Team TRML
Exposition One: Teal
Like the moon, we steal from the light, to let your glory and mercy shine.
On our ever so rare excursions, Magnolia and I were mostly unable to get away with anything. Today however, now seventeen and sixteen respectively, Mag and I stopped by the library in secret and plugged into the computers. Although our family was filthy rich, we were empty-handed and were forced to borrow and borrow and borrow, everything. However, that would all end within the year. As I transferred my Beacon Application into the email box, I turned to Magnolia, who did the same.
"Once we get that confirmation email we're home free from this dump Teal." She smiled for the first time in years, and the bags under her magnolia colored eyes.
"Finally." I sighed and pressed ENTER on the keyboard, sending the application and transcript to our dream school. Logging out of the server, I waited for Magnolia at the door, fiddling with my fingers and staring at my tan skin. Finally finishing her form, we started our way back home. That was until two Atlas airships flew overhead. Quickly hiding my metallic hair in a hat on a mannequin, I followed Magnolia into an alley around the mall.
"This wasn't supposed to happen." She glanced around the corner, "Atlas wasn't supposed to arrive until next week!"
"Well what do we—
"Quiet! I need to think."
I leaned over her to peek at the landing planes in the courtyard. A frustrated looking Winter Schnee stood, staring around as if this specific part of Vale was more disgusting than anywhere else. Taking the rural road home, we arrived to locked gates and an empty estate.
"Oh no." Magnolia extended her gauntlets and was about to jam the blades into the lock.
"Don't move." A familiarly eerie voice said behind us and I reached for my sheath.
"Shit!" I raised my hands to a small league of Atlas specialists.
"Seize the kids, I'll take the family." Winter said and broke the lock herself.
"What happened?" I muttered to Magnolia.
"I don't know, maybe something went wrong when Father was trafficking dust or…the Faunus, White Fang is on the rise. Mother and Father were tattled on."
"So we're not escaping this are we?"
"You bet your ass you're not." A soldier poked my on the head with the barrel of his rifle.
Suddenly, Magnolia activated her rockets and propelled her fists into the police. With the flares and flames around her, she spun and kicked them all unconscious.
"Mag!" I protested, but she took my hand and dragged me to the city. Without an answer, I transformed my sword sheath back into a guitar case and blended into the crowd with her. Within minutes, our faces lit up on every billboard. Instantly, the crowd in the city was cleared and there was nowhere left to hide. In the distance, our whole family was being hauled into an airship.
"Just don't look." Magnolia shielded her eyes from the sight and headed in the opposite direction.
"Of course, it's not like they really cared about us anyway." I kicked a rock under my foot, "Dad probably hates me for being gay and don't even get me started with mom."
"Don't talk like that Teal, c'mon we're almost to the train station."
Before we even stepped foot on the station, marches sounded behind and around us. An entire legion of Atlas soldiers cornered us, with Winter leading the crusade.
"Illegal Dust trafficking, Faunus labor," she began listing each and every crime, "extorting Atlas officers, and endless accusations of counterfeit. The Ciels have committed more these crimes over a hundred times in the past twenty years."
"Why do think we tried to escape it?" Magnolia placed a hand on her hip, "I didn't want to live a life of crime and neither did Teal. Neither Mother nor Father gave us any profit from it, so from my standpoint we're innocent."
"Oh but that still has to be looked into," Winter held her thin cutlass tightly, "Arrest them."
"Then if that's the game you wish to play." I unsheathed my obsidian guitar, holding the neon axe preparedly. Just when shots were fired toward us, I struck a loud F sharp chord and sent the bullets back to their barrels. Taking a dozen of soldiers to the ground, I transformed the weapon into long sword and held it with the blade pointing behind me.
"That wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be." Magnolia extended her gauntlets once again, revealing the swords completely. The white pair on the left were aimed forward, the barrel at the base of her wrist pointed towards Winter. Spinning the wheel on her wrist, she stopped it at the lightning Dust, and held the trigger. A golden glow grew brighter the longer she held it until she finally fired it, but redirected it into the ground.
"Teal! This way." She pulled me through the stinging yellow cloud to the oncoming train, "Don't breathe this stuff in."
I sheathed my sword and sprinted into the building. Vision narrowing and knees weighing more with each step, I coughed out the yellow dust and my muscles suddenly buckled and I fell, stunned.
"Your gimmick didn't work!" I shouted at Magnolia, who was also on the ground, but facing away from me.
