Libby didn't use Torchwick's method of intel gathering. Her secret was to be basically invisible while still in plain sight.
She had a hunch that if Ruby and Weiss were taken anywhere by a street gang, it would not, in fact, be to the Mad Woman's hideout; she'd never give up her secrets like that.
And Libby's bet was the other option was the edge of the kingdom where no one came that often--in fact, not too far from where she lived herself.
She hung around the area, not doing anything in particular, for quite a while.
She'd know any unusual faces.
But she saw some familiar ones, wheeling a crate. She knew those masks.
The Lost Kids...they'd harassed her before, but not all of them were as nasty. She knew who to avoid out of the gang. Once they'd try to jump her into it--but she'd declined forcefully enough.
They couldn't fight well, but they had numbers, and that counted for more if you avoided huntsmen, which they usually did.
Where could they be going?
But before they got too far, Libby noticed something else: A mouse running along the sand, falling behind also.
"Hullo, is that that little, magical freak of nature?" she asked. "Ho there, Mini!"
The Mouse looked around and, spying her, ran up.
"The funny-talking human," it said. "Are you here to help?"
"I should say so," Libby said, scooping it up. "What luck. Do you know where Ruby and Weiss are?"
"Ruby...in...box," the mouse huffed, out of breath. "Weiss...is back there."
"In a box--back where?"
"There's this big cave," Little said, "made of dead trees, like...your other caves."
"Caves? Wait, you mean our houses?"
"House...yes," Little said. "And it has...this big, bluish marking on the front of it. It looks like a big tree root."
"Tree root?" Libby said.
She put the mouse down. "Show me."
The mouse ran in a shape.
Libby frowned at it. "Oh...that's not a root, that's the symbol for the old shipping plants, before they got moved to the upscale part of the city, to protect them from the vermin like me--Wait a moment...I say, was this by any of those big pipes that used to let waste out of the plants but now are just homes for rats and other filth?"
"Pipes?" Little said.
"Big, round thing...like... Oh...dash it all..." Libby pulled her hat off. "Like this, but without the top of it..."
"Like a hollow log, you mean?" Little said. "Yes, there were big, huge hollow logs."
"You know, it's quite an education hearing what you think our stuff looks like," Libby mused. "I know exactly where that is! Now, how many of those lowlifes were around?--I can't just charge in alone."
"I'm not very good with numbers," Little said, "but there must have been a whole rabbit's litter worth at least."
"This many?" Libby held up all ten fingers.
"More," Little said. "But a big part of them just left, with Ruby the Rose."
"Blast it." Libby put her chin in her hand. "They'll be back, no doubt. I can't just go in there and one-woman crusade this mess--there might be more...and with better weapons than I have. On the other hand, they'll be expecting those gits, not me...and I've got to find that Rose girl also... Hmm..."
She shook her head. "I'm going to need some help, that's for sure. All right, you run back and keep an eye on Weiss. Maybe you can help. Don't let on that you're a talking mouse, though. I've got work to do. I'll catch up to those rogues."
Libby took off in hot pursuit of The Lost Kids.
She dogged their steps halfway across Vacuo, till they reached the district that was supposed to be haunted.
She was smart enough to guess the rest from there. Whitley had been short on details, but Libby had got that it was bad.
Well, time to let them know that.
And then she'd better get a move on for phase two of her plan.
* * *
"Libby is on the call," Whitley interrupted the others debating how to go about this. "She says that she knows where Ruby is."
"She does?" Qrow stood up.
"But what about Weiss?" Willow had joined them by now, though she wasn't helping much.
Whitley sighed. "Well, just listen. All right, go on."
"They took your little, red-hooded friend to that same place you rescued the blonde one from before," Libby said. "I assume you know how to get there. I don't go in that area."
"They really took her there?" Yang said.
"Yes, but they had her somewhere else first--they moved her. My guess is they got new orders," Libby said. "And if this mad scientist shtick is true, I don't like to ask what the reason for that might be, but you fill in the blank. As for Weiss, she's still held somewhere else. Classic bait and switch, leverage, arm twisting tactic. Normally I'd say they'd hold her for ransom, but I really doubt it this time."
"Where is she, then?" Blake asked.
"Don't you worry about it," Libby said. "I will have it taken care of."
"What?" Whitley said. "Now wait a moment, you can't hope to take this on alone."
