(This one gets dark enough that I figured I'd drop a general content warning for this one. It's mostly implied, but I'd rather be safe.)
"Madness is akin to gravity. A single push and you're over the edge."
Gens Juluo era proverb
City of Oasis, Kingdom of Vacuo, 78AW
Once, the girl with green eyes had been the Heiress of the biggest Dust Company in Mistral, the only rival the SDC actually had. She had been born in an estate with centuries of history, set to inherit nearly unimaginable wealth and spend her days enjoying the greatest luxuries Lien could buy.
And then Marcus Black had broken into the Zhang Family Villa one night and killed everyone but her. She watched the staff members that were a constant in her life cut down as they ran for their lives, she watched her mother be cut in half, she watched Marcus Black's axe get lodged in her father's skull and watched on as the monster had used his boot to wrench his weapon free. And then, as her home burned around her and the air filled with smoke and the smell of burning flesh and riches, he found her.
And then he sold her.
Midori Zhang had once thought that the holding cells of the Iron Circle were hell on Remnant. The constantly warm, dry air. The sobbing and crying of those yet to be sold. The laughter of their captors. It had to be a vision of hell, in her eyes.
She was wrong. She hadn't been in hell back then. Back in that nameless place.
Because Hell on Remnant had a name: The Glass Unicorn.
She spent her days wiping down tables and washing clothes and getting beaten by her Owner's daughters for their own amusement when they weren't using the shock collar that had been put on her the day she was purchased, all whilst keeping her head down and praying that her Owner kept turning down the many offers of her clientele to use her as…'entertainment'.
And that was her life. From the age of ten. A Slave hidden in plain sight to those that didn't know the truth, and a secret 'inside joke' to those that did. A Slave leashed to the cruel and petty hands of a woman willing to violate the VPA like it was nothing but a scrap of paper. A Slave seventy-eight years after Slavery was supposed to have been made illegal across the world..
A. Slave.
And then, a few weeks after she turned fifteen, her life changed forever..
Because that was the day that Rhodes had appeared.
An Association Huntsman! She had thought. One that would surely recognise her plight and save her from the hellish situation she was in.
Only…that didn't happen. Oh sure, he trained her. Had put a sword in her hand and shown her how to use it. But each time he left, he left her behind. Each time, he'd smile and he'd wave and he'd repeat his promise that one day, when she was old enough, he would help her enter a Huntsfolk Academy.
And each time, the moment he was out of sight, her Owner would turn the shock collar that was always around her neck up to the highest setting and send her hurtling into agony and unconsciousness.
…Because of him. Because he valued 'the law' more than doing the moral thing, the right thing.
She hated him.
….She wanted him dead.
It was to be their first mission as a team.
True, they'd each been on missions with both their mentors and with Salem herself. Vernal had worked with the most recent member of the Court, Doctor Watts. Learning about technology and how to utilise it to her advantage. Arthur was an unapologetically arrogant asshole, but he knew his stuff. The former bandit had learned a lot under his tutelage, even if she had picked up some of Arthur's snark.
She had made herself twin gauntlets,Shapash and Yarikh. The base gauntlets were identical, but Shapash had the addition of a trio of retractable blades mounted on top whereas Yarikh had the addition of a shotgun instead.
Trifa had 'gone hunting' with Tyrian, helping him capture and interrogate those that had information their God-Queen desired. With her insane Zealot of a mentor egging her on, the Spider Faunus had come to see her work as holy, and had long since cast aside any hesitation or shyness she once had.
She had armed herself with a pair of Poniard-style knives, which much like her Master's own weapons, she had taken to coating in various toxins. Outwardly, they appeared to be incredibly simple, just a pair of knives. The reality was quite different. The Fangs of the Queen were made from an anti-Aura alloy created by Doctor Watts, and were thus the perfect anti-Huntsfolk weaponry. Coupled with her webbing, she was becoming quite the assassin.
Petra had worked with Hazel, ostensibly because Hazel was the sanest member of the Court and capable of coming up with simple yet brutally effective plans that calmly sailed under the eyes of multiple interested parties whilst still achieving their goals with minimal support and resources.
She had not made a weapon of her own, but had instead taken the weapon of the Silver-Eyed Huntress from years ago as her own, the spear-rifle known as Thorn. Oh sure, she had made repairs, and made the grip more comfortable to her own, but it was still Thorn nonetheless.
And it was on a mission with Hazel that Petra had discovered the one they were now seeking to welcome into their warm embrace. When she had explained her thoughts to Salem, Her Grace had given it some thought before granting her blessing to the mission, provided that she and her sisters left no evidence or witnesses and that the trio completed the mission alone.
After a full day of discussion, the Sisters accepted their Queen's terms and had attired and armed themselves appropriately.