"Don't tell me twice!" She retorted as older siblings do when their younger sibling is pestering them.
"That was a nice little trick though." Winter's voice cleared away the fog and revealed even more unconscious soldiers, "Creating a cloud of lightning dust to paralyze whomever breathed it in was quite clever if I do say so myself."
"Please, we're really innocent. I swear!" I shouted, but the remaining two officers hoisted us up over their shoulders.
"Until proven guilty."
Barely regaining feeling on the airship, I slowly shifted my weight to look around the grey cabin. Magnolia was sitting up straight, handcuffed and weapons confiscated. I felt around for mine, but was already chained to the seats I was laying in.
"Where are you taking us?" I shouted to the guards in the cockpit.
"Court. Your family's already in Atlas prison." Winter announced, oddly angry for whatever reason still, "Like I said, you will be proven guilty or not."
Landing in what appeared to be Atlas, I hesitated to exit the vehicle, purposely stumbling over the officers. The steel floored corridors clanked under my sneakers as I walked. Glancing at the exit sign to my left, I paused in place for a moment, checking my surroundings. I checked behind myself for Magnolia, but I the guards were all I saw.
"Don't even think about it kid." The butt of a gun once again nudged me.
"Don't worry, I doubt he even has enough energy to think right now." The officer on my right stated.
I wouldn't count on that, I held my tongue, slightly irritated.
"Keep it movin'."
"How much further is it?"
"Just keep goin' `til we tell ya'."
Slowly grasping the seriousness of this court meeting, I dropped any ideas or hopes of escaping. Busting through the court doors as if I was a murderer, the judge gestured a seat, but countless practice court-scenarios led me before he could point. Sitting through over two hours of firing back and forth can really take a toll on a person. Rubbing the dark circles under my eyes and rolling them nonchalantly, I followed the group out of the room, not listening to the verdict.
"He is…Guilty!" A gavel hit the stand just as an imaginary sword penetrated my stomach, "The sentence is: Life in Atlas Military!"
"No, no, no, no…" I endlessly repeated before being hauled into another building.
"Teal? Teal!" Magnolia busted inside another corridor, as well as bullets in the wall and her shouts, "HELP!"
"Magnolia!"
I became unconscious again, and woke up in an Atlesian uniform. Wanting to rip it off and run back to Vale, I weakly tugged at the collar.
"Get ready soon, General Ironwood would like to speak with you." An automated voice came from the speaker in the corner.
"Great." I coughed when I snapped the collar back into place. The leather in between each metal plate stretched when I stood. A short frame of black blinded me for a moment as the oxygen rushed too quickly to my brain.
"Stood up too fast?" The same voice said from the other side of the sliding doors, "This way rascal."
I bit back every remark and smart comment, remaining utterly silent until I met with Ironwood, who was in the next room. Inside this dark-steel room was floating green panes that were the computers and two people I currently despised. Winter Schnee stood sentient beside General Ironwood's desk, still irritated as ever.
"This is one of the siblings we apprehended." She said with pride, "I figured if we separated them that they would not try anything risky."
"Where is the girl then, Schnee?" Ironwood stood and leaned on his desk.
"In Vale, sir."
"Under whose custody is she?"
"U-Under Branwen, sir?"
"Dusty old Qrow? What a foolish mistake, Schnee."
At the moment, any camera in the room was on me, any guards' eyes on watch, but I became invisible to these two. I cleared my throat for attention and bowed quite informally.
"What is it kid?" Ironwood sneered.
"Nothing, just making sure you knew I was here still." I retorted.
"Enough! Ciel, return to your quarters!" Ironwood pounded on his desk, unamused by my intently harmless joke. Startled and unwanting of any more trouble, I formally bent and left back to my 'quarters'.
"Great, I'll be spending the rest of my time here." I retrieved an old photograph from my original outfit, and stuck it to the corkboard above my bunk. I lay down with my legs crossed in front of me, not caring if I was wearing shoes on the bed. Shutting my eyes and trying to drown out the discontentment of being in my least favorite kingdom.
Next week began with training, not much different than that of which I had on the estate, but much more overwhelming. Well equipped with the sweat wicking garments underneath the armor, I was uncertain how many others I would be training with. An endless row of boys my age and above snaked down the courtyard, all dripping with sweat and bulging with the push-ups we were doing.
God, I'm barely breaking a sweat, what's with them? I desired to say out loud, but the spit of punishment from last time still hurt. Another day, another confrontation justified with 'I barely broke a sweat and did every one, ask the instructors,' passed and I began to worry this is what would become of my life. Squirting the water from my bottle onto my face and arms, I peered at the television.
