"He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged."

- Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin


He sidestepped the spear, allowing it to miss him by about an inch. Instead of pressing the advantage Percy held back, curious to see how they'd react.

Ah. Good decision, but not ideal. Not when he was able to hold his balance against something five times Pyrrha's weight slamming into him, and not when she definitely knew that.

So he took it head on. He didn't even bother with aura, knowing that she'd hardly try to shatter his ribs in a fight against someone with aura. No, she'd be trying to knock him off his feet.

He moved himself to the left as quickly as he could and let the shield impact him, using its force to roll off of it and push him further left, only to find she'd been able to close her guard in time.

Well, good for her. She was learning. She was much better than the last time they'd sparred in ways that were hard to point out, but with an improvement as marked as keeping her guard locked down… he was glad to see progress.

Progress, however, did not mean victory.

He waited for the spear to come back at him again, dodging back a bit and making a grab at the spear.

Pyrrha saw this and with widened eyes, yanked her spear back as quickly as she could to avoid giving him the advantage. Unfortunately for her, yanking her weapon back so quickly sacrificed her balance.

Almost reluctantly, Percy launched himself forward and slammed into her shield. She made to scramble back to her feet, but Percy was on her, shoving a foot down towards her torso. Her shield was raised to stop it but it still stopped her from getting back up. He took his foot back and stepped on the arm which was holding her spear, putting pressure on it and grinding it into the ground until she let go. He levelled Riptide towards her neck, his proposal clear. Her shield was in a position to block it from where she was, but there was no way she escaped this situation the victor and they both knew it.

"You've improved. A lot." Percy broke the silence, offering a hand to help her back to her feet.

Pyrrha stood and grinned back at him despite rubbing at her wrist uncomfortably.

Percy's own smile suddenly disappeared. "Sorry, did I overdo it?"

Pyrrha shrugged, holding her wrist a bit closer as if she was afraid he'd try and grab it. Despite that, when he held out his hand and looked at her expectantly she extended her arm, allowing him to inspect it.

He frowned. She was right in that there wasn't any permanent damage, but that was a nasty looking bruise developing. It'd hurt at least until the end of the day. Probably not past tomorrow given aura, but it was still his mistake.

Glancing around to make sure they were alone — and sure enough, they were — he pulled some water from a nearby small pond, making sure it was clean before pulling it over and wrapping it around her wrist.

His affinity — relation, really — to water allowed it to heal him, but it didn't quite have the same effects on others. Luckily he could at least urge the water to help the swelling a bit, and cool it down to just above ice temperatures to help even more.

The red welt growing on her wrist almost visibly receded, whitening out and shrinking in size. Between his abilities and aura, healing really was easy on Remnant. And he hadn't even needed to use dust.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, was bug-eyed. She stared at her hand as it was rapidly healed, incredibly cold as it had become.

"Is this… this is your semblance?"

Percy nodded. "But don't tell anyone. By this point I think it's gotten out, but I still like to keep one up my sleeve."

She nodded that she understood. Of course she did, he'd taught her to do the same thing, just with significantly less powerful cards available to keep up her sleeve. But despite that she still had a couple nasty tricks in her.

"But still, controlling water… that's a big deal. Like a really big deal."

He chuckled. "I appreciate your confidence, Pyr. It is a pretty useful semblance."

"No, like, that you control water is the big deal. You were born and raised in Mistral as much as I was, so you should know as much as anyone how seriously we take our religion, much less the divinity of the sea and sky."

Percy struggled not to sheepishly scratch the back of his neck. Yeah, he supposed that would be a big thing for people in Mistral. He supposed he hadn't thought much of it because, well, he was the son of the sea god. It wasn't like they'd be assuming anything that wasn't correct.

If Pyrrha noticed his nervousness she didn't press the issue, because she soon dropped her own bomb. "I uh, I discovered my semblance, while I was in Argus."

And like that Percy's smile was back, a looney grin. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"Polarity."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows, resisting the urge to scratch his head again.

"Like…"

"Magnets, yes. I can control magnetism and magnetic metals."

Well, that saved him from admitting he forgot what polarity meant in front of his protege. Bless his lucky stars for that, at least. Though, he had to remind himself forlornly, Zoe was not in this world's skies.

"Well, that's versatile. What are its limits?"

"As far as I can tell… I just have to be able to see it. I haven't run into anything too heavy for me to manipulate yet, or too far. Everything in my eyesight is fair game."

Percy hummed. "That's… very, very good Pyr."

He jerked his head to the left, towards the exit of the courtyard. "Let's get cleaned up and talk about this over some lunch, eh? You're here for a week, we have plenty of time to spar. Let's enjoy an afternoon, plus I still need to give you a tour of Windpath."

She perked up at that. "I'd love to! It's been so long since you made that promise to take me here, you liar you."

Percy rolled his eyes, "I did say that I'd take you there after you left for Argus, didn't I?"

She caught up with him and slugged him in the shoulder. "Yeah, but I didn't expect it to take two years, you oaf."

Percy groaned and exaggeratedly rubbed his shoulder, "Hey, I'm just saying I didn't forget!" He stopped rubbing, and they walked for a few minutes in a comfortable silence. "Has it been two years already?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yeah, I'm going into my third year at Sanctum in a couple months, remember?"

"Aaahhh." he… articulated. Sometimes you lost track of stuff like that when there wasn't much that changed by the year. "Yeah, that makes sense. It just went quick, I guess."

