Hey, there! Posting the chapter earlier than usual because, hey! My wifi re-upped and it isn't freaking raining! Hooray! (Apologies to those of you who may live in places of drought, sorry.) And I don't have to attend summer school, as I found earlier, because even though I bombed chemistry, I passed my other science class with flying colors! So I can still bring you Thorns and stuff! Speaking of which, here's a new one! TOOTLES!
The clock struck ten and chimed just as many times, indicating that it was time to get to work.
"Oh, the bell chimes eleven, dear Gem, shall we move on to more nefarious things?" Romulus asked Emerald, and the cloaked girl answered with a nod.
Pulling herself off of Romulus, she turned and began to make her way over to Remus and Janus. Tapping them both on the wrist three times each, the four subtly and separately made their way to the doors, keeping their heads down as to not attract attention.
Once they reached the doors, Romulus pushed them open, timing the action just right so that the noise of the announcer's loud Mistralian accent drowned out the creaking of the doors. The four of them rushed through, and Romulus slowly eased the doors closed.
Without all the people, the palace's corridors seemed much, much larger and quieter. But, as a consequence, much more open, as well.
"They'll be moving the guests to the throne room in an hour. We need to be quick. C'mon, across the bridge. Go."
Emerald moved down the corridor and set out across the bridge, the three siblings following close behind, and stopped about halfway along and drew her revolvers.
"Why have we stopped?" Remus asked, "Are we not meant to be preparing for a killing?"
"Access hatch," Emerald said, gesturing to the ceiling, "For maintenance. I've got a backup plan, just in case. Romulus, give me a boost."
"Gladly."
He moved into a squatting position, his hands held between his knees, and Emerald set her foot in his hands. He lifted her up, and she pushed the hatch open, ignoring Romulus when he said, "It is a real shame you have to sit on a rump as perfect as yours."
She climbed to the roof of the bridge, the massive rain drops doing nothing to her water-repellent cloak, and held a hand out to Remus, who opened a small slot in his shield. Reaching into the small compartment, he pulled out a small rectangular object and tossed it up through the hatch. He did this four times. Emerald caught them with ease, then took one of her revolvers' blades and pulled the blade loose, the chain with it, and wrapped the chain around the handle of the hatch. Holding onto the grip of her revolver, her fingers locked their joints, and she rappelled off the edge of the roof.
Swinging down to the supports of the bridge, she dropped onto a little catwalk, barely visible to anyone not standing on it. Shielded from the rain, the catwalk was dry—thank Grimm—so she wouldn't be falling.
Releasing the rappel revolver, she walked around the catwalk, which was shaped like a giant number eight around each of the two supports, and placed two explosives on each support. Carefully priming each of them, she went to turn and walk back to her rappel when she heard footsteps and a gun being primed behind her head.
"There's always one," the man sighed, the submachine gun's barrel pressed against the back of her neck, "That's why I'm stationed down here, you know."
The man, of course, wasn't speaking Valean like she did, but spoke Mistralian. A royal guardsman.
"Hands behind your head. No tricks, or I empty a clip in your shoulder blades."
Emerald did as she was told, lifting her arms in the air, hands open. The man stepped forward and made his final mistake: getting to close to Emerald.
She dropped, dodging his bullets, and spun, a leg outstretched, and swept his feet out from underneath him. He toppled, slamming his head on the railing and stunning himself. Emerald took the opportunity to grab the violet cape every Mistralian Royal guard wore, wrap it around his neck, tie it to the railing, and then push him over the side of the catwalk. She heard his neck separating from his skull, and when she was satisfied, she moved away from the hangman and back to the rappel.
Grabbing onto it and hitting the switch to retract the blade, she rocketed back onto the roof, disconnected her chain from the hatch, and dropped back through the hatch, closing it above her.
"I heard gunfire," Janus said, "Was there a guard down there?"
"Yes. Weird that I didn't see or hear him. No matter, he's in his own makeshift gallows, now. He won't be reporting our presence."
"Good. Shall we endeavor to carry out your mistress's instructions now?" Romulus asked, and Emerald nodded in confirmation. The group set off down the hall once again, moving quickly but quietly, unaware of the shadows moving behind them.
Winter had found herself surprised that she wanted to dance with Jaune, but she was even more surprised when he asked her to dance with him.
She was barely up to his shoulders, maybe a little bit past that, and she wasn't wearing heels because of her prostheses. It felt odd, being normal height instead of boosted by platforms or stilts. It felt nice, really; at least now her ankles didn't hurt when she danced.
