Chapter 17

Mercury Black looked upwards through his silver bangs as Cinder began strolling from side to side in the room, eyes flaming.

She was furious… again. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

"What do you mean when you say, you couldn't influence Jackson with your semblance?" Cinder glared at Emerald, stepping dangerously close to her.

"I-I couldn't because they were underwater, and I couldn't see him-"

Cinder grabbed her chin with lethal force, "Then why didn't you do it at the beginning?"

He could see her palm begin to heat up, and Emerald grimaced in clear pain.

"Answer me, girl."

"I-I thought it would be b-better to wait-"

"You don't think," Cinder snarled, backhanding her onto the ground heavily, "You do."

Mercury held himself back from intervening, lest she turn her anger on him, like she had done dozens of times before. Despite their mutual teasing dynamic, Mercury still cared for her, in his own way.

"If you fail like this again, rest assured, you would be nothing of worth to me."

That was a joke. Cinder knew damn well Emerald wasn't replaceable, even as an asset with that hallucination semblance. Still, it was the threat that counted.

"No! I won't fail again, I promise Cinder!" Emerald begged, as Cinder nodded coldly.

"See to it as you don't."

"Jackson has proven quite the enigma to crack. He has been sighted consorting with the headmaster numerous times in the past few days. It's suspicious… we need to take care of him. Add him to the list."

Mercury complied obediently, keeping his eyes down, because he did not want to risk her wrath, especially not right now.

"And… ooh," Cinder made that obnoxious purring sound, "It appears we have a new access point. This is very nice. Go to your rooms, I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

"Can do," Mercury gave a thumbs up as he got up, Emerald following him quietly. He took a right, making sure the door shut quietly.

Once they were out of earshot, Mercury looked at her questioningly.

"You okay?"

"…Yeah."

"You know Cinder doesn't actually care for you, right?"

"No, she does!" Emerald whirled on him, protesting despite all the evidence in the world pointing to the opposite, "She just cares in her own way. She doesn't tolerate failure, and I failed her."

Mercury snarled. Was Emerald blind? Why was it that she couldn't see what was right in front of her?

He stepped towards her, towering over her and leaning down, "She told you to wait until the climax of the fight, not use it at the beginning. How was that failure? If anything, the failure is on Cinder's shoulders. Accept it. She doesn't care. Not for me, not for you, not for anyone but herself!"

Emerald glared at him through her red eyes, turning away, indicating the conversation was over. Mercury all but sighed. She was a lost puppy, that clung to Cinder like a lifeline simply because Cinder had picked her off the streets and turned her from a thief into something with a far more nefarious purpose.

The fact was that Cinder didn't care for anyone, only using them as tools. And when they stepped out of line… she would burn them until they gave in. Like his late father, she was ruthless, and didn't tolerate failure.

She made subtle threats, whereas his father would beat him, again, and again, and again, training him to be the best assassin he could. He was pushed to the brink every day, and beaten and abused every day. The bastard had stolen his semblance… and Mercury killed him for it.

Or at least, he thought he did.

The reveal that he was alive had shaken him, and even more so by the fact that he had explained…

For the first time, Mercury had gotten an explanation. He had gotten clarity.

His father had stolen his semblance, not because he hated him, but because he was afraid for him. Afraid that he would lose his life from his semblance, like his mother had.

His father had never talked about his mother before, always in a drunken stupor when Mercury tried to ask about her. He would shake his fist and stumble around, shouting angrily at anything and everything in the world… right before he would go back to abusing him, hitting him, training him to become the assassin he was today.

And to think that he had stolen his semblance from him, all because he was afraid. Scared that his son would lose his life like his wife had, suffer like his wife had. Seeing his hair turn gray, and so his father had stolen his semblance for himself.

Mercury scoffed quietly to himself. His semblance was an illness, a crutch, as his father had called it, and rightfully so. Others could run faster, be stronger, be smarter, make matter out of nothing.

His hair had turned gray from his semblance, his illness. His father had taken the illness for himself, and his hair had turned white. He had been dying, Mercury realized.

Sure, that didn't make enduring his abuse any better… sometimes, Mercury could still feel the harrowing, hollow pain in his leg stumps. He had escaped from his father's abuse and met Cinder Fall.

At the time, meeting Cinder Fall had made young Mercury believe it was destiny. It wasn't like he had any choices at the time, and so he joined her and Emerald.

He cared for Emerald, but if she couldn't see what was right in front of her, it wasn't his duty to make sure she could. It wasn't his duty to cure the blind, after all.

