The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Liaisons

They knocked once and Cinder opened the door, a smile already curling her lips.

"Emerald," She said, tone light. "Mercury. I'm glad to see you made it in safely."

"Of course we did," Mercury replied immediately. "You taught us."

"Like taking candy from a baby," Emerald agreed, seeming pleased by Cinder's acknowledgement.

Mercury leaned forward, tilting his head to whisper in Cinder's ear.

"And she would know," He murmured.

"Mercury!" Emerald answered with a shove, forcing the taller boy to brace himself against the doorframe.

"What?" He asked, lifting a challenging eyebrow. "Don't even try to say it's not true—I was there; I saw what you did."

Emerald's expression became outraged, though it seemed more because he was bringing it up in front of Cinder than anything else. Before she could retort, however, Cinder interrupted with a smooth laugh.

"Now, now," She said, a gentle smile curving her lips. "Don't fight."

At once, they stopped, bowing their heads as if chastised.

"Sorry," Mercury apologized at once, to which Cinder merely gestured dismissively.

"It's not a problem, Mercury," She murmured as she stepped aside, allowing them into her room before closing and locking the door behind her. "I'd just rather not spoil the occasion with pointless arguments—we should be happy, instead."

"Because we made it in?" Emerald asked hesitantly, glancing at Mercury's back uncertainly.

Cinder merely smiled warmly as she went to her bed and took a seat.

"Because we're all back where we belong," Cinder corrected. "Together."

Emerald brightened at once and smiled, nodding quickly even as she took a seat on the floor. Mercury merely found a comfortable looking spot to lie down, putting his hands behind his head as he relaxed.

"Now then," Cinder continued. "How goes your first day at Haven?"

As she spoke, she picked up a needle and some cloth—another dress in the making, I could tell, with designs written in Dust all throughout the fabric. Inside of her closet, I could see an entire row of such dresses—a dozen, total, each with different designs, set next to seven school uniforms. Peering closer at the dresses, I saw that most still favored fire, but a few were decorated with other mixtures, including a white and blue gown made with ice Dust and a dark dress with purple embroidery that I recognized as gravity Dust. It seemed she was of the opinion that weapons of mass destruction went with every outfit.

I agreed completely, but that was beside the point.

Still, I noticed that there were barely any traces of Dust on her school uniforms—which wasn't that odd, I supposed, since students were probably expected not to carry their weapons during their normal classes. Still, it struck me as odd, because Cinder seemed like the cautious type, and as self-taught master in the arts of paranoia myself, I'd never allow myself to be completely without a weapon in a place that could very easily become enemy territory. Sure, the rules forbid it, but that simply meant it would need to be somewhere people wouldn't normally look. In my case, I kept all my weapons stored safely within my Inventory, but someone like Cinder…

Scanning the room again, I gave a bit more attention to her underwear drawer. Personally, if my weapon of choice was Dust-woven clothing and I wanted it to go unnoticed, I'd weaponized that first—and sure enough, Cinder seemed to have the same idea, because she could have killed an army with the contents of that drawer. Further examination of the room revealed a hat, a set of scarves, three pairs of gloves, and a finely made purse, all of which had been weaponized by the markings sewn inside them, hidden from prying eyes.

It was hard to argue with a woman who knew how to accessorize, I suppose.

"Well enough," Mercury answered, staring at the ceiling. "The Labyrinth was a breeze, like you said it would be."

Cinder hummed, quietly using her needle to ensure that her dress was, in fact, able to kill.

"There was one thing, though," Emerald took over, casting another glance at Mercury who, I assumed, had taken the good news. "When we arrive…I thought we'd be first, but a team was already there."

"Jaune Arc and Adam Knossos," Cinder stated absently. "Your new teammates."

"Yes," Emerald nodded after another brief pause. "It seems they made it to the finish line in under a minute."

At that Cinder paused in her sewing, an eyebrow rising slowly as she considered her handiwork. Seemingly satisfied by it, she lifted her head to meet Emerald's gaze.

"Oh?" She asked. "That's rather impressive."

Emerald nodded awkwardly, seeming almost embarrassed that she hadn't gotten first place.

