12: CHAIN[GE] OF FATE - [Nothing Anymore]
"Beyond saving? Amber, what did you see down there?"
Evening was closing in, and by now even the Valean birds were nestling in the sporadic trees across the castle grounds. The two souls were the only beings in sight in the courtyard, speaking under soft lamplight nestled beneath a classical-built stone walkway.
"M-my body..." she choked, "...they've got me hooked up to a machine; -it's life support. All those tubes..."
Dammit. Ichigo grit his teeth. He'd known she could come back at any time, so why had he even left Beacon today? The contrast between her optimism the last time he'd heard her on the edge of the CCT tower, and her despair now, was palpable. She was all alone, with this weighing on her for the whole day...
"Can you take me there?" Ichigo hazarded. He'd seen bad accidents before, fatal even, at the clinic, but he'd never had to treat them himself. Still, if there was anything he could even try...
"I... I don't think so. It's miles below Beacon, through solid rock. It's so far down, across so many rooms..." she replied shakily, sitting low. "And, could you even do anything? I've got a hole straight through my chest... and stomach... my entire torso's centre is just missing." she held her tan fingers to her stomach, touching the spots under her chain she listed with stiff fingers. "It's... all just pumped through a load of huge machines. They don't even... they can't heal me. They only make mechanical limbs, y'know, and the odd transplants, not an entire set of organs..."
Ichigo remained quiet at that revelation, his brow drawn tight as he rifled through his brain for any information, any knowledge of healing techniques or kaidō he might have known, or even held the slightest grasp of... but he clenched his fists as he knew it was fruitless. He'd always relied on Orihime, and she wasn't here...
No living world surgery could fix something like that, not yet, and she wouldn't have even lived this long without Remnant's advanced dust technology and a whole host of doctors anyway. And on the spiritual side, no rank-and-file Squad 4 member could pull off a recovery for something like this, it'd have to be Captain Unohana or at least someone of Isane's calibre to be able to administer the necessary treatment... of course, Ichigo wasn't even on the level of a basic member of the 4th Division when it came to healing kidō.
Kidō wasn't something inherent to shinigami that could be learned on one's own on the fly, unlike zanjutsu or hohō. It took years in an academy to learn its ways, and even then there were hundreds of types of spells. Ichigo decided then and there, that when he returned to his own spiritual plane, he'd get Urahara to teach him his craft. -But until then, there was no way on Remnant for him to learn any kidō, or subsequently kaidō, at all.
He was drawn out of his dire thoughts by Amber's hand, tugging at the white sleeve of his bicoloured shihakushō from her seated position against the ribbed pillar.
"Ichigo... can you send me to Heaven?"
Her head was buried in her knees now, not meeting the shinigami's heterochromatic gaze. He reflected on the man he'd just performed a konsō on that very day.
"..."
Ichigo hesitated in is reply, before drawing out a heavy answer from his tongue. "...I can. But Amber, are you sure? You're not really dead, not yet. -You're not.- I could take you with me, to my home once I figure out how. There're blank bodies there, vessels called gigai; you'd be able to live there."
Amber's brunette head tilted up at him, and she wiped at her damp honey-coloured eyes, meeting his own half-hollow orbs. "You just said it yourself, didn't you? Heaven is real here. The 'great big hunting gig', up in the sky. This place... Remnant. It's my home. I have a family, friends too, waiting for me up there, after all..." she let out a dry, hollow chuckle. "...And my life was pretty crap, honestly. I'm not sure if I even want another one..."
"I... get it. This is your choice, I understand." Ichigo settled on. It was depressing, but he'd be a hypocrite for trying to stop the dead from accepting their passing, especially after his final confrontation with Yhwach. So he shifted his focus. "I'm going to ask Ozpin to his face, I'll find out what happened to you."
"I'd like to know too... but you shouldn't tick him off." she forewarned. "You spoke about it in front of me, remember? Even if you aren't scared of him at all apparently, he'll freak out if you tell him you know about me. He might even think you're the one who shot me in the back."
Ichigo cocked his horned head. "So?"
She pressed her fingers together tentatively. "W-well, you'd get every huntsman in Vale sent an arrest warrant on you." she clarified.
"And? I'll take on every single huntsman on Remnant, all at once if I have to." Ichigo ran his hand through his horned hair, nonplussed at the prospect.
