After reaching Eurus, in about the space of two hours, Zapato dropped team Obsidian off and then took the others to their location. He'd circle back later that day.
"And that gives us till then to find a Mind Grimm and kill it," Mercury said.
"First we'd better just find the city manager," Emerald said.
"I just hate the paperwork part of this," Mercury said.
"That is the easy part," Claw said. "Are you sure four people is enough to kill a Mind Grimm?"
"Oh, what's your problem, Claw? You're just here to find it and be moral support," Mercury said. "We'll kill it."
"That's not exactly comforting," Claw said, "or a very amiable way to speak of your teammates."
"It depends on what kind it is," Emerald said. "The report did not have a lot of details, just that people were acting odd and they suspected it could be that."
"We flew all the way out here just for a hunch?" Piper said.
"If it's a false alarm, then we have an easy day," Mercury said. "Win-win."
"Win-win, wasting resources," Claw grumbled.
"With all that negativity, Claw, you might draw the Grimm right to us all on your own," Mercury said.
"Okay, okay, can we not?" Emerald said.
"Whatever," Mercury said.
"If you didn't want to be here, why are you here?" Piper asked him. "Sometimes I don't know why you're a huntsman, Mr. Black."
"Captain Black to you," Mercury said. "And buzz off."
Emerald cast him another look.
"What?" he said.
"Nothing," she shrugged.
* * *
The city manager was relieved that they'd come so quickly.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that much," she told them, handing them a folder. "Just some people claiming that their friends or family were acting out of character while near the north side of town, but once they left it they acted fine. And didn't really seem to know why. I've read Mr. Pine's articles about the symptoms of Mind Grimm."
Oscar had thought to write this down and publish it not that long after starting at Beacon as a way for people to be more aware of the problems before they became so bad no one could fight them. The downside was that some people were more paranoid because of it, but they couldn't really help that.
"All the way out here? Wow?" Emerald said.
"Oh, we have an excellent library and bookstore," the manager said. "Actually I got the articles recommended to me by a friend of mine."
"Right," Mercury said. "Well, we'll look into it, Miss.... Sorry, what was your name again?"
"Mercury!" Emerald said.
"Fay, Wanda Fay," the city manager said dryly. "Yes, well, I leave it in your hands. Let me know if you need anything. We don't really have huntsmen out here, but most of our civilians can fight a little."
"Yeah..." Emerald didn't say, but she was thinking that if the Mind Grimm were truly behind this, no ordinary civilian was going to be much help unless they had a Semblance like Meridian's.
She opened the folder. "I guess we'll ask the people what they saw."
"And the north side of town," Mercury said.
They left.
"Okay..." Emerald said. "Claw, Piper, why don't you take most of these people? Ask them what they saw and felt and thought when the weird incidents happened. And Merc and I will check out the north end of town, see if there's anywhere the Grimm could hide."
"Are you sure about that?" Piper said.
"Yeah, it'll be fine," Emerald said.
"Call us if you find anything useful," Mercury said.
Claw and Piper were glad to have an excuse to not go near the Mind Grimm if possible, so they left.
The north side of town had a mill, an old fashioned kind for grinding flour. There was also a river here.
Also more homes with large yards and animals in them.
But they found no signs of Mind Grimm or places they could hide.
"Maybe someone has a cellar, like Brunswick farm," Mercury suggested.
"Yeah." Emerald was crossing things off her list. "Maybe.... Hey, can I ask you something?"
"You're gonna," Mercury said his standard.
"Would you say you're...happy?" Emerald asked. "I mean, with our life now. Doing this."
"Happy?" Mercury said. "It's a job. It's working.... I guess that's all that really matters to me. I never really make that much out of being happy."
"Yeah, I know," Emerald said quickly. "I just...I've been enjoying it, doing all this stuff. Everyone else seems to like what they're doing. I just can't tell with you."
"I don't know why you're worried about it. Shouldn't you be focused on the mission?" Mercury said.
"We should just rendezvous with the others," Emerald said. "See what those people said."
They headed back into the main part of the town.
This area had a lot of shops in it.
"Maybe we should get lunch." Mercury spied one selling pastries and coffee. "I think better on a full stomach."
