Yo! Here's the last chapter of Paved for a while! Not quite sure how much time I'll be taking off, but I think it'll probably be around a month, maybe a little more? I might end up coming back sooner, but I'll try to keep people updated on that. If you happen to not see me uploading this, then feel free to check in on Cinderella and Prince Charming in order to see updates, or shoot me a comment/review or something!
Anyways, here we go!
Chapter 50
"And you claim you've never heard the name 'Salem' before?"
"I didn't say that," Mercury sighed out, annoyed to be asked a question he'd certainly already answered. "I said that Cinder never gave me any more information than that. She said she served someone far more powerful than I could imagine. On a different day, she said her leader's name was Salem. I'm not sure if she meant to tell me or let it slip. Either way, that doesn't really matter, does it? It's all I've got."
General Ironwood let out a beleaguered sigh, even as he nodded his head and rubbed at the bridge of his nose with one hand.
"You know remarkably little for someone in on a plan of this level."
"I always got the feeling that I wasn't all that important in the grand scheme of things." Mercury spoke, shrugging his shoulders. "Things got better later, but at the start, Cinder hadn't even brought me on to recruit me. She'd been there for my dad. I'd just so happened to decide to kill him that same night. She figured it was better to take something than nothing."
Ironwood hummed, even as he set both arms back down on the table in front of him, and seemed to ponder something for a great while.
"…Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, and all the members of both of their teams have spoken out in your defense. The former two most of all. They say that you acted only as you were led to, forced to, by the woman who effectively had you by the throat. Is that true?"
Mercury was pretty sure that just lying would be a good enough way to get himself out of this, but then, he'd grown rather fond of being honest, recently, and so he decided to do that instead.
"I would say that at the beginning it was definitely that." Mercury answered. "I didn't have any choice but to follow Cinder. She'd have killed me if I didn't. After a few months here, though… I'm not entirely sure. I guess we started to feel less like the minions of some evil overlord and more like… I don't know, huntsman- and huntresses-in-training. Maybe even friends."
Ironwood seemed intrigued by that, but didn't directly respond to him.
"You believe this to be true about the two who fled as well? Fall and Sustrai?"
"I do." Mercury admitted. "As to where they're going, I don't really know. I assume you probably have some idea as to wherever this Salem woman operates out of, no?"
"We do." Ironwood stated. "It is a rather impregnable position."
"I'll take your word for it."
Ironwood seemed surprised. "No interest in getting involved in this?"
"I kind of feel like I did my time, in a sense." Mercury answered, which only seemed to amuse Ironwood further. "But then, I'm not entirely sure how things are going to be in a few months' time, for instance. Who knows, if those idiot friends of mine asked me to, I'd probably charge into hell or highwater. Hah, I guess that makes me the idiot, doesn't it?"
"Or perhaps it makes you a good man." Ironwood cleared his throat, before he stood out of his chair. "Alright, Black. In light of your friends comments, and your aid in the arrest of Adam Taurus, I believe you may be allowed at least some semblance of freedom. You are not free to go, and you will for now be kept under strict watch, but you may at the very least roam the ship."
Mercury nodded his head, standing as well and following Ironwood out of the interrogation chamber. Ironwood immediately headed the opposite direction as him – towards the bridge itself – as Mercury made his way to the living quarters. As he made his way there, he took a good look at the rest of the ship, finally getting a chance to take such things in now that he wasn't being led to what he'd been increasingly concerned would be his death.
It was a rather impressive thing, the capital ship of Atlas' air fleet. The others had almost all been sunk by Neo – or, again, he assumed it had been Neo, he supposed he didn't technically know – and while a good deal of their crew had survived said crash landings – aura was a helluva drug – this was currently the only ship in Vale airspace still in the air.
It seemed like there was a technician or soldier everywhere in sight. Mercury supposed that made sense, given that a good deal of the surviving crews of the other ships had gathered onto this ship, making it an effective mobile command center for the time being. The Valean government was assisting Ironwood in his efforts to quell any residual Grimm and White Fang presence in the city, and things were going well so far.
It helped that the Wyvern Cinder had been planning on hadn't appeared. It had been touch and go, and yet, apparently the level of terror radiating from Vale hadn't quite been enough. Mercury wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he was content not ever bothering to know why.
It was as he was making his way back to his 'room' – it was a supply closet with a bed in it, that apparently constituted a room in a ship like this, and wow, he hadn't realized how used to having a nice, cushy room at Beacon he'd become until that moment – that he spotted an unexpected figure, and flagged them down.
"Torchwick!?"
The redheaded thief turned around, and looked up and down Mercury's form, seemingly inspecting him. He looked about as surprised to see him as Mercury was in turn, which helped to alleviate some of the more immediate concerns hanging about him, which mostly fell to 'What the hell is Roman Torchwick doing free on Ironwood's ship!?'
