Beautiful Destroyer

Chapter Three

"I am FREE!"
-Well of Ascension

It occurred to Vin as the days passed that being Louise's familiar was the first legal occupation that she had ever had. Reen had brought her from thieving crew to thieving crew, and Kelsier had recruited her from crime to treason. But Vin was a skaa half-breed with a noble father. It wasn't legal for her even to exist.

She had never had a job that she could consider safe either, until now. Her crews always had to stay one step ahead of the nobility they scammed, and if they didn't, Vin had to know when to run. Here, there was no risk of a sudden, violent death–or if there was, it was so distant that Vin couldn't even see it. Thieving crews had a greater chance of reward, but most of that went to the crew leader with little or none of it trickling down to Vin.

And Vin did get paid, though not in coin. Each day, she learned a little more of this strange new world. She followed Louise to her classes where several different teachers lectured the young nobles on magic. It wasn't Allomancy, Vin could tell that for certain, but the teachers assumed their students knew so much that Vin did not, and they never bothered to explain the basics.

Louise, though, was remarkably free with that information.

"There are four main branches of magic," Louise explained one night while Vin was brushing her hair. "Earth, wind, fire, and water. Most of the branches are fairly intuitive; if you want to burn something you use a fire spell, and if you want to douse something you use a water spell. But water spells can also be used to create magical potions like healing elixirs, and the top level wind spells can create illusions like invisibility. There are even basic fire spells, come to think of it, that make no fire at all and just create heat."

Magic, it seemed, was not kept a secret from the skaa (or commoners as they were called here), and Louise enjoyed having someone who wanted to listen to her. Vin noticed that very few of the other nobility treated Louise with any measure of respect.

"One of your teachers mentioned something called Alchemy," Vin prompted. She didn't like asking direct questions; that would give Louise too good of an idea of what she was planning, but Lord Ruler, she was close!

"Yes, that's earth magic," Louise explained. "It turns certain materials into other materials. There's a thief who started running around recently who breaks into buildings by turning walls into mud, calls himself Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt, or Clod, or something."

"I remember your teacher turned clay into metal." The magic of this land was fueled by willpower, which the mage regenerated while sleeping. Allomancy required the right alloy of metal.

Louise waved a hand dismissively. "It's not as useful as it sounds. Only the most skilled earth mages can turn something into gold, and even then they can't do it enough to cause inflation. Some nobles equip their guards with arms and armor they've made themselves, but what's really fun is when the armor fights without a person inside."

"Incredible." Vin took care to sound awed when Louise spoke; the girl seemed to like that. "Do you know anyone who can do that?" Vin was careful not to ask if Louise could; her magical skills were extremely limited, and Vin had learned quickly that the quickest way to incite her wrath was to remind her of that.

"Any earth mage can, and the stronger the mage is, the stronger the golem is. Guiche–he's in some of my classes–he used to create bronze golems all the time last year, until he realized that no one was impressed."

Guiche … he was one of the two people who had seen Vin impersonate a noblewoman. The second time he saw her, he didn't pay her a second glance, but the third time he saw her he did a double take, squawked like a chicken, tried to pass it off as a coughing fit, and walked away. They hadn't spoken since.

Siesta was the second of the two, and she was Vin's other source of information. While Louise was happy to educate her on magical theory, she grew annoyed when Vin asked her cultural questions. Siesta was more accommodating, assuming Vin was willing to tell her a story in exchange.

The maid had been impressed when she first found her impersonating a noblewoman, and had become enthralled with Vin's "adventure's" as Lady Valette.

"Did any of them ask you to dance?" Siesta asked one night as the two of them did laundry together after Vin told her about her first ball.

"Four or five," Vin replied, scrubbing one of Louise's shirts in an outdoor fountain. "I turned them down, though."

"You did?"

Vin nodded. "I never learned to dance, and if I spent the whole song stepping on people's toes, they'd consider that unladylike."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. "I would love to attend a ball, just once. It would be just like Lady Cinder and the Seven Suitors." That was probably a book she had read. Siesta could read, which seemed to be more common among peasants in Tristain than among skaa in Luthadel. Reen had taught Vin to read in case she needed to impersonate a noblewoman, but the writing here was complete gibberish.

