Lords and Ladies (New)
Lords and Ladies
Leonardo Lionheart felt sick to his stomach.
That was, unfortunately, not an uncommon feeling for him these days, but it felt particularly bad right now as he rushed up and down his bedroom, throwing things into a bag.
He had never been a particularly tidy person, that was why his office was full of stuff crammed into every space imaginable, and it was also why he was now struggling to find anything. So many drawers and cupboards! Why did he have so many?
Why did he have so many places to put things but not have a system so that he could easily find them again afterwards?
It was especially hard to find things given that he felt as though he could barely stand up straight; the excruciating pain in his stomach was so sharp that it was only when he bent double that it eased off even a little.
And no, the milk of magnesia had not really helped.
Ironically, the constant rooting around for the things he wanted was helping, since it kept him hunched over while he looked in drawers.
If he couldn’t find what he was looking for, then he would have to leave it behind. He couldn’t linger here while he searched every nook and cranny of his rooms until he had everything he wanted.
At a certain point, he would have to be content with what he needed.
And at a certain point, he would have to do without even all of that.
His scroll lay open on the bed, the screen displaying a news item. Most of what was written there was of little interest to him — things about one of Pyrrha’s teammates and goings on in Vale — but what was of great interest to Lionheart, what had driven him to start packing, was the fact that Cinder Fall had been captured last night.
She had been taken alive.
Lionheart didn’t know what, if anything, she might be telling Ozpin — or have already told him, rather — but Lionheart had no doubt that Ozpin had questioned her already, and if she had chosen to, then she could have told Oz that it hadn’t been an accident that he had accepted her into his school. That he had done it because … because they were on the same side.
She could also tell Oz that he had told her about Amber too: about Amber, about missing Persephone, about Sophia, and Luna.
Luna. I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.
And if she told Ozpin all of that…
Just the thought of it made Lionheart start to hyperventilate. Ozpin was going to kill him! And that wasn’t a metaphor either; Ozpin was actually going to kill him!
Well, he would probably send Qrow to do it — that was the only one whom Lionheart could imagine being Oz’s executioner — but that was a very fine distinction, one too fine for Lionheart to really appreciate.
Yes, it was possible that Cinder hadn’t — wouldn’t — say anything to Ozpin about his involvement, but Lionheart wasn’t going to wait around on the off-chance that she would keep silent. He wasn’t going to wait here until he was woken up to find Qrow sitting at his bedside waiting to cut his throat. He was going to get out of here. He was going … he hadn’t quite thought that far ahead. His mind had gotten as far as the train station, where he would catch a train going as far from Mistral as it was possible to go.
Actually, that would be Argus, and that wasn’t a very good idea; James’ people could find him there too easily. No, he would go … he could go west, to Kaledonia. Or south, he could go to Menagerie! He was a faunus, he had the right to return, and with no CCT connection, nobody would know who he was. He could be anyone that he wanted to be, just a lion faunus in his late middle age, come from Mistral to the homeland of his people. Genteel, mildly discursive with a hint of reserve, someone who had led an uninteresting life and had no great story to tell; a schoolteacher from an institution of no great note, you’d probably never heard of it.
Would that had been my life, and I’d never gotten involved in all of this.
Yes, yes, he would go to Menagerie. Ozpin would never even think to look for him there, and even if he did, it wasn’t as though Oz had any other faunus whom he could send there to get him.
Yes, Menagerie was the place. He would get a train to Piraeus and then get the first ship going south. He would be free, not only of Ozpin but of Mistral and all these old bloods with their proud names and prouder histories who looked down upon him so. He would be free of the burden that Ozpin had laid upon him, of being a one-faunus poster for the benefits of tolerance and integration.
He would be free of them all.
So long as he could finish packing and be out of here before Qrow arrived.
Lionheart’s scroll went off. He ignored it. He didn’t have time to answer calls right now.
Why would he want to? He was leaving it all behind.
The scroll continued to go off, buzzing annoyingly, incessantly, like a hive of bees that had taken up residence in his room — with the state it was in, that wasn’t impossible. Lionheart continued to ignore it. He didn’t have time, and eventually, whoever it was would—
The scroll answered itself, and the mellifluous voice of Arthur Watts emerged into Lionheart’s bedroom.
“Have I caught you at a bad time, Leo?” Watts asked. “Packing, perhaps?”
Lionheart froze. How… is he…? Without moving his body at all — in part because he didn’t want to be seen to look, and in part because he was afraid that if he moved, he was going to lose his lunch — he tried to glance at the corners of the ceiling to see if there were any concealed cameras there he hadn’t noticed until now.
“Am I spying on you, Leo?” Watts asked, in a voice that sounded even more smug than usual. “Do I have you completely under observation? Or are you simply that predictable?”
Lionheart’s first attempt to speak came out as an incomprehensible, barely audible croak. He swallowed and tried again. “What do you want from me, Arthur?” he demanded. “If Cinder—”
“Yes, that is an unfortunate business, isn’t it?” Watts asked. “I did try to tell our mistress that a Mistralian drama queen with an ego the size of the mountain was not the best choice for an agent … but I’m certainly not going to remind her that I told her so.”
“If she tells Ozpin—”
“Yes, I imagine that wouldn’t be very good for you, would it?” Watts asked. “It wouldn’t be very good for me either. But neither would you running away to … Argus? No, no, you wouldn’t risk James finding you there. You were planning to go…” He chuckled. “Leo, were you planning to go back to the old country and reinvent yourself on Menagerie?”
Lionheart swallowed. “N-no.”
“So predictable,” Watts muttered. “We have been good enough to grant you a second chance, Leo; don’t be so naïve as to believe that you’ll get a third.”
“I can’t stay here,” Lionheart whispered.
“You can’t stay in Haven,” Watts allowed. “But you can’t leave Mistral either.”
“Why not?” Lionheart asked. “I … I could leave you the key to the vault; you could come and get it?”
“And race Ozpin’s agents for it, not to mention Lady Terri-Belle or anyone from Mistral itself who might come by to see where you are?” Watts asked. “No, Leo, you will stay … more or less where you are, and when the time is right, you will open one of the doors into the Vault of the Spring Maiden so that the Spring Maiden, when we find her as we most certainly will, may retrieve the Relic.”
