87Cinder scrubbed the floor, following her nightly routine, although her mind was not on cleaning. Rather, it was on the blonde boy who had spoken to her the day before, Jaune. Her heartbeat got faster every time she thought of him. He had been so kind and thoughtful, so considerate. Nobody had ever treated her so well before, not any of the other guests, no one at the orphanage, certainly not the madame or her stepsisters. It was completely alien to her, and she loved it.
It wasn't just that she was in love with how he had spoken to her, or how he had been so considerate, although those both were certainly part of it. She loved him. They hadn't had more than a single conversation, but it was undeniable.
Looking across the floor, she didn't see a single mark. It was stainless, meaning her job was done and it was time to return to the madame for her next task. She stood up, ready to do so, but something else caught her eye. Through the window, she saw the very boy her thoughts were revolving around surrounded by a number of other blondes, all of which looked like him to some extent. Cinder decided that they were probably his family.
She stopped and stared at the group through the window, having completely forgotten about her work. Including Jaune, there seemed to be about ten of them, eight of them being female. They needed two cars to transport all of them.
Cinder watched as they began loading bags into the trunks, opened the doors and got in. They weren't leaving, were they? Why would they leave so soon, they hadn't stayed more than two days! They couldn't be going already, she still needed to talk to him and tell him how she felt!
Panic settled in as she heard the car engines starting. Desperate to stop them, she ran out the front door of the hotel just as the two vehicles drove away, leaving her alone in the street. Instantly, warm tears began flowing down her face. Cinder was no stranger to pain, but nothing the madame had ever inflicted on her could compare to what she felt in that moment. She dropped to her hands and knees, crushed that Jaune had been separated from her before she could speak to him again.
It wasn't like she hadn't been given the chance to do so. In fact, she'd seen the boy alone multiple times throughout the couple days he spent at the Glass Unicorn, but every time she failed to muster more than a weak smile and awkward wave. Fear had kept her from going further.
Could the world not offer her one bit of happiness? The only thing she had ever truly wanted in her life had just been torn away from her. What had she done to deserve that?
Someone lifted her up by her collar, choking her, but the pain was insignificant compared to the aching in her heart.
"Get up, girl," the madame screamed at her. "What the hell are you doing out in the street!? When did I give you permission to leave the building and go outside!? Will you ever learn to obey me?!"
The woman dragged her by her arm back into the hotel. Once they were back inside, the madame immediately began to punish Cinder. And for what, going outside? Daring to do one thing on her own accord? She didn't deserve this.
"I've given you so much kindness," she said, slapping her repeatedly on the cheek. "And this is how you repay me? I took you in, fed you, took care of you, and for all of that you try to run away? Ha! You can't even do that right!"
Once again, she told Cinder about her "kindness," presenting herself as some sort of savior. A week ago, she might have almost believed her, having known nothing else throughout the entirety of her short life. But Jaune had shown her what real kindness is, and it sure as hell wasn't this.
No longer would she let fear rule her. No longer would she sit down and let the world abuse her.
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Cinder strolled along the outside of Beacon's campus. It was the middle of the night, and the only light came from the inside of buildings. She couldn't be spotted by anyone from the school, student or faculty, so the darkness only made her job easier.
It had only been a couple of weeks since Watts had found her blonde angel. Although she still didn't like the man, he did gain considerable favor in her eyes for it, even if Salem had to order him to do so. Despite the fact that Jaune awaited her at Beacon, Watts had suggested she wait to go until the rest of the exchange students arrived, allowing her, along with Emerald and Mercury, to blend in among them. Screw that. Cinder had done more than enough waiting, it was time to take action.
So here she was, stealthily making her way to Beacon Academy's library, where information on every student at the school was held on record. She needed to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jaune was truly enrolled there, and if he was, that meant everything from his teammates and schedule to his home address would be neatly presented to her on a piece of paper. Those would all be important details.
