The fight starts slowly. Xiao makes probing slashes. Qrow responds in kind with simple sword moves. Both parties are taking the fight seriously. But neither is giving it their all.
Xiao's E.G.O., the aura of draining heat, doesn't seem to be active. Her weapon stays the simple red sword. It still blazes with heat, air rippling around it. But you suspect it's a property of the weapon itself, not anything Xiao is explicitly doing to it.
"Who do you think is going to win? I, myself, believe in my Director. But I don't know much about Qrow's capabilities." Miris asks, and you give the question a once-over.
At this early stage, you can't quite tell. Qrow stands a fair chance against just about any Fixer from the City, if your judgement is correct. But Xiao is no ordinary Fixer. Even as she refrains from exerting her full power, she remains a Section Director of the Liu Association. Section 1, no less. You've not yet seen Qrow fighting at full capacity. Nor have you seen Xiao fight without her E.G.O..
"It could go either way," you finally reply. "But I'm inclined to give it to Xiao."
The moment she breaks out the raging dragon, he's going down hard. But until then, he's got a shot.
Miris nods. And in turn, you have a question for him as well. Something both Xiao and Miris mentioned offhandedly, pertaining to Distortions.
"The White Nights. You said they were after my time. What, exactly, are you talkin' about?"
"The White Nights and Dark Days… a strange event that occurred several months ago. A brilliant light shone over the entire City, from the middle of L Corp's Nest, for three days straight. It was so bright that it even made the night seem like day. And when I saw it…"
Miris pauses, face contorted. It is as if he is struggling putting his thoughts into words.
"...It was as if a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders," he eventually continues. "Like the light had shone into my very soul. And everywhere I looked, on every person's face, I saw a gentle smile. That light seemed to convey a message: that everything would be alright. That there was hope. That maybe, we, as humans, could feel again."
Miris's face takes on one of those same smiles. You're starting to understand what he's talking about, your hopes lifting. Carmen spoke of it so many times. The cure for the disease of the mind. Her description of the execution was always far too metaphorical for your taste, differing seemingly every time. But one thing was always in common: seeds of Light, growing into a great tree. Planting in everyone's hearts and letting them bloom. And it's Miris's next words that clinch it.
"In hindsight, the Light of the Library, which eventually overtook L Corp's Nest, was one and the same."
Because that strange building of books and swords was… well. They clearly knew of Cogito, of that strange 'Lobotomy Corporation'. Their Librarians burst into fluttering pages of that same Light. There's a link there.
You genuinely can't believe that Ayin pulled it off.
Except. Come to think about it, Carmen had been very adamant that the Light shine for seven days straight. Else the seeds could not be planted properly, or something like that. Weak seeds, unable to sprout properly.
"What about the Dark Days?" you ask, already dreading the answer.
Miris's face falls instantly. "After the three days of Light came four days of darkness, so complete that the day seemed to turn to night. And whether it was an effect of the darkness or simply being deprived of the Light, the world seemed more hopeless than ever. Nothing had changed. Nothing would change. And the world despaired…"
He closes his eyes, smooths out his face. "Apologies. After that came the first case of the Distortion Phenomenon, and those at the Seven, Hana, and Zwei Associations believe that week of turbulent emotions to be the cause."
"That bastard," you mutter.
Of course he'd fuck it up. You don't know how, what he was doing with L Corp or hell, much of anything. But you're not surprised that Ayin failed to get the job done. You've no doubt that he tried. If nothing else, the man was dedicated. He would've done his best. But he's no Carmen.
You might be being a little harsh on him.
"You know something?"
You explain, "Think so. Me and a couple others worked in a laboratory in the Outskirts on something called the Seed of Light project. It was meant to help the whole City, break the cycles of endless casual hate, cure some 'disease of the mind' everybody had. Pretty sure that's what… almost happened. Based on your description. I…wasn't around for that.
"Except, if what Carmen said was correct, the Light
really needed to shine for seven days straight. And if it didn't… yeah, I can see where the Distortion problem came from. She warned about that kind of thing happening. Weak hearts and weak seeds."
