A Prison of Ice

XIV.


Makoto stepped out of the meeting and immediately wanted to lie down somewhere to take a nap. He had never liked corporate meetings, even as a child when he shadowed his father. He disliked them even more now that he was leading those said meetings. So much of it was just such a complete waste of time; discussing things that people should have already known and what not.

When he made his way back to his office, he found Mercury sitting there with a bored look on his face.

"Mercury." Makoto greeted as he took a seat at his desk. "Did you need something?"

Mercury just smirked and held out a letter, dangling it in front of him mischievously.

"Got something for you; from the princess herself."

It wasn't strange for Weiss to send him letters; she was old-fashioned like that. She preferred to send invitations to her birthday or other similar events as formal letters. Although, he was curious what this letter would be about; it wasn't her birthday yet after all. Makoto took the letter from Mercury's hands and pried it open with the letter opener on his desk.

As he skimmed through the letter's contents, he could see that it was an invitation.

Weiss had invited him to a going away party; before she left for Beacon. He was surprised that Jacques would have approved such a thing considering how he felt about Weiss wanting to be a huntress. Although, the man did have an image to maintain for the masses; it wouldn't seem right for there to not be a celebration of sorts when the heiress leaves for a prestigious school like Beacon.

"So, what is it?" Mercury casually asked. "The princess finally decided to stop tip-toeing around and ask you out?"

Makoto had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"It's an invitation for a party, to celebrate her acceptance into Beacon." He dryly replied. "Don't worry, she even made sure to invite you as well."

Mercury just snorted in response. "Whoopie. I would have been there, anyway. It's kind of my job."

"It's the thought that counts, Mercury."

"Yeah, sure boss man." His bodyguard replied before he leaned forward and put an elbow on his desk. "So, when are you two going to finally stop beating around the bush?"

Makoto raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you're referring to exactly."

"You know what I mean." Mercury replied with a roll of his eyes. "How the hell have you two still not gotten together yet?"

"… It's not like that."

"Bullshit. We met like what? Five years ago?" Mercury asked. "How is it that the two of you are still dancing around the topic? It's been five years!"

Mercury reached into his desk and pulled out his scroll. The other boy knew his password, so he logged in and held the screen in front of his face with a knowing look. It was a list of his call history.

"Do you see this?" Mercury pointed at the phone screen in disbelief. "It's literally all Weiss."

Makoto sighed. "I know."

"If you know, then why haven't you made a move yet? I know it's not because you're scared, so what is it?"

Makoto looked out his window, down into the streets of Mistral.

It wasn't that he was oblivious; he knew how Weiss felt about him. He just didn't know if he was ready to fully commit to a relationship again. At least, not yet. What he had with Mitsuru had been special. He didn't want to feel like he was simply replacing her with Weiss; that wouldn't have been fair to her.

It didn't help that they could be so very similar to each other either.

"It's complicated, Mercury."

"Is it really though?"

Makoto just gave him a look to drop it.

"Alright man, if you say so." Mercury relented before he passed him back his scroll. "Even if you won't make a move, eventually the princess is going to work up the courage to finally do something about the status quo, you know."

"… I'll cross that bridge when it happens."

Mercury just snorted in response. "It's not like you to be so indecisive."

"And it's not like you to be so curious about my social life."

"Are you serious?" Mercury laughed. "Come on man, I have to see you and the princess flirting all the damn time. At this point, it might as well be the same as watching a tv show. I want to see what happens next."

"... I'm glad my social life has managed to be so entertaining for you then." He dryly replied.

"Hey, got to entertain myself somehow." Mercury shrugged. "Otherwise I'd be bored out of my mind."

Makoto was about to respond to that before the door to his office slid open. Jacob stepped inside with a cup of tea in his hands, before he gingerly placed it on his table.

"… Thank you, Jacob."

"It's my pleasure, young master." His butler dutifully replied. "I will need to be borrowing mister Black for a while as well; he's going to be assisting me with some errands."

Makoto raised an eyebrow at that. "Errands?"

