(Rated E for Extra Lesbian-Ship-Teasing and Brafez ain't gettin' none of that Cat-booty until at least Chapter 18/19/20/21 because Plot Progression and Emotional Stunting.)
START OF CHAPTER SE7EN
In the reception room...
"Just sit here, I'll go find someone." Ariad said, waiting as Brafez dropped into a seat. He nodded, though it showed how tired he was. Ariad sighed before looking around the room; five rows of white chairs arranged in an orderly fashion, a painting of the Schnee Estate in the winter on the left wall, a directory, and in the corner of the room, a small receptionist's desk. Thinking logically, Ariad walked over to the desk and rang the small bell three times.
Waiting for a while, Ariad was about to ring the bell again before a rabbit Faunus stumbled through the door into the room behind the desk, wearing an orderly, stripped down maid outfit. Having time to observe the girl, Ariad noticed several things; The maid was just about her age, with cream-colored eyes and rabbit ears. Her hair floated just onto her shoulders, and was ivory in color. Though, the most notable thing about the girl was that she was tired. Very tired.
Looks like I'm the only one who isn't tired today. Geesh, will you people take naps once in a while? Ariad was brought out of her thoughts as the girl finally reached the desk, taking a seat in a spinny-chair.
"Hello, welcome to the Schnee Dust Company Estate. How-" The girl said, stopping as she yawned. "How may I help you?"
"Me and my friends are here for jobs?"
The girl nodded before typing away at the scroll in front of her. "Name and race?"
"Really?"
"I'm sorry, it's required."
"Fine. Ariad Greyhound, pure-bred Faunus. Brafez Rasputin, human...most likely. And Pandora Ragnarök, Barsküld Grimm." The girl raised her eyebrows at the last one.
"A...Barsküld?"
"Yes."
"That's not a real thing." Petunia whispered, typing away at her keyboard.
"Of course it is! I wouldn't make up Grimm!"
"Well, what does it look like?"
"She looks like a puma!" Ariad said, glaring at Petunia.
"Didn't I tell you to stop making up animals?"
"..." Ariad slowly brought a palm against her forehead, sighing with annoyance. It was at that moment Pandora decided to walk over, stopping and leaning against the desk.
"Well, what is a beautiful girl such as yourself doing here?" Pandora cooed, pawing at Petunia.
"She works here, dumb-ass." Ariad said, slapping Pandora upside the head.
"Well I figured that much out!" Pandora hissed, rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh, Pan, settle an argument for me." Ariad said, turning to look at Petunia. "I said that when you are in your Grimm form, you resemble a puma-"
"A what?" Pandora inquired, raising her eyebrows.
"A puma. You know, like a big cat?"
"I'm telling you, a puma's not a real animal." Petunia muttered, typing thoughtfully away.
"Bullshit! Brafez," Ariad looked to her friend, who looked back. "A puma is a real animal, right?"
"Um, yeah. It's a big cat." Brafez said, looking around the room.
"See!?"
"I don't believe you." Petunia responded, taking a sip of coffee from her cup that had appeared during the last transition.
"It looks like a panther! Or a mountain lion! Or, you know, a fucking puma!" Ariad yelled, glaring at the rabbit Faunus.
"All right now...it says here that you are assigned to maid duty. You'll be with me, I'll show you the ropes. Brafez Rasputin is to trim and maintain the Estate maze. Pandora is to be a...a guard?" The girl muttered, rubbing her temples in plainly-seen exhaustion. She shrugged before typing once more, though what she was doing was unknown to Ariad. "Okay, report to the servant's quarters down the hall and to the left and I'll see you in the morning."
"And who are you, may I ask?" Ariad inquired, brushing away her annoyance.
"I'm Petunia Rominov. You can call me Petunia." The girl said, extending her hand in greetings. Ariad shook it, smiling.
"Nice to meet'cha. I am Ariad Greyhound, but you already know that." Ariad said. Petunia retracted her hand from the shake, typing in some codes and the like. She yawned again before struggling to keep her eyes open, the exhaustion evident in her motions.
"Um, are you all right?" Ariad asked hesitantly, watching the girl. Petunia snapped her head up, looking in Ariad's direction.
"W-what?"
"I asked if you are all right. Are you? You seem tired."
