Volume Five, Chapter Three: Challenger

re:Bound

Allison Illuminated

Chapter Publish Date: 5/30/20

Beta: Vixie

What are we doing here, Bella?

There was a red door at the top of the stoop. The stoop belonged to a quaint house nestled away in Vale's upper-class district, far from the damages of the attack. Two little flower boxes held wilting bulbs – marigolds, yellow and white. Bella paused, one foot on the top step, and looked down to Ruby, who'd paused at the bottom.

Ruby tried to keep her mood and fragile state of mind out of her expression, but the accusation came across anyways. She saw flickers of her own face in Bella's mind – stressed. Sad. Angry, even, but Ruby didn't know what she was angry about. Bella gave her an even look in return, cocking her head. My parents used to live here. My birth parents.

Her gaze snapped to Bella. What? Really? When did you find them?

I talked to Tai. He told me everything. Bella's gaze trained on the red door, uncertainty bleeding across the bond, her doubts too strong for Ruby to ignore. I couldn't bring myself to ask Mom – I wanted to, but every time I remembered the day she killed them. Tai gave me their names, helped me track down their old address. My… grandmother still lives here.

Oh.

When Ruby had demanded that Bella find her family, she had done so out of anger and desperation – now, with a clear head, she questioned her own insistence. It wasn't an issue of lost identity, of broken memories, of Augustus' brainwashing or her childhood traumas. Bella saw herself as nothing but the aura bond. Finding her old family wouldn't change her current state. The issue was in Bella's mind. Ruby had dropped Bella's family altogether – she hadn't brought it up, hadn't pressured her – but Bella, clearly, had remembered, and Ruby could see in her thoughts that Bella believed this to be the first step to making amends in their relationship.

It wouldn't be enough, Ruby realized. The past had never been the true issue.

There was a hope in the way Bella looked at the door, though, a desperate longing, and Ruby, sealing her true thoughts deep within her mind, stepped forward and put a hand on Bella's shoulder. Are you ready to face this? she asked. Now that we know where your grandmother lives, we can come back any time.

No, we can't. The war is coming for us. She could have died in the attack this summer, or worse. Bella gulped, steeling her resolve. I cared about this woman, once. I may not remember her, but I have to know. About my parents. Myself.

Ok. Then we'll go in.

I want to talk to her.

Ruby searched Bella's white eyes, pressing her lips together to a thin line. She hadn't wanted to switch bodies today. More than that: she wasn't sure she ever wanted to switch bodies again and feel the skin crawling sensation of wearing another girl's skin. They hadn't since before Harkan's escape. She'd needed the distance from Bella.

"She's your grandmother," Ruby said aloud, voice low. Her hand dropped from Bella's shoulder. "Your grandmother by blood, not choice. Shouldn't you bein your body? You don't remember her; you didn't know she existed until Tai found her with you. If you aren't going to accept the blood connection, then what's the point of coming here?"

I'm not looking for family, Bella snapped. I have a mother and a sister. I have you. I need… I need to know what they were like. She started to pace, her shoulder brushing through the leafy plants tumbling out of the planters. You told me I need to know who I am. This is my past, but I don't have to make my past my future. If I did… Give me this, at least, Rose. Please. This conversation will go much smoother if I can speak aloud.

Fine.

Melding into each other, the transition was seamless and swift. Ruby turned away from Bella, resentment stirring in her chest, directed at the looseness in her face, free of metallic skin, and the void where her tongue ought to have been. Bella's pink and brown hair fell into her face; she brushed it away with pale fingers, fingers she knew almost as well as her own.

"Thank you." Wearing Ruby's skin, Bella walked up the steps and knocked on the door, three sharp raps, then stepped back. Gritting her teeth, Ruby came up behind her.

The door swung open, revealing an old lady with gray hair and narrow eyes. "Oh!" she exclaimed, adjusting her reading glasses, tapping the ground with her cane, looking at Bella. "What a surprise! I wasn't expecting visitors today. How may I help you?"

Wearing a no-nonsense expression, Bella reached under her cape and pulled out Ruby's scroll. She slid it open and showed it to her grandmother. Ruby watched the scroll gleam with the artificial shimmer of Bella's illusions. "Ruby Rose, Huntress," she said. "I've been working on some of our old cold cases, and we found a new lead on your daughter and son-in-law's disappearances. I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions. Could my partner and I come in?"

"Of course," Bella's grandmother said, giving Ruby a sweet smile. "You don't mind if I pour you some tea, do you?"

"Go right ahead."

Bella's grandmother's name was Astoria, and her house was ancient and cluttered. Bella's parents must not have been in much. Ancient wallpaper and all matter of photographs covered the walls, alongside no less than three clocks and a Vacuan tapestry. Paisley tablecloths draped over the banisters and sidebars; the living room had some of the plushiest armchairs Ruby had ever seen. The reason for their visit momentarily forgotten, Ruby raced over and plopped into a deep velvet armchair, sighing in satisfaction at the way she sank down into the cushions.

Now this is a grandma's house!

Astoria reentered carrying a platter with tea and cookies. Ruby attacked them, taking two cookies and a cup of tea, flashing the old lady a peace sign (she didn't want to try and use Bella's semblance unless she had to); Bella, standoffish and uncomfortable, remained standing, watching Astoria with an evaluative glance.

"You know I've accepted Iris and Harmon's deaths a long time ago, dears," Astoria said, settling down into the least comfortable chair in the room. "What the huntsmen corps are doing these days putting fine young huntresses on a case like this when the world is how it is, I'll never know. Surely you have more important tasks than sitting and talking with an old woman?"

"We have reason to believe your granddaughter may have survived," Bella said, chancing a glance at Ruby. Ruby scowled. What is she playing at? "We're not sure. But they never found a body for the child, and we decided to investigate."

"Oh, my darling Bella. She would be… oh, she would be a young adult now, I suppose. I love that child, but after all this time..." Astoria sighed, shaking her head, and gave Bella an indulgent look. "Very well. What would you like to know?"

She slipped into the bond, listening to Bella's feelings. Bella didn't see that Astoria was only humoring her; Bella didn't see how she was doing the opposite of what Ruby had wanted her to do. Ruby wanted Bella to declare that she had returned, alive and well, and wished to reconnect with her grandmother – not to speak of herself in the third person, referencing a cold murder case as if she were dead. But there was a purpose. Bella was teetering on the edge of revelation – and if this was what she needed to get there, Ruby had no business interrupting her.

