章 75: Ultimate Lap (2)
"It is evil things we shall be fighting against, brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution." – Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1940)
Soreness. There wasn't pain.
The light of the window beside the bed didn't help in trying to get a clear understanding of where… where she was. Mary blinked a few times, her good eye taking a moment to get accustomed to the room's illumination but… she saw how white the place was, the fact a large part of her body was bandaged and she was literally straddled to a couple machines- this was a hospital room but… why, where- how? Her memories were blurry, just for a few minutes. Then flashes appeared between the reason she got stuck there and the process that led her to this bed. She flinched a few times, but nothing too intense. The pain… wasn't the worst. And the situation was worthy of the kind of suffering she went through that fight and the ensuing surgery operations.
What really made the remembrance unpleasant was that it all started with her fight against John. It's been years- he looked more… prepared than the last time she saw him. More trained, more experienced and still caring. That never changed despite the time it has gone since they have last seen each other. It was warming to her core that he hadn't lost his drive in this new world, that he had a family of his own and… that he saved her. He did, like she had hoped. And he did the unbelievable by delivering that deadly blow to Salem. Speaking of the Queen, Mary felt 'lighter' as she couldn't feel her presence probing deep in her, her voice smugly poking at her resilience. It took so long for her to achieve freedom, to be able to not have to keep her thoughts centered on bad things that… It felt so refreshing now that she didn't have to lie to others and herself.
Mary sighed, as this very relief washed over her despite the ever-present soreness. She was Salem's puppet no more. The young woman was free and… she was safe. Still, the question that really lingered was… was she still in Atlas? Or had she been moved to Menagerie? Probably Atlas. There was no way Ironwood would let her, a former soldier of the Grimm Queen, leave the Kingdom he served without having some major reasons to believe she was harmless. Even with the notion that she required these machines to pump her off the meds she needed to recover, she was a threat. And Mary knew well enough he wasn't wrong about it.
Considering how many years she spent with Salem, the many things she did for her and… the deeds she was constantly remorseful about. She was free from Salem, but not the sins she committed under her. The killings, the pain she delivered, the people she set up to die on a later date- that Mary knew she was never going to be freed from. It was a burden that was going to keep her company for her whole life. It was so upsetting, but… it has to be. Things can't always resolve to a happy ending for everyone but…
She was no longer that person. What she could do, the minimum of that redemption she was never going to get, was to make sure she could at least live a decently good one. Not good for herself, but for those around her, familiar people and not. Mary knew it was a big sacrifice after so long, but this was the right way and… her thoughts ceased to be completely centered on this topic as they switched to the newest development. The door opened and her first visitor came in. And they weren't… what she thought would come to her first. Standing at the door and then taking a few steps into the room, Sienna kha- Bukharin looked particularly calm. She had no weapons on herself, and she was on her own. Curious, very curious.
"You are finally awake."
A nod. "How did you know?"
"I was passing by. It's been two weeks now and John and I had been alternating with the visits, and the cameras here spotted you were awake and devoid of issues, so I was allowed to visit you before a proper check up from the doctors."
Mary glanced up, her gaze briefly stopping to the aforementioned CCTV before looking back at her… sister-in-law. It was odd to believe this was happening but… Mary knew her brother didn't pick the wrong wife. Especially with how well both were handling their big family. A pity that Damian wasn't there too, she really wanted to see her nephew up close, but she could accept the fact it was too early. She had yet to see how they were meant to treat her once her conditions were more stable. Two weeks? That was perhaps the most she had been staying in a hospital as a patient, and… well, she was sick enough to warrant this much time wasted laying on a bed with the worst kind of itching rising from her left cheek. One she couldn't reach much to her chagrin.
"You still seem surprised," The Tiger Faunus argued, and her words stung briefly at how clear her emotions were on her face. Too many meds, Mary couldn't keep a solid face and that's going to be awkward when John visits.
"I'm sorry- It's just… I expected someone else to first visit me."
Sienna blinked, curiosity and suspicious flashing at the same time within her gaze, but she held calm and decided to voice the former rather than the latter.
"Who?"
"Ironwood."
The Faunus' lips twitched in amusement. "Fair point. I suppose you worry they will interrogate you thoroughly."
"They will do this much. I'm not exactly a… small fish in Salem's pond."
"Were," Sienna corrected. "And you would be surprised to know your medical files present you in a good light. You weren't in control, and all hints of the Grimm forcing your hand has been removed- as far as Ironwood can do with these details is interrogate you to understand how your psyche is faring."
Mary closed her eyes. "Then that's going to be a problem."
