A.N. (3/13/23) - Here's the scheduled Monday release chapter.


Atlas (11) - Fallout

A certain video began spreading that day.

It was uploaded to the most popular video-sharing and social media platform on the net. Those that clicked on the video witnessed the recording of Jax narrating the final moments of Jacques Schnee. Within minutes of being posted, the video was quickly taken down and the account that uploaded it was banned.

But by then, it was already too late.

Copies of the video started appearing everywhere as people reacted to the contents. Some felt disturbed by the extreme nature of the video. Others started to feel fear at the actions of the White Fang. But a small part of the population started to celebrate, for they never expected that something like this would ever occur.

Barely an hour since the video was uploaded, the name of the White Fang was on the lips of almost every citizen in Atlas and Mantle.

As for the group in question…

"This is bad for us," Sienna said. She turned off the Scroll in her hand and gazed at the other people in the room. "From the look on your faces, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. I have always preached the necessity of violence to rebel against human cruelty, but our actions have mostly been aimed at a certain 'acceptable' target. After today, we'll have all eyes on the White Fang… and not in a good way."

"High Leader, what do you mean?"

"Before, the rich and elite of Atlas have been content to ignore us. Not anymore, especially after so many of them have been culled by these imposters. If they choose to throw their resources into our demise, then I fear that we may not survive the retaliation of Atlas. Worse yet, it won't just be us that will have our names dragged through the mud."

"Tensions between humans and faunus will only get worse."

"With that said, there are two options that we can take. Either we claim credit for the incident and use this opportunity to rouse our troops for the upcoming conflict. Or we can find the true culprits and reveal the truth of who is at fault."

"You want us to help Atlas?!"

"No." Sienna faced the one who spoke. "I'm saying that there's a new player involved in this game between Atlas and us. Putting everything else aside, they used our name to take action against Atlas. We know nothing about them except that they can attack a Schnee gala and somehow get away with it. Either their resources surpass our own, or they have some other trump card of theirs that gives them the confidence to act like this."

"And why does that matter?"

"It matters because we know too little about this new group. And that means I have a new job for you… Adam."

He sneered. "What kind of job exactly?"

"I want you to get in contact with these people and determine what their intentions are. If their goals align with ours, then we might come to a compromise and form some kind of alliance. But if they're just another enemy that we have to eliminate…"

"Do you think that's likely?"

"Better expect the worse from a group that wants to throw all the blame in our direction. Either way, I trust that you'll take this mission seriously and not take any unnecessary risks."

"May I choose who joins me on this mission?"

"Take Ilia with you," Sienna replied. "As for anyone else, just keep it to a small group for now. With trouble brewing in the distance, I want to keep the majority of our troops in reserve."

"Hmph, I suppose she would know how to navigate Altas. Then if you don't mind, I'll have her and Blake join me for this job."

Sienna almost rolled her eyes at the predictable response. The only reason she wasn't thinking of investigating herself was that she was expecting further trouble to come their way soon. As the leader, she needed to be here to handle any issues that cropped up because of this matter.

Still, at least there was one piece of good news from all of this.

"At the very least, the SDC will no longer be the same after today."

}-{

She had never felt this defeated before.

The aftermath of the incident consisted of numerous officers and first responders storming the premises to secure whoever managed to survive. Soldiers led anyone they were able to find outside while the injured and dead were being dealt with by others. Dozens of bodies were being lined up along the hall covered in blankets. Before this, there were a few hundred guests attending the event. Now, the number of people left was only a fraction of that.

Rin did nothing when Terra wrapped her arms around her, loudly expressing her worries about her safety during the attack. Apparently, the older woman was safe with Fiona and May while everything was happening. Terra also mentioned something about how they suspected that Amoncio might have known that the gala would be attacked, but that wasn't something Rin paid attention to at the moment.

Authoritarian Personalism.

That was a Noble Phantasm, something that was beyond human understanding and surpassed any magecraft she knew. Rin understood this when she was assaulted by its effects, her own protection unable to defend against the superior Mystery.

Except its existence should not have been possible, even more so when it was being wielded by some random person who most likely knew nothing about magic. Jax didn't even bother trying to hide its True Name when he used it, not when its power meant that there was no need to invoke it to utilize its ability fully.

Not to mention that Rin had no clue as to what Heroic Spirit the Noble Phantasm belonged to. For some reason, the name felt familiar to her even if the exact reason eluded her. But the fact that someone who wasn't a Heroic Spirit was able to wield it meant that there was something special about it. After all, usually, only the owner of a Noble Phantasm could use it with the exception of those possessing multiple owners or users having special bloodlines that allowed them to use the Noble Phantasm.

The real question was how did Jax get it in the first place?

Then her eyes wandered over Terra's shoulder to the other girl sitting across them. Weiss was huddled against a wall with a blanket draped across her shoulders. Sitting next to her was her brother Whitley, his face frozen with shock at the situation. The two Schnee siblings had no choice but to seek comfort in one another despite their poor relationship due to their shared grief over their father's death.

And that was something else that Rin had to take in.

Jacques Schnee had been killed by a mind-controlled Winter. Whatever notions Rin had about her foreknowledge were all for nothing now that things had drastically changed.

