In the vast ballroom of Beacon Academy, a symphony of sounds filled the air: the scraping of chairs, the clang of metal decorations, and the excited chatter of students preparing for the dance. Amidst the cheerful chaos, Ruby was an island of stillness. She sat alone at a large, empty table, her head resting on her arms, a deep sigh escaping her lips. Her mind, however, was in a different world, replaying the dizzying realization she had faced just last night.
I'm in love with Weiss.
The thought sent a jolt through her, and she squeezed her eyes shut. No no no… she mentally pleaded. There has to be another explanation. It's just… admiration. She's my partner. My friend.
Just then, a pair of crisp, white tablecloths were placed on the table with a soft swish, startling her. She looked up to see Weiss standing before her, a look of focused determination on her face.
"I need you to pick a tablecloth," Weiss stated, her voice as clear and precise as ever.
Ruby blinked, her mind still in a fog. "Huh?" she stammered, her gaze locking with Weiss's. A familiar and sudden skip of her heart made her breath catch in her throat.
"Pick a cloth," Weiss repeated, a slight frown touching her lips. "Are you okay? You're a bit more distracted than ever."
"N-No! I'm good!" Ruby said quickly, a flush of crimson rising to her cheeks. She hoped her frantic denial would convince her partner.
Weiss didn't look convinced, but she seemed to drop the subject for now. "Pick a cloth," she said again, her tone softening.
Ruby looked down at the two identical gray cloths. She examined them, a hint of confusion on her face. "Uh… aren't they both the same?"
"I don't even know why I asked," Weiss sighs before she walks away, Ruby watches her go, her heart sinking a bit.
Moments later, a powerful thump on the floor behind her made the table shake. Yang stood there, a giant speaker in her arms. She set it down and walked over to her sister.
"Hey, picked out an outfit for the dance yet?" Yang asked, her voice full of a weary cheerfulness.
Ruby just shook her head, a frown on her face. "I… I don't know if I want to go," she said, her voice small.
"Come on, not you too!" Yang groaned. "Even Blake was thinking of not going!"
Ruby sighed, the weight of her confusion suddenly feeling too heavy to bear alone. If she was ever going to figure out this feeling, she had to ask. "Yang…" she began, her voice barely above a whisper.
Yang looked at her, her face instantly serious. "Yeah?"
"What… is it like to… fall in love?" Ruby asked, her eyes cast down, a deep frown on her lips.
Yang tilted her head, a soft smile on her face. "Love?" she said. "Are you… in love with someone?"
Ruby looked towards where Weiss had been standing just moments before and let out a small, helpless whine. "That's just it. I don't know. I mean, I've seen other people together here… but… well…" She frowned and looked at Yang, a plea in her eyes. "I want to… learn more."
Yang's smile widened with understanding. "Well, there is one way you can tell if you like someone," she said.
"And? What is it?" Ruby asked, leaning forward with anticipation.
"You could… I don't know, ask them to the dance? See where that goes?" Yang suggested, her tone light and casual. "Maybe that will help you figure out how you feel about them?"
Ruby's gaze instinctively flickered to where Weiss was standing. Yang's eyes followed her glance, and a knowing smirk appeared on her face. Ruby looked away quickly, her face burning. "Anyways… enough about that for now," she said, trying to change the subject. "Will Blake be going?"
"Oh, don't worry about her," Yang said with a triumphant grin. "She's going."
Amidst the cheerful pandemonium, Yang stood with her hands on her hips, an expression of exasperated frustration on her face as she glared at Weiss.
"Weiss!" Yang said, her voice a low growl of annoyance. "I thought we agreed! No doilies!"
Weiss, in contrast, was the picture of cool composure. She held a stack of delicate, lacy white doilies in her arms, a small, knowing smirk playing on her lips. "If I don't get doilies," she said, her voice a perfect, icy counterpoint to Yang's fiery frustration, "you don't get fog machines!"
Just as Yang opened her mouth to argue, the debate was interrupted by the arrival of two new faces. Sun and Neptune walked over, their expressions easy and relaxed.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Neptune said, glancing between the two girls as he took in their hostile body language.
"Nothing," Weiss replied, her smirk widening. "Just Yang complaining again."
Yang crossed her arms, mimicking Weiss's pose in a defiant standoff. The two of them continued to glare at each other, their playful but stubborn argument temporarily on hold.
