The Black Knight (A Mercury Black Story: Part I)

Chapter 5

I was absolutely crushed. My chance to finally prove what I can do without a little knife I obtained when I was young was gone. I felt unless and empty without my other half, and to make matters worse, Mercury felt worse than I did. He was pissed off at Marcus for spending money on whiskey when Marcus knew that all the money we brought with us was for Crystal Mayhem. I could hear Mercury scream at Marcus in the kitchen as I kept myself secluded, curled up in a ball on my bed, tears running down my cheeks. I looked out the window of the little cabin, looking at the leaves rustling in the wind, when a small rasp encountered my door. I heard the door open as I could feel the presence of the person behind me.
"Zuri? You okay?" I heard the soft voice ask. I sighed as the voice walked over to the side of the bed I was facing, kneeling down and looking into my eyes. His dark grey eyes met mine as his hand graced my cheek, trying to wipe away the tears that kept falling. "I'm so sorry, Zuri, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I barely whispered, looking up at my best friend, "It's not your fault."
"I don't care, you deserve that weapon. You need that weapon," Mercury said gritting his teeth, "God, I hate him right now. If only he knew how to hold his liquor!"
"Mercury," I said getting up from my ball and hugging him, "It's ok, I think I have a few lien in my box. If I have enough, I can run back to the store and get my weapon." I released my friend as I went to a small glass jar, which I called my box, and emptied it onto my green and black covers, as Mercury moved from the floor to the end of my bed. Once it was fully empty, I started to count the lien until we finished counting. I sighed; I was still short five lien.
"I'm still short, Mercury," I said, "I'm never going to have my own weapon."
"Hey, hold on," Mercury said as he went into his room that was down the hall. I could hear him rummage through his things until he came back in my room, carrying a similar glass jar. I stood up quickly as I rushed to him, trying to get him to put his jar away.
"No, Mercury, you don't have to do that," I said, pushing the jar lightly against his chest. He smirked and walked around me, empting his jar out on the bed beside my pile of lien. He counted his money and smiled, pulling me into a hug.
"I have enough, Zuri, I have enough!" I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, I was jumping up and down on the bed when he let me go, smiling as wide as my smile could go.
"Mercury, are you sure? I don't want to take advantage of you," I said, looking at my best friend as he grabbed a small bag and stuffed all the money in the bag. He tightened the strap, so the money wouldn't fall out, and placed it around my upper body. I looked at the bag and then back to Mercury, who was smiling.
"Don't worry about it, Zuri, just go get your weapon. Keep your scroll on you, but if you need help, call me, and I'll be right there. But for now, just go in, leave the money, and get out. Try to stay in the shadows if you can," he said with worry in his voice, pulling me into a hug, "Stay safe."
"I will," I said as I opened my window. I looked at Mercury one last time, smirked, and ran down the path to the city. It was nighttime, so it would be easier for me to stay in the shadows, but more terrify because of the grimm that lurked in the night. Lucky for me, I still had that knife Marcus gave me when I started to go on missions with Mercury. I entered the city after the small walk through the woods. I stayed in the back alleys' with the shadows, with a lot of practice from my younger days; I was a master of it. I watched as I came close to the shop as I looked around for and opening. I saw a ladder to the top of the building beside me and looked to see that I would be able to get to the top of the shop by jumping building to building. I started to climb the ladder silently, hoping to not attract attention to myself, when I finally reached the top of the building. I stood at the opposite, confident I could make the jump as I started to run quickly, jumping as I used my super speed to get across. I landed in a barrel roll as I looked behind me and smiled, looking for the ladder to descend down to the roof of the weapon's shop. I landed on the roof softly and I looked around for an opening in the roof, scurrying until I found a door. I pulled out the knife I had captive in a small case next to my sheath and started to unlock the door, thankfully, no alarms went off. I sighed in relief and dropped down to the ground, looking around the shop for my weapon. I finally checked further back to find the silver and dark green sword. I smiled and took the sword into my hands; just as light as I thought it would be when I first held it. A strong energy ran through me as I placed Crystal Mayhem in its rightful place. I smiled, and took off the bag the held the twenty lien and placed it on the table. I turned around and started to run, using my semblance to get out of the store, just like how I used it to jump from building to building. I ran as fast as I could out of there, not wanting to be caught. I stayed in the shadows like Mercury told me to and stopped in an alley when I felt like I was far enough. I breathed and started to walk back to the cabin, where I know that Mercury would be waiting for me. While walking, I could feel like I was being watched, and stopped in my tracks, my hand gripping the hilt of my sword. I looked around to see if anyone was there, and started to walk away slowly. I pulled out my scroll and dialed Mercury, hoping he was still awake.
"Zuri? Are you ok? Did you get it?" I could hear him frantically talking through the scroll as I sighed.
"I got my weapon, but I feel like I'm being watched."
"Ok, stay there. I'm coming to get you," he said as he hung up. My breathing sped up as I looked behind me, a flash of red present in the darkness. I gritted my teeth and turned around so my back wouldn't be an easy target.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" I said to the night as a man in a black trench coat stepped out. My face paled as I saw the grimm mask with the red markings covering the man's eyes, his hair blowing with what little breeze came through the alley. He had a gruesome smile painted across his face as he stared me down. It was the man from earlier, the White Fang second-in-command.
"You know, not many people have that talent to break into a building and steal a full weapon in a few simple minutes. To be honest," he said as he walked towards me, "I thought you were a Faunus, but I was surprisingly wrong." I backed up, a little bit of Mayhem showing as it gleamed in the moonlight.
"Who are you? What's your name?" I asked curiously, hoping Mercury would be here soon. Although Crystal Mayhem is like my other half, I was still new to its battle style.
"My name is Adam of the White Fang," he said as he placed a gloved hand on his sword hilt, "And trust me, human, that is all you'll hear from me." He came after me with his sword withdrawn as I dodged to the side. He was very fast without super speed, so my semblance will be useful in the fight against him. I pulled out Mayhem as I placed extra dust shards in the side of the sword, like my father before me, and charged at the mask man with my semblance, as our swords' collided, sparks flying in between the weapons. I remembered Mercury telling me about this man when we were walking back to the shop, how his sword has kinetic energy running through it all the time, making it a deadly weapon. In other words, I'm better off running. I pushed Adam back as I rushed under his sword, running at full speed as he gave chase behind me. I boiled through the alley, knocking over boxes and old cans, trying to slow him down. I reached for my scroll, trying to contact Mercury right away. I was ecstatic when he finally picked up.
"Zuri, where are you?"
"I'm in one of the alleys! The White Fang's second in command is chasing me right now! Hurry Mercury!"
"I will! Hold on, okay?" he said until he finally hung up. I kept knocking things over until I finally reached the main street, looking around to see if there was anywhere I could hide. I wasn't going to fight Adam, he was already too strong.
"What's the matter human? All out of places to hide?" I could hear the deadly voice of Adam behind me. He unsheathe his sword as I placed my hand on the hilt, waiting for him to attack, he charged towards me, but missed, while someone kicked his stomach. I turned around to see who my savior was, and sighed in happiness for who it was.