instead of marshmallows and flakes of sugar that I was told had grain in them somewhere, all drowned in milk.

Also unlike yesterday, I had a call I’d promised to make, so as soon as I’d finished getting a quick bite to eat I returned to my room to make a call on the personal terminal I’d set up yesterday. It was brand new; I’d gotten it to keep in touch with the (very few) people I knew back in Atlas who were worth the trouble.

The call was picked up after only two rings.

“Hey, Mom,” I said, holding up an arm in a small sort-of wave.

On the screen, Lilith Morgenstern gave that radiant smile that made the neighborhood brats, crotchety old cranks and hormone-addled teenagers alike all turn into eager-to-please puppies.

“Good morning, Lucifer,” she greeted me. Her voice was soothing and melodic, which had made her great at telling stories and singing lullabies when I was little. She looked at the screen, her eyes darting around me and into the room, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end a little.

“Is there a reason you’ve set your terminal up so that I don’t have a view of your room?” she asked suspiciously.

“What? No, I hadn’t noticed,” I tried.

“I don’t know why you still think you can lie to me, Lucifer,” she said with a weary sigh. “Please tell me you aren’t just leaving everything in boxes and then throwing them in some pile in the room when you take them out.”

I took a side glance over to the stacks of still-unopened boxes and the small stacks of books, papers and other miscellaneous crap that had already started to accrue on the floor. “Umm… I’m not just leaving everything in boxes and then throwing them in some pile in the room when I take them out,” I recited.

The glare I received in return was enough to make plants wither and milk curdle.

“Oh come on, it’s not like I leave clothes or food lying around on the floor,” I said defensively. “It’s all just books and papers and crap. What’s the big deal?”

“Because it makes you look like a slob who can’t take care of himself, no matter what the mess is made of,” she chided me. “What happens if you meet a nice girl and want to get intimate? Believe me, no girl wants to have sex in a bachelor pad.”

“Okay, wow, no, I am not having this conversation with my mom!” I exclaimed with a look of profound disgust.

“Oh fine, be that way,” Mom said with a sigh. “How have your first two days in Vale been?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Well, they’ve been eventful. I’ll need to get back to you later on whether it’s in a good way,” I said.

“Really? What happened?” she asked with a frown.

“Nothing really bad or anything,” I began. “I just… met a lot of interesting people. Quirky teachers, quirky students, you know, that whole thing.” I didn’t elaborate further than that; Mom had worried enough about me being so far from home. She didn’t need to know that I’d gotten into a grudge match over video games on my first day, in a classroom supervised by a teacher who spent the whole time getting soused.

“Oh, and there was nothing decent for breakfast yesterday, so I ended up caving and eating Marshmallow Flakes; probably the lowest point for my day, honestly,” I concluded.

Mom gave a light giggle. “The more thing change, hmm? I seem to remember you complaining to me about all of those things more than once right here in Atlas.”

“What can I say? I’m a magnet for crazy. Well, crazy and cats.”

“Not that you’ve ever done much to discourage either,” Mom noted dryly, prompting a sheepish grin from me.

“Eh heh… yeah. Speaking of which…”

“Your three babies are fine,” Mom assured me with a warm smile. “Though I think they miss their daddy. Or were you asking about your friends?”

“Friend, you mean,” I corrected her with a frown.

“Lucifer-”

“We had this talk, Mom. He made his feelings on the subject very clear. I have to go now; school’s going to start soon.”

“Fine,” Mom said with a sigh. “Just… make sure to call regularly, okay? You know I worry.”

“I will, Mom. I’ll talk to you later,” I assured her. “Love you.”

The first thing I noticed when I walked out of my bedroom was Oscar, who was gloomily staring into his bowl of Marshmallow Flakes as though he was considering drowning himself in it.

“Are you still moping about that game thing? Seriously kid, get over it,” I told him.

“It’s not… well okay, it’s not just that,” Oscar admitted with a sigh. “It’s… it’s complicated, you know?”

“Uh-huh,” I said, unconvinced. “Well I hope it’s not so complicated that you can’t finish eating your entire daily value in sugar in one sitting and get to school soon, or you’ll be late.”

Oscar checked the clock, took a long look at his half-empty cereal bowl again, and then got up to dump it in the sink. “I’m not really that hungry.”

Because we were going to the same place at the same time, Oscar and I ended up walking to school together, which meant I had to put up with more of his moping.

“Alright, that’s it! Either tell me what’s wrong or stop all the damn sighing!” I finally snapped after Oscar’s dozenth forlorn, “woe-is-me” sigh.

Oscar kept his eyes on the ground. “… Do you think Ruby hates me now?” he finally asked.

“… What?”

“I mean, this is like the fourth time I’ve done this, and every time she makes me promise not to do stuff like that again and I mean it but then I go and do it again!” he said, the words spilling from his lips now. “I mean, how many chances do I get? Was this the last one? Did I blow it? Does she finally get that I’m a lost cause and she’s too good for me!?”

His voice started getting more distraught and his breathing started to spike, so I snapped him out of it.

“Ow! Why did you slap me!?” he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.

“Because you were starting to have a freak-out,” I said calmly. “And don’t be a baby; you have Aura, don’t you? It should have stopped hurting almost instantly.”

“Well yeah, but still!”

“Still nothing. What the hell was that about, anyway?” I asked. “I mean, that whole thing was just you acting like a dumbass. I can see her being disappointed, sure, but she didn’t really strike me as the type to ditch friends for doing stupid crap.”

Oscar took a deep breath to collect himself. “Well, it’s-”

“Excuse me, are you Lucifer Morgenstern?” a voice asked me from behind. I turned around to confront the voice, and was met with a girl about my age. I took a quick second or two to look her up and down.

She looked about the same height as Yang, maybe a little taller, though with a more… slender build. Her skin was as pale and flawless as porcelain, offset by icy-blue eyes and red tattoos in abstract designs on her face. She was wearing what my “other” memories told me looked very similar to a Japanese miko’s outfit, with a loose-fitting white robe and baggy red pants. More eye-catching were the very long, shaggy mane-like white hair that ran all the way down her back (which might have been a wig; it seemed kind of similar to something a kabuki actor might wear) and the red mask she wore that covered only the lower part of her face, with an opening for her mouth shaped like the snarling maw of a demon, fangs and all.

“Uh… yeah, I am,” I answered after a moment. “Hi. Do… I know you? No offense, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember seeing you around here.”

