June 8th
City of Atlas
Atlas
Downtown
7:21 PM
"Miss Hill," Senator Sleet said cordially, gesturing for her to sit down across from Elizabeth Morell, Blake Adel, and himself. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, especially after…well, after Miss Thyme's…expression of concern a few weeks back."
Robyn raised an eyebrow. "Expression of concern? That's what you're calling the short-lived arrest of one of my kin because she had an outburst in a press conference?"
"Thyme's behavior was completely inappropriate," Blake Adel said, eyeing her for a moment before he went on. "With the amount of security concerns that we have, Thyme should have known better than to cause a scene that could have endangered the lives of many innocent people."
Robyn snorted. "With all due respect, it sounds to me that you're hyperbolizing, Director Adel."
Blake bristled. "Miss Hill, even you have to understand –"
"And I'm not saying I don't understand what you're saying," Robyn sharply replied. "I am only making clear that I contest it."
Elizabeth Morell frowned. "You contest that you allowed one of your so-called Happy Huntresses to cause a scene at a presidential press conference in a time when the entire kingdom is already on edge because of what happened to Beacon last year?"
Robyn sighed. "Fiona may have overreacted, but she didn't say anything that wasn't true," She turned towards Sleet, who was now sitting beside Blake. "Senator Sleet, you're from New Mancaster, aren't you? Tell me: how many of the people in the province you represent are poor? Have you ever seen much more than opulence of the city of Atlas, or the city of Mancaster, or the city of L'ange, if we we're going to the other coast? Have any of you, actually?"
Sleet, Elizabeth, and Blake all suddenly looked rather awkward.
"Poverty and unemployment are at record lows," Sleet eventually said. "There will always be stratification, of course, but we all work on behalf of the people from –"
"I'm going to stop you right there," Robyn said, putting up a hand to silence him. "If you all work for the people as you say, then why are you all so content to take everything from cities like Mantle?"
"We do not take everything from cities like Mantle, Miss Hill," Elizabeth said sharply, her hands folded primly in front of her. "We are, however, looking at the good of the country holistically and, sometimes, that means –"
"Secretly restoring international communications when most of us don't realize they were ever down?" Robyn acidly suggested. "Or, maybe, there was another motive behind it? What about Snow –"
"Jeralt Snow is a former Atlesian citizen and now an enemy of the state," Elizabeth said, her voice becoming increasingly constrained. "He stole millions of classified government documents and released them without any authorization from Vacuo, where he was granted protection. If you are suggesting –"
"Snow did the right thing," Robyn irritably countered. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have known that the Atlesian Council has the capacity to tap into everyone's communications if they so desire."
"There are quite a few intricacies you are missing there, Miss Hill," Blake Adel calmly informed her. "For example, the Council is only permitted to take such action with a high-order warrant. This would only apply to the most dangerous of criminals, or terrorists. It is a security precaution we've encoded, and it is not to survey everyone in the kingdom. For heaven's sake, if we were to do that, there would be public outcry."
Robyn scowled. "But you did launch the Amity satellite without public knowledge until very recently, with a cover story at that."
Sleet raised an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know about that?"
"I'm the one who has to stand for the people who are being left in the dust by people like the three of you," Robyn said harshly. "That means I have to constantly be taking positive action, and, yes, I knew about it quite early on because I followed government vehicles with my Happy Huntresses."
"That's illegal," Elizabeth warned her. "Revelation of that information, too, would be criminal espionage. You do understand that the details of our space program are vital to national security, now don't you?"
Robyn shook her head. "There's no need to be condescending, Madame Morell."
"To the contrary, I think there is," Elizabeth said, standing up rather suddenly and beginning to pace. "Miss Hill, we did not call you here today to lecture you, we called you to come to a mutual understanding so we can all work together to –"
"That's why I'm running for one of Mantle's seats on the Council, in the commons," Robyn replied, much to the surprise of Elizabeth and, to a lesser extent, Sleet and Blake. "Because I want to defend my people from within this system that supposedly works for everyone."
"Atlas is based around the marketplace of ideas and small government," Sleet reminded her. "If you think that you'll –"
"Small government?" Robyn burst out into dry laughter. "Do you even hear yourself, Senator? The Atlas Council is not conceivably small and, for all the balance it has and for all it does to, mostly, represent the people fairly, we're the world's strongest military power. If you all believe this is small, then I worry where things might be headed for all of us. Honestly, that doesn't even get into the issues I have with the DFAMA."