“I’ll be dead by then!” Lionheart cried.
“You will be perfectly safe,” Watts assured him, putting on a soothing voice as though Lionheart were a baby he were trying to get back to sleep. “I’ve made arrangements with a friend for you to lie low with them for a while. All you have to do is get there quickly, don’t let anyone find out that you’re there, and await further instructions. Trust me, everything will be fine. More importantly for you, you will be fine.”
Juturna floated down the hallway, a cloud of mist. It was … she didn’t really like to think too hard about how her semblance worked, to be honest. Don’t get her wrong, it was a cool semblance that let her turn pretty much invisible, incorporeal, but which also included her clothes as well so that she didn’t end up naked after she was done like in some crappy comic book, but … like … where was her brain? She could think as she was floating down the hallway, but … how? What was she thinking with?
She had no idea; that was why she didn’t like to think about it.
She was using her semblance because she wanted to check that Turnus was alone before she talked to him. Or at least, she wanted to make sure that Camilla wasn’t there. If he was with Lausus, that would be fine, and if it was Ufens, or Euryalus, or Messapus, or one of the guys and girls, then all she needed to do was ask for some privacy, and then Turnus would nod his head and they’d say ‘of course, m’lady’ and then they’d shuffle out the door and close it behind them and that would be that.
But Camilla … Juturna liked Camilla, Juturna loved Camilla, but she didn’t want Camilla to be here for this; she didn’t want Camilla to find out about this until it was a done deal, because…
Because Camilla was too smart for Juturna’s good sometimes.
Not always, thank gods, but … sometimes.
Juturna was just a little worried that if Camilla was there, then she would ask too many questions. Not that Turnus wouldn’t ask questions, but … Juturna could handle that.
She thought she could, anyway. She was pretty sure she could.
It had been a little surprising to get a call from Doctor Watts — after he’d sent her a text first — asking her for a favour, and it had been kind of surprising to find out what the favour was — he knew Lionheart, who’d have thought? — but it honestly wasn’t a very big favour. Just keep Lionheart in their house where no one could get at him, and keep him a secret too. The first was no big deal, the second … well, there was the issue that one of the guys might let it slip out by accident, but once Turnus took him in, none of them would intentionally sell Lionheart out; they were too loyal to her brother. So that should be okay too.
She wasn’t quite sure why Lionheart needed to come and hide out in their house — Doctor Watts hadn’t said — but she was pretty sure that she could figure out an explanation to convince Turnus to go along with it.
That was another reason why she was using her semblance to move along: it moved kind of slowly, and it gave her more time to think.
However she was thinking.
It wasn’t much to ask, considering that Doctor Watts had really helped them out over the Heart of Mistral — it would have been really embarrassing for Turnus, maybe even dangerous, if he’d come home empty-handed and had to face the Steward with the fact that Elagabalus had stolen the jewel and gotten clean away — but, thanks to Doctor Watts, Turnus had been able to give the Heart to the Steward, and now, it was the new prize exhibit in the Mistralian Museum, and Turnus was a hero for foiling the attempt by wicked Lord Kiro to steal it.
They’d gone to the gala at the museum to unveil the Heart as part of the collection. It had been pretty fun, actually.
Lausus had worn a green tuxedo with a purple shirt, and surprisingly, it did not look that bad. In fact, it actually looked pretty good on him.
They’d danced.
Yeah, it had been a pretty good night.
And all thanks to Doctor Watts, who had recovered the Heart of Mistral for them.
Compared to that, well, ‘let this guy stay at your house’ wasn’t much to ask.
Yeah, okay, there was the fact that the reason he had to hide out with them was because somebody was after him, but so long as nobody knew he was here, then what was the problem? It was called 'hiding' for a reason; it wasn’t like anybody was going to know that he was in their house.
And if they found out … so what? Who was going to break into the House of the Rutulus to get him? You’d have to be nuts.
Doctor Watts was just asking for them to have another house guest, and what was one more with the number of people already staying here?
Juturna just needed to convince Turnus of that, without mentioning Doctor Watts at all.
Which was why she didn’t want Camilla to be there, because she didn’t like the Atlesian doctor much and probably wouldn’t appreciate paying him back for all the help he’d been, and it would really just be easier if she wasn’t there for this.
So long as she could talk to Turnus alone, then she’d be fine.
As there was a little time left before the finals of the Vytal Tournament got underway, Turnus was in his study, going over a few things.
In particular, he was tracking the progress of his order with the SDC.
He felt a little bit dirty buying from them, what with the revelations that had come out about what they’d been doing to the faunus at some of their facilities. But, on the other hand, one could also argue that the bad actors had been arrested and that the company itself had already been punished, so there was no point in continuing to boycott them when the company, and those who remained working there, like Calla, were blameless.
One could also bring up the more pragmatic fact that there weren’t many other players when it came to military grade robotics. Yes, MARS had something of a line in that area, but Turnus had never really liked MARS. He supposed he couldn’t quite trust them to be selling their clients the good stuff, as opposed to keeping it back for themselves and selling only the crap that they wouldn’t mind facing across the battlefield. At least the SDC was only interested in money; he could never shake the feeling that MARS had an ulterior motive.
On top of which, some of their gear was a bit of an eyesore to look at.
Which meant it was back to the SDC, such was the dearth of other competitors. Most Mistralian arms manufacturers were rather artisanal and small scale, and while there was nothing wrong with that, they didn’t have the products that he was interested in, and in Atlas, of course, the SDC had crushed all competition.
Vale … there was a Valish organisation which might be moving into that area, but from what they were offering they weren’t there yet.
No, it was the SDC, really. Thankfully, it seemed that the bad apples had been purged from the organisation, and he had sold his shares, at a loss to himself no less, which salved his conscience a little in giving them more of his lien.
He told himself that he wouldn’t care who the manufacturer was once the toys arrived, and he felt that he told himself honestly, because just tracking the package, he felt like he was waiting for his birthday.
