Author's Notes:
-Four months into 2024, yet still many more. Seems the site is having notification problems again, but hopefully some of my readers will still see this.
Anyway, let's get this show back on the road!
[Edith Memorial Hotel, 11:30pm]
In the middle of the night, Ilia was shown sneaking around the White Fang base, her mask off and blending into the wall with her camouflage abilities. She looked around; the coast was clear. From there, she crept forth and made her way into the weapons room. With the door shut behind her, she looked through the darkness, finding guns lined up on the walls, wooden spears and various sizes of metal swords.
Alright, I've made it. Now to truly begin sabotaging Adam and his forces.
She soon noticed that none of these weapons had dust. These were the basic weapons given to starting White Fang soldiers. Ilia didn't know the exact numbers of soldiers compared to specialists, but she did know there were maybe a hundred or so specialists (not counting those in training such as Daphne.), and that at least half of the soldier recruits had been there for a year or less. She smiled, knowing she was in the right place.
How can I damage the weapons in a way that isn't too obvious?
Her eyes darted around the room, seeing a small dagger with a multi-colored hilt.
I can easily take a dagger for self-defense (and no one would bat an eye, especially if my whip runs out of dust.)
The chameleon took the dagger and examined it; the hilt had red, yellow and green stripes wrapped around it, forming a small rainbow.
And what should I name this dagger, if anything? I'll figure that out later…
She looked back at the spears.
The spears would be the easiest of these to sabotage.
She held the dagger, carefully puncturing the wood of the spears without piercing all the way through. She ran a line through it from the tip to the base before turning it over to hide her handiwork, then she made an extra slash at the tip, slightly loosening the metal from the edge. She was shown repeating the process several times over until it looked like half of the spears were ready to fall apart (if one looked close enough.)
Half of them are damaged. I can't damage them all, lest they use them too early and get suspicious. Hopefully they aren't all used at once and that they don't put the pieces together. I'll have to come back later. And learn how to sabotage guns…
The chameleon exited the room, carefully shutting the door as though she was never there.
Now, what else can I do to sabotage Adam and his army?
She slowly crept along, her steps tentative and quiet.
Trying to kill lesser soldiers would be a waste of time and effort. Not to mention too risky if one of them should survive. Specialists even more so.
Also, if I were to resort to murder, would I be any better than the corrupt leaders I'm trying to take down?
She sighed, not able to find an answer to her question.
What I really need to do is prevent more people from joining. The less of them there are, the less mooks Blake and her allies will have to deal with. As of June 6th, we have 639 total members at this hotel, not counting myself.
She pulled out a small waterproof calendar from her pocket.
There's supposed to be another recruiting session in a week. I just need to figure out where…
"This operation seems to be working surprisingly well." Ares remarked from afar. "And such fortuitous chance that…"
The rest of the words became muddled to Ilia as she crept closer to the source.
"She really thought she could hide at Wind's End, did she?" Adam posed.
"She did, but we found her." Athena smirked as Ilia looked a little closer into a nearby conference room that had the door open. "As long as they're in place, we'll have all the information we need. Not to mention their last recruitment session was a near total failure due to the obscure book the new recruit chose. A fortuitous chance indeed!"
Ares mused to himself for a moment. "Perhaps we can have our agent make up book names that don't exist to further sabotage Blake's chances of getting any new 'bookworms'."
Ilia gasped very softly before realizing her mistake and covered her mouth.
Everyone smirked at the idea, but it was Athena who spoke, "A clever idea, my love."
"And speaking of ideas, there's one thing we need to address before the meeting ends."
"And what's that?"
"Who should we have as our recruitment speaker for the next recruiting session?"
"I've already decided who will speak there. Brother Graham wants to make amends for his little incident with the newer recruits and has agreed to be the speaker." Adam confirmed. "Knowing his background, I'm sure he can come up with a rousing speech in such short time."
"I'm sure he…" Athena softly yawned. "will."
"It's late. We should have retired for the night." Wungeng yawned.
"Perhaps you're right." Ares remarked. "It's almost midnight after all."
"Good night, trusted allies." Adam told them.
"Good night, High Leader Taurus." Athena, Ares and Wungeng all said in unison.
