Chapter 48: Foe
"Reduced into tears, cold winter's gust..."
Nex made it halfway across the seedy districts of Mantle before his semblance poked the back of his neck, telling him something was definitely up.
Merchants sat by the street, peddling their wares in the shadows. Bones of desiccated animals hung from their tents. They chimed as a breeze ghosted over the snow. Fires flickered beside the tents and some of the alleys. Warm, yellow light flitted through the windows of the shacks that lined the aptly named Bone Alley.
Chatter filled the air, droves of hooded figures like him haggling for one thing or another. Be it information or something else equally as valuable.
Nex groaned, twisting on his heel. He spied a familiar silhouette clinging to the shadows, garbed in white under her drab, brown coat. Her electric-blue eyes shimmered in the dark.
Nex craned his head to the right, mouthing, in there.
He stepped into the alley, taking a whiff of age-old rum and age-old meat.
"Nice day for fishing, ain't it?" Nex said, leaning against the graffitied wall.
Winter Schnee's eyes roved over the alley, before she shrugged her hood off. Her right hand remained on the sabre fastened to her hip. "Indeed. I understand that we're here on the same business?"
"If it's a bad case of death you're talking about..." Nex replied. "Any leads from high-up?"
Winter smiled, bobbing her chin into a clipped nod. "The underground network of Mantle remains largely occupied by denizens of the underworld. However, some of these areas remain uncharted. I thought it best to start combing the tunnels leading to the outskirts of the city."
Admittedly, it made sense. Their mystery scientist might have left some of his labs intact, judging from how he should have been in a hurry to flee.
Nex shrugged, turning to the mouth of the empty alley. About a dozen meters away. "What are we waiting for then? Let's go."
He almost made it a step when Winter snatched the back of his hood.
"Not so fast," Winter said.
A shiver crawled up his spine.
"We still haven't talked about that," Winter whispered. "I'm sure you know what that is, don't you?"
"Errr..." Nex said, facing his girlfriend's big sister. "Weiss and I haven't actually had sex yet? We agreed to wait after marriage—"
Winter swatted his bicep. "Idiot. If you're serious about my sister, then you should observe the proper protocol for courtship."
Nex blinked. "There's a protocol for courtship?"
It was probably dating, right? They already did that a lot.
"Tell me, what do you think must happen before marriage?" Winter asked almost like she was talking to a small child.
"Dates." Nex grinned. "You know, what happens when a boy and a girl like each other and they agree to be a couple."
"My little sister was right," Winter said, heaving a small sigh. "You are denser than steel."
What?
She huffed and released his hood, her breaths coming out as white puffs.
"Well, I won't have it." Winter shook her head. "My father may approve of your relationship, but I don't. Not until you prove your sincerity."
"Prove my sincerity?" Nex said. "How?"
"Telling you what to do would defeat the purpose of your test, wouldn't it?" Winter said. "Come. For now, we must focus on the task at hand."
Nex watched Winter as she strode out the alley and pulled her hood back on. He scratched the back of his. What was it about people and being vague? Would it not be better if she just told what she wanted out of him? If they were going to be family in future, it would be favourable if they could get along and just say whatever it was on their minds.
Nexus Shade kept a respectable distance from Winter Schnee as she weaved through the crowd, keeping a hand on her weapon at all times. As for him, a couple of men shot him thin smiles and nods and looks of recognition.
After all, Mantle was where everything began.
And ended.
No doubt some of them still remembered the emancipated boy, his eyes shimmering under a hood very similar to the one he was wearing right now as his hand slipped into a rich man's pocket.
Small-time theft. Petty. Too big for the little boy to know what he had been getting into.
Nex sighed, glancing at his calloused hands.
It was simpler back then.
Winter swerved into another dark alley, her boots splashing over a puddle of who-knows-what.
Nex followed her into the unknown, propping a hand against the cold, damp wall.
A a white glyph tinkled and pried the manhole from stone, the stench of sewage and corpses wafting out of the opening. The manhole's lid clattered over the alley floor.
"Watch our six," Winter said as they slipped into the darkness. "I'll take point."
It was one of the numerous entrances to Mantle's underground. The ones not manned by some gang or another at least. Last time he had been in the underworld was when he was running errands for Mekel. But this time, he was running one for Jacques.
Nex nodded, brushing snow off his forearm. "You're the boss."
Ten minutes later, and they were well deep beneath Mantle.
Nex grinned as his eyes darted from one shadow to another, leaning a little bit to the right in case he needed to draw his sword quick. A couple of hoodlums sat by a bonfire ahead, just before a fork.
