Never too Easy (1)

"Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future." – George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Blair)

One would easily expect for the important dinner to be besieged by some sudden guest that I wanted to avoid. Like Ozpin… and Ozpin.

Really, I wasn't planning to be cornered by the headmaster, and my little prayer was answered when the event turned out to be actually fine.

Sure, I had to deal with the fact that Kali took it upon herself to question me about my intentions with Sienna… while the Tiger Faunus was sitting right beside me.

The teasing and the 'threats' that were delivered in that big dinner ended up being the cherry atop the amusing cake that was made by various interesting situations unraveling during the situation.

First hint that the day was going to end in the most amusing of ways was when the kids were given their own tables to sit. Nora decided to be the prime entertainment for the rest of the children, leading left and right the conversation through quick and somewhat cohesive topics.

Ren was there to deter her from descending too much with the crazy stuff, but the overall result was a completely endeared table as the new entries of that group seemed to be faring well about it.

Adam in particular seemed to be having fun talking with Ilia. The Chameleon Faunus was having a blast offering her own ideas to the easily-fascinated red-haired boy.

Blake would quip from time to time, adding more to the duo and broadening it to a full-fledged trio.

To think that these three were meant to be enemies…

I'm glad to see that things turned out this well for us all.

The second subject that drew a fair amount of my attention was when Kali diverted her 'teasing' to Arthur and Emma, Adam's mother.

I first encountered her by the entrance of the mansion. The woman almost tackled me to the down while she barraged me with 'thank you's over what happened back in Atlas.

Since she didn't have the means to reach me out while I was still in Atlas after she left for Menagerie, the woman had been struggling to think up how she was supposed to thank me properly.

I just asked her if she was alright and to ask if she needed help. It wasn't what she was expecting, and she did pout a lot when she returned back to her son.

Watts regaled me with a confused frown when he noticed this development, but the older Bull Faunus saw it fit to tell the truth instead of exaggerating from the way the scientist gave me a sympathetic but sheepish look shortly after.

They were both close to each other much to my surprise, yet they still regaled themselves as 'housemates' and work-partners.

Not even Kali's own brand of pestering the two to 'confess' the truth seemed to yield any results with the possible couple, and the true nature of their relationship was left up to suppositions and untold contemplation.

Still, I was surprised that these two had bonded so easily… but then again Watts had never displayed a degree of hatred for Faunus, so maybe it wasn't that much of a surprise that he just found Emma's hard-working nature more than enough to endear a serious relationship.

With the dinner ending with a toast for both Sienna and I, the rest of the night concluded with the guests going back to their respective homes and sleeping until the next morning.

And from there the 'normal days' resumed for both me and the Tiger Faunus. Starting from the task of reporting the results obtained during the diplomatic visit, and some of the details noticed during our wandering, the Chieftain seemed overall pleased with what was brought back home.

There were some minor issues born from the fact we brought so much without proper notice, but he wasn't willing to complain about the absolute victory scored for Menagerie and thus he didn't see it fit to do more other than reminding us to 'call' when the situation was getting complex.

Kali was also there as she had promised, happily listening to everything we were saying while a tired-looking Ghira was trying his best to divide his attention between his own share of the paperwork and what we were saying.

Things went a little bit 'tense' when the Cat Faunus decided to ask about the cast I had been wearing when I returned back to the island as neither Sienna nor I were ready to answer that question.

The irritation building up within the usually kind and motherly woman as we ultimately spilled the beans seemed to be good enough proof of our concerns as we were scolded for endangering our lives.

The worst was aimed at me as I was the one that got the most injured during the trip, and for those excruciating moments I felt like I was being chided about like a brat caught doing something bad.

And that was something I was well-accustomed to from my childhood when my own mother would use her legendary wooden spoon whenever I did something grave. Which was frequent when I was a little kid.

From this first step back in normalcy, work seemed to return a priority to me as I found out that the owner of the bank had deemed it fit to create a new section of the bank and put me in charge of it.

While the promotion sounded sudden, I quickly realized that it was more of a damage control situation than else. I had inadvertently brought up a dangerous situation that had risked to damage the reputation and the integrity of the bank.