"So..." Sun said, glancing around the room. "Anyone know where Blake is?"
The rest of Team RWBY looked at each other, the silence that fell between them carrying a shared sense of uncertainty. Ruby sighed, her head falling to rest on the table with a soft thump.
"She's probably holed up in the library again," Ruby said, her voice a bit muffled.
"Do you think Blake will be going to the dance?" Sun asked, a flicker of genuine concern in his eyes.
The question hung in the air. The three remaining members of Team RWBY exchanged a long, worried look. They had tried to talk to her, to convince her, but they knew how stubborn Blake could be when she was focused on something.
"Who knows," Ruby said finally, her voice flat with resignation. Just then, a warm, comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder, a silent gesture of solidarity from Yang.
"I'll go see what she's doing," Yang said to Ruby, a mischievous glint in her eyes, before she headed off to find their teammate, leaving Ruby to deal with her now very complicated feelings.
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In the quiet, towering archives of the Beacon Academy library, the only sounds were the soft turning of pages and the gentle hum of the computers. Blake sat at a secluded terminal, her scroll open to the dense, cryptic archives of the White Fang. Hours had passed in silent, determined study, her focus absolute as she scoured for any information on Roman Torchwick's recent activities.
Suddenly, a brilliant red laser dot appeared on the screen, dancing across the digitized text. She watched it for a moment, her eyes following the light with a feline instinct before it vanished. Blake's ears twitched in annoyance, but she quickly went back to her reading.
Just as she began to find her place again, the light reappeared, this time moving faster, darting up and down the page with maddening persistence. A low, frustrated groan escaped her lips. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then shot up from her chair, her patience gone. She scanned the silent aisles for the culprit but found no one. Then, her eyes fell to the floor, where the red dot had settled.
The light began to move, a taunting, jerky path that went around the corner of a towering bookshelf. Annoyance winning out over caution, Blake stalked after it. She rounded the corner, her eyes narrowed in a silent threat, and looked up to find Yang standing there, a wide, triumphant grin plastered across her face.
"Hellooo~" Yang said, her voice a singsong whisper.
Blake's eyes narrowed into slits, her silent scowl a testament to her agitation.
Yang's grin didn't falter. "We need to talk," she said, her voice dropping all pretense of playfulness. Before Blake could object, Yang's hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm, her grip firm and non-negotiable.
"Come on," Yang added with a cheerful tug, "Let's chat." And with that, she pulled Blake out of the library, the sound of her frustrated sighs lost in the quiet air.
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In the quiet, empty classroom, the only sound was the rhythmic shuffle of Blake's boots against the floor. She paced back and forth, her arms crossed tightly against her chest, her shoulders tense. Her mind was a whirlwind of anxieties: the White Fang, Roman Torchwick, and the constant, nagging threat of Dr. Merlot and his twisted experiments.
"Yang," she said, without even looking at her. "If you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well just save your breath."
Yang, who was sitting casually on a desk, her own frustration a low hum beneath her calm exterior, sighed. "I don't want you to stop," she said, her voice a calm, steady counterpoint to Blake's agitation. "I just want you to slow down."
Blake's pacing didn't falter. She shook her head, her frustration mounting. "We don't have the luxury to slow down, and you know it."
"It's not a luxury," Yang insisted, her voice now holding a hint of steel. "It's a necessity."
Blake stopped, finally turning to face her teammate, her eyes wide with a desperate urgency. "We don't have time for this, Yang! We need to stop Roman, and we need to figure out what he's planning! And on top of all that, that damn doctor is trying to take your sister back!"
Yang's composure faltered for a moment, a deep frown touching her lips. The mention of Ruby's name always brought a sharp pang of anger and fear. "I know," she said, her voice dropping. "We will stop them. All of them. But first, you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say."
Blake's tense shoulders slumped. She let out a deep, shaky breath, her gaze finally meeting Yang's. She walked over to the desk and, with a heavy sigh of weary resignation, sat down next to her partner.
The silence was a stark contrast to the chaotic bustle of Beacon, a silence that felt heavy with unspoken thoughts. Yang sat on a desk, her usual cheerful demeanor replaced by a solemn quiet. Blake sat in a chair across from her, her ears lowered, her attention fully on her partner.