Blake's scroll began to go off suddenly and he quickly left the room with an apologetic look. Sleet quickly followed, leaving only Elizabeth and Robyn in silence.
"We'll continue this discussion later," She said as kindly as she could manage despite her annoyance. "I'm afraid I have a rather urgent briefing to attend, but, Miss Hill, please consider my offer. We really do want to work with you."
Robyn sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair.
"You might be being sincere," She said, lingering in the doorway. "But I know someone definitely isn't, and, you know something? Fuck them."
"Fuck who?" Elizabeth asked, feeling almost sick.
"Fuck James Ironwood, fuck Emmeline Ciel, and…" Robyn shook her head darkly. "Fuck Karissa Mar and her damn scheming."
June 9th
Beacon Academy CCTS Tower
Beacon Academy
City of Vale
Vale
Downtown
9:43 PM
"Glynda, what's wrong?" James asked her as she clutched the side of her desk in her new office, her eyes closed and her head down. "Glyns, please."
"Jamie..." Glynda sighed, lifting one hand up and probing her forehead. "I..."
"Glyns," James said, coming to her side and wrapping an arm around her waist before pushing up her glasses. "You don't look good at all."
"I don't feel well," Glynda admitted, shifting slightly to look at him. "I just..."
She tripped over her heels, a spike headache rising and her maiden powers activating. She was having a psychic moment, she knew, but she hadn't had one in so long. James caught her and worry and fear for her began to rise in him.
"Glynda," He said fearfully. "What's going on?"
"I don't know!" She snapped though she shook her head when she looked at him. "I'm sorry, James, I -"
Cutting her off with a passionate kiss, James held her close to him as her hands grabbed at his short, dark hair and his arms wrapped tighter around her. His hands supporting her since she was slightly unsteady, James continued to kiss her almost urgently and she responded with equal passion. Grasping the collar of his tan leather jacket, Glynda didn't stop kissing him as her back pressed against her desk and her legs began to part beneath him. Pressing against her, James gently squeezed her shoulders to help release the tension he knew she carried there and she wrapped her arms around him tightly before beginning to slide off his jacket though they stopped when a sudden voice spoke from behind them and heels clicked into the room.
"Hello, Glynda," The former Schnee said with a smirk as she entered the room and she and James split apart suddenly yet he wrapped his arms around her protectively before gently releasing her off the look she gave him. The sadist, still, retained her smirk. "Oh," She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "And General Ironwood is here too."
"Ashlynn," Glynda replied bitterly, taking her crop from her boot and into her hand.
"Oh Glynda," She said, looking at the woman and smiling. "Believe me, no one calls me that anymore."
"Oh, I know," Glynda said, narrowing her eyes. "But that doesn't mean I give a damn."
Cinder laughed as she walked towards her and Glynda, too, stepped towards her. The two women began to circle each other in close proximity for a moment, eye to eye, with no words spoken for what felt like the longest time.
"Where is the Relic?" Cinder finally said, her voice falsely sweet.
"Why would I tell you?" Glynda hissed, tightening her grip on her crop. "Well?"
"Because you want to live, don't you?" Cinder asked, leaning in slightly before smirking as she moved away from her. "If I can have the Relic, then I'll let you live."
"No, you won't," Glynda said, able to feel the woman's anger. "You'll kill me either way."
"Aren't you perceptive?" Cinder rolled her eyes while James pulled out his revolver and pointed it at her. "Oh, are you going to pull the trigger on that, General Ironwood?"
"If you force me too," James told her, glancing at his scroll and sending a message to Port and Oobleck quickly. "You're not going to touch a hair on her head."
"You're just as protective as Emmett, aren't you?" Cinder laughed before sighing and shaking her head in disappointment. "Not only of your children, of course, but of your wife -"
"You're nothing more than a sadistic bitch," James snapped, his revolver still pointed at her. "You had every opportunity to stop and try to be better, but you chose to continue to ruthlessly pursue power every damn -"
"I am pursuing power that's rightfully mine!" Cinder screeched. "I've been denied powers that were rightfully mine for years! Since Cristal was always favored by our father! Since Emmett was fifteen and Jacques inherited the company from our idiot father instead of me! Since I was denied training my powers as a sorceress by my abusive mother because she thought that I'd become the most dangerous sorceress in history!"
