Chapter 26 – Argus: Fire Fear Foes.
[A/N] Hold on to your aura, folks, cause shit's about to get real.
Most of the Lone Huntsmen were in the basement updating each other on recent business and new living arrangements, when a red light lit and buzzer sounded on the wall. Had it been Terra upstairs, Pete might have casually made his way there to see what the issue was.
But it wasn't her manning the counter, it was GNU… Sophia. And they could hear her screaming for Pete through the floor. They nearly killed themselves getting to the upstairs, to find Sophia trying desperately to get tweenaged Sarah to tell them what had happened. Sarah was spattered with blood, though it didn't seem to be hers. Crystal was nowhere to be seen.
"Cinder?!" Selene cried.
That seemed to snap Sarah out of it. "She's fighting them! Help her!"
"Where?!" Garek cried.
"We were going to the ice cream shop!" She sobbed.
"I know where it is." Pete said, and charged out, most of the adults following but leaving Sophia to tend to the shaking Sarah. As they scrambled outside into the parking lot, Garek saw Crystal at the street already, scanning left and right, before she apparently saw something, jerked, and began charging off to the east. The rest of the adults were already following Pete that direction from the Emporium doorway, but she reached the scene ahead of them.
A few blocks away, they saw and then smelled something in the street burning with the smell of roasting meat. No, not meat, human flesh and cloth and leather. Bodies lay scattered across the side of the street and onto the sidewalk. As they reached the scene, they could see that one had slagged glass melted into their face, the second a softball-sized lump buried in his throat. A third's face was mortally mangled by an explosion of some sort, with a destroyed firearm next to him. A fourth was facedown near a toppled motorcycle, breath rasping and bubbling out through a hole burnt nearly through his back.
The last, closest to Cinder, was a blackened figure encased in a ten-foot high column of flame. Anything on it that could burn, did. Everything that wouldn't burn was either ash or was melting and pooling on the cobblestones around it.
Cinder knelt in the street in front of that fiery column, hands buried deep in glowing and glassed cobblestones. Several of the stones around her were pocked with hunks carved out. Argent was clinging to Cinder's back, weeping and babbling to her. Terra was a couple meters away, bleeding profusely from a slashed arm and looking pale. Laurel was splayed out on the sidewalk and not moving, closer to Terra.
A cargo vehicle was parked a dozen meters ahead, doors gaping open.
Crystal had already rushed to Terra and began tearing strips from clothing to bind her arm, telling her she was going to be okay, and BA joined her as soon as he reached them. Pete stopped when he reached the scene, looking sick, but checked on Laurel immediately. "She's breathing!" He reassured the others.
Argent was still talking to Cinder urgently. "It's okay Cinder. You're okay. I'm okay. Sarah went for help. It's okay Cinder…" She was repeating it like a mantra over and over.
Garek started to rush forward, but Selene grabbed his arm, and she shook her head at him, and spoke in a soft voice. "Cinder, love. Your family is here now. You are safe." They saw Cinder begin to shake, but the flames didn't abate. "Cinder. You will obey me. You have protected your friends. We are here. You will stop now."
The girl shuddered, and her hands lifted from the cobblestones with an eerie liquid sucking sound. Argent whimpered and wrapped her arms around Cinder, hugging her tightly. The fire in front of them quickly began to falter, though the sounds of sizzling flesh remained along with the sickeningly sweet smell.
"They hurt my friends," Cinder said evenly.
"And you stopped them," Selene said, as Garek walked forward, and put his hand on Cinder's shoulder.
It had started innocently. GNU aka Sophia had been minding the front desk. Terra and the Grimmslayers were hanging out, when Laurel had suggested they go grab some ice cream.
Terra agreed to go along as an escort. The streets in this area were generally safe. She'd never had trouble before. They'd told Sophia, and she'd nodded. They were good kids. They'd be careful.
They made it two blocks away when the cargo transport pulled to the curb ahead of them. Maybe it should have set off alarm bells, but it didn't. This was Argus, not Mistral. This was a well-off area, townhouses and moderately upscale shops. Sure it was late in the evening, and the streets were pretty empty. But surely…
Then Cinder heard the sound of a motorcycle pull up just behind her, and a man's voice said "Hey kids, any of you know where I can find a good Vacuan Restaurant out here?"
