Family by soul

Nora had no memory of her parents. It was perfectly normal, abandoned at an age when children are not yet ready to attend school, it was perfectly normal that Nora had no memory of her parents. No notes, no acquaintances, not even a memory.

The very first memory Nora remembered was… Probably the time she managed to steal a pancake that had fallen out of some woman's breakfast plate.

It had fallen to the ground by accident, soiled by the dust, so the woman would probably not have bothered picking it up – but Nora did not dare risk it. After watching her surroundings for any cop from the corner of a nearby house, she rushed forward and then, grabbing her loot, rushed to escape.

Nora could talk and run pretty well then, she was a big enough child, but Nora didn't remember exactly how old she was then. Four years old? Probably something like that.

What had happened to Nora in the past that had made her an orphan? She couldn't have been born already at the age of four, could she? She must have spent her earliest childhood somewhere, she must have had parents, maybe even acquaintances or a social circle in the past… But nothing. There were nothing, no memories, no faces appeared in her mind. It was as if someone had erased those memories from Nora's memory…

Or maybe she didn't want to remember it herself.

In any case, from that moment on, Nora remembered her life, not very clearly – which was to be expected of a young child, her memories would blur together periodically. Recollections would pop up of unexpectedly bright moments before ending again, interspersed with lapses in her memory. Quite natural lapses, not something like amnesia, but simply due to the normal patterns of thinking and memory in children. Memories that seem insignificant to Nora now, but important to her then.

Her memories were mostly of the dumps she trawled, of the food she either found, stolen, or obtained by other means as Nora figured out the principles of hunting small fish or squirrels quickly enough. Anything a child her age could figure out.

The recollections alternated with one another – either of the compassionate family who took her in for the winter, accidentally finding her in the street one day, followed by tragedies. As the winter wore on, her settlement was destroyed by the Grimm in spring, the family who cared for her dead…

Or maybe they ran away somewhere? Or were they separated? Nora would like to believe that.

The caravan of survivors had gone to another settlement, with Nora along for the ride, not that they had many options. Someone had known about Kuroyuri, and people had gone there thinking that their chances in the wild were almost nil.

Nora was taken along with everyone else, for a short time she had protection, food, a chance to sleep on a bed again...

But then, when the caravan of men and of those who had survived the crossing, arrived at Kuroyuri – Nora was once again abandoned, nobody was willing to adopt a mouth to feed, one that cannot work.

Nora could think about it now, about whether these people had done the right thing or not, reasoning, but it didn't seem wrong or strange to her then. She was used to being alone. Settling down for the night in basements that someone in the building had forgotten to close, dressing in what she found in the nearest dumpster, or eating what she managed to catch with her hands. She was used to it.

So when, in a trembling voice, one of the refugees suggested that Nora step away and play in the undergrowth, then walked away, Nora wasn't offended – she didn't even pay much attention to it. She just shrugged her shoulders and went back to the normal life she knew, to what seemed normal to her at least.

After all, it wasn't that Nora's life was worse than Cinder's even when she had to fend for herself. Sure, no one cared about her, but no one demanded anything of Nora either. She was free to do whatever she wanted. Nora had thought from the beginning that maybe that was even better. Some people have adults and some people don't, it just happens in life.

Now, years later, looking at her past, Nora certainly thought otherwise. She understood that she had only survived by chance, by great luck, if she could call her life that. She certainly did not remember the refugee who had left her alone with anger. It was just the way he had decided and the way he had acted as necessary, it had been hard for him too. He had lost everything he had in one day and fled to another village penniless, he probably just could not pull Nora hanging hungry mouth around his neck as well….

In the end, he too was just an ordinary man, tortured by his decision – so he left Nora not far from the village and walked away, leaving her to her certain death.

Nora wondered a little if the man had ever looked back, or had looked for her, but Nora didn't blame him. He had made a hard decision, and even if she didn't like the decision, and she certainly didn't like it – Nora didn't hold a grudge against the man.

Especially since he was dead, and Nora couldn't hold a grudge against the dead.

Nora wasn't sure if it was some kind of cruel mockery of fate or compensation for everything that had happened to her in the past. But after spending some time on the street, her life had changed so abruptly and unexpectedly for the better that at first Nora hadn't realized that anything had changed in her life.

