"Here we are!" Eliana shouted out as she threw her arms up. "Exactly how I remember it!" The Inferno was described to them by Eliana as a bar and grill, but from the outside it looked more like a trailer diner, doors on both sides of an extension on the front, and neon style letters over the top that said the name of the establishment, the 'r' flickered on and off on occasion and Eliana looked back at all of them excitedly, only Honey and Lueur's faces mirrored her sentiment.
"I can't remember the last time that I had a hot meal that wasn't stolen!" Honey exclaimed. Coco looked over at them and Honey rubbed the back of her neck, grinning and turning red, laughing sheepishly. "Not stolen exactly, just borrowed. Right, Lueur?" Lueur signed something and Honey grabbed her by the shoulders. "Those people were eating steak over a campfire, they weren't going to miss a couple of MRE's, that doesn't count!" Coco shook her head and sighed.
"Lead us in," Coco told Eliana.
"Sure thing!" Eliana declared. She threw open the door, the bell ringing overhead as Eliana stepped in and inhaled deeply, the smell of hamburgers filling her nostrils. She sighed happily, stepping in and letting everyone in behind her as she spotted the bar and one of the waitresses addressed her without looking up.
"Sit wherever you want!" The woman yelled at them as she scurried about to fill the coffees of the men sitting at the bar. Titus stepped in first behind Eliana followed by Neela and Ilia and Eliana's walked with a purpose to a specific booth, the other four filled the booth beside them.
"I'd call this a diner," Titus told Eliana.
"They have alcohol here!" Eliana exclaimed. "Maybe I just remember it a bit differently because I was a child the last time I was here." A few coffee pots lined the back of the area behind the bar as well as a shelf that was overflowing with a variety of alcohol, trinkets, other portraits, and trophies of sorts covered the walls, a jukebox sat silently beside the gate on the bar that the waitresses would exit through. The waitress came out, her breath smelt of cigarette smoke and her makeup was too heavy, she cocked her hip as she flipped open her pad to take their order.
"What will it be?" She asked Eliana.
"Is there any chance that we can get menus, my friends have never been here before," Eliana told her. The woman handed them out and looked them over again.
"Drinks?" She inquired.
"Chocolate milk for me, orange juice for Neela, water for Ilia, and a black coffee for Titus," Eliana stated. They all glanced over at her, a wide smile spread across her face.
"Is that right?" She checked. They all looked up at the woman and nodded slowly. "I'll be back with the drinks in a moment." She began walking over to Coco's table before Eliana called out to stop her.
"Is Blaze working today?" Eliana asked. She nodded and Eliana leaned out of her chair excitedly. "Can you send him out here when you have a minute."
"Sure," the woman responded plainly before moving on.
"Do you normally spend a lot of time memorizing what we have to drink in the morning?" Ilia asked still engrossed in her phone.
"No, I just remember it because we frequently have breakfast together," Eliana told her. Neela flipped through the menu and was amazed at the number of items, finally deciding on a ham and cheese omelet before closing her menu.
"I just hope the food here lives up to the hype, I could really go for some home cooking right about now," Titus told Eliana.
"Have a little faith, would you?" Neela asked him.
"I'm a man of results," Titus reminded them. "I like to have the facts before me."
"I used to come here almost every weekend with my mother and father, and they've won plenty of awards for being one of the best restaurants in Mistral, but outside of Haven," Eliana stated.
"My eyes have got to be playing tricks on me because I can't believe what I'm seeing!" A larger man wearing an apron yelled as he stepped out from behind the bar. "Is it really my favorite customer? Little Eliana Latherus? It can't be, the girl I'm looking at is all grown up now!" Eliana scrambled to her feet and tackled the man, hugging him tight as he held her in a long embrace, laughing the entire time.
"Uncle Blaze! I see that you seem to be losing some of your hair!" Eliana noted. She climbed off of him, pulling him up to his feet and brushing him off. "And you're a little more on the round side than I remembered." He shoved her and scratched his graying beard.
