Ilia paused a moment to compose herself as she reached the bottom of the staircase. The faunus closed her eyes and took several deep breaths as she thought through possible scenarios and potential outcomes. In nearly every one of them, she saw things going badly. It was to be her first real conversation with 'the enemy' in which she would have to lead. There was no one to play off of, and no one to save her and pull her back if she went too far. If anything, she considered Emerald a bit of a liability- they were both used to manipulation and doing whatever needed to be done to get results. Coloring within the lines was neither of their specialties, and the ex-thief was more likely to egg on her destructive tendencies than anything.
"…can I trust you not to go too far?" Ilia asked in a low voice as she opened her eyes.
"Can I trust you?" Emerald returned with a healthy dose of snark. "You seem wound tight enough to snap at any moment, and this could be big if we actually get something out of these assholes. It could also set us back if we don't, so… I honestly don't plan on saying anything unless something profound comes to me."
"I know," Ilia said, her tone full of disdain. "And… I don't know, honestly. I'm going to try. Part of me wants to just… fucking lose it. He's captive. No one would miss him. He's…"
"He?" Emerald asked as she walked around Ilia to bar her path forward. "What about Robyn? Or does she not actually matter, here?"
"…I've got beef with Jacques," Ilia admitted. "I'm mostly down here to just…"
Emerald waited patiently, her hands on her hips. Eventually, she got tired of waiting and spoke up.
"This isn't about Mantle, is it?"
Ilia hesitated. There were multiple potential answers, but some of them, she didn't feel like discussing with Emerald. Not yet.
"…it has to be," the faunus asserted. "I'll make it about Mantle."
"Fine… but if we can't really get anything useful out of them, then I think you should stop holding back," Emerald advised. "Whatever's going on with you, it seems pretty serious. The less of a burden on your mind, the better. You're our leader, now. You need a clear head."
Ilia breathed in deep through her nose and held it for an uncomfortable amount of time. The temptation to heed the advice was strong… but what would Sun say if he found out that she'd lost her cool? She had already held back against Jacques once, down in the very mines where her parents had died. Ilia wasn't convinced that she could do it again if she needed to… especially without her brother there to keep her in check.
"Let's… just get this over with," Ilia said before walking around Emerald and into the hall before her. "I want to know what the hell Robyn's been doing this whole time."
The concrete-walled corridor stretched a considerable distance, taking several minutes to traverse. There were cells on either side of the path, and they numbered far more than either of the women had expected. All of the spaces were unoccupied save the two facing each other at the far end. The sight was almost comical in comparison to the high-tech atmosphere of the rest of Atlas and even Mantle- the little cells were gated off by simple steel bars, and the only things within them were a wooden bench held to the wall by chains and a simple toilet. For a brief moment, Ilia considered the idea that nothing about the underground seemed like it was connected to Aurora's Cradle at all. Those musings were almost immediately replaced by seething hatred the moment she saw Jacques Schnee upon one of the wooden benches.
Even the way Jacques sat was pompous, his legs crossed and hands folded in his lap as though he was simply waiting for something to happen. The man seemed entirely unbothered in his confined room, and he looked at Ilia with a bored expression. His mustache twitched a bit before he spoke, and when he did so, he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, wonderful. The faunus huntress has come to interrogate me, after my own daughter couldn't get anything done. What is it that you want to know? Be quick about it, I'm already bored."
Ilia clenched her jaw. Emerald merely lingered out of sight of the two cells and gave her friend a nod. Without hesitation, Ilia sneered at the man and turned to face Robyn. Ilia's shoulders were tense and her voice was almost a growl, which caused the woman in the cell to take a step back.
"…this isn't about you. Robyn Hill. I have questions."
"I might have answers?" Robyn said uncertainly. "Look, I don't know what recording devices you do or don't have on you, but if you want to tell the people the truth, then I'm more than happy to give them a message."
