Equal But Opposite: Ciel

The interrogation room of Atlas' flagship was awkwardly silent as its two occupants made no move to speak. The girl in the blue beret stayed quiet due to being occupied with setting up the recording equipment and preparing her notepad. The boy in the equally blue hair merely kept his mouth shut for fear of saying something that would get him thrown into a cell.

"This is huntress Ciel Soleil at 5:46 PM, conducting the next round of questioning regarding the actions past and future of rogue huntress in training Ruby Rose. Please, speak your name," the girl began as she looked straight across at her latest subject after checking her watch to confirm the time.

"Neptune Vasilias," the boy responded meekly as his own eyes averted to the opaque glass to his left. Ciel surmised he was thinking about who might be watching at the other end. That was a natural response to being in the interrogation room from what she had seen while aiding her headmaster for the last several days.

"Could you please tell me when and where you first met Ruby Rose, Mr. Vasilias?" Ciel began professionally as she readied the pen in her hand for note taking.

"Around the start of the semester. Scarlet, Sage, and I had just gotten their as part of Beacon's exchange program for the Vytal tournament."

"What about your third teammate? Sun Wukong."

"He'd already been there for a few weeks. It was the first time I'd seen him in over a month."

"A month? I was under the impression Haven's upcoming transfer students were still having normal classes at that point in time. Where was Mr. Wukong, then?"

The subject gulped a little, taking a second to straighten his story. "Sun mentioned how he wanted to visit his family in Vacuo before the tournament started up, since they couldn't afford the trip to Vale to see him fight up close. So, he turned in enough work ahead of time to make sure he wouldn't fail his courses and hopped on the first boat to Vacuo."

"I see," white stockings rubbed together as Ciel moved to cross her legs under the table, "You mention his family not being able to afford the trip to Vale. Yet he was able to make two trips, himself?"

"I, uh, didn't say the first boat to Vacuo was a passenger ship…" Neptune admitted quietly as he began to sink into his seat.

"Ah," Ciel's sound of comprehension was reinforced by her scribbling a quick note. There was certainly potential for a lead there. She would have to apply the right pressure to verify it, though. "Does your friend often commit petty crimes like these?"

"I… Look. Sun might have fun breaking little rules, but he's a good person and my best friend. He would never turn against the kingdoms."

"Of course. Could you please explain how the two of you got involved in Team RWBY's incursion against the White Fang in the middle of downtown Vale, then?" That was possibly the most important event in the investigation's entire timeline, save the theft of Amity Colosseum. Not only was it when Team RWBY's bold antics began to bleed into public perception, but also linked to nearly every party of interest in a single, neat timeline. Within the bounds of a single eight hour period, Team RWBY had been in direct contact with the White Fang, the SDC, Roman Torchwick, Junior Xiong, and even Polendina.

Polendina…

Ciel's last mission had seemed so simple; just partner up with another girl for the tournament, make sure she got to her matches on time, and keep her out of trouble. Was the request odd? Certainly. She had no idea who Polendina was or why she was so important, but she was never one to question her orders. Especially not those originating from the headmaster himself. And yet, she had failed in ways she hadn't realized were possible and all she could think was how obvious it had all been in hindsight. She had identified Ruby Rose as a potentially subversive figure in Polendina's social circle, she had all the data to put the potential betrayal together long before it happened. Yet, she'd missed it all.

Now, she had the absurd fortune of being recruited by the headmaster for a second chance she did not deserve. She would succeed.

"He just felt like helping his new friends! We didn't know something like that was gonna happen! All we knew was they thought those guys were planning something bad and we figured we could help them out!" the defensive tone of his voice was born more from panic than anger as all of his anxieties must have reached their boiling point.

"Mr. Vasilias," Ciel felt a pang of guilt when she saw him flinch at her harsher than intended reprimand. She wasn't supposed to get like that on the job. Total rationality. Pulling back, she elected to shift to a softer tone to put her subject at ease, "Neptune. I am not looking to convict you of anything, at this point. I merely need you to answer these questions so we can gather the necessary data and get some idea where Ruby Rose has gone and what she might intend to do next. So, please, I would prefer it if you could stay calm, be honest, and, for the love of all that remains holy, just look at me."

The subject took a slow, deep breath before turning his gaze up to meet his interrogator's. Ciel softened her gaze to show him she meant no harm. Eye contact was something she had trouble with when she was younger, it always made her uncomfortable for some reason. Her father had helped her overcome that with practice, though. Over and over, he'd drilled her with questions and told her the answers wouldn't count unless she was looking at his eyes. It had been an adequate form of training. Now, she could lock gazes with the fiercest huntsmen without a hint of expression.

"You have pretty eyes," Neptune let slip without thinking.

Those pretty eyes narrowed in minor annoyance.

"Right… Questions…"