And whoever had trained Jaune to dance...he was a savant at it, every single movement he made carefully measured, calculated, and executed with a warrior's finesse. It was like clockwork, except the clock was tall, muscular, and exceedingly handsome.
"Do you Schnees often visit these royal events?"
Jaune's moving lips were the only thing that snapped Winter from her trance; she had tuned out everything else.
She nodded in reply to his question. "Yes. I remember when I was young, my father brought me along to a small party the prime minister of Vacuo had invited him to. Unfortunately, I remember nearly nothing of it, except that the prime minister's son was particularly interested in sassing the guests. All in good fun, of course."
"All in good fun? How did you know he wasn't just being a brat?"
"Oh, because I joined in with him."
Jaune chuckled, bringing a grin to her own face.
"You sound like you were a mischievous little girl."
"Oh, I was, and Weiss had been, as well, but that was around the time Father started training her to become heiress. That was when Mother left."
"I always thought it was your father who divorced her."
"Oh, heavens, no! My father was deeply in love with my mother. He cared for her more than anything but his own daughters. I never did like my mother, however. She was a backstabbing harlot, only marrying into a family so she might divorce and take half of her unfortunate groom's belongings."
"That's horrible! I hope she got what she deserved, then."
"Oh, no. She is exceedingly wealthy, living on a hill in a mansion in the outer limits of the Vale territory. She just divorced one of the Atlesian king's dukes. Naturally, taking half his belongings."
Winter zoned from the conversation, suddenly remembering the night her mother left her father. Remembered how she tried to convince Winter to go with her. To shape me into another whore, no doubt, Winter thought to herself.
The clock struck ten, startling her, and the chimes reverberated through the floor, making her hips ache. She winced; her prostheses were prone to vibration, being metal and plastic instead of flesh and blood, and her hips always ached when her legs vibrated, especially from the clock chiming.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be moving to the throne in roughly an hour and a half to commence the coronation. Please, when instructed, move to the door indicated. Until then, please, enjoy your night."
Winter hadn't even bothered to listen, despite the sheer volume of the announcer's voice. She was looking at the door.
The door that four guests had slipped through unnoticed as nobody but her watched.
"Jaune, I think...Ruby was right."
"What?"
"Someone just went through the door over there. They were all armed."
Jaune took a hand off her hip and looked at the door, then back to her. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. I think it was more than one assassin."
Jaune swore. "Okay. I've gotta go find Ren and Nora. Get to the door and wait for me there.. Go!"
Winter nodded and bolted, moving as fast as she could across the room.
She reached the door quickly enough, but when she did, she met a tall, handsome boy in a tuxedo. He had broader shoulders and a muscular form, like Jaune, though his hair was short, electric blue and shaved on the sides of his head instead of long and unkempt like Jaune's.
"Hello, there," the boy said, winking at her. "How you doin', pretty lady?"
"U-Uh...um..." Winter stuttered, caught completely off guard by the boy's sudden flirting. She didn't even know him.
"Winter, c'mon," Jaune suddenly appeared, Ren and Nora in tow, and he glanced at the blue-haired boy. "Neptune, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, just hanging out. I would probably be dancing with Weiss, but she's a little wrapped up in Yang's arms right now."
Wait, this guy knew her sister?
"Oh. Well, we could use a little help. Did you see anyone come through this door?" Jaune asked Neptune.
"Yeah. Lemme guess, you guys are going after them?"
Jaune gave a curt nod.
"Mind if I tag along, then? I'm bored."
"The more the merrier. Come on, let's go."
Neptune smiled and pushed the door open as subtly as possible, and the other four rushed through, with Neptune at the end. He closed the door and turned to the group.
"Okay, how's this gonna work?" He asked, drawing some sort of rectangular silver rifle-like weapon.
"We cross the bridge and hope they went that way," Jaune said.
"If they're targeting the king and Princess," Ren stated, reaching into his coat and pulling Stormflower from it, "Then that's where they'll be. We need to move."
"Got it."
"Nora and Winter, you two need to take it easy," Jaune continued, "You're both injured in some way, and I don't want you hurting yourselves further."
"I can fight!" Winter said, drawing Bolzen in rail gun form.
"I'm just saying for you two to be careful. Nora should be fine to fight, but you both need to keep from hurting yourselves, okay?"
"Okay, okay."
"Good. Let's move."