The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Extraction

I saw her eyes widen in her reflection's face. Her free hand went to her necklace quickly, almost like a reflex, clutching the apple-shaped pendant as she drew away. Something flashed across her face—worry, maybe, or perhaps even panic—before it settled on something resolved and angry.

"You can't have it," She said, voice wavering slightly as she seemed to guess where this was going. "I don't care what you've heard or what you think you know—you can't have it."

"Now, now," I said. "Don't be like that, Ms. Schnee; I just want to talk, for now."

I saw her hands tighten around both her sword and necklace, her teeth gritting as she looked at me with furious eyes, and yet she didn't reply.

"If you're waiting for your guards to arrive, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," I said, still facing away from her. "I've locked this room down quite extensively; they didn't hear a sound. My apologies, but you see…I dislike pointless bloodshed, so I decided it would be best to keep this between ourselves. Well, I say that, but…it would seem my subordinates have taken it upon themselves to assist me, and I fear their enthusiasm may get the better of them when they arrive. While I'd like to have a little more time…well, for the sake of everyone in this building, let's settle this quickly, shall we?"

The words were for Raven's sake as much as Weiss and for a moment I wasn't sure if they'd reached her, but then I saw the approaching White Fang members slow, stopping nearby but not attacking just yet.

I could have sighed in relief but instead I lifted a hand and traced two of my claw along the glass as I slowly turned. I didn't face her fully but turned my face towards her as I took several slow, slow steps, watching her all the while. With the immediate threat of the approaching White Fang out of the way, I focused on Weiss and the portal swirling behind her.

Weiss hadn't changed her stance, but I saw her breath harder as she stared me down, tracking me with the tip of her sword. I thought she might remain silent again, but as I came to a halt near the room's corner, her mouth twitched.

"Do you expect me to believe that you care about any of our lives?" She spat.

I took a moment to visibly contemplate that and then tilted my head.

"Well, at the very least, I expect you to acknowledge that I haven't killed you yet, and that there must be a reason for it. My friends in the White Fang would like to be done with you, I imagine, but I have a different idea," I said. "Or rather, I simply know something they don't. But let's stay on topic, Ms. Schnee. That's a very nice necklace you're wearing. Your mother's, was it?"

Her grip and her jaw, if anything, tightened even further. She seemed to be deciding what to say as she stared at me, weighing her options—whether to believe my words, whether to try something dangerous, everything. I could see her emotions shifting on her profile, the possibilities flashing in her eyes as she reached a decision, and I simply continued my Observation.

Snow's Apple—Rank: Quest Item

An apple-shaped necklace belonging to Weiss Schnee, given to her by her mother before she passed away. A simple silver necklace to all appearances, but inside…

"Yes…" She said at last, apparently deciding to at least buy some time. "She…"

"Gave it to you before her death," I said. "Yes, I know. But do you know why? Do you know what it is you're carrying?"

She said nothing again, but there was a flash of confusion in her eyes that made me shut my own and sigh. That route was a dead-end it seemed.

I changed tracks.

"It seems you don't," I answered my own question. "A pity; it seems there isn't any point in talking to you, then. Give it to me, Ms. Schnee."

"Never," She answered instantly, her voice suddenly fierce. "It's all…but I'd destroy it myself before I let you take it from me!"

I slowly tilted my head the other way.

"I'd be…rather interested in knowing how you intend to accomplish that, Ms. Schnee."

She watched me for a moment, eyes wide and breath quick. Again, I saw her eyes dart around her—from me to the window to the door, gauging something with a quick glance—before making a decision of some kind—

And then she tore the necklace off with a sudden jerk, casting it to the floor before grasping her new sword with both hands. As she flipped the blade and thrust it down at the still falling necklace, I saw her eyes focus on the item, as if readying herself for some great pain, and watched the light gleam from sword and necklace both.

I sighed to myself quietly and then crossed the room in a series of quick steps. Reaching out with one hand, I caught Weiss' blade between two fingers and stopped it cold. I saw her eyes flick up to me, saw her mouth twist, saw her give a scream of frustration as she tried to push down even harder—but it was no use. My tail swept down and curled around the necklace before swinging like a pendulum to toss it up into the air on the other side of me, where it fell into my waiting palm. As my fingers closed around it, I released her sword and lifted my hand to her face, pushing her back gently.

She flew into one of the chairs around the sitting area hard enough to knock it over and send her rolling back. She came up to her feet in an instant, to her credit, and with her blade was pointed my way. Light blue light gathered around its length before a wave of ice flashed across the room's floor and rose to cover me completely—

I took a step forward, shattering it around me. Compared to breaking out of my adamant skin, this was nothing, even before Levant and Xhai conferred a resistance to Ice. Weiss leapt back as the cylinder on her weapon revolved, the dust within glowing white as symbols covered the blade. Landing on a sprawling glyph, it flashed red for a moment and she flew towards me with her sword aimed at my heart and the uncovered portion of my chest.

