Antoinette Acres, Part One
"Oh my gosh," Ambur shivered and her teeth chattered loudly as she stepped off the last step and onto the snow dusted platform. She quickly stepped off to the side to let other passengers off the train and began to scramble into her golden Beacon hoodie.
"I told you it was going to be cold," Liv smiled, "you should've put it on in the train."
"Then I would've been too hot," Ambur whined as she pulled up the hood of the sweater and slung her bag back over her shoulder. The trip hadn't packed much, and much of what they had certainly was not suited to winter weather. It had been spring when they left the linky island of Patch but that had been months ago. The weather in Patch was likely still warm, but out here near the northern coast of Anima it was early winter.
"Come on," Liv laughed as she watched Ambur force her way up against Mydnight to try and sap his warmth. The wolf boy wasn't complaining at all about the old, as per usual. If anything Liv thought he probably looked more comfortable with the temperature than she had ever seen before. Olivier led the group down from the platform and around the station building, revealing the small town of Altomar. Liv thought the town was fairly normal, a middle ground between some of the smaller camps they had seen on their way to Haven, but far smaller than any of the great cities of course.
There were many bars and there were even sort of slum-like areas with nothing but tents, the snowy night sky almost glowing with the amount of lamps shining through the streets.
"Not what I expected," Ambur commented.
"This place isn't the best, not by a country mile," Olivier affirmed. "The only reason this town even has a train station is because of the Vineyard."
"I believe it," Mydnight added as they walked closer together through the lightly dusted streets. There weren't a lot of people around at this time of night, but the ones that were were either staring at them while loitering outside of bars, or already too drunk to notice them.
Things did seem to clean up as they continued, slowly but surely the look of the town changed as Liv led them through the gridded streets, first building up into more densely housed areas, before thinning out again as a large iron gate came into view at the end of the road. There was fencing coming from each side of the gate that went on for as far as the eye could see in the darkness and snow, and Liv marched straight up to the gate where there was a small guard shack at the side of the road.
"Who goes there," they heard a gruff voice ask from the shack, as a flashlight beam caught them in the road. Olivier didn't even get the chance to answer the man before the light was lowered and he was speaking again. "Ah, good, no surprises. I hate surprises," he mumbled to himself as he pressed a button on the wall in front of him and sat back down. "Welcome home miss Antoinette," he said cheerfully.
Her friends heard Olivier sigh heavily before she sucked down a long heavy breath through her nose and straightened her back. "I'd never tell you not to be yourselves but…try to be polite okay?" She sighed again.
"You got it," Mydnight grumbled and the trio began walking up the long driveway. Very quickly the dull and cracked tar of the street changed to carefully laid tiles, which were all clearly devoid of any snow and hardly even wet. There was a bit of steam rising in the air around them and Ambur spoke up.
"Heated driveway?" She mused. "Jeez Liv you're rich rich," she nearly laughed.
"You have no idea," Liv huffed. "I hope you guys are hungry because I'm sure dinners waiting for us."
"Oh thank god dude I'm starving," Mydnight nearly growled as if he'd been holding those words in all day long. Liv thought he probably had been.
Down the long winding pathway Ambur and Mydnight could see the house they were headed toward surrounded by other smaller buildings and barns. "Employees probably live on the property?" Mydnight asked.
"Best apartments in town," Liv confirmed. Happiest workforce around I'm sure. Housing and insurance included in their pay which is also incredibly high for picking grapes."
"Even I know it's not that simple of a job," Ambur rolled her eyes, "but I get what you mean. Does the business really make that much money?"
"Well don't get me wrong, they didn't work for the entire fortune. My family has owned this place for six generations. Big cities invest, Atlas and Haven especially, high-to-do society elites, they can't live without the stuff. You get what you put in, and they put everything in."
As they were closing in on the grand front door of the now towering house the door opened and the lights within nearly blinded them in the dimly lit night.
It took several moments for Mydnight's eyes especially to adjust to the light and when they did he found Olivier ahead of himself and Ambur beside two older people. Once their eyes had adjusted they found that each of them was short, each actually standing slightly shorter than Olivier due to the height of her heels, and they each had gray hair.
"Mom and dad, this is Mydnight and Ambur," Olivier did her best to sound cheerful but her friends could tell it was strained.
"Oh that can wait dear," her mother fawned and ran a few fingers through Liv's snowy hair. "Come on inside and out of the cold first," she insisted and Ambur excitedly obliged. She was freezing and tired of having snowflakes in her eye lashes. The trio moved inside behind Liv's parents and shook the snow from their shoulder and hair on the welcome mat, of course, Ambur and Mydnight only did so after watching Olivier do the same thing, just to be safe.
"It's so nice to finally meet you Miss Magnaria, Olivier has told us all about you and we've always wanted the opportunity to meet her closest friends," Liv's mother turned her attention toward the Amazon and held her hand out.
