I have nothing to say, but in order to keep my formatting on FF, there needs to be something here, so... Hi.

Chapter 29

Cinder Fall was not entirely used to the feeling of having everything work out for her.

In fact, dare she say, she was abjectly unused to the feeling of things going her way. After all, at just about every other point in her miserable existence, the opposite had been true. And yet, a week ago, she'd gone to the dance with the woman who held her eye. She'd had quite the nice time, for starters, but she'd also been able to infiltrate the CCT, upload Watts' virus, and get out scot-free.

All-in-all, it was without doubt her most successful venture… ever.

Which was, perhaps, why Cinder Fall found herself getting just the tiniest bit big for her proverbial britches.

She was, after all, someone who pushed on ever forward. She was not the type to idle, or dawdle. She'd felt… something wondrous, truly so, that night dancing in Glynda's arms. She…

Perhaps it was a weakness, but she wanted to feel it again.

And so it was that she found herself outside of Glynda Goodwitch's office for the first time in a long while, knocking on the woman's door and waiting until it was answered some twenty or so seconds later.

Cinder noticed something odd, then. The tiniest of reactions crossing across Glynda's face.

The littlest wince. The tiniest turn of the brow. And yet…

The smile that split her lips was no less real for it.

Curious…

"Cinder." Glynda spoke. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise." She smiled back. "How have you been?"

"Ah, well, things have been… busy." Glynda spoke, shaking her head. "I take it you've… likely heard about what happened the night of the dance?"

Cinder nodded her head. "There was some sort of attack on the CCT?"

"Yes. I actually… fought off the intruder myself. Not before they did something unknown to the CCT, however. Thusly, I've been busy in meetings, and all sorts of different things trying to solve a variety of issues." Glynda punctuated her words with a yawn, evidently rather tired herself. "I have not particularly… relaxed in a while."

Cinder nodded her head, even if, for once, she couldn't entirely relate. She herself had just experienced what was likely the most relaxed week of her life.

After all, a win on all fronts called for some celebration, did it not?

Still, to hear that Glynda had been caught up in meeting after meeting, drawn into conference after conference, all because of her…

Well, Cinder found herself wanting to make it up to the woman somehow.

"Well… perhaps the two of us could relax together?"

Glynda seemed surprised at the offer, and she looked up at Cinder curiously.

"I… well… what would you have in mind?"

"Nothing entirely major." Cinder admitted. "But perhaps the two of us could simply spend some time together in your office? If not, that's entirely fine too, but I simply figured–"

"No, no," Glynda cut her off, before smiling a bit pensively. "That sounds… nice. It is a Sunday, after all, so perhaps I can afford to take a bit of time to myself."

Cinder's lips curled upwards without her entirely meaning for them to.

"I… would you be averse to coming by this evening? Perhaps around 7?"

"Not at all." Cinder found her stomach roiling around, though definitely not in a bad way. "I'll be looking forward to it."

And once more, despite the smile that came to Glynda's face then, Cinder couldn't help but notice the tiniest crease in her forehead. Just the smallest indication that something, somewhere, somehow, wasn't entirely right.

"Yes." Glynda spoke, and although it wasn't a lie…

"I am as well."

It was not entirely the truth either.

/

Come the end of the day, nothing much had changed for Cinder.

Time passed, because that was what time did, and at 6:50, she departed her dorm room, and made for Glynda's office.

She knocked twice, before waiting for the woman to answer the door.

She herself had not dressed up at all. In fact, she'd ostensibly dressed down. She was wearing a rather casual outfit, something that was intended to feel a lot more… around-the-house than her standard brawler's attire. Just a long-sleeved shirt and some jeans.

It was entirely unlike her, but then again…

Well, she'd seen other girls around Beacon wear such things during their time off, and she'd become concerned that she might seem… high-strung if she were the type to constantly wear something fitted for battle.

Cinder wasn't entirely certain when such things had entered into her lexicon of concern, and yet she also couldn't find it in herself to question it too harshly when the door opened, and there stood Glynda, dressed rather similarly.