"Yeah," Emerald said.
They walked into a cafe and messaged Claw and Piper to meet up with them.
Mercury grabbed some snacks.
"If we don't find anything, I'll have to tell Raven we wasted our time," Emerald mused.
"People don't just act like that," Mercury said. "At least...unless they're just jerks."
"I mean, losing their temper over nothing isn't exactly headliner behaviour," Emerald said. "Could be Irasci, could be Avarice, could be nothing. How would you know?"
Mercury just shrugged.
The little bell over the door rang as someone else came in and walked toward the counter. Emerald didn't even register it till the person stopped suddenly and looked at them.
Then she looked up.
It was Cinder!
Emerald had to take a moment to recognize her. Her hair was grown out, and she was wearing red, not black, and the outfit was a lot less loud than her old style.
She was also wearing glass shoes, though they were black so you could hardly tell.
But she still had the same taste in jewelry with her one black anklet, that she never seemed to take off, and her earrings, so she was not entirely unlike Cinder.
Mercury couldn't figure out what Emerald was looking at till he turned and also blinked.
Cinder froze.
"Uh...Miss Scon?" the counter boy said. "Your order? Are you all right?"
Cinder turned. "I just realized I left my wallet at home," she said smoothly. "Sorry. I'll have to come back."
"I could just put it on your account--" the boy began, but she walked away and out the door.
Emerald and Mercury didn't even have to say a word to each other to know to get up and follow her.
"Cinder, wait!" Emerald called.
Cinder walked faster and then dashed between two shops.
They followed.
"Shhh!" Cinder hissed as soon as they had. "Don't yell my name out like that! Here I go by Scarlet Scon."
[Scōn is old English for shoe. I can't write it with the accent in this editor, and copy pasting it over and over again was too tedious to attempt.]
"Seriously? You're going by Scarlet? Like the color?" Mercury said. "That's so uncreative."
"The point was to be inconspicuous," Cinder said. "What are you doing here? If you're looking for me, then--"
"We're not looking for you at all," Emerald protested. "I'm totally stunned that you're here. You've been missing for 2 years! No, it's closer to 2 and a half now. What the h---? We thought you might have died."
"Please, like that would happen to me," Cinder said, with an eye roll. "I'm fine. And if you're not looking for me, why are you here?"
"Because Ms. Fay, the city manager, called us in to deal with some Grimm," Mercury said.
Cinder startled. "The Mind Gimm?"
"You...know about it?" Emerald said.
"What? Did you start it?" Mercury said.
Emerald shoved his arm. "Stop it."
"I've been sensing something like that for weeks," Cinder answered, rather calmly, considering Mercury had just insulted her. "But I couldn't prove it. I actually told Fay to look into it."
"Wait, wait, were you the one who recommended Oscar's articles to her?" Emerald said. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, so?" Cinder said. "You thought I wanted to be caught off guard? I had enough of those monsters while we were on that stupid quest. I don't need more problems than I already have. It's pathetic how little people know about them, too."
"Because when you get close, it's too late for that to save you," Mercury said. "So you're here, and you expect us to believe that the Mind Grimm have nothing to do with you? What have you been doing? Living a normal, peaceful life? Get out."
Cinder cut her eyes at him. "You know, I really don't need to explain myself to you if you're not looking for me, so just forget you saw me and go take care of the Grimm--wait, why are you here to do that?"
"Well, if you'd been around, you'd know that we're Specialists now," Emerald said.
Cinder raised an eyebrow. "I did read about some incidents with bandits, but I didn't know it was that serious. Wow...how ironic."
"You've holed up in this town the entire last two years?" Mercury said.
"No," Cinder said. "I didn't find this place for at least 3 months after I left Vacuo. But it doesn't matter."
"No, no, I think it does," Emerald said. "We've got to catch up. I'm dying to know what happened."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Cinder said. "In fact, I'd prefer if you don't mention this to anyone."
"Shine knows you're here, right?" Emerald said.
Cinder paused. "Yes...why? Did she talk?"
"She told us you weren't dead, that was all," Emerald said. "But she wouldn't say anything else about what you were doing except that you weren't doing anything illegal. I hope she was right about that."
