I don't really pay attention to author names, Also I think I saw it on spacebattles, don't really remember.
The only thing I can find is a crossover between Worm, TZK and the Lightbringer series, oddly enough- aside from that, no, nothing like what you're describing.
I'm gonna just assume that you're remembering my own work and let that soothe my blood pressure somewhat.
What were the other options he could have rolled for? Also, how bad would the mugging that started the quest have gone for those poor, dumb kids with Aberration!Jaune?
Offhand, I think I had six set up. So, alternate dimension access, that's the one in the chapter, possession, literally eating someone's soul then puppetting their bodies around, with the option later of mutating them into horrific monstrosities, minion creation, which is essentially possession but cutting out the need for a body at a higher cost, biological manipulation a la Lee, and a final one that was simply labelled as 'spatial implosion.'
I want to say that sounds like it does exactly what it says on the tin, but honestly, I couldn't tell you.
Has he considered a sheath?
Do you know how much leather you would need to make a sheath for the Transistor?
One. One whole cow.
That's a lot of cow for one sword, and it would still be
floating. You have to remember that, as a physical object, handle included, it's about as tall as Jaune. And about as wide, if you look at it from the flat side.
Anyway, time for sad. Late sad. Because I realised too late that I'd forgotten to plan out Ada's backstory as a full update, so this was kind of written on the spot, then Boriah happened and I had to rewrite the entire last section of the flashback about four times because that asshat seems to bring out the absolute worst in me as a writer
and as a person.
... It's-
Jesus Christ- it's sadlibbing. That's what this is.
But seriously though avoid the last flashback part if you're feeling squeamish-
It feels like it takes days to think of something to say, but in reality, you know no more than thirty seconds have passed.
-It sounds like you've been holding this in for a while now. Would you like to call me instead of texting?-
{Ok, ok, good start. Why do you want to call her, though?}
"Less chance to start thinking too hard about what she's telling me."
{... I see.}
A few moments pass, edging into a minute without a response, long enough to make you wonder if you'd said the wrong thing, but eventually, your Scroll vibrates, the caller ID showing her name. You answer the call to the sound of a deep, shuddering breath, stuttered by the odd hiccup.
"... Jaune?" Ada whispers through the connection in a shaky, hoarse voice, waiting for a response, the following silence only broken by the odd snuffle and hiccup.
{She sounds like she's been crying.}
"I'm here." You reassure her.
"... I-I'm sorry, I know that it's l-late, and you're probably tired, b-but I just thought you should have a-a reason for why I broke down earlier, and I just- I don't know what to do, or where to start, or what to say, I-I don't..." She babbles, stopping and starting several times before she just trails off, a sound of frustration the only end that sentence sees.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's ok, I wasn't sleeping anyway." You quickly do your best to placate her. "Just take your time."
"... Ok. Can... sh-should I start from the beginning?"
"Of c-"You almost say 'of course,' but bite your tongue just in time. No need to condescend. "Tell me whatever you want to. I'm not going anywhere."
You hear her gulp, sniffle, and make no attempt to urge her into speaking before she's ready.
"Do you, do you know about... Bridge?"
"Yeah."
"... I was there. I l-lived there, before... Lee."
You feel your heart drop into your feet as what she says sinks in.
{... Holy shit. She survived
Bridge?}
"... I see. Is that what you wanted to talk about?" You ask her, keeping your voice as neutral as possible.
"Uh huh. I-I was… I would have been t-ten years old..."
|||
Once upon a time, there was a town called Bridge. It lay outside the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo both, and yet both strived to protect it as best they could. See, Bridge was a very important town- on the road between the two kingdoms, it lay exactly the same distance between both of them, and made for a wonderful point of trade and rest for travellers. Not enough to flourish into a kingdom of its own right, barely enough to justify the train station, to be honest with you, but enough that the townsfolk lived comfortably for a village awash in a sea of Grimm, the safe harbours of the kingdoms so close, yet so far.
Ada Doyle loved Bridge. It was her home for the first ten years of her life, after all, home for her, home for her mother, and home for her father.
