A Wilting Rosebush

Thorn walked along the outskirts of Vale holding the vast amount of treasures she obtained from the store she just robbed of its valuables. She thought to herself, "Kyri would never approve of this...hell even I don't approve...I have to do this for Kalius though.for my family's sake..." She sighed while she continued to haul off the goods to Kalius' hideout. A news report would just mention the crime and out a bounty on Thorn.

As soon as Thorn had finished speaking aloud a masked figure cloaked in darkness leaped from the rooftop with his hands in his pockets and landed loudly in front of the girl but seemed to react like he had just fallen a foot. He stared at the girl in front of him with cold and empty eyes from behind his mask. "Kalius you say?" his voice was strangely shaky as the sound of a blade being drawn could be heard under his voice.

Thorn kept walking for a distance and then as a shadowy figure drew his blade in front of her and spoke of Kalius she dropped her goods. She spoke up saying, "Yes, and what the hell do you want?" She drew Ambrosia a Spike pointing it at him. "I can end you right here if you'd like? It'll be quick easy and fun!" She laughs but then stops realizing the person she has now become...she hesitated for a moment and then snapped back into her previous stature.

"Want to know what I have noticed?" His voice remained shaky as sparks suddenly began flying from him dragging his blade along the wall of a nearby shop giving glimpses of his eyes through his mask. "Someone will always pretend to be something they are not to appease others" a small laugh could be heard inside the darkness as the sparks suddenly cut out. "They will put on these "masks" everyday and hide what they truly are and remain in denial of what we are capable of." Without any warning the sparks cut out and the figure was once again consumed by the darkness around him. "I just want you to know..." his voice trailed off for a moment before a metallic clang could he heard at Thorn's feet and a metal mask could be seen on the ground "I don't plan on wearing it tonight".

Thorn laughed as she heard the man go on and on about a subject but she mainly ignored him. Until that is, he was in the floor. She reacted fast stabbing the ground with Ambrosia Spike, but found out it would be futile. She thought to herself that it must be an ability of his or something of the sorts. She backed off hitting a wall. She began to sweat a bit and grew nervous trying to hide it. "I-I won't hold back on you!"

"It doesn't matter if you hold back or not" another small chuckle could be heard. "The moment you began working for Kalius was the day you sealed your death." After a moment the figure emerged from the darkness and looked upon her with one made up of nothing but hate. It only took a moment for him to get close and lift her chin to look him in the eyes and allow her to see his scarred and slashed face. "The mask does nothing but help me escape reality and for tonight I shed myself of it." The instant he finished speaking his empty fist was driven into Thorn's stomach before backing away again.

Thorn flinches and sinks to the ground as she is slugged in her stomach. She looks up in fear as she sees the scars of the masked man before her. Were these her final moments? Spent stealing and running away? No, they wouldn't! She attempted to retaliate by throwing Ambrosia Spike at him b the throw was weak and lacked proper form.

The throw being weak as it was had been easily caught by Zwei. He inspected the weapon before casually tossing it back to her so she could catch it and defend herself. "I apologize in advance" he said quietly before leveling his blade near her throat.

As the hood over Thorn's head drops, it reveals a girl younger than 20. She has a single tear in her eyes and says, "P-please don't kill me...I was forced into this by...him...he killed my family and then forced me to join him or...else he would kill me too..." At the same moment a figure would appear behind the masked man and attempt at a shot to the leg, trying to demobilize him. The figure spoke saying, "You shouldn't go around hurting 'allies' of mine...it really makes me mad..."

Zwei simply sidestepped the strike before patting Thorn on the head "I see...It seems I was blinded by my own fustration...I am sorry" before returning and aiming his blade at Rosa. "You, I have seen you before and judging by the word "ally" that you used I assume you work for Kalius" The cold look in his eyes returned soon afterward and his killing intent was clear. "Have fun in hell" he smiled as his scars became rather visible now.

