Back from vacation, and here's a chapter!

Not much to say for this one, so without further ado!

Chapter 3

'Team Chamomile' had been at Beacon Academy for a while now, and all in all, Cinder felt things had been going rather well.

They'd already accomplished a small part of one of their many objectives, making sure to catalogue potential candidates for the remainder of the Fall Maiden's power. Pyrrha Nikos would also act as a way to keep her muscles loose and in shape.

…and serve as an escape route from Nora Valkyrie, who, once more, sought to pester Cinder to no end.

"So, I was thinkin'," The girl began as she chewed on an apple with her mouth hanging open, spraying little bits and chunks all over Mercury, who looked like he would've given anything to break their cover and slam the girl's face into the cafeteria table before them. "You guys should like," She swallowed, and Mercury let out a shuddering breath as he ran a napkin down his face. "Totally come up to our dorm and hang out with us!"

Cinder waged an internal war inside of her head, trying to decide if her plan to become the Fall Maiden was really worth it if this was the price she was going to have to pay.

In the end, that which she had dreamed of since she had begun training under Salem's wing won out, though only just.

…And, well, she had a contingency plan in place for this, didn't she?

"I'm sure my teammates would be delighted to join you, Nora." She offered magnanimously, pointedly avoiding the way her entire 'team' stared at her like she'd gone insane. "But I think Pyrrha might wish to spar now that we have some time?"

The girl in question, who had up until that moment been quietly eating spaghetti, hacked, and coughed on the half-chewed food in her mouth as she sputtered to get out her response.

"I-I would love that!"

"Psh," Nora Valkyrie pouted, and Cinder would not deny that seeing such an expression on the normally unflappable girl's face felt like a victory. "Am I not cool enough for you, Village-sister?"

I want to kill you every second I am around you.

"Still not a thing, Nora." Ren commented absently, not even looking up from his own food.

"You're plenty 'cool', Nora." Cinder rolled her eyes. "And it's not as if we'll be leaving forever. We'll only be practicing for an hour or so. I'm sure we'll still have plenty of time to talk."

And, well, if they happened to get lost in the corridors for the next few hours afterwards, well, that could be forgiven. They were new to Beacon after all, were they not? That wouldn't be Cinder's fault.

Nora still pouted, though Ren's hand on her shoulder had her finally giving up. "Fiiiiiine. But you owe me one, buster!"

"Nora, please." Arc laughed, waving off the girl's exuberance, before turning to their team with a soft smile. "But thank you guys for agreeing, Nora's really been looking forward to this all week."

"What are friends for?" Cinder said with a heaping helping of feigned enthusiasm. She turned to Nikos. "Actually, if you're finished eating, we could retire to the training arenas now?"

Pyrrha Nikos was not at all finished eating, and yet despite that, the girl stood immediately. "I'm ready now!" She seemed to recall her 'manners' just a second too late. "Uhm, well, as long as everyone's fine with that?"

Arc just snickered. "Good save, Pyr."

To her credit, Nikos went beat red, scratching the back of her neck as Ren and Valkyrie joined in and chuckled at her expense.

As the two of them stood, however, another did the same. Cinder turned back to see Emerald walking up to them.

"Would you mind if I went with you?" Emerald asked. "I'm not bad myself, and there's always room for more when training, isn't there?"

"That's fine." Pyrrha Nikos didn't at all seem bothered, though Mercury and Neo were less so, given that they glared daggers at the thief's back. "The more the merrier!"

Emerald apparently knew exactly what she was doing, having successfully dodged having to hang out with what was fast becoming their 'sister team', for she turned back towards the two with a victorious smirk.

"Alright folks!" Nora Valkyrie stood up, and struck a pose atop the lunch table, rattling the plates and trays atop it as she pointed off into the distance. "It's time! To the Sanctum of Juniper!"

Cinder rolled her eyes as the three of them exited the cafeteria, happy to be going quite literally anywhere else.

Mercury had been betrayed before.

