[IC] TTG Chapter 7: Pride

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

While Grima was experienced, she wasn't experienced enough to swipe something in front of someone while they're still focused on it. So instead of advancing, the thief took a few steps back to make sure she wouldn't be seen from the corner of Seeker's vision, preparing another pill for when the first began to die out.

 

... Alternatively, she could've tried to talk the god out of doing this. She clearly wasn't ready to go with it yet. But at the same time, why would she listen to another god's errand girl, much less a common thief? No, she would need to forcefully stop Seeker. That was the only way she could make a potential difference here.

[IntSys]

Tai

 

Sighing, Tai raised his head and stared blankly into the ceiling. Adam was desperate, clinging onto any semblance of hope before him, however senseless it was. There was nothing Tai could give to him that he didn't already have access to. And besides, how many people had he talked to before Tai came to him? And they had all given up hope... Clearly, he was really asking for a miracle.

 

Tai did not like this. The last time someone had asked him a favor, with the same kind of desperation and plea, he wound up almost losing everything. It just wouldn't do. He couldn't give in to pity again. He had to do this based on his own obligations, that's the way it should be. He owed her a fair match, and that was an obligation to his very own conscience as a pilot, and so he had to save her somehow.

Turning his head back to Adam, he said simply. "If there's anything that I could do, then tell me. If not, then I'll find a way. We're not done yet."

[Shamitako]

Grima

 

It was several minutes, even slower from Grima's perspective, before Seeker stopped mumbling and wiped her face on her sleeve. She reached out to the device and activated it, causing it to glow red. "It's time, Cameron." she said, finally steeling herself for what she was about to do. A ray of light jumped from the Access Attain, seemingly scanning Seeker. And that was Grima's chance, as the scan was happening, Seeker's perception of the world outside her was completely cut off. 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

As soon as the ray of light erupted from the Access Attain, Grima moved forward, almost running as she did so. This was quite clearly her moment to strike, and she needed to do it as quickly as possible. The first step Grima took was stepping to the side of Seeker, quickly snatching up the Access Attain before it could finish its scan, shoving it underneath her jacket so all it could scan was fabric. Then, as she took it, she turned around and bolted, only stopping to swing the door open, one arm covering the Attain while the other drew the dagger she had attached to her belt. She needed to get some distance before she pulled off the next step of her plan... Though that was only a preferred part. If worst came, she'd use it without hesitation, but she'd prefer not to.

 

Either way, Grima had a good feeling she'd notice if Seeker was coming for her.

[Shamitako]

Tai

 

"Well, right now, I think she and I would both appreciate it if you kept her company for a bit." Adam said gratefully, "I have more I need to get done, and she's been alone for a while." It was a simple request, but Adam hadn't really planned to make it. He didn't know why, but a feeling in his gut told him that this is what Temperance would want.

 

Grima

 

Grima's slowed perception was just enough to let her dodge the spear that appeared behind her head as she tried to escape down the hall. Behind her, an armored behemoth smashed through the doorway she had just left. Seeker hadn't taken very long to recover and chase after Grima at all. "Give that back, now." she demanded, scratching the walls as she lumbered after Grima.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

The thief did not have nearly as much time as she thought when it came to getting a head start. In fact, she barely had any time at all, considering she had just barely moved her head out of the way of being impaled, almost tripping on her own feet as she did so. A sloppy manuever that could've been avoided had she looked at the attack, rather than notice it at the last possible moment, but she wasn't going to risk taking a glance back at Seeker. That would've slowed her down.

 

"Give that back, now."

 

In her younger days, Grima would've felt the need to make a form of witty reply. But now, Grima barely gave Seeker's demand any thought. All she did was run, making sure the Access Attain was secure under her arm, leaving her hand to be free. Her other still holding the dagger, the key to enacting her... Getaway, of sorts. She didn't have the time to waste, but she still gave herself a second to steel herself, gritting her teeth in preparation... Before thrusting said dagger into her palm.

[IntSys]

Tai

 

"... I see. If you'll excuse me, then."

 

As much as Tai wanted to believe the contrary, Adam seemed to have as much faith as the families of an old man on his deathbed.

 

Tai was wasting her time. She couldn't hear, she couldn't see, she was not even conscious. Whatever he could accomplish by sitting next to her would be no greater than doing the same things next to a tombstone.

 

 

... But, even then, he would still enjoy her company.

 

Taking out his HUD, he raised the volume a bit and began to go over an old collection of match replays. Most were his matches when he was just starting out many years ago. He used to watch these alone, stomaching them with the cheapest meal on the street. They were at first bitter review materials, allowing him to learn from his errors, but soon, they became an object of nostalgia. And eventually, he stopped watching them.