Of course, the woman before her would never wear jeans, for she was entirely too fanciful for that, but she was dressed in a rather simple long-sleeved turtleneck, which looked rather terribly comfortable, and a pair of pants.

Glynda smiled her way, seemingly having noticed her observations, but gestured for her to come inside without saying anything. Cinder nodded along, before following suit, and soon, the two of them were stood inside Glynda's office.

"It's good to see you." Glynda spoke from the kitchenette, where she seemed to be preparing two drinks of some kind. They smelled nice; a bit chocolatey. "If you don't mind, I've actually already chosen an activity for the two of us, if that's alright?"

Cinder blinked, caught a bit off guard, but she also found that she couldn't exactly protest, given that she hadn't come here with any plan to speak of. Nor, really, did she want to protest.

She was…

This woman was her weakness. Cinder understood that now. Practically anything she desired; Cinder found some way to give.

But the part of her that normally protested that was silent, because Cinder, too, had managed to give it what it desired. She'd broken into the CCT, she'd continued her plans.

She had managed to have her proverbial cake, and eat it too.

"That sounds nice." Cinder spoke, walking into the room and noticing that the TV was on, although currently displaying only a blank screen. "Are we to watch something?"

"Perhaps." Glynda played coy. "Sit down, and get comfortable. I'm just finishing up over here."

Well, Cinder was not one to disobey orders.

So, she sat down on the couch, with her legs perfectly straight, and she waited. It took around two more minutes, complete with some microwaving and the sounds of spoon stirring, but eventually, Glynda walked over to her, holding two mugs in both hands. She handed one to Cinder, who took it gingerly, and placed the other on the coffee table as she sat down beside her on the couch. Cinder made to take a drink of her own, but it was scalding hot, and so she placed it down for a while to cool.

And then Glynda laughed at her.

Cinder wasn't entirely sure why.

"When I told you to sit down, Cinder," Glynda's shoulders were shaking with mirth. "I didn't mean you had to wait at attention for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I meant…" She shook her head. "No, I sometimes forget that you are not used to these things. What I meant was that you can get comfortable. Grab a pillow or a blanket, and… well… snuggle in."

Cinder had never heard the word snuggle used before, nor was she entirely sure why anyone would ever wish to use it, but then again, when it was the woman beside her saying it, she couldn't entirely disagree. She looked to her right side, the opposite of Glynda, and saw, just as she'd said, a few long, fleece blankets – that admittedly looked rather delightfully soft – laid there, and Cinder took one without really looking.

…She found herself rather enamored with the feeling when she wrapped it around herself, her eyes widening somewhat as she proceeded to hug it around her just that little bit tighter. Glynda laughed a bit at her actions, but eventually reached across her, and took a blanket for herself.

"So… is this something… usual?"

"I suppose so." Glynda spoke, thinking for a moment. "It is a normal activity during the Winter. To gather under the warmth of a blanket, and sit close together, and conserve warmth. It's a natural reaction, I believe, dating back to when humanity was in its infancy."

Cinder saw the logic in that. She would also admit that she could see some less logical, and more subjective reasons to like doing so.

She… rather enjoyed sitting this close to Glynda.

A few moments later, as Cinder was still collecting herself, still deciding what it was she was feeling, Glynda reached down, took up the remote from the coffee table, and turned the TV on to the standard cable channels. She changed it to a certain channel in particular, and Cinder watched the scene on it change to one of a Winter scape, where a young woman bemoaned her lot in life as a corporate executive.

"What is this?"

"It's a romance movie, set around the Winter season." Glynda explained, smiling. "This channel in particular manufactures what seems like a good hundred or so of them every year. They're incredibly low budget, and go straight to TV. They feature similar plots in almost all their films, and are largely formulaic in design."

Cinder's eyes narrowed. "They sound horrible."

"They are, in terms of quality alone. But…

The tiniest of smiles played about Glynda's lips.

"They're a guilty pleasure of mine. They're… I suppose the word I would use is cozy. It's just… in a world as hectic as this one, where death and misery are around every corner… there's something to be said for a medium where love always prevails. Where good always wins. Where there's always a happy ending." Glynda chuckled. "Or perhaps I'm simply a sucker for romance movies, no matter how sappy and predictable. One of those two."

