Chapter 4​

“I miss Herbie.”After saying those words, I turned to face Ruby. The two of us were standing side by side on a ship heading to Anima. The others were all inside.“Herbie?” Ruby asked. “You never told us about anyone named Herbie. Who’s he?”“My pet rock,” I told her.“Your pet . . . rock?”I leaned against the ship’s rail. “Sure. He’s been my companion since the day I was brought into Crossroads. He even had a sword so he could contribute during our group hunts.”Ruby stared at me for a moment before shaking her head. “Heretics are weird. You actually brought inanimate objects to life?”“Nope.”Ruby spent the next minute trying to come up with a response to that before eventually giving up. Instead, she looked out toward the water. “You know, Haven is a lot farther away than I thought.”I nodded. “Yeah, this journey hasn’t been the most exciting, has it? Walk, fight grimm, rinse and repeat.”I had been in Remnant for two months now. During the first month, I had learned as much as I could about Remnant while giving the others time to recover. Then, it took us another month to get to this point where we would be landing on Anima in a few days. From there, it would take us about two weeks to walk to Shion village, where an airship would take us Mistral.For how many Grimm we had been fighting in the past month, my powers were still the same as they were when we departed. It seemed every Grimm I killed improved the emotion radar in some way. At this point, I could focus on anyone within a three block radius and tell what emotions they were feeling. It was an incredibly useful power for tracking and for conversations.Two whole months away from Crossroads. When I was with Ruby or any of the others, I was able to stay focused on the task ahead of us, but on my own it wasn’t as easy. Not only did I terribly miss everyone, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how worried they must have all been for me.First, there were Wyatt and Koren. At this point, I had known been close to them for, what, about three months? Wyatt especially must have been doing terrible with me gone. I hoped at least one of his enchantments was letting him know I was still alive.Then there were Avalon and Shiori. God, I wanted nothing more than to hold both of them. They had been holding me up for so long that I almost didn’t know how to keep fighting without them. And with how protective Avalon was of me, my disappearance was probably hitting her the hardest.I also missed my team, Gaia, my father, and everyone I had gotten to know in the last few months. Did they all think I was dead? After two months, was there no hope of me seeing them again?No. I wasn’t going to lose faith. Somehow, someway, I was going to make it home.“You okay, Flick?” Ruby was looking at me with concern.I straightened and gave her a nod. “I’m fine. Just thinking about Crossroads. What about you? How are you feeling about . . .” I trailed off. She had told me about Penny. It hadn’t been an easy story for her to get through.“I don’t know.” Ruby’s gaze fell to the floor. “I miss Penny so much. It hurts everytime I think of what happened to her.” Ruby’s voice cracked, and she took a moment before continuing. “A small part of me just wants to forget, just to stop it from hurting so much. The rest of me can’t forget her. Because to do that . . .” She wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head. “I just can’t do that.”“I understand,” I said. “Actually . . . “ I had been hesitant to bring this up before, but now I pushed on. “Your new outfit was made to resemble Penny’s, right?” It had taken me hearing Jaune and Pyrrha talk about the connection for me to notice it, since I had never seen Penny.Ruby’s new outfit was beautiful. It was a black dress with white sleeves, stockings, and black boots. Ren and Nora had also made modifications to their outfits, though nothing as major. I, on the other hand, was still wearing the outfit that had been given to me following the Fall of Beacon, as people were calling it.Ruby looked up at the shattered moon—that still amazed me whenever I thought about it—before responding. “I wanted a way to honor her. This seemed right.”“It’s beautiful,” I told her. “And we’re going to find the people who caused her death, and get revenge.”Inside, I could tell Jaune was having a similar conversation with Pyrrha, who still blamed herself for Penny’s death. It didn’t help that when we boarded the boat, a few people recognized her and gave her dirty looks. I had been thoroughly tempted to shove some of my now refilled sand down their throats.Pyrrha, meanwhile, had gone inside to get away from the stares and to deal with the guilt. Her team had followed her inside to comfort her. I wanted to say something, but too many people would have been overwhelming, and both Ruby and I needed the fresh air.“I’m going to get some water,” I announced. “Do you want anything?”When Ruby shook her head, I made my way to a lower deck. I had only made it halfway to the door when I bumped into a dark skinned girl. She was wearing a simple brown t shirt and gray pants, and she was huddled into herself slightly. It was as if she wanted to be as invisible as possible, which wasn’t easy considering her green hair.“Oh, sorry!” I said. “My bad.”“It’s alright,” the girl said. She navigated around me and begun to walk away. Before she could get too far, I put a hand on her shoulder.“Are you okay?” I asked.She turned warily to face me, positioning herself in a way that she could bolt if she had to. “I’m fine,” she said.“Really?” I asked. “Because if not, I’m willing to listen to whatever’s on your mind. You don’t even have to give me the details.”Even anything, she was even more wary. “Why?”I shrugged. “I guess seeing you reminded me of someone I used to know.”The tension leaked slightly out of her body. “Is she dead?”I shook my head. “No, but I haven’t seen her in a while.”