"It's complicated," Cinder said. "Just...go."
"No, no way," Emerald said. "Come on, you can't expect me to just leave. I mean...you're not the least bit curious?"
"I...I mean...why would I really care?" Cinder said.
"Yeah, that tracks," Mercury said. "Geez, I hope you haven't killed anyone lately."
Cinder's eyes snapped fire--not literally this time.
Emerald thought she'd slam Mercury into the wall, but then she drew a breath and just walked out of the alley.
"Huh..." Mercury said.
"The old Cinder would have hit you," Emerald said, "for being a jerk!" She glared at him.
"Well, it looks weird to just find her here all of the sudden," Mercury said. "You really buy that she's innocent?"
"If she wasn't, she'd have tried to spin some story about it," Emerald said, "made herself look like the good guy."
"Didn't she?"
"Why would she alert the city manager if she didn't want this problem to be dealt with?" Emerald said. "Come on, that would make no sense. I think it really was an accident. She looked pretty healthy, though. She must have been doing well. I want to find out what's going on. Besides, Cinder knows the Mind Grimm better than anyone else in this town will. She's our best lead. She can help."
"She could, but she won't," Mercury said. "She won't do us any favors now."
"You know, Merc, you really could give people more of a chance!" Emerald snapped at him, before running after Cinder.
"Ci--I mean...Scarlet, wait," she called.
"Just leave me alone, Emerald!" Cinder turned to glare at her--but it was far more annoyed than murderous.
"There you are, Captain." Claw and Piper came rushing out of the shop. "We couldn't figure out why you weren't there. Did you...?" They paused and glanced at Cinder.
She might not be down an eye anymore, but they'd seen plenty of wanted posters of her around Argus to probably recognize her, given enough time, but for now they just thought she looked vaguely familiar.
"Who is that?" Piper asked.
"Who are they?" Cinder looked at them.
"That's our team," Emerald said. "Guys, this is...uh...sorry what was it, Scarlet...Scone?"
"Scon," Cinder said, in a salty voice.
"Nice to meet you," Piper said politely.
"Is she important? Does she know anything?" Claw said. "The people we talked to didn't have a lot of things to offer."
"Maybe we should go inside and talk about this," Emerald said.
"Have fun with that," Cinder said.
"Wait, I need you to answer some questions about it," Emerald protested.
"Like I'm going to do small talk." Cinder waved her off.
Emerald pursed her lips, and then she held up her scroll, flashing her license. "You gonna make me pull rank?"
Cinder could hardly refuse to do this without looking suspicious.
She gave Emerald the most salty look you could imagine.
"Great," Emerald said. "I think the cafe is too public. Anywhere else we can go to chat?"
Cinder frowned.
* * *
Just up the street and around the corner, they went into a shop that had the emblem "Hot Threads" on the marquee, with a scorching piece of thread image.
Cinder turned the OPEN sign in the window to CLOSED.
"This better not take long," she said.
"Whoa...wait, is this yours?" Mercury was incredulous.
"I work here," Cinder said.
"Oh, Miss Scarlet, there you are." Another woman came out of the side of the store. "I took some more orders while you were gone.... Are these all customers?"
"No...they're here for a consultation," Cinder said. "You can go to lunch now. I'll watch the store."
"Okay." The woman left.
"Who was that?" Mercury said.
"Just one of the assistants," Cinder said carelessly. "What?"
They were looking at her oddly.
"Nothing," Emerald said. "Okay...Sergeant, and Piper, you want to tell us what the others said?"
"It wasn't much," Claw said flatly, opening the folder. "A father and son, last name Duran, were getting apples from one of the orchards at the edge of town. Kid suddenly dropped a basket and flipped out, to use their words. Then the father whaled on him a bit."
Emerald winced.
"And that wasn't usual behavior?" Mercury said.
"According to them, and their friends who saw the aftermath of it, it's not," Piper spoke up. "They said that Duran senior is normally a really patient man and he'd never attack someone over anything, let alone his own son. And his son swore that it was out of character also, but it scared the crap out of him. They say the orchard is haunted by some dark spirit now. No one's gone back there since."