"Hey Siesta," Vin said after a moment. "All nobles are mages here, right?"

She nodded. "Aren't they like that where you're from?"

Vin shook her head. "No. Most aren't, and those who are often keep it a secret just in case they need an edge. But here, the children of mages are also mages, right?"

She smiled. "Of course. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any mages left."

"What happens when a mage and a commoner have children together?"

Siesta frowned thoughtfully. "Good question. Usually? Nothing."

"Because it's not allowed?" In the Final Empire, any nobleman who bedded a skaa was expected to kill her before she could give birth. The Steel Ministry was charged with hunting down any violators of that law–as well as any half-breed children–and killing them.

"Oh, it's allowed," Siesta said. "Plenty of noblemen keep a mistress or two–or five–and I've read several books on the topic. The Lusty Albion Maid is one of my favorites actually; I'll have to lend it to you sometime. Though none of my books deal with the main characters' children."

"But it is allowed?" Vin asked.

Siesta nodded, then she leaned in close conspiratorially. "Why? Has someone … caught your eye?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just curious about … half noble, half commoner mages." Like me. If she ever had to risk getting caught using Allomancy, it'd be nice to know if she could get executed for it.

"I imagine they do," Siesta said. "I can't think of any specifically, but even a mage without any money would have to live as a commoner. Wands, spellbooks, teachers, those are expensive, and without them, a mage is just like anyone else."

"But someone like that could exist, right?"

"They'd have to," Siesta said. "The nobility wouldn't speak of them or accept them, but there would have to be some people like that."

And with that, Vin had all she needed to put her plan in motion.

WWW

Her plan began with Guiche being slapped in the face.

"I can't believe you, Guiche! You're a lying, despicable, dirty scoundrel!"

"Monmon, dear, please, this is not what it looks like. There is no need to jump to conclusions. I was just–"

"Dumped."

"I was going to say … what?"

"You're dumped. I'm dumping you, you lying, cheating creep! Go frolick with some innocent first-year if you want someone gullible enough to believe your steaming pile of trash!"

Katie, a first-year mage Montmorency had caught Guiche with, cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm breaking up with him too."

"But, Soufflé-Girl–"

"Not my name!"

The two girls stormed off, leaving Guiche with handprints on his face, wine staining his shirt, and a crowd of amused nobles laughing at his misfortune.

Vin made sure she was far away at the time. He would be angry, and whether in Tristain or Luthadel, a noble's wrath could be both fierce and unpredictable.

And it didn't help that the whole mess was Vin's fault. Guiche had been cautious about keeping his affairs secret from other nobles, but commoners were invisible to him. All it took as a couple of false messages, good timing, and the situation burst into flames with nobles at each other's throats.

Kelsier would be proud.

Between his associates and Vin's responsibilities, it was some time before she managed to catch him alone. But she was patient enough to wait, now that she had something to wait for.

Finally, she found him out for a nighttime stroll while she was out doing laundry. She put down her basket and approached him.

"I heard about what happened between you and Lady Montmorency, Lord Guiche." This was no time for false sympathy. It was better to be direct. "I believe I can help."

He glanced at her with a sneer. "Oh, I am glad that my relationship status has reached the lowest of circles, Lady Valette. Or is it just Valette now?"

"It's Vin. And like I said, I can help."

He waved a hand dismissively. "Bah! The day has not come where I have sunk so low as to need a commoner to help this rose blossom."

Rose … that was a kind of flower. Vin didn't understand why he always compared himself to one; they looked nothing alike. "My apologies, Lord Guiche, for wasting your time." She bowed and turned away. Three … two ….

"Wait." Vin stopped. "When you say 'help,' do you mean help me get back together with Montmorency, or that you can set me up with someone else?"

"Either."

"Either? And how exactly would you do this?"

Vin looked him in the eyes. "Tell me, would you rather know, or would you rather be able to deny knowing?"

His eyes widened. "Fair enough. But just to be sure, you're not planning on having your master threaten to blow her up, or poison her, or something like that, right?"

Vin shook her head.

"Alright. Final question: what will it cost me?"

"Eight specific metals, either in flakes or small beads, of very specific alloys."

Guiche nodded. "Sounds simple enough. Once I am reunited with Montmorency, you will have your metals."