Pyrrha giggled. "Percy, you were at the grand championships of both national tournaments I've been to. Do you not remember that, at least?"

Percy huffed, rustling her hair as payback. "I don't often base my timetable on your events, Pyrrha."

She tried in vain to dodge out of the way of his hand in the narrow corridor they were walking through on the way outside, swatting at his arm when her attempt at evasion failed. "Come on!" She went for reasoning when physical resistance proved fruitless. "I won both, surely that's noteworthy."

He gave her hair one last tousle before retracting his hand. "They are noteworthy Pyr, my mind just lost track of time for a sec, alright? Gimme a break."

It was Pyrrha's turn to roll her eyes. "You get enough breaks. If I don't keep you accountable, who will?"

"That's my job, unfortunately."

"Shiro!" Pyrrha perked up as the man came into view around the corner, leaning against the doorframe leading outside. But while Pyrrha was excited, Percy deflated. Don't get him wrong, Shiro was normally a welcome sight. But Shiro being here, now, could only mean one thing.

"Sorry Pyr, looks like I have some work to do." he broke to her.

"Oh, okay." she said, rather lamely.

Seeing the look on her face, Percy sighed. He really wished his work was the kind he could just… put off. But even living a more simple life as a huntsman wouldn't have afforded him that luxury.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long. You two should still have plenty of time to relax." Shiro assured her. Pyrrha's frown seemed just a bit less deep at that, and so Percy was made all the happier.

"Alright, you can stay here or at the house." he told her, "I'll be taking care of some work stuff, and I'll send you a message when I'm done, alright?"

Pyrrha nodded firmly. "You better not take as long as it took you to bring me here."

Percy snorted. "I'll try to take some time less than 2 years to get back."

"Buford!" Shiro called to one of his men on the opposite side of the sedan he'd arrived in. "Please escort Pyrrha here back to Percy's house, and make sure that anything she needs is taken care of."

"At once my lord." the large man responded, moving immediately to fulfill the request.

While Percy had nobody with him, and no driver, Shiro didn't detest formalities or people waiting on him quite as much. To each their own he supposed, it was creating jobs in the city. While unemployment had fallen off a cliff, it was still more than double that of somewhere like, say, Vale. So more money locally couldn't exactly hurt. Still didn't stop Percy from detesting the concept.

Percy bid goodbye to Pyrrha and at Shiro's nudge, slid into the back seat of the sedan with him.

"What's up?" Percy asked casually.

"You remember the branch we have beginning to grow in the Atlesian underworld?" Shiro got right to it. At Percy's nod, he continued. "Well, I just got word from one of our more useful moles in the SDC that they're catching on to the MTC. Sorry, wait, no, let me rephrase that— they have caught on. They've been running an investigation to prove the MTC is buying from the White Fang, and from the sounds of it, it was hardly difficult."

Percy let out a string of curses. "What do they plan to do then?"

Shiro shrugged. "Probably leverage their immense influence over every economy on Remnant to get us banned or very heavily regulated."

He let out another string of curses. "And how long can we stall?"

Shiro shrugged. "That mostly depends on you. To be honest, I can't stall for more than 2 weeks anywhere. Less than that in Vacuo."

"Atlas?"

"We have two weeks to get the hell out of dodge, more likely than not."

"Fuck."

"Sums it up pretty well. The good news is that we have some pull in the other half of the world's market."

"You're about to suggest what I think you are."

"It's a good thing you kept up those visits to Beacon like I asked you to, huh boss?"

Percy grumbled under his breath, but Shiro was right. Ozpin was their chance at getting things stalled in Vale, or even overturned. It didn't hurt that his visits with Qrow had ended up at Beacon as often as Patch.

"And Mistral. How much do you want to wager the families will stick their neck out on a favor for me?"

Shiro snorted, not even bothering to dignify him with a response.

"Well, I have a lot of influence for a minor family and I've given Alex quite the pull on the council of great families. I can stall at least for a while."

"And what do you intend to do with the time?"

Percy sighed, he hadn't quite thought that far ahead. But as always, there seemed to only be two options. Carrot, or stick.

"I've been using the stick a lot recently in Vale, I think I'd like to try the carrot this time around." He didn't bother explaining what he meant. They'd been working together long enough Shiro knew his weird thought process by now.

"So, what's the carrot? As much as you effectively control Mistral, and most council members will play yesman for trivial things, this is a big deal. This could end up with the SDC shutting off Mistral's dust supply."

"Well, why don't we just step in where the SDC shuts off? That's a good thing."

"Because we have a fraction of the dust it'd require to power a place like Mistral, if that. We'd be out of power in a week."

"Well, how are excavation operations going?"

"Well. We're able to expand as much as is profitable."

"Why not expand more than profitable?"

Shiro arched an eyebrow. "What's the point in losing money? If we don't manage supply and demand like you've been preaching for almost 3 years now, we're going to be burning lien for nothing."

"That doesn't account, Shiro, for predicting changing markets." Shiro's eyes widened, apparently understanding. "If I can wrangle enough influence to get the SDC to cut off Mistral or gods forbid Vale and expect them to beg for mercy, demand will be higher than we could supply in a year."

"On it," Shiro agreed, pulling out his scroll and rapidly tapping some buttons. "I'd warn you of the potential costs if this doesn't turn out how we'd like, but well…"

Percy softly smiled. Money wasn't much of an issue nowadays. He had more than his projects could possibly consume, and most of it was just spent buying up some companies which may prove useful in some key sectors.

