Chapter 20: White Stone Black
The City of Mantle is always a cold place, even after the heating system was installed. The black stone streets and the white snow form a strange mixture of a city lost in between life and death. Standing in the middle is the grand Glass Unicorn hotel… or at least its remnants. The hotel had a sudden fire break out last year causing the outer decor to be covered in ash and it closed without the financial backing of the Madame or the CEO of the Sherfira Industries, becoming a shell of its former self. The building of white stone became charred black.
A shell of its former self, it's fitting surprisingly now that Ifiral sits in front of a burnt down door where part of the roof collapsed that year ago. Sitting at the base of the door is a small, framed picture of a family; Ifiral's family. Sighing he reaches into his bag and pulls out two small candles. Placing them in front of the picture, he lights them with his semblance and sits down. Slowly, he meditates asking for forgiveness and swearing that he will make things right. His mind is lost in the memories of that night.
The streets of Mantle were cold, but not as cold as normal walking along the heated streets back towards the hotel. Ifiral smiled. Everything was on the up and up. Profits were up 15% this quarter and his father had decided to take them to visit his Aunt down at the Glass Unicorn in celebration. His cousins were as bitchy as ever, but other than that everything was going great. They had decided to spend the night in the hotel as it was getting late. He couldn't sleep so he decided to go on a walk with Regis… who snuck out to meet with Tali. He left them alone in her apartment before he saw something he didn't want to.
Shifting his weight, Ifiral grips the handle of his weapon. He really didn't know why he brought it, but something just happened since he was a huntsman in training. Holding the large blade in his hand he laughed. He could barely remember why he chose to become a huntsman, but he's glad he did. His father was more supportive of it than his mother, but both were happy for him since he announced that he planned to go to Atlas.
Suddenly he hears a siren blaring behind him. Looking up he sees part of the street ahead was glowing a bright orange light. Suddenly passing him by, Mantle fire trucks rush towards it. Fires were surprisingly rare in Mantle… well at least this part since it was the old Atlas quarter. He then finally realized what street he was on. The Glass Unicorn was only a block away… right where the fire would be. Ifiral began sprinting as fast as he could, fearing the worst.
He arrived little more than a minute later seeing the building starting to be engulfed in flames. Running up to the building he sees that people are still evacuating. Quickly scanning the crowd, when he doesn't find his family, he runs towards the fire escape. Reaching it he starts to climb the ladder before he's pushed off by someone coming down. Pushing him off the ladder. They were wearing some basic white clothes and had two simple scimitars on their back. They quickly ran off before Ifiral could get a good look at them before they disappeared out of sight. Shaking his head, Ifiral originally chalked it up to them fleeing the fire. Rushing up the ladder he reaches the 4th floor where his family is staying and breaks down the door to get inside.
The fire had already reached this part of the hotel and hot embers burned all around him. He could hear furious banging from some of the doors as parts of the ceiling were already starting to block entrances. Hearing the furious pounding on his right, Ifiral makes a detour and stops in front of the blocked door. He orders everyone to stand away from the door after about 20 seconds he shifts his weapon into its dual shotguns and obliterates the door. Clearing any excess debris, Ifiral points them towards the fire escape making sure the mother with the small child gets out first, he continues before he's stopped by more loud bangs. Looking down the hallway there are multiple blocked doors each with a resident trying to get out. Ifiral moves to help as many as he can by unblocking the doors and guiding the injured to the exit. After what felt like forever, he finally reached his family's room. Busting open the door he has a front view seat to see part of the roof collapse and land on his parents.
Screaming, Ifiral rushes forward pushing the debris from his family and begins dragging them towards the exit when the fire gets too great for him to carry his family through. Thinking quickly, Ifiral enters one of the rooms facing towards the street before using his weapon to break a hole in the wall. Obviously, this gets the attention of the firefighters on the ground level, and they quickly move in with a ladder to safely evacuate his parents. Ifiral, slightly relieved that his parents made it out, decides to continue and assist with the evacuation. Searching through the building and evacuating people as he goes. Eventually after the fire has been fully battled, he goes to the believed source of the fire. Entering one of the older storage rooms on the top floor, Ifiral sees four bodies dead on the ground. Three of them are his family, aunt, and cousins, the fourth some huntsman he's never really seen before. There were signs of a fight and the smell of spent dust still hung heavy in the air. Walking towards the middle of the room he's interrupted by a small crunch. Looking down he's stepped on some piece of jewelry, kneeling down he reaches for it but jerks his hand back when it starts producing a small electric shock.