Still, Cinder was a manipulative psycho, someone he didn't want to stick around. She had mercilessly burned his father to death, even if he had been an abusive bastard.

He was only there because he remained useful. Cinder knew it, he knew it. Heck, Emerald was the only one who didn't know it.

The fact remained that he'd merely traded one abusive situation for another. He wanted a way out- no, he needed a way out. No way was he going to follow Cinder's doomed plan to the end with no reward.

The problem was, there was no way out. If he left, Cinder would track him down and kill him with her powers… and he couldn't exactly join Jackson and his entourage, could he? Cinder might not have seen it… but Mercury had. He was a trained assassin, after all, and that included subterfuge. He could see that Jackson was already suspicious of their little operation. Cinder and Emerald were too blind to see it, but he could. Jackson had sat next to them when his team was fighting not because he trusted them, but because he didn't trust them. It was doomed to failure from the start.

Then what? What was he supposed to do? He had no ways out. Emerald would not, and could not be persuaded to come with him. He would have to leave her behind, as much as that pained him… so who could be his allies?

Roman Torchwick, for one. The man was, as Mercury could see it, trying his very best to survive and get out, and Mercury could respect that, even if they weren't necessarily the best of friends. Cinder had coerced him into obeying, and Torchwick was a desperate man trying to remove his collar. Yet he had assets, like the pink-haired illusionist that always seemed to be by his side. Perhaps they could help each other.

For now though, he would have to play along, and follow her orders to the letter. Because if Cinder sensed dissent in her ranks… Mercury shuddered to think of what would happen to him.

Pyrrha Nikos walked into the headmaster's office, Percy right beside her. His presence normally comforted her, made her feel at home, but not right now.

He looked… nervous, for some reason, his deep sea green eyes roving over her form once, then twice, before he tried to offer an encouraging smile. She scanned the room, noticing a red-eyed, black-haired man leaning on one of the pillars of the office.

"Miss Nikos, please take a seat."

Pyrrha obliged, sliding into the lushly padded chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

"I will spare no circling around the question. Miss Nikos, what is your favorite fairytale?"

Percy sucked in a breath loudly, strangely beginning to pace around the room. Was he alright? Was it the tournament that was making him nervous? Pyrrha didn't know.

"F-Fairytale? Forgive me, headmaster, but I don't understand why this is relevant."

"Please," the man offered friendlily, "simply answer the question."

"Well…"

There was the Lonely Girl in the Tower… but also the two Brother Gods, and the man with two souls.

"The two Brother Gods," Pyrrha nodded, an easy smile on her face.

"Well… have you ever heard of the tale of the four Maidens?"

"Of course," Pyrrha nodded. They were four sisters that visited an old wizard, each cheering him up in their own unique, kind way. In return, the wizard gave them great, magical power, each of the sisters embodying the four seasons, and going through Remnant, spreading their gifts.

"Long story short," Percy strolled up to them, "The Maidens are real, our Fall Maiden was attacked, sucked of much of her power and is currently in a coma under this tower, and Ozpin here thinks you should be the Maiden."

Pyrrha jolted up from the chair with in utter shock, as Ozpin sighed.

"While I would have put it less… bluntly, that is essentially what we are asking of you."

M-Maidens were… real? She took two steps backwards, almost stumbling in her heels in shock. How did Percy know all this?

She whirled around as Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood entered the office from the elevator.

"No… that can't be right…" she denied, her heart beating rapidly and erratically.

"It is, kid," the red-eyed huntsman stood up straight, crossing his arms, "I hate to break it to ya, but it is."

"P-Perseus? H-How- Who are you all?"

"We are the same people you've known, Miss Nikos," Professor Goodwitch said softly as she stepped forward, her black heels echoing in the office.

The red-eyed man continued, "We're not just headmasters, or generals, or professors, or even students," he gestured to Percy, "We have a little job on the side. We protect the world from the threats that no one even knows of, like the threats that attacked our Fall Maiden. It's why we work in the shadows, why we meet behind closed doors, and why this information is not public."

Ozpin nodded, "Qrow is correct."

"Where is the Fall Maiden?" Pyrrha was confused but determined to make the best of her situation.

"Underneath the school, in a sort of… vault," Ozpin answered vaguely and mysteriously, as the group moved to the elevator.

To say that she was nervous was an understatement. Percy had kept this from her, and his own team, deigning to never even hint at it. How he could carry it all on his shoulders was beyond her. Despite it all, she felt like she could still trust him; he had never led her wrong before. Her green eyes sought his sea green ones for comfort, and he nodded reassuringly, smiling at her with confidence.

