Shout-out to TehGramerPolise for helping with this chapter

Journal Entry 278

Kuroi Akita, ten kinds of crazy… and fifty kinds of dangerous. He wasn't wrong with what he said about Cola. Cola always played to win, no matter the outcome he would always get ahead somehow.

In the years to come Kuroi would indeed make good on his promise, throwing the full weight of his Kensai warriors and lawyers alongside Cola in his quest to kill Serroi and be the undisputed underground emperor of Solitas.

Cola never enjoyed playing chess, always preferring cards; at first I had thought it was some kind of reproach against a game that was considered an art by the nobility. Later, I would wonder if it was because it was too much like what he did in real life. Moving pieces into place in an elegant web of gambits, bluffs, and traps. After all, painted wooden pieces no doubt got stale after you performed the same maneuvers with actual living beings.

Cola always played to win, and he won every game he ever played seriously…

All except the one he wanted to win the most...

We boarded the airship early the next day to leave for Mantle. I stopped as I stared up at its side; AAT North Star were inscribed there in bold letters. I looked over its sleek lines that I hadn't fully appreciated on the day it had carried Neo and I away from that hell hole. I ran my hand along the railing as we walked up the gangplank and into the ship. We were lead into a familiar room, a lounge with leather chairs and a table. Neo and I sat down in the chairs just as Cola and Bayard entered the room.

"We'll be taking off shortly boss." A crew member informed us as Cola and Bayard sat across from us.

"Very good Roy, you are dismissed." the man bowed and walked out of the room, closing it gently behind him.

Cola sighed and looked around the room, "It's been awhile since you've been in here… I wonder, Rowan." He pulled out a deck of cards and smiled, "Do you remember the game you and I played then?"

I smiled back as he shuffled the deck, "I think I remember the basics."

Neo frowned, "What game is this?"

Bayard rolled his eyes, "Forgive Master Cola, he takes perverse pleasure in being cryptic. He is speaking of Liar's Net, a variation on Go Fish in which one may lie in order to prevent having to give a card to their opponent."

She frowned, "So what happens if you're caught?"

"Then you have to give the card and that pile is worth two points rather than one." I answered her. "If they call you out and they're wrong though, they give you the card and you get a point."

Cola nodded, "That is correct, I think with this many people playing, we will require the deck to be doubled." He reached into his coat and pulled out another deck and swiftly shuffled the two together. He then dealt us each a hand of five cards, for a moment we were all silent as we examined our cards, Bayard placed down a pair of two's and then drew two cards to replace them.

"Neopolitan, you're to my left, why don't you begin?"

She nodded and bit her lip as she considered her hand, she then looked back up to Cola, "Do you have any three's?" she asked him.

He gave a cursory look to his hand and then pulled out a card and handed it to her, she took it and placed the pair down on the table before replacing the two cards once more.

Bayard turned to Neo, "You're bleeding a tad there Miss Neopolitan." She frowned and adjusted her cards accordingly. "On that note, do you have any jacks?" he asked politely.

She pouted at him and held out the appropriate card. He smiled apologetically and placed the two cards on the table.

"Do you have any aces Bayard?" I asked.

Bayard examined his hand and shook his head, "I'm afraid not."

I smiled in response, "You're bluffing." I told him.

The older man grinned and pulled a king from his hand and handed it to me, I placed it on the table and drew replacement cards before turning to Cola.

The big man considered his hand for a moment, then turned his gaze up to me, "Rowan, do you have any kings?"

I met his gaze and shook my head, "Go fish." I told him.

He looked at me for a bit, opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. Finally he shrugged and looked back at his hand.

Neo looked at her hand and then looked to me, "Give me the king Rowan." she said plainly.

I grimaced and handed her the card, she gave me a mocking smile and placed it along with its pair in front of her.

Suddenly, Bayard let out a snort, "I say, your face Master Cola!" Cola frowned at him severely and lifted an eyebrow, "Oh don't give me that." he scolded him. "A look of surprise like you had just now is a yelp from anyone else."

Cola rolled his eyes, "I am only human Bayard."

"Oh don't give me that, how long has it been since I or anyone else slipped one past you playing this game of yours?" He pointed at me. "Then right out of the gate, little Rowan pulls the wool over your eyes and then Miss Neopolitan swoops right in and takes the catch instead?" He shook his head and let out a hearty chuckle.

I frowned, "Wait, why am I 'little Rowan', and Neo gets to be called 'Miss Neopolitan'?"

Bayard winked at me, "My new identity when we arrive in Mantle will be the head servant in the household of House Gialatta, with Master Cola as its head. Thus, I now serve Miss Neopolitan as well, as she is the official heir of that house."