Thorn bolted around the corner and watched the ongoing fight that was about to take place. Rosa looked at the mans scars and said in a taunting voice, "I thought you would be more attractive...shame" She unveiled the 10 plagues and finally Ares. She set a strike towards Zwei hoping to catch him off guard and impale him.

With little effort Zwei was able to sidestep the jab from Rosa's blade once more. He moved toward her and stared at her as he slammed the pommel of his blade onto the Rosa's wrist with surprising power and all but shattering Rosa's wrist before following up with a brutal kick to the side of the knee causing her leg to bend at an unnatural angle sideways. He finished his combo by grabbing the woman by her good arm and twisting it behind her back until a distinctive pop! could be heard before throwing her to the ground "I thought you would be a better opponent...shame"

As pain shoots through all of Rosa's body she huddles up on the ground. She uses the last of her aura power to lift the 10 plagues and launch them at Zwei, she said silently laying there, "I'm still better than you..."

With little warning Zwei's arm grabbed one of the 10 plagues and deflected all other 9 of the weapons while he maintains the emptiness in his eyes. Soon after he wound up before throwing the blade into Rosa's stomach and impaling her on her own weapon. He would soon kneel beside her and speak softly "It doesn't matter if you are better than me or not I wont allow you or Kalius to harm any more lives even if it means losing my own" Once he was finished speaking he set her head down gently and letting the last moments of her life be spent in quiet peace. He turned to where he hoped Thorn would be after scooping his mask up from off the ground and sliding it back onto his face. "Im sorry" the look in his eye was gone now and his voice seemed to have much more sympathy than it did before.

Rosa looked up at Zwei as all the energy and life force seemed to drain out of her, the final words that were spoken by Rosakina Delfineus were, "Burn in hell demon..." Thorn peeked out from around the corner with tears in her eyes. She looked at the sight before her and said to herself quietly but loud enough so Zwei could hear, "S-senpai...is g-gone..." She looked at Zwei with almost no emotion except fear.

He would be a lair to say that seeing Thorn look at him like he was a monster didn't hurt him on the inside. He struggled to maintain his composure and succeeded eventually. "I did what must be done, I understand if you don't forgive me and I can't expect you to forgive me". He almost sounded like a different person than what he was moments ago. "Just please dont be afraid."

Thorn thought about turning and running but she knew that he wasn't a bad person. She wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "Ok..I'm not afraid..." She walked out from behind the corner and looked at Rosa's body. She turned away almost immediately wincing at the sight. This would be another scar for her after her parents died as well. "W-what now..."

"Im sorry, I did what must be done." He turned and leaned into a darker corner and only his voice could be heard now but besides that there was no evidence that he was still there. "Say...are you a student of beacon academy?" She seemed to be about the age.

Thorn looked at Zwei with a surprised look at the question. She replied by saying, "I-I go to Beacon...you probably wouldn't know me though...." She looks at Zwei trying to see if she remembers him from anywhere around Beacon. She puts her finger to her chin in thought. "Say, do you know someone named Kyri Tredama? She's m-my g-g-girlfriend...and she's way more popular than I am...." She looks at Zwei hoping he knows someone that she does

A small shrug indicated that he didn't know the name yet he followed with speech anyway. "I can't say I know the name...heard it pass by my ears a few times but that is it." Another casual shrug of his shoulders before speaking again "For obvious reasons I can't tell you who I am...but until we meet again!" with that he turned to put his back to Thorn and began to walk away.

Thorn turned around a bit depressed she couldn't know who the masked man was, but she just assumed she would see him sometime around campus. "O-Okay..." Thorn put her hood back on picked up Ambrosia a Spike which she had dropped before. She looked at Rosa and knew she had to do something with her, but she also knew she couldn't do anything...so she decided it was best to let the police handle things, and she walked out of the alleyway with tears in her eyes. "I-It's not fair..." She said in a hushed voice through her tears.