Looking closer, Ifiral sees what it was meant to be… A shock collar easily meant to keep someone in line. He then notices the area around the necklace oddly not burnt as it should if it started the fire and slowly starts to piece it together. This wasn't an accident; it was planned and this necklace was probably a red herring. Whoever started this fire wanted to make it look like it was the cause instead of something more realistic such as a crystal of fire dust. Pocketing the necklace, Ifiral walks out of the Glass Unicorn, the facade was almost completely burned through and it's doubtful the building will open again without major financial backing. Sighing, Ifiral grabs his scroll and dials his brother Regis. He is about to let him know when Regis informs him.
"Mom and Dad died of smoke inhalation… I'm sorry Ifiral."
Falling to his knees, Ifiral throws his scroll to the ground, breaking it. He then screams at the top of his lungs vowing revenge on the one who started the fire… for killing his family.
Blinking twice, Ifiral is brought to the present. With a sigh he puts out the candles and gets up from the ground. Pulling out the scroll with the list, Ifiral clicks on the target's name again before pressing a button labeled 'Nav'. After a brief flash of a curly W loading screen a small map opens and points him towards the current location of his target. Breathing in slowly, Ifiral slides up a small face mask over his mouth before exiting the building. The hunt was officially on.
Eventually after what felt like forever Ifiral spotted his target, unfortunately they were surrounded by others. Obviously, they were getting a drink after a long day's work and were just simply relaxing. Noticing that the bar that they were at was going towards its last call, Ifiral decided to simply move onto plan B. Observe and trail until the target is alone.
Character Change: Ifiral Phenrix - William Scarlatina
Location: City of Mantle: The Befuddled Bunny.
The night was going well. honestly it was, Bill had FINALLY gotten the recognition that he felt he deserved and found a job that catered to his mindset. He was officially going to be working as a data engineer for the communications center!
His colleagues from work had decided to throw him this work party, as a kind of 'good job Bill!' Taking another drink from his rapidly refilling cup. Bill looks down to his scroll and notices that he had missed a call from his daughter Velvet…
VELVET! SHIT! he had forgotten that she was going to be staying with him for the month… Quickly explaining what's up he pays his tab and starts booking it home not even waiting on a cab.
Walking the streets of Mantle… isn't always the greatest idea, the cold dark streets make being trailed easy and unbeknownst to Bill he was being followed. Cutting through the back alleys only made it worse. Eventually, Bill reached his apartment building and was reaching for his keys when he noticed his daughter's floppy bunny ears peeking through the window. Smiling, Bill goes to open the door before he feels a rough hand on his shoulder.
"Don't say a word… you are going to turn and walk into the alley on the side here. If you don't follow my instructions… well, you can imagine." the culprit says behind him.
Bill follows the request through fear and fear alone. Standing in the alley glancing towards the window he sees his daughter playing with one of her toys on the kitchen table… It was way past her bedtime, and he knew it. Suddenly he's brought from thoughts by his unknown assailant's voice.
Character Change: William Scarlatina - Ifiral Phenrix
Location: City of Mantle: Back alley
Ifiral stood in front of his target ready to draw his weapon if he gave any indication of aggression or non-compliance. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out the plain burner scroll and holds it up to the man.
"You were in the Glass Unicorn when it burned down. We believe you to be a possible candidate for starting the fire. I will say we are not the military, but we can make you disapp-"
"Please, I have a daughter and a family." The man begs
"I don't care. Answer my question. What were you doing at the Glass Unicorn that night and did you start the fire." Ifiral's voice gets deeper
"There was a company party, and I went there. I didn't start any fire, I swear!" The man replies
Ifiral scoffs sure the man is probably telling the truth, but he needs to make sure. He uses his semblance to make a small flame dance in his hand. "That's a very nice house you got there. I see you looking back to the window every so often. So, tell the truth or it goes up in flames. Poetic if you ask me." Ifiral said before thinking to himself,
Alright Bill time to call your bluff. I saw the small bunny ears poking through the window. I'm not going to light it even if he told me to set it ablaze… can't say the same for This guy though.
Bill looked absolutely terrified and Ifiral was fairly certain the man had just pissed himself he quickly stammered out "Pl-please my daughter is in there! I told you the truth, I was there for a company meeting I don't kn-"
"Dad, who is this man? Is he hurting you? Please stop hurting Dad!" A small timid voice says from their right. Both Ifiral and Bill turn horrified to see the little Rabbit faunus standing in front of them.