She blinked at him. "Are you really that strong?"
"Yes." Ichigo gave her a look, as if it wasn't even a question. "I trust my blade."
"What about trusting yourself?" she pressed.
"They're the same thing." Ichigo attested.
She kneaded her clenched fingers against the fabric of her trousers. An awkward silence stretched on between the two of them, the dusk growing darker around their spot. A light nocturnal mist was swelling, making the streetlamps' warm light diffuse in the crepuscular twilight.
Amber broke the hush that had settled over their little corner beneath the white stone walkway.
"You really shouldn't."
"Shouldn't what?" Ichigo piqued up. He was leaning against the wall opposite her now.
"Beat up all the huntsmen in Vale. I mean, if you can, like you say." she elaborated. "We need all those people. I mean, you doing that would probably collapse society. Even if you don't you injure all of them, well... there'll be so much negativity..."
He sighed. "...I'll be subtle about it. I'll wait, and think of an excuse to say when I ask Ozpin about you. I won't burst in, if that's what you're worried about."
"It was more for Vale's sake, than yours, anyway." she snorted.
"Whatever." Ichigo grumbled. He crossed his arms over his chest. "...Amber, do you have any loose ends? I can give you time until you're ready to go."
She gave a soft smile. "Loose ends? Pretty lenient for a reaper, aren'cha?"
"The stories are exaggerated." Ichigo brushed off, staring off across the rolling mist. Exaggerated, or based on the very worst of the Gotei. "So, do you?"
"No, not really. I can't even leave the castle grounds, anyway. My horse was probably the only family I had left, since my parents had me really late in their lives, and I never had any siblings, so... I'd like for you to take my soul right now." she concluded, sitting up from her slouch.
"Now? As in, right now?" Ichigo repeated surprisedly.
"Yes, now." she spread her arms wide.
"I thought you wanted to hear what happened to you?"
She remained staunch. "It's less important than this, to me. I know you'll take care of it after I'm gone. So, 'lest I get cold feet, y'see. Just, go ahead and-" she arced her hand in front of her neck in a scything motion. "-swish."
"Whoa, hold on, it doesn't work like that. I'll have to sever your chain, then tap you with my pommel, and then you'll fade away." Ichigo cut her off. "With a halo too apparently, so that should be a good sign."
She stood up, drawing her soft forest-green cloak around herself. "Be careful, okay?"
"I've been doing his for years, trust me, nothing will go wrong." Ichigo reassured her, drawing Zangetsu's massive form from his back. Well, maybe not the severing the chain of fate part, but she didn't need to worry. He stepped out from underneath the walkway, to avoid the low ceiling with his sword. The ethereal cloth unfurled, revealing the zanpakutō's keen edge, shining chrome in the pale moonlight.
Amber held up a hand, and made it clear she wished to speak. "Ichigo, before you do it, just promise me you'll always remember me and never, ever let me leave your mind. Feel depressed whenever you think of me, and utter a prayer. Maybe visit my grave daily and leave flowers, too. Also, wear black from now on for the rest of your life, in mourning."
Ichigo pointed Zangetsu down, and leaned on the flat of the blade. "Isn't that a bit much?" he commented dryly. "I kind of already do the last thing, too. Not really for mourning, though."
She forced a giggle, a hand raised over her mouth. She was trying to raise their spirits, and they both knew it, though neither minded. "I was kidding. We've only known each other for a few days, tops. Thank you for this, though. I'd probably go all crazy like a horror-movie ghost if I was chained to Beacon 'till I croaked. Just um... thanks. It means a lot."
"It's my job." Ichigo smiled. It was shallow, under the weight of what he was about to do, but it was genuine. "Now, just hold still."
He forked Zangetsu under her jangling chain of fate, which was falling straight through the ground, and lifted it up to his grasp. She was transfixed at the deft movements of an experienced shinigami at work, as he hefted back his blade, held her miles-long chain up in one hand and swept his sword upwards.
Before she could blink, the chain- her chain was cut in half. The thing, that presence on her chest she hadn't understood at all, that had clinked with her every movement for weeks on end, was cleanly separated in a fluid motion. Ichigo dropped his grip on her half of the chain, hitching his body-length greatsword up onto his black-cloaked right shoulder. The miles-long section, linked to her physical body, she noticed, began to fade, bleeding away from reality entirely like effervescence was an ink on the canvas of space. She drew a hand to her chest, to find that her own, far shorter chain now dangled from her chest, though that too was dematerialising rapidly.
