The room was silent, as if inviting Ember to speak.
"It may surprise you, but as a little girl, I wasn't much different from Raven," Ember began, attempting to regain her composure. She hid her arms under her desk to hide her trembling hands. "I was shy, considerate of others, kind, just... not who I am today. But one day, just before my tenth birthday, my parents went out on a hunt, and never returned. I had been home alone for two days when the policemen knocked on my door. They told me that there had been an accident."
"I-I'm sorry..." Raven said, nearly in a whisper.
"My parents loved me, and had a happy family life, but they never were social people. There was nobody to take me in. I ended up bouncing around foster homes for the next two and a half years. Who knows how some of those people were eligible to adopt. At best, I was treated worse than their real kids. The worst was straight up abuse. Makes me wonder why they adopted in the first place. One day, a seemingly kind older gentleman adopted me. He had a son about my age, so I had someone to talk to. It was the first time I could tell someone about my past. I felt safe in that house, for the first time in over two years.
"Well, what happened to that house?" Rusty asked.
"I'm getting to that," Ember snapped. "One night, in Spring, I think, I got up to use the bathroom after he thought I had fallen asleep. I was a mischievous little girl, so I thought I'd give him a little scare before doing what I got up to do." Ember paused, as if considering how to convey the next words.
"In short, the man was a major chain in a human trafficking ring. The next morning, I grabbed a pair of scissors, cut my hair short, knocked out the boy, stole his clothes and cap, and, with the best voice imitation I could manage at the time, I told the old man I was going to the store. I ended up homeless for the next few years, living on whatever I could find and steal. I guess you could say I lived like a stray dog."
"Th-That's disgusting..." Azure commented. "Did you tell anyone about that pervert?"
Ember nodded. "Yeah, the police didn't do a thing about it though. Said they didn't have any evidence," she bitterly reflected. "Some time later, once I had already done a fair few horrible things, I returned to give that decrepit old bastard what he deserved. Anyway, my parents were my heroes. I always wanted to be a huntress, and my parents getting killed by grimm motivated me. So, when I was old enough, I applied to Signal. They accepted me, and luckily they provided housing. Being at Signal created one huge issue though. Tuition. I guess that's how the bandit was born."
"I-I feel like I knew," Raven stated. " I d-didn't want to say anything, a-and I didn't want to believe because you were always so nice to me."
"If what I gave her was kindness, her past must be almost as hard as mine..." Ember thought.
"B-but... there's one thing, the Burgundy Bandit fight with knives, and you use your big shield," Raven said uncertainly.
"I started out with the daggers. That's how I fought in the early days. Then, when the Burgundy Bandit became more and more publicized, I realized something. If I kept using my daggers, I'd be caught in no time. That's why I switched to this clunky thing," Ember explained, holding up her weapon.
"The Burgundy- I mean, you took down the mafia from the inside out, right?" Rusty asked. "How did you do it?"
"I've gone this far, I may as well finish my story," Ember said unenthusiastically. "My second year at Signal, the Burgundy Bandit was a big deal. She- I, actually, was causing chaos all over Vale. I caught the attention of a boy my age, named Pierce Verdi. He was the son of the former mafia Don, who had recently been on the losing end of a gang fight. Pierce was the rightful heir to the Mafia, yet his father's right-hand man took over. Pierce didn't like the way he ruled. The Mafia before was an organized evil. The next Don was a psychopath. So, Pierce decided he needed some extra help in bringing the family business down from the inside out. I was impressed that he, someone I had never seen before, knew I was the Burgundy Bandit. I knew he must have been incredibly clever, so I figured I shouldn't get on his bad side. He paid me a fair amount to top it off."
"So, did you steal all the money and watch it fall apart, or what?" Rusty excitedly asked.
"Well, close," Ember answered. She seemed slightly more relaxed now. Rusty, at least, seemed more interested than fearful, angry, disgusted, or any other emotion she expected. "After a bit, they made the mistake of trusting me. The Boss was a complete lunatic, but almost too easy to manipulate. I stole a bit at a time, planting evidence on every high-ranking member. They all started to kill each other. Pierce and I had to fight a few off ourselves. Eventually, nobody was left to lead except Pierce and I. He decided to disband the Mafia for its own good. And that's the inside story of how a teenage girl 'single-handedly' took down the organized crime syndicate of Vale."
"Pierce... Verdi?" Raven asked, running the name through her memory. She felt that surely she had heard the name somewhere before, even recently. "Th-That sounds familiar."
"I'm not sure why it would, his name was never in any newspapers," Ember responded uncertainly.
"Hmm, and I think I would remember if we met him..." Raven contemplated.
Ember shook her head. "You've never met him," she flatly denied. "There's one last part to my story. Should I go ahead and finish?"
Azure, Rusty, and Raven all looked to each other, nodding in uncertain agreement. Greyson looked out the window blankly, listening.
"Pierce and I did some missions together for the next year or so. I don't know if he ever thought of me as a friend, but I could trust him, something becoming rarer and rarer by the day. Sadly, last April, there was a massive explosion in the industrial district. Pierce was... caught in it. Things got even harder after that. I was once again alone in Vale's dark, corrupt, filthy, streets. But still, amid all this, a light appeared. I was accepted to Beacon Academy, where I ended up on Team GRAE. I never wanted to be close to you guys, because I've lost everyone who I've ever loved, or even called a friend." She paused, shifting her position slightly and pondering her next choice of words. "To conclude, after the death of my parents, I set out on a quest to purge the world of evil, which I, myself, became."
"You're not evil, Ember," Azure encouraged. "You're a good person who was thrown into a situation nobody deserves."
"I... I think we got along well b-before I knew, so nothing should change after I know, right?" Raven stated. "It's k-kind of... weird to know this, but I still want to be your friend."
"Exactly," Rusty added. "Well, I mean, we never really got along, but that probably won't be changing either, right?"
Greyson was still silent. He still looked out the window to the rain-soaked campus. The driving downpour had diminished to a sprinkle, and much of the cloud cover had begun to dissipate since Ember began her story.
"I really should apologize," Greyson thought. "She's not a threat. She's been on my side since the start, and I just... blew up on her. Why is saying sorry so difficult?"
Greyson finally turned from the window. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped. He looked down, walking out of the room without a word. Ember watched her team leader as he left, and let out a deep breath as the door closed behind him.
"I don't deserve forgiveness," Ember sadly said. "I don't deserve pity, and I don't deserve teammates like you all. I sure as hell don't deserve friends like you guys. I'm cold, sarcastic, rude, overall an unpleasant person who you all would be much happier without. But... thank you all. I hope what happened today doesn't change anything."
"I'll talk to Greyson," Azure softly offered. "I'm sure he realizes it was wrong to blow up on you like that."
Ember shook her head faintly. "It's understandable, I can tell he's been stressed out recently. I'm just glad you guys took it as well as you did."
*Question from the author* Who is your favorite character at this point, and why? Just curious, and I may check again periodically depending on number of responses. PMs preferred, so that my review count is not inflated.