PART 3: CHILD'S PLAY
Velvet did not voice her concerns so as to not alarm Kandase, but she had taken a notice to the fact that they were allowed to land with no consequence. No alarms had been triggered, no guards had been dispatched to intercept the interlopers. The air was deathly silent, save for the wind tearing across the sandy dunes around them. It put Velvet on edge, but she tried with little success to steady herself.
"There's an ambush coming. Just when I thought this day couldn't get interesting enough." Kandase observed with a dry chuckle to follow, as if her own quip had failed to capture the heart of its deliverer. This transparency only gave Velvet's anxiety more reason to flourish, for she knew that she now could be certain that she was not the only one who had taken notice of the anomaly in their surroundings.
"I don't suppose we're going to just waltz in and let come what may?" Velvet asked, trying her best to put on a brave face amidst the horrors that her and her friends had been exposed to in the last several days. It didn't work for her, but it did for Kandase, who had surely seen twice as many of these horrendous (if not worse) crimes against humanity and nature over the course of her career within Ozpin's forces. She couldn't help but feel slightly reassured at Kandase's narrow smile as they crept quickly, but carefully, across the open dunes towards the city walls.
Velvet knew not the name of the city that enclosed Shade Academy (she wasn't always the most diligent in reviewing her notes, be it in the classroom or the field). All that filled her mind was the idea of what Honey Ratel was plotting inside, or what she had already set in motion. She thought of that, and she was thinking of what she would do the next time she laid eyes on Ratel. A fire still burned in her heart, one that threatened to make a hypocrite of her and swallow her with rage. Without a doubt, Velvet was dealing with a murderer, one who clearly had no qualms about killing innocents in order to achieve whatever twisted goals she hoped to achieve.
These were children, Velvet. Some of them barely entering combat school. Don't forget that.
She vowed to herself, over and over again, that she would allow no more blood to be spilt. Ratel, whatever rationale she had given herself, would not be allowed to succeed. There was so much at stake here, Velvet could hardly even grasp the gravity of who this affected. For some reason that Velvet could not fathom (aside from insanity), Ratel was obsessed with the notion that creating a Grimm-Human hybrid would somehow bring peace between the two races, when, in reality, it would only cause—
"Panic." Velvet muttered under her breath, stopping just short of the large, gaping arch in the village's stucco wall that served as an unguarded entrance. Kandase noticed out of the corner of her eye and turned back to see what was the matter.
"What is it, Velvet?"
"It's Watts. He's using Ratel, and she doesn't even know it, I think."
"What makes you say that?"
"When I talked to her, Ratel's intentions were pure. I'm sure you picked up on that from the video we saw. Her method is flawed, however. When I found my first lead here in Vacuo, he put it out that Watts was the main backer for this project, apparently supplying the resources that Ratel needed. Ratel wants nothing to do with creating chaos. She wants to bring the world together and bring an end to violence. She's so immersed in her own crusade that she didn't bother to check up on who was really running things behind her back. She's in trouble."
Kandase cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "So now, you're concerned that the killer is getting played. Wait, but if she's getting played, then she's playing into Watts' and Salem's hands. They're going to use her quest for peace…as a crusade of carnage. Velvet, why are we standing here? We need to find her and stop her before she makes a mistake for all of us!" Without waiting for Velvet, Kandase bolted in the direction that the two could see the steeple of Shade Tower over the smaller buildings around them, constructed from clay blocks in a manner that was considerably more impressive than the other villages she had seen. They almost matched the storefronts and homes in Vale, aside from the building materials used to keep these ornate structures standing. She almost stopped to take a photo, but she immediately shook away the thought, reminding herself of the bigger tasks at hand.
The duo cleared the distance between their previous location and the school. Velvet couldn't help but stand in awe at the massive entrance. The dirt beneath their feet was replaced by cobblestone, and the interconnected buildings around them were now of multicolored marble. The main building of the campus, Kandase and Velvet's destination, was the most impressive. The top of the tower in the center of the building spiraled upwards into the clouds, each spiral an alternating shade of red and yellow. Around the base of the tower was the first location that Velvet intended to search for Ratel (it seemed like her, Velvet thought, to arrange whatever she had planned in the most significant building on the grounds of Shade.)
"Kandase." Velvet said to attract her friend's attention. "She's going to be in there."
