Things ran a little late with my fiance yesterday, so here are the other two chapters I promised :)
"Emerald, why don't you come away from that window?" Cinder asked the girl as she sat at the small table in their dorm room and opened the carryout bag, letting the smell of Mistrali food waft into the room as she began to remove the contents and sort them out before her. Mercury threw open the door to the bathroom, sporting little more than a towel as he moved quickly to the table and stole one of the fortune cookies, ripping it in half and sticking it in his mouth before unfurling the paper contained within. "I don't remember telling you that it was time to eat." Mercury chuckled at the fortune before tossing it back over his shoulder to the women.
"And I don't remember caring," Mercury informed her with a middle finger as he headed back into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"At least you listen to me, Emerald. For that, I am grateful," Cinder said with a smile as she handed Emerald her container. Emerald blushed, taking it from Cinder before digging around in the bag for a pair of chopsticks. She broke them apart, stealing an occasional glance at Cinder, the woman meticulous and particular about where her cutlery and sauces were placed. She placed the wallet on the table and followed Emerald's eyes to it before the girl looked at her once again. "It was so kind of Mercury to pay for it."
"Does he know that he paid for it?" Emerald asked her as she opened her container, filling the room with an even stronger scent that ushered a fully clothed Mercury into the room. Cinder smiled devilishly and handed Mercury's wallet back to him.
"He does now," Cinder stated.
"What the hell?!" Mercury shouted.
"Lesson number one, Mercury. Trust no one," Cinder told him as she glared up at him. He grumbled, taking his food and moving to the bed without a second thought.
"So now that Leo got us into the tournament, and we're here, what exactly are we doing?" Mercury asked with his mouth full. Cinder sighed and rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her noodles, washing them down with water before finally answering him.
"Salem is not going to reward you for asking questions," Cinder informed him. "We've been sent here to do a job and I'll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it."
"Did you ever wonder that maybe you don't ask enough questions?" Mercury asked Cinder.
"Just do what she says," Emerald defended the woman. Cinder smirked.
"Emerald gets it," Cinder told Mercury.
"How does it feel being someone's pet," Mercury taunted.
"I'm not!-" Emerald began before she was cut off.
"Good pets get rewarded," Cinder told her with a wink as she brushed Emerald's cheek and the girl's face turned a bright red. "I'll take care of both of you as long as you do what I say."
"Cinder…" Emerald replied in a daze.
"I'm going to go eat in the cafeteria," Mercury told them as he promptly left.
"Make sure that you're back no later than eight," Cinder informed him.
"You know, I killed my old man for being too controlling," Mercury reminded her. Cinder laughed as her eyes narrowed.
"I'd like to see you try," she offered. He stared at her for a long moment before grumbling again and leaving, closing the door hard behind him.
"Forget him, Cinder, we'll have a nice night to ourselves," Emerald said hopefully as Cinder stood up.
"We're not here to have a good time, Emerald," Cinder reminded her. "The only thing that matters is that we see Salem's plans through to the end." Cinder turned away from her, smiling as she looked out the window towards the tower. "Then I'll have the power I seek." Emerald watched her in awe, Cinder had given her a purpose and a place to belong. That was all that she wanted. She would do anything to make sure that it stayed that way. "But you were too scared." Emerald tilted her head in confusion as Cinder turned back towards her, her face scarred and her Grimm arm extending to pin Emerald to the wall.
"Cinder, please," Emerald gasped.
"You betrayed me," Cinder stated as Emerald clasped her arm and struggled.
"You… you left us behind… it's your fault that we failed at Haven," Emerald told her. "I was lost again, I didn't want to spend that time hurting people anymore."
"We were supposed to see Salem's plans through, those were the instructions that I gave you!" Cinder screamed at her, the rest of her body melting off to reveal an Apathy that cracked its neck with a sudden jolt, screaming at her.
You don't belong here! You don't belong anywhere!
"I… I…" Emerald gagged, running out of air as she felt herself slip under. The Apathy released her and she splashed into a Grimm pond, her body suspended in the ooze as she opened her eyes and peered around.
You have to do what's best for you…
"Coco?" Emerald spoke softly looking around for the woman. At one edge of the pond above her was Coco, crouched over and reaching into the water.
"Emerald!" Coco called for her. "Please! You still have a purpose! You can start over, you can fix your mistakes!"