Ichigo watched her closely, as both chains vanished entirely. She wasn't in any pain. Good, but he'd expected as much. Those other souls he'd encountered lost their chains with their body too, and then presumably wandered the earth until either their reiatsu ran out, or the object of their attachment went. There were no hollows on Remnant. Now, for the last part.
"I've cut your chain of fate; the link between your body and soul." he explained. "You'll be able to pass on, now. Are you ready?"
She nodded, her throat tight, and held her arms tight at her sides under her cloak as Ichigo raised Zangetsu and prodded her forehead with its pommel lightly. The effect was quickly visible, her body disappearing in brushstrokes, and a golden halo visible atop her head. It was then that she felt the pull, the feeling that she truly was going somewhere else, an otherspace beyond herself. It just felt so right. Divine, even. She beamed at Ichigo, and he jolted back as she hugged him.
"Thank you! Thank you!" she cried, as her spirit continued to disperse, she felt herself blowing away in an non-existent breeze, flowing out Northwards towards Vale's glowing centre skyline. Her arms wrapped around Ichigo, as he stood there, raising one of his own to pat her back. It passed straight through her instead, -her torso no longer there-, and her tight arms and head on his shoulder were the last to disappear, with a final "Goodbye Ich-!" from a vanished mouth.
Her voice was the last he knew of her that night, as Ichigo stood in the misty castle grounds. He looked up to the Autumn sky, to see the banks of clouds rolling in across the shattered moon, obscuring its intact side. Only the broken half remained visible now. He brushed his fingers along the shoulder on which Amber's head had rested, and sheathed Zangetsu.
He let out a sigh; her face had made the fabric wet.
Ozpin burst from the door to his personal quarters and immediately made his way to the CCT's elevator, his scroll buzzing all the while in his clenched fingers.
-No, it would take too long. He brandished his staff, and swirled it awash with emerald light in his hand. Within a blink, he was inside the vaults of Beacon. -Direct teleportation; far more efficient than her use of those bizarre perpendicular-lined portals she wielded. He was more than proud that he still outclassed the witch in one magical regard, at least.
The vaults of Beacon were a veritable labyrinth to most, but not to Ozpin. Multiple lifetimes worth of traversing the marble halls, lit by cascading green torchlight, meant he did not even need to think about where he was heading. He travelled in a mercurial blur, reaching the exact corridor in a matter of seconds, with nary a sound in the wake of his speeding steps.
It was a long hallway, or a hall, rather, with square pillars lining the sides, stretching up to centuries-old craved arches that were higher off the floor than most houses were tall. The ceiling itself was arched too, tapering into a single line running across the top of the subterranean chamber. The enchanted marble floor was polished enough that the reflections of everything in the room could been seen within its smooth surface. At the back of the hall, was a huge blossom-styled circular emblem of the original Kingdom of Vale, a monarchy millennia old of which he had been its last king.
Below this emblem, was the most invasive and extreme life support system on Remnant. Its occupant would never see the light of day, as they would never even wake up again. There was no hope of recovery, as much as Ozpin had tried with all his heart with both magecraft and technology alike, as it seemed that no matter what he did, the vacuous hole straight through her would reject any magic he pumped into it. Almost as if he was being repulsed by a stronger, more malignant residual force. No, not almost- he was. He could feel her all over it, twisted and vile in the wound's magical pressure.
But she shouldn't even be able to leave her wretched realm...
The details of the emergent situation concerning the Maiden of Autumn had burdened his conscience for weeks on end. When his scroll, linked to constant live feed of her vitals, set off the alarm, he knew then and there that the worst had come to pass.
"Amber..." he touched the glass, a rectangular window into a sealed, sterile chamber where she had been kept in a coma. Even if she were miraculously to regain consciousness, it would have been for naught. She wouldn't have been able to survive outside without the constant support of all of the machines in the sealed chamber. It would have been no way for her to live. She was already doomed, and he could tell that something inside of her, the divine spark perhaps, had already left her body over a month ago, even before tonight. "...I am truly sorry."