"Which you may very well have," James pointed out bitterly. "You became exactly what that woman said, and not because you wanted to become her vision but because it gave you power! Because it allows you to pursue -"
"I am powerful!" Cinder declared, her amber eyes flaring. "I am feared, but that doesn't mean I'm dangerous! And I've never killed unless I needed to, unless I didn't have a choice!"
"Bullshit!" Glynda shouted, her eyes sparking as her maiden powers began to activate and Cinder took a small step back and closed her eyes to do the same while the huntress continued to shout at her. "You kill for power and because you want nothing more than for humanity to crumble at your feet! You turned yourself into a monster for power!"
"Oh, like you haven't!" Cinder shouted back with her half of that same power sparking around her own eyes. "Because, in order for you to become the Fall Maiden for Ozpin's sake, you have to kill me! A life is a life, no matter what the reason!"
"I'm not happy about this," Glynda told her with a glare and her voice angry. "But I'm saving the lives of however many others you'll kill if you become the Fall Maiden!"
"Shut up!" Cinder screamed, summoning a bow and arrow and shooting the arrow at the forty-four-year-old huntress.
Using her semblance, Glynda deflected the arrow into the wall while James fired a shot at Cinder who flipped out of the way. Summoning a ball of fire in her left hand and throwing it at Cinder, Glynda manipulated it towards the sorceress with her crop. The former Schnee, though taken by surprise, barely shifted out of the way and froze the fire with a spell. Glaring at the huntress, Cinder summoned an obsidian sword and began to run at her with it in hand though the younger woman caught the blade and dissipated it. She grabbed Cinder's wrist and flipped her over the desk before using her semblance to draw some of her refined ice Dust into her hand from the vial she had on the shelf. Pouring a little into it and concentrating with her maiden powers, Glynda summoned a sword of ice in her hand. Leaping over the desk as the woman got up, she attempted to stab her but the former Schnee cartwheeled out of the way and the sword shattered against the window. Turning out of the way as Cinder threw raw dust crystals at her, Glynda stared for a moment before taking a deep breath and steadying her crop in her hand.
Using her semblance to throw Cinder against the wall, the former Schnee cried out in pain while her orange aura rippled over body. Struggling as she pushed herself up, Cinder levitated herself and charged at Glynda who used her aura to shield herself while the sadistic woman continued to attempt to kill her. Knocking the sorceress back with a powerful, concentrated aura blast, Glynda restrained herself from using her semblance so much she could. She knew that she was going to deplete her aura if she weren't careful. The former Schnee stood up once again with her aura starting to flicker, and she summoned a glyph under Glynda who back flipped twice to avoid the fiery blast resulting from it. Standing by the elevator with his revolver in hand and pointing it at Cinder as she continued to fight Glynda, James tried to steady himself to properly aim at the woman to help Glynda though he was afraid that he would miss and that the bullet would go into her instead. Sighing in relief as the elevator doors were forced open and Port and Oobleck dashed into the room, James looked back to the fight as his wife manipulated the dust crystals that Cinder had tossed at her to alter their course and turn on the sorceress instead.
"My God!" Oobleck exclaimed in horror. "Cinder -"
Taking a sip from his thermos and igniting the tip while Port tossed his blunderbuss axe in the air once, Oobleck began to run towards the sorceress and Glynda though the huntress began to shout as soon as she noticed them.
"Get back you two -" She yelled.
"She's -" Port started though he began to step back when Glynda sent him and Port a sharp glare before turning back to her opponent.
"You think they'll be able to save you?" Cinder asked her, smirking as she walked towards her and tilted the huntress's head back with a finger while she gritted her teeth and tried to steel herself for what she knew she had to do. "They'll only die if you let them try! And what would that do then? If you lost two of your friends? Another friend of yours, gone."
"I'm sorry about your life," Glynda hissed. "But that doesn't justify any of this."
"Oh?" Cinder laughed sadistically. "How about…what would you do if I killed him?" Cinder said, pointing at James, who noticed Glynda clenching her fists after reattaching her riding crop to her boot. Seeing what the woman was attempting to do with the huntress's eyes flaring with her sparks around them, Cinder roughly pushed the woman to the ground and stepped a foot down on top of her with a terrifying smile. "What if I killed James?" She murmured. "What would that do to you then?"
