Your Midnight Scribe : You're half correct. While its true it was supposed to represent Mettle, my idea of how Mettle works isn't what you guessed it to be. It was explained a bit when Ironwood explained why he only wanted to use his semblance as a last resort, but basically it makes him take decisions he would have otherwise hesitated to take. So yes, the point is that every line that isn't said is stuff that Ironwood hesitated on and needed Mettle for a snap decision.
Emerald wasn't feeling too well. Ever since they had came back from Haven, Salem had been... unusually attentive to both Mercury and herself. Mercury had fully accepted their new situation, but to her everything was just... unnerving.
She had never really tried to figure out what kind of mess she had been brought in. To her, this was what Cinder wanted and so it meant it must be the right thing to do. How could the only person to have ever found value in her be wrong ?
But now that she was alone, without Cinder, she couldn't help but notice everything that surrounded her, and questions started filling her mind. Questions she desperately didn't want to answer.
At least, there were other people she could talk to now. Well, it wasn't always a good thing, especially when Tyrian was involved, but Hazel was a lot nicer than she had initially thought. During their stay in Salem's castle, and later when they took the Grimm whale to Atlas, he was always there to help her when she needed, even if he acted as if she didn't matter.
Salem herself was coming to see her every now and then, to the point where she had become used to the grimm queen enough so as not to flinch at her sight. She still was weirding her out, but not to the point where Emerald would rather be anywhere else than in her presence.
It had started rather unexpectedly, with Salem walking in on her training sessions and complimenting her skills. Then, the dark queen they were following had started talking with her. Not like Cinder did, expecting her to blindly follow her orders after having decided on everything herself, but rather as someone she wanted to hear the opinion of.
For days after beginning their trip towards Atlas, Salem had continuously asked for advice on how to steal things or how to move inside a secure facility without anyone thinking it was strange. All things she had extensive knowledge of due to her time spent stealing just to survive. They weren't skills she was very proud of having, but it still felt great knowing someone found her useful. It wasn't something she had felt ever since her time with Cinder in Vale.
Emerald missed Cinder. Even after spending so much time with other people, the woman that had first had faith in her was all she ever wanted. She was the only one Emerald ever wanted to work for.
"Your loyalty is admirable." once said Salem as they were nearing the city of Atlas, "But are you sure she is someone deserving of such loyalty ? Are you sure she hasn't forgotten about you already ?"
"Of course she hasn't !" objected Emerald, quicker than she had wanted, "I know that she'll be happy to have me back by her side as soon as she comes back !"
"Oh, dear child..." pitied Salem, just barely loud enough for Emerald to hear her, "I'm afraid she has already replaced you."
After killing Clover using Qrow's own sword, Tyrian came back to his queen as soon as he could. There, he relayed his part of the operation, knowing Salem didn't need to be told about what else had went on.
"You did great tying up their best elements Tyrian." said Salem, "It is a shame Watts got caught, but he still will be able to deal considerable damage to Ironwood's forces from the inside. For an initial bout, it would seem this was quite successful."
"What about Cinder my queen ?" asked Tyrian, "Did she act as you expected ?"
"She did yes, and it seems her attempt, while resulting in a failure on her side, gave our dear general quite the scare, and allowed for someone else to steal the Relic for us." answered Salem, "Speaking of, Cinder will be coming soon with someone we have both heard of, and had thought of recruiting."
"Who ?" asked Tyrian, remembering no such thing.
"A certain Neo Politan that caused quite the destructive event in Vale several years ago." replied Salem, "You are to act as if we have no knowledge of who she is in front of Cinder. Tell Hazel to do the same."
"May I ask why my queen ?" asked Tyrian.
"You may." answered Salem, "You see, while little Cinder is unaware of it, it would appear that this Neo has quite the grudge against her."
"Then wouldn't it mean Cinder's life could be in danger if we don't warn her of it ?" pointed out Tyrian, not that he minded.
"That is exactly the point Tyrian." said Salem, "You know I've been trying to get Emerald to take Cinder's place as our maiden haven't you ?"
"Yes." answered Tyrian, not sure where she was going with this.
"Well, Emerald seems to be quite devoted to Cinder." explained Salem, "If we were to kill her outright, the child might turn on us. And while it would be best if Emerald dealt the killing blow herself, it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan, just in case."
"Ooooh, I see..." said Tyrian with a cackle, "Let someone else do it for us, yes..."
"Besides." added Salem, "If Cinder doesn't know how much we already know of her new helper, then she is bound to make mistakes in her lies to us."
Neo wasn't sure she liked the idea of driving head first inside a giant grimm whale, but Cinder's insistence on going there meant there was little choice. She sucked up the dread she was filling and landed inside the creature of pure death and destruction.