She loved her parents too. When somebody treats you like the light of their lives, it's hard not to feel the same way.
Her father was a quiet giant. Despite his size, towering above everyone else in the town, bulky enough to lift her onto his shoulders without so much as a grunt of discomfort, he was gentle. Gruff, but gentle. He would tell her stories of his hunts, never mincing his words, only censoring the coarser language he and his team were prone to, and through these stories, she learned to be wary of the Grimm. But as long as he was around, she would never be afraid of them.
Her mother was always so happy, and so loud, and just so happy to be loud- as if it was where she got her endless energy from. She loved sending her daughter on little chores, framing them as grand adventures to capture her imagination in a way her father never tried to- suddenly, going to grab bread or milk or eggs or her mother's medicine seemed like so much more than that. They were important. Well, more important. Important enough and grand enough that she could let her imagination get carried away in the fantasies for a while.
It was on one of these little quests of hers that she ran into the man who would ruin her life.
Literally, ran into him. She looked up, and took the hand he offered her, taking him in as best she could.
He was absolutely rail thin, with wild, blond hair that easily reached his waist, framing the ribs poking out from his open shirt, the buttons long gone. His face was equally gaunt- as if something had removed every ounce of muscle and fat from the man's body, and stretched paper-thin sheets of ivory over the skeleton. Despite the sharpness of his features, he managed a warm smile as he helped her up.
"Sorry!" She said, trying to sound at least somewhat apologetic to the man.
"It's quite alright. What's got you running around, little girl?" He asked, crouching down to meet her eyes.
"I'm getting medicine for my mom!"
"Oh dear. Whatever for?" He asked, eyebrows knitting together in concern.
"I dunno why she takes it, but she says she's running out, so she's sending me to get more!"
The thin man blinks a couple times, before chuckling through his nose.
"I take it that you're going to the doctor, then?"
"Uh huh! Why, do you need a doctor too?"
Concern took Ada by storm in that moment- what if he did need a doctor? What if he collapsed? He might look like skin and bone, but she still didn't think she could carry him...
She was brought out of her thoughts by the man's laughter, waving off her concern.
"No, no, but I would like to meet them regardless. Would you mind showing me the way?"
... Well... if she's going that way anyway... but her mother always told her not to talk to strangers...
But she's been doing that already. And he's only asking for help anyway...
"Sure!"
She took him by the hand and led him on.
"I'm Ada! What's your name, mister?" She asked as they walked along, the man easily keeping pace with her tiny legs.
"I'm Boriah. It's lovely to meet you, Ada."
|||
Boriah Lee, as far as the villagers of Bridge were concerned, was the best thing since Dust. Doctor Mul did her best, but she was no surgeon- medicinal solutions were her first and last lines of defence against disease and injury. So a man who could open you up and fix your problems without spilling a drop of blood or letting you feel a thing while he did it was as good as godsent to them. Pinched nerves were fixed, failing organs beat back into working order, broken bones put together like puzzles...
At times, his work seemed less like operations and more like an artist working with clay.
He fixed Nella Doyle's heart, halted its slow crusade to kill her. The family celebrated by throwing her nitroglycerin pills into the river.
On a completely unrelated note, they had fish for dinner that night.
A team of three became a team of four again, and the Grimm found it almost impossible to come near the village now.
It was on a clear, sunny day like the first time she met Boriah that Ada was walking through the woods as she was wont to, and saw him doing something very odd.
Sitting in a clearing in the forest, sequestered behind a tree, she watched him with curiosity as he sat there, cross-legged, arms resting on his knees. He placed his hands in front of his legs, gently lifting himself off the ground with only his fingertips, before unwrapping his legs and slowly flipping over, bringing them above his head until he achieved a full ten-finger handstand. Then five. Then three. Then one.
The tiny girl almost involuntarily uttered a sound of mild awe at the display.
"Hello, Ada," Boriah called out, drawing a much more panicked squeak from her. "Come on out, pet, I know you're there."
Realising she'd been caught, Ada sheepishly stepped out from behind the tree as he righted himself.
"What are you doing out in the forest by yourself?" He asked her, head gently tilting to the side with the question.