It was all she needed.

As they stepped out the elevator, they were met with a dark hall, lit by flaming torches.

"I-I still don't understand…" she questioned, "You said I was to be the Fall Maiden and receive the Maiden's power… what do you mean by that?"

Professor Goodwitch walked beside her, hands clasped behind her back, "When a Maiden dies, the power leaves her body, and seeks out a new host. Over time, the tracking of hosts determined these hosts to be young women."

"So… how does the power choose the next host?"

"Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules," Qrow commented.

"Qrow…" Goodwitch admonished him, her green eyes glaring at him through her glasses.

"No, he's got a point," Percy added, "The power goes to the next eligible host by those requirements. How it works is that the last person eligible in the dying Maiden's thoughts obtains the power. If it's a guy, or some old lady, then the power goes to someone random."

"The Fall Maiden's power was stolen, with her only possessing a quarter of the Maiden power. She lies in a coma, but if she were to die, the power would most likely go to her assailant, since it is very common for victims to have their attackers in their last thoughts," Percy elaborated, laying it all out for her bluntly.

Pyrrha could appreciate that, at least. Percy didn't sugar-coat anything for her, and it made it easier for her.

"Ah huh…" Pyrrha elaborately articulated.

"A question that I do have is, why her, Ozpin? Why her, instead of some fourth-year, who is, no offense Pyrrha but, more experienced in every sense of the word?" Percy asked.

"None taken," Pyrrha chimed in, as Ozpin began answering.

"Simply put, Miss Nikos is a combat prodigy, even at this academy. I'm quite sure she would match up to a fourth year quite well. Secondly, Miss Nikos has good morals. She is selfless, and a symbol of hope and protection. Her teammates care for her, and your team cares for her, and will protect her."

Percy clenched his fist, clearly not liking it.

Pyrrha laid a hand on his arm, "Percy, what's wrong?"

He turned to look at her, "I-I just don't want you to get hurt. Taking the Maiden power paints a target on your back the size of Vale, with power-hungry maniacs who want to attack you…"

"It'll be fine. I'll choose myself," she tried to reassure him.

They finally came to the end of the hall. There were two pods, and a machine that linked them. A woman was in one of the pods. She had a light brown complexion, with straight, brown hair that fell down to her shoulders.

"She's… alive?" Pyrrha didn't know what to say.

"The current Fall Maiden, Amber," Ozpin said, a regrettable tone in his voice.

Pyrrha was taken aback, "She's in this state because of her assailants, right? "B-But why? If this is all true, why not let everyone know? If everyone joins together against this threat-"

"If it becomes common knowledge, those who seek power for nefarious purposes would prey upon the maidens," the General said, looking stern.

"Additionally, it would cause panic, an uproar," Ozpin said, "And we all know what that would bring. You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos."

"I'll do it," Pyrrha stated firmly. If it was for the good of humanity, she would do it. To be a huntress was to protect the people, and even if this painted a massive target on her back, she would do it.

"It's not that simple," Percy interjected, his hair looking more disheveled than ever as his eyes had a nervous glint to them, "Because of her being in a coma, you can't get the power naturally… you'll have to inherit it through Atlesian aura-transfer technology."

Pyrrha's hands landed on her mouth in horror, her emerald green eyes widening with shock.

Aura was the manifestation of one's soul. An unconscious woman's soul, a fourth of it at that, would be transferred into her body without the woman's consent.

"That's wrong!"

Percy sighed, "My thoughts exactly. Her life would become intertwined with yours. Her soul would be in your body, but her fractured soul may not bond with yours. The question is…"

"What's that gonna do to you?" Qrow finished.

"There's no guarantee that this transfer will work, and there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does," Ozpin said, his face grim, "I would give you time to think on this matter, but I'm afraid we don't have much of that left. I can only afford you one day to think about it, Miss Nikos."

"Your team and Perseus' would protect you, as your teams are heavily intertwined. Both teams will receive state-of-the-art Atlesian technology upgrades to their inventories, regardless of whether you choose to receive this power or not. Access to the armory has already been sent to your scrolls, " the General added, "The armory and upgrades will be in this Vault."

"You will not bribe her into taking up the mantle of the Maiden power," Percy glared at him heatedly, even as Ironwood sighed.

"I am offering the state-of-the-art upgrades to her team and yours."

"A small price to pay in return for a massive target painted on her back for the rest of her life and the fact that she might not even be the same person afterwards," Percy snarked back at him.

