Chapter Text

Chapter One

The Top of the World

Winter

It was three in the morning, and the city of Atlas was alive. This in and of itself was not particularly unusual, but Winter had never known a night like this. On most nights, the residential districts were dark, and the usually busy traffic, both on the ground and in the air, was reduced to a few streams of light darting from place to place. Tonight was different; the entire city was lit up, the roads were jammed with traffic, and dozens of airships circled above Atlas Academy. Something was very wrong.

She had been woken an hour before by a frantic young huntsman who had informed her that General Ironwood had sent her an urgent summons. He hadn’t been very coherent, so Winter wasn’t entirely sure what she was needed for, but she was not one to question orders. Even so, as her airship pulled into the Academy’s docks, she couldn’t help but speculate what might have the city in such a state at this hour.

Her first thought was that it was her father. As the president of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee was the most influential man in Atlas besides the Council, so if he had done something drastic or, gods willing, died, then it would obviously affect everyone in the kingdom. Besides him, she could think of few events that would merit such a reaction. The alert sirens were silent, so it hadn’t been a grimm incursion or an attack by the White Fang.

She cast aside her thoughts as the ship touched down. She would be speaking to the General soon enough, so there was no need for such wanton guesswork.

As the ship’s boarding ramp lowered, Winter was reminded of how much she hated Atlesian summers. In the other seasons, the air was filled with crisp white snow which cleanly evaporated from the city’s heating grid once it hit the ground, but in the summer the heating was turned down to conserve the dust which powered the city, which meant that the constant rain pooled on the ground, covering it with dirty water.

It would not do to meet General Ironwood with her clothes covered with grime and mud. She pulled an umbrella from a compartment by the ramp, and then closed her eyes. She focused on her aura, the energy field generated by her soul, and waved her hand in front of her, creating a path of shimmering white glyphs from the ramp to the Academy’s entrance.

As she stepped onto the path, she saw that, even in the rain, the docks were crowded with people. Students, soldiers, and even professors milled about, looking exhausted, confused, and even a little panicked. She overheard snippets of their conversations as she walked past, though she tried to pay no mind.

“...But here, in Atlas?”

“...One of the Academy’s best…”

“It just shut down…”

“...Some faunus…”

The inside of the Academy was, if anything, even more hektic. She had to push her way past throngs of students and bureaucrats in order to make it to General Ironwood’s office, and even there the waiting room was packed to the brim.

The people waiting here weren’t just students and low-level members of the military either. She recognized Major Pontus, who commanded the Southern Defense Division, two Ace-Operatives, and even Councilman Ash Mateus milling about among the dozens of Special Operatives and commissioned officers. It took some shoving, but Winter made it past all of them to the front desk.

She knew that this would be the greatest challenge of all. Charlotte Mallow, the General’s secretary, was four feet and eight inches of unrestrained fury. Though she was only six years older than Winter herself, even the most veteran officers had learned to fear her temper, which was even shorter than she was. Winter noticed that not everyone had learned quick enough, however. Major Pontus was assisting one of the youngest Special Operatives, Marrow Amin, in pulling out the staples which had bolted him to the wall. Winter had long suspected that the real reason the General kept Mallow around was as a deterrent, so that he would only be bothered with requests that were absolutely necessary and could not be given to someone lower down the chain of command. Winter decided that whatever had Atlas in such a state was worth the risk.

“Special Operative Schnee, here on the General’s orders.”

Mallow peered suspiciously at her. “I.D.?”

Winter knew better than to protest. She pulled out her scroll and showed her huntress’s license. “Is that all?”

She realized immediately that what she said might be interpreted as a challenge, and hoped she wouldn’t regret it. Thankfully, Mallow seemed too exhausted to harass her further, and waved her through. Winter tried to hide her relief, as she knew first hand that showing weakness here would be a dangerous mistake.

General Ironwood’s office was a large room, but it was starkly empty of furnishings save for the General’s desk and a large, circular table that was at present retracted into the floor. General Ironwood himself sat at the desk, his head in his hands. In front of him stood a tall, well-built man that she recognized as Clover Ebi, the captain of the Ace-Operatives. Standing to the side of the room were two others, a man and a woman, who Winter recognized as Special Operatives Nox Corwin and Magnolia Xanthe of the military’s Internal Affairs division.

Xanthe was a tall, broad shouldered woman with arms that looked like they could break a beowolf in half without much effort. Corwin, by contrast, was small and slight, his dark face an impassive mask. Winter had known them both since her time studying at Atlas Academy, and while she wouldn’t quite call them friends, they were good soldiers and honest people.

