Cinder
The Fall Maiden...
She glares at a tiny candle that sits there, lacking the warmth of a flame to burn above its waxy body.
She lights the precious little candle over and over again with her Fall Maiden Abilities. Every snap of her finger lights the candlestick with a spark, and then she blows it out with one huff from her lips. Her one amber eye remains, looking at the flame as she continuously repeats this.
She closes that eye when she sees her reflection, her long black hair covering over the patch that covers her face. She sniffles, a tear leaking from her eye as she stands there. She is on her own in here; no one is inside with her. She looks at the reflection of herself in the window, wiping the tear from her cheek as it trickles down the smooth side of her face.
She is a beautiful girl, but all of that rage, that hunger for power has made her lose those looks at just create a face that people will grow to fear instead of be attracted to. She touches the patch on her face and she shudders at it. But she takes her hand away, unable to look at herself. Her eyes travel down to the table where here tear has just landed. She clenches her hand into a fist as anger channels through her from her head into her hand.
She arches her fist up and she smashes her fist into the table with tremendous force, screaming in anger as she punches it. The table snaps loudly with a wooden crunch, splinters leaping in the air with the plume of dust created from her punch. She grits her teeth in anger. She tries to fight the tears that leak from her large eye but she struggles to.
Why won't she let me go after the little brat that did this to me?
That girl...Pyrrha Nikos...she should have done as Ozpin said, she would have survived and Ruby wouldn't have unlocked her power...
And maybe I could look in the mirror again.
Cinder sighs, her confused emotions flowing through her muscles and her skin constantly.
She opens it, looking at herself one more time. Only then does she notice that she is no longer alone. Stood behind her is the Knight of Loss. She looks at her through the black veil that covers her face. The glow of her sapphire eyes faintly glowing through the black fabric. Cinder gasps, the woman stands there, and her pale blue skin making her look almost ghost-like. Cinder slowly turns to the woman behind her, the bow around her on her back. Her long white hair floats around, like she is underwater almost."What do you want?" Cinder harshly grills with gritted teeth and partially flaming irises, her voice trembling in fear of the Knight or from her sorrow. Using rage to disguise her trepidation of the mysterious entity that she does not even recognise.
Loss tilts her head slightly at the young girl.
"Sweet thing...why are you sad?" Loss asks. Cinder looks at her and she wipes a tear from her eye.
"You're here, your presence...right?" Cinder presumes, but mysterious female Knight of Loss just shakes her head.
"I sensed your sadness and I came, wanted to see what was wrong." Loss says, her voice is almost comforting to Cinder, gentle and soft as she speaks. Cinder looks away from her, no longer the confident girl that she was back at Beacon, she has become weaker with her great power. She lost something back on that tower, just like Ruby and the others did.
"I don't..." Cinder stammers, her voice breaking in grief. "I don't know." Cinder says. Loss slowly walks towards her. Loss reaches out to Cinder's cheek and Cinder shudders, feeling an ice cold breath of air from her palm as it nears her face.
"What a beautiful thing you are." Loss gently compliments to Cinder, these kind words make her feel more uncomfortable father than reassured. "Why come to the Queen?" Loss asks. Cinder looks at her.
"I was weak, everyone treated me that way. I was tormented for so many years of my childhood, always seen myself as the smallest most insignificant thing in the world. I wanted to prove them wrong..." Cinder explains, holding her arm as she stares down at the floor.
"So you went to the leader of the creatures of Grimm?" Loss questions with a confused expression behind the black veil that hides her real face, only partially though. Cinder shakes her head as she stands there.
"No...There was a time...a close friend of mine and I were both put in prison, I watched him die when the Grimm attacked after a school refused to let us enter. So, to honour his last wish...I went to Ozpin at Beacon for help." Cinder tearfully explains, clearly pondering on what happened to her previous friend that died.
Killed by the Grimm...a horrible way to go, Ruby has not seen it with her eyes, but they do not just kill you. But they have been known to eat people alive, inflicting agony upon them – giving people slow agonizing deaths.
Loss raises her brow curiously as she looks at Cinder. "And did he give you the help that you sought?" Loss asks her.
Cinder slowly clenches her hand into a fist with anger, hatred flowing through her body when she thinks of the man. Back to when she tried to get to Vale and the journey and pain she felt getting there in the first place. "No...He told me that this was a place for warriors, not for people like me." Cinder explains, her voice cracking as she speaks, revealing the truth to Loss. This revelation explains why she hated Ozpin so much, and perhaps why she was tasked with the destruction of Beacon Academy.
