The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Description

My grandmother took a deep, slow breath as she considered the question and its answer.

"I knew the second better than the first, which isn't to say that I knew either of them particularly well," She hedged. "However, I at least met the second wife personally. She was a Colchian—a family that held ties to Alexandria—and the widow of one of Cynosarges's nephews. I knew Argos himself fairly well, but his wife…"

She shook her head.

"She was married before as well?" I asked.

"Mm," Grandmother hummed in reply. "Quite famously, at least at the time. Argos had always been quite popular within the Alexandrian Family and he died saving Cynosarges' life during the Civil War. Carried him out of a major attack and slew the attacker before dying. He was buried with full honors after the war was over, as soon as Cynosarges gathered enough clout to enforce such a thing. As you might imagine, her remarriage to Mayro was a complicated matter."

I nodded to show my understanding.

"On one level, it could be seen as a statement of respect," I replied. "While not a direct invitation into the Alexandria Family, it established a close connection through the widowed wife of the head's honored nephew. But at the same time, it was an offer Mayro could not refuse. If he tried, it could be seen a an insult to Argos, the Alexandria family—and presumably to the Colchians, as well. No one in the family would have taken that lying down."

"The Colchians weren't in any condition to do much of anything," Grandmother replied. "But the rest is correct. Mayro had no real choice but to accept, especially while Cynosarges's grandnieces remained alive."

I'll admit, that tidbit surprised me and made me reorganize my entire view of things.

"She had daughters?" I asked, pieces coming slowly together. "Were there two of them, by any chance?"

"Yes," Grandmother answered, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Does that matter?"

I remembered the feminine looking figures I'd seen in the flames before answering.

"Maybe," I mused, frowning slightly. "Would I be correct in assuming that not everyone was completely happy about the marriage?"

"Oh, indeed not," My grandmother confirmed. "Rosa—that is, Argos's wife—was something of a special case to begin with. While from what I understand, she and Argos had been in a relationship for quite some time, the War drew a great deal of attention to their relationship, as the Colchians had been longtime enemies of Alexandria. When Rosa fled from her family after the War started and later married Argos, a number of people believed that she was a double agent and while no one dared to treat Argos' wife with hostility, she was never particularly well liked. When the Colchians defeated and captured Argos's team especially, you can imagine the thought on everyone's mind, especially when they tried to ransom him for their missing daughter. As a result, a deal was struck and the exchange was to be made, but it didn't turn out how anyone had planned."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Rosa went along with the exchange until she was passed back into the hands of her family," Grandmother said. "And then she killed them all. Her father, her brothers, the servants—all of them. Through a combination of her poisons and her dagger, the Colchians ceased to exist that day. She rescued Argos and returned with him to Alexandria, the heads of their enemies in tow, at which time she was welcomed back with open arms. The story was the talk of the town for years, due to the romantic element."

"Of course," I replied, sighing slightly as I considered it. "So Rosa loved Argos a great deal and was viewed highly by the Alexandrians. Her daughters…"

"Malva and Purpura," She supplied.

"Malva and Purpura were the children of a war hero and someone placed highly in the ranks of Alexandria at the time," I continued. "And she was married off to some guy?"

"There were quite a number of objections to the union," Grandmother told me. "Even Cynosarges's own son objected to the remarriage of his cousin's wife, but he insisted and it was so."

"Why?" I asked, still unclear on what motive he might have for such a thing.

"I never asked," She admitted easily. "At a guess, I would say it was for the sake of his grandnieces. While Alexandria had, of course, provided for the wife of their fallen hero, the fact remains that with the extermination of the Colchians and her husband's death, she was technically alone. She had worked extensively for Alexandria during the war, which had cost her a great deal of her own money—and this was, after all, right after a war that the Families had technically lost. At the time, we were all busy retaking cost, but it was far from finished and certain allowances had to be made. In addition, legal employment was difficult for Family members to acquire and there were standing orders to be patient and to not cause a scene until everything was in order. Mayro, then, was an opportunity; a business many in search of support, aiming for a growing field. When he approached Cynosarges and was accepted, there were a number of terms involved, including, of course, one of marriage. And though he'd come from outside of the Families, money is money and Mayro stood to become inordinately wealthy, if supported properly. For that alone, he was viewed as an attractive option at the time. That Rosa was chosen came as a surprise to many."