Ifiral quickly releases the fire and looks at the little girl kneeling down to address her "Hey there miss, what's your name?"
"It's…. I shouldn't give my name to strangers." The small faunus replies
Ifiral smirks, "Smart girl, you raised her well." Ifiral says addressing Bill who is starting to get in between Ifiral and Velvet, "I do believe I'm done here. Sorry for bothering you Mr. Scarlatina, the truth is I'm investigating the fire and your name did appear on the list of suspects." he says showing the man, "I truly mean you no harm." Ifiral begins to walk away before he notices something up with one of the girl's rabbit ears. Stopping, he kneels down again, "You're injured, are you ok?" His tone shifts to sincerity
"Get away from us you-" Bill starts.
"I'm not going to hurt you or her. Here's proof." Ifiral says unlatching the large blade from his back and throwing it deeper into the alley. He then lowers the face mask and looks him dead in the eye. "Ifiral Phenrix-Sherfira, current student at Atlas academy." Ifiral says deadpan.
"Why are you telling me this I coul-"
"You could report this and try to get me expelled and the truth is you would fail. I have the financial backing of the second largest corporation in Atlas behind me. But I am telling you so you can trust me." Ifiral says.
Bill thinks for a moment before sighing, "I don't trust you, but I'll let you go on with what you're doing so long as my family isn't injured." His tone is still angry but slightly softer.
"Thank you." Ifiral nods before kneeling back to address the rabbit faunus hiding behind her father's leg, "I notice your ears are injured and bleeding as well as a bruise on your head. Mind if I ask why?"
The small girl timidly looks to her father than to Ifiral, her father is now fully examining his daughter and noticing the injuries trying not to panic. Eventually the girl gives a small response teetering on crying, "The boys at school pull on them… they don't think that I should go there…"
"And for the bruise?" Ifiral asks compassionately.
"It's… it's nothing…" the girl responds quickly.
"Velvet, please tell us." Bill says scared.
Velvet begins to cry and hugs her father. Bill returns the gesture comforting his child. Ifiral stands there and presses two buttons on his scroll giving Professor Kaine and Regis his position. Eventually Velvet calms down enough and looks up to Ifiral and tells him the reason for the bruise. "As*sniff* As I was walking*sniff* back from school *sniff* Mr. Alabaster threw rocks at me… I wasn't fast enough." she says, sinking into herself.
Ifiral breathes in slowly before looking at Bill and saying, "This Mr. Alabaster have an address?" his tone barely hiding anger.
"Please don't get involved." Bill says scared
"Oh I'm getting involved so you can either tell me or-"
"He lives in the green building four doors down." Velvet says quietly.
Ifiral nods before looking at Bill, "Go make sure your daughter is okay. I'm going to have a chat with Mr. Alabaster."
"Please don't hurt him… he's just an old man." Velvet says to Ifiral as he grabs his weapon and walks away. She is then guided into their home by Bill.
Ifiral followed the young girl's advice before reaching a small green house with an old door. Sitting on the door was a painted sign reading "No Faunus" and other signs of anti-faunus dogmas. He shakes his head and moves his face mask back into position.
Pulling his weapon from his back, Ifiral swaps it into Shotgun mode and fires it into the lock on the door before kicking it in. "ALABASTER GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" he yells.
"What's this all about?" a sixty something year old says from the couch off to the side where Ifiral entered.
Ifiral sheaths his weapon and walks up to the man picking him up by the collar "did you throw rocks at a little faunus girl today?"
"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" the man says, sparking Ifiral's anger causing him to throw him across the room.
Ifiral Picks him up again this time rougher, "You have 24 hours to get the fuck out of Mantle or I'm going to skin you alive and feed you to your kids."
"Y-You're bluffing!"
"FUCKING TRY ME!" Ifiral says throwing him down one last time.
"Damn brat i-I'll sue! That fucking critter will ne-" He's cut off by a shotgun shell ripping through his head.
Ifiral's shocked at the sudden shot as he never unsheathed his weapon before turning to the door and seeing Regis in a disguise.
"Why did you-" Ifiral starts
"So, you wouldn't." Regis responds. "Smash some furniture and while I burn the Meteion mark onto the wall, let them take the blame."
"Fine." Ifiral says deadpan before swapping his weapon back into blade mode and using it to break some more items around the house making it look like a message was being sent.
"No one will link you to this. Inform the reason you're doing this that it was already like this when you arrived." Regis says deadpan.