A cat faunus slapped his knee, laughing as he recounted some story or another. Sticks of skewered boar crackled over the fire, the scent of roasted meat wafting through the wet air.
His stomach grumbled as they loped past the men.
Great.
"You hungry, man?" the cat faunus said, fingering the rifle-sword hybrid on his lap. "Sit down and take a bite."
Nex tilted his head as the four other men shot him looks. "Maybe some other time."
"Your funeral." The cat faunus chuckled. "Ain't everyday we get some boar to ourselves. Not the Boarbatusk kind at least. Right, boys?"
The five men broke into raucous laughter, their voices bouncing off the sewer walls and drowning the pitter-patter of water.
Nex followed Winter into the left fork.
Approximately twenty minutes later, and Pareidolia poked the back of his skull.
His eyes narrowed.
Red vines slithered between the cracks on the walls, probably too faint and too inconspicuous for anyone else to see.
"Winter," Nex said, jogging to catch up with the taller woman, well over a dozen meters ahead. "I think we got a tiny problem."
"Problem?" Winter asked, slowing down to a stroll. "Food can wait when we return to the manse."
Nex placed a hand on her shoulder, pointing at the red in the stone. "It ain't about that. Look around."
The red veins pulsed, lighting up the ceiling.
The same light came from down below, staining the water red.
Nex sniffed the air, the familiar tang of sulfur and blood suffusing his nose.
Ruby.
Ruby Rose when she used her semblance that one time.
But then again, maybe his brain was just playing tricks on him.
Winter's eyebrows furrowed, her hand hovering over her sword. She squinted as if she was noticing the veins for the very first time. And she probably was.
Something about the place made it... hard to see them. Hard enough that even his semblance took a while to notice.
"What are they?" Winter asked.
"Creepy little things stuck in the walls," Nex said, Hrunting rasping as he inched it out of Vigilance. "Those corpses had them too, right? Under their skin, even."
Whatever these red veins were, those corpses had them running through their blackened flesh.
Not exactly a comforting thought.
"You're right," Winter said, glaring at the walls. "On guard. Don't even try touching it—"
The water burst upward and splashed his face with cold gunk.
He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, drawing Hrunting in the same breath.
"Rargghhh!"
The Grimm lunged. A cloud of smoke, and the bite of rotten flesh. Whatever it was, it came from down below, past the murky waters and deep in the earth.
Vigilance expanded with the ring of steel.
The Grimm's claws skittered off his shield.
Nex grinned and twisted, his sword nicking a black, red-veined arm.
It whooshed through air. The thing was simply too fast.
The five-something-foot, man-like Grimm shrieked as it leapt deeper into the tunnels. Running. On all fours, water splashing its limbs. Probably because it realized it was alone against two huntsmen. Which meant it was old enough to think.
His extra pair of ears flattened against his scalp.
Not good.
Winter flicked her sabre, a white glyph tinkling as it spat out a Nevermore. The pure-white bird zoomed after the Grimm, flying close to the roof.
"My familiar will follow it," Winter said, pursing her lips. "I never expected these tunnels to play host to unfamiliar Grimm."
Gods forbid the thing made it to the surface, scaring some civilian and attracting more of its kind.
The red veins pulsed as if in agreement.
"Well, at least we're on the right track," Nex said, placing Vigilance back on his hip. "Nifty little trick by the way. Can Weiss do that too?"
Her Nevermore was a construct of aura and dust, welded together and given shape by the Schnee glyphs—as his semblance deduced.
"I doubt it," Winter said as they trailed after the Grimm. "Weiss means well, but her talents have always been, how should I put this..."
"Not up to stuff?" Nex said. "That's why she's so serious about all this, right?"
After all, had she been a prodigy like Ruby Rose or maybe even Pyrrha Nikos, then there would have been no need for her to put in as much effort as she did into her studies.
Winter hummed, snapping a quick scan of the veins with her scroll. "I wouldn't say that. Perhaps her glyphs might allow her to do something else entirely."
"You're referring to the fact that semblances evolve," Nex said, nodding as they resumed walking. "Never experienced it myself though."
"What is your semblance?" Winter asked. "My sister has been quite vague in our correspondence."
Nex parted a cobweb away. "I can see the future. Or something like that."
"You can see the future?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "What future do you see for the two of you then?"
Nex shrugged. "The future's always changing. Who knows if it'll stay the same tomorrow."
Maybe if he told her who he really was then she would leave him. Throw him to the wolves. There would be no future for the two of them together then.
"True that." Winter lengthened her strides. "I myself knew little of my future when I chose the path of a huntress."
"Why be a huntress then?" Nex said. "You were the heiress of the richest company in the world, right?"