"I don't remember giving you permission to grow up the way you did either," Blaze pointed out as he followed her back to her table. "Friends, teammates? I'm guessing you finally made it to one of those huntsmen schools just like you always said that you would."
"Of course, and they're my friends and teammates," Eliana said taking her seat again. "I don't differentiate between the two. This is Neela, Ilia, and Titus respectively." He shook their hands after wiping them off on his apron, smiling warmly at each of them.
"Blaze's the name. This is my eatery that you've wandered into this morning," he informed them. "Eliana and her family came in here so often that she just took to calling me Uncle Blaze." Blaze laughed as he leaned on the end of their table and shook his head. "I was sure I'd see you again Elli, but why did you have to wait so long to come back?"
"Since we moved to Patch, we've been tight on funds," Eliana explained. "We're actually here on a school field trip. My teacher is in the booth behind me here." Coco threw her hand up.
"Hello," Coco answered blindly as the waitress had returned and began filling Coco's mug with coffee.
"She let my best friend get kidnapped," Eliana said. Coco coughed and sputtered, spitting out a considerable amount of her java as Honey and Apophis laughed heartily.
"'Let' is a strong way of putting it," Coco chuckled nervously.
"And those are some friends that we just made yesterday!" Eliana stated. "We saved them from Zilla over in Shion." Blaze's eyes lit up.
"Zilla?" He asked. "You defeated that old anti-Faunus hag?" Eliana nodded.
"We all did it together," she informed him. He stepped out of the way as the waitress gave them their drinks and left to place the order for Coco's table.
"Good. Hopefully, we'll start seeing some more of the Faunus come through here again," Blaze told them. "I know a lot of people in Mistral still don't care for them, but at least they used to come through here feeling safe. Since Zilla showed up and the Military wanted to start drilling the island for Dust, they don't leave Menagerie too often anymore."
"Neela here is a Faunus!" Eliana shouted out with a large smile on her face. Blaze leaned in with a smirk.
"Is that so?" He asked. He looked her over and then leaned back laughing. "Your eyes huh? Unless someone looked hard enough it would be impossible to even tell. I feel like you and Eliana have a pretty strong bond with each other, don't you? I can just tell these things when I meet people. You give off a kind of aura like you want to tell her something, but you're afraid of how she'd react." Neela stared at him for a long moment before blushing and chugging down her orange juice.
"Blaze is never wrong, Neela. So, what do you want to ask me?" Eliana inquired. Ilia and Titus looked at each other before staring back across the table at Neela who blushed and shook her head.
"Nothing! There's nothing!" Neela denied. Blaze nodded his head and glanced back at the kitchen.
"It's like that, huh?" He murmured.
"Blaze, you coming back here at some point or is this social visit gonna last the rest of the breakfast rush?" someone called from the back.
"It's the end of the breakfast rush anyway, you idiot!" Blaze replied. He smiled at them and took Eliana's hands in his own. "I need to get back to work. It was nice meeting all of you and it was nice seeing you again, Elli. I'll try to come out here and talk for a bit longer after I take care of some of the orders back there." He disappeared into the back once more and his spot at the end of the table was replaced by the waitress.
"We all know what we want?" She asked them.
"The mushroom and swiss omelet will be just fine with me," Titus said.
"Eggs over easy with bacon and white bread toast," Ilia replied.
"A ham and cheese omelet sounds great to me," Neela told them woman as she collected the menus from them.
"A short stack of pancakes and Blaze's special," Eliana informed the woman.
"Blaze doesn't have a…" the woman began before she was cut off.
"I know what the girl wants!" He shouted out into the diner. The waitress blinked and sighed before walking away.
"She seems friendly," Titus joked.
"I used to order for the whole family every weekend when we came in," Eliana reminisced. "It wasn't necessary because they'd start making our food as soon as we walked in the door, but Blaze always humored me just so that I could recite the entire order to him, I was always so excited to do so. He'd say 'You're such a smart little girl Elli, you'll be just like your father someday.'"
"He's right Elli," Neela told her. "Someday you will be." Eliana smiled and laughed as she stretched and sighed.