"I'm...I'm fine. It's only my second all-nighter." Petunia replied, casually saying it as if that were normal.
"Second? Dust, you need some sleep. Come on." Ariad said, hopping over the desk and picking Petunia up in a fireman's carry. The girl in question struggled valiantly, though to no effect.
"You have a nice taste in women, Ari!" Pandora called out, waving at them.
"Fuck off Pan!" Ariad replied, giving her the finger.
"P-put me down! I appreciate the gesture-"
"And you could use some sleep." Ariad said, ending the conversation before it could even start.
"U-um, Clarence! Can you take my shift?!" Petunia called back, with a thumbs up as her only response. "Thanks!"
"I can't believe that this is happening.." She mused, with Ariad snorting at her.
"Trust me, once you meet me, a lot of things you can't believe will happen." Ariad stated, carrying Petunia down the marble halls. Petunia could only fold her arms in displeasure as she was carried down the hall and to the servant's quarters. Once they reached the door, Ariad kicked it in with an exaggerated karate sound, revealing an elderly woman in an old-fashioned maiden attire, and an attitude most unpleasant.
"Who are you?" The woman inquired with a thick German accent, obviously displeased at the intrusion.
"Hi! I'm Ariad Greyhound. I'll be a maid here." Ariad said, noting the woman's displeasure.
"Petunia?" The woman asked, looking at the girl.
"This is true, Madame Ilse." Petunia said, looking at Ariad in annoyance.
"Is it possible for you to disclose the reason as for why our new maid is carrying you?" Madame Ilse asked in a suggestive tone, which Ariad caught onto immediately.
"He he, that's funny." Ariad murmured, although Petunia was confused.
"I don't get," Petunia stopped mid-sentence, furrowing her brow in concentration. Then, after a few seconds, her cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. "Oh. Now I get it..."
"It really took you that long?" Ariad asked skeptically.
"Well I'm sorry, not everyone's as perverted as you!"
"You're obviously just as perverted if you understood the underlying meaning." Ariad said out the side of her mouth, meant for Petunia's ears only. In response she struggled, yet still not escaping Ariad's grasp.
"P-Put me down!" Petunia ordered, to which Ariad did nothing. Looking for help, Petunia glanced at Madame Ilse, only to see her retreating form. "Madame Ilse! Help me!"
"You're on your own this time." The woman called back, walking over to a far door in the back of the room and entering it, leaving the two alone.
"So," Ariad said, looking at Petunia. "Come here often?"
"Yes, I do. Now, would you please put me down?"
"Mayyybe~ What's in it for me?"
"I don't stab you in your sleep." Petunia said in a perfect deadpan.
"Tempting...I'll think about. As for right now, you are going to sleep, and I am getting my friend." Ariad said, placing the captive girl in the bed closest to the door before walking out to retrieve her friend. Petunia stared at the door as it closed, dumbfounded.
"I really hope that I don't have to deal with this on a daily occurrence..." She whispered, undressing under the covers and tossing her outfit on the floor next to the bed.
After that, she reached below her bed and pulled out a pair of...do I really have to say this? Honestly, is this the best pun you could come up with?
Your job is to narrate, not ask questions mid-sentence! Now read the damn thing!
Fine...excuse me while I over-dramatically and exasperatingly sigh with annoyance...Schnee-...I can't believe..."Schnee-jamas." Pulling them on, she was about to fall asleep before the door was kicked in again. Needless to say, the sound greatly startled Petunia, and even more so due to her advanced hearing.
What followed after was most unusual, as a less "restrained" female maid, (Petunia vaguely remembered that her name was Mary), stumbled into the doorway, held there briefly by a girl in a backless black dress before they both walked over to a secluded part of the room and out of sight.
"This is going to be fun!" Petunia heard, though the implications of "fun" were less than decent. Ignoring the commotion behind her, Petunia turned back to the door and saw Ariad carrying a boy dressed in blue in a manner not dissimilar to the way Ariad had carried Petunia herself into the room.
"Who's that?" Petunia asked, to which Ariad replied by laying the boy in blue down on the bed next to Petunia's.
"Which one? The one who's getting laid the first night here or the one who's comatose?" Ariad asked, retreating into a side room and undressing before pulling on grey footy-pyjamas, zipping the front shut just above her chest, leaving a moderate amount of cleavage showing.