"And what were you?" Loss asks her, and Cinder stares at the Knight stood beside her with her hands by her side. Cinder looks confused, as if she is not overly certain of what she meant by that question.
"I don't understand." Cinder tells her, so the Knight decides to clarify the question for her.
"What did he see you as? Why were you not right for his school? Did he give you a proper reason?" Loss asks her, as if she is trying to see if her hatred for Ozpin is justified or if her younger mind developed this hatred for a more understandable reason. But Cinder's answer and the anger that flows through her body is clearly enough to show that there is a reason for her hate.
"He called me a creature, because I survived by stealing...since I had nothing left. He turned me away and let me rot in the streets...until she found me." Cinder explains, looking down at the floor, closing her eye slowly with sadness in her voice.
Then Loss changes the conversation, and it becomes more and more intimidating.
"Then why didn't you kill him?" Loss asks her, tilting her head. Cinder looks around, fear filling in her bones. She takes a shaky breath, but Loss has claimed her trust, perhaps the real reason for her being here with the Fall Maiden.
"Because I trusted him." Cinder says. "My friend did. I thought maybe he could fix all this, give me a purpose, a chance to avenge him." Cinder explains, walking past Loss. Cinder never spoke of this individual before...Loss watches her as she sits down at the chair, pressing her head into her palms.
"So he lives?" Loss asks.
"I don't know. I left him down there. He could be alive...I buried him, but I gave him a chance." Cinder reveals the truth to Loss.
"Why?" Loss interrogates, her hands now held behind her back.
"Because he gave me a second chance once...I felt I should return the favour. He could have called the police on me...he knew I was a criminal, but he only refused me entrance, but he let me go. I guess...I guess, maybe I wanted him to know how it felt to be abandoned. To be nothing." Cinder admits.
The silence in the Small Council Chamber is bone chilling.
And Cinder knows it.
Because she has just revealed something that could be very terrible for her, even punishable.
Loss goes silent for a while, Cinder wipes a tear from her eye again and then she turns around at where Loss was stood and she gasps in fear.
Her body becomes ridged, as if she was paused with a remote controller, petrified thoughts bouncing around in her brain.
Salem is stood right behind her and Loss is gone. Salem has her arms crossed over and her red eyes are staring straight into her amber one. They narrow with a sense of anger at her. Cinder looks at her like a child that has done something extremely wrong. "You lied to me." Salem snarls coldly with a sharp tone.
Cinder's eye widens in fear and dread. Salem barely lifts her hand and the patch that covers her eye comes launching from her face into her hand. Revealing the damage that Ruby did to her. The Silver Eyed pulse has completely incinerated her eye into nothing more but scar tissue that has ravaged the side of her head. The burns reach all the way to her left ear, even slightly deforming the cartilage there as well. Salem holds her obsidian patch and crushes it in one swift clenching of her hand, her expression not changing one bit.
Shards of broken volcanic glass are thrown across the ground, showing the strength of the Dark Queen since she managed to crush one of the most versatile structures on the planet with her hand. Cinder stammers in fear.
"Please...I'm sorry...I can explain..." Cinder begs.
"I believe you have already explained everything I needed to know." Salem states, her eyes glancing over to Cinder's shoulder and she nods.
Suddenly she feels a hand grab her by her shoulder, sheer terror channels across her body and she whimpers, looking up to see the rotten face of Fear. His golden eyes stare down at her. He shakes his head with a smirk, totting through his torn lips and his yellow sharp teeth gritted. Her head turns to her other shoulder when she feels the other hand, feeling the cold pressure of Loss grabbing her shoulder. She looks at Loss with fear, unable to see her face beyond the veil, just the glowing blue eyes.
Cinder then looks at Salem, behind her are Emerald and Mercury who are badly bruised with cuts on them, dragged in by Tyrian. A mad smirk curved across his face. Emerald shakes in fear and he points the tips of his wrist blades against the back of their necks.
"Shall I, milady?" Tyrian asks with a smirk, the blood-thirst clear in his eyes, ready to kill them both at a moment's notice. And showing that he has absolutely no loyalty to Cinder – only his Queen.