Munching on her cookie, Ruby did her best not to get in Bella's way.

"What were, ah, Iris and Harmon like?"

"Oh, Iris was a kind soul. Always quick to smile, open and generous, but she had a mean temper when she wanted to. I always told her she spoiled Bella, I did, but she never listened to me. She was set on being a huntress for as long as she could talk, no matter how often I tried to warn her off – she knew she wanted to protect people. Harmon was a good match for her – he was a stern man, a just man. They paired together at Beacon and fell in love."

"Do you know why they would have been targeted on their vacation?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't, dear. They took many missions, saved a lot of good people. Maybe they rubbed someone the wrong way. They said it was bandits, of course. Always do. Nasty people, those bandits. You know, I hear that war they're fighting in Anima's all cause the bandits decided to band up and take down the government, but I say that's hogwash-"

"Yes, yes, the war is on," Bella said irritably. Ruby could empathize – she didn't like reminders of the bloodier parts of Raven's life either. "Their daughter, Bella, did she have any reasons she would be targeted? Anything significant?"

"No, no. She was just a girl. A sweet girl, but nobody special."

"What was she like?"

"What is any six-year-old like?" Astoria asked, earning a soft laugh from Ruby. Astoria and Bella both stared at Ruby, as if remembering she was there for the first time. "She was always happy, bubbly. She was never outgoing, but she had friends and her parents loved her very much. Bella was always in her head. They used to say she had her own private universe up there, complete with all the stars… It's why we painted the stars on the ceiling of her room."

"Stars?"

"Come, dear. I'll show you."

Bella's childhood room was still intact, complete with a small bed – perfect for a little kid – a set of beautiful wooden furniture, and a dark ceiling covered with hundreds of little painted yellow stars. Walking into the room, Ruby gaped at the ceiling, having never seen anything like it. It's beautiful… she said to Bella across their bond. As pretty as the stars are outside the kingdoms.

Stunned silent, Bella wandered to the bed and picked up a stuffed rabbit off the mattress, holding it with two hands. Only Ruby caught the tremble in her arm. I don't remember this at all.

Nothing.

No.

Bella…

I lived here. Bella closed Ruby's single eye as they ignored Astoria's babble about young Bella and Iris' painting skills and Harmon's parenting. I grew up here, but I feel nothing for this place. For this woman. It's as if my younger self never existed – as if I only came to be on the day Raven put her sword through my father's chest.

I'm so sorry.

Don't be. I had to come here. I had to know.

They humored Astoria for another ten minutes, asking questions about Bella's old family, but the verve of Bella's initial questions had faded. Finally, Bella got to her feet, patting Crescent Rose down, and nodded to Ruby. "Thank you, Astoria," she said. "We have a much better idea of the… case, now. Helps to establish motives, and all. We'll, ah, we'll be heading out now."

"Of course, dears."

They walked back to the door, through the wallpapered entryway, stepping past a coatrack and a nice pair of shoes, and let Astoria see them out. Before they could leave, though, quick as a viper, she put a hand on Ruby's shoulder and turned Ruby toward her. Ruby paled. Uh… She didn't say if she used to be a hunter, did she?

"You have the most beautiful eyes," Astoria murmured, searching Ruby's borrowed face. "Heterochromia is such a rare condition, you know? You're pretty too, like my Iris was. In fact, I don't think I caught your name?"

What do I do? Ruby gave Astoria a shaky smile, trying not to panic.

"She's mute," Bella said softly. She stared at Ruby, at her body, with a strange gleam in Ruby's eye, Ruby's cape blowing in the wind behind her. "A terrible man cut out her tongue. He took… He took a lot of things away from her. But I rescued her."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Astoria released Ruby, a flash of knowing regret passing through her eyes. "Would you mind telling me her name?"

Bella sighed. "She's Violet. Violet Branwen."

"A lovely name for a lovely young woman."

After they left Bella's childhood home and switched back to their proper bodies, Ruby and Bella didn't go back to Beacon – instead, they wandered Vale's upper-class district, aimless, eventually finding their way to the northern point, where the ocean crashed against the jagged rocks from the Sanian Sea. An overlook of cobblestone stretched out over the rocks. Together, they drifted to the rusty railing, leaning against it and watching the water.

Bella had been silent since they'd left the house. She'd zipped her jacket up all the way, rather than halfway like she usually did to show cleavage, and kept readjusting her hair, the ocean wind blowing it into a tangled mess. Ruby's fringe was shorter, manageable. Her cheeks were pale, the sun receding in and out of the clouds to kiss the reclusive skin.

Lost in thought.

Leaning half over the railing, Ruby looked over to Bella and felt the old longing resurface. Never before had she seen her in this light; never before had her lips been so inviting, her features so delicate, so enticing. She was right. She is lovely.

Ruby remembered it was only a longing, not a love. The love she felt for Bella went far deeper, yet a thousand times shallower.

She felt young in that moment. She felt sixteen. Nothing in her life had prepared her to experience such emotions – her only comparison was Bella herself in happier times.

"Hey," Ruby murmured, exhaling with the mist of the crashing wake. "Are you okay?"

Ruby's romance with Bella might have been dead. But regardless of the cracks in their relationship, regardless of dreams of dragons and disintegration, no matter what happened with the bond, Bella was still her best friend.

My memories. Bella looked at Ruby, her eyes shining with tears. I'm never going to get them back, am I?

Ruby, her heart breaking, shook her head. I don't think so, she whispered, not trusting herself to speak the words aloud. No.

Bella squeezed her eyes shut, sagging back against the railing. Gods.

The hug lasted a long time as Bella cried soft tears for the childhood and life she'd lost, never sobbing, never clinging to Ruby for comfort. It was a distant hug. Even as she grew closer physically, Ruby withdrew emotionally, giving Bella space to grieve, not wanted her own feelings to interfere.

I don't know how to give you what you want from me, Ruby, Bella said, slipping out of Ruby's embrace to lean against the railing with her. I thought I could make things better by finding out more about myself. But it's hollow. It's not who I am. Bella Green is dead, and I don't think anything I do or say can bring her back. I can't be her for you.

I don't want you to be her. I want you.

You want Bella Branwen. But you already have her. You already have me.

