Author's Notes:
-Greetings readers! I was going to make you wait a bit longer for this chapter, but it's not every year we have a Leap Year. And it is Leap Day. So, I figured I'd be nice and give you guys an update. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get some good luck or something. Unfortunately, for one of the characters shown, all of her luck has run out.
But enough about luck and leaps. Let's get this pain-train rolling!
Deep in the Catacombs Correctional Facility, on the very bottom floor where there was no light, death row prisoner Maura Celandine was sinking into despair. It was early morning in Mistral, around 8am. But in the darkness she couldn't tell what time it was or how long she had been imprisoned here since the end of her trial. After Judge Bluebell declared her guilty, Maura tried to get some sleep, but her efforts were unsuccessful. She couldn't sleep when she knew what was going to happen. Normally, as a death row inmate, she'd wait for a year or two at least before being executed. If she was lucky, she would wait a few years before facing capital punishment. However, as a branded terrorist, she was automatically bumped up to the front of the line. In the same way they rushed her trial, the prosecutors and the public were rushing and pushing for her immediate execution. Today was the day. Her last day.
Maura sat in her prison cell on her bed. Her hair was now worn loosely, letting it fall naturally. There were visible bags under her eyes and the necklace she wore had been taken off. In the corner of the camera view, her necklace was seen on the ground along with her green scrunchie.
It's over... She thought. Why am I even awake? Maybe I should just go back to bed...
She looked up as she heard a guard unlock the door and enter her cell, shutting the door behind him as he held a flashlight in his hand.
"Ms. Celandine. I've come to inform you of your upcoming execution." the guard stated. "As you know, your execution is today, and as a convicted terrorist, you are being moved up to the front of the line. All other executions are being stopped because of your actions. Your execution will be at sunset and will involve..."
As the guard went into the details of her execution, Maura didn't pay much attention and instead let her thoughts wonder. At least I'll get to see the light one last time...
"And, as is customary for prisoners on death row, you get to have something special within reason for your last meal. Any requests?"
She nodded her head. "No thanks. I don't want it. Better yet, give it to a homeless person."
The guard was silent, as though processing her statement. "Very well then."
Without another word, he left her cell, locking the door behind him.
This can't be happening... Maura thought. Is it really over?
Sometime later, Watts stood in front of an apartment in the lower levels of Mistral city. After making sure the cameras weren't on him, he roamed through the hallway to Room 419.
The apartment of Lotus and Inigo. Seems they've become roommates since I last came here. Watts thought to himself.
He decided to knock on the door. As he waited for an answer, he got out the electric device and turned it on. Ten seconds passed, and there was nothing but silence. Watts pondered his next move. He got out a lock-pick and unlocked the door before shutting it behind him. He put away the lock-pick and retrieved his scroll. He turned his scroll's flashlight feature on. With scroll light in one hand and the overpowered taser in the other, he roamed the apartment, finding two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room table with four chairs, and next to it, a living room with two couches facing towards each other. Behind the second couch, the floor to the window was taken up and covered by boxes. He looked at every inch of the place, but its two residents were not here.
I should use this opportunity to hide myself. Once they return, I'll turn their lights off for good.
The scientist hid himself behind the second couch. He turned off the taser and scroll light and looked at the time, sighing softly. He was going to be here a while.
Roughly a half-hour later, the sound of a door being opened was heard.
"That was very tasty." Lotus said.
"Indeed. Purple's Pizza Parlor always has the best stuff." Inigo agreed.
The former put a box in the refrigerator as Watts looked at his targets. "Triple P for the win!"
Creeping up from behind the couch enough to see them while remaining hidden, Watts looked at his two targets. Lotus and Inigo were in the same outfits they wore to Maura's trial.
"I still can't believe that they caught her." Inigo told his roommate.
"What's really unbelievable is that Maza defended her." Lotus remarked.
"Do you really think that they're going to execute Maura so..." Inigo asked. Watts tried to sneak back under the couch, but as he slowly slid back down, his hand accidentally knocked over a box. "Did you hear something?"
"I think it came from behind the couch." Lotus answered. He came closer to the couch only to see a silver rod charging with purple electricity come towards him as he knelt down. He gasped upon seeing Watts. "Intruder!"
He rolled back to avoid the taser. The scientist showed himself as the battle began. Watts attempted to shock Lotus, but the overpowered taser was knocked out of his hands when Inigo kicked him in the stomach.
Oh crud. he thought to himself.
As Watts swiftly evaded their moves, he formed his arms into an x shape to block Lotus's punches.
"Who are you?!" Inigo angrily asked him.
Watts smirked, trying to keep the vantage. "That..." He let his arms down and jumped to the side to avoid Inigo's blow. "is none of your concern."