To prevent this from ever happening again, the owner decided to create the 'International Section' that was meant to deal with clients that didn't reside in Menagerie. I was chosen to lead this small group of people that had some understanding of the topic, and the first assignment was to draft a series of modifications that were meant to positively reform the current charter of the bank.

A tough job that took me a ten days of long workdays to get through, but finally got me a much deserved increase to my payroll. The income was almost doubled because of this and I quickly started to draw out plans to expand the house earlier than I had initially wanted.

With the money gained from the trip to Atlas and the promotion at the workplace, I was quite certain that the first project of expansion would commence in a month or so... even less if nothing that could drain our finances happened.

But while this sounded so nice and all of that, a minuscule issue appeared when my relationship with Sienna was cemented… through a couple of dates.

One would expect that those ended up being nightmarish considering the interest displayed by Kali, the children, and pretty much most of Menagerie… but I was surprised when almost every single one of those went pretty smoothly and without interference from anyone we knew.

The secret of our success? We didn't tell anyone that we were going out for dates.

People just expected us to just hang around when we were free and both Ren and Nora were still at school, but we were already testing out the current state of things as a couple by going to the only restaurant on the island or checking the safe areas of the beach to rest for a few hours.

But like all good plans, something odd and unexpected would sometimes come out and play a curve ball at us.

In this case, the 'something' was a certain banditress that saw fit visiting and checking from time to time.

Now that I was not dealing with some important work out of home, Raven saw it fit to enlist me as a free therapist. It wasn't a full commitment, and I was pretty sure that some of the 'sessions' were about her barging on our dates and 'deciding to spend some time with us as friends'.

It didn't help that she was giving me strange looks any time she said the word 'friend' as if to press a joke on my face or something. I had plenty of clues about what she was trying to accomplish, but the red-eyed huntress had severely forgotten I wasn't someone that was just going to accept what she wanted from me.

To make things clear, the issues behind that kind of relationship with Raven were… mostly dictated by my morality and some good bonds I had with the rest of Team STRQ.

Sure, Taiyang had severed most of his past connection with his first wife, but I was quite sure that he really didn't want Yang's biological mother to leave the little girl.

Despite Summer's own efforts to mitigate the new predicament, it was complicated to explain to both the girls back in Patch that nothing much was changing and that Raven was no longer Taiyang's wife.

Yang was the greatest obstacle, with her unwillingness to consider the chances of both Summer and Raven being her moms in equal manner. Days had gone by but progress was sluggish and mostly difficult to spot on without paying incredible attention to both the young blonde and the tiny cookie-muncher.

I was planning to visit by the end of the week, but for now I was stuck facing quite the troublesome thing that was love.

Or rather, the ramifications that usually come out of it.

Sienna was quick to devote herself to her new role in the White Fang, expecting for it to be a promotion that would make her command more people and reform positively what needed to be fixed in the current organization. It was nothing radical and… her expectations proved to be correct much to her early delight.

Sadly, that wasn't the only duty that came out of the promotion. Paperwork was also a thing that increased with her rise to the ranks, and her despaired groaning would linger in the living room whenever we were all back home and enjoying the 'post-work' routine.

The Tiger Faunus wasn't granted that privilege as she was drowned in the papers detailing reports and requests from various subordinates.

But how does this become a problem to me?

[Because you're whipped~]

Oh, come on!

You could've technically have said no… even though that would've left you in quite the odd conundrum.

At first it was a single request, then it became a situation that happened from time to time and… finally she asked for my full-time commitment to help her with paper.

'After all, you are my second in command.'

That very sentence, given with a mischievous smile and a wave of documents over my face really left me annoyed but… it wasn't like I was planning to leave her to struggle with that much paperwork.

Especially when half of it turned out to be letters from 'admirers'.

I was slightly surprised to learn about this curious predicament, but I was more irked when I discovered some of the admirers going as far as using rather crass terms to address their interest.

This occasion proved to be a good opportunity to create a stash of paper that could be used to fuel the grill to make some BBQ.

With this becoming another element of my busy daily life, the last addition to my week was the introduction of something I had promised Sienna to start trying with her.

Training. Hardcore sessions at that.

She didn't spare me much relief as she gave me an absurd schedule to 'begin with', and my aura-deprived body was quick to get strained against the surreal list of exercises I had to go through each day.