She shuffled from side to side, somewhat uncomfortable with the attention she was being given. She didn't understand why- Mr Lee was a perfectly nice man, he was just so...
Intense.
"Um... I was walking around. I-it's safe this close to the village, right?"
"... True. Since you're here, would you mind if I, ah, ask you a few questions? I could use a second opinion on some things that have been bothering me."
Not sure what to say, she simply nodded her head, unsure where the doctor was going with this. She walked over and sat down with him as he took up the lotus position again.
"How did you know it was me?" She asked before he said anything.
"I felt your heartbeat through the ground," Boriah told her, smile widening a little at the look of suspicion she gave him. "now, tell me, dear, you know what Aura is, yes?"
"Um…" Ada frowned for a moment before remembering her father's stories. "Oh, it's that thing Hunters use, right? Like my dad?"
"And like me. Now, do you know what Semblances are?"
She frowned, knowing the word, but not quite remembering much of her father's explanation.
"Uh... they're like, a superpower or something?" She guessed.
"A Semblance is the power of the soul manifest. Your father has his black iron skin, I have my fleshsculpting, and so on. Some are similar, but no two are exactly the same. Like people themselves." He continued, lifting himself onto a single pinky as if to prove his point. "But, yes, I suppose calling them superpowers would be rather apt."
Ada nodded, the lightbulb ticking on in her head.
"Now, if I told you that Semblances tend to be based on part of a person's personality, would you believe me?"
She thought about it for a moment. Her father's iron skin... fit, she supposed. He always tried to be strong, even when things weren't so good. She'd heard the story of the day she was born.
But then...
"... What about you? What part of you is your Semblance from?" She turned to ask him.
"See, that's... part of my problem. I don't know. If it came from a wish to heal people, why would I get something that requires me to be so... hands on? It's such a versatile but still so incredibly specific Semblance that... I don't think I could pin it down to one thing."
She considered that, nodding slowly as she did.
"But then I started thinking- are Semblances connected to people's personalities?"
Ada frowned, knitting her brows in confusion. If Semblances aren't defined by people's personalities, then why would they fit them so well? But at the same time… what does that say about Mr Lee?
And how would you even test that kind of thing? You can't… force people to be a certain way.
Can you?
"But if the way someone is isn't what chooses their Semblance, then…" She tried to vocalize her thoughts, trailing off in a moment of doubt.
"Then what is? Well… that's just the question, dear."
Ada looked at the man, and for once saw something other than a slightly content smile on his face. His face had taken on a much darker expression, one that spoke of frustration with questions he couldn't find the answer to, no matter how much he tried, and for a moment, she kinda felt sorry for him.
They stayed silent for a few moments longer before she couldn't take it anymore and just asked a question to break it.
"How did you discover your Semblance?"
Boriah laughed, quickly waving her off before she could take offence.
"Ha- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I'm just… that's a question with a very long, very bloody answer, and I dread to think what your mother would do to me if I answered it. I'll tell you when you're older, pet."
She huffed a little in frustration but understood his reasoning.
… Her mom was scary sometimes.
Ada squinted as a light breeze blew through the clearing, shifting enough branches to allow the sun through the trees, blinding her for a moment.
"... Mm. The sun's getting low. We should get back to the village soon. Though… one last question, before we do?"
"Uh huh?" The younger of the two said, curious about his request.
"If something disgusts you, something that repulses you in every fibre of your being, but completely constant in your life, should you just accept it, or try to… eliminate the root cause?"
"... What?" She asked bluntly.
"Perhaps an analogy will help. Imagine… finding a dead rat on your carpet. Imagine the stench, that foul smell of meat and rot, burning your nose, catching in the back of your throat, you'd get rid of it, no? Now imagine that, somehow, an entire family of rats died crawled into the walls of your house and died. The smell would slowly permeate throughout your house, reaching every little nook and cranny, forcing you to live with it, unless you wanted to knock the wall down, pipes and wires and all, to get rid of them. Would you go through all that trouble to get rid of a nasty stench, or would you just…hope that one day, you'll become used to the smell?"