"Oh, relax, Governor, I know these reprobates," Libby said, "a pack of mangy street dogs, who've never been able to cut it in the big times, so they pick on people who can't fight back. Skirting under the radar of any huntsman, usually, unless they get cocky. They bust up my neighborhood often enough. The point is, I can handle them. I got a lucky tip off from a small friend of yours already. I'll have your precious sister back in a few hours. With the proper staging. But don't be alarmed, all right?"
"Staging? You aren't actually going to do this alone, are you?" Yang cried. "Are you crazy?!"
"You're one to talk," Libby said sassily. "I've done the odd job like this here and there--not with human cargo, mind you, but the principle of the thing is the same. I'll be just fine. You can bet that fancy arm of yours on it. But in the meantime, you all need to get that other girl. This won't work if they've more leverage, I'll wager. If you can handle that, I can handle Weiss. Cheerio!"
She hung up.
"Wait a minute!" Whitley said. "Hey!... Oh, she did not!"
"That chick is crazy," Qrow said. "Everyone here, they're just out of their minds."
"Well, are you much better?" Vara said dryly. "She's got spunk. I like her."
"Street urchins can be pretty resourceful in Vacuo," Theo said. "I wouldn't underestimate her. If she's right about this being a street gang, any one of us could take them on. It's Vic's weapons that I'm worried about. But if that's the case, they're going to expect us to come, not someone like them. Maybe she's got a point... Anyway you can't bust in there--you'll be suckered the same way your friends were."
"I don't want to hear that from you," Qrow said.
"Qrow, for your niece's sake, try to stay rational," Theo said, firmly. "Vic wouldn't have taken Ruby if she thought you could rescue her that easily. But I'm betting she's not really in the mansion lab. That has an entrance to the maze--I bet she took her to her actual hideout, Assuming that Broom's info is correct, anyway, and we have to assume it. So Ruby will be near to her prisoners, leaving just Schnee's clone by herself... I guess that would make it hard for her to escape."
"A Silver-Eyed girl with all those Maidens?" Vara rubbed her arms. "Vic has lost her mind. How crazy would that be if the girl used her eyes to try to escape? She could fry our allies."
"Ruby wouldn't do that," Yang said.
Tai shook his head. "I can't believe this happened... It's like Summer all over again."
Yang elbowed him, glancing at Qrow, who looked up kind of wanly.
"It's not exactly like that," Sun said. "At least we know Ruby is being held by Kanap, right? That's better than Salem."
Blake glared at him.
"What?" he said. "At least you could see some silver lining in this."
"Silver lining?" Tai said. "My daughter got kidnapped."
"I mean...your daughter got kidnapped a few days ago too," Sun said. "But you were cool with our plan that time."
Tai frowned.
Yang pursed her lips.
"Who cares who it was?" Vara said crossly. "This is a problem. I could perhaps have gotten in there and had nothing happen, if Vic bought it, but if Ruby Rose is there and she used her eyes on me, I'm dead. What if she thinks I'm an enemy?"
"I'm sure Ruby wouldn't just attack you," Pyrrha said.
"She might," Theo said.
"No, she won't," Qrow said.
"Will that woman want her...eyes?" Oscar said nervously.
"I don't think so," Theo mused. "At least...not without her with them. She'd want to know how they worked, not depower them. This is kinda sick though, using a kid as a test subject. That sounds more like Salem than like Vic."
"They are rapidly becoming hard to distinguish," Vara said testily. "I told you it was a mistake, you idiot."
"If I say you were right, will you stop b------g at me?" Theo shot back.
"I doubt it!" Vara shot back. "But go ahead!"
"Well, I wouldn't give you the satisfaction now," Theo said.
"I have news for you," Vara said. "Even if you--"
"Stop it," Qrow cut in.
"Yes, please, before one of you says something that these kids should not hear." Tai was not happy.
"I think I preferred listening to Qrow and Winter," Emerald muttered to Blake and Oscar. "At least they had some class about it."
"It's kind of scaring me," Oscar replied.
"They must have been together for a long time," Blake mused. "It's kind of sad. But I can't feel that much sympathy after what they've put us through."
"Well, whatever," Vara blew it off. "It's nuts to try this."
"Listen, you coward--" Qrow got angry. "--you helped create this mess, and you'd better d--- well do something to fix it."
"Hey!" Theo said. "Don't talk like that to her."
"Oh, piss off, Theo, you've done plenty," Qrow siad.
"Don't try to defend me," Vara snapped at Theo. "I don't need your help."
