The morning went by, and Lotus refused to wake up from her peaceful rest. The day before had been another one of those 'best day ever' moments, and considering what had happened the last time she had one of those, Lotus was content to just stay indoors and wait it out.
Eventually though, she started to feel the discomfort of day old sweat sticking to her skin from the clothes she had worn during her fight. Her hair felt greasy, and she could feel stray debris from the fight whenever she ran her fingers through it.
With a groan, she got up and undressed. After a few minutes, she had picked out another outfit for the day, grabbed a towel, and entered the bathroom. The water pressure was tragically weak, but Lotus made due. She dressed in more comfortable attire, still choosing to go without her hoodie for the day. Now that she owned a larger variety of clothing, wearing her hoodie had become synonymous with her old life, and just like Mistral, she was more than happy to leave it all behind.
Lotus wore a simple black button down dress shirt, the buttons down the front and on the cuffs a vibrant magenta, with a pair of designer blue jeans and the same purple-laced shoes from the night before. She did really like them. A growl from her stomach announced her hunger, and with a wistful look around the quiet apartment, she decided to rectify the issue. 'That cafe was nice…' Lotus spared her weapon one final glance, but decided not to bring it. She didn't plan on fighting anyone today.
Mind set, Lotus left the apartment and headed out, crossing town through the midday heat, a light breeze blowing through the streets that was muffled by the bodies sharing the space with her. Lotus let the exquisite and newly discovered sense of calm wash over her. 'Nobody knows you. Nobody.'
A bit of unease wormed its way through her heart. 'Ren and Nora know you… and they're coming to Beacon too.' Lotus had already devised a lie. An entire web of lies, in fact, to try and cover up the trail of bodies that had been left in her wake. She had nearly two years to think on it, trapped in Mistral as she was. The thought of lying to the two that she considered friends still sent a sliver of guilt through her bones. 'They deserve better than me…' The only thing that kept Lotus going was her determination to become a better faunus. A better person. Surely they would recognize that?
Soon enough, she had arrived at her destination. The same sign sat outside, the same smells wafted through the alleyway as she approached. It eased her trepidation, allowing herself to forget her past for the time being. The door of the cafe opened with a jingle as she stepped inside and was greeted by the barista behind the counter.
Lotus let her eyes roam around the cafe, and paused for a moment as they caught on to the bow wearing faunus from the day before. The girl had also looked up when the bell announced another customer's arrival. Their eyes met for only a moment, before the girl turned back to her book, a light smile playing on her lips.
Lotus stepped up to the counter and got the barista's attention, asking in a barely audible whisper, since the girl obviously had a second set of ears beneath that bow, "Can you make that dessert from yesterday and give it to her this time?"
The barista nodded, and Lotus added to her order, getting a coffee for herself and another soup and sandwich. She accepted the food and drink, and went back to the same booth she herself had occupied the day before. The girl seemed like the quiet type, and Lotus was content to allow her to make the first move at her own speed. The spider faunus had very little experience with actual romance, but returning the gesture from the previous day sounded like a good idea in her mind.
'Maybe she was just appreciative that I dealt with the racist.' Lotus couldn't be certain the girl was even interested in her that way. 'The twin from last night, though…' Lotus would have to hit her up in a few days. There was nothing wrong with a bit of casual fun, and the twin had clearly been into the idea. 'I hope Mercury didn't disappoint them. I'll have to find out. That would be the best blackmail.'
Lotus was in the middle of her evil grin when she felt the barista delivering the treat to the bow wearing faunus. Lotus waited until the barista left before sparing a glance around the edge of her own booth. The girl caught her eye again, amber eyes locking on to magenta for a second longer, then gave her an appreciative nod.
With a delicate smile, Lotus turned back to her meal. 'Score one for team Lotus. Girl got game.' The young faunus's internal monologue was busy high fiving itself when her scroll buzzed, breaking her concentration as she pulled it out. Lotus paled when she saw the caller ID. 'Widow'.
With a discontented sigh, Lotus left what remained of her food behind and exited the building. It was far too quiet to have a conversation with her motherly assassin without being overheard. The jingle of the door only dropped her mood, feeling like it was mocking her as she was forced to leave behind the intoxicating atmosphere.