"Emerald!" Barked a voice from the other end. Mercury knelt at the other end, also presenting his hand. "Come back to us. I can promise you protection and we can finish what Cinder wanted. That's what you want, isn't it?" Emerald stared up at him for a long moment before something grabbed her ankle. She looked down as she squirmed and fought her way towards the surface. A mass of Apathy formed the bottom beneath her, Salem bursting forth from the midst of her Grimm as Emerald kicked free and swam towards the surface. She didn't seem to make any headway swimming straight up, and Salem was growing closer with every passing moment.
"You can't escape, child," Salem assured her.
"Emerald!" Coco shouted.
"Come on, Em," Mercury beckoned. "It's the only way you can escape."
"Don't listen to him!" Coco yelled. "You can do this, you don't need him. You're stronger now. You need to find your own way!" Emerald began swimming towards Coco as quickly as she could, the Apathy transforming into Salem one by one and giving chase.
"Help!" Emerald gasped as Coco took her hand and firmly pulled her out of the water. As her body completely exited she jolted awake, sitting up in her bed as she found herself out of breath and sweating profusely. She looked around the small apartment, body shaking as she found her feet, turning the light on, and rubbing her face. You're fine, it was just a nightmare. Mercury can't get to you here. Cinder and Salem are dead, you're fine. She calmed herself before slowly opening the door and peering down the hall, checking the bathroom and closet as she moved past them, both empty. She flipped on the light, the sudden change in brightness assaulting her eyes as she allowed them to adjust and peered around once again. It had been her one night off that week, Coco chose them at random so that no one would know when she wasn't keeping watch, and when she slept at night she normally dreamt due to her changed sleeping hours.
She left her apartment, walking down the hall and calling out for Coco through her and Velvet's apartment door, waiting for a long couple of minutes before Velvet came to the door, opening it just far enough for Emerald to make out she was wearing an oversized t-shirt, and perhaps nothing more. There was no way that the shirt was Coco's, but perhaps it was what Velvet preferred sleeping in. She smiled at Emerald, leaning back into the living room and calling for Coco.
"Honey!" Velvet yelled. She looked back out at Emerald. "She'll be here in just a moment."
"Did you call me, mom?" Lamar asked as he raced to the door, sliding to a stop as he spotted Emerald. "Who is this?"
"This is a friend of ours," Velvet said as she knelt to his level and looked up at Emerald. Friend? How can you people be so forgiving? "Her name's Emerald."
"I like her style," Lamar noted with a nod of approval. "You look good." Emerald chuckled, noting the fact that she'd only just rolled out of bed. Her hair must have been a mess, she wore a tank top with a less than cute bra beneath it, and a pair of pajama pants that had simplistic Grimm faces covering them. Perhaps something more appropriate for a younger woman, but she did her best to hold on to her youth.
"Can you go get Coco?" Velvet asked him as she kissed his forehead. He glanced up at Emerald once more and nodded.
"Okay!" He agreed before bolting. Emerald watched him for a long moment, envy gripping her. She could have had a life like this with Cinder… or more likely… if Cinder had never found her.
"What's up, babe?" Coco asked as she approached the door and Velvet pulled it open the rest of the way. "Hey, Em. What's happening?"
"I want to talk," Emerald told her, shifting her eye contact away from the woman. Coco looked at Velvet and nodded as she stepped out into the hallway.
"What's going on?" Coco asked her. Emerald rubbed her face and sighed.
"I just… I don't know if I belong here," Emerald told her.
"Emerald," Coco cut her off. "I know you feel like we might just be sweeping what you did under the rug, or that we're just trying to use you like Salem and Cinder did, but it's just not true. I want you to do what you feel is right for you. If you think that you need to leave, I'll respect that decision, but you have a group of people here that consider you as a friend now that want to see you succeed. The choice is entirely yours, I will not make you do anything that you're not comfortable with." Coco thought about it for a moment. "Even infiltrating the Stardust Gang. If you're not up for it, I won't make you. You're your own person."
"I…" Emerald began. "I don't deserve you. Any of you." Emerald held back tears. "I… I don't know what to say, really."
"You don't have to say anything," Coco chuckled. "You don't owe us, we don't owe you. We're just good people trying to help each other get by in life. You spent so much time trying to survive, why don't you spend the rest of your life living?" Emerald laughed.