Ada frowned deeply, not entirely understanding the question. She had no idea what he could be referring to with
"... I... guess… I would at least try to clear them out before I gave up? But then you'd have to fix the wall... that's a weird question, mister Lee."
"But an important one to me."
She frowned, not sure what else she could say to that. Eventually, they got up and walked back to the village, going their separate ways soon after.
Ada didn't admit it until seven years later, but she always wondered if that conversation was some kind of catalyst for Lee.
||| ((Song not recommended for those with anxious tendencies))
Ada whimpered, swiftly clamping her mouth shut as she hid behind the stone wall, trying not to focus on the girl that just died in front of her and wouldn't stop staring as she tried not to be seen or heard. Some traitorous part of her mind tried to convince her that this was all just a dream, and she almost believed it for a moment.
Nella Doyle brought her machete down again, slicing him open from collarbone to groin. The motion pulled flesh with it, essentially sealing the wound as it was made, like cutting into a block of clay.
Lee responded with a quick strike to her own neck, his arms no longer conforming to silly little human notions like bending at predetermined joints, a whole half of his body just snaking past her guard and striking her throat, the other trying its luck with her stomach. Neither impact broke her Aura, but she clutched her throat by reflex anyway, giving him a small respite to pull himself back together.
Roy appeared from somewhere to the left of the scene, rushing forth with the speed and inertia of a train engine, before rearing back, his fist darkening as his Semblance replaced flesh with black iron, and punching Lee through a building. And through the other side.
"Are you ok?" Roy asked his wife, a metallic grinding in his voice like a blender full of ball bearings as his throat fell victim to the ferrous tide. Nella nodded, still wheezing somewhat.
Boriah rose from the dust, body twisted and broken, both just formalities to him as he reached down and pulled one of his earlier corpses apart- Ada had to hold down bile again as she realised it was Dr Mul- patting gobs of meat and bone onto his wounds like he was slathering himself in mud. It melded seamlessly with what was there, and by the time Nella reached him again, screaming her rage out as her Aura flared a deep red, he looked good as new.
Roy turned to where his daughter was hiding, steely eyes fixing on her, trying to ignore the corpse in front of her.
"Ada, run." He told her, brooking no argument.
Before she could even react, though, the horrifying sound of flesh parting like water under the fleshsculptor's hands made itself known. Following it without meaning to, she saw the worst possible outcome of that sound.
Nella's legs twitched as Lee's hand delved deeper into her stomach, moving up under the ribs all the way to the collarbone, lifting her into the air.
"... Hm... you know, I've never actually taken the time to do this- one, two, three, four-" As he counted, she gently rose off his arm, higher into the air with every number. "- nine, ten, eleven, twelve- huh. Women do have the same number of ribs!"
He threw her off, his hand slick with gore as she flopped lifelessly onto the ground.
"If I'd actually believed that tripe about them having one rib more, I might feel lied to."
Nella Doyle did not get up.
Some part of Ada's mind informed her that her mother was dead, and that broke something inside her. Tears joined the spattered blood on her face as she realised this wasn't all some horrifying nightmare. She began to hiccup, her chest and throat tightening up as the world blurred around her, and she found herself crying, any thoughts of running wiped from her mind, all willpower drained from her in that moment, barely enough energy to turn away from the sight.
She heard an Ursa Major in the distance, before realising the sound was coming from her father, watching the blurry colossus sprint towards Boriah with every intention of turning him into a bloody smear on the ground.
Boriah Lee, however, was not only a student of biology, but one of physics as well, and was fully aware of the kind of inertia something like Roy Doyle's black iron body would have, even with Aura helping him. So when he ducked under the punch and slipped behind him, crashing into a nearby wall was the only thing Roy could do, bringing enough rubble down on himself to keep him pinned there for a moment.
"Hello, Ada. Can I tell you a secret?" He said, walking up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.
When all she could do was blubber, he seemed to mind even less than usual.
"The truth is... you were my rats in the wall. And you helped me realise what I should do with the rats in the wall."
"Wh-wh-wha-" She tried to ask him what he meant, but the words kept catching in her throat, refusing to come free.
