Alright, I know what I said last time, but I'm making another change. After this chapter, KoWaB will be going on a brief hiatus. I haven't run out of ideas or am having struggles at all. The problem is I'm far behind in main story VotA, and seriously need to catch up. And I can't do that if I'm working on two stories at once. So after today, I'll solely be working on VotA for the time being and get the chapters out quickly as possible. Sorry, but it has to be done. KoWaB will make It's return soon enough. So with that, let's begin the chapter.

Of Regroupings and Heated Discussions

«»

The streets were silent. Eerily silent. Maybe that was because I was filtering out all the casual chatter and happenings while being in a focused "Alert Mode", but it was for good reason.

Quinn and the Midnight Huntsman… Those two aren't a great combo. Quinn herself won't be a problem for me, but she's a sharp one. She's likely gotten used to the "style" I showed her, so that means I'm going to have to change it up a bit next time we meet.

The Midnight Huntsman… He's definitely leagues above her. It's like he's thinking steps ahead and mapped out a list of potential happenings throughout the fight in just a short time.

It's like fighting me. But with a different set of skills and a vastly different personality. He's going to be trouble.

Damn… I can only imagine if that pair and that dragon masked bastard got together to take me on… Shit would hit the fan quicker than I can say "Uno!". And trust me, I can say it very quickly.

Quinn isn't a priority for me compared to the other two, but she's a priority when concerning Anoel, Ly, and Ray.

…

Should I be concerned about her trying to attack Anoel's team? It'd be really bad luck if she got into it with Ezdeil, but I feel like she's smart enough to avoid that. So that only leaves Kitsuki and Arex as two potentials that she might alternately go after if she's desperate enough.

But her main goal is Ray. I haven't exactly a clue as to why, but frankly, I don't care. She's a threat to them, and my job is to eliminate her if I get the chance.

Quinn got very lucky. Either the Midnight Huntsman was in the area and decided to help her out, or he was seeking her out before hand. Either way, I'll need to take into consideration a potential intervention from that man in the future.

Right… Let's see…

I looked to my gps to take in the route, making sure I was going the right way. I've never been to this part of Vale before, so I haven't mentally mapped this area out. Until now that is.

…

Thinking about it now, Shades was kind enough to give me the address. He might've just kidnapped them for all I know, and I might just be walking into a trap. If it is one, well…

He's probably going to sleep forever. As in the sleep of sleeps. Death. Finality.

Etcétera, etcétera.

I noticed the ping on my Holoscroll, glancing to the lavish hotel in front of me a few meters away.

The dot says the location is there.

Wow. This place was really fancy. Lylac lives here? How much does she pay for this damn place? Just looking at it reminds me more of me needing to figure out a suitable source of income.

Damn I'm useless when it comes to these things!

…

Not really though. I just need to find something to my liking and ability.

Anyway, fancy hotel. Must enter.

Or so I thought.

I heard a loud "bang" and felt something tap my head, like a rain droplet on a mildly rainy day. But when I stuck out my hand, I didn't feel any rain. I thought that something crashed nearby, but…

I touched my forehead at last, feeling around until I felt a small, circular object at the center.

A bullet.

Broke through the skin, but stopped right at the skull. Impact was hard enough to crush the bullet, which made it hard to try and pry the chunk of metal out with my fingers.

Damn it, who's the idiot that shot me?

I looked up towards the hotel and looked further up to a balcony high above, spotting my would be murderer. Instead of taking another shot, she ran back inside to the hotel when she noticed I spotted her.

Smart. If I could take the bullet out of my head, I'd have thrown it right back and "sniped" her instead.

If that's one of the team's, then she's a jumpy shooter and not really good at her job.

Honestly, ask before you shoot moron.

I walked on like nothing happened and stepped through the sliding doors of the hotel, noticing the fanciness of the hotel lobby.

If I thought the outside looked nice, then this place was definitely way out of my pay grade.

"Good evening sir, how can I-"

The desk worker greeting me gasped in shock and looked at me with terrified eyes.

…

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the bullet.

"No need to help me out. I know where I'm going."

She just stood there, confusion and terror stuck on her face as I called the elevator down and waited. A couple stepped out before me, gasping with equal surprise as they rushed past me to get the hell out.

You know, now that I think about it, this is pretty unnatural to see huh? I mean, you don't see many people, if at all, walking around with bullets lodged in their heads. For me though? Just another nuisance to my day that really wasn't worth paying attention to really.

I hummed in tune with the jazzy elevator theme until it came to a stop and the doors opened towards a large floor with a long hallway that lead to a single door.

"You have arrived at your destination." Notified the feminine, mechanical voice of my gps app.

I keep forgetting to turn the voice off…

…

…

Six signatures inside. Two faint, Anoel and Ray. One of the others Lylac, the other possibly the person who shot me.