Yang stared at her hands for a long moment, picking at a loose thread on her glove before finally speaking, her voice a low, raw murmur. "When I was little... before we came to Beacon, before we even knew what it meant to be a Huntress... our village was attacked by the Grimm."
She paused, taking a deep breath, and continued, her gaze fixed on a point in the distance as she revisited the memory. "We weren't a big village, just a quiet place. We didn't have a lot of Hunters, and they were all older. Ruby and I... we were just kids. We didn't know how to fight. We didn't have weapons. We didn't even have our Semblances."
The memory seemed to darken as she spoke. "The air filled with smoke and the screams of the villagers. The Grimm were everywhere, a nightmare of claws and teeth. Our father was trying to get us to safety, holding our hands, running through the chaos. I remember the ground shaking, the sounds of buildings crumbling... and then, suddenly, a Beowolf smashed through a wall in front of us. My dad shoved me out of the way, and in that split second, I lost her. The crowd, the smoke... she was just gone. I screamed her name, but all I could hear was the Grimm."
Yang's voice wavered, and she clenched her fists. "The Grimm were eventually driven back by the remaining Hunters, but by then... the damage was done. The village was gone. And so was Ruby."
A quiet tear rolled down her cheek, and she didn't bother to wipe it away. "The years after that... were the worst. We searched for her. Day after day. My dad, my uncle, even my mom tried to find her. But there was nothing. It was like she just vanished. Our house was so quiet. My dad never smiled. I saw him at night, sometimes, just staring at a picture of her, his face so broken."
She looked at Blake, her golden eyes pleading for understanding. "I felt so helpless. So useless. I was the older sister, and I was supposed to protect her. All I felt was the guilt. The guilt that I couldn't save her. That's why I trained so hard, why I became a Huntress. So I would never be helpless again."
Yang's voice dropped to a near whisper as she delivered the final, painful blow. "But she wasn't just gone, was she? She was a victim of something so much worse. We know now... she was a prisoner. A lab rat for Dr. Merlot. A failed experiment."
The air in the quiet room grew colder. "He took her from us, and he took her childhood. And he did things to her that we don't even know. He's the reason she's been a prisoner all these years, and he's the reason she has these… powers. That's why she came to Beacon when he was done with her. We lost Ruby to the Grimm, but the man that took her and turned her into this… I will never forgive him. And I will never let anyone hurt her again."
"Does your… parents know she's here?" Blake asked, her voice soft and hesitant, a stark contrast to the heavy silence that had fallen between them.
Yang rubbed the back of her head, her gaze distant as she contemplated the answer. A slow, tired sigh escaped her lips. "My dad does. And so does Uncle Qrow," she said.
Blake's brow furrowed slightly as she pressed on. "...What about your mom?"
Yang's smile was thin, a sad and melancholy gesture. "Which one?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Our mom… Summer… she left for a mission, a part of her trying to forget the pain of losing a child… She never came back. It's funny, though, how history repeats itself. My own mom, Raven… she left when I was a baby." Yang's smile vanished, and a deep frown took its place. "First Ruby, now Mom. My dad just… kinda shut down. He was a different person after that."
Blake sat in silence, her ears lowered in a gesture of deep sympathy as she absorbed the weight of the story.
Yang's eyes, however, seemed to clear as she found a small, painful truth in the chaos of her memory.
"I'm sorry," Blake said, her voice filled with genuine empathy.
Yang shook her head, a small, resolute smile returning to her lips. "Don't be. The pain… it's still there, but it's different now. I'm just glad... Ruby's back with us. That's all that matters."
Her smile widened, her eyes gleaming with a heartfelt joy that illuminated the dim classroom. "Dad and Qrow were so happy when I told them. They wanted to fly here immediately to see her, to make sure she was okay. I had to stop them, though," she said, a playful giggle finally escaping her lips.
"Anyways," she continued, her voice gaining a newfound strength. "I still try to find my own mom, wanting to know what happened to her. To understand why she left. But I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake... but if we destroy ourselves in the process, then what good are we?"
Yang looked at her once more, her expression a mix of gentle empathy and firm resolve. "So I'm not asking you to stop. I'm asking you to slow down. To breathe. To rest a bit."
Blake's tense shoulders finally relaxed. She let out a long, shuddering sigh, her eyes meeting Yang's. "Fine... I'll... slow down," she said, her voice a soft, weary admission.