"I had inspiration," Winter said, a rare grin stretching her face. "I suppose we have that one commonality."
"Don't tell me," Nex said, mirroring her grin.
His eyes twitched as he glanced at Winter's sabre. How could he have not connected it all before? The golden wolf in her car. Her mom and his mom being partners. The odd familiarity she felt when he mentioned his mom during their first drinking session.
"You speak to the one and only personal apprentice of Amariss Shade," Winter said, raising her chin high. "Everything I know about dust and swordplay, your mother taught me. Well, before she, you know..." She cleared her throat. Her grin faded. "You didn't just lose a mother that day. I lost a mentor too."
Nex swallowed a thick ball of spit, his voice plunging into a whisper. "It's all because that man left her to die like the drunken moron he is."
"Harsh words," Winter said. "Though not entirely undeserved."
"I got more than just harsh words up here." Nex tapped his temple. "But I don't exactly get paid for saying them, right?"
"No. But you get paid for supplying Atlas with research advancements, whether independently or not," Winter said, chuckling. "Also as per standard protocol, the military may call upon you at any time to render services in the field."
Nex fixed her a deadpan stare. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"
If it was, then, no, his unexpected venture in the Atlesian military was not a particularly funny joke.
Especially not since he still had some loose ends to tie up, preferably before said loose ends laced around his feet and sent him sprawling against the floor.
And after that?
Well, maybe his current circumstances were the key to an actual future. As long as he actually did his job and managed to not get caught at least. Doubtful Ironwood would let him go if the big man found out just how many crimes he had enabled, indirectly or not.
"My colleagues always seem to find me quite amusing," Winter mumbled. "I suppose there truly is no accounting for taste."
More like her colleagues found her downright terrifying. His brain spat out the image of Winter Schnee with her too-serious face, cracking a joke while some poor soldier choked out a laugh. But then again, there was no point in popping his soon-to-be in-law's Winter-bubble, was there?
Thus, they followed the Grimm's trail. A trail bound by the red veins running through the walls and doused with the tang of blood.
"Shhh..." Nex said, his extra pair of ears stiffening as they neared another fork. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Hear that?"
Footsteps splashed over sewage, just ahead of them. Faint. But they were there.
A lot of them in fact, the sound almost like he was back in Vale, infiltrating Taurus' White Fang.
Winter pressed her back against the bend, green slime dripping over her coat. "Is there danger?"
"Probably," Nex said, parking a hand on his sword. "I'll scout ahead. If it's okay with you, boss."
"Be cautious," Winter muttered, fixing him a look. "I don't think my sister will forgive me if anything happens to you."
Nex grinned, skulking past the specialist and into the left fork. His mind flashed back to that night. "I don't think she'll forgive me either."
He stepped over the corpse lying in the mud, his eyes narrowing at the hole on its pale back.
A human.
A beggar, even.
Stabbed from behind and through the heart, the wound caked with dried blood.
Or were those the very same vines in the walls?
Whoever killed the poor chap was no Grimm at least. Unless the Grimm from earlier learned how to use a stiletto. And unless the Grimm turned back the way it came, with the corpse facing the other way around. No doubt fleeing from whatever it was ahead.
The footsteps thundered as Nex turned left into a wide vestibule leading to four different tunnels. They were joined by the grunts of masked men and women lifting little crates and giant boxes. And, at the center of the White Fang goons, stood a very familiar thief.
"Fucking hell," Nex mumbled, glaring at Roman Torchwick as he barked out orders. "Why does it always have to be you guys?"
Seriously, he even flew to Atlas just to escape and celebrate his girlfriend's eighteenth birthday.
Were they following him or something?
Nex snuck back to where he left Winter.
"What did you see?" Winter asked.
"Nothing much," Nex said. "Just some White Fang goons and Roman Torchwick."
"I see." Winter frowned. "What could a terrorist cell and their criminal accomplice be up to in these tunnels?"
The golden question. Not a lot of answers since his fellow thief neglected to mention that their venture would lead them deep into the bowels of Mantle.
"Up to no good, obviously," Nex said. "Could it be a coincidence?"
"Regardless if it's a coincidence or not, we can't stand by and let them do as they please," Winter said, drawing her sword. "My familiar will trail the Grimm. Our new priority is the White Fang."
Nex smirked, fingering the sleek barrels of his sword. "You know what? I still have to repay Torchwick for that shot."
And for selling him out halfway to Cinder. It was nothing personal. No. Definitely not. Only business.
They made their way to the vestibule, Winter bringing up their rear and him at the front with his sword and shield at the ready.