"But I still need a way to get the families under my influence. How do I hold a carrot in front of them and expect them to leap for it, when they're already sitting on a pile of carrots?"

Shiro paused his rapid typing to glance at him. "Take their carrots."

You know, that wasn't a half bad idea.


Fall condition critical, replacement soon.

What the Hades did that mean?

He couldn't figure it out for the life of him, and neither could Shiro. Fall had to be code for something, likely a machine or important part of a machine. A weapon, perhaps. For Ozpin to lock it in an encrypted file, and then make sure that file was hand delivered? And then despite all that to still speak in incredibly vague code? Ozpin was hiding something, that he already knew. What man as powerful as Ozpin didn't hide things. It'd be weirder if he had nothing to hide. But this 'Fall' had to be very important for him to go such lengths. Very important.

"Apologies, I had to see to the initiation of a new class." The same old man said from behind him.

Turning awkwardly in his seat Percy craned back to see Ozpin approaching him.

"Please, please. Stay seated." he urged when Percy made to stand. Half-shrugging, Percy sat back down with a plop and waited as Ozpin took his seat opposite him.

"There's a time not all that long ago it could have been you I was initiating out there."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I know, you make sure to mention it at least once every time I'm here."

Ozpin leaned forward onto his desk and folded his hands together. "But this is not a social call, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not." Percy agreed. As mystifying as the contents of that flashdrive was, that wasn't why he was here, either. "I need a favor."

Ozpin leaned back. "You've done the occasional service for me over the years. Hearing you out is the least I can do. How can I help you, Percy?"

Ozpin had started referring to him as Percy a couple years ago now. A subtle threat, if nothing else, when it had first begun. He was telling Percy he knew of his dealings with the SDC. That Percy couldn't hide things from him. Now? Now it was just nice to be called Percy rather than Perseus.

"I can't give you all the details, but the SDC will be making a move against a rival dust producer soon — the MTC. They'll be pushing for their ban in the four kingdoms. I need to… stop that, if possible. Delay it, at the least."

Ozpin hummed, one hand reaching out to take his mug of coffee and taking a long sip. "And how do you presume they'll accomplish this?"

"They intend to make it look like they bought it from the White Fang." Percy admitted.

Ozpin raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Well, did they?"

Percy shrugged as honestly as he could. What did he know? He couldn't care one way or the other.

Ozpin let out a long sigh. "If you spoke to me this time last year, I would have been able to help you. For various reasons, that is no longer the case. My influence in the council is no longer what it once was. I still have a fair sway, and it depends on how strong the evidence is of course, but with something this bad for publicity? I could get a delaying action passed, and that's about the extent of it. There's also that the White Fang have been picking up in aggression recently. They used to have a body count in the single digits due to SDC automation, but with them beginning to strike at mining facilities across Atlas… it's not great optics."

Percy winced himself. It was something he'd allowed, hesitantly. Adam had been pushing for it for some time now and he had some pretty good reasons. Only one of which was the boosted recruitment from liberated faunus workers who would join Adam's ranks, only making him more powerful internally within the White Fang. But that didn't change how badly it had affected public perception of the White Fang itself, leaving bodies behind like that instead of scrap.

"And lastly General Sylvanus recently passed. I could have spoken to him about demanding an investigation. His base in Atlas couldn't stand up to the SDC, but it could certainly delay it. Now with the acting general being a bureaucrat, I'm at a loss for strings to pull for you here, my friend."

Percy frowned and closed his eyes, resting his face in his hand and trying to think. If he couldn't use Ozpin in Vale, he was fucked. Sure he had very… decent progress in the underworld here. He could make whatever he needed to happen happen as far as the criminal side of the city went, and he owned a few people on the council, but that didn't mean he could get this through on his own. He would need Ozpin's base, which seemed to be tenuous at best. One of the reasons he'd refrained from influencing the council too much was out of fear of trying to snatch one of Ozpin's people and getting burned, but now that had backfired.

"I could speak to Leo for you, in Mistral. I'm sure he could be of use delaying proceedings. But I believe your abilities there outstrip even his, in some metrics."

Percy sighed, pulling his hand away from his face. "Yeah, I'm not even sure how I'm going to manage this in Mistral. With you down and out here, it's fucked everywhere. I can work on Mistral, but I was hoping to get more."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows. "Did you truly? Can the MTC even support Mistral on its own? You understand what that would mean even if you did succeed, yes? Vale would run out of dust in a month at most, and regardless of how much influence I have, they would capitulate after that."

"What if… what if I work on the councilmen in Vale myself? I've been keeping my distance out of respect to you, but-"

"A wise choice." Ozpin deadpanned.

Percy sighed. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll keep out of Vale's politics. But you've been building your base for decades. There has to be something we can do to get the right person in the right spot."

"Yes, decades." Ozpin smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. "There is a prospective young gentleman in Atlas which might be more… amenable to my advice. I can pass word to those I know in the late General Sylvanus' office asking them to endorse him as the next general. In fact, I already intended to do so. I understand you don't have much in Atlas. However…"

"The SDC." Percy finished with a soft groan. He had a high enough risk tolerance to meet with Jacques on Thursday and then Adam on Monday. But trying to get Jacques to sabotage himself? He'd spent a lot of time with the man in the last couple years — more than he wanted to, really — and if there was one thing he knew about Jacques Schnee it was that he was no idiot. In fact, he was Percy's senior in the world of business and negotiating and backstabbing by decades. Could he really pull something like that?