"Ah, if it isn't one Mercury Black." Roman Torchwick actually looked amused to see him, which set off all kinds of warning bells in his head. "How've you been kid? If you'd like to know, prison on a state-of-the-art airship doesn't have any better food than normal jail, which kind of feels like a cop-out to be honest."
Mercury shook his head, dismissing the nonsense the man had tried to distract him with. "What are you doing here!?"
"Yeah, well, if that isn't the question of the hour." Torchwick rolled his eyes, before leaning against a metal wall to his left. "Where to begin? Suffice it to say that Neo came and broke me out, which was all according to plan in my eyes. Then, she triggered the virus, and we did things how we'd been told. Only then I figured out that it wasn't supposed to go that way. That Neo had done all this in order to spring me out."
Mercury nodded his head.
"As for how I'm here right now, exactly, that's because we tried to parley with Ironwood. It worked, sort of. But he ended up changing the nature of our little deal to something a bit more… well, less favorable for the two of us, anyways. In exchange for information on little Ms. Cinder, and company, we got to be Ironwood's 'personal pet project'." Torchwick made air-quotes. "Can't say I like the sound of that, but eh, still, it beats being dead."
Mercury couldn't particularly argue with that sentiment.
"Where's Neo?"
"I'm not sure. The two of us were separated, kept in different rooms. They seem to actually be taking her a bit more seriously than myself, which, hey, I can't fault them for."
"She's stronger than you." Mercury confirmed, and Roman snorted.
"Yeah, by quite a bit. And also, apparently, quite a bit more vicious than I thought, what with turning on that virus without orders."
There was a note of something in the man's voice that Mercury cottoned onto, and he found himself asking about that before he could think too closely on anything else. "Does that bother you? What she did?"
Torchwick seemed surprised he'd asked. "Hm. I don't really know how to answer that, if you're being serious with me. I'm not happy with her for doing it, if that's what you mean, but I'm not going to suddenly turn my back on her. Neo's… she's the closest thing I've ever had to family in my entire life. That means I'm not going to go about abandoning her. I'm definitely having a talk with her about this all though."
Mercury nodded, having expected something slightly different, but being no less intrigued by this outcome. There was something in Torchwick that had always fascinated Mercury, back when he'd been the cold-hearted killer aboard Cinder's party of three. He was tough, and a crook, and a bit of a bastard, but Mercury had never once seen him take a life.
If he had to bet – and to be fair, Mercury was far from a betting man – he'd have said that robbery was just about where Roman Torchwick's list of crimes ended.
Neopolitan, on the other hand…
Well, some things were best left unthought of.
"So, I hear they have you to thank for arresting Taurus, no?" Torchwick continued their little small talk, which seemed to confirm for Mercury that the man had little else to do. "How'd that happen?"
"Long story." Mercury hummed without much energy. He was honestly still running on fumes from two days ago. "It wasn't just me, either. I had help from Blake, and Yang."
Torchwick nodded sagely, before coughing and raising an eyebrow. "So… you gonna' tell me who those two are, or?"
"Black and Yellow on Red's team."
"Ah." Torchwick snapped his fingers. "Gotcha. Huh. So it wasn't just me, then. They really are tough SOB's."
"Ye-ep."
"Y'know, posthumously, that makes me feel a lot better about them handing me my ass at the docks that one time."
Mercury snorted.
The conversation had well and truly wound down this time, and short of Torchwick salvaging it with yet another random bit of small-talk, this was where it ended. Mercury waited just a moment to see if he might, and then, when he didn't, nodded his head.
"Alright, I'm exhausted." Mercury shook his head, gesturing towards his room – which wasn't anywhere near there, but it was the general idea that counted, he felt – with a quick flick of his head. "I'm hitting the sack."
"A'ight kid," Torchwick said with a half-hearted smile. "See you around. Oh, and hey, when you meet back up with your boss, let her know that–"
"She's not my boss. Not anymore, anyhow." Mercury interrupted him, shaking his head. "I wouldn't be terribly surprised if we never saw each other again."
Roman's eyes widened at that, even as he nodded his head slowly, seemingly taking in that information.
"Well, you're certainly a helluva' lot braver than me. That or you're an idiot, I honestly can't tell which."
"Maybe both?" He joked.
"Hah, yeah, maybe. Hey, when did you go and grow a sense of humor?"
"This place has… changed me. For better or for worse. A lot more of the former than the latter, though, truth be told." Mercury stated as he walked by Torchwick, taking slow, calculated steps. "And if you were worried about Cinder trying to hunt you down or something, I wouldn't bother. I don't think – even going back to whatever master she serves – that she's going to be able to forget her time here. What it did to her; for her. I don't know, I could be wrong, but that's just what I feel."