He ducked down to avoid the punches and grabbed the taser. Watts electrocuted Inigo Nash with the overpowered taser, killing him immediately.
"Inigo!" Lotus watched as his friend fell to the ground. "You'll pay for that!"
The scientist tried to shock Lotus with the taser only for said taser to be knocked out of his hand with a hand slap. With his right foot, Lotus crushed the taser, destroying it. Lotus got out a dagger. "You're not so tough without your gadgets are you?"
Watts laughed. "Oh, Mr. Yu, You underestimate me. And the biggest mistake in combat-" He got out his revolver. "is to never underestimate your opponent."
Lotus Yu was kicked in the gut and subsequently shot in the head, ending the battle. Watts walked out of the apartment unseen.
Meanwhile in Atlas, Iris had just arrived on the grounds of the Schnee family manor. Light snow fell around her as she was shown wearing her purple coat with her hood up, carrying a purple bag on her left arm and her hands in her pockets. The camera turned to her face, showing her grey eyes. She took her right hand out of her pocket and opened the door to the manor. At the top of the stairs, she found Whitley waiting for her with both of his hands behind his back.
"Greetings, Iris. Glad to see you have made it here safely."
She ascended the stairs to greet him, her eyes turning from grey to yellow. "Hello Whitley." She noticed both hands behind his back. "What c'ya got there?"
"I got you something." He pulled out a pair of slate blue gloves. "So that your hands wouldn't freeze."
The painter took the gloves. "Wow, um, thank you?"
"You're welcome." She put them in her coat pocket. "Perhaps you would like a tour of the house?"
Sometime later, the two were shown walking in the servant's quarters.
"Wow. This is a very spacious area." Iris said.
"Indeed." Whitley responded. "The house staff currently consists of thirty five employees. Mrs. Blanche's chamber should be around here somewhere."
"If you're looking for Estelle, I'm afraid you won't find her here." Merla stated.
"What? Where is Madame Blanche?" Whitley asked.
"Estelle took the day off." Jacques answered from behind them. "Usually she saves all of her off days towards the end of the year, but she said that she wanted to see her eldest granddaughter Claire, who arrived at Atlas Academy early."
"Well that doesn't make any sense. Why would she be here early?" Whitley inquired.
"I don't know, and it's not really any of my business to know. We have more important matters to attend to." Jacques responded.
Iris looked away sadly, and Whitley noticed. "Is something wrong?" He looked at her eyes, seeing that her right was blue and her left was green. "You don't like Claire Blanche, do you?
She sighed. "No, I don't. I'm envious of her actually."
"And why is that?"
"Claire has everything. Friends, fame, popularity, the ability to choose her path in life and not be judged for it, a mother who loves her, presumably a good amount of money to her name and the respect of everyone around her. She's successful, beautiful, graceful, and loved by all." Iris told them. "And me? I'm nothing compared to her. I'm a coward, a failure and I'm on the verge of losing what little I have left."
Whitley raised an eyebrow. "She can't really be all that. Can she?"
Iris got out her scroll. "Just see for yourself. The camera never lies."
She showed them some pictures of her from various news articles;
The first picture of Claire Blanche was taken during her first year. She sat on a tall stool with her feet on the rail below as she smiled and posed for an interview. She was wearing a sapphire colored ballroom princess costume dress with a sapphire colored sash and neon blue heels. She wore her hair in a bun and it lacked white streaks. For accessories, she wore an imitation gold and sapphire necklace with a tear jewel at the center and smaller gems on the chord, fake sapphire earrings, and a silver bracelet with blue gems her left wrist. On her hands she wore white wrist length dress gloves. The royalty look was completed with a plastic golden crown with a big blue circular gem in the center, with smaller gems of green, yellow, orange and red to the right and indigo, purple, white and black to the left.
The next picture was Claire fighting Rouge Arc during one of her solo finalist rounds in the Vytal Festival Tournament two years ago. Rouge was wearing an A-line red dress reaching slightly past her knees with her ruby heart earrings and wore red elbow length gloves along with her heels. Her bun was slightly falling out as she held an electric dust dagger in her right hand and an ice dust dagger in her left. Claire's weapon, Glace Blanche, was held in her right hand. In the photo, she wore white pants with a midnight blue mini skirt and a statement shirt of white and blue folded vertical stripes. On her feet, she donned white cowboy boots with winter/snowflake designs in snow blue. Her jewelry had been removed and her hair was loose and slightly messy while donning a light blue bandanna above her forehead.
The next picture was taken right after she had won the Vytal Festival Tournament. She stood alone on the stage, and in the background, the screen showed a blurry image of her last opponent defeated by ring-out and aura level. In this photo, her bandanna was missing and she wore a plastic silver tiara with blue gems. Underneath was the caption, "Hail to the new queen!"