"They're not going to save me," Glynda told her, concentrating as she focused her powers into the palms of her hands to summon another sword. "And you're not going to have your way."
"I'll have the Spring Maiden by the morrow," Cinder gloated, laughing. "We know she's one of Raven's supposedly loyal followers of all people, but still. And, you know, I have others on my side. Arthur Watts, for example -"
"Watts is still alive? He works for Salem?" James demanded, firing a shot at her but she stopped the bullet by freezing it mid-air. "How long?"
"Longer than I have been," Cinder told him with a self-satisfied smirk. "But I also have others, such as Emerald and Mercury -"
"Who are children you tricked into following you," Glynda said, her eyes still sparking despite being closed as she continued to attempt to summon without an aid. "You're a -"
"They're not here, though," Cinder said, rolling her eyes at the choice she had made before they had left Mistral. "They're still in Mistral because some of them didn't want to come and I decided that I can't risk not getting my Spring Maiden. So…a few of them are working with the White Fang and, believe me, the other academies will meet their fate. I assure you of that."
Summoning another bow and arrow, Cinder poised herself to shoot the huntress clean through as the General continued to fire at her though she managed to deflect each of his shots with aura blasts in varying degrees of strength. Noticing her aura flickering, Cinder steadied her hands as she pulled back on the bow's string but Glynda was fast enough to force herself to her feet after some struggle and finally summoned a long, sharp sword of ice. Using her semblance with her free hand, Glynda pushed the former Schnee against the wall and restrained her there as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to steady herself in spite of what she knew she was about to do. Running at the restrained sorceress who was struggling to break free with her aura still flickering even more dimly from the effort, Glynda threw the summoned sword of ice into the woman's chest and her eyes went wide in fear when she realized what had happened.
The rest of the powers of the Fall Maiden transferring into her, the sparks around Glynda's eyes only shifted to full strength and she began to shake. Watching the woman collapse limply to the ground as the moonlight continued to pour into the office, Glynda bit her lip as she looked on with wide eyes. Looking away quickly, she deactivated her maiden powers and adjusted her glasses with her hands shaking before she glanced out the window at the shattered moon and found a sinking feeling rising in her that made her feel as if she was going to be sick. Trying to force herself to be steady as James put his revolver down and Port and Oobleck tried to understand what was going on, Glynda closed her eyes but, when she opened them and forced herself to look back at Cinder's body, she collapsed to her knees and vomited into the rubbish bin beside her desk.
Rushing to her side, James began to rub her back in an attempt to comfort her though he knew that she was repulsed with herself and what she had done though they both knew why she had done it. Several minutes passed and, by the time she looked up and had stopped vomiting, Port and Oobleck removed Cinder's body from the room while James hadn't left her side. He was staring at her in deep concern, praying she didn't realize that memories of the Fall were coming back, memories of the attack in the south Menagerie sea from late in 2000.
"Trash!" The hooded faunus men yelled from their small, unassuming boat. "Collecting your –"
The Atlesian crew began to throw down their bags but, all too quickly and with no time to react, the faunus men activated what they had truly been hiding in their boat. The bombs went off, blowing a hole in the side of the ship and crushing in the galley. The entire ship shook and swayed, and, in the lower deck, Specialist Ironwood and the small contingent of new recruits that he had command over suddenly realized that one of the fuel tanks had been ruptured. A few minutes passed as they gathered fire-retardant material and precariously floated it on the top of the liquid fuel, which, they knew, was more than flammable and explosive. One misstep would send them all to hell, but the ship was sinking. Several minutes passed and, by the time they were ready to cut a hole in the other side of the ship, they were waist deep in the fuel. Ever so slowly and painfully, James ordered them to start cutting open the metal with the welding torch. It was a dangerous game, and it was one that, even after the deed was successfully done, haunted them well beyond their return to Atlas.