Torchwick paused a moment, before a wry sort of grin crossed his lips.
"…You're an odd duck, Black."
Mercury snorted.
"Same to you, Torchwick."
"But hey, if it means anything? Good luck."
"It doesn't mean much…" He muttered out, before breathing out a laugh between his teeth as his lips split into a grin. "But thanks."
And Roman smiled at him, even as a guard came over and gestured for him to follow, leading him towards another section of the flagship. Mercury watched him go with a passive sort of curiosity, not bothering to follow much at all once he'd effectively left his range of vision.
And then he was left entirely alone in the crowded, gigantic ship of General Ironwood. He found himself gravitating towards his room just to have a place to himself. He was alone, but certainly not physically so. There were people everywhere, and Mercury had never been a fan of such environs.
As he stepped into his personal quarters, and laid down atop the horribly uncomfortable bed, he found himself turning onto his side, and looking at the wall opposite him. It was a colorless, expressionless gray. Once he might've likened it to himself.
And yet now that couldn't have been farther from the truth.
It was funny. A year ago – or a little bit less than that, technically about nine or so months – when they'd first come here, he'd been the first to question Cinder on her actions. And now… he couldn't have possibly imagined back then just what would happen to get him to where he was now.
Life always seemed to find some way of surprising him.
Sleep took him sometime between that moment and the subsequent one, and idly, he found himself wondering just where it was he'd end up next.
/
Penny found herself staring at the wall opposite her, unable to truly process the thoughts whirling around inside her head. That was, perhaps, a sensible thing to say, given that her processing system had not been equipped to ponder these sorts of things.
"Penny?"
She looked up at her father's face, her eyes still lacking a bit of the light that they had held when she'd last seen him, some six or seven months back. He noticed it; she knew he did. He'd been gentler with her ever since her return, practically tiptoeing around the subject of her memory core. He'd checked it the moment she'd returned, for the purpose of seeing if they had any extra footage of the attack; anything that might've given them more information.
And the first thing he'd seen had been Emerald warring against her, trying to save her. He had heard her speak to Penny as she'd been consumed by the virus; as she brutalized Emerald and slammed her against the floor of Amity Arena. And in the last moment, even the illusion that Emerald had showed her appeared in her memory.
Her catching Emerald as she fell, her holding her gently, staggered that Emerald had been able to save her at all. And then…
Emerald's final goodbye to her, the kiss they'd shared, her fading in her arms…
Penny breaking entirely.
"How are you doing? Any better than yesterday?" Her father asked, his voice soft. "I know that things haven't been good, but I hope you're at least recovering day by day?"
"I believe I am coping."
Pietro's eyes drooped, even as he nodded his head, not needing to say anything else.
"I did some looking into things like you asked. There have been no sightings of either Emerald Sustrai or Cinder Fall anywhere. Either they're sticking to frontier villages that can't easily receive news of the attack, or they've already retreated deep into hiding."
Penny felt entirely numb.
"…I'm sorry, Penny. I know… I can't say I know what you're going through, not truly. But I can say that the thing that will help the most right now is being with others. I would seek out those you trust; Winter, General Ironwood, and Ms. Soleil."
Penny nodded without any real energy. Her mind - or her processing unit - knew that what her father said was true. And yet, for the first time in her life, her logic unit was being entirely overpowered by her core emotional processes. It went almost entirely ignored.
"I wish to seek out Emerald, father."
Not for the first time, Pietro Polendina's expression faltered. He seemed caught; well and truly, and yet, despite that, he shook his head regardless.
"Penny, you know I can't let you do that. For one, it would be staggeringly dangerous. Even what happened in Vale was– I couldn't let you go through something like that again. But, foregoing what I think, General Ironwood made it clear. You're to remain in Atlas for the time being, until everything regarding Vale has settled."
Penny knew that. She knew all of it. This was her eleventh time asking her father to go and look for Emerald. The first time she'd come up with the idea, she had done so with a bright and almost optimistic outlook. It had seemed like the perfect salve to apply to her wound. She missed Emerald. And so she would so go and find her.
And yet her father's word then had iced any chance of a cure being found. She could not go and find Emerald. She was gone. Truly gone.
A criminal, too. An international terrorist. One of the worst of the worst. Someone whose name was known in every kingdom. It hurt Penny to see such things, partly because she knew it was the truth, no matter how much she wished to deny it…
And partially because she knew for a fact that all of this hadn't been meant to happen. That Emerald had changed. That even if she hadn't, none of this was her fault. Perhaps blame lied with Cinder Fall, but it couldn't have been–
Her emotional cores were overloading her logical cores yet again. Penny found herself venting air from out of her lips – this was meant to mimic a 'sigh' – in order to expel some of the hot air, and try and intake cold air back into her systems.
