The iron door groaned as it opened, spilling harsh white light into the dim cell. Roman Torchwick lifted his head lazily from the table, the corner of his lip curling as he recognized the figure stepping through.
"Well, if it isn't the green knight himself," Roman drawled, tipping his hat back. "Come to brighten my day again?"
Hyunwoo closed the door behind him. The clank echoed like a lock sealing a coffin. He didn't answer, just dragged the chair across the floor and sat down across from him. The scrape of metal against stone filled the silence before settling into stillness.
Roman smirked wider. "You're not much for conversation, are you? Just brooding, glaring, swinging that fancy spear of yours—"
"Cinder Fall."
The words cut like a blade. Roman's voice died mid-sentence. His smirk froze.
Hyunwoo leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes sharp and steady. "You know the name. Don't waste my time pretending you don't."
Roman chuckled, but it was hollow, forced. "You're fishing, kid. Never heard of her."
Hyunwoo ignored the lie. His voice lowered, calm but edged. "Then let's talk about someone else. Someone you do care about."
Roman raised an eyebrow, forcing his composure. "And who's that?"
Hyunwoo didn't blink. "Neopolitan."
The name landed like a hammer blow. Roman's hand twitched on the table. The mask of arrogance cracked, just for a second, before he pulled it back with a strained grin.
But Hyunwoo saw it.
"You don't care about the White Fang. You don't care about Vale. You don't even care about Cinder's plan," Hyunwoo pressed, his words slow, deliberate. "But her? That's different."
Silence.
Hyunwoo stood, spear in hand, his shadow cutting across the table. "Every choice you make now decides her fate. Keep dancing for Cinder, and she'll drag both of you down with her. Walk away—and she has a chance."
Roman's smirk returned, but this time it was brittle, hiding the storm beneath. His voice was sharp, forced casual. "You talk big for a kid who doesn't know how the world works."
Hyunwoo's gaze didn't waver. "I know enough." He turned, pushing the door open. Before stepping out, he spoke without looking back. "Think about her, Roman. Because I will."
The door slammed shut, leaving Roman in silence.
For a long time, he just sat there, jaw tight, fingers drumming on the table. But the smirk was gone.
And for the first time since his capture, Roman Torchwick looked... unsettled.
___
The door slammed shut, leaving Roman alone with the shadows. The room felt smaller now, colder. He leaned back in his chair, the brim of his hat shadowing his eyes as his finger tapped nervously against the table.
For a while, he said nothing.
Then, under his breath, came a mutter.
"...Kid thinks he's clever."
A bitter laugh followed, sharp and hollow. "Doesn't know a damn thing about this world. About survival." His words were for himself now, echoing in the stillness.
But his hand had stilled. His jaw was tight.
He exhaled, whispering the name he hadn't wanted to hear. "Neo..."
Images flickered in his mind—the girl's sly smirk, the way she slipped through battles like smoke, her quiet loyalty, the rare moments when her eyes softened at him. He had built his entire game around keeping her safe, away from the kind of people like Cinder. And now...
Roman cursed, slamming a fist on the table.
"Damn it."
The kid's voice lingered, sharper than he wanted to admit.
Walk away—and she has a chance.
He closed his eyes, lips pressed thin. For once, Roman Torchwick didn't have a quip, didn't have a grin. Just a gnawing unease.
"...What the hell are you planning, kid?" he muttered into the silence, his hand trembling just once before he forced it still.
_____
On the other side
The room was silent save for the faint crackle of the orange lamp at the center table. Reports and fragments of intelligence were spread across its surface—names, movements, descriptions—all gathered with painstaking care.
Cinder stood over them, her sharp gaze fixed on a single name written again and again in field notes:
Hyunwoo Kim.
Her lips curled, not in amusement, but in recognition. The boy's movements had been described with frustrating precision: his favored weapon, a green spear, the way he fought with relentless efficiency. It stirred memories she had buried long ago.
"That weapon..." she murmured, her fingers lightly brushing the page. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That fighting style..."
She remembered movements , steel, and a man who had dared to stand in her way. A Hunter who wielded that same green spear. A man named Hyun Kim.
Her smile died, replaced with a cold frown. "So, that's it. He's the guy's son."
Emerald shifted beside her, arms crossed, unease plain in her voice. "So he's not just some student? You've fought his father before?"
"Fought?" Cinder's tone carried both respect and venom. "I clashed with him, yes. Long enough to remember the sting of that weapon. Long enough to know he was not to be underestimated." Her amber eyes narrowed, the faintest shadow of irritation flickering there. "And now his son stands in Beacon, armed with the same strength—and perhaps, the same will."
Mercury leaned against the wall, kicking his heel idly. "So what? The dad's dead, isn't he? Kid probably doesn't have the same bite."
"Do not mistake youth for weakness," Cinder cut sharply, her gaze flicking to him. "Bloodlines matter. Training matters. If this boy carries even a fraction of his father's resolve, he is dangerous."
The air grew colder with her words, and Emerald said nothing further.
Finally, Cinder straightened, brushing aside the reports with a graceful hand. "Roman's capture was inconvenient, but not fatal. The Dust is already gathered. The thefts are complete. Now... we move to the second phase."
Her eyes slid toward the far corner, where a parasol tilted ever so slightly. Neo stood silently, her mismatched eyes reflecting a glimmer of mirth as though she already knew her part to play.
"Neo," Cinder said smoothly, "you will ensure the White Fang relocates the Dust. Roman's usefulness has ended. But yours has not. The operation must continue unseen."
Neo twirled her parasol once in acknowledgment, then vanished with a soundless step, like smoke blown away by the wind.
Cinder lingered a moment longer, staring at the green-tinted report in her hand.
"The father defied me once," she murmured under her breath. "I will not allow the son to do the same."
Her voice hardened as she turned, cloak whispering as Emerald and Mercury fell into step.
"Let Ozpin cling to his students. Let them savor their small victories." Her eyes burned like twin embers.
"They will learn, just as Hyun Kim did... that all defiance ends in ash."
____
Without them knowing. Neopolitan still there, hiding in shadow.
She listened without a word as Cinder spoke, parasol resting against her shoulder. The mention of Roman's capture earned the faintest tilt of her head, but her face betrayed nothing beyond a mischievous glimmer in her mismatched eyes.
Roman was gone. Taken.
That truth should have stung, but Neo refused to show it. Instead, she let her silence mask the coil of frustration curling in her chest. He had been her partner, her shield, the one constant voice she could rely on in a world that never listened. And now... he was in chains.
But this wasn't the time to mourn.
She hadn't seen the one who brought Roman down, but she'd heard whispers. A boy. A Beacon student. A hunter-in-training wielding a green spear. Some said he moved with precision, like he'd been waiting for this fight all along.
Neo's lips curved, a silent smile that was neither warm nor kind.
A green spear.
A nameless boy.
How curious.
She wondered, not for the first time, what sort of person could outmaneuver Roman Torchwick. And when the time came—because it always did—she intended to find out for herself.
With a flick of her parasol, Neo stepped into the shadows, her image dissolving like glass shards in sunlight. Whatever she thought of Cinder's grand plans, she kept to herself.
But one thought lingered, sharp and unyielding:
If this "green spear boy" truly existed... she wanted to see the look in his eyes when he realized that Roman wasn't the only one he had to worry about.
____
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