"Jaune Arc is the Wolf's grandson," Mercury continued when his partner didn't. "I hadn't heard of him before that fight thing, back before the tournament—I've never heard of Adam Knossos before. Do you think She's been hiding them?"

"Perhaps," Cinder mused, taking a moment to look at the tip of her needle before going back to her work. "Knossos has always been a name given to people that are useful to the Roma and Alexandria Families; it's possible he is a recent acquisition. The grandson, though…"

She trailed of as her expression became contemplative.

"There's more," Emerald picked up. "When we went to our room, there was something there waiting. It was…"

She seemed briefly at a loss for words before shaking her head.

"A very unusual looking tree," She hedged at last. "Upside-down, but it was able to walk on its branches. Its roots had mouths and teeth and its trunk had eyes set into the bark—three dozen that I counted, but there were probably more I didn't see. Adam called it a work in progress and claimed it was a part of his Semblance."

"Fascinating," Cinder said, sounding honestly interested. "And it was waiting for you in your room?"

Emerald nodded.

"Adam said he'd had it shipped here," She stated. "Though he seemed surprised that it was already here."

"That implies that it can survive away from its creator, at least for some time," Cinder mused aloud. "And to mutate something to that extent…interesting."

"Should we look into it?" Mercury asked.

Cinder considered that for a moment before shaking her head with a smile.

"If you should see something interesting, tell me," She said. "But it's not why we're here. While I doubt it is a coincidence that her grandson would enroll at a time like this, there's little point in acting rashly. Besides, if they're as strong as they seem to be, it would be dangerous to involve you."

"We—" Mercury began at once, pushing himself upright to say something—only to halt as Cinder laid amused looking eyes on him.

"I appreciate the thought," She replied to whatever it was that went unspoken. "But it's not necessary. For the time being, leave this to me—should things change, I will inform you. For the time being, you know what to do."

"Yes," Mercury answered, lowering his gaze sullenly.

"Mercury," Cinder drew his attention. "Don't do anything rash, for my sake if nothing else. It would complicate things greatly if I were forced to reveal myself to save you."

He was silent for a moment before nodding with a sigh.

"I get it," He conceded. "I won't do nothing."

"I won't do anything," She corrected with a gentle smile.

If I'd been bothering to use my physical eyes, I'd have blinked at the scene, surprised despite myself. Drawing back in a way that was hard to describe, I pondered the three of them for a moment, reevaluating it. I'd considered the possibility, of course—given how long it took to train Hunters and to earn such loyalty, it made sense that Cinder might have taken them in while they were still children. It also made sense, then, that they might view her as a mother and perhaps even love her.

I just hadn't really expected her to feel something in return.

She was fond of them. As far as I could tell, she even honestly cared about them. There was a touch of coldness to the feeling, something almost guarded, but it was there. I wasn't certain how far it went exactly, but…in my head, I'd compared their relationship to Adam and Raven's. Perhaps that was more accurate than I'd thought.

I'd known that whatever she felt, her emotions would reveal something to me—but I wasn't certain of what to make of this particular response. I didn't feel anything like hesitation; what she felt towards her children or they towards her didn't necessarily change anything, after all, and I was ready to do what I had to if it came to that. It was just…this meant something, I was sure of it. Distant though it might be, she undoubtedly felt something for them—and the Grimm were heartless, soulless creatures. Though my Empathy didn't work well on the creatures, when it even worked at all, I wouldn't go so far as to call them emotionless, for they certainly seemed capable of hatred and bloodlust. But this was different.

Could a Grimm care about people?

My first thought was that I might be wrong. That, perhaps, she wasn't a Rider. I mulled over the idea and acknowledged it as possible, since I had yet to confirm anything with a title or Observe—but even if she wasn't, this wouldn't be proof of it. After all, there were two occasions where my Empathy had worked just fine, and it was against both of the other Riders. The Hunters Conquest had infected had been perfectly capable of feeling emotion, they just couldn't express it while trapped within their own minds. Similarly, Ruby had possessed seemingly normal emotions despite the fact she was infected, which I'd originally attributed that to the Red Rider's dormant state.