Marcus Black, his father, had betrayed him. He was supposed to be a positive figure in his life, but instead he'd trained him practically from birth into a killing machine, and in the end, he'd injured Mercury so badly that he'd needed to have his legs amputated. His mother had betrayed him. Because when she'd left the man, she'd not taken Mercury with her. She'd just abandoned him all alone in that tiny house in the middle of nowhere.

But he was fairly sure Cinder and Emerald taking off to go and spar with the Nikos chick, leaving him stuck in a room with both Nora Valkyrie and Neopolitan all on his lonesome might've taken the cake for the most heinous offense of all.

Oh, he understood why she'd done it. Cinder had told them that in the eyes of that Goodwitch lady, their teams were friends now. Which meant that for the time being, they would be acting like it. It helped Mercury somewhat that Cinder had looked like she was pulling teeth as she said it, so at the very least, the boss would be suffering along with them.

Or, well, that was what he'd thought, before she'd come up with a plan to somehow avoid their group punishment, and Emerald, like the lapdog she was, stuck right to the woman's side. Or, well, more specifically her backside.

One day, Emerald would realize that Cinder didn't give a rat's ass about her, and frankly, Mercury would pay to be there when it happened.

…Ok, just this once, he'd give the girl some credit. She'd thought up a way to get out of having to go with the brats, and more than anything, Mercury was jealous.

"So!" Nora Valkyrie said from atop her bed, where she had once more taken a commanding pose, with her hands on her hips, and her legs spread wide. "Whatcha' guys wanna' do!?"

Because he had to deal with this.

"I don't know." He kept his voice even due almost entirely to years and years of brutal training. "I guess I kind of assumed when you invited us back to your dorm room that you would have an activity already picked out."

Nora Valkyrie laughed – laughed – and shook her head. "Well, you know what they say about assumptions, Mercury?"

He was reasonably sure he'd popped a blood vessel somehow managing to avoid displaying the raging fury that coursed through him at the girl's words. Even saying that, he could feel a vein along his forehead pulsing angrily.

"No. I don't." He barely managed to scrape out. Any sane person would've recognized the frankly murderous smile that blossomed onto Mercury's face in the next few moments, and yet Nora Valkyrie seemed entirely unphased. "Go ahead and tell me, Nora."

And yet, heedless of that danger, she hopped down from her bed, and walked right up to him.

"It means you're being all silly!" She reached out and poked Mercury's nose with her pointer finger, adding a quick "boop" as she pulled away. "But yeah, I totally don't have any ideas, so if anyone else has any, then go right ahead!"

At the very least, Arc and Ren both sighed at their teammates absurdity, and that helped Mercury feel approximately 2 and a half percent better.

The inside of his cheek was likely hemorrhaging blood from biting down on it to keep himself calm, but hey, on the bright side, he might pass out from the blood loss, or maybe even perish outright.

So, there were some things to potentially look forward to.

"What about you, Mint?" Jaune Arc looked over from one of his teammates beds, sitting with his legs dangling over the edge. "Do you have any ideas?"

Neo – there was a part of him that realized he should probably call her Mint in his head just to get used to it, but honestly, Mercury really didn't give a damn – just shook her head, immediately pulling a book out from what might as well have been her ass as she made herself comfortable atop Arc's bed.

…Wait, if Neo was going to be reading, did that mean Mercury was alone with these idiots?

Oh, yep, the thundering vein on his forehead was back, and with a vengeance.

"Uhm…" Blondie seemed uncertain as he spoke up, once more addressing Neo. "So… is there a reason you don't ever say anything?"

Neo looked away, feigning a sad expression as she gestured to her throat, then shook her head. Lie Ren seemed to understand, wincing slightly as he took on a pained expression. Arc didn't seem to get it.

Mercury decided to translate. "Mint's mute."

"Jauney!" Valkyrie turned on her leader instantly, even as the boy in question recoiled like he'd been stricken. "How could you!?"

Arc's eyes went wide. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry!"

Neo mimed crying, and the Arc boy began to sputter violently as Valkyrie shook her leader back and forth, and though the image was a humorous one, Neopolitan was planning on throwing Mercury under the bus by leaving him alone here. Thusly, he decided to cut off the girl's prank before the idiot could be tricked into owing Neo one of her 'favors'.