How much of this was her fault? After all, she knew that things were different now due to her presence, but what exactly did she do to create this kind of situation? As far as she knew, the Crown was based in Vacuo. What were they doing in Atlas of all places, much less targeting the Schnee patriarch as well as a dozen other Atlas elites?

Word has it that this was all a White Fang attack targeting the Schnee patriarch, especially when most of the attackers had been wearing white masks that only they wore. Rin wasn't sure how she could dispute that theory, especially since the only reason she knew that the Crown was involved was from the testimony of Marcus Black. If she tried to tell someone about them, who would believe a random young girl like her over the witness accounts of a hundred guests?

The Crown was trying to frame the White Fang for this attack, and it was working.

"Excuse me." She slipped away from Terra's grasp. "I need… I'm going to talk to those two."

Terra said something, but Rin ignored it in favor of moving toward where the Schnee siblings were. Whitley noticed her first, greeting her with a tired nod but otherwise said nothing. It was Weiss who continued to ignore her even when Rin stood in front of the other girl.

Rin didn't know what to say, so she observed Weiss first. There was dust in her hair and cuts covering the parts of her dress that weren't hidden by the blanket. Weiss was staring at a wall with an unfocussed look, but the cold expression on her face hinted at her true thoughts.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Weiss was silent at first. "Pardon me, but do I know you?"

"My name is Rin Tohsaka. I'm not sure if you've heard of me…"

"I have. You were the one that Winter wanted to introduce to us." Her voice wavered. "And now, she's…"

A single choked sob escaped her mouth. Even if she was normally a mature girl, she was still only about fifteen years old.

"Don't say that," Whitley interrupted. He had an anguished look on his face. "She has to be okay, right?"

Nobody seemed to have an answer to that.

"I was talking about your father," Rin said. "He didn't deserve to die like he did…"

She scowled. "Spare me the pleasantries. I doubt anyone here actually misses him now that he's gone. To be honest, I figured that something like this would happen someday. My father always had a way of making enemies out of people."

"Weiss, you can't say that!"

"Forget it." She stood up and dropped the blanket. "I should leave. With how mother usually is, I doubt she heard the news yet. Hopefully, I can talk with her before she becomes too drunk to focus on anything."

"But–!"

"I'll take my leave here. Whitley, you can handle things here without me."

Weiss walked away, leaving an exasperated Whitley scratching the side of his head. "Sorry about that," he said to Rin. "But considering the circumstances, I suppose her attitude is more than expected."

"What about you?" Rin asked. "How are you holding up?"

He seemed surprised by the question. "I'm… still processing it. Really, I'll probably break down once I settle in a private room where I can deal with my emotions better. Until then, I'll have to deal with a bunch of other issues first before I can deal with my own."

"Sounds rough."

"But about Winter…" He sighed. "I've already talked with a few specialists, but nobody has any idea where she is. With General Ironwood dead, the military is trying to figure out what to do next. It won't be long before they respond with a task force to deal with the White Fang, except I worry that something bad will happen to Winter in the meanwhile."

"General Ironwood is dead?!"

He was taken aback by her outburst. "I suppose word hasn't gotten around yet. Supposedly, he was killed around the same time when the attack occurred. The only reason I know about it is that I overheard the specialists talking about it."

But Rin was already ignoring him as her thoughts became chaotic. It was one thing to accept Jacques dying earlier than expected, but someone like General Ironwood getting killed in a White Fang attack was unbelievable to her.

No, there was one way she could confirm whether he was truly dead or not.

"Sorry, but I have to go."

"H-Huh? Oh, sure…"

Rin turned around and moved toward the nearest exit. She spotted Terra talking to Robyn in the corner and made a mental note to text her later. Right now, she needed to head immediately to Atlas Academy and verify something first.

Except her thoughts turned to wondering why Ironwood was targeted in the first place. Not the reason behind his attack, but why he wasn't targeted by Jax and his Semblance. If she were in his position, she would have thought that controlling one of the leaders of the Atlas military would be a useful endeavor.

Unless they knew that his Semblance would prevent him from being controlled by Jax. Rin was uncertain exactly how Mettle worked, but it was reasonable to assume that it would make him more resilient to mental interference. The question was how would somebody know about that since she doubted that was public knowledge.

No, she was thinking incorrectly.

The method behind how one would acquire that information wasn't important, especially when one considered the myriad of Semblances that could help one achieve such a result. After all, Jax could have mind-controlled one of the staff members into giving him access to that info. Or maybe they believed that taking control of Ironwood was unnecessary due to other reasons. But if that was the case, why go through all the trouble of trying to kill him while he was unprepared?

Instead, she needed to consider their motive.

"First off, let's see if the tin man really is dead first before I try to figure anything else out. After that, I might have to have a word with Marcus again about what he knows about the Crown."


Couldn't sleep, so I decided to write this and post it at 3 am instead of counting sheep.

Not much else to say about this chapter. I wasn't too satisfied with how I wrote Weiss here, but hopefully, I can involve her in future events with more natural dialogue and interactions with Rin. Until then, Rin will be busy looking into Ironwood's supposed death while pondering over why the Crown targetted him in the first place.