Bella reached over and pressed a palm over Ruby's chest, sending a pulse of warm aura through her body. Ruby gasped.

Show me that, then. Show me Bella Branwen. Ruby met her eyes. "Bella Branwen has a family," she whispered, aware that she and Bella were drifting closer together. "She's an heiress and a huntress and a princess and she owns a freaking criminal empire. She has goals and dreams and hopes. She's living her own life." Bella paused, close enough that Ruby could kiss her, far enough that it wasn't inevitable. "A life that's more than what's in her aura. More than what's in her bond. She's living for more than Ruby Rose."

Have you considered, Bella asked, that maybe that life is only worth living if I'm living it for you?

That's the bond speaking, Ruby said, mental voice shaking.

Is it? How could you know? I have to accept that my past is gone, Ruby. Why can't we accept that we're bonded like this for the rest of our lives? Bella's eyes welled with tears again. How am I supposed to live if I can only have artificial love? If my affection is- is- forced? Nobody is forcing me to be in love with you, Rose, not even this stupid fucking magical slave brand. All I wanted was to get revenge on you. You told me I have to learn to be more than the aura bond. I'm trying. If nothing I feel is real, though, that's not living. I might as well go and lie down in Bella Green's empty grave.

You loved Roman too, Ruby said. But you still lump him in with the rest of them. I've only seen bits and flashes of Roman from you. But I'm not Roman. You can't love me like you loved him. Because I won't be one of them. It's been a year since he died – and we got together, what, five months ago? Love is better than what the rest of them had you do. But it's not… autonomy, Bella. I don't know if this is real because every time I need you to have agency you don't. I don't want to love you like that.

You don't know how I loved Roman, Bella said, voice shaking. I fought for him. But I didn't- He never- That was real. That was everything to me. It's not like you're saying it is.

Then how was it? I don't know because you won't show me!

You killed him, Bella whispered.

How can you love me, then? Ruby cried in their mindscape, pushing off the railing in frustration. You tore my life to shreds, and then you fell in love with me? I- I- Is it not a pattern?

You've only been bonded once, Bella said. You can't understand. I don't think you can share this level of intimacy with someone and not learn either to love or hate them. The bond doesn't manufacture feelings, Ruby. You could order me to love you, and I would have no choice, but you haven't. I love you.

Then I'm a rebound. Ruby gulped. Roman died, so you fell in love with me instead. I'm the best you've got.

That's not true!

It is!

Bella took a step backward, but Ruby stepped in at the same time.

If you can love, then that love was real too. And you still haven't dealt with it. Ruby closed her eye, trying not to cry herself. You still love Roman, Bella. I saw it when we went to his apartment to get his stuff. I saw it when you realized I was reforging Crescent Rose. You still love him, and you haven't accepted that yet. You've worked through who Raven is to you, and you accepted what Augustus did to you. I'm so, so proud of you for that. But you can't love me when you still haven't let yourself grieve for him. I killed Roman Torchwick, Bella. I did. I murdered the man you love.

You're not a murderer, Bella whispered.

Maybe not in your mind. Ruby wiped an errant tear away and turned toward the sea. But I am in your heart. Somewhere, I'll always be the girl who killed him. I've accepted that, I did when I remade Crescent Rose. But you haven't. I'm not saying it's impossible for you to love me. I don't believe you're nothing but your aura bond. But as long as you pretend that nothing in your past matters once you're rebound, as long as Roman gets the same acknowledgment you give Three, you will. Because you dissociate what you feel now from who you were before. I want to love you, Bella Branwen. I want to love all of you. But right now, I can't.

And if I do? Bella asked. Can you stop running away? Can you stop denying what we feel for each other?

Ruby swallowed. Yes.

Although there was nothing left to say, they remained at the point for a long time. The ocean turned gray when the clouds slid across the sky. White caps thrashed the shore. The horizon was ever so distant.

From Roman's penthouse, Neo felt like she could see all the world laid out before her.

She sat on the leather couches in the living area, one leg crossed over the other, her hands folded in her lap, the scars on her back pressing into the light fabric of her sundress. She liked to tell people that Roman dolled her up, like a set piece in a diorama. Or would. Neo didn't talk to other people often. Her classmates were terrified of her; her teachers had been blackmailed into silence. Once, she had strung a boy who looked at her the wrong way up from the rafters by his underwear – nobody had given her eyes since then.

The sundress was flimsy and yellow. Neo wore it to appease Roman. Roman had ideas for how she should act; namely, he was under the impression that, as a sixteen-year-old, Neo ought to be 'having a childhood' or 'deconditioning herself.' Neo usually refrained from pointing out that Roman was conditioning her, and went along with his suggestions, pretending like she cared about his feeble attempts to send her to school or hide the worst of his criminal enterprises from her.

Pathetic. She was the Hand of Augustus, the deadliest assassin in Anima, Raven Branwen's- She was meant to be used. Every time Roman sent an inferior assassin to do his dirty work, he was wasting her and her only use. Instead, she pretended to learn at school and came to Roman's penthouse and sat. On the leather couches. In whatever pretty outfit Scarlett picked out for her that day.

Watching Vale, half a world away from Anima, and waiting to be useful again.

She had blood on her hands. The children in her civilian class – even thinking it disgusted her – could sense it. Roman was blind, and his despicable facsimile of altruism made Neo want to gag. She remembered the people she'd slaughtered. She remembered the children she'd murdered in their sleep, the way the green light had guided her blades until, one day, Neo didn't need the green light to help her put them to sleep anymore.

Roman Torchwick was good to her. Neo was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Every man in her life had wanted to use her – to protect, to kill, to fuck, it made no difference. Sooner rather than later, Roman would tire of brushing the surface of her thoughts and giving her space and money and clothes and privacy and freedom and imposing rules and privileges on her as some self-styled guardian – as though he could ever be Raven – and take her up on the implicit offer she'd presented him when Roman had pulled her bleeding, dying body out of Augustus' camp: a tool, a sword, a pawn.

Neo sat in the penthouse and watched the city, the ocean, and the sky. She had no orders or agenda. She was listless. Her boredom was so bad that she'd even done the homework her teachers had assigned. She knew geometry and basic dust theory now, for all the good it would do her. She felt pretty and young and useless. Was that what Roman wanted from her?

I'm back!