"Is your b----iness making you forget logic?" Theo said. "Is it that time of the month, or are you just especially unstable today?"
"Get bent, you SOB!" Vara slapped him.
Theo didn't seem to care.
"You know I'm right," he said, as if nothing happened.
Vara's eye sparked, but then she turned away huffily.
"Your dynamic is so messed up." Poor Tai was disgusted.
"Somehow this is exactly what I expected," Qrow muttered.
[All of Vara and Theo's interactions thus far make me feel like they'd go from fighting to making out in 0.5 seconds flat, and that's not the most comfortable energy right now.]
"Please," Pyrrha tried to smooth things over, "we can't do this without your help. None of us would get far enough to save anyone."
Vara seemed to think.
"Look...let's say I do this," she said, "I have to worry about booby trapped Grimm and an Aura/magic neutralizer... How do you expect to pull this off?"
"With this." Jaune suddenly pulled out the box and the vial.
Everyone looked at him.
"If you eat or drink these," Jaune said, "you'll be stronger... Who knows? Maybe it will counter what Victoria can do. They aren't magic or Aura. She probably won't be able to stop the effects."
"What is that?" Theo asked. "Roids?"
"No," Pyrrha said. "They were a gift, from...Oscar's new mentor."
Everyone looked at Oscar.
"I'd more of call her a friend," Oscar said. "She thinks that Shine and Wally are my mentors...but they aren't here, and something I saw earlier today...well, I think that, for now, her advice is the best bet I've got. And she did mention needing these gifts...and something about snakes biting our heels. I think she meant how Watts and Mercury might both have turned on us...but also she said that one might not be as bad as we thought...so maybe they aren't totally turning on us? I haven't worked it out yet, but the point is, I trust her."
"What the heck happened to you?" Yang asked. "I thought she was back in her--uh, home."
"It's not so easy, now that you know, to know when to share that, is it?" Pyrrha looked right at her.
Yang knew she meant the part about other worlds...and she was right--much as Yang hated to admit, she now knew why Shine had never wanted to answer that question.
"She is," Oscar said. "I guess I visited it...sort of... It was strange. But the point is, she is still trying to help us. I think we should listen, not doing it before didn't lead to anything good."
"What is he on about?" Vara asked.
"What's in the box?" Kip asked.
Jaune opened it. "I haven't really looked... Huh...that's odd--they're just little cakes."
Pyrrha peered over his shoulder. "Or candies, perhaps. There's 20 of them at least."
"You want me to take some steroid cakes and go one-woman army on Vic?" Vara said.
"They are not steroids," Pyrrha said. "Think of it more like vitamins..."
"Like her elixirs? No thanks," Vara said.
"It's not like that," Jaune said. "Right?"
"I don't think so," Jaune said.
"Right, well, I'm not just eating something I don't know," Vara said. "Why don't one of you?"
"And waste it?" Pyrrha said.
"Not testing it seems stupid," Qrow said. "But even if you trust this woman, I'm not sure I'd eat food she just gave you."
"Alicia wouldn't poison us," Oscar said. "I believe her."
He frowned, then he took one of the small cakes.
"Oscar..." Ren said.
"Are you sure?" Nora said.
"I don't think we should waste a whole one." Oscar broke off one corner of it. "But if this is what it takes to convince you, I guess I have to."
"Oscar, wait!" several people said.
But Oscar popped it into his mouth anyway.
The effect was instantaneous.
His Aura seemed to glow brighter, but not like it was with dust, like it just grew from inside.
"Huh...that almost looks like a Semblance," Pyrrha said.
Oscar felt...a lot stronger.
"Huh..." he said. "I mean...nothing really happened, but I do have all this energy suddenly. I guess it worked."
"I'm not sure energy is enough," Theo said. "Think fast." He suddenly pulled something out of his belt and threw it at Oscar.
It was some kind of tool.
Oscar glanced at him--the tool hit his Aura--and bounced right off it like it was a wall. It didn't even hurt.
"I've only ever seen Jaune do that..." Pyrrha said. She tapped Oscar, and her hand started to glow for a moment, then she moved and it disappeared.
"Is this his Semblance?" Nora asked. "What is he doing, then?"
The glow went away.
"I don't know," Oscar said, eyeing his hands. "But I still feel stronger. And that was just from a tiny piece of it... Wow, that's amazing."
