"So, what's our plan, here? What if she's hostile?"
"I doubt that very much."
"Still… it's a possibility. We're supposed to be prepared for anything and everything, right? That's what part of what Aces do- go in with as much foreknowledge as possible."
"Aces… do a lot of things, but first and foremost, they do them with a resolute purposefulness. If your actions are in the interest of protecting the people of Solitas, then you can rest assured that you are taking the correct course, no matter the cost. Follow your sense of duty and loyalty when you are uncertain… which, ultimately, is the same as telling you to follow your heart."
Harriet rolled her eyes skyward and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. She reached over her shoulder and began to twirl her mohawk-turned-braided-ponytail around her finger in a fit of nervous energy. With an irritated noise, she cracked her neck and began to pace, her combat boots crunching through the ankle-deep snow.
"…you would say some bullshit like that. 'Just believe, and everything will be fine', right? Well, what if it's not? What if this is another botch? What if I fuck it all up again by doing what I always do?"
"Harriet."
The young woman looked to her left, where her leader was kneeling in the snow. Vine Zeki had his hands folded in his lap and his eyes closed in some sort of semi-meditative state. It was a position that she was used to seeing him in, even during conversations, and one that drove her absolutely mad. She could never understand how he could be so eternally calm in tense situations, or how his words could cut through to her core when she was beyond the reach of anyone else. Harriet knew that if he opened his eyes, he would be about to speak some profound truth, and likely one she didn't want to hear.
Harriet stopped her pacing and threw her hair back over her shoulder, letting the braid swing in the gentle breeze. She eyed up Vine as she waited for his next words and found once again that it felt like she was looking at him for the first time despite seeing him literally every day. From his closely shaved hair to the decorative third eye symbol tattooed upon his forehead and the flowing red shawl he had added to his Ace Ops uniform, Vine stood out among other Atlesians. Where everyone else in the floating city had a simultaneous businesslike and frenetic energy about them, Vine exuded a constant calm. It was both reassuring and unnerving, as was the fact that Vine opened his eyes and turned his head to face her.
"If you specifically had cost us the missions that had gone sour without any other contributing factors, I would tell you, and if it had happened as often as you implied, I would replace you. You were chosen for the Aces for a reason, Harriet. Several reasons, in fact. Your place in the team is…"
Harriet leaned forward, unintentionally holding her breath as she waited for Vine's explanation. Instead, the man stood as he trailed off, dashing any hope of finishing his sentence. With a simple nod over her shoulder, his expression shifted from one of calm reassurance to serious and stoic, and he moved to stand next to Harriet.
"Look alive. We have incoming."
Harriet turned to see a cloaked figure in the distance. The person was approaching slowly and seeming to have trouble navigating the field of ice up between them and the Aces. Upon seeing the stranger stumble, Harriet engaged her semblance and blitzed forward, speeding through the snow and just barely reaching the target to catch them before they fell to the ground. The figure's hood fell away as they clung desperately to Harriet's shoulder, revealing the wizened features of an old woman. Harriet searched the elder's face, finding kind, deep blue eyes staring back up at her as the woman gave her a warm smile.
"…how very kind of you, child…"
"Just… doing my job," Harriet replied, feeling very uncomfortable as she helped the woman to stand once again.
"Nonsense," the woman insisted. "Your concern for me was sweet."
"Tch… whatever," Harriet replied as she looked over her shoulder to see Vine approaching.
Harriet gave her superior a pleading look, to which he offered a subtle smirk before bowing to the woman.
"Miss Fria, I presume? General Ironwood would very much like to speak to you."
A clean-shaven, younger James Ironwood stood facing the curved window glass that helped to form the transparent barrier around the far side of his office. The man looked out over the city of Atlas' moonlit skyline with a hard, unblinking gaze. Ghostly reflections of a group of five people were visible before him, awaiting his instructions. Harriet and Vine stood at opposite ends of the lineup, while a Clover who could still pass for an Academy student stood next to the even younger woman. On his left was Winter Schnee, wearing a set of white and blue armor and looking just as inexperienced, while to her left stood Elm, who was clearly older and had hair reaching her shoulders. None of them looked eager to hear the news, but the sense of anticipation in the room was palpable.
"…the results are… not promising," General Ironwood began. "The early stages of a neurodegenerative disorder are setting in. She may have months, she may have years… it's too early to tell. She's losing her memories and obsessing over small interactions and scenarios that may or may not be imagined. Fria is most definitely the Winter Maiden, and her control over her powers is still incredibly impressive. Coming here was the right move, but… the next steps won't be pleasant."
"What is it that you require of us?" Vine asked. "We all stand ready to serve."
"I need… a volunteer," Ironwood said carefully. "A female volunteer. As you know, the power of a Maiden is passed down to the last woman in her thoughts as she passes on. If those final thoughts are of a male, or someone already deceased, they pass to a random woman… though the extent of the randomness is unclear. It may be someone the Maiden met earlier in life, it may be someone she had never spoken to. We have no way of making that determination. I need someone willing to become the only person Fria sees from this point forward."
"You… don't mean that literally?" Elm asked, sounding dumbfounded. "The only person she sees? But if a man comes t-"
"…he could be in her final thoughts," Clover interrupted. "And that could trigger the cosmic roulette. It's too dangerous."