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Neo gave no indication she noticed Roman as he strutted into the penthouse with his stupid hat and his stupider cane, preening his white suit and making a beeline for the fruit bowl, where he grabbed a banana. The first thing he did when he walked in the house. She wanted to pull her hair out.

"Ah, Neo, now this is the greeting I'm used to!" Roman exclaimed. He came into the living area and plopped down into an armchair, munching on his banana, sitting with an exaggerated and calculated flair. His eyes were cunning, belying his intelligence. "Waiting for me when I come home. Didn't you miss me, dear?"

Neo shot him an unimpressed look.

Roman liked the mental connection a little too much for her tastes. She'd always talked out loud whenever possible with the rest of them. Now she made Roman play charades for her, because she'd rather wear a dress than give Torchwick the satisfaction of hearing her mental voice.

"Of course you didn't. Oh, well." Roman made an aloof gesture with his banana. "There was an incident down at the Four Maidens Hotel today, did you hear? The owner – poor soul, I'm sure – got it in his head that he wanted to start a gambling ring! Now, if he'd gone through, say, established channels, I'm sure he'd have found success, but he struck out on his own and now he's going to be spending the next ten years in a correctional institute."

Neo shook her head, giving Roman her saddest mocking eyes at the thought.

"Yes, yes, it's terribly sad. Did you see the present I left you?"

She crossed her arms. It was adorable that Roman thought he could bribe her with ice cream.

"You did! And you liked it too – I knew I saw the empty carton in the trash."

Damn it, he saw right through me. Why does he have to be a criminal mastermind?

Roman rose to his feet and extended his arms toward the sun like he was singing opera, leaning into his most dramatic tendencies. "Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself, 'why does he have to be a criminal mastermind?' And the answer, Neo, is if I can get paid to steal Bullheads from the Atlesian military or the jewels from a necklace worn by the best singer in Vale, then I know exactly what I have to do to brighten your day. Capiche?"

Neo pouted. He knows me too well.

"How was school? Did you learn today?"

Here we go.

"Did you have fun?"

That's it. I'm done. Scowling, Neo crossed her arms and met Roman's eyes.

No.

The worst part of it all was she'd done exactly what he wanted, and his reaction was not to get smug, or lord it over her head, or use it against her. No. Roman broke out into a big, genuine smile, dropping the drama for long enough to meet her eyes before he was back at it, prancing around like an actor, wearing his harlequin's costume like a badge of honor. "She speaks!" he crowed. "I thought I'd never see the day. To think I like the sound of my own voice!"

Neo made a disgusted noise. Disgust was an emotion she'd felt often as of late. She was disgusted with the fakeness of her life. She was disgusted with Roman. She was disgusted with herself.

You do.

True.

I don't need school. I'm a bandit. The tribes don't do school.

So you've been saying for two years. Of course, then you couldn't add, and now you can. You'll thank me someday, I promise you. I'm always right.

I made a boy in my art class cry today.

Roman laughed. Atta girl. I, for one, tend to think addition is a positive quality for all people to have.

I knew how to add.

You love art class! Roman declared. It's practically your semblance! I'm paying the fancy private school thousands of dollars so you can go and practice your calligraphy – isn't that wonderful?

Neo looked back out the window. She forced her hands not to ball the pretty yellow fabric of her sundress up in fists. Phantom pain from her tongue burned at the back of her throat.

Take me on raids.

"No." Roman spoke aloud, firm.

Let me go to the prison and kill that man.

"Absolutely not."

I'll kill you.

Roman laughed. "Sure. You adore me, don't lie."

She wanted to scream in frustration, but breaking her posture would mean she'd lost another game to Roman, 0-2, her speech and her composure. You haven't accomplished anything, Neo said to Roman. You haven't changed me. You haven't given me a childhood. You're not my savior. Some day, you'll let me take the place in your criminal empire I know is waiting for me, and that's the day you'll regret all the years you wasted on my 'innocence.'

I don't want to change you, Neo, Roman replied simply.

What do you want?

I have morals, Roman said, lofty, earning a snort from Neo. Sure, they don't look much like anything anyone else would call morals. But I do. And my morality says I'm not gonna put my best girl out there in the world until she's old enough to handle it. Cause I've seen what the world's done to her, and she deserves better than that. She deserves normalcy, even if she hates it, cause she better know what it feels like. You're not a kid, but you're not an adult. Adults have an education. Adults understand how people their age act in social situations. And you, my dear, still possess neither, so I will continue to send you to school and keep you away from organized crime until you do.

I like you better when you're a dramatic asshole, Neo snapped.

Sure you do. Roman shrugged. It's my head, Neo. Can't help it if I've got a well-hidden serious bone – it's not like anyone else gets to see it but you.

Neo viciously tore apart the way that comment made her feel and pushed the errant thought deep to the back of her brain. She looked away. Tell Scarlett the dress is pretty, she said, dismissive. And get out of my thoughts.

"As you wish." Giving Neo an absurd mock curtsy, Roman swung his cane and strode out of the living area, whistling.

Roman Torchwick was good to Neo. But Neo didn't buy the act one bit.

She was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I'm not asking you to- to change, Bella."

Bella regarded Ruby coolly. "Aren't you?"

Ruby stood in their shared mindscape, watching Bella fade away into her own dreams. "Wait."

"Not tonight." Bella shot her a full look, full of longing and sadness. "And I never- I never said I didn't want you to. I don't like what I was. It's not often anyone cares enough to agree."

Before Ruby could respond, she was gone.

Pyrrha sat in the antechamber to Beacon's biggest combat arena, staring off into the distance as Nora oiled her greaves behind her. Nora was her second: the one who would declare Hazel's victory if Hazel killed her. In olden days a family's duty would have been to prepare their combatant. While the rules were antiquated, Pyrrha did her best to respect them on principle, especially since Hazel was Jaune's sister.

Nora was the closest she had to family at Beacon, so Nora helped her pull her armor on – something she normally did herself – and handed her Milo and Akouo.

"Are you ready?" Nora asked.

Her voice was quiet and reserved. Pyrrha had almost gotten used to the new, more subdued Nora she'd known since Ren's death.

Almost.

"I am."

Pyrrha pressed her circlet to her brow, the warmth of her maiden powers leaving the metal hot to the touch.