"Both, actually." Petunia whispered, trying not to hear the sound of a bed creaking rhythmically in tune to the sound of throaty moans. Jesus, it had been like, fifteen seconds! Maybe more, but, still. Ariad walked out of the room and sat at the foot of her bed, gesturing for Petunia to move closer.
"That right there," Ariad said, pointing at the sleeping form of Brafez. "Is who I'm protecting. You fuck with him, you in turn fuck with me, and you do not want to get fucked by me," she stopped, staring at Petunia with a sly expression. "I mean, unless you're into that."
"...You...I have no words for you..." Petunia whispered back, looking away from the cat-girl.
"Well that's good. His name is Brafez Rasputin. And it's not ras-spew-ton, it's Ras-pootin. Got it?" Ariad asked, retracting her pointing finger. "All right. As for the girl that just walked in-"
"YEAH!" Pandora shrieked from the other side of the room, her voice filled with pleasure.
"That's Pandora. She's frisky. Really. Really. Frisky. I'm not saying that she's a whore or a slut, I'm just saying that she likes fucking. As long as she doesn't come near me I couldn't care less." Ariad said, nodding backwards. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a pair of ear-buds and handed one pair to Petunia, keeping the other for herself. "Here, you'll need these. From what I can discern, they'll be at it for a long time."
"Thanks...how can you be so...vulgar, and not be bothered by it?"
"Oh, you know, childhood trauma, partially insane, bit fucked in the head. Without that, I'm deadly, insane, and smart. Oh, I forgot to mention sexy." Ariad said, shrugging. "Come closer."
"I'm not sure if I want t- whoa!" Ariad ignored her protests and brought Petunia upwards, inadvertently placing her in a less than comfortable position.
"Give me a second..." Ariad muttered, reaching behind herself and grabbing a blanket. Taking it, she unhooked her sickle and sliced the blanket in half, before taking the half she held and wrapping it around Petunia's rabbit ears. "Hey, babe, can you hear me?"
"Yes...I don't prefer to be called 'babe', though." Petunia said bluntly, lying back down in bed.
"What, it's not like I can just ignore such a beautiful young girl such as yourself?" Ariad said, poking Petunia's nose and making her blush.
"T-thanks..."
"You're welcome." Ariad said, getting up and walking over to the bed Brafez was before picking him up and placing him slighty more to the side than he had been. She then lied down next to Brafez before turning to face Petunia.
"Hey?"
"Yeah?"
"Goodnight." Ariad said softly, reaching out and poking Petunia on her nose again.
"Goodnight..." Petunia whispered, flipping herself to face away from Ariad. The two girls fell asleep soon after, succumbing to the enticing promise of a good night's sleep, and to the next day.
The next morning...
The morning rays softly glided into the room through the open window, casting a light on Ariad's eyelids. She groaned out of annoyance but got up anyway, removing the ear-buds from her ears and groggily blinking. Getting out of bed, she stumbled over to Petunia's and removed her's as well along with the blanket around her ears.
"Hey, Petunia?" Ariad whispered, trying not to wake up the others in the room. Petunia groaned and turned away from Ariad, trying to sleep in.
"...mrmmm, go away..." she moaned, tuning out Ariad.
"I didn't want to have to do this..." Ariad muttered, reaching out for Petunia's rabbit ears and lightly running her fingers over the soft fur. Petunia gasped, instinctively arching her back in pleasure.
"K-keep going...that feels wonderful..." she whispered, grunting as Ariad removed her hands.
"Get up. We have a job to do." Ariad said, crossing her arms. Petunia immediately sprang upwards, with shock on her face.
"Shit!" she yelled, hopping out of bed and dragging Ariad over to a drawer, removing a pair of maid outfits for each of them. "Come on!" Petunia said, pulling them over to the side room and locking the door. "There's showers over there; no less than seven minutes per shower, got it?" Petunia asked, pointing to the shower stalls while simultaneously undressing with haste.
"Okay." Ariad said shrugging, undressing herself and sauntering over to the stalls, entering one and starting it, eagerly awaiting the warm water running down her skin.
"And by the way-" Petunia started to say, before Ariad felt something very cold hit her shoulder, and then several dozen drops of ice-cold water followed by a hail of freezing droplets.
"JESUS!" Ariad yelled, jumping out of the stall and landing on the carpeted floor below.