"By the authority of the Atlesian military," Winter boomed as she leapt onto the railing, overlooking the swarm of goons. "Surrender. You are all under arrest for various crimes against humanity—"
Bullets whizzed through the air, the muzzles of semi-automatics flashing.
Nex ducked under Vigilance. Hard light covered his sides like a cocoon. The bullets bounced off like pellets. He sprinted down the stairs, dogging after Winter as she dived into the crowd.
White glyphs spun around her, summoning a dozen Beowolves.
The white wolves crashed into the goons around her, snarling.
Steel ground against claw.
Nex batted a katana aside. He slammed Hrunting's hilt into the woman's temple and kicked her to the wall.
Pink.
His ears stiffened.
Pareidolia nudged the back of his spine.
Nex spun, parrying the stiletto. Nothing but silver in the dark. Near invisible if not for his eyes and his semblance.
Sparks flew as Neo hopped away, a hair's breadth from Hrunting's tip.
Nex pressed the trigger. Hrunting's hilt lengthened, driving the sword into stone.
The wall cracked.
Hrunting laid an inch away from piercing her right eye, strands of pink and chestnut hair fluttering down the floor.
Neo winked. She smirked as she patted the shaft of his spear. What'cha doing?, she mouthed, resting the tip of her parasol on the floor.
"Haven't you heard?" Nex said.
He chuckled as he withdrew his spear and raised his shield. The sharp edges spun, shrinking his shield into a round buckler. His legs bent into the stance Pyrrha Nikos used.
Best not let his friend get up close and personal.
"I'm a good Atlesian nark now," Nex said. "I even pay my taxes like a law-abiding sheep... I mean, citizen."
Neo cackled, no sound coming from her parted lips. Fuck off, Nexie, she mouthed as she flicked her parasol.
The midget shattered into glass.
Vigilance caught her heel with a dull thump.
Neo vaulted over him, fading into light as if she never existed.
A goon roared and brought down his club.
Nex shrugged, sidestepping the hunk of metal. He pressed his shoulder behind Vigilance and rammed into the goon's chest.
The man soared past a couple of goons, joining the ring of sprawled-out bodies around Winter.
"Torchwick?" Nex said as he stopped beside her.
"Escaped," Winter said, scowling as she attached her sabre to her hip.
"And the cargo?" Nex raised an eyebrow, glancing around the empty room.
Oh. Great. Neo.
"Codename Neopolitan," Winter said, shooting him a look. "You seem to be well-acquainted with her."
Nex half-flinched, half-shrugged, thunder zapping his spine. "Oh, you know. Just a meet and greet in Mantle back when I was a kid."
Nothing but the truth. It had to count for something, right? For a compulsive liar like him, it probably did.
Winter quirked an eyebrow. "She would've been a child as well."
Nex nodded, Hrunting transforming back as he sheathed it inside Vigilance. "Yep. I didn't have the best childhood. Reckon she didn't have one either."
Winter sighed and shook her head. "Such is the way of our world."
She pulled out her scroll, pressing a few buttons before she tucked it back in her coat.
"Are you ready to return?" Winter said.
"We're not finishing the investigation?" Nex said.
"I've already reported our findings," Winter said. "My colleagues will simply follow up on the White Fang."
"What about the Grimm?" Nex nudged a down goon with his foot, eliciting a sharp moan.
It was a wonder Neo failed to whisk them away as well. Unless it was Roman's game all along. Batting for the other side and kicking them while they were down. Knowing how the coward could be, it probably was.
"I'll need to personally inform General Ironwood," Winter said. "Perhaps he will mobilize a more specialized unit."
"And the corpses?" Nex asked.
"Another day," Winter said. "It wouldn't do to overextend ourselves."
The red veins shimmered behind her, still spreading like vines through the moss-covered walls, even as they turned back the way they came.
"Mistress Winter, Master Shade, welcome back," Klein said, pulling the door inside. His nose wrinkled as he looked at them from head to toe. "Your afternoon wasn't dull, I see."
Winter strolled through the doorway, nodding. "No. It wasn't at all."
Nex shrugged, inhaling the musk of a metric fuckton of rugs and carpets. He followed Winter into the manse. The door led to the servant quarters, Winter having insisted that they avoid soiling the carpets in the main hall.
And it was as well, as they tracked mud across the marble tiles. A maid with immaculate, pinned-up blonde hair rushed after the stains with a mop and a bucket. Apparently, it was not Winter's first time coming home looking like she wrestled a couple of pigs down in the gutters of Mantle.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the main hall, the grime from their boots already stuck in some poor maid's mop.
"Nex!" Weiss beamed as she raced across the blue carpet, skidding to a halt in front of them. "And Winter."