Because even Mercury knew you never wanted to owe Neo anything.

"Don't let her fool you. She's not sensitive about it. She's just being a bitch."

Jaune Arc sputtered at that, looking back and forth between the both of them like a confused puppy, even as Neo pouted, and glared at him.

"See. She's fine."

"Hah." Valkyrie, despite the fact that her leader had been the butt of the joke that she had definitely also fallen for, laughed. "Good one."

'Mint' bowed dramatically, to light applause from crazy.

Mercury made a mental note to make sure Neopolitan and Nora Valkyrie never became friends, lest the world end in a fiery hellscape.

"Well, I'm still sorry." Jaune Arc spoke, the complete sincerity of his tone nearly giving Mercury a cavity. "It was insensitive of me to ask like that."

Neo waived away the boy's concern, shrugging as she pulled the book she'd been reading before back up. Mercury had just enough time to read the name along the spine, and raise a solitary eyebrow, before the Arc boy followed suit, sneaking a peek himself.

"Ninjas of… love?" Blondie seemed perplexed. "Uhm… what kind of book is that Mint?"

Neo smirked as she wiggled a finger at the boy, calling him over. He followed, even as Mercury's brain made the connection as to just what brand of 'literature' Neo was likely holding.

…Well, if the boy was going to be hopelessly naïve enough to walk into not one, but two of Neo's traps in less than a minute, perhaps he should be allowed to make his own mistakes. It would be a learning experience.

…Nah, okay, that was bullshit. Mercury just wanted to see the look on his face.

Arc leaned over as Neo tilted the book towards him and read a paragraph that the girl was pointing to. In nary a moment, his face was a deep scarlet, and he yelped as he nearly fell off the bed.

"W-What is that!?"

Neo shrugged with a languid grin, even as she held the book far enough away from Nora's now prying eyes that the girl couldn't manage to get a peek herself.

"Why would – who would make that!?" Jaune Arc crowed out like a man who had lost a lot more than just his innocence. "Who would voluntarily read that!?"

Blake's stay at Beacon Academy had been going pretty well given the whole former terrorist thing.

She really had to emphasize the 'former' part – the fact that she was still wanted within the Kingdom of Atlas to this day notwithstanding – because she had well and truly turned over a new leaf! And yet, even saying that, even knowing she fully intended to be a better person, to stick to the path of righteousness from here on out, Blake could admit she'd gotten off awfully easy.

The headmaster had believed her without much fight. She'd gotten a good team – She'd had some initial misgivings about Weiss, but the girl had proven herself an acceptable enough person in time – and even a good partner to their leader. Perhaps, one day, she might even confess what she was, what she'd done, to the girl and the rest of her team.

Really, Blake should've known things were going too well.

Something had to give.

It was just…

If she'd known this was to be the price… That deserting the White Fang would come at so high a cost… she might never have left.

She stared down into her backpack, which was supposed to contain one of her most prized possessions, one of the original prints of 'Ninjas of Love's' first volume, read cover to cover more times than she could count… And gazed into the chasm-like abyss that seemed only to stare back.

Her book – nay, her literature – was gone.

Not like this. Blake couldn't help the tears that slid down her face, even as she slammed a hand down onto the carpeted floor below her, weeping softly beside her bed.

Anything but this…

Lie Ren's brow drew down, even as he leaned against the back wall, his ear pressed to it.

"Does anyone else hear… crying?"

"Meh." Nora walked back over and slapped the boy on the shoulder, apparently having given up on trying to get a look at Neo's book. "Probably not worth worrying about!"

"Uhm… okay?"

Arc cleared his throat, though it was clear by the look on his face that he was doing so to distract himself more than anything.

"W-Well, if Nora doesn't have any ideas, how about we all chill out and play some video games?"

Mercury just stared at the guy. "Hey man, no offense or anything, but I'm not really a… 'chill' kind of person."

"Aw c'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Somehow I doubt that."

"What, you're acting like you've never played a video game before!"

Oh, he'd heard the term, and he knew – through the process of osmosis of hanging about teenagers whilst he and Emerald had been cooped up at Haven – what video games were, but he'd never really had much chance to partake, aside from some dumb apps on his scroll he was fairly sure didn't count.

