January 1st
Location: Indeterminate
9:13 PM
Salem sighed as she looked into her seer. "Yet another year begins…"
"My Queen!" Tyrion exclaimed upon bursting into the room. "Cinder, Watts, Emerald, and Mercury are here, as you requested!"
She looked up slowly as she dismissed her seer. "That," She began slowly. "Is excellent timing, Tyrion."
"Should I send them in?" He asked her, straightening himself out and keeping his tail and stinger perfectly curved. "I have them waiting just outside the doors."
Salem tilted her head in consideration. "Well…" She said pensively. "That depends on what you judge, Tyrion. Do you think that they should be forced to suffer under the weight of what I might be planning for them, or do you think they should be relieved of their...apprehensions?"
Tyrion paused, unsure of what to say.
"Tyrion," Salem said, looking pointedly at him. "What do you think?"
He turned to the doors and pulled them open, allowing the four to step into the room.
"Good," Salem said, standing up and stepping towards them. "Now, what to do with all of you…"
"I -" Cinder began quickly.
"You are the reason that we failed at Haven, Cinder," Salem said sharply, her eyes pulsing red for a brief moment as she looked at her protege. "Do not think that I have forgotten."
Cinder hung her head in shame for a moment. "I…"
"And not only that," Salem said, her anger clear in her voice. "But Emerald and Mercury are so devoted to you that they wanted to take the fall for you. Hazel attempted to, and he can attest to my...repulsion at his attempt to cover for you for reasons I cannot quite pinpoint."
"If it weren't for -" Cinder stated.
"No," Salem snapped, scowling at the former Schnee. "Do not blame others for your failure, you have only yourself to blame, Ashlynn."
Cinder activated her maiden powers in anger and blew out all the light in the room and leaving only the dim dark light outside. "I am not," She said through gritted teeth, her fists clenched. "That woman anymore!"
Salem raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Your loyalties truly lie with us?"
Cinder looked up and nodded once. "Yes, they do."
Salem smiled. "Good. If not, I might find myself less amused by your impetulantance."
Cinder shivered in spite of herself as Salem restored the state of the room and turned on Watts.
"And you," She said, placing a hand to her hip as she stepped towards him. "After all these years, you almost got yourself caught because of your vendetta against your family and your daughter's refusal to join our cause. That does not even take into account the fact that the Atlas Council now is more able to keep tabs on you because both Jacques Gele and Merlot have sold you out. So, I would like you to tell me...how is it that you can, knowing the consequences, continue to go after these people and manipulate them with such traceable fervour?"
Watts stared at her for a moment. "I beg your pardon?"
"I am not going to repeat myself," Salem told him, her eyes narrowing. "Answer the question."
Watts cleared his throat before speaking. "Because like so many others, I am susceptible to the human desire for power, and recognition, and I believed that what I was doing was aiding both our goals and -"
"Stop," She commanded, forcing her voice to remain eerily calm although she was slipping. "That doesn't answer what I asked of you. Allow me to rephrase: what are you really after in this?"
Watts hesitated. "The end of -"
"Don't you dare," Salem snapped, waving her hand and binding him to the spot with several grimm beneath him. "Don't you dare tell me what you think I want to hear, let go of your inhibitions and tell me the truth."
Watts struggled but then forced himself to stop and do as she asked. "To achieve the recognition in this world that I have not been given in the past and to reform my family in the way it was supposed to be."
Salem scoffed. "No family can be in the way you truly want it."
Watts let out a sigh of relief upon her releasing him. "Of course."
"However," Salem said, pausing as she went on but then pacing. "It's important not to lose sight of what drives us: love, justice, reverence...but the moment you put your desires before my own, they will be lost to you. This isn't a threat, this is simply the truth. The path to your desires is only found through me, and so we must press on."
Cinder, Watts, Tyrion, Emerald, and Mercury all shared anxious looks as she turned to glare at them.
"With the kingdom of Atlas putting us in such a compromising position because of their...investigations, several high level officials and influential figures in the kingdom being connected to Ozpin…" Salem said, having forced herself to regain her calm. "And even the president being aware of some our plans, we have to be careful with our next moves there. If we had more of a choice to pause our work in Atlas, then we would. But we do not have that luxury, because of one person in particular who could sell us out to them...assuming she chooses to speak."
Cinder's eyes went wide upon Salem ordering a seer to show them a young woman with three tone hair and a pink and a brown eye sitting in what appeared to be a rather comfortable room, albeit with an aura cuff on her wrist.