"The orchard..." Emerald said. "Not a normal place for Grimm to hide."
"Grimm are sometimes attracted to sweet smells, like that disgusting plant." Cinder was behind the counter now, pulling out threads and starting to wind them up. She appeared to be sorting them. "There's plenty of rotting apples in the orchard this time of year."
"Right." Emerald didn't know anything about agriculture. The only rotten food she'd seen was lying in a street where the only animals interested in it were rats. "Okay, maybe that tracks. But they didn't see one?"
"No one saw one," Claw said. "There was another incident, not in the orchard, but near the river. Some kids were horsing around, then one of them lost his cool and pushed the other in. They weren't drowned, luckily--the water's not that deep there--but they said he just flew into a rage over nothing. He claims that he doesn't know why he did it."
"Grimm do lurk by water sometimes." Emerald was making a note of this. "Easier to catch people there. I guess that also tracks. Anyone else?"
"One person saying they heard their neighbors fighting," Claw said. "Which sounds unrelated, but they said it's very unusual for them to have yelling matches. They heard stuff getting tossed around too. But by morning it was like nothing happened. Except that they saw some broken stuff in their trash. As an aside, everyone in this town is very much in each other's business."
"That's how small towns are," Cinder muttered.
"Okay, Cindy," Mercury said meanly, "what's your take on all this?"
"I don't know anything." Cinder yanked a thread tighter. "Except that the only people out of those who I know are customers. They've never acted this way before."
"Okay...but is there somewhere outside town that the Grimm could be holed up? My money says Irasci," Emerald said. "It doesn't sound like Apathy, and Avarice would have some goal or object be part of it. Just anger and violence sounds like Irasci."
Cinder shrugged. "Some could have escaped after Vacuo."
"Vacuo... Cindy?" Piper said. "I'm confused. You know this woman from somewhere else? Is she a huntsman?"
"No," Emerald said. "Just...an old friend, I guess you could say."
"Cindy..." Claw frowned. "I know that name."
"Okay," Mercury said, "why don't you two wait outside? Make sure no one comes in. We need to confer more."
"And you don't trust us?" Piper said.
"I outrank you," Mercury replied.
Well, it worked when Winter said it.
Piper looked very much like he wished he didn't have to listen, but he did, so he and Claw went outside.
"It's been two hours." Emerald checked the time. "Our pilot is going to be back soon expecting us to have killed the Grimm already. I thought there'd be more of a lead than this."
"You really expect us to believe that you don't know more?" Mercury said.
Cinder used scissors to snip angrily at him. "Believe it or not, I don't go looking for Mind Grimm. I don't know anyone who would be crazy enough to do that--who's alive. So, no, I don't know."
"But you've been here a while. Is there anywhere they could be hiding? Come on, please?" Emerald begged.
Cinder frowned at them, then she sighed in frustration. "Look, the orchards are the last parts of the territory that the town owns. I...have tried to make sure no Grimm come this far in. They're...not exactly good for my livelihood or health. But beyond that, there's woods, and the river runs into some rocky areas. If Grimm are hiding near the town trying to get in, they'd be there, probably. But the river goes for 3 miles just in the town limits. And beyond that, it goes till it runs into the sea. A few mind Grimm wouldn't cause that much of a disturbance though."
"So...either they're closer than that, or there's more of them," Emerald said.
"Could be. Could be that a few found this place and the rest of them followed. The Mind Grimm work in groups," Cinder said tightly. "If that happened, they could swarm and attack the town. If it is Irasci, they can fight, not just cause emotional issues."
"You showed the city manager the articles because of this, didn't you?" Emerald said. "You were worried about the town."
Cinder rolled her eyes. "What good does it do me if it's destroyed? I hate those things anyway." She rubbed her head.
"Okay, but if you don't mind my saying so--" Mercury didn't care if she minded. "--you're capable of fighting off quite a few Grimm yourself. Why didn't you try to find them?"
"You've got to be joking," Cinder said. "Me? The person who had no resistance at all to them."
"But that was...two years ago, and you had magic then." Emerald lowered her voice. "Are you...still.... I mean, I kinda thought that you were one of us."
Cinder tapped the counter.