…Cinder could understand that. The desire for happiness above all else. The desire to see things work out, instead of…

She found her lips pursing somewhat as she watched the events happening on screen. Apparently, they were formulaic, according to the woman sat beside her, but as Cinder had never seen one of these films before in her life, she had no real idea as to where the film would be going.

Except, of course, that it would end happily. That love would prevail.

…

"What is it?"

Cinder turned to see Glynda looking at her, and she felt minorly confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I just… you simply looked like you had something on your mind."

Cinder had, she supposed, been considering something. Although it hadn't felt worth bringing to words. It had, more than anything, been a simple feeling, and nothing more major than that.

But…

"I simply found myself a bit surprised. This is not exactly a place I ever imagined myself occupying." Cinder spoke honestly, frowning slightly as that part of her that always raged against these activities reawoke, as if called upon. "I am not… not usually someone to waste time upon such trifling things. I have, until now, never sat down to do something like this. To just… watch a movie."

It was the honest truth. Cinder would catch Emerald watching police dramas, and Mercury playing his game – and of course, watching many, many videos about the different ways to get better – but she herself had never partaken of any of it.

"But in this case… I suppose I can see the appeal of it." Cinder said, after a few moments to collect her thoughts. "To see something work out. To not have to concern yourself with what-ifs or potential wrongs. To just enjoy without fear or worry."

Glynda smiled. And then that smile began to dim, until it was a frown, one that Cinder could not entirely identify.

"What is it?"

"I just…" Glynda looked away. "I suppose it has simply made me think of what you told me all that time ago. Of where you'd come from, what you'd had forced upon you."

Cinder nodded her head, although she herself was not as affected by such talk as she might once have been.

"Do not worry about such things." Cinder spoke, and for once when it came to this topic, her voice was firm. "That was… it happened. I am not entirely over it, for it would be a lie to claim such a thing as I once tried to, but…"

And she turned to the woman beside her, looked her in the eyes, and spoke.

"I think I am heading towards a happy ending of my own."

Cinder waited for those words to sink in, to see a reaction upon the woman's face, and was not disappointed when Glynda flinched backwards.

Her face was practically burning.

The implication as to what it was Cinder was after was not lost on her, it seemed.

"Ah… well… I…"

Cinder found herself laughing, a deep sound that rippled through her, causing her to place a hand in front of her mouth to stifle it.

"I exaggerate a tad, perhaps, but…" Cinder trailed off, before, without thinking too hard, without giving herself time to doubt, or to second-guess, she scootched just the smallest bit to her left.

Her body rested against Glynda's, now. The two of them were shoulder to shoulder, and her smile only grew wider when Glynda did not protest the action at all. No, in fact, she seemed almost pleased.

When Cinder looked up into the woman's eyes, there was, again, the same emotion from earlier, at the door. The smallest little wrongness inside her gaze. It was erased before Cinder could examine it more thoroughly.

But once more, that emotion stuck within her, and though she did not show it on her face, it did concern her.

"I apologize, I should not have–"

"No, no," Glynda shook her head. "It is not you. There's simply… been something on my mind of late. It has nothing to do with you."

Cinder was… well, she was glad to hear that, even if a part of her wasn't entirely convinced.

Her gaze was drawn back to the TV just in time to see the character from earlier having car trouble on the side of a snowy road. The person who'd come to bail her out of the situation was a man with a chiseled jawline, a five-o'clock shadow, and pouty lips.

Immediately, Cinder could identify exactly how the next hour or so of the movie was going to play out.

"So that's the love interest?" She questioned, and she earned a laugh from Glynda.

"Yes, indeed." She confirmed. "If I'm to guess, I imagine she'll get towed by him, and have to stay in his family's inn for a few days. It just so happens that said inn is that same one that she's been sent here by her company to convince the owners to sell, creating a bit of juicy drama down the line. But oh, how shocking, it seems she's fallen in love with this tiny frontier town, with its lovely winter festival, and it's even more lovely people, and so she quits her job in Vale to stay here, and move in with the love of her life."