A thought occurs to you, and suddenly Xiao's whole deal makes sense. "Three days of Light, though… could still be enough, right? That's got to be how it happened. That's how Xiao got her E.G.O.—Psychoment, whatever. Those partial seeds of Light, planting deeper in her heart than most others'. Speaking of which…"
You glance back towards the fight. It's ramped up a fair bit from where it started. Blades moving at speeds that would be a blur to an ordinary person, but perfectly trackable to your eyes. Muscles exerting force that's starting to become deadly. But in practice, both fighters are still half-assing it. Just, well, less.
"...Why isn't she using it? She trying to train herself without it? Too worried about setting everything on fire?"
Miris shakes his head. "None of those. We did some basic testing after being released from the hospital, and it's a strange limitation of Aura. She cannot manifest her E.G.O. without sacrificing the ability to use her Aura. And vice versa."
Huh. If Aura is some 'manifestation of the soul' like the locals believe, then it kind of makes sense that it'd be incompatible with E.G.O., a similar power extracted from the mind. Glynda might've been onto something when she confused the two.
Could also explain why you can't seem to get yours going. Mimicry, for all that it's a fantastic weapon that grants you access to your own E.G.O., is still an E.G.O. by itself. Maybe your connection to it is what's blocking the magical soul-unlocking bullshit from working. Still doesn't explain why all your healing augments stopped working, but it's a start. Maybe if you tried putting it down for awhile… but no. A Fixer's weapon is their livelihood, especially in your case. You know that you'd be much less powerful with a regular sword.
A regular sword with Aura though… The thought remains tempting. You're seriously considering it.
"What's it like, having Aura?" you ask. "Feel stronger? Tougher?"
Miris shrugs, maroon briefly flickering over his form. "I'm glad to have it. I don't feel significantly stronger but I'm certainly more durable. Blows that would wound or cripple merely glance off instead, though I still feel the pain. And of course, the enhanced healing is, frankly speaking, miraculous. Xiao and I should still be in recovery from the wounds we received. Instead, I'm combat-ready enough to battle a 'Huntsman' on par with a section director. And if I understand correctly, I'll be ready to do so again by tomorrow, if necessary. My condolences that you seem unable to harness this Aura."
Yeah… still unpleasant. Knowing that you're dying, with such a convenient source of healing
just out of reach.
"S'fine," you get out. "Never had it in the City. And I did just fine."
The sound of steel rending brings your attention back to the fight. It's Qrow, having been sent flying back towards a shipping container. But rather than slam into it like you expected, his sword reaches it first, tearing through the obstruction and coming to a stop in the ground behind it, leaving just enough space for him to fly through unimpeded. Somehow, he manages the pinpoint landing on the blade's handle, and moments later is back in the fight, flipping over Xiao's forward thrust and slashing at her briefly-exposed back.
Things have ramped up to the point where it's worth paying attention again. And as much as you hate to admit it, you might have underestimated Qrow Branwen.
Xiao, for her part, is no slouch. You'd seen her raging in the forest, and while she'd mostly been relying on raw force, she'd still had the instincts. A practiced stance. And here, in a calmer and more rational frame of mind, she puts that practice into use. She wields her borrowed sword with a sense of ease, applies her impressive strength in effective manner: to parry, to evade and to clash. One can not call her unskilled.
At the same time… Qrow is simply better, by nearly every measure of the word.
He makes combat look like a dance, graceful and lightning quick. He brings his blade about absurdly quickly, even swifter than Xiao's straight sword despite being twice the size and weight. A sense of… fuck, you don't know. Liquid. Fluid. Smooth movement, flowing between strikes and filling the gaps with hard steel, kicks and punches.
You have seen few swordsmen more skilled. The Director of North Seven Association's Section 1, any given stance of the Purple Tear. And others along the same vein: warriors that had devoted their entire combat style towards mastering their blade, able to use it in every circumstance. Better than Argalia and definitely better than his sister. The fact that you're even speaking of Qrow in the same
sentence as these swordsmen and women—that's really saying something.