Lotus walked deeper into the alleyway before accepting the call, "Hey, Widow!"
"Are you okay, dear? You didn't call so I was getting worried," Widow's face appeared on the display, a hint of anxiety creasing her features.
"I'm alright. We finished the mission yesterday and I slept in late," Lotus twisted the truth a little. Neither statement was exactly a lie, it was just… missing crucial details, "Where are you?"
"I hired a ship to drop me off in Arcus. Nicholas isn't here, Lotus. He's on his way to Vale," Widow replied, giving her an apologetic smile, "There's no airship back out of here so I'm an hour behind."
"Do you know why he's headed to Vale?" Lotus asked with a frown.
Widow paused, "I went to Nicholas's house and convinced his family that I was another huntress that wanted his help on a mission. They told me I'd just missed him. His son stole his sword last night and ran off to become a huntsman."
A shiver of doubt pierced through Lotus's entire body. A face flashed through her mind of a young boy, spiky blue hair and goggles bent over the drowned body of his father, desperately trying to resuscitate him.
'It… won't be the same…'
"Lotus?" Widow's voice came through with a hint of worry, "Don't do anything until I'm there, okay?"
'Widow won't want to wait. She won't let him plead his case. She'll just kill him and be done with it…'
Lotus nodded absentmindedly, "Sure…"
'I need to do this myself. It's the only way to give him a chance…'
"I'm on my way, alright? We'll do this together."
'I need to do this before she gets here…'
"Yeah. I'll talk to you later!" Lotus replied, and hung up.
Lotus sighed, opening up a map on her scroll, and stepped back out into the throng of people heading every which way throughout the city. The road from Arcus would take about a day's worth of travel to reach Vale. If the kid left the previous night, he would arrive sometime in the next few hours. 'Not much time to plan…' Lotus shrouded her limbs, and made her way back to her apartment at a brisk jog.
'I should… wear my hoodie for this. One last time...'
A shiver of anxiety ran its way down Widow's spine as the call ended. 'You were never good at lying to me, little spider.' Lotus was going to try something, that much was certain. Widow sighed, 'I knew she would reach her rebellious teen years at some point. I'm lucky it took so long.' At least her daughter had turned into an extremely capable young woman. One that still needed Widow's guidance, of course, but capable nonetheless.
Widow increased her pace. She had lost time to make up for, and a daughter to protect. Both from the huntsman... and from the truth.
Lotus had kept her eyes out for an abandoned building on her way back to her apartment, but after getting back and changing into her hoodie, still hadn't seen one. The road that led into Vale from Arcus was at least along a different route, and Lotus finally found an empty structure on her way there. It had been a shop of some sort, the bottom level was burned out, while the upper story remained intact. Three claw marks on the outside of the building clued Lotus in. The White Fang had destroyed this place. It seemed like a fitting location, considering her past.
Lotus quickly left to buy some supplies for her plan, and stashed them inside a room on the more intact upper floor. Items in place, Lotus made her way to the edge of the town, on the road that the young Arc would have to take, and waited.
Lotus scoured each and every person that passed her by, looking for some sign of similarity between them and her prey. It wasn't until several hours later when the sun was just beginning to set over top the city behind her that she saw a figure in the distance. His head was topped with blond hair, his upper body clothed in a black hoodie beneath piecemeal armor. The blond stumbled forward with each step, dragging his feet through the dirt, eyes downcast as he moved on sheer willpower alone.
The spider faunus recognized this blond. He had been in one of the pictures she had paid for during her two years stuck in Mistral. A background figure, one that she had not paid any mind to up until now. Lotus had always had eyes only for the source of her hatred, Nicholas Arc. The blond continued his approach, eyes remaining on the road in front of him as he steadily drew nearer to the high walls of the city of Vale.
His head pulled up as he crossed the remaining distance, ears catching on to the sounds of the city in front of him. The blond's eyes widened and a slight smile tugged at his lips before he collapsed on the ground. The boy rolled over in the dirt, chest heaving and limbs shaking from an entire night and day worth of travel.