"I...might have read and studied, and...I suppose I've tried," she said. "I've been focused on staying out of trouble. I figured the law wouldn't look for me if I didn't give them a reason to. That stupid medal doesn't mean anything, but it's my only claim to amnesty."
She pulled it out from under her clothes. "But no one knows who I am here. I only kept it in case it came out and I needed to prove I was cleared of charges. I'd really rather no one knew I'm anything other than a businesswoman."
"Alicia gives you a sewing kit and you take it literally, huh?" Mercury said.
Cinder patted her leg suddenly. Emerald then saw she had the kit strapped to it where some people would have a knife.
"Maybe it had some kind of charm on it," Cinder mused. "I don't know. I was lucky to even get this position to begin with, being a stranger. You better not kill this for me."
"I couldn't be happier that you're doing something new," Emerald said. "I'm not going to turn you in. But we could use your help. I don't suppose you're up for it? I'm sure you can resist the Grimm now...and frankly, we could use backup. They sound worse than we thought."
"Sorry, but I think it's better if I stay out of this." Cinder didn't say that like she was really sorry, more like she was dismissing them.
"I see," Emerald said. "I was hoping to get more time to catch up. I've started this project now, in my spare time.... We're thinking of calling it Guardians of Promise. It's supposed to preserve the future of Remnant by helping the kids and adults who've been left homeless and without any family by the Grimm, the war, Atlas falling...bandits...etc."
"Sounds crazy," Cinder said. "Who would do that?"
"Actually...more people are agreeing to it. We worked out a system," Emerald said. "In exchange for provisions or work or things like that. Some people are doing it for free. Pyrrha and Jaune, they are...and Pyrrha's parents even are. They took in, like, three."
"Nikos and Arc, huh?..." Cinder said oddly.
"Yeah...they got married, by the way," Emerald said.
"Why would she care?" Mercury said.
"She...well...it's news," Emerald said.
Cinder shrugged. "I figured that would happen. Well, I'm sure they're as infuriatingly nice as they were before. I wonder you can stand to live so close to them."
"We're still good friends. They've helped a lot," Emerald said. "And I'm even letting one girl stay with me. Ruby's dad took one, even, if you can believe it."
"Unfortunately I do, but not much."
"Yeah...but Raven wouldn't do it. She's so stubborn." Emerald shrugged. "But...right now we're running outta money to even support the ones we still have in the shelter. It's...sad." She sighed. "But I kind of came up with the idea partly because of you."
"Me?" Cinder looked up.
"Well, your story," Emerald said, "and mine. I was alone, you were working for that horrible person, so we wanted to keep that from happening to more kids if we could. I admit it would be nice if you told me more of what happened to you. So I know what to watch for."
"It's not like you can stop people from taking advantage of the system," Mercury said. "It's just how it is."
"We can try to make it better." Emerald frowned at him. "Why are you being so negative today?"
"You see she's still the optimist," Mercury said to Cinder.
Cinder didn't join him in laughing at it, she just shrugged. "Well, it's a better cause than mindlessly trying to make the world a better place. I don't know if it'll work. But I'm not exactly going to say that keeping more kids from ending up in those nightmare homes is a bad idea."
"I thought you'd like it," Emerald said. "We might even send some out to this town...if we get rid of the Grimm.... Which is why we need to take care of it."
"If that was a pity plea to get me to help, it's not going to work. I'm out of the fighting business. I'm not even allowed to use weapons unless it's against Grimm," Cinder said. "If I lost my cool and attacked someone, that's it. I'd be arrested."
"But on two witnesses we could prove it wasn't your fault," Emerald said.
"It doesn't matter. I'm too powerful," Cinder said. "Once they knew I could hurt someone, that's all it would take."
"So, you're living a lie basically," Mercury said. "I guess that is your thing."
"If we're done with this, you can leave now," Cinder said. "I actually have work to do, and unlike you, I can't just go find it in the woods whenever I wish."
"I was hoping you'd tell how you ended up here in more detail," Emerald said. "It sounds like a great story."
"It wasn't that exciting." Cinder pointed to the door. "Your team will get suspicious if you stay in here. They probably are already."
"She was never one for small talk," Mercury shrugged. "I think we got what we needed."