Everything was going smoothly. Nobody had stopped her to ask questions, or even seen her for that matter. This was seriously the kind of security the most elite huntsman academy on Remnant had to protect itself? It almost made her want to laugh. She would've done so if not for the fact that it was also what was keeping her Jaune safe. He, and Cinder by extension, were lucky that she was what that security was supposed to prevent from entering. Had someone else come instead, Jaune would be at serious risk. The thought did not sit well with her.
Coming to the front door of the library, she stopped in her tracks. If it was unlocked, she would be able to simply go through the main entrance, but did she really think she'd just be allowed to waltz into the building, unimpeded? Honestly, if the rest of her visit was anything to go off of, it wouldn't be surprising. Still, though, Cinder was a cautious woman. She began to look for other, less obvious, entrances, and spotted a few windows almost directly above her.
The windows lay on a slanted roof a ways above her, but were accessible nonetheless. Cinder quickly scaled a lamppost that stood right next to the building and jumped off, grabbing onto the edge of the roof and pulling herself up to the window. Finding it unlocked, she slid it open and crawled through. Apparently, no one in the school seemed to believe in taking safety precautions. Anger quickly came back to her. What if an unlocked window was all that stood between her Jaune and some psychopath trying to hurt him!?
Cinder looked around at her surroundings. She was on the second floor, a fact made obvious by her being on an indoor balcony and her initial entrance point. If her sources were to be trusted, the room she was looking for was on the same story. Getting up, she quickly spotted a door in the back of the library and walked as quietly as she could in its direction. As she got closer, she noticed a lock on the doorknob.
Surely they would at least think to lock the door protecting sensitive information on the entirety of the student population? Testing it, she saw that they had. Luckily, that wouldn't be a very big issue for her.
Cinder combined her semblance with her half of the maiden powers to push enough heat into the palm to melt the doorknob, removing the lock and allowing the door to swing open. That would certainly raise suspicion, but that wasn't her biggest concern at the moment. Stepping into the room, she saw a number of computers and file cabinets, each labeled by letter and divided by last name. Teeming with excitement and anticipation, she looked for the one labeled 'A' and opened the drawer. Despite the large amount of files, they only went up to 'Al.'
They must keep records from previous students as well. That's fine, they're sure to have something on my beloved Jaune put away here somewhere.
The next one stopped at 'Arberry,' just before 'Arc.' That meant he had to be the very first one in the next drawer. Sure enough, Cinder opened the drawer below it to find the first file labeled 'Jaune Arc.' Immediately, she was overwhelmed with happiness.
That meant he was here! At Beacon! Sure, Watts had told her he would be, but now it seemed so real! He was closer than he had ever been since they first met. She could see the student dorms from out the window, and just thinking about how he was somewhere in there, just a building away, made her heart pound.
Cinder wasted no time in opening the folder. She did a quick scan of the numerous pages Beacon had helpfully provided her, took them out, and walked back out the door. Just as silently as she had come in, Cinder left the library through the same window and slid down the roof onto the ground below, completely ecstatic at her discovery.
Before leaving, she paused and looked back up towards the dormitories, where her beloved was sure to be sleeping peacefully. The thought of it filled her with a warmth she hadn't felt since they met.
"Don't worry Jaune, we'll be together soon."
Although she was reluctant to leave him, Cinder then disappeared into the night unnoticed.
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Cinder couldn't have been more excited as she got off the bullhead that she had taken with Emerald and Mercury. Soon, after all that time away from him, she would finally find Jaune! After so many tears of loneliness, so many restless nights, so much fruitless effort put into searching for him, they would finally have their long-awaited reunion. Technically, they were there to take the maiden powers, but that was no longer her main priority.
It hadn't been necessary to take the bullhead to Beacon, in fact it would have been easier not to, but they had decided to do so in order to make sure their cover was as believable as possible. A melted doorknob was sure to be noticed at some point, and she would rather not be the subject of whatever questions that would raise. The actual Haven students either just assumed that they'd never seen the three of them because they were in a different year or just didn't question their presence.