Lotus had watched him approach and waited for him to draw near, for the chance to begin putting her plan into action. Now she paused, shock getting the better of her when her sixth sense had reached out and felt… not what she was expecting. 'He doesn't even have his aura unlocked…' Lotus gazed upon the boy with a mixture of both contempt, and pity.
Immediately, the naivety of his actions became apparent. His father's desire to chase him down and bring him back. The sheer incompetence the boy must have to believe he could become a huntsman without the most basic of abilities. 'Does he not understand the dangers of the life he's trying to lead?'
The young Arc didn't notice the pair of magenta eyes that watched him from the shadows. He raised his arms above his head, letting out a pitiful and exhausted 'wooh', before letting them fall back down to his sides.
Lotus sighed, 'This changes nothing in the grand scheme of things… Actually, it should make things easier…' The faunus pulled herself back up from the wall she had been leaning against and stepped up next to the gate, looking down on the young Arc.
The boy seemed to sense a shadow crossing over the top of him, blocking out what little light remained from the descending sun, and popped his eyes open. They were hazy for a moment, unfocused until he caught on to the girl's silhouette against the sky.
"Are you okay?" Lotus asked, holding a hand down to help him back to his feet. The boy took it hesitantly, then yelped in surprise at the strength behind the arm that pulled him up.
The blond rubbed his shoulder, "Y-yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit tired," a false bravado played across his features as he attempted to square up his shoulders and put on a confident smile. He held his hand out, "Names Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."
"Olivia," Lotus accepted the handshake, partially to distract herself from the disdain she currently felt. The faunus had spent far too long among those with actual confidence behind their words to be impressed by the boy's act. It rang as entirely hollow in her ears. Still, she drew her lips into a tight smile, "What brings you to Vale, Jaune?"
"I'm going to apply to Beacon!" Jaune beamed, staying in his upright position and letting a hand fall down to his stolen weapon.
"Is that yours?"
"Uh, yeah! This is Crocea Mors!" Jaune stammered for a second but managed to recover. His hand firmly grasped the hilt as he unsheathed the blade, the ring of steel vibrating through the mostly empty street.
'Seriously, what is with these people and naming their weapons? It's not a dog, it's a tool…'
Lotus eyed the length of unblemished steel, 'Was this the one used to kill Jace?' She could remember the long slash that had been across her adoptive brother's chest. Anything with a blade could have done it. There would be no concrete way to know without forcing the truth out of Nicholas himself, and for that, she needed Jaune.
"Impressive," Lotus whispered it out, not trusting herself to manage fake praise without lowering her voice. It seemed to do the trick, as Jaune smiled proudly and resheathed the sword.
Lotus stepped in closer, letting a shadow of doubt cross her face, "Hey, so… I was waiting for someone, but I don't think they're coming." Lotus waited for her words to sink in, "And I need to get back home, but it's getting dark now… Would you… escort me?"
Jaune's face flashed from confusion, to pity, and finally to a firm determination as he nodded his assent, "Of course! You don't have anything to worry about while I'm around!"
Lotus could hear the self doubt oozing out of the boy's words, but forgave him for it. He was trying to be uplifting for a 'damsel in distress'. 'One point goes to the 'I'll spare your life' check box.'
Time for test two, "Th-thank you! I don't think most humans would want to… protect a faunus…" Lotus remained sharply focused on his eyes, waiting for any hesitation or disgust.
"Oh, no problem!" Jaune gave her a good natured smile and gestured forward towards the city, "Lead the way!"
'Huh… getting a lot of 'loveable idiot' vibes right about now.' With another mark firmly checked into the 'spare him' list, Lotus started to lead the way deeper into the city. 'If his father was a racist, then surely the son would have followed in his footsteps?' It spoke to Nicholas's character just as much as his son's that the boy didn't show any signs of racism. Jaune hadn't even flinched at the admission. He'd just carried on like helping anyone was natural.
"So, what made you want to become a huntsman?"
"Well, my family line is full of warriors. Heroes of legend that helped make change across Remnant! I want to follow in their footsteps," Jaune replied, eyes scanning each alleyway they passed as if he believed danger was ready to pop out at a moment's notice.
