I.
Mercury grew used to the beatings by now.
But this time was worse than the rest.
As always, his father was relentless. Mercury could barely react before Marcus stomped on his already bashed-in face. Marcus then kicked at his ribs, groin, and splayed limbs. For the moment, Mercury was nothing more than the scum beneath his feet.
Mercury let out a wild, almost inhuman scream, mingled with rage and pain. It was no use acting strong, to try to endure this trial by fire. No one could withstand such agony.
Then he experienced a new feeling: a strange, intoxicating brew of happiness, tranquility, and triumph.
He opened his eyes and saw his body engulfed in shimmering white waves. What was this? He wondered, as the waves healed his injuries.
Marcus raised his fists to deliver more blows, but Mercury raised his now unbroken arm. Without touching him, Marcus was tossed aside, his momentum compromised.
"Huh, I'll be damned," Marcus exclaimed, as he slowly got off the floor. "Little Merc's finally unlocked his semblance."
But Mercury had no time to relish in his newfound power. The pure euphoria and confidence he felt were replaced with crushing despair and sorrow. This time, he felt like something was threatening to rip his chest apart. He coughed and sputtered until silvery-gray fumes streamed out of his mouth.
Marcus lowered his hand once the fumes absorbed into his palm, the black glow of his hand fading away. He rose and picked up a black steel mace, one of its ends tapered with eight flanges.
"But didn't I tell you? Semblances are a crutch."
He raised his mace and swung it down to Mercury's chest. His Aura scrambled to protect him from the damage.
"They make you weak!"
Marcus dealt another bludgeon to the same place, as Mercury's chest gushed out in angry red.
"If you want it back, then you'll have to get stronger than that."
Marcus swings down for a final blow to his head. Mercury loses consciousness.
II.
Even after all this time, he still has the nightmares.
Though his whole life was practically a vivid, horrible nightmare. But what others called abuse was just another training session in the life of Mercury Black. At least, that's what his father framed it as.
Of course, Marcus wasn't there to console him whenever he had those terrors. It was a lesson that Marcus literally bashed into his head many times: Assassins don't deal with trivialities like comfort and sympathy. Sentiment only got in the way of what mattered: the kill.
Mercury stirred out of his stained bed and trudged down the stairs. The TV was blaring out another newscast on the White Fang. Marcus was sitting on a grimy chair, a few bottles scattered around his feet. It was only nine in the morning, but Marcus smelling of alcohol at that time wasn't an unusual phenomenon.
"This just in, Adam Taurus and the White Fang has refused to make negotiations with the Mistral government. After raiding a construction company, Taurus and his followers released its Faunus employees, while keeping their supervisors hostage."
The TV depicted a small group of White Fang soldiers standing outside a construction site, a few humans struggling to escape from their bounds. Their leader was a broad, towering man with spiky red hair and bull horns, his eyes obscured by a small Grimm mask. Besides him was another Faunus with flowing black hair and feline ears. Covering her face was a feline mask adorned with Grimm markings.
"The White Fang is a force of revolution! You humans must pay for the eons of torment and bloodshed you've dealt upon us! These humans that we have here are merely necessary sacrifices for the path of retribution!" As Adam bellowed out these words, he slashed at the air with his katana.
Mercury wondered why the police couldn't just shoot him down in the middle of his angsty speech.
"Any order to stand down has been met with violence."
"I have an assignment for you, Mercury," Marcus drawled, downing other bottle of ale. "Jacques Schnee wants some high-ranking White Fangs down. If you bring me back a head, you'll get your semblance back."
Mercury couldn't hide the flicker of hope across his face.
"Where would I find them?" But as soon as Mercury asked, he knew that was a dumb question.
A yellow bottle hurled towards him. Reflexively, he ducked, only to stand up and get socked in the face.
"You fucking idiot," Marcus growled. "Next time you ask a question like that, it'll be more than just your face that'll get bashed in."