And the other without mistake was Inuba's.

I've always kind of liked how her Aura Signature shined so brightly...

…

Arex was here too? No, that shouldn't be a surprise. If Anoel was going to be injured, it would only make sense her little sister would be notified and come running. That's kind of dangerous though. If Arex was a potential target, she could've been attacked or killed by someone else on her way here, or worse, captured. Then potentially tortured and then killed.

Anyway, reckless behavior.

Right right, need to go inside, focus on complaints later.

I knocked on the door twice, and waited for a few brief moments, seeing Lylac open the door moments later.

"I see you met Seyda."

"Oh yeah, we had a nice cup of tea before she shot me in the head."

I calmly stated with a hint of bitterness in my tone.

I may not be able to die from crap like that, much less feel the pain from it, but it's still annoying to deal with.

"She's nervous and has a trigger finger, so I wouldn't worry about her doing anything else." Lylac explained.

"Yeah, but if it was someone else, they'd be dead. So, here's me formally lodging a complaint about your trigger-happy co-worker or whatever."

"Save it for Ray. They work for him, not me. But that brings us to the important subject here."

There was a pause after Lylac spoke, with her giving me a very serious look.

"Did you do it?"

…

What do I say? What to tell her? I wounded her only for her to escape? Or do I tell her the whole truth?

…

Gah, I hate lying anyway...

"Like a bolt from the blue, the Midnight Huntsmen showed up and saved her ass before I could finish her with the technique I cooked up. He just… vanished along with her."

A long-winded sigh left Ly's mouth before she responded.

"That… complicates things… You think they're working together?" She asked me.

"Not sure yet. Quinn seemed more surprised than anything when he showed up and retreated with her in tow. They might not have been working together previously, but who's to say they won't be from now on?"

"I am. She's not one to make friends. And if that… thing showed up to rescue her, it could mean that he's been watching what's been going on."

Why show interest in the the Chroma's though? No, I don't think it's as simple as that. It could be his interest was Quinn herself all along. I'm more than certain he'd butter up to her to have her on his side. Those two working together will make them a force to be reckoned with more so than they already are.

"There anything you can tell me about him?"

What was there to say? That he's the most prolific serial killer in this recent era of Remnant's history? That he's almost as dangerous as me?

"I ran into him a few nights ago. He's as tough as Niro described, undoubtedly." I simply told her.

The fact I even had to ask Ezdeil for information still makes me… twitchy… I don't like the guy at all, but if he has something valuable I can use, I don't mind forgetting about the little grudge between us.

Information is always more valuable than a grudge.

"I know he wasn't showing me his whole hand, but if he gets involved, we're gonna have a big problem on our hands considering I don't know how to take him down. Yet."

He's an extremely competent fighter from what I was able to observe. And he was able to keep up with me in terms of base strength and speed, which is always a bit of a red flag warning for me.

I can't treat him like the usual rabble and not pay attention to him and his abilities.

Ly sighed again, audibly inhaling before she spoke.

"Then I'll leave it to you to deal with him. As for Quinn, leave her to Sentinel. All of them have a personal vendetta against that bitch that they're more than happy to execute, Ray more so than any of them."

That's a problem. Vendettas make people too aggressive and less likely to use their brain to take someone down. Case in point, Ray and Anoel. Understandable that they have something against the Devil woman given the historical context of the situation, but they charged in blindly and foolishly, and in the process, got their asses handed to them on a silver platter. Something like a vendetta isn't going to cut it here.

"Hold on a minute, I'm not gonna just leave you to that Devil woman. I'm sorry, but I don't think you'd all manage too well. I mean, I can see Shades being a bit of a problem for her, but that's about it."

Ray and Anoel are low on the list of capable fighters against Quinn. I have serious doubts about the two I met at the docks, Rex and Pyro, and I especially don't think that damn sniper Seyda is any good for this either. Shades, the guy that took Anoel and Ray out of the field, might be something of a problem for here, but he probably doesn't have the firepower to take her out.

Even together I doubt their abilities at this point given what I've seen.

Anyone hearing my thoughts might call me arrogant, but I could care less about their thoughts of me.

Facts are facts. They aren't able to take on Quinn alone even with their combined might. Unless there's some unknown outlier I've yet to see, I'm pretty much the only one capable of killing Quinn at this point. Alone might I add.

"I'm not telling you to do that. If you see her, you're more than welcome to drop her like a sack of shit, but it's very personal to them too, so don't hunt their glory. That's all." Ly told me.

Hunting glory… How stupid… I don't care about glory or anything ridiculous like that. All I care about is getting the job done and that everyone gets to live at the end of the day. Other than that, nothing else really matters.