The lights on the life support monitors, flashing red, belied a flatlined pulse. He could try to resuscitate her, but he could tell it would be futile. It wouldn't have been ethical, at this point, to force her to cling to life even beyond her time. It wasn't the first maiden he'd lost before his eyes, but it hurt all the same, every time. He could remember her time in the academy, only a few short years ago. Even if she was a troublemaker, and they had their differences, he still thought of her as his own, just as he did for every huntsman that passed through Beacon.
He'd become disturbingly used to this, to seeing those he knew pass, as he went on and on, but it never lost its sting at his heart. On the outside, he'd been numbed to it, but the inside hurt all the same, even if it was only a vague pang now. His fingers curled away from the glass, and he turned around to find Ms. Goodwitch's blanched face, pale with shock at the body in the world's most complicated coffin. She stood a dozen metres away in the centre of the hall, with balled fists and a numb tongue.
"Glynda. You can take the day off." he walked up to her, a firm hand on her shoulder. "We tried all we could."
"...No." she swallowed. "I've seen... death before. It wasn't as if we... expected Amber to ever recover after the first few weeks. I was... prepared for this." she lifted her glasses and rubbed at her jade-green eyes. "I understand that you have much to arrange now. Let me handle the academy for today."
Ozpin knew that she would be distracting herself with work. Not ideal, but efficient. He wouldn't argue. "Thank you, Glynda." He entered a long stride out from the chamber, fishing his black scroll out from his blazer's internal pocket. "I have a few calls to make."
"-chigo!"
Emerald leapt from her plush red velvet chair at the shout, already rushing to her lady's room.
The three of them were staying in a five-star hotel, paid for with their leader's seemingly bottomless funds. Emerald wouldn't dare to question where she got the money from, as it wasn't her place, nor was she the type, as Mercury put it, 'to look a gift-dragon in the mouth', -forget a horse. The conditions were simply the best she had ever known, compared to how she'd lived before meeting her mistress. She padded over soft cream shagged carpets, past genuine framed hand-paintings, and knocked on a dark, solid mahogany door.
"..."
No answer.
Emerald rapt her knuckles against the bedroom door once more, then stilled. She wouldn't try knocking again, after this. It might irritate her, and that would be easily avoidable by gauging when her leader did not wish to be disturbed.
"...You may enter." a feminine voice, with a dark underlying lilt answered. It was the vocal equivalent of a smooth river so murky that it was black; serene on the surface, but with who knows what lurking underneath.
The door was pushed open slowly, Emerald taking care not to let it hit the opposite rose-red wallpaper. There were a set of dark oak drawers in the room, and a matching cupboard, mostly empty. They were carved in a flamboyant, floral style, and a chandelier shaped like a blossom matched them, hanging from the ceiling. The floor was the same light shaggy carpet, and matching off-white double-blinds were drawn across the closed windows. In the centre of the room, its dark umber headboard against the wall, was the bed.
Cinder Fall sat on that bed, her legs laid out in front of her. It seems that she'd risen in a hurry, the covers a mess beneath her. She wore a blood-red nightgown, plain and long, with pleating along its puffy sleeves and front. As always, she wore her onyx-glass eyepatch over her left eye, fastened by twin narrow black strings from the top and bottom of it. It was matched by her ever-present glove and detached collar, both woven out of sable-black silk, which concealed her neck from just above its base to just below her head, and her left arm all the way up to her sleeve. Her lone, visible toxic-orange eye shone, but not with an analysing, venomous gaze as usual, but with confusion and bewilderment. Her ashen-black air was tousled, and messier than Emerald had ever seen it before.
"Cin-Cinder? You yelled... quite loudly." Emerald had never heard her raise her voice quite like that before. Even in the last fight, against that magician woman, she hadn't screamed, even when she'd fallen. Not lost, she had just temporarily fallen back under all of the fire and lightning and-
"Emerald?" Cinder frowned. "It is none of your concern. Go back to your room." she held a hand, with black painted nails to her face, pressing the palm against her forehead. "I'm more than well, now that I'm free."
"Free?" the younger girl asked.
"Don't jest. From the castle." Cinder looked at her expectantly. A bead of sweat trickled down Emerald's face, before she nodded.
"Of course!"