"I get it," I said. "A lot of people were down in the dumps and while it was a temporary thing, Cynosarges didn't want to see his nephew's wife left out in the cold, especially after the fact. While her actions would likely ensure that her family was reasonably well supported throughout her entire life, whatever happened—and would likely do the same for her daughter's lifetimes, as well—time would cause them to grow further and further removed from the main branch. They were bound for decline, so Cynosarges planned ahead when an opportunity presented itself. If Mayro was as good with Dust as I heard and had the support of Alexandria, he'd have been all but bound for greatness, potentially on a level comparable to the Schnee family now. It would have been enough to at least ensure her family would be supported—and tie Mayro's corporation further to Alexandria while also ensuring that Rosa's grandchildren and great-grandchildren were still viewed as useful."

"That's what I thought as well," She agreed. "Not that it mattered much in the end; Mayro was dead within the year."

I frowned at that, reorganizing my thoughts as I added the new information.

"Not to throw around accusations or anything, but how did Rosa feel about the whole marriage thing?" I asked.

My grandmother chuckled.

"It was a rather common assumption at the time, as well," She admitted. "And she certainly could have done it easily enough—but it's rather unlikely she had anything to do with it. While she seemed to regard the matter with a great deal of distaste, I suspect Cynosarges had told her of his motives and she played along, if in stony silence. Given her power and status, it's exceedingly unlikely that Mayro would have even laid a hand on her without permission and he was more useful alive. Cynosarges himself put a stop to the rumors, so I suspect he was certain of that fact as well."

"Ah," I replied, nodding slightly. "How'd he die then?"

"It appeared to be an accident," She said. "Something happened to the Dust in his lab and he responded to it by flying high into the air and scattering across a wide area. Sabotage was deemed a possibility, but given the ruthlessness of the competition at the time, other Dust companies were suspected. Certainly, several of them moved quickly to seize control of the decapitated business. It was a wasted opportunity, but by then we had enough power in Mistral again to open up more opportunities, so Rosa and her daughters were likely only mildly inconvenienced. While not the strongest Huntress, Rosa power allowed her to create a variety of powerful medicines and poisons, after all, and new arrangements could be made for her daughters."

"Right," I answered. "What would have happened to Mayro's daughter, though?"

"I hadn't even known he'd had a daughter," Grandmother answered with a slight shrug. "But if so, she'd have had no ties to the Families anymore, nor any particular use after the collapse of her father's company. As she would have technically been Rosa's stepdaughter, I suppose responsibility for her would have fallen onto her, though what that means I couldn't say. She could have been treated normally, could have been abandoned, or could have been sent away. As I said, I didn't know Rosa particularly well. You believe she's Cinder?"

I nodded.

"What do you know about Mayro's first wife, then?" I asked.

"Nothing but rumors, of which there were quite a few after he technically joined the Family," She replied. "When he was to be married to Rosa, it was one of many points of disagreement."

"Was she an enemy?" I wondered, a bit surprised by the possibility.

"No," Grandmother answered, shaking her head. "That, at least, would have warranted acknowledgement. Anger, perhaps, or maybe even concern, but at least attention. Instead, she was just a courtesan. The husband of a prostitute marrying the wife of a hero…I'm certain you can imagine the reactions—and the unwanted implications and comparisons that resulted. It was something of a scandal at the time."