Then there was what Ozpin had said about Vale. Realistically he couldn't supply both Mistral and Vale with dust. That would be a catastrophe. He would have to try his hardest to supply Mistral alone, and that was if he managed to get it delayed long enough.

Percy stood. "Thank you for your time, but I think you're right. The MTC would be in over its head anyway. It's a lost market, but one kingdom is more than anyone other than the SDC has had in generations."

Ozpin shook his hand and bid him farewell. Percy turned to leave and was only a few steps from the elevator when Ozpin called out to him.

"I'd still like you to support my candidate for general, Percy."

Percy stopped and turned to face him again. "That's a big ask, Ozpin."

"As big as what you came into my office to ask for today, you might say."

"Which is why I expected to have to give you something in return, and why I was willing to get you your general for it."

"Fair enough." Ozpin chuckled, drawing out the following silence with a long sip of coffee. "You give me Atlas, and I'll give you Mantle. You speak to Jacques about backing my candidate, all but guaranteeing his promotion. In return I'll speak with an… associate of mine on your behalf. Organize a meeting."

Percy frowned. "Who exactly is this associate, and how is that worth giving you Atlas?"

"An influential man in Mantle. The influential man in Mantle. I have a strong relationship with him, similar to the one I have with the headmaster of Haven, Headmaster Lionheart. He's near the end of his life, unfortunately, and at my urging he'll be… open to the idea of leaving his estate to you."

Percy blinked rapidly. "Why would he do that? I'm sure you're close, but to leave his entire life's work to a stranger — a kid — as a favor, seems insane."

"Not a favor." Ozpin corrected. "We share certain worldviews, convictions for which we have dedicated our lives. If I convince him that you are the best choice to further those convictions — which you are — then he will be willing. He knows we share the same goals, and leaving his influence to someone I have a close relationship with is infinitely better than to infighting within his sphere. We will both agree on that."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "You talk about it as if it's some sort of religion, or cult. What sort of 'worldview' makes such powerful men like you band together."

"A religion." Ozpin mused. "Not far off. Not far off at all. You will learn some day my friend, but that day is not today." he finished off his mug of coffee, swallowing the last drops. "Mantle is bankrupt for political capital or influence, on an international scale its possession means nothing, and its people are downtrodden, poor, and crime ridden. It's your perfect kingdom."

Percy thought about that for a while. It almost seemed too good to be true. He was having a city — one of Atlas' two actual 'cities' — handed to him, and all he had to do was ask Jacques — the man who saw himself as Percy's mentor — for a favor? It wouldn't be so simple of course. Deciding the general of Atlas was as large of a favor to Jacques as it was to Percy. Larger, even, considering it was his home. But it was worth it, if everything was as it appeared.

"What's the catch?" Percy demanded. "There has to be one, for a deal like this."

"There's not a catch per se, but it isn't quite as good as it sounds. Foley — my contact — his position is influential, but tenuous. It won't be given to you on a silver platter. You will have to fight for it. But once you win? Mantle will be yours."

"And this general of yours. Why him?"

Ozpin made another one of those smiles, but this time he didn't have his coffee to hide it behind. "He shares similar convictions to Foley and myself."

"Same with Lionheart and Sylvanus, right?"

"Perhaps." Ozpin allowed. "Hopefully that I'm allowing you to know of the existence of such a motivation should assure you some that it's hardly malicious. You now know more than most how tightly I've wound myself with leaders of the other kingdoms. If I wished to act against mankind in some way, I would have secured my position through less moral means some time ago."

That… was true. If Percy could buy Valean councilmen, then Ozpin certainly could as well. The only reason he could think of that he wouldn't is for some sort of moral reason, which meant that he at the least had a better aligned conscience than Percy did. Or maybe it was just because Ozpin wasn't facing a world-ending threat. Percy figured that if he was, he wouldn't be so squeamish about getting his hands dirty with a couple briberies.

"I'll have to look it over some more, but I accept. On one condition."

"And that would be…?"

"Whoever this new general is, has to be willing to steer clear of me or the SDC every now and then. I'm not going to be able to convince Jacques to effectively coronate a new general who will act against his interest, and I'm hesitant to do the same."

"Reasonable." Ozpin agreed, nodding. "Very well. He's a good man, with strong convictions. He won't act against the good of his people, but I'll make sure he knows you're on our team, and the courtesy extended to the Schnees as a result."

"Am I?" Percy asked. "On your team, I mean."

"You're a man that I can work with, Percy. Reasonable, and despite your… less than legal actions, your intentions are decent."

"Alleged less than legal actions." Percy quipped. "Alright, fine. I'll do it. Now, what's the name of the next general?"

"James. Colonel James Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy."


"Shiro? What is it?"

"I just got some interesting news."

"Well? Out with it."

"Our operations in Vacuo. I managed to bribe some local authorities to not investigate any activity at abandoned MTC mines. We've been scouting them out, trying to see if there's any dust reserves left for us to start excavating."

"Well? I'm assuming you found something?"

"Something, but not dust. I… it's best not to speak about this kind of thing over the scroll. I'm on my way to the bullhead docks to fly to Vacuo right now, and I'd recommend you join me as soon as you're able. How quickly can you get to Vacuo?"

Percy sucked in a breath. "That serious, huh? I'm busy, but I can leave tonight. Where should I meet you?"