Neo gave me a haughty look and I let out a snort, "Yeah, but why am I being called the small one?"

Neo turned her nose up at me with disdain, "I think it's more a term of maturity, girls grow up faster than boys you know."

I raised an eyebrow, "Well, you've clearly neglected the vertical growth part of that statement." I countered.

She smiled at me, "'The best way to make anyone eye level with you is to hit'em hard' that's what-" abruptly her smile faded and she dropped her gaze.

"That's what Keara used to say." I finished for her.

"I wonder if she'd remember anything she told us now." Neo said bitterly.

Before I could say anything, Cola slammed his palm on the table. "Neopolitan," he said softly, "I understand that you are speaking from grief, but that is no way to talk about someone who sacrificed to protect you. Do you understand?"

Neo bit her lip angrily but nodded. Cola let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"Cola?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"When I talked to Keara… she mistook me for someone named Asher…do you know who that was?"

He looked me in the eyes, "From how you used the word 'was', I think you already have your own suspicions about that." he answered.

"The student that she killed, the one who went on that spree." Cola nodded and I clenched my fists, working up the courage to ask the question that had burned itself into my mind.

"There's something on your mind Rowan, speak up." Cola commanded me, I swallowed nervously, but something in his voice made it impossible to refuse.

"Do… do you think she actually saw some of him… this Asher… in me?"

Cola sighed, "That's not quite the question you wanted to ask, you want to know whether it was those evil pieces that she saw in you."

I bit my lip and nodded, unable to meet his gaze.

Cola leaned back and considered that, "No." he replied, "I think that Asher's memory was at the forefront at that time."

His reassurance flooded me with relief and I visibly shook as I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I had been holding. Neo reached across and squeezed my hand, her eyes warm, I smiled weakly at her.

"So why do you say that her memory of Asher was at the forefront?" Neo asked him.

Cola sat up, "There was another actor in all of this that she likely didn't mention to you." He explained, "Her name is Scarlett Sedena, and unfortunately, I think you are acquainted with her. White hair, red eyes…"

"Likes fur coats and sharp objects?" I finished and Cola nodded.

"She was a teammate and friend of Asher's. She was an accomplice to his crimes, and joined him in trying to escape the consequences. She likely has held a grudge against Keara ever since his death."

There was silence around the table; suddenly Cola cleared his throat. "In any case, we can save talk like this for another time, come, let's get back to the game."

We played a few more rounds of Liar's Net, Cola, Neo, and I all trading wins while Bayard calmly resigned himself to loss after loss. We stopped as there was a knock on the door and some crew men entered with some food.

We ate lunch, saying little, when we had finished the food, the crew cleared the dishes, leaving us alone once more.

Cola stood up and stretched, "We'll be arriving at Mantle soon; come." We followed down the hallway and to a room with a large chair in the center that sat across from a giant window.

The large man stood off to the side and gestured to the window, "May I present to you, the city of Mantle."

Neo and I excitedly stepped up to the window and looked down. I don't know what I was expecting to see, despite Kuroi's harsh words, a part of me still thought of images out of a fairy tale. Soaring castles and huge buildings of solid stone that bespoke of an ancient power and strength.

Instead, I frowned as we arrived at a massive structure that only half-resembled a docking port for airships. Juts of metal stuck out haphazardly, and various areas looked like they had suffered extensive damage that almost looked like something large had rammed into them.

I looked past it, a series of train lines extended from the airship docks and to a large wall, beyond which a series of low lying buildings stretched across the horizon. Here and there a building would stand out, standing tall but squat, like large toads. It lacked every bit of the grace and sophistication of Atlas' soaring towers and spires.

Cola seemed to notice my disappointment and he smiled, "Unsightly, isn't it? Unfortunately, due to the high amount of traffic it's nearly impossible to find the time to renovate the docks. Most of the nobility have private docks anyway, so funds to improve the public docking facilities seem to always mysteriously disappear into some family's pet project."

"Do you not have a dock then?" Neo asked him.

He nodded, "I do, several in fact. However, I wish to keep our arrival secret for as long as possible." He held up a finger, "Rule number one while in Mantle, eyes and ears are everywhere; assume nothing is secret unless it's only in your head. As soon as it's spoken or written, assume the worst. Even if we had snuck into one of my docks, there's absolutely no doubt they're being watched. Whereas we may buy ourselves a few hours if we dock in the public docks, where there are far too many ships to easily identify us."

"A few hours to do what?" I asked him.