I exhaled slowly, understanding. While prostitution wasn't particularly looked down upon in Mistral—and, in fact, courtesans and mistresses were just about goddamn everywhere in the history books—it wasn't particularly respected either. I suppose that at the end of the day, there'd always be some stigma for selling your body, though I didn't really understand why; for Hunters especially, we basically sold our bodies for things that were vastly less enjoyable or dignified then having sex. Especially in Mistral, where the term Hunter could sometimes be outright interchangeable with 'Assassin,' looking at someone differently because of how they chose to work was beyond me.

Then again, I did enough weird things to my body that I suppose I had a distorted view on its use.

Still, I understood the issue here, more or less. By marrying a hero's wife to a man who'd previously married a prostitute, comparisons would inevitably be made. While I doubted anyone would look down on Rosa, much less argue with Cynosarges, it could be seen as an insult to the memory of Argos, which I doubted made Mayro and his daughter particularly popular, being the only acceptable target. Add in the matter of inheritance, which was the entire point of the marriage and which Cinder would be a potential threat to by virtue of her very existence, and you have potential for difficulties to occur.

Hell, you could probably even add in the Hunter-Civilian divide, which had always been a thing no matter what anyone said, especially here in Mistral. Rosa was a Huntress and her daughters had no doubt at least possessed awakened Auras. In all likelihood, they would have been training to one day become Huntresses themselves at the time. Meanwhile, Mayro and his daughters had likely been civilians. Useful, in Mayro's case, but essentially of another world and someone who'd likely been seen as an intruder of source, with their father's fairly recent death. Beyond his scientific mind and resources—both of which would have been easily replicable for Alexandria's purposes—he was of little use to the Family and an outsider besides.

And then he died. Died and took his company with him, in fact, leaving behind a wife and two stepdaughters that probably weren't too heartbroken by his death—and Cinder. Where her father had been useful to the Family, she didn't. She'd have been completely unrelated to any of the Families, too young to have any particularly useful skill sets, and had been the daughter of a prostitute. Would Rosa have cared about her the way she did her own daughters? Probably not. Would she have even cared at all? That was harder to answer, but from what I'd seen in Cinder's soul, I was leaning towards no.

Of course, what little I had seen, as well as the state of the house itself, implied that Cinder had been allowed to continue living with them. That was something, right? Though it wasn't saying much, it would have been better than living on the streets in the aftermath of a Civil War, right? While I doubted her stepmother or stepsiblings would have been particularly kind or affectionate, they at least didn't cast her aside entirely. Whether on a whim or because she'd felt it was her responsibility as a step-mother, she'd…

Who was I trying to convince?

I sighed again and shook my head. Let's assume that Cinder's home life had been shit, then. Her mother had died. Then, her father had died and the life she'd known had collapsed around her. The only people willing to take her in—excluding the many bad options that had no doubt filled the city's streets at the time—had been, at best, dismissive of her. She'd have been a guest in their house if she was lucky, and it was more likely that she'd have just been a stranger, the daughter of a step-husband and father they hadn't cared for who continued to be an expense to them long after his death.

Not exactly an ideal situation. Indeed, it was the type of thing even a completely rational and levelheaded person would most likely do a great deal to get out of. A young girl who'd probably still been in grief, who was shunned even in her own home and wholly alone in the world? I could see them doing a lot more.

And perhaps that's when a crystal catches her eye and speaks to her. Under the circumstances, I was going to assume that Mayro's death hadn't been an accident, but whether it had resulted from sabotage or something he'd been working on at the time, I couldn't say. Whatever the case, he'd left something behind for his daughter—or else something he'd left had found its way to her on its own. And then…

"I get it," I murmured quietly. "What happened to Rosa and her daughters, in the end? I'm assuming they died under mysterious circumstances."

"Mysterious and horrible circumstances," Grandmother agreed. "One day, Rosa appeared as a charred corpse, delivered directly to Alexandria's doorstep. Her daughter were, technically speaking, never found, but an autopsy revealed pieces of them within her stomach. Cynosarges began a manhunt at once, of course, but the killer was never found."

"Neither was Cinder, I'm guessing," I said.