"I believe not," The tan woman argued, surprising the brunette with that stubbornness. "If there is something I can testify about your personality here and now, through just a few words exchanged, is that you are a good person. Like John. The real problem is that you're both keen to bash yourselves over things that you two aren't in charge of, that you couldn't have done much to change what you were told to do."
"I could have tried..." Mary weakly rebuked but Sienna didn't seem willing to concede to her that.
"Could you? Do you have the certainty you could have broken away from her control?"
…
There was no answer to it, not when she was unable to break free even as she fought her brother. It had been John that had freed her, not herself. Was there even a chance back then in trying to break free? Salem wasn't exactly keeping her away from her. She would keep her close, to test and judge her. Mary, as far as she could see from her past memories, didn't get any of that luxury that is making a decision about her actions. She was a puppet to the Queen, and she paid a lot in terms of morality because of it.
"You will be judged properly. And once the situation is stabilized, you shall come with us back home."
"You really… want me around your children?"
Sienna frowned. "Why? Is there any reason I shouldn't let you meet them?"
Mary opened her mouth and… then closed it. "Now I see why John loves you."
The Tiger Faunus giggled at that sharp comment, taking it as a compliment from the way she reacted to this. And as much as Mary found it particularly aggravating as it wasn't the reaction she was trying to get out of her, the young woman couldn't help but find it another endearing factor that did match with John's qualities and flaws. The fact Mary shared many things with her brother kind of helped her understand this, and wonder about the 'fun courting' that happened before they decided to form that big family.
Their conversation went for a while, changing from anything too intense, but one particular detail stood out the most. John was currently busy as his main reason for lingering in Atlas even as Vytal came to an end was tied to what happened in the big finale of the tournament. The world had seen the whole mess unfold in HD through the still active cameras. Atlas was targeted, Mantle too, Vacuo was still in disarray and Mistral had, for the first time in many years, tightened its security ever since the Headmaster of Haven, Lionheart, had decided to 'disappear' at the first revelation that there was a queen of the Grimm. The end result of all of that? A conference which would sponsor a speech from her brother about what happened these days and what to do next. It was going pretty big and… it was about to start. Sienna offered to have a nurse bring a TV to let her watch and she decided to accept the offer. It's been a while since she saw her brother in action while talking with anyone in a big speech so… she wondered how much had changed from that mediocre charisma he had in those times.
She sure was surprised by the experience.
[This is it. This is where the last hour strikes…]
Where our mistake is mended for good.
And where humanity shall be freed from the constant fear of dying outside the big kingdoms.
This is it, this is where Salem will have a real problem in the next few weeks. Her last weeks of life, hopefully. After a few days of check-ups at the hospital, I was free to start taking steps and fix things up. The opportunity provided by Salem's sudden physical conflagration left the world slightly safer as all previous Grimm, those created by her through the Pool of Darkness, had been destroyed. It was a breath of relief for many huntsmen by the frontier cities, but it also offered a chance to end the longest war humanity had been subjected to. One that didn't aim to destroy a single aspect of mankind, but all of it. We were all the threat, no matter the appearance, the minds, the ideas, and the intentions, that the Grimm saw as its ultimate foe. And the new plan now was to finally close this chapter of Remnant for good.
I stood before the booth that I was meant to talk from, the microphones by the podium connected to various devices which allowed this broadcast to be delivered through the kingdoms without any delay or surprises. Ironwood had come up to me with this plan, asking me to speak on behalf of Atlas, but also Vacuo through Theodore and Menagerie with Ghira's permission, regarding this whole mess. To draw a proper explanation, one that wouldn't send the world nuts in fright at this situation and actually rally a meaningful amount of support for what was about to come. I felt the pressure building up with each step, but I held myself high and tall as I finally reached the stand and gave a look at the small talk-points I signed down. It was too important of a speech for me to focus on specific words, and I knew some 'free-talk' would win ten times more than a planned speech. I could end up messing up due to the tension within the air.
And so it begins.
"People of Atlas, people of Vacuo, people of Mistral, People of Vale- People of Remnant, this announcement is of utmost importance for our time and our future, which is why I have been asked to provide you with the truth of what happened here in Atlas roughly two weeks before day,"I began strongly, I had to sell the main theme of this speech as quickly as possible. Bring up vigor, but dilute the seriousness and the impact of some of the topics to the point it shouldn't cause mass hysteria. That was the last thing that was needed on this matter. The speech dragged on for a while. I was careful enough to respect Ironwood's limitations tied to the timing and the execution behind the planned program, producing something that, albeit not as completely free as my usual speeches, was still coherent to my usual style. It stood out a bit more due to the support backing the speech as I announced the fact I had Vacuo, Atlas, and Menagerie standing together on the matter. But soon, the bigger part of it all became the center point of the speech.