The two slowed ever so slightly, only to begin sprinting across the grounds seconds later. "You sound awfully confident of yourself. What brought that on?"
"A hunch."
"Well, I'll take it. With as much of a bind we're in, we don't have many options. I just hope you're right."
Me, too.
Kandase, without stopping, reached her index and middle finger into one of her pouches and removed a knife that Velvet immediately recognized as one that contained an explosive material. Velvet looked back to the iron door that would provide entrance into the building of Shade Tower. She took to piecing together what her friend had in store, then began mentally questioning Kandase's train of thought. "Kandase, that's a pretty big metal door. Are you sure that you're going to get through it with just one?"
Kandase slowed her pace to a heavy jog, looking down at her single throwing knife in pensive thought. "Huh, you're right. Welp, might as well use three!"
Velvet looked on in surprise as Kandase drew an additional two knives from the same pouch and held them in the spaces between her fingers. "Aren't you concerned about the jagged metal that's going to fly everywhere?"
"Well, I've had my shots. Hope the bad guys did, too." Kandase sprinted, then spun in the air, releasing her blades in succession within a total of three pirouettes off the ground. The trio hit their mark, letting off three massive explosions that tore apart the etched metal door, sending heated pieces of metal flying both into and around the building's interior. Velvet ducked as red-hot pieces of metal soared overhead, but ceasing to relent her advance until Kandase and herself were at the gaping hole that would give them passage into the building.
"Wow. That actually worked." Velvet observed, not bothering to hide her awe.
"Of course it did. I'm me. Now, let's find Ratel and put a stop to all of this."
Velvet concurred, and the two carefully circumvented the heated metal edges of the gaping hole in the center of the iron door. The lower-most part of the hole was just high enough that Velvet had to perform a hop into the air just so she could avoid burning herself or being cut by the metal several centimeters below her.
She immediately made note of the pair of spiral staircases that crossed the opposite side of the hall and extended up to a balcony(identical in design to the entrance of Ratel's hideout, Velvet realized.) that overlooked the lower level and spiraled further through the ceiling to the tower above. From there, her eyes lowered down to three identical gates under the balcony and on either sides of the stairs. There were large, iron gates raised over each of the entries. Large, iron bolts held the gates together, with elongated pointed metal rods would certainly ensure the safeguarding of whoever was caught behind their bars.
But why? Velvet couldn't shake the feeling that she would soon answer her own question. She hated it when that happened.
Kandase, with her massive height, was able to simply step through the hole and emerge on the other side with her hands on her hips, admiring the architecture inside. "It's been too long since I've been in this place."
"You've been here before?" Velvet asked, tilting her head and successfully pushing away her sense of dread, for the time being.
"Yeah, an old friend of mine goes to school here, not sure if he still does. You might know him. He's pretty close with that Belladonna friend of yours. And I'm one of the people that Ozpin trusted to make sure that a special artifact was taken care of here. A relic."
Two people and a particular relic that all of her time at Beacon made familiar came to Velvet's mind, but she hardly had time to ask. A familiar voice rang through the open hall they stood in. Velvet and Kandase's eyes raised to meet the gaze of the woman who was standing above them on the other end of the hall at the center of a twin staircase that spiraled all around the room: Honey Ratel.
"You bitches sure know how to make an entrance." Ratel shouted, no ounce of humor in her voice. "Seems like causing damage is all you know how to do, Scarlatina, or maybe it's just your ginger bimbo friend."
"Wow. She's got some creative language." Kandase observed, apparently not fazed in the slightest at the insults directed towards her.
"Ratel, listen to us!" Velvet called out, ignoring Kandase. "You're making a mistake, we—"
"Oh, for crap's sake, get off your stupid soapbox! People like you always made me sick. You act like, just because you decided to go the hero route, you get to dictate how other people live their lives. Well, you know what? I may not be going the most pure route like you, your highness, but at least my way gets results! At least my way is making the world a better place! Can you people say the same?"
"Velvet, this chick is starting to piss me off. Can I hit her now?"
"No, Kandase. We just have to work with her. If she engages, then we do. We don't throw the first punches, got it?"
"Fine."
"I'm not stupid! I can see you making a plan! Well, guess what? You're too late. I've already planned ahead. Everything has been put into place. You're not subjecting the innocents to a life of conflict any more!"
"Who did it, Ratel?" Kandase interjected, garnering a disgusted response from her intended audience.