"Not particularly."

"…You're serious?"

Mercury raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, you're looking at me like I said I killed a guy."

He had, several, actually, but that was neither here nor there.

"Well, I mean–" Arc looked back and forth between him, and his team. "Guys, c'mon, back me up here!"

"Actually, neither Nora nor I have played very many games either." Lie Ren said awkwardly. "We were often on the road or staying the nights in inns or hotels when we were lucky, and so there wasn't much time for leisure."

"I– you– Alright, that's it! Mandatory team bonding activity!" Arc stepped away from his bed, which was currently occupied by Neopolitan reading what was apparently terrible, terrible smut. "We're playing Supreme Smash Sisters! It's a party fighting game, so all four of us can play it. Mint you're welcome to join too if you–"

'Mint' immediately shook her head, not even looking up from her book.

"Ok. Nora, Ren, you in?"

"Didn't you say it was mandatory?" Valkyrie pointed out.

"Er, yeah, I guess I did. So, you're in." Arc turned to him next for some reason. "Mercury, how about it? It'll be fun, I swear."

He sighed. "Is there any way I get out of this?"

"Without being accosted on all sides by me and Nora?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Then sure."

"Awesome!" Blondie was entirely too excited. "I promise, you'll have a great time!"

Yeah, he had a sneaking suspicion he probably wasn't going to. Regardless, the game loaded up, and Mercury synced up his scroll to the console in lieu of a controller – which Arc possessed, plugged into the machine itself – as the controls appeared. Blondie gave each of them a basic rundown, how to move and fight, and then they were selecting characters from a pretty sizable roster. Mercury didn't particularly care, so he just picked one of the hot chicks and readied up.

As they loaded into the 'arena', Mercury let out a low groan, knowing he was going to have to feign enthusiasm for the next however long he was stuck here.

Like this was going to keep him distracted for the next few hours.

Cinder wasn't exactly winded, nor particularly satisfied, after coming back from an hour and a half long sparring session with both Emerald and Pyrrha Nikos, but at the very least, her muscles had been stretched, and put to work.

They'd not done anything strenuous enough to wind Cinder, though at least she'd been able to keep Emerald's conditioning going, getting the girl to battle against Nikos and track some of her progress.

Obviously, her semblance was out of the question, though Nikos would occasionally use her own to dodge a blow she otherwise wouldn't have been able to against one of Emerald's sickles. The girl was good, and it had solidified in Cinder's mind that only she – or perhaps Neopolitan, not that she trusted the girl to do it – would be able to take her if it came down to it, for Emerald had been defeated rather handedly. Nikos' aura had been hovering somewhere in the high yellow's as the two's spar came to an end.

Cinder had given the woman some time to warm back up before dueling herself, and Emerald had sat nearby and studied Nikos' movements to better understand her, and to gather information that could be fed to Cinder later on the girl's fighting style, if the thief saw anything that she didn't.

Cinder had been able to defeat Nikos once again, though admittedly, given she didn't utilize her semblance, and only fought her with fists and kicks, it hadn't been particularly easy. Her aura was mid-yellow when Nikos' was knocked into the red.

Her opponent had been panting, but it was clear from the raw satisfaction on her face that neither exertion nor defeat was something she shied away from.

Still, it was time to face the music, Cinder supposed, as the three of them washed the sweat off their bodies in the locker rooms and headed back to Juniper's dorm. Hopefully, Valkyrie would've gotten her fill of 'friendship' from Mercury and Neopolitan to the point that she would not request Cinder join them for the day.

Oh, she held no reservations that she could escape the crazed girl forever, but she would delay as long as humanly possible.

Honestly, Mercury had earned her favor this day for staying behind. If he'd gone with them too, it was clear Valkyrie and her team would've simply followed along with them, and then they'd have all been stuck in the training arena's.

She'd have to get Mercury something nice for his service.

For now, though, such thoughts could be pushed aside. The three of them made their way to Team JNPR's dorm, and Nikos stepped up and unlocked the door with her scroll. They pushed the door open, and–

"You rat bastards!" Mercury let out in a ragged yell. "I'll kill you all!"