 

He sat down on the floor and leaned his back against the bedside, making himself comfortable. And then, he hit auto-play.

 

 

 

It had been awhile.

 

He was getting thrashed for a variety of reasons. That was a point in time where he would miss his punches, overshoot with speed glitching, and screw up basic aerial maneuvers. But that wasn't the point anymore. What mattered more was his opponents. Those names disappeared from the scene one by one, as time went by. Those who used to be prize-winning stars, and those who were struggling just as hard as he was, for reasons he couldn't even get to hear. The only thing he could keep in his career seemed to be himself.

 

And the only way to keep it is to keep fighting.

 

In a wave of blurry fanfare from his device's shoddy speakers, an old opponent launched him head-first into an ice rink, ending the match. There was a smile on his face, and nothing more.

 

Drowsiness settled in. This was the closest he could get to those fleeting memories. If he couldn't give her a proper rematch, then at least he could share with her something he treasured as a pilot.

 

 

And that would do, he thought.

[Shamitako]

Grima

 

The instant Grima's blood touched the dagger, a portal opened in the floor beneath her and she found herself dropping in on Princess, who was in the process of having some tea. It was a surprisingly simple process, considering how impressive the result was.

 

"Well, that didn't take very long." Princess said nonchalantly.

 

Seeker followed Grima through the portal, crashing to the ground and causing something in the next room over to fall and break. It also caused Princess to tense up quite a bit, although she didn't quite let it reach her face.

 

"Give. It. Back." Seeker's spear was now at Grima's throat.

 

Princess sighed, downed the rest of her tea, walked over, and shoved Grima out of the way, putting herself in front of the spearpoint. "Hello Sarah, did you need something?"

 

"That thief took something of mine, I want it back, that's all." Sarah answered, barely keeping herself from bursting with rage and anguish.

 

Princess turned to Grima, "I assume you're here with good reason, what did you take and why?" Although she was mediating, Princess wasn't actually expecting this to end with diplomacy. as such, somewhere during her interrogation, one of her swords had ended up in her hand, just in case.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

Well, aside from the knife in hand and discomfort of slamming into the hard floor, that could've gone a lot worse from Grima's perspective. The former hurt like hell, but it was a lot better than being gutted in an instant. Regardless of said pain, Grima began to get to her feet after crashing, giving Princess a small greetings with a raised hand (not the stabbed one), opening her mouth to speak... Until Seeker's entrance caused whatever she was going to say to die in her throat, almost literally when the god pointed her spear at her throat. As expected, the woman froze for a few seconds, contemplating what she should say that wouldn't immediately kill her, before settling on how to begin.

 

"Hey Min-su, sorry for the sudden visit" Grima greeted as calmly as she could, what with clutching her stabbed hand and having a spear pressed against her throat. At least until Princess had come and gotten her out of the way of said spear, allowing the thief to get a chance to breathe, "It's a bit complicated, but what I took was a thing called the Access Attain-" she began, bringing her hands apart for a moment in order to retrieve the ancient prism from under her jacket, "I pretty much got roped into taking this back from Seeker, considering this thing can connect straight to Nil" Grima continued, only stopping for a moment as she looked at Princess, "... I doubt you're within the loop, but there's something extremely important going down there, and I couldn't take the risk of someone interrupting it. Which is what I was afraid Seeker would try to do, no offense" she finished, rather lamely, as she placed the prism onto the table, taking a quite look around for something she could use as makeshift medical supplies that didn't involve tearing up her favorite clothing.

[Shamitako]

Grima

 

Princess looked at the odd little device for a moment before coming to a conclusion. she pocketed the device and stared down the suit of heavy armor that had barged into her living room. "You don't need this." she told Seeker, "So you don't need to attack Grima."

 

"What? no, why wouldn't I need it?" Seeker was taken aback.

 

"Because if you really need to go to Nil, I can send you there." she held up her sword, "Sarah, I know what you want, but you can't force it."

 

"You're one to talk."

 

"Victoria is exactly why I can talk, I got here from trying to force it. If you want him back-"

 

"I don't." Seeker's words caused an uncomfortable silence to fall over the room, "I don't want him back, I want to stop him. Nobody knows him better than I do, I have to be the one to do it."

 

Princess glanced at Grima before sighing again. "Mech off, hand fixed, then we'll talk." she insisted.

 

Seeker complied and desummoned her mech, then Princess took Grima to the kitchen to bandage her hand. As she worked, she decided to further her interrogation, "Before I deal with Sarah, why don't you tell me how you got wrapped up in this. You seemed pretty against doing anything dangerous last time I saw you."