"I'll shoot you the coordinates and have a bullhead waiting there to take us back to the city when we're done."

"Got it. See you, Shiro."

Percy clicked his scroll closed and turned around, walking back into the room behind him. "Sorry about that. It seems something has come up, I'll need to leave tonight."

Jacques Schnee looked up from the book he'd briefly entertained himself with while Percy stepped out. "Oh? It seems serious. Anything I can help with?"

Percy shrugged, sitting back down in the chair opposite Jacques. "I honestly have no idea. Too sensitive to speak about over scroll. But I trust the man giving me the information, he wouldn't call me away for something trivial."

"I see." Jacques set aside the book and his glasses. "Well please, know that if there's anything you should need help with, don't hesitate to ask."

Percy hesitated.

"Ah, I see. We should probably get into the reason for your visit."

Percy nodded. "Before any of that I'd like to inform you that our next drone model is ready for production, it's… well, I think it'll help a lot."

A dark look crossed Jacques' face when Percy mentioned the war. "Damn animals. They've been becoming more and more of a problem recently. And they've been getting stronger. If it weren't for your company and its innovations my boy, I fear the death would be on a scale unimaginable."

Percy winced. As someone that had known Jacques before the White Fang started getting active, he knew that Jacques wasn't genuinely a racist. He used the faunus because they were good, cheap labor. It was a business, he saw the numbers, anything else was irrelevant. But after years of White Fang resistance and the discovery that one of his own house's staff had been a member of the White Fang? Someone who helped tuck his children in at night?

Jacques wasn't a perfect man. It didn't excuse his blatant racism now, but well… Percy could almost understand. He didn't actually understand — Percy still shared none of his sentiments — but he knew what it was like to be in a war. Despite the fact that the titans had a reasonable pitch to the demigods who joined them, and those same demigods had real, valid reasons to oppose the gods (maybe better than Percy's reasoning at the time, to be completely honest) Percy had still taken their lives all the same. Having lost so much because of a group of people like that… he was all too familiar with the psychological effects.

"I'm still just mystified as to where they're actually getting the weapons themselves? Where do they make them?" Percy asked. It would have been a dangerous game to play, bringing that up, if he hadn't made sure to leave a paper trail to which Jacques either already knew the answer, or would discover upon investigating it.

"Isn't it obvious? They have one place to call home after being gone for so long, one place which could possibly be sympathetic to terrorists. Menagerie. Their… hive. I'll almost give them credit, it's a clever racket. They steal our dust, sell it to the MTC, and use the lien to illegally manufacture weapons, to steal more dust. Menagerie's largest industry, by now, will be weapon manufacturing. An entire nation surviving from thievery. Disgusting."

Percy sighed. The animosity created was a less than intentional side effect. And he acknowledged that despite having so much to do with the White Fang (he'd been working with Adam for years, and was by now very involved in the internal politics of the White Fang. Sienna Khan was well aware that the only reason one of her commanders hadn't replaced her by now was because she paid homage to him as much as any of them.) he had never been to Menagerie. He'd have to make time for that.

"I apologize." Jacques straightened his white jacket. "That was… uncouth of me, to go on such a tangent. Now, what can I help you with my boy?"

Percy waived it off. "It's okay, I understand more than most. But my favor… it's a bit of an ask. Not even a favor, really, I'd be willing to do whatever you need in return. But I… have a selection for general. Someone I'd like to receive the position."

"Ahh..." Jacques acknowledged. "The open position. I see. I agree, that is quite the ask. And who would you… ideally have, as general."

"Colonel Ironwood."

"I see… the headmaster. Well, Winter certainly speaks highly of him. I assume the two are not related?" Jacques asked him with a coy smile.

Well fuck. If that wasn't a hint that the man knew Percy was sleeping with his daughter on a pretty regular basis, he didn't know what was. "Uh, no. I've never heard him mentioned by her." he coughed, his face turning red.

"A good choice, then. A reasonable man. He was all too willing to work with me regarding the… flexibility, of Winter's education. And he's very militaristic; the military's budget will go up several fold, I imagine, and we'll finally have a chance at the dullards in Atlas getting off of their behinds to help us with the White Fang. A good choice, for both me and you. I'd gotten so used to every candidate I could pick falling into Ozpin's clutches that I stopped bothering to interfere in such large affairs years ago. But if you have someone… It would not be difficult to arrange that, not at all."

"Not a fan of Ozpin?" Percy asked rhetorically.

Jacques frowned deeply. "Who is? The man runs the world from the shadows — has been, for some time now. Pulls his strings where he isn't welcome. He has an almost uncanny ability to sway incredibly influential individuals to his side. I myself have humored the thought of it being a semblance for some time now."

Well, that was a bit of a shock. It almost made sense, when you looked at it from the outside. Hades even from the inside it was hardly implausible. But Percy had to believe that if Ozpin was willing to stoop to brainwashing people in some way, then he was also morally compromised enough to bribe members of the Valean council — which he hadn't done.

"But I digress." Jacques continued. "Before I tell you whether or not I will grant your favor or not, allow me to advise you, if you'll humor me." Jacques certainly saw himself as Percy's mentor, if how often they had these conversations was anything to go by. If anything it was probably the only reason he hadn't had Percy ruined for his… relationship with Winter. Percy had had the suspicion for some time now that Jacques was grooming Percy to be his replacement, or something akin to it. Being from outside the Schnee family himself, he probably had much less qualms about the family name being owned by someone who wasn't his own blood. The surprising part, though, was that when Jacques offered advice, it was usually genuinely helpful. Percy liked to think himself competent and by now experienced, but Jacques was a man that had decades on him when it came to this sort of thing.