Cinder felt herself tense, thought she wasn't sure why. She half turned to see a young man, dressed in riding leathers, lift the visor of his helmet. His face was open and honest.
But she didn't like his eyes. Not one bit.
Laurel had turned toward him, smiling. Terra was frowning, and starting to reach for Laurel. Sarah was beside her.
She almost missed the sound of the van doors quietly opening.
Everything seemed to happen at once.
She glanced toward the van to see four men surge out on stealthy feet. They were armed with leather-wrapped and blunt instruments. There was a sickening sound to her left that caused her to snap back toward motorcycle man, and to her horror Laural was on the sidewalk and the man was advancing on Sarah holding another of those leather-wrapped weapons.
Terra screamed, and against all reason, charged him. She wasn't a trained fighter, but her seventeen year old frame barreling at him was not what he had expected, and he lost his grip and bounced back into the motorcycle, knocking it over and the weapon out of his hands. He cursed, and pulled out a large knife. "Looks like someone's going to get a different kind of lesson."
"Don't cut 'em up too much!" One of the men to Cinder's right growled. "Costs us lien!"
Cinder felt herself go cold and hot at the same time. The men to her right were advancing slowly, spreading out. They weren't worried. Argent was just behind Cinder, whimpering. Sarah's eyes were wide, watching motorcycle guy advance toward Terra, who was backing up toward Sarah. He lunged toward Sarah with one hand, and Terra tried to block him. She would protect Sarah, Cinder thought.
She doesn't have aura, Cinder realized with a sick feeling, as the blade slashed into Terra's arm, spattering her and Sarah with blood.
"RUN! Terra screamed, falling backward and grabbing her arm.
Cinder fell to her knees in rage and shock.
You can't.
Cinder burned.
My friends.
Cinder's hands burned.
You hurt my friends.
The cobblestones beneath her hands glassed and began to melt.
I'll kill you for that.
"NO!" Cinder screamed, hands grasping, and drew two handfuls of molten glass from the street in front of her. Her right hand flung forward and the flaming slag released and struck motorcycle man in the back as he approached Sarah and Terra. He screamed and twisted, fell, and kept screaming as the flaming glass caught his clothing on fire and began to eat into his flesh.
Sarah spared one wide-eyes stare for Terra, bleeding on the sidewalk, and Cinder, one hand still full of flame. Then she ran for the Emporium.
Cinder's senses twinged, and she instinctively pushed aura to her back and felt the thud of two heavy weapons strike her, one between the shoulder blades and the other to back of her head. She barely registered the pain as her yellow-golden eyes turned to find two of the men had run forward to strike her from behind. Two more were advancing on Argent, though one had paused to stare in horror at motorcycle man's screaming form.
One of the men closest to her was yelling something, his face twisted in rage. Cinder's left hand moved forward without thought, and filled that hateful mouth with molten slag. It filled the orifice, and spattered up and covered his nose as well, and his eyes went wild and cheeks bulged as he tried to scream with the agony of it, but found there was no opening left to get air out… or in. He fell backward, face twisted and bulging and burning.
Cinder rotated. The second man in front of her was pulling out a gun. She reached out and grabbed it by the barrel with her left hand, as her right reached for the cobblestones again.
Heat bloomed in her left hand, sealing the barrel and racing backward down it from her touch, and the ammunition exploded backward into his face in a spray of fire dust and metal, blowing him backward and down. Her right hand brought up another ball of superheated glassy cobblestone, and the man who had hesitated caught that in the throat.
Her aim was improving.
She heard a sound to her right, and the last man was reaching out for Argent with one hand, and pulling out a knife with the other. Cinder snarled, a "No, you won't!" and managed to reach out a hand, a hand that suddenly didn't burn, and grabbed Argent, yanking her back behind her. Both hands again went down to the street, and she felt a trail of heat bloom beneath both hands, and then race forward. The man tried to charge her with the knife, then started screaming as his shoes and then the flesh of his feet melted into the street. Flames exploded up his legs.