He had ordered two Paladins — one for Juturna, one for someone else who had yet to be selected — and four spider droids, two with laser cannons and two with missile launchers.
He could hardly wait for them to arrive; once they did, Rutulian Security would possess an armoured fist capable of bringing down a hammer blow upon anyone who might stand against them, just as the skimmers that he had on order from Vulcan — Mistralian firms were capable of meeting some of his needs — would give them a swift strike capability.
He was thinking about commissioning an airship too. After all, Mistral was getting some. Now that the kingdom was beginning to rearm, Rutulian Security needed to tech up in order to remain competitive.
Plus, it would be very cool to have them.
Apparently, his order had been shipped. It had not, however, made it as far as the sorting depot in Argus. It was, according to the latest email from the SDC, somewhere between Atlas and Argus.
That information was not as helpful as it could have been. There was a lot of distance between Atlas and Argus.
He was eager, very eager, to see them arrive. Now that Camilla had persuaded him to let her give it a try, he was keen to see how Juturna would—
“Hey, bro!” Juturna cried, as she materialised in his office. “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking some emails,” Turnus said, turning off the computer as he looked at her. “Why didn’t you use the door?”
“You could have acted a little surprised,” Juturna said, pouting.
“I was surprised that you didn’t use the door,” Turnus pointed out.
“I wanted to use my semblance; I don’t get a lot of opportunities,” Juturna said. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Of course,” Turnus replied. “Longer, if you like.”
“Great,” Juturna said, but then didn’t say much else for a few seconds. She swung her arms back and forth, back and forth, sometimes clapping her hands together in front of her, but not speaking.
Turnus’ brow furrowed a little. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah!” Juturna said. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Everything’s awesome. I just need a little favour, that’s all.”
“A favour?” Turnus repeated, wondering why Juturna needed to ask. It wasn’t as though she didn’t have her own money — or at least, she had her own credit card, with a generous spending limit. “Is it money?”
“No, it isn’t money; I don’t spend that much,” Juturna said. “It’s not like I’m buying custom airships or Atlesian robots.”
“Those are a business expense,” Turnus declared. “So what is this favour then? And why do you need to feel the need to ask?”
“Because … you see, the thing is that I have this friend, and they’re in a little bit of trouble—”
“And you want us to provide protection.” Turnus said. “Or is it something more aggressive, or both?”
“More the first, but not the way that you’re thinking of it,” Juturna said. “I’d like you to let them come and stay here for a while.”
“I see,” Turnus murmured. “That isn’t our usual service, but … I suppose that we can make an exception for a friend of yours.”
It might be nice to have a friend of Juturna’s around the place, not least because it would give Turnus a chance to meet her. The fact that she wanted to stay with the Rutulians suggested that whatever trouble she was in was at least somewhat serious — more serious than a nasty boyfriend or some such — or at least that she thought it was serious, but it was unlikely to be anything they couldn’t handle.
How much trouble could a friend of Juturna’s have gotten into?
“Great!” Juturna cried. “He’ll be—”
“'He'?” Turnus said. “'He'?”
He had assumed — naively, perhaps — that Juturna’s friend would be a girl, someone around her age, someone like Ruby, perhaps, but less competent. Now, the more unwelcome image of a boy loomed in his mind. A boy with tattoos, perhaps. A boy who ran with the wrong crowd. One of those Vacuan gangsters trying to muscle in on the lower slopes. An unsuitable boy, who had gotten into all kinds of trouble.
Turnus got to his feet. “Who is this boy, and what’s his name?”
Juturna chuckled. “I wouldn’t really call him a boy—”
“His name,” growled Turnus.
Juturna took a deep breath. “It’s Professor Lionheart.”
Turnus stared at her. He breathed in and out, his chest rising and falling. Professor Lionheart. Headmaster of Haven Professor Lionheart.
Middle-aged man Professor Lionheart.
Professor Lionheart, who was old enough to be Juturna’s father.
Shock was replaced by anger, anger roaring like fire through his blood. His hands itched, and he became far more aware of the presence of Eris, his sword, hanging on the wall. He could feel it whispering in his ear, eager to taste the blood of Professor Leonardo Lionheart.
For what he had done, he hardly deserved the chance to die honourably; indeed, for the sake of Juturna’s reputation, it would be best not to face Lionheart in a duel; people might wonder what had provoked it. It might be better to just kill him, the way he had dealt with his Atlas teammates. Kill him, dispose of the body, and let the world wonder what had become of Professor Lionheart.
But first … alongside the anger, there was also concern, water against the fire of his anger, concern for Juturna.
Juturna, who, unlike Lionheart, was actually standing before him.
Turnus used his semblance to make himself seem smaller, closer to Juturna’s own height. He reached out, putting one hand upon her arm.
“Juturna,” he said, and then had to stop and think. He envied Camilla her way with words, especially in these situations. “Juturna, I … I don’t know what Lionheart has said to you to make you feel … the way that you feel, but … at your age, and at his age, it isn’t right that—”
“Ew, ew, EW!” Juturna cried, recoiling away from him. “Is that what you think, ugh!”
“What am I supposed to think?” Turnus demanded.
“Not … that! Gross!” Juturna yelled. “He’s really old.”
“I know he is; why do you think I wasn’t happy about it?”
“You mean that if there was someone younger, you would be happy about it?”
“Juturna, why does Professor Lionheart need to come and hide in our house?” Turnus demanded. “Why do you want Professor Lionheart to come and hide in our house; how do you even know him?”
“We’ve met,” Juturna said. “He was at that party that me and Camilla went to when you were away, when I met Ruby.”
“And you’ve … kept in touch with him?”
“Not regularly,” Juturna said. “We say hi every now and then.”
And I didn’t realise. Neither did Camilla, for that matter. I need to pay more attention.
“Very well,” Turnus muttered. “Why does he need to come here?”
“He needs a place to hide,” Juturna said.
“Hide from who?” Turnus asked.
Juturna took a breath. “He told me that he owes money to some pretty bad people, and he can’t pay them back, and now they’re coming to collect. His body parts, if they can’t get their money.”