The news opened with Vale, and how the next Vytal festival would be held this summer. I yearned to be part of it, not on Atlas's side, but on Vale's, Beacon's. I scoffed at the sight and carried my duffle bag to the locker room. The following week was the same, endless push-ups, training sessions, sparring, etc. However, this was my one and only chance to escape Atlas. We were boarding a plane to Beacon to replace the old sentient with the newer models.
"Ciel," Lieutenant beckoned just as I was about to sneak away, "I need your assistance at the moment."
"Yes, sir." I lifted the other end of a crate with her and set it down behind the airship. In the distance, a familiar shade of hair and color caught my eye. Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon was walking down the lane with Magnolia. I glanced at Lieutenant Charcoal, who was busy strapping the cargo to a car, and snuck away.
"Magnolia!" I shouted, throwing my helmet aside, "Magnolia!"
"Professor Oz—Teal?" I could see her mouth as I neared her, "Teal!"
I met her with a tight embrace and a concerned look from Ozpin. For the first time in almost a year, I squeezed her back and she did the same.
"Magnolia, I take it this is your…" The white-haired man said.
"Brother, Headmaster, this is Teal."
He offered a hand and I shook it firmly, "Nice to meet you, but what is one of my applicants doing in Atlas?"
"O-Oh, that is not a question I can answer." I glanced back to check if any other units realized my absence, "You may need to ask general Ironwood."
"Very well, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."
"Of course, sir." I noticed this was out of habit to call everyone 'sir,' but it had become compulsory in my mindset. Luckily, when I returned to my station, none of the other officers had seen my escape. Once I boarded again for our departure, Lieutenant Charcoal threw a satchel at me and told me to head to the Headmaster's office.
"May I ask why, sir?" I questioned.
"I am not authorized to answer that." She ushered me outside and returned to the cockpit. This area was unfamiliar to me, especially at night, but I made my way toward the largest tower there was. Breathing slightly heavier at the elevator, I pressed the button and prepared to walk in as casually as I please. I tripped once I saw General Ironwood besides Ozpin and Magnolia in the corner. Another woman, Glynda Goodwitch, stood aside Ozpin as well.
"Ironwood, sir!" I regained composure and saluted his presence until he waved it away.
"No need, Teal." He called me by my first name, which caught me by surprise.
"You're late," Ozpin said, "we were discussing your transfer, so it might have been helpful to be punctual, mister Ciel."
"Tr-Transfer?"
"Transfer!?" Winter's irritation frightened the living snot out of everyone in the room, "We tried him guilty!"
"I'm well aware of that Schnee, but you're lack of evidence made him innocent."
She glared at his and Ironwood's direction and hid in the corner, away from Magnolia. By the time our signing of transcripts and forms were over, I was bursting at the seams with excitement. After I signed the final form, Ozpin looked up with a smile.
"Welcome to Beacon, Teal Ciel." He stated.
"Thank you." I managed to say.
"You two head to the ballroom for the night, initiation is tomorrow." Glynda said, sharing looks with Ozpin, "Now!"
Both of us gladly heeded her command. Inside the elevator, I let out a scream no ordinary human could make, successfully temporarily deafening Magnolia and myself.
"I'm finally gonna go to Beacon!" I shouted, "We're together again!"
"I know Teal! Now if you'd calm down now." She said, shaking me by the shoulders.
"Right, right."
"There are cute guys here though."
"There always is at least one Mag."
She smirked and I followed her to the ballroom. Seeing everyone already dressed in pajamas and such, I decided to change as well before meeting Magnolia in our spot in the center of the room.
"Hey, Teal." She broke me from my staring, "Which one are you looking at?"
"N-No one." I unsuccessfully hid the red in my cheeks.
"Grey?"
I shook my head 'no.'
"Oh, I know then. Purple?"
I did not bother answering.
"Well, since you're not gonna do anything then."
"What?"
"Let me finish. Ahem, I dare you to go try to scare him."
I grinned at her and quietly tiptoed towards him. Just as I was about to scream at him, he stood up, much taller than I would have expected, and was about to burst into tears.
"W-Way to pick on the blind kid a-asshole." He said and moved into a corner, farther from anyone else. I grimaced and shot an angry glance at Magnolia.
"Nice one." She said.
"Hey, this is you're fault, go apologize."
"Fine."