Chapter 18

La Vida Loca

Part 2


"So... Nice weather we're having, yeah?"

Blank looks all around, as Lee's inane comment did nothing to dispel the awkward tension in the air.

"Really, Lee?"

"What? It's true..." Which, itself, was a true statement; despite the fact that Vale was well into its summer months, it was currently somewhat mild outside, the temperature sitting at what he considered a comfortably warm 85 degrees Farenheit (or rather, 30 degrees even; Remnant was apparently on the metric system, which, as a former American, he was still getting used to, even after half a year). But, as he met the gazes of each of the other four members of the quintet, he could see that his attempt to distract them from the elephant in the room had failed. Well, he still had one more card to play before giving it up as a bad job.

Grinning widely, Lee turned towards their resident illusionist. "Perfect for a day of free running, wouldn't ya say, Em?"

The illusionist herself seemed rather taken aback by the direction the conversation had just taken, mouth opening as if to speak before closing again mid-motion, eyes slightly widened and her skin sporting a near imperceptible flush.

"I... Wh- Did you just ask me out on a date?"

"Well, let's see what the judges have to say! Mercury?" A disdainful roll of the eyes. "Neo?" An amused expression accompanied by a thumbs up. "And last but most certainly not least, Cinder!" The woman actually chuckled before nodding, prompting Lee to turn back to Emerald with a smug grin on his face. "That makes it unanimous: I did in fact just ask you on a date! So, whaddaya say? You, me, and a day of traipsing about Vale in this pleasant weather? Assuming Cinder doesn't have a problem with this, of course."

"So long as you two keep things professional during operations, then no, I see no issue. We are not the military."

Lee's hopeful grin faltered a bit as he watched Emerald frown at him... But quickly reached shit eating proportions as she shrugged while wearing the smallest of smiles.

"Sure, why not? Watching you face plant into the concrete a few dozen times sounds like it could be fun."

"I find your lack of faith... Disturbing."

.

..

...

"What are you doing?"

Lee sighed as he lowered his clenched fist, having failed to perform a Force Choke. Apparently, that was one ability he couldn't quite replicate with Aura...

"Oh, just a cultural thing. It's pretty much a tradition to pretend to telekinetically choke someone whenever you say that particular line."

"...Is that anything like a Jed's Eye Mind Trick?"

"It's pronounced 'Jedi,' all one word, and... Close, actually. They come from the same franchise, and while I guess a Jedi technically could do that, it's more of a Dark Side power, and thus more likely to be used by a Sith."

"...What's a Sith?"

Lee chuckled. "I'll tell you all about Star Wars later. Preferably not while Cinder is waiting oh so patiently for us to quit babbling like a couple of teenagers and let her finally get around to telling us whatever it is she had us all convene for, right?"

All eyes turned towards their leader, at whom Lee grinned cheekily. Cinder herself was smiling lazily beneath hooded eyes, an expression which, on anyone else, he probably would have described as predatory. And on Cinder, it still conveyed that particular imagery... But he could read the genuine amusement there as well. It was, he supposed, the way that her eyes crinkled just slightly, and her lips were slightly parted to give just the smallest glimpse of perfectly straight teeth. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he supposed that expressions like that played a major role in creating the sheer presence that Cinder emitted. Sure, walking around on perfectly formed legs that seemed to go on forever and exhibiting such casual mastery over Dust on a regular basis were enough to make her stand out as a femme fatale, but the way even such a genuine expression of amusement could still easily be read as predatory intent was the master stroke that made Cinder seem all the more dangerous. Her expressions... Nay, her mannerisms in general... They inspired such fear, conveyed such a sense of danger that Lee, despite knowing that Cinder meant him no harm, still felt like the metaphorical mouse trapped between the cat's paws. But after six months of working for her, he had come to be pretty good at suppressing that fear.

"Thank you, Caerulean." Cinder began, her tone now having switched to one that meant business. All four of her minions straightened in their seats. "As you all know, we were never supposed to be in Vale for as long as we already have been."

Lee did, in fact, know that; after a thorough ass chewing at the hands of the boss for his actions towards the end of the fight against Summer, there had been many things he wanted to say to Cinder. But it all boiled down to one word, and that one word was the only one he uttered: why? Why wasn't it enough to simply remove Summer's ability to ever Hunt again? Why did they need to remove her old team Taiyang Xiao Long or as possible factors? Why was it so important that Cinder not be connected to her identity as the Red Queen? Why did they go to such lengths to prevent that? Why? Why? Why?