Cinder guided her through the innards of the beast, as if knowing exactly where she was going, until they arrived in front of a throne made out of bones, where a impressive pale white woman dressed in black was sitting in. Cinder walked up and knelt without hesitation, but Neo took a moment to observe her before walking up behind her.
Name : Salem
Age : Infinite
Level : 30 (100%)
Class : Grimm [The pools of grimm corrupted your body so much there is nothing left of your old class. Deal 1d12 bonus damage to aura]
Path : The world is mine [You believe your own happiness is worth more than anything else in the world, and you won't let anyone stand in your way]
Title : The Black Queen
HP : Infinite
STR : 24
CON : 26
DEX : 22
INT : 28
WIS : 36
CHA : 26
Status effects :
Unknown
Defenses :
AC : 34
For : 35
Ref : 36
Will : 40
Neo shivered at what she could already see. She had a feeling that Unknown in Salem's status effects was actually several things, because she doubted one status effect alone could explain everything that looked wrong in her status.
The age being infinite was somewhat expected, given she was supposed to be as immortal as Ozpin was, but the infinite in her HP meant there was literally no way to kill her. Then, the stats were ridiculously high, even for a level 30, and both her aura and semblance was missing. It could be a result of that grimm class, but then it didn't explain why that wasn't a side effect mentioned within it.
Any hope Neo might have had of killing the one woman behind Cinder's plans was quickly thrown away because of this. She'd have to settle for the fire witch next to her.
Lost in her thoughts, Neo missed parts of what the two said, only tuning back in when Cinder presented the Relic to Salem.
"The Relic of Knowledge. I took it right from under Ironwood's nose." said Cinder.
Neo blinked in disbelief. Was Cinder trying to get herself stabbed in the back ?
Unknown to her, Salem was actually having a hard time not to burst out laughing at the audacity of Cinder's words. Normally, she would have been angry, but this was so ridiculous she couldn't even muster any anger to begin with. Tyrian, coming out of the shadows being Salem, was the only one to speak up.
"Outsmarting the general speaks less to your intellect and..." he started before remembering he shouldn't point out that Neo had been the one to do the work, "More to his. After all, you were outsmarted by those children first."
The rest of the discussion only served to piss Neo even more, and she was seriously starting to consider dropping her best shot at revenge just so she could stab Cinder in the gut before running away.
Neo noticed Emerald, Mercury and Hazel come inside the room, and Emerald being quickly shut off by Cinder when she had tried to run towards her.
"So devoted to someone so incompetent." said Tyrian with a click of his tongue, clearly disappointed in how Cinder 'rewarded' the loyalty of her 'assets'.
Neo zoned out of the rest of the conversation. She needed to plan her next move, hopefully either Ironwood or Ruby and her friends would create a situation she could take advantage of.
Despite numerous warnings from Salem not to get out, Cinder was hell bent on leaving for the Amity Colosseum, to Neo's dismay. Going there was the last thing she wanted to do, for numerous reasons. The Colosseum was in the middle of nowhere, had plenty of openings for Cinder to run out of and had the capacity to float. It was a terrible spot for an ambush, especially one on a maiden.
Moreover, while Ruby hadn't been very talkative on the subject, Neo could tell the Colosseum was important for something, and she'd rather avoid anything related to making it easier for Cinder or Salem to win. Even if she couldn't kill the latter, she had no wish to help her after she had created the situation that had caused Roman to die.
Most importantly though, it was the fact Salem had been so intent on keeping Cinder close to her. She might not know how strong exactly the grimm queen was, but what Neo knew for sure what that she didn't want to be anywhere close to Cinder when Salem would realize what she had been up to. Her wrath was not one she wanted to deal with.
Then, Emerald came along, which proved to make the situation even worse. Not only did Neo had no choice but to follow Cinder unless she wished to be replaced by Emerald and lose her chance at guiding Cinder towards her own grave, but now she also had to deal with the green thief should she ever want to kill Cinder during this sortie.
She really couldn't wait for this to be over with.
Salem clicked her tongue as she felt Cinder leave the whale towards the outskirts of Atlas. She really didn't want to lose her until she deemed Emerald ready for her succession, and leaving her alone with Neo would make that risk greatly increase.
Well, at least Emerald was with her, so if the worst happened they'd still have the Fall maiden on their side, given Cinder was smart enough to think of her own ally as she died.
Still, if Cinder came back, she would have to review her plans. She was really getting far too bold.
Sending her on a mission without Neo would probably do the trick.
To be continued on October 30th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 18 (84%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : 80/95
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 19
INT : 22
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 27(31)
For : 20
Ref : 26
Will : 24