A warm, radiant smile broke across Yang's face, the kind of smile that could light up a room. She stood up from the desk and walked toward the classroom door, the tension that had filled the air dissipating with her every step.
Just before she opened the door, Yang looked back over her shoulder, a playful grin on her face. "Come to the dance," she said, her voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial whisper. "We all want you there, and I was hoping we could take the time to dance. Just you and me." She winked, and a blush crept up Blake's cheeks.
"See you soon," Yang said softly, before she was gone.
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Standing in the quiet hallway outside her dorm room, Ruby paced back and forth. The rhythmic sound of her boots on the linoleum floor was the only thing that seemed to calm the frantic beating of her heart. A deep frown was etched on her lips, and she let out a long, shaky sigh, her shoulders slumping with a weight she didn't know how to carry.
"Come on… you can do this," she whispered to herself, the words a nervous mantra. It wasn't just about going to the dance; it was about facing a truth she had been running from, a truth that made her heart pound and her stomach do flips every time she thought about it.
She took a deep, fortifying breath, her hand shaking as she reached for the doorknob. With a soft click, she pushed the door open and walked into the dorm room. The air was filled with the scent of perfume and hairspray, and the room was a controlled chaos of discarded clothes and makeup brushes.
And then she saw her.
Weiss was standing in the middle of the room, her back to the door, in the process of getting dressed. She was in a simple silk slip, the intricate bodice of her dress held up in her hands. She moved with a fluid grace that seemed to mesmerize Ruby. The sight was stunning, a private moment of delicate beauty. In an instant, the air was knocked from Ruby's lungs. Her mind went completely blank, replaced by a sudden, overwhelming rush of heat that spread from her chest to the tips of her ears. A deep, powerful blush bloomed across her face, hot and immediate, painting her cheeks and the back of her neck in a crimson hue that had nothing to do with the color of her cloak.
The door to the dorm room closed with a soft click behind Ruby. She stood there, frozen, her face a fiery crimson from the moment she had just walked in. Her mind screamed for her to run, to apologize and try again later, but her feet were cemented to the spot.
Across the room, Weiss was gracefully zipping up the elegant bodice of her white dress, completely oblivious to the flustered chaos her partner was in. She glanced over her shoulder, a hint of impatience in her expression. "Well, don't just stand there, Ruby. I'm almost ready. Is your dress picked out?"
Ruby swallowed hard, trying to get her racing heart to calm down. "Uh, yeah! My dress is… it's a thing I have. For the dance. It's… a dress." She mentally winced at her own stammering nonsense.
Weiss sighed, shaking her head. "Yes, I know it's a dress. You're being more nonsensical than usual. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
The genuine concern in Weiss's voice was the push Ruby needed. She remembered Yang's words: 'Ask them to the dance.' It was the only way to find out what this feeling was, to face it head-on. She took a deep, shaky breath, her gaze fixed on the back of Weiss's head.
"Weiss, wait!" she said, her voice a little too loud.
Weiss stopped, turning to face Ruby with a curious frown. "What is it?"
Ruby's hands began to sweat. She couldn't get the words out. She just stared at her partner, at the way the light caught her white hair, at the soft concern in her eyes. It was a now-or-never moment.
"I… I wanted to know if… well…" She took another deep breath, her eyes screwing shut as she blurted out the words. "Will you go to the dance with me?"
A beat of silence hung in the air, thick and heavy. Ruby peeked open one eye, half-expecting Weiss to laugh at her, to reject her.
But when she finally looked at Weiss, there was no laughter. The frown had vanished, replaced by a look of utter surprise, and then a small, gentle smile.
"Yes," Weiss said, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. "I would love to go with you."
A wave of sheer, unadulterated relief washed over Ruby. She let out a soft gasp, a wide, triumphant smile spreading across her face. The tension that had been coiled tight in her stomach for days unwound in an instant. She didn't cheer or jump for joy, she simply stood there, basking in the quiet, overwhelming happiness of the moment.
A gentle smile played on Weiss's lips as she watched her partner's reaction. The initial surprise in her eyes had been replaced by a quiet warmth. The bustling, chaotic atmosphere of the dorm room seemed to fade into the background, and for a long moment, it was just the two of them, a silent understanding passing between them.