"Don't give me that," Ilia spat, approaching the bars. "I'm not here to record anything, and I'm not your little messenger girl. You already told us outright that you're on Jacques' payroll. When did that start? How long have you just been his little pet down in Mantle?"
It was Robyn's turn to take a breath. Unlike Ilia, though, the woman seemed entirely devoid of anger as she spoke with a smile afterward.
"…I don't know what you're talking about. I never said any such thing."
Ilia's reaction was immediate and explosive, slamming a fist into the steel bars and causing them to rattle before pressing up against them in a rage.
"Don't you dare play games with me…"
"What exactly do you think you can accomplish down here?" Robyn asked as she folded her arms across her chest. "You're wasting time with me, and anything I could tell you about Mantle is irrelevant. The supposed 'bad guys' of Solitas are safely in jail, and yet you hunters still can't protect the world from a greater threat."
"You were a hunter!" Ilia retorted. "Or is that stupid crossbow you usually have strapped to your arm just for show!?"
"I was a huntress, yes," Robyn confirmed. "But there was no real change happening in that line of work. Just me and my friends against an endless tide of grimm, day in, day out. A few of them died… and so did my ambitions and hope for actually getting anything done alongside them. I was offered an easy path as a figurehead in Mantle, and I took it. It's really that simple. Don't hate me because I got out of the race."
"So you're content to just rot down here?" Ilia asked. "Satisfied to just sit in this underground pit and wait while the rest of us clean up on the surface? You were supposed to be a ray of hope for the people of Mantle! Instead, you're just…"
"A paid actor," Jacques finished. "A talking head. I don't know why you believe she would have any answers for you. Robyn Hill simply reads from a script I feed her and collects a healthy sum for doing so. We may be down here now, yes, but we're also safe from this… Salem woman. For all the scheming and small-scale crime I may have committed, she really should be your priority, as Robyn said. You can't afford to be wasting your time, can you?"
"I'll choose how I spend my time," Ilia answered, finally turning to face Jacques. "Don't act like you care about the lives of everyone on Remnant."
"I care about my own sanity," Jacques corrected. "And listening to you and Winter prattle on about justice, responsibility, and what I supposedly owe Mantle may well cost me it given enough time. We both know this little charade is going nowhere, so leave us, go and do your duty as a huntress, and allow me to sit here free from consequence. I have no need of you or your kind."
Emerald's eyes widened as she watched Ilia raise her hand. The faunus moved on instinct alone, touching a finger to the gem inlaid on the center of her glove before her entire body began to crackle with electricity. In a flash, Ilia phased straight through the gap in the bars of Jacques' cell and rematerialized into her natural body before seizing the man by the throat and lifting him from his sitting position. He sputtered and tried to claw at the huntress' hand before she wrenched him to the side and brought him straight down, slamming the side of his face into the porcelain rim of the toilet. An echoing crack rang throughout the enclosed space as she let the man go, and Jacques fell to the floor in a heap.
"I am your consequence!" Ilia roared as Jacques propped himself up on his elbow and began to try to crawl away from her with wide eyes.
"Ilia, don't kill him!" Emerald warned as she ran up to the door of the cell.
"Death would be too good for him!" Ilia replied without bothering to look at her. Her eyes were locked on Jacques' as he dragged himself up against the wall, holding his head. Blood was seeping through his fingers and running down the side of his face as he looked up at the girl in terror. "Your fucking mines killed my parents, and I've been waiting years for this…"
"P-please, girl, there's no n-need to be rash about this," Jacques stammered, swallowing hard. "I'm sure those in charge of the tunnel took every safety precauti-"
"Don't lie to me," Ilia threatened as she reached for her weapon and lashed it against the stone floor, resulting in a startlingly loud sound. "Don't you dare fucking lie to me! If you want to live, then you will shut your mouth and listen."
Emerald and Robyn both fell silent, watching the scene play out as Jacques brought his other hand up to press against his wound. The man merely closed his eyes and let out a pathetic little cough. Ilia took it as a sign to continue.