"No." Salem answers without even looking at the Scorpion Faunus. Tyrian groans, sighing with disappointment. "Put them in the prison cells. Loss, Fear. Strip of her clothes and take her to Fury. Let her bare the symbol of a traitor and feel what true humiliation feels like." Salem snarls, turning and walking away with a sinister smirk on her face.
"Please, no!" Cinder begs, crying out for her like a daughter to a mother who wants forgiveness. "I'll do anything!" She cries out, tears streaming from her eye.
"All you have to do, Cinder...is survive." Salem snarls. Cinder's eye widens in fear and she stammers, looking at Fear who starts laughing menacingly at her as Mercury and Emerald are dragged away by Tyrian as Salem leaves the room.
"Leave her alone!" Emerald screams, desperate to help her, and Mercury punches Tyrian's arm only to get a kick to the face.
"Don't you touch her you monsters!" Mercury roars, showing to Cinder that they truly are loyal to her and nobody else. Cinder holds her hand out to Fear.
"Please..." She begs. Fear smirks, grabbing her red dress and ripping it off in one swift action with his arm. He grabs her by the hair and she cries out. She screams in terror as he pulls her away and Loss walks with him as he drags the naked girl through the halls as Salem walks. Grimm Beowulves are inside, roaring and gnarling at her but just the presence of Fear makes them all stand down.
"See that?" Fear asks her as she struggles, feeling the ice cold stone that her skin is grating against. She tries to use her Fall Maiden powers against him, but somehow something is holding it back. The tattoo on her back is the one responsible for that somehow, paralysing her aura completely. Cinder looks up at the Knight of Fear as he drags her by the hair with his rotten skeletal hand. "That's respect." He snarls, clearly confusing the two things together from what his curse has brought upon him.
They enter a large room, purple light filling the room and the Fractured Moon hangs in the purple skies of this mysterious land. Stood in the middle of the room is Fury, fire engulfing his hand and he glares at Cinder as she is dragged in. Fear drops her torn dress down onto the floor and Loss forms by the restraints, grabbing her wrist and tightening them around her. She does the same for her ankles and her other wrist. She yelps, feeling the most vulnerable she has ever felt in her entire life.
Cinder stares at Loss desperately, her heart pounding with horror. "Help me...I'm sorry...I'll do anything!" She cries out, but she can see the anguish in Loss' eyes, something very different than the other Knights. She does not even look like she wants to do any of this to her, but clearly she is outnumbered, so she is following her orders.
"I'm sorry..." Loss apologises, walking away from her as Fury approaches her, Cinder can already feel the heat getting more intense by the second. Fury stands there, staring at her.
"Traitors are not to be tolerated, Cinder." Salem speaks calmly as Fury slowly approaches her. Cinder begins to whimper in fear as he approaches, his hand held out.
"Please! I beg of you! I will do anything!" She cries, tears falling from her face. Salem smirks evilly as she watches, then Cinder realises that there is no way out of the situation. Then the agony strikes her and she screeches with distress.
Fury takes his hand and presses it right against her sternum, smoke starts to rise from her skin, the foul smell of flesh burning coming from her body. Cinder shriek's in agony, a bone chilling scream as well as it echoes through the halls as Fury smirks at her, pressing his burning hand harder and harder above her breasts and just far enough from her throat to not kill her.
She cries and screeches as he burns the shape of his own hand onto her sternum and breast, holding it there for up to thirty seconds which creates excruciating pain for her. Like a hot iron constantly being pushed in one place into her body. She screams more and more from the pain, wishing it would stop. Her eyes slowly begin to tire, her voice weakening as she begins to get light headed, sweat practically pouring from her exposed body.
It is like some sort of horrific public punishment that would have been performed hundreds of years ago.
Finally his hand is removed, molten flesh sticking to his palm as he pulls away, the skin tearing off like paper, blood leaking from her wound. Barely conscious, she continues to sob, tears leaking from her face as she hangs there from her ankles and wrists. She looks up at Fury and he snarls at her, a monstrous smirk on his face which makes her look away. Her tears drip down from her cheek and eye, onto the ice cold ground.
"Next time...it will be worse." He threatens, moving his hand towards her eye, the heat dries the tears in that eye. "The other side..." He warns with a chillingly terrifying growl, his hand near her face. Then he swiftly pulls his hand away from her face, not harming her again, but the damage has been done...both physically and mentally.