He tapped his cane idly on the floor, "Honestly, to get you established as much as possible. Once the Board of Directors hears that you've arrived, they'll be demanding a meeting from you. From there, you'll be pulled in a thousand different directions as various factions either attempt to undercut you or play you to their own ends." He waved his cane towards the buildings in the distance. "We will first go to the Laisren family mansion, where you will meet the staff that will be serving as your household staff. I have personally vetted all of them and in particular, Dudley Chaster, your head servant, is well accomplished and has extensive experience as head of security."

There was a knock at the door, "Come in." Cola called.

A crewman stepped in, "We're a few minutes from docking, we've been assigned to bay 332."

Cola nodded, "Very well, thank you." the crewman stepped out and closed the door gently behind him. Cola walked up beside me and placed his massive hand on my shoulder. "I won't lie to you Rowan." He told me, "This is a nest of the most vile and reprehensible people in all of Remnant. In order to survive you will have to beat them, and to achieve greatness, you will have to do more than that."

I looked back up at him, "Well then, I'll just have to crush them."

Looking into Cola's eyes, I could've sworn I saw a glint of pride that he quickly hid, lifting his gaze to look back out the window, "Yes," he admitted, "I suppose you will."

We docked and made our way down the gangplank and onto the platform, where we were greeted by several men in dark suits. The lead one, a large man with silver hair and a wicked scar over his right eye, bowed as we approached.

"Boss." He said brusquely.

"Hello Argent, I assume you have transport arranged?" Cola led us past them and the man and his companions walked alongside us as we moved into the central hub.

"Train line 43 has suffered a mysterious breakdown and is under maintenance." The man replied.

"Excellent." Cola looked over his shoulder, "Keep close together, don't get separated and keep one of these men in between you and any people we encounter at all times. Do not stop, you are to get to the train if anything happens. Tell the men there that the boss sent you and that the eggs have hatched. Understood?"

Neo and I nodded, her hand found mine and I gripped it tight. Our group was silent as we emerged from the hallway and into a gigantic central hub. Trains whistled and people hurried to and fro as they went to their various destinations. The crowd flowed around our bodyguards, perhaps instinctively sensing that they were not to be trifled with.

We were moving along the tracks when suddenly Neo stopped beside me. I stopped as well and tugged slightly on her hand, "Come on Neo, we can't fall behind."

"That man over there…" she said pointing, I followed her finger and saw a group of Faunus, they were facing what appeared to be several police officers and one of them was shouting angrily. I frowned as I saw one of the Faunus in the back of the group, a man with cat ears and a tail, put on a white mask and reach down for something at his feet.

Suddenly someone grabbed both of us and threw us down the ground. There was a scream and the sound of gunfire rent the air. My head was spinning as the person picked me up and hugged me close and I was dimly aware that Neo was held in a similar grip in the person's other arm. My world for the next few moments was a confused mess of screams, gunfire, and jostling as the person carrying me brutally bulldozed their way through the crowd.

The next thing I knew, I was hurled onto a chair in a train car, I sat there dazed and a few seconds later, Neo was deposited roughly on the seat beside me. I looked up to see Cola standing in front of us, he turned and shouted something at one of the black suited men behind him. The man nodded and pressed a button and with a whoosh, the doors closed, a moment later the train began to move. Soon, the landscape was rushing by as we began towards the city.

Cola leaned forward heavily on his cane and let out a huge sigh. Reviewing the events that had occurred, it dawned on me that it had been Cola who had carried Neo and myself to the train.

"Thank you," I said, then recoiled as he looked up at me, fury in his eyes.

"What did I tell you?" He hissed at me. "Not to stop, to keep moving and get to the train no matter what, that's what I told you, didn't I?"

"I-" I began but he cut me off.

"Didn't I?" He shouted

"Yes." I replied miserably.

"Don't ever, ever, disobey me like that again, understood?"

I bristled slightly at his tone, and I began to protest, but quailed under the fire that burned like an inferno in his eyes.

"Yes sir." I answered.

Cola stood staring at me for a moment, then he sighed again and sat down heavily in the chair across from me. "I apologize for losing my temper." He said, "However, it is imperative that you are kept safe. Whatever I tell you, it is entirely for your own protection."

Beside him, Bayard gave a gasp, "Sir, you're wounded." My heart dropped as I followed his gaze to see several holes puckered in the right arm of Cola's suit, blood oozed out, staining the cloth surrounding them.

Cola waved him away with his good hand, "I'm fine, it's just the prosthetic."

