Silver Rose

Chapter XXVIII - The Snow Princess

Lilly excused herself from the big reunion quietly, assuming she had gotten no one else's attention. That wasn't the case, of course, as everyone noticed that the daughter of the one person in the original generation who wasn't present was now slipping away. Team LILY was quick to tail her out of the cafeteria. That was their leader and friend and they would never abandon her. Yuan had considered that she might go off into that parallel world again, but it didn't matter to him right now. They were going to stick by their comrade—even if her secret were to get blown—and that was that.

Lilly moved her hair out of her face as a breeze tossed it to the side. More airships were landing around them, some at Vale's port and others right here, at Beacon Academy. The guest dorms would fill up quickly, as would the many hotels and other residences in the city proper. She wondered how many people were here today. If all of her friends' families had come to visit, no doubt other Beacon students' families were here as well. Add to that all of those competitors from the other kingdoms and their own families and this would be a busy month.

She watched as a ship from Atlas descended from the rest of the fleet, docking at the pier. This particular vessel bore the crest of the Schnee Family, that pale blue snowflake that served as the physical representation of their Semblance and their legacy, neither of which Lilly shared in. She gasped as she ran toward the passengers disembarking the vessel, but her excitement rapidly faded as she realized who it was walking down the ramp.

"Lilly Schnee," the girl said, striding haughtily to her. "It's been a long time."

"Ivory," Lilly said, standing face to face with her younger cousin by two years. She stood at five feet, two inches, only an inch shorter than Lilly, but she made it a habit to wear high heels everywhere. Even in her Atlas military uniform, her combat boots were elevated enough to put her at a head height just over Lilly's, giving her the appearance of being taller.

"I hear you and your team are competing in the tournament," Ivory said.

"You heard correctly," Lilly replied.

"Well, dear cousin. I look forward to our match. Although, I should probably warn you that I won't take it easy on you just because we're blood related. Allegedly blood related, anyway. Tell me, have you mastered our family's Semblance yet?"

She didn't answer.

"I see. You can't even use it. That's too bad. And your eyes are still the color of mud, unlike the pure crystal that the rest of us possess."

Lilly stopped her hand from balling itself into a fist. She couldn't allow Ivory's taunts to get under her skin, not at a time like this. She noticed Ivory eyeing Myrtenaster, upon which she gradually took on an even more hostile demeanor.

"Unbelievable," Ivory muttered. "Of all people to inherit that family treasure, it's the outsider who gets it."

"Ivory!"

She stiffened at the sound of her name before turning around to face her mother. "Yes, mother?" she said.

"Make sure you check in right away. You don't want to run out of room at the guest dorms."

"Of course. I shall see you there shortly."

Ivory gave her mother a bow before sending Lilly a glare as she walked by. Lilly had refused to make eye contact with her at all, thankful that she was granted a reprieve at least this once.

"Aunt Winter!" she yelled before throwing herself over her, ignoring the typically strict military protocol. Lilly was never one to follow any such rigid order as this anyway. She had always been a free spirit. She would always be a free spirit no matter what.