The blood drained from Cinder's face.

Immediately, Cinder's instincts kicked into high gear, and she heated her hands in preparation to have to summon midnight. She studied the state of the room, expecting, perhaps, to see the bodies of Arc or Ren somewhere inside, or perhaps Valkyrie with her head caved in, leant across her bed…

She had not expected to see the three members of JNPR, instead of screaming, and hiding away from a rampaging Mercury, instead cackling, leaning back against the bed they were all sat upon. Even Ren, who seemed far too reserved, had a hand in front of his mouth, chuckling softly.

Hell, 'Mint' was joining them, silently shaking on a bed near the back as she wiped a tear from one eye.

"I gotta' say," Arc snickered out. "I didn't take you for the sore loser type, Mercury."

"Fuck off and die, Arc!" Mercury snarled, even as he gripped the Beacon scroll in his hands hard enough that Cinder was surprised it still functioned. "That was bullshit, and you know it! There's no way that fuckin' hit me!"

Once more, that sent the members of JNPR into another laughing fit.

"Uhm." Emerald summed up Cinder's thoughts rather succinctly. "What the fuck."

That seemed to catch the attention of four of the five who'd been in the room, for each turned away from the screen and looked to them.

Mercury, pointedly, did not.

"Hey, Cindy!" Valkyrie waved her way. "We were just playing some video games!"

Video… games? Cinder was no fool, she knew the basic concept, even if she'd never once indulged herself. It was a form of entertainment for the unenlightened masses, something to keep the sheep who lined the streets happy so that the Grimm wouldn't invade the kingdoms.

"Yeah, and Mercury was uhm…" Arc cut off as a small bout of mirth wracked through him. "Doing well?"

"Arc, I will flay the flesh from your bones without a thought."

Cinder's eyebrows rose, for she was fairly certain she'd never once heard Mercury quite this livid. Such vitriol from a trained assassin, a man raised from birth for the sole purpose of killing, should've earned abject fear, and nothing less.

It should not have earned barely disguised giggles, or a pat on the back from Lie Ren.

"It's okay. The three of us are all new to this. No one's good their first time."

Mercury's right eye twitched.

Cinder cleared her throat, finally drawing the assassin's attention as he looked away from the screen, which seemed to display that he'd come in fourth place. "Mercury. If you're quite finished?"

She expected her disciple to snap out of whatever odd reverie was hovering over him, and to immediately apologize for acting up over… losing at a video game, it seemed? Once more, Mercury surprised her, by standing, looking right at her, and asking, "Do you need me for anything today?"

A single eyebrow rose. "No, I do not believe so."

He brushed right past her, still fuming. "Then I'm going out. Call me if you need me."

"Going out," It must've been the raw absurdity of the statement that prevented her from pulling the boy aside and curtailing whatever this was then and there. "To where?"

"To buy one of those consoles, and that damned game!" Mercury growled out, though not really at her. "I'm not losing again! I refuse! I don't care how damned long it takes!"

And then he was gone, and Cinder was too stunned to stop him, or reprimand him, or really to do anything at all other than silently watch his figure grow smaller and smaller, before he rounded a corridor at the end of the hall and disappeared.

Nora Valkyrie just clapped her hands together like all of this was entirely normal behavior. "Wow, he's really determined, huh?"

Cinder, in some last attempt to find a tiny little piece of sanity within this horrid place, looked to Neo, hoping the girl would have some idea as to what was going on.

All she got was the girl gesturing with her pointer finger out the door, presumably meant to represent Mercury, and then spinning that same finger against the side of her head.

…Like you're one to talk. Cinder lamented wordlessly.

Emerald had been hanging onto the few questions she needed to ask Cinder for a while now, trying to wait for the right opportunity. Given that Mercury was out – seemingly to purchase a game console of all things – and Neo was being Neo – aka she wasn't in their room and likely wouldn't return for hours – Emerald decided now would be a good a time as any to try and get some answers on what had been happening ever since they'd arrived in Beacon.

And hell, she could ask why they were in Beacon, since that fit the bill as well, honestly.