"I get it, but if they make the same boneheaded move Ray and Anoel did they're going to get killed. Making it personal is what got the two of them in that fine mess. Understandable, but still boneheaded." I firmly told her.

They need to calm the hell down. I don't feel like bringing bodies back because they were being stupid.

I understand everyone else's stance on this. Truly, I do. But there's a difference between throwing yourself at the issue and failing, or approaching this as carefully as possible and succeeding.

"Whether you believe it or not, they're not all that stupid." Lylac said snapping me out of thought, "What you may not understand is that Ray was just as damaged as I was by her, which is why he went after her in the first place. Either way, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that she's not done yet, which is something we all need to be mindful of."

"Trust me, I know that all too well." I told her as I rubbed my forehead, feeling the still lodged bullet in my skull, "And can I get some pliers please? KittyKat's bullet is still lodged in my head, and I can't get it out with my fingers."

Ly sighed for the third time, clear exhaustion seeping into her breath. "Go to the kitchen. There's a toolbox in the cupboard under the sink. If you'll excuse me, I need to tend to Anoel and her sister."

"Which reminds me, I need to talk to Little Bird number 2. And the Tinman. Are they up?"

"You'll have to wait for that, I'm afraid. Arex isn't doing so well right now and Ray's out cold. You may end up waiting until morning."

To be honest, I don't really care right now. But because I'm considerate at least…

"You're welcome to any food or drinks I have, as well as watching the scroll display in the living room if you're bored." Ly paused for a moment, "And when you see Seyda, make sure to tell her to put her weapon down and go to sleep, I think she's had enough friendly fire for one night."

I for one agree.

"I was gonna go set up countermeasures first anyway, so sure, will do."

"Alright, I'll let you know when either Anoel or Ray is available to speak to." The bedroom door handle twitched slightly. "See you in a bit."

I stepped out onto the large balcony, getting the feline Faunus to turn around quickly to look at me with worried eyes.

She was about the same age as Arex, and had reflective opper eyes and long, silvery-gray hair. She also had a long, white, black-spotted feline tail, built with thick, almost bushy fur and dense muscle.

Was she a leopard Faunus?

…

Okay. She's slightly cute. I'll let her off the hook this time for shooting me.

"Alright KittyKat, shift's done. I'm taking over for the night. Go rest or whatever." I told her nodding over my shoulder back to the inside of the apartment.

"Um… I'm sorry about… you know…"

"It's fine. At least I'm not dead. Just… be careful in the future, yeah? Someone else won't be as lucky as me."

"R-Right… Goodnight…"

I only waved her off as she rushed past me, allowing me time to myself on the balcony as I leaned on the rail, looking up to the shattered moon.

I'm still wondering what did that. I'd try asking Ozpin, but he'd more than likely give me a roundabout answer that won't really be an answer. He might even tell me some damned deity from the stars did it.

…

If that's the case…

…

Six months, and I'm still pissed off about it all. The entire thing was just… ludicrous. Who would think doing the right thing is wrong by someone else's standards? The whole thing… Leaving it as it was would've been a true injustice of that whole mess. And yet what I did deserved execution thousands of times over.

But since they couldn't kill me, they exiled me instead. Sentenced to just… drift endlessly in the Void. All because me doing the right thing was just so "terribly" wrong.

…

At the very least, some good came out of it. People are alive. My partner didn't leave me to just drift endlessly all alone and brought me here. I met siblings I didn't even know I had.

And I've just started some strange new venture in a strange new place I've yet to fully acclimate to.

…

For once, I don't have to really hide myself, or be weary of someone else knowing me. Things like that haven't brought heavy consequences like they used to.

…

Not yet at least.

Making new friends here hasn't been easy. Not really. We're getting along fine with LMKN, RWBY, and JNPR, but ELAA…

They're going to be a pain to deal with. Arex and Kitsuki not so much really. Anoel will be a bit of a struggle, but I know her kind all too well.

It's Ezdeil that's going to be my biggest problem. I'm not sure he's actually a human. And it's intimidating to think I'm the only one that can feel that overwhelming presence of his when he's nearby.

Power aside, his personality is… difficult. He's brash, very abrasive, and very aggressive. Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd want to deck me for the fun of it, but… He has some moral standards at the very least. Still…

Is he a potential ally? Or my enemy, now and in the future?

I just don't know right now…

Then there's the other thing about him that bothers me.

How come I feel like I know him? Or at the very least recognize him? I've never met Ezdeil in my life before now. So why do I have a sense of familiarity?

It's like Primordial all over again! Lots of problems building up quickly, and not a lot of solutions to clear up the load.

"Troubling yourself again, Master?"

My head spun around, seeing Inuba peeking through the sliding door of the balcony.