“Shouldn’t the Headmaster of Haven be able to protect himself against loan sharks?” Turnus asked. “And even if he can’t, if he does need protection, then he can hire Rutulian Security like everyone else.”
“He can’t afford it,” Juturna said. “He doesn’t have any money, remember; that’s his problem.”
“And he can’t ask any huntsmen, perhaps some of his old students, to help him, because—”
“Because it’s huntsmen who are after him,” Juturna said. “The bad guys have hired them. That’s why he’s going to lie really low and not come out and be absolutely our secret that he’s here, but he can’t just have a hiding place in case he gets caught; he also needs someone who can protect him if the worst comes to the worst.”
“You mean if the worst comes to the worst, he’s going to put this house and everyone who lives in it in danger?” Turnus asked. “Including you?”
Juturna rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to let me pilot a mech, you should probably stop treating me so much like a kid.”
“There’s a difference between inviting you to put a substantial amount of armour plate between yourself and harm, and exposing you to danger in this place, where you should be safe,” Turnus replied. “Here in our house, in Father’s house. The place he left for me to protect.” He reached out to his little sister again, this time putting his hand upon the back of her neck. “Along with you.”
Juturna smiled slightly. “He won’t be any trouble.”
“That’s not what you made it sound like.”
“He won’t,” Juturna insisted. “Nobody is going to know that he’s here. He’ll stay in the house, he’s not going to make any calls, he’ll send a proxy along to Council meetings and communicate with the Lord Steward through emails only—”
“Won’t he need to attend Haven at least some of the time?”
Juturna shrugged. “What’s anyone going to do if he doesn’t show up? Nobody’s going to know where he is.”
“The Council might ask him in a reply to one of his emails,” Turnus suggested.
“And he won’t tell them,” Juturna replied. “Honestly, this isn’t going to be any trouble at all, I promise. In fact, it’ll be a good thing; it’ll be great! We’ll have our own Councillor, living right here under our roof! Come on, you’re always talking about how badly things are run and how Mistral needs to change, how things can’t just go on as they are! Well, now’s your chance to start making changes. Since Lionheart’s living here with us, you can make him do whatever you want—”
“He would be my guest, not my hostage,” Turnus pointed out.
“Okay, yeah, fine, but still,” Juturna said. “You can talk to him, you can put your ideas to him, and what he’s he going to do, tell you no? When you’re hiding him? Think of the power!”
“Influence,” Turnus said. “Not power.”
But, slightly pedantic wording quibbles aside, Juturna made a good point.
She made a very good point, one of the best points that Juturna had ever made, to be honest. To have the opportunity — the sole opportunity — to lobby a member of the Council, exclusively, for some time … it was the next best thing to running for office.
It might even be better, since he didn’t have to go through the tiresome rigmarole of offering himself up to the people for their approval.
Juturna might be right, provided that it was safe.
“He will do exactly as you say,” Turnus said. “He will stay entirely inside the house; he will not leave for any reason until the danger is passed. Not to go to dinner, not to visit friends, not to go shopping, not for any reason. Nobody will know he is here aside from this household.”
“Uh huh,” Juturna said. “It will be like he just … disappeared. Except for the emails.”
“Yes,” Turnus murmured. “The emails.” He would hire someone to see if their computers could be made more secure, in case anyone tried to trace one of said emails. He paused. “Very well,” he said. “He may enter.”
“Alright!” Juturna cried. “This is going to work out just fine. You will not regret this, I promise.”
There was someone in the elevator with Sunset, a member of the hotel staff with a purple velvet waistcoat on over his shirt.
He didn’t look at Sunset as they rode the lift upwards, not once. He didn’t even glance at her.
Thanks to her spell, he didn’t even know that Sunset was there.
Sunset was exceedingly glad that she had that spell in her arsenal. She might have come up with it for Pyrrha’s sake, but it was certainly getting a workout on her own behalf over the last couple of … no, it was all today, wasn’t it? It was still today.
It was the same day when her world had fallen apart.
This was the hotel where Lady Nikos was staying; Sunset was taking the elevator up to see her. She just hadn’t wanted to be noticed on the way up here. Fortunately — or not so fortunately, considering that she had literally used magic to fix it — nobody had noticed her.
That had made getting into the lift a little bit of a challenge, as you needed one of those keycards to call the lift from the ground floor, but Sunset had just waited for some member of staff, like her travelling companion, to need to go up and hitched a ride with him.
The lift came to a stop, two floors down from where Sunset needed to go.
The doors opened, grinding and rumbling a little. The hotel employee got out, and three guests — man, woman, and child — got in.
Sunset squeezed herself towards the side of the elevator, getting out of the way of the buttons as the man, middle-aged and going bald on top of his head, pressed the button for the floor above the one that she aimed at.
“I hope they’re ready,” said the man to the woman. “We haven’t got long.”
“Oh, we’ve got time, don’t worry,” the woman replied. “Even if we’re a little bit late, they’ve got to announce all the contestants first and all that; the fights won’t start right away. Besides, they might be a bit delayed because of all this.”
“All what?” asked the man.
“Oh, you know, all this, on the news.”
“No, that’s just a load of bollocks, isn’t it?” the man declared. “Someone playing a prank, that’s all; everyone knows it’s rubbish. I mean, if you were going to do something like they’re supposed to have done, you wouldn’t talk about it where someone’s daughter could hear, would you? That’s just ridiculous! And that girl just made it up for some attention. Kids these days.” He ruffled the little boy’s mop of golden hair. “Isn’t that right?”
I wonder how representative you are of the general population? Sunset thought to herself.
The lift stopped again, on Sunset’s floor.
The man started to get out, but was forestalled by the voice of the woman. “This isn’t our floor.”
“Isn’t it?” the man asked, as Sunset squeezed past him to gain the corridor.
“No, this is floor eleven; we want twelve.”
“Then what are we stopped at floor eleven for?”
“You must have knocked the button,” the woman said, as the door closed behind Sunset, and obscured any other words that might have passed between them.
Sunset looked up and down the corridor. She could see no one, either ahead or behind. The doors were all closed; there was no rattle of hotel trolley with laundry or fresh glasses or anything like that. It was all clear, for the moment.