 

Tai

 

Temperance coughed and turned her head, her eyes opening, yet her face still clouded. Whether she cold truly be called "awake" was uncertain. "Thank you." she said, her smile matching the one in Tai's recording, "It's been a while since anyone shared their happiness with me, they're all so gloomy."

[IntSys]

Tai

 

"Mm..."

 

Tai heard those words as if they had come from the opponents of the past - a self-fulfilling echo. With eyelids half open, he muttered, seemingly to the screen, to what might as well as be a ghost.

 

"... I know you're a busy person, but... just maybe, you could let me know if you're still kicking..."

 

"... And, for old time's sake, we could fight again, in that same ring you kicked my ass in..."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

Grima couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the potential fight in front of them defused... And for the fact that Seeker didn't seem to be on the "extremely bad" side of the scale as of this moment. It did cause a bit of guilt to well up in Grima's chest, but she chose to ignore that as she was led out into the kitchen, "Believe me, in any other situation, I wouldn't have gotten into this. But I got asked by a guy to retrieve something extremely important that was stolen from him-" she began explaining once Princess continued the interrogation, only to pause as she finally realized something, her expression making it clear that she was mentally face-palming at her own stupidity, "... I completely forgot to get his name though. All I knew was that he wanted the Access Attain back in order to prevent other people from going to Nil, and that he figured that Seeker took it from him. So, because of feeling obligated to do so and following my gut, I agreed to at least prevent anyone from using it, and vualá, here I am."

 

"Not my best thought out plan, taking something from one of the Gods, but I had a feeling that Seeker would've gutted me if I had tried to talk her out of using it."

[Shamitako]

Tai

 

"I'd like that." Temperance mumbled, her short moment of lucidity already fading, "Just keep smiling for me, and I'm sure we'll have a great match." She faded back into her subconscious again, but her rest this time was peaceful.

 

Grima

 

"Can you tell me more about who Seeker supposedly took it from originally? I'd like to know who was trying to stop her." Princess asked. She had a pretty good guess, but best to be sure. If it was who she thought it was, then she needed to get ready for a fight, because Sarah wasn't going to be happy when Princess told her no.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

"Old man with receding hair, dyed black, brown eyes, had the look of a scientist thanks to how he acted, and was aware of my situation with Queen. Other than that, not much I can say, we only talked for maybe two minutes" Grima answered. Like Princess, Grima was mentally preparing herself for a potential fight to break out, even if she desperately wanted to avoid it. Fighting against a god wasn't something she was looking forward to, especially not with a wounded hand.

[Shamitako]

Grima

 

"That's what I thought." Princess said, the look on her face telling Grima all she needed to know, "If Leonard is behind this, then he probably knows what she was up to, and he definitely has a good reason to stop her. Wait here, I'll go try to talk her down."

 

Talking Seeker down proved ineffective and a fight broke out. Princess won handily. Although as far as she was concerned, none of it really mattered much. Fighting like this didn't mean anything to her anymore. It was just a single flash of the blade in the endless battle called life. She was a little saddened when Sarah left in a rage, but it was inevitable. Princess knew what Leonard was doing, and she agreed with his choice of action, but she also knew that Sarah wouldn't let go.

 

Princess returned to Grima with the same look she'd left with. "You'd better stay here for a few weeks until Sarah cools down. She's been searching for Watcher for years, and I'm pretty sure she didn't intend to come back if she found him. I'll get a message to Leonard telling him what happened, and he'll have to deal with Queen. Is that all okay with you?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Grima

 

While she was optimistic, Grima doubted that Seeker could be talked down, mostly due to the fact that the god seemed very into the idea of seeing... Whoever they wanted to see. So she wasn't entirely surprised to hear the sounds of a fight breaking out in the room right next to her, starting and ending before Grima could stand up, "That's better then fine, actually. At least I won't have to deal with that fallout" Grima replied once Princess returned and gave out her offer, "... I am sorry for dragging you back into all this drama, but at the same time, thanks. For helping someone who is little more than a stranger" she stated. It felt rather nice, being able to reside in a regular house like this. While she was still being told to stay here, it felt far less of a prison than Queen's mansion, likely because she felt somewhat welcome here.

 

It was odd, and rather selfish, but it was a nice feeling. Not being seen as a prisoner, a criminal, or a warrior. Just... A guest. And hopefully, her agreement with Queen would resolve itself soon, making her a free woman once more. For what she had done, as small as her contributions were, it made her glad to be a part of something that sounded huge.

 

But at the end, she could finally go back to a life of peace and quiet. That was to be her reward.