"I'm so ready to get back home," Eliana said.
"Agreed," Ilia added.
"What's the rush for you?" Titus asked.
"Vin, obviously. What else is there to be excited about back there?" She questioned.
"Beds?" Titus offered.
"Running water," Neela chuckled.
"Beds," Eliana repeated. They looked at her. "I miss my bed."
"I think you'd be more excited about getting back if you had something to get back to," Ilia told him. "That Kitsune girl really seemed interested, maybe you should give her a call and see if the two of you can't set up a date for the next time one of the two of you see each other."
"She was cute and all, but I still need to concentrate on my work," Titus replied.
"All work and no play makes Titus a dull boy," Eliana said. Neela glanced at her from the corner of her eyes.
"You are just full of strange today, aren't you?" Neela asked.
"It's good to work hard Titus, but sometimes you just need to set some time aside for yourself," Ilia informed him. He shrugged her off.
"Maybe, but the report that I need to hand in isn't going to write itself, is it?" Titus asked. Neela and Eliana watched as the food was delivered to Coco's table and they began digging in.
"Amazing!" Honey exclaimed as she took a bite. "I can't remember the last time that I had something other than berries for breakfast!"
"Has it really been that long for you?" Apophis asked as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.
"Yes, and Lueur too!" Honey announced. Coco took a few bites and chased it down with her coffee, nodding slowly as she removed her scroll to read the news for Vale.
"It is pretty good food," Coco agreed, taking another swig of her coffee and swirling it as it reached the bottom. She handed it to the waitress for a refill and the woman left them for the last time before she'd bring out the food for Eliana's table.
"So, is this another memory worthy day?" Neela asked Eliana. Eliana thought about it for a long moment before beaming at Neela.
"For the most part," Eliana said. "What was really great was how much Titus was worried about you when you disappeared." Titus looked at Eliana in a slightly horrified yet bewildered manner.
"What?!" He asked.
"Who knew he was such a big softy towards you, Neela," Ilia said.
"I wasn't that bad!" He yelled at them.
"He was running calculations, figuring the probability on every possible scenario," Ilia added.
"That's not true!" He argued.
"I'm flattered," Neela replied laughing. "It's way better than when we first met and you just wanted to destroy me because you didn't think that I was fit to lead this team." He softened and reserved a smirk as he glanced up at her from his coffee.
"I still think that I could do better," he told her.
"Is that right?" Neela asked. Eliana smiled as she took it all in. This is exactly what she wanted.
Crimson shoved Mercury harder as he stumbled forward in the middle of the woods with a burlap sack over his head, chuckling as he clumsily moved about and headed towards their destination.
"I offer my help, you break me out, and now this is how I'm treated when I say that I have another request for Athena?" Mercury noted. "Do I have all of that right?"
"You're a human," Crimson pointed out. "You're lucky that Athena even agreed to any arrangement in the first place."
"I guess maybe I should be thanking you because who are we kidding, Athena despises humans, but it would seem that you have a real knack for bargaining," Mercury chuckled. "Do you just go ahead and do things without her approval just to be yelled at later? Sorry, Athena, that I told the humans that we'd do them a favor or two. Oh, by the way, they'll do this for us thanks to me. I've heard about Ebony showing up and trying to steal her away from you, trying to win back Athena's favor?"
"Do you ever shut up?" Crimson asked as she shoved him. He hit the ground, his hands planting in the soft wet earth, small sprouts of grass graced his palms as all of the snow had melted and spring was slowly setting in upon them, he could hear mutters and whispers nearby and wondered if they had his surrounded, perhaps he'd walked right into a trap and Crimson intended on sacrificing him to further prove to Athena that she deserved to be noticed. Crimson quickly pulled off the bag from his head, he blinked hard as sunlight poured in, dawn was just breaking and the people were gathering to find out why there was a human in their midst.
"Another human!?" Someone called out.
"What is Athena thinking?" Another voice exclaimed.
"She's going to sell us out!" One more cried.