Ilia was suddenly more terrified. Why did she stay this long?
Please don't notice me… Please don't see me! she prayed.
Wungeng was the first to exit the room, followed by the lovebirds holding hands, and finally, Adam himself. He looked around, sniffed the air, but didn't notice the camouflage faunus against the wall. Shrugging it off, he walked away and within a few moments, he was out of sight.
Ilia was left alone and felt her heart pounding in her chest.
Crap! This is horrible! They know where Blake is! I have to warn her! But wait, what about the recruiting session? You need to figure out the location and burn it down! And what if the message never gets to her? You also have no idea who the spy is. And why would Blake listen to you? Or an anonymous sender?
Suppressing a groan, she chided herself for wasting time. Come on, Ilia, just get in there and find something of use!
She went into the war room, seeing a few papers and blueprints scattered about on a rectangular table. Carefully scanning the prints, she saw one of the old warehouse Adam had used for their first few days in Wind Path (before he and Athena had made their alliance), a different one for his first High Leader speech (and where Blake had been taken to), and the last one was a warehouse Ilia had never seen (or truly noticed before.)
Damn it, the next recruiting session could be at any of these warehouses…
Her eyes examined the last blueprint. Attached to it was a sticky note with a name;
H. Rainart
"H. Rainart? Who's he? Or she? They?" Ilia whispered.
The last name sounds a little familiar… But where have I heard it before?
She soon noticed another sticky note attached to a piece of paper this one reading;
Rosa Vernal (The Keyholder)
She retrieved her Scroll, carefully taking pictures of all the blueprints, and a few more images zoomed in on each of the sticky notes. After checking the images to ensure they weren't blurry, she put her device away and left the room.
So much information, so much to do and so little time...
The chameleon crept along the walls and eventually left the building. Once outside, she threw on a dark blue cloak, and ran away from the hotel.
Okay, you need to stop the White Fang from getting recruits. I don't know who this Rainart person is, but I don't think they're a faunus, or Fang member. And what of this Keyholder? She shook her head. Gah! Focus on the other two warehouses.
A transition was shown of her running to one of the warehouses. The same one Adam and his entourage hid within for the first few days in their time at Wind Path.
To think, this was where the treachery began… She saw a few miniscule claw marks near a dumpster. But this is where it will end. The beginning of Adam's end.
Ilia entered the warehouse and looked around. There was hardly anything there save for a few wooden boxes stacked on top of each other. She opened one of the crates, only to have a few spiders crawl out.
"Ugh…" she groaned, brushing the spiders off her.
I'm not arachnophobic, but I still don't want them on me.
Inside the crate was a large cobweb and some styrofoam packing peanuts. She put the lid back on and searched the other crates. In each one, she found (sometimes more than once), a set of expired energy grain bars… empty plastic bottles…plastic bottles filled with a blue liquid (likely a soda or sports drink), more spiders (much to her dismay)...
And finally, a bunch of old fire dust.
Bingo. Ilia thought.
She reached her hands into the box, pulling out and carefully placing five fire dust crystals on top of each other on top of a different crate. Placed within a plastic lining tray at the bottom of the box were five vials of fire dust powder. With a steady breath, she took each vial out of the tray and placed it on another crate lid. From there, she got out a drawstring bag, and put all of the dust vials inside, gingerly setting them down. Then she took some of the packing peanuts from earlier and shoved a bunch in there before putting three fire dust crystals inside, hoping it would remain stable.
Relieved that the dust vials and crystals didn't immediately explode, she cautiously put the drawstring bag over her back. Then she took one of the two fire crystals, channeled her aura into it, and threw it far away from her before it exploded. The exploding crystal began to burn part of the wall, but Ilia knew it wouldn't be enough. The flame burned, but it was weak, hardly generating any smoke. Not surprised, Ilia got out her whip, taking it in her right hand. With her opposite hand, she grabbed the fire crystal, threw it and struck it mid air with her whip, creating another flame, this one even stronger.
With natural and electric fire beginning to ravage the warehouse, Ilia knew the place was going to burn down on its own.
"Adam Taurus, may your ambitions fall and crumble to ash." Ilia cursed.