Sure, she was brought into another house, fed and given clean clothes, Nora was grateful. But it wasn't something incredible. It had happened many times in the past, a family feeling bad for her would give her shelter, a warm bed to sleep on, and food to eat, allowing her to survive the winter. And though Nora harbored only the most grateful feelings for those kind people in her soul, they would never last, and Nora would be back on the streets.

Wasn't this proof that after spending time with Jonathan, Nora would be back on the street again and continue living her life as before?

But pattern recognition does not mean prescience.

On her second day in her new home, Cinder showed up on her doorstep, and her life has changed dramatically since then. Of course, she was used to interacting with other people and children, vagrants and normal people alike. Sometimes they fed her, sometimes they threw stones at her, this was usually done by children looking for entertainment while their parents looked away or by people fighting the crap of food she had managed to scrounge up.

But most of the time, people just turned a blind eye to her existence.

Nora as well didn't try to draw attention to herself, it was much easier, more comfortable and safer for her to be alone, without anyone who might unexpectedly hit her, take her food or worse. Of course, the families that sheltered her also tried to communicate with her, but for the most part they ignored her as well.

So how was this Cinder supposed to be different from everyone else?

As it turned out later, in practically everything.

When Jonathan had unofficially adopted her, Cinder started to visit Nora every day. They talked to each other almost daily, Cinder told her stories, fed her sweets, and so Nora very quickly stopped ignoring Cinder and began to wait with bated breath for her new appearance. Sweets, interesting stories, and informative conversations… What's more to ask?

After a while, Cinder began to teach Nora all sorts of things, how to hold a spoon properly, how to read, how to do push-ups properly, again and again until it all sticks to Nora's head.

Nora was never the most attentive or the most diligent of students, but Cinder accepted no excuses. If you refused to learn, Cinder didn't raise her hand, but her words alone were enough to turn a grown man into a weeping shuddering child. What about a real child?

Cinder had no qualms inflicting some lifelong mental trauma with words alone, and sometimes Nora thought that she would do it to her… However, Cinder was not an evil tormentor, willing to insult anyone who strayed from her expectations – on the contrary, Cinder paid for obedience, correct answers and willingness with praise and sweets.

Cinder was the kind of person who responded to rule-breaking with severity, but rewarded those who followed the rules. The stick and the carrot.

And it worked. It worked on all of Cinder's 'friends', on Nora, and, as Cinder herself planned, it was going to work on the entirety of Glenn's community, and perhaps one day, even the entire Remnant.

And in the end, it worked. Although Nora couldn't say that learning from Cinder was easy, she was never the best student in the world, and Cinder, for all her efforts, was not an overly attentive or inspiring teacher, if an effective one. And so when Nora first entered school, she suddenly found that she was not inferior to the other children, in fact, she surpassed them. By the time the other children had only just figured out addition and subtraction of prime numbers, Nora was already quite good at multiplying numbers in her head.

Cinder, after all, could not afford to have Jonathan's chosen child, entrusted to Cinder's own upbringing, be worse than her schoolmates, could she?

Excellence, nothing else can do. When Cinder set her mind to a goal, she would achieve it – Nora had simply the good luck not to require any of the 'enhanced' methods Cinder had thought of. Stick and carrots, and Cinder could really think of very creative 'sticks'.

So Nora, who had never considered herself a good student, learned to figure things out all at once. Not that Cinder could completely fit all the contents of every textbook in the world into Nora's head, not for the lack of trying, though. Still, by the end of her high school studies, Nora was coming up not only with perfect grades, but having memorized far more material than the other students had ever learned at all. Of course, along with practical skills that they hardly ever planned to get.

Nora was able to outline other people's speeches without distracting her own thoughts. Was perfectly capable of deciphering 'official speech' and had been taught to write even when blind. When needed, Nora could even write using two hands at once, in two different forms, writing two different texts.

Not that such an experience was too useful in the ordinary life of a common person, but over the years spent as a kind of 'assistant' to Cinder, Nora had learned these and a large number of other tricks. After all, Cinder had originally chosen Nora to be her protégé, mostly in imitation of Jonathan, whose many jobs really required a lot of deputies, rather than requiring Nora's services herself.

No, Nora was helping Cinder… In a way.

Being able to delegate the most basic functions to Nora helped Cinder a little, but unlike Jonathan, who has deputies, secretaries, organizers, and other such people, Cinder rarely really 'needed' Nora.

For the most part, Nora was more of Cinder's… Status accessory. Someone of Cinder's rank, but not necessarily necessary at all.