"I think I might enjoy that," Emerald told her. She looked at Coco. "I want to help stop Mercury. It might be a while before I can confront him without remembering what happened before, but I want to help." Coco nodded.
"I don't blame you," Coco told her. Coco smirked. "So… how does breakfast sound?" Coco brushed past her and knocked on Emerald's door, the illusion in the hallway disappearing. Emerald opened the door and rubbed the back of her neck.
"If you don't mind having me," Emerald shrugged. Coco shook her head.
"I'm going to break you in yet."
"Stop!" Titus shouted down the dorm hallway as Eren stared at him for a long moment, watching the elevator doors close and hearing Titus frustratedly thunder towards him, opting for the stairs and more or less leaping down them to the landing, Eren stopping the elevator and getting back out on the floor he was already on, making sure that the elevator continued down to the first floor by pressing the button. He sighed, lazily heading back towards the room, planning to lock himself away so that he could finish some of the school work that he'd missed out on up to this point. Ilia was gone for the rest of the day with her boyfriend… whatever the hell his name was. Titus had been trying to dog Eren into a conversation for the last few days, wanting to 'pick' his brain so he could get down to the root of why he and Neela didn't get along the best at the moment. Eren just wanted some peace and quiet, was it too much to ask?
Ah yes, and Neela. Neela was with her grandfather, apparently, in her spare time she'd started going to his house in Vale to talk about Raven and Summer, keep him company, further her hand to hand combat skills, it all sounded like the most boring drabble to Eren, so he did his best to ignore it. Neela… she was something else and Eren could quite place the feeling. To say that she was attractive was greatly underselling her looks, but Eren wasn't as interested in her looks as he was in her status. Until some incident with a classmate of hers, or whatever, the girl had been the top of her class, and after Eren's fight with her, he wanted to know as much as he could learn about her. If she acknowledged that he was a great fighter, then it had to be true. The feeling that washed over him during their fight was hard to place, it almost seemed as though she was looking into the future, and he'd never felt more vulnerable since the… accident.
A banging on the door to the room startled him and he groaned, making his way over and opening it for Titus who was visibly frustrated.
"You're not great at talking, are you?" Titus asked. Eren smirked as he moved back to his chair again and leaned back lazily.
"Oh, I'm great at talking, charisma is one of my defining features," he boasted. "I just couldn't care less about the three of you, you know?"
"I was there once," Titus began. "Thinking I was this amazing fighter who didn't need anyone. That I could climb to the top and handle everything head-on by myself." Titus sat across the room from Eren who stared at his computer monitor. "If Elli was here, I'd have her talk some sense into you, but…"
"Yeah?" Eren stopped him. "Where is this girl? Why'd she leave? What happened?"
"That's not for me to say," Titus bit his lip. "Neela can tell you when she's ready."
"That bad, huh?" Eren scoffed. "You guys are just proving my point."
"The situation surrounding the circumstances under which Eliana left…" Titus explained before he was cut off.
"Excuses," Eren spat. "Teammates are great, right?" Eren stood. "Yeah, sure. But if you're too busy relying on them the unthinkable happens." Eren glared at Titus. "They're not there to 'make you stronger, or whatever bullshit that you've convinced yourself of. They're a failsafe at best, and that's if they're even worth their salt."
"That's not true," Titus told him as he stood himself. "I wouldn't be where I am today without Eliana, Ilia, and Neela." Eren covered his face and began laughing.
"How naive!" He shouted. He removed his hand, his eyes crazed as he threw his head back. "Imagine believing such garbage! I would have died in Mistral! That desolate wasteland! Neela wanted to know why I decided to stay at Anzen for an extra year?!" Titus stepped back from the man, clearly, he had issues that needed to be addressed. "It was the only school that didn't require me to be on a team! I have one priority and one alone! I don't need the burden of watching out for others! I'm the only one that I need to worry about!"
"What happened to you?" Titus questioned. Eren's face twisted into a scowl.
"None of your damn business…" Eren replied red in the face as he approached Titus. "You all can go on being this cute little idealistic team that never has a worry or a care in the world, wasting your time bettering each other, but I'm going to do my own thing. You all should have learned that's the best option after you lost your last teammate." He attempted to turn around but Titus caught his arm and Eren looked back up at him. Rage covered Titus' face, it was the first time in a while that Titus could remember losing his cool.
