Cold Orange

I, Silva Branwen, provided the information on where the rest of the bandits were camped at to the Ace-Ops. Naturally, they were curious as to how I knew despite the fact Strife Skoll had escaped, and I told them there was a map in his tent that listed several locations and routes but was burned by the fire the Skoll chief caused. They bought it, but before continuing the mission, they stopped by an Atlas military base to get my ears checked. I am having difficulty hearing them, but it's better than before, so hopefully, there is not any permanent damage.

As the doctor ran his tests, I considered my current situation. I noticed that the Ace-Ops acted slightly off throughout the mission, and I used Soul Archive on Clover Ebi to see why. What I found made me seriously consider wiping my hands off Atlas and Tindick for good even with the mission still ongoing, as they are reporting everything related to me to the general and forwarded the reports to get a psychological profile made of me. I better use Soul Archive on James Ironwood again and possibly regularly to have a heads up on whatever he is planning for me.

Although I can already guess one course of action, he may take, which was to order Winter to make reports on me as well during my stay at Atlas Academy. I wonder how she will handle it; she may have warmed up to me, but the ice queen is still a soldier in training so that she may obey the order without question. I haven't used Soul Archive on her because I wanted to get to know her through my own efforts as I sincerely like her as a person and found her attractive. I sighed but didn't hear it, and the doctor finally finished examining me.

He texted on his Scroll to tell me that my deafness is temporary but won't return for a while. The doctor then notified Clover and the Ace-Ops of my condition, and I found myself taken off the mission due to injury. As much as I wanted to finish off Strife Skoll, I could always do it later if he somehow survives, thanks to Door To Darkness. I have seen him, and no matter where he runs and hides, I can get him at my leisure if he gets away again. Plus, heading back to Atlas works in my favor as I could probably get out of class thanks to my hearing being gone.

This means I have fewer distractions, and I could spend time with Raven and the girls while Winter attends class and finish off book four of Harry Potter and Heaven Defying Demon Empress. With the Remnant adaption of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I added some extra wizarding schools with an additional trial for the tournament, plus eliminations to the lowest-scoring champions. So far, Ron has put his foot in his mouth, again, and all but ended his friendship with Harry and Hermione, with Neville Longbottom taking his place as Harry's male friend since he is sincerely trying to help the-boy-who-lived survive the trials of the tournament with his knowledge of herbology.

I got on the airship heading back to Atlas without looking back at the Ace-Ops and didn't care how the mission turned out in the end. For now, I need to make some preparations to get me disentangled from Tindick so I can leave Atlas without having a bounty on my head, as that would bring some inconvenience. I considered my options during the flight back and decided to get in contact with someone who may be willing to help me out.

***

Winter Schnee couldn't focus on her classwork as her mind was still on the order that general James Ironwood made to her. To make daily reports on Silva Branwen and send them to the general. She had mixed feelings on the matter. On the one hand, the snow leopard faunus has been the closest thing she has had to an actual friend, but on the other hand, this was a chance for her to ingrain herself with the general and open doors to her military career. As logic and emotion warred within her at what to do with her situation.

The ice queen sighed as she wanted to maintain her relationship with Silva but also wanted to advance her career. As her internal debate continued, she asked herself. What would her father do? She immediately knew the answer, that he would without hesitation follow the order but ask for concrete benefits and better rewards. Winter then made her decision, she is not nor will she ever be like her father in any regard. In the end, she decided to wait for Silva to return first and discuss with him what to do from there.

***

Jacques Gele was not in a good state. In the nearly four months since his imprisonment, he had gone through many phases. He raged against his captivity, tried to bargain his way out, came to a grim realization that he may be stuck here, and then finally accepted that no one was going to save his sorry hide because no one found or came for him the entire time. The fake Schnee was in a state of depression and melancholy as he stared at the bars of his cell above him. A Beowolf showed up and clawed at the bars as it wanted the treat inside.

The will to live resurged within Jacques as he cried out for anyone to save him.

"WHOEVER BROUGHT ME HERE, HELP! YOU HAVEN'T KILLED ME YET, SO YOU MUST HAVE A USE FOR ME, SO KILL THE GRIMM ALREADY!"

The Beowolf continued to claw and bite on the bars to try and reach the fake Schnee. Jacques continues to scream bloody murder for someone to help, but instead, another Beowolf shows up and starts to tear at the prison. As he saw this, the fake Schnee had a mental breakdown as he began to laugh at the absurdity of his situation.

" I'm going to die here without anyone knowing anything."

The fatalistic realization washed over him as he finally gave up and broke down from the months of isolation and poor treatment. Jacques now blankly watches the Grimm absentmindedly to reach him to tear him limb from limb. All that was left was a husk of a once egotistical man, but the Grimm never got to him as they were killed by Raven. Looking down at her prisoner as he had just stared with a vacant expression and comments.

" Looks like Silva was wrong; we didn't need to wait six months for Jacques to break. Better let him know so that he continues to do whatever he is planning for this pathetic waste of space."

The former bandit chief sent a message to her lover to let him know of the situation, and as Silva read the message, he grinned as he could make preparations to give the finishing blow to the fake Schnee to end him in more ways than one.