"So," Weiss said, her voice soft and a little amused, "now that the impossible task is complete, do you suppose we should actually get ready for this dance?"
Ruby let out a shaky laugh, feeling a deep, contented warmth in her chest. The blush had finally receded, replaced by a radiant happiness. "Yeah," Ruby said, a small, genuine smile on her face. "Yeah, I think we should."
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The grand entrance to the Beacon ballroom was a stunning vision of light and music. Standing at the front podium, radiating her usual boisterous energy, was Yang, dressed in a flowing, golden-yellow dress. She greeted each student with a bright smile, her eyes scanning the crowd with infectious excitement.
A soft gasp of admiration escaped her lips as the first two people she had been waiting for finally arrived. Weiss was a vision of elegance in a graceful white dress, but it was the sight of her partner, Ruby, that caused a small, delighted grin to play on Yang's lips. Ruby, a familiar figure in her usual black and red, was clad in a stunningly elegant black dress with red accents, stumbling a bit in a pair of shiny black high heels.
"Oh, you look beautiful!" Yang said, her voice filled with genuine warmth.
Ruby groaned and carefully navigated her way toward the podium, her steps awkward and uncertain. "Ugh. Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" she whined, letting out a dramatic sigh. "I wanted a tuxedo."
Weiss rolled her eyes playfully, a small, fond grin on her face. "Oh, come on. You do look lovely," she said, her voice laced with amusement.
Just as Ruby was about to reply, a sudden flash of light went off right in front of her face. She stumbled back a step, blinking rapidly. "What was that?" she asked, looking up at Weiss, who held her scroll up with a triumphant giggle.
"Payback from the time at the CCT building," Weiss said with a grin, and Ruby just rolled her eyes, but a matching grin touched her lips.
Before they could continue their playful spat, Ruby felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. She looked up and saw Alex, her face a whirlwind of mischief.
"Well, would you look at that! For as long as I've known you, you never even thought of wearing a dress!" Alex said with a laugh. Ruby's own good mood vanished in an instant. She gave a small growl and stomped on Alex's foot.
"Ow!" Alex grumbled, hopping on one foot and rubbing her injured limb. "I was just kidding, jeez!"
Not wanting to waste any more time on the playful banter, Weiss reached out and gently took one of Ruby's arms, pulling it to her chest. A deep blush instantly spread across Ruby's face. "Come on," Weiss said softly, her voice carrying a calm authority. "People are already starting to get in."
Ruby simply nodded, a silent command from her partner, as she let herself be led away into the ballroom, leaving Yang and Alex behind.
Yang turned her attention to Alex, her smile now a little more serious. "So, where have you been?" Yang asked. "We haven't seen you in a while."
Alex looked around, her gaze flitting across the crowd as if she was searching for something—or someone. "I've been... busy is all," she said simply, her tone evasive.
"Waiting on a date?" Yang asked with a playful smirk.
Alex crossed her arms and smirked back. "That isn't your business."
Yang just shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her lips, about to say something else when the doors of the ballroom opened once more. The room seemed to grow quiet for a moment.
It was Blake. She wore a simple but elegant purple dress, and a genuine smile was on her face. "Hey," she said, her voice a calm relief.
Yang's face lit up, a brilliant, beautiful smile spreading across her lips. "Hey," she said, her voice full of a warm affection that was reserved just for her.
"You look beautiful," Yang said, her gaze filled with admiration.
"So do you," Blake replied, her smile widening.
"Are you ready?" Yang asked, her voice a little breathless with excitement.
Blake nodded, walking over to Yang and gently taking her arm. "Let's go," she said.
Alex watches the two leave, and sighs "Sure, I'll just... Be by myself then"
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The thumping bass of the music seemed to vibrate through the very floor of the grand ballroom, a joyous, chaotic rhythm that echoed the laughter and shouts of the students. Amidst the swirling kaleidoscope of color and movement, Ruby was a quiet anchor, standing near the punch bowl. She held a cup of the ruby-red liquid, taking a long, contemplative sip as she watched the dancers from a distance. She let out a soft sigh, a quiet sound that was lost in the noise of the party.