"Not that it's any of your business, but Dr. Watts. He's more of a genius than you two could ever hope to be. That's why he's on the right side of things. He knows what has to be done."
"Yeah. By screwing you over."
"Piss off, monster."
"You're confused, Honey. You need to see what's going on here. I've been where you're at, and I know that there's not much time left for you to walk away from this. Do the real right thing, not what everyone else tells you is." Velvet could tell that Ratel knew what was coming out of Kandase's mouth was making sense. Velvet could also tell that Ratel was doing her best to talk the sense coming in, out.
"You know what you are? You're a killer and a liar. Normally, I don't stoop down to your breed's level, but I'm gonna enjoy it this time." She took one step onto the balcony's ledge and somersaulted in the air, then disappeared in a flash. Velvet's hair prickled, as she knew what was coming. Her eyes rested on Kandase, who hadn't seemed to register Ratel's disappearance. Velvet leapt in front of her friend, quite sure she was about to die. Then she heard the voice of Dew in her ear.
"Just gonna lay down and die, huh? Just fuck that training, eh? You know what to do. Hold your breath. Concentrate. Where's the bitch coming from?"
Velvet closed her eyes. Time seemed to slow down around her. She felt Ratel's presence in this state like a rush of air across her face. All she needed to do was find where the air was rushing out fastest around them.
Breathe, Velvet. Where is she?
It struck her like a hurricane. She focused a part of her Aura into her fist and wound back. When Velvet opened her eyes again, she found herself face-to-face with Ratel, moving in slow-motion. Velvet thrust her charged fist forward, watching as it connected with the tip of Ratel's nose and sliding down to her upper lip. Ratel let out a sharp cry of pain that caused Velvet to flinch, elongated as time lurched back to normal around Velvet. It was the closest Velvet could get to using Velvet's ability without having the Semblance.
Ratel flew across the room, flying back onto his rolling vertically like a log. Kandase took a step to close the gap between herself and Ratel, but Velvet held an extended arm over her chest to stop her advance. In that same instance, Velvet felt a familiar ally join her to her left, lean in and whisper. "You may be a shitty leader, but you're one hell of a powerhouse. Wonder what other tricks you got inside you." Dew whispered.
Yeah. Me, too.
"Velvet, what are you doing?" Kandase questioned, refusing to acknowledge Dew's arrival, and throwing down Velvet's arm just enough that no real damage could be inflicted. "We need to end this. We have a chance to do it here and now."
"No. If we do it now, then there's no point. She needs the chance to learn the error of her ways. If we simply lock her up now, we lock up her hate for us inside her. And that's not a sentence I'm willing to deal her."
Ratel rose to all fours. Her mouth and nose were covered with blood, and a spit produced three teeth covered in crimson. Velvet's ears rang as Ratel let out a primal yell. "You ass! You knocked my teeth out!" She lisped, tears dripping from the corners of her eyes as she forced herself to stand, and assume a shell of her fighting position. She reached for her saw, but seemed shocked when she found that there was no holstered weapon there. Her eyes fell on Dew, as Velvet and Kandase's did. Dew was smugly twirling Ratel's saw in the air with the hand that wasn't supporting her drawn staff. "Huh, this is actually pretty cool. Guess I'm playing 'schoolyard bully' and keeping this."
To Velvet's shocked surprise, Ratel smiled. She let out a bloodcurdling laugh, one that voiced the shattering of the mind and soul. "You think I need some saw to kill the three of you? Get a grip. I have one more little trick up my strap." From the space between her calf and bootstrap, Ratel produced a syringe identical to the one she had her gangsters use on the children from the video Velvet and Kandase had forced themselves to watch in the desert. Velvet tensed, trying poorly to hide her fear once she realized what it was that Ratel was about to do to herself. She almost didn't catch the syringe being knocked out of Ratel's hand by a throwing knife that was nothing more than a blur, even to Velvet.
Ratel looked at the black liquid seeping through her fingers, and the small shards of glass that had made their way into her skin. She let out a small, exasperated sigh, crossing over her lips that had a crooked smile, one of a woman who had nothing left to lose; nothing left to gain. Her heels scuffed the floor as she turned to face the trio, Kandase in particular. She raised a single bloody finger and shot it at Kandase. "You bitch! You seriously won't let me have this, will you? You try to kill my friends, you try to stand in the way of progress just because I was the only one willing to get my hands dirty! And now you go and screw with me here. Why don't you just—"
"Cripes, I don't even want to kill you anymore. You're so damn dense—" Dew took a step towards Ratel, spear raised, but was halted by the sound of a booming voice that echoed throughout the room.
