Chapter 6

~ Daytime Silence ~

Crystal POV:

Blake is leading me to this treasure load of red sap... I have a hunch that she's making fun of me in some way... I can't figure out how, though.

But why is she not saying anything? I need to talk with her. I need for her to say something. Anything. I can't handle silence. Not during the day, especially, when the sun's up, it's the worst time for silence.

I can't handle silence. I hate silence.

(Talk. Say something.)

But she doesn't say anything herself. That means she doesn't want to talk. So I can't.

(But you hate silence. Despise silence.)

I do, but I can't be selfish, my selfish actions already cost Glynda.

(Yeah, like that matters, wasn't the first time, you've used somebody like that. Definitely won't be the last. Face it, you like it. Destroying and tarnishing everybody around you)

You're wrong. Wrong, that's all...

(Wrong? Hardly. Silence is your worst enemy. Yet you won't do anything about it. Instead of breaking it, You're too weak to accomplish such a simple task. The almighty, all-powerful, never defeated Crystal, has only one weakness and that is silence. How pathetic. Disgusting.)

Stop. Stop it.

(Why would I? You're useless. Scared of silence, null void in the daytime? Ridiculous, why don't you just curl up into a ball like you used to? That's your only haven, your safe space from the torturous endeavor that is Silence. Oh, that dreadful, oh so dreadful silence.)

I said, STOP IT.

(Oh, what is it, little scaredy fox, is getting irritated? On the edge of tears? Needs her mommy? Well too bad, you got no parents, they left you when you were born for the abomination you are. They left you in the place that you call hell, in the place you so willfully lived in for your whole life, lab rat, worthless, disgusting. Lab... deformed fox)

You are wrong. I have a mom... two of them...

(HAHAHA, fakes, imposters, posers. That's all they are. One, you have seen only once. Who only pitied you and then you never saw her again, never will again. The second. You forced her to be your parent, guilt-tripped her into that role. You even let out, your malfunctional hormones, on her. raped her, because you couldn't handle it yourself, like anything else, you can't do anything alone. Even though all you've put her through, she still tried to help you, she saw some good in you and yet, you're still using her for your own selfish goals. What a joke. You are a useless being, that isn't needed in this world, by anybody, just disappear.)

S-s-stop... please.

(Ugh. How revolting.)

Silence... Silence... Nothing. I can't hear a single thing. It's all... Silent.

(W)E (H)A(T)E (S)I(L)E(N)C(E).

"HEY, CRYSTAL" Ugh.. what. I look up. Oh, right. Blake and the... what was it. Right, red sap thingy.

"Are you okay? You spaced out for a while, I've been calling you for a while" Blake asks me... concerned? I think.

"Yeah, yeah. Just had a lot going on my mind" I breathe in, to calm down my erratic heart "So, what are we doing here at this tree?"

"Well, our task, of course"

"Uh... But there are only trees here?"

"Yes, that is correct"

"Uhm... I'm going to be truthful, I have no idea what we are doing"

Blake just shakes her head at me lightly.

"The red sap... is inside the tree, it's tree sap"

Huh.

"It's tree sap? Our 'mission' is to get tree sap? And it's called red sap? I... wow"

"You should lis-"

"Yes, yes, I should listen when somebody's talking, you said it more than you need to, thanks"

"Well, I'm going to go now, to my team. I imagine you can do it yourself, now that you know, what you're supposed to be doing"

"Show me? At least a little? So I don't fail? Please?"

Silence... break it. Break it.

"Okay," Blake says and turns around and with her own jar, shows me how to do it. Pretty easy.

"Thanks for the help Blake, do you want to ask me something? You know, as a reward for helping me"

"What a generous reward... But no, I don't"

Well, that's disappointing.

"Are you sure? I will answer almost anything you may ask"

"No... Actually, there is one"

"Oh? Go ahead"

Blake POV:

This had me thinking for the whole week. I have to know the answer.

"Back in the cafeteria... You gave me, well your instinct gave me a 7/10, while I don't really care about that. I do want to know, what did you mean by saying that I am fake and don't embrace my full beauty"

"Oh that's very simple"

Just as we finish filling up our jars. Crystal turns around and shoves her tails towards me, one of them slightly touching my nose. it tickles, she backs up, so I could see her tails fully.

"See these?" She asks, making me confused a little bit.

"Yes, your tails"

"Exactly"

"I don't follow"

She just rolls her eyes at me.

"You see them. I don't hide them... well not that I could. But, you SEE them, you'd be a solid 8 otherwise, maybe even a 9, those are rare from me" She finishes and starts walking away, swaying her hips a little. Making both of her tails curl into a heart shape.

Is she.., flirting with me? She is. Well, whatever.

Wait. Oh...