Her gaze drifted back to the dance floor, her eyes finding Weiss, who was twirling gracefully with Neptune. She watched them for a moment, the sight of them together not sparking the familiar pang of jealousy that she might have felt a few weeks ago. The thought of it made her smile. Weiss had said yes. She had said yes to going to the dance with her. And in that moment, in the warmth of that simple truth, nothing else seemed to matter. It didn't matter who Weiss danced with now; the evening, in a way that only Ruby understood, already belonged to them.
She took another sip of her punch, a soft, contented sigh escaping her lips.
"Not enjoying yourself?" a calm, familiar voice said from beside her.
Ruby jumped, startled, and turned to see Professor Ozpin standing there, a cup in his hand and a small, knowing smile on his face.
"Huh?" she stammered. "Oh, no. Everything's fine. I'm just not much of a fancy dancy girl."
Ozpin took a thoughtful sip from his own cup. "A pity. It's an experience everyone should have." He looked at the vast, vibrant crowd. "You can't spend your entire life on the battlefield, you know, even if you may want to."
Ruby sighed, leaning against the table, the weight of his words heavy on her shoulders. "I honestly wish I could," she said quietly, her voice full of a weariness that belied her age. "That's all I seem to be good at."
Ozpin's gaze sharpened, his eyes full of a profound wisdom. "Ruby," he said, the single word a quiet, powerful call to attention.
Professor Ozpin took a slow, deliberate sip from his mug, his eyes never leaving Ruby's. The music from the dance floor seemed to fade into a distant hum, the world around them shrinking to just the two of them.
"You believe fighting is all you are good at because it is all you have been forced to be good at," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "You confuse your purpose with your skill. Your purpose is not to fight, Ruby. It is to protect."
He set his mug down on the table, his gaze sharpening. "What Dr. Merlot told you about your power… about the 'beast within'… he is a scientist, a man who sees the soul as just another experiment. He can only define a thing by its origin, not by its true nature."
Ozpin leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a low, serious tone. "He sees a power born from a twisted mind, so he calls it a curse. But you, Ruby, you have wielded that power. You have used it to protect yourself and your friends. Regardless of what Dr. Merlot says, regardless of the darkness that tried to give birth to it, the truth of your power is defined by what you do with it. Its purpose is to save lives."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "A sword can be used for murder, but it can also be used to defend. The weapon is not the one who decides its fate. You do. And this power, this instinct you feel… it is not a curse. It is a gift that chose to live in a soul as pure and selfless as yours. It is a force of protection. Never let a man like him tell you otherwise."
He offered a small, reassuring smile. "Your true strength is not in your weapon, Ruby. It is in the kind of person you are."
Professor Ozpin turned and walked away, his footsteps silent on the polished floor, leaving Ruby alone once more with his words. She took a slow breath, the weight of his final statement settling over her.
"The person who I am?" she whispered to herself, her brow furrowed in a quiet frown. The answer seemed so elusive, so far away.
Her gaze drifted back to the dance floor, and the vibrant, joyful chaos that filled it. She saw Yang and Blake dancing together, their movements graceful and in sync, a silent, comfortable happiness between them. In a corner, Jessica was talking to Pyrrha, who was laughing freely, a genuine, delighted sound that was rare outside of combat. She saw Weiss, Neptune, and Sun laughing at a shared joke, their easy camaraderie a stark contrast to the tensions of their missions. She even saw Ren and Nora, dancing like there was no tomorrow, their energy boundless and their smiles wide. All of her friends—talking, laughing, and dancing—all without a care in the world.
A soft smile finally touched Ruby's lips. The frown vanished, replaced by a radiant peace. It wasn't about the power, or the darkness, or the fighting. It was about this. All of this.
"Yes," she whispered to herself, her voice full of a sudden, profound clarity. "This... this is what it's worth fighting for."
Unbeknownst to her, a darker presence had just entered the ballroom. The grand doors opened, and Emerald and Mercury walked in, their movements fluid and their expressions calculating. They had blended in, dressed for the occasion, but a chilling smirk was etched on both their faces. Their eyes, cold and predatory, swept across the crowd, scanning the faces of the students.
Across the room, Alex, who had been laughing with her friends, felt a sudden chill. Her head snapped up, her eyes immediately finding the two newcomers. She recognized them instantly, her gaze narrowing into a sharp, focused stare. She didn't find the one person she was looking for, so she went back to talking with her friends, her demeanor casual once more.
Her eyes, however, never fully left the two villains. She was waiting for the right person to show.