She had no further calibrations to be finished.
"I wish to retire for the evening, father."
Her father didn't look like he wished to grant such a request, and yet, he did regardless, nodding his head and allowing her to dismount from her 'bed'.
"Have a good night, sweetie."
Penny hummed something noncommittal out through her voice box, and gravitated towards her own room. She'd been being worked on in her father's study, having her fingers calibrated and her nerves tested. She'd been rather seriously hit by several of Emeralds bullets, and…
She was thinking of Emerald again.
She was a machine. She had to remind herself of such things in times like these. She could not cry; she was a machine. She would not scream, and break down, and shut herself away; she was a machine. She did not need any reassurances, or people wishing her to cheer up; she was a machine. She did not need her father to look at her with such sorrow in his gaze.
She was a machine. Machines did not feel.
…She wished she could be a machine, in this moment.
She thought of Emerald's eyes, her hair, the way her hand had felt in hers. The way her physical sensors hadn't been able to fully quantify such things, as if they defied descriptions. And it hurt her that she could summon such things without delay. It took no effort to summon the memory of Emerald's illusion. She could feel her hand caress her face, the 'nerves' in her face experiencing her skin against her.
It was like a dagger in the gut every time. And yet, for what must've been the hundredth time, Penny allowed the memory to wash over her, to consume her, to feel Emeralds lips along her own.
And she thought that it would be nice to cry, were she a human like the rest.
/
It happened to be two days later that Penny found another like her – someone longing for something different, something far away.
"Ms. Schnee?"
Weiss Schnee, friend of Ruby Rose – and also partner – looked up from whatever set of notes she was currently perusing. Despite how put together she looked – and tried to present herself – to the other members of Atlas Academy – where the two of them were currently – it was clear to Penny's eyes that such was not the case.
She was hurting. She had clearly been crying recently, and Penny could not blame her at all. Figures were being tallied amongst the survivors of the attack on Beacon – only those who had been submitted for medical examination, but all studies had inherent biases to calculate for – that suggested over forty percent had some form of mental trauma they would need to work through. Weiss, it seemed, was among that number.
Penny imagined it couldn't have been helping that she'd been separated from her support structure. That made two of them on that particular front.
"Penny?" Weiss' voice was quiet, almost weak; albeit Penny would not say such a thing. She had been learning when it was correct to call someone out on what her senses could differentiate, as opposed to what a normal human could sense, and when it was correct to pretend to be oblivious. "What is it?"
"I have a proposition for you."
Weiss' face crinkled. "And… what is that, exactly? Do you want to do homework together?"
Weiss Schnee's father had her enrolled in Atlas Academies final semester, to make sure that she did not miss a year in her studies. Beacon was, of course, passing all of its students, as the year had been set to end in little more than a month now, but the man seemed to want to make sure that Weiss possessed every bit of knowledge that might be required.
That, or he was a rude person. Penny had been getting better at identifying such people more, too.
"I am under the impression that you were separated from Team RWBY, and your friends, not of your own volition. Am I correct in insinuating thusly?"
Weiss gawked at her a moment, then nodded. "That… yes. That's correct. Why, Penny?"
"I have a proposition. One that I feel would benefit the both of us."
Her logic cores were attempting to overwrite the rest of her with every fiber of their being, and yet, her emotional cores were stopping them. That had been a tactical error on her father's part. She had four logic cores, but five emotional cores. He had always wanted her to be kind, and to be able to form opinions and friendships. And she had.
Now… she did not feel good about it, but she was going to do what she had to; in regards to someone she cared very deeply about.
"I wish to escape Atlas," She said, watching as Weiss Schnee's eyes widened into saucers. "And I believe you might wish to accompany me in doing so, am I correct?"
"What are you–"
"To be clear, I am not demanding you do so." Penny felt the need to distinguish. "I am merely stating this. I am… I would be upset if you turned me down, but I wish to go and search for Emerald Sustrai, the person I love. I know that you want to see Team RWBY, your friends; those you love. I calculated that the chances of success of both of escaping would certainly be higher than only one of us attempting such a plan."
Weiss seemed to think on that for quite some time. She stared down at the journal in her hands, looking at something that Penny had initially estimated might be notes. Now, however, she was able to recognize the edges of a piece of parchment, and, upon further investigation, she identified it not as a piece of the notebook itself, but a separate paper altogether.
It was a photograph.
She had none of herself and Emerald; and in all fairness, she did not need them. Emerald's illusions had been saved to her tactile systems. She could play such things whenever she wanted to remember her. But…
She found herself wishing she had something so analogue now. Something simple to remind her of what she was fighting for. She vowed then and there that when she and Emerald met again…
They would take a photo together. Just the two of them.