"I hope this is cathartic," Nora said. "Hazel has her own issues, but that doesn't mean you have to get caught up in them. Just- If you feel like you're going to have another attack, like you did in the lobby, or after the funeral, remember that she's not Jaune. If you freeze up and Hazel's feeling vengeful, we can't stop the fight."

Genuine concern shone in Nora's eyes; Pyrrha shot her a sad smile. "I have to do this, Nora. For Jaune," she said. "I won't lose."

"Well, I never said that, idiot," Nora scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Just..." The crowd outside the antechamber, eager to watch their golden girl fight, began to chant her name –PYRRHA, PYRRHA, PYRRHA –their words echoing off the narrow stone walls of the glorified locker room. Nora wavered, then pulled Pyrrha into a tight hug. "Don't die on me, alright? Especially not to Jaune's kid sister!"

Shooting her last surviving teammate a salute, Pyrrha rose to her feet and walked out into the arena.

Red and golden boots echoed off the stone floor, her footsteps amplified. The tip of her sash brushed her ankle. She carried dust and ammo at her belt beside a pouch carrying her scroll and the shield-and-spear emblem fastened at her waist. More than once, she'd turned her old armor to slag; now, her metal chestplate and other armor were designed for maiden combat, made of a heat-resistant magic-conducting alloy and reforged to let her use her semblance to supercharge her flight with magnetism. With the flick of her wrist, she summoned her shield to her left arm. Raising her head, her red ponytail swaying behind her, Pyrrha walked into the deafening pit.

Nearly the entire student body had turned out to watch the fight. A chorus of cheers and exclamations greeted her arrival, the noise washing over her like water. At the center of the battlefield, Hazel stood, head held high, blue eyes piercing, hair tied back into a tight ponytail. She held Crocea Mors like a knight.

Team WBYR and Bella sat off to the side, watching her. Yang waved.

Pyrrha bowed her head to Hazel and went to her friends, leaning against the barrier between the battlefield and the stands. As she did, Nora slipped out of a side door and joined their friends, settling in next to Blake.

"I cannot believe you are going through with this, Pyrrha," Weiss said, shaking her head. "But it's far too late to talk you out of it. Don'tlet Arc kill you, do you understand? That's an order."

Yang scoffed. "As if. Kick her ass, Pyrrha, alright? Give her a taste of your firepower."

"That was awful," Ruby groaned.

"Ignore them." Leaning past her team, her cat ears twitching, Blake met Pyrrha's eyes. She couldn't help but feel a rush of gratitude. Blake had been a steadying influence in the insanity of her life; Pyrrha appreciated her presence in the days leading up to the attack, and she was glad Blake was here now. "Go and show them what you're made of." Behind her, Ruby nodded and gave Pyrrha an exaggerated thumbs-up.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said, giving them a sad smile. Turning away, she approached Hazel and entered the ring.

"Nikos," Hazel called. "Are you ready to fight?"

She offered up her hand, which Pyrrha took and shook firmly. Hazel looked so much like Jaune it hurt, but Pyrrha knew better than to judge her by her familial resemblance. The way Hazel held Crocea, the calculating look in her eyes, and the looseness in her shoulders screamed of experience. Watching Hazel was like seeing a strange mirror of Jaune – what Jaune could have been. If Jaune had been a seasoned fighter, if Jaune had had the guts to take on Ruby as soon as their animosity began, if Jaune had mastered his aura, if Jaune had had the strength to fight Cinder and live… Maybe Jaune would have looked like Hazel did now.

A bittersweet recollection of Jaune agreeing to let her teach him how to fight came to mind. Pyrrha sighed, nostalgic, and gave Hazel a firm nod.

"I'm ready."

"Alright, everyone, settle down!" Approaching the teacher's box, Glynda hoisted a microphone and cleared her throat, silencing the crowd. "Now, Miss Arc and Miss Nikos have requested that I officiate their formal challenge. Might I take this time to remind the student body at large that formal challenges, and fighting to the death in general, are not encouraged within the walls of Beacon, and I have only allowed this one to take place here due to… exceptional circumstances. I would kindly ask both Miss Arc and Miss Nikos to exercise mercy and not to take the life of a promising young huntress when there is a threat of war on the horizon."

Hazel rolled her shoulders, eyes flashing, and hefted Crocea Mors. "I fight for my brother's honor," she called, showing no respect toward the headmistress. "I'll do what I see fit if Nikos loses."

Pyrrha recognized the steely glint in Glynda's eyes. She won't let her kill me, she realized, a little grim. She'll violate the rules of the challenge to keep me alive.

It made sense. If Pyrrha died, Cinder would become the full Fall Maiden – and then they were all fucked.

Information Hazel wasn't privy to. Pyrrha wasn't about to enlighten her; readying her grip on Milo, she came to the conclusion that she'd simply have to win. She certainly wasn't about to kill her dead boyfriend's sister.

Trouble was, Pyrrha wasn't sure whether Hazel meant murder or was only riling her up.

The tenor of Glynda's introduction was completely different from when Jaune challenged Ruby. She spoke with a formal weight that brought the weight of the fight down on everyone in the room. Jaune had died, and Hazel was fighting a deathmatch for vengeance. Glynda made no lighthearted quip about sending anyone to the infirmary. Nobody took Pyrrha Nikos, Savior of Vale, Invincible Girl, Fall Maiden, anything less than deadly serious.

"The match will commence on my command," Glynda intoned, holding the microphone tight. "The screen will display your aura levels. The conditions for victory in this formal challenge will be surrender, mutual incapacitation, or death. For the safety of all students present, our facilities will shield the audience to the highest degree. To my students..." Glynda turned to the stands and fixed her silent audience with a deadly glare. "Let this be a lesson. Matters of life and death are not entertainment. I hope in watching this battle some of you will realize how inappropriate the illicit gambling and anticipation for this fight has been."

There were some titters among the older students.

Pyrrha locked her eyes on Hazel, seizing up her opponent. I won't use my maiden powers until I have to, she decided. If my aim was to kill her, I'd burn her alive.

"You said Jaune was the most important person in your life. Prove it."

How can I prove my love to you when I can't even prove it to myself? Pyrrha silently asked Hazel, trying to send a message with her eyes. What does it take to learn to live? How much do I have to lose? Nora said I was incapable of understanding Jaune's love for me. Incapable. But I know I'm not.

She was limitless.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!" Hazel said.