Ambur nearly tripped forward slightly as she tried to right herself and stand up straight to shake the woman's hand. She managed it, but only just, and a nervous smile crept over her lips. "It's wonderful to meet you both too," her awkward smile broadened. She wasn't lying at all, she'd always wanted to meet Liv's parents as well. Ever since Liv had approached her in the bathroom during their freshman year Ambur had wondered who could have possibly raised such a nice and outgoing girl as Olivier. "Hopefully she's only told you the good things," Ambur laughed and took back her hand, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.
Liv's mother smiled brightly and turned her attention to Mydnight, "and you must be Mister Rose," her smile remained.
Mydnight shook himself slightly at the odd way of addressing him, "please, just Mydnight is fine," he smiled, trying his best to keep his sharp k-nines in his mouth and seem as normal as possible.
"Hah, well I've heard a great deal about how much you've helped these two out on your travels, you must be hungry from such a long train ride no?"
"Starving, yes," he chuckled.
"Good," Olivier's mother pressed her hands together. "The table is already set for you, your rooms are both ready for you as well and Pewter is waiting in the dining room for you, he will tend to your every need."
Ambur and Mydnight gave each other a short confused look before Olivier's father spoke up. "Yes you'll have to forgive us, it's quite late and we will have to give more thorough introductions in the morning."
"Oh, yes of course," Ambur tried her best to speak with at least some form of politeness. She was tired too, they all were. Each of them were mentally and physically exhausted in their own ways, and Ambur figured that Mydnight was probably the only one that wanted to even stay up and eat anything before going to bed. It was extremely late, and Liv's parents had probably been asleep in bed up until a few minutes ago. They were likely keen to get back.
Each of Liv's parents smiled and left the room as they watched Olivier heaven out another long sigh and slouch forward. "Pewter?" Ambur asked skeptically.
"The butler," Liv answered quietly. "Come on," she gestured and kicked her shoes off, Ambur and Mydnight understanding that they should follow suit. Once all their wet shoes were lined up on the doormat the pair followed Olivier through the large Foyer they'd entered from and into the dining room to find a table fit enough to seat at least twenty people, the entire length polished and stained wood. The ceiling was at least twenty feet high and there was a crystal chandelier hanging from it above the center of the table.
"Mydnight and Ambur were speechless as they looked around the room and took in grand family portraits hanging from the walls, generations of the family shown in each of the massive painted canvases. The room was gigantic and filled with small decorations that they were sure each meant something but they didn't have the time or the words to ask about each of them right now. Liv's parents hadn't been lying either, the table was set and the room seemed intentionally chilled to keep the offerings fresh as none of them seemed cooked. Fruits of all kinds, though mostly grapes, olives stuffed with all manner of cheeses, pitchers of ice water and bottles of wine, fresh bread sitting out on hot plates with butter waiting for them covered the massive table.
"What the fffffuuu" Mydnight started in awe but felt Ambur swiftly elbow him in the hip to shut him up.
"Please don't freak out," Olivier said softly.
"Liv I thought was kidding out in the driveway but like," Ambur started to say but paused. "You actually are rich-rich. Good god."
"Yes, I am well aware, please stop saying that," Liv wiped her hands over her tired eyes. "I'm not hungry," she grumbled. "I just want to go get some sleep."
Just then a man in a full suit turned the far corner and entered the room and made his way before them. "Lovely to have you home Miss Olivier," he bowed his head slightly and the others noticed Liv's half-hearted attempt to straighten her back. The man was old, noticeably older than Olivier's parents, thinning gray hair atop his head and stone gray eyes.
"Thank you Pewter," she sighed. I'm sorry to have arrived so late at night. I'm sure you've just gotten ready in the middle of the night for nothing."
"Nonsense," he said poshly. "This is my one duty in life and I shan't have it be meaningless. The table is set for you just as much as it is set for the snow removal crew that should be waking up in an hour's time. I can take your bags up to your rooms if you'd like."
"Ambur are you hungry too or is it just Mydnight?" Olivier asked.
Ambur shook her head, "not at all actually," her mood quickly began to turn as the weight of her exhaustion crept in around her. "I'd love to just sleep."
"Well if we all agree to keep it our little secret, I'll allow your fine friend here to bring a plate up to your room so he needn't be all on his lonesome down here."
"Thank you Pewter," Liv smiled, this time more sincerely. "Grab whatever you want okay?"
Mydnight hurried around the table, scooping up a plate and piling it high with the warm bread and mostly fruits, not taking many of the olives.
"Not into olives?" Liv asked.
"Not into spicy cheese actually," Mydnight corrected and followed behind them as Pewter led them out of the dining room and up a flight of long curved stairs to the second floor. The railed balconies were high and even the loneliest hallways seemed decorated with more art, though they couldn't make out what much of it was in the dark. Other than the dining room the only light in the house was coming from the floor to ceiling windows letting in what little moonlight there was during the light snow storm.