Lotus pondered that in silence as they continued to walk through the city. Jaune glanced her way every now and then, but otherwise kept his eyes in a constant scan around them. 'At least he's… protective?' Lotus really just saw him as increasingly more naive. 'Has he not been to Vale before? He has to have been, the trip is only a day away on foot. This place is hardly as dangerous as a Mistral slum.' Either way, Lotus added another mark to the side that had received them all so far. Jaune was actively attempting to ease the fears he believed she had.
"So, do you go to school in Vale?" Jaune asked, drawing Lotus out of the murderous debate in her head.
"No, I'm…" Lotus had to quickly think of a lie of her own. 'I'm the one asking the questions, kid!' Her mind jumped to the first thing she could think of, "I'm a barista at a cafe."
"Oh, that's cool. I'm not really much of a coffee drinker myself."
From there, Lotus kept the conversation firmly directed towards Jaune and his family, hoping for some nugget of information, some slip up, that would let her feel good about exacting her revenge. Unfortunately, after another fifteen minutes of thinly veiled questions, there was still not a single mark against Jaune or his father.
Lotus let the conversation die as they approached their destination. She stepped in front of the burnt out shop, pausing to spare an eye around them. The street was deserted, with only the sound of a few vehicles in the distance. Now was as good a time as ever to put the next stage of her plan into action.
"Umm, are we close?" Jaune asked, eyes scanning the area they had stopped in.
"Hmmm, I think we took a wrong turn somewhere..." Lotus replied, spinning back around to face him. Her eyes went wide as they darted over the top of the blond's shoulder, "Look out!"
The boy tried to turn around, but it was far too late. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as Lotus's invisible appendage struck him from behind, knocking him forward into her awaiting arms.
Imbuing her limbs with her semblance, she carried the limp form of Jaune into the building and up the stairs. She laid him down against one of the exposed support beams, and chained him to it. With his scrawny figure, and lacking the aura to possess a semblance that might help him, Jaune was well and truly trapped.
With the young Arc now chained in place, Lotus relieved him of his weapon, as well as his scroll. A small amount of blood caked the back of his hair, but a quick check proved it wasn't anything serious. Lotus knew her own strength well.
With a quick nod to acknowledge her own efforts, Lotus pulled his scroll back out. It was time to begin her plan in earnest. 'Your move, Nicholas.'
"Come to the address I have provided, alone, or your son and his little friend will pay the price with their life. They are my hostages, and I can kill them at a moment's notice. Do. Not. Fuck with me."
Nicholas read over the text for the hundredth time as he finally arrived within the silent streets of Vale. 'A friend?' More likely, some poor soul had gotten wrapped up in this mess. Jaune couldn't have been ahead of Nicholas by more than an hour, and even that was a stretch. His son was not the most fit individual, and Nicholas had been in a hurry.
'I can't imagine him actually getting accepted into Beacon…'
Still, there was the chance that he might be taken in on name alone, and that would be a mistake on the school's part. An Arc his son may be, but a warrior he was not. After what had happened in Mistral…. Nicholas shivered, his mind's eye once again showing him the carnage that he and the other huntsman had been forced to inflict.
'Jaune can't become a huntsman…'
Nicholas would protect him, even from the future his son craved.
The huntsman was too focused on the road ahead to notice the shadow that followed in his footsteps.
Lotus could feel the presence of the huntsman as he entered the bottom story of the building, picking his way uncertainly through the burnt out shop towards the stairs.
The young faunus flinched as she felt Widow following after. 'It's too soon! Damn it!' Lotus opened her eyes, shifting slightly as the chains she had bound herself with rattled against the support beam. She felt the huntsman pause, the sound catching his attention, before he continued up the stairs and into the hallway that led to the back room that she and Jaune were in.
Lotus could feel him checking each room along the way. Widow also made her way up the stairs, but stopped at the top, not wanting to expose herself to the huntsman if he were to turn around. Nicholas finally reached the last door, and pushed it open. His eyes darted around the room, not stopping on Jaune or Lotus as he checked for whatever dangers might threaten all of them.
"Help… please…" Lotus whispered it out, shuffling slightly so that the chains around her body would once again catch the huntsman's attention. Jaune was still unconscious, but his chest rose and fell, clearly alive.