"Oh, you know me, I'm a literal trouble magnet."

"Nonsense. It's just… How do people usually put it… A case of wrong place at the wrong time?"

If that were genuinely the case, then I have extremely bad luck. But considering some of my situations and exploits in the past, luck is on my side.

"Good try partner. But still a wrong answer."

She let out a sigh with her usual smile, slipping past the door and closing it behind her as she joined my side, leaning on the rail as we both looked out to the night sky and the moon above.

"It has its own appeal to beauty, doesn't it? The moon I mean…" Inuba said.

I glanced over to her, and kept my eyes on her for the longest of times.

"Beautiful indeed…" I softly said.

What I thought was a turn of her head was only her white fox ears flicking briefly. In any case, I looked the other way, hoping she didn't notice me staring at her.

I couldn't help it. I was drawn to her for a brief moment. What was the saying? Like a moth to the flame? Though in my case, it'd be like a devil to the light.

…

I don't know what to think anymore…

"How are they?" I asked, brushing off the thoughts I was having, "Anoel and Ray?"

"Well, they'll make a full recovery soon with the treatments I gave them. A few days of rest, and they'll be fine."

"That's good…"

"I… did find something strange though."

"Strange?" I asked.

"You notified me that mr. Chroma was… a cybernetic human, but that's not what I found that was strange."

Inuba reaches into her skirt pocket, and pulled her hand out, moving it in front of me as her fingers opened up. A large black shard rested in her palm as my fingers took up the smooth, crystalline shard, my eyes carefully studying it.

It looked like a piece of a Dust crystal… Except, it wasn't. I couldn't feel any element in it. It was… null.

"I didn't have the time to properly analyze it with my abilities. Rather, I couldn't do a thorough scan of it."

"Was it resisting your scan?" I asked glancing back at Inuba.

"It would seem so. Considering I found a large bulk of these shards in mr. Chroma's body, I'm inclined to believe it was used as a weapon against him. Not only that, but there was an oddity I spotted."

"What kind of oddity?"

Inuba reached for my finger and took the shard in her hand, "His Aura was healing his body further away from the impact radius of where the shards were."

Watching her, a small burst of white Aura flowed from the fingertip of her other hand, and when the stream touched the shard, it split apart and moved around the sliver of stone.

"It's Aura resistant…"

"It resists Aura, yes, but it'd be more accurate to say that this shard, and the others like it that I pulled from mr. Chroma's body nullify Aura."

"Aura Nullification… His Aura didn't protect him from it?"

"No. From the looks of it, it penetrated straight through his Aura to damage his body directly."

Interesting… So there are materials here on Remnant that nullify Aura…

On Primordial, we used what was called Soul Energy. But as my studies concluded, Soul Energy is a more restricted form of our power, an inhibitor of sorts as to our actual usage of our powers. And, as my studies concluded, me and my allies broke those limiters to become stronger. At the time, I didn't know what our newfound source of power was, but since coming here to Remnant, I do now.

What we had was a partial unlocking of our Auras, not a full unlocking. That partial unhitching is what's known as Soul Energy, part of the the full product, but not the whole package deal. Aura is the full unlocking of one's power so that it can actually grow and become one's true power.

I lost all of my power before I came here, but I got new abilities instead. That must mean my true power's been locked away the entire time until now. Now, in Inuba's case, she told me her Soul Energy did something… strange when we got here.

It was undergoing a conversion process.

While we did remove our limiters, we were still "crippled" by the current source of energy we drew on for our powers. In a sense… maybe the conversion process happened then and was moving extremely slow, and until we got to Remnant, it speed up rapidly to do a full conversion to Aura.

Thinking about it now, Inuba's actually gotten a lot stronger since coming here. Her powers are more… refined and pure. Same for her mother.

Now, going back to my previous statements, there was no material that could nullify Soul Energy or Aura; that was only in the case of people who had specific abilities to cancel it out.

But here, in my hand, something like it in the form of a material…

"This is dangerous…"

"Agreed." Inuba said handing back the shard, "Shall we dispose of it?"

"No. I'm going to take this back with us and study it. If I'm lucky, I'll discover a way to create a countermeasure so it won't affect us, or our allies."

Among other things I had in mind for it…

"I'd destroy it afterwards, but I have a feeling that won't help."

"How come?"

"Think about it." I said looking to my partner, "Quinn shot him with bullets made of this. I have a feeling it isn't a resource exclusive to her, but it's something rare that can be acquired. No doubt some of it in the Atlas Military's hands, but probably others also have it too on the black market somewhere."

"I see… Then that shard alone would suffice to conduct your experiments?"

"It should since it still works. If not, then I'll figure out a way to get a bigger piece." I said tossing up the shard.

Both of us fell silent for a moment, until Inuba asked me the next question.