Unfortunately, it stopped at my skin. Part of it was just my Aura and part of it was my mask and the rest was because of my many defensive skills—because of Adamant Serpent's Skin and the White Tiger's Hide and Unbroken Steel and everything else—but the result was simple. An attack like that…just wasn't enough to really hurt me anymore. In fact, it probably hurt her more.

The moment her blade hit my skin, it stopped, with the results you might imagine for everything behind it. Her body continued to rush forward, clipping the halted blade hard before slamming into me. She spun as it was mostly her left side that hit, but continued past me as she flew towards the window. My tails came up and curled around her ankles before I turned and flung her into the couch, which she also knocked over. This time, however, she didn't roll to her feet, but continued until the wall stopped her and then coughed painfully.

I'm sorry, I wanted to say—but I didn't. And if I had, would it have meant anything? So instead, I just closed my eyes and sighed again.

A sound made me open them and I saw Weiss struggling to her feet, looking like she was barely keeping something down. I didn't move as she stumbled or when had to brace herself against the wall, but after she coughed roughly again and swallowed something down, she focused on me.

"Give it back," She said in what I thought might have been an attempt at a shout that a cough ruined. "Get your hands off of it, you bastard."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Ms. Schnee," I answered, tossing the necklace lightly up and down. "I'd recommend you sit down, however. You don't look well."

She snarled something and pushed away from the wall, falling into a roll to pick up the weapon she'd lost hold of. As she came up again, flames gathered around the blade and she threw them into my face as she leapt at me.

I blinked once and then caught the blade, halting her in place again. She managed to keep from slamming into me again but…it was too late, now. Hands of Aura rose from my limbs, one curling around her own and the other just above the guard of the blade. She tried to pull away, to tear her sword from my grasp, but even beyond my vastly superior strength, Crocea Mors had already made himself at home.

All it took to snap the blade was a turn of my wrist. Our eyes met as the steal broke, hers wide and shocked, mine hidden behind a Goliath's yellow orbs. Aura limbs let go of her broken blade and caught her by the shoulders, holding her still as a tail of light curled loosely around her throat.

"Enough now, Ms. Schnee," I said, forcing her to sit on the raised front of the couch as I turned my attention to the necklace I held between two claws. Already, Crocea Mors was flowing in, telling me everything I needed to know. "You've lost, so please be quiet, okay?"

I tossed the necklace into the air and caught it again as Pathfinder changed once more. As I thought, this should be enough. With this, the White Fang shouldn't care about killing Weiss. It felt…it was cruel, what I was doing now, but…

I'm sorry, but this is for your sake, Weiss. Try to bear with it.

As I was about to turn away, though, she said something that gave me pause.

"Please," She said, quietly pleading. "It's the last thing she was able to give me before she…please don't take it. Please…"

I lowered my head slightly as I turned away, otherworldly limbs still holding her in place. If it was…if this was…

But her mother wouldn't have wanted her to die for something like this. I knew that. So even if it was horrible…

"Then I apologize, Ms. Schnee," I said truthfully, glancing over my shoulder. "But some things are just more important."

She swore at me then, kicking and screaming even as my hands tightened around her, wearing away at her Aura even as they held her still. When it was gone, Xihai appeared as a spirit by my side and lifted a hand as she touched one of mine. All of a sudden, Weiss movement became sluggish, slowing quickly in seconds until she lay still, dragged down into the realm of sleep/

I watched her sadly for a moment, feeling miserable for what I'd done—and feeling more miserable because I felt miserable. In the end, I'd been the one who'd done this; what right did I have to feel bad and regretful when I'd gone through with it anyway? Weiss was the victim here, but…

I exhaled slowly.

I could tell she'd trained hard. She'd raised five levels in two months, bringing her up to Blake's level in the eyes of whatever decided such things. She'd done everything she could to get stronger. But it just hadn't been enough. Not to beat me and my power. Not to beat the Raven now prowling on the fringe or the sharks circling now. A part of it was a difference in experience and training; a lot more was because of things that just weren't fair in the slightest. It just wasn't…

I'm sorry, I thought. I'm sorry for all of this.

And then I spoke.

"Raven, fair Raven," I said to the air. "Would you like to join me now?"

I didn't so much as turn my face as swirls of red and black converged around Raven's presence, forming a gateway for her to walk through. She stepped into the room from who knows where, striding with deliberate slowness across the floor as she came to my side. I knew without a word being said that the games had begun once more, but now that I could at least see her I relaxed a touch, letting the White Tiger of the West fade around me.

"You've found what you were looking for, then?" She asked calmly, nothing in her voice giving away the fact that she must have had no idea what I was doing.