Two weeks went by smoothly ever since we came back to Menagerie, and I was still struggling to get beyond half of the crazy stuff the possibly-masochist Faunus had deemed good for me to endure and train for.

Tiring days for sure, but I wasn't regretting any of those as each day things seemed to become 'easier' to handle.

I was a workaholic that just needed time to get accustomed to a sudden increase of my workload, but one that ended up in a relationship with someone that demanded to nap together with me for a couple of hours every day.

So I wasn't risking much by juggling so much when someone I could trust and rely on was keeping a good watch over me… while I did the same with her as she carefully handled important affairs for the White Fang.

As time went on, I was expecting for something to happen quite soon as… I knew that the world wasn't just going to allow me this much relief without offering some bumps to deal with once in a while.

And boy, how much I was correct when something interesting did happen.

I was feeling rather dead. My bones were hurting, my breathing was ragged and stressed, and I was half-tempted to drop off from the current exercise.

It's been two hours already, and, while I had the time to rest during two breaks that were five minutes long each, I could tell I wasn't going to be able to finish this last exercise.

"D-Dear, can I stop at eighty?" I asked quietly, my throat hurting a little bit because of the duress my entire being was being subjected to. "I'm already at- at seventy-five push-ups, I don't think I can go for too long."

She sighed. "Hun, didn't you tell me that you wanted to be prepared to tank any sudden attack on us?"

…

Silence is often regarded as tacit consent-

[Oh, I'm familiar with that. I remember someone keeping quiet when I gave him a similar option. Something about cleaning the bedroom and-]

Are you really planning to bring out all the dirty laundry?

[Speaking of dirty laundry-]

Have some mercy, woman.

Heh.

Despite my 'victory' within my mind, Sienna ended up taking on Ozpin's vision over my quiet self and she chuckled, crouching to pat my head and adjust one of the two small weights she had settled on my back.

"It's not that far. You just need to do twenty-five more."

That's not as easy as you're saying!

I stopped a little longer, thinking of a way to get off this maddening exercise at once and… I got a brilliant idea.

"S-Sienna, do you remember that… nice fish dish you wanted me to prepare for you?"

"Yes? What about it?"

"Well… I had planned to prepare it for you tonight but… I might not be able to do it if-"

"I think seventy-five is enough," She quickly interjected, giving me a nod before narrowing her eyes on me. "But I want double portions."

"D-Deal," I said before allowing myself to collapse on the ground. Who would've thought that the earth of this training ground would've been so nice, warm, and soft.

I think he is slowly losing his mind. The tiredness is taking a toll on his sanity.

[Pity… So, what do you think that strange hooded figure staring on his right is planning to do?]

The sudden change of topic further demoralized me, but I slowly digested Sally's comment about the 'figure', opening my eyes to try and see what she was referring to and… I frowned as I found that there was indeed someone sitting by the nearby staircase that led to the training ground.

The figure was rather small, and I was quite sure that they were a child. I couldn't say if they were a boy or a girl from the hood and cloak covering their frame.

As soon as they noticed my stare on them, they started to move. Standing up from their seat, they descended down the steps instead of running away.

Their pace was quite slow but determined as I calmly stood up from my little 'rest', allowing Sienna to help me up as I kept on staring at the approaching individual.

The tanned woman was about to tell me something, but she stopped herself in time as she trailed my stare up to what was keeping me distracted.

Her own eyes were set on this unexpected intrusion, but I regarded it more as a kid trying to get an autograph or something like that.

I feel like there is something familiar about this child.

[You can't see them. How would you recall them from somewhere else? Also, I think it's rather ominous that they are approaching you like that.]

For some reason, this very conversation reminded me of something… bizarre.

I shrugged it off, deciding against waiting and already greeted the kid as they continued with their approach.

"Hey, do you need something?"

The question was ignored at first, but then the child got close enough, a voice came out of them.

"You're John Bukharin," The girl said with a certain tone. "I was searching for you. I wish to speak with you."

Curt, serious, and somewhat familiar. Now I could tell that I had heard about her voice before but… I was confused by the different pitch.

"Really? And what do you need from me, young lady?" I still returned, my voice hinting at my curiosity as her hands reached for her hood to pull it down.

Oh no. Nonononono.

