Where the Loyalty Lies.

Chapter 9

Ancelote's POV

*flashback*

I stood in front of thirty members of the white fang they were pillaging a village known for dust transportation.

"Ok ready for battle." Arthur held Ferries Ardentibus up into the air. "Attack!" He yelled.

We all charged and I saw one of the other soldiers get hit with an arrow. I immediately healed him, and continued fighting.

I got distracted by a woman's scream that I didn't see a rock getting hurled at my head. I turned to see a young bear faunus starting to hurl a rock at Arthur and hitting him.

Arthur was about to run over and do something to the kid, and when he started to run, I ran and picked the kid to take him to a safer place than a battle field.

"Put me down," he yelled at me as he hit my armor.

"You have your whole life in front of you don't waste it with crime," I said softly, "go home and be safe."

I turned to leave when I was met face to face with a fully grown bear faunus. He was probably one of the biggest faunus I've seen. He had the ears and size of bear and he had a decently sized brown beard and long brown hair that went down his back.  He seemed to be angry and he carried a giant mace. I assumed he must me the younger one's father.

Fuck... Well I'm dead. I stepped away from him and tried to stay calm. "I was just taking him away from danger."

"Yea and I'm a mouse faunus." He growled at me.

He laughed as he swung his weapon at me causing me to draw my shield as I braced for it to hit my shield instead of me. The hit caused me to roll and my shield to slid straight off my arm. One of the straps seemed to be busted now.

"You wanted a reason to stop the fight didn't you? And who better than a child to take hostage?" He growled at me as he swung again.

This time I managed to dodge the hit and I drew my sword.

I can't fight him... Especially with his child sitting here watching.

I used my sword to deflect his attack, with that he went into a rampage he started swinging faster than I could dodge. Eventually he hit me in the side causing me to fly up into the air and with another swing I was sent crashing into a building causing it to crash down around me.

I couldn't move no matter how hard I tried. It started to become harder to be breathe. Before I knew it I blacked out.

Then I found myself in the woods. The trees all had pure white flowers blooming from them. Everywhere around me smelt like apples blossoms and vanilla. The wind was blowing softly enough to knock a few petals into the air.

"Well what do we have here?" I turned to see a man in a full armor suit was standing behind me.

"Where am I?" I looked at myself and I wasn't wearing my battle gear anymore, I was now wearing white silk pajamas with a black trim.

"Well you're not dead. I can tell you that, but soon you will be." He laughed at my confusion. "You're a good kid. So I'm going to grant you your wish to survive."

"Wait who said I want to be alive?" I asked without thinking.

"Then why are you still alive?" He sat down on the ground

"Think. What have you been doing you're entire life. You're what 13 or 14? Why are you still fighting to be alive." I remind silent while he questioned me. "If you don't have a purpose or a reason to still be alive, we wouldn't be talking."

"I don't know... All I do is security and fight to protect others, and fall in love with my best friend's girlfriend who's father was my employer." I sat down with the man.

"What if I told you I could give you a choice,  you can go back like you are trying to help others or I can help you become better at what you've done with your life, what would you choose?" He removed his helmet to show his soft lavender hair and rust orange eyes.

"I guess to be better at helping others. But I want to earn what I do. There's no honor in just being given something that can..."

"What if I make it so you have it but have to deal with a something or a few things  to earn what I'm going to give you?" He asked as he interrupted me.

"I guess..." I started.

"Ok. So I'm not going to tell you what it is or you'll be prepared. So what I'm giving you is worth the world so that means in order to deal with it you have to go through hell." He held his hand out to me. "Do we have a deal?"

"So the ability to help people better and deal with whatever hell you plan for me or deny stay the way I am and risk losing more people who I'm supposed to help and deal with no hell."

"You don't have much longer so you have to choose." He looked at me as if he didn't want to hurt me.

Something in those few seconds made me decide on what I was going to do.

"Deal," I said as I shook his hand. Then everything started to fade away and I felt a lot of pressure weighing me down. And everything went black.

"Ancelote... you. Come... Find her." Someone's voice started to push through to me before I felt all the weight lifted off of me.
"She's over here!"  I saw Arthur standing above me before he picked me up and rushed me to our medical team.

"We can patch her up which will do until her aura kicks in an starts to heal her." I couldn't make myself move I just laid there and looked up at the sky. "That's weird it says her aura is stronger than when we started battle. She should be able to heal herself right now."

*end flashback*

"He didn't leave my side until I got better. We did some test and I could use my semblance and it was stronger than ever. But during the first battle I was in after the accident it wasn't me who was fighting. It was like I was just watching everything happen."  I refused to look at them but I could feel them staring at me while they listened. "The more I would fight the more it would happen and they realized it started to change me, like my eyes they use to be dark grey now they look like rusted metal, and what I could do with my semblance. They also discovered that I couldn't heal or protect myself with my own semblance and I would black out and it would be like I was someone else. There were memories I lost and nightmares that were a sign I would back out at least most of the time I had a nightmare to tell me."

"What does the ink have to do with this?" Uriah asked me I realized he had the silver box in his hand.

"It helps me control it a bit. The way it works is putting it on in the pattern I have it on now with and on my so called tattoo. Its really just a marking that I have a job to protect people." I took the box from Uriah and opened it to show them the ink. "I don't know how Arthur found out about it unless I wrote it out during a black out or something but it works. I never wanted to use it, I asked for this so I should learn to deal with this until I've earned this gift."

"Why are you so set on honor? I mean being given a gift isn't dishonorable, its a way to be shown that people honor you." I wasn't surprised that Weiss was the one to say that.

"I've never been smart like anyone in this room. But my father taught me that if I am going to survive I have to earn that right. I was taught by being abused and never given anything that didn't come with a price.  Arthur took me over six years ago, and saved me from my father's abuse when I was 12 and he was 11, even though my father still comes around and controls parts of my life. He took me in and I refused at first so he made me a deal, I learn to fight and work for his father and I could stay with him so I wasn't being treated out of pity." I stood up and walked over to my desk. "I can't accept gifts but his deal made me a strong fighter and one of the best by the time I was 14 and I mentally was just as old as Ozpin. According to other people. That was when I started doing the private security with Arthur's father and before I was in the coma."

Every one was quite and I no longer felt like talking.

"Can we finish this tomorrow? I need to rest its been a long day." Shortly Ruby and Weiss left and I laid down on my bed.