A blatant act; -so she truly didn't remember? But she herself had been stuck there, wandering for so long? No, wait, she had been laying low in Vale, in biding her time in preparation for- Ichigo to help her?
"I need time to think. Make yourself scarce."
Emerald nodded, and hastily stepped back, out of the solid wooden doorframe. "Goodnight, Cinder!" she bowed.
"Goodnight." Cinder replied absentmindedly.
Emerald pulled shut the door softly, stepping back. On the way to her room, she replayed her mistress's closing words over and over in her mind, in bafflement.
Cinder had wished her goodnight?
- –—{}—– -
Cinder Fall opened her amber-orange eye, sitting up from the cross-legged position she had adopted for a brisk scan of her body's parallel flows of aura and magic.
She stood up completely, feeling the arcane course into the palm of her hand. It coalesced into the space just above her open appendage, a glowing orb of glass that froze, then burned, then crackled into ball lighting, then boiled away in a cloud of water vapour. Her fingers closed into a fist, and she grinned, then sniggered, then entered a raucous cackle.
She was whole! Full in spirit and power! The grating hunger that had gnawed at the edges of her soul were finally sated, the tongues of flame licking at her psyche extinguished at last. It had been a constant presence in the back of her mind, in her chest, at every waking moment since she had only managed to take half of the Maiden's power from herself. It had been horrible; she was glad she wasn't lucid to see herself rip out half of the magic so ingrained inside her own very soul so deeply-
Cinder shook her head. Her thoughts were descending into a mess. She was well awake to take part in the extraction process; she'd initiated it herself! A side-effect of the transfer, perhaps?
No matter. She had an update to make. Good news at last.
She snapped her fingers, casting a descorrer behind herself. The jagged, right-angled maw of a garganta opened up like an accordion behind herself. She didn't know where she knew these names from, just that she knew they were the technique and the portals' true names. One could call the knowledge instinctual. And in a name, there was power.
The garganta widened, reality itself rended apart as it made way for the space between worlds. The unseen pushed through the seen, and within the interdimentional gateway, an eerie shape loomed.
Clickclickclickclicklik-
A crimson tentacle curled out from the portal, tipped with a ace-shaped barb of bone. It was followed by another, and another, and another, until an orb, inky-black yet glowing with a roiling orange light within, studded with plates of bone along its lower hemisphere, entered the room. A seventh central hanging tentacle, unlike the rest, was thicker, barbless, and far less uniform in its flattened, ruffled vermillion shape. If this creature were to be likened to the jellyfish of Hades it resembled, that would be its oral arm. Below its 'bell', the levitating grimm's lower section of its bulb was lined with sharp, fang-like spikes, facing downwards, with a larger spike of bone jutting upwards every two down-facing prongs. It continued to make its unearthly clicking noise, like an insect's chitter.
Cinder was unfazed at the looming grimm's skin-crawling appearance; she had summoned the Seer herself, after all. Instead, she kneeled before it, as contact was made.
𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫... 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤.
"I come bearing good news, Mistress." she raised her head, eyeing the luminous bell of the living crystal ball. "The Fall Maiden must have succumbed to her wounds. I now possess the full power of Autumn."
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭... 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝. A tentacle rose to her face, brushing against the right cheek. It slithered across her face, and no matter how shiver-inducing it felt, she did not flinch. The voice, magically projected directly into the plane of her mind, continued.
𝐘𝐞𝐬... 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥... 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐥. 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮... 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝?
"No." she denied. "Not at all, Mistress."
𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭. The tentacle slapped her as it drew back, and Cinder flinched. 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥.
"My soul is..." she held her black-gloved fingers to her chest. "..will I change?"
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐳𝐦𝐚'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲... 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬?
"Of course!" she avowed. "What I have felt so far... tells me that the last maiden was not affiliated with either side. She was indifferent, and ignorant. Not an speck of Ozma's dogma mars my spirit."
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞... 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡.
"I shall embark on cutting ties as soon as this meeting is concluded, Mistress."she promised. "I will not disappoint."
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭?
"...Not quite." Cinder informed, fidgeting in place. She knew it was more than relevant to bring this to her mistress's attention, but why did it feel so wrong to speak now? "There is... a man in Beacon. Not a child, like the rest, but only slightly my younger. Someone who can speak with the dead. He conducts himself as if he is greater in power than Ozma's current incarnation, whom he is currently at marginal odds with, and claims to not be of this world."