"So, we're just going to kill a man in cold blood and get away with it?" Ifiral responds
"Yes, we're rich and he was a horrible racist. You're too soft Ifiral. It's why I worry you're going to get yourself killed." Regis says exiting the house beckoning Ifiral to follow.
"I'm surprised you're the one who came. Figured Kaine would do it." Ifiral says following him out and taking the lead back to his target's house.
"I figured I might as well get some fresh air… That and Kaine has been working too late anyways. She needs her sleep." Regis says with a shrug.
They arrive shortly outside the Scarlatina residence Ifiral knocks on the door lightly. There is a tense moment before Bill answers the door. "Please we don't want any trouble…"
"There will be none tonight." Regis says in response. "May we come in?"
"Who are you?" Bill asks
"Regis Sherfira." Regis deadpans.
Bill is star-struck before letting Ifiral and his brother into the small home. It's quaint and looking to the kitchen he can see a small first aid kit and a Velvet sitting at the table. She turns and looks at Ifiral. "You hurt Mr. Alabaster, didn't you?"
Ifiral shakes his head, "No, he wasn't there." Ifiral lies.
Regis whispers their cover story into Bill's ear knowing a child doesn't need to know it.
Ifiral gives a sigh, "I would like for Sherfira Industries to pay for Velvet's private school tuition from this point on." This gets Bill and Velvet to jump.
"But she's normally in Vale; she only attends Atlas a few months of the year." Bill says flabbergasted.
"So? Lien is lien. It's good everywhere." Ifiral says in response.
Regis shakes his head before pulling out his scroll. "*sigh* Sign here and I'll get it added to the Sherfira Industries Bright Futures Fund. I mean we have a quarter of a million to spend each year might as well put it to good use."
Ifiral turns to Velvet who's been patched up a good bit more, "What do you want to do in the future Velvet?" He asks compassionately.
"I… I want to be a huntress." Velvet says timidly.
Ifiral gives a smirk before placing a hand on her shoulder, getting her to jump slightly, "I'm sure you'll make a great huntress, you'll even surpass me, I think." he says giving her a smirk, "But every good huntress needs their aura. Is it ok if I unlock hers?"
Breathing in slowly, Ifiral looks to Bill to get approval before he starts. Seeing Bill process what he's doing then giving a small nod Ifiral begins
"For it is through action that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become an icon of bravery and sacrifice to rise above sorrow. Infinite in determination and unbound by wounds, I release your soul, and by my hand, inflame thee." Ifiral says to the young rabbit faunus before a soft glow appears around them signaling that he has awakened their aura.
Shortly afterwards, the small wounds around her ears and the bruise on her head begin to heal. Nodding Ifiral takes his hand off of her shoulder and breathes a heavy sigh. "There you should be able to heal minor wounds quickly. It also gives you a slight head start before applying to Shelter or another training school." Ifiral says giving a smile to her.
Velvet looked in awe of the light glow around her body before nodding "Thank you Mister… Thank you."
Ifiral smiles, "Don't mention it. Now it's been an eventful night and it's approaching 2am you should get some sleep. Just because it's a weekend doesn't mean someone your age should be up this late." Ifiral says lightly booping her on the nose.
Velvet looks to her father before he says a similar sentiment. Running towards her room she gives one last wave before shutting the door.
Ifiral's smile drops before he turns to Bill, "I'm sorry about how tonight started but if anyone is troubling her, call the number Regis is giving you." he says and Regis writes something on a napkin and hands it to him, "Other things you need to know is you never met us. This didn't happen, make sure Velvet knows that in the morning."
Ifiral begins to exit before turning back, "Your daughter has a bright future William… Please do what you can to ensure it remains that way." he says before closing the door behind him.
"That was stupid of you." Regis says as they walk away from the house
"Piss off. She shouldn't have to go through with that." Ifiral responds
"I know and I agree. I meant revealing our identities. Mr. Scarlatina could become an issue if he thinks we wronged him somehow." Regis says deadpan.
"Well, I think he understands not to. Especially after he sees what happened to Alabaster. He's not going to buy the cover story, but he can't argue with it since it's his word against Sherfira." Ifiral says.
Regis gives a smirk, "Now you're starting to think like a businessperson. Now then who's next on the list?"
Ifiral gives a nod before pulling out the scroll picking another name from the list. Starting the same navigation software, they prepare to confront the next possible candidate of who burned down the Glass Unicorn.