"Neo…" She breathed.
"Precisely," Salem said, dismissing the image. "She'll be back on Atlesian soil by the end of the week, and we cannot afford for her to speak. Which is why we will continue to do what we can in Atlas, even if it takes much longer than some of our prior plans. But do not make the mistakes you have before, because, if you do, I will not be as lenient again."
Emmeline sighed heavily as her father and two brothers followed her into the living room where Emmett, Cristal, and Ozpin already were. "What exactly is this about?"
"In a moment," He said, setting down his bowler hat on the coffee table as he sat down on one of the chairs. "This is going to be difficult for all of you to hear, and I am not particularly happy to be telling any of you, but particularly Spencer, about this."
Spencer looked down at his hands, then glancing at the crooks of his elbows even though he was wearing a jacket.
"I'm so damn confused," Cristal said, setting aside her scroll, and curling into Ozpin as best she could. "What is so shocking that you needed to tell all of us about it?"
Ciel swallowed hard but then looked to all of them. "This morning, I received a rather...interesting report from our Argus military base and its commanding officer, Caroline Cordovan. It relates to...your missing sister."
Ronnie looked at his father in surprise. "Nicole has been presumed dead by the Department Of Local And National Law Enforcement, the Department Of Central And Foreign Intelligence, and the Department Of Criminal, Civil, And Corporate Investigation for the last fifteen some odd years."
"And, much like with Emmett and Cristal," Ciel said, sending both his son and daughter in law a sharp look having forced the true story out of his eldest daughter. "They were wrong."
Spencer glanced up, his eyes wide. "What?"
"That can't be right," Emmeline said, sharing a look with Emmett. "There's no way in hell that she's alive."
"DNA tests don't lie," Ciel reminded her. "And I can forward the DNA test results to you and Ronnie although your sister will be brought into the kingdom by Winter Schnee, and Maria Calavera, on the sixth of January. We're extending her mission in Argus for the purpose of bringing your sister home."
Emmeline stared at him in shock, similar to that of her brothers. "Oh my god."
"The unfortunate thing is, though," Ciel said, glancing a bit nervously at his youngest son, Spencer, as he went on. "That it has been immensely clear that she still struggles with her functional muteness, and that she has been roped into some...to be perfectly honest...some crimes. She was very young when she was taken, if you recall, but it's clear the she remembers the basics of who she really is based on the things she has...chosen to write out to Cordovan and a few others including Specialist Schnee."
"What do you mean she was roped into 'some crimes'?" Ronnie asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back into the chair. "Dad, we all know that you can't use the power of your office to pardon her of any crimes for which she might be convicted of within this kingdom. Not without being nepotistic, something you've refused to do ever since you entered political office."
Ciel sent him an irritable look. "I know that full well, Ronnie, and I do not need you to remind me of the fact."
"That," Cristal said, sending him a sharp look as she adjusted her glasses. "Still doesn't answer the question of what the hell she's done."
Ciel buried his face in his hands, clearly both fed up and emotionally strained by the happenings of the last several days. After a long moment, he spoke.
"Cristal," He said slowly. "Can you please take a break from being you for a few minutes and allow me to explain?"
She laughed shortly. "No one's ever asked me that before."
"The truth is," Ciel started, forcing himself to look up at all of them. "That Nicole is not...she's changed quite a bit from the adorable little sister you three remember her as, and as I'm sure Emmett, Cristal, and Ozpin have heard at least a little about over the years."
"Define 'changed'," Emmett said, his tone a bit dry even as he gently pulled his wife closer to him in his arms. "That's completely ambiguous."
Ciel hesitated, but then nodded curtly. "She goes by 'Neo' which is short for Neopolitan. No surname, simply that. She knows full well that by birth she's Nicole Ciel, but she was roped into Roman Torchwick's machinations a few years ago when he found her, a scared fifteen year old, in Vale. A few more years passed, she had her twenty sixth birthday this year, for one, and just last year she was involved with Torchwick, the White Fang, and Ashlynn Schnee's plot to destroy Beacon Academy which I believe everyone in this room can attest to having made its point."
"So this entire time," Ozpin said, looking to his wife in concern as she shivered a bit out of anxiety. "Amongst others, your youngest daughter was involved in the Fall, and with quite a bit involving Torchwick, the White Fang, and Cinder?"
"Presumably Watts as well," Emmeline added, then shaking her head. "What the hell happened?"
