Chapter Twenty-Six
Darkness. Mind whirling, flashes of memory that are simultaneously hers and other. An airship on fire, grimm, a fight. Then a feeling of floating, of everything being right with the world, of having purpose. Another airship, then an island and more fighting. Pain and exertion, but never fear. Not until…
Coco woke with a gasp, floundering in the dark. Where the hell am I? She groped for her sunglasses and slid them onto her face. Even in the dark, they brought her comfort. Tentatively, she called out. "Velvet? Fox? Yatsu?"
Silence for a beat. And then "Coco? What happened? Gods, my head. I feel hungover."
"Fox! I think Jax got us. What"-
"Shit. No, you're right. They trounced our asses. Did we, did we kill people?"
Silence again. "I don't think we did, but we definitely didn't stop that madman Tyrian from doing it." More memories, clearer now. A pair of men in a forest, one tall, broad-shouldered, an ax planted in the earth at his side. The other smaller, bespectacled, loose tie around his throat, shabby sport coat. Ooblek if he was a foot shorter and thirty years older. Questions. Did they know where Taiyang was? It was important they talked to him. Tai himself, coming into the clearing. A moment of sharp clarity, everything hanging suspended in time. Then Tyrian, blades extended and laughing, always laughing, lunging.
The older man blocking the blow as he shifted, growing. His muscles bulging as they burst grotesquely from his clothing, veins distended, a fist the size of a moon smashing Marrow through the nearest tree as Tyrian dodged. Patches in her memory. Then, three youths and the axman fending her and the others off as Tyrian and Harriet disappeared into the trees, chasing after Tai. The old man, dead on the forest floor, small and pitiful again, bled out from a dozen wounds. More blank spots. Tyrian and Harriet returning, no Tai. Harriet furious, Tyrian soaked in blood, nose broken. A retreat. Marrow and Velvet left behind, unconscious, Tyrian uncaring, raging at the world. Another airship. Then-
Coco let out a slow breath. "I think we're in Beacon, Fox. Salem is here somewhere."
A soft groan. "Why do you think Jax lost us?" Fox asked after another moment of silence.
"Dunno. Maybe the asshole's finally dead. It's so dark in here, the hell are they keeping us?"
"I hadn't noticed the dark," Fox said, voice dry.
Coco rolled her eyes. "Use your semblance, man. You sense anyone?"
A sigh. "Yeah, two others. Mmm, probably Harriet and Elm. Next, ah, room? That wall."
Coco blinked in the darkness. "Fox, buddy, I can't see shit."
"Oh. Right. This wall." A knocking sound.
"Cool. Hang on." Coco got up from her cot and felt her way towards the wall, Fox tapping at intervals to help guide her. There. So if she followed it out… aha. A door. She felt for the handle, then turned the knob slowly, so slowly. The hallway she stepped into was nominally brighter than the room she and Fox had been in, and her eyes were finally adjusting. She felt more than saw Fox coming out behind her. Am I in the dorms?
Three short steps brought her outside the next door, and she took a deep breath before lightly tapping on it. The door opened and an arm shot out, grabbing her and pulling her in before she could react. She was slammed against a wall, knocking the wind out of her, and something sharp tickled her throat.
"Hare, no. That's Coco," a voice, low and urgent called.
"Bad idea, Hare," Coco said as Fox came into the room, tonfas leveled at Harriet.
"I need to be sure. Jax still got his hooks in you?"
"No, dammit, we're free. Dunno how I'm supposed to prove it though."
Harriet cursed. "Fine. But hear me, you do one godsdamned thing to make me think you're still on her side, I'll gut you."
"Just know the same goes for you, bitch." A beat of silence as the two women did their best to stare each other down in the dark, then Harriet released Coco.
"Where'd you get your weapons, Fox?" Coco asked, straightening her shirt front as Fox shut the door behind them.
"Never lost them. I'm sure Gianduja's still in the other room."
"Wait, if we aren't disarmed, then that means"-
"She doesn't know Jax lost us," Harriet finished.
Coco let out a low whistle. "That is a silver lining this girl likes. Ok, what's the plan?"
"Run?" Fox suggested.
"What about Velvet and Yatsu?" Coco asked.
"And Marrow," Elm added.
"I think Velvet and Marrow got left behind when we were in Patch," Harriet said.
"Wait, no, you're right. I remember them getting injured and Tyrian not wanting to deal with the dead weight. Anyone have any memory of Yatsuhashi since we got captured?" Coco asked, rubbing her temples.
"No. He was the one who could reverse Jax's semblance. Maybe he's being held here somewhere," Elm said.
"Ok, so no running, we need to find Yatsu first, assuming he's been captured. Do we just pretend we're still being mind controlled?" Coco said.
"We're ace operatives. And you two are supposed to be some of the best graduates in recent years from Beacon. Spec ops should be a cakewalk for us. Plus, with this guys semblance, we have a distinct advantage," Harriet said, pointing at Fox.