And Nora understood it and accepted her position.

Yes, she was performing functions that weren't too necessary to Cinder, so what? Nora was still indebted to Cinder, whose decision had given Nora a home, food, clothes – pretty much everything Nora had.

Of course, Nora understood that the one who had provided her living hood was Jonathan, and Nora was extremely grateful to Jonathan. But Nora also understood that without Cinder's decision, Jonathan wouldn't have decided to bring Nora to Glenn. Without Cinder, she wouldn't have gotten any of what she had now, and most likely would simply have died in the Grimm attack that happened hours after Jonathan, Cinder and Neo had left Kuroyuri with Nora.

So Nora wasn't worried about her doing useless work for Cinder, or that Cinder was demanding knowledge, skills, and behavior from Nora that just didn't match Nora's character and intelligence.

Yes, she was doing useless work that she didn't, strictly speaking, prefer. But if she saw it as her opportunity to repay for the previous good Cinder had done, then it was more than fine. Besides, it wasn't that her skills were completely useless – their rarity didn't say that at all. Even if Cinder decided that she no longer needed Nora's services, she was still set for life with the skills she had earned working for Cinder.

On the other hand, considering her future career, Nora still wasn't planning to devote her life to being Cinder's secretary, and Cinder wasn't demanding that of Nora in turn. Instead, Nora planned to…

Become a huntress.

Not to pursue some grandiose goal in this world, and not to chase the romance of the Hunter's life.

But simply because Nora was that kind of person, the kind of person who preferred a simple and straightforward life.

***

Neo loved a simple and understandable, measured life.

At the same time and paradoxically, Neo did not like living a routine.

Or, more specifically, Neo liked to live a routine, obeying routines and not doing anything new unnecessarily, getting up and going to bed as late as possible, eating the same meals and socializing with the same people. But at the same time, Neo could by no means be called 'lazy' – more like… Predictable.

But you couldn't call her predictable, either. When one speaks of being predictable, people usually think of someone who usually did things in a measured and orderly manner, examining each action from every angle. That was not Neo. Neo was the kind of person who was predictable precisely because she was active, flighty, and with a spiteful attitude towards the rules. She was predictable only in her reaction to things.

Her attitude was so uncontrollable, that only being Jonathan's daughter had kept her from seeing the inside of a jail cell and her records clean. Otherwise, her permanent record would be filled with streaks of red stamps and complaints from teachers, officials, parents, and anyone else unlucky enough to be the cause of Neo's displeasure.

It was certainly ten times better than becoming the cause of Cinder's displeasure, and a hundred times better than becoming the cause of Jonathan's displeasure. Because Cinder didn't treat any of her mortal enemies worse than any, even the occasional one, of Jonathan's enemies. And given that Cinder's 'mortal' enemies definitely found their mortality – that spoke volumes. The less said about anyone that found themselves Jonathan's 'enemy' the better.

The worst thing Neo could do, excluding towards actual criminals or potential bandits in the lawless wastelands of Remnant, was… A mean prank or two? Some childish bullying? Something like that.

But when remembering that with Cinder and Jonathan on her corner she could get away with much worse, actual murder for instance, her teenage rebellion was actually quite mild. Normal teenagers get up to worse. With Neo's Semblance, she certainly could get away with worse.

Even without considering the fact that no one would dare act against the King's daughter in Glenn, even for Glenn it was a significant challenge to stop a Hunter's actions. Especially if those actions couldn't be qualified as causing meaningful harm.

Potentially, Neo could be the biggest bully, if not a minor, criminal of Glenn. With her temper and spiteful attitude towards rules, it made sense – and few people could stop her antics. Add to that her Semblance, allowing her to create dense illusions and Jonathan's patronage? Neo could have been the head of crime in Glenn.

It wouldn't even be such a bad idea.

Criminal elements existed in any society, simply because of the nature of people – and no matter how much society fought against it, there were always criminals in some form. Ranging from some small underground counterfeit rings to the gigantic empires of modern-day slave traders, in some form, criminals always have existed in Remnant.

At some point, the idea of how much good would happen if we destroy this criminal group, collided with the idea of how much good will happen if we don't destroy them?

After all, even criminals were human beings, they were simply servicing a demand that existed in any large gatherings of humans.

No, not in the sense of some philosophical reflection on human rights and the sanctity of life, but in the sense that criminals… Are not completely useless and only dangerous, at least on a national scale.