"You'll have to deal with cold water." Petunia added, slightly opening the shower curtain to speak clearly. Ariad, however, took this an offering to join Petunia, for whatever weird reason, and leapt into the shower. "...what are you doing?" Petunia asked, looking into Ariad's eyes in an attempt to stop herself from seeing anymore than she wanted to.
"I thought you were offering me some heat." Ariad said causally, reaching behind Petunia and grabbing a bottle of Schnee brand shampoo. "And I think we have less than seven minutes now." Ariad stated, running some water through her hair and getting it nice and wet before she poured a small amount of shampoo into her chocolate hair, expertly lathering around her cat ears.
"W-wha...Why...I...I don't...You..." Petunia stuttered, shocked by Ariad's nonchalant attitude.
"Get going!" Ariad said, slapping Petunia's rear and making the bunny-girl squeal. Needless to say, that morning was beyond awkward.
Several ambiguous hours later...
Petunia dusted a pair of ornate vases and was about to set them down when she sighed, sensing a certain someone approaching.
"Yes?" she said, turning her head slightly. Ariad stood behind her, her ears drooping slightly and her gaze on the ground.
"Hey...Petunia. I'm sorry for this morning...I guess I just went stupid for a couple of seconds...I really am sorry for that. So, friends?" Ariad asked meekly, extending her hand in apologies.
Petunia glanced from Ariad's face and back to her hand, stopping once Ariad's eyes widened. She sighed, before shaking Ariad's hand with the intent of letting go before Ariad whooped with joy and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"Aw, you don't know how much this means to me! Thanks babe!" Ariad yelled, setting Petunia down.
"Don't you have work to do?" Petunia asked, brushing some dust off of her shoulder.
"What about it?" Ariad asked back, leaning against an imaginary wall.
"Did you finish?"
"Yeah, of course. You always finish...even if she doesn't." Ariad said, looking off to the side as she said the last few words.
"What?"
"Nothing!" Ariad stated, brushing aside the question.
"Well, the training arena could use some sweeping, why don't you take that?" Petunia suggested, pointing to a directory down the hall.
"Ughh." Ariad groaned, not wanting to do the suggested job.
"Well it's either that or bathrooms." Petunia said, and not even by the end of her sentence was Ariad down the hall and reading the directory, memorizing the way to the arena.
"Got it! On my way!"Ariad called back, sprinting down the hall and to the arena.
At the arena...
Ariad wiped down the last of the arena walls, wiping a drop of sweat from her brow before a sound caught her attention. Past the four granite pillars, the doors started to close, and the pillars started to descend into the floor.
"Well, this will be interesting..." Ariad muttered, looking around before she jumped backwards and kicked out, imploding the chest of an AK-130 Android with her semblance. As she landed on the floor she pulled her sickle out in one smooth motion, entering her combat stance.
"All right...where's the next one?" Ariad murmured, ducking under a swipe from a droid's arm-blade before she dashed forwards and cut the robot in half, her sickle slicing through the metal like butter(and not hot butter, because they both are easily cut-able). Standing up, Ariad tossed her sickle casually before kicking the handle, sending it rocketing into another droid and cutting that ones core.
As the drone's prone form hit the ground, Ariad retrieved her sickle while dozens more dropped from the ceiling, followed by the ground shaking as a massive suit of armor impacted the floor, broadsword in hand. The droids ran at Ariad while the suit of armor retrieved its sword from the ground, with Ariad running at the wall and jumping at it before kicking herself back into the ground, her fist obliterating a droid's head as she hit the ground.
Two white androids charged her, only to be obliterated with Ariad's sound.
The remaining androids retreated and switched their arm-blades to miniguns and prepared to open fire at the Faunus, with Ariad smirking and turning away from them. The droids fired at Ariad, or the spot Ariad was standing before she faded from view, with the bullets pocketing the wall behind her.
The robots stopped firing, looking around for their target, only to be further confused as the lead droid exploded. The remaining droids stopped, standing still before all of their heads imploded with the sound of thunder. They fell down, terminated, with Ariad triumphantly standing on their broken chassis.
"Wasn't I forgetting one?" Ariad mused, shortly before a gargantuan broadsword impacted the floor in front of her, missing her nose by an inch. "MONTY." she yelled, extremely startled.