"Which is why, after bringing to your attention all of what just happened in all the details tied to them, uncensored and unrestrained, I find myself now making an appeal to the governments and the people of this wide world," I proceeded to draw a proper closure to the speech. "Remnant stands by the crossroads between past and future, for the main issue remain the same and now we're called forth to decide if we want to end this grim tale or allow it to become a reality for the next generations, for our children, our sons, our daughters, our nephews and nieces- This is where we all need to stand or we will end up crushed by a foe that can be beaten. She can be killed, her death bringing an end to a profession that daily introduces pain in the lives of family. How many young men and women need to die to Grimm before we all understand that today is one of the last days of our current era. The Age of Grimm shall end, but we can't expect it to happen if we don't make our part through our hard work, through our determination, through our will to survive and persist against this horrible aspect of Remnant. Ladies and Gentlemen, young and old, civilians and warriors- let us form a banner which identifies us not for our ideas, for our differences, but for our unity and desire for happiness. For this war is not one that you can win by ideology alone. Thank you for at least listening to this call, and I understand that this is a heavy burden to bear in these trying times, but I will do my part regardless of who joins and who doesn't. I shall personally work in the front line to bring an end to all hostilities in this world, but not alone. I will have friends, families- and those that share my humble opinion that bickering will only stop us from achieving the potential left behind by the previous generations. Hate kills us, so let's try to bury hate itself before we are lost to it too."
The speech was over shortly after, and while I wanted to take a moment to rest and think, I knew that my work had just started. First, I contacted Arthur back in Menagerie. He was annoyed by the overall situation, but seemed delighted to know that Ironwood was considering a proper 'pardon' to operate in Atlas whenever he wished for it if he managed to 'prove his worth' as a scientist to him. In layman's terms, Ironwood wanted to shake off the corruption entrenched in the intelligentsia. And reversing what happened with Watts was definitely going to be the first step of that big process. Soon Atlas was handling the diplomatic burden of polishing the minor diplomatic concessions to allow a proper mobilization of the kingdoms into what was called the 'the Second Great War'. This time, it wasn't a war between brothers, it would be a war of brothers against the mindless beasts owned by a hollow queen.
It was going to be intense, but considering how long it would take for Salem to restore her immense advantage with Grimm back to pre-Amity's standards, then I could see we had the upper hand. We just had to hope that
I was about to leave the building where I delivered the speech, when I found someone standing near the entrance. I was surprised by Harriet's presence there, but even more at the remembrance that she was supposedly kept by her teammate's side, Tortuga, ever since what happened to her during the fight in the arena. The bigger girl had held off a staggering amount of Grimm on her own to defend a pocket of civilians that had been isolated during the evacuation. She managed to
"Harriet, how are you?"
She cracked a smile at the jovial greeting. "Doing as fine as I can be, sir. I see you've recovered too."
"I heard from General Ironwood that you were promoted. Specialist-"
"Not until my partner is fully healed, sir," She interjected curtly, almost unconsciously from the instant guilty face she had as soon as she was done with that. "It's… I refused to join any active team."
"I guess you're really close to her. Tortuga, right? How is she?"
"She is… She is good. A bit under the cloud for getting overwhelmed at a certain point and almost allowing some of the Grimm through her defense, ignoring the fact she almost died in the process and..." Harriet explained quietly. "She will be back to cracking skulls in a week or so."
"Glad to hear that and I hope you're not blaming yourself for anything about it."
There was a brief pause, one filled with many uneasy regrets.
"I… I guess I do. A bit," The girl admitted. "It's not like I feel it's a blame I should take fully-"
"But you feel partly at fault because that's your teammate we're talking about," I offered as a guess, prompting a nod out of her.
"Yeah. Is it too… you know, too much?"
"A tiny bit," I answered truthfully. "Having been in that spot myself, I can tell it sucks. But you're not her parent, you're not her caretaker. If your partner wants to do something and this something might be dangerous, it's on them for the decision. It was duty after all."
"Gotcha."
"Say, how about you join us for dinner?" I asked with an interested tone, catching the girl off-guard with that offer.
She nodded thankfully, and soon we were out to get back at the flat, as I would soon learn that someone decided to go for a sneaky and unplanned trip to the hospital to check on someone.
-d-d-d-d-
Things had not gone as she had expected, but Nora couldn't exactly lament how it didn't go any worse than it did.