Cinder weeps in agony, blood leaking from the burn and across her unclothed body and seeping to the floor, dripping down her bare naked skin. Her body has been extremely scarred already from what Ruby did to her, but now Fury has just added another to the collection. Salem stands there and she did not even flinch at that, she was smiling the whole time, listening to the poor young girl's screams. She has done bad things, but nobody deserves this. Salem turns to Fear.
"Throw her in one of the cells. Let her contemplate on what she has done, and hopefully she will remember what happens when someone lies to me." Salem orders. Fear nods, the hunched over Knight approaches her and he cuts the restraints off her limbs and then grabs her by her long black hair, dragging her with his long sharp claw like fingers through the hall.
She does not writhe anymore, but blood is now trailing from her body as she is dragged across the black floor, leaving a trail of crimson behind. Cuts and bruises have been inflicted across her body just from being dragged across the floor like that, locks of black hair ripped from her scalp in the process, blood leaking down her cheek from the damage done.
Fury stands there, still with her molten skin stuck to his hand. He clenches his hand tight, burning it to dust, turning and walking away. There is an expression on both his and Loss' faces...as if they both did not want to do that. Yet Fear has that sadistic smirk on his face.
Loss looks over at Salem and she just stands there, walking away from where they had just tortured and humiliated Cinder Fall. Loss narrows her sapphire blue eyes at Salem, before she turns and walks away from the Dark Queen, leaving Fury alone in the chamber.
Fear takes Cinder, grabbing one of the cells, nearly bending the metal bar on the door and ripping the door. There is completely no light at all inside of the cell. He throws her inside and she smashes against the wall, crying out in pain. He glares at her, his golden eyes staring at her. He takes the door and throws it shut, locking it with her inside. "Nighty night, Fall Maiden." He chuckles sinisterly, walking away from where she was.
Leaving her in the pitch black darkness.
Now...her reasons are understandable for the things she has done.
Because of Fear.
Oscar
The young Farmhand is stood on the balcony with his arms resting on the stone railing, staring out at the expansive city of Mistral. The many buildings that have been built upon the huge mountains that surround each and every one of them. The eagles that soar around the nesting grounds in the distance, and the distant mountains which must home countless Creatures of Grimm.
The Monsters that live in Anima are nothing like the beasts back in Vale, far more mythical and terrifying, like the Nuckelavee for example. The Mountains are known for the homes of Wyverns, Manticores and other terrible creatures. They can even see the distant Floating Islands of Lake Matsu, where the Gravity Dust sends huge islands into the sky constantly. Massive Airborne Grimm live inside, and beneath in the ocean are countless nightmares.
Oscar cannot begin to count the amount of things that worry him in the back of his mind, especially since none of them understand the torment that Cinder is going through right now. The very lifestyle that has forged her into the woman she has become.
The voice of Ozpin soon returns to the back of Oscar's mind, whilst everyone else is waking back up and getting changed. He could not rest well anyway, struggling to get used to living this far away from his home. "How are you feeling, Oscar?" Ozpin asks him curiously, in which the young man scoffs.
"What kind of stupid question is that?" Oscar questions with attitude.
"I guess that is understandable." He admits, and Oscar sighs as he looks down at the city. Wondering what the Mistraalians are doing down there. He can tell that Jaune and the rest of Team J.N.R are getting ready to explore the lower regions of Mistral to help locate Winter. But still...they could be going there because that is where Pyrrha was born, and where Jaune met Pyrrha's mother.
"It's weird..." Oscar says with a sigh, his shoulder sinking downwards, then catching Ozpin's attention.
"How so?" Ozpin asks him curiously, Oscar sighs as he tries to find a good answer to his question.
"All my life...I have been living with my Aunt on that farm...after...well I don't really know how my parents died. I just know that they never came home one day." He sighs, his eyes staring down at the floor. Oscar ponders on his parents, because he never did find out what happened to his parents, all he knows is that he was given to his Aunt to look after him. But they never returned, and his Aunt is basically his mother now. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...it's a little difficult getting used to living this far from home...with people I don't know." Oscar explains with sad hazel eyes.
"I sympathise with you on this." Ozpin assures, but Oscar scoffs.
"I doubt that." Oscar replies.
"Did you think I was born into greatness? No...I was born on the streets of my home, but I worked hard, made allies and friends that helped me get to where I am now. It was not without hardships, without sacrifices or hard choices...but every skyscraper starts off with small foundations." Ozpin explains to Oscar, and the young man sighs, he always has so many inspirational statements.
"Do you think they are alive? Out there somewhere?" Oscar asks him.