The moment is still locked in my mind. Wait what? I had thought, as he took off his suit, handing it to Bayard. He then rolled up the white dress shirt underneath, revealing a dark, muscular arm. He reached up to his right shoulder and fiddled with it for a moment. He gave a sharp twist, there was a popping noise and his arm detached completely. He placed the limb on the seat and I gasped as I saw glints of metal in the bullet wounds. I looked back up at the man and he gave me a rueful grin, "The perks of being wealthy." he said and he gestured to the arm. "At a glance you'd never be able to tell it wasn't the real thing, costs an arm and a leg of course.."

Bayard gave a huff, and Cola turned to him, his grin widening to a smile, "Come on Bayard, you know I so rarely get to do puns on the arm. I have to take advantage of the situation at hand."

Neo let out a giggle, and I chuckled, that opened the floodgate, soon Neo, Cola, and I were all howling with laughter. Bayard rolled his eyes, but grinned as he watched as all of the tension and adrenaline wash out of us in a wave.

Cola was the first to regain his composure, wiping away a tear of mirth, he slapped his knee, "Alright then, Bayard, my tools if you please. Rowan, Neo, come watch, you'll never know when this will come…"

"In handy." Neo and I chimed in unison.

Bayard glared at Cola balefully as he pulled a small toolkit out of one of the bags that he was carrying, "Really Master Cola, see what you've done now?"

Cola's merely chuckled in reply as he opened up the toolkit and pulled out a pair of pliers.

It felt a little surreal helping Cola perform repairs on his arm. The limb was eerily lifelike, and only when it was opened to reveal the machinery within did it it begin to feel more like repairing machinery rather than surgery.

First we withdrew the bullets themselves, fortunately, the ammunition had been of relatively poor quality, and only a few actually lodged themselves in the inner layer that contained the actual nuts and bolts of the machinery.

As we worked, Cola answered some of my more technical questions on the designs, which I found fascinating, I've always been good with my hands, and he even let me handle some of the more minor circuitry repair where a bullet had penetrated particularly deep. I frowned as I examined the offending projectile, it was different than the others. Whereas they had shattered slightly on impact, this one was completely intact, it was made out a darker metal as well, I held it up for Cola to see.

"Hey Cola, take a look at this."

Cola frowned and took the bullet from my grasp. "This isn't uncommon actually." he explained. "In order to save money, people will buy cheaper ammunition and then seed the magazines with higher quality ammunition as well. It's a particularly common tactic with burst rifles."

I accepted the explanation and began working on repairing the wires, cutting out some of the damaged ones and re-aligning others. It was as I was repairing the wires controlling the right thumb that Neo asked quietly, "So how did you lose your arm?"

"Cut a little further on that one Rowan, what was that Neopolitan?"

"Your arm, how did you lose it?" she repeated.

Cola seemed to think about that for a moment, then sighed, "When I was young, I made a lot of enemies. My rapid entrance into the crime world of Atlas was seen as a threat, and some of those people had powerful Semblance users, very powerful. So I needed an edge, and I found it in the form of an ancient weapon, said to be as old as the discovery of Dust itself."

"What kind of weapon?" I asked, looking up from my work.

"A weapon of unspeakable power… and an unspeakable evil, a weapon that was said to have been forged by taking the essence of a Grimm far more powerful than exist today. It's name, is Basmune. It's power is such that it pierces the strongest armor, devours Aura, and some say the very soul of whomever fall victim to it.

He looked at the arm lying on the chair, "Using it, I managed to fight my way to the top, but it came at a heavy price. The weapon is not an inanimate thing, and as it is used, its hunger grows. In the end, it devoured my arm, and only through sheer luck did it not take more."

He shrugged, "I haven't used it since." he said.

We were quiet for a long time, "So where is it now?" Neo asked him.

"Someplace safe." Cola answered, "Someplace where I can be sure that no one uses it for their own ends."

He looked down at my progress, "Stop there Rowan, you're doing a good job, but this next part is very delicate, Bayard?"

I stepped back as Bayard deftly grabbed some wire and a soldering iron and bent over the arm. A short while later, he closed up the arm, picked it up, and handed it to Cola. Cola grabbed it and pushed it onto his shoulder and twisted. There was a sharp clicking noise and a brief spat of electricity sparked around where the arm met the shoulder. The arm spasmed briefly and Cola grimaced, then it fell still and Cola began rotating it.

He nodded in satisfaction, "There, good as new." He turned to Bayard, "Call Argent in please." Bayard stood up, bowed, and then walked out of the train compartment.

"So who were those guys at the station?" Neo asked.

"I have several theories." Cola said, "However, Argent will have had some of his men collecting information. Ah, Argent."

The silver haired man stepped into the compartment, he bowed, "Boss, Bayard says we'll be arriving at the Tundra district in seven minutes and forty-three seconds."