"Indeed not," She agreed. "Unlikely as it may have seemed at the time, she was a prime suspect. Either she'd played a role in the killing or had been taken along with them; either way, she was to be brought before Cynosarges as soon as she was found—but she never was. It was assumed that she'd either died or fled the Kingdom. I suppose we've found her now, though?"

I nodded, appreciating the fact that she didn't question my claims.

"If nothing else, this would put Alexandria firmly in our corner, should a fight occur," She mused at my confirmation. "Not that there'd been much down, but confirmation is always nice."

"Tell him if you must, but let's hope it doesn't come to that yet," I replied. "I'm growing increasingly sure that she's been infected by one of the Riders. Is there any chance you could get ahold of whatever Mayro had been working on at the time of his death?"

Grandmother took a slow breathe, considering that.

"It could be difficult," She replied. "It was many years ago and would have been company property at the time. While Alexandria had technically own the business, they'd sold it when it became a sinking ship and I assume those notes were sold along with it. You believe it's related to the Rider?"

"From what I can tell, Cinder got ahold of what appeared to be a black Dust Crystal sometime after her father's death," I answered. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was related to his mysterious accident, but somehow it found its way into Cinder's hands. I still don't know what she's capable of, though I suspect it to be Dust related; if you tell Cynosarges, make sure he doesn't try to do anything until I'm ready. If we take a shot at her, I'm thinking it would be a bad idea to miss."

"Understood," She said. "Cynosarges has learned something of patience, thankfully. It would be best to give him time to prepare. Beyond that, if anyone is likely to have access to details on Mayro and his family, it would be him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That's what I thought. Pass me everything you can find?"

"Naturally," She stated. "You will continue to observe her?"

"Of course," I replied. "Just so you're aware, she is likely to leaving Mistral soon. Jian Bing put her in something of a spot concerning the White Fang and now she has to either put up or shut up. Vale seems to be the main target of her plans, though I don't know if it's the only one; I'll send Gou back with everything I know and expect. If it proves to be useful, I may end up taking advantage of it. If not, we'll need to put it down fast. I've formed a connection of sorts with Roman Torchwick, which may serve as an in for us, but nothing's certain yet."

"It never is," She mused with a sigh. "Where are you now?"

"Watching Cinder," I answered. "Specifically, I wanted to confirm the state of her soul. I can see souls now, by the by."

"Of course you can," She muttered, rolling her eyes slightly. "When'd you gain that ability?"

"After I fought a Hydra," I explained. "Who evolved into an Ananta just to screw with me—which is another thing I need to tell you about, because oh boy did that go to shit fast. I managed to kill it before it got as bad as it could have been, but…well, that's just because it could have been really, really bad. I got enough levels off of it to upgrade my brain again, which was even weirder than usual, but it came with some perks."

Her eyes widened and then she frowned at me.

"You fought a Hydra?" She asked.

"An Ananta," I corrected. "And yes…kind of. It's hard to explain so I'll just come buy and show you the fight later. It's not particularly helpful when it comes to protecting the city, but it's worth knowing all the same."

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head before looking at my again, frown deepening.

"Very well," She said. "It would be foolish to start getting skeptical now. But I have to ask—you didn't bring Autumn along, did you?"

"Of course not," I shot down at once, frowning right back at her. "I wouldn't expose her to that kind of danger unless I was sure she was ready."

"Good," My grandmother replied, expression returning to normal. "How is she, then?"

"She's been doing very well," I answered, mimicking her as we changed to subject. "She's grown a lot since you last saw her—she can walk and talk just fine now. I've even been taking her out Hunting a lot lately, now that she's strong enough for it."

"A shame I couldn't be there," Grandmother said ruefully. "My great-granddaughter's first Hunt…I suppose it can't be helped. Bring her along when you swing by?"

"Will do," I confirmed. "I've been meaning to bring her around to see you all again, anyway. See you soon."

"Goodbye, Jaune," She replied before ending the call.

I put away my scroll and looked down at Cinder one more time.

What was I going to do about you…?