"I don't know...if they are...I'm sure they still want to find you again." Ozpin assures.
"Maybe I can find them some day." Oscar hopes.
"One day..." Ozpin agrees.
Oscar sighs, his thoughts constantly surrounding the mystery of who his parents are, the things that they have done and whether or not his existence means anything. He would ponder more and more if Ruby did not approach him, to check up on how he is.
"Hey." Ruby nervously greets.
Oscar turns, smiling gently to the cute Silver Eyed Girl. "Oh, hey." He replies, caught off guard by her sweet voice that just seems to appear out of nowhere. They both stand there, looking out at the beautiful city of Mistral.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ruby asks him, then his eyes slyly look at her and he is in awe of her own beauty.
Is she talking about Mistral or herself?
He shakes the thought from his head and he answers her, with a very noticeable stammer. "Oh, uh – Y-Yeah!" He agrees with a smile on his face, face turning red from embarrassment. Ozpin's cheeky chuckle from within his mind does not shed the nervousness he experiences.
"Shut up." Oscar subconsciously orders, silencing Ozpin.
Ruby looks at him with a smile on her face, as happy and positive as ever. "Ever been to Mistral?" Ruby asks him curiously.
"I was born in Mistral, in the countryside, though." Oscar says to her. Ruby nods as she begins to understand him.
"Never been to the city, though?" She presumes.
"Nah...my Aunt never did tend to leave the farm for too long." Oscar says to her.
"Aunt?" Ruby asks, confused since usually that would be the job of the mother or father.
"I was always with her, making sure the crops were being tended to. But I always wanted to do something with my life...I guess I finally am doing that." Oscar explains to her.
"No mom or dad?" Ruby enquires.
Oscar just shakes his head. "No, I never met her. My Aunt tells me I was only a baby when she took me in. Nobody tells me about what happened to her." Oscar explains. "But I can probably guess." He sighs, his head dropping down sadly. He probably has lost his mother to the Grimm or the White Fang, but Sun lost his mother to Hazel because of her Silver Eyes, so maybe there is more to her disappearance than meets the eye.
But Ruby does not go into it since she can tell that it is not really a subject that he likes to talk about it. She smiles a little. "I know how you feel." Ruby sympathises, Oscar turns to her when she says that.
"What do you mean?" He asks her.
"My mom died on a Bounty Mission years ago, I was only little when it happened...but Yang remembers it better than I do. Our dad shut down for a long time because of it." Ruby explains to him, and Oscar looks at her with saddened eyes.
"I'm – I'm really sorry." He apologises, but Ruby just smiles.
"It's okay...we've all lost something. It's why we're here...Ren and Nora lost their parents and their homes...Blake and Jaune...well they have both lost something really recently." She sighs, and Oscar lowers his head, still remembering the explanation of what happened to the three deaths.
The Knights of Grimm are still on all of their minds, unaware of how merciless they really are.
"I kinda feel bad for you." Ruby says with a nervous laugh, catching his attention.
"Why's that?" He asks.
"Because you really didn't sign up for any of this. Ozpin practically made you." Ruby says. Oscar listens to the voice in his head that can also here her.
"Remind her that I can hear her." Ozpin requests, his voice echoing in his mind. Oscar chuckles a little at the ideas of what her reaction will be to that statement.
"He can hear you, remember?" Oscar reminds. Ruby's big eyes widen in shock and her cheeks blush nervously as she gasps.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Professor...never thought I'd say that to someone my age." Ruby shyly giggles, scratching the back of her head.
"It's fine." Ozpin assures, and Oscar says the same thing to her, the two young ones giggling with each other.
Oscar looks back at the landscape. Ruby thinks on the whole thing with Ozpin, and she turns her head to him curiously, her memories returning to how Ozpin let them go to Mountain Glenn despite it being against the rules. "Has he mentioned us beforehand?" Ruby asks him.
"He has on occasion mentioned you." Oscar says to her. "That being my sarcasm, he talks about you a lot, you in particular because of your eyes." He says, looking at her silver irises.
"Oh, Professor, you don't have to be so kind." Ruby jokingly says, batting her hand like she is pushing the idea away from her.
Ozpin's voice sighs in Oscar's head. "You can call me Ozpin, Ruby." He quietly says. Oscar looks at Ruby after he hears him say that.
"He just said that you can call him Ozpin, not Professor." Oscar says, like he is dobbing the Professor in on it.
