So this chapter just refused to wait for me to write it, so here is the next big attachment to the story. A part of me was tempted to do it yesterday as a birthday present for myself turning 24, but I just felt like relaxing and being lazy instead. Whatever, it's done now and I hope you all like it. Enjoy, and I will see you all again within the next week or two.
"I can't believe this!"
Emerald fumed and gritted her teeth in frustration as she paced back and forth within the cell the three of them were currently being held in. The three of them hadn't been back at the hotel for long following their conversation with Weiss before armed guards and security from the Schnee estate barged into their rooms and took them prisoner to be later questioned. Despite initial protest and consideration of fighting back however, the three of them knew that it would only serve to waste all of the work and effort they had gone through to arrive here. And so they let themselves be taken in, the only concern being what roadblock they would now have to face to continue on their search for answers.
"Emerald, you need to calm down!" Neo exclaimed from her seat on one of the beds in the room. She was almost as mad about the situation as Emerald in regards to how quickly things had turned against them, but she also knew that getting vocal about it wouldn't accomplish anything in their present situation. "I understand that you're angry, I am too, but this won't fix anything that's already been done!"
"That's easy for you to say! You weren't working under Cinder as long as I was! You didn't have to buckle down as much to do her dirty work for fear of what she would do to you if you disobeyed her!"
Neo's face hardened into a scowl as Emerald's words cut into her. "You know full well that I had reason to follow her orders or suffer the consequences! Or did you forget about how she threatened to target Frost at Beacon if I didn't do exactly as she said?!"
"At least you had somewhere prior to being forced into it!" Emerald snapped back. "I was stuck living on the streets for years before she came by, giving me hopes that there would be a better tomorrow! Not this messed up crap about anarchy and overthrowing the entire government of Remnant!"
"We were so well off, were we?!" Neo retorted as she got up and started marching towards Emerald, her fists clenched tightly as she glared at the green-haired girl. "We lost all that we had of family and friends when our village was razed by the Grimm! What kind of fortune is that?!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Frost had his eyes closed in thought as the two girls bickered back and forth just a few feet away from him. He was upset, but also confused about the turn of events that had resulted in the three of them being currently imprisoned. Something just didn't add up to how quickly they had been detained following their return from the party. It just seemed too…predicted.
"It's a shame that things ended the way they did." Frost thought to himself as his mind continued to try and fit the pieces together on their current predicament. "We were this close to being able to leave for the others once we figured out how to break Weiss out, but now this just complicates things. We'll be too obvious a target if we manage to break out, and that would leave Weiss stranded here if we did since they would easily have advanced security on the house after what just happened."
"You could just leave the princess here, you know."
Frost's head jerked ever so slightly at the dark and familiar voice that filtered through his mind. Not enough for the other two to notice amidst their squabble, but it was definitely there. His eyes snapped open at the same time with a brief look of shock before they softened into a defeated look of acceptance.
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic. I'm not strong enough to take over…not yet at least. You still have time to hang out with your little play pals before I get to have my fun."
"Then what do you want?" Frost thought to "himself" as he focused on the voice in his head.
"Not much, just enjoying all of the negativity in this room right now. It's so refreshing to have such fresh food after you had that disgustingly happy memory show up a few days ago. I thought I was going to hurl in here, not like I actually could mind you."
"And you're having an idle chat with me as well, because…?"
"As long as the two of them keep yelling at each other, it just makes me stronger on top of the malice already lingering here from past and present prisoners. You do realize what that means don't you?"
Frost's eyes widened in shock and worry at the creature's statement, a light aching feeling coming from the left side of his head now noticeable with a tempo matching what he could sense of his heartbeat as the other two continued to argue nearby.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Both girls froze at the sharpness and volume of the voice that came from one of the other beds in the cold, dark room. Frost's body was unmoved from its original position of him sitting with his shoulders slumped and his head tilted in a way that covered his face with his hair. The two of them strongly wished to going back to arguing with each other, but the commanding tone that came from Frost's exclamation did well in keeping them quiet for the time being.
"Are you two done?" Frost asked, his body still unmoving as he regarded the others. "How about instead of arguing about something we can't control, why don't we focus on something that we can? Like what we're going to tell General Ironwood when we eventually get taken down to be questioned by him when the guards come back in a while, perhaps?"