"I brought him here!" Crimson declared. "Athena is doing what is best for us! If you're going to question that then I'm going to have to ask you to leave…" Her eyes glossed over as her lips twisted into an evil smile. "Or die!"
"Oum help us!" Someone yelled.
"What is going on here?" Ebony asked as she approached the village with Athena on her heels. Crimson took a knee and bowed her head as Mercury stood up and extended his hand for her to shake. Athena glared past him at Crimson, her eyes wide and firey.
"I told you to free this cretin, not bring him here!" Athena shouted. "Take him back to where he belongs and we'll have a long chat about this when you return."
"But Goddess Athena…" Crimson began.
"Go!" Athena yelled. Over the past few weeks training had been going slowly and the wear on Athena's nerves was finally starting to show, she was losing her temper more frequently and it took far less to draw it out. "We are less than three months from the big event, and I cannot waste time talking to people that do not serve my purpose, and are human not to mention!"
"But he's already offered to cause a distraction during our attack, the least that you can do is hear him out," Crimson requested.
"Hear him out?" Athena asked. She unsheathed her blade, everyone moving back a few steps and flinching with the exception of Ebony and Mercury as Athena marched towards Crimson and the girl fell to the ground in fear, cowering and pleading Athena not to harm her. "This 'distraction' that you speak of was your idea, and while it may assist my plan, it is not a necessity. Whatever his ultimatum is, if I should turn it down, I don't care whether he helps or not."
"You girls are entirely too soft on this woman," Mercury said laughing. The crowd gasped as Athena faced him with wild eyes, walking slowly towards him and circling like a predator. "When's the last time that you actually had a fight against someone who could hold their own against you, you seem to think yourself untouchable. Just like another Taurus that I met, and we all know how he ended up." She placed the tip of Wilt to Mercury's neck.
"Don't ever talk about my brother that way," Athena growled.
"Why do you care?" Mercury asked. "I've heard your story, he and your father locked you up to make sure that you wouldn't overthrow them someday and yet here you are, all of that time wasted in your childhood that you could have been using to become even stronger than you are now."
"They feared me, and rightfully so," she replied. She hissed as she removed the blade from his throat. "It was for the good of the Fang."
"Regardless, you really think that this plan is going to go off without a hitch?" Mercury asked. "I've fought Yang more than once, she can be a handful by herself."
"I'm not having this conversation with a human," Athena said as she began to walk away. "What is it that you wanted?"
"I have a favor to ask of you on the day that your plan kicks off," Mercury told her.
"Is that so, because as I see it, we're even with me breaking you out of prison," Athena groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. She pointed at Crimson. "For the love of Oum get him out of here before I really lose my nerve."
"I want to borrow six of your men," Mercury continued despite her complaining. "They don't even need to be good at fighting, they just need to be good at running because once we trip the alarm the police will have moved on from the explosion to the target of my attack, and as long as they can run faster than my men, they'll be fine."
"You'd sell your men out like that?" Athena asked.
"They get caught all the time, Vale's police department is a joke," Mercury jested.
"You shouldn't underestimate even the police," Athena told him.
"And you should meet some of them," Mercury replied. "So, can you give up six men for a few hours?" She smirked and walked back to Ebony, the girl nodded before raising her hands up into the air.
"Everyone back to the village!" Ebony yelled. "Athena is going to be busy with 'negotiations'!" The people grumbled and left, complaining under their breath so that Athena couldn't completely pick out any specific comments and she turned to face Mercury once more, Ebony moved to Crimson and told her what was going on.
"If you defeat me, I might consider giving you a few of my men," she told him. Mercury grinned and took a few steps back.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Mercury told her. "Crimson always says the best things about you when she comes around but I wanted to see for myself." Athena shook her head, her hand on the hilt of Wilt as she left it sheathed for the moment. She was going to make an example of him in front of Crimson and Ebony, reaffirming her ability to lead and destroy anything that crossed her path. One swipe and he would be dead, she'd be the victor and she'd add yet another semblance to her repertoire. "After you." She glanced at Ebony and Crimson who stood just behind him and one side of her mouth turned up.