The screaming went on for a long time.
But not long enough.
She wanted the man to scream.
These were her friends. Hers.
No one hurts mine. No one takes mine.
There was a soft voice behind her, chanting something, but all she could hear was the roaring of the flames. The beautiful flames. The heat filled her, fed her rage, and her rage fed it back. The flames sounded like screaming. It was music.
Until a soft voice cut through the symphony. "Cinder, love. Your family is here now. You are safe." It wasn't a voice of anger, or fear, or disappointment. There was calm assurance in it. It cut through the flames, the screaming, and quenched her rage like a sheet of cool water pouring across her mind.
Behind it lay… what? What am I? She felt her body begin to shake. Fear? Horror? Am I going to be punished?
"Cinder. You will obey me. You have protected your friends. We are here. You will stop now."
There. Yes, I should know better. Selene wouldn't punish me for… for… she shuddered, and pulled her hands, completely unburned, from the superheated slag before her with a liquid sound, like pulling boots from deep mud.
She heard Argent reassuring her against her back, and felt her friend's arms curl all the way around her torso.
No. I won't be punished, because…"they hurt my friends," Cinder said evenly.
"And you stopped them." Selene answered, and it felt like redemption.
She felt Garek's hand on her shoulder, and Cinder sobbed with relief.
"Get them back to the Emporium. Now. BA can you stay with me and help?" The former Specialist nodded. "Selene, go with Cinder." "Pete, the police may come to the Emporium."
"I'll keep everyone to the public areas. I've been doing this long enough. And the local cops know me. Had a few gangs try to mess with me in the past. I'm on good terms. I'm going to call an ambulance for Terra. She's got a deep cut."
"Okay."
Pete picked up Laurel as Crystal helped a pale Terra to her feet and supported her. The girl winced at the pain, but wouldn't stop staring at Cinder, expression otherwise unreadable. Selene had one of Cinder's hands, and Argent clung to Cinder's other, refusing to let go. Cinder had reverted to an eerie calm quickly, but kept glancing down at Argent's hand joined with hers as they walked slowly back to the arcade.
BA and Garek stared at each other for a few minutes, then took in the scene of destruction around them. The man near the motorcycle had expired while they had taken stock of the situation.
Good, thought Garek.
"Garek…"
"Yeah?"
"Your kid just wiped the floor with five armed men."
"Yeah."
"Twelve years old, Garek. She was unarmed," BA looked at the place where Cinder's handprints could be seen as solidifying impressions deep in the former cobblestones. The spot was making plinking noises as it cooled, as was the ashed and slagged corpse buried in a puddle of what could charitably be called hardening lava or slag nearby. "Maybe not so unarmed. What the hell was that?"
"Semblance." Garek was trying to get his brain fully working. "It happens sometimes. Extreme stress or danger unlocks it suddenly and…" He shook his head. "I've heard stories of it going wrong. Kid hurts themselves, or someone else."
"She gonna get in trouble over this?" BA asked.
"Doubt it. The authorities are… very forgiving of the future generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Might have to do with the hordes of Grimm out there, and how few of us there are to protect against them."
"Ah."
"Might be a problem if they push about her identity. We've screwed around too long. If she had her Mistral ID, I would be a lot happier now. I need to get on that. Can't wait for the bullhead."
BA had circled around the cooling corpses and moved over to the cargo vehicle, peering inside. "Vehicle's still got the keys in it. More weapons in there. Not touching anything. Rope. Looks like some blindfolds and gags too. These assholes were kidnappers or traffickers. Here, in the middle of Argus." He seemed offended by the idea.
There was the sound of approaching sirens, and BA stepped into the middle of the street, waving his arms. Garek moved next to him. It was only a minute before first one set, then a second, of flashing lights roared up and blocked the street on either side of the scene. Garek was relieved when another set of lights, these the color of emergency services, pulled up to the Emporium.
"Stay right there, gentlemen, hands where we can see them."
"No problem, officer," BA said, "We found them like this. The kids and the rest of us are back at Pete's Emporium. Mason can vouch for us." BA nodded that direction.