For James, it never quite left him. It had been so soon – too soon, really – after the accident on the last mission with his team that had cost him his arm and leg and it had almost left his wife widowed so early in their marriage. It had been the end of 2000, and it was one of the first warning signs of the increasing aggression towards Atlas by the White Fang. Nineteen people were killed by them, and the youngest had been barely eighteen. It was a horror that, at the time, had seemed to threaten to haunt Atlas forever. He and Glynda had thought the new year – 2001 – would be a sign of something better, of new times, something that had only been heightened when she had found out she was pregnant. Yet, just before their girls had been born, the most infamous and deadly of attacks happened, scarring the kingdom and its people forever. None of them had seen it coming and, for as beautiful a blessing the girls had been in such a dark time, he had never thought knowing, later, what had happened would leave such a deep, bitter impression on his eldest and in both himself and his wife.
"Glynda…" James murmured, holding her close and steadying her against him. "It's over, I promise."
She weakly nodded and curled into him, feeling physically and emotionally drained. Helping her to her feet knowing she was somewhat unsteady, James held her securely in his arms and continued to rub her back while she clutched his jacket and leaned heavily into him, burying her face in his chest. Sighing as he scooped her up into his arms, James gently carried her out of the room and out to his ship. Several minutes passed in silence, and the warm summer breeze did nothing to make things better. If anything, it made things worse. Even after they were in the ship and everything was supposedly alright, the tension and anxiety did not abate. Helping her sit down, he ran his fingers through his hair before speaking as gently as possible.
"Glynda, are you -" He started, his voice little more than a whisper.
"Mistral..." She said, her voice weak. "We need to head to Mistral."
James hesitated but nodded as he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.
"I know," He agreed.
"Emmett and Emmeline are there, or at least will be tomorrow," She reminded him. "So are the others, and -"
"It's okay, you don't have to justify it," James told her before using his scroll to give the order to head for the Republic Of Mistral's capital city as well as informing Port and Oobleck of what they were doing. "You should rest."
"I know," Glynda whispered, wrapping herself around him. "But I..."
"I wish you did have to have done what you did either," James told her, massaging her arm. "I know that it wasn't something you wanted to do but...but if you hadn't taken the powers then who would have? Cate? Sam? Ivy? Lily?"
"I shouldn't be...I should be able to deal with this, I shouldn't feel...I suppose guilty about this but that doesn't change the fact that I killed someone," Glynda sighed heavily, struggling with her emotions because her logic was countering them. "I...I knew what I had to do, I knew why and yet..."
"It's okay," James promised her and she looked at him with wide eyes. "Glyns, it's okay for you to be unsure, for you to be -"
"I knew that I would have to do this!" She snapped as they felt the ship take off and begin to head towards Mistral. "I knew -"
"But you're human," James countered and she sighed as he stood up. "And you're an empathic person. I know that it repulses you what you did, and I know that it will haunt you but I'm still going to be here for you. You did what you had to, and an incredibly evil woman is gone."
"She wasn't always evil though!" Glynda exclaimed, collapsing backwards into the bed. "I remember what she was before and she was troubled, scarred, and a little power hungry but she wasn't evil! What she did overwrote whatever good she ever did in her life but that doesn't mean that -"
"Glyns, calm down, I know," James said gently. "That's why Emmett could never bring himself to actually kill her though he had had so many chances to. Look, I know this is stressful…but I think that if you hadn't killed her in part because of her having the other half of the powers of the Fall Maiden that you wouldn't be like this. I think you would probably still be bothered that you had to kill someone, but I also think that you wouldn't feel like you had done so for power."
"But I did," She protested weakly as a spike headache began to rise in her. "I..."
"Glynda," James said, kneeling on the cool floor beside her. "We can talk about this later but for now...for now just try and relax. You're alive, you're fine, I'm fine...I'm right here next to you, and..." Taking her hand in his, he sighed as he kissed her forehead. "Glynda Anne Goodwitch, I love you no matter what. It's going to be okay. We're one step closer to defeating her and then maybe, just maybe, we can settle into some sort of relative peace."
"Jamie -" Glynda began though he cut her off with a soft kiss to her lips.
"I love you," He promised. "I love you, I love our children, and I'm going to continue to love and protect the four of you no matter what."
"I love you too..." Glynda said, looking at him for a moment before kissing him again. "I'm sorry..."
"I'm right here," James murmured, squeezing her hand. "And I'm not leaving."
Glynda smiled weakly. "Good."
Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and its' fights. I won't be updating for a little while after this, though, because I tore my knee. Ballet is dangerous, kids.
~xoxo Semblance