"I guess…" Emerald stated in a subdued manner, still caught off guard from everything that had recently happened. "But what exactly are we supposed to say without risking getting thrown back in here?"
"I mean, he already knows about the situation surrounding Frost and I," Neo replied as she put a hand to her chin in thought. "But he doesn't know anything about you turning sides from Cinder following the attack on Vale. I don't know what we should say that would convince him not to just throw you back in here."
"Maybe the truth?" Frost questioned as he stood up to stretch, his body still turned in a way that obscured his face from the others, covering a wince of pain as the twitching in his mind lingered briefly before slinking back to the recesses of his mind for the time being. A slight hiss of disgust echoed through his thoughts as the presence of his darker half faded back into silence.
"Which part? Me aiding in the attempted execution of one of the most important people on Remnant? Or being single-handedly responsible for destroying a human-robot hybrid…thing designed by Atlas and making it look like they're to blame for the collapse of Beacon? I'm sure that he would love any number of those things. Right after he throws me into a maximum security cell to make sure I never see the light of day again, obviously."
"It's better than trying to make up something that'll prove to be wrong anyways. This is the time to come clean after all."
"Well, whatever we decide we'll need to think quickly," Neo remarked as she moved over to listen at the door to their cell as the sound of approaching footsteps carried towards them. "It sounds like the guards are back to take us off to see Ironwood."
"Guess you'll need to think fast, Em." Frost stated with a calm tone as he turned to walk towards the door with a determined gait.
"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic. I wonder how else this day could go wrong?"
"Well now that you've said it we'll just have to wait and find out, Miss Jinxes It." Neo retorted with a smug look, to which Emerald responded with a disgusted grunt as the door lock rattled and three armed guards entered the room to take them away.
"I don't get why the General wants to question these three," the guard in the middle mumbled to his comrades as they marched the prisoners down the halls of the Atlas Military HQ. "They broke into a Schnee event and posed a threat to one of his own family, even if she isn't the heir to the company anymore. What gives?"
"Just shut up, Frank." The guard on the right snapped back as they kept following the path. "We're not paid to question the orders we're given. We're paid to watch prisoners, and do as the higher ups say. Plain and simple."
"Easy for you to say, Jack," Frank responded with a bit of sass to his tone. "You've been here for longer than I have, so of course you don't have any problem just following the same orders given to you day after day. Doesn't this situation feel different though?"
"Doesn't matter that it does, we still follow orders."
"Shut up, both of you." The third guard snapped as he tapped the closest guy on the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. "Stop talking procedure around the prisoners again. Or do I report you to the major again?"
"Sorry, Larry." Both of the other two guards droned on as though it were practiced. Frost, Neo, and Emerald all fought to keep back snickers of laughter at the antics of the guards escorting them.
"That's Corporal Larry to you two, Privates!" The third man snapped back as they reached a set of large imposing doors. He cleared his throat for a moment before regaining composure. "Anyways, we're here. Let the General know we've arrived."
"Yes, sir." The right guard replied as he walked over to the keypad next to the door and pressed a large green button, a beeping sound emitting from it a second later. "We've brought the prisoners as requested, General."
A clicking sound came from the large set of doors as they hissed opened to reveal the General's office within the compound. Frost, Neo, and Emerald were then ushered into the room by the three guards before they snapped a salute to attention before exiting the room to which the door closed with a brief hiss and click once again. Meanwhile, the chair for the desk had remained facing away from the door the entire time that the three had been brought in. Frost was the first to step forward and speak.
"General Ironwood, I understand what this looks like, but I can expl-"
"I've already heard everything I need to know." A strict, female voice came from the opposite side of the chair before it turned to reveal a formally dressed military woman with a bun of white hair atop her head and a portion of her hair descending over one side of her face. "And just so you know, 'General' Ironwood hasn't been the acting General since our return from Vale. That position has been given to me in lieu of another candidate at present." The white-haired woman reached over to a set of buttons on one side of the desk, to which she pressed a few different buttons on the keypad before a few things happened at once.