"Alright, Penny." Weiss Schnee swallowed on some spittle, before meeting her gaze. "I'm in."
For perhaps the first time since she arrived back in Atlas, Penny Polendina gave a real, bright smile.
"That… is absolutely sensational."
/
"Will we be arriving soon, ma'am?"
"Mm."
Emerald Sustrai felt another bout of melancholy filling her chest as she stared at the almost absent form of Cinder Fall in the pilot's seat of their commandeered bullhead, just beside her. Emerald herself was in the co-pilot seat – though she had no experience flying a vehicle at all. She'd been doing her best to make small-talk for the last few hours, but as per every other attempt, Cinder wouldn't say a thing to her.
That had been a constant in the month or so that had passed since the two of them had fled Beacon Academy. It had taken them quite some time to fully disappear from those chasing after them – ducking into and out of frontier villages until they could make it to somewhere near Vacuo, and only then were they able to procure a bullhead to make it back to… well, wherever they were going. Cinder had answered few of her questions regarding their destination, but one of the only things she'd told her was that they'd be landing in a place called Evernight.
Quietly, Emerald hoped that name wasn't literal. She'd never been much fan of the dark.
The sky had gone an odd sort of reddish-purple some time ago. It seemed to match the descriptions that she'd occasionally heard in her life of the Grimmlands; where scholars believed that Grimm themselves originated from. She didn't exactly know how scientists had come to said conclusions, but hey, it seemed true enough, given the veritable swarm of Nevermore they'd encountered on their way there.
And yet, despite the two humans riding in the bullhead approaching them, the Nevermore hadn't tried to stop them. More than that, to Emerald, at least, it had been as if they'd not even noticed their arrival. Such was odd, in her eyes, but Cinder hadn't paid it any mind at all.
Well, Emerald supposed it would've been a rather crappy ending to their tale if they'd been plucked from the sky after all of that.
…
The silence wasn't good for her. every time it was silent, she thought of the people she'd left behind. She thought of Penny, and Ruby, and CFVY. She thought of Glynda Goodwitch, her teacher and… and the woman who'd offered her a home. A real home. One where she could stay and have a family that she'd always…
…
She thought of Mercury, too. Mercury, the boy who'd never cared. Mercury, the killer, the assassin, the unfeeling. Metal and steel for legs and heart alike.
He'd refused to go with them. He'd stood his ground, looked them both in the eye, and shaken his head.
He'd stayed behind.
…
Emerald tried to pretend like there wasn't a part of her so terribly jealous of that, but it would've been terribly difficult to claim such when she was sitting in that bullhead, with her hands balled into fists, and her eyes cast down at the panels in front of her. They were illegible – to her, at least. Completely alien. But Cinder had no problem at all reading them. She pressed button after button as she began to gradually ease them into a more downward motion, and Emerald saw for the first time what she believed was Evernight.
A dark edifice loomed on the horizon, almost eclipsing the broken moon that hung above it in the violet sky. It seemed to tower so much higher than anything should've, as if it was not beholden to the same laws of the universe that all other things had to follow. Towers came from out of nowhere with little support. Battlements went and went and went and then stopped without purpose. It was all encompassed within thick violet crystal; the same color as the sky.
Emerald found herself swallowing on nothing as they descended towards it. She glanced at Cinder out of the corner of her eye, and saw the woman's expression almost entirely blank. She seemed unfeeling; numb. Emerald supposed she could not blame her. She had been much the same when they'd first fled. But she couldn't help thinking that the way she'd allowed herself to vent those emotions, the way she'd cried into her sleeping bag once Cinder was asleep, or whenever she had a moment to herself, was making things easier for her.
Cinder had done no such thing. She had simply soldiered on.
Emerald understood what kind of person her mistress was. She hadn't expected her to break down crying in front of her, or to even really tell her anything about how she was feeling; despite how she'd once said, in the dead of night to Emerald, that she would come to her if she needed help.
But then, Cinder had never been very good about realizing she needed help, had she?
They touched down on what Emerald thought must've been this place's landing pad some five or so minutes later, and though Emerald herself went about unbuckling and getting ready to depart, Cinder just stared out of the windscreen in front of her, entirely motionless.
Emerald stayed silent, content to give Cinder a minute. But after two or three had passed in complete silence, she cleared her throat.
Cinder snapped from whatever reverie had held her, and turned to look at her.
"We're uh… here, ma'am." Emerald spoke with trepidation.
"…Yes." Was all Cinder said as she removed her seatbelt, and stood.