Sometimes someone, not just corrupt people mired in their desires for expensive cars and dozens of mistresses, needed assassins, smugglers – and sometimes, looking at Raven Branwen and White Fang, bandits and terrorists.

Crime in some sense also contributed to the economy, in a way provided jobs to those that were unable to be hired, and, in a sense, helped the development of science and society, unburdened by the morass of laws.

In an ideal society, perhaps, crime really should have been eliminated, or at least that's what Cinder said all along, and Cinder was probably right, after all it was Cinder. But society was not ideal and Cinder required her personal influential figures in the underground.

In that case, Neo? She was the perfect candidate.

Not in the management sense, of course. She couldn't even look after a hamster, less an actual criminal empire. Sure by fear perhaps, but Cinder and Jonathan already had that in spades. In fact, with her position and influence in RATS, Cinder was already running a part of the criminal world in Glenn.

No, Neo would fit in the criminal world, in the sense that Neo was one of the few people whose loyalty, once in that position, could be guaranteed. She had enough character and zeal to stay afloat in the world of crime, and, if she wanted to, drown her rivals, and she had enough personal strength to do so. A quality that was always and everywhere appreciated – especially in the underworld. And that was why…

Neo didn't make that choice.

Because it was too perfect for her!

Neo, after all, loved overcoming obstacles. Not in the sense that she wanted to challenge some impossible odds, that was more and Cinder's and Jonathan's field of work. And not insanely much either – Neo didn't suffer from a desire to achieve everything on her own or to go against the tide, against the crowd, or trying to succeed at something she was completely disinclined to do. But neither did she like getting everything without effort, either.

If she could get everything just by doing nothing, why bother with it? Just send her trophy home, while she really shows her skills and abilities elsewhere, where they really mean something.

That's why Neo chose, of all possible careers, a career as a Specialist – and to be even more precise, as a bodyguard.

It was the perfect place for Neo, with her outstanding physical attributes that surpassed even Cinder's, and Cinder was no layabout in that regard, becoming a Specialist was not difficult for her. She just needed to fight, which Neo knew how to do, but at the same time, unlike normal Hunters, she didn't need to think… Too much.

Neo had wanted to be a Specialist in RATS originally, but she realized quickly enough that it wasn't her thing. Neo could think in combat, and she could also do generic academic stuff, but thinking outside of combat? All that strategy, saving people, situation analysis, evacuation plans – none of it was her thing.

Of course, after years of training at Hermes, even she had been forced to learn the signs of a Super-horde or the procedures for reporting a breakthrough of Grimm. Jonathan covered for her breaking the rules, but he did not forgive the failure to remember at least the most basic and important knowledge of the profession Neo had chosen, and for whose training he was responsible.

And while Neo's very status as Jonathan's daughter, adopted, as Cinder constantly reminded her, Neo usually just ignored the word, meant that she had graduated from the academy with undeservedly high grades. After all, she was indeed trained and even capable to act as a Hunter.

Cinder would tan her hide, probably literally, otherwise.

She passed on actually being a Hunter though, there's too much thinking involved. What to bring on a mission? What if her clients lied to her? And camping outdoors? A hard pass. She had enough of sleeping in the cold to last a lifetime. Maybe Nora could tolerate living like that again, but not her.

Sure, it's not like such an occurrence happens all the time, but it happened enough that there are actual procedures to handle it. And even ruling out all sorts of problems with being a 'self-employed' person, Neo just didn't want to be that kind of 'independent' entrepreneur. Becoming a Specialist in the service of the state seemed a far more attractive option to her. Clear and thorough information would be provided by others, as would be most of the plan of auctions. Specialists were also given fairly broad powers and sparing duties out of the state, according to their status.

And Neo's main duty would be to protect the target. To be even more specific, there was only one target that Neo was willing to exhaustively protect – Jonathan, of course.

After all, Neo was strong, even for a Hunter, taciturn and efficient, at least in a case where her job was simple enough. Protect Jonathan and get him out of any sticky situation. Simple, and, an ideal job for Neo, she was with Jonathan all the time as it was, and she wouldn't have to change her habits or her routine, while still getting full pay for a very important job.

There's only one pickle in that perfect sandwich,

Jonathan was against it.