"Why do I get the feeling everyone is looking at me?" Fox asked.
"Cuz we are. Right. We go back to our rooms, Fox will link us, and we wait for whoever to come find us and give us orders," Coco suggested.
"Play it quiet until it's time to get the fuck out?" Harriet asked. "Deal. We get your guy and then secure transport. Any questions?"
"Only about a million. Like, we're in the middle of Salem's temp HQ. How the hell are we supposed to do anything without an army of grimm coming down on us?" Fox asked.
"Well, it's Beacon, for starters. We know our way around. Two, the enemy doesn't know that we're free. At least we think that they don't know that we're free. Three, despite recent losses, we're godsdamned Huntsmen and we kick ass at our jobs," Coco said.
Elm shrugged and patted Timber, the huge weapon gleaming gently in the low light. "Good enough. At the very least we can cause some serious mayhem before we go down."
"Ok. I'm going to make sure that Gianduja is in working order. See you two in a bit." Coco got up and slid out of the room and back to her own, followed by Fox. Elm had it right. If things went south and they couldn't escape, the least they could do was destroy as much as they could before they got taken down. Hell, it might even be fun.
The whole world was pain. Her arm felt like it was on fire and tendrils of searing agony coursed through her chest and into her heart, jagged wires of darkness that consumed her being. She had lost sight of the airship and with it the Summer Maiden, but even that knowledge paled before the horrendous agony that was her current state of mind. She floated just barely above the ocean's waves, fighting to stay in the air as the grimm part of her tried to consume everything else.
Something large and dark breached the waves below her, and tentacles plucked her from the sky and deposited her on a broad black surface. She was too tired to fight back. A voice rang out inside of her head. "Cinder. Another failure. At this point I wonder why I even bother with you."
"Hnnnnn!"
"Yes, I'm sure the consumption is quite painful. I did warn you that the essence I imbued you with would attack when it sensed weakness. It wants your aura. And you oblige it by lowering your defenses."
Cinder gasped and panted, impotent in her rage. "Ruby!" she managed to claw out, her throat convulsing on that single word.
"What's this? Surely a dead girl didn't put you into this current sorry state."
"Not dead. In Vacuo. Don't know how."
A moment where Cinder was left to writhe, and then sudden, blessed release as the burning tendrils of corruption ceased their quest to devour her. "Tell me all."
Cinder panted as the pain departed. "News feed. Saw it when I was in Kuo Kuana. Her whole team is back, but I swear to you that they fell. Ask Ambrosius, he made the damned nexus where we fought. Surely he knows."
"This doesn't excuse your failure, but it changes some of our priorities. My creature will carry you while you regain your strength, and then you will return to me" There was command in that sentence, and Cinder knew that she couldn't disobey even if her life depended on it. So much of her was grimm now, and her being yearned to obey. Salem owned her, body and soul.
"I am nothing without you," Cinder ground out through gritted teeth, and fell exhausted onto the fleshy back of the deep-sea grimm that Salem had sent for her, eyes burning with fury.
Mercury liked Vacuo. It had a certain je ne sais quoi that suited men of his talents. And the best part was he was finally free of that creep Tyrian. Working in proximity with that raving zealot had been uncomfortable, and that was putting it mildly. He never knew what the other man was thinking at any given moment, only that it was probably something batshit insane. And it wasn't that Mercury was against theft, blackmail, bribery, the threat of violence, actual violence, or even killing if the situation called for it, but Tyrian was crazy. Legitimately out of his mind. After they had sprung the twins and returned to Salem, Mercury was very grateful that Salem wanted him to return to Vacuo, alone, to continue her work.
Did he miss Emerald? Sure, sometimes. Did he wonder about Salem's actual goals? Of course. In fact, the more he thought about what Tyrian kept telling him what Salem was planning to do with the world, the more worried he got, but he had found he could just not think about it, (usually after imbibing something mind-altering, Vacuans made killer tequila), and then it was ok again. Kinda. He honestly tried to not think about anything too much anymore, period. Thinking about Salem's plans made his stomach tight. He kept reminding himself that Salem was loaded, and he liked money, and he wasn't too fussed on how he made it. He didn't know where she had acquired all her Lien, but since she was immortal, he figured she had had some time to invest. And it kept moving from her to him in a steady stream, so long as he did what was asked.
Right now, he was in the bustling open-air market, sipping his drink and waiting for his contact to show. There was discord to sow, and he was primed for action. Disgruntled Atlesian nobility, bereft of their cushy lifestyle and chafing under Vacuan hospitality, were ripe for the taking. They had already made themselves a little cabal and had even attempted some light terrorism. That it had failed hadn't surprised Mercury much, but if they were competent, well, he wouldn't be here and getting paid.
The man he was waiting for bustled into view, back ramrod straight, the white of his jacket showing in stark outline against the brightly colored Vacuans and integrated refugees that littered the lanes. Mercury sighed. The dumbass was begging to be followed. The man sat down across from him, straightened his jacket, and leaned forward.