Her father had given her a task that, by all definitions, she shouldn't have been given. Or at least, that's what Auntie Summer was quick to chide the man about. Nora was 'young' and 'inexperienced', but that didn't mean she was willing to allow family to be left unprotected. Plus, the hospital had been quite near to their living quarters, so making her way to it was simpler than it sounded. That and Weiss tagged along for the adventure. Two was better than one, and it would have been three if Yang hadn't decided to stick around to make sure Ruby was safe and sound back where they had been dropped off. And while it was easy to reach the hospital, it also proved to be quite the terrifying predicament to be subjected to. Many bad people were wandering around, a lot of them. While she could have easily taken down a few of them, the sheer number made her reconsider taking part in the defenders' effort to crush the invasion and protect the unarmed people stuck in that chaos.
Her task was elsewhere, she thought while pushing away her growing worries over the civilians, with her focus being aimed at Cinder as she had been still stuck in the hospital when the attack happened. When she arrived at destination, she found quite the scene. Her sister was helping, with her condition stable enough to allow her to use her normal powers with ease. The taller girl would admit that she did try out her powers with some Grimm when the attack on the hospital happened, but decided to hold back the moment she realized how unfocused those were. Amber and her were the ones to keep everything at bay with most of the patients as the guards garrisoned in the building were far too few to provide a serious advantage. Eventually the attack ended as all Grimm were destroyed by what she would learn had been her father's intervention against the Queen of the Grimm. It had been an intense fight, one that also saw an interesting development between her and Weiss. While the cool plan she had in mind had exploded on her face, the fierce fighting led to an equally fierce finale. A glance between the two, the adrenaline still coursing and… the kiss definitely left them breathless and brain-melting for a while.
So strong, so right, and so… nice. If before there were any doubts, now there was none about it. It was love.
But this wasn't what really drove her to look back into the hospital when the fight was over. Her father had dropped a shockingly passionate speech that swept over the known world, and left her wondering about one thing: how was her aunt doing?
And no, she wasn't talking about Raven or Summer, or even Auntie Kali- She was referring to the biological younger sister to her father, Mary Bukharin. She heard so much about her, and had also known about what her role had been during the attack. She knew the full extent of it, and she knew that Mary wasn't at fault about it. So, against a few wishes from her parents to keep back in the flat with the others, Nora decided to check if she could spare a talk with her. Curiosity in mind than anything else, Nora planned to know more about the many tales she heard from her father about Auntie Mary.
The hospital was still recovering from the attack, with twice the amount of guards compared to when the assault was still ongoing, but none stopped her as she asked about direct family. She was given a room number to check and soon she was making her way through the building with growing interest. Was she going to be awake? Did she know about Nora? Would she accept Nora as an adopted niece or maybe there would be trouble about it? Father might have spoken highly of her, but Nora knew that it was one thing building a possible opinion from past knowledge, and another about a person that suffered a change in the last few years. So, worry was still there to prevent her from being too direct, too forward- or even too bubbly despite her dad's admission that Mary would have loved to see her being at ease around her.
And soon that massive mental struggle came to a stop. She was standing before the door, the one which led to the room where Mary was staying. A knock, then two, she waited and soon someone allowed her to enter inside. Mary was sitting on her bed, restrained by the machines that were meant to keep her fine and well through this lengthy recovery. Her lone-eyed gaze was instantly aimed at Nora and the orangette tensed up at the piercing glance. There was a moment of tension but… it melted away at something rather unusual. She spotted some of her father's features in the woman's face, but also a familiar reaction when her composure broke in a jovial smile and a giggle. It was softer than her father, but nonetheless as pleasant as his laughing the moment they were engaging in a staring contest.
"You look quite terrified. Trust me, I can't do anything to you in these conditions, young lady," Mary assured, appearing… ten times less scary than what she had imagined. It was a bit baffling but it definitely felt like she was just having a conversation with her father. Except it was her Aunt.
Still, Nora nodded, deciding against lingering too much by the doorstep and actually approaching the bed.
"Hello… Auntie."
The woman's smile widened at the way she was addressed. "Hello niece. I think you are little Nora."
"Yes."
"Still unsure about… me?" The young woman inquired and… Nora slightly nodded.
"Sorry."
"It's… it's alright. I don't blame you. I blame myself for it and I can assure you I mean to harm. Really," She guaranteed. "Still, I suppose you didn't come here to just say 'hello'."
Nora held her breath and… shook her head. "I wanted to… talk to you. If you want."
"Why wouldn't I want to talk with my niece?"
"Well… I'm not bound to you by blood-"
"And? Why should that matter?" Mary argued mirthfully. "Say, do you want to know about some of your daddy's silly childhood stories? I bet I know a few he didn't tell you about how embarrassing those were."
Despite the tension, the immense intrigue at that offer proved enough to beat any reluctance. And soon the two girls were chatting animatedly about John's past mishaps and how both siblings would cause misadventures for each other.
Somewhere nearby, a certain Bukharin sneezed, feeling that someone was speaking about him and not in a good light.
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