"You know," Titus spoke softly. "Cobalt says this all the time, and I'm sure it's probably from one of those stupid shows he watches, but I think it's appropriate." Titus pulled back his free fist as his body instantly coated in stone. "Let's see you grit those teeth!" The punch landed square on Eren's jaw, sending him through the wall into the next dorm room over, the team in there panicking as they were taken off guard. They fled into the hall, making their way to the stairs to inform Glynda.
"This only confirms my beliefs," Eren chuckled as his eyes darkened but a smile gleamed in his mouth. "Let's dance, shall we?" He threw his dagger, striking Titus in the chest before erupting and blasting away part of the stone on his torso, causing him to stumble back as he pulled it out and used it to block several bullets from his opponent. The last shot exploded, forcing Titus back and denting the wall behind him.
"Sometimes force is the only way to knock some sense into someone," Titus roared. "Admon might have been a madman, but I feel like he was right about that one!" He caught Eren's fists, the two of them struggling before a kinetic blast between their hands forced them apart, another shot from Eren's gun enough to force Titus through the wall.
"Hey!" Lykos shouted.
"What the hell?!" Tawney exclaimed.
"What's happening?" Bái asked. Titus took a running start and tackled Eren back into their room.
"Has Titus lost his mind?" Lykos questioned as he leapt off of the bed.
"Do we get in the middle of this?" Tawney inquired excitedly.
"You're a part of this team, and you're going to act like it!" Titus demanded. He slammed his fist down at Eren's chest but he managed to block the attack and knock Titus off of him.
"Someone call Glynda!" Cobalt noted as he cloned himself and tried to pull Titus away from Eren. "Pulling a Naruto is not the answer, we can't just beat logic into people!"
"Yeah, hold him back," Eren laughed. He picked up his dagger and spun it. "These friends of yours won't even help you stop me." He swung it around, holding it inches from Titus, and charged it with a massive kinetic wave, releasing it into the air and removing all of Titus's stone, while also obliterating most of the room he was standing in. "He's weak all by himself, isn't he?" Titus struggled for a long moment before appearing to give up.
"We done?" Cobalt asked. Without warning, Titus recoated himself in an instant, throwing both Cobalts off of him into the parts of the wall in front of him that were still intact before crashing into Eren and rushing through several rooms. They crashed out of the exterior wall, falling from the second floor and planting Eren on his back, Titus ready to attack again.
"Take back what you said about Eliana!" Titus demanded.
"Go to hell," Eren spat.
"Stop it!" Neela shouted at them as she approached. Titus glanced over, noting it was Neela before his mind finally caught up with his actions. "We need to get along with him." Titus glared at Eren once more before standing slowly, offering a hand to help Eren up, but he smacked it away.
"I don't need your help," Eren reminded him.
"Too bad," Neela said as she gripped him by the arm and forced him to his feet. Eren shoved her away.
"Was it worth it?" Eren asked as his chest heaved. "Putting so much trust in one person that it would hurt this much when they failed you?" Titus swung around with a haymaker but was stopped inches from Eren by Glynda's telekinesis.
"What is going on here?" Glynda asked.
"Yes," Neela replied. Eren looked at her, shocked. "It was worth every moment. I wouldn't have done a thing differently." She took a step back from him and looked at Titus who was still suspended in mid-swing. "Is it worth it to shut yourself off from everyone that just wants to help you?"
"You assume I need help!" Eren roared. "I'm fine on my own."
"Enough!" Glynda demanded. She glimpsed up at the dorm and sighed. "Both of you are getting detention for the rest of the week."
"Yes ma'am," Titus replied after Glynda released him.
"Whatever," Eren said with an eye roll as he walked away.
"It's simple," Neela called to him. He stopped and looked back at her. "Be a member of this team and I'll recognize you as an equal." He exhaled loudly and stomped off. Neela looked Titus over as his aura broke and he hit his knees. "What happened?"
"I lost my cool," Titus sheepishly admitted. He shook his head. "I knew it was wrong, but it seemed like nothing I said could get through to him. And then he spoke poorly of Eliana."
"We know how Elli was," Neela told him. "Let him think whatever he wants. That doesn't matter." Titus nodded.
"I expect this much from other students Mr. Prasinos, but not from you," Glynda noted as she walked past to repair the dorms.
"My apologies, headmistress," Titus sighed. Cobalt and the rest of his team ran over to them from the front door, Bái checking him over as he waved her off.