Composing herself, she walked onto the broadsword and up the blade until she reached the hilt, with the suit of armor watching her curiously. Steadying herself, Ariad tightened her leg muscles before activating her semblance and split kicking the armor's chestplate, sending it flying across the arena. Ariad backflipped off the hilt while grabbing the handle, wrenching the sword from the ground as she landed. Dragging the sword behind her, she sauntered over to the armor and waved at it, shortly before parrying the fist intended for her everything.
Ariad stopped, releasing her grip on the sword and cracking her knuckles before tossing the sword up into the air, with seven arcane symbols appearing around the knight, all glowing bright grey. She stood still as the knight charged her with the intent to turn her into paste before disappearing in a flash of grey light, appearing on one of the seven symbols.
"Over here!" Ariad yelled, catching the armor's attention before disappearing once more and reappearing at another, with the knight still reaching for her earlier position. Time seemed to slow as she teleported from one symbol to the next, with time standing still as she reached the symbol directly behind the knight.
Ariad tensed up, jumping from the symbol and into the air, with the other symbols appearing before her, creating pocket dimensions. Breaking through the first one, Ariad sped up dramatically as she entered the next, her speed exponentially increasing with every symbol she flew through.
Reaching the last symbol, Ariad caught the broadsword and hurled it at the knight's shoulder, pinning it to the wall and holding it in place. As she broke the last symbol, Ariad flew through the air and into the knight, shattering the armor into a million pieces. However, due to her speed, she continued through the knight and into the reinforced wall behind the armor, dislocating her shoulder as she impacted the wall.
"Well, that could have gone worse..." Ariad mused, gritting her teeth as she popped her shoulder back into it's socket. Clipping her sickle back onto her chain, she looked around before starting toward the exit, stopping as the sound of heels clicking against marble resounded throughout the arena.
"Your fighting style is exquisite, yet your manners are crude. And not to mention the fact that you're a-" A voice sounded behind her, causing Ariad to turn around. Behind her was Weiss Schnee, though if she has the scar or not is up to you.
"A Faunus? If you must know, I am pure-bred. To me, it doesn't mean shit. I'm just like all the others. But, judging by your astute tone of voice, you want me to train you. So, will you allow race or species to get in the way of your training?" Ariad snapped, startling the girl. Weiss said nothing, studying the girl before her.
"...No." she said after a long pause. "It seems you will fit the bill."
"We good?" Ariad stated smugly, watching as Weiss went through a variety of emotions, but mostly one of irritation.
"I suppose that we are indeed 'good'." the heiress said.
"All right, what do you want to learn first?" Ariad asked, clapping her hands together.
"Not now; meet me back here tomorrow at ten. That is when we shall begin."
"Understood, heiress!" Ariad said, saluting as Weiss exited the arena and left her alone. "Well, she's certainly cheerful..." Ariad muttered, walking out of the arena. "I wonder how Brafez is doing..."
Meanwhile...
"Where are we?" Brafez asked the boy sitting down in the café chair in front of him. He seemed so familiar, yet he just couldn't place the face.
"Atlas. I remember this place fondly." The boy said, looking around the café. "So, ask me anything."
"Who's Welsha?" Brafez asked, the name on his mind ever since he had seen it.
"Welsha was someone I considered family, until she did something that I can never forgive her for. Her full name is Welsha Pierre. I suggest never meeting her in real life."
"Wait," Brafez interrupted, taking note of in "real life". "Are you saying that we're in a dream?"
"You always were a fast learner..." The boy mused, rising from his chair as several fruit stands down the road imploded. A coated individual walked down the road, heading for the still seated Brafez. Brafez turned around, noticing the stranger walking towards him. He could tell the individual was female by her gait, and he also noticed several strands of purple hair.
"Welsha?" Brafez asked, to which the female sped up and pulled something out of her coat pocket. Several sections of the sky started to fall into the street, but the female sped past them and pointed a pistol at Brafez. Brafez, seeing this, tried to move, but he was stuck in his chair and defenseless, only able to see the individual stalking over to him.
"I should have finished you long ago, you damned abomination." Welsha said coldly, walking up to him and shooting him three times in the heart before pointing the pistol against his temple. "Now this time, stay dead." She pulled the trigger, and Brafez's world went white...