Pyrrha settled into an aggressive stance, drawing Akouo, zeroing in on her opponent. "Ready!"

"Fight!"

She charged. Leaping into the air, Pyrrha drove Milo into Hazel's shield, using the deflected momentum to twist in midair to deliver a kick to her head, spinning, spear twirling in a deadly arc to deflect two slashes from Crocea Mors before she bashed Akouo into Hazel's face. Hazel stumbled back, eyes narrowing, but Pyrrha already had her where she wanted her. Hazel leaned into her assault, parrying and blocking, but Pyrrha used her semblance and a well-placed slice to knock her off her feet, sending her tumbling back.

Milo snapping to her side, Pyrrha kept her eyes trained on her opponent, pacing back and forth, waiting for Hazel to rise.

Hazel did, pointing Crocea Mors at Pyrrha over the shield, smirking down the length of her arm. "Jaune never stood a chance against you," she said. "I'm gonna make you sweat."

We'll see about that.

Once again, Pyrrha attacked, spinning around in a deadly arc. Double slash, parry, block, low sweep, jab, jab, jab – taking the blows on her shield, Hazel stood fast, only for Pyrrha to hook Akouo on the shield and yank, jerking the shield out of her hands and vaulting Pyrrha over Hazel's head. Pyrrha caught Hazel's neck between her legs and flung her into the ground, using her semblance to make the impact more painful, shattering the stone floor, leaving Hazel's aura flickering.

Before Pyrrha could react, Hazel snaked her now-free shield hand up to press against the exposed skin on Pyrrha's thigh and smirked. "Gotcha."

Her hand glowed purple, and Pyrrha screamed.

An analytical corner of her brain realized what Hazel had done as soon as her metal sense, her polarity, blinked out; she'd shut down her semblance. A major handicap, but Pyrrha had trained to fight without her semblance. No, what she was unprepared for was the searing pain that shot through her entire body as her maiden powers reacted violently to the foreign influx of aura. Her corona exploded to life, but it was a sickly dark purple instead of its regular red.

Hazel freed herself from the headlock and watched in mild horror as Pyrrha fell to the ground, writhing, clutching her chest. Her maiden's powers retracted into her pool of aura, burning her chest from the inside out like molten lava, while the rest of her body grew dull and heavy, the magic seeping out of her limbs and eyes. And Pyrrha was struck by the notion that it wasn't her screaming, but her magic. The relic. As though Choice had been locked away before, and remembered the feeling.

Her magic was sealed within her soul.

When she came back to her senses, she had doubled over on the floor, clutching her chest. The arena was silent. Hundreds of eyes locked on her, waiting for her to move.

Pyrrha lifted her gaze, blazing with a fury that needed no fire to herald its presence, and zeroed in on Hazel. "What did you do to me?" she growled.

"My semblance," Hazel announced, her voice shaky. "It's a semblance blocker. I've- Nobody has ever reacted to it like that."

Glynda had gone pale in the announcer's box. Ruby and Nora both stared at Hazel in horror.

"Is it reversible?" Pyrrha asked, her hands trembling in fury, not for herself. For Choice.

"Yes. Either my aura breaks, or I can reverse it if I touch your skin again." Hazel walked across the room and retrieved her shield, glancing at the scoreboard – Pyrrha had 95% aura, to Hazel's 72%. "Stand up," Hazel commanded, readying Crocea Mors. "I'm not done with you yet."

Pyrrha stood.

When she was angry, she was invincible.

Milo and Crocea Mors met with a thunderous impact. Ground-bound without her semblance, unable to do her fanciest aerial work, Pyrrha fell back on her fundamental footwork. She and Hazel dueled, dancing back and forth. Pyrrha made little openings. Twirling, she scored a slash on Hazel's side; a misstep from Hazel let her land a gunshot under her shield; parrying Crocea Mors aside, she stepped in, nicking Hazel's shoulder, kicking her back and away.

Hazel was good, but she was green, even with her overpowered semblance. She was no match for Pyrrha. Even when Hazel scored a solid hit, a feint that brought her blade down on Pyrrha's right shoulder, Pyrrha shook it off and pressed the advantage the hit left open.

"Is this how you fought when he died for you, Nikos?" Hazel taunted, ducking a slash and rolling out of the way. She brought Crocea Mors up to support her shield, taking a full-force blow from Pyrrha without flinching. "No holds barred? Would you have taken a blade for him like he did for you? Did you love him?"

"I would have done anything to protect him!" Pyrrha moved forward with an unrelenting force, driving Hazel back toward the energized barrier. It was all Hazel could do to parry, batting away blow after blow, bobbing and weaving, her feet carrying her back until her back collided with the barrier.

They locked blades. Pyrrha leaned in, pressing Crocea Mors toward Hazel's throat.

"Love isn't about protecting people!" Hazel's eyes shone with hate and grief as she screamed into Pyrrha's face. "You don't understand how to protect because you don't understand what it means to lose! I do! I knew – I knew the whole time."

Pyrrha drove her knee into Hazel's gut, forcing the other girl to her knees. "Knew what?!"

"I knew Jaune went to Beacon!" Hazel exclaimed. "I knew he faked his transcripts, I knew he lied to get into school, because I helped him! He was sickly and didn't have aura and I knew he wouldn't survive a semester of combat school, but I helped him and hid it from Mom and Dad because his whole life, Jaune's only dream was to become a huntsman and he did! I sent my brother to his death. And I knew it. I knew what would happen. I hoped, but I knew. And when he died, I- I-"

The second Pyrrha relaxed her pressure on Hazel, Hazel scrambled away from Pyrrha and got back to her feet, her sword and shield falling to her side.

"If I wanted to protect Jaune, I'd have kept him home where he was depressed and alone and safe," Hazel said, meeting Pyrrha's eyes. "But I didn't. I helped Jaune follow his dreams. But he didn't die because he wasn't capable. We were wrong about him all along. Jaune was the strongest of the Arcs all along. No – he died because of YOU!"

Screaming in outrage, Hazel charged Pyrrha, bringing her sword up in a slash that bashed Akouo into Pyrrha's side, spinning, Crocea Mors colliding into Milo's hilt with colossal force. Hazel planted a nasty side kick into Pyrrha's chest, sending her flying back. Pyrrha landed gracefully, Milo shifting to rifle mode. "I know loss," Pyrrha shouted back, eyes blazing. "Maybe I didn't before. But don't you dare tell me I don't know how it feels to lose a battle!"