"You've got two rooms to share between yourselves, how you choose to sleep in them is all up to you of course. You're all awfully close at this point I expect."
"A little too close," Olivier confirmed quietly, subtly airing something that they all knew needed to be discussed at some point during this trip. It could wait until tomorrow though, right now she needed a long rest on a real mattress without sharing the bed and room with anyone else for the first time in nearly a year.
"I need a night to myself," Olivier admitted. "If that's okay."
She found Ambur giving her an understanding look and a subtle nod told her that she agreed. "It's been a while since we didn't need to share, yeah."
"Alright. Well I'll see you all when we wake up then," Liv sighed and down a long hallway Pewter pointed out the two doors which belonged to them and the group split.
For the first time in ages Olivier finally found herself alone in a room with no one to talk to and for just a moment, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders as she let herself fall forward onto the bed. It wasn't her bed, she expected her old bedroom had been repurposed by now and that was why they had been offered these two spare rooms, but it didn't matter.
After so long being cooped up in a relatively small house with over ten people her age, and before that a huge bunk house at school, letting herself be privileged for one night actually sounded rather nice.
Even the uncomfortable thoughts of what would need to be said over the next two days didn't prevent her from falling right to sleep.
Hey
"Mmm?" Ambur groaned, responding to the voice. She was dead tired, feeling as though she had barely slept at all that night, and she had a dull headache to go with it.
Over here
The voice came again and this time Ambur really registered that it was one she didn't recognize. Her heart skipped and she jolted upright in bed.
She was alone in the spacious room, daylight streaming in from behind the heavy curtains. The beams were so bright, she expected that they must be reflecting off the snow covered fields outside, and it must be nearly noon. They had slept in for quite a while, she knew that much, as at one point Olivier had knocked on their door and Mydnight had shooed her away so they could rest more.
Speaking of her wolf, he was nowhere to be found now.
Come closer
The voice was different this time, more gruff and full of anger, though still female. Ambur swung her legs out of the blankets and stood up, looking around frantically through her gloomy daze. Her eyes were tired, and they felt puffy and sore.
"And now I'm hearing voices," she said nervously as her eyes darted around the room.
Come and see, the gruff voice said again and this time Ambur thought it had come from the far side of the room. There was a white hutch there with a tall oval mirror on top of it, and Ambur stepped nervously toward it, peeking at every corner of the room on her way.
"Mydnight?" She asked quietly, hoping that he was somewhere nearby. No answer came though.
As she slowly approached the mirror she felt a cold wave of dread wash through her veins and she swallowed hard. "Guys if this is a prank it isn't funny," she said softly.
Slowly, her reflection came into view before she peeked around the mirror to make sure Olivier wasn't messing with her and hiding behind it.
When she stood back up straight though, she took a step back quickly and gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. After a moment though, she began to think she had just seen a trick of the light. For just a breath there had seemed to be someone else staring back at her in the mirror. Dark hair, fiery red-orange eyes and red dress.
"That wasn't real," she tried to convince herself, "you're just tired and scared."
She took a step back toward the mirror, and again, found a perfectly normal reflection of herself within it. Her hair was a mess, her eyes tired and black, bra strap hanging off her shoulder. Perfectly normal.
She leaned in for a closer look at her eyes as she did every morning, pulling her bangs out of her face. She blinked hard to try and shoo the sleep from them, but when she opened them wide to look at her scar she screamed.
Give it back!
The voice screamed at her, her reflection dashed away by the image of Cinder, her eyes lit with flames and anger as the image lunged at her, arms outstretched as she jumped from the mirror and landed on Ambur, pushing the Amazon to the ground. Cinder's burning hands latched into Ambur's neck and her loud scream was quenched in an instant. Her hands flew up to try and rip Cinder's from her throat but try as she might, she found it impossible to remove them somehow. The long claws of Cinder's Grimm arm broke the skin of Ambur's throat and tears streamed from her eyes as the pain rippled down into her stomach.
With her breath and voice cut off, her brain started to panic. Why wasn't her semblance working? She could overpower anybody, but she couldn't pull Cinder's arms off of her? She did the only thing she could think to do and began slamming her open palm against the floor beside her while her other hand continued to try and pull Cinder's claws from her throat.
It only took a few moments for Mydnight and Olivier to burst through the bedroom door, but with no breath and agonizing pain in her throat, Ambur thought it felt like a lifetime.
Then, Mydnight was there, crouching in front of her and wiping tears from her cheeks, his hands bloodied and Cinder gone.
"Ambur what happened," he said, his face in her face, his eyes jumping all over her to try and figure out what was hurt and what wasn't.