A ripple of fear passed through Lotus. There was no doubt that Nicholas was an 'S' rated huntsman. It was not only the way he carried himself that spoke volumes to his experience, but also the titanic aura reserve the man possessed. It dwarfed Qrow by comparison, a pebble measuring itself against a mountain.
Without his weapon and the element of surprise on her side though, Lotus could still see the fight going in her favor. Nicholas finally seemed to settle a little, and stepped further into the room. His eyes caught on to Lotus, the only other person in the room that was still conscious.
"Do you know who did this?" the huntsman's voice came out, tense yet assured. He wasn't afraid for himself, only for the pair chained up in front of him.
Lotus shook her head, then winced, pretending that the action had given her a headache, "I-I don't know what's happening… I met that boy, and he was helping me home… and then someone hit me from behind…"
Nicholas nodded and reached the center of the room. Lotus could feel Widow now making her way from the stairs and along the hallway. The older faunus must have sensed Nicholas moving away from the door. Lotus could feel Widow drawing her daggers, preparing to strike.
As Nicholas reached Jaune, Lotus struck first. The pair of 'hostages' were only five feet apart, and with the length of her appendages, Lotus could attack while remaining as she was, giving no outward signs that she was the one hammering against the huntsman's aura.
When the first blow hit, Nicholas spun, raising up his arms as if to defend. Lotus let her eyes widen, pretending to be confused and afraid of the huntsman's sudden activity.
Invisible appendages rained down blows on Nicholas. His eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the attacks. His aura shimmered under each strike, every attack chipping away at his reserves.
"Wh-What's going on!?" Lotus screamed, pulling herself away from the huntsman to avoid whatever it was he was fighting. Jaune's head shook, the noise slowly bringing him back to consciousness.
Nicholas set his feet, planting himself firmly, raised both arms, and caught one of Lotus's invisible limbs. With an almighty growl, muscles rippling, he ripped his arms back, trying to drag the sourceless thing along with him.
Lotus was yanked on to her feet in her surprise, and pulled taut against the chains holding her against the support beam behind her. Nicholas noticed immediately, face hardening and eyes growing cold as the one responsible was revealed.
With the sweep of one leg behind herself, Lotus shattered the metal chains holding her in place. The chains dropped with a heavy clatter to the wooden floor beneath. She paused her barrage for the moment, eyeing Nicholas up and down.
"You should have looked the other way when the SDC asked you to help murder the White Fang, Arc," Lotus let her frustrations over the last five years seep through, glaring at Nicholas even as he still struggled to hold her appendage in place.
A deep seeded regret befell the man's features, his face softened when he understood why she was fighting him, "We didn't want to kill any of them!" His voice was desperate, eyes roaming over Lotus's face, hoping to see some doubt there.
The words had only served to reaffirm her anger, the lie mimicking the one said by Carob, who had stolen her brother's weapon to use as his own. "Liar!" What prizes had Nicholas claimed, she wondered?
Lotus relaunched her strikes, sparing a satisfied grin for the ripples across his aura. Each individual wave across his body met another, like dropping multiple stones in a pond.
Nicholas knew that he couldn't allow this to continue. The girl, through whatever semblance she had, was dropping his aura at a frightening rate. With an angry shout of his own, he barreled forward through the attacks, throwing his weight into the blows that tried to force him back.
The man was a brute. Lotus backed up too slowly to avoid a head on collision with the train that slammed into her. She was lifted off her feet and into the wall behind her. The support beam snapped under the pressure, forcing Lotus back further into the wall. The spider faunus dug her appendages into the floor, as the boards behind her creaked. 'Is he going to push me through the wall!?'
"Dad!"
The single warning from Jaune was all Nicholas received before Widow was upon him, dual daggers slashing across the aura on his back. His reserves plunged once again, now trapped between the two separate faunus trying to end his life.
Lotus heaved with all her might, pulling herself away from the wall as Nicholas's attention was diverted to the hellion behind him. He grunted and shifted his body, suddenly dragging her away from the wall instead of holding her back. Lotus was thrown forward by their combined strength, colliding with Widow in a tangle of limbs as Nicholas used her own limbs against her. The pair slammed against the opposite wall, closer to the door.