"Master… This Quinn person… Is she as dangerous as Ms. Chroma made her out to be?"

"She's dangerous, yeah, but not to us. She's only after Ray as far as we know, but her target list might get extended if she gets impatient. As far as fighting her goes, you and me have nothing to worry about. I've already found out her weakness."

"You have?"

"Yeah. I'll go over it with you on our way back. But for now, we wait with open eyes and ears. I know you don't like Ray all too much, and frankly for good reason since he's an ass, but-"

"I… won't let my personal conflict with him interfere. If I must, I'll do my best to aid him. And may occasionally look the other way."

I chuckled at my partner's slightly aggressive tone. It wasn't always that I got to see her puff up her cheeks and scowl, but every time she did it, it was always a sight to see.

And somewhat cute…

Ironically, she's always cute.

"Don't leave him out to dry if he's in trouble. Get your revenge by helping him out without complaining."

"Understood…"

I gave her a slight chuckle and head pat as we stared out at the moon once again.

"I kind of like the moon this way."

"It certainly is something to see… But I also think it's quite beautiful in its own way."

"You think I'd get into trouble if I broke the moon back on Primordial to make it look the same?"

"Master..!" She silently whispered while smacking me in the arm.

"Kidding! Not really, but…"

Another smack to the arm made me stand up straight as I winced slightly with a smile.

"Seriously though, enough with the Master thing already. Just call me by my normal name already."

"I can't do that, Master. Were still bound together in a pact, with me acting as your familiar, remember? It's the proper way to address you, who in the case of our pact, is the Master." She said with a rather coy smile.

…

She has me there.

"Still, can't you call me anything else?"

"Should I call you Senpai from now on instead?" She asked with a bigger smile.

…

My heart wouldn't be able to handle that…

"N-No idea…. But still, if we're re in public and someone hears you, or you accidentally let it slip when talking to others, it'd look bad you know? They'd think that I own you like a slave. Or… you know… more misleading matters…"

"Other matters..?"

It took her a few moments to register it before she let out a panicked voice and turned bright red.

"I-I understand your point… B-But… changing the arrangement as is won't do." My partner stated as her fox tail whipped around.

Seriously? Can't you cut me some slack?

"F-Fine then. If that's what you want…"

I looked behind us, remembering we had another issue to solve before anything else. Maybe it was the other way around and I needed to figure this shard out to beat Quinn. Or the Midnight Huntsman for that matter.

"Not that I'm anywhere near as medically qualified as you are, but you should check up on them and see how they're doing."

"It's been some time since I did a genuine check up on them… I suppose I'll go do that and monitor them for the night. You should rest as well." My partner said as she headed towards the door.

"Sleep is for the weak." I jokingly stated, "But in all seriousness, I'm not tired. So I'll keep guard for now."

"Very well then. Have a pleasant night, Master."

I waved to her goodbye as I remained on the balcony, playing with my new shard and moving it between my fingers.

"What secrets will I learn from you?" I whispered to it.

Given my experience with "gems with special properties", I half expected the thing to whisper back at me. I even waited for a few seconds just make sure.

But could I? Could I even figure this thing out? There's still a lot I don't know yet. I don't use Dust, so I'm virtually in the the dark. I'll need a consultant before I even think about experimenting.

…

Hmmm… If I can get Weiss Schnee's help, that would certainly speed up the process tremendously, and allow me to go about my study of Aura Nullification unhindered. That's if she even agrees to help me. But I think this shard alone might suffice as a suitable motivational tool to get her to work with me.

Problem is that she's a little uptight. I don't think she'll comprise her position with the SDC just to get results on a potentially beneficial joint venture, so I might have to do behind the scenes work on my own.

Regardless, I may very well need Weiss' help to make significant progress. So...I'll need to plan around for that. But for now, the Midnight Huntsmen and Quinn are my biggest priority. And making sure neither kills Ray or Anoel. Or even both of them.

First though, the lecture of a lifetime.

Despite my usual Buddha-like nature, I was still pretty miffed about what these two idiots did.

And I was going to make sure they knew that.

"Un. Be. Lievable. This has by far been the most boneheaded, irresponsible thing I've ever witnessed in my life. Excluding my counts of occasional stupidity within recent years."

A rare few in my history, but hey, even I flub things sometimes.

Anoel stood with her arms crossed as she leaned against the couch's back frame, choosing to stand on her battered legs rather than sit down.

Look at you high and mighty trying to make sure I'm not looking down on you.

…

I'm not, but, that's beside the point.

And Ray? Ray didn't look all too bothered. He just sat at the breakfast bar. Calmly eating cereal. Like nothing happened. At all.

Idiot.