Vin shook her head. "I will need two alloys just to start out."

"Fine, fine. What do you need?"

"Brass," she said. "And zinc."

WWW

The next day his hair was neat, his shirt was clean, and Guiche de Gramont was ready to woo!

At least, that's what he told himself five times a minute as he approached Montmorency's table. Ah, sweet Monmon. She sat in the courtyard like a … a golden haired angel. Though, if she was an angel, then in his experience, she was not the sort of seraph to preface her messages with the phrase, "Fear not." And her message was usually divine wrath.

Guiche wished that they could do this somewhere more private. Valette–Vin–had insisted that it be at a location where she could be nearby and had suggested lunchtime. She would be attending her master, and Montmorency would be sitting a small distance away, so it was perfect. In her mind, at least.

But if the peasant's presence was so important, couldn't they have done this at night with less people watching? He could knock on Montmorency's door with Vin off-duty and watching from down the hall, and if her plan worked, then Guiche might finally find out if make-up sex was all it was cracked up to be. Not that he had regular sex to compare it to, but still, he had heard excellent things about it.

Guiche came closer and closer to his perfect lady, ready to put the plan in motion, if one could call it that. The plan consisted of him initiating contact with Montmorency, and Vin assuring him that it would work. That was easy for her to say. If the plan failed, it would be him, not her, who would be publically humiliated for the second time that week.

He glanced at Vin, standing behind Louise's chair, and she gave him a slight nod. Oh, lovely, a nod, that was all the reassurance he needed, now he could go on and defecate over his reputation. He opened his mouth to speak and found it dry. Should he have had another glass of wine? Probably not. He had plenty already, and it wouldn't do for his silver tongue to slur his golden words.

"Lady Montmorency," he said. "You are looking–"

"You."

He swallowed. Montmorency was not always easy to read, but she did not seem to be in a good mood. "Yes. Look, I know that things have been rough between us, but …."

"But what, Guiche? But you expect me to forget all of it, take you back, and fall into your arms all over again? Is that it?"

"Um … yes?" Alright, maybe that wasn't the best thing he could have said, but he sometimes had trouble thinking on the spot, and … and there were tears in her eyes. Oh, Founder, she was crying. Tears were dreadful things. He had never made a girl cry before this, but he knew in his heart that tears were nature's way of telling him that words were no longer adequate for letting him know just how deeply he had screwed–

Montmorency jumped out of her chair, threw her arms around him, and kissed him smack on the lips.

… up. Wha …? His brain struggled to tread water, trying to catch up to the present. He had just been kissed. Well, that was something. That was … quite a bit of something. He probably ought to do something with his mouth instead of letting it hang open. He puckered his lips a bit, but the kiss had already ended.

"You big dummy," she said into his shoulder. "If you ever do that to me again, I'll kill you."

Ah, death threats. Familiar ground at last. That was the only familiar thing about the situation, especially after the crowd, in a supremely surreal moment, began to applaud, but the rest was strange in a way he could get used to.

Yes, he could get used to this very easily.

WWW

Vin waited until the end of the day to confront Guiche. She swallowed the last of the brass and zinc and, Pushing on Louise's emotions slightly, asked for the rest of the night off.

That was the power of the external mental metals; brass could Sooth emotions, making the target more relaxed, and zinc could Riot them, making people more agitated. She had learned to burn brass before she even knew what Allomancy was. She just knew that she could make people more complacent for a short amount each day, more gullible, easier to scam.

Camon, her last crew leader before Kelsier, had used her as a good luck charm, and Vin had used her Allomancy to Sooth away the target's suspicions. When the Steel Ministry had caught up with him, they had hung him in the street with a hook rammed down his throat, just like they did to everyone who blasphemed against Allomancy.

But now, Vin was beyond the jurisdiction of the Steel Ministry, and the Final Empire was a world away.

She found Guiche on the ground floor sitting on the edge of a stone fountain, bragging to other young men his age about his romantic success. She waited for him to notice her, and then kept on waiting as he glanced at her, and then ignored her. It would arouse suspicion if a nobleman stopped everything to talk to a commoner, but as he refilled his goblet, he seemed to be winding up the conversation instead of winding it down.