They could hear the officers behind them exit their vehicle and take a defensive position. The smell of roasted flesh couldn't have been settling. Garek pushed aura toward his back, just out of reflex. It was hard not to tense up.
One officer approached from in front of them, the other using their vehicle for cover. The eyes of the officer coming toward ignored everything except them. "And your name, sir?"
"Reginald Cass, former Atlas Specialist. CEO of recently formed Mistral-Argus Security Consultants, based here. I was talking with Pietro Mason over at Pete's about a security assessment. He's had some issues with gangs."
"Got some ID?"
"Yeah." He didn't move.
"Okay, you can move one hand slowly and take it out, pitch it over to me please." The eyes flicked over to Garek. "Alright ears, what about you?"
Garek stiffened at the soft insult. Great. "Huntsmen Garek Grae, licensed out of Haven." He enjoyed seeing the man's response cycle from awareness, to fear, to relief.
"Ah. Sorry about that, Huntsman. When the call came in, it was about a group of men attacking children. We're a little on edge. You have your ID? Same moves please. And apologies in advance."
Within a minute, things became much more relaxed. The officers had verified their identities, and were beginning to poke through the scene, securing it and moving Garek and... Reginald? Out of the way.
"Can we call to check on our friends?" The ambulance was still there, which was actually promising because it meant they had not rushed anyone to the hospital. And there were more cars showing up there every minute, including a couple of police cars there, but with lights off.
"Sure, no problem."
Selene answered the scroll immediately. "Garek! We saw there were police there. Is everything alright?" She asked, eyes wide.
"It's fine. We're just going to have to stay here a bit to answer questions." He lowered his voice. "How are Terra and Laurel?"
"The paramedics are here. They gave Terra something for the pain, and have cleaned and temporarily closed the wound. They will transport her to a clinic for permanent stitches in a few moments, but they say she is in no danger. Laurel was rendered unconscious by one of those men, but she is awake now. They say to watch for a concussion, but they do not seem overly concerned."
"And the others?"
"Sarah is traumatized, but improved when she saw the others return. She was not hurt, it was Terra's blood on her. Her parents are here, and are about to take her home as soon as the police take a statement. Argent… Her mother arrived as well, but we have been unable to convince her to go home until Cinder does." Selene smiled.
"How is Cinder?"
"She is… I am not sure. She seems to shift between calm, to unsure how to deal with Argent, to pleased with Argent, to shaking."
"Post trauma reaction. Okay. Have the police talked to her yet?"
"No, I have told them you are a Huntsman, and that she is in training, and that they are to speak with you."
"Good girl." Selene did not correct him, which told him how distressed she was. "I'm serious. That was the truth, and the best response. I'm a licensed Huntsman. The Police will be considerate of that." He glanced up to find the officer listening in, and got a nod in response, regardless of the man's views regarding faunus.
"Huntsman, there's a detective on the way. He'll ask you for your statement, then he can accompany you to see your ward and take hers as well. Is she physically okay?"
"Yeah. I don't think she was hurt."
"Better than can be said for these bastards," the officer muttered. Garek could see BA… Reginald… over by the cargo vehicle with two officers, they all three looked very pissed off. Two other officers were placing little numbered cones next to items including the destroyed firearm, the motorcycle, corposes, glass blobs, and missing cobblestones, and taking photos of each.
An unmarked car pulled up, and a well-dressed man got out. "Officer Portman. These our witnesses?"
"Some of them. The kids are over at the arcade."
"Alright, one second gentlemen." He walked around the scene, taking notes in his scroll. He seemed completely unfazed by the destruction and the smell.
"Alright," he consulted notes apparently sent by the initial officers, "Mr. Cass, I'm Detective Rosemarch. Can you tell me what you saw this evening? Once he finished, he asked the same of Garek.
While they spoke, he'd moved over to the set of very obvious handprints buried deeply in the slagged cobblestones. "Alright. Your ID's checked out, and the story is… well believable once you factor in a Semblance. How old is she again?"
"Twelve, Detective. She only recently unlocked aura, and I've been trying to get her trained up to get her into her age bracket at Sanctum. First time we've seen evidence of a Semblance."