My calm self lasted until her identity was finally revealed. It took an immense sense of self-control to keep myself from gawking, but my eyes widened as I was shown her face.

Her hair was curly, but barely reaching her shoulders in length, while her fringe wasn't long enough to cover either of her amber eyes. Her skin was a pale complex, like snow, and her serious look hardly fitted with a child her age.

She was older than Nora and Ren. I was tempted to say she was as old as Winter was right now and… I was flabbergasted by the sight I was being bestowed to.

"Mr. Bukharin, I've heard and seen of your deeds," She said while giving a simple and polite bow of her head. "My name is Cinder Fall, and I wish to learn from you."

No.

[She's just a child-]

That will cause the death of several of my students, of innocent civilians, the fall of Beacon and-

And much more.

To be fair, when I was expecting for Murphy to come by to screw my happiness, I wasn't looking for him to drop a probable nuke on my lap.

Cinder Fall, the woman that ordained the ugly ending of Volume III. The one that was responsible for Penny's and Pyrrha's deaths, the one that ended both Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale in a single evening.

It was like staring at a young Stalin, and trying to not just act on behalf of the innocents that were killed because of his future actions.

A dilemma I hadn't planned to deal… ever.

This was perhaps worse than facing a certain Headmaster. At least that issue could be dealt with.

Some bitterness was expected to influence my words, but I wasn't going to screw my cover over my opinion with the other Ozpin.

But Cinder? Oh, I didn't have a proper answer to that conversation. Was there even a hint of me that wanted this to be a conversation?

A single attack, a precise strike to end her life.

Sienna was the only one there that would see it and-

[And then become like Ozma? Bitter and afraid, always pondering about killing those that you're scared of meeting? Will you try and kill 'Ozpin' next time too?]

I felt freezing at that sudden interjection. Sally's words were sharper than I wanted to feel them as they cut deep in me.

This… this was what I really feared.

Ozma, despite the dislike and contempt I had for him, was someone that had legitimate reasons to be this conniving and meddling. The world was massive, and pawns can easily become knights and worse if they were left to linger for too long.

Remnant was just this big chessboard that… had slowly swallowed me deep in the centuries-old game.

It was frustratingly wrong but… it had to be do-

'When your grandfather passed away, I was really at loss.'

What is-

[A memory. One I found deep inside your mind. How could you've forgotten this is beyond me.]

'I thought I should have hated someone. That I should have just sought loneliness to wallow in my own despair and… for a time I feared the most about my life.'

What changed back then, mom? What pushed you to go further?

I could remember a bitter smile, but a determined glint from her eyes as she prepared to answer my simple question.

How old was I at the time? Fifteen? Or maybe sixteen?

'Your grandfather was a thoughtful man. He left notes in his last will that addressed the chances of me falling in depression. He scolded me if I did. He wrote that he would've been disappointed if I gave up everything so suddenly all because he was gone.'

A sigh, she slowly gave me a hug. I could remember her forehead pressing on my shoulder.

'You are a good person. You might be silly at times, and you tend to be impatient about what you want to do,' She muttered tiredly. 'But you still come out on top with a bright smile. Even as a child. So I wish to make a promise to myself.'

And that… is?

'When you see someone in pain, don't allow them to suffer alone,' She answered with a calm tone. 'Be their pillar, and allow yourself to take onto your back the burden. Never change and never allow yourself to grow cruel and bitter.'

…

…

Indeed. How could I forget?

This simple query felt so light to ask to my mindscape, but my attention swiftly rushed back to reality as I addressed the proposal with a frown.

"Learn from me? But I'm not a Huntsman," I rebuked with a confused look.

"You still managed to beat someone like Jacques Schnee. You humiliated him and-"

"And I made sure that people hurt by him were no longer hurt," I interjected kindly, catching little Cinder off-guard. "It wasn't much me going after him to prove something to anyone or myself. He tried to meddle on our work and I reacted accordingly."

"But what you did- it was still something that brought change," The young girl retorted. "Not only you proved to be better than him, but you also reverted some of the things he made in the process."

That was a hefty praise considering the little individual I was speaking to, but I was far from getting myself bribed with some flattery.