Flames consumed the camera before fading away to show Ilia nearby the second warehouse. The one that Adam had consolidated his power in, and where Blake had been held prisoner the night Sienna fell.
She closed her eyes, thinking back to the night Sienna fell.
To think… if Blake's parents and Sun had been any slower, things could have ended much worse…
A shiver ran down her spine as she opened her eyes in alarm. She soon collected herself, moving forward.
Focus, Ilia.
She entered the building, remembering just how much bigger this place was. Directly in front of her was the very stage that Adam gave his speech, lying to everyone on how he gained his power. To her left, towards the back of the stage was an entrance to a hallway. Closer to the front was an entrance barricaded with wooden planks. To her right were two different entrances to different halls.
This is where the threads of lies were spun. Fitting that now this place will be destroyed.
She took a look around the building, much larger than the first warehouse Adam and his entourage hid in.
How can I set this place on fire?
Her eyes glanced down to the shoulder straps of her drawstring bag.
I do have this fire dust, but I may possibly need it later. On the other hand, if my superiors found the bag, it could be hard to explain how I got it. We haven't done any dust raids in quite a while… But they won't look in my room. They trust me well enough. Don't they?
A brief flashback showed her being summoned to the training area by Ares, fighting against Adam with her whip cutting through the bullets. She also thought of her rousing speech in the mess hall.
The leaders accused me of being lazy and slacking off on my training, which, for the most part, was actually true at the time. They didn't seem to accuse me of being a traitor, only implied that my devotion was wavering. And after my fight against Adam, and continuing doing occasional duels, they haven't accused me of either of those vices. Hopefully I have driven away any suspicion. Because if I haven't…
She returned to a present, a cold sense of fear threatening to swallow her whole.
There's so many risks to doing this. The risk of being accused of being a traitor, the risk of being caught, the risk of failing and being executed…
Her thoughts turned to an image of Blake lying face down on the ground at Haven Academy, broken and defeated. Adam placed his boot onto her back, signifying his victory over her.
But the biggest risk is doing nothing. And I've already spent too much time paralyzed in fear…
Forcing her fear down, she scanned her surroundings.
I could set the stage on fire, but it might not be enough. She looked up, seeing metal pipes and sprinklers above her head. Not to mention there's a sprinkler system. I need to get up there and take it out before I do anything.
Turning into one of the hallways, she briskly paced through until she found a set of open metal stairs. Taking the steps two at a time, she made her ascent. Upon reaching the catwalk, she went several paces to the left until she found one end of the sprinkler system in an enclosed room. She got out her whip and got to work, slicing and tearing at the sprinkler system, with all the water falling out into the middle of the smaller room in a giant flow.
All the water is isolated in one area. Now I can burn the main room down, and with luck, the heat should be high enough to evaporate that puddle.
As she exited the room and finished her descent down the stairs, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye in an adjacent hall; a small piece of fabric about the size of her finger, with ripped off ends. She stooped down to pick it up, and saw that it was white.
"Is this… the ribbon Blake wore?" she dared ask.
Supposedly Blake was wearing a black ribbon the day she left Adam in the Forever Fall Forest… But I wasn't there for that. The last time I saw her before she deserted the White Fang was a mission on the outskirts of Mistral. We were all working with Maura Celandine to sabotage a well-known human supremacist politician wanting to run for the mayor of Argus position. And that was three months before Blake left...
A brief flashback appeared; an entire warehouse burned to the ground, a few security guards knocked out, and Adam cleaning his sword not too far from a bloodied corpse. Blake appeared unnerved and Ilia gave her friend a silent concerned glance. Maura looked relieved, yet sad. Sirens were heard in the distance and they all ran.
Adam didn't mind getting his hands dirty, and perhaps that should have been a red flag. She paused, her breath bated. Did Adam tear apart the white ribbon? He had to have done it. There's no other explanation… But what happened to the black one?
She returned to the present, now standing a few feet before the stage.
The consequences of me failing to realize Adam was falling off the deep end led to all this. If I were a coward, I'd leave right now, and forget what was done.
The chameleon got out three of the remaining fire dust crystals, carefully cradling them in her left arm and put the bag back over her shoulders.
But I'm not a coward. Not anymore!