The last picture was taken during her second year, with her current teammates beside her in the courtyard, all smiling for the camera. She wore a long white modern slip dress, knee length cerulean blue boots with small heels and white elbow length gloves. A few streaks of her hair were white as she wore it in a ponytail. She donned the same silver and blue gem bracelet from the previous year and the fake tiara she donned at the end of the tournament she won.
"I will admit, she does look impressive and has an air of queenly grace to her, but how do you know that she isn't just faking it for the camera?" Whitley queried.
"She isn't called the 'Queen of Atlas Academy' for nothing." Iris quipped. "She's sometimes called the 'Pyrrha Nikos of Atlas'. She's just perfect. Too perfect."
"Like Pyrrha was?"
"Yeah, but she's dead..." Both eyes were now blue. "So I guess she wasn't perfect after all." There was a moment of silence. "Still, Claire's alive, and assuming she survives her final year at Atlas Academy, she'll be the youngest person to graduate from a huntsmen academy in all of history." Her eyes turned red. "And she already has numerous accomplishments in her life! And what do I have? Nothing!"
"Calm yourself, Iris. I know you're upset about your luck, but that will soon change." Whitley gave her a smile. "If you're willing to embrace the change."
Iris's eyes turned back to grey as mused to herself.
"Mr. Schnee, we have a problem. The giant painting of Beacon accidentally got destroyed during transport to the truck and to the Chateau." Irving reported.
"What?! How?!" He sighed heavily. "Never mind that. Just pick out a new one before the concert begins."
"Of course. Whitley, if I may ask for your assistance."
"Certainly. But first," He turned to Merla. "I need you to draw a warm bath for our guest here."
"Right away." The maid turned to Iris. "Would you like bubbles, mineral scrub or lavender oil?"
"Can I get all of them?" she requested.
"That can be arranged."
Merla quickly ran off to fulfill the task she was given.
Whitley looked at the knowledgeable butler. "Alright, Irving. Now we may go."
The two left to look at paintings. Sometime later, Iris was shown in a large bathtub/shower laying below in very warm water letting the bubbles cover her body. She splashed some water on her face and let her hair soak in the water. She closed her yellow eyes as if she was pretending to be asleep.
Ah, this feels really nice. I have to say, Whitley is being really kind to me. I've never been shown this much kindness. Painting a beautiful picture for such a noble cause, which will soon be sold off to a wealthy upper-class elite. Could this be the night where my luck changes from bad to good? I hope so. But just try to relax for now.
She opened her eyes and smiled contentedly.
As Iris and Whitley tended to preparations for the upcoming concert and auction, Maura was shown setting on the suspended bench in her cell. She looked over at the wall where all her white chalk marks were- fifteen tally lines on the wall. Fifteen days she had been in the Catacombs as Mistral's most dangerous prisoner. She felt her eyes water, her heart pound and her stomach tighten. Try as she might, she couldn't help but cry.
The nightmare is about to come to brutal end. the snake scaled faunus silently thought. But why must it be like this?
She felt a cold chill wash over her as she dried her tears. It was almost time. Even with the darkness surrounding her, Maura could feel that her end was soon to come.
I wish I could say this whole thing is a nightmare, and that I'll wake up at our campsite, but... I can't. The truth is that I failed. More tears came down her face. I failed Sienna, I failed the White Fang, I failed the Loyalists counting on me to restore order in Mistral and I failed to prove my innocence. And I failed to win the war. I failed and failed and failed.
She pinched herself with her right arm to remind her that she was awake and alive. Even though I'm not dead, Athena has already won. Unless by some miracle, someone delivers me from this. Oh be real, Maura! You can't expect a miracle to save you. She sighed heavily. I'm about to go down in history as a villain. But if I'm really going down in infamy, how can I make a difference? Leave a good impact on the world?
Before she could answer those questions, she heard a soft jingling of keys. Along with the sound of keys, she heard the sound of footsteps.
They're coming. Coming to take me away. Both the keys and the footsteps got louder as they approached her cell. It's time. the Mistralian White Fang leader thought to herself, wiping away the last of her tears. Say Goodbye. It's time to die.
Three guards showed up at her door. The third one, the same guy from earlier who held a flashlight, unlocked her cell and entered. The other two guards followed suit.
"It's time." the first one told her.
She put her hands in front of her, her wrists touching each other. The sign of surrender. "Take me away."
Two of the guards shoved her hands behind her back and hand-cuffed her. One took her right arm and the other took her left. They led her out of her cell, the third one closing and locking the door behind them. The third guard got in front of Maura and the two guards and led them through the dark prison with his light. As the guards took her by the arms, every prisoner in the cells watched as she was dragged forth. They all knew what was going to happen, and watched on somberly. Some were shocked by the light and their eyes hurt from seeing it. One prisoner, a female faunus with bunny ears, cried as she saw Maura being dragged to her death.