"And it's a hell of a semblance, Huntsman." He took in the scene of mayhem. "You might want to expedite that. Any evidence of collateral injuries?"
BA spoke up. "Not that we saw. I didn't see any burns on the other kids."
"Even better. That means a lot less paperwork on every side. She wouldn't have been held accountable for it, but still. Better for everyone." He turned to the patrol officers. "Looks like a trafficking ring. I'm going to walk with these gentlemen over to the arcade. I'll come back after to finish up. Keep the scene clean."
They walked in silence the two blocks to see the ambulance pull away, lights off, followed by a car containing what was likely Terra's family. Crystal was outside, looking conflicted. "It's crowded in there, I felt like I was just in the way." They nodded at her.
The inside was going to need some cleanup. There were bloodstains on the floor. Argent was still there, clinging to Cinder. Selene sat on Cinder's right, one arm around her shoulders. Someone who was clearly young Argent's mother was standing nearby, looking by turns concerned and frustrated. Garek really looked at his daughter's friend for the first time. Metallic-blue hair, greenish-blue eyes. An impish, freckled face that was right now very intent on her friend. She was keeping up a running commentary to Cinder that he couldn't hear, and quietly alternating between rubbing Cinder's arm or the back of her hand.
"Miss Cinder?" the Detective spoke beside him. "I'm Detective Rosemarch." Cinder looked up at him warily, and Garek could see her tense. Argent grabbed a hand and whispered something in her ear, and she actually relaxed.
Well isn't that a thing.
"It's okay, Miss, you are not in any trouble whatsoever. We just need to get a statement from you, so that we can document exactly what happened. Are you alright to talk to me now? We can wait if we have to, but it's better to get it while memory is fresh." The man smiled at her, and it didn't look fake either.
Cinder looked at him, then Garek who nodded. She felt Selene give her a brief squeeze of encouragement. And then she looked at Argent, who nodded too and mouthed It's okay.
"Okay. I can talk." And slowly at first, but with gradually increasing firmness, she explained what had happened. Argent nodded along, and added details here and there as well, which seemed to boost Cinder's confidence.
"I don't… I don't really remember what happened with the last one. He was… trying to grab Argent and he had a knife, and I just grabbed her first and pulled her behind me… and then he was screaming and the world felt like it was burning."
"She pulled me behind her, sir. He was going to…" Argent shuddered. "He was going to grab me and use me as a hostage or take me… and Cinder just jumped out faster than I could see and grabbed me and pulled me behind her." The girl rubbed her own shoulder for a second and winced. "And then she lit him up like a holiday tree." Argent's eyes nearly glowed. "She wasn't going to let him anywhere near me."
"Argent…" the girl's mom said in a choked voice.
"I'm okay mom, I really am. Those were bad people. They hit Laurel and they cut Terra, and I'm not sorry at all for what Cinder did to them." The words didn't seem to console her mom much.
Garek saw Selene stand up and pull the woman aside to quietly talk to her. Selene was good with stuff like that.
Detective Rosemarch asked a few more details about whether Cinder had ever done that before, and about the exploded gun, and whether they'd seen any of the men before. Finally satisfied, he put away his Scroll. "Miss Cinder, Miss Argent. Huntsman. I very seriously doubt you'll hear back from us any further on this. If we do learn anything that indicates this was personal, we'll let you know, but it looks like it was a group of people looking for targets." He looked around. "Mr. Mason, this was probably just wrong place wrong time. But I won't blame you if you increase security. Might want to warn kids about going out without adult supervision at night."
They thanked the Detective, and he left.
Selene and Argent's mother returned. "Cinder, please tell Argent that you are alright, and we are going to leave in a moment. Her mother needs her to go home now."
Cinder looked up at them, then at Argent, and blinked. "Okay. I'm… I'm okay, Argent."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine. I'm gonna be a Huntsman."
"Okay. Yeah. Okay." The two stood up, and Argent gave her friend a hug, and then kissed her on the cheek. "You'll be okay. See you soon?"
"Yeah."
The girl and her mom left, leaving no one left at the Arcade but the Lone Huntsmen, Crystal, and Cinder. Wait a minute. "Where's Sophia?" Garek asked.
