CHAPTER 58

CINDER FALL POV

She called Emerald but was once again told the same thing.

'The person you're trying to call is not Reachable.'

And wasn't that the whole crux of the matter.

Her unruly subordinates had run off to somewhere and now she couldn't even reach them.

It seemed like she had been too lenient on Emerald and Mercury if they thought that they could simply ditch their given duties go off to flounder about in the City.

Once they return, she would have to teach them an abject lesson that they won't forget for a long time.

She made a fireball in her hands and stared at it for a moment.

It wasn't enough.

She tried to increase its temperature but after a certain point, she lost control over it and it fizzled out of existence.

She cursed Qrow Branwen's existence in her mind once again.

If it had not been for him then she would have gained the full powers of the Fall Maiden. Things would've been so much easier with the Maiden's power in her hands.

But as it was, she only had a fraction of that power which wasn't nearly enough.

She closed her fists and looked at the White Fang members hauling off the dust stolen by them and Roman Torchwick.

Their plans had hit a bump when Roman was attacked by that unknown group of people who had later stolen all the Dust and money kept in that Warehouse and had put Roman and a large number of the Faunus behind bars.

But aside from that little distraction, her mistress's plans were progressing along quite well.

Now only if her subordinates were not so rebellious and knew how to follow simple orders then this would be so much easier.

"Roman Torchwick!" she said, announcing her presence to the thief as she climbed down the platform.

"Ah ha. I was wondering when you would come around." The thief exclaimed as he opened his arms to welcome her to the Warehouse.

She ignored his cheerful demeanor and asked "Have you made up for the Dust that was stolen from you by these… Night Walkers."

"Of course I have." He said with a charming smile as if that smile would stop her from noticing the fear in his eyes. Fear that she reveled in. "I 'am' the Greatest Thief in all of Vale, in case you've forgotten."

She narrowed her eyes at his insinuation that she had forgotten something and he seemed to catch on to her displeasure because he quickly shut up after that.

For a moment, she felt the urge to ask him about her wayward subordinates but she squashed that urge in the crib.

Doing such a thing would allow him to learn about her less than perfect control over her subordinates. A weakness that might embolden him to think that he's above the consequences of failing her.

Plus, showing weakness, even to your allies is always a mistake. She had learned that much from Salem at least.

"You know, this whole thing would be far easier if you just told me about this… grand-master plan of yours." He said, some frustration leaking into his voice.

"Roman." She said in a condescending yet seductive voice as she walked up to him "Don't worry about the plan. You'll know about it when I decide you need to know about it."

Roman grumbled and looked away and she nodded to herself inwardly.

At least one of her subordinates knew not to cross her.

"Besides. We are done with the Dust." She said and they were running out of time as well. She had wanted to get her hands on some more dust but this much will have to do.

"Okay." He said cautiously "Then what now?"

"We're moving." she said as she turned around and started to walk away "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you the details and coordinates tonight. We're proceeding to phase two."

Once she left the building she dialed Emerald and Mercury's numbers once again and was once again met with the same answer.

They were out of reach.

At this point, she was beginning to wonder if her subordinates had not left her but were in fact kidnapped and subdued by the Agents of Ozpin.

It was unlikely but Qrow had seen their faces, if only for a brief moment when they attacked Amber.

If those two have been captured by either Ozpin or Ironwood then they might as well be lost to her. She doubted that Ozpin would keep them in a place where she would be able to rescue them.

The only good thing about this was the fact that neither Emerald nor Mercury knew about the main plan. If they knew then that… would've been bad.

She had already failed Salem once when she failed to obtain the power of the Fall Maiden. She didn't want to face Salem's displeasure when she finds out that she had failed in her given task once again.

She shook her thoughts and started walking once again, hoping for the first time that her subordinates were just going through a rebellious phase. Because the alternative was worse. For both her and Leonardo Lionheart who had signed them up as a team from Haven Academy.

She paused as she heard the faint sound of footsteps from nearby.