But what if it went beyond that?

By definition, the Grimm were soulless monsters. It occurred to me there was probably some reason for that, possibly related to how or why they were created, but whatever the case, the fact remained that they didn't. Humans, plants, animals—hell, apparently even certain, special machines like Penny—could have souls, but not the Grimm.

Except for the Riders. While they had no souls of their own, by infecting a living host they could make use of Aura. This allowed them to use Semblances, as Conquest had proven—just as he'd proven they were capable of using Dust, which seemed important under the circumstances. I'd contemplated several times that that might well be the point of the Riders, in fact, as they didn't just take over the body or usurp the mind. Though they may be able to play the part of the body snatchers, going by Conquest and what I knew of the Red Rider, they seemed to go beyond that. The soul, in this case, was a tool they used.

But that seemed like the type of that that could have heavy implications and repercussions. What was a soul, exactly? What did it do, besides generate a person's Aura? It couldn't be solely responsible for emotions, because it could be proven that that was a matter of chemicals in the brain—but then, what was it? And if Penny could have one, why couldn't the Grimm?

It occurred to me that a lot of my questions seemed to come back to souls. My past life, my Semblance, the things Bianca saw, and now this…

And yet, as usual, no answers were forthcoming.

Regardless, I'd gotten what I came for. Whether or not they were devoted to her cause, Emerald and Mercury were devoted to Cinder—and she was devoted to them, to some extent. It was too early to tell if that made her more or less dangerous, but it was a fact and there was potential in it. Caring about people wasn't a weakness, but I knew better than most that having something you cared about was a prerequisite to loss.

Just as I had my family, she had hers—and to be fair, it was up in the air as to which was more messed up. I wasn't sure if it was wise to try and exploit that, since I also knew how far I'd go to destroy anything that tried to touch my family; the moment either of us crossed that line and made things personal, one of us would have to die. If it became necessary, I could live with that, but it wasn't a choice to make likely.

After all, I didn't know enough about her capabilities to be sure I'd win. I wasn't afraid to risk my life if I had to, but I also saw no point in doing so needlessly—and whatever Cinder was up to, she was taking her time. Best to keep watching and figure out everything I could before raising anything I'd have to put down; there was still time enough to prepare.

It seemed she felt the same way.

"For the time being, be on your best behavior," Cinder continued. "It will be some time before things are in place."

Mercury groaned and fell back to the floor.

"But school's so boring," He complained, rolling onto his side to stare at the wall.

"There, there," Cinder chuckled. "We'll have our fun soon enough, I guarantee it. Just think of this as a necessary evil, Mercury."

"But those are the worst kind," He answered petulantly. "What's the point if you have to do it?"

Cinder smiled but went back to her work without answering, leaving the room to fall into silence.

"So…" Adam drew out, back in the room beside me. "Are they saying anything or…?"

I opened my eyes and turned my face towards him before giving a slight nod.

"Emerald and Mercury told her about us," I answered.

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "What'd they say?"

"They said I was the good looking one," I told him with a helpless shrug.

"Interesting," Adam mused. "So they're blind, then? We can use that."

I chuckled at that.

"But really, they didn't say a whole lot," I admitted. "It was more like they were…checking in, I guess. They told her that we got through the maze first and that Autumn was a product of your Semblance, but that was pretty much it. Cinder told them not to do anything rash when they offered to look into us, but they'll report back anything of note."

"About what we expected, then," He mused, sounding a touch disappointed. "I take it she didn't reveal the entirety of her plan in a convenient presentation?"

"It was a longshot to begin with," I said with a shrug. "With Raven around, they wouldn't want to reveal anything unless they were certain things were secure. Emerald and Mercury would have been filled in well beforehand and there wouldn't be much point in repeating themselves here. Odds are, we'll have to wait until something changes and they call in the illusionist to get anything the easy way—until then, well…there's a reason were here."

"A reason you're here, you mean," Adam sighed tiredly. "I'm just here to suffer, near as I can tell."