At Percy's gesturing Jacques continued. "Never offer to pay for a favor, my boy. Giving a favor in return for a favor will rarely, if ever, benefit you."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "But quid pro quo and all that, right? It's the only way I know to genuinely make long-lasting allies. If I don't return favors, if I don't pay my friends back for favors in some way, I'll run out of friends."

The coy smile that Jacques wore every so often appeared now. He paced his response with a sip from a shallow malt in the glass on the table next to him. "You would certainly think so." he sat down the glass and crossed his legs, crossing his hands over on his knee. "Allow me to tell you a story. It's the story of one of Vale's first councilmen, instrumental in its founding. He never became the chairman of Vale — he never had interest in the position — but he was certainly influential in Vale's formation. His name was Franklin. One day, Franklin had an idea. He asked a favor from an opponent on the council — someone he'd never really gotten along with or interacted with all that much. It was a simple favor, a small one. He asked for an old and rare book on the Grimm from the councilman's personal library so that he may study it, promising to return it within a few days. The councilman acquiesced to his request, and a week later he returned the book with a letter offering his gratitude for allowing the use of the councilman's personal archives.

"The next session of the council a few days later the councilman he'd requested the favor from greeted him with fervor, going out of his way to make conversation and when it came to debating the issues, the same councilman was hesitant to speak against him. They had seldom spoken before, and yet since that day they had become cordial friends and colleagues. He requested larger and larger favors from the man until the day the councilman neared the end of his career. He retired at Franklin's request, even agreeing to endorse a candidate more in line with Franklin's politics. Franklin never returned a favor, and they were friends until the day that the councilman passed in the night. Franklin wrote in his memoirs 'He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.'

"It's a psychological phenomenon I don't completely understand, but asking an unrequited favor builds rapport far more than returning one. So know this; never offer to return a favor you don't have to, and never offer to do someone a favor in hopes of gaining their confidence. The more effective solution is to ask them a favor, even if it is one which you don't need."

Percy sat there pondering the man's words. Was that actually true? Did asking a favor of someone actually endear them to you more than doing them one? That seemed… broken. Anyone that had no problems doing such would be able to do pretty much whatever they wanted, right? Asking favors was supposed to cost you political capital, not generate it. But if that was true… it helped explain the difference between those with power and those without. It changed 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine' into 'you scratch my back, which will make you want to scratch my back more'.

"So to answer your question, Percy, I will ensure your candidate is elected to general. No return favors necessary." Jacques smiled, and Percy slowly smiled back. Jacques had given useful advice before, and he'd come in handy as well, but this… Maybe, just maybe, Percy was beginning to come around to the idea of Jacques being his mentor.


"Alright, now what the Hades did you need to show me all the way out here?" Percy asked, pulling a jacket tighter around him to shield from the sand which managed to enter the inside of the broken down facility from the cracks.

"Our key, potentially, to making headway in Vacuo. We've found the beginnings of an organization in this small mine. A royalist faction, led by two descendants of the king of Vacuo."

Percy let out a low whistle. "I'm assuming because we're both all the way out here in the middle of nowhere that you think that they can be successful, and that we can use them."

"Monarchist sentiment is pretty high in Vacuo." Shiro admitted. "With the right backers and the right publicity, there's a road to a full-on coup within a few years."

"Damn, that's quite the windfall." Percy pointed out.

Shiro raised a hand and wobbled it back and forth in a so-so motion. "Well first we have to actually convince them to join us."

Percy sighed. "I'm assuming from the fact that we have a good dozen bullheads landed outside we have a small army here, and from the fact that I'm here you want me to convince them."

Shiro shrugged. "They had distaste for me because I'm corporate. Started going on a rant about corruption and the right to rule and etc. etc. But you? You're nobility. I think you'll get along better."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, worth a shot." he said, making his way towards the stairs leading down below.

As he'd suspected they did have a small army here. Police stood at every corner, their gas masks obscuring their faces, automatic rifles in hand. Rifles which had, of course, been produced by J&W. It would be folly to call them Windpath police by now — really they were his private army, pulled from across the entire kingdom of Mistral from the city itself to Windpath or Kuchinashi to one of the hundreds of settlements on the continent. They did a fair bit of actual police work too, and their main responsibility was defending settlements from grimm or bandit attacks. But every so often taking a small number of them and showing up in force paid off in droves. A small contingent of Windpath's own forces made most criminal organizations look tiny in comparison. Such was the power of actually running governments, he supposed.

Eventually he reached a small back room where two kids around his age were being held not-quite at gunpoint, the soldiers in the room itchy but not hostile.

Falling into the role that they wanted him to play, Percy turned to Shiro as they entered the room. "The soldiers here won't be necessary, you're dismissed. I'll speak with them myself."

Not one slow on the uptake, Shiro noticed the slight shift in tone immediately. Bowing deeply, Shiro nodded he understood. "As you say, my lord." Percy noticed Shiro's distinctive white jacket was still resting on the chair nearest to him, but paid it no mind. He would hardly need it down here.

Nodding to the two soldiers, they turned and gave Percy a crisp salute before moving out of the room as well.