The real question, for Emerald, anyways, was how exactly she was meant to go about this. It wasn't like she could simply ask Cinder what was going on. She pictured that in her head.

Hey, Cinder, why have you been acting totally against our plans for the past few weeks? Also, why did I catch you blushing embarrassedly when that Goodwitch lady covered for you about something?

And then Cinder would promptly immolate her.

No. She needed to be a bit more… subtle.

Problem 1. Emerald didn't really do subtle. Oh, she was a thief alright, and a pretty damned good one. But that was being physically subtle. Knowing how to spot a mark, knowing how to stick to the shadows, knowing how to seem inconspicuous, and then knowing when to strike.

That was easy.

But Emerald didn't really do… conversation subtle very well.

Naturally, Cinder seemed to notice her predicament in that exact moment. "Is something the matter, Emerald?"

"Ah, well, n-not as such…"

Cinder seemed quizzical, and Emerald could understand; she was not normally so skittish.

Despite that, Emerald huffed, and decided; fuck it, she was just going to say what she thought she needed to. "I just… things have been kind of weird lately, haven't they?"

Cinder went silent for a moment, before muttering, "Define weird."

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she let out a weak chuckle. "Well, I mean… first there was the coming to Beacon early thing, then the… combat class thing. And then… Goodwitch came by, and you kind of just went with her–"

Cinder's single exposed eye pierced into her very soul as it caught her gaze.

"Are you questioning me, dear Emerald?"

"NO!" She immediately yelled, just a bit louder than she'd meant to. "No." She corrected. "I'm just… I'm really just curious, ma'am. Let me know if you'd like me to back off, and I will, no questions asked."

Cinder hummed for a moment, before, with a shrug, she acquiesced.

"I suppose there is no harm in it. I've not much to offer. You wish to ask what the origin of my changing our first plan was, then?" At her nod, Cinder continued. "I suppose it began when I fought off that woman, Glynda Goodwitch, to save that idiot Roman on one of his heists. I felt… something."

Emerald's brow creased as she took in that information, and she nodded her head, waiting for the woman to keep going.

"It is merely a feeling, though across my years I have learned to trust my instincts more than anything else."

That was… kind of enough. …Sort of.

…Okay, no it wasn't.

"Uhm… well," Emerald tried to coax the woman on. "What kind of feeling is it?"

"Emerald."

She'd pushed too far, that was clear. "S-sorry, ma'am." She murmured as she ducked her head, hoping to find some object on the floor that might spare her from Cinder's punishment.

…No. Not punishment. It was never a beating for her, not like with Mercury. She had only ever slapped Emerald once, when she'd truly forgotten her place. She… she could not blame Cinder for that. It had been her fault, clearly.

No, it wouldn't be pain. It would instead be the absence of what she wanted. It was the holding back of the soft touches, the little caresses, the sweet nothings in her ear.

It was the denial of warmth, that which Emerald had been deprived of all her life. That which only ever Cinder had given her.

She made to turn away, wondering how best to ask forgiveness, only for Cinder to breathe something out from behind her.

"No, you would only dig into this yourself if I gave you nothing." The woman sighed, and it took all of Emerald's willpower not to look up, not until she was sure she was not to be denied. "I have strung both yourself and Mercury along with nothing more than a hint for a while now."

She said nothing, until "Raise your head, Emerald."

And so, she did.

"You are not wrong to ask questions, that is how I instructed you to behave, after all, and how the life you lived before our meeting told you that you must as well."

Cinder stepped towards her, then, and Emerald subconsciously leant towards the hand that her mistress reached towards her. Emerald delighted in the way it rubbed against her left ear, and then wound into her hair, and brushed at the base of her scalp. It took everything she had not to let out a pitiful noise and humiliate herself. Not to let Cinder know just how badly she needed this, just how much control she held over her.

…Even if Emerald was fairly sure Cinder had long since figured it out.

"It is, truthfully, not that much information." Cinder said as she drew her hand back. "I trust my instincts, however, and I trust that anything that draws a reaction out of me is something worth paying attention to."

Emerald nodded, understanding that.