"I'd wondered how long you'd be able to go without drinking," I mused. "A little surprised you couldn't make it one night without breaking out the whine, though."

"It's a comfort drink," He stated. "I go to it whenever I remember that the world hates me and I hate it right back."

I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"Believe it or not, there's a reason I brought you along," I replied, reaching into my Inventory to draw out several of my textbooks. They weren't skill books, unfortunately, but I opened the top and started reading about the history of Mistral, quickly flipping through the pages before casting it aside and moving onto the next.

"I figured as much," He admitted. "I was kind of hoping you'd actually tell me at some point."

"You've come a long way in just a few days," I continued as if he hadn't spoken. "But there's still a lot to do if you want to be ready for what's to come. You've gotten a lot of stat points, but I think you know as well as I do that stats alone do not a Hunter make."

He grunted but sat up, interested despite how he tried to act.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked. "Unlike you, I can't just eat a book and become a master of something."

"You don't have to," I replied. "Because as it happens, you and I suddenly have a lot of free time—and now that we both have the basics out of the way, we're both going to continue our training. From the beginning, that how I intended to spend my time here at Mistral, but since I'm so nice, I'm going to let you tag along."

"Thanks," He answered with a roll of his eyes. "What are we going to do?"

"Well," I began, smiling widely. "I'm going to work on my skills. Since my fight with Conquest, they've been improving by leaps and bounds and a few are getting close to ranking up. I also have a bunch of new ones I want to try out and level up. Meanwhile, you…are going to be doing pretty much the same thing."

"Grinding?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "How?"

"However you normally train," I stated without so much as looking up from my book. "Except you'll be doing it with me there helping you. I can heal you and restore your MP as needed, so just…push yourself to your limits. Anything that happens, I'll fix, so you get need to worry about your body breaking down or getting tired—and without your body holding you back, you can push yourself as far as you're willing to go."

"As far as I'm willing to go?" He repeated, which made me look up at him and quirk an eyebrow challengingly.

"Yeah," I said. "It's up to you to decide where your limits are—and it's up to you to decide what to do. I won't stop you unless you're about kill yourself or something, but I trust you to know what's best for yourself. You can quit anytime you want, too."

He considered me for a moment, nodding slowly.

"But you won't," He noted. "Will you?"

"Why would I quit?" I asked with a smile. "There's too much on the line for me to ever give up and…more than that, I've decided that this is what I want to do. So…I'll do it, whatever it takes, and go as far as I possibly can. Before all of this, I was always uncertain of everything and I guess I still am in a lot of ways, but at least this much I'm sure of. That asshole is up to something and he and the Grimm are playing some messed up game with the entire world—and whatever they're after, they've killed countless innocent people to get it. But…if this is a fucking game, then I'm going to win it, because I'm the fucking Gamer."

It was the first time I'd really said it out loud, but it felt good to and I saw him look at me with a touch of surprise. Without losing my smile, I gave him a shrug and spread my hands.

"But then, I guess my power makes it easy for me," I continued. "I wouldn't have gotten this far without it…or maybe it's that I need to go this far because of it. Either way, it's going to be tough on anyone who comes with me. But if I have to…well, I do it all by myself. So whatever you want to do, it's okay."

He was silent for a moment before snorting in disgust.

"Jaune, you're my friend," He said, sounding annoyed that he actually had to say it. "One of the few I've ever had. I would follow you to hell and back with relatively minor amount of complaining. If you aren't going to quit, I won't either. I've got your back."

I closed my eyes, smile widening.

"Good to know," I replied, leaning back against the bedrest and continuing to read with my face. "Try and keep up then, will you?"

"When do we start?" He asked.

"As soon as I finish reading," I replied. "Cinder seems to be done talking, anyway. It's a bit sad I can't keep a constant eye on her, but we can't let the threat of her preparations get in the way of our own, now can we?"

He glanced at his watch and frowned a touch, making me laugh a little.

"I told you before that sleep was for the weak," I said, still chuckling. "You up for another all-nighter?"

"Of course," He answered immediately, lowering his arm. "Slack off during the day and then stay up to ungodly hours…that's what you're supposed to do in school, isn't it?"