Nicholas breathed heavily, the strain clear on his face. Lotus could feel his aura finally giving, a hair away from being fully depleted. Both she and Widow pulled themselves apart, lowering into a stance in preparation to resume their attack.
Lotus paused, noticing a flicker or recognition pass through the man's eyes. He frowned, eyes on Widow, and opened his mouth to speak.
No sound came out, despite his attempts to communicate.
Lotus held her hand out in front of Widow along with an appendage and let herself calm down. The fight was as good as over, with Nicholas so close to having his aura completely broken. He wasn't a threat anymore. Lotus could speak from a position of power, now, and make sure that Nicholas listened.
Lotus stepped further between the two and spared Widow a glance. The older woman's confusion was clear, "Let him speak."
"That would be a mistake, little spider. You will not get the answers you seek, only lies crafted to protect himself and his son," Widow warned, still not dropping her semblance from the man. Nicholas had placed his hand up to his own mouth, and was trying futilely to yell something at Lotus. His eyes were wide, face taut in fear.
"Just do it, Widow. I… spoke with his son, before I brought him here. He isn't bad. I want to hear what Nicholas has to say. It's the last chance for any of them to defend their actions."
Unease began to grow in Lotus's heart when Widow continued to refuse. Her semblance remained in place, blocking out any words that Nicholas was desperately attempting to shout out.
"Widow…"
"I can't, little spider. We need to get this over quickly. Once he's dead, we can get rid of his son as well," Widow moved as if to step past Lotus's outstretched limbs.
"No!" Lotus demanded. Her appendage struck out, pinning Widow to the wall near the door. The older faunus shouted in surprise, hands dropping down to grip the invisible limb that held her in place, "We aren't killing Jaune! I won't ruin another kid's life, and I won't take away his father either if I can help it!"
"Lotus! Put me down this instant! What have you been working towards all these years!? Forgiveness for the man that took away everything!? Let's kill them and be done with it!" Widow screamed. Her hands hammered down against the limb that held her in place. They both knew it was a wasted effort. Lotus could hold her there all day and she would never escape.
"Widow," Lotus pleaded, eyes going back and forth between her mother and Nicholas, "I don't want to start my new life with another murder!"
"It isn't murder! It's revenge!"
Lotus allowed herself a moment to calm down, breathing out a long sigh. Her eyes turned to Widow, staring into the older woman's eyes, "No one will leave this place until he is allowed to speak." As if to show her commitment to that statement, Lotus added another limb to the first, firmly holding Widow in place. Her other two hovered in the space between herself and Nicholas, poised to strike if she didn't like his explanation.
Widow's eyes could get no bigger. Like a caged animal, she still struggled against the limbs for another few minutes. Eventually, her body slumped against her bonds, admitting defeat.
"Lotus…"
"Let him speak."
Widow looked deep into Lotus's eyes, and sighed in defeat at the determination she saw there, "I tried, little spider."
With a gasp, Nicholas was finally audible again. He rubbed at his throat, then looked back up at Lotus and the faunus pinned to the wall behind her. Nicholas raised one hand, pointing a shaky finger at Widow, "She told us where the White Fang were!"
Silence fell over the room. Lotus had eyes only for Nicholas.
'That's… the worst lie I could have imagined…'
Lotus struck with one appendage, shattering Nicholas's aura and pinning him to the wall with it in the same motion. The large man shouted in pain, hands going up to struggle against the invisible limb, but without his aura he lacked the strength to pry himself free.
"Speak such an obvious lie again, and your son will pay the price," Lotus said in a low whisper. She dragged her remaining appendage across the floor, gouging out a line through the wooden boards that led to the young blond.
Nicholas waved his hands in front of himself, "I'm speaking the truth! She led us there! It-It was here semblance that made it all go wrong!"
Lotus frowned, 'Does he not care for his son?' That clearly was not the case, though. Nicholas had chased Jaune all the way to Vale to protect him, even from himself.
"Widow's semblance is noise cancellation. How would that drive you to murder everyone there?" None of this made any sense.
