Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
-Story Start-
-Third Person POV-
'A month in Purgatory... that sounds significantly lighter for a Main Quest than the usual 'Eternal Damnation' package. Also, Chain Quest?' Alex inquired with a mildly irritated look at the night sky.
[While this quest is important and impactful enough to be considered a Main Quest, it won't be too bad if you don't do it in the grand scheme of things. However, given the low difficulty and importance, the punishment is fitting.] The System relayed matter of factly.
[As for Chain Quests - they are simply the parts of a greater puzzle. It allows you some levity by indicating that you're entering something prolonged while not acting as a singular convoluted quest. As a technicality, your primary quest of saving the world is technically the final quest of a long chain of quests - whether you are given an indicator of entering a chain or not entirely depends on... Me~!]
...It took Alex a good minute to process that monologue-lengthed explanation from the System.
And with a sigh, he concluded simply:
'So going forward with this will lead me to a headache. Got it.'
He truly was fiddling with the option of trying out a month in Purgatory, see how that goes.
After all, he didn't truly know her.
She's not a friend.
She's barely an acquaintance.
Hell, the longest exchange of words they ever had was now.
He turned his head to look at the silent girl who similarly gazed at the night sky with an almost melancholic air around her.
His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a read on her, and exercising great effort to reach into the crevices of his limited memory he managed to gleam one thing about this girl:
'She's a fellow comrade. Nay, a victim.' He confirmed with a nod.
In all honesty, it was a rather rudimentary conclusion.
Introverted, completely at peace with her loneliness and the quietude.
Alex could relate somewhat.
But more than everything, he could dearly sympathize...
She was in a Team with Nora Valkyrie.
Someone like her would surely suffer under such circumstances - or so Alex surmised.
'One month of Purgatory or another session of being a therapist?' He hummed internally.
Well, he did do something similar once before with Ruby and that ended up well.
But with someone like her...
'It'll take a considerable amount of effort.' Alex groaned internally.
"Is there something on my face?" Blake's voice and turned head broke him out of his stupor.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously into his, as dull amber met the dullest of amber.
For a moment, she wondered if he might be interested in her.
However, the unadulterated neutrality of his expression, combined with a quick reminder of who this man truly was, led her to dismiss the thought immediately.
Alex shook his head, "No, I thought you'd leave after I told you that your teammate was looking for you." He admitted bluntly.
"Do you want me to leave? You were the one who approached and sat down beside me." She subtly reminded Alex that she was here first.
He shook his head, "I don't. I just wonder why you're bothering people who are worried about you by being unreasonable."
With only a slight twitch in her brow, Blake sent Alex a judgemental look, "I'd understand if anyone else were to make that point. But coming from you, that's rich."
"There's being unreasonable, and there's being a person who sticks to their values and what they care about."
For the first time in the conversation, Blake snorted, "And you appear to care about very little."
"For better or worse." He nodded in acknowledgment as the two of them turned to stare at the night sky.
Once again, silence enveloped them.
Alex admitted internally at Blake dodging the question and reflecting, 'I'm no good at this.'
Without detaching his eyes from the night sky, Alex pressed forward as best as a 'proactive' individual such as him could, "I'll be blunt, what's troubling you?"
Before she could respond he added with a great deal of emphasis, "As long as it's not something that's inconvenient to deal with, the best I can do is listen and throw my two cents."
Blake's eyes widened for a moment, only to be exchanged with a narrow-eyed look, "Do you expect me to just spill everything just because you asked with good intentions?"
She rose up and glared harshly at the unfazed blonde, "While you did surprise me by having a notion of tenderness... I don't know you. And your cold tone doesn't convince me you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart..." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Alex confirmed, "I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. Think of it as me doing my daily good deed." He shrugged.
"You have some hidden motive with this, I'm sure... why-"
Alex cut her off with an audible sigh and a small frown of annoyance, "Stop being paranoid, you are overthinking this whole situation. If you don't want to spill, then don't. I tried to do something nice and that's that." He waved her off.
Once more, his head turned to look at the night sky, leaving the poor Blake to dry.
She stood there for a good few seconds and promptly sat back down with a troubled sigh.
Side-eyeing her, Alex noted her uncertain and contemplative expression.
A bubbling frustration, fury even.
But what Blake's expression turned into was something he never expected from the reserved Huntress:
"Do you know how I loathe you, Alex Andrite?"
...
Although his eyes widened for a moment, Alex collected himself and gestured for her to speak her mind, "Do tell."
Her eyes and bow on her head twitched, "That, right there... that attitude."
"You have all that strength, all that power, and yet... you do nothing." She grit her teeth with unbridled anger.
"You don't need to be in Beacon, even now you can go out and change the world for the better."
She lowered her head, "If... if I had your strength, if I had your Semblance I wouldn't have had to-" She stopped herself from saying too much.
"If I could, I would have given my semblance to you," Alex stated neutrally.
Blake scoffed, "If only that were possible..."
Silence enveloped them once more, and this time, it was rather uncomfortable at least for Blake.
Alex's voice cut through the noise, "Though if I'm honest I wouldn't give my Semblance to you even if I could."
She turned to him with an insulted glare, to which he shrugged, "Frankly, I don't know you that well, Lady. And from what I've seen there are much better candidates that I'd hand it to them in a heartbeat."
"Would you use it for some vengeance scheme or something?" He hazarded a guess.
Her aura flared up as she punched the metal of the bench with a frustrated expression, "I'd use it to better the world! To fight for those who lack the strength to fight back against their oppressors!"
"To right your own wrongs?" Alex insisted trying to dig deeper.
...
Blake clicked her tongue and abruptly stood up, her eyes narrowed with righteous fury and dismay at Alex.
And with not another word leaving her lips, she turned around and left with hurried steps.
Alex's eyes could only gaze at her distancing back with a bad taste in his mouth.
He sighed in vexation, "That was unpleasant, I only tried to help; what's with all the envy?" He groaned.
[You 'tried'. And that went awfully.]
'You don't say.'
...
'Do I need to pack anything for Purgatory?'
[Don't give up so quickly!]
Scratching his hair in irritation, Alex thought the conversation over, 'It's clear she's been through some shit after lashing out at me like that... unpacking it is gonna be a whole mess.'
'Do I even have to do that? I just have to figure out why she's got her panties in a twist, right? I'd rather not delve deep into her personal life, that's none of my business. She's paranoid about me anyway.' Alex asked the System for a hint.
[That solely depends on her and your performance. It might be a package deal or it might be something you can figure out by being smart... and we both know you aren't smart~!]
With a nod, Alex proceeded to ignore the System and try and enjoy the rest of his night gazing at the stars.
Not to mention no concrete plan of action and a week's deadline to Purgatory...
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
CAN'T STOP WONT STOP RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Anyway.
Did ya think one convo would fix the problem?
HELL NAH!
Probably because Alex is Alex.
Getting through Blake's thick shell would be much harder than Ruby's (To be honest he had it easy with her situation).
Would Alex need to be more proactive/empathetic to get through to her?!
FIND OUT ON THE NEXT EPISODES OF DRAGON BALLS IN ALEX'S MOUTH RAAH PHRASING
If ya'll feeling frisky and rich you can donate to my P. A .T R 3 0 N to show some nice and kind support - This is purely support no benefits except early chapters (That I do not do yet properly lmao) which will eventually be available for everyone... like a twitch donation typa thing.
Here's the link:
patre0n.com/BurgerNoTomatoes