“No offense is taken,” she assured me; her voice was very measured and calm, as though she was considering everything she said before she said it. “My name is Shiranui Hinata. I am in your class, but have been absent for the past two days due to illness,” she explained. “My friend Dahlia informed me of you.”

“Dahlia? The vice president?” I asked.

“Yes. She told me that you defeated Björn Järnsida in a match in Live Combat; a commendable feat, though I am not yet convinced that it was not due to luck.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?” I asked testily.

“Yes. I am not sure yet whether you are a formidable opponent and would like to remedy that. Would you agree to a spar with me?” she asked.

“A spar?” I repeated, tilting my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oscar slightly to the side of me, rapidly shaking his head ‘no’ until Hinata glanced in his direction, at which point he froze up completely.

“Hello, Oscar. Ruby is at the vending machines right now,” she told him. Mumbling a quick ‘thanks,’ Oscar took that as his out and ran off.

Once he was gone, she continued. “Yes, a spar. There are very few students in this school who are a significant challenge to me in combat,” she confirmed. “I am hopeful that you will prove one of the rare exceptions.”

“Oh, I see. Yeah, no, I’m gonna pass,” I said, turning around and going back on my way to class.

“Wait!” she yelled from behind me, stopping me in my tracks.

“God damn it, why do they never take no for an answer?” I whispered to myself as I turned around to face her again. “What?”

“You can’t just refuse!” she exclaimed, losing her composure.

“Why the hell not?”

“Have you no pride? How can you stand down when your skill as a warrior is being challenged?” she asked in disbelief.

I looked around from left to right. “I don’t see anyone here except you challenging my skill as a warrior,” I pointed out. “And last I checked, you’re not the one who gets to decide what I’m worth as a fighter.”

“I… that…” she sputtered in shock.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but getting into pointless fights over stupid crap like what people I’ve just met think about me just isn’t something I’m very interested in,” I said casually, turning back around. “Later.”

I kept on walking.

Hinata didn’t stop me this time.

At lunch, I had found an empty table and quickly took it. Before I could take more than one bite, Dahlia slammed a tray on the table just across the table from me and took the seat, glaring at me.

“Uh… Whatever it is, I didn’t do it,” I hedged.

“Oh, so you’re not the reason Hina’s been out of it all day and won’t tell me why? You’ve got no idea why she keeps staring at you and then looking like she wants to cry?” she asked acidly.

I shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know; I don’t really understand people like that, anyway.” I’ve just never gotten people who bought into that “warrior’s pride” mindset where you had to go around beating the crap out of people to “prove yourself.”

“You-!” Dahlia yelled, but caught herself and continued talking in a low voice, but one that dripped with contempt. “I can’t stand people like you.”

She took her tray back and got up, very pointedly refusing to look at me.

“… What the hell?” I asked aloud. As I watched, Ruby and Yang sat down with her, looking concerned and curious. Dahlia visibly struggled with herself explaining it to them, her fists clenched on the table.

Whatever she was saying, it had an effect on the sisters, as they gasped, then looked at me in shock, before turning back to Dahlia and talking rapidly with her.

Okay, something’s really wrong here. I have to be missing something important, I thought to myself as I ate.

I only got a few bites into my food before another tray hit the table. Six of them, in fact, of mixed gender. I idly noticed that, although they all had their own color and style like most students, they all had some element of blue and black on them, even if just a little.

“Why yes, of course you can sit here,” I said sarcastically.

“Heh, sorry about that,” one of them said sheepishly. He was pretty plain-looking and of average height, though rather muscular and some armor that was colored like copper.

“Nah, I’m just messing with you,” I clarified. “I don’t really care if you sit here.”

“Thanks. So uh, Lucifer, right? Transfer student from Atlas?” he asked, to which I nodded. He took this as a cue to continue. “I’m Kessler. Heard you were the reason Shiranui’s been all docile today; something you said to her or something?”

“Look, I don’t know what the hell happened, alright?” I replied. “She walks up to me challenging me to a fight to ‘prove myself’ to her or some crap-”

“Ugh, yeah, that sounds like her, all right,” Kessler said, nose crinkling in disgust. “Acting so high and mighty, like just because she’s a little good at fighting means she’s better than us.” His five friends all nodded and made various assenting words.

“Riiiight,” I said uncertainly. “I see you’ve got some issues with her.”

“Got that right,” he all but growled, his face contorting into an ugly snarl, before coughing into his fist awkwardly. “Sorry. So anyway, a video of your fight with Björn’s been making the rounds. You were pretty awesome.”

“Yeah, it was really cool,” one of the girls said, giving a flirty wink.

“Yeah, I do tend to be a bit of a badass,” I said with a smug grin. “But you should see what I can do when I can use my Semblance.”

“Well, maybe we can get a demonstration sooner rather than later?” Kessler said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Kessler’s voice dropped lower. “Well, we figure, you’re definitely one of the toughest guys around here now, you know? And honestly, that bitch Shiranui’s been acting pretty damn stuck up lately. We figure, maybe you can show her who’s boss, you know?”

“What.”

“Whoa, whoa, I’m not talking about anything crazy!” Kessler quickly said, holding up his hands at the flinty look I gave him. “I just meant, you know, kick her ass in a fight.”

“Ooooh. Still no.”

“Aw come on man, why not?” he asked.

“Because it’s pointless,” I said. “I don’t go around fighting people to ‘prove myself,’ so why the hell would I go fight some girl just because some random guys I just met don’t like her?”

“Well, look at it this way: you’ll probably end up fighting her anyway,” Kessler said reasonably. “This is a combat school and we all take Live Combat together. If she doesn’t challenge you right away, eventually the teachers will put you two together anyway. So why not make it sooner rather than later?”

“Fair point, I guess…”

“And come on, a guy as tough as you, how hard could putting her in her place really be?” he asked.

“Now I know you’re playing me…” I said, causing a few of the others (who I was quickly realizing were more cronies than friends to this guy) to blink in surprise and a little bit of worry. “… But you’re right.”

“Great! So you’ll do it?” Kessler asked excitedly. It didn’t strike me as a particularly pleasant form of excitement.

“Depends. Why does she piss you off so much? And why are you going to me for this? Why not, I don’t know, Yang?”