Cinder's eyes narrowed at the amazingly detailed synopsis. "Have you seen this one before?"

"No." Glynda said, smiling. "But once you've seen one of these films, you've effectively watched them all."

Cinder nodded, not entirely getting it.

"Here," Cinder turned to see Glynda offering her the drink she'd made for her, which was still hot, albeit no longer steaming. "It's hot chocolate. It should be cool enough to drink now."

Cinder decided to humor the woman, taking the mug, and pulling it up to her lips. Her eyes widened, and she found herself taking another sip, and then another, before practically swallowing the entirety of the contents in a single gulp.

Glynda chuckled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Would you like another?"

Cinder nodded without thinking, and Glynda just laughed as she stood, took Cinder's mug, and walked back over the microwave.

And so, the night continued on like that. Glynda sat back down beside her, a fresh hot chocolate in hand, and handed it to Cinder. She proceeded to bring the concoction to her lips, before flinching away as the heat nearly scalded her tongue for a second time. Glynda, once more, chuckled, although this time at her expense, and Cinder glared in her direction, only causing her companion to laugh more openly.

Despite it technically being at her expense, Cinder found herself smiling.

And as the shattered moon waned onwards in the sky, and the movie in front of them advanced further and further, Cinder found herself leaning into the other woman without really meaning to, bringing the blanket up higher on her body, holding the hot cocoa closer to her body.

She was a woman who lived around flame. Who utilized fire in battle, who thrived within it. And she too had inevitably been burned. Had her skin scarred and charred and melted away. And yet… despite all of that…

She didn't think she'd ever been quite this warm.

/

It was roughly nine in the evening when the movie's credits finished rolling, and Cinder found herself chuckling with the way that the plot had played out almost entirely as Glynda had guessed.

…Almost scarily so.

"You're certain you haven't seen this film before?"

That only earned further laughter from Glynda, who seemed rather amused by Cinder's disbelief.

"I am certain. They really all are just like this."

"Why do you–" Cinder began incredulously, before remembering that because they were formulaic and repetitive was exactly why Glynda watched them. "Well… I can't say I share your love of them, but they are a… I suppose they are not horrid."

Glynda's lips curled into a smirk. "My, what a compliment."

Cinder glared at Glynda, who chuckled under her breath again.

"In all seriousness, I had a very pleasant evening." Glynda spoke, standing from her place on the couch and stretching with a yawn. "I'd honestly like to offer for you to stick around a while longer, but I'm afraid I have classes early in the morning, and I'm already exhausted."

Cinder nodded, feeling rather similarly for rather similar reasons. She did, after all, also have classes in the morning, albeit she'd long since stopped caring all that much about them once she'd realized that she could consistently attain decent grades by putting in the bare minimum effort.

Though to be fair, that was probably not the kind of thing to go around mentioning when one was attempting to court a teacher.

…Court. The very sentiment seemed odd when the word was attached to her.

"I will retire then." Cinder voiced, standing from the couch and, in an almost practiced effort, immediately set to folding the blanket she'd been using. "I enjoyed myself."

"I'm glad." Glynda spoke, before stepping over to her and gently taking the blanket from her. "And don't worry about that. I'll do it."

Cinder frowned. "It's not a big deal. I consider myself quite good at it."

"Folding things?"

"Yes. I had to be."

The admission was, as it seemed to always be, an accident, and it caused her to huff absently under her breath as Glynda fixed her with a little pitying look. She seemed to remember that that was the exact thing Cinder hated a second later, instead gaining this little determined glint in her eye.

"Well then, that's precisely why I'll take the work off your hands, then."

"It's not a big–"

"It is a rather big deal to me." Glynda spoke, and she did so with finality. "I promised you, did I not?"

"That was a promise to not let me be invisible." Cinder spoke, remembering the moment of said promise vividly. "This is an entirely different matter."

Glynda actually smiled. "Secondary promise, then. I will fold all blankets for you."

It was such an unexpectedly petty thing for the woman to say that Cinder was almost caught off guard, and in the next moment, she laughed, shaking her head, but, crucially, relenting. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say."