Nevertheless, Sunset kept the spell up until she was actually standing in front of the door to Lady Nikos’ hotel room, at which point, she had to drop the spell, or nobody would actually answer said door.
So she dropped the spell, letting the cloak of anonymity fall away from her as she glanced up and down the corridor again to make sure that nobody had suddenly emerged to spot her.
Thank Celestia, nobody had.
Sunset rapped smartly upon the door, her tail twitching impatiently behind her as she could not keep from sneaking furtive glances first one way, then the other, could not stop making sure that there was no one there to see.
I suppose I will have to let somebody see me at some point.
Just not right now.
The door opened, and in the doorway stood Lady Nikos’ maid, Hestia.
I hope it’s Hestia, anyway. I’m fairly sure it is.
Sunset cleared her throat. “Good morning,” she said.
Hestia — if it was Hestia — smiled a little as she curtsied. “Good morning, Miss.”
What is she smiling about? “Um … I believe that Lady Nikos is expecting me,” Sunset murmured. The summons from Pyrrha’s mother had been rather direct, a single word: Come. She hadn’t said ‘come at once,’ but that had nevertheless been the clear implication.
The smile remained on Hestia’s face as she said, “Yes, Miss. Please come in.”
She stepped aside, admitting Sunset into the parlour of Lady Nikos’ luxurious suite. It was much as it had been when Sunset and Jaune had escorted Lady Nikos here, only now, there was a pot of something and a tray of pastries sitting on the little table near the armchair.
Hestia closed the door behind Sunset. “Miss Sunset Shimmer to see you, ma’am.”
Lady Nikos was standing at the window, her ebony walking cane gripped in both her wrinkled hands, looking out of said window across the part of Vale that surrounded them.
“Thank you, Hestia,” Lady Nikos said. “That will be all for now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hestia replied, curtsying before she walked with brisk steps into her adjoining quarters, closing the door behind her.
Silence fell in the parlour. Sunset stood where she was, not moving, not speaking either, just standing there, with Soteria and Sol Invictus slung across her back, waiting.
“Good morning, Miss Shimmer,” Lady Nikos said, not turning away from the window.
Sunset swallowed. “Good morning, my lady.”
Lady Nikos turned her head to look at Sunset. “You will appreciate, Miss Shimmer, that I awoke this morning to a few surprises.”
“I can imagine, my lady.”
“First, I discover that, last night, Team Sapphire engaged, defeated, and finally captured Cinder Fall,” Lady Nikos said. “I must say, either you or Pyrrha might have let me know of such a triumph before I discovered it on the morning news. I expect such callous lack of thought from Pyrrha, but I had hoped for better from you.”
Sunset could not help but smile a little. “A thousand pardons, my lady, but after the battle was won, we then had to accompany Cinder to the police station, where Pyrrha and I were … present for her interrogation, and then…” The smile slid off her face. “Then other matters waylaid us and drove such thoughts out of my mind — and Pyrrha’s too, no doubt.”
“No doubt,” Lady Nikos murmured. Her voice rose. “But before we get into that, Miss Shimmer, congratulations upon your victory.”
“Team Sapphire’s victory, if it please my lady.”
“And you are part of Team Sapphire, are you not?” Lady Nikos asked, but pushed forward before Sunset could correct her upon that point. “How was it? The news was frustratingly vague upon the details.”
“Cinder … was a veritable tiger,” Sunset said. “But, to speak true, my lady, I can recall very little of the details; it was … somewhat chaotic. But some brave fools out on the street that night were filming; I am sure there will be a recording of the battle out on the net if you care to look.”
“I would rather not trawl through video hosting sites,” Lady Nikos replied, over-enunciating the words as though they needed a wash. “I have done so, on occasion, searching for recordings of Pyrrha’s battles, but I cannot say I enjoyed the experience.” She sucked in a breath. “‘Pyrrha Nikos is garbage, and here’s why.’”
Sunset frowned. “My lady?”
“A video, Miss Shimmer,” Lady Nikos said. “The first video that comes up when one searches ‘Pyrrha Nikos.’ Utterly ridiculous. I may have Hestia do the searching for me.”
“That seems eminently sensible, my lady.”
“Do these people have nothing better to do?”
“It would seem not, my lady.”
“But enough of that,” Lady Nikos said. “Is there aught that you can tell me of the battle? Did Pyrrha strike the final blow?”
“I fear not, my lady, but the final blow would never have been struck had Pyrrha not been holding Cinder still long enough for Penny to take aim.”
“Penny,” Lady Nikos repeated, frowning a little. “Penny Polendina, of Team Rosepetal of Atlas?”
“The very same, my lady; she was with us in the battle.”
“Ah,” Lady Nikos said. “I say again, Miss Shimmer: congratulations. It is a pity that your triumph of last night has become … somewhat overshadowed.”
“Yes,” Sunset murmured. “Yes, I … I regret that too, my lady.”
Lady Nikos nodded. “Miss Shimmer,” she said, “I am going to ask this once, and I expect an honest answer—”
“It is true, my lady,” Sunset said, before she could finish. “If that is what you would ask. If not, I fear I have made myself look foolish.”
“No, Miss Shimmer, you were quite correct,” Lady Nikos said. “So … you were in that tunnel, pursued by a grimm horde, and you…”
“Yes, my lady.”
“And if you had not … Pyrrha … Pyrrha would have… ‘they looked for her coming from the White Tower, but she did not return,’” Lady Nikos whispered.
Sunset’s tail drooped down listlessly behind her. “That was my fear, my lady.”
Lady Nikos nodded. Her face was expressionless. “Miss Shimmer, will you come here? I would come to you, but my leg is feeling somewhat stiff this morning.”
“Of course, my lady,” Sunset said, walking across the carpeted floor towards her. She stopped, yet a respectful distance of two feet away from Pyrrha’s mother.
“Closer, Miss Shimmer,” Lady Nikos implored her, waving her hand in her own direction.
Sunset approached closer still, close enough to touch, close enough for Lady Nikos to reach out and touch Sunset, taking her by the neck and pulling her head forwards, even as she leaned forwards in turn to kiss Sunset first upon the left cheek, and then upon the right.