She fired thrice. Hazel lobbed a dust crystal back. Rolling, Pyrrha took one last shot at Hazel's head, forcing her to raise her shield to block, and, as soon as she did, lobbed Akouo into Hazel's abdomen. Shooting forward, Pyrrha grabbed her own shield and leaped into the air, kicking down into Hazel's shield, spinning off into a flip and a whirlwind slash that took three hits to bat Crocea Mors out of the way and send Hazel to the ground, her aura falling into the red.

Eyes cold, Pyrrha held out Milo and unloaded two shots point-blank into Hazel's chest. Her aura shattered, leaving her unprotected.

Pyrrha glanced at the scoreboard – she had 56% aura, and Hazel had 0%.

"Yield."

Hazel spat in her face and got to her feet. Rolling her shoulders, she readied Crocea Mors, her back foot sliding into a defensive pose. "Maybe you forgot how a death match works, Nikos," she said. "Aura means nothing. I'm not fighting because I'm able to, because I've trained. I'm fighting because I want to do what's right. Even if I had no power, no strength, I would still fight for the good of Remnant because if I don't fight for the world and for humanity then who will?"

And so did Jaune.

Pyrrha knew loss. She knew what it felt like to watch the most important person in her world disintegrate in front of her. She'd watched Jaune die. She'd felt the weight of Amber's memories before she'd passed away. But she was still fighting, railing, standing above her competition, standing before a beaten opponent who wouldn't go down, leading in aura by half, against the ghost of her lover, defenseless, holding his sword and his shield and wearing his face and his morals, and Pyrrha realized that to win this battle she would have to lose – but what?

"I don't want to fight you anymore, Hazel," Pyrrha said, barely aware of her maiden's powers flowing back into her body with a warm reassurance, restoring her sense of rightness. She could feel Milo and Akouo again. Almost subconsciously, she rearranged her sword and shield, pumping her aura back into her armor, the red haze of her maiden's corona rising around her.

"Well, then, you're out of luck," Hazel said, coughing up a bit of blood. Pyrrha's last gunshot must have penetrated her aura some. "You've got your semblances back. Use them, then. Show me the Invincible Girl. Show me Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha's hands started to shake. For a moment, she wasn't looking at Hazel; she was in Amity Colosseum, watching Penny Polendina get ripped apart by her powers. She hadn't been able to lose. She'd killed an innocent in the blind pursuit of victory.

Why had Jaune challenged Ruby? What had driven him to that level of desperation? Because Pyrrha hadn't known how to lose. Who had she been fighting? Ruby? Jaune? Herself? She'd taken Jaune's lack of combat skill as a challenge; she'd made it her mission to prepare him to fight, to claim his dream. He had. Jaune had stood before Cinder Fall and defied her; he'd done exactly what he'd trained for, used everything he'd ever learned and stood for, and Pyrrha had resented him for it. And Nora had seen it; Hazel had seen it; even Ruby had seen it. Because that had been her role to play. Her destiny. Not Jaune's. She had failed her partner on the most fundamental level – they had had the same goal, the same purpose, but Pyrrha had gone against every precept of teamwork and she'd treated Jaune like he couldn't protect like she could, and she'd driven him to fight Ruby, driven him to do his kamikaze attack on Cinder to buy her time. He had loved her that desperately. Pyrrha hadn't known how to lose. She'd turned their love into a battle, a fight to be won, and Jaune had won it.

Jaune had won.

He'd saved her life.

He saved me.

Pyrrha looked back at Hazel, trying to stop tears from welling in her eyes. She activated her maiden's powers to burn them away. Hazel stood defiant, sword and shield ready, a trickle of blood running from her mouth.

"Come kill me!" she roared, beating her shield with Crocea Mors.

"Miss Nikos!" Glynda called. "Please!"

Oh, Glynda…

"You can't make me let this go."

Pyrrha turned and looked to Nora, sitting with Team WBYR in the stands. Nora met her eyes and smiled, shaking her head, giving Pyrrha the most knowing look she'd ever seen. Pyrrha swallowed.

Nora was right. She was selfish. Pyrrha had always been selfish. She'd taken Jaune's love for granted, and they'd both paid the ultimate price for it. But maybe, just maybe, Pyrrha was beginning to understand. Jaune had given her a second chance at life.

But that didn't take away the way he'd smiled at her when she'd caught him in the Emerald Forest from falling to his death with Milo, the way he laughed over breakfast in the morning, the goofy way he'd spend time in their dorm and play guitar and laugh. She would never be able to forget when she'd lifted Jaune into the sky, singing Destiny Blue, swaying on the rooftop of Beacon. That was when she'd known. She loved their dates and their time together. Pyrrha had never been happier in her entire life than during the eighteenth birthday party Jaune had thrown her. And life had gotten dark, oh-so-dark, but even in the darkest moments Jaune had been a beacon of light. Jaune had been everything to her. And now Pyrrha saw it all for the first time, and it blinded her, dazzling, taking away her breath with the weight of what she had lost and everything she had gained.

She made her decision. Pyrrha let Fall slip away, let her eyes grow wet, met Hazel's eyes, let the other girl see her cry.

"I won't," Pyrrha said to Hazel. "I won't kill you."

"COWARD!" Hazel screamed, charging Pyrrha. She was injured, though, and her swings were clumsy and weak. Pyrrha blocked her sword with ease.

"I won't," she repeated.

"Why?!"

Pyrrha smiled through her tears. "Because I loved him."

Crocea Mors fell to Hazel's side. "What?"

I loved him.

Milo rose, trembling, and rested at the base of Hazel's unprotected neck. Pyrrha met her blue eyes, the eyes she knew so well, and she forgave Jaune for dying. She apologized. She communicated this to Hazel without words; Hazel understood her every meaning. "Yield."

Hazel fell to her knees. "I- I yield."

Their battle was over. Pyrrha had won the fight, but she'd lost the war.

Blake sat on the floor of her dormitory, leaning back against Yang's bed, her head leaning back against the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was tired – her insomnia had been acting up – and stressed. Her thoughts drifted to Raven, to the tribe, and she couldn't help but feel that she was wasting her time sitting in school, rather than fighting on the front lines in Anima against Adam. Raven flat-out refused them, of course; after disobeying every directive Raven had ever given Blake to save the relic and the tribe, Blake hadn't had a say in the matter.

