"Nico! There you are. Are you okay!?"

Tanya ran up toward her friend before she engulfed the smaller girl in a large hug. Nico didn't move, unsure of what to do. She couldn't quite say she felt how she did with Lyra, now that Lyra had pointed out Tanya's actions...

Dammit, why was her partner so confusing about everything?

Nico shook that thought off. Like usual, her encounter with Lyra had confused her and taken over her entire thought process.

Perhaps Lyra had been counting on that to take Nico's thought process off of the situation.

"Y-Yeah...I g-guess I'm okay now," Nico muttered. Sure, she was alright...mostly because she had no choice. She could see stares being thrown her direction, and she winced. "K-Kinda..."

"Ignore them," Janelle folded her arms over her chest. "Ignorant just as I used to be."

"I-I wish it w-was that easy..."

"Me too! Janelle and I were trying to convince the crowd that you were fine, and they..." Tanya sighed. "They didn't really listen. I'm surprised no Grimm attacked, actually."

"Nico! You are alright!" Penny spotted the group before she zoomed over and placed her hands on Nico's shoulders. "Is everything okay? Do I need to beat up those that are not your friends?"

"...I-It's fine. T-T-They can't help it," Nico mumbled. "I-I look like a m-monster, what do they expect..."

"The real monsters never look like one on the outside. They always hide their true self,"Janelle said solemnly, and the team couldn't help but sneak a glance at Lyra, who looked behind her before shrugging.

"What?"

"Nothing," Janelle said a little too quickly, rushing to move on. Lyra frowned as she looked down at herself before her gaze traveled to Nico. The silence was overwhelming as no one said anything, not a single word in Lyra's defense.

Her team, always ones to speak of being together and supporting each other no matter what, said nothing.

Something inside of her snapped.

"A real monster? Is that what you all see her as?" Kyra's words tumbled out of Lyra's mouth before Lyra could stop them. "Just like the rest of the whole world?"

"N-Not the w-whole world," Nico mumbled, obviously misunderstanding who Lyra was speaking about. "J-Just those at the t-tournament..."

"...Oh, just those at the tournament... The Vytal festival is on every television screen," Kyra's thoughts flew from Lyra's mouth unbridled. The perpetual smile always forced onto Lyra's face had disappeared. Lyra lifted her head, taking ahold of herself again.'"If you were smart, you would have known that. So...the whole world knows!"

"Uh, maybe not the greatest thing to say?" Tanya sighed. "The whole world will see how wrong they are about you."

"Yes, I am sure of this!" Penny smiled. "Just as they will learn to be accepting of my upbringing. After the 1v1's, I will represent Atlas accordingly with my victory!"

"Oh, right, the 1v1's..." Janelle eyed Nico. "You should participate. Then you can show everyone you are not what they think you are-"

"That's a terrible idea," Lyra said flatly, drawing everyone's attention. Flecks of green were scattered in her eyes. This time, her words were entirely her own. "You win anything, they'll blame it on you being a Grimm. You'll cause an uproar for your Grimm instincts."

"Lyra, that is not what you should be saying right now-"

"It's the truth, isn't it?" Lyra laughed under her breath. "Kyra seems to think so. What, you don't like that because it's the truth?"

"Hey, what is up with you?" Tanya exclaimed angrily. "What about Kyra-? You're scaring Nico, stop acting like this-"

"Oh, am I...? Well, good! Cause Nico doesn't give a damn about me anyway!"

"W-W-What? Of c-course I d-do-"

"The real monsters never look like one on the outside. They always hide their true self," Lyra echoed Janelle's words from earlier. "That's what you said, isn't it? Do you think I missed all three of your stares? How none of you even rushed to defend me? Despite everything we've been through..." Lyra chuckled under her breath hysterically. "I'm a monster!? A real monster? What happened to being there for each other, no matter what!? Tanya, Janelle, Nico...you all were accepted. But, me? I'm just a monster now, am I? You wanted to see my true self, or whatever the hell. Fine. Here I am. Do you like what you see now? Do you?"