Could she wait? No. A commoner standing around, doing nothing would seem suspicious, and Guiche and his friends could easily retire as a group. Vin burned zinc, Pulling on his emotions, making him grow nervous and uncomfortable. He began to fidget as he spoke, and as he told his friends how irresistible women found him, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure none of those women could overhear.

"But that's enough for one night," he said finally. "The art of love is as tiring as it is rewarding, and I ought to give my girl a kiss goodnight before she goes to bed."

His friends laughed as he left them behind, and Vin fell into step beside him. "I trust, Lord Guiche, that you are satisfied with the results?"

He stared ahead as he walked, not sparing her a glance. "I have no idea what you are talking about. It was my irresistible charm that won the day; I didn't see you do a thing."

Ah. Vin thought he might try to wriggle out of payment. She considered threatening him, and convince him that she could break up their relationship as quickly as she had restored it, but that was too confrontational. Breeze had given her a few tips about emotional Allomancy, and he was so subtle that most people couldn't even tell when he was manipulating them.

What was it he said? It's about knowing what people expect to feel. If a lord met a beggar and felt overcome with wonder and respect, then when Allomancy wore off he would remember that moment with suspicion.

So what was Guiche feeling? Greed? No, he could create bricks of metal without trouble. What was stopping him was pride. He didn't want to admit that he had needed her help and that he owed her, so he pretended that he didn't. And some of that was her fault. After he realized that he needed her, she had stopped playing the part of the timid peasant.

So she played that part again. She looked down at her feet, slouched her shoulders, and fell a step behind him. And then she Soothed his pride and Rioted his generosity and guilt.

"Ah, don't be that way," he said finally. "It is a small thing you ask, and I find myself in a remarkably good mood." Vin took that good mood and Rioted it further. His face brightened and he smiled as he spoke. "What was it you needed again? More metal?"

Vin feigned surprise and relief, assuming that was what he wanted to see. "Yes, thank you, your Lordship. More zinc and brass, if it's not too much, and tin, pewter, copper, bronze, iron, and steel."

"Of specific alloys?"

"Yes sir."

"I can get you the first few, but transforming substances into iron or steel is a line-class spell."

Well, it was a start. "Can you recommend anyone?"

WWW

"Why, yes, of course I can help!" Professor Colbert said. "Come in. Iron and steel, you said? I'm better with fire, but I can still combine earth with itself at least once. What was it Miss Valliere needed this for?"

"She didn't say, sir." Vin Soothed him slightly. Colbert's office was full of contraptions she didn't recognize, gears and tubes and puzzles inconceivable. "What's that?"

"Ah! That is an invention I'm … inventing. My Happy Snake is going to revolutionize how fire is used in this country. See, what it does is …."

WWW

And Vin was free. The sun had set, the academy slept, and Vin was Mistborn once more. There was no mist in this world, no swirling, white blanket to cover the night, but the night alone was hers, and for the first time since she arrived in this new, green world, she wore her Mistcloak.

She burned copper first. Bronze allowed Allomancers to sense Allomancy, and only copper could block that. Vin didn't know if this world's mages had an equivalent, but she wasn't going to risk exposing herself to find out, so whenever she needed to burn a metal, she burned copper first.

Out of curiosity, she burned bronze. Another Allomancer would emit a pulse, as much felt as heard, and even though she was the only Allomancer in this world, she heard pulses all the same. Hundreds of them, overlapping each other, all coming from the Academy. So it works on mages too.

And then she burned tin, and the sky exploded in light. In the Final Empire, the mists blocked out the sky, so only Tineyes could see the stars, but here it was as though there were countless bonfires blazing between the clouds, and each of the moons seemed as bright as the sun itself. Her other senses increased too; the air seemed more chill on her skin, she heard mice scurrying through the grass, and she could smell the flowers in the garden on the other side of the courtyard.

Burning pewter filled her chest with warmth to counter tin's chill, and it made her body impossibly strong for her size. She ran across the grass, faster than a horse could gallop, and when she hit the outer wall of the Academy, she ran up it, pulling herself up by the cracks between the stones when her momentum ran out, as gracefully as a cat. Along with strength, pewter increased her reflexes, balance, stamina, healing, every physical attribute besides her senses.