“Xiao Long? She’s almost as bad, the bitch!” Kessler said with venom. “Hanging around, acting like they’re friends; makes me sick. Her and all the rest of those-”

A bandage-wrapped hand slammed down onto the table next to Kessler, causing all of us to start a bit. I quickly followed the arm up to see Hinata, her expression unreadable and composed, like it had been earlier.

“I have warned you before, Kessler. I do not care what you say about me, but I do not take kindly to you speaking that way of my friends,” she said, her voice low and quiet, but still somehow with a threatening undercurrent. “And as I’m sure you remember, you and your pets have neither the skill nor the numbers to force the issue.”

“You bitch-!” Kessler snarled, but stopped when glowing red markings appeared on Hinata’s clothes, which cowed them all.

Is that Dust in her clothes? I wondered.

She turned to face me, looking… disappointed? “I had heard you were from Atlas, but I do not like to make assumptions about people. Do you share their beliefs?”

That was it; I snapped. “What fucking beliefs!?” I yelled out, pounding the table in frustration with a fist. “What the fuck is up with everyone today!? Did I miss some important briefing or something, because none of you are making any damn sense!”

“Wh-What do you mean?” Kessler asked. “Can’t you tell?”

The corners of Hinata’s mouth curled upward in a smile. “No, he can’t,” she said, a note of relief in her voice. “Keep in mind that few of you would have realized, had I not made sure to announce it when I began attending this school.”

“So help me, if you motherfuckers don’t explain what’s going on right now…” I warned. What can I say? I hate it when people act cryptic and refuse to explain things.

I hate a lot of things, come to think of it.

In answer, Hinata opened her mouth as though she was going to the dentist. “See?” she asked.

“You have… really long canine teeth,” I noted. “Almost like… fangs.”

“Yes. My eyes, too, are those of a canine,” she explained. “The traits of my faunus heritage are far more subtle than most; if I wanted, I could pass as human with only the slightest difficulty.”

“Get it now?” Kessler asked testily. “This animal has the gall to go around acting like she’s better than us!”

“Oh, believe me, I get it now,” I said. “Makes sense that Dahlia got so pissed at me. You and her are pretty close, aren’t you?”

“Very,” Hinata said with a soft smile. “I tell her that it’s pointless to be offended on my part over such things, but she can be very stubborn.”

I turned to Kessler. “So: why?”

“H-huh? Why what?” he asked.

“Why do you hate faunus so much?” I explained. “Did you lose someone to the White Fang, or a faunus gangster?”

“What? No.”

“Someone in your family lose their job to cheap faunus labor?”

“Uh… no.”

“Any reason other than a belief in the inherent superiority of humanity and a belief that they’re closer to animals than people?”

The look on his face told me all I needed to know. And judging from the looks on the faces of him and his goons, they were seeing where I was going with this. “Well, so what!? It’s not like-”

“Good.”

Everyone listening blinked in shock. “Wait, you mean you-?”

His question was cut off when my fist slammed straight into his nose and sent him flying. His cronies all jumped to their feet in shock, and I jumped up on top of the table, cracking my knuckles as I looked down on them with a cruel grin.

“If you had actual reasons for being a bunch of racist fucks, I’d have to be a lot more civil about this. Not nearly as cathartic,” I explained.

Doctor Black sighed. “I hope you realize that getting into a fight on your second day here sets a very terrible precedent,” he pointed out as I sat in the hot seat.

“To be fair, you had to know this was coming. You did read my disciplinary record, right?” I asked.

“I did,” he says, looking as though he just bit into a lemon. “But I’d hoped that outside of the more… conservative atmosphere of Atlas, you might prove less of a… discipline problem.”

I snorted in amusement. “Really? Half a dozen racist pricks ran up to recruit me the moment I put a faunus in a bad mood. Just because this school has a policy against discrimination doesn’t make it some bastion of tolerance.”

“I am aware,” he said, sighing again. “But let me ask you a question: did Kessler or any of his friends attack you or Miss Shiranui?”

“No.”

“Did they make any threats to do so?”

“Also no,” I admitted.

“Did you have any reason to believe that they would?”

“… No.”

“Then you realize that this is an unacceptable breach of school rules?” he asked.

“… Yeah.”

“I would seriously advise you see the school counselor. As unconscionable as anti-faunus sentiment like that espoused by Mister Kessler may be, attacking them with so little provocation is not a rational response,” he said.

“So I’ve been told before.”

“In the meantime, you will spend the time from the end of your last class until 5 o’clock each day for a month in afterschool detention.”

“That seems a little light,” I pointed out. “Uh… not that I’m complaining.”

“This is a combat school. Violence between students is quite simply inevitable,” Doctor Black pointed out. “It is, I’ll admit, the minimum punishment allowed, but as Kessler and his friends have agitated and started fights several times in the past themselves, I feel we can afford to be lenient this time.

“Besides,” he continued with a smile, “My daughter made a very convincing case.”

“Daughter?” I asked, surprised. Who…

Oh. Kind of obvious in hindsight, though it’s not like “Black” is an uncommon last name, I thought to myself. Well damn, hooray for nepotism, I guess.

“She informed me that I would get more mileage out of the punishment with my choice of supervisor than by extending the length of your punishment as I had originally planned on doing,” he concluded.

“Wait, what?”

I will fucking kill her, I thought to myself as Colonel Mustard prattled on with the story of how he got a car that turns into a miniature submarine. If it were anyone whose voice was less headache-inducingly loud, I’d probably be enthralled. As it was, I was feeling more murderous than anything.

A knock at the door granted me temporarily relief. “Hmm? Who could that be?” the Colonel asked as he strode across the room to answer the door.

Hinata stood at the doorway. “Hello Colonel. I was hoping I could speak to Lucifer,” she explained.

“Hmm? Well, I suppose I can allow it,” the Colonel said, rubbing his chin. “Not too long, though, of course; I’m in the middle of a very riveting tale, and I’d hate to leave poor Mister Morgenstern in suspense!”

“Of course,” she said with a nod.

She walked up to me. “Thank you.”

“For what? Kicking Kessler’s ass?”

“No; I could have easily done that myself if he had continued to be a nuisance,” Hinata said casually, getting a chuckle out of me. “I want to thank you for refusing my offer of a match earlier.”

“Uh… what?”

“What you said about your reasons – that you refused to give me the power to judge your worth as a warrior – it struck a chord with me,” she explained. “I refuse to let bigots like Kesler decide my worth. It is part of why I’m here, training to become a Huntress.”