"That's more like it." Glynda chuckled, before gesturing towards the door. "Now go. Don't let me keep you. You need your rest as well."

It was true, even if Cinder didn't exactly have to like it.

Because she found herself wanting to spend more time here. Here in this quaint little space, where all the rest of the world seemed to fade away. But she couldn't and Cinder knew she couldn't.

Again, she didn't have to like it.

And so, she bid the woman farewell, exited out of the door, and headed towards her own dorm.

/

And back inside, Glynda Goodwitch found herself frowning as she folded the blanket, and placed it back down on her couch. She sighed, before flopping down into it, letting her elbow rest above her eyes and block the light from above.

…

They were different. Completely so. Cinder was… she was damaged, surely, and not a perfect person. But no one was. And more than that, Cinder had far more reason to be how she was than most. But she was also kind, and smart, and witty, and…

And she simply couldn't be her. She couldn't be that woman who'd stolen away Amber's flames. She couldn't be the one who'd broken into the CCT those nights ago, who Glynda had held to the ground and felt tense and writhe beneath her.

…It just…

She shook her head, knowing that even if she wanted to sleep, her mind would in no way let her rest.

But thinking was useless too. She would not be getting anywhere that she had not already. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not until she got more information. Something else to go on.

She was running off of a feeling, and a passing one at best.

…It also wasn't one she wanted, in any way, to be true.

And again, she reminded herself that all evidence said that it wasn't. Cinder cared so very much about her, that much was clear. It was not fake, or feigned, or any such thing that an infiltrator would have any use for. This was not put-upon.

…And yet even so, she could not shake it. The tiniest little shiver that had coursed through her form when she'd held the girl against her, and danced along the floor that night.

…Glynda cursed under her breath, as she forced herself up, and into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Nothing would be accomplished that night.

No matter how much she wished it would.

…No matter how much she was glad it wasn't.

She wished she could exist in that perpetual moment. In that time that they'd spent together on the couch, Cinder leant against her, with those honeyed words spoken to her that were oh so much greater than anything anyone else had ever said.

"I think I am heading towards a happy ending of my own."

…

…Damnit… Glynda's teeth ground together as she pulled floss through them, and crumpled her hands into tight fists.

Gods damnit…

/

A knock on the Chamomile door had all four of its members looking at one another, silently waging a war as to which of them would actually have to get up and answer it. If it had been Goodwitch – which it wasn't, the woman had a particular way of knocking – then Cinder would've taken dibs, but given that it clearly wasn't her, Mercury understood that it was probably going to be he who was given the task.

He sighed tiredly, before slinging himself out of bed, pausing his video on Supreme Smash Sisters, and walking to the door. He lazily opened it, and raised an eyebrow at the person on the other side.

"Jaune." Mercury yawned. "Wassup?"

The boy didn't look terribly well, in Mercury's less-than-expert opinion on other people's emotional states, which meant that he likely looked entirely haggard. His eyes were baggy, his posture was slouched, and he seemed almost nervous as he peaked inside the Chamomile dorm, spotted something, and paled somewhat.

"Ah… well…" Jaune rubbed at the back of his neck. "Can I talk to you about something, Merc?"

This was… unusual, in Mercury's eyes, but he supposed it was not entirely unforeseen. Xiao-Long had approached him in a rather similar way to help get Blake to go to that dance. He'd not really done all that much besides laugh at the girl when she'd chased a laser pointer like some kind of racist caricature – which Mercury was never letting her live down, no matter how tired she claimed she'd been at the time – but he'd technically been there, so eh.

"Yeah, I guess. In the hallway, or?"

"No, I uh… kind of wanted to chat in private, if that's cool?"

Emerald seemed vaguely intrigued by Jaune's words, but if she suspected him of anything, then she didn't show it, because she quickly laid back down in her bed, turning the volume back up on her episode of 'Vale: Cold Cases'.

How she could stomach to watch that show, Mercury wasn't entirely sure.

"Lead the way." He eventually said, and Jaune did. He took the two of them down a few corridors, until eventually, there the two of them were, in a classroom off of any of the major halls, one that was, and would likely remain, empty.