"Oh, hey, it's ok, pet." He said, sounding genuinely consolatory as he drew her into a bony hug. "See, the truth is... I hate human beings."
She shuddered as she felt something warm seep through the back of her shirt, her chest heaving as she bawled, knowing what was coming next.
"Do you know what humans look like to me?" He continued, ignoring her wailing as best he could. "Meat. Big, fleshy, sacks of meat. All I see is blood rushing through you, your heart beating in your chest, I hear your stomachs gurgling and urine and feces moving through your bladders and bowels, I smell every little pheromone you all give off, testosterone, oestrogen, dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, I see how it makes you all go mad for each other, at each other, just chemicals setting off other chemicals... The Grimm hunt us... because of fucking chemicals."
Ada had calmed down a little by that point, enough to hear what he was saying over her own crying.
She wished she hadn't. She felt a hot breath on the back of her neck, that quickly turned to a high, shuddering, manic cackle, something altogether unhinged in its own way. The sound poured ice water down her back, leaving her to shiver in the lunatic's grip, the way it suddenly cut off not helping at all.
"... But when people die... they stop. The blood stops rushing. The bowels, well, less said, the better, the brains stop giving off those horrible little molecules that cause things like sadness or anger or fear, and suddenly... you become tolerable again. But then I meet people like you, people who are so much more than the meat and the bones and the chemicals... people who deserve to keep going. You're a rare breed, and I feel like I should reward you for it."
She felt Boriah let go of her, there was a rush of air from something moving past her face, and suddenly she couldn't see anything to her left.
She knew pain. She'd broken her legs before, cut herself, burned herself, scrapes and bruises galore, but when the pain of having her eye plucked from her skull hit, it proved itself something so much worse. She heard somebody screaming in pain, a shrill, almost animalistic shriek of agony and loss, and a moment later she realised it was her. She felt something hotter than tears run down her face and realised she was bleeding her own blood.
"How did it go again...?" He muttered to himself, tapping a finger against his lip. "Ah!"
The madman laid a hand on her shoulder, and she watched a light the shade of baked mud surround him.
"For it is in passing we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
As he spoke the words, intoning them with something approaching respect, she felt incredibly warm, the pain fading as it overtook her, some foreign energy invading her body and unlocking something greater than itself inside her.
It made her feel strong. Stronger than she had any reason to, lighting a fire in her, helping her to realise her desire. A pale red, almost pink light overtook her, pushing back the baked clay of Boriah's own light.
"Aura. The light of the soul manifest."
Her desire sharpened, and she realised she wanted nothing more than for him to just
stop
touching her
stop
being there
She watched his hand phase through her shoulder, watched herself scramble away from somewhere outside her own body, the pain and fire and tears and blood all separate, all something not her. Things she could look at, turn over in her head, but not... part of her. Not really.
"Oh, come on, I was being nice!" He said, a sly smile sliding along his face-
-And immediately wiped off by a very angry mother.
Nella Doyle grabbed him by the ankles, easily lifting him off the ground and slamming him into it once, twice, bouncing him off the dirt road with the strength of an angered titan, fists and feet shrouded in crimson beating him into a bloodless paste.
"I! HAVE! NO PATIENCE! FOR MONSTERS! WHO LIE! TO CHILDREN!!" She roared, punctuating each word with another strike, ending it with her machete in the back of his head, pinning him to the road. She watched him for a moment, looking for any sign of movement, a breath, a twitch, any reason to keep going.
When nothing was offered, she shuffled towards her daughter, collapsing to her knees beside her.
"Mom?!"
"H... hey, honey... mommy's- mommy's ok..." Nella said, ignoring the gaping hole in her stomach, the flow stifled by her Aura somewhat. "I just... have to rest... rest my eyes for a minute..."
Ada quickly moved forward, catching her mother before she fell to the ground even further, burying herself in her chest.
"Please stay awake... please, please, don't die, don't, tell me you're gonna be fine, don't leave me-" She babbled, everything her Aura had pushed to the side coming back in force. Warm arms wrapped around her, pulling her close again, and she felt herself calm immensely.
"I'm here. I'm right here." Nella cooed, keeping her daughter close.