First, the handcuffs attached to each of their wrists were immediately disabled and fell to the floor with a clatter of metal on hard cement flooring. Secondly, a louder locking sound echoed from the large door they had been brought in from. And finally, a humming sound came from the desk itself to which the three looked around, confused.
"…Ok, I'm not sure whether or not to say thank you, so I'll just start with this- What's going on?" Frost asked from his position closest to the door amidst the confusion going through their heads.
"I have disabled your handcuffs, put on a secondary lock to the door to this office, and looped and audio and video on the security cameras so that we stand the best chance of being uninterrupted for the next while. After all, we need time to form a strategy for the three of you to take my sister and her bodyguard away from Atlas to rejoin with her team."
"I'm sorry, your who?" Neo asked with confusion as she looked at the woman with a look full of questions.
Emerald too, was confused for a moment before she threw up her hands in exasperation and with a huff of frustration at their current predicament. "She means Weiss, you idiots. This is her sister, one of the Atlas Specialists."
"I see at least one of you pays attention to orders. Though I could question as to your choice of who to take them from, Emerald Sustrai." Winter stated with a calm demeanor as she began to bring up files from her database onto a screen embedded into her desk. "Let me see, Neopolitan…no last name on file, interesting…Semblance is Illusions, of course it would be…Emerald Sustrai…Semblance consists of Mental Hallucinations, that would explain much…and Cobalt Frost…Semblance is Kinetics, quite wide-ranging though risky given it's apparent connection to your emotional state." Winter calmly looked over the three of them as she set the files aside on the large scree before opening up what looked like sets of maps before facing back to the three of them.
"Now, I understand that the three of you have quite to potential series of marks against you given what transpired months ago at the Fall of Beacon. But I have also heard that not a single one of you was wholly committed to the endeavor either. What do you have to say to that?"
"I would ask where you got that information from, first of all." Emerald stated with crossed arms as she stared back at the Schnee sitting in front of her.
"Why, the three of you, of course. I just heard it all earlier this evening from the party as a matter of fact."
"But how? You weren't even there. We overheard some of the guests taking about you not arriving at all that night despite the invitation sent." Neo responded as she stood next to one of the chairs facing the desk, unsure of whether or not she wanted to sit down in case the chair also had security measures built into it.
"The chair is perfectly harmless, I assure you. Take a seat. I'm sure the three of you could use it after all of the travelling you have been doing this last while. As for your question, it was while the three of you were talking with Weiss."
Emerald smacked herself on the forehead with a groan of realization. "A built-in speaker on the desk. I thought she was acting pretty uptight given the situation."
"Actually, none of that was acting, not towards the three of you at least." Winter responded before letting out a deep sigh as a sad look crossed her eyes. "You see, ever since our return from Vale, things have changed in the hierarchy of Atlas command following the 'mistakes' that General Ironwood committed. Our father, Jacques Schnee, was able to convince a majority of the Council that Ironwood was no longer fit to lead the military for our kingdom, and positioned myself for the role on the promise of finding someone better suited given time for things to calm down. Those of us aware of his greed however, were aware that it would be some time before another candidate would be put forward due to one thing- Weiss."
"Weiss?" Frost asked incredulously. "How does she fit into this? I thought she wasn't the heiress anymore for the company?"
"She isn't. That title is not on our younger brother, Whitley Schnee. A child that our father has managed to sculpt into a near mirror of himself like he had been attempting with Weiss before she rebelled and sought tutelage as Beacon rather than somewhere that he could easily influence. Ironwood would have minimized the meddling done, but it still would have occurred here despite his best intentions. However she does act as leverage for the things the military will act on."
"How so?" Neo asked.
"Because of me." Winter sighed as she turned to stand and look at a large mural depicting a map of the world of Remnant in full. "Our father knows how I care about Weiss despite my actions in public meant to show indifference. I do not wish her to fall to our father and off the path she has chosen to taken up. I chose to join the military to distance myself from the family business. Weiss sought to distance herself further if only to grow as a person of her own making rather than be a puppet of a man that married for power."
"She never mentioned anything when I spoke to her at Beacon." Frost mumbled to himself as he put a hand to his chin in thought.
