Hello! This going to be my first rated M story because with characters as broken as Emerald and Mercury I do not want to take any chances.

Eventually this story will also have sex in it. Yes, sex. As in sin, smut, banging of unmentionables, whatever you refer to it as. It will be vanilla, and it will be a long ways off. To any people who are here for only that I will appropriatly tag it so that you can find it. This is not porn without plot, noncon/dubcon, or a kink fest. If you are looking for that I advise you to look elsewhere.

This is also based off the assumption that Cinder is unable to return to/find Emerald and Mercury after the events of The End of the Beginning. If in volume four this is proven incorrect then this story will also be marked as canon divergent.

Prolouge : Three Days Grace

Emerald is still in the bathroom. She went in last night and didn't come out.

Cinder still hasn't come back to the warehouse. Three days ago all of us attacked Vale, using the White Fang and Torchwick as to cause more chaos. We were on the rooftop, capturing the chaos on a scroll for all the world to see.

She turned to us.

"I see Ozpin. He's leading Pyrrah Nikos to where the Fall Maiden is." She gave us both a sharp look. "Under no circumstances should you deviate from the plan. The tower must fall. I'll be back tomorrow. Make scrambled eggs."

Her look softened into a smile. She ruffled Emerald's hair and didn't give me a second look. A Grim appeared and she left us on the rooftop. Our orders were given. Stop filming. Lose the Scroll in the city. Destroy the tower so completely it couldn't be rebuilt. Go back to the warehouse. Sleep.

Those orders had been finished with ease that night. A different warehouse had the charges. No one suspected a thing. We woke up not knowing when she would come back. Emerald scrambled the eggs. After we had breakfast she put it in the mircowave to keep it warm.

Lunch. Dinner. I put the eggs in the fridge. Two more days with things getting worse. No more grunts, snuffles or screams from the outside. Emerald got worse with the silence. On the third night she slept by the door. I brought pillows. When I woke up she wasn't there.

I knocked on the door.

"Emerald. You still in there? We need to get food. This place was only stocked for a few days." There that didn't make it seem like we'd given up waiting for Cinder.

Emerald didn't respond.

It's been three days. Why haven't you come back? I made scrambled eggs, just like you wanted, Cinder. After we blew up the tower, Mercury and I came back, ate ramen, and got some sleep.

Did I do something wrong?

The eggs were made exactly how you liked them, lots of salt and pepper with the baccon fried crispy in another pan. We set the table with me and you at oppisite ends and Mercury in the middle. I guess that didn't matter so much with how small it is. You could see the window from any side though.

Mercury and I ate breakfast without you. I'm sorry. We waited over a hour. I put your plate, loaded with extra baccon, in the microwave, so it wouldn't be so cold when you got back.

Then came lunch; we had grilled meat and cheese. Another hot meal for you. Since you weren't here I didn't want to get it wrong. Dinner was bad. Mercury and I fought over who screwed up the rice and if your plate should be put in the fridge. We went to bed angry with each other.

I made more eggs in the morning, exactly how you liked them. With extra crispy baccon on the side. Mercury decided to ruin his by putting them in a tortilla and hot sauce. His was the leftovers from yesterday, so it didn't matter. I ate mine the way it was, no bacon.

The tortillas gave me an idea though, so we had tortilla soup for lunch, extra spicy. When I was in my room afterwards Mercury surprised me with pasta for dinner. I didn't know he could cook. Then again, I'm not one to talk. I didn't know salt from sugar until you found me.

I couldn't make you eggs after that. We didn't have any left. Breakfast was just cheese toast. Lunch was cold sandwiches. Dinner was ramen with anything we could throw in. There was just a bad feeling in the air, so I grabbed my blankets and waited at the door. Mercury brought pillows, and we ended up sleeping there, close enough to touch. Like we were sharing a tent.

That night the electricty failed. I woke up to darkness. No stars, no moon, just black. Like being inside a Grim. Mercury had his arms around me. It was suffocating, not like camping.

I hid in the bathroom.

I broke the door handle and pushed it open. The place was a mess. The curtains were on the floor. The sink drawers were upside down, and all of the stuff had been dumped out. Emerald wasn't in the tub or on the toilet.

I kicked the things out of my way to get myself to the cabinets. I opened them carefully. A stiffled sob came out with Cinder's razor. I squated down and saw Emerald contorted in there like a cat. She hadn't shed a tear yet.

She crawled out, shaking. I helped her stand up. Then I hugged her. She flinched a bit, but then calmed down. No tears.

"We need to leave. The huntsmen will find this place soon enough. They won't find us. Take everything you can. A blanket, food, lien, clothes, ammunition." She began a list, immitating Cinder.

"Ok." Her eyes were still a little glassy. Just follow along with orders.

"Cinder is going to find us. She did it once, and she can do it again." Emerald stopped hugging and shook me slightly.

"Right." I responded naturally. Of course this was natural. The woman who had kept us from dying in our youth and had given us a purpose was gone. Her original orders to me still stood.

Emerald snapped out of it at that point. Her eyes were clear again and her breathing was steady.

We found all our things and decided to burn what we couldn't fit in our one bag each policy. It was out of the warehouse and into the alley. We took a hoodie each. Close by was a landing bay for Bullheads.

It was time to ditch this town.

They had given Cinderella three days grace.

Then the mice disappeared without a trace.