"Dense is the word I would use as well."
Everyone gazed around the room to locate the speaker, but it seemed only Kandase and Honey needed no visual aid. One face softened, and the other hardened. Both of them spoke the same name, with levels of enthusiasm on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum.
"Watts."
"In the flesh!" Watts affirmed. "Well, not entirely, actually. I'm there in spirit! Just watching you girls have out your little squabble on a nice little monitor in…well, you needn't know that."
"Good gods, Arthur. Could you have said that any more creepily?" Kandase asked with a shudder. "I knew you couldn't keep your hands off the relic." She mumbled under her breath.
"Hey! Last I remember, you still had me to worry about! I can take you three. I—" Kandase and Ratel advanced towards each other. For every step Ratel took, Kandase took two. Kandase popped her neck and cracked her knuckles, her all-too-familiar smirk making an appearance once more.
"Oh, give it a rest, child. You're terrible about overestimating your abilities. From the moment I met you." Ratel stopped to look up at the ceiling, addressing Dr. Watts as "Arthur" with a concerned tone. Kandase didn't, and addressed Ratel with a left hook to the jaw. Ratel fell once more, falling to her stomach. Kandase pinned her with her arm behind her back, resting a knee on the small of her back.
"Well, that was anticlimactic." Dew observed, gazing around the room and crossing her arms.
"Too true." Velvet mumbled, craning her neck in every possible direction, searching for enemies that were supposed to be there. "Where are her troops? Where are the Grimm tamers?" She called out to Watts.
"The what?" Ratel exclaimed, confirming Velvet's suspicions.
"Ah, this is where I must bid you lovely ladies goodbye. Miss Ratel, your service is greatly appreciated. You, yourself, are not."
"Arthur, what is she talking about? Who is she talking about?"
"Well, I suppose I may as well play the trope and tell you. Perhaps this will serve as a life lesson to you, one of the last. If someone offers you the chance to make all of your dreams come true while only asking for resources in return, it's probably too good to be true. It's a shame that a child like you had to learn such a basic lesson with so much loss of perfectly good slaves and servants. But not all is lost."
"I bet it's not, while you're thinking the relic is here." Kandase breathed, much to Velvet's confusion. No one else heard, nor did they hear Ratel.
"Child?" Ratel repeated the single word under her breath, her spirit broken.
Velvet looked up, partially to find a camera or speaker, while in part out of habit. "What are you planning, Watts?"
"Now, now. I'd be a fool to let slip the endgame. Your friends traveling to Atlas will need to worry about that all too soon. You, however, will not be leaving this academy. I will help see to that. Miss Ratel, thank you for making all of this possible. And let me just say: you're as much as a fool as your father was. The two of you have as much scientific knowledge as I do in a fingertip. Your foolishness and naivety has been most invaluable. I suppose it would be gentleman-like of me to inform you that what you were suggesting is not scientifically possible, nor will it ever be. Goodbye, ladies."
"Arthur, wait. Arthur!" Ratel squirmed, making a vain attempt to slide out from under Kandase's mass. Kandase pressed herself down more onto her prey, placing a firm hand on the nape of Ratel's neck.
"That son of a—" Kandase was cut off by the familiar, terrifying sound of several Grimm roaring. Echoing throughout the hall, it caught the attention of all the room's inhabitants. "Velvet, where's that coming from? What direction?" Kandase asked, turning (as Dew did, a moment later.)
Velvet's answer struck dread and fear into her heart. "Everywhere."
"What do you mean, everywhere?" Dew asked with an accusatory tone, her expression making it evident that she was skeptical of Velvet's abilities.
Velvet wished she was wrong, that her ears would have failed her, that there would only be a single beast amplified, or none at all. She wished against what she knew to be true.
In a matter of seconds, hordes of Grimm (almost every kind of Grimm that Velvet had come across in her travels) quickly filled the room and surrounded the quartet of Huntresses. Velvet spotted Beowolves, Ursas, smaller Nevermores, Creeps, and an Okinaba. Kandase, quickly weighing the odds, hefted Ratel up from the floor and dusted her off. "Can we trust you not to slit our throats while our backs are turned?" Velvet asked just before demanding Dew return her saw.