"You, I expected this from if you knew what was going on, to which I still would have said 'utterly stupid move'," I continued, pointing to Ray. "But you? Come on. You're supposed to be the smarter one here."

My gaze fell on Anoel, but all she did was roll her eyes at me.

Oof, I love it when they roll their eyes at me, like they think they know better.

"I think you have that backwards..." she muttered back to me, glancing to Ray by his cereal bowl. "He's the smart one. I'm the emotional one, thank you very much."

Haha, funny, very funny.

Not funny.

"No, I don't have it backwards. I have it pretty much right considering I'd expect something this stupid from Ray, not you."

"And what makes you think you know me?" Anoel cut back harshly, snapping her gaze back to me. "At what point did you ever decide that you can take one look at me and read me like an open book?"

The moment I decided I can and I would. And trust me, you are very much easier to read than most people.

"Let me tell you something Littler Bird." I started as I pushed myself off the wall I leaned on, "I've worked with your type dozens of times before in all sorts of situations. I know how your type thinks and operates. And, I know for a fact when they do stupid things like this, they're the first to die unless a miracle swoops in from the outer confines of the universe. Which thankfully in your case, it did this time."

"You still think you know me… It just comes down to classifications for you, doesn't it? Little folders you store your precious little associates in to classify all their predictable decision making. Not everyone falls into your little sorter so perfectly."

I let out a brief laugh loud enough for her to hear me, "You think so huh? You're more naive than I thought. True, it's not entirely perfect. But if you could actually know what I was thinking, you'd know I don't believe in perfection. And you'd certainly know my predictions of outcomes are very much spot on."

I know a losing battle when I see one. Thankfully, that's a very rare occurrence. But this was starting to be one of those rare exceptions given these two idiots can't even admit their mistakes.

"If they were so spot on then why weren't you there?" Ano asked with a huff, biting through the pain as she tightened her crossed arms over her chest. "And I don't need to know what you're thinking to know what you're planning. It's engraved in every tiny little action you do."

Is it now? Would you like to see how unpredictable I can actually be? I haven't had a fun challenge in a long time.

"Neither of you should have been there." Ray finally spoke from his seat at the

breakfast bar, spoon dropping into his bowl as his gaze bore into the splashing milk, "Quinn isn't either of your problems, so your desires to get even with her are completely void of any logical reasoning."

"That wasn't me trying to get even with her." Ano growled, her clear irritation dangling by a very thinly drawn thread as she switched her gaze to Ray. "That was me taking four mental years of pain and trying to drive it like a stake back into her desolate heart."

Yes, but like the usual, hopeful vampire hunter expecting to stake their first bloodsucker, that didn't end up going according to plan.

"Still doesn't make it your problem, Anoel…" Ray muttered in reply, still focused on his bowl of cereal. "Hell… She isn't even Ly's problem anymore, either."

"It doesn't matter who's problem she is now," I said looking between the two of them, "The fact is that she is a problem that needs to be dealt with using an actual, thought out plan. Not some half-cocked scheme a twelve-year-old makes on the spur of the moment."

Which given Ray's tendencies, is very spot on.

"Funny. That's what happened the first time I got rid of her." Ray replied evenly.

"If you call that 'getting rid of her', you really are stupid. Whatever hocked up shit plan you made back then clearly didn't work, because she was still standing there and nearly murdered the two of you with minimal effort."

Literally, she didn't even try with these two morons.

Ray slammed his spoon down against the surface of the bar before pushing himself to his feet. A harsh crash striking the ground as his stool toppled over, Ray moving to stand eye-to-eye with me.

Heh, he thinks I'm actually scared of him. How adorable.

"Really? You think I didn't fucking notice that?" he spat, violet eyes faintly glowing. "I didn't exactly have the best tools and equipment as an enslaved twelve-year-old back then, Dante. So why don't you shut your fucking mouth and cut me some slack. Or is that too hard for you and your holier-than-thou demeanor?"

"Sit down before you hurt yourself, Tinman." I warned him, "And listen to what others have to say for once. Or is that too hard for you big head?"

"Before I hurt myself? What the fuck are you going to do exactly? Stab me?" Ray angrily gestured to the patch on his bare chest, the one covering the hole through his body.

I'm tempted to. Very tempted. But regardless of the inner murder stirring within me, I held myself back.

"Me? Oho, I'm just gonna stand here, watching you pathetically flail your arms at me to no effect, and also watch you break your own wrists of your own accord. So think very carefully before you try to take a swing at me."

If he was going to take a swing at me, he was going to have T-Rex arms by the end of this.

"I didn't wake up to be antagonized by an arrogant piece of shit. So don't come here and start."

"And I didn't walk into a blatantly obvious trap and nearly get myself killed. Nor did I agree to help kill someone without thinking very carefully how to do so. So, sit down and shut it."