"It isn't noise cancellation!" Nicholas shouted, eyes staring past Lotus at Widow behind her, "It's sound manipulation! During our fight, she was making everyone hear things! I heard myself shouting things that I would never say, death threats that I would never make! We had planned on taking them in alive!"
That was… preposterous. Lotus had never seen or heard Widow using her semblance that way. Not in all the years they had spent together. Surely the older faunus would have divulged something so useful?
A memory flickered through the young faunus's head. The first time she had met Widow. The approval the woman had when she realized Lotus was trying to hide her semblance's true strength.
How much sooner she had sensed Crim. The sheer difference between how far their senses functioned. Lotus had never been able to sense anything as far away as Widow could.
Another memory. The events leading up to everyone's death. Widow had suggested that Lotus go alone on the mission. Had given her a keycard for the terminal that Widow could have just as easily used herself. If she already swiped it beforehand, then what had stopped her? The terminal had not been difficult to get to. Why had Lotus been sent in her stead?
Lotus sensed the presence of the older spider faunus above, and scaled the building until she reached the roof. Widow stood at the edge, looking down on the bodies of the White Fang below. 'We were too late, little spider.'
"Where were you?" Lotus whipped around to stare at Widow, seeing now the panic in the older woman's eyes, "On the night everyone died. Where were you!?"
Widow could not answer. In her silence, though, Nicholas spoke again.
"She was working with us."
Lotus fell to her knees, eyes searching Widow's face. Desperately hoping for a spark of resistance to the man's words. Her mother only looked at her in shame.
"I… I had to do it, Lotus. They were going to take you away from me," Widow's eyes brimmed with tears, her voice catching in her throat, "I couldn't… Not another daughter… Not again…"
'What? Another… Again…?'
Lotus had eyes only for Widow. Her appendage pulled loose from Nicholas, allowing the man to drop back to the ground and run over to stand next to Jaune. All of her limbs now focused on Widow. Two to pin her to the wall, and two incase she…
"Why!?" Lotus screamed it, causing Widow to flinch at the pain that one word held. The young faunus's entire world was crashing down around her, and Widow was to blame.
"I… I wasn't alone in the mines, little spider… My husband and I… we were sent to the frontier… There's no law there. Nothing to stop the guards from doing as they please. It's… far worse than the regular mines… Slate and I… We came up with a plan. He wanted to save me from the mines, and we heard rumors of a way to do it. To get a female faunus sent back to Mantle…"
Widow paused in her retelling, tears now truly streaming down her face, eyes pleading for Lotus to understand. For the young faunus to believe what she said.
"I got pregnant… We were able to hide it for three months, until the point where they would have to let me leave… They didn't… The warden was furious. Instead of letting us go, he had his men drag us out into the center of the camp. He wanted to make an example of us… The warden killed my husband… beat him to death right there in front of everyone."
Widow sighed, "And then he started on me. The warden didn't want me dead though, little spider. No… he had far worse in store for me. A post was driven into the center of camp… They chained me to it, night and day, beating me with fists… lashing me with whips… Anything to relieve their sick pleasure. After the weeks had gone by… I snapped. My semblance activated. I wanted the voices to stop taunting me… But that didn't stop the beatings. I tried to cry out for help, but it wasn't my throat that made the noise. My throat was ruined, half collapsed under the strain. My semblance was how I screamed in pain, how I pleaded for the faunus around me to help."
"I told you before, little spider. It's dangerous to believe that what happens in the mines won't happen to you. All of the faunus there… they were being treated nicer, while the guards had their fun with me. The warden had someone else to take his anger out on… They ignored me, ignored my pleas... 'As long as it isn't me', they thought..."
"So, I had to fight for myself. If I could make noise without speaking, then what else could I do? I soon discovered that I could mimic anyone who's voice I had heard since unlocking my semblance. I started to sew chaos. A whispered threat here… the sound of footsteps there…"
"Everyone was afraid. Everyone was staring at shadows. The… The Grimm attacked, and… I was finally able to make my escape. I stole their transport vehicle while they fought the Grimm, and left them all to die."
Lotus was speechless. She couldn't comprehend it. No one who hadn't experienced the same ever could. Lotus understood loss, though. She had lost more than one family, and Widow was responsible for the second. Still, there were questions unanswered, "What… What about your daughter?"