"Yes, errands." Jacob nodded in response. "Mister Black has recently taken an interest in cooking, you see. So, I will be bringing him along while I go shopping for ingredients."

If Makoto could raise his eyebrow any higher, he feared he might tear a muscle. He glanced over at Mercury, who had a poker face on and when he noticed his curious stare, the other boy just gave him a wry grin in response.

"What can I say?" Mercury shrugged once again. "I'm a man of many talents."

"… If you say so." Makoto replied with an amused grin of his own. "Have fun then, Mercury."

"… Yeah." The other boy eventually replied before he got up to leave. "I'll see you later, Makoto."

And then they were both gone, leaving him alone in his office. It was good to see that Mercury had finally picked up some hobbies aside from video games. Cooking was a bit of a strange choice, Mercury didn't exactly strike him as someone that enjoyed the culinary arts, but who was he to judge? Makoto took a sip from Jacob's freshly brewed tea before he stretched out his arms.

That had been a welcome distraction, but it was time to get back to work.


"Cooking?" Mercury dryly asked. "Really?"

"Humor me." Jacob simply replied as he kept his eyes on the road. "It sounded plausible, did it not?"

Mercury didn't reply to that and stared out the car window instead, watching the ongoing traffic. They needed to keep this a secret from Makoto, but still, cooking? Talk about lame; he had a reputation to maintain here, man. His pops was probably laughing his ass off right now in whatever hell he was rotting in, the bastard.

"I was able to procure the equipment you requested." Jacob eventually spoke up. "They will be in a suitcase in the back of the trunk."

Mercury perked up at that. "Oh yeah? You were able to get everything?"

"Indeed." Jacob replied with a nod. "… Some were easier to acquire than others."

"Wow, I wasn't actually expecting you to get me everything I asked for." Mercury acknowledged as he let out a low whistle. "You're a pretty scary guy, Jacob."

"... Everything in this world has a price, mister Black. If something will assist you, don't hesitate to ask for it. I will find a way to obtain it, one way or another."

Jacob didn't elaborate and Mercury didn't need him to; some things were better left unsaid after all. The car pulled into a vacant parking lot and stopped. Mercury didn't recognize the area, but he knew they were in the industrial sector of the city. The gangs of Mistral typically frequented this part of the city.

"If you open the glove compartment in front of you, there is a mask for you as well."

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "What do I need a mask for?"

"You have been seen in public with the young master before." Jacob calmly explained. "We cannot allow anyone to know that you are connected with him."

"Ah." Mercury casually replied as he popped open the glove compartment. The all white mask inside had two eye-holes and a sharp smile carved into the front of it. Real cheeky choice for a design; perhaps the old man had a sense of humor after all. "... You know I'm not planning on letting any of them get away though, right?"

"It does not hurt to be careful, mister Black. What if they have cameras? Or a witness sees you?"

"I'd get rid of them, obviously." He snorted in response. "I'm not an amateur. Did you forget who my old man was?"

Marcus might have been a bastard, but Mercury still knew to respect his skills. He had been the most notorious assassin in Mistral for a reason. The only reason Mercury had even killed him that night was because he had been drunk, and he had caught him off guard. His old man never expected his own son to stab him in the back after all.

"Nonetheless, it is insurance." Jacob simply replied. "The target this time will be Noah Green, a former associate of mister Yuki and a high-ranking member of the Mistral brotherhood. He frequents a bar in this part of town and should stop by tonight as well. An entourage typically accompanies him."

"Hmm." Mercury hummed in response. "Just a bunch of gangsters then? Shouldn't be too much trouble unless he has a huntsman with him."

"That is unlikely. I will head back to the mansion for now, so the young master won't get suspicious." Jacob replied. "Our alibi for you being gone will be that you attended a cooking class at Erwin's culinary school in downtown Mistral. I have already spoken with the head chef there and he has agreed to cooperate with our story."

"Heh, look at you go." Mercury darkly chuckled. "You've really thought of everything, haven't you?"

"This is all for the young master's sake." Jacob softly replied as he closed his eyes. "... Good luck, mister Black."