Mercury wasted no time with his task. He bounded back up the stairs, and packed his few belongings and some smuggled food and water in a satchel. The boy didn't have any ice or Ice dust to press on his eye, so he tried ignoring the slight throbbing it emitted. He made sure to grab his sack of Lien as well. Finally, he latched his retractable machete into his holster, its handle blending in with Mercury's drab clothing.
As he descended the stairs once again, he was relieved to see his father dozing. Mercury cracked open the door, and started the grueling trek down the Sayuri mountains.
III.
If you need to know the city, ask the rats. One of Marcus's many aphorisms, and one that Mercury will use to his slim advantage. By the time he entered Kuchinashi, the sun was already sinking. He finished nearly all his snacks, so he used some of his money for bread and fruit. As Mercury wandered around the gutters of Kuchinashi, he spotted what he was looking for. All it took was to follow someone with a spider tattoo.
Mercury stepped inside the bustling tavern. His arrival was met with a handful of glances, but everyone else was carousing around the tavern floor. The smell of roast pork wafted from the kitchens, making Mercury's stomach growl involuntarily.
At the far end was a heavyset woman sitting at a table, dressed in an emerald green and white cantina-style dress. She was flanked by two guards dressed in the same shade of green.
"Well now," Lil' Miss Malachite drawled. "If it isn't Marcus Black's son, little Merc."
Mercury said nothing, as he tossed the Lien towards Lil' Miss. Lil' Miss's mouth drew a thin line when she saw the sack.
"I hope this wasn't your father's money, boy."
"Don't worry, I'm not as stupid as I look," Mercury shot back. He struggled to keep himself in check, knowing that Lil' Miss was staring at his bruised eye. "I want to know where the White Fang is."
The honey blonde cocked an eyebrow, but she couldn't hide how surprised she was at his audacity. Normally this was the moment where she'd utter a timely threat, but Lil' Miss bit her tongue instead.
"You know," Little Miss replied. "Normally a task like that will take us at least a week." Mercury's face fell.
"But," she continued. "You made perfect timing. A White Fang member has defected from them, and he's working with me before we smuggle him over to Vale."
On cue, a tall man rose from his place at the bar. With dark sideburns and warm yellow eyes, he looked like any other man if it wasn't for the puma claws that he sported.
"This is Tukson," Lil' Miss introduced. "He'll guide you to the White Fang's current base. And don't worry about paying him. He's already got a hefty wage doing these errands for me." Mercury and Tukson nodded at each other.
"And for your troubles," she said softly, "I'll only charge half."
"Oh, um, thanks," Mercury answered, taking the right amount of currency back.
"We better get going," Tukson proclaimed. "It will get dark soon, but I have a horse that'll make the trip quicker."
So the two left Lil' Miss's tavern. Once they were out of sight, one of the guards spoke up, a lithe woman with long brown hair.
"Ma'am, didn't you notice that bruise? Don't you remember all those drunken tirades Marcus went on about him?"
"Tawn, we've been through this before," Lil' Miss chided. "That's a business we don't deal with."
She took a long drag from her cigar, the smoke curling and writhing in the air.
IV.
Tukson's horse raced through narrow alleyways, sleepy huts, and empty streets. By the time they left Kuchinashi, the black sky was peppered with stars. Mercury felt a nagging urge to stare. Such small moments of beauty were rare for him to witness.
Finally, they reached the Asagao Forest, a colossal state of vegetation miles away from civilization. Its soaring trees gave way to low tendrils of leaves that concealed any clear entrance to the forest. The horse pawed at the ground nervously, its hooves cracking some fallen twigs. Mercury thought he saw red eyes blinking back at him.
"Their base is just a mile and a half from here," Tukson stated, both of them sliding off the horse. "You'll know you're close when the foliage grows thicker."
Mercury glanced at the forest beyond him. He swallowed his snarky remark.
"Well, thank you for your help. You should definitely get going."
"Oh, I will," Tukson answered, his eyes still on the woods. But before he departed, Tukson handed Mercury a Scroll.
"Here," Tukson continued. "It's a limited-function Scroll. You'll be able to call me once you've got it done."
Mercury pocketed the scroll and took his first steps into Asagao.