Eventually, the guards reached the stone staircase. As they dragged her up the stairs, she lifted her feet up and walked with the pace of her guards. She thought to herself, Ascending the steps, out of the darkness to be engulfed by the light of their twisted justice. They don't even know I'm innocent, and they will never believe me. If I tried to protest my innocence during my parting speech, would they believe me?
She continued to ponder her last words as the finished climbing the stairs to the first level of the prison. Unlike the last level, the first floor was lit by torches and artificial lights. They led her through the right hallway, the same hallway she was dragged in on the way in, and now she was on her way out.
My days in this prison have become hours. My hours minutes. Each minute is spent walking towards my death. But there is no turning back. Even if I tried to escape, the guards wouldn't let me get very far before I'm forcibly dragged to the execution grounds.
The guards reached the lobby of the first floor. She was lead up to the steps to the trapdoor.
No one outside the White Fang ever believed I was innocent. Except for... The trapdoor was opened and they reached the surface. her...
As the first guard turned off the flashlight, Maura stopped and looked up at the sky, painted with yellow and orange hues as the sun had almost completely set.
There it is. The setting sun in all its beauty. I get to see the sun one last time... the Mistralian White Fang leader thought.
"Keep moving." the second guard said.
They gestured her forward to the stone door as the third guard got out a key. He unlocked the stone door and let the other two guards and Maura go forth. Once they entered, the first guard shut the door behind him.
Maura looked at the execution grounds. In the lower left corner, there was a gallows for victims to be hanged. In the upper left corner, there was a large cross for victims to be crucified. In the center was a large red rug in front of a stone wall, presumably for victims to be shot at by a firing squad. In the lower right corner, there was a guillotine for victims to be decapitated. But none of them were the punishment that Maura would face.
As she took in everything behind her, she then turned in front of her to her fate- a large wooden stake in the ground with a ten inch diameter circle surrounded by stones. She gasped quietly as she learned her fate- she was to be burned at the stake. She closed her eyes sadly as they undid the handcuffs and grabbed her arms. With the second and third guards holding onto her arms, the first one tied a rope around her hands and her arms. The other guards moved out of the way as the first guard continued to bind her.
Maura opened her eyes and the warden, a man with black hair and even blacker eyes, came into view. He stood wearing a black military-like uniform and ordered his men, "Get the firewood. We're going to need a lot of it."
The three guards ran off to fulfill the warden's order.
It's over. No one can save me now... Maura thought silently. I'm just the sacrifice... A catalyst for war I never wanted to fight. A war that has been lost...
The guards returned to the site within thirty seconds and swiftly built her pyre. They soon got out match packets and got out a match.
"Well, Maura Celandine, you've reached the end." the warden stated. "Any last words you'd like to say before we begin your execution?"
The snake scaled faunus looked around and her eyes met the setting sun. She turned back to her executioners.
"Yes. Normally, I would use this time to protest my innocence, but it seems that no matter what I say or do, you find me guilty. So I leave you with this warning; Do not be so quick to judge others or deem someone as a criminal, for they may not be guilty at all. Things are not always what they seem to be. And let these words be known throughout the kingdom and all of Remnant- Pyrrha Nikos is alive, and she is innocent."
She remained silent.
"I'm surprised she isn't protesting her innocence." the first guard spoke.
The warden grimaced in contemplation. "Let's get this over with. Set her on fire!"
The guards lit their matches and dropped them onto the stake. As Maura began to burn, suffering in pain, she remained silent. The physical pain of her demise was nothing compared to the feeling of failure she felt earlier. To an extent, she still felt it. With the smoke, it was becoming harder and harder to breathe.
Sienna... she thought as she suffered. Forgive me, High Leader... I have failed you. We've lost. The Loyalists have failed and the Revolutionists have won... The sun will set for good as the shattered moon brings forth an everlasting night to the Fang. I'm going down in history as a villain, and Athena will take my place. I am the sacrifice, the price payed for her crimes. What's worse is that they never saw my innocence. And they will never see the truth. My days became hours, hours became minutes, and now, my minutes mere seconds. It's over for me... She wanted to cry, but there was no moisture in her eyes to form tears. I can only hope that my last words will change the world for the better and hope that she does not suffer my fate. Farewell, Remnant...
Within minutes, she suffocated and closed her eyes for the last time. Maura Celandine was now dead. As her body continued to be consumed by fire, the sun had set and the shattered moon had yet to rise. As the camera showed the sky with the last few rays of orange and yellow at the bottom and a light blue night sky at the top, black smoke from below rose into the air, signaling the end of a war. The everlasting night had begun.