Episode Bovia: Chapter 3: Perspective

Chapter 3 of Bovia's adventure.

            Bovia’s eyes shot open, but the pain throughout her body kept her from shooting up.  She quickly tried to get her bearings and started hearing medical equipment beeping off to the side.  And as her eyesight started to become clear again, she saw she was in a hospital room with several IV bags attached to her arms.  Her body was still shriveled up a bit like a raisin, but she could tell she was healing compared to when she and her classmates were initially found in the desert.  As she slowly got up, she saw her parents sitting off to the side, passed out having clearly spent the night in the hospital with her.  Bovia slowly got out of bed, taking care not to rip the IV’s out of her arms and made her way to the bathroom.  She looked over herself in the mirror to get a better understanding of what her condition was.  She noticed her face was still a bit dry and wrinkled, so she turned on the faucet and splashed herself in the face with water.  But what happened next surprised her.  As soon as the water hit her face, instead of falling back into the sink below, it seemed her face absorbed the water in an instant.  Raising her head back up quickly, Bovia now saw that her face was as healthy as it was when she left the day prior.  She then looked down at her dry arms and held them both beneath the running flow of water.  And like a sponge, her body absorbed the water, restoring her to a healthy status in moments.  Even the parts of her body that were still dry that weren’t under the direct flow of water healed as the water was absorbed by Bovia’s arms.  After about a minute of this, the water finally stopped flowing into Bovia’s body and began pouring off her skin like normal.  Bovia then turned off the water and did a quick inspection of her body to ensure she was fully healed without any ill effects.  She passed her own eye test, but decided a second opinion would be best.  Returning to her bed, she pressed the button to call for the nurse.  The buzzing woke up Bovia’s parents, who took a moment following their slumber to realize what had changed with their daughter.  But once they realized it, they ran over and gave her the biggest of hugs.

            “So glad you’re feeling better” Armena said as she hugged her daughter even tighter.

            “I’m glad too” Bovia said returning the hug.

            “We were so worried when you came back the way you did” Pecor said as he stepped away wiping away a few tears.

            “The doctors said they had never seen anything like it” Armena said as she looked over her daughter’s body.  “But now you….how did you….?”

            “I would like to know that as well” a new voice cut in.  The doctor stood in the doorway looking at Bovia as if he had witnessed a miracle.  Bovia walked over and showed him her now fully re-hydrated arms.

            “I kind of just held my hands underneath the sink and then everything got better.”

            “Fascinating.  We had been injecting you with general fluids in hopes that it would help, and to a degree it seems it did, or at least the elements of water within those fluids helped you.”

            “So how did I do what I was able to do in the desert that made me like that?  Is this a Faunus thing or…..?”

            “No child, I’d wager you unlocked your Semblance!”

            “My Semblance?” Bovia said with surprise looking at her arms.  “But how?  And why water?  I haven’t done any form of training with water related weapons or Dust or….”

            “Sometimes Semblance’s can be forged through trials and experiences within the confines of battle.  Especially in these times of peace most Semblances come from either history, experience, memories, or battle tactics like your classmates.  Others come from hereditary means, the Schnees the most famous example of a hereditary Semblance.  But in my experience, especially back in the times before the Vacuo Uprising, a persons Semblance was normally attuned based on need.  Someone needs to be faster, a speed Semblance may be found. You need to hide?  Perhaps your Aura will find a way to make you invisible.  Stranded in the desert and cannot find a way home without dying of thirst?  Your body becomes a natural spring.”

            “So my body made the water I summoned?”

            “Well we will have to run some tests, but I would surmise not at first.  Based on the state we found you in, initially the water you created came from your Aura reserves.  Converting the energy of Aura into water.  But this is the unique part: when most people’s Aura runs out, their Semblance can no longer function.  But yours seems to have a built-in reserve of power.  By draining your own body of water and fluids, you could still access your abilities like normal.  However, given the state we found you in that reserve is not unlimited.”

            “That’s….a lot to take in.”

            “Agreed.   And this is all speculative.  We won’t have any further knowledge about how it functions exactly until we run some further tests.  You just woke up so I won’t subject you to such tests now.  We will make sure your condition is stable and then release you with your family.  In a few days times I would like you back however so we can run said tests.”

            “Sounds good to me” Bovia said with a smile.  With that, the doctor stepped out to let the nurse take Bovia’s vitals.

 

 

 

            After a few hours of ensuring she was fine, Bovia’s parents signed the paperwork that allowed her to leave without any further holdups.  Bovia thanked the nurses and began walking out the front door with her parents.  As she made her way out into the street, she saw something that surprised her.  Lacerta, sitting off to the side as if she was waiting for someone.  Bovia stopped and walked over.  Lacerta saw her walking over and turned her head away.

            “You doing okay?” Bovia asked looking at Lacerta.

            “Thanks to you” Lacerta said with a sigh.  “Guess I now owe a favor to the devil.”  Bovia sighed as Lacerta said this.

            “You owe me nothing” Bovia said.  “Besides if we’re keeping score, given how you’ve treated me, you owe me way more than just a single favor.  So maybe work with your own parents on how to figure out that math before we head back to school.”  Bovia then started to head back towards her parents.