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝? 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭? 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 -𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬... 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐡𝐦?
"I... know his face, and name, Mistress. How will our designs accommodate for the presence of the man Ichigo Kurosaki?" the young woman posed.
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐢, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐳𝐦𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬... 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐫.
"I shall follow your words to the letter. I am an extension of your will, mi'lady."
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.
"I would not dream of it, Mistress. Without you, I am nothing."
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.
The hovering seer withdrew backwards, into the garganta, and the gap in space closed with the distorted sound of a zip drawing shut.
Cinder let out a breath she did not realise she held, and slackened her tense posture.
Still, an intrusive thought lingered in her mind's eye. Why had she omitted any mention of Ichigo's true, inhuman nature? It was something she couldn't wrap her head around, yet paradoxically understood perfectly well at the same time. Ichigo had released her, after all, hadn't he? No- not her, but Amber. But Amber is-
She scrunched her eyes, and rubbed at the uncovered one. Now was not the time; Cinder Fall had calls to make, and deals to break.
["I will be holding back on the number of troops I'll be sending for the Vital festival's peacekeeping services."]
"I... understand, James. You wish to fortify your own kingdom, and your own maiden, now that we potentially have a rogue Fall on our hands. I presume you'll be staying in Atlas, then?"
Ozpin sat at his desk in his office, conversing with the shimmering hologram of a man in a white overcoat. It was long, hanging over a slate grey suit vest, with a black sweater and a red tie. The snow-white coat matched the glove over his right hand, and his white trousers, tucked into metal-plated boots.
His neatly-combed black hair was greying at the sides above his ears, and above his right eyebrow was a smooth strip of silver metal embedded into his skull. He stood upright like a rod, with his hands behind his back in a militaristic stance. The square, golden badges on his collar denoted his rank as a General of Atlas.
["We'll see. I will protect Atlas's interests, but I won't be ignoring a friend's endeavours either. I am... sorry to hear such a young woman has lost her life, but we must take it as a sign for all of us to remain ever vigilant. I will envoy a set of Paladins and their handlers, under the command of a trusted specialist. I'll be certain to update you further in due time.]
The General paused, and released his hands from the grip behind his back, meeting Ozpin's hazel eyes with his own cobalt blue.
["If you need any assistance, or the situation changes even a fraction, give me a call. I will maintain a line of contact open to you at all times, and you can interrupt me at any time. Trust me, it wouldn't be as important."]
"I'll... be sure to keep that in mind." Ozpin assented. "I vow to protect your students with my utmost care."
["I wouldn't expect anything less of a fellow Headmaster. I wish you the best."]
The hologram shut off, leaving the air it had occupied empty, and Ozpin with a weary countenance.
Roman Torchwick reached across the wooden table he'd laid his feet up on, in the rinky-dink office of the abandoned warehouse at the Vale docks he'd been frequenting lately. Well, not so much an office, as a broken shipping container with furniture, he mused. He groaned out loud at the sight of the name of the incoming call's contact on his burner scroll.
He straightened his black bowler hat and glanced around the repurposed room, spying a distinct lack of any eavesdroppers outside of the makeshift windows, crudely cut into the corrugated dark green steel walls. The only things in the room were the lightbulb screwed into the roof, and the manky sofa ripped from a tip he was seated on. He could hear outside the container, the continuous dragging of crates and the whirring of pulleys and machinery, hauling the burgeoning stockpile of dust that he had been 'hired' (read: coerced) to pilfer by his new... associates.
Bracing himself, he answered the call.
"Y'ello."
#"Torchwick... we have a change of plans."#
"Cinder? What brings your attention at a..." he checked the time on his stolen wristwatch, "mighty fine two in the morning?"
#"Oh, don't sound so displeased, Roman."# she tutted, #"You won't have to work this late anymore as of tonight."#
"As of tonight? What's the with sudden change?" he tugged at his collar. This didn't sound good...
#"As I said, we've... restructured some things on our own end. The dust you've procured will no longer be necessary. Do what you will with it, and consider it your payment."#
"We're cutting ties?" Roman ascertained, his voice almost hopeful. Almost.