"You're going to regret that." Ozpin says.
"Really?" She squeaks.
Oscar is in for one hell of an earache, but she is interrupted by Qrow when he walks out from his room. "Come on, we need to find Winter before the Mercs get to her." Qrow says, holding his Scythe against his shoulder. Team R.W.B.Y assemble and they stand before the Uncle. "R.W.B.Y, check through the markets, J.N.R, check the town, S.S.S.N, I want you guys to check the outskirts. Kassius, Oscar, I want you two with me. We are heading into the middle, in case she is in there. Remember, everyone...there are Mercenaries crawling in Mistral right now. So stay safe, and stay alive." Qrow advises.
The mission to find Winter has become.
She is here somewhere...
It's just the biggest Kingdom of all of Remnant...
No biggie.
Cinder
She lies on the ice cold floor, her arms wrapped around her shoulder, her chest still burning hot and she snivels in shock still, her tears dropping onto the cold hard floor. She remains inside, feeling like she is going to die in here. That is until the door is ripped open and she looks up with a gasp.
Stood in the doorway is Fear.
His glowing gold eyes stare straight into her amber ones, one of them is fainter than the other from the damage Ruby dealt to it. She walks towards Cinder and he grabs her by the back of her head, lifting her off the floor. Fury is stood there as well, growling aggressively. "Please...not again..." Cinder begs.
"Oh no, princess." Fear snarls, kicking the door shut behind him as he pulls her with him as they walk through the halls. "Salem has something very special planned just for you." He says. She looks around, seeing Huntsmen skeletons inside the cells where they have been fed to starving Grimm. She shuts her eyes, shuddering at the sight. She limps as she tries to keep up with them. She wraps her arms around her breasts as she walks, feeling extremely vulnerable.
Fury growls in annoyance.
"Why do I have to carry the damned traitor?" Fury barks in annoyance. "Why not toss her in with this lot?" He asks, pointing at one of the cells. Inside are a pack of Beowulves, slashing and barking at her, roaring with scars on their body, thin from a lack of food. "They sure do look hungry, her scorched meat looks real tasty doesn't it, boys?" Fury says, staring at the savage Beowulves that bark and roar, slashing at the metal bars with their claws, drooling from their lips.
"Salem wants her for herself, has something special in mind apparently." Fear says, pushing a door open. The door opens and before them is a massive hall with many statues stood up inside. Cinder looks at them all, confused at what she is looking at. Stood inside is Salem, with Death and Loss stood inside to her shoulders.
Death has his blade pointed down into the ground as he looks at her. His helmeted face is closed up, black smoke trailing from his chilling form, glowing red eyes glaring down at Cinder. Fear pushes her into the middle of the room and she rolls onto the floor. She conceals her body parts to them, staying low to the floor, her scars being shown in the light.
Salem stares straight at the young girl and she slowly walks towards her. Fear slams his Scythe down onto the ground, creating a loud boom from doing so, and Fury paces back and forth around the room to do something whilst Salem speaks with the young girl.
Salem crouches down before Cinder who is too afraid to look at her. The naked girl is curled up on the floor, the weakest she has ever been in her entire life most likely. Salem puts her fingers under her chin to lift her head up, revealing the tears of fear in her eyes. "Normally...I would have had a traitor be made an example of and fed to my children." Salem states to her, with a Beowulf asleep beside her as she strokes the top of its head. "But ultimately, you are our Fall Maiden, so your fate is entirely up to me." Salem says, pointing her finger to her chest.
"I...I'm already...d-dead, aren't...aren't I?." Cinder stammers, shivering on the floor as she lays there.
"Undeniably so." Salem agrees with an evil smirk on her face. She looks around at the room that they are stood in. "Look around Cinder...tell me, do you know what this place is?" Salem asks as she stands tall, walking forward from where she was sat. Cinder looks up, examining the room, glancing at the statues to think of something.
But nothing comes to mind, mostly because her mind is still focused on the searing pain in her sternum.
"I...I don't know...your grace." Cinder whimpers in fear, her long black hair covering the side of her face, and calling her by her formal title.
She has never felt more like a minion that right now.
"This is the Final Home of the Onyx Brotherhood on Remnant. Here rests the vanguard of the Onyx Phantom, each warrior carried down from generations." Salem begins, revealing the Onyx Phantom in her explanation, a new name that is completely unfamiliar amongst Cinder and most of Remnant for that matter. "Onyx Warrior was used to battle against those who would stop the progress of evolution – and the Phantom is one of them. A loyal assassin who can destroy of our foes with skill and ease." Salem describes to her, staring at the many statues before them.