"Think?" Ray snapped, fury burning in his harsh, amethyst eyes. "We didn't exactly have time to think, you fucking moron! You think she'd give us that luxury?! How brain dead do you think she is?! If we didn't go, it was her life on the line!"

His finger pointed to Lylac standing outside on the balcony, peacefully enjoying her company with Arex.

"And I'm not saying you shouldn't have gone! Now for the last time, sit down and listen!"

Ray turned around aggressively, walking straight toward the balcony. "Nothing you have to say is going to rectify this situation. Nothing. Neither of you has a fucking clue who you're dealing with and I refuse to wait around for her to get away again."

Mmmm, technically I have a far better idea than you do at this point. Sure, you'd rather be an arrogant idiot and believe no one could possibly have a better idea than you because everyone else is a bunch of idiots, but...

"You're right. Nobody has a clue what we're dealing with," Ano muttered dryly, Ray's steps drilling to a stop as his hand fell to the balcony's door. "Not even you…"

"I know that she's after me... Not Ly. Not you," Ray turned to look over his shoulder, glaring at Dante behind glowing eyes. "And you don't even have the right to be here."

Actually I do considering your cousin asked me to actually, physically, realistically kill that Devil woman, so… Wrong again Ray. You're certainly proving to be a bigger idiot than I originally had you pegged for.

"And that's the problem," Anoel said, leaning away from the couch to face him. "Do you have any idea what it would do to Ly if you died? Or fell back into Quinn's hands?"

"Yeah…" Ray darkly chortled as he muttered the affirmation under his breath. "I know exactly what it would do. But it's better me than her."

Wow, he's going with that route?

"It's better nobody sacrificed themselves than somebody. But none of us should give her any more reason to kill anybody than we already have." Ano replied.

"That I agree with," Dante cut back in. "But honestly, answer this for me, no sarcasm or anything involved here. How difficult would it have been to send word for backup? One word, three letters. SOS. And I would have gotten to you very, very, very quickly."

"You haven't figured it out by now…?" Anoel's voice fell in volume and tone as she dropped her arms to her sides. "This. Isn't. Your. Fight."

"You asked for my help. And with what little you managed to whisk away from my head, you of all people should have known people and things like that Devil woman are my area of expertise." I retaliated. "You asked for my help. And I would have unquestionably given it at any moment's time."

"Yes, I asked for your help. But what kind of solace would that bring if you came in and dealt with her just like all the other little side projects of yours you like to take up? All for the sake of the people she hurt? There's no point in taking that away from them. Sure, you can help, but you never get it through your head what exactly you should be helping with instead of what you think you need to do to take something over."

…

This isn't about taking charge. I hate doing that more than anything. This is about keeping the two of you alive, and at least moderately happy for as much as your miserable lives can allow.

"I'm shocked. Honestly, I am. I thought you above anyone else would know that sometimes you have to become a monster to deal with things that are far worse than yourself. That 'devil' woman you want to deal with so badly? She's no different."

The real difference here is that one of us can actually become a monster. You? You're only a flaming bird.

"This isn't about me trying to take over your deal. This is about two things, Anoel. The first, you have a resource, free of charge basically, that has worked in this area countless times before and is very good at the job. Use it." I said raising a hand, "And the second, this is about preventing a catastrophe. I get this is personal, for both of you. But it's no excuse to throw yourselves aimlessly at the dark and expect to come out alive."

"That wasn't aimless." Ano muttered under her breath. "And I wasn't expecting to."

…

It was as aimless as could be.

But I'll play her little game.

"The reason wasn't aimless, I'll respect that much. But the method… Did you think for a second even what that might've done to your friend? Your sister? Nosferatu even? What if Shades and I never showed up at all?"

Ano's gaze turned dull as she dropped her head to the side, letting the corner of her eyes peer down at the floor beside me and the boneheaded Tinman.

"I did… For far longer than a second. I'm thankful the two of you actually showed up. Don't get me wrong there. But I can't stand by and let you solve the personal problem that's been a plague to Ly and Ray's wellbeing."

"I'm not asking you to hand this over to do it personally or anything like that. I'm asking you take me with you next time so I can make sure you come home afterward. Alive mind you and very much intact." I argued.

"Then try to understand the gravity of the situation before you lecture us for doing our job…" Ray quietly muttered to himself, staring at his clenched fists. "You claim a lot for someone who has nothing to show for it, Dante."

I claim a lot because I'm capable of backing my word. And having something to show for it mind you.

"I understand perfectly. I just don't want a repeat of this event anytime soon with worse results."

"You don't though. All you've been told is that we want her dead, but you don't know exactly why we want it that way," Ray replied evenly. "She's not your typical, run-of-the-mill villain."