I nodded. I could understand that motivation pretty well.

“But… somewhere along the line, I believe I lost sight of that,” she said, staring down at her hands. “At first, I sought out strong opponents simply to hone my skills, but as time went on, it became a way of trying to prove my worth to others.”

Her amber eyes, which have been unfocused as though she were looking past you, now become sharp and determined. “I would like to spar with you some time, Lucifer Morgenstern. Not to prove your worth, or mine, but because you seem like you might be an interesting challenge to overcome. Will you accept?”

“Eh, why not?” I said with a shrug. “… Not right now, just to be clear.”

“Of course,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. “Thank you. Both for accepting… and for helping to remind me of something important that I had forgotten.”

“Well, it’s nice to know just how inspiring I am and all, but you don’t need to thank me,” I replied. “Unless you have cash you feel like paying me with, in which case, feel free to thank me as much as you want.”

“Well, I do not have much in the way of money, but I believe I have something that will be much more valuable to you at the moment,” she said with a slight smile, holding out a hand.

“… You are officially my best friend here,” I said breathlessly as I stared at the earplugs in her outstretched hand like they were made of gold.

AN: If you think Lucifer’s reaction to Colonel Mustard is overblown, it’s not. For some reason, unless I’m at least somewhat familiar with them and/or well-disposed to that person, many people’s voices just sound inherently grating to me, especially when they speak loudly. I have an uncle I don’t spend much time around who, like the Colonel, has a naturally very loud voice that carries, and I grit my teeth every time he talks. It probably says something very bad about my mental health or something, but there you have it.

IchibanSamurai · Apr 28, 2016

Well, shit. I'm not gonna lie. I giggled a few times. I do appreciate a good bit of humour, and look forward to seeing where this goes.

That said, the only thing I'm a bit worried about is just how good the MC is a fighting, but that could be explained by the...Apparently... Numerous, fights he gets to, so that's neither here nor there. My only advice on that matter is to clarify a few times that, yes, this little shit does get into fights all the time. Maybe a flashback or two to some of his earlier ones where he got his ass kicked, and one or two where he kicked ass later on once he got better would be cool. The audience doesn't like some random guy who can curbstomp everybody else, but we sure do like somebody who worked hard at being able to curbstomp everyone else.

Otherwise, pretty cool, and I look forward to seeing more.

Leingod · Apr 28, 2016

IchibanSamurai said: ↑

Well, shit. I'm not gonna lie. I giggled a few times. I do appreciate a good bit of humour, and look forward to seeing where this goes.

That said, the only thing I'm a bit worried about is just how good the MC is a fighting, but that could be explained by the...Apparently... Numerous, fights he gets to, so that's neither here nor there. My only advice on that matter is to clarify a few times that, yes, this little shit does get into fights all the time. Maybe a flashback or two to some of his earlier ones where he got his ass kicked, and one or two where he kicked ass later on once he got better would be cool. The audience doesn't like some random guy who can curbstomp everybody else, but we sure do like somebody who worked hard at being able to curbstomp everyone else.

Otherwise, pretty cool, and I look forward to seeing more.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback; I write mostly because the words just have to get out, but getting feedback really helps motivate me to keep going.

And believe me, this story is going to be far from a cavalcade of easy victories for young Mr. Morgenstern. That would be just as boring to me as to you. I have... plans.

If this ever gets to Volume 3, it's going to be great, is all I'm going to say.

Epsilon · May 16, 2016

Wait, aren't you the guy who wrote ROYL? I'm a relatively new forumite, but I've lurked on that quest on SV; quite entertaining.

This one seems promising too, so I'll be watching this.

Leingod · May 16, 2016

Epsilon said: ↑

Wait, aren't you the guy who wrote ROYL? I'm a relatively new forumite, but I've lurked on that quest on SV; quite entertaining.

This one seems promising too, so I'll be watching this.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am the asshole who hasn't updated that quest in forever, which I am attempting to rectify. And thank you.

Leingod · Nov 14, 2016

Chapter Four – Sun & Stars

He cursed under his breath; in the cold, silent air of the night, the sound of the door locking rang out like a funeral bell. The clues had led him to a dead end, and if his suspicions were right, that term was about to become very literal.

“Trapped. And no doubt the hired gun's on his way,” he muttered aloud, anything but surprised. This night had seemed to stretch on forever. He looked up into the stars of the night sky; if he'd known before that it might be his last sunrise, he would have-

“Yes!” a high-pitched girl's voice cried out triumphantly, breaking me from my reading. “Snipers win again!” Ruby, clearly.

“Aaaahhh, weak!” Yang jeered just as loudly. “Oscar, come on! What was that!?”

As Oscar tried to give some weak defense for his poor playing in-between complimenting Ruby on her win, I rolled my eyes and tried to find my place on the page again.

-would have made sure to savor it.

“So this is it,” he said with a heavy sigh. This was the end, for one of them. The gloves were off, the truth was out. Truth be told, he didn't like his-

“Nooooo!!!” Yang wailed dramatically. “Bumblebee II! You will be avenged!”

“... It's a car in a video game,” Hinata cut in incredulously.

“But it was almost perfect!” Yang shouted back. “The color, the nitrous, the front-mounted machine guns! The only thing it was missing was a new spoiler!”

“Sorry sis, them's the breaks!” Ruby cackled.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration and tried once more to ignore them and get back to reading.

-he didn't like his chances. Snake, Spark, Shadow, The Top... all of them had fallen in their turn, and now it looked like his number was up, too.

But he'd be damned if he'd lay down and die here, trapped like a rat. One of them would be taking the big sleep, sure... but he was a little more than one.

Strange colored smoke poured out from his body, pooling into the air just to the left of him, seemingly congealing around a single point like a forming cloud. When the strange process was over, a perfect duplicate of him stood standing grimly in the shadows.

“It's time I go my separate ways,” he said through both mouths. It-

“Nonononononono!!!” Ruby cried out, the hopeless screams of someone rapidly heading toward disaster with no way to stop it.

“Yes! That was for Bumblebee II!” Yang cried out. A shot rang out, and a groan of frustration followed it. “You jerk, I was having a moment!”

“Hey, I gave you a moment,” Björn gloated. “In fact, I gave you three.”

“I can't believe I missed valuable study time for this...” Dahlia muttered in consternation.