They made their move at night, slipping in after all the lights had gone out. Finding where their targets were didn't take long, and after 'securing' Trifa's gift to their soon-to-be sister, they made their way into the basement.
What they found was sadly all too predictable. Cold, dull, filled with boxes and washing machines and dryers and a small mattress stuffed into one corner. Upon which sat their target. Midori Zhang was short for her age, her green eyes dull and lifeless and her black hair a tangled mess that came down past her shoulders. Scars littered her arms, and the slight crookedness of her nose told of multiple breakages. After Petra tore the band of metal from around her neck, a thin, ugly burn scar revealed itself to the world.
"...You are Midori I take it?" Petra asked, as Vernal and Trifa dumped the Hotel's Owner and her daughters on the basement floor. They had been restrained by the latter's webbing, and even their mouths were covered.
"That's me.." Midori answered as she gingerly touched her now exposed scar, before glancing at her Owner and her daughters. "...Are you going to tie me up too?"
"Goodness no!" Petra waved a hand with a reassuring smile. "We're not here to harm you at all!"
The enslaved girl tilted her head. "Then why are you here?"
"To free you of course! You see, I despise waste, Miss Zhang." Petra explained. "And leaving you here to rot, to be a slave..would be just that. A monumental waste of your talents. So I am here to extend an offer: Come with us."
At this, the Hotel Owner began to struggle and mumble into her gag. Vernal raised an eyebrow and removed the webbing around her mouth to hear what she wished to say.
"You cannot do this!" The blonde woman protested. "I paid for her! She's mine! My property!"
"Last I checked." It was Vernal that chimed in. "It hasn't been illegal to free slaves for nearly eighty years…so, yeah. We very much can do this. Now do remain silent, or I'll cut your damn tongue out."
"I refuse to a-" She was silenced as one of Shapash's blades was brought up to her mouth.
"But she and hers are not the only guilty parties here, are they? Who was it that abandoned you to your chains?" Trifa asked, placing a hand on Midori's cheek. "Who was it that merely tossed you some training out of pity? Who was it that has restrained you for so long?"
Midori blinked and after a few moments of thought, she understood what was being implied. She narrowed her gaze and grit her teeth as she hissed her answer. "...Rhodes. He…left me here. To…to rot! To suffer! He has to…I want to…I need-."
"We can deal with him at a later date."Petra reassured her. "But first, a gift!"
It was Vernal that offered it. It was a sword. Silk cord criss-crossed the grip, and the blade itself was covered by a black lacquered sheath.
"This was owned by the last Imperator Mistralli of the Gens Sima." Petra smiled. "But as he is not using it on account of being dead for nearly two centuries, it is best that it is put to use, no? Its name is Muramasa."
"Isn't that supposed to be cursed or something?" Midori asked, but still took the blade from Petra, and was soon transfixed by the flawless surface of the blade "Damning its users to bloodthirst and battlelust and an early peaceless death?"
"Supposedly." It was a simple answer, and when even her Queen wasn't sure if the curse was real or not, it was the only one She could truly give. She herself found the blade to be a masterpiece, but given the stories attached to it, Petra was unwilling to take any chances wielding it herself. She would continue to use Thorn, and if there was any truth to the stories, the Zhang girl would be the one to endure any unfortunate unpleasantness. And if there wasn't any truth in them, well, her Queen would gain another servant. The fact that she would gain another sister would be a pleasant bonus, too."...But if it gets you revenge on Rhodes, do you truly care?"
"If that's the price I need to pay…so be it." There was silence for a few moments before Midori continued, gesturing to the trio of tormentors still laying on the ground, fear now plain to see on their faces. "What will you do about them?"
"Us?" Vernal smiled a broad, cheerfully terrifying smile. "We are going to do nothing. You on the other hand…"
"...Kill them." Petra commanded, causing the fear on the blonde trio's faces to turn into flat out terror. "Kill them now, and take your rightful place as the last of our sisters."
Midori merely looked her tormentors over, quivering on the ground and eyes pleading for the mercy they never showed her, before speaking again. "Could you leave me alone please? I'd like to take my time."
"Certainly." Petra gestured for Vernal and Trifa to follow. "We will be outside when you are done."
The screaming began before they'd even closed the door…
Midori stumbled out of the room about ten minutes later, absolutely drenched in blood and viscera and still shaking and panting, all with a pleased and contented smile on her face.
"Feeling better, sister?" Petra asked, as she stood up and strolled over to Midori, flicking a chunk of what could have been brain matter off of the now former Slave's shoulder before placing her hand upon it. "Feeling liberated?"
"Oh yes." Midori Zhang answered. "That felt great! Who's next?"