"Well...he doesn't seem to be mentally affected..." Theo remarked. "Not much like the dust."
"I know dust," Hazel said. "That wasn't anything I've seen before."
"Satisfied?" Pyrrha asked Vara.
"Not really. If that enhances Aura, it'll make it worse, not better," Vara said.
"Perhaps it will enhance only what you need," Pyrrha said. "Or you could try this." She picked up the vial. "This will make your problem smaller for a while. We think it could soothe your side effects."
"Huh?" Theo said.
Vara glanced at it. She seemed to be considering it. Then snatched the vial suddenly.
"Don't drink that much!" Pyrrha warned, as she took the cap off. "Just a little."
Vara drew a deep breath. "If this kills me, I will so haunt you," she said. "But...well, I guess it can't get much worse anyway."
She poured a tiny bit in the cap, and, slowly, she drank it.
For a moment, she didn't say or do anything.
"Did anything happen?" Blake asked, finally.
Vara tilted her head, then she suddenly hit herself.
She laughed oddly. "Didn't hurt that much... I... This s--- actually worked." She stared at the vial. "Incredible...how long will it last?"
"No idea," Oscar said. "But...do you think you could do this?"
"What if I had the cake stuff too?" Vara took it out of his hand before he could do anything. "Both at once, would it balance me out?"
She popped it into her mouth before anyone could object.
Her eyes blazed, and her Aura lit up.
But she pinched herself, and then she nodded. "Nothing... It worked... It's like...I haven't felt like this in years..."
She clapped her hands in excitement, then spun around. "It feels good not to regret that instantly!"
"Var, calm down," Theo said. "This is only temporary, right? Or isn't it?" He looked hopeful.
"I don't think it's permanent," Pyrrha mused. "But if it's enough for now, we can work on a permanent solution later. Surely it's possible."
Vara stopped celebrating. "Well, I'll take it. For now. Let's go get Ruby, and I guess if I have to, Schnee and Raven also."
"You'll need backup," Yang said.
"About Weiss," Theo said, "I could find her... It might take a few hours, but if it's some punk kids, they won't be that smart. It's the defenses that I'm worried about. But that leaves only Kip to guide you all to Vic."
Kip sighed.
"Won't your mother wonder where you are?" Penny asked Kip.
"Yes," he said, "by now..."
"Well, tell me if this is too simple for humans to not suspect," Penny said thoughtfully, "but if Vara and Theo are your friends, wouldn't them bringing you back be natural?"
Theo and Vara exchanged a look and then looked at Kip.
"Hey...that might actually work," Vara said.
"Chalk one up for Penny." Sun tried to high-five her. Penny didn't quite understand the gesture and just waved at him instead.
"Can the rest of us even help?" Neptune said.
"My idea about that," Oscar said, "is that some of us should probably be guarding the tunnels. What if some of those Grimm she has escape? We don't want them to get out into Vacuo by accident. And we don't want Salem's forces in the Vault. We need to stop them now. But I don't think we should kill anybody. Shine and Wally wouldn't like that, and maybe there's still a purpose in having them alive, but we should capture them if we find them."
"Even after they stabbed you in the back?" Theo said.
"Well...we haven't killed you." Oscar didn't mean that to be as savage as it was, from his tone, but the others almost laughed. "And I just think...it's right."
"Certainly," Pyrrha said. "I don't want to go that far either. And Watts and Mercury have never been the most violent out of the ones we know about, right? Maybe they'll go down easier."
"Maybe," Emerald said. "I still can't believe this was Mercury's fault."
She sighed. "I mean...are you sure he didn't get blackmailed?"
"I don't know what that means," Kip said. "All I know is he came to our hideout after you all found it before to offer something. Mother didn't explain it very well, just that it would be another chance for us to get what we wanted. And the taller man was contacting her through him also. She said that he told her how to stop you all, so we wouldn't make the same mistake twice."
"He sold us out," Oscar said. "I knew he said something odd about it."
Emerald suddenly slapped her forehead.
"What?" Blake asked.
"We were talking earlier!" Emerald cried, sounding aghast. "I didn't think about it, just thought he was being his usual dumba-- self, but he was talking about the DJs not being as OP as he thought, and weakness, and I was telling him what I knew. I didn't think anything of it--I mean, we all know their weaknesses to magic and stuff, but...he could have been pumping me for info."
"You should have known better than to run your mouth about it!" Yang's eyes were red.