She looked around at old and abandoned warehouses, her senses alert and his posture ready to defend against an attack from anywhere.

'Had Ozpin found out about her and had sent his agents for her?' she wondered to herself as she tried to look for the person trying to ambush her.

Being nighttime, the visibility was already low but she could make out movements in the roof of the Warehouses every now and then.

She made a fireball appear in both her hands and took a deep breath, readying herself for the inevitable fight.

"Whoever you are, show yourself!" she said, trying to make her voice as threatening as possible.

She wasn't expecting them to actually show themselves but was pleasantly surprised when she heard footsteps coming toward her from a dark alley.

She increased the size of the fire in her hands and with the increased visibility, she was able to see the person who had been foolish enough to miss the precious opportunity to ambush her.

It was… a woman in black attire that covered her from head to toe and hid all of her features except for her Lime green eyes.

She knew who this person was. Or what group she belonged to at least.

The Night Walkers.

Were they agents of Ozpin or were they working on their own?

They were likely working for Ozpin but she couldn't be sure.

"You're Cinder Fall." The woman said. From the tone of her voice, she could tell that this woman was young. Maybe a Hunter-in-training then? "The person with half of the Fall Maiden's powers."

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of her Fall Maiden's powers but now she was sure about it.

This group worked for Ozpin. No one else aside from his group and her own knew about the Maidens. Now to see if she could capture this girl and torture out all the information she knew about Ozpin and his group.

That way, even if she failed in her plan, she might be able to appease Salem with the information on Ozpin's inner Council.

"That she is." She heard and whirled around to face the direction where the voice had come from. And saw yet another girl with similar attire to the previous one.

She had not even heard the second one approach.

Whoever these people were, they were good. She could see why Roman lost to them.

Then her hair stood on end as she heard the sound of rustling cloth behind her and turned to get out of the way of an unknown third person trying to ambush her.

Unfortunately, her attacker was too fast and she felt a boot collide with her face before the kick sent her tumbling inside an empty warehouse where she regained her balance and turned to look at her attacker.

Then her eyes widened as she took in the form of the person who had just kicked her.

"You…" she hissed out and then Ice-Cream themed girl smiled back at her, her silly umbrella twirling in her hands as she performed a mock courtesy to her.

"I take it that Roman has betrayed me then." She spoke as she prepared herself to face these odds "I don't see him here. Was he too afraid to join this fight? He never really seemed like a brave sort to me."

Neo shook her head and she didn't know if it meant that Roman won't be joining them or if Roman hadn't betrayed her.

Huh! As if she would believe the girl anyway.

The other two girls walked inside the abandoned Warehouse and fanned around her while Neo covered the front.

"You must understand Cinder Fall. This is nothing personal." The first girl spoke.

"Yes. Our boyfriend has been feeling a bit down since he killed that Mercury guy. It was his first kill you see."

"Roman?" she asked, not believing for a moment that the guy had not killed before.

You didn't reach high in the Underworld without getting your hands dirty.

"Oh no, it's not Roman."

Ozpin then? She never took him for the type to ensnare young girls like this. But she wasn't surprised either.

"But you don't need to know his identity."

"What you do need to know is that we intend to cheer him up by giving him a gift."

"And what better gift than the half Fall Maiden. All bound and trussed up like a Turkey."

"If you think for a moment that this is going to be easy for you then…"

Neo blurred and vanished from her sight.

And then she coughed as she felt an elbow bury itself in her stomach.

She felt blood well up in her mouth as she was thrown back by the girl whom she seemed to have highly underestimated.

Her momentum was cut off by the two girls as they caught her right and left arm.

She created a fireball and tried to roast them but their aura protected them without even showing any sign of strain.

Then Neo was in front of her once again and her eye widened as Neo cocked her umbrella and pushed it into her stomach.

Her aura shattered this time and she felt her strength leave her.

She tried to use her magic once again but then she felt something slam into the back of her head and lost consciousness.

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AN: What better gift to cheer up your boyfriend than a kidnapped and bound girl in his bed, ready to be captured or sold.