As the chatter continued, I threw down the book in disgust – after making sure to place a bookmark, obviously – and kicked the door to my bedroom open, more to get their attention than anything.

“Isn't there some other place you guys can do this?” I asked testily. “I'm trying to catch up on my reading.”

“Oh, sorry sir!” Oscar called out apologetically, though he didn't bother to look away from the screen. “We're just kinda used to no one being here most of the day.”

“Aw come on Lucy-” Yang began.

“No,” I cut her off firmly. “No Lucy. No Lulu, no Luce. Lucifer. Three syllables. I didn't travel to an entirely different continent to hear that again.”

“Oh, whatever,” Yang said with a roll of the eyes and a dismissive wave of her hand. “It's 2 o'clock on a Saturday! Stop being a nerd, get out of your nerd cave, and play video games like the rest of us.”

“I'm not playing video games,” Dahlia clarified, looking up from a book of crossword puzzles. “Yang dragged me here.”

“And she promised me a spar at some point,” Hinata added.

“Why the hell don't you just do that in Live Combat?” I asked.

“Because they always tear up the arena too badly for anyone else to use it when they go all out,” Dahlia explained. “So the school only lets them do it about once a month. The rest of the time, they have to do it on their own time. By the way, do you know a fifteen-letter word that means 'compensation?'”

Starting to really regret promising her that match, I thought to myself. “No, I don't. You should probably check a thesaurus or something.”

“I can't, that would be giving up,” she answered.

“And asking me for help isn't?”

“No seriously Luce, video games. You. In or out?” Yang cut in.

“So help me, if you call me that again-”

“You'll what? Fight me?” Yang asked with a grin. “Sounds fun to me.”

“Unfortunately, you'll have to wait,” Hinata interrupted. “I'm going to fight someone today, and he already promised me a spar.”

I knew I should have just stayed in my room, I thought ruefully.

“... I don't suppose you two would fight each other to decide who fights me first?” I asked. Maybe I'd get lucky and they'd ttake themselves out, though more likely I'd just get some info on how Hinata fought and wear her down. I figured it was only fair, considering she'd probably seen the video of my fight with Björn.

“Hate to break it to you, but there wouldn't be any mud or jello involved,” Yang replied with a crooked grin.

Responses were varied. “Gross!” Ruby exclaimed, making an exaggerated face. Hinata and Dahlia were similarly disapproving, but more restrained, simply shaking her head and face-palming, respectively. Oscar blushed scarlet as his eyes got a far-away look, while Björn didn't give any indication he'd even heard, using the distraction to his advantage.

As for myself, I just scoffed (and filed away that mental image). “Really? Are you going to be making a regular thing out of this?”

“Not if that's all the response I'm going to get out of it,” Yang replied with a huff, rolling her eyes at my lack of outward reaction. “Killjoy.”

“Well, forgive me for not being a complete slave to my hormones,” I answered, absently flicking Oscar's head with a finger to “reboot” him.

“So is today going to just be video games and innuendo?” Hinata asked in exasperation. “Because I promised Father I'd help clean the dojo tomorrow and I'd like to do something meaningful with my Saturday.”

“Dojo?” I asked. That was a thing here?

“It's a facility for training in the martial arts,” Hinata explained as if by rote, implying she'd had this conversation a lot in the past. “There are many different names for them, but 'dojo' is the one my family has used since they founded it. The rise of combat schools has caused them to decline, but my family continues to uphold the important traditions and beliefs that our dojo and the martial arts it teaches embody.”

“I see” I replied, for lack of anything better to say. “So if you've got a dojo and combat schools are competition, why are you going to one?”

“Dojos don't teach math,” she replied simply.

“Sounds like a point in their favor, but fair enough,” I said with a shrug. It was hard to tell if that was the actual reason or not, given how reserved she tended to be, but it's not like it was any of my business.

“So, looks like you've got two choices Luce,” Yang interrupted.

“Oh for-”

“Play video games or spar with Hina. What's it gonna be?”

“Ooh, pick the spar! I haven't gotten to see your weapon yet!” Ruby exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement. “I kept forgetting to ask Yang to see the video of your fight, so-”

“First of all, you're missing the third choice of me just walking back into my room, putting on some loud music to drown you out, and getting back to my reading,” I said, holding up a finger.

“Aww,” Ruby groaned in disappointment, her expression one that easily drew comparison to a sad, begging puppy.

“... Which I bring up purely to make a point,” I amended with a defeated sigh. Damn it, I thought. This is why I hate cute things. “I promised I'd fight her at some point anyway, no point in putting off the inevitable.”

Anyone who knew me and happened to be drinking some kind of beverage would have spit it out on hearing those words. “Putting off the inevitable” is a way of life as far as I'm concerned.

Hinata flashed a positively radiant smile for a moment before composing herself again, though I could still tell she was excited. “Perfect. We'll go to the place Yang and I usually hold our spars.”

“Ooh, this should be good,” Yang says with a grin. “Just let me fini- Björn!”

“Should've remembered to paAAAAH!” Björn screamed (in what he'd surely call an extremely manly fashion) as Yang launched herself at him, knocking over the couch (and sending Oscar flying out of his seat and into a wall).

“Awesome!” Ruby declared, completely ignoring her sister pummeling a 6'6” wall of flesh and muscle into frantic apologies not five feet away from her.

“Well, if nothing else the fresh air might help me figure out this word,” Dahlia said, also showing no reaction to Yang's beatdown as she stood up.

“Ow...” Oscar groaned, rubbing the back of his head where it had met the wall. His contribution to the conversation was likewise ignored.

I looked upon the scene and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Is this what the rest of my year is going to be like...?” I whispered to myself.

---

“It's just a little ways up ahead of us,” Yang said, having taken the lead in showing me to the clearing she used as an impromptu training ground. Supposedly it wasn't too far away from Yang and Ruby's house.

“Hmm,” I grunted in response, not trusting myself to speak. I was utterly lost in the beauty and wonder before me.

No, not the forest. It was pretty and all, but nothing that special.

And I thought the view from the front was amazing... I thought.

A huge, meaty arm wrapped around my neck as the literal biggest nerd I'd ever met leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.

“So much for not being a slave to hormones, eh?” he whispered with a grin.

I grabbed his arm and lifted it off of my shoulder. “One, don't touch me. Two, I said I wasn't completely a slave to hormones. I never denied being a straight, adolescent male.”