The two of them went into the cargo hold, grabbed their meagre belongings – neither had much of anything, just a cut-and-run bag stuffed with all the things that they'd been able to grab from their rooms back in Beacon – and slung them over their shoulders. Emerald said nothing as the two of them dismounted the bullhead, slinking over the edge and stepping down onto terra firma.
There was no one.
It was an odd thing to think about, but it was something that struck Emerald immediately. There was no one. No one at all. She did not think she had ever been in a place as barren, as empty, as this one. She spun around, making a full 360-degree turn, and realized that for miles in every direction, there wasn't a single living soul other than the five or so people Cinder had informed her lived within Evernight.
She had lived in a city all her life; in Vale. They had of course camped out in the wilderness before, but there had been the sounds of birds, and insects, and annoying mosquitoes attempting to suck her blood and give her varying diseases.
But it was just… empty here. Aside from their footsteps, there was no noise at all. No wind blew against Emerald's form. The clouds above them – as dark and ominous as the castle below – stood unmoving, completely still.
It was wrong. Like nature itself reviled this place; refused to approach it. Emerald found a nervous tugging in her gut, as if the instincts that had once been drilled into her ancestors were screaming at her to run, to get away, to escape while she still could, before–
"Ah, I see you've arrived."
The voice was chilling in an odd way. For one, it did not belong to Cinder, or to herself, which, by default, meant it belonged to one of the most powerful and terrifying people on Remnant. But there was a certain timbre to the quality of that voice – a certain lilting tone – that had her entire form shaking.
Flee. Every part of her body seemed to sing in unison. Flee, flee, from the monster under the bed.
She looked up and gazed upon the form of who she immediately knew must be the Queen of the Grimm.
Salem herself.
"It's been quite a while, Cinder." Salem spoke, her long dress flowing behind her as she walked – no, that was incorrect. She did not walk; she floated down the set of steps she had to take to reach them, and interlinked her fingers in front of her stomach. "And I've heard that you were successful in obtaining the Fall Maiden's power, as well as killing Ozpin, am I correct?"
Cinder's eyes held no life within them as Emerald looked towards her. There was just… just nothing in her gaze.
"You are." Cinder spoke.
"My, my, then why do you look so down, little Cinder?" Salem questioned, floating towards them, and reaching a hand out to stroke Cinder's face. "Ah, I see. You told me you would be bringing two little minions back, and yet I only see the one. Did the other perish?"
Emerald felt her stomach twist at the easy insinuation that Salem had made. She wondered what exactly Cinder would say in response to that. It was, after all, an easy excuse, and though Emerald herself had a pretty good idea as to her mistresses mental state, she wasn't sure that Cinder wanted to be sharing such with Salem.
"…I was unable to retrieve the Relic of Choice."
Salem hummed evenly. "I already knew that, girl. Do not underestimate me so. The moment your bullhead entered the edges of my domain, I would have known had you been carrying a fragment of their magic. That you were not did not tremendously bother me. You have done decently enough, Cinder. Not perfect, but then, no one is."
She said such a thing with such a demeaning tone that Emerald had half a mind to get between the two of them; to try and defend Cinder. Her self-preservation instincts won out in the end, however, and so she rather wisely remained completely and totally silent, allowing for Salem to turn her head and look her in the eye.
It was something she had never felt before. Or… no, that wasn't true. When she'd seen a Grimm for the first time, when she'd locked eyes with an Ursa, towering and fierce as Cinder led her out of Vale for the first time in her life, she'd felt something like this. It had been muted by the knowledge that she was strong enough to contend with the beast.
Such was not the case now.
"And what is your name, girl?"
It took her longer than she would've liked to gather herself, and barely scrape out, "E-Emerald, ma'am."
"Ooh, 'ma'am', she says." Salem let out a little noise of amusement. "I like this one already, Cinder. She is quite polite."
Cinder nodded her head, no energy hanging about her, and Salem seemed to sense such. She watched her for a moment longer before humming beneath her breath, and then gesturing for them to make for the castle with one hand.
"Well, get inside, the both of you. Cinder, I will have you give me a full report of your time at Beacon within the next few days, but otherwise, you may reapply yourself to your training. I expect you to begin mastering the Fall Maiden's power as soon as is possible. You are not to fail me, understood, little Cinder?"
And Cinder's face looked no different at all, despite the obvious threat she'd just had directed at her, as she simply uttered,
"Yes, mistress."
Emerald's brow drew down in sorrow, even as the two of them followed behind Salem and made their way up towards the main entrance to Evernight itself. They stepped inside; the great doors parting for them with a rickety, almost wailing groan. And then, as they began to disappear into the shadowy, flame-lit corridors of Evernight…
The doors locked themselves behind them.
/
It was an odd thing, really, for Glynda to be dressed in anything that was not her normal teacher's outfit. It was not even the garb of Headmistress – that which she had donned so very briefly a month or so ago – that she had on, but instead, an outfit far more suited to the outdoor climate of the current season.