"But keeping her caged like an animal, with a single friend?" Harriet asked as she gave Clover a look of disgust. "That's… that's inhumane. That's disgusting. That's worse treatment than the faunus have received, and what we did to them caused a revolution. We can't ethically d-"
"We can't ethically let the powers of a Maiden be in a position where Salem or her agents could inherit them," General Ironwood said over Harriet. "I'm not asking you to euthanize Fria unless it's absolutely necessary- I'm asking you to imprint yourself within her thoughts as much as possible until her natural death."
A cold silence that lasted an uncomfortable amount of time fell over the room. General Ironwood closed his eyes as he let the words linger in the air, waiting for one of his subordinates to speak. To his surprise, the voice that broke the quietude was one that came out soft and small, to the point that he didn't immediately recognize the speaker.
"But… in a situation where Salem makes a move, you would ask whoever volunteers to euthanize her…?"
General Ironwood turned to find Winter Schnee giving him a look full of uncertainty. The man noted a sadness in her eyes, though her rigid stance would have suggested otherwise. He merely nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back.
"I would. In fact, I would order it. It was Fria's idea, as was the isolation."
"…she's losing her mind," Harriet said emphatically, stressing every syllable as if she was afraid that she wasn't being understood. "You just said that she's suffering from some sort of degeneration, and she isn't in any position t-"
"Suffering from something like that is exactly the position to be in to make that decision," Clover countered. "She made it while she's still lucid, before she loses her grip entirely."
"And can you prove that?" Harriet balked. "She thought I was sweet. Me. She's clearly already lost it. This is so, so wrong. We can't do this. She could be someone's grandmo-"
"Bree," General Ironwood said calmly. "What do you suppose would happen if Salem or one of her underlings became a Maiden? How much death would result?"
Harriet balled a fist and held it at her side, her hand trembling. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as she took slow and steady breaths. The feeling of a gentle touch upon her shoulder caused her to jump in surprise, and she turned her head to find a face of apologetic calm right behind her.
"…Harriet," Vine offered in a soothing tone. "This job isn't easy, and I guarantee you that no one in this room would tell you otherwise. There are times when we will be given orders that we would rather not follow, but they must be followed. General Ironwood doesn't like this any more than you do, but he needs to maintain his composure and lead us. He doesn't have the luxury of expressing his emotions surrounding this situation, so please- try to keep yours under control while we discuss this. Short of a direct order from him, I would not allow you to volunteer for this role. It isn't a good fit for you, and I believe the General knows that. So, please… calm yourself."
"…fuck," Harriet swore under her breath as she closed her eyes once again and hung her head. "General… forgive me for lashing out. I just…"
"…I understand," General Ironwood replied in a tone quite close to Vine's as he raised a hand to command silence. "This isn't a request to be taken lightly… and I won't force it on any of you. If no one volunteers, I'll… I'll start making calls to the other Academies. I'd rather not go that route, b-"
"I-I-I'll do it," Winter interrupted, her face ashen as she swallowed hard. Her mouth and throat felt incredibly dry to the point where she had to physically force the words out. With a shudder, she tried once again, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering. "I'll… do it…"
The silence in the circular office was incredibly familiar to General James Ironwood, as though his memories were playing out before him with additional people added into the scene. Harriet stood leaning against the wall by the door, looking older, more muscular, and equally as angry as she had on that day. The woman had kept her eyes closed as she recounted her half of the story, and afterward, had them trained upon Winter. Clover stood on the opposite side of the entranceway, his expression unreadable, and Elm had taken up the role of staring out the window. In place of Vine, Marrow was in front of General Ironwood's desk off to one side, while Winter took up the other and the military leader himself stood between them. Despite the rearrangement of the Aces around the room, what interested General Ironwood most was the reactions of the newer additions to his subordinates.
Yang reminded him of Harriet in the most predictable way possible. Her fists were clenched, her jaw was set, and her eyes were blazing. Ilia, who stood beside Yang near the center of the room, had her eyes on the floor looking incredibly uncomfortable as all of her skin literally faded several shades lighter. Corsac, who stood at Ilia's other side, barely seemed to react at all. Jaune looked about ready to cry as he stood separate from the rest of the group, while Sun was staring down at his scroll, seemingly reading something over and over again. Then, there was Weiss, whose eyes had never left Winter's as the older Schnee finished recounting the second half of the events. The two sisters seemed to be having a conversation with just their eyes in the silence, though General Ironwood had no idea what either woman was thinking.
Quite suddenly, the silence broke as Yang let out a hiss.
"…no. I'm not standing here and listening to this," the blonde insisted as she shook her head. "I'm not having a discussion about when to murder an old woman to cover our asses. I refuse to be part of this."
General Ironwood said nothing as he watched the young woman stomp toward the door, ignoring Ilia's call to wait. He waited until the portal slid shut after Yang's exit before he took a deep breath through his nose and said a single word.
"…Bree."
"On it," Harriet acknowledged before she left to pursue Yang.
As the door slid shut for a second time, Sun took a step forward and offered his scroll toward General Ironwood. The faunus' expression was one of pain, and he refused to look up from the device even as he held it out. Upon the screen was his own picture, along with a bit of information that made up his Huntsman's License.
"…I… I don't think I can do this either," Sun said in a small voice. "Revoke it. I want it gone."
Author's Note:
This conversation is going to be fun…
-RD