#"One could call it that. I trust that you'll remain active, though? It does not have to be flashy enough for the papers, but so long as the police force are preoccupied, I will not deem it necessary to go around tying up any... loose ends."#
He slumped in his seat. "I got it, ma'am." his eyes tracked to the rough window into the warehouse proper. "...And what about the 'extra help'?"
#"Their leader is my next port of call. As for how that talk will affect your standing with their organisation, is none of my concern."#
"Are you serious!?" he decried.
#"Very. This contract is over. You delivered dust, and I did not kill you. The deal is complete, and so is this conversation."#-
The line went dead, and he stared at his scroll, before clambering to his feet. "Neo!" he called, and the air in the corner of the room shattered, unveiling a short tri-coloured woman wielding a parasol. "Figured you'd heard everything. The fire witch, you know the one who can hear you too? She's let us go. We're free-"
-The lady beamed silently, interrupting him mentally.
"-Yes, it is good news that we're out," he nodded, "-But so are the mutts. Gather our boys, and make sure only we have any weapons. Give orders to seal up the dust, too. We'll clear 'em out before they clear us. Let the cops find 'em by noon."
She nodded, and vanished from sight. Roman reached for his cane, straightened his bowler hat, and donned his white tailcoat. After a short while, his partner-in-crime broke back into view with the tinkle of glass, and she pointed to the steel door of the shipping-container-turned-office.
"Right you are." Roman strode ahead of her, and she followed. "It's showtime."
With long, swift steps, he entered the middle of the bustling den of criminals under his employ. Right in the centre of the warehouse, he threw his arms out wide, cane in hand, and commenced his announcement. "Gentlemen! -And animals-, there has been a... change of plans." He met the crimson-lensed eyes of his own suited men, spread strategically amidst the White Fang troops, and they nodded. "Under these... trying economic times, I'm going to have to let some of you go! Particularly, the feral element..."
He levelled his cane on the mask of what he knew to be the most dangerous of the faunus in the house. "...You're all fired!"
He squeezed Melodic Cudgel's trigger.
Mercury Black sat across from Cinder, with Emerald Sustrai to his right on the plush hotel-room sofa.
"Are you sure we should be letting him off like this? He probably has a grudge." he advised blearily.
"Well, if the fool wishes to cash in on that grudge, then he is welcome to die trying." Cinder tittered, as she dialled her final contact. "Now quiet." The double-encrypted scroll rang, until it stopped. She immediately dialled the number again, and this time was no different. Her brows furrowed, and her grip on the device tightened.
"He's not answering? Does he have a death wish?" Emerald wondered curiously, a finger on her chin.
"Maybe he's asleep? It's like three A.M." Mercury suggested groggily.
"No, no, this is to be expected." Cinder drummed her fingers in her lap as she scowled. "I made a mistake in only burning his pride to ashes. I should have incinerated it until not even that remained. As to be expected of an undomesticated beast, I should have house-trained him. It seems I'll have to record myself instead. At least this way I won't have to suffer the sound of his voice."
Mercury leaned his head on his fist, propped up on his hard knee. "So... what are we going to do? Should we really just be cutting both of them off the case like this?"
"Focus comes all the easier when there is less to manage." Cinder reposted. "We need the White Fang to halt their designs for Vale; only chaos lies that way. If anything, they should save it for Atlas. Besides, we can just force them under my command again whenever I wish, now." she flexed her fingers, observing a power neither Emerald nor Mercury could see inside her hand. "It is better to make certain we obtain what we're seeking in this kingdom, before those who oppose us become any the wiser."
"And will you finally tell us where the magic thing we're nicking is, again?" Mercury posited, still leaning his head to one side.
"Mercury-" Emerald snapped. "We'll know when we need to-"
"Hold, Emerald." Cinder raised her silk-gloved hand, and she ceased at once, facing her leader once more. "Mercury raises an acceptable question. The 'thing' in question is located at our next destination."
The duo across from the glass-eyepatched woman met each others' gazes searchingly, and when they both shrugged to each other, they looked back to her for an elaboration.
Cinder smiled darkly, exposing her teeth. "Beacon Academy, of course."
"Really? As a heist, I'm guessing?" Emerald put forth, leaning over the glass coffee table between Cinder's velvet seat and the cream leather sofa.