Ratel scoffed. "If I kill any of you, that's going to make what comes after this even harder. Besides, it seems that the rare occasion has come across when someone has played me. I don't know who or what to trust at the moment. That includes you all."
Kandase shrugged. "I can get behind that. Alright, Velvet. What are we doing?"
It seemed commonplace for Velvet's life to be threatened lately, so it was puzzling to her why it was that she was so scared.
It's just like how Father died. This was how it all ended for him.
"Get into a square. We all cover a corner, and try not to get overwhelmed, because there's no guarantee we can bail each other out. Got it?" Velvet was surprised at how she sounded giving out such a firm command, and even more so when the others obeyed.
The four assumed the proper positioning. The horde of Grimm slowly began closing the gap around them. Velvet's anxiety shot through the roof, so she did what she knew best. She concentrated, and she breathed.
"Guys. Remember your training. Semblance use on a need-to basis. Do what you do best. Let's all go home." Was all that Velvet could muster.
Not very inspiring.
"C'mon, you guys! What's with all the doom and gloom? This is supposed to be fun! So let's make it fun!" A Creep dove at Velvet, prompting her to wind back and slam her knuckles into the beast's snout.
In an instant, Velvet and the others found themselves swarmed. Against her better wishes, she was forced to resort to using her Semblance in order to combat the Grimm. She found herself a pattern of using physical attacks for two Grimm, and a Semblance attack for a third.
Okay, breathe. You start going blind, you're dead. Who's next? You.
Velvet summoned a battle axe, twirling it over her head. She beheaded an Ursa to her right, then leaping into the air to split the head of an Alpha Beowolf in two. She hopped on the carcass as it fell to the floor, running down the length of its back. Out of the corner of her eye, Velvet saw a Nevermore priming an attack towards her, its wings expanding a telltale sign. Velvet propelled herself off of the body, meeting the Nevermore midair.
She gripped its neck and twirled herself behind the creature, out of firing range, just as it began projecting its razor-sharp talons. Velvet pointed the bird-like creature downwards to avoid hitting her friends. The talons rained down like bullets on the Grimm, downing a dozen of assorted types in one fell swoop. When the Nevermore registered what was happening, and ceased firing its talons, Velvet used one hand to summon a hunting knife to plunge into its abdomen. As the creature was dissolving, and both were falling, Velvet gripped the Grimm by the neck and utilized it as a weapon all its own, clearing a landing area so that she could formulate the next phase of her attack. As her own targets were flying through the air, she let her eyes wander for a moment to see how her friends were faring.
Dew was caught impaling an Ursa with her spear and (to Velvet's surprise) lifting the creature high overheard and slamming it down into a Griffon attempting to ascend in the air. She slid her spear out in a fluid motion and booted away a Boarbatusk that came too close for her liking. Dew spun her spear in air and created a vortex around her that lifted all of the smaller Grimm in her area into the air. Her hands flung the spear down, causing a second gust of wind to thrust the creatures into the wooden floor below them, putting nearly all of her enemies out of commission, with only a handful of Ursa, Beowolves, avian variations of Grimm such as Lancers and Nevermores, and another, cat-like Grimm that Velvet had never seen before.
Why did they bring these animals here, and not use native Grimm? These beasts could never survive here on their own.
Velvet was beginning to turn to gaze upon Kandase when she heard her yell out, "V, duck!" Velvet obeyed the command, and was rewarded with the sight of a large Grimm (what type, she couldn't say) flying over her and crushing its comrades under its weight. "You're welcome!" Kandase shouted. It reminded Velvet of a similar action Kandase was fond of using on Grimm in Vale. Rising to her feet, Velvet reassumed her battle position, and her mind wandered for only a moment.
How did Kandase remember me right away in the desert? Did Ozpin's magic not work on her? Or is something else at play?
The sound of bloodthirsty rage around her tugged Velvet back into the heat of battle. She focused once more, gauging the number of enemies around her, counting them. By her count, there were thirteen left. Velvet laid her eyes on a Beowolf who was setting to charge, tearing through the crowd of other Grimm around it, eagerly wanting to get its claws on Velvet. She formulated a plan, then sprung into action. If it worked, she knew, then she could successfully kill the remaining Grimm in her designated area with minimal damage to herself.