M: +5 D: +15

The Apartment, Vale

Evening

Two Days after the assassination of Summer Rose

Lee... Was not in a good mood, and the reason for that was Summer Rose. Despite months of working for Cinder and knowing that she was not the type to accept her underlings second guessing her decisions, Lee had done so anyway, his outrage at the thought of actually killing someone who did so much good for the world escaping before he could bring it under control. And after a swift smack, Lee had thought quickly enough to realize that he could neither change Cinder's mind nor prevent her from doing so. So, with reluctance, he had decided that he would get out of her way... But the damage had already been done. In the time Lee had distracted them, Summer had managed to surprise them all by fighting through what should have been a crippling injury, managing to wound them all with varying degrees of seriousness before Lee himself finally put her down for good. An act which had only rekindled his rage at the injustice of the situation. Rage which he spent the entire trip back to their campsite, and then home the following day brooding on. It was enough time for it to settle into more of a cold rage... Which was the only thing that kept him from arguing with Cinder when she tore into him once they had finally made it back to the city. It even suppressed his fear of the woman, allowing him the courage to ask her what he did. And the answer...

Lee didn't know how to feel about the answer. According to Cinder... They were acting in pursuit of a higher purpose, the hope of one day bringing about the end of the Grimm scourge upon mankind. That they perpetuated such acts of violence in order to keep the authorities from obstructing them... Because their plan involved the complete breaking of the current authorities. Which Lee was all for, so long as the replacement regime was one that would address the glaring issues that the current one chose to ignore (such as the sheer racism that humans were allowed to perpetuate against Faunas with little to no punishment)... Which they would, since if their plan worked, Cinder and her crew would effectively become the replacement regime. Lee wasn't quite sure he wanted the responsibility... But he supposed that he most certainly couldn't do worse than the current, non-elected council, who somehow had escaped blame for such catastrophes as Mountain Glenn. That was the reason Cinder insisted on all of them excelling at their education; can't have the regime's top men and women not be both knowledgeable about the world they planned to rule, and effective in actually ruling it. And rule it they would, for they would need the Kingdoms' resources for Cinder's plan to eradicate the Grimm once and for all...

It frustrated Lee to no end that Cinder wouldn't tell him just what that plan entailed, but he still trusted her. He was wary, but he would trust her. She had said that he would understand once she had the chance to show him and Neo (who, coincidentally, had not yet been told either) just what it is they would be putting themselves up against... So for at least that long, Lee would cooperate... Or at the very least, not become an obstruction...


The light Lee's eyes were emitting dimmed as he brought his mind back to the present, just in time to catch Cinder telling them the import of reminding them of the fact they weren't supposed to be in Vale for most of a year (they, meaning Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury, had already been there for a few months before Neo and then Lee joined them). Apparently, Junior had tracked down a lead on the White Fang.

"Wait, what?"

All eyes swiveled to face Lee, who was frowning in confusion. "Wait, don't tell me. Let me see if I can work it out." He took the silence as permission to try, so he proceeded to think: why would Cinder need to find the White Fang? Before the assassination of Summer Rose, Lee might have guessed that the government or some other interested faction was paying them to perform either some recon or an assault... But now, he knew better; it simply wasn't Cinder's style. So that meant they had something she wanted, and the only thing he could think of that they had in abundance that would also coincide with what he knew of Cinder's plans was...

"You want to use them as the foot soldiers in the revolution."

"Correct as usual, Caerulean. But we are not going to tell them that if it can be avoided."

"Well duh, it's generally a bad idea to blatantly state to someone that you are just using them, even if it is obvious. Just gotta make sure they think it's worth their while. On that front, I assume that you have a plan to convince them."

"Well, it would be accurate to say that the saying involving assumptions does not apply in this case."

It took them about half a second, but once Lee and the rest had identified just what saying she was referring to, they all could not help but let out a few small chuckles. Say what you like about Cinder, but you couldn't deny that she had jokes... even if only occasionally. But that just made it all the funnier when she did deign to use one. At least in Lee's opinion.

"Okay, so you have a plan. What do you need us to do?"

Cinder smiled then, approval showing through the underlying, predatory gleam. "Originally, I had planned to go myself, bringing Emerald and Mercury along with me. However, in light of your own feelings on Human-Faunas relations, I believe you may actually be better suited for the job. You will take Emerald and Mercury with you to negotiate an alliance. Think you can handle that?"