The General looked up as Winter entered, and she could see that his eyes were red. “Schnee,” he said hoarsely, “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Sir,” she saluted, “I came as soon as I could. What is happening out there?”

He sighed and gestured for the other two specialists to move aside so she could approach. “At approximately fifteen minutes past midnight, the unthinkable happened. Councilman Thaddeus Willows was murdered on the streets of Atlas.”

Winter was stunned. Never in Atlesian history had a sitting member of the Council been assassinated, certainly not in the middle of Atlas. “How… how is that possible?”

“We are still unsure. A patrol discovered the bodies approximately ten minutes after the incident and we immediately sent the Ace-Ops in to investigate. Clover?”

Clover Ebi typed something into his scroll, which projected a grisly image: two bodies lying in the street, both badly mutilated. The Councilman’s neck was a mess of blood, so badly damaged that Winter couldn’t even hazard a guess at the nature of the injury. One of his arms was missing as well; from the mess of a stump that had been left behind Winter assumed it had taken several cuts to remove it. The other body was in similar shape, with a long, ragged cut along the chest and a dozen small, neat incisions across the body. Winter had seen some awful things as a huntress, but this was brutal even by those standards.

“This was what we found,” Clover said. “The other body was Councilman Willows’s bodyguard, Grayson Grahame. He was one of the best in his class at the Academy, and probably the best hired protection money could buy.” He pointed to the slash across the corpse. “He was killed with one blow, before he could even draw his weapon. The other wounds appear to have been dealt posthumously.”

“It looks like the work of a maniac,” Winter said. “Some lone killer?”

“No.” Xanthe shook her head and walked up to the desk. She gestured at the scroll. “Clover, may I?”

“Go ahead.”

She made a few gestures and the hologram pulled back, showing the city blocks surrounding the scene of the crime. “Just before the attack, all the power went out in a five block radius around the scene. About a minute later, it returned. Utility Services has no idea how it went out, and hadn’t even had time to send someone to fix it. And to make things worse, at the exact same time of the blackout, six android patrols mysteriously altered their routes to avoid the location of the murder. This was planned meticulously,” she lowered her voice, “and I think one of our own is responsible.”

General Ironwood nodded. “On that I concur. The simplest explanation is that someone inside the military aided or even orchestrated the killing. That’s why you’re here, Xanthe. I need you and Corwin to conduct a thorough investigation of anyone who could possibly have had authorization to change those patrol routes and I need it done without anyone suspecting anything.”

Winter cleared her throat. “Permission to speak, sir?”

“Granted.”

“Why exactly am I here, sir?”

“Because I’m transferring the case to you. Besides the Ace-Ops and the other people in this room, you’re the only one I trust to investigate what happened to Tad.” Winter couldn’t help but note that he’d used Councilman Willows’ nickname. The two of them must have been closer than she’d realized. No wonder he’d seemed so shaken by all of this. She felt a little embarrassed, seeing her commanding officer in such a personal moment.

“You said the Ace-Ops were conducting the investigation.”

“The Ace-Ops aren’t suited for this kind of work,” Clover explained. “Our talents are best suited for combat zones. Now that we’ve determined there’s no immediate armed threat, the General felt we should head back to the front lines.”

Winter wasn’t sure how to feel. On the one hand, the General wasn’t giving her an easy task. But on the other, he was trusting her with what might be the most important mission she’d ever undertake. It was a burden, yes, but an honor as well. “Thank you, sir. But I would advise against sending me alone.”

General Ironwood sighed. “Like I said, I don’t trust anyone else within the military to be in on this.”

“Then what about outside the military? There must be freelance huntsmen and huntresses we can call upon.”

He cupped his chin in his hand. “Did you have anyone in mind?”

“I do, sir.” Winter knew she was going to regret it, but it was her best option. “Iris Moreau.”

“The courier? You filed three separate complaints for ‘improper conduct’ when we paired you for the Talos mission.”

“She doesn’t have the most professional demeanor,” she admitted, “but she’s loyal and competent, and in spite of everything she saved my life twice at Talos. I trust her.”

He nodded. “Then so do I. I’ll make the necessary call.” He looked over the assembled specialists. “You are all dismissed. Mallow will be in contact with each of you with further details on your assignments.”

Winter wondered why Mallow was being afforded a level of trust that even the highest-ranking officers weren’t. She made a mental note to look into her background in the future, to make sure that trust wasn’t misplaced, but first she had to pray that hers wasn’t either.