"She hasn't divulged much," Ciel admitted, and Spencer groaned loudly. "Spencer -"
"No," He said, his voice breaking as he stood up rather suddenly with tears in his eyes. "There is no way in hell that Nicole has become some sort of agent for some of the most dangerous -"
"Spencer Wyatt Ciel," Edward said sharply, giving his youngest a warning look as if he was a child still. "Calm down, this isn't supposed to be -"
"How can I calm down when I know that my sister's been manipulated into someone she's not?" He demanded, then shaking his head sadly. "How can I calm down when I know that this family's just broken?"
"Spencer," Cristal said gently, giving him a sympathetic look. "It's alright, I...I understand what you're feeling,"
He looked at her in surprise through his bleary eyes. "Really?"
She sighed. "You know how difficult things are with my estranged mother and two of my sisters without even taking into account my brother in law."
Spencer bit his lip. "I…" He started quietly. "I…"
"Spencer, if you'd just go back to -" Ronnie started calmly.
"I am not going back to rehab," Spencer said, crossing his arms and glaring at his brother. "If it hasn't helped the last three times, another isn't going to do much."
"If this is about your kids, I can take care of them," Ronnie assured him. "Brie and I can -"
"I don't want you and Brianna to take my kids from me!" Spencer snapped. "I don't want you to take my life and try to fix it yourself, I don't want to have my kids look down in shame because their father is the 'afflicted' Ciel who couldn't take care of them! I want them to see, to know that I am strong enough to take care of them myself, even with what happened to their mother, and even with -"
"There's no shame in admitting that you need help," Ronnie countered, standing up himself and briskly moving to be eye to eye with his brother. "There's no -"
Spencer slapped him, hard enough to knock his glasses of his face, but grimaced upon realising what he'd done. "You...you don't -"
"If we're going to argue," Ronnie said, his fingers grazing the pained part of his cheek as he reached down for his glasses and all but slammed them back onto his face. "Can we, for the love of all that is holy, take it outside?"
"Yes, that's a good idea," Spencer muttered as he followed his brother out onto the balcony. "Let us shout for the entire city to hear."
Emmeline sighed as they all heard the dual doors slam behind the two younger male Ciels. Allowing a bit of silence to pass between them, she finally forced herself to speak although she looked mainly to her father.
"Don't you think that was a bit harsh? Especially with how much Spencer's been hurting for years?" She shared a look with Emmett for a moment before looking to her father again. "Dad?"
"I don't know," Ciel said almost tonelessly. "I just don't know."
"Spencer's not as horrible as you act like he is," Emmett said, giving Emmeline a gentle squeeze and kissing her forehead. "He's depressed, and he's been through things that -"
"And I haven't?" Ciel challenged, sending him a sharp look. "Emmeline hasn't? Or Ronnie? Or Cristal and Ozpin? Or, to go even beyond that, the Morells and Adels? You think the rest of us haven't gone through horrible things that a person shouldn't have to? No, Spencer tries to make everyone else fight for him when no one but him can drag him to shore. The rest of us don't lock ourselves away, the rest of us fight. He doesn't, he gives into his inhibitions -"
"That's not fair," Cristal snapped, and he flinched in surprise. "Not everyone is like the rest of us, able to handle the perfect storm we're caught in."
"Again, Cristal, can you please take the time to stop being you for just a little?" Ciel questioned in exasperation. "You don't understand, even if you think you do -"
"Fuck you," She snapped, standing up a bit too quickly and swaying a bit. As soon as she was steady she stormed out of the room.
Ozpin hesitated for a moment but then quickly followed her. All but running down the hall to their room, he paused at the door through which he could hear the clicking of her heels. Shaking his head after, he carefully opened the door and stepped into the room, closing it quietly. She stopped pacing and turned to look at him upon hearing the door click shut, then tightly embracing him. He held her close in his arms, one hand trailing through her long white curls while she closed her eyes for a moment and tried to push away the ringing in her ears. With the last few days having been stressful enough on their own at work, it did not make things better to have issues arise outside of it as well and there was a part of her that felt like she was barely holding onto calm.
"That was vaguely embarrassing," She said quietly. "It's as if my ability to remain composed is slipping away."
"I don't think that's true," Ozpin said, kissing her softly and holding her close. "Chrissy, there's nothing wrong with you, if that's what you're thinking. You're fine, and I -"
"It's just…" She said, struggling with how to describe her thoughts. "I almost feel like what he was saying about Spencer...with being unable to fight against inhibitions, with locking away...it almost feels like that's who I am…"
Ozpin looked at her in concern, his brown eyes wide behind his glasses. "Chrissy, that's not true. You and I both know how strong you are."