You'd seen a taste of it during your fight earlier, but couldn't appreciate it until now. Xiao's raw strength allows her to hold her own. And you imagine, if she were to manifest her E.G.O., the power boost, combined with the ridiculous heat, would easily give her the edge.
By that same logic, you could still beat him. Sheer power tends to render skill irrelevant. He'd dart around, sure, biting at you like an annoying horsefly. That bird power, in particular, might be problematic. But you'd crush him eventually.
Blades clash again and again. And slowly, surely, you see Xiao lose.
One final downward scythe strike catches the ex-director from behind, as she turns too slowly to catch Qrow's rapid repositioning. And with a flicker and a shatter of soul-stuff, the fight is over. Qrow retreats, sweat pouring down his brow.
You feel the faintest whiff of superheated air. Xiao's sword catches fire in earnest, then extinguishes itself a moment later. The faint image of her E.G.O. appears around her, then vanishes like a mirage.
All told, even after clearly bringing Qrow to the brink of exhaustion, she looks ready to go another round. That Aura stuff is truly bullshit. If you could learn to use it in conjunction with your E.G.O., the same way Xiao shows is possible…
You'd go give those Librarians a piece of your mind, for one. Maybe you could even give Iori a run for her money.
Xiao walks towards you and Miris, frowning in disappointment at her own loss. Miris offers her a few words of consolement, before the pair of them turn to you. Qrow follows up not long afterward, looking more composed.
"That was a darned good showing. You Fixers are machines. 'Specially since you can keep on fighting without Aura—wouldn't look forward to taking you down. Glynda's made a pair of monsters."
Xiao accepts the praise with a simple nod, before directing a question at you.
"Kali. If you don't mind sharing, what do you plan on doing in the near future, here on Remnant? Miris and I will likely be staying in Vale for a month or so, accepting Glynda's generous offer of work and passing down news of other Citydwellers, before setting out to search the world ourselves. I was hoping we could coordinate."
Qrow steps in: "Yeah, I've got sort of a messaging system involving specific mailboxes and drop-off points, since long-distance communications are otherwise off the table. I can let you fellows in on it, give you some information that way as I travel abroad. Remember what we talked about, yesterday? I can help you out, but you'd better decide now."
You do. Solutions for your problem, each one pointing towards one of the Kingdoms of Remnant.
[ ] Mistral. Home of ancient myths and magic, and artifacts of vague power. You have no clue if anything here will help you survive, but Qrow seems to think so. He's also heading in this direction, though Mr. 'I can turn into a bird' is almost certainly going to be faster than you.
[ ] Atlas. The city above the world, with the most advanced technology. Pseudo-Singularities, but a strict military structure. And presumably, the general snootiness of Nests and Nestborn. For a more 'sciencey' approach, this is apparently your best bet.
[ ] Vacuo. …As far as you know, there isn't actually much going for you here?
[ ] Vale You're not going to stay here.
[ ] Write-in. It'd better be good.
A/N: hahahaha oh right actually writing a Quest, as opposed to just doing outlines of fic ideas what an amazing concept maybe I should get on that update schedule what update schedule don't look at me like that
Jokes aside, I honestly kind of just… got sidetracked on this. I had about 1/3rd of it written out two months ago, just had to get the rest of it done. And then I didn't until quite recently.
And yeah that's about it. Got questions? Ask.
On a completely unrelated note, may I recommend you all a
shockingly good fic?
It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights) Crossover | Sufficient Velocity
If you know anything about Turbulence Office, you'll know that it is definitely the Library of Ruina mod of all time. You wouldn't expect it to be the subject of a weirdly good Arknights cross. But what do you know, this is the world we live in, and
@thenew has created something very nice. Even though I know none of the Arknights characters, nor any of the Turbulence Office ones aside from a brief scan of their Credenza pages, it remains engaging with character work and prose I enjoy and appreciate.
Seriously. For all that it's based on a meme of a —I mean, a completely functional and non-weird mod, if you like reading about the Red Mist in KaliQuest, you'll love reading about the Steel Determination in It's Turbin' Time.