"What?" Brafez asked himself, looking around the room. Oh, right. Brafez thought, remembering where he was. He got out of bed before stretching his back, hearing it crack. Satisfied, Brafez walked over to the side room after grabbing a new set of his regular clothes, however, they were pristine white.
Undressing, he was about to pull on his new clothes before he saw something in a mirror. When he blinked it was gone. However, he could only describe it as a tattoo of a phoenix. Brushing aside the tattoo, Brafez finished dressing and walked out of the servant's quarters and to a directory so he could get to the Schnee Estate maze.
Finding what he needed, Brafez turned left and walked down the hall, eventually coming to a door that lead outside. Opening the door, Brafez was treated to a beautiful sight as he walked out onto a balcony; the Estate maze. One could certainly say the Schnee family were full of themselves, as the maze was shaped into the family emblem. Looking away from the spectacle, Brafez searched for the way down, but he couldn't find one. Readying himself, he flipped over the Gothic style railing and landed in the maze below, with the air becoming increasingly thick as a migraine started to form.
"What is going on?" Brafez muttered, looking around the maze and rubbing his temples. A flash of purple hair running down the maze caught his attention, and it was followed by rusty orange hair that was neatly and orderly cut.
Brafez looked on, before running after the two people. Their laughter was that of children, sounding like a sort of sibling rivalry. Sensing the laughter getting further away, Brafez ran down the corridor, swinging around the corner and into a stranger.
"Oh, sorry!" Brafez apologized, before noticing the style of clothing on the stranger. It resembled his own, except dark grey in color with yellowtrim.
"Ummmm, hi?" Brafez said wearily, glancing at the stranger. The stranger retrieved something from his pocket, raising Brafez's curiosity. As the object came into view, Brafez blew the pistol out of the stranger's hand with a fireball, jumping to his feet as the assassin drew a combat knife.
Brafez attempted to create a knife of his own before the assassin pressed a button on his wrist, filling the air with electricity and disabling Brafez's gauntlets. Coincidentally, his gauntlets also ran on blood, which they continually recycled throughout his body, though providing greatly less energy than solar power. This ability came in handy as Brafez countered the assassin's knife with a wrist-mounted shield, blocking the almost fatal blow.
Mustering a large quantity of blood, Brafez teleported behind the assassin before bringing a flaming uppercut into the assassin's back, sending him flying down the corridor. Brafez then summoned a large fiery lighting bolt, which he threw at the assassin with gusto. The lighting bolt struck the assassin, disabling him as he impacted the ground behind the corridor. Brafez weakly followed after the assassin, gasping as his blood was redistributed through his veins.
Reaching the assassin, Brafez held him in place with his foot. "Who are you?!" Brafez yelled, pressing a flaming foot into the assassin's back.
"No one leaves the Sect alive...You must be terminated. I am merely the first of many." The assassin said, gritting his teeth before a white foam dribbled from his mouth.
"Of course...cyanide pills. But, I never left the Sect...Why would they come after me?" Brafez muttered, kicking the assassin onto his back and taking his dog-tags. "Washington...seems familiar." Brafez mused, reading them. Reaching into his back pocket, Brafez pulled out a radio. "This is Brafez Rasputin, we have a security breach in the maze. Over?"
"Copy that Rasputin, we're sending a team your way." The receiver said over the radio.
"Thanks, over and out." Brafez said, clipping the radio to his belt. "Why me?" Brafez sighed, staring at the assassin before remembering the pair of kids he had heard. Thinking it over, Brafez decided to stay with the body rather than chase ghosts. The first pair of guards arrived a few minutes later, with Pandora leading them.
"Hey, who's that?" she asked, crouching down next to the body.
"Guy named Washington. Tried to assassinate me." Brafez said, looking down at the body. "Said there'd be more. And that no one leaves the Sect alive."
"Thanks B," Pandora said, sniffing the body. "Smells like pomegranate. All right boys, take him to the morgue. I'll debrief." she added, waving over the other guards over and helping them lift the body onto a stretcher.
"Look at you. Never thought I'd see you so serious." Brafez said, looking at the Grimm girl.
"I take my job seriously." Pandora stated, receiving a skeptical look from Brafez. "I never said I took anything else seriously."
"Fair enough." Brafez said, looking around the maze. "Got anything on him?"