It was there that she began a technique she had not tried to execute in years, it seemed. She concentrated her Aura to the lower half of her legs, closing her eyes as the Beowolf closed the gap between them. The feeling of the Aura manifesting around her legs made her feel warm, like one would feel being the optimal distance from a heater. For safe measure, as she had learned to do as of recent, Velvet summoned a set of armored boots to protect her already armored feet from being seriously injured. She knew that performing this attack would drain her Aura, leaving her momentarily vulnerable. If this attack failed, there was a good chance that she would be killed.
Then again, when isn't that the case?Velvet thought with a chuckle in spite of herself. For the time being, her mind drifted from the jarring image of deceased children, but at the same time, it was there. Velvet was trying to push it away, but something that she could not understand refused to allow her to stop thinking about it for even a second. She hated it, but there was nothing that she could do about it. All she needed to worry about was staying alive, and keeping as clear a head as she could until there came a time when she could relax and not have to worry about her safety.
The Beowolf opened its jaws. Velvet knew that she would only have one chance, and she intended to make the most of it. When the distance was a single meter from being closed, Velvet reached out to grip the Beowolf's fangs as it lunged downward. She flung her legs up and connected with the underside of the Grimm's head, taking it off in a black mist. The body flung like a ragdoll upward as the other Grimm charged in a clump (just as Velvet had hoped. In the best times, they were pack animals to a fault) towards her.
Her gamble paid off. The headless Beowolf body flew through the air and sailed through the roof directly along the path of the charging beasts. The rubble fell, crushing all of them shortly before they reached Velvet. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until now, and let out a relieved breath as she began to see the black mist emanating from the cracks in the wreckage. She turned first to face Ratel, who was holding up a Boarbatusk by its tusks, holding her head close to its temple. Velvet felt humbled in a morbid way when she realized that Ratel was soothing the beast as it dissolved into oblivion, as a slew of its brethren did in that same moment around them. When the beast faded away, Ratel took a deep breath, then lowered her head before rising again.
Kandase and Dew both were walking to join up with Velvet and Ratel. Velvet, still wary of Ratel and unwilling to let go of the fact that she was a mass-murderer, did not take her eyes off. Ratel noticed, and turned to face Velvet.
"Alright. So happens now? You get what you need out of me and cart me off to jail? Get your hero's justice?" Ratel said, throwing her saw down to the ground. Velvet noticed that the blood around her mouth and missing teeth had dried, giving the impression that she had just sucked blood.
"That depends on you. You gave yourself some credit here, I'll give that. But you're still a killer. Even if you were acting under false pretenses, your actions were still atrocious. So, I'll give you an ultimatum."
"Oh? Didn't take you for a bargainer, Scarlatina."
"No bargain. You only have two options here. Go to a prison someplace, rot for the rest of your life, maybe even be put to death."
"Hm. Sounds lovely." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Option two: you come with us."
"Come with you? Where?"
"We're going after a dangerous group of individuals, people even worse than you."
"Hey, fuck you."
"Easy, Ratel." Velvet soothed as Kandase and Dew joined silently on either side of her. "We're giving you a chance here." She could feel her friends' eyes boring holes into her temples, but they stayed silent. "You come with us. We're going to fight against some very powerful people, and we think there's a lot of them. We're going to need all the help we can get. You come with us, manage not to kill anyone or suck their blood or do anything that forces us to kill you, then maybe we let you go free or give you a light time in prison."
Ratel let out a sigh. She put her hands on her head, turning away from Velvet and the others. "So, essentially, what you're telling me is either A) I go to prison for a crapton of time, maybe get axed, or B) I go on a suicide mission with you and your merry band of meatheads, where I might die anyway, and I might end up going to prison for a crapton of time anyway? I don't see the payoff here."
"Look, we're not happy about this either, but your ass isn't giving us very much to work with. Either way, we're not just letting you walk away. If you want," Dew explained, pointing her spear point at Ratel. "We can make this all go away right now."
"I suggest you put that down unless you intend to do some damage." Ratel dared. Dew jerked her spear to Ratel's cheek and stroked it down in a quick motion, drawing blood.
"Don't worry. I've got not qualms about bringing pain to the asshole that helped bring so much pain to my life."