She hated sitting on the sidelines. It wasn't in her nature.

Next to her, Yang had her mechanical arm propped up on her knee, her gaze fixed on some point on the wall, brooding. Her girlfriend had been in a foul mood for days, and Blake couldn't exactly blame her. There was bad blood and worse memories at Beacon.

"We haven't talked about it." Yang didn't look at Blake. "What happened in Mistral. We should."

"I know," Blake said. "What about it?"

"The relic."

Blake shivered at the thought of the blue and gold lamp. She remembered the cool touch of the ancient metal on her hand, the way it had whispered to her, how relieved she'd been when she'd handed it off to Weiss. She didn't like to think of their battle in the vault. In her nightmares, the twisted monster that Cinder Fall had become was still down there, clawing at the walls. Yang never emerged from Raven's portals in those dreams.

"It's strange," Blake murmured. "All along, the Core thought Raven would only listen to you about the relic. But she listened to me. I- I didn't think Raven would care what I had to say, but she did. I told her she couldn't kill me and I was right. I made her see me as an equal."

Yang turned to look at Blake, her lilac eyes catching the evening light. "You're a better person than Mom will ever be," she said without a trace of doubt.

"That's what she said," Blake agreed, laughing softly. "It's still strange, coming from your Mom. Yang… I have a confession to make."

"What is it?"

"I almost ran." Blake's ears flatten against her head in shame; she ducked her gaze. "After Raven saved us, when we were in that medical tent, watching you on the edge of death with your arm gone, I wanted to run. I would have left it all behind, like I tried to do last year before Ruby dragged me back. I… had half-concocted a plan. Going to Menagerie. Now, I realize how stupid that would have been – I mean, my parents, they… and… I was responsible for it all. The people of Menagerie, they must hate me. I couldn't do it, though. Gods, if you'd woken up and I hadn't been there..."

"I would still be rotting in a tent in Anima," Yang said. "Or, worse, I'd be on Patch, and Adam would already control the whole continent."

"It's ironic." Blake slumped down, shifting closer to Yang. She offered Yang her hand, and Yang took it, resting hers on top. "I'm the one who has problems with running away, and I was the one who talked Raven down from doing the same thing, only a million times worse."

Yang's gaze softened. "Don't sell yourself short," she said. "I don't know what I could have said to make her stay. Not after getting left in Mom's semblance. I don't think you're a coward, Blake. You're the bravest girl I know."

Their fingers intertwined.

"Really?" Blake asked, swallowing.

Yang nodded. "You amaze me," she murmured. "You left the White Fang, you put the protest together. When the video of you getting beaten went up online, I remember thinking that I wouldn't have been able to stay put together; I wouldn't even have been able to show my face, let alone start a movement. I mean, look at how I reacted to losing my arm. But you've never stopped fighting. Mom would have been stupid not to listen to you with the relic in her hands. You saved your parents and crowned the Nevermore Queen. You're incredible."

"I could have lost you."

"But you stayed." Reaching over, Yang tilted up Blake's chin with a metal finger, forcing them to lock eyes again. "That's what matters."

Blake could have cried; instead, she leaned in and kissed Yang, closing the distance between them on the floor. Yang let Blake roll on top of her, running a hand through Blake's hair. For several minutes, they let the past be forgotten.

When Blake pulled away, lingering close to Yang's face, Yang gave her a tired smile and looked away. "I'm trying," she said, quiet. "It's hard being back around Ruby and Bella all the time. I don't feel the same as I did before Haven – it took me a long time to forgive Mom for leaving me, even though I understand now, and everything with my sister… sisters, I guess, it's so much fresher. I've got a lot of resentment built up, and I don't know how to let it go yet."

"You don't have to," Blake said. "Everything is out on the table, no more secrets – for me, at least. I don't know what's going to happen with the war, or how long we'll stay at Beacon, or what's going to happen. But no matter what I'll be there. You don't have to answer anything to me, Yang. We're a team. We're partners."

"I love you."

For the first time in months, Blake let herself be at ease. She relaxed into Yang's shoulder, letting her eyes slip shut.

"I love you too."

[A/N] We're back, baby.

Pyrrha defeats Hazel, and she finally begins to realize what her competitive nature and her need to win does to her relationships. This is really the climax of Pyrrha's character arc – there was never really a doubt that she would beat Hazel, especially after Pyrrha took down Tyrian last volume, and the real fight her was internal. The question is, did Pyrrha win or lose?

Also, Bella lets go to another piece of her past, Ruby can't accept whether she loves Bella or not, and we get Roman in all his overdramatic glory! You have no idea how frustrating it's been to write a story with Roman in the summary and not get to play with his character, he's so much fun to write. Also, Bumblebee fluff. All three of the main couples have interweaving arcs, some rising, some falling.

Anyways, rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. There were a bunch of reasons it took me so long to upload. First of all, I have a new original project that's going fantastic. It's a low sci-fi/contemporary lit novel, currently at 200k (I wrote 200k in just over five months! That's insane. It took me almost a year to get there with re:Bound), and I've been pouring my heart and effort into it. The working title is DENY.

That's the main reason – re:Bound got bumped from my number one project slot. Rona's also been kicking around, plus I've had some family medical stuff and whatnot. My upload schedule got wonky in the fall, too, so that didn't help – I had less extrinsic motivation which made getting this chapter out hard.

I'm so excited about finishing re:Bound, though. There are only SEVEN CHAPTERS LEFT! I have the entire ending outlined and planned, most of it's been plotted since 2018. Vixie and I went over the whole plan yesterday for two hours, and it's gonna be a blast. Mark my words, this fic will have a complete status, no matter how long it takes me.

There is a poll on my profile, asking "What's your favorite fight scene from re:Bound?" Feel free to check it out!

Also, my other RWBY fic, Petals in the Ash, is currently active again! The basic plot is Cinder get thrown backwards in time into Ruby's body and falls in love with Weiss, and it's a romp.

Thank you so much to everyone who bore with me over the past few months, and to the hundred or so of you who've followed since my last update! Your feedback means the world to me – leaving a review/comment makes my day. Please remember to follow and favorite!

Stay safe, everyone. We're in the home stretch now.

Cheers, Allie

Estimated Update Date: Some Point in June