"Yeah. Part of a select group of individuals called the Seventh Order. It's a subcommittee within the Sect. They're led by-"
"Let me guess; Welsha Pierre."
"Yes. However, four of their seven members were killed in an explosion half-an-hour ago."
"You're welcome, by the way." The stranger said, appearing absentmindedly and leaning against the maze wall.
"Uh, thanks?" Brafez said, looking at the stranger with surprise.
"I like to take care of my creations, yet some things must happen on their own. The explosion left two alive; Wyoming and Welsha. They'll come for you, but in a few years. They need to rebuild their strength, after all."
"Um..." Brafez said, looking from Pandora then back to the stranger.
"It's all right, you can trust me." The stranger said, disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.
"Okay...I think I'm going to go do my job, get away from all this nonsense." Brafez muttered, walking away from Pandora and further into the maze, trimming at his leisure.
The next day...
"All right Weiss, forget everything that your tutors taught you, becomes you're in my house now." Ariad said, pacing back and forth in front of the heiress.
"That doesn't seem logical." Weiss responded, skeptically so. With Ariad as a teacher, who wouldn't be?
"Weiss, most of the things I do don't seem logically sound. Now, onto our first lesson." Ariad said, bringing out a bottle of ketchup.
"Where did you get that?"
"Lesson one; Cliché as it is, always expect the unexpected! Like so," Ariad stated, slamming the ketchup into the ground in a burst of red, briefly blinding the heiress and lowering her guard. Seeing the opportunity, Ariad faded from view and appeared behind Weiss, tripping the heiress by kicking her legs out from under her. "Come on, Weiss, I thought you would have passed that one easily!" Ariad said, receiving a greatly confused expression from the girl.
"That wasn't fair!"
"Exactly! Your enemies won't fight fair either!" Ariad exclaimed, grabbing Weiss's arm and yanking her to her feet. "I can't tell you how many times I've been stabbed, beaten, or shot just because of my sense of honor!"
"I'm already regretting this decision..." Weiss muttered.
"Please, by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be in tip-top shape! Now, come on my apprentice, on to the second lesson."
"Oh joy."
"And the next lesson is; knowing when to take an opportunity or not. This one has saved my life countless times." Ariad said, handing Weiss her dust-rapier(I know the name, I just can't remember how to spell it.) "Okay, attack me."
"What?"
"Attack me!" Ariad said, yawning. Weiss shrugged, thrusting her rapier forward before Ariad knocked it away and slammed her palm into Weiss's gut.
"W-what was that!?" Weiss asked, recovering from the strike.
"You taking a dumb opportunity." Ariad stated, handing Weiss her rapier once more.
"You told me to attack you!"
"Exactly!" Ariad said, saying it like it was common knowledge.
"You...You know what?"
"What?"
"I quit!" Ariad chuckled at the notion.
"Silly Weiss, a Schnee never quits!" Ariad said, tilting her head slightly to the side as Myrtenaster entered her peripheral vision. "See, you're learning already!" Ariad stated, pushing the rapier away.
"I am?"
"Yes, you saw an opportunity and you took it!" Ariad replied, patting Weiss on the shoulder.
"I guess I did..."
"All right, lesson two complete. Next, on to lesson numero tres!" Ariad said, pointing excitedly in a random direction.
"What are you doing?"
"Shh, don't ruin the moment." Ariad whispered, still pointing in a random direction. Weiss attempted to speak, before Ariad shushed her. "Okay, lesson number three-"
"How many lessons are there?
"Approximately 7,125." Ariad said, cleaning her sickle. "But today, we'll go over fifteen. Lesson three; wax on, wax off!"
"You can't be serious."
"Nah, I'm just fucking with you. Lesson three is simple; show me your moves."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"All right..." Weiss skeptically muttered, bringing herself into a combat stance. Ariad sighed automatically, walking over to her. "What?"
"Your stance is all off; loosen up and stand confidently."
"I don't think that will help."
"Just do it." Ariad ordered, her voice stern and threatening. Weiss sighed before doing as she was told. "Now, swing." Weiss nodded, swinging her rapier forward and seeing an increase in speed and power.
"How did you-?"