She burned iron, activating a new sense, Ironsight. Around her, everything made of metal–nails, locks, hinges, everything–glowed blue and blue lines shot out of them into her chest. One of the larger lines connected her to the flagpole at the top of the Tower of Wind, one of the four outer towers where classes were taught. She flared iron, Pulling on that line, yanking herself towards it.

She landed on the roof and switched to steel, Pushing off the same flagpole, shooting herself off like an arrow towards the main tower. There was a sheltered bridge connecting the two with smaller bits of metal throughout. Vin Pushed off of the nails behind her, sending her forward with a constant thrust until the bridge ended.

From there she used all her metals together to Push, Pull, and climb her way to the top. And once there, she could see forever.

She saw trees, forests, farms, shacks. A few noble manors dotted the landscape, but that wasn't what she was looking for. She was looking for a city, a place with so many people that no one would look at a stranger twice. And she found it, a collection of lights between the buildings with a palace in the middle. It wasn't even that far, less than a day's walk, less still on a horse or with pewter. If she wanted to, she could leave now, reach the city before morning, and disappear forever.

And if she wanted to wait a bit longer, she could stockpile more metal, steal some noblewoman's clothes, a noble's cape, and a wand. Then she could pretend to be Lady Valette whenever she needed to, and as long as she waved the wand first, she could pretend that her Allomancy was just normal magic.

But did she want to leave? Did she have any reason to believe that life would be better in the city than in the Academy? No. She didn't even know anyone there. At least here, she had … an owner. Okay, her situation wasn't ideal, but it was a far sight better than what she normally had. Before, she made up her criteria for a location off of one question: if she stayed there, would she be dead tomorrow? By that standard, she had no reason to leave.

Kelsier had spoiled her. She had always been afraid of dying growing up that she clung to her life so tightly and never had the thought to reach for anything else. But while others she knew had greed and ambitions, Kelsier had dreams, and made her want to dream as well. He had treated her like a person instead of a tool, had made her feel to be a part of something. To Vin, that had been as overwhelming and unreal as a world with green plants, and for that, she had followed him to Kredik Shaw itself.

She should not have managed to survived that, and she wasn't eager to toy with death again. No, she might not have everything she wanted here–but she had everything she needed, and that was enough.

And now, she had an exit plan, just in case. It was just good sense to have a way out, no matter where you were.

She started to descend the tower, jumping off the roof when she saw a mage flying beneath her. She flared iron, Pulling herself towards the tower and grabbing onto a windowsill. To her tin-enhanced hearing, she sounded like she had crashed, but the mage below her didn't even look up.

The mage stopped at a window two floors below her and tapped on the glass. The window opened a moment later. "What happened?" she heard him say. "We were supposed to meet two hours ago, Kirche, but you never showed up!"

Vin recognized that name. Kirche was a tall, voluptuous woman with a strange, almost playful enmity with Louise. Vin's instincts made it hard for her to pass up free information as much as free food, but she didn't want to explain why she was dangling from the side of the tower in the middle of the night.

She peeked through her window. It wasn't an occupied bedroom, fortunately, but an empty hallway. That was perfect, actually. The window latch was a simple hook, and she Pushed it open with steel and crawled through.

Being inside the Academy would be less suspicious, even at this hour, but as a general rule, she'd rather not be seen at all. She tiptoed down the hall, and stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

"Ah. A terrible bit of work that, cursed, even, by my guess." It was Colbert's voice. Vin burned tin slightly to hear better, and squinted against the dim hall lights. "Supposedly it can drive you into a murderous rampage just by looking at it, but when I saw it I just felt sick."

"But you have seen it?" It was a woman's voice, one Vin didn't recognize.

"Yes, I've seen it. I saw it and I didn't like it. The Sword of Destruction looks no different from a normal sword, but that level of enchantment shouldn't be possible. If you ask me, the treasury is the safest place for something like that."

"And you're sure it's safe there?" the woman asked. "I mean, no one has broken into the treasury before, right?"

"Not since its last set of enchantments. These days, that room is nearly impossible to enter without the key."

"Nearly?" she said with interest. Too much interest. Uh oh.

"Well, nothing is absolutely impenetrable." He seemed uncomfortable with the subject. Good. "But enough about that, Miss Longueville. You know about the upcoming Ball of Frigg, yes?"