"Well this is hardly a proper residence for the deposed royal family." Percy mused, studying the office. It reminded him of his first office in Windpath. It was more than most people had, sure, but it was hardly pristine.

Pulling out the chair he sat himself down, facing the two with no real concern and finally taking time to observe them. They were very light skinned for Vacuans — probably a sign of their noble blood or some other bullshit — and they both wore regal clothes of silks with patterns and etc. etc. as if they could convince anyone that they were actually royalty out here. Not just of the royal bloodline, but actual royalty.

They were young, too. Younger than him, by a couple years give or take. Quite a bit too young to be trying to usurp a nation, he thought, but who was he to judge considering what he'd been doing at their age.

"So," Percy sat his scroll down on their desk as they looked at him nervously. Brushing himself off he did his best to get most of the excess sand off of his jacket before continuing his sentence. "I hear you two have a bone to pick with the Vacuan government."

The guy scoffed, while the girl simply straightened her posture. "That's… one way to put it." the girl granted.

"Well, names are a good place to start." Percy resumed. "My name's Perseus. Might have heard of me, maybe not, I don't really care. But what's important is that I haven't heard of you."

"I'm Jax." the boy introduced. "And this is my sister Gillian. We're both of the Asturias family, the Royal family of Vacuo which had been wrongfully deposed after the great war."

Gillian didn't seem to be as on board with playing all their cards so quickly if the look she gave her brother was any indication, but Percy forged ahead. "Alright, Jax, Gillian. You don't have a strong army, a large following, the real support of the people, or any sort of power base. But what you are is interesting. And if there's one thing I like, it's interesting things. They provide opportunity. To be completely honest before this very moment I didn't know if I was going to kill you, leave you down here to rot, help you regain your throne, or some weird mix of the three. But now? I'm reminded I don't like the Vacuan government so much at the moment either. So, how can we help each other?"

Jax and Gillian shared a glance with each other, communicating without words in a way only those who were closer with each other than most people got with anyone in their lives.

"We've heard of you." Gillian — the girl — finally said when they broke eye contact. "Lord Perseus of Mistral. A minor lord, supposedly, but one who has been meteoric in his rise, and who has begun rebuilding the crumbling empire of Mistral. Decades of recession and collapse turning around into growth and prosperity once more. There are whispers that you were only able to accomplish what you have because you are puppeted by a huntsman, but we know better. The true right to rule is not something a huntsman can give you. It's in your blood."

Percy nodded. "Alright, you've heard of me. Now, how can this benefit the both of us?"

Gillian looked like she was about to say something before she hesitated and glanced at Percy. "Could we… have a minute?"

With a graceful (he hoped) nod, Percy stood and exited the room. He took the time to take a brief tour of the men which they held captive. Fighters, all of them, but very few of which had their auras unlocked. They all sat silently around as Percy's men stood guard. Everything was… eerily quiet.

A few moments later Percy began walking to return to the room. He was just rounding the corner when a hand grabbed his arm, stopping him from continuing. If Percy hadn't sensed Shiro there beforehand, Shiro would likely not have much of a hand at the moment.

Curious and only slightly annoyed, Percy turned to Shiro with a raised eyebrow. In answer, Shiro held out his own scroll and rewound a stream of some sort. It was a black screen, but there was some faint audio. Assuming the noise was turned up to the max, Percy strained to hear.

"Isn't that what we're doing this for? To restore the natural way of things? It's our right to rule, but so long as a monarch of pure blood sits on the throne, it doesn't matter. We'll still have Vacuo."

Percy's eyes widened. If he hadn't heard it just a minute ago he wouldn't have recognized it, but it was Gillian's voice.

The clip continued, a boy's voice this time. Jax. "Will we have Vacuo if we still have to bow to a foreign king? Better him than a corrupted councilman or greedy Schnee, of course, but still. Why kneel to a foreign power when it could be the other way?"

"Because it's what's right, Jax. We have a right to rule and we will, but we will also owe him a debt which cannot be paid through lien alone. If he will do what we ask of him, then we owe him nothing less than our fealty."

"If what you say is true and he is a true king, then he'll be able to resist my semblance, even with you boosting it."

"That's not how semblances work Jax!"

"Look, what's the disadvantage? At the least, I can make sure we're not betrayed, right? Mistral is a fallen empire, Vacuo being subservient to the kingdom of Mistral… it's not right."

"Fine. You get to try it. But if he shakes free, that's it. I'm not risking any more. That's our agreement."

"So long as you provide me with the aura you have in reserves, then fine."

"The coat." Percy realized.

"The coat." Shiro agreed. "But I'd rather we just kill them. We have no idea what this kid's semblance does, and I don't like the sound of it. You can't go in there. If you're compromised… I don't think everyone in the facility together could stop you, and there'd be no way to get word out that you were under some sort of influence before it was too late."

Percy considered it… and then continued walking.

Shiro yanked on his arm slightly harder, and Percy paused, a little aggravated. "Percy, think about this very carefully. You're skilled, but you're not immortal. Even you need to realize that at some point."

Percy turned to look Shiro in the eye, making sure it was apparent there was no trace of amusement in his features. "For reasons which I can never speak of, Shiro, I must do this. If I can't stand up against this kid's semblance, with what I'm going to be up against in my future… I've already lost."

Shaking off Shiro's confused hand despite his protests, Percy entered the room.

"Lord Perseus." Jax stood with Gillian and greeted almost normally. Almost. "We're agreed. Mistral and Vacuo need to be allies as it was during the time before the great war. The war itself was a travesty and an embarrassment, but the alliance that came from generations of blood spilt — that is worth returning to."