"The destruction of the Silver Eyed Warriors was carried out long before you were ever born, Cinder. This is bigger than I think you realise." Death explains, which is a massive understatement on Death's part.
"Even...on my knees...I don't belong here." She says, knowing that death is what shall become of her, still pressing her palm against her fresh wound on her sternum, covering her breasts with her other arm.
"You failing to kill Ozpin was rightly your error, and you lying to me was unforgivable. But you did kill the woman who was to be the next Fall Maiden, that in itself if a victory. Killing you would have been wasteful, for I know you are no traitor. A disappointment maybe...but not a traitor." Salem explains, but then she turns to Death and he holds out his armoured hand, projecting a ghostly image before them.
"This is the true face of betrayal." She says, revealing an image that catches her off-guard.
It is Adam Taurus, stood there with Wilt and Blush in his hand.
"The White Fang will learn that we are simply using them and they will, help the Silver Eyed Warrior. Perhaps this girl who scarred you could be able to sway them to unite with Humanity...and that is not something we want." Salem explains. "This traitor and the rest of the White Fang must be destroyed." Salem orders, clenching her hand into a fist, her red eyes glowing red.
"Why bother with me?" Cinder whimpers. "My dress destroyed, I have no semblance...I still do not know how to use my powers yet." She explains. "I am no Onyx Warrior." She says to her.
"Not you...no...We have already chosen the next Onyx Phantom, you will join them in stopping this betrayal." Salem explains.
Cinder looks up, her eyes seeing the armoured figure approaching. The armour is extremely intricate, thousands of armoured pieces connected together that move beautifully with one another, and built into it is a trench coat. There is a mouth plate that covers the person's nose and mouth. And it is clear that it is a woman from the feminine shape of the person and the large almond shaped eyes, but they are glowing orange.
Unnaturally orange.
She has two swords sheathed on her hips that glow red, just like Wilt and Blush and Raven's Sword. But she has two of them instead of one. Every footfall is heavy and metallic, almost like she is a machine. Whoever it is, it is definitely someone new. Her hair is black as well, long and let down instead of being styled.
The trench coat seems to be made out of some sort of fabric metal, one that is as flexible as clothing but is as strong as steel. There is also a rifle strapped to her back, and she wears a dark hood over her head, concealing the rest of her face to hide her identity. Only the orange eyes are visible through the shadows because they glow.
"What of Emerald and Mercury?" Cinder asks her, showing how much she cares about them. Salem looks down at her.
"You will not have to worry, they are fine. I will be taking them with me to Vale soon. The plan is beginning, with the Knights of Grimm returned, we will be able to take Mistral very soon." Salem assures her with a smirk.
Cinder looks forward as the Seer emerges from the darkness, pulling a casket before her that opens up, revealing something inside, lit up by the light. It is a black dress with red accents across it which is made up of multiple triangular shaped scales over the fabric that glistens gently.
It is a beautiful dress.
She looks at it and then at Salem. "A Fall Maiden requires a dress." Salem says, her hand held out to the Fall Maiden's Dress that has been made for her. If this was a way to get her to put on a new dress, then it is extremely messed up. She looks at it and then she grits her teeth, pushing herself to her feet.
She continues to conceal herself, but the closer to the dress she gets, the braver and stronger she becomes, lowering her arms and walking more confidently towards it, the light glowing against her skin, showing the scar on her sternum clearly now, the hand print against her skin as a constant reminder.
She picks up the dress and she looks at it, the glistening reflection of the light twinkles off the dress. She unzips it and puts it on, there are no sleeves to it like the last one and the dress stops just above her knees, like her original red dress. This is very similar to that dress as well. She takes the zip and pulls it upwards, over the front of her body, concealing her body and the scars dealt to her from the world. The Onyx Phantom glares at her as she stands there. She pauses for a moment, her eyes shut. Then they open as she turns to Salem.
"What would you have your Fall Maiden do?" She asks, her voice fully returned now. She scowls slightly, no more smirking on her expression anymore.
This is a new Cinder.
One that is afraid and angry.
Hours later...
Cinder has been given her new task.
A bullhead roars across the sapphire oceans of Remnant, Sea Dragons patrolling the depths with other terrifying and mysterious Creatures of Grimm. And they are all headed towards Anima, something is coming for Mistral and it will be just as formidable as the Fall of Beacon.