"So, what's up?" Mercury felt the need to inquire, given that all of this was, at the very least, just a tad bit weird. "You seem unusually serious."

"Yeah, uh… I kind of am, huh?" Jaune laughed, but it was a thing without a speck of humor within it. "There's… something came to my attention recently. It wasn't… it wasn't a really good thing, but…" He swallowed, and for the first time that evening, Mercury realized with trepidation that this might not be a minor thing at all.

That this might not be some schoolyard drama, like the rest of their encounters had been. That this might not be a girl getting in over her head, and needing to take a break. That this might not be some boy finally learning to feel his heart again, hanging up festival lights because they made him feel just that littlest bit more whole.

This… this was…

"I… your teammate, Mint." Jaune spoke, and Mercury somehow saw the writing on the wall a few seconds early. "I… there's something that's been eating at me."

And he looked up at him, his eyes hard, a steel in his gaze that Mercury had never thought could reside within those orbs.

"I think she might be working with Roman Torchwick."

…

Mercury had had it described to him before, the feeling of having one's entire world begin to crumble around oneself. He had had it described to him, but he'd never thought he'd feel it. Never thought it would ever be relevant to him.

He felt sick. Sicker than he'd ever felt. Like he had to, with every fiber of his being, hold back on the vomit within him.

His brain worked on autopilot, barely thinking.

"…Who else have you talked to about this?"

"No one." Jaune said, with a shake of his head, and a horrid sigh. "I didn't… I mean, I didn't want to make a big fuss out of it. It's just a theory really. And just in case I'm right, I didn't want to put my teammates in danger, y'know? I mean, someone who works with Roman Torchwick is probably pretty dangerous." Jaune smiled weakly. "Still, you're on the same team as her, and I figured I should tell someone who knows her first. Have you seen anything suspicious with her? Or better yet, anything… y'know, not suspicious? I'd like more than anything for her to be innocent, Mint – or Neo, or… I don't really know anymore. Just… is there anything, Merc? Anything at all, good or bad?"

…

Jaune… he…

He thought it was just Neo.

He thought that the rest of them were innocent. He thought it was Neo alone acting up, and that the rest of them were oblivious to it. How could he–

And yet, he remembered the time they'd spent together in the JNPR dorms. He remembered screaming and shouting with rage, the others laughing away, as they utterly trounced him the first few games of Smash Sisters. He remembered humbling himself enough to ask their assistance, and becoming almost… close with them.

He remembered going with them to Domremy, and seeing the lights, and the festival, and feeling the snow on his face and the wonder in his heart that things could feel like it did. That things could simply be… nice.

And he realized that because of that Jaune didn't suspect him. Because of that… Jaune thought he was just like he was. Just a huntsman. Just someone trying to do his best to better the world.

And Mercury felt a sickness more horrible than he'd felt in Domremy. More horrible than he'd felt when he'd been confronted by Blake. More horrible, even, than when he'd first killed a man, when he'd been forced to shoot him, until he fell to the ground, clutching his chest, trying to stem the bleeding, and his father had instructed him to aim better, to shoot him in the head, to not give him the chance to heal, or get help, or for anything to go wrong.

He'd stepped up, hovered directly above the man, and had to meet his eyes. He'd seen the fear, the want, the desire to go on living just another moment. And the man had begged, pleaded with those eyes, and–

And Mercury had dimmed them forever.

The scent of venison cooking on a fire. Of a soup more delicious than anything he'd ever tasted in his life.

"You did well, son."

He felt sicker than he'd been when the man had told him that. When he'd vomited and wretched until there was nothing left within him.

Because he understood.

No one.

Jaune had told no one.

It was his secret. His alone.

Mercury's heart sank further, somehow. Into the very depths of his stomach, until it plummeted further than he'd ever felt it fall.

Because he understood something then that made his burgeoning, barely beating heart stop. His blood running cold.

Jaune Arc had to die.

And Mercury had to kill him.

End Chapter 29

I would like to apologize for this cliffhanger immediately. It is rather rude of me to put in here, and yet I have done so regardless.

Next week will have the continuation of this scene, then. I hope you all look forward to it (and don't hate me for leaving you hanging lol)!