"We have also." Gillian coughed awkwardly. "Decided that in return for your generous support, we would agree to a… vassalage under Mistral, when it comes to pass that you yourself are crowned king of Mistral, and we have finally reclaimed the throne of Vacuo."

Percy raised an eyebrow at that, taking specific interest in the whole 'King of Mistral' part she seemed to presume. Instead of focusing on that, however, he noticed how Gillian put her arm on Jax's shoulder in a practiced motion, one meant to convey their bond and familiarity rather than anything else. Simultaneously Jax held out his hand to shake, inviting Percy to take his hand.

And he did.

He braced to fight, for the feeling of losing control, of having to claw tooth and nail for his free will to remain attached to his body, through whichever contrived way the boy's semblance worked.

"No, you haven't" Percy denied, making sure that he stared Jax in the eye as his semblance began forcing itself into Percy's consciousness, and then was immediately repelled. Violently and completely.

He'd almost like to say it was some epic battle of wills, or that it was his large aura reserves that got him through, or something like that. But no, the game had been rigged from the start. Because he knew, that a mortal kid playing with magic they barely understood? They barely stood a chance.

He'd resisted Circe, Aphrodite, and in different ways even Kronos and Gaea had had a sort of magical allure he'd resisted. All immortal and thousands to potentially trillions of years old, all practiced and well learned in the art of manipulating a mind, all with power that outstripped his in every way.

So while he'd like to claim it was some great struggle, in reality Jax never stood a chance. Jax insisted that if Percy proved he had superior blood he'd be able to resist the effects of Jax's semblance? Well, ichor was plenty 'superior' enough.

So it was because of this that Percy was looking into Jax's eyes as he slowly realized that his attempts weren't working. That they would never work. That it had never had a chance at working in the first place.

Slowly, deliberately, Percy withdrew his hand. Jax withdrew his own as if it had been burnt, and Gillian looked at him in confusion.

"I know about your plan, and the sincerity of your words. I know you never had honest intentions about swearing yourselves to me. So, allow me to change that."

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. In an instant three feet of glowing bronze was where nothing but air had once been. He didn't bother raising the blade. "Kneel."

Jax collapsed to his knees almost in shock, still staring up at Percy's eyes which were now turbulent, like a storm. Gillian, still confused but quickly putting together what exactly had happened, hastened to kneel beside Jax. While he was kneeling on both knees before Percy, still almost comatose, Gillian had had more composure to be able to kneel properly. Jax already understood the gravity of their situation, but he'd need to make it apparent to Gillian.

Slowly raising Riptide, he allowed it to rest on her neck. He slackened his wrist and let her collarbone itself hold the blade up, the very tip digging into her neck slightly and drawing a single rivulet of crimson liquid.

"You wish to become my vassals? I'll hear your oaths now. Swear them to your lord, and remember the words for the rest of your lives."

Jax began muttering in some sort of Vacuan dialect, his voice growing louder, but his tone never changed. He was scared, deeply, after having been swatted aside like an errant fly within Percy's own mind. Within a couple seconds Gillian began chanting the same hymn. Percy took it for what it probably was, some sort of Vacuan ritual for swearing themselves loyal to a lord, and allowed them to continue until they both simultaneously fell silent. By then Jax had regained some of his bearing and was now kneeling properly, while Gillian was still looking very nervously at the blade hovering near her throat.

Percy did her the courtesy of removing the blade before speaking his parting words. "Good, the dynamic is very clear. Gillian, you will be acting as regent until I deem otherwise. I expect you to keep your brother's more errant thoughts in line." he didn't give either of them a chance to respond, digging a scroll out of his pocket and tossing it on the desk. "That's a scroll with two contacts on it. Contact the first number, he'll get you what you need to start truly moving. The second number is mine. If you call me without good reason, I will be upset."

He didn't need to elaborate.

"I'll be in contact." he finally said before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

Shiro shot him a relieved and exasperated look as he walked out of the room.

"Look, I get-"

Percy held a hand up between the two, cutting the man off. "Save it. You know I've treated you as more of a peer than a subordinate for the majority of the last two years, Shiro, but there is a line. Know when you've reached it."

Clicking his mouth shut, Shiro stepped back. He seemed more surprised than offended, which Percy figured was a… good thing. He thinks.

Continuing without waiting for a response, Percy began walking up the stairs to exit the abandoned mine two at a time, dutifully ignoring the saluting soldiers. The last few days had been productive, but it had been a few days of backroom dealing and political horse trading. It was his least favorite aspect of the job but, it appeared, the most important. He just lamented that he'd be returning to Mistral now. Almost as soon as he'd begun living in Vale it had been home, despite the fact he had much less of a base there than he did in somewhere like Windpath. It was just so like America on Earth, and especially New York, that he'd instantly been sold. Now all he could do was dread that he wasn't going back there instead.

Pulling out his scroll, Percy let the small scowl he'd been nursing slip off his face as he pressed the 'call' button on a contact.

"Hello?"

"Hey Pyr, sorry about that. I know I've been MIA for a few days. Work took a bit longer than I thought it would. But I was thinking… how would you like to come visit Vale?"


Pat-reon and discord are on my profile, the next chapter is up on Pat-reon.

Hope you enjoyed the long chapter.

Next chapter December 20. Delayed 5 days because of finals :)