“Just trying to give you some advice, Lucifer. You may want to put your eyes back in your skull, before it gets you into trouble,” he replied.

“You think she'll get offended?” I asked. “I mean, I figured from the way she acts and stuff that she doesn't mind guys looking...”

He rubbed his chin and adopted a thoughtful look for a moment. “Yeah, she likes the attention so long as you don't get pushy or creepy. But we aren't alone here, and just because Yang won't think less of you for looking doesn't mean you're free and clear,” he said, with a significant glance behind us.

A quick look back showed that Hinata was paying no attention, but Dahlia, walking at her side, was looking at Björn and I with an expression that I hoped was curiosity, but feared was suspicion. Not that I really cared what she thought; unless Yang herself had a problem with it (which she'd shown no sign of), I would maintain that I wasn't doing anything wrong. My only dread was that I'd have to deal with her bugging me about it. But...

Ruby and Oscar were chatting about something and didn't seem to have notice yet, but it hit me that I'd forgotten she was there, and that she was, well, Yang's sister. I have had far too much experience with leering horndogs drooling over a family member to wish that crap on anyone.

“... Just to be clear, I'm only stopping because I don't want to make things awkward for the kid,” I said with a jab of the thumb behind me to Ruby, turning my head back to the front but with my head held high and my vision centered on the back of Yang's head. To be fair, her hair wasn't any less amazing than the rest of her; if I were a girl, I'd definitely ask what products she used. Actually, maybe whoever made them had variants for men? One could hope.

Björn chuckled as he stepped away from me. “Right.”

“Whatever, believe what you want,” I said, shaking my head.

As I was saying that, Dahlia stepped up to my side, opposite Björn. Her arms were laced behind her back, and her body language was clearly trying for 'innocent and cute.' “You two sharing secrets?” she asked. “Or... maybe guy talk?”

“Something like that,” I answered. “We were talking about girls.”

“Whoa, wait-!” Björn sputtered nervously.

“Girls, huh?” Dahlia replied with a tilt of her head, her voice sounding very artificially casual. “Which girls? Maybe...”

“Yang? Obviously. But you know, while she's awesome and all... I'd definitely like to spend time with a fellow intellectual, especially a cute one. Want to hang out sometime? Get to know each other a bit, see if it goes anywhere?” I asked, giving her my best smile.

Dahlia blinked in surprise and stopped walking for a second. Her body language quickly shifted from curious and coy to first surprise, then embarrassment as she quickly glanced over her shoulder and then rapidly turned back to stare straight ahead. She apparently found Yang's back extremely interesting as she answered.

“Um... Sorry, I'm not- I mean, it's flattering, really, but I'm not int- I mean, there's someone I already... uh, you know,” she replied, sounding very uncomfortable.

“Oh. Too bad,” I replied with a slight frown. Just my luck. “Anyone I know?”

“Well, you've seen h-them, but you haven't really... no, you don't,” she said, before almost-but-not-quite running to start chatting with Yang with forced cheer clear in her voice.

Huh. Didn't think it'd be that easy to get her off my back, I thought to myself.

“... Did you seriously just ask out the VP like it was nothing?” Björn asked me, seemingly thunderstruck. “Literally as she was trying to catch you out for staring at Yang Xiao Long's butt?”

“You were there, you tell me,” I said with a roll of my eyes. I hate it when people ask me to recount things they just saw; call it a pet peeve.

“You've got a real pair, Morgenstern,” he said with something approaching respect.

“What, for asking a girl out? We go to school to train to fight hordes of slavering monsters. You've got some weird ideas about what requires 'a pair,'” I shot back.

“Hmph. Rather face down Grimm than girls,” Björn grunted. “Not nearly so complicated. People don't properly appreciate the value of a problem that you can just beat up until it goes away.”

That got a chuckle out of me. “I'll agree on that, at least. I can think of a few problems I'd like to just stab repeatedly until they vanished into smoke.”

“Alright, we're here!” Yang announced.

I looked around. The clearing was fairly large and mostly flat, but... “This definitely wasn't made naturally. Lot of rotted stumps or filled-in pits where they used to be,” I observed. What can I say? I notice things and I like to show it off. Probably why I read so many mystery novels...

The two sisters both got a little embarrassed about that. “Yeah... it kinda started out as this place where I practiced using the trees, and then some trees fell, and some stuff got set on fire...” Yang trailed off. “So Dad and Uncle Qrow just cut down some trees to make this clearing to keep that from happening again.”

Guess we can't all luck into an abandoned lot, I thought, remembering my old training spot.

“Okay, so how do you want to do this?” I asked Hinata as the two of us started walking into the clearing. “Points? Aura level?”

“The latter, I think,” she replied. Once we reached the middle, we faced each other, about ten feet away from each other. “I don't think we'll need any rules other than that, unless you'd like them.”

“I prefer to be light on rules,” I said with a smirk. “And judging from the look on your face, so do you.”

“... What?” she asked, looking surprised.

“That big-ass grin you got the moment I said that,” I pointed out, though I was honestly exaggerating it's size by quite a bit. “You've been looking like a kid in a candy store this whole time, actually. What's up with that? I mean, I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but...”

“I-I don't know what you're talking about,” she denied.

“Yeah, that's convincing,” I scoffed. “Are you just really hard up for good fights around here or something?”

“I told you it's not like that!” she insisted, actually stomping a foot on the ground. “I don't enjoy fighting!”

“You sure about that? 'Cause you've been hounding me for a fight the past two days, and the whole way here you looked like all your dreams were coming true. If that's not a sign you like fighting, I'd like to know what it is,” I said, continuing to press her. She really hadn't been quite as obvious as I was painting it, but hey, who needs to know that?

“It's-!” Hinata began, then cut herself off suddenly, taking a deep calming breath that seemed to travel from her head to her toes. Her entire body seem to change, becoming light and loose.

When she spoke again, her voice was as serene as when she'd first introduced herself to me. “I do not enjoy fighting,” she repeated. “I admit I'm sometimes a little enthusiastic about facing new challenges, but that is not the same thing.”

“You sure about that?” I asked, smirking skeptically.

“Yes,” she replied firmly. Crap. She was starting to get mad again, but not the kind of mad that would be helpful.

“Whatever,” I said, giving up with a shake of my head. Guess riling her up to make her sloppy was out. “End it at 20% Aura?”

“That would be fine,” she agreed.