Behind them, the sound of rubble shifting and manly, metallic grunting told Ada her father was up.
"Ada? Nella?"
"Dad!" She called out hoarsely, all that crying finally taking its toll on her voice. She heard something else, something shifting, sounds of something moving behind them-
"Nella!"
Ada felt herself flung to the side as her mother moved, her Aura flaring and deflecting her own machete, still stuck in Lee's skull.
"Dew yu unnershtan... hah muh dish huhts?" He slurred, the blade currently bisecting his face keeping him from forming proper words. "Choo bee berfechtly awnesh, nuh tha muh! Mainleh ish jush tha brai' damaj tha' uh cah feel, buh nuh muh elsh... uh thig..."
An iron hand gripped the handle.
"... Aw, cummawn-"
The machete was extracted from its current resting place, and thrown to its owner, while Roy wrapped a hand around the maniac's head.
Nella stumbled towards her daughter again, ignoring Boriah's muffled screaming.
"Ada? Ada, baby, talk to me." She called out, not focusing on where she was going. "Mommy's... having a hard time seeing much right now."
"I-I'm... I'm here, mom." Ada called out, and Nella corrected her course, falling to her knees when she felt her hand touch something.
"Oh, baby, I'm sorry... I didn't stop him in time, I'm so sorry..." She mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes as she saw the worst of her daughter's injuries. Nella grasped for Ada's hands, and when she found one, she pressed the hilt of her blade into the girl's palm. "Take this, and go. Just run, ok? Get onto the road, and don't stop running until you hit the next town over. I promise you, baby, he can't hurt you anymore, ok? Not while I'm here... not... while I can stop him."
Ada started to protest but stopped when she felt a finger touch her lips.
"It's ok. Can I tell you a secret, baby?"
She stood up again, turning towards Boriah's flailing to remove his head from her husband's hand. If she couldn't feel the hole where her torso used to be, and if she could feel anything below the waist, she might have found it almost comical.
"I just used it because it wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise."
|||
"... And... that was... that was the last I saw of them. Any of them." Ada finishes.
"I just got up and ran. I didn't stop until I reached the next town over."
At some point during the story, she had composed herself, falling into this quiet, toneless voice, as if she was giving a lecture, more than anything else.
On the outside, you showed a perfectly neutral face. You kept your breathing under control, you were completely silent until you were sure she'd finished talking, but underneath, you were quietly feeling...
Something.
You can't put words to it- some horrifying mix of tugged heartstrings and sheer
lividness left you wanting to split yourself in half so half of you can hunt down Ada and hug the tiny girl until
stuffing comes out and the other half can punch a hole in your wall to vent stress. Or the stump outside. Or challenge your mother to a midnight spar.
Or just hunt down Lee yourself and
murder that fuck-
{Easy, tiger. Focus on her first, deal with your own feelings later.}
"... I thought I was free. I know I'm never going to be... normal
, but, I didn't have to deal with him anymore, you know?" She continues, snapping out of her lecturing trance, a slight shake coming back into her voice.
"I-I knew he was alive, but he never... never came near Vale. All the stories said he was just, wandering around the roads and towns away from Vale. I don't know if he just... never figured out where I was, or where I went, or if he just doesn't care, and then today I hear he's supposed to be making his way up to the city proper, and I just..."
A rush of static comes through your Scroll's speaker, and you realise she's letting out a shaky breath, trying so desperately to calm herself.
"I'm so scared. I'm so, so scared, because what if he's coming for me?"
You want to tell her so badly that it won't be a problem if he does, because you lost the last qualm you had with killing him somewhere around the description of a girl desperately trying to stem the flow of blood from her neck, and reminding yourself of it only makes you surer in your decision. You want to tell her that he won't touch her again because you'll keep her safe, you, and Creme, and Lumen, and everybody else you can find.
{But that's... not what she's looking to hear. She feels so incredibly vulnerable, but she obviously values her independence, and more than that, her personal strength- I think that's what led to her becoming a Huntress in the first place. She wants to get stronger. If she just wanted a quiet life, there's a thousand other jobs she could do.}
... Ok, but what do you
do with that?