"Cinder she," Ambur gulped and tried to regain her breath as she started to hyperventilate. "She's here-she," she gasped again and coughed, her eyes frantically looking around the room while Mydnight tried to hold her still. "She jumped out of the mirror and-"
Ambur stopped talking when she saw Mydnight take hold of her right hand, and lift it in front of her own face for her to see. There was fresh blood on her hand and under her own fingernails.
"I must have got her," she said softly. "She's somewhere in the house! She must be bleeding, we have to find her!" She tried to jump up to her feet but found Mydnight pressing her back down into the floor. "Mydnight let me go we have to stop her she could hurt somebody!"
"Ambur," Liv said as she came into view and crouched down beside Mydnight. She took hold of Ambur's bloodied fingers and met her gaze. "Cinder is dead. Nobody's here but us."
Silence fell over the trio as Ambur's heart pounded in her chest and she began to understand the way that her friends were looking at her. "You," she swallowed hard. "I heard her," she demanded, "I saw her clear as I see you two right now. I felt her push me down and I couldn't get her," she realized. "I couldn't get her off of me no matter how hard I pulled at her hands she…didn't budge an inch."
"Ambur there's no way that you wouldn't be able to push someone off of you if they were pinning you down…I think you imagined it," Mydnight said slowly, trying his best to not sound rude. "She's not here. If she was here, you wouldn't have the maiden powers."
Ambur's breaths slowed to a crawl as she sat in stunned silence for several moments, the trio sharing looks between themselves. "You're saying I did this to myself," she breathed as she looked at her bloodied fingers again. "How bad is it?"
"It could've been a lot worse," Olivier grimaced, "your nails were dull so it doesn't look like you cut yourself too deep but…we should still get you to a doctor."
"I'm not crazy!" Ambur demanded as she yanked her hand away from Olivier. "I heard her and I saw her in that mirror I swear!"
"Ambur we believe you," Mydnight insisted. "You wouldn't do this to yourself without reason. Just because she's not here to us doesn't mean you didn't see her. Liv, why don't you get her cleaned up and I'll call the others and see what they think okay?"
"Are you okay with that?" Liv asked as she held her hand out to Ambur again. Ambur's teeth were cleaned together as she tried to relax her breathing but she wasn't so sure she could right now. The rage was trying to fight its way back to the surface and it was taking every ounce of self control she had to not blow up on her closest friend.
"I don't need your help," she pushed herself up from the floor and pushed past the two of them, headed to try and find her own way to a bathroom as she left the room.
"Other way," Olivier sighed loudly, and the pair heard Ambur's loud footsteps coming back and watched her pass by the door again. "First door on the left," Olivier called after her and moments later they heard the door slam behind her. "What the fuck are we gonna do with her Mydnight," Liv said worriedly as she stood up. Mydnight stood beside her and they looked out the doorway of the bedroom into the much better lit hallway.
"She's starting to lose grip on what's real. Either that or she's really being haunted by…herself," he rubbed the back of his head in confusion, " I guess."
"Is that even possible? Do the Maiden's have the power to communicate with their past selves?"
"I guess we'll find out," he said nervously and pulled out his scroll from his pocket. He flicked through screens and pulled up the readings on their other party and froze. "Fuck," he said quickly.
"What?"
"The grid is still down I forgot, we don't have a way to call them on mobile. They've probably left for Argus by now," he panicked and tried pressing the call button on his sister's grayed out contact portrait. He pressed the scroll to his ear and found that it wasn't even attempting to ring before he chucked it onto the bed and growled. "And now we are hundreds of miles away from the group and we can't communicate with them," he grabbed two fistfuls of his hair. "How could we be that stupid!"
"Hey," Liv grabbed from his hands and he let her pulls them from his hair and down between them, and he found her plum colored eyes staring back up at him. "We will figure this out okay? Blaming yourself for this isn't going to help us." The pair shared a long look in silence as Mydnight's breaths began to slow.
"Tell me it's going to be alright," he pleaded softly. "Please."
"….You know my semblance doesn't work on you anymore Mydnight."
"Then say it like you believe it."
Liv drew in a long breath and shut her eyes for a moment, squeezing his hands in her own. "We are going to figure this out and get through it. She will be okay. I know she will."
Smash
Liv bit into her lip as the pair listened to the sound of glass shattering against the tile floor one room over and each drew in a long breath and exhale, trying to remain calm as their shoulders twitched upward.
Soft footsteps crept toward them before they opened their eyes and turned toward the bedroom door, finding Ambur there with her head peeking around the door and her bloodied fingers gripping gently around the door frame. Her face was one of such shyness and nervousness that Mydnight and Olivier thought they hadn't seen it since freshman year of Beacon. She couldn't meet either of their gazes and it took her more than a few moments to conjure up any quiet words.
"I'll pay for that."