"She's downstairs," Pete said. "You might want to talk to her." Garek made to pass him, and he grabbed his arm for a second. "She's blaming herself for letting them go alone."
Garek frowned. "Selene I'll be right back."
He found her sitting at the conference table, glasses beside her, face a wreck. She turned red-rimmed eyes to him. "Hey… time for my beating?" She sounded almost hopeful.
"Nah, Huntsmen aren't allowed to beat up civies. Tends to make a mess."
"I'm sorry." Sophia breathed. "I can't believe I just let them-"
"Let them what? Do what they've been doing for months? Hell, I bet Terra's been walking to that place for years."
"But still…"
"But still. Shit happens, Sophia. I'm a Huntsman. I've seen innocent situations go upside down with no warning, and people destroy themselves with the guilt." He felt a moment of clarity. "Hell, I did it. My partner and I walked into a trap that neither of us could have seen coming. He got his throat cut and I had to live with survivor's guilt for five years. Know what I did?" She shook her head. "I tried to commit soft suicide, that's what I did. Took solo jobs that should have used a two-man team. Stopped visiting family. Spent less and less time talking to friends. More time out in the wilderness where anything could have happened." He shook his head. "And something did happen. I ran into Selene, almost got myself murdered because of that. Long story for later. But I figured out I had things to live for."
"My point is, things happen. This wasn't your fault. You had the bad luck to be at the desk. You think any of us wouldn't have waved them through? Hell, I would have held the door for them." The enormity of what had happened washed over him, and he sat down suddenly. "Cinder… Sophia, I don't know if you heard…"
"I just saw the kids come in, and it was too much… I know they're okay… but I couldn't stay…" He gave her a quick summary.
"Gods…" she murmured.
"Yeah. I've never seen a Semblance at that age used so devastatingly… she tore through those bastards like tissue, except for the one that tried to hurt Argent. She burned him to the ground."
Sophia gave him a careful look. "Cinder likes Argent."
Garek blinked. Gears started to turn, did some math. "Oh. Ah."
"Yeah. It's just kid crush. Might not be anything. Might turn into something when they grow up a bit."
"Hey guys. Safe to come in?" Pete's voice said from the hallway.
"Yeah. We're good here. Right Soph?" Garek called back.
"Yeah… I… Thanks, Garek. I needed that. I'm still sorry. I still feel like…"
"You will, don't let it eat at you."
"Let me lock up and take you home." Pete said as he entered the room. "I want to drive you home, and pamper you, and tuck you into bed."
Sophia looked at Pete like he'd grown three new heads, and all of them had taken a shower and combed their hair. "Okay," she managed.
Garek took that as his signal to leave.
The four members of the Grae household, including Crystal, made it back to the newly acquired townhouse. It was still only sparsely furnished, but it already felt like a haven. Crystals immediately begged off to her room. "I figure I can wait, and you guys need to talk. I'll just be in the way."
"Thank you Crys, you have nothing to be concerned about. We can discuss in the morning."
"Thanks."
After she had left, Garek and Selene turned to the young girl in the room. "Cinder, do you wish to talk about this any further tonight? Do you feel… ill, or upset, or just strange inside?"
She searched Selene's eyes. There was no judgment there, just concern. "I feel… I feel a little hollow. Like there was something inside me for a while, and now it's gone. But I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, so I don't know if being hollow is bad or not. It's just… I feel weird."
That's going to be normal after something you just went through." He squeezed Cinder's shoulder. "Could be adrenaline wearing off. Could be aura or semblance related. Could be from the anger or fear you had." He tousled her hair. "I've felt it too, for different reasons, over the years. It's important to let yourself feel that, without it hurting you or anyone else. You understand?"
Cinder absorbed that. "Should I be sorry that I killed those men?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know. I'm not sorry, though. They tried to..." She shuddered and that was a good sign. "I won't let anyone take away what's mine. I won't."
"You don't have to feel sorry for this situation. This time, those were bad men who were going to do bad things, and what you did was completely justified." He looked at her carefully. "There are lines, though, and it's important to learn where they are. But that can wait until you are a little more steady. Okay?"