“Oh,” the girl said.She still seemed hesitant to open up, so I pushed on. “Like I said, you don’t have to give me any details, but I know from experience that just being able to talk to someone helps much more than you’d think.”After another moment of consideration, the girl sighed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She took a few steps over to the railing and rested her arms on it. “I’ve lived all my life on the streets, barely getting by. I was hungry almost every day. But one day a while back, someone found me. She wanted my help in something, and in exchange she let me stay with her. It was the best time of my life. I never had to worry about food, and Ci—the woman who found me was amazing. I owe her so much.“But she died recently. And since then I’ve had no idea what to do with myself. She had an employer who would maybe help me, but I couldn’t bring myself to go to them without her. I had a friend who also worked with her. He chose to go back. So now I’m just . . . alone.”Oh . . . wow. I was expecting a lost parent or something like that, but this was much worse. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said. “You really have no place to go?”“No,” the girl said. “She was all I had.”I bit my lip. “I wish I could do something to help, but my friends and I have barely enough for the six of us to get by.”“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m used to it. I figured I should get as much space between me and what happened as possible, so I’m heading to Anima.”“If you don’t mind me asking,” I said, “how did she die?”It took the girl a full minute before she gave her answer. “Murdered. During the Fall of Beacon.”I had begun to lean against the rail myself, but hearing that made me jolt up. “Sorry!” I blurted. “I should have been more thoughtful before asking that.”She waved me off. “You were curious. I could have said no if I wanted to.”I took a deep breath. “Well, I may not be able to do too much to help you, but if you want you could sit inside with my friends and me for a bit. We wouldn’t mind having the extra company to talk to.”“I’ll pass,” the girl said. “You were right, talking to you helped a bit. But I still prefer to be on my own.”I almost pressed her further, but I chose that moment to turn on my emotion radar. The girl definitely wanted to be alone. Not only did she feel fear at the thought of joining us, but now that I had brought it up, she also was getting annoyed with me.“Well, I’m heading back now,” I said. “I’m Flick, by the way.”She gave me an analytical look before replying. “Emerald.”Huh. That was funny. Ruby had told me about a dark skinned girl named Emerald, who had green hair like this girl and had worked for Cinder and oh shit.If I hadn’t had the Rakshasa’s face shifting power, I would have immediately given away my shock. Fortunately, I was able to keep a neutral expression.“Well, it was nice meeting you, Emerald.” I couldn’t stop my voice from becoming high pitched, though. Emerald gave me a funny look, and I murmured an excuse before fleeing.Okay. Okay. Emerald was on the same ship as us, and she was devastated because I had killed Cinder. We needed to confront her for information, but there was no telling how she would react when she realized what I had done. Maybe it wouldn’t be an issue if we weren’t on a ship full of bystanders, and any of them could get hurt.I had to get back to the others. Between the six of us, we could find a way to safely confront Emerald. With that in mind, I made my way back to the top deck of the ship, where Ruby was waiting.“That was fast,” she commented.I figured I should get straight to the point. “Emerald’s here.”Her eyes widened. “Emerald?! What’s she doing here?”“Pleasure cruising,” I replied flatly. “We have to confront her. She could have information on where the enemy is. And who the enemy is.”Ruby nodded. “Right. I’ll get the others. You find Emerald again. We’ll find you two.” The other girl ran inside, while I did what she suggested. I made my way back to the lower deck. I navigated my way through the crowds, trying to calm my nerves. Considering the look some people were giving me, it wasn’t working.Honestly, it was just one girl. I had faced much worse than her. But the idea of fighting with so many innocent people around . . . it meant things could go much worse. If we were lucky, it wouldn’t come to that.I found Emerald sitting by herself at an isolated table inside. Well, there couldn’t have been a better place to confront her than that. Taking a deep breath, I assured myself the others would be close behind and sat down.Emerald looked up when she noticed me, looking confused. “What are you doing?”“Cinder,” I said. “You were talking about Cinder earlier.”The reaction was instantaneous. Emerald pushed her chair back and stood up, giving me a glare. “Why are you—”I reached out and put a hand on her arm. “Emerald, it’s fine. I’m not looking for a fight or anything like that. We just want to talk.”“We?” Emerald asked.That would have been a convenient moment for the others to walk in. Unfortunately, they didn’t, so I pressed on. “We know she was behind the Fall of Beacon, but we don’t know much beyond that. Look, I know you feel uncomfortable talking about it, maybe you’re worried they’ll find out. I don’t blame you. But listen, we really need the information.”“Who else is with you?” Emerald demanded.“Us.” Oh. Well that was much better timing. Jaune was the one who had spoken. He entered the room with everyone else close behind him.“I-I” Emerald stammered. She floundered for another moment before gaining composure. “I’m not talking to you.” She pointed at Pyrrha. “Not after what you did.”Pyrrha frowned. “What . . . I did?”