"Emerald. Go and get Alice," Ilia ordered as she clenched and unclenched her fist. "Leave this to me. I won't kill either of them… yet."
"Are you sure…?" Emerald asked, not sounding convinced.
"Go," Ilia said again, never once looking away from Jacques. "I know how to solve this. I've been waiting for this day for almost a decade… but it's going to play out differently than I imagined."
"W-what are you going to do?" Jacques dared to ask with a hiss as Emerald slowly backed away before turning to run down the tunnel.
"I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen, as I said," Ilia emphasized. "This is your one chance, and more mercy than you deserve. The only reason you're alive right now is because I refuse to let you be the thing that undoes all of the work I've done to be better."
Jacques simply looked away, focusing on his pained breathing and keeping pressure on the side of his head. Robyn Hill sat down, as far from the bars of her cell as she could while watching the interaction silently.
"…forget the company," Ilia began, her words an angry hiss. "Forget the absolute stranglehold you have on Remnant by being the number one provider of dust crystals the world over. None of that matters, and none of that will be worth shit when you finally die, you asshole. You don't care about what you could be doing to improve everyone's lives. You don't care about what that dust could mean for progress in Mantle, or how many people mining it kills… you just care about the profit, and that profit won't do a godsdamned thing for you on your deathbed. Your primary contribution to Remnant is fucking meaningless for you as a person. Money won't bring you any comfort at the end of your life."
"…fine. Granted," Jacques agreed, breathing hard and not quite following Ilia's meaning. "Just leave the cell, and stop brandishing that… that thing so threateningly…"
"I'm not done," Ilia warned as she took a step closer and squatted down to be on Jacques' level, forcing him to look at her. "You're a fucking fool, Jacques Schnee. You've spent all this time, all this money, and concocted all of these schemes to raise an empire…but it doesn't matter. None of it will matter or do any good for you with Salem rampaging through Remnant. Do you know what would? I've gotten to know Weiss over the past few months, and we didn't get along too well at first. Now, though? She's one of my closest friends. I love her, she has found love with a faunus you manipulated, and she's growing as a person. Winter chose her own path long ago, and you don't need me to tell you about it. Whitley hasn't even come and visited you, has he? Do you know why, Jacques Schnee? Because your family, your supposed legacy, hates you."
For a moment, Jacques' expression shifted to something almost resembling offense as Ilia continued.
"You've sold everything. Destroyed everything in your life that could actually mean something for money and convenience. You've destroyed other peoples' lives- mine- and you don't even care enough to learn my name. I would give everything to have my family back… but you won't even lift a finger to keep yours close while they're all alive. Your life has no great meaning- anyone can continue the company you've built and automated, siphoning off the common people while you sit back in some overpriced chair. You're the only one that could ever redeem the Schnee name from its current reputation and bring your broken family back to you, but instead, you've chosen this. That's why so many hate you. That's why, regardless of whether your life ends in this cell or not… Remnant will keep turning all the same. Your family and I will keep fighting to protect the people, like you could. The fact that you won't is pathetic, and puts your name below even Salem's."
Jacques was quiet for a long while, unsure of what to say. For once, the man's constant air of superiority evaporated, leaving little behind but an old, frightened man in an expensive suit. When he finally spoke, his voice was small and uncertain, far removed from the smug authority figure so often seen on screens and billboards all over Solitas.
"…what could I even do, if I were to make an attempt?" Jacques asked. "It's too late now, even if I cared. What could I contribute, were I to even consider taking a new path? Where would I even begin?"
Ilia clenched her teeth and rose to her full height before slamming her weapon into a loop on the side of her belt. It took all of her strength to thrust out her hand, and the action made her feel sick to her stomach as she looked away.
"…you would begin by getting up."
Author's Note:
I love that the "your family hates you and you should die" monologue chapter falls on Christmas Day.
-RD