"Lyra-"

"Or...would you prefer this?" Lyra's face morphed back into a cheerful smile as she clapped, jumping up and down excitedly. "Nico, you're going to be fine! Go out for the 1v1 and show them what's right!"

No one knew what to say. Panic, horror, and fear swelled among everyone there at Lyra's rapid tone shift. Lyra jabbed her pointer finger at Tanya's chest accusingly as she rolled her golden eyes.

"Yeah, it's obvious which one you'd rather deal with. You know what, you're all cowards. I don't recall most of you even trying to help me. You're the worst one of them all, Nico! But that's fine, I see how you all really feel about me now," Lyra said flatly. "I thought we had all accepted each other for who we were. Guess I'm the exception. No one could accept someone like me...Oh well!" Lyra's voice perked up suddenly. "Guess there's nothing I could do. See you guys later, then!"

Lyra left without another word, leaving everyone as absolutely stunned. As she departed, everyone watched as she greeted fans with grace and kindness. Try as they might, the rest of Team LJNT just couldn't decipher what parts of Lyra's personality were a facade, and what was real.

"Is your friend...okay?" Penny asked, genuinely curious and concerned. "She should probably go get some professional help. General Ironwood would be eager to help anyone who needs it-"

"I have a feeling that would not go down so well with Lyra," Janelle sighed in frustration. "I did not mean to offend. I truly did not. I just, I..."

"You all called her monsters, how was she not supposed to be offended?" Penny asked.

"It wasn't intentional! We all just...looked at her," Tanya said defensively, which didn't really help their case very much. Tanya sighed. "It's not like...we really think she's a monster..."

Silence once more.

"I-I mean, L-Lyra-she's nice to a-all of u-us," Nico was the first one to step up and defend her partner. "I-I k-know s-she's troubled, b-but that doesn't m-mean we s-should be c-calling her a m-monster...i-it was wrong of u-us..."

"It's just unsettling. I mean, seeing her so cheery...I can't tell what's real," Tanya admitted. "Until now, I thought her happiness was mostly real. But was that all fake too?"

"I do not think anyone will ever truly know," Janelle frowned. "But what I do know is that we owe her an apology. She is right. We should all be accepting of each other-"

"T-True, b-but she needs help," Nico swallowed the lump in her throat before she just came out and said it. "Kyra...s-she was talking a-about the v-voices she hears..."

"Voices? What do you mean?" Penny tilted her head to the side in confusion. Tanya and Janelle just looked at Nico, intrigued.

"L-Lyra hears v-voices...t-the voices of h-her dead f-family, I a-assume." Nico couldn't fight the urge to cower underneath everyone's intense stares. "I-I know s-she's questionable...trust me, I-I know...but...she's not a m-monster. S-She j-just needs help. I'm s-sure she would have appreciated us...n-not that she's r-really opened up, b-but n-now there's not e-even a chance, and s-she might b-be bothered her e-entire life-!"

"Calm down, Nico!" Penny said as she pondered and placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "I do not think Lyra is a monster. I know I have not seen her much, but...I do not get that sort of feeling. However, I believe there is potential for her to turn into one. You are very right. She needs your guys' help now."

"Penny, you're so smart," Tanya gushed momentarily before she straightened up slightly. "Okay, I mean, I know she needs our help, but it's not that easy, Penny. I don't think you quite get how much she deflects..."

"

"Well...How can we make her listen?" Tanya asked, at a loss for words. Everyone shrugged, and Tanya sighed. "Great."

"Well, regardless, we have an apology to make," Janelle said. "We should be accepting of our team...especially our leader. Lyra has done a lot for us, and she has always supported us. A monster would not do something like that."

"Right. She might be a little, uh, crazy," Tanya winced. "But she's our friend...and we went a little too far."

"Y-Yeah," Nico nodded. "T-The question is...w-where do w-we even t-think she w-went?"

Everyone paused, unsure of just what to say or do.

"...That's a good question. Guess we better start looking!"