Before he could speak, Mercury cut him off. "I dunno who you are man, but I don't want anything." He shoved away from the table and stalked off. If this guy was worth a damn, he would find the paper Mercury had left behind and rendezvous with him at the new spot. If not, he would need to re-impress upon the Atlesians the need for subtlety. Damned amateurs.
Mercury, to beat the facial recognition patterns of the Knights, had cut his hair, grown a beard, and adopted the aviator style sunglasses that were all the rage among the young folk of Vacuo right now. He had also ditched his old wardrobe in favor of something more appropriate for the desert climate. The Atlesian nobles, however, clung to their bright white formal wear and upper-crust mannerisms. They just could not resist shouting to the world who they were. Which, fine. Mercury could respect that, in some capacity, at least. Until it directly impacted his bottom line, anyway.
Fifteen minutes later and several blocks away, in a much slower part of town, Mercury sat inside a building with a good view of both ends of the street. He was getting ready to move on, a scathing rebuke formed and ready to fire at his contact in his scroll, when his man reappeared. Although he still stuck out a bit, a token effort had been made. He looked ridiculous, with a serape draped over his coat jacket and a wide brimmed hat on his head, but Mercury supposed he'd take it. This time.
As the man came into the building, fuming, Mercury leaned back in his seat, eyeing him from behind his sunglasses. "Did you take in anything I told you about being discreet?"
"I bought new clothes," the man said, bristling.
"And threw them on over your Atlas digs. You're not blending in like that. You want spec-ops breathing down your neck? Keep doing what you're doing."
His counterpart took a deep breath in, hands clenching, and breathed out. "My men are ready to move. Everything is in place and Winter doesn't suspect a thing."
"You're sure? Winter is no pushover. She'll gut you like a fish if she senses anything, like, at all."
"Winter has her fingers in too many pies. We're fine."
"If you say so, it's your heads." Mercury drummed his fingers on the tabletop, thinking. Winter had look pretty tired the last time he had seen her, flanked by soldiers and marching through the market. Most of the defenders did, for that matter.
"I have news for you to report back, as well. Some VIPs are in Vacuo, fresh from Patch. Taiyang Xiao Long, for starters."
Mercury sat up a bit straighter. That was interesting news. He'd learned of RWBY's survival, of course. It was all over the city. He hadn't passed that info on to Salem yet, and he wasn't really sure why. He supposed maybe because it was Cinder's cock-up, and she should be the one to take that particular fall. Another part of it was Emerald, too. He'd determined she was teamed up with the remains of JNPR, and that left him conflicted. Further digging had revealed she was out of the kingdom on a mission, but drawing Salem's ire by disclosing the news about Ruby put a target on Emerald as well. Despite their falling out, she'd always been like a sister to him. An annoying, prickly, smug sister, but a sister all the same. And so he had dragged his feet, unwilling to pass the information along, and found more bars with good tequila to make his worries disappear. With this new information, however, he'd need to report something to keep Salem happy.
"That is interesting. Maybe you lot are more useful than I thought." Tai was on Salem's hit list. If he was here in Vacuo, that meant most of the people that Salem wanted dead were all in the same place. Which also meant that a full-scale assault wouldn't be far behind, one that would make the attack that covered him and Tyrian look like a playdate in the park by comparison. There was the small problem of the Summer Maiden and the last Vault, not to mention the missing Crown, but Mercury knew Salem had people working on that. To his surprise, the idea of another assault on Vacuo filled him with a vague sense of dread. Huh.
"We're also ready to move on the Fang again." The man overemphasized the word fang, spitting it out with vehemence.
"And I've got your key." Mercury hesitated for a moment, then slid a slim card across the table to his contact. "That will get you into the building. The rest is up to you. Just remember what happened last time."
Albert Marigold smiled and took the keycard. "There isn't a grimm attack to worry about this time, and we have more competent followers on our side now. The movement is growing."
"If you say so. Just remember your part. We're trying to increase the divide between the people here. If you play your cards right, the tinderbox that is Vacuo will catch fire and explode. Are you ready for those consequences?" Am I?
"Atlas will rise from the ashes. It is our destiny, and Vacuo will die, like it should have during the Great War."
Mercury stood up. "So long as Salem gets what she wants." He left then, leaving Albert behind, thinking. Salem surely doesn't care about Atlas 'rising from the ashes'. She's the one who turned it to ash in the first place. People will buy anything if you paint it in the right light, and people are idiots. Myself included. Shit. The world really is going to burn, isn't it?
Author's Note
Hey ya'll. Another slightly shorter chapter, this time from some of the villain's point of view, including my first attempt at writing some Mercury. I wasn't sure what direction I had wanted to take him, and also wasn't sure what direction CRWBY was planning on taking him, so I hope I did alright. Is he a good guy? No, absolutely not. But you don't have to be a good guy to not want the world to burn, y'know?
Also, AO3 is being slow this morning, so if any of ya'll cross read I'll try to get this chapter up on there later when the page is being cooperative.