“You killed Cinder!” Emerald accused. “She left us to follow you, then she never came back. Enjoying those new Fall Maiden powers? The ones you stole?”Pyrrha looked toward me, clearly unsure of how she responded.It was better to let Emerald know what had actually happened. Better that than have her biased because she thought Pyrrha killed Cinder. The truth would probably lead to the same result, but it was better than everyone being confused because we were lying.“Emerald,” I said, getting her attention. I had experimented over the last two months, and I didn’t just have fireballs. I had the full Fall Maiden package, which was basically atmokinesis.I had all the other ridiculous fire powers Cinder had, along with lightning powers, wind powers, the ability to stop bullets with my hand, and the ability to freeze leaves and use them as projectiles. I could even make a full storm with just a thought. And because all that wasn’t enough, I could fly.I wasn’t as powerful as say, a Committee member, not even close, but it was still the largest buff I had ever inherited.Rather than use any of those powers, I simply made my eyes glow. Or rather, there was fire surrounding both my eyes. I barely noticed it, but the effect it had on Emerald was clear. She began to lunge at me, barely stopping herself.“I’m sorry,” I said.?” Emerald hissed.I nodded. “I didn’t intend to kill her, but she was going to kill Pyrrha and me if I didn’t do anything. Yes, we were fighting, but making that decision still wasn’t easy. And I know what it must have done to you. So I’m sorry.”Emerald shook her head. “You think that’s enough? I’m not going to tell you anything. It’s taking all my energy not to try toyou.”I winced, both from her words and the fact that my emotion radar was kindly letting me know just how much this girl loathed me. “I had to do it,” I said. “You saw how terrible the Fall of Beacon was. We couldn’t just stand by and let it happen.”Emerald scowled at me, but it wasn’t earnest. While she did feel disgust toward me, she also felt regret and fear when I brought up the Fall of Beacon. Even a bit of self-loathing. If it wasn’t completely overshadowed by her hatred of me, it would possibly be enough for me to get her to open up.“I’m leaving,” Emerald announced.“Wait,” I said. “I get it, Emerald, you’re angry. You have every right to be. But Beacon was just the start. Someone this big, they’re never content to stop. And if their trail leads to Haven, it’s probably next. If you care at all about all the innocents who will be slaughtered, you’ll tell us something. You’ll at least tell us who we’re up against, and what they want.”Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but Ren put a hand on his arm and shook his head. This was a delicate situation. One wrong word, and we’d never get answers.“You think I’ll be safe if I give you information?” Emerald asked.“Are you the only one who knows this information and would tell us?” I asked. “No one would know.”Emerald took a long moment to consider that. I sat still, hardly breathing. Eventually, Emerald spoke. “Tell me who you are,” she said. “I want to know why you were there, what lead you to killing Cinder. Tell me that, and I’ll tell you a bit of what I know.”So I told her about Heretics and how I had ended up in Beacon, using various powers to prove I wasn’t lying. The more I spoke, the more Emerald’s jaw dropped.When I finished, she looked like she had her doubts, which I couldn't blame her for. Fortunately, she still gave us information in exchange. She explained how the God of Light and the God of Darkness created forces of life and destruction, with the Dark God’s most powerful creation being the Grimm.Eventually, they made one last creation together: humanity. And they left humanity with four relics: knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice, all in physical form.Apparently, the woman named Salem wanted to find these four powerful relics and change the world in her image. And since the Huntsman Academies were made to protect these relics, they had to fall in order for Salem to succeed.“In other words,” Emerald finished, “You guys have no chance of success.”“You’re wrong,” Ruby said. “We’ll find a way. We’ll stop Salem.”Emerald shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll doubt it.” She stood up. “Just keep me out of it.”“You could join us,” I said. When I saw the look she and the others were giving me, I continued. “I know, you don’t really like us and we don’t like what you’ve done, But it’s a dangerous world now, in case you haven’t noticed. You won’t get far on your own.”“You’re a target now, remember? I’ll be fine,” Emerald said, pushing past the others and leaving before I could respond.“What was that about?” Jaune asked. “You actually wanted her with us?”I shrugged. “I dislike her just as much as you guys, but I would rather have her on our side than theirs.”“We lucked out with her being here,” Nora said. “At least now we know what we’re up against.”“If what she said is true, then Haven is in even more danger than we thought,” Pyrrha said. “Even at this pace, we may be too late.”“Then we hurry,” I said. “We don’t stop at villages until we get to Shion.”Ruby groaned. “Camping out every night sounds awful. But you’re right. We have to get to Haven. We’ll push ourselves as much as we have to.”“We know who our enemy is now,” Ren added, “and we’ll do what we can to stop her.”Right. That was our goal. Stop Salem. I missed everyone back at Crossroads, but Ruby and the others needed my help. If nothing else, I wanted us to get to Mistral. Once we did, maybe I would research a way home. Because it wasn’t impossible. Whether it was a Seosten curse or something else that brought me here, it could be undone.I would find a way.