"Alright then," Athena replied. Without waiting another second Athena swapped places with Crimson and removed her blade, already two steps into her attack when everything almost shifted to slow motion. Mercury was still grinning and he spun before she could reach him, his leg kicking before he'd even spotted her and the blast slammed into her chest, she had no time to block the blow and she was thrown back, crashing into Ebony who was unable to get out of the way in time. Athena quickly lifted Blush to fire but Mercury's alarming speed had caught her off guard again, he kicked the rifle to the side as she fired, using the same leg to kick her left shoulder, allowing the recoil from the gun to assist him in knocking her back.
"Can't even take your own advice on not underestimating someone?" Mercury asked. "And you think that I have bad leadership skills." She snarled at him, yelling as she swung out, missing him as he leaned back and he escaped with a backward handspring, spinning through the air just to show off as he landed in a kneel and motioned for her to come get him. Crimson removed her rod as Athena rushed in.
"Stay out of this!" Athena shouted as she charged. Two quick swings were dispatched with kicks from Mercury, he nailed her twice in the chest with his fists, forcing her to stumble as he leapt and she deflected awkwardly, both of his feet rocketing off of her sword which resulted in her nearly tripping over her feet as she was driven back. How could he be this good? It wasn't possible! Had she failed, were Ebony and Crimson weak and she just didn't realize it all this time? She needed to change her strategy, somehow he knew how she fought and countered it well. She tossed Blush at Mercury and ran away from him, swapping places with him as he was about to kick it and nailing him in the back with a blast from her gun, satisfied as he fell onto his hands, despite the fact that he was right back up.
"Maybe you deserve more credit after all," Mercury noted. Mercury fired off several shots, two of which Athena deflected with a third that she had no choice but to take, she hadn't been expecting to fight anyone that morning and hadn't brought any tokens with her to leave on the ground, meaning that Ebony or Crimson would have taken the hit if she teleported, and she couldn't harm her handmaidens like that after the lecture she'd just given him about how he treated his own gang. It forced her back, allowing him to get in close again and she blocked several kicks swiftly with incredible precision before sheathing her blade and leaping away. As she landed, another Dust blast threw her onto her back, causing her pain as she rolled out of the way of him landing on her.
"You're going to regret this…" She warned him as she found her feet. He bounced lightly, wiping the sweat from his brow and smirking.
"Is that so?" he asked. She'd seen enough, she had a good idea of how he paces himself and attacked. Now, she was ready to go on the offensive. She gripped her gun, ready to toss it once more and do the same thing that she had before. She charged in, unsheathing her blade and tossing the gun, but this time following through, as he moved to kick the gun once more her sword flashing through the air, planting in the bottom of his foot and she looked at it in confusion before managing to remove it. Sparks flew about from the shoe and he shook his head. Kicking up at her with it but missing. "And I just fixed that one."
"What-" Athena stated in confusion, blocking two more kicks before he head-butted her and she stumbled back.
"His legs are mechanical!" Crimson blurted out. Ebony glanced at her and she clamped her mouth, Athena smirked and nodded at her lover.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Athena offered as she charged in one last time. She went for his torso, dipping and rolling her body out of the way of his attacks, advancing quickly until he felt like he was on the ropes, kicking Wilt into the air and being shot in the chest by Blush, driving him backward. She slammed the barrel against his face, another hit that further damaged his Aura and he was dazed a moment as she caught Wilt. He managed to blocks before she sliced through his shirt, drawing blood and forcing him to land on his ass. "I suggest you yield now."
"Don't be ridiculous…" he began. Without warning Crimson stood above him, her eyes crazy as she slammed her rod against Wilt, transforming it and holding it above his chest. He looked up at the two of them, Crimson white-knuckling the blade as she looked back and forth between her goddess and the man that had tried to attack her. He deserved to die! If she gave the word she would end him quickly, spilling his blood in sacrifice, she needed his blood to spill!
"I would do it quickly," Athena said. "It's hard for even me to stop her when she gets like this." Mercury lifted his hands slowly and Crimson leapt back, watching Athena for approval, not removing her eyes once from her mistress. "He yields Crimson, you may not touch him."