"Okay. I understand."
"So, you want to sleep with us tonight?"
Golden-yellow eyes widened, and Cinder started to shake a little. "Can I? I… I'm a little afraid of…" she looked at her hands. "You aren't afraid of me? Terra is…"
"No Cinder." Selene hugged her. "We love you, and you love us. We aren't afraid of you. And Terra is just a little shocked. She will need some time, I think. Give her a little space. And Argent trusts you, right?
That calmed her. "Yeah. Argent trusts me," she breathed. "I'd like to sleep with you guys tonight."
They took their time, letting her take a shower to wash off the smell of scorch and flesh, and change into her pyjamas. Selene waited outside the door, in case she needed her. Then she and Garek both changed into theirs and arranged pillows just so, and curling up with Cinder snuggled up in the middle between them. She fell asleep rapidly, but the adults stayed awake until close to midnight. Cinder dozed and woke a few times and clung to them, shaking, but it passed quickly, and they all finally slept. Selene could survive a night.
[A/N] And so that happened.
Let's take a moment to compare original timeline canon Cinder to this AU Cinder. In canon, little Cinder spent five years sporadically training with Rhodes and being regularly physically and mentally abused and tortured, turning her into some flavor of antisocial personality disorder sufferer that at age fifteen murdered / manslaughtered her stepsisters and stepmother, and then when Rhodes tried to subdue her instead of taking her side, killed him too, including using her semblance Scorching Caress on him. This set her down the path of valuing one thing and one thing only in canon, the power to never be on the receiving end of abuse ever again, to never be dependent on someone else for safety.
In this AU, Rhodes, Garek, and Selene instead realized somewhat the damaging path Cinder had been placed on, and extracted her after only two years. As a result, not only is twelve-year-old Cinder less damaged by the abuse, but her freedom was won not through her own violence, but instead gently through the help of people who showed real care for her. These two factors appear to have had a dramatic impact on her development as a person. Instead of just valuing power for self-preservation, now she has a family… and friends, and isn't afraid to rely on them.
And then someone tried to take those away from her.
Kinda a bad idea.
In some ways, her reaction in this chapter is even more violent than what she did in canon three years later. She didn't just kill those men, she instinctively used Scorching Caress to take them down painfully and efficiently, and then reduced one of them to ash and slag.
In both canon and AU, she's apparently not sorry afterward, not one bit. But both actions and motives matter. Instead of being ruthless in defense of only herself, she appears to be even more ruthless, but now in defense of those she cares about. Can this still go horribly wrong? Yeah, I think it could. Her reaction if something happened to one of her family or close friends might be on par with what Salem would do if someone hurt Selene.
Burn it. Burn it all. Slag the remains.
And we also learn the real names of BA aka Broken Arrow (Reginald or Reggie Cass) and Pete (Pietro Mason)
I really really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed my presentation of the event, parts in parallel, from two different POVs, both the kids, and the adults. You also get a small glimpse of Crys again, and future chapters will focus some on her development as well.
Oh, and also, apparently Cinder has a tween crush interest with Argent, and it looks to be reciprocated. How cool is that?
Stay tuned folks. Near-term, chapters will continue to feature more and more canon characters meeting our crew, as their influence spreads and their actions ripple through the AU timeline. And we will see further character development of our main OCs Garek and Selene, along with Cinder, Rhodes, Crystal / Crys, and The Lone Huntsmen trio. Right now, I'd say we are slowly wrapping up the opening arc of this story, which is focused on assembling our core team and gaining information and a working base of operations spanning Fall of Beacon (FoB) -11 to -9, and moving into the second arc, which will be about stretching that influence and starting to have significant impacts on the world of Remnant spanning FoB -9 to -3 or so… albeit trying to stay below the radar. And then of course the third arc, which will likely put them in direct conflict with both Ozpin and his team, and Queen Salem and her agents when we get closer to original canon FoB -3 to +1. Will Beacon fall in this timeline? Maybe? Maybe in a different way. Maybe something completely different will happen. Only the bunnies and their myriad plots can be sure.