Twilight Crusade Book 2 Ch. 12, Captive

       Raven had almost grown used to her prison. Three nights had passed, as far as she could figure based on the long periods of darkness and silence. Surprisingly, she found sleep in these times despite being chained by ankle and wrist to a marble throne, in an unfamiliar world of stone, wood, and silence.

       The door to the cathedral creaked open. Raven caught herself hoping, for the first time, it was the usual hooded figure coming to deliver her twice-daily portion of mystery meal. Though Raven was convinced what she was force-fed was not food by any safety or ethical standards, whatever the greyish-brown, slightly salty, slop was did cure her hunger.

       Raven shivered, head sinking as she saw who entered her chamber. The woman, who seemed to be in charge of the hooded figures. The one who knew her father. And, Raven figured, was responsible for his death. The woman had stopped by a handful of times since Raven’s abduction, always to feel every inch of her body and whisper unsettling, mysterious, lines about Raven’s blood and youth into her ear. But the mere presence of the wicked woman was not what unnerved Raven. It was what she held at her sides. In her left hand, a syringe. In her right, a dagger.

       “Awakened One, I’m back~” the woman called.

       Raven refused to respond, defiant glare fixed on the ground.

       “It’s time for your shot!”

       “Shot!?” Raven reflected. Before she could react, her head and neck were forced forward by an icy hand, and the collar of her shirt was forced back. She suppressed her gasp of pain as a thick needle dug into her spine, just between her shoulder blades. Her heavy breaths came in gasps. The liquid burnt like savage fire flowing through Raven’s veins, which stiffened to concrete after spreading to every capillary in her body.

       She felt exhausted.

       “We need to keep that aura of yours in check!” the mysterious witch of a woman explained. She raised the dagger, grinning from ear to ear. “Now, let’s test if the concoction still works...”
One frigid hand grasped Raven’s chin, lifting her head to the side and exposing the nape of her neck. Raven winced as she felt cold steel slide through her flesh, and a warm trickle of blood fall to the neckline of her simple black t-shirt. The woman cleaned Raven’s blood with her tongue.

        “It’s... delicious! I cannot wait for the Promised Day...” the woman moaned. Raven shivered. The icy grasp on her chin held it up. Raven felt sick as the woman’s crimson lips met her own.

        “D-Don’t touch me, y-you hag!” Raven objected. The woman looked shocked, before smiling eerily and raising the dagger again.

        “Careful. If you keep speaking out of turn, your tongue may be the next test...” the woman warned. She turned away and walked a few steps, before turning back to Raven. “Someone will be out to feed you shortly.”

        Raven waited, her hunger all but forgotten. She was sure this woman, and whoever her hooded cult members were, were behind her father’s death. Behind the disappearances of several “Awakened” faunus. And here she was. Bound and miserable. Helpless, like the rest of the “Church of Awakening’s” subjects.

        Soon after closing, the door creaked open again. The hooded figure was shorter than usual. Perhaps a woman. Raven stared down the approaching cultist blankly.

        The cultist stopped feet in front of Raven. They looked behind themself, then lifted their hood. Raven immediately recognized the shoulder-length orange hair, heart-shaped face, and dainty nose. The woman’s amber eyes, though, seemed alien. She raised a finger to her mouth to indicate quiet, then lowered her hood again.

      “It’s me. You know, ‘Gamma?” the girl greeted, gathering a spoonful of the food-like material. “Yeah. From the White Fang. And stuff like this is why I fight.” She fed Raven her slop. “This is the true nature of humanity. Destructive. Parasitic. Faunus are above this. You’re above this.”

       “Wh-What do they want from me?” Raven asked after choking down the spoonful.

        Gamma sighed. “They’ve really told you nothing...” she remarked. She raised another spoonful. “You know the ‘Two Brothers’ religion?” she asked.

         “Y-Yeah. One brother created, a-and the other d-destroyed. Th-Their last creation was humanity, wh-which has the power to do both,” Raven recalled.

        “The Cult of Awakening wants to bring the Brother of Destruction to life, in order to destroy anyone, or anything, who gets in the way of their Garnett-Schnee merger. They say their family will inherit the power of a god. Rule the New World, and other garbage like that.”