The files Cinder had managed to obtain were well worth the trouble. Now having his classes and dorm room number memorized, she knew roughly where to expect him to be at almost any point throughout a school day. Although learning that he was partnered with Pyrrha Nikos made her a lot less happy than everything else did.
That would be a problem for a number of reasons. Partners at huntsman academies usually grew rather close, and it was easy to see why. They took classes together, fought together, risked their life together… all things that had a tendency to help form friendships. For one thing, Pyrrha Nikos was a possible maiden candidate, and if she were to receive the powers, that being a likely scenario, Cinder would have to dispose of her. If she and Jaune were friends at that point, that would mean hurting him by extension, something she simply couldn't bring herself to do.
The other problem with that was them being close in the first place. Although it pained her to admit it, Nikos was a rather beautiful young woman. Not as beautiful as herself, but still good-looking, not to mention a four-time champion of the Minstral Regional Tournament. Cinder was a rather bit paranoid that the girl would attempt to lure Jaune in with her appearance and meaningless titles.
There was also the other girl on team JNPR, Nora Valkyrie. She would have to keep an eye on her, too, but it was mostly Nikos that she was worried about.
"Follow me to the dorms," she said to Emerald and Mercury. "We must integrate ourselves as quickly as possible."
"Of course, Cinder," Emerald responded. As usual, she would be loyal to her every word. The green-haired girl had a lot of admittedly misplaced devotion in who she saw as her savior. Mercury was a bit more of a liability, but fear would keep him in line if nothing else did. Not like there was anywhere to run anyway.
"Now, our goal here is simple," Cinder said after finding that they were out of earshot. "We are here to take the rest of the maiden powers, and to do that, it is absolutely crucial that we do not out ourselves as suspicious. As long as anybody else is around, we are Haven students." Her two underlings nodded at her words. "That means you both must refrain from hurting anyone without my express permission, which I do not expect to give. For now, our job is purely espionage."
"I understand, Cinder," Emerald said.
"I assume you are familiar with your duties as well, Mercury?"
"Yea, yea, just get information on the students without hurting any of 'em, pretty simple really."
Good. They knew what they had to do. Cinder just hated having to repeat herself.
The three of them soon arrived at the student dormitories. She planned to look for Jaune around his dorm room the moment they dropped their luggage off. Her chest was heavy with excitement. After so long, they would finally be reunited! She had never anticipated anything more in her life. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to confess her love right then and there, but by no means would that stop her.
She walked quicker and quicker as her impatience grew, practically jogging down the hallway by the time they arrived at the dorm room. Cinder hastily took her key out and unlocked the door.
"I'm afraid I have some business that must be attended to as soon as possible. You two get settled and I will join you shortly," she said, wanting to look around the building for Jaune right away.
"Mercury and I can come if you'd like," Emerald said. "I'm sure we could be of some assistance, whatever it is you need to do."
"No, that will not be necessary. Both of you stay here while I take care of some personal business." With that, Cinder shut the door on them. There was no time to sit around talking to them, she had better things to do.
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Cinder had been wandering around the hallways of Beacon's freshman dorms for multiple hours, careful to stay close to JNPR's room. It wasn't the most effective method of looking for Jaune, but it would work eventually, provided that she kept her patience. Besides, it would be rather strange for her to just stand outside the door and wait for him. The last thing she wanted was to do was scare him away with her… obsession, as some may call it.
Yes, she supposed it would be fair to say she had a rather intense obsession with Jaune. Almost everything Cinder had done had been done for him. He was practically all she ever thought about, and the possibility of being with him was her sole motivation. But what was wrong with that? He was so amazing, so perfect.