Her lips were a little dry and cracked in places, but nevertheless, the mere act of it was enough to make Sunset’s eyes widen.
“Thank you, Miss … Sunset Shimmer, if I may venture to call you so but once, let it be now,” Lady Nikos said, her voice trembling a little. “Thank you. All that I hoped for, you have done.”
“I … my lady…” Sunset murmured. “I … I confess, I do not feel as though I deserve praise for what I have done.”
Lady Nikos’ eyebrows rose. “Why not, Miss Shimmer?”
Sunset’s mouth gaped open for a second before she realised that that made her look very gauche and uncouth, and shut her mouth again. “I … why … is it not obvious, my lady?”
“Because of Vale?” Lady Nikos asked. “What is Vale, this city of the impudent hares, against the heir to my house and Mistral’s ancient royal line? Against our Evenstar? What is Vale, when set against Pyrrha’s life? Why should I regret that you risked the one to save the other, that you prized base earth as less than a glimmering emerald?”
“My lady might think differently if it had been Mistral at the end of the tunnel, and not Vale, if my lady will forgive me,” Sunset murmured.
“No doubt,” Lady Nikos allowed. “But Mistral is not Vale, and in any case, Vale did not fall, so what you think you have to rebuke yourself for, I have no idea. You saved Pyrrha’s life, and for what? You did something that someone of more malign intents would have done anyway, and when the grimm emerged, they were met with force. The battle that followed was, as I understand, rather one-sided. More people die in airship accidents. Think nothing of it, Miss Shimmer. Think only of Pyrrha’s life, the life that you saved; as you are mine, at my service, the bearer of Soteria, gifted to you from my family’s vault, so Pyrrha’s life ought to have been your prime concern.” She paused. “Are you a huntress, Miss Shimmer?”
“No, my lady,” Sunset said.
“And have you taken any oath to Vale?”
“No, my lady.”
“But you have taken my sword,” Lady Nikos reminded. “You have taken my money. If you suffer from a guilty conscience, Miss Shimmer, soothe it by the reminder that you are my woman far more than you are a huntress of Vale or anywhere else. It is to me, and to my house, that you owe your loyalty first and foremost, for though you have sworn me no oath, you gave me yet your word of honour in my house, and you took this venerable blade from me and, in doing so, accepted a bond between us.” She paused a moment. “I told you, Miss Shimmer, that my money was not a fee but an investment, in a talented companion to Pyrrha in battle. That investment has paid dividends beyond my wildest dreams.”
My lady also said you did not see me as a retainer, Sunset recalled, but nevertheless, she could see the force behind what Lady Nikos was saying. Whether she saw Sunset as a retainer or not, whether she had called Sunset such, she had given Sunset Soteria, a sword traditionally born by trusted retainers of the House of Nikos, by bodyguards such as Achates Kommenos and those who had come before him. There had been an implicit pledge of service given there, by the accepting of the weapon. By that logic, Sunset did owe more to Pyrrha than to Vale; though it was unspoken, it was nevertheless more explicit than anything she had given to anyone else save for Professor Ozpin in the matter of Salem.
Sunset found herself wishing she could believe it wholeheartedly. “My Lady is very kind to give me such a way to excuse myself,” she said. “I cannot entirely accept it.”
“You may, in time,” Lady Nikos said. “So, it is true, but the First Councillor has come to your defence, and the Amity Princess, Miss Aris, has come up with a lie to attempt to excuse this message that she wrote. It may not convince everyone, but am I right in saying that you are not under threat of the law?”
“I am not, my lady,” Sunset said. “At least not while Aspen Emerald remains First Councillor.”
“The First Councillor being another who saw no ill in what you did.”
“I would not quite go that far, my lady, but he seems to have softened quite considerably in his attitudes towards me,” Sunset said. “I think he appreciated Cinder’s capture.”
“As anyone would after the year Vale has had,” Lady Nikos replied. “But it is good news, excellent news, even if it does depend upon a politician remaining in office. Well, I trust this will be forgotten soon enough.”
“By the world, I hope, my lady, but by … my teammates know the truth, as you do, my lady. I … confessed it to them.”
“You seem to have made a habit of confessing, Miss Shimmer,” Lady Nikos said. “May I ask what you found so difficult about keeping this to yourself?”
“In the circumstances … it felt wrong to keep the secret any longer, my lady; I could not do it.”
“There is sometimes a place for deception, Miss Shimmer,” Lady Nikos said. “Lady Fir lied and lied and lied some more; she lied incessantly and, by her lies, saved Mistral.”
Sunset frowned. “I fear I do not know the name, my lady.”
“Mantle’s ambassador to Mistral before the Great War; what sort of history have you been taught in Atlas and Vale?” Lady Nikos demanded. “As the ambassador of Mantle’s King, she should have overseen Mistral’s enforcement of Mantle’s policies against art, culture, expression of any kind. Instead, having come to love our city, its games and festivals, its clothes of many shimmering colours, its poetry and music, she lied on our behalf. She covered up her own husband’s poisoning and lied to the King of Mantle and his ministers that Mistral was doing all that it had pledged to stamp out joy, colour, culture in all its forms. Had she not done so, had she been seized with a surfeit of honesty as you have been, Mistral would have died the death even before the Great War began. Whatever kingdom fought that war, and whatever kingdom survived it, would not have been recognisable as the Mistral that we know and which our ancestors built. How did your teammates take the news?”
“I…” Sunset licked her lips. “I have been banished from Beacon, my lady. Ruby did not take it well at all.”
Lady Nikos was silent for a moment. “'Banished,' Miss Shimmer? By Miss Rose?”
“It was her or me, my lady,” Sunset said. “It was fairer to come away.”
“And leave Pyrrha alone?”
“Jaune is with her, my lady,” Sunset reminded her, in a tone of slight reproach.
“Yes, he is, but you will forgive me if I do not see him as a wholly adequate substitute,” Lady Nikos replied. “I do not suppose there is any chance that Professor Ozpin might—”
“I would not ask him too, my lady; I cannot,” Sunset said. “I … it would not be right.”