It was 4 AM when Ifiral got back to the dorms. Entering as quietly as possible, Ifiral tiptoed slowly into his bed doing his best to not wake Eckhart. He figured just in case he could say he had to use the restroom or something. Sliding under the covers he sighs and thinks back to what Regis had told him before they split off for the night.
"I shouldn't have to tell you this, but the world is fucked. What you are doing is illegal and drawing attention to it will get you killed. While what you did today was a good thing you shouldn't do it again. I also will not shoot someone else in the head for you so the blood will be on your hands next time." Regis said, approaching the bullhead with him.
"I know and quite frankly he didn't need to die. I could have had him skip town." Ifiral says quietly.
"Hmph, still as naïve as ever." Regis says with a smirk, "What do you plan to do with the person who started the fire when you found them if you aren't going to kill people?"
"I… I'll turn them into Ironwood." Ifiral says
"And get arrested for vigilantism and unlicensed huntsmen work. Not to mention breaking and entering, vandalism, assault and whatever else you've gotten up to during these excursions." Regis deadpans.
Ifiral gives a long sigh before Regis places a hand on his shoulder, "I know you will not listen to me Ifiral, but stopping these excursions is probably the best for you. Keeps you from falling into darkness."
Sighing Ifiral placed a hand on his scar, it felt cold but grounded him. Clenching his fist he swears he will avenge his parents… He burned the scar onto his cheek as a reminder for that very reason. Eventually exhaustion finally claims Ifiral as he drifts off to relive the memories of the fire in his head one more time.
Character Change: Ifiral Phenrix - Viralious
Location: Location Atlas Academy: Team VIEW Dorm: VW suite
Viralious wakes up to his alarm going off, glancing around the room he notices that Winter is actually sleeping in slightly today. Giving a small smirk, jumps out of bed grabbing his uniform and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Quickly brushing his teeth, putting on deodorant, and changing into the drab gray and white uniform he looks at his long hair in the mirror before sighing and exiting the bathroom. Viralious then throws his sleepwear into his bag (He's only worn it for 8 hours he can wear it again before washing it) and exits towards the common room fully ready for a day without any stupid bullshit.
"Maybe starting today, we can have a relatively normal semester…" Viralious says to no one in particular.
If only he knew how wrong, he truly was.
A/N
This chapter was surprisingly hard to write. Originally there was only going to be one line of spoken text in the entire thing but HOLY FUCK that was a pain to try and make work. Obviously, I scrapped that fairly early into the draft but some remnants of that made it in. Now then let's go into the content of the chapter itself.
The flashback here gives Ifiral's full backstory. We knew an abridged version of it from Ifiral's first appearance, but this should give you some more insight into it. So yes, Ifiral's parents died due to a certain villain's actions that were revealed in Volume 8 (I would say it out right, but my editor is currently watching RWBY and hasn't reached Volume 8 yet). The whole point is meant to be a bit of a tragedy that Ifiral did everything right, but he still failed in the end. He saved multiple people and got to his parents; then they died due to smoke inhalation. We also see him discover the aftermath of Cinder's fight with Rhodes and it brings him to the conclusion that this fire was caused by someone. He ignores whatever could have brought them to burn it down.
Ifiral is meant to be a FLAWED hero his actions and reasonings for it are flawed but he is willing to do the right thing. This is exemplified as the chapter goes on. The section about Velvet and her father are meant to build this theme, Ifiral is a good person, but he doesn't follow the best course of action. He did a good thing helping Velvet but he's complicit in the murder of Alabaster. He also only had the option to help her by threatening her father. Ifiral does the wrong thing for the right reasons. He's trapped in a cycle of revenge that he cannot see is going to get him killed or cause him to lose himself.
This brings us to Regis; we learn more of his character and he's less lawful than we first figured but he's doing what he can to help his brother. We will see more of this moving forward, but we will have to wait and see. Now we found everyone's favorite rabbit faunus and I thought introducing her here would be interesting to show differences in Aura awakening. Coeur Al'Aran in Professor Arc has Roman awaken someone's aura giving a different speech from Pyrha so I figured each person is slightly different hence I tried to come up with one that fit my thoughts of Ifiral's character… er his positives at least. It also builds a bit of world building.
Overall, this chapter is a little shorter than I thought it would be but I mostly liked how it turned out. I cannot wait for it to be torn apart by AmoebaHewdraw while he's editing it.
This is where I would like to thank my Editor AmoebaHewdraw as I am fairly surprised this story hasn't driven him to drink yet.
AmoebaHewdraw's note: Keyword: yet.
Until Next Time Xcom Out