"Thank you, Argent. Do you have a report on the train station incident?"

Argent pulled a scroll out of his pocket and handed it to Cola, "This is an initial list we've managed to gather of the groups involved in the attack at the station. All are Faunus, and most of them are registered members of the White Fang. The gunmen themselves all wore masks, and we're working on retrieving surveillance footage, but someone corrupted the feed just before the attack."

"Hmm…" Cola rubbed his chin as he examined the scroll, "then this was no random incident. Have the White Fang really become so bold? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this kind of attack is unprecedented."

Argent nodded, "They've certainly been growing bolder. You're right though, this is on another level than anything we've seen before. My men counted at least ten other gunmen hidden around the station, they targeted officers first, then moved onto some civilian targets."

Cola frowned, "Any particular targeting method for the civilian targets?"

The silver-haired man shook his head, "Negative, they appeared rather indiscriminate, although we'll have to analyze further to see if there's some connection that wasn't readily apparent."

"Do so, give me a report with your own findings, as well as a list of targets."

"Um… Mister Cola?" Neo interjected.

"Yes, Neopolitan?"

"The man that was in that group, the one that fired first, he wasn't a Faunus."

There was silence in the train car.

"How could you tell?" Cola asked her.

Neo bit her lip, "Well, Faunus only have one physical trait that is animal-like right?"

Argent nodded, "That is correct."

"That man, he had cat ears and a tail." She explained.

"Hmm…" Cola leaned back in his chair.

"Probably trying to conceal his identity." Argent pointed out, "perhaps even a Faunus with a different animal trait entirely?"

Cola nodded, "That's true, but what Neopolitan is saying could give this attack entirely new meaning. Make sure to include both sides of speculation in your report."

Argent bowed, "Yes sir."

Cola turned back to Neo, "Very good eye Neopolitan, well done."

She flushed at the praise, Cola looked back down at the scroll and grunted. "It looks like we'll be arriving at the station soon."

Right on cue, the train slid to a stop, the door opened and we followed Argent out of the train and were immediately flanked by eight of the men in black suits. They escorted us off of the platform and to the street where four large, black cars were waiting. Bayard walked up to one of them and pulled out a strange handheld device. He paced around the car, waving the device over it and dropping to his knees to check under the car. He then opened the passenger door and leaned inside for a while, before sliding back out.

He nodded to Cola and stepped to the side, holding the door open. Cola beckoned for us to follow and got inside the car, we did so and Bayard closed the door behind us. He then walked back around and got into the driver's seat and started up the car. Soon we were driving through the wide streets, Neo and I gawking at the huge mansions that flanked either side.

As I would quickly learn, Mantle was like this in every regard. The public docks were a wreck, the slums were absolutely horrific and any public facility not serving the elite were an eyesore. The homes and facilities of the wealthy though, were beyond compare of anything I've seen to this day. We passed palace after palace; each a different color and design, all beautiful and opulent beyond belief.

Finally we stopped outside a massive white building beyond a large-wrought iron gate. I frowned, the building was strange; while the front was beautiful, with graceful carvings and statues aplenty. In the center was a series of scaffolds and walkways that jutted upward. My eyes made out what appeared to be an airship amidst it all, and as I saw that, I knew exactly where we were.

Cola looked down at me and smiled, "Welcome home Rowan."

We drove past the gates and got out of the cars, and Cola frowned as a man in a blue uniform walked imperiously out the front door, followed closely by a short man with a fading hairline, who was wringing his hands nervously.

"Good afternoon, you are Cola Gialatta? Godfather to Rowan Laisren?" the man asked.

Cola raised an eyebrow, "I am, and who would you be?"

He reached into his uniform and pulled out a letter, "I am a representative from Gavin Laisren, he asks for you to meet him two hours hence at the restaurant Premiere Parte, he said you knew the table."

Cola took the letter and gave it a bemused look, "Really, would it kill you people to upgrade to this century?"

The messenger simply shrugged in response. Cola opened the letter and read it, his eyes moving rapidly across the page, when he was finished he looked back up at the messenger, whose haughty demeanor visibly wavered under his gaze.

"Tell him that we will be there." Cola spat, and thrust the letter back to him, the messenger bowed and walked off with a little more haste than was dignified.

"Wait… Gavin Laisren?" I asked.

Cola sighed heavily as he tapped his cane on the ground, "Indeed, I had hoped to delay this a little longer, but that appears to not be in the cards." He turned to me, "It's time you met the head of the board of directors of Laisren Air Manufactory; Gavin Finnegan Laisren… your uncle."