I raise my hands and put them on my bow. I will have to ask her later, how she knew.

But for now, I've been away for too long from my team, need to go back.

Narrator POV:

We see Crystal staring at the things that are happening because of Cardin, with a blank look. She's waiting for her chance to talk to him. Everybody is leaving, back to their dorms. Cardin is walking with a slumped posture, not seeing Crystal standing in the shadows.

"Hey" Is what Cardin hears before he's grabbed and put into a corner. He grunts. And looks up to see Crystal.

"Hello, Trashdin"

"What?"

"Trashdin, you know, your name, but the front swapped for trash, I think it fits you more"

"It doesn't"

"Yeah, well, to the eye of the beholder, or something like that"

"What do you want" Cardin starts to get agitated.

"Nice work out there"

"Wha-"

"You know, blackmailing Jaune, into doing your work, then trying to blackmail him into hurting his team, and then the best part. Get bodied, not only you, but your whole team, by an Ursa, and getting saved by the same person you belittled, you bullied, you blackmailed. You're even more useless than I thought"

"So what, you're here just to rub it in? On how I am so, so, evil, how I am such a bully?"

"Hardly, those are all facts. No, what I am here for. Is give you a piece of advice"

"Advice?"

"Yes, listen, I don't care when somebody's a goodie two shoes or evil to the core. I am neutral in that kind of thing, so to me, your bullying doesn't matter. Do you know what matters to me? Faunus and your racism against them put you on my bad list, the moment, I saw you, doing that to the bunny girl, and then in Oobleck's class, you talking about them like animals. And then there's the complete indifference for the lives of others, endangering lives for no reason, without care, guilt, just doing for shits and giggles. Like you've been doing, maybe what happened today, will help you"

"Uhm..."

"No, you listen and you listen good, I give people two chances, two of them. To right their wrongs. Once those are gone. To me you're not a person anymore, not an animal. You are NOTHING, just a hassle to deal with. I normally, say this to everybody, so that they would know about it, It's only fair. So you still have one chance left. If I didn't care about being 'fair', you'd be all out of chances"

"Wait, you said everybody gets two... but why do I only have only one?"

"Simple, today's incident and the blackmailing is not counted, for you weren't aware of this thing with two chances" Crystal pauses but gets real close to Cardin with a murderous look.

"BUT, you lost your first chance, the moment you bullied a Faunus in front of my eyes. I don't care, if you're some hero symbol, some warrior, a teacher, a villain, a petty school bully, or even a God. IF YOU LAY A FINGER ON A FAUNUS IF YOU EVEN DARE TO BADMOUTH THEM. Your chances diminish without your prior knowledge"

Crystal backs up a little, seeing, Cardin shaking. She continues.

"So you have only one chance left. If that chance were somehow to slip past you... Well. I'd have fun torturing you for the rest of your days until you'd bleed out"

"Huh?"

"That's right. I would lock you up in a place nobody would ever find you in, torture till you'd almost go crazy, insanity on the brink, all your body battered, bleeding, cuts everywhere, fingers crushed, legs bent in ways they shouldn't bend. The only thing that would be safe is your dominant hand, your eyes and your mouth" Crystal looks at Cardin to see he has become pale.

"Why I wouldn't hurt those three body parts? Easy, eyes, so you could always see what I am doing and what damage your body goes through, your mouth, for screaming that nobody would ever hear, and your hand. Heh, that's the best part. So you could move it. I don't know if you figured out my Semblance in our cafeteria 'match' but what pain I receive, I bounce it back. So with your last remaining hand, I'd put a knife in it, tape it, so that you wouldn't lose your grip on it. And just get as near to you as possible. With the last remaining bit of your sanity, you'd try to get revenge, closure, anything. But, unfortunately for you, any slice, cut, spear, hit you'd put on me with that knife. It would all come back to you. All of it. And as I would activate my Semblance, that would be the last breath you'd ever draw"

Crystal finishes and turns around to walk away. Before turning her head slightly to say.

"So, for the good of your health, start changing, try to get help if you need to, so that you wouldn't be a bully, or that you would stop your racism. Fear is a good factor for that. It will force you to not do such things, but it can also drive people to the extreme. So you need more than fear. So, get some help. Friends help with that, not yes men, that is your team"

She walks away but hears Carding shakily say.

"Are y-y-you crazy? Threatening me like that, you won't get away with this, yo-"

But he gets cut off, with the last line, that makes him fall to his knees with chills running through his whole body, scared, to the bone.

"Threats? Hardly, that was just advice. I don't do threats. Because if I ever were in a need to threaten somebody, they'd already be dead" Crystal thinks for a moment.

"And I already have. Gotten away with it, I mean. Ultimate power is everything after all"

~ End of Chapter 6 ~