"Not quite. In a few weeks, once the other students for the Vytal Tournament start flooding in, we will be joining them. It's the perfect cover, thanks to our detour with the good Lionheart in Mistral."
Mercury snorted. "Oh, that guy. How'd he even get a job as important as that when he's... like that?"
"All of us here know the world isn't necessarily run by people who deserve their ranks." Cinder reminded. "Now, as for Beacon, I know that none of us have any previous... 'experience' in a formal schooling environment of any sort, but it shouldn't pose a problem. Huntsmen aren't generally the most couth of individuals, and the academy of their youth will no doubt be just as unrefined in its manners."
Cinder paused, almost hesitantly, before she continued.
"Just know, you should both be aware, that there is a certain young man in Beacon, older than either of you, with bright orange hair and horns on his temples. Do not engage him. Ever. Ichigo Kurosaki is not... human. Avoid him at all costs, for if he does not kill you with a touch, then I certainly will." With that, she stood up from her chair, and left the room.
"What?" Mercury muttered.
"Thank you, for warning us..." Emerald trailed off when it was clear that Cinder was already out of earshot.
#"Adam Taurus. I know you are listening."#
#"Take heed. A boon has been visited upon you."#
#"I no longer require your services as of now, and as such, you no longer need to uphold any side of your deal, so long as you remove your organisation from the Kingdom of Vale with utmost haste."#
#"You may keep all of the dust, and all of the lien."#
#"In return, I do not want to see a single White Fang mask drawing the eyes of the international guilds of huntsmen and Atlesian task forces to the city."#
#"Do not take this as a goodbye forever, however."#
#"I so very much hope we can work together once more in the future~"#
#"Just know that, if I do see you, or any of your lieutenants in Vale, then I would simply have to burn such dangerous terrorist insurgents to death."#
#"-For self-defence, I hope you understand."#
#"And before you get any ideas into your head, know that my powers have more than doubled since the last time we met."#
#"Remember the flames that oh-so humbled you and your camp?"#
#"Those were only a pittance compared to the inferno I'm capable of calling upon now."#
#"If you do not wish to be smote, then do not insult me by ignoring this warning."#
#"You forfeited any right to protest when you refused to answer my calls. This is the one-sided result."#
#"That is all, Adam. 'Till I seek you out again. Goodbye."#
Seconds after the recording finished playing, the scroll crunched in his infuriated grasp.
NEXT: 13 - A HOT KNIFE THROUGH AURA - [Escalon]
Author's notes:
Well, I did say updates would be sporadic. That goes both ways. This chapter, though shorter than usual, is very important. Amber's injuries are far more severe here than in canon. Pay attention to what's said, versus what actually happened. With a single Soul Burial, Ichigo has completely thrown everything out of whack. Never said that his effects on Remnant couldn't be negative too, though...
About the formatting: []=hologram, #=call. The Vault picture I drew on is:
[staticDOTwikiaDOTnocookieDOTnet/rwby/images/d/d8/Vault_concept_artDOTpng/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20151213175741]
The squad's all introduced here, but with only a few descriptions (those are saved for when they show up for real). I know I said I wouldn't go off on random characters, but these are all direct reactions to something Ichigo just did. Cinder's situation will be explained properly, with time. It might seem odd for her to be so willing to cut off people she felt she needed in canon, but her arrogance has been turbo-boosted by her new status and power. That, and they no longer need to raze Beacon to the ground to access the Fall Maiden.
Torchwick is here, finally, and he's out from under Cinder's thumb. Adam too, but it seems that he'll be far less willing to just forget about Cinder slighting him. They aren't less dangerous now, just completely uncontained instead. It's a blowtorch vs a bonfire. Without a common goal for them to work together for, expect things to get very messy, especially with Ironwood pulling back to keep his own maiden safe.
I realised a while ago that a lot of things will just straight up not happen. No bullying arc, Weiss won't set Blake off since they aren't on the same team, so no White Fang bust etc. This means that Torchwick won't be getting chased up, and while Blake would probably just eventually chase the 'Fang on her own, that won't be for a while. Basically, Ichigo's completely broken the plot, lol. Fast-forward incoming.
This story reached 1000 follows recently, and I can't thank you enough. It's really fun to write this, and I'm just getting started. Thanks for the 720+ favourites, and 300 reviews, too!