With her aura activating it, she quickly threw the first crystal towards the center of the stage. The dust crystal burst into flame, releasing its effect of fire and beginning to burn.
The consequences are far too high to turn back…
She cast the second fire crystal, this time towards the undercarriage of the stage, setting it ablaze. Steadying her breathing, she took the last crystal into her right hand, feeling anger and conviction stir within.
I can't fail. I won't fail.
The final crystal was thrown, this time closer to the ceiling and fire was engulfing the entire warehouse.
Fire enveloped the screen before Ilia was shown, her cloak concealing her, on a nearby mountaintop. From afar, she watched the flames burn below, breathing in fresh air as her night's work carried on.
Fire… an element of destruction. Not always the quickest method, but still an effective one! I'll set off every flame underneath your feet until you can't hide in the dark anymore! Her thoughts turned to Adam. I know everything you've done and I won't forget what you did in the dark. When the time comes, I'll light it up and you will burn.
Meanwhile, Nora was shown within a different bedroom in the Mistral House. She had taken her clothes, all sprawled about on a large wooden table, with some of them wrinkled. Some of her personal belongings were top of her clothes, namely her Scroll, wallet, weapon (collapsed and ready for action if needed), and a book she had taken from the school's (non-functioning) library.
Under the pink and red floral covers, she shivered, her eyes closed. Her head rested against a light pink pillow, her left arm curled underneath it.
A dream sequence was shown; Nora was shown in a flower field, brimming with pink flowers such as peonies and roses, and arising from a small pond, a few lotus flowers. She was running around and laughing, without a care in the world. She saw Ren on the other side of the field, gently smiling and waving. She ran to him, but soon shadows descended upon the field, bathing it in darkness. As she tried to move forward, scorpion tails started wrapping around her legs, freezing and binding her in place.
Chills crept down with the shadows, and soon she couldn't see Ren at all. She wanted to scream, to call out to him, but she felt as though she couldn't speak. She was going to lose the love of her life.
Opening her eyes from the nightmare, she panted, trying to calm herself. She squinted to see the numbers of the alarm clock in red light; 12:53 am.
Nora thought about the music box that she had left behind in her and Ren's room. Or, she supposed, now just Ren's room. What am I doing? What am I going to do? Even though I love Ren, it feels like I don't know who I am, and that I may be hurting myself in the process of trying to find out.
She stood up from the bed, revealing herself to be wearing a pink nightgown before taking a small sip of water. It feels like there's something I need to do… But what?
Setting the glass down, her eyes began wandering off to a nearby window.
Well… there is... One thing I need to do here. A promise that needs to be kept…
Her eyes turned to the box that rested on a single small table. The box contained the remains of Orville Odur, the huntsman who gave his life to save her, despite having been previous enemies.
A brief cut-out flashback was shown of Surya handing the box of Orville's ashes to her.
"If you'd be willing, we would like you to take the last container of his ashes and scatter them in the garden."
Nora gave her response. "I'll do it."
"Inside this duct-taped box is an urn of ashes that has been sealed with tape, wrapped in bubble-wrap and cushioned with packing peanuts. There's no way this thing is breaking. There is also a note with detailed instructions on how to get to the garden that was once Orville's home."
Her mind returned to the present.
Tomorrow, I'll open the box, find out where to go, take the ashes and then scatter them. But that is for tomorrow. You should at least try to sleep in the meantime.
She climbed back under the covers, shivering. It feels so cold...
With her eyes closed, she turned to rest on her other side. Is there anyone else who is just as restless as I am?
In another part of Mistral, hidden away from the world (and the rest of the White Fang), a sleepless Adam Taurus stood within his bedchambers, gazing at his reflection in the dark. His mask had been taken off along with his shirt, leaving him only in a black pair of sweats.
Why is sleep eluding me tonight? I never have trouble sleeping! He released a sigh. Almost never. He blinked, looking closely at the scar that forever marred him. Look at you. You escaped the Schnee's slavehold, you became a warrior and have High Leadership authority over the White Fang. His White Fang mask rested on the drawer, reflected in the mirror's gaze. Sienna Khan is no more. Nearly everything is perfect.
He clenched his fist. Yet… you are having trouble sleeping. Why?