"And Winter?" Winter said, clicking her tongue. A smile played on the edge of her lips. "Your enthusiasm for me seems to have been stolen by your boyfriend."
Said boyfriend's eyes darted between the two sisters. He took a half-step back.
Well, what could he possibly say? He was a thief. Or had been. It was exactly what he did for a living.
Weiss huffed, placing a hand on her skirted waist. "Of course I missed you. It's been so long."
"It has," Winter said. "How are you?"
"Oh, sister, I have so much to tell you," Weiss said. She snickered into her fist. "Although, I'd prefer coffee after you stop smelling like a Boarbatusk under the sun."
"Very well, little sister," Winter said as she strolled up the wide stairs lined with white fur. "I shall leave you to your man then. Try not to join him in the bath."
Nex coughed and whispered, "Proper courtship, my ass..."
Weiss flushed scarlet, glaring at a trio of giggling maids and causing them to scurry off. "How improper. Nex and I may have shared a bed, but we never and we agreed to—"
Nex winked, grinning at her.
Winter was already way up the stairs and long gone. Definitely into her fancy quarters. Come to think of it, just how fancy could the guest room be?
"Nexus Shade," Weiss said. Her eyes narrowed as she fidgeted with the hem of her dark blue dress. "Where have you been with my sister?"
"Mission," Nex said, fingering his mud-caked scroll. The one thing that contained the evidence. "Promise I'll tell you all about it." He leaned in, closer, whispering into her ear. "If you happen to sneak into my room after curfew, Miss Schnee."
Weiss smirked, placing a finger on her chin as he pulled away. "You drive a hard bargain, Mr Shade. But I think I can manage." She swept her arm back and pointed up the stairs. "Now, off you go. Don't forget to wear something nice for dinner."
Nex bowed down to his waist, mirroring her smirk as he lifted his eyes. "Your wish is my command, my queen. Just how nice do you want me to look?"
"Wear a shirt." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Don't forget to wear your pants."
Nex laughed, straightening his back. "Plus to shave and cut my hair?"
"The hair can stay," Weiss said, twirling a lock of her short bob—now looking more like a messy wolf cut. "The way you wear it long seems rather... dashing."
Nex pushed back his fringe, parting it to the left. He smiled at his partner and trudged up the stairs.
A maid led him to his room through a corridor lined with gold-encrusted portraits and glimmering porcelain vases. Some of the portraits contained artworks he cared little for, while others had Weiss and her family in various poses.
The first at the end of the hall had a Weiss wrapped in a pale blue blanket, held in the arms of a taller, older woman. Probably her mom. Winter reached up to her chest, her cheeks still plump with baby fat as she grinned straight at the camera. Jacques loomed over them—a shadow in a suit.
All of them were smiling.
And the further he walked down the corridor, the more the smiles faded from their lips.
The maid stopped at the very end of the hall, beside a portrait of a lone white-haired boy, plucking the petals off a blue rose.
"Master Shade, here are your quarters," the brown-haired teen said, giving him a short bow. The cat whiskers on her cheeks fluttered. "Everything you'll need is already in there, along with your luggage. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask."
Nex scratched the back of his head. "Well, I need boxes of assorted dust, a new scroll, some buttery Atlesian bagels, and a mug of your best strawberry shake. Think you can deliver them to my door?"
The faunus maid smiled, bending her knees and lifting her skirt into a curtsy. "It'll be my pleasure."
The very first thing Nexus Shade did when he stepped into his room was shut the midnight-blue curtains close. He locked the door and kicked off his boots. Afterwards, he inspected his bags. Finding everything still there and untouched, he moved on to turning the furniture upside down. The desk contained nothing but dust and the scent of apples.
Under the bed?
Maybe.
Maybe even behind the mirror, the slab of fancy glass taller than him.
Nex shrugged, pumping aura into his semblance.
Nothing out of place. No bugs whatsoever. Not even a peephole anywhere.
Maybe Jacques really was an ally in all of this.
Or, rather, Jacques still needed him for his twisted vision. Which was definitely why the guy treated him like another son. Did the man plan it all along, even before Beacon? While Weiss and him were still strangers? Did Jacques rig the way Atlas Primary chose its pairs? Or did he simply pay the principal off?
No matter.
It was fine. A thing of the past, even.
Nex hummed as he glanced at the mirror, stripping off his coat.
He could play the long game, roll with the punches, and go with the flow.
He grinned and pulled out his scroll, booting it up into his real account. Something Ruby Rose never had the means to access. And Weiss Schnee never knew he had even though her prints could unlock the device.
He had to have a few tricks up his sleeve after all, just in case shit hit the toilet.