"You share stuff with your teammates!" Emerald said. "I didn't know!"
"Are we sure of that?" Vara asked.
"She didn't know!" Pyrrha insisted. "Let it go. It's not her fault. We all thought Mercury had joined us for real."
"I was never entirely sure," Hazel said. "But I didn't think he'd go this far to sell us out. At most, I thought he might run away."
"Some help you are," Qrow said.
"He's not very forthcoming about his motives," Hazel said.
"He doesn't even have motives!" Emerald threw her hands up. "He's just an idiot. He thinks that we can't fight Salem...so he's helping her."
"Or he thinks we can't win," Oscar said. "It's hard to blame him, given our track record, but, selling you out isn't something he should have done even if he thought that. Why join us at all?"
"He had to have been a spy from the start," Blake said. "Victoria isn't even working for Salem that we know of, so it means he's selling us out for other reasons. Even if he's just working with Watts, we cannot trust him. I think we all know we'll have to take him down. You want to capture, fine, but he's not part of the team anymore. Even if he says it wasn't his plan, I don't care. He's done too much damage."
"I agree there," Qrow said. "If I don't beat the crap out of him, it's more than he should expect. If he was blackmailed, we might go easier on him, but I doubt it. This looks like it was deliberate from the start."
Emerald put her face in her hands. "I was so stupid..."
"You didn't know," Pyrrha said.
"I mean, we can't do anything about it now," Jaune said, "so jumping on you won't help."
"Enough," Theo said. "You all want to trust her still? Fine. She might be able to help us. She can slip past Vic."
"One issue," Kip spoke up. "Mother has put Aura signature devices on all our doors. Only people who come in with her or who are logged into her system can enter. I can't bring you in without clearance."
"Can you deactivate it?" Jaune asked.
"I...might be able to," Kip said. "I've seen her adjusting it... She used to let me help with stuff like that. But it might take a while. I think she will let Aunt and Uncle in, but only them."
"Well...we can stall for a while," Vara said. "And then I have an idea. I say we don't all use the tunnels. That's too easy to frick up. Some of you can come up top with Kip. I'll just have to time it the right way."
"Time it?" Qrow said.
"I'll signal you," Vara said. "You'll know it's me, trust me. Just keep a bird's eye view." She winked.
"The we should split into three groups," Oscar said. "Some to go with Vara and Theo, some to go with Kip and Qrow and act as backup, and some should wait here and see if Libby brings Weiss back or calls for help."
"Well, obviously I will be doing that part," Whitley said.
They argued about this for a few minutes, because Yang wanted to find Ruby but the others didn't think she was the best choice.
Finally Tai said she and he could go with Qrow and step in once things got crazy. That way they wouldn't blow cover.
Blake, Sun, and Neptune, offered to guard the tunnels... It seemed better if they stayed out of sight, but at least Victoria would know the latter two as well if they were discovered. Maybe she wouldn't do that much to them.
And if Watts or Mercury found them, they could all be waiting for them.
Pyrrha and Jaune also wanted to go with them, in case they needed more backup.
Oscar, Ren and Nora said they'd stay with Whitley.
* * *
"It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you." Shine was grating on Cinder's nerves by singing as if nothing had happened. "This is how I fight my battles... And I believe You've overcome, and I will lift my song of praise for what You've done..."
"You could take this seriously," Cinder cut in. "If I didn't want to kill you before, this would be doing it."
"That has to be the nicest thing you've said since this began." Shine was lying on the floor of her cage, looking up. "Forgive me if I'm trying to stay upbeat."
"What part of this is upbeat?" Cinder said. "I still don't know how Watts survived..."
"I do," simply.
"Well?" Cinder acted as if she was owed an answer.
"I'm not telling you," Shine replied mercilessly.
"I've been thinking about what you said," Cinder spoke, after an infuriated pause.
"That is the first time you've managed to surprise me," Shine interrupted.
"Shut it!" Cinder snapped. "I've been thinking that it's all a load of crap. You don't really know what you're talking about--or anything about me. You've judged me without even knowing what I went through to get here. That doesn't make you better, it just makes you weak."
"Would knowing any of that change my mind?" Shine said carelessly. "What did you go through?"
"Why would I tell you that?" Cinder said.
"Because if you couldn't, that remark was utterly pointless, and I will go back to thinking exactly what I want with no contest." Shine was cutting.
She made Cinder so mad that she forgot her caution for the moment.