I chuckled slightly, tossing the necklace up and down gently as I glanced her way. I wondered what was going through her mind right now. However annoying her portals were to me, from her perspective I must be just as tedious; she'd seen me claw my way back into this reality, at the very least, which to her must be like…what? Perhaps something akin to her own skill. And now here I was, toying with a necklace that no one else in the world could have even suspected was anything special. If not for my power, for my Pathfinder, then this…

This would have gone a lot less well, which said something.

"You could say that, I suppose," I said aloud. "At the very least, I got what I needed."

She didn't react to that, as far as I could tell—though I suppose that was one of the downsides to a conversation between two people with masks that covered their faces completely—neither of us were very emotive. Even so, I knew it was only a matter of time before this conversation went somewhere dangerous.

I wasn't all that surprised when Raven didn't waste any time getting there.

"You left the girl alive," She said, hand going to her sword. She let those words hang in the air for a moment as she drummed her fingers along the hilt before prompting me. "Shall I?"

I chuckled slightly, heart suddenly beating fast. Here was the tricky part—I knew there had to be a way through this that would keep Weiss alive, but I didn't have all the facts or pieces. I was making this up as I went along so how the hell could I plan ahead? But…

"Not just yet," I told her, catching the necklace one last time and holding it up to Raven's eyes. "Even I'm not entirely sure of what's inside this, but given that it was meant for her, there may be security measures on it. Best not to do anything rash until we have everything we need."

Raven was silent for a moment, watching me quietly before nodding slowly.

"Very well," She said. "What is it, then?"

"The most valuable thing in the world," I said. "Information."

"About what?" She asked.

I chuckled again, because I had no idea.

"Best you see for yourself," I said, dearly hoping I was right. Pathfinder implied…but as vague as it was…

Nonetheless, I clenched my fingers around the necklace and let Crocea Mors get to work. Outer layers melted out of the way, revealing what was contained within and light emerged as I opened my hand, rising to form a holographic screen.

Specifically, a password screen.

Damn. I couldn't say I was surprised and I really didn't have any right to complain about people making things difficult for thieves, but I was kind of trying to save someone's life here. A little cooperation would be nice.

I didn't react visibly, though, couldn't risk giving any sign of my sudden uncertainty away. Whatever the hell was in this necklace, it was worthless if we couldn't get to it—and worthless data wouldn't save Weiss' life. Worse, with the impression I'd just given, if they really thought it was valuable, then they might hurt Weiss to get it or threat those she cared about. I couldn't…whatever this was, I had to get to it, no matter what was put in my way.

Yeah, I thought. I just had to guess a who knows how many digit password made by a woman I'd never met on the first try. Should be easy.

I paused.

Or maybe…could it be that easy? Pathfinder had led me here, without sending me to find any passwords first; in quests, the objectives generally didn't tell you how to do something, but they wouldn't tell you to do something impossible, either. If I needed a password to continue the quest, there should have been a way for me to find that password over the course of the quest or finding it would have been an objective itself. I just had to think.

What did I have? The password, presumably, had been made by Weiss' mother, a woman I'd never met and would never meet. The only things I'd interacted with that could lend me a hint as to the password were this necklace and Weiss herself—but Weiss didn't even know there was anything special about the necklace.

I considered that for a moment before observing the necklace again.

Snow's Apple—Rank: Quest Item

An apple-shaped necklace belonging to Weiss Schnee, given to her by her mother before she passed away. A simple silver necklace to all appearances, but inside are contained a mother's last words.

She didn't know there was anything special to it, beyond the fact that it was a gift from her mother. Why then was it named 'Snow's Apple'? Was it common to name a piece of jewelry, even one that held meaning? Had my power provided the name? Or…maybe…

Well, I didn't have any better ideas, now did I?

On the holographic screen, I typed the words 'Snow's Apple.' I don't know what meaning those words held, but I hoped they meant something to a mother and her daughter. I closed my hidden eyes in sheer relief when the screen changed and something began to load.

After a moment, a woman's face—presumable belonging to Weiss' mother—appeared. From the background, I could tell that she was in a bedroom or perhaps a hospital—whatever the case, she was recording the video on a bed of some kind and it was easy to see why. Though her hair and skin were still fair, it looked like something destined to fall to whatever sickness she was fighting. Or perhaps she was wounded? I couldn't see much from the angle of the camera.

"Weiss," The woman said, smiling brightly even though the expression seemed to hurt her somewhat. "I don't know when you'll see this or even if…"

She swallowed once that seemed to provoke a coughing fit until she shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"But I had to record this while I still could. I know I don't…they don't let you see me much anymore and that…that hurts, but it's probably for the best," She seemed to stumble over the words slightly, but she pushed through as best she could. "Some days I'm not…I'm not myself. I don't always remember everyone…even the people I love the most. Once, the…I was told that the last time I saw her, I couldn't remember Winter's face and I can only imagine how…"

She paused for a moment, eyes blinking shut as tears gathered at the corners. I felt…I felt horrible watching this, like a voyeur peering in on what was supposed to be a private moment between mother and daughter, but I had to keep going. This…as the pieces came together and the picture became clearer, it hurt to watch this, but this still wasn't enough to save Weiss life. I needed something more.