"Where'd Devil May Cry run off to?" Cobalt asked.
"He went off to sulk over Neela's refusal to acknowledge his 'worthiness', or whatever he's hoping to achieve," Titus grunted as Lykos helped him to his feet.
"Perhaps you can be less destructive and have Ilia retrieve him for the meeting tomorrow?" Glynda noted as she walked past them again back towards the tower. Cobalt did a double-take between Glynda and the building.
"That fast?" Cobalt exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding?!"
"10 AM in the great hall," Glynda called back. "Don't be late."
"I have questions!" Cobalt shouted.
"I do too," Titus grunted as he brushed off some debris. "Do we have to bring him with us tomorrow?" Neela laughed nervously.
"I mean, we probably don't 'have to' per se, but I can't imagine that Glynda would be too happy if we show up without him," Neela informed him.
"Hey, guys!" Ilia shouted to them as she approached with Vin. They waved as the two approached, Ilia had a rather large smile on her face. "Let me see how it's healing!" Neela laughed as she pulled up her sleeve.
"I'm starting to get the feeling that you're more excited about my ink than I am," Neela pointed out.
"It's just so cool!" Ilia told her.
"Vin," Titus greeted him.
"Titus," Vin replied. Cobalt slid between the two of them.
"Hey, Vin! Great to see you! You haven't seen Yvonne recently, have you?" He inquired, lightly moving Titus back.
"She's been pretty busy the past couple of weeks," Vin reminded him. "She told us she let you know at the beginning of the year that she had some sampling to do."
"Why do I have to be privy to this conversation," Titus asked walking back towards the dorms.
"Well, when she has some time, just have her hit me up," Cobalt said playfully punching Vin in the shoulder. "Pal…" Vin stared at him and nodded once.
"Sure," Vin replied dryly. He grabbed Ilia's hand, startling her before she noted it was him.
"You ready to go?" Ilia asked him.
"I thought you might want to do a little shopping before we went on our date tonight," he offered. Ilia smiled at him and winked at Neela.
"Be back later tonight!" Ilia told her as she left.
"Don't be out too late, we have to meet our mentoring team tomorrow at ten!" Neela said.
"Got it!" Ilia acknowledged as they left.
"So, who do you guys think you'll be paired with?" Bái inquired.
"Maybe Team IVRY?" Neela shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, it is chosen at random."
"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" Tawney jested.
"I mean, according to Blake and Yang it is," Neela supported her claim.
"Would they tell you though?" Tawney taunted. Cobalt shook his head and dragged her off.
"Alright, great talk, later!" Cobalt shouted back.
"Let go!" Tawney demanded. He did so and glared at her.
"What's wrong?" Cobalt asked.
"What are you talking about?" She questioned.
"You were in a pretty good mood this morning and after Vin and Ilia left, you suddenly turned into angsty Tawney, complete with off-handed remarks and eye-rolls." Cobalt pointed out. "Are you jealous?"
"What!?" Tawney gawfed. "No! Pfft! Jealous of Ilia? Vin's not even that good looking!"
"Jealous of Vin then?" Cobalt pried. Tawney left him.
"No… it's nothing, I'm fine," she insisted as she entered the dorm.
"She alright?" Neela asked.
"I'll talk her out of it later," Cobalt noted. "If you guys are lucky you'll end up with Team ONYX."
"That's Orin's team, right?" Neela inquired.
"Yes," Lykos answered. "They're the best of the 3rd Years."
"That'd be cool," Neela agreed. "I think Elli had the hots for Orin."
"No," Lykos corrected. "Eliana had the hots for Orin for you. She thought you should have Orin." Neela stared at Lykos for a long couple of seconds. "And you thought that Eliana was completely oblivious."
"Must have been those blinders she had on," Bái laughed. Lykos chuckled and Neela smiled.
"Yeah, I really had it bad for her," Neela laughed despite the tinge of pain.
"Past tense?" Lykos pondered. Bái rubbed her arm.
"It's okay, Neela," Bái assured her. "We're always here if you want to talk." Neela sighed and nodded.
"Thanks," Neela replied. "With any luck, training with this new team will keep me too busy to think about it."
Will Eren ever get along with the team? Next week, Chapter 11: ONYX!
A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay classy!
This week's chapter coming in thirty minutes or so!