I turned to our audience of four, standing at the outer edge of the clearing. “Hey, one of you be the ref!” I called out as Hinata and I both took out our Scrolls.

“Got it!” Dahlia called back, fishing out her Scroll and linking it with ours so that she could keep track of our Aura levels, then setting up a countdown. “On three!”

“One!” With a twist of my wrist, the foot-long rod and spearhead attached to my left gauntlet popped free. As I grasped it, it extended out to a five foot short spear with a white shaft, arcane-looking gold designs chasing its length; very thin golden thread extended from the spear's butt and attached to a spool on the back of the gauntlet's wrist. Just beneath the spearhead, a revolver-like mechanism spun four small golden capsules around until it locked suddenly.

“Two!” With a flourish, Hinata pulled two red tonfa from her sleeves and gave them a twirl.

Fast. Versatile. Good for offense and defense. Possibly short range only, I thought to myself, my thoughts quickening as my focus sharpened. My heartbeat began to quicken, body tensing in anticipation.

“Three!”

Immediately I made the first move, charging with my spear and activating a second Dust mechanism located at the butt of the spear, which fired a burst of Dust specifically meant to launch me forward at high speed.

I closed the gap in an instant, but Hinata dodged aside easily, with a minimum of movement. I could tell as I passed that she was could turn all the way around with that motion and attack me from behind when I stopped.

So rather than stop, I kept going, firing another burst of Dust to propel myself onward. I heard a sound like a shotgun going off behind me and fired the spear once again, this time to launch myself up into the air, seeing a projectile like a firework blast the ground where I'd been and create a small, fiery explosion.

As I grabbed a low-hanging branch and hoisted myself up and around to face Hinata again, a smirk crossed my face as a thought occurred to me.

As Hinata flipped her tonfa around so that the long ends were pointed at me, revealing barrels like those in a gun, I lifted up a hand in a “stop” gesture. “Hold on a second there!” I called out.

Surprised and confused at the sudden command, she obeyed.

“Those projectiles... Burn Dust? You don't want to use them on me again,” I announced.

“And why is that?” she asked.

With a triumphant grin, I tapped the bark of the branch I was standing on with a boot. “These trees are why. They're fairly close together, and there's plenty of dead wood around here. You throw those around willy-nilly, and this whole place might go up in flames. Can't imagine we won't get in some trouble for that.”

She frowned, but switched her weapons back into their normal position guarding her forearms. “Then come back down here so we can continue this.”

“Hmm...” I hummed, pretending to consider it. “Nah. How about you come up here, so I can have the upper hand? Or, you know, we could just call this a draw and end the fight here. You're the one who wanted it so badly, after all. I'm fine either way.”

“Oh come on, Lucifer! Just get down there and fight already!” Yang called out.

“Don't you think you're going too far for a simple spar?” Dahlia asked, crossing her arms and looking disapproving.

“No, I don't!” I retorted. “If she didn't want me to fight this strategically, she shouldn't have claimed this fight wouldn't have any rules! Now come on, two options: pick one.”

“I choose option three,” Hinata replied ominously.

My immediate response was, Oh shit. More helpfully, I readied my spear and activated shifted the barrels just below to spearhead to a different position.

My first guess was that she might risk firing her explosives at me after all, but instead she did something much worse: she started glowing. Her body suffused itself with the riotous reds and golds of the sunrise, bright enough that my eyes squinted a little bit on reflex. Never a good sign.

Almost too fast for me to see, she took off like a bullet for the tree and with just one powerful, backhanded strike she cleaved right through the thick trunk of the tree.

“Ah!” I yelped, jumping to the next tree over just as the first one started falling, quickly turning back toward her with my spear at the ready to counterattack.

Which turned out to be a very good idea, as Hinata had launched herself at me like a bullet.

A glowing white glyph in the shape of a pentagram – a five-pointed star inside of a circle – formed at the very tip of the spear. Activating my spear's active Dust cartridge, the glyph flashed red and from its center shot a laser, slamming square into Hinata and knocking her straight into the ground.

Unfortunately, it barely even seemed to faze her, and before I could line up another shot she recovered, charged forward and smashed through the trunk of the second tree just as easily as she had the first. Lacking a nearby branch that could hold my weight, I followed the tree down until just before it hit, when I jumped and rolled away from it and readied for a renewed attack.

When I had line of sight with her again, I saw that I'd gotten a stroke of luck. The glow that had suffused her body had faded, and it left her panting with exertion. On the other hand, I was away from the trees now; my defense from her ranged attacks was gone.

We stared each other down for a moment, giving each of us a chance to catch our breath, and allowed me to process this new information. I get hit while that Semblance is up and it's over, I thought. But she's got some kinda limit. What is it? Time limit? Takes too much outta her? Screw it, can't tell. What's my strategy here? Duh, spear.

I twisted my grip on the spear in a particular way, which caused it to grow even longer, now reaching a full length of eight feet long. I switched from the one-handed grip I'd been using, placing both hands on the spear. I've got reach. If I can keep her from closing...

She broke the stalemate first, rushing forward with her tonfa spinning. I met the first attack with a swing of my spear before she could get close enough to attack me, forcing her to stop and bring up one arm to block. She brought up the other to fire, but I swung my spear the other way, knocking her tonfa off-target with the butt of the spear. Her explosive shot off at the ground ten feet away.

She pressed the attack, continuously stepping forward as she struck, forcing me to back up and block with my spear, leaving her other hand free to try to shoot me again, and I had to either dodge or quickly counter.

Soon she was using more than just her tonfa. She wheeled around with a high kick aimed at my head. When I blocked, she used the shift in momentum from that to spin around and kick me in the chin from below. My head spun for a moment from the impact.

She took full advantage and pressed the attack, closing in to melee range and raining blows. Unable to use my spear well at this range, I used the armor on my arms to block her attacks as well as the shaft of the spear, but even then she managed to land several of her attacks, each of which were hitting hard.

As she drove a tonfa hard into my gut, I found myself forced back, one hand losing its grip on the spear entirely as my arms were forced away from my body by the impact. I only kept from falling over by planting one foot firmly behind the rest of my body. She quickly rushed into her range again, where I was unable to effectively defend with my weapon. I saw a grin of what could be called savage triumph as she made ready for another attack. I grit my teeth.

My free hand grabbed the spear again; not by the shaft, but by the spearhead. As this happened, the spear's Dust mechanism shifted again. Then, I brought my arms back to my body.