"Mercury," Tukson called back. Mercury turned around. The Faunus was back on his horse, his hands fiddling with the reins.
"I…" Tukson's no-nonsense mask dropped, replaced with a more concerned expression. "Listen, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Mercury bristled. His hand brushed against his machete's hilt. "Who said I didn't want to?"
Tukson flinched, as if the boy had just slashed him. "I see...Just try to do what's best for you."
"I can't make any promises, Tukson," Mercury grunted, his gray eyes refusing to meet with Tukson's yellow ones.
"Well...there's always another choice," the puma Faunus implored. He cracked the reins as if to signal the end of their talk. His horse dashed away, leaving Mercury alone once again.
V.
The Asagao Forest seemed to pulse with life, filling each of its inhabitants with a soul of its own. The branches of beech trees tangled with each other like a lover's embrace, outlining several paths strewn with twigs and Grimm prints. Pines, redwoods, and many other trees concealed the sky, so that small spots of moonlight drifted down to the ground. Multitudes of flowers and plant life were scattered across the terrain, such as swaths of belladonnas and silver king artemisia intertwined with each other. Hellebores threatened to dominate the floral communion. Blue fireflies flew lazily around. For the second time that night, Mercury was tempted to stop and stare at its imperial beauty.
He wished the trek to be quick and effortless. But the bat and lancer Grimm didn't make it any easier. Nor did the fallen tree trunks and rocky outcroppings.
Feeling exhaustion creep through his body, he was lucky to find a small stream speckled with hazelnut and goji berry bushes. He sat down on a flat rock, finally taking the time to observe his surroundings.
An anomaly stood out to him: a dying willow tree among the thriving vegetation. On a closer look, he noticed something important that Tukson failed to tell him.
Engraved on the rotting trunk was the White Fang's symbol.
With newfound determination, Mercury chopped through tangled roots and branches that obscured his vision. The shadows seemed to writhe as if they were as alive as the forest.
Wait a minute.
What he thought were shadows was really the same Faunus he saw on TV. She leapt into the foliage, the rustling of leaves signaling her departure. Mercury sprinted, making sure not to step on branches or trip over anything to expose his position.
Soon, he reached a small clearing of meadow. The Faunus girl was standing in its center, her back facing him.
Mercury smirked. Got you now.
He stalked over to the girl. Mercury charged forward and stabbed her with the blade. But instead of piercing flesh, her body disappeared. As if it never existed.
A clone?
Her clone quickly faded into the air, only for the real girl to pop out of the trees and slash at Mercury. His machete parried her cleaver perfectly and she flipped away. After she slid backwards, the Faunus unsheathed her weapon to reveal a dark grey katana.
So that clone must be her Semblance. Mercury couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
The two sides engaged in a dance of blades, metal against metal clashing in a flurry of moves. Though she was small, Mercury was starting to get overwhelmed at her barrage of attacks. But he couldn't let himself lose.
I need a new strategy. The machete could parry her dual blades, but common sense told him that she would soon overtake him. He'd lose if he was on the defensive the whole time.
As his mind scrambled for new ideas, the girl suddenly jumped into the trees and disappeared. But Mercury wasn't moronic to think that the fight was over.
A storm of violet blasts headed straight for Mercury. He did his best to deflect them with his blade. Then a black ribbon shot out of the trees and wrapped itself around the machete. Before Mercury could react in time, the machete jerked out of his grasp and sailed out of his sight.
Shit.
The quick-footed girl used her shadow clones and ribbons to propel herself to Mercury. She hit him square in the face with the cleaver before dropping down.
He cried out in pain but continued to dodge most of her attacks. Even though she was the one flashing in and out of the field, she didn't even seem exhausted.
Then Mercury had a flash of insight: This girl isn't going to kill him. If she wanted to, she would've done that long ago. All of her attacks had one endgame in mind: to drive him away from the base.
He wasn't one for listening to that inner voice, but perhaps he could follow through on that theory. While her offense was relentless, her actions were laced with mercy.
So he'll exploit the fuck out of that.