"Please, Goddess Athena!" Crimson shouted.
"Here," Athena said handing over Wilt. "I hope that this will be enough to satiate you for now."
"It's never enough, nothing will ever be enough!" Crimson told herself as she snatched the sword away and scurried a few feet away, licking the tip of it clean and shuddering. She could still hear them. Her parents. Trying to have her killed. Trying to give her away. More blood would drown it out. She looked back at Mercury, the scent still thick. Her mistress had said no. She whimpered.
"You're a fool," Athena told him. "I would have killed you if not for the fact that your distraction will help aid my takeover of Vale."
"Should I show him out?" Ebony asked as she joined Athena again.
"In a moment," Athena said. She sheathed her blade as Crimson handed it back, silence filled the clearing in the woods as everything resumed, birds returning from the south were singing their songs, and a few of the stragglers and children that were to return to the village hadn't quite left, whispering in amazement to each other before making eye contact with Athena and rushing away, giggling and laughing. "I will send six of my best with you and if needed, they will help your men get away as well. You might be willing to allow your people to be caught and demoralized, but I will not allow it."
"And they told me you were heartless," Mercury chuckled as he found his feet.
"Make no mistake, once I've had my victory you'd better hide," Athena told him. "Every human will perish at the hands of the White Fang when this is all said and done." Mercury smiled and gave a nod, walking away for a moment with Ebony as she threw the sack back over his head.
"One more thing?" Mercury asked. Athena sighed.
"What is it?" She groaned.
"What will you do when Abigor succeeds with his own plans?" Mercury asked.
"No human poses a challenge to my power," Athena stated confidently. Mercury laughed.
"Right. Of course," he chuckled. Ebony led him away as Athena exhaled deeply, grabbing Crimson by the arm and dragging her back towards the village.
"Mistress, I…" Crimson protested.
"I should kill you," Athena said. "Why did I save you those years ago if all you're good for now is disobeying me at every turn?"
"I didn't mean to disobey you," Crimson defended her actions.
"But you did!" Athena shouted. "And you're always looking to pick a fight with Ebony which doesn't help!"
"You know why that is!" Crimson yelled back, planting her feet and causing Athena to stumble forward without her. Athena stopped, Crimson's face red as she held back her tears. "I wanted to be your apprentice! I was supposed to be the one to carry on your legacy once your mortality was finally put to an end by old age! To take up the throne after you die, holding you in my arms as you draw your final breath, telling me that I did everything as you wanted and that I couldn't have served you any better!" Athena throttled her by the neck and pushed her against a tree, the girl struggled in her grip.
"And you're also well aware of why I can't have you as an apprentice!" Athena shouted. She lowered her voice. "You mean more to me than anyone else in this camp and I can't let what happened to me happen to you! If you took over they'd force a mutiny, they'd lock you up because they would fear you! It's the same reason that I stay my blade when you piss me off! Your power would be too much for me to handle, it's too much for you to even handle most of the time!"
"But goddess…" Crimson began but paused for a moment as Athena loosened her grip. Did Athena just admit… No, she must have heard her wrong. Even though she knew it to be true there was no way that Athena would ever declare out loud that she cared about her. "I just hate how much time you've been spending with Ebony."
"She was trained by Raven Branwen, she will do what is best for the Faunus when I should die," Athena told her. "The best thing that you can do for now is to try and get along with her and do as I ask. I have not forgotten you, and there is no need for you to act out to try and grab my attention." Crimson nodded as Athena freed her.
"Yes goddess," Crimson agreed. Athena began walking back towards the village, straying to the right for her temple.
"Come along," she told Crimson. "I have a bit of free time this morning and fighting that man has made me eager for a little training with my number one." Crimson lit up and picked up her pace, chasing after her.
"Really?!" Crimson exclaimed. Athena smirked as she continued walking.
It looks like Athena might be softening up to the Stardust Gang? Next week, Chapter 86 - Debriefing?
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!