Winter's head whirled to face him with a quickness that startled everyone else in the room. "And why should she? To her, you were little more than a stranger that fell into her teams lap following the events of the Grimm incursion that occurred shortly before the festival. Something I imagine, was likely meant to occur during the Festival itself rather than before, would that be correct?" The last question was directed towards all three of them, to which mostly Emerald and Neo squirmed at given how little Frost had actually been involved with that particular scheme aside from simply collecting Dust. "You may have helped her once in regards to a pompous Huntsman trainee at the school, but would you really expect that level of trust from one action?"
"No…that's true." Frost admitted with a dejected sigh. "I barely acknowledged any of their questions about myself at first given how focused I was on finding Neo again. It makes sense, too."
Winter nodded her head in acknowledgement before returning to her desk and gesturing to the maps laid out on the screen. "Now, as for our plan to free my sister. These maps are layouts of the different levels of the family mansion. Thankfully, due to your visit, you already know the interior of Weiss' room and thus can teleport directly inside."
"But what about security after everything that happened?" Neo asked with a look of curiosity and worry.
"There will be more guards roaming the halls, certainly. But since they repurposed the Polendina girl to act as Weiss' guard, they didn't see reason to put more outside the room itself, thanks to my convincing of those skeptical. She will however be in a full lockdown mode that overrides any other features should someone not authorized arrive in Weiss' room. That will be where your Semblance comes in, young man." Winter stated as she pointed a hand in Frost's direction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Timeout." Frost stated as he put his hands in front of him in the shape a T. "You're saying I need to disable Penny's systems for us to even start on breaking out Weiss?"
"Yes. And you'll need to do it quickly as she is authorized to use lethal force specifically on the three of you should you return."
"Oh…well that's great. No pressure." Frost exclaimed with a huff as he threw his own arms up in exasperation before crossing them in front of his chest as he slouched back in his chair with a grumpy face.
"Regardless of the means used to detain Miss Polendina, you will take Weiss down a route I will map out for the two of you to follow to the family air pad to retrieve an airship for quick departure. After that point it is up to you where you will go about finding answers as to who is truly responsible for these crimes committed in Vale and likely more places to come before things are solved. Weiss will know how to disable to tracking systems so that you won't be followed, you just need to get her that far and you'll be fine." Frost raised a hand from his slouched position as he continued giving Winter the stink-eye. A nod of her head was all he needed to start speaking.
"That's all fine and dandy that we have a plan, but there is one problem I see as well as a question I have about this whole thing."
Winter crossed her hands under her chin as she gave him a thoughtful look. "Oh? Do tell?"
"First of all, how are we supposed to do this with no weapons? And second…why go to all of this trouble? Why help us do this in a kingdom known for being so strict and military?" Without speaking, Winter reached over and pressed another button on the desk, revealing a compartment behind the large map of Remnant that housed numerous types of weaponry- including their own weapons that had been stolen from the hotel.
"As for the question…it's exactly for that exact reason that I am helping you. Between working with General Ironwood and seeing things happening for myself after returning from Vale, I now see that Atlas has become too disconnected from the world. They need to know what is truly going on around them instead of hiding within a bubble of their own making until everything falls around them and it is too late to act in our own defense. This is but the first step."
"Well, regardless of what happens…thank you, Winter." Neo stated plainly as she turned from retrieving her parasol from the hidden cabinet.
"No. Thank YOU. For keeping my sisters interests and wellbeing in mind. And be careful not to cause too much damage to the mansion as you leave. I understand that conflict is unavoidable so some things may be damaged in the ensuing events."
Neo winked an eye in response as the three of them stood at the ready to leave the room. "Minimal damage, got it."
And with that, they once again disappeared with a flash of white light.
Winter sighed as she sat back at her desk and retrieved a bottle from underneath. She regarded it and a small glass sitting off to the side before shrugging and pulling off the cap to take a large drink from the bottle itself. After a deep sigh of air from the long draft she corked the bottle back up and looked over to an open window where a crow stood seeming to look at her before flying away from the glass with a twist of its body and a caw.
"If this is that sort of thing you have to deal with on a regular basis, Qrow…I think I understand a little more why the way you are with everyone."