{She's stronger now. We're gonna help her get better. Simple.}
"But... you're stronger now." You venture.
"And you're gonna get stronger."
She laughs humourlessly, more a staggered sigh than any sign of humour.
"Jaune, my father made Boriah's Semblance useless
, and he
couldn't beat him!" She half-yells through the phone, a paradoxically tired hysteria lacing her voice.
"Besides, how am I... how am I gonna get stronger? I'm not a good swordsman, I can't use guns, I can't..." She trails off again.
"I can't stop him."
"I'll help you get stronger."
For a moment, there is only silence, and you wonder if you might have overstepped your boundaries.
"... Why? Why do you care?"
You know damn well why you care, but you glance at your sword anyway, silently asking if that's the right way to go.
{... She hasn't got a good track record for people going up against Lee and, you know,
living. I'd leave that until she's convinced about the idea.}
Ok. You can work with that, you think. You take a deep breath and try to... put the lesser reasons into words.
"Because... you chose to open up to me. I don't, wanna say something stupid like 'I know how hard that must have been for you,' because I don't, but... I can't just sit back and let you deal with this yourself, because you don't deserve that. You don't deserve anything that's happened to you and I can't help you with that, but I can help you with this."
Silence. Again. Worrying if you've said the wrong thing. Again.
"I... I don't know. This sounds like a bad idea, I don't- I don't want you to get hurt."
"That's not-"
{Jaune. Let it go. Leave it for another day. You're both tired, and
you need to sleep. She's vented, she's got it off her chest, and that's the main thing. You can talk to her later.}
"... What? That's not what?"
"... Nothing. I'll... talk to you later. Try and get some sleep, ok?"
"...Ok. Goodnight, Jaune."
"Goodnight, Ada."
"... Thanks. I... I guess I feel a little better, but... it was still nice to get it all out, for once."
You manage a little smile, despite the fact that nobody is around to see it.
"Hey, what are friends for?"
She actually giggles a little.
"Go to bed, you big dope."
Once the call ends for good, what little levity you managed to eke out at the end drains quickly.
You try to take deep breaths, counting to ten, but nothing seems to budge that feeling of rage that's so genuinely
perfect that you're almost in awe at how much you want to rip somebody's head off right now.
{Jaune, I get that you're angry, but you need to calm down before you do something-}
A mental image of one of your sisters in the position of the girl Ada described flashes across your mind, and all you can see is red.
"DAMMIT!"
The word tears itself from your throat as you almost involuntarily slam your fist into the wall next to you, easily punching a hole through it.
{Like... that.}
A moment later, you come to regret it, the sudden burst of lividness leaving as easily as it came.
"JAUNE JULIUS ARC, I HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR WHAT I JUST HEARD." Your mother shouts from between the thin walls, and you wince as you hear her and several other people begin to make their way towards your room.
Repairing wall.
Thanks, Bracket.
A wireframe appears over the hole, and with a flash of light, disappears, fixed completely.
Your mother storms in, fire in her eyes, only to stall as she sees...
something about you. Julia is next, looking like somebody just dragged her out of her grave, Jools right after her, and when nobody else chooses to appear, you decide you can start mumbling apologies.
"Something happened. Didn't it?" Jools asks, and you nod silently, not really feeling up to the task of talking at that precise moment. "... Wanna talk about it?"
"I'm not... sure it's really my problem to talk about. It's just, really personal for somebody else, and I'm not sure it's really something I should be spreading."
"Jaune, that's the loudest I've heard you be since you were a
baby. How... how bad
was it?" Your mother asks, brow furrowing with questions unsaid.
"Pretty... pretty bad. Look, I'll... I'll talk about it in the morning, ok? Right now, I just... want to sleep."
Nodding slightly, your mother shoos your sisters out of the room after they say their goodnights for the second time that night.
{... You ok?}
"... Yeah. I guess."
You lay your head on the pillow, ignoring the dull ache in your wrist, and find yourself entering a sleep deeper and more consuming than any other you've experienced before.
|||
Quest Get!
Kill Boriah Lee.