So far, there was no sign of him, or any of his teammates for that matter. That was fine. There were still a good few hours left in the day, and it wasn't like she had gotten to where she was without determination. It was a little frustrating to be so close and still not find him, though. Actually, it was very frustrating.
Hearing her scroll ring, her eye twitched in annoyance. She looked at the number to see that it was Emerald who was calling her and declined it, deciding that whatever it was the girl wanted could wait. It wasn't another minute before Emerald called her a second time.
This time, Cinder took her scroll out and hung up, barely bothering to read the caller ID. She didn't care if Salem herself was calling, she had more important things to do! A third call came.
Fine! If Emerald is so desperate to have me over there, I'll return to the dorm room! Once I'm done telling her off I'll come back and just hope I didn't miss him.
The girl could be rather irritating at times. She was a good servant and when Cinder told her what to do she would do it, but it was obvious that she desired to have something more than that with her. Her attachment to Cinder was not always something that was fun to deal with, even if it made her easy to manipulate.
Cinder turned the corner and collided with someone else coming down the hallway, making her fall down backwards and land in a sitting position. She opened her mouth to lash out at whoever had bumped into her, but froze when she looked up and saw their face.
"S-sorry! I, ah," Jaune cleared his throat, his face red with embarrassment. "Sorry, I should've been watching where I was going," he said with an awkward smile, extending his hand out to help her up.
It was like she had been struck by lightning. Time seemed to slow down as her senses shut down completely. Her heart was burning inside her chest. It was him! Their surroundings seemed to disappear entirely. Her sweet Jaune had at last revealed himself to her!
Oh Oum, he somehow looked even better in person than in the picture she had! His hair was even silkier, his skin creamier, and if he had the face of an angel before, he was a god now. They locked eyes and Cinder's chest felt like it was about to implode. Those deep blue orbs looked magical. How could it be possible for anybody to be so gorgeous?
A good five seconds went by before she even registered his outstretched hand. Once she did, she wasted no time in taking it.
"S-sorry again," he said, helping her up off of the floor.
She stood up only for her legs to immediately buckle out from under her, putting her back on her hands and knees. Every part of her body was shaking from the contact. She looked back behind her, seeing him walking in the other direction with his back turned to her. Her body urged to chase after him and refused to move at the same time. She wanted to yell for him, tell him to wait and come back, yet she couldn't make a sound. Sweat trickled down her forehead, but it didn't even register to her.
Cinder thought she had been happy when Watts found him. She thought she had been happy when she found his file in Beacon's library. Next to this, that seemed like nothing. This was so far beyond anything she had ever felt before. Her smile was so wide her jaw threatened to fall off.
She finally forced her body to move, taking her hands off the ground and kneeling on both legs. Slowly, her senses came back to her.
She knew he would be at Beacon, it's not like it was a huge surprise. Even so, seeing him made him feel so much more attainable to Cinder! Before, it almost felt like he wasn't real, like he was some figment of her imagination she dreamt up to ease her suffering.
Her better judgment was telling her to stay away for now and talk to him at a different time when she had a real excuse to do so, but she didn't listen, instead opting to sprint down the hall in the direction he had left, desperate to catch up to him.
She ran down the hall looking for him, but eventually arrived at his dorm without finding any trace of him.
Cinder cursed under her breath. She had waited too long to pursue him, and he had disappeared, likely returning to his dorm room. It didn't matter, though. Not even that could dampen her happiness.
I found him! After all this time, we can finally be together!
She stepped up to JNPR's door and leaned her shoulder against it, trying to get as close to her beloved Jaune as physically possible. Her emotional side screamed to break the door down and march in, while a more reasonable part of her said to return to her own dorm and talk to him tomorrow. For the first time in a while, she listened to the latter.
"Oh Jaune, I can't wait until we're finally reunited," she said under her breath, pushing her palm against the door. "Just wait one day more for me, my love."
Cinder turned back and walked back towards her dorm room, still riding the high of their short meeting.