"I suppose that I simply find myself drawn to the woman. It's some… inexplicable, ethereal thing. I don't know how best to explain it."

And then something in Emerald gave the tiniest crack.

She was fairly certain it was her heart, but she couldn't yet be sure.

"Uhm… pardon me, Ma'am," Emerald wasn't really sure why her mouth kept running, and yet here it was, practically growing legs. "But… when you see her, does your heart beat a little faster?

"Hm?" Cinder seemed to ponder that. "Why, now that I think about it, I suppose it does. I'm sure it's merely my body preemptively preparing for combat against an unknown foe, however."

Emerald wasn't so convinced, even as that imaginary part of her – definitely not her heart – cracked further.

"And, when you're around her," Emerald sounded anxious, even to herself. "Do you find yourself staring at her more than you would someone else?"

Cinder scoffed. "Once more, Emerald, that is merely proper threat assessment at work. Is this going somewhere?"

"Yeah, unfortunately, I think it is." Emerald moaned desolately.

"Unfortunately?"

"Uh… N-Nothing! Just… do you find yourself, like… smiling near her, or something?"

Cinder gave her a flat look.

"Ok, right, sorry, you don't smile."

Cinder rolled her eyes, apparently thinking. "Well, I suppose she occasionally spoke a line that I would be expected to be amused by, and I found it easier to react to than normal."

Sometimes she wasn't sure if Cinder was a normal person pretending to be a sociopath, or a sociopath really good at pretending to be a normal person.

Emerald wasn't sure she really wanted the answer to that question, either.

"Ok, uhm… Do you find yourself wanting to be near her often?"

"I suppose." Cinder's eyebrows drew down. "Emerald, if you know what it is I'm experiencing, simply be out with it."

A laugh that sounded roughly reminiscent of a dying cat poured out of her before she could stop it.

Yeah, I don't know if that's really an option.

She wasn't sure she wanted to see Cinder Fall figure out that the reason she'd dragged them all off to Beacon Academy a whole semester early was most likely a mere puppy crush…

…and that wasn't just because of Emerald's own feelings. Only eighty percent or so because of them.

…Eighty-five percent.

Emerald Sustrai – right hand and most trusted lieutenant of Cinder Fall – did not pout. If anyone said otherwise, then they were the enemy. And she was most assuredly not doing so right now as she tried to bite down on the really, horribly ugly feelings broiling around inside of her.

"I uh… yeah! You're right! Just a…" Her enthusiasm sounded fake, even to her. "You're definitely just… just being super careful! That's definitely, completely, one hundred percent all it is!"

Cinder raised a solitary eyebrow, even as Emerald let out a low laugh, though it was more reminiscent of a whine, to be honest.

"Emerald… you're not… hiding anything from me, are you?"

Her eyes went wide.

"I wouldn't dream of it!"

"…And you're sure?"

"Extraordinarily!"

Cinder stared at her for what felt like a few years, but realistically couldn't have been any longer than five or so seconds. Finally, she breathed out a dissatisfied sigh, and then spoke. "Alright, Emerald. For your own sake, I will assume you're being truthful with me."

Oh, it was for her own sake, alright.

…Though it was probably best to keep that from Cinder.

It was late in the evening as Emerald wandered the halls of Beacon Academy, her lips pursed, her brow furrowed, and her heart heavy.

A few students stepped around her, or past her. Occasionally one would bump into her, though Emerald lacked the will to care much as they spouted excuses or yelled for her to watch where she was going, or any other such drivel. No. It was all Emerald could do to stay standing as she walked aimlessly down the corridors to…

To nothing, really.

There was a clawing in her gut, a deep, bitter feeling that had her biting down on her lower lip as she fought to keep herself from doing something stupid, like taking out her anger on the wall beside her, or something much more stupid, like letting the tears building within her eyes spill over.

…It just wasn't fair.

Emerald knew how Cinder saw her. She'd have been stupid not to, with how Cinder treated her. She was a tool, a particularly useful tool, but a tool, nonetheless. If Cinder hadn't had need for her then she never would've picked her up off the street in the first place. Never would've invited her into her home. Never would've shared with her the warmth of a fire, or shown her what it was like to have her hair played with, or for someone to just barely brush their hand along her arm, have chills run up her–

Emerald bit down harder, surprised she hadn't drawn blood.