            “I would if my parents were still around.”  Bovia stopped, then turned around to look at Lacerta.  “When I was little, my parents treated me like dirt.  My scales meant I stood out compared to other reptilian Faunus.  My dad was abusive.  That’s how I got my Semblance.  He’d break my arms daily, so it was easier to rip them off and grow new ones.”  Bovia was taken aback at this horrifying revelation.  “I used to get picked on.  But when I got my Semblance, I scared everybody else to the point where I could pick on them.  Pick on you.  Because to tell you the truth, I’m jealous of you.”

            “Jealous of me?”

            “Your horns are just kind of…..there.  They don’t bother anybody, and they don’t really stand out.  I envied that.  You can even hide them in your hair if you want.  I wish I had that.  But here I am, the scaled lady.  Just trying to pretend she can be the same person that everybody thinks she is.”

            “Why are you telling me all of this?  Why this sudden change of heart?”

            “Because I remember that moment in the desert.  You looked at me, and very well could have ignored me.  Left me without water.  Retribution for everything I’ve done to you.  I even tried to call you a name just now to try and see if things were still the same.  If I was still the same, or if I wanted to be the same as I was the day before yesterday.  But I’m not.  And I know that’s not going to fix everything, but I have to start somewhere, I guess.  Death’s door can lead to some perspective.”  Bovia sighed and sat down next to Lacerta.

            “I’m not going to say everything is better now because like you said, this isn’t going to be fixed overnight.  But if you’re willing to try, then I am as well.  And I think I have a good way of starting that journey.”

            “What’s that?”

 

 

 

Four Days Later

Ilia’s Training Dojo

 

 

 

            Ilia was sweeping the training mats in anticipation of Bovia’s arrival.  She had been trying to keep herself busy these last few days following Bovia’s trials in the desert followed by several days of the doctors wanting to run tests on her Semblance.  But she had gotten a text from her that morning saying she was able to come in for training today.  As Ilia continued to prepare the dojo, she heard a knock at the door.  She looked up and saw a young girl with scales standing by the entrance, looking like she wasn’t sure she was in the right place.

            “Can I help you?” Ilia said as she walked out to greet the stranger.

            “You’re the trai….I mean Ilia, right?”

            “Yes, can I help you?”

            “Bovia said that I should come here for training today?”

            “Ah, so you’re one of her friends?”

            “Well, not really, no.  But….”

            “She has the chance to grow” Bovia cut in.  Ilia and Lacerta looked over and were both surprised to see Bovia sporting a new hairstyle, this one no longer hiding her horns on her head.  “She wants the chance to change.  Similar to what you got years ago master.”

            “Is that right?” Ilia said with a smile.

            “But if it’s all right with you, I would like to do something first” Bovia said cracking her knuckles.

 

 

            Lacerta parried another kick from Bovia, the two of them continued to spar.  Bovia had requested a fight without using either of their weapons or Semblance’s.  Just a simple fight.  As the two of them continued, Ilia smiled.

            “Very good” she said as the two traded blows.  “Remember, in this conflict there are no true winners or losers.  Only truths.  For when equal powers clash on an even playing field, their natures can be revealed.”  The two continued to spar, neither one gaining a true advantage.  Bovia had relied a lot on her own weapons over the last few years, so her martial arts skills were a bit rusty.  Meanwhile Lacerta had to remind herself not to instinctively activate her scales during battle and rely solely on her training.  But her heart also weighed heavily on her, and slowed her movements.  Enough to the point that when she went for a punch, she telegraphed it too easily and it resulted in Bovia countering and pinning Lacerta to the mat.  Ilia stood up and smiled.

            “So this is the strength of your conviction” she said looking at Lacerta.  “You hesitate because you wish to do better and fear hurting others again.”  Lacerta lowered her face dejected, feeling she had failed.  “This is good” Ilia said catching Lacerta by surprise.  “Your conviction to being better is evident, wouldn’t you agree Bovia?”  Bovia released Lacerta from being pinned and stood up herself.

            “I’m still not ready to say we’re friends now,” she said with a stern yet calm voice, “but Master Ilia is right.  I can see your conviction in your actions.  You want to take this next step.  So let’s see how far your conviction will take you.”  Lacerta smiled, and bowed to the both of them.

            “I hope I become worthy of your trust one day” she said with a weak smile.  Bovia grinned.  As the day continued, the two went over different training techniques until it was time for the both of them to leave.  Lacerta went on ahead while Bovia still waited for her street car to pass by.  Ilia looked on at Bovia with a proud smile.

            “What?” Bovia said confused by Ilia’s gaze.

            “Oh, nothing” Ilia said with a smile.  “I’m just glad that unlike Blake and I, it would seem a friendship can be forged out of the ashes of mistakes.”

            “You sell yourself short master.  Blake might still want to reconnect with you.  Just give it a chance.”  With that, the street car pulled up and Bovia jumped on board, leaving Ilia to sit there alone.

            “Maybe….” She pondered as she looked towards the center of town and saw the giant Belladonna mansion in the center.  “But it’s harder when one actually tried to actively kill the other.”

Author's Note

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