Lee blinked. Opened his mouth as if to say something... Blink. Close. Head tilt. "Well, if negotiations fail it won't be because I chupped up. But... Why me? I would think that for something that important you'd prefer to do it yourself? They might perceive you sending an underling to negotiate on your behalf as an insult, as if you consider yourself superior to them. Something that I would think we'd be better off not portraying." A quick glance around the table showed that the other three were equally surprised, leading Lee to believe this had to be a last second change. Or perhaps one that she hadn't been sure of until recently... Which Lee found strange, considering the outcome and aftermath of their previous mission, just a few short weeks ago. But, if Cinder was willing to place such trust in him, he'd do his damndest to make sure that she was making the right choice. Just... It'd be nice to know just why she thought it was.

Cinder obliged. "While you are correct that they may take offense, it is quite likely they are going to take offense anyway simply because we are all human. But you're the type who believes that a person is a person, and that Faunas are simply humans with an extra appendage or two and heightened senses, correct?"

Lee nodded, even as he noticed Neo shooting him an amused look while holding up one finger. But he wasn't about to acknowledge that while he was having a serious conversation with Cinder. "Yeah. Where I grew up, discrimination was usually based on the color of one's skin or their religion; in fact, people of mine and Emerald's skin tone spent two centuries enslaved, and then another century and change trying to obtain the same legal rights that people of pale skin had. Hell, there's still lingering traces of it... So having grown up with that history, I find any kind of discrimination based on one's physical traits to be atrocious. Including whether or not they have animal ears or tails."

"And that, Caerulean, is why I feel I can trust you to deal with this. You understand, at least to some extent, what the Faunas have gone through, so you should be the best equipped to appeal to their sense of injustice."

Lee... Wasn't quite sure it would work like that; he might have been able to empathize with the Faunas, and thus gain some insights towards their motivations and thought processes, but that was without a doubt a one way street. All that did was give Lee an avenue to pursue that Cinder herself would not understand as easily... But if Cinder thought that was their best chance for success, well...

"Alright, then. I'll give it my best shot, ma'am."

"That's all I ask, Caerulean."

Off to the side, Neo now had two fingers raised. Lee rolled his eyes, even as he smirked, but continued to otherwise ignore her in favor of allowing Cinder to finish her briefing.

"Junior is currently compiling a dossier on their leader; it should be ready some time this evening. Caerulean, Emerald, do be darlings and pick those up sometime before you return from your date."

"Y-yes, ma'am..."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"Just make sure that you're both back at a decent time; tomorrow is going to be a long day, so we had best make an early start."

"Got it. I suppose we'll be going then," Lee stated as he rose from his seat; he didn't even need to look to see that Neo was now holding up three fingers. "Em?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."


And that's a wrap, for what was originally supposed to be the second half of the first chapter. Sorry you guys had to wait so long for that, but man has it been difficult trying to find time to just sit down and write; most of that has been planned since I first started writing the first part, but I wasn't able to find the time to actually write it until yesterday between -still- getting slammed with overtime, and then having to pack up both the home and the office/lab because the company ended up pulling out of my area. But fear not, I still have a job, so I'm gonna be okay. Sigh. At least it's done now, and with some actual plot progression in this chapter to boot. Hopefully, I can get back to my previous schedule of one chapter every other week... Hopefully. We'll see.

Oh, bonus points if you caught what Neo was counting! Shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Update: While I will still respond to most reviews via message, two of the reviews this chapter have received thus far contain what I can see becoming frequently asked questions so I'll answer them here.

Q: Do Cinder and Co. know that Lee is from a different world?

A: That is what Lee has told them. It's mentioned outright during Lee's not-romantic lunch date with Neo back in Immersion Part 4, but it can also be assumed that he has told each of them at some point over the six months he's been on Remnant. Whether or not they believe him is a different can of worms altogether though, which I may or may not open at some point.

Q: Lee's black?

A: Yes, yes he is. Half, and I didn't exactly draw attention to it before now (though I did mention it during the first arc while he was observing Emerald, and the Dossier after Networking mentions that his skin is "light brown", as compared to Emerald's being listed as "medium brown" on the wiki), so there's no need to feel like Church when he found out that Tucker was black ^_^

Until next time,

-C.S.

Update: Orrrrr I can go to working sixtyish plus hours a week. That's cool too. Lol. I'm still working on this though! Despite the insane work schedule, I have been working on this pretty regularly, but I kept getting stuck in the action sequence for next chapter. I won't spoil it for you guys before I finish, but so far I've got about 2.5 thousand words of setting and action, and am probably only halfway through the latter, so I expect this will be one of my longer chapters by the time I finish writing it (hopefully within the next few weeks). Thanks for staying with me so far!

-Cerulean