She wasn't sure where she was anymore. She'd walked past all the familiar areas of Beacon, and now seemed to be in an area reserved for upper years. That was fine, there weren't any rules against her being here, and she wouldn't have particularly cared if there were, either.

No one was walking anymore. Outside, the sun had entirely set, blanketing Beacon in the verdant green glow of Ozpin's tower, and the white of the shattered moon in the sky.

And finally, Emerald stopped walking too.

Envy. For some reason, envy had always been represented as green. Emerald hadn't ever really understood why, but she supposed, given her hair color, that the boot fit.

That woman… Glynda Goodwitch… thinking about her had Emerald's jaw clenching. She would've liked to say that the emotion was unlike her, that she was normally better than this, but Emerald had always hated sharing.

Sharing was stupid. It was idiotic. The kids who'd liked to share had been the first to get picked off on the streets. They were always the first to starve, or the first to get taken advantage of. It was the kids who stuck around longer that knew the way the game was played.

The streets were a zero-sum game, and if one wanted to survive, then they played to win.

That was how Emerald's entire life had been. When she'd met Cinder, that had stayed the same. Just the two of them. Just Cinder and Emerald, alone against the world. She was fairly sure Cinder could've told her they were going to burn Remnant to the ground, and she'd have followed her regardless.

She practically did, after all, and here Emerald was.

And then they'd picked up Mercury. And Emerald had been upset. Because now the attention was split. Now suddenly Mercury got told what to do too. Suddenly Mercury was taking up her attention. Suddenly Mercury was being trained.

Suddenly Emerald had to share.

And when she'd confronted Cinder about it…

That had been the first time she'd ever hit her.

There'd been no denial, then. No taking away that which Emerald desired. No. She'd been given cold, cruel, calculable pain. That was when she'd known it for sure.

The woman she loved hadn't felt a thing for her. She never had.

But they said that love made fools of them all, and so Emerald had kept going. It wouldn't have been that hard to escape, she couldn't help thinking. Mercury didn't particularly care, and Cinder sent her out often on reconnaissance missions alone. No… she could've left if she wanted. Could've slipped away in the hustle and bustle of a big city like Vale and never been seen again.

But she was a fool, too. A fool in love with someone who'd never so much as look at her.

And she'd at least contented herself knowing that she was fairly sure it wasn't her fault. Cinder wouldn't look at anyone. Perhaps she simply didn't have the ability to feel attraction. And then…

She bit down on her lip, and a tiny trail of blood ran down her chin.

"So, she sees her once, and she's head over heels!?" Emerald just laughed, but it was a sick, broken sound. "How is that fair!? How is that… how did… how could she…"

She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear at her hair, at the place where Cinder would rub her scalp, and drive her into a pleasurable bliss. She wanted to rip at her skin, where Cinder would caress her.

She wanted to tear out her heart, where the woman had implanted herself inside her.

"How could she fall for that… that…"

She bared her teeth, and, not even bothering to check that she was truly alone, reeled back, preparing to let her anger out in one giant burst.

"How could she fall for that big-titted, blonde-haired, bimbo!"

Emerald panted as she came down from that little anger-high, and surprisingly, she found she felt a little better. That was good, at least. Maybe now she could head back to her dorm, and pretend like everything was–

A voice coughed from off to her side, and Emerald's veins iced over as she turned her head, almost robotically, to see an apologetic looking Glynda Goodwitch stood beside her in the empty corridor.

…Who seemed to have overheard that last little statement.

Ah. Emerald thought simply.

I'm dead.

End Chapter 3

Ayo rip Emerald. She had a good life.

Starting both Mercury's and Emerald's arcs in this chapter. Mostly comedy here, though we get some Emerald angst at the end. Emerald will be doing a lot of that. That whole angst thing.

Next chapter… some time? Eventually? I don't know, probably about a week from now. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 comes out in like 9 days though, so after next chapter there'll probably be a break while I binge the shit out of that.

Aight, see you all then!