After all, he was the one who saw it as his duty to protect Neo, not the other way around. Not to mention that being his daughter, Neo herself should have bodyguards, it makes no sense for two VIPs to guard each other. To which Neo, with the help of Cinder, who supported her candidacy somewhat unexpectedly, objected that this was exactly the best place for Neo.

After all, Jonathan was already under the constant protection of the RATS, which meant there was no place more secure than next to him in all of Glenn. Jonathan represented the best protection for Neo as unlike any other VIP, Jonathan could escape from any situation, along with Neo. All that was required in this case was to give Jonathan a second to react, and after that, not only Jonathan but Neo as well was saved.

That's where Neo comes in.

In giving Jonathan a second, Neo was unsurpassed. Her physical skills had grown far, and she was already head and shoulders above the rest of the Hunters. A few more years and even the Branwen siblings would have their job cut out for them.

Add to that Neo's own artifacts, her taciturnity, and her personal loyalty to Jonathan in all circumstances, and the fact that Neo was 'safe', romantically that is, for Jonathan, made her the perfect bodyguard for Jonathan. Cinder was really concerned about the last part.

And so, paradoxically, the best place for a VIP under constant bodyguard protection was in the role of bodyguard to another VIP.

It was so perfect that, of course, Jonathan was against it. Not only did Jonathan not want to put Neo in danger, and let's face it, there was still danger in such a job – but he didn't want to be protected by Neo either.

This Neo could not understand in any way.

Jonathan, after all, was not a Hunter. Even if he had suddenly unlocked his Aura, it would still take him years to learn how to use it to protect himself sufficiently, more if he actually wants to fight with it. The best time for this development and learning, as well as just time, had been missed.

Even if he had devoted ten years to learning how to manage his Aura now, he would have been forty by then. A Hunter the same age as Jonathan, would have twenty-five years of battle experience, with a honed fighting style, vast combat experience and having started training and developing long before Jonathan would have been able to.

Yes, Jonathan had performed all sorts of rituals and gained outstanding strength… For a civilian.

He could lift a grown man with one hand, and while that would seem like an outstanding achievement for a civilian, for a Hunter it wasn't even a feat, it was ridiculously easy.

Most of Jonathan's rituals, on the bottom line, fell more into the category of daily conveniences than fighting strength.

Jonathan needed a bodyguard, someone strong, trained, silent and loyal.

It just so happened that Neo was the best person for the role, her status as a mute was just a bonus.

Besides, Neo and Cinder really weren't lying – even though the place next to Jonathan was potentially extremely dangerous, it was also the safest place in the world. Give Jonathan just one second, and nothing in the world could keep Jonathan from escaping, and thus also ensuring his bodyguard's safety.

And besides, regarding danger, Neo was already a target in constant danger as it were, simply by being Jonathan's daughter. She was entitled to bodyguards too… And wasn't it interesting to serve as a bodyguard for Jonathan, who served as a bodyguard for herself?

Besides, apart from this career, where else could Neo go? She wasn't suited mentally to RATS' employ. The army and police were even more dangerous than being around Jonathan, not forgetting that the target for being Jonathan's daughter was not going to go anywhere anytime soon – or anytime at all.

Well, Neo wasn't planning on becoming a Huntress. Jonathan and Cinder had made sure that that institution would collapse on its own in Glenn within the next dozen years, and Neo couldn't leave for other states.

Primarily because she wasn't planning on betraying Jonathan and Cinder, and in the second place because she didn't want to. In the third place because she didn't like the life of a hunter, and in the fourth place because no one would have let her take her any actually dangerous assignment. The daughter of a ruler of a state, working as a simple Hunter in another Kingdom. Sounds like a hundred yellow press about her secret exile and discord in Jonathan's family! The daughter of a ruler of another state getting hurt, worst dying, for another Kingdom?

Wars have started for less.

Well, Jonathan couldn't really complain much about the potential dangers Neo could be in without seeming too much of a hypocrite. Hunters, a job Neo had trained for, were an occupation with dangers from all sides, much less having Cinder as an example.

So, paradoxically, what shouldn't have happened in the world, happened in the world – a VIP became a bodyguard for another VIP.

'Heh,' Neo allowed the amusing thought to sink in for a moment.

'Once upon a time as a child, I decided that I would protect Jonathan as he protects me…'

Neo smiled at the thought. It was a childish wish, but…

'Cinder has achieved her childhood dream.' Neo could only smile at that thought, looking ahead before nodding to herself.

'And so can't do worse. We are sisters after all…'