Widow's head fell down against her chest, hair falling with it to cover her face, cover the anguish that twisted her features. She never wanted Lotus to see her like this, see her so vulnerable…
"I made it back to Mantle… I had been being used by the guards and the warden for months… And then... When my daughter was finally born…" Widow's eyes lifted to stare at Lotus, her shoulders shook in earnest and her chest heaved in the misery she felt, "My daughter… my poor little spider… I knew something was wrong. After all the beatings, she never moved again. She never kicked… She was… She was stillborn…"
Lotus's appendages retreated in shock, withdrawing back to herself and allowing Widow to drop back down to the ground. The woman couldn't keep herself up, though. She dropped to her knees, curling in on herself as she buried her face in the floor. Her arms wrapped around her head protectively, trying to hide from the world around her.
"I'm sorry, little spider. You were going to leave me. I couldn't let you! You were my second chance! A daughter without parents, that found her way to a mother without a child!" Widow's eyes swept up, the ferocity behind them dimmed only slightly by the tears still in her eyes, "It was fate. We're meant to be together, little spider!"
Lotus shook, and hugging herself tightly as she trembled. 'This isn't how this was supposed to go! None of this is right!'
"I… I know you're confused, little spider. Perhaps…" Widow shivered and stood back up, "Maybe it's best if you go to Beacon… It will let you see the truth. The faunus might share physical traits with beasts, but humans are beasts. They just hide it better…" Widow nodded, "It will be good for you. You can find out for yourself what they're like."
With that, Widow left. Her presence vanished entirely from Lotus's sixth sense after she stepped through the door. 'The senses we feel are just like sound, vibrations through the air.' Lotus realized right then and there that Widow could have hidden herself from Lotus at any time. Widow's semblance increased the range of her senses… and could just as easily mask her from anyone else's…
'I'll never know for sure if she's nearby… If she's waiting to try and take me back…' Lotus shivered and spared one last glance to the huntsman and his son. No words passed between them. The two were in shock as well. The young faunus left, uncaring about where her feet took her.
She just needed to be anywhere but there.
Widow composed herself, and waited for her daughter to leave. The young faunus eventually did, not bothering to check any of the rooms on her way out. Widow didn't blame her. The older assassin's semblance was working overtime, cutting off any vibrations leaving her surroundings. Like this, she was invisible to any other spider faunus that didn't directly have eyes on her.
Once Lotus had vacated the building entirely, Widow entered back into the room they had been in before. The huntsman, Nicholas Arc, was there. The one that had caused a rift between mother and daughter, bent over his own son as he tugged at the chains, attempting to free him.
Widow's dagger pierced into his back. The large man screamed at the sudden pain, twisting to try and defend himself from his attacker. In a flash of cold steel, her second dagger ripped across his throat. Nicholas dropped to the ground next to his son, one hand trying to stop the blood pouring from his open wound, the other held protectively over his child.
The faunus paused, staring at the blood that dripped down the edges of her blades, "You have made a mistake, this night. If you had kept my secret, then my daughter may have convinced me to spare your son. Now?" A cold fury was in the woman's eyes as she glared down at the pair. The huntsman's arm swayed, his body weakening as the world around him started to spin out of focus.
"No! Dad!" the young blond shouted. He struggled against his chains, trying to throw himself in front of his father. Tried to shield him from the next blow the spider faunus was about to deliver.
He could not move, though. Widow's dagger plunged into the huntsman's chest, worming its way down into his heart. She leaned closer to whisper in his ear, "You can't blame me, can you? I would do anything for my child. Wouldn't you say the same?"
Without looking, her second dagger slashed out, and cut across the boy's throat as well.
The last thing Nicholas Arc ever saw was his son collapsing in a pool of his own blood.
Satisfied with her revenge, Widow rose back up and wiped her daggers off on the man's shirt, 'Lotus did always have a soft spot. No matter how many missions I took her on, no matter how many people she killed… I guess she truly will have to experience humanity for herself.'
And Widow would be there. When the entire world fell apart around her, when all her friends abandoned her… Widow would be there to pick up the pieces... and forge them into a weapon that would never hesitate again.