"I guess," Emerald said.
Her scroll suddenly beeped.
She answered it. "Zapato?... Yeah?... What?"
She looked at Mercury. "Okay...yeah, we'll be right there."
She hung up. "Nevermind. Cinder can you show us the fastest way to get to the edge of that orchard?"
"Excuse me?" Cinder said. "Why would I do that?"
"Because our pilot just picked up some Grimm on the scanner. Looks like you were right, they are outside town," Emerald said. "And I don't want to waste time finding someone else to show us the right spot. You're already here. The shop is closed. Let's just go."
"Is that an order?" Cinder asked.
"If it has to be," Emerald said. "I'll let you go back afterward."
"If I have to..." Cinder said very unpleasantly. "But no one finds out who I am, got it?"
"It might be too late, I think they recognized you," Mercury said.
"No one else does," Cinder amended snippily.
* * *
Claw and Piper weren't enthusiastic about following Cinder--or about the update that the Grimm were close.
But they couldn't exactly stay behind.
"So how did you become friends with Ms. Fay?" Emerald asked Cinder as she took them to the edge of the orchard, which did have a lot of apples on the ground.
"It was chance." Cinder shoved a branch out of her way. "I found this town just when I was about out of supplies, and I was trying to steal something to get by, but she caught me."
"And she didn't arrest you?" Mercury said.
"She figured I was new, penniless, that type of thing," Cinder said. "I didn't really want her help, but she asked if I knew how to do any sewing.... She saw that d--- sewing kit, I guess. I told her I did when I had to, and she said either I could steal or I could work, but if I stole she was going to turn me in. I could have just killed her, but I knew better. So I took the work option. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Fair hours, decent wages for a town this size. A step down from before maybe, but a step up from the gutter..."
"Yeah, I'd say," Emerald said emphatically. "I can't believe she'd just give a thief a job like that."
"Last winter the old city manager retired and Fay got elected," Cinder shrugged. "I guess she knew a lot of people, so...anyway, she needed a manager for the store, and I was the oldest employee by then, so I took over running it pretty much. Technically, she owns the place, but she's almost never there. I got concerned about Grimm attacks because this town is pretty isolated, so I gave her the articles when Pine started publishing, because I thought it could be a problem. That's all there is to it."
"I think that's a pretty cool story," Emerald said. "And she doesn't know who you really are?"
"If she does, she won't say it," Cinder shrugged.
Claw looked at Piper.
"That does it," she hissed. "I'm sure of it now. That's Cinder Fall. The terrorist."
"She was one of the people on their team, allegedly," Piper hissed back. "Should you really be eavesdropping?"
"I can't really help it," Claw said. "I knew it was her--that name was hard to miss. I bet she had something to do with the Grimm. This is probably some trap."
"Claw, you said that about Branwen, and you said that Sustrai and Black couldn't be trusted," Piper said. "But they've been fine, and Branwen has been doing her job. Maybe you're just giving people a hard time. "
"So you're just fine with the terrorist who helped destroy our home as well as Beacon leading us to Grimm?"
"No, I'm not going that far, but I just think if you make a fuss about it, they'll just be pissed off. Let it go. We'll just watch her closely."
"Yeah, between her and the Grimm, this mission sucks," Claw said. "Why do we never have a normal assignment with them?"
"They're Specialists, I think that's the whole point," Piper said. "Why are you so worked up over it? I mean, they're friends because they were on the same mission to save the world. It's not that suspicious that they're getting along okay."
"That's what worries me. I don't think they see people the same way we do. They're too easy on them." Claw said. "That pilot idiot is no better. That's why I've had my doubts about them leading a team."
"But they've been reliable," Piper said.
"I'm not saying I think they're out to get us, it's just that they have different instincts," Claw said. "They don't pay attention to the same things as us. They focus on helping people, they forget that people are dangerous, and they're cutthroat. They'd rather talk to them than fight them. I don't think that attitude is going to impress the Grimm. I don't know if they can just tell them to leave either."
"Maybe we should sit this one out..." Piper muttered. "Unless I can charm the Grimm from this far away."
But if he didn't know where they were that seemed unlikely.