Perhaps even worse.
The rotatable thrusters billow energy from their afterburners, parting the water underneath its roar. Inside the Aircraft is Cinder, holding her Glass Bow in her hands, twirling an arrow in her fingers as she stares at it. She looks up, hearing a man speaking to a bunch of men. Inside are armed and armoured soldiers, ones that are serving Salem. As long as she needs them for at least. The soldiers wear black and red armour with golden accents in different areas of the armour, wielding rifles.
Some look different to each other, with massive tech heavy backpacks built into their suits with yellow dust glowing inside of it. Others wear massive suits of armour, exo-suits most likely to make them even stronger than humanly possible.
They all stand to attention as a man walks around them. He wears armour similar to them with slightly spiked back brown hair and a scar on his forehead. He has the same tattoo on his neck the Acolytes of Lien have, meaning that he is definitely one of them. He has a strong and calculated presence about him, having a mace strapped to his leg for combat and a sub machine gun in his other hand. "Together, we were once all in the same boat!" He begins to the men. "Which one was that?" He asks, giving a military style speech to them, which does make Cinder roll her eyes. She looks to the other side of the vehicle, seeing Tyrian sat there, barely keeping his eyes open as he listens to the man speak to his men.
"A boat of pity and poverty!" The men all recite in unison, their voices erupting inside.
"That's right, and that is why we serve Salem. She promises us to be free of the world of pain and being abandoned, as does the man who pays us. Those who turn against those who pay us, or are allies to our enemies, are enemies themselves. Therefore...we show them no mercy, we kill them on sight." The man continues to his men.
"Their lives are forfeit, and will join the pit of suffering we rose from!" They all roar in united voices. The man stands before them all, clenching his hand into a fist.
"And one day we will stand above those who pushed us down, and we will let them taste the pain we endured!" He concludes with a cheer in his voice.
The Acolytes of Lien are mercenaries who will blindly serve anyone who pays them enough money. Cinder could tell that was what that whole speech was about in the first place, just jazzed up to sound like they are a military. But at the end of the day, they are all still thugs, no matter how much they try to hide it.
Cinder sits there, feeling like the odd one out here, and not because she is a girl because there are women Mercs here as well. Because she is not a soldier, she is a Fall Maiden. The spokesman approaches Cinder, holding onto the ceiling to counter the turbulence that they are facing. "So you are the infamous Fall Maiden, huh?" He asks her, curiously raising his eyebrow as he stares down at her.
"What's it to you?" Cinder questions, looking at the bow in her hand still, not even looking up at him.
"You're hotter than I imagined, I wonder if maybe you and I could hook up later tonight?" He asks her, crouching down and caressing her cheek. Cinder suddenly grabs him by the throat, standing up, lifting him off the ground and staring into his eyes. And that shows the difference between mercenaries and soldiers, the soldiers here would have drawn their firearms on her.
But because she is working for the ones that pay them...none of them even bat an eyelid. "I wouldn't even dream of it, scumbag." Cinder growls with rage in her voice. Cinder glares back at him with her only remaining eye.
The Mercenary strains, grabbing her arm as he writhes around in her tight grasp, trying to break free. "Alright! I yield!" He gives in, and Cinder releases him.
He collapses to the ground, grabbing his throat with distress, coughing as Cinder sits back down, and he stumbles away from her. One of the Mercenaries was eyeing Cinder up but now he has looked away. "Let that be a warning to all of you." She advises, crossing one of her legs over the other.
The Mercenaries all keep their eyes away from Cinder. She then looks over at Tyrian again who crosses one leg over the other as he looks at her, his tail next to him. The stinger is slowly growing back over time. Cinder looks away from Tyrian, back to her bow that she ended Pyrrha's life with, and Amber's...
The Bullhead approaches the docks of Mistral, they must have spent hours sat there, but they finally arrive there. The Bullhead decelerates and hovers at the outer gates of Mistral, dropping in altitude. The troop bay doors slide open, the soldiers jump out of the Bullhead and they start heading towards the place. Tyrian and Cinder jump out of the Bullhead, landing down on the ground. "Acolytes of Lien, secure this area!" The spokesman orders.
Cinder stands tall as Tyrian stands next to her, extending his wrist blades out. She connects her arrow to the bow and she walks onward.
Cinder is here...