The Faunus girl swung her weapon over his head, but Mercury flipped just in time for his boots to block the hit. The impact caught her by surprise, as she jumped back to regain the hold on her weapon. Mercury swiped at her knees, but she dodged back in time. His continual kicks and punches forced her to keep dodging and retreating, which was exactly what Mercury hoped for.
His next few kicks had more force as both her cleaver and katana sailed out of her grasp. The Faunus tried using her Semblance but Mercury grabbed her wrists and kicked her right in the gut. She groaned in response.
Seeing an opening, Mercury swung his head towards the girl and knocked her mask off. Her eyes opened in blazing amber, and Mercury could see a dark bruise surrounding her right eye.
Identical to the one he sported on his left.
Mercury knew he was making a dumb move. What he did next would be a complete disposal of his main objective. But he had to stop and look at the Faunus girl not with hostility, but with quiet understanding.
"Who gave you that bruise?"
"That's not your business," she spat. The cat Faunus picked up her weapon once more but stopped as she took a better look at Mercury's face.
"For a high-ranking terrorist, you're not very observant," Mercury quipped. "You just noticed this?" He pointed to his left eye.
"We're not terrorists," the girl shot back. "We're a force of revolution!" But her voice wavered on that last word.
"Blake!"
In a matter of seconds, Blake's entire demeanor changed. The grip on her weapon faltered. Her ears pressed flat against her head. Her irises shrunk in terror.
"Go," Blake ordered.
"But-"
"Now!" Blake's quiet voice lowered into a frantic whisper-shout.
Mercury dashed off, hiding in a thick bush riddled with blackberries. There, he found a small opening where he could watch what unfolded before him.
Almost immediately after, Adam and two White Fang soldiers dashed into the scene.
"What happened, Blake?"
"N-nothing! I was just dealing with a human, but he ran before I could finish him off."
Adam cocked his head to study Blake carefully. No matter how hard he tried, Mercury couldn't get rid of that sickening dread in his gut. Adam was practically fuming steam out of his ears.
"We can't have anyone knowing our base! We have so much at stake here, and if any human knows of our plans to raid the Mistral council, we're finished!"
SLAP!
Mercury was no empath, but he felt the same sting of pain. After all, the moment was all too familiar. It was just like those dreams where you were watching yourself but also being in the heart of action.
Blake stumbled and cupped her cheek from the impact.
"I'm-I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"I'm sure it won't. But I'll outline your punishment when you get back."
Adam trekked away, his mouth in a scowl and his katana unsheathed. The other White Fang members shared one last look at Blake before following their leader back.
Mercury stepped out of his hiding place once Adam and his cronies disappeared in the trees.
"I thought I told you to go."
"So it's him, isn't it? Adam Taurus?"
Blake didn't answer, so Mercury reached into his bag. The girl flinched and tightened her hold on her weapon.
"Stop, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Well, you were going to kill me a minute ago."
OK, he had to give it to her. She had sass, even after being smacked by her crazy terrorist of a boyfriend.
Then Mercury pulled out his money and offered it to Blake. Blake's eyebrows furrowed in response.
"Wait, why are you giving me this?"
"Something tells me that your boyfriend doesn't give you a paid salary." He was surprised by how casual he was about this situation. Must be some weird coping mechanism.
"I wish it was that simple. But he'll find me sooner or later."
"He'll put you in an early grave sooner or later."
Blake's ears flattened completely, her lips set in a tight line. Her eyes darted back to his bruise, which was starting to fade away.
"What about you? Can't you use that money for yourself?"
In that moment, Mercury felt something quite strange. Why is she so worried about me? She should've been hell-bent on killing me. She had all the opportunities, and yet she threw them away. And for what?
But the better question is: Why am I so concerned about her?
But he pushed those thoughts back, further into himself.
"Don't worry about me. I'll get that fat stack of cash another way."
Blake was perceptive enough to see through his words. "Please don't. I can tell you're strong, but...Adam is on a different level than you."
He glanced up at the trees, where thin slivers of light signaled the dawn of another day.
"Then I'll become stronger," Mercury proclaimed. "I don't have any other choice."