Mercury didn't bother replying and hopped out of the car; he didn't need luck in this line of work.

He stepped around to the back of the car and popped open the trunk. A black briefcase sat neatly in the middle of it along with a black hoodie and a change of clothes. He gingerly unlocked the briefcase and let out a low whistle at the contents inside. There was an assortment of knives, Dust canisters, explosives, and even poisons. Some of the stuff in here was definitely illegal to have; but he supposed it was one perk of having an unlimited budget.

This was way nicer equipment than what he and Marcus usually had to operate with.

His lips twitched into a smile as he held one of the sharper knives in front of him. Blades weren't his preferred choice of weapons, it was a lot more fun to simply crush someone beneath his greaves, but they were a lot quieter. When dealing with a large group of people, it was better to start off with stealth; it made the cleanup a lot simpler.

Mercury closed his eyes and let his mind empty.

There was no need for unnecessary thoughts when it came to work. He was a weapon and weapons didn't need to think, they just needed to kill whoever their wielder pointed them at. Whether that wielder was his old man or Jacob, it didn't matter to him. He would perform his role, because that was who he was, a weapon.

Mercury saw his reflection through the knife's edge and smiled.

At least this time, he was being used in a way that would help his one and only friend in this miserable world. If there was one thing he could say that Marcus had done right, then it was sharpening him into the weapon that he was today. He wasn't like his old man who needed to turn to alcohol to drown out the voices of the dead. He had never had that problem to begin with, killing was routine for him; so much so that he couldn't even recall most of his assassinations.

They were all just a big blur in his mind; because in the end that was all Mercury Black was. A weapon, and a weapon's purpose was simple; it was to kill.


Makoto took a sip from his cup of tea as he leaned back into his chair.

Jacob always brewed the best tea; even better than Shinjiro used to. Though it was probably an unfair comparison, Jacob had a good number of years compared to his former upper classmate after all. Makoto looked over another company report as he continued to sip at his teacup. The work reforms he had been implementing for the Faunus workers of the company had been well-received and brought the company some good press.

There had been some resistance from certain members of the company, of course, but he overruled them in the end. The company's expenses might have grown because of his reforms, but there were also areas where the company had saved money. There was a lot fewer worker turnover now that the miners had satisfactory work conditions for example. All in all, the company only took minor losses in the short term with the potential for growth in the long term.

It was a rather satisfactory result in the end that seemed to satisfy everyone for the time being.

He took another drink from his teacup before it ran dry. Jacob usually brewed an entire pot, so he could get a refill in the kitchen. He could have simply called for Jacob to refill it for him, but it was a good excuse to walk off the stiffness from sitting too long. As he walked through the long hallways of the Yuki mansion towards the kitchen, he ran into Mercury walking down the opposite end. There was a bandage wrapped around his left hand that hadn't been there before.

That was strange, did Mercury get injured?

"Sup, Makoto." Mercury casually greeted with a lazy wave. "Had fun at work?"

"Hardly." He dryly replied. "How was your cooking class?"

"Ehh… It was alright, could have gone better."

"Did something happen to your hand?"

"Oh, this?" Mercury raised his bandaged hand. "Just a cooking accident where I didn't activate my Aura in time. No big deal."

Makoto raised an eyebrow in response. "... What were they teaching you that could cause an injury like that?"

Mercury just gave him a wry smirk.

"Knife work."


Author's Notes- Chef Mercury is in the building... I've been in one of those writing moods lately, people that have followed me for a while will know that it happens once every blue moon. You'll get rapid updates until I inevitably burn out, but until then, enjoy. Also started Ice Queendom recently, kind of just a recap from what I've seen so far. Nice animation though.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! I'll see you all in the next chapter.

If you like what I write and want to buy me a drink: ko-fi dot com/specialfx

Edit 8/22 - Whoops, fixed a few repeating lines of text. Some weird bug that sometimes happens when using my proofreading app. I don't have a beta reader and proofreading gets boring, cut me some slack lol.