"A little bit. It's a big deal here in Tristain, isn't it?"

"You could say that. They say that a couple that dances together will be destined to be together." He laughed nervously. "It's just a myth, of course. Adam de La Saváge once did a study about seventy years ago that debunked it … but that doesn't matter. Anyway, might I be able to ask you to dance, when the ball comes?"

Oh no. And the woman would say, "Of course. I love dancing." And then she would change the subject back to … "But I'm more interested in the magical items stored in the treasury." Yup.

But if Colbert was sharp enough, he would tell her … "And the treasury is very secure, unless you were to just try to smash your way in." Well, not that.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because the enchantments were designed to stop mages. One would have to be at least a square-class mage to open the door with magic, but it should be far simpler to break through the wall."

"Really?"

"Easier by far. Of course, the walls here aren't made of glass by any means, but if you had an exceptionally tall battering ram, or a trebuchet–"

"Or a large enough golem."

"Or if you flew an airship into the side of the academy, or … well, you get the idea."

"Interesting," Longueville said. "Very interesting."

Vin groaned inwardly. She had participated in enough scams to recognize one when she heard it, and this Longueville person hadn't even been trying to be subtle. Not that she needed to. Colbert liked to talk and he was gullible. Vin had taken advantage of his gullibility just that day for a pair of Allomantic metals. What was it to her if a fellow thief was more ambitious?

She made her way to her bedroom and lay down on her pile of straw without waking up Louise, trying not to think about what she had just overheard. She had no reason to get involved. If Kelsier were here, he would side with the conwoman if he sided with anyone at all, and Reen ….

Never stick your neck out for anyone who wouldn't stick theirs out for you, she remembered him saying. And the people you think would, won't. Not if you ever need them.

Longueville had gained Colbert's trust, and then she would betray it, stealing the sword she had mentioned or whatever in the treasury she could take. Anyone will betray you, Vin, Reen seemed to whisper in her ear as she shivered on the floor.

That's just the way things are.

WWW

A/n And that's chapter three! Thanks for reading! I'll see you all next week.

Ha, as if I can write that fast.

Brandon Sanderson, the author of Mistborn, has a reputation for creating intricate and detailed magic systems. Near the beginning of the book, he has a character use the magic with systematic detail, and at the end of the book, he has a chart that you can reference if you ever get confused. Some of you might not have read Mistborn before (in which case you're misusing your time, because it's far, far better than fanfiction), so I'm going to do the same thing.

Allomancy grants power based off of whatever metal is ingested and "burned." Mistings can burn only one metal, and Mistborn, like Vin, can burn all of them.

Brass–dampens emotions, called Soothing.

Zinc–inflames emotions, called Rioting. You can get the same effect with either zinc or brass. If you want someone to be less afraid, you can Riot everything beside fear, and if you want him to be more afraid, you can Sooth everything but fear.

Bronze–senses the use of Allomancy, called Seeking. For the sake of this story, I am allowing it to sense Halkeginia's magic, too.

Copper–counters bronze, called Smoking.

Tin–enhances senses. Because it affects all the sense, it makes the Allomancer vulnerable to bright lights and loud noises.

Pewter–enhances physical attributes, like strength, reflexes, balance, and healing.

Iron–pulls on metal. Newtonian physics apply, so if you Pull on a metal heavier than yourself, you will come towards it, but if your target it lighter, it will come towards you. It also enables Ironsight, allowing you to sense metal.

Steel–pushes against metal. It enables Steelsight, which works the same as Ironsight.

Gold–allows you to see an alternate version of yourself. Vin never learned this metal in this story, but in the book, she used it once and didn't like it.

Atium–allows you to see a few seconds into the future. This is the most valuable metal in the Final Empire because it makes its user temporarily invincible unless your opponent is also burning Atium. It probably does not exist in Halkeginia.

Anyway, those are the ten basic Allomantic metals. Vin will be mostly using the first eight, but she might make a reference to one of the others. If you ever get confused, just remember that you can come back to this list at the end of chapter three.

Again, thank you everyone who left a review, and if you're considering leaving another one, keep in mind that I do read them incessantly. As always, thank you Magery and Stone Mason for editing this chapter.