“Miss Shimmer, you seem to be experiencing many inconvenient attacks of morality.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
“That was not a compliment,” Lady Nikos informed her, as though Sunset needed to be informed. “So, you are no longer a student at Beacon?”
“No, my lady,” Sunset said. “If you have seen the news of our press conference, you will know that is why I am setting off on a mission to Mount Aris. It is my excuse for my absence.”
“Is there a real mission involved?”
“Yes, my lady, conveniently enough.”
“And you go by yourself?”
“I am assured it is not that dangerous, my lady,” Sunset told her.
“Nevertheless, take care, Miss Shimmer; I would mourn your passing,” Lady Nikos said softly. “What will you do after that, and how will it be explained without questions being raised?”
“To answer the second question first, my lady, I…” Sunset scratched the back of her head with one hand. “I mean…” It was a lot harder mentioning this to Lady Nikos, if only because of her greater years. If even Skystar thought this was absurd, what would Lady Nikos think? “I fear that my plan is too rudimentary to mention in your company, my lady; if you have any suggestions, I would welcome them.”
“Lie and lie and lie, Miss Shimmer, like a latter-day Lady Fir,” Lady Nikos advised. “Tell the world that you have wearied of Beacon, that the classroom holds no joy for you, that you are impatient to take the field in arms. And then … what will you do? Have you given any thought to the future, or is the shock of the present still too raw with you?”
“I have … given it some thought, my lady,” Sunset said. She hesitated. “Pyrrha … suggested that I might approach you for assistance in that regard.”
“Did she? Did she indeed?” Lady Nikos said. “She does not inform me when she has triumphed over her rival, but she remembers I exist when she is in need of aid.”
“I am sorry for importuning—”
“You need be sorry for nothing, Miss Shimmer, not today, and not for sometime after,” Lady Nikos said sharply. “I was merely amused, that is all. I would be glad to assist you; it would be the least that I could do to repay the debt that I owe for your service. I fear that I would have little use for a warrior in my own employ, but I could vouch for your talents to Lady Terri-Belle, Lord Rutulus, Polemarch Yeoh might find a rank for you in her new forces if you wish, or…” A smile crossed her lips. “Or perhaps … how fares your ambition, Miss Shimmer?”
“Somewhat underfed, my lady, and rather docile of late, why?”
“It does occur to me that, rather than opening the door for you to join some existing company, there is no reason why we might not start our own,” Lady Nikos said. “Yes, I have no need for a warrior in my service, but Mistral has need of warriors; I have the money for it, as Lord Rutulus does, and in you, I have a captain.”
Sunset’s eyes widened. “You … you would … my lady would found a mercenary company for my employ? Create a group to place me at the head of?”
“I see no reason why not; it is not unheard of, after all,” Lady Nikos said. “Call it … another investment, after the first one provided such a sound return. Would you take such a position, if it were offered to you?”
Sunset did not reply for a moment, trusting that Lady Nikos would understand that this was an offer requiring somewhat in the way of careful consideration. What she was offering her was … it was a great deal, and a great show of her faith in Sunset, that she would place the resources of the House of Nikos at her disposal thus. Even assuming that the company started small, as it certainly would, still, to create one so that she might lead it.
It would not be Team SAPR, of course; nothing could be. Even so, a command of her own…
Would that make it easier or harder to slip away to do work for Professor Ozpin than working for someone else?
“You … you offer me a great honour, my lady,” Sunset said. “One that I … will not trouble you an excess of modesty; suffice it to say that I am conscious of what you offer and am grateful for it. May I have some little time to consider? Although it is the best offer I have had yet, I feel some obligation to Vale which may win out. I must think it over.”
“Of course,” Lady Nikos said. “I would not expect you to leap to an impulsive decision. Take all the time that you require. Even after I return to Mistral, the offer will remain open. While you think it over, will you return with me to Beacon and watch Pyrrha’s matches in the final round?”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, my lady, but I cannot,” Sunset said. “Apart from anything else, it would give the lie to the idea that I am setting out on a mission at once.”
Yes, she could use her spell to avoid notice, but then, Lady Nikos wouldn’t realise she was there either, so what would be the point?
Not to mention the spell didn’t work on people with their auras up, so Ruby might notice she was back.
No. No, that was a pleasure that she could not allow herself.
“True enough, I suppose, if unfortunate,” Lady Nikos said. “You are leaving Vale right away?”
“I have some business to settle in the city first, but yes, straight away after that,” Sunset said.
“Then I must take my leave of you if I hope to catch the airship,” Lady Nikos said. “I wish you good fortune, Miss Shimmer, and, whatever you decide, it is my very fond hope that we shall meet again, sooner than late.”
“I cannot say for sure we shall, my lady,” Sunset said, curtsying to Lady Nikos. “But it is my hope also that it shall be so.”
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Watts makes his move, Lionheart is now in House Arrest and Juturna makes the first of her many mistakes that I have no doubt will spiral out of control real fast come Part 2...
Lady Nikos and Sunset’s conversation was a breath of fresh air as we see someone that is actually 100% unapologetic glad about her actions, and don’t put any blame on her whatsoever. I wonder what will happen once the Fall starts and how Sunset being away against the Grimm Horde will change how things will unravel in the Climax. I am very excited to see what battles we may see on the Fall!
Rainbow vs Tempest, perhaps? Cinder vs Sunset is a must, maybe have Ruby fight against Sonata, and Amber vs Pyrrha would be great as well. I am excited to see how things will unravel as we come closer to the Climax of Volume 3
Interesting how some things from the original are occurring a bit earlier, such as Juturna agreeing to house Lionheart, and Lady Nikos thanking Sunset (even going as far as to call her by her first name) for saving Pyrrha (though she'll be extra grateful when she hears Sunset saved Pyrrha yet again in an attempt to wake up Amber). It pleases me because Sunset and Lady Nikos didn't get the opportunity to interact much in the original before Atlas, thanks to Sunset's prison sentencing.
My heart! So overcome with emotion was the regal and proper Lady Nikkos that she could not move, so filled with gladness.