     Raven froze at the mention of “Garnett.” Vladimir’s family was behind this all. Azure was somewhere in the building, trapped with the monster of a man. She knew Vladimir was loathsome, but the truth behind him and his family was shocking.

      “Open up. We don’t know who’s watching,” Gamma ordered. She fed Raven another spoonful. “The members of the cult are going to sacrifice you. They’ll all drink your blood, and the son of the two older Garnetts will conceive a child on that night, with the one I assume is your friend.” Gamma sighed with irritation. “Idiots. It’s never worked in the past, but they keep doing the same damn thing.”

     “Th-That’s disgusting...” Raven weeped. “B-But, what a-are you doing here? Why are you one of them?”

“I’m not. I’m a double agent,” Gamma explained. “The White Fang is coming to save you, once the Phantom’s back. Bet you can’t say the same about your precious Twilight Crusade.”

        “Th-They’re coming, I know they are...” Raven protested, gulping down more of her meal.

      “If they come, they’ll come for Azure. You’re an afterthought at best,” Gamma retorted. “Join us. That’s how you’ll avenge your father. And all the faunus who’ve been sacrificed to the hubristic greed of humanity!”

      “No.”

      “You should grateful I’m doing this much for you,” Gamma hissed. “You’re part of the group that almost killed my Boss. Although... I did get to see his face, so it wasn’t all bad...”

       “H-His face?” Raven asked, finding an opening to gather information for Twilight Crusade. “Wh-What does he look like?”

      “Nice try,” Gamma curtly responded. “I will say, seeing his face was worth all the waiting. Maybe you’ll get to see it too if you join the White Fang. Don’t try getting too close to him though, got it?”

      “I-I have a boyfriend. A-And he’s a human,” Raven replied.

      “Gross,” Gamma concluded. She tilted a cup of water into Raven’s mouth. “I should be going, before they start to suspect anything. Glory to the White Fang.”

    Raven did not respond.


      Meanwhile, Azure fared no better. Over the course of her captivity, she had barely slept. It was impossible with Vladimir next to her. Dark circles took refuge under her dull eyes. She shook with every clumsy movement. Unrelenting thoughts tore through her mind. Would Greyson and the others come for her, or was this just a convenient way to get rid of her? Where was Raven? Why had she been taken too!?

        Azure twisted absently at the gold doorknob. Locked, as always. She knew the idiocy and futility in twisting over and over, but a stray hope at the back of her mind begged her continue. She had not the slightest idea of what to do or where to go on the miracle of leaving. All she figured, based on glances out the window, was that the mansion sat on expansive grounds cleared out of a dark, dense, verdant forest.

       Azure felt the door give under her fingertips. She practically leapt forward with surprise and joy.

      The brief moment was intercepted by Vladimir’s arm. With an uncomfortable grip on Azure’s breast, he forced her back into his room and entered it. He worked off his tie with a malicious smirk.

       “Get away from me!” Azure shrieked furiously. “Gods, I can’t wait for my friends to come in and take care of you monsters for good!”

      “They’re not coming, dear,” Vladimir dismissed. “The Church of Awakening has eyes and ears everywhere. Do you know what they say? Your beloved Greyson has been having a hard time since you left. He’s been completely torn on whether to spend his long, sleepless nights with Miss Kurayami, or Miss Blackburn.”

      “No. Shut up! That’s a lie!” Azure furiously protested.

      “What, you think he’ll come and save you?” Vladimir goaded. “He’s learned his lesson. That is what you fought about, is it not?”

    “You... how long have you been watching!?” Azure shouted.

      “We have eyes everywhere, my love,” Vladimir reminded. He moved in closer. “Even back at Beacon. I couldn’t bear to know you earned another man’s affection, but now I have you all to myself...”

     Azure pushed him away, and scrambled backward to the other end of the bed with the look of a cornered animal etched into her face. “The one with the shadow hands... who is that?”

     “He is one of our most loyal clergymen,” Vladimir stated. “I believe you became acquainted with his son. He went to Beacon, after all. Kurai was the first failed Child.” Vladimir grinned. “And our child, my love, will be the first success. I know he is to become the Vessel for the Brother of Destruction’s soul.”