The bull faunus loosened his fist and turned away from the mirror, looking out the glass door that led to a small balcony. At that moment, the dark clouds parted, showing the moon and its light.
Is it because of the actions you committed, the risks you took?
He thought back to when he had captured Blake not long after Sienna had fallen.
You had to do it. You needed to separate her from her monkey friend. That pathetic 'Little Prince'.
To locking her away in the supply closet in the warehouse.
I needed her out of the way so that the 'bloodshed' could come to an end. The Mistralian White Fang would have asked too many questions. You fooled them all. You did what had to be done for the sake of all faunus. He paused, looking at himself in the moonlit glass. But are you really the hero?
He soon dismissed the thought. You've done more for faunus in the past twelve to thirteen years than more faunus ever do in their lifetime! You didn't back down when Vale's White Fang needed a leader after my predecessor's failure. You've weakened the SDC's dust monopoly on the world, despite their persistence in achieving and maintaining corporate hegemony. You paved the way for the destruction of a huntsman academy that trained oppressive heroes. If you aren't the hero or savior of the faunus, then who is?
The High Leader thought back to what he had done, tearing her white ribbon to pieces.
What of it?
He closed the curtains, leaving the room in near total darkness.
He imagined her in the White Fang uniform she had stolen. In his mind, she was running away, scared and trying to cover her ears with her hands.
She sees you as the monster. As do her three closest allies...
Blake being defeated and under his boot on the rooftop came to mind. An earlier memory in the Forever Fall Forest followed; she was riding away from him, standing on a train going forward after cutting the chain. He soon recalled some of the reactions from other White Fang members when he told them the news much later; Ares was shocked, Marrok blinked in disbelief, Lieutenant and future Valeian leader Douglas looked away, his expression unclear and Ilia looked like she was about to cry.
You can't be the monster! She betrayed the White Fang! She left you and everyone else behind!
He recalled stabbing her as he tortured her in the warehouse.
You hate her. You can't stand her. It would have been easier to kill her.
The High Leader recalled how he attempted to kill her during the Fall of Beacon.
But yet you didn't…
And then recalled him cutting, tearing, and ripping off her shirt the night Sienna fell.
Why do you still want her?!
An image of when they were younger entered his mind, a memory of him returning to Menagerie for her 12th birthday. The memory was followed with him and Blake on a dust robbery mission, and the memory of their first kiss. The memories were then followed with an imaginary vision. In his mind, Adam and a willing Blake stood hand in hand, wearing formal outfits, of black, red and (in Blake's case) purple, complete with royal capes in blood red and royal purple with ornate crowns.
We were supposed to be friends, warriors in arms, lovers, and the eventual rulers of this world.
He seethed, restraining screams of anger as to prevent anyone from hearing him (and from interrogating him in his present emotional state.)
Did she really betray the White Fang because she had a crisis of morality? Or was it because of you?
He imagined Athena, Ares and Wungeng glaring at him, with the winged faunus shaking him vigorously and slapping his mask right off. In the background, Wungeng offered Ares popcorn as Athena continued to beat him offscreen.
You know what the other leaders would say if they knew what you did and attempted to do. You must never let them find out.
He internally growled, his anger threatening to burst. Why can't she be here?!
From a dark corner, a shadow image of her appeared in his mind. She played around with her hair, setting her shadow locks over her right shoulder before tossing them behind her. Her hands moved upward, loosening and taking off her shadow ribbon, reminiscent of the black one she wore before she left him, and when they saw each other as Beacon fell. She let the ribbon fall from her hand, disappearing into nothing.
He didn't know why he was seeing this, he knew it wasn't real; it wasn't Blake or even her semblance. But as the shadow approached him, Adam lost his breath, losing himself and wanting nothing more than his pain to disappear. Shadow Blake held her arms as though she were about to blow a kiss to him, but as he got to her, the shadow faded into nothing.
His hallucination came to an end. He softly growled, punching his pillow before sitting down upon his bed.
I've fucking lost it. I fucking hate her!
He looked out at the dark gray curtains. You know how this has to end. Let her be killed or let her be my chained queen. His head hit the pillow as he stared into the darkness. Or, dare I say, that woman will be the end of me…