Gee, it's like I didn't know that when I was fighting her!

Ano brought her gaze away again as she let it level softly on the conversation Ly and Arex were sharing just outside. "She's a person."

"Your case isn't the first I've seen. Nor the last unfortunately. But that's exactly why I'm frustrated with what happened to you guys, and specifically with you two. So please, let me actually help next time rather than just being willy-nilly about it."

"If this case, these exact circumstances, are something you're familiar with, then you'd do better to show some goddamn consideration before lecturing me over the one thing I know how to do." Ray replied, turning to face me directly. "They may have asked for your help, but I didn't. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't want it anyway. I don't know you, and you don't know me. So how am I expected to trust you with less than three interactions?"

He paused, taking a moment to walk over to the breakfast bar.

"You keep speaking like this was a complete and total failure, but it wasn't. And I'll tell you why, right now."

He picked up his empty bowl and spoon before carrying them over to the sink and placing them inside, quickly washing them as he lifted his gaze to Anoel and I.

"The Quinn you saw last night isn't the same Quinn I knew. She's behaving carefully. And that's a big fucking change for her. The Dust she used on me was a prime example of that."

"She wasn't just behaving carefully." Anoel replied softly. "She was desperate."

Desperate… I definitely got that feeling from her when I was fighting.

"Desperate how?" I asked.

"Like if she doesn't act now…" Anoel muttered back, "she'll lose something forever."

"And she needs me to find it. Which begs the question…" Ray added.

"What is she after exactly...?" I said, raising a hand to my chin. "How desperate was she when fighting you two?"

"She was fighting dirty, not methodically like she usually would. And where she would be playful and taunting, everything she said was spoken with an air of purpose," Ray listed evenly. "The fact that she's desperate for my help means she doesn't have a lot of time to find what she's looking for. It's making me question if we have to kill her…"

"We don't." Anoel answered for him, voice dead in the fading wind.

…

There's only one reason why anyone would be that desperate and fight like she did.

"Shit… I think I understand what she's after. And you may be right, we might not exactly have to kill her."

"Now you know that you don't understand it perfectly. Fortunately for us, you're not a complete idiot." Ray said back.

Fortunately for you, I'm restraining the urge to punch one of your pressure points and put you to sleep.

"I was talking about your motives before. I didn't necessarily think about hers given she was slapping you about like a wet fish." I answered, "Either way… She wouldn't fight that hard unless it was something very important. More important than any physical object or-"

"It's a person." Anoel cut me off, drifting her gaze away from the two on the balcony to her feet. "She's after a loved one."

"I was gonna say that, but thank you for pulling the rug out from under my feet." I said, briefly raising up his arms.

I could feel the Tinman's curiosity surging a bit.

"So she spent a year and a half torturing us because she was after someone she cared about?" Ray asked incredulously.

"I'm not saying what she did was right." Ano clarified, her grip on the door starting to loosen. "I'm saying she had a reason behind it all. I still can't forgive what she's done, but we have a way to turn her away from the two of you for good."

Ray's voice grew quiet. "I think I can speak for the both of us when I say we just want her gone."

"That's good and all, but I don't think simply saying 'we know' is gonna get her off their backs. If she believes Ray is her best bet at finding this important person, she'll keep persisting unless she has a different resource available. And unless you have one…"

"Then I'll find whoever she's looking for…" Ray replied to me, "And let bygones be bygones."

"I need to start digging around then." Ano tacked on firmly, turning a glance back to Ray to let him know she wasn't letting this go. "I'll find whatever relations she's had and what her past was like. Not everything can be erased."

He nodded in response. "Once you find them, if you find them, I'll do the rest."

Ray turned to me soon after.

"In the meantime, you promise to keep us alive?"

I'm debating keeping you alive, and I'm slightly the same in regard to Anoel.

But then I remembered Niro Ezdeil exists, and if he knew I was supposed to help his partner and failed, well…

Killing him wouldn't be any fun...

"Do you really need to ask me that? Of course. I'll keep her and anyone else off your backs."

"Good. Then it's settled. We find this missing person, then bring them to her. And hopefully, she'll fuck off for good." Ray said as he walked away.

If only it were that easy Tinman…

"Well, since I'm not needed or wanted here, I'll be going back. I've got other things to do while making sure your asses don't become dead and buried."

I saw her trying to say something, but I was already gone when I snapped my fingers. I quickly appeared in the garage I was allowed to keep my car, Primarius, in, and leaned on the tool table, letting out a deep sigh.

I may have never mentioned this before, but I really hate working with idiots sometimes.

So yeah, KoWaB will be on hiatus for now until I get VotA all caught up. I don't have anything else to say, so with that...

I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story.

Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.

Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!

Bye-bye now!