"Ooooh. I like you." Ratel said with a smirk before turning back to Velvet. She smeared the blood across her cheek with her index finger. "Alright, so I gotta ask, Scarlatina. What exactly are we going up against?"
"All we know is that they're called The Parthenon. They're planning something similar to what Watts was planning on doing here. Speaking of, did you know what Watts was planning on having you do with that serum?"
Ratel scrunched her face, and shrugged. "I'm not sure. He told me that there would be subjects here to work with, and that he was going to be here. It seems now that he was just going to take the serum and run, taking care of me in the process."
"No, the serum wasn't his priority here." Kandase declared to herself, alerting the attention of but a single soul in the room. "Likely a diversion of some sort."
"You heard him. I'm an idiot." She said with a disheartened tone. Velvet almost pitied her. "There's nothing he's going to do with that crap, and there's nothing that I'm going to do, either. He just played me for my men and my resources. Look at this. I almost let him destroy my home. Maybe he's right." Ratel bowed her head, and let a stream of tears flow onto the wooden floor. "He told me what would happen if I failed, you know. I know for sure that he's a man of his word, and that means that he's going across all of Vacuo, killing all of my men, my boys. Even…Yae. That son of a bitch." Ratel rose her head again. "I'll help. I've got nothing left here to fight for. Nothing to live for."
"Hold on just a second. We're not letting you come with us until we know for certain that you're not just biding your time to kill us. Sure, you helped us out of a bind here, but how do we know you're not just letting out crocodile tears?" Kandase said with a scowl.
"There's no way that you can know that, not off the bat. I tried to get change, and it damn near got me killed. If my little monologue didn't convince you, then there's only one other way that I can prove it to you."
"How's that?"
"Well, it's a bit of a paradox," She turned to Velvet, who already knew what she was going to suggest. Velvet had come to the same conclusion herself. "Isn't it, Scarlatina?"
Velvet didn't like it, but it was the only option that she herself could live with. "It is. We can't bring you with us if we don't trust you, but the only way that you can earn our trust is if you come with us."
"You've gotta be kidding." Dew rolled her eyes and placed her face in her palm.
"No, I trust Velvet. We're going to need to keep an eye on her, but this seems to be the only way."
A smile of sincerity passed over Ratel's mouth, and she wiped away her tears. "I'll say it right now. I don't mind being cuffed until you feel like you can trust me enough."
"Fair point." Kandase quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs just as fast as she slapped them on Ratel's wrists. "Welcome to the team, Honey."
Velvet crooked her finger, and looked to the floor, away from Ratel. "What are you thinking, V?" Dew asked, bending over in an attempt to meet Velvet's eyeline.
"I can't shake the feeling that just the four of us aren't going to be enough for the Parthenon. We may need to call in some backup for this one."
"Who do you suggest?"
"Well, from the way I've heard it, some of my friends are busy with their own issues someplace, but not all of them. I'll send a few letters to a few other friends of mine, see what they're up to. Dew, do you think you could—"
"No. I know what you're going to ask, and you know my rule. I'm not going to get my friends involved with any of this. If you cared about your friends, then you wouldn't call them, either."
Velvet smiled, raising her head, now filled with memories of an old friend gone by. "You know, I used to think the same way. But then, a very good friend of mine told me something that changed my whole perspective: 'If we want to fight for you, get hurt for you, or even die for you, then by the gods we'll do it. You're just going to have to deal with it, and let us fight with you when we can, because we're not going anywhere.' He was a good friend of mine, and those words never rang more true with me than they do now. So, I'm going to invite my friends. Not to abuse their love, but because I know that there's nowhere else they would rather be in my time of need than by my side."
Kandase put her hand around Velvet's shoulder. "You're damn right. I'll see if I can't arrange a bit of a reunion myself. Either way, ladies, we've got a full plate of psycho cult to power through."
Velvet nodded. She knew that she wasn't one for giving words of inspiration, or rather, thinking of them ahead of time. At the same time, Velvet had trouble trying to keep her mind on the future. It was near impossible to purge herself of the horrendous things that she was subjected to today and the few days previous. She reminded herself, again, that there would be a time for her to mourn the loss. Now, as she always did, Velvet looked at the world around her. She made herself focus not on who she had failed to save, but who still needed saving. Revitalized, she inhaled and exhaled deeply, and met the gaze of all the eyes on her.
"Alright. Let's go to work."