"That I did, but I think you're seeing the reasons that led me to that point differently than it really was," I half-agreed. "I was in Atlas for a specific business, one that threatened Jacques' interests and he thought it smart to try and stop us through Atlas' laws."

"But it didn't work. You were aware of what he was trying to do," Cinder remarked with a nod. "And knowledge is power."

She was like… twelve. How was she being this much of a power-hungry person at this young age?

What drove her to become like this?

I didn't wait to hear an answer from my 'mindmates', knowing that they were clueless of what led the girl to this route.

The only one that knew right now as Cinder herself.

"Indeed. But let's stop talking about me for a moment," I replied with a small smile. "And let me ask you this. Who is Cinder Fall?"

…

"W-What?"

"I mean, I know she is a young girl asking to become my apprentice. That she has short, curly black hair and a pair of cute amber eyes, but other than that I know so little about you."

She frowned, finally understanding what I was talking about, but tensing up at the fact I was asking to know more about her.

"Is this important?"

"I think it is," I rebuked quietly. "In fact, I found myself interested about what drove you so far from your former home."

Her intention increased, and her stare moved away from my face and down to the ground.

"I… I don't. I don't want to sound rude but-"

"You don't want to tell me."

…

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," I interrupted again, trying my best to sound kind and polite before I crouched down to stare better at her. Her eyes carefully returned to my own and she looked unhappy about the situation. "But the reason why I'm asking is… I think there is a good motivation that pushed you to crave for power."

…

"And?"

"And I want to know. After all, how I'm supposed to help you as your possible teacher."

"What if you just want to know and then you refuse me as your apprentice?"

That's a fair point, but I had a fairer point at my disposal.

"What if we make a deal that if you tell me right now the truth, I will take you as my apprentice?"

…

"Why?"

I shrugged. "Call it a hunch. I think it will be worth it."

She kept quiet for some time but… then she spoke. And I wasn't prepared to hear her backstory.

One of the many things the original series failed to address was why someone as malicious and devious as Cinder Fall came by. Why did she ally with Salem? Why she wanted that much power and…

Why was she so empty inside?

The answer was only one for all those queries, and it stemmed from her childhood.

The daughter of a rich farmer, her life was a good one until the fable she was inspired from decided to rear its ugly mug.

A woman ended up endearing her only parent, and with her came two young girls that were the daughters of the woman.

While the tale of Cinderella had its high and low points, ending with a positive finale, Cinder's story was tainted by the cruelty of modern times.

Her father died by mysterious circumstances and his inheritance was all taken by his last wife. And in this case, the step-mother didn't decide to turn her into a cheap servant.

Oh no, the situation went a darker turn as the woman deemed it fit to erase the only possible evidence of her crime by shutting the girl close in her room and setting the entire villa on fire while she and her children ran away from town.

In a normal circumstance, that had to have been traumatic as much as it could be… but the event was the catalyst for one of the greatest Grimm's invasions a settlement has ever suffered.

The villa was located in the center of the large town that was once Cinder's home. The fire caused a large upheaval within the entire population and that eventually attracted the Grimm.

So when Cinder managed to free herself from the closed door by breaking it through the use of her unique Semblance, the child was horrified to find monsters assaulting the place she called home.

The abuse that had lingered from the years when things had started to decline before this zenith of horror had left her stuck with a single mentality.

The world was a terrible place filled with terrible people. And the only way to gain respect, loyalty, and change was to accumulate as much power as she could and become a monster far greater than any of those malicious individuals.

This wasn't how Cinder relayed it, but from the burning tone influenced by her temper and the genuine tears that were rolling the moment she started to bring up that horrible bit of her past… I couldn't help but pity her.

She was surprised when I carefully pulled her in a hug, but I think I was the most surprised as I had gone for that route.

A monster. I was going to help someone that was already so broken and so dependent on this dream.

I was afraid I was tying myself to a doomed path, but I knew that whatever odds I had to face, I wasn't going to let go of someone that needed help.

There was still a chance. There has to.

Sienna looked positively uneasy at the tale, and she offered a sympathetic look at the young girl as I ultimately gave her a positive answer to her proposal.

But while she saw this chance as a simple apprenticeship, I… saw it as a way to give her a better future.

Sometimes even monsters don't deserve this much pain. Especially when those were still children.