"I'm da bes'." Ariad said smugly, shrugging with content. "All right, now put them all together, I'm going to be right back." Ariad said, running out of the arena to retrieve Calypso. After a few minutes, Ariad returned, Calypso on her belt. "Okay, I'm ba-" Ariad stopped, pointing Calypso's barrel at Weiss and sending a bout of flames her way. Weiss jumped into the air, dodging the fire before she let loose a blast of ice towards Ariad. Ariad destroyed the icy projectile with a single, well-placed magma bolt, before Weiss dove through the steam and swung at Ariad with her rapier. Ariad blocked the blade before kicking it away and following it up with a downward attack, which Weiss blocked perfectly.
Ariad faded from view as Weiss attempted to slash her calf, prompting confusion from the heiress. "You never said we could use our semblances!"
"I never said you couldn't, either." Ariad retorted, her voice coming from every direction. An arcane symbol appeared behind Weiss, with Ariad jumping up from within the symbol, swinging her fist into the heiress' head and sending her flying across the arena. "That looked like it hurt! Oh, yeah, right, sorry!"
"You'll pay for that." Weiss muttered, stumbling to her feet and sending a paralysis glyph at Ariad, with Ariad standing still as the glyphs held her in place. The heiress then engaged Myrtentaster's white Dust, embellishing the blade with white runes. Bracing herself, Weiss sped forward, intent on spearing the cat-girl through and through before something remarkable happened.
As the heiress came closer and closer to Ariad, the smile on her face grew wider and wider. In a second, Ariad chuckled, breaking from the paralysis glyph, before stepping to the side as Weiss sped past her. Ariad then, to add insult to injury, punched the back of Weiss' head, sending her into the ground as the white Dust discharged into the air harmlessly.
Ariad felt slightly bad at crushing the heiress' dreams of beating her trainer so quickly, but shrugged off the feeling, instead opting to help her to her feet. "You all right?"
"How did you do that?"
"Eh, you just have to concentrate more on holding things in place rather than the finishing blow. No, not really. I'm a sound bender." Ariad said, walking Weiss over to the side and patting her back. "No matter, you'll learn quickly. You'll have to if you ever want to beat me. Now, how about ice cream?"
"You're not serious."
"Ice cream is no laughing matter." Ariad stated, giving Weiss a disapproving glare.
"Um..."
"Calm down, I'm just messing with you." Ariad said, escorting the heiress out of the arena.
Weirdly enough, the ice cream matter was solved rather quickly, considering that Weiss had a sorbet machine just down the hall. Ariad, of course, had flat-out refused the icy treat and procured some ice cream of her own from hammerspace. So they had decided to sit down at a coffee table in the bend of a hallway.
"Before we continue with training, I'd like to get to know you." Weiss said after thoroughly swallowing her ice- ice, baby. Sorry, sorry.
"Shoot." Ariad replied, smiling at her with a big shit-eating grin.
"Dunce...being a Faunus, have you ever associated yourself with the White Fang?"
"Oh, those radicalist assholes? I've worked with them a few times during my life as an assassin. Never joined 'em though. Even I have morals...Well, not really, but you understand, right?" Ariad asked, clicking her tongue.
"No, I do not understand. I just met you yesterday."
"Party pooper." Ariad licked her spoon, throwing the empty gallon in the trashbin twenty feet away. "There were several opportunities for me to assassinate you, however." Weiss stilled, glaring at her. "What? I didn't take them...seriously. I only poked you in the face."
"You broke into my household, on a job to assassinate me, and instead poked me in the face while I slept?!"
"In that specific order; yes, yes, and yes. You're not dead, else I wouldn't be having this conversation with you." Ariad pointed out, causing the simmering heiress to deflate.
"Dunce."
ANTI-CLIMATIC END OF CHAPTER SE7EN
Psych!
Unspecified Location...
A girl sat in front of a tombstone, tears dripping down onto the dirt. In her hand was a knife, with a carving in the dirt. It was that of a bird, rising from a grave of ashes. Wavy purple hair cascaded down from her head, shielding her face from view.
"I will avenge you brother." she said, digging the knife deeper. "I will kill Brafez Rasputin."
SUPER-CLIFFHANGER! YEAH!
A.N. Next up is Brafez and his birthday. That's pretty much it. If I am going out-of-character with the canon characters, pls let me know. I think that's all...oh yeah, when I say Washington, I mean it. And don't forget Wyoming and Welsha.