"Percy, I'll be fine," Pyrrha protested, laying a hand on his shoulder, trying to ease the visible tension in his shoulders.

He sighed, "I hope so too, Pyrrha. I hope so."

Adam Taurus outwardly cringed at the crude, rudimentary plans to attack Vale, making a note to his lieutenant, Banesaw, to change them. They weren't satisfactory, not at all.

He hated that woman, Cinder. She was a bitch in every sense of the word. Manipulative and coercive, lying and deceiving.

And yet, he was working with her, the worst of the humans, of his own volition. His White Fang faction had questioned why he had sided with that witch, and Adam didn't blame them. Siding with this human cause in particular would mean the deaths of many faunus when they launched the attack on Vale. But she had offered him the chance to strike at the Schnee heiress herself. Her attack on Beacon would make the Schnee vulnerable, the Schnee that had caused all of his suffering.

And that, Adam could never turn down, not in a million lifetimes. A chance to strike at the Schnee was heaven on Remnant to any faunus. Even as he had carried out hits on many relatives of the Schnee family, and their friends. As an orphan faunus, he had been shoved onto the streets, exiled from a human town. A 'freak', they had called him. They had bullied him, beaten him daily. He remembered when he had been weak and pathetic, pushed into the Schnee Dust Company's mines.

He had been hopeful then. The SDC paid him a wage, a pathetically low wage, but at the time, he hadn't realized it. Earning money, he could have gotten out. At least hypothetically. In actuality, he was branded like cattle, treated as nothing more than the dirt on the ground. He could feel his eye painfully tingle under his mask at the gruesome memory. The White Fang, who were peaceful back then, were his saviors.

They broke him out, but he had never been able to reach them for a while; their priority had been breaking out the majority of the workers, and they just caused enough chaos for him to escape on his own.

Later, he would manage to contact them, and begin training White Fang recruits in self-defense; after all, nearly every faunus needed it. The pureness of children, their innocence and joy caused him to slowly return to the naïve, innocent little boy he once was. His empathy, his emotions were returning.

Then, it happened. The SDC grew tired of the then peaceful White Fang and raided them. They set fire to the tents, to the camp, uncaring for men, women, and children alike. They didn't care, didn't blink. The White Fang were all rabid animals to them. Why did young faunus bawling matter to them? The men and women screaming amidst the flames? The smoke, the fires, the screams. Always the screams.

He clenched his fist, closing his eyes as he relived the memory.

The cutting of limbs, the blood splattered over the ground? It didn't. None of it would ever reach the cameras, the media, the rigged system against the faunus. Put down by professional hunters, Adam had barely escaped with his life. He had escaped with a singular recruit, a young Blake Belladonna.

That day, his heart turned to ice once more. He finally understood. He realized peace would never be an option. Peace did not lead to results. Peace led to talking, and the humans would always win the talking, with their media and twisting of stories. Peaceful protest did nothing. Violence was the only universal language that all understood. And that day, he swore to avenge his brothers and sisters with blood.

And he would finally be able to fulfill his vow.

"Adam, not that I question your decision, sir, but why are we working for a human cause again? This could hurt our brothers and sisters in Vale…"

Adam turned to his lieutenant, smiling. Banesaw was one of his most loyal and proven followers, and he also toed the fine line between speaking his mind and stepping out of line. Adam didn't like blubbering idiots who couldn't suggest ideas, after all.

"The SDC heiress will be vulnerable. And we, as the White Fang, will extract our revenge. They also gave us dust and money."

"I understand, Prelate, but what about the humans who we're 'working' for?"

Adam smiled. He put his hand on his blade comfortingly, partially unsheathing Blush.

"Cinder Fall will be next."

AN: To be honest, I always felt like they wasted Adam's character. He had so much potential, and they wasted it all. He had no backstory, and was just a bad character after Volume 3. I mean, he essentially becomes an obsessive, abusive ex-boyfriend, before he gets killed off. I've written Adam differently here because I want to bring out that tension and potential for his character, and so he has a backstory here. Oh, and I added a name for positions in the White Fang, because why not? I figured there should be some title for the leaders of the different sectors of the White Fang in each Kingdom, so I used the word 'Prelate'.

The same goes for Mercury; after the introduction of Salem and Cinder's other 'coworkers', Mercury and Emerald just become obsolete, and Mercury turns into a guy who's a joke, and says cheesy one liners all the time. His character could have so much more intricacy than just henchman number two.

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'til next time!

Next Chapter: August 19th (1 week)

-thann3