She sighed. "I suppose…"
"It's going to be alright," He promised her as they sat down on the edge of their bed. "It will be."
Cristal hesitated but nodded. "I might be just tired and stressed. It's not as if the last few nights have been easy. I don't think she likes sleeping very much, considering how much she's been kicking me."
Ozpin wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Well, hopefully she'll figure out that her mother needs to sleep."
"I'm just glad I get to work from home the next few days," Cristal murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's exhausting dealing with everyone and the board and then not getting much sleep because my baby doesn't want me to. I love her, and I'm glad she'll be born soon, but I miss sleeping."
"Chrissy, if she's keeping you up then wake me up too," He told her, and she looked at him in surprise. "It's not as if I'm going back to Beacon any time soon, considering that it's going to be a year from March until it reopens."
Cristal smiled. "You sure?"
"Yes, I am," He said, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "She's my daughter too, after all."
Cristal laughed a little. "Of course she is. She's our little Courtney Blair Schnee."
"Exactly," Ozpin pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Our baby girl."
"Oz?" Cristal said softly. "Do you really think that Courtney is going to have magic?"
Ozpin hesitated, but then nodded. "Yes, I do."
"She'll be alright though, won't she?" Cristal bit her lip. "Oz?"
"Of course she'll be alright," He swore. "I'll keep all three of us safe, Chrissy. I promise."
She sighed heavily. "Not much is really safe anymore, is it?
"I wish that wasn't the case, but it is," Ozpin said ruefully. "I wish I knew how better to fix it."
"We're doing our best," She said, biting her lip. "All of us."
"Things are getting better, but the existence of peace in any context is fragile," Ozpin squeezed her gently as he went on. "And therefore easily lost."
She sighed heavily as she curled into him. "I know…"
While the two continued to talk and slowly relax, things remained tense in the living room and on the balcony. As Ronnie and Spencer Ciel continued to argue, Emmett and Emmeline struggled to see things from Edward's paradigm no matter how he tried to explain it. Perhaps fifteen minutes or even an hour passed, unless they had looked at the time then it was difficult to say, before things came to a more somber understanding. By no means were things terribly better, but they were not considerably worse. For years, they all knew, the family was complicated and there was, like with most families, no simple solution to their problems. Still, amongst some of them there was another factor to take into account when it came to awareness, and some of them were still and, for the foreseeable future in their eyes, unaware. The storm continued to brew, and there was nothing that could prevent it for becoming something more, not within their powers.
"In my view," Ciel said, a tinge of regret in his voice. "We might be running out of time against...against Salem -"
"Dad -" Emmeline started tiredly.
"All I'm saying is that all of this is a heavy load to carry for all of us," He said, then sighing. "You really don't think that we're all not at risk for being one...shall we say 'rainy night' away from losing everything that we love?"
"It's not that bad," Emmett said, biting his lip and resting a hand protectively over his wife's curve. "In case you hadn't noticed, things have been getting better."
"And She's still out there," Ciel reminded him. "Plotting whatever she may be. We all know her end goal."
"Making humanity crumble under her feet," Emmeline said, and he nodded. "That's always been her goal, though."
"Salem's more complex than any of us want to give her credit for being, though," Ciel said, hesitating for a moment as he went on. "She has a personal, deeply rooted hatred against Ozpin because she blames him for what the gods did to her, she blames him for the death of her daughters despite knowing that it was she who struck the blow against them -"
"That doesn't negate what she wants at her core," Emmeline countered. "It doesn't negate the fact that she wants to damn us all."
"She's not going to," Emmett said, although he himself was not nearly as confident as he pretended he was. "We're going to be alright, I know we will be."
"We might be," Emmeline said quietly. "The rest of humanity, though...the fate of the majority of the world hangs in the balance because of her."
"That's always been the case," Ciel said, glancing out at the night. "Considering how she's always dealt with the world. As far as we've known, she's always gone after one thing and only one thing because, at the end of the day, she -"
"Who are you talking about?" Ronnie asked as he came back inside, a jaded Spencer following him irritably. "Dad, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Ciel said, although this was clearly a lie. "Or at least, like all of us, still treading water."
"What?" Spencer said in confusion. "The hell does that mean?"
Ciel paused but then shook his head. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing, or at least nothing that anyone else should be concerned about. It's not worth it, not now."