I am looking forward to a conversation between Lady Nikkos and Professor Goodwitch. Two unmovable people like that in the same room.
And further, I have already stated my opinion beforehand of what Lady Nikkos would say to Ruby Rose, but there are a number of different things she may say to Pyrrha.
"I need not lecture or rebuke you, oh daughter of mine. For as time moves on, you shall do it yourself. For one day, you shall have children of your own, most likely with Mr. Arc. And the moment you first look into your child's eyes, then you will understand as I do. When you are a mother, nothing is more important than your child. No decision is too hard, no sacrifice too great. Anything less makes a wretched excuse for a mother and as a human being."
A Lily Orchard reference? Huh, cool
Anyway, great chapter
Jutunra continues to be to naive and shortsighted for her own good
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Honestly, I feel there might be Ruby vs Penny under Sonata's influence
And Cinder vs Sunset, of course
Ahhhh, finally. This is the chapter I have been waiting to consume. I love this.
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I confess that Turnus likely knows of Watt's involvement with the Heart because Camilla would almost certainly have told him quietly about it. He might not be happy about it but... well, what's done is done and it benefits him too much to go back now.
In fairness, Jutunra going 'Watt's is calling in a favor for us to protect Lionheart' would likely have gone over a lot better then her actual plan.
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Indeed, I agree with your hypothetical speech for Lady Nikos.
Lady Nikos is a former gladiator, not a huntress, so she cares little for the values of a huntress.
Lady Nikos is from Mistral, not Vale, so she cares little for Vale.
But Lady Nikos is a mother who loves and cherishes her daughter very much (who also seems to be her only living family member since her husband died, not to mention her only child).
Honestly, given the parallels between Sunset and Pyrrha, something I wouldn't mind, when the rewrite catches up with the original (whenever that may be), is for Lady Nikos and Princess Celestia to have their own little journal chat, just two old mothers sharing and reminiscing about their daughters, since Lady Nikos finally finds out about Sunset's true origins in Atlas.
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Something I would love to see is Lady Nikkos named the new head of Haven Academy.
I am so damn glad that Lady Nikos is an actual character. The only time we see her in the show is when Rwby, Jaune, Nora and Ren get to Mistral. And it's very breaf. She had like only two minutes of screen time and then we never seen her again. I AM so glad she is a full, developed and interesting character.
As support or secondary characters go, Lady Nikos and El-Tee are by far the best. Because they are competent. They see reason. And are fully defending Sunset, unlike some.
Also, i bave a question. What is wrong with her leg? It is my understanding that her leg was damaged in a battle in the arena, it was also my understanding that when team SAPR saw her she was walking fairly fine. And it's also my understanding that she got the wound a long time ago, a few years at least. So i can safely assume that the wound didn't deteriorate that much from when she got the wound to when she met team SAPR. Now here is the thing that don't understand. From the moment the team first met Lady Nikos and the present time, her leg deteriorate on an accelerated rate. In the span of i belive one year her leg became almost usless. Does this have a deeper meaning or not. It's been bugging me for a while now and i lay awake at night thinking of Lady Nikos's feet.
Also i don't care if it's a spoiler, but can someone tell me if the same thing happened in the original version? And if it did what happened to her leg?
11773102
As far as I know, Lady Nikos is an OC of the author.
The only time we meet a possible relation of Pyrrha in RWBY is when Jaune meets someone similar-looking to Pyrrha at the statue of Pyrrha in Argus in Volume 6 (leading fans to speculate that it could be her mother or a sister of Pyrrha's), and if I recall correctly, the original draft of SAPR was conceptualized and written before that volume came out.
As to her leg, well, despite walking quite capably during the hunt for the karkadann, she is old and her injury is probably worsening with age.
I don't really think much of it.
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Something to also consider is that old wounds and pains like that... one can have good days and bad days. There is also the fact this is a day when Lady Nikos is deeply indebted to Sunset and feels like she is truly family, thus the need to 'put on the mask' for her pain isn't required. Lady Nikos is a proud woman after all... and I think it shows just how much she cares about Sunset that she is willing to show weakness in front of her.
Actually, what I just realized is what Lady Nikos is proposing is basically the conceptualization of Pyrrha's Myrmidons in the original post-Volume 3
Now, if it goes similar to the original, Sunset will captain a band of warriors, even if they're only convicts and criminals. But if Sunset is out of prison in the rewrite, then how would that work, since Cardin basically employing Sunset in the original kept Sunset out of prison, unless....
Oh no... Cardin isn't gonna blackmail Sunset into working for him, is he? Not only would that basically be Jaundice part 2 with a mix of a less fatal version of Councilor Emerald's deal, but it would make Cardin look worse than in the original, who looked decent by basically doing Sunset a favour by keeping her out of prison.
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That would be exceptionally petty of Cardin, of ANYONE, after the Fall of Beacon. What kind of person witnesses the lowest point in Vale's history, betrayed by Amber and Tempest, the carnage of the Grimm, and the death of Ozpin, and then wakes up the next morning and decides "let's maliciously blackmail one of the precious capable defenders we have left?" Besides, if Cardin does that, he's right back to where he started in Volume 1 and then he'll have learned nothing.
11773102
Lady Nikos has been under a lot of stress since we first met her: first Pyrrha basically iced her out for the best part of a semester (which she brought on herself, but still) on top of that things have gotten more obviously dangerous for Pyrrha in terms of the number of times that she's been placed, or placed herself, in life threatening situations (and those are just the times that Lady Nikos knows about!) and on top of that she's been on a long journey, all of which has aggravated her condition to the extent that, although I wouldn't describe her leg as useless, she needs the stick more than she did when Team SAPR visited Mistral.
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Hence why I'm sure and hoping he won't go that route. Yes, I can see him wanting justice similar to how Councilor Emerald did. But with how desperate Vale will be after the Fall, he might be able to overlook that since Sunset is still recognized as one of the heroes of the Breach and will be one of Vale's defenders during the grimm attack, not to mention she's known as a very capable leader, and one of the best in their year alongside Yang(since Bon Bon is terrible and Weiss kinda looked up to Sunset's example as a leader before she herself improved as one)