"How horrible it must be to have a mother who can't remember her own daughter," She continued, brushing away tears sloppily with the back of a hand as she opened her eyes. "S-so, maybe it's better this way. But while I still can…while I remember…I wanted to record these messages for you both. I want to tell you, while I still remember, how much I…I-I love you. How much I've always loved you and how much I wanted to be there for you when you grew up and watch you…watch you live your lives and grow up happily. I want to…I wanted to be your mother."

She stopped brushing her cheeks for a moment, but the tears continued to fall unhindered as she took a shaking breath. She wasn't statuesque while she sobbed, either; her eyes and cheeks reddened—they looked like they'd gotten a lot of that lately, too—while her nose became stuffed, altering her voice. It was the type of crying that was hard to look at because it looked real. This was a person crying.

I watched anyway, not averting my eyes. I didn't have any right to complain now.

"But…but it looks like that might not be possible," She said at last. "So I'll record this for you both. There's…there's more I want to say then I ever could, but I don't know how much time I have and…but I want you to have this. It's…I feel horrible, passing this onto you, but I'm sure you've already heard us fighting. Your father and I…we always disagreed on a lot of things, since the day our parents first introduced us. I…heh, it seems silly now, but the first time we met I got so upset over something stupid he said that I threw a punch bowl at him."

A smile flickered across her face, as brilliant as it was fleeting.

"The only thing…the only thing we've never disagreed about is the two of you and how much we love you. I know…he's not very good at showing it, especially since I became like this; he's gotten colder and tries to act like nothing's wrong, even when he…" She swallowed, turning away. "I love him. I have since my sixteenth birthday—did I ever tell you about that? He doesn't look it, but your father can be romantic when he wants to. But after your grandfather and grandmother were…after he took over the business…he can be cold, too. Pragmatic, he says, and maybe that's true—but cold most of all. And we've fought about it; disagreed over so many things…I don't know if I'm right. I've never had all the answers, was always just a…but you deserve to see this, too, to see everything. One day, you two will be grown up and on top of the world, but there are some things you'll need to know. So this…this is for you. I'm not telling you to do anything with it. I'm not even asking. You two have always been my beautiful, intelligent girls, so when you see this, you'll probably know what to do better than I will."

She took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

"The password is 1_w_1_4_s_1_3_y_u," She said. "You know what for and it'll tell you everything. Just remember, no matter what you choose to do with this…I love you. I love you both. And I…I…Braun, if you would? I'm getting—"

The image faded abruptly and I finally closed my eyes.

"Another password?" Raven said after a moment of silence, her voice sounding ever so slightly off.

"Yes," I said.

"To what?"

"What we're looking for," I said. Hoped, really. But as Pathfinder changed, I took a breath. "We'll find it within the Schnee Company servers. Would you like to drive?"

She tilted her head and then nodded slightly before turning to Weiss.

"And the girl?" She asked, her tone still sounding strange. I looked at her for a moment and then walked slowly past her, kneeling by Weiss's side. My fingers curled around the necklace again as Crocea Mors shaped the metal back into its original form. Slowly, I lowered my hand over her neck, letting the two halves of the chain pool on either side before tilting my hand and dropping the pendant on her chest.

"Her mother gave use something valuable," I said. "And so I will repay her words. And perhaps…"

I closed my eyes and chuckled, glancing over my shoulder to look at Raven.

"Perhaps I'm feeling vaguely sentimental," I said, remembering what Adam had told me about his family so long ago. She would know about it, surely, but would it matter to her? "Even you and I can understand the bond between parent and child. Even if it's not the wisest decision, I proved she's no threat, so…I'll allow her to see her mother's face again, at the very least. I've never been much for passing on grudges, either, so…is that okay with you, Raven?"

She looked from me to the girl and for a moment I thought should wouldn't say anything—or, worse, that she would disagree, but when she spoke…

"Very well," She said. "It doesn't matter, so long as it doesn't affect the mission. We got what we came for."

I chuckled and it wasn't entirely faked I felt so relieved.

"Shall we go, then?" I asked before she waved her sword, a portal opening in the space before us. Without a word, she stepped through and I rose to follow before pausing, sighing slightly.

One last thing before I go, I thought.

I reached into my Inventory and drew out the blade I'd taken from her so long ago, placing it by her side. It was…it a meaningless gesture, I knew, and stupid, but…

"I suppose I should give this back to you, as well," I murmured before turning away.

Goodbye, I thought again.

I'm sorry.