“Ah!” Hinata cried out in surprise, as I used the spear to crush her body to mine, making sure that the spearhead was pressed flush against her back, trapping her.

Storm Dust activated, the spear becoming charged with powerful electricity. Hinata cried out again, this time pained rather than surprised. Some of the charge was going to me, of course, but I grit my teeth and bore it, tightening my grip and making sure there was no escape as the bulk of the electricity poured right into her. Her cries turned to screams and her body started to spasm. Another second or two, and I'd turn it off and...

Unfortunately, she wasn't patient enough for that. Or maybe her weapon went off on its own. Either way, an explosion of Dust ignited at our feet, blowing us both apart in a ball of fire and deafening sound. I landed front-first on flat ground, feeling for just a moment nothing so much as one big ball of bruises and burns.

With a groan over the already-fading pain, I grabbed blindly for my spear for a moment as I drew myself up onto my hands and knees. With a shake of the head, I cleared out the last lingering remnants of the blast, silencing the faint ringing in my ears and restoring my slightly blurry vision, and used my spear to drag myself back up to my feet as quickly as possible.

Across from me, Hinata was just getting up herself, still a little unsteady on her feet. She met her eyes with mine and blinked. If I were sporting, I'd give her a second to collect herself. Instead, I spent that second shifting to a Dust type that I hadn't expended yet, and pointed my spear.

It turned out to be a good idea, since that same bright light as before started to flare up around her, indicating that I needed to end this now. A five-pointed star appeared at the tip of the spear again as my Semblance activated.

Hinata dodged the green laser by side-stepping it, so quick I had trouble seeing it. But when it hit the ground, it exploded with a wave of concussive force that knocked her forward, allowing me to line up another shot, ready to hit her square in the chest while she was still in mid-air. Her eyes widened as she saw what was about to happen... and then she threw one of her tonfa at me.

I narrowly dodged getting struck right in the head. Avoiding the urge to continue following it with my eyes, I turned back to the real threat just in time to see her rushing in for the attack. I blindly fired another laser.

Luckily, my spear was still pointing in her general direction, so it still clipped her. Unfortunately, the resulting shockwave was close enough to hit me, knocking me just a few inches into the air just as a screaming fireball rushed out at me.

My last thought before everything turned into fire was suitably pithy and intelligent.

Oh shit.

---

“Ugh, my eyes still hurt,” I said, rubbing them as though I was trying to wake up.

“Sorry about that,” Hinata said sheepishly. “I didn't really have much chance to aim it before I fired.”

“Don't feel bad about it Hina, he's just bringing it up because he lost,” Yang said with a grin.

“The hell I did. You heard the ref here call it,” I said, jerking a thumb at Dahlia, who was once again trying to figure out her crossword. “I got her below 20% first, so I win.”

“That was the ruling of the referee,” Dahlia agreed distractedly.

“Kinda hard to call it a win when you ended up passing out on the ground,” Yang points out.

“Technicalities,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand.

“What, like how there was technically no rule against sitting up in the trees for an advantage?” Ruby asked.

I rolled my eyes. “That's not even worth being called a technicality. 'No rules' means no rules, and it's stupid to think I was going to play by rules that weren't there.”

“And I get that, but that's not the point,” Yang said with a sigh. “It was a spar for fun, Lucifer. There wasn't any grade or anything. It was just you two duking it out, you know?”

“So you're saying I should have kept to the spirit of the thing?” I asked.

“Yeah, that!” Yang said, pointing at me.

“Well, screw that,” I replied. “If you guys wanted me to fight like a stooge with no understanding of strategy, you should have specified that.”

“Ugh,” Yang grunted in disgust, shaking her head. “Forget it.”

“Already did.”

“Mom, dad, please don't fight,” Oscar mumbled under his breath on the other end of the couch, too quiet for anyone but me to hear it, a sly smirk on his face.

“It's not worth getting worked up about, Yang,” Hinata said serenely. “I did say there would be no rules. There's no point being annoyed because he took me at my word.”

“I guess.”

“Not like it amounted to much anyway, with that bullshit Semblance,” I complained. “What the hell was that, anyway?”

“If I explain my Semblance, will you do the same for yours?” Hinata asked with a smile.

“Heh. You're catching on,” I said, a little impressed. The sound of a gunshot ruined the moment.

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed as her kill count went up. “Take that, Lucifer!”

As I saw my character's head explode in a shower of gore, I just lifted an eyebrow. “How the hell are you doing that without a scope?”

“I've got good eyes,” Ruby replied simply.

“They are really pretty...” Oscar mumbled, once again low enough that I was the only one close enough to hear. Obviously, I did the right thing and immediately took advantage of it.

“What was that you said about her eyes, Oscar?” I asked loudly. “I didn't catch that.”

Oscar's own doe-brown eyes widened as he froze like... well, a deer in the headlights. “I uh... I said they're very... sharp! Yes. Very sharp eyes, good at... seeing stuff,” he fumbled out.

“Aw, don't be embarrassed, Oscar,” Yang said, hooking her arm around Ruby's neck and pulling her to her, drawing a squawk of protest from her little sister. “There's no shame in thinking her eyes are the most beautiful things ever.”

“Yang! Let go! Quit it!” Ruby yelled ,flailing wildly to no avail, blushing furiously.

“They're such a pretty shade of silver!” Yang cooed as she poked Ruby's cheek with a finger from her free hand, now clearly deliberately messing with her.

I looked across from me at Björn and caught his eye, then looked out the corner of my eye at the game, now neglected in favor of watching the sibling squabble that descended into an actual fight as Ruby socked her older sister in the face.

Björn's face broke out into a wide grin as he caught on.

We got our asses kicked by Yang for it, but we each racked up half a dozen kills before they caught on, so I'd say it was worth it.

---

AN: Holy sh*t it has been way too long since I've updated this.

Also, for those not in the know, a tonfa is essentially a stick with a perpendicular handle that you grasp so that the stick covers your forearms. This lets you block or strike without hurting your forearms. You can also flip it so that the longer part is facing outward and use that to strike or thrust, and some martial arts teach you to grab it by the shaft and use the handle to hook a weapon and disarm an opponent. It's a very simple but versatile weapon, usually wielded in pairs. Of course, Hinata's variant is a bit more complicated, since it's able to fire projectiles from the longer end.

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The LGHT of My Soul

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