"My whole life I've been pushed around," she said angrily. "But I got strong enough to push back. I learned to kill people who got in my way, instead of letting them control me."
"When did you ever suffer?" Shine said blandly.
"I suffered!" Cinder said. "I used to be little more than a slave, once. My mistress used to use a shock collar on me--that's what kind of people they were. She forced me to say, 'Without you, I am nothing.' But one day I killed her! And I told her, 'Because of you I am everything!'"
"Interesting line," Shine said.
Her lack of being affected by this made Cinder angrier. "I killed them all," she said, "even the one who trained me. I suppose you think that was evil, but he would have taken me in. He didn't understand. He was fine with letting them treat me that way instead of stopping it. He thought that made up for it...so I killed him."
"I'm sorry to hear it." Shine sat up finally to look at her somberly. "What a terrible story."
"You don't see the point?" Cinder said. "Whether it was right or wrong doesn't matter, not to anyone else and certainly not to me. It was all in who had the power. Good and evil don't matter. They're just ideas. All you people are fools."
"You think so?" Shine said.
"I know so. What has doing good ever gotten you? You're here," Cinder said.
"I am," Shine said. "But this is not what I was trying to avoid... But your story does explain some things. I always wondered why you were so determined to kill everything."
"And you're about to say I could handle it another way," Cinder said scornfully. "But that's all bull----."
"No, dog eats dog is the worldview that makes the most sense if there is no God," Shine said. "Or if you intend to ignore His existence. But it does puzzle me, considering you have living proof that the gods are real, that you can so easily dismiss their influence. Even if they are knock offs, even they have standards of some sort."
"Oh, what does it matter? They aren't here," Cinder scoffed. "What do you think you're accomplishing by your way? It's nothing. You're all fools. And it doesn't matter if I kill you all, because nothing you ever did would have mattered anyway."
She said that last part like she thought that would get to Shine, but Shine only laughed, to her chagrin.
"Well, I guess it would be true if I agreed with your view of life," she said. "Thank the Lord, I don't. I'm sorry that no one ever taught you how to deal with pain--then again, maybe they, did and you didn't listen. Perhaps that person who was trying to help you simply saw where this was going. A temperament like yours has to be carefully controlled or it becomes psychotic."
"What?" Cinder said. "You don't know my temperament."
"From all I've seen, you're spiteful, vindictive, easily angered, petty, arrogant, and unsympathetic," Shine said candidly. "Which, in a child, who's been alone their whole life, is understandable, but in a grown woman who is capable of higher thought and reason, one would hope, is very unsettling. My student Oscar is wiser than you, and he's still very young. You threw out the advice of someone who was trying to help you, so your track record of being ungrateful to the few people who care about you stands. Why do you deserve my sympathy?"
"What? One person is supposed to make up for years of suffering?" Cinder said testily. "As if that makes any difference."
"It would, if you let it," Shine said. "We all suffer, as I said before. I have too, little as you might believe it. But, I didn't want to be the person who inflicted suffering on other people. In this world, we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. I wouldn't be someone else's reason to give up. Or to become corrupt. And what if, in pursuing the kind of revenge you did, you sacrificed your chance to have anything better than the same life? You don't seem better off to me. Salem rules with an iron fist and treats you all like her slaves. I wouldn't work for her for anything. I have been through hell before--I wouldn't sign up for more."
["Your Winter"--Sister Hazel. Is it weird that both the band and the title have, like, three RWBY characters in them?]
"You don't understand," Cinder said.
"That could be because it is nonsensical, not because I'm stupid," Shine said. "But if you want pity, you could ask for it other ways than by killing people. What gets me is the futility of everything you do. The spitefulness is bad enough, but if you had any kind of plan, at least I could understand why. But it's just...futile spite. For the sake of spite. What does that do?"
"You'll see," Cinder said. "When I'm on top."
"And you can't see how you're just a pawn in the hands of the evil one?" Shine said sadly. "Well, now I feel worse than before. I detested you for your actions, but I can't even muster that kind of feeling now."
"Shut up," Cinder said.
"Do you ever get tired of saying that?" Shine said. "This is the problem with my job...once I understand someone, it's hard to judge." She sighed. "Well, God loves you anyway, whatever anyone else says. I suppose that is the only thing any of us need to matter in this world."
"That's ridiculous," Cinder said.
"If you knew what it meant, you wouldn't think so," Shine replied calmly.
Cinder was left puzzled yet again.