Already, autumn was sneaking up on them again. The leaves in the trees above her rustled, beginning to fall to the ground below. Those leaves would then decompose, forming a new bed from which the spring's seeds could bloom. It was a wondrous thing to behold; all the yellows, and the reds, and greens lighting up the forest surrounding her.
It was getting colder, of course, too. That was the reason she had slung a long trench coat around her body; something that vaguely resembled what James sometimes wore back in Atlas. Hers had tufts of fur around the collar, and she wasn't wearing the same skirt that she normally was, either. She'd gone for something a bit more practical now. Nothing major, just a pair of pants and a turtleneck. She hadn't much cared for form, only function, and her clothes were both easy to move in and warm enough to keep the soon-to-be winter air from freezing her over.
She pushed herself off of the tree she'd been leant upon as the door to the cottage in front of her opened up, and out stepped a figure clad in black and red, her eyes a gleaming silver, with a subdued smile upon her face.
"Hello, Ms. Goodwitch." Ruby Rose nodded her head. "Uhm, if I might ask… what are you doing here, exactly?"
"I'll speak on that more in a minute." Glynda shook her head. "For now… let us wait on the others, no?"
"H-Huh?" Ruby Rose looked oddly caught, as if she hadn't expected Glynda to know just what it was that she'd had planned. "W-What do you mean, others, there are no others!"
She raised an eyebrow at the girl, and that only took on a more amused air when, from over the hill, a voice shouted out, "Hey, Ruby, I got the others!"
Ms. Rose pouted and wilted on the spot, even as Glynda gave an amused chuckle.
"Are… are you here to stop us?" She asked, and Glynda wasn't entirely certain how to answer that. At least not yet.
She paid attention to the group walking over the nearby hill, who were headed towards the both of them. Leading the pack was one Yang Xiao-Long, her posture tall and confident; almost fiercely so. She seemed to be compensating for something, and a single look at the woman beside her, one Blake Belladonna, revealed the reason why.
Despite her injury, it seemed that the young faunus still desired to accompany the remnants of her team as they set out, and though Glynda could not blame her for that, she could see the toll that such had taken on her. Her movement was unsteady, her footsteps still uncertain. She seemed to have to pay attention to the way she was walking with every single step.
She nearly tumbled to the ground in the next moment, and perhaps would've, had she not been caught by another, taking her under the arms at the last minute.
"Careful, now." Mercury Black rebuked her. "Remember, you don't have quite the same ability to pivot on that foot as you used to; walking on bumpy terrain's still going to take some adjusting to."
Belladonna nodded, even as Mercury released her, and Xiao-Long shot him a thankful smile. He shrugged off the praise, but Glynda could see the way he walked just the slightest bit taller. It hung about his frame, making his own steps more confident; more assured.
"Whoa!" Jaune Arc called out in alarm. "M-Ms. Goodwitch!?"
That seemed to be the thing that clued the rest of the group in on her existence. Team's JNPR, and what was left of Team RWBY – given Ms. Schnee's current unwanted extradition back to Atlas – alongside one Mercury Black, all turned towards her at that. Some reacted with shock, others with a vague sort of intrigue.
Mr. Black just smiled, like he already had her all figured out.
"A little bird," She allowed that bit of humor – which no one present understood besides her – to mask her otherwise nervous tone, "Informed me that you all had come up with a bit of an idea over the course of the last few months. You are going to Haven Academy, are you not? To try and find answers as to what happened regarding the attack on Vale?"
A few of them winced at that; Ruby and Jaune among them. Others seemed to want to challenge her, ask her why she had a problem with that. They assumed she was here to stop them.
Hah. Perhaps she should've been, were she a better, more reasonable person.
"Yes." Blake Belladonna spoke out, even as Yang let out a groan, slapping herself across the cheek and muttering under her breath about how her 'friend' could be a little 'too honest' sometimes. "We are. Is there an issue with that, Ms. Goodwitch?"
"In truth, there are many issues. Not the least of which is that getting to Mistral is not exactly feasible with conditions as they are. You cannot take a bullhead, as almost all have been taken by Vale or Atlas to assist in the cities cleanup, which means you'll be walking the entire distance. Do you know the route, or will you simply be heading east and hoping for the best?"
She'd honestly hoped they had a better plan than that, but as she gazed over all of them, she rather rapidly realized that that had been their plan.
Hm. Well. She'd actually had faith in them to be better than that. They would need to be reprimanded in the future.
…
A part of her was still calling out to the remainder, telling her that she was being a fool here. Vale needed her, what remained of Beacon – as closed as it currently was, and would likely remain for some time – needed her. Honestly, if she were in any way the responsible adult she often claimed to be, she would stay there. She knew that. Stay and be the Headmistress that Beacon would need when it recovered. Be the leader Vale needed in the meantime…
"You will need a guide. Someone experienced to take you to Mistral," She said instead, stepping up to each of them and crossing her arms over her breasts. "I shall act as that guide, and together, we will make for Mistral, and then, for Haven."
None of them complained, if anything, both Lie Ren and Jaune Arc, who she'd always gathered were more sensible people, looked rather relieved. Mercury was still smirking; looking entirely too pleased with himself, and though she'd thought no one else would realize exactly why she was here, suddenly, the way everyone was gazing at her with uncertainty made her realize that might not have been the case at all.
"Thank you, Ms. Goodwitch." Pyrrha said, shaking away that expression on her face. "I suppose we should allow you to lead, then?
"That would work." She stated. "We'll head out and make camp quickly today. Your first time setting up things like tents and fires will take longer than others, so to get used to that, we'll give ourselves extra time today. How many tents do you all have between you?"
"We have two!" Nora Valkyrie shouted excitedly, and Glynda couldn't help but arc an eyebrow upwards.
"…Just two?"
"Ye-ep." Nora said, seeing no issue with that at all.
"…Alright, addendum to our first plan. We are going to the nearest location that sells camping supplies, and we are buying at least two more of everything."
There was a small bit of laughter at that, all of it vaguely embarrassed, before Ruby Rose of all people cleared her throat. Glynda turned to her, and tried not to react to the way her eyes stared into Glynda's soul, somehow knowing her.
"What will you do if you find her?"
The question sapped her breath away, and she found herself biting down on her bottom lip, even as she turned away from the group, unwilling to allow them to see her like that. She could not seem some heartbroken maiden. She was their guide. More than that, she was their teacher.
"…I'm not sure." She still found herself admitting, shaking her head as she let out a quiet breath filled with so many things she could not quantify. "But even so… I feel like I owe it to myself – hell, to the both of us – to find out, regardless."
Ruby Rose nodded her head, as did a few others. With that, she sensed her opportunity to reroute the conversation back towards their current goal of stocking up on supplies. She had a feeling that if they hadn't gotten enough tents, then they'd probably also not grabbed enough food, water, or common amenities like a portable stove or long-term rations, just in case.
So she told them their itinerary, and they made their way back towards the town of Patch itself. As they walked, she allowed herself to almost entirely zone out, to just exist within the biting chill of fall, to think on the coming winter.
She longed for warmth, despite it all. That warmth that had filled her as Cinder had laid against her, slotted her head underneath Glynda's chin, and curled in on herself. Like she'd never had such a thing before.
She could still see it; the tears running down her face as she tried to pretend like it had all been a trick. Like it had all been just for the power. And perhaps it had been, once. But she'd seen it, then. The reality of the situation.
Cinder loved her as much as she loved Cinder.
And yet, she'd run away regardless.
The same had happened with Emerald, she who Glynda had meant to adopt. She could still remember the way the girl had slammed into her, practically tackling her as she hugged her and crushed her in her embrace. It had meant the world to her. She'd gathered it had meant the same to Emerald.
She, too, had gone, following Cinder, and making to disappear.
…
That was fine. Glynda did not think either had gone for a good reason. She did not think Cinder had left entirely freely, or happily. Had she, Glynda might've been able to let things go. She might've been able to forget about all of this, and try and move on with her life. She might've stayed cooped up in Beacon, and never left. Become Headmistress and tried to repair it all.
Instead, she'd left that to someone else. She didn't exactly know who would take up her mantle – perhaps Bart, but she assumed one of the older-year teachers would do so – and she didn't exactly know who would step up to fix Vale. She had no idea how things were going on in Atlas, or how the rest of the world would react to the Fall of Beacon. Hell, she didn't even know if Haven would hold the answers they sought.
But she did know one thing for certain.
Cinder… Emerald… She found herself calling out inside her head, even as she looked to the horizon, towards the sun hanging above them in the sky. Wherever you are…
I promise I'll find you.
End Chapter 50
End Part 1
And so part 1 ends! This is, in all honesty, the vast majority of the stories runtime. I don't think we have more than twenty chapters left - which, in all fairness, is still like five months worth of chapters - so Part 2 isn't going to be longer than 1. Or, well, I'm pretty sure, anyways. Part of the reason I'm taking time off is to solidify some of my character arcs/plot points. I have all the major stuff done, but some more minor things - and admittedly a couple of major ones - are still up in the air at the moment.
Anyways, thanks for reading Paved with Bad Intentions! This story will be going on break a bit, so don't expect any chapters for a month or so, at least. I hope you've enjoyed the story, so look forward to its return!