The REDS of war

Volume Six Chapter Six

In the Land of Darkness at Salem's keep, Emerald Sustrai is sitting on the floor while Mercury Black is training around the room with punches and kicks. Ambrose lays against a wall eyes closed with an ice pack over them.

"I hate being kept in the dark like this..." Emerald says.

"Yeah, Cinder was a pain, but at least she kept us filled in." Mercury continues training.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You're gonna."

"Why did you come with us, the night Cinder, Dim, and I found you?"

"Why are you asking--?"

"Just answer the question."

Mercury shrugs. "Just made sense."

"It made sense?" Emerald repeats.

"All my life, my father trained me to be a killer, an assassin like him. And then moments after I killed him, you three showed up looking for someone with my exact skills. Just felt like it was meant to be."

Emerald scoffs incredulous. "That's it?"

"Hey, what's your problem?" Mercury asks.

"I mean, there has to be something you want from this, right?"

"Salem's promised us everything. We win this thing for her, we'll be top dogs in her new world. What more do you want?"

"I just..." Emerald sighs. "Cinder was the only family I ever had. She cared about me, taught me things... But without her here, I don't know if what we're doing..."

"Wake up, already..." Emerald looks at him in shock upon hearing this. "Cinder doesn't care about you! She doesn't care about either of us!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

Ambrose sighs. "You're in denial." She says.

"And if you're gonna start having a crisis of identity or some crap... keep me out of it." Mercury adds. At this, Emerald angrily jumps forward and starts to attack Mercury with punches and kicks, but he dodges them and catches her wrist. "I'm sorry you didn't have a mommy that loved you, but I had a father who hated me!" Mercury shoves Emerald back a bit. She takes a defensive stance as he slowly approaches her. "He never went easy on me! Every day of training was a beating. And when I unlocked my Semblance, he stole it with his!" Mercury throws a punch and a kick at Emerald, who dodges them, while he quotes his father's words." "This is a crutch!" "This makes you weak!" He told me I could have it back when I was strong. So I got strong, but I never got it back! I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be!"

"That's cute." Ambrose says.

"You're one to talk." Mercury scoffs. "You're here chasing after two boys who don't even love you."

Ambrose's smile vanishes as her head snaps towards Mercury.

Suddenly, the trio hear a certain laughter. Tyrian Callows steps out of the shadows with his new metallic scorpion tail.

Tyrian mockingly speaks. "Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others." He laughs.

Mercury growls as he angrily walk over to Tyrian. "How long have you been standing there?!"

"All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to leave it. Such a tragedy."

"You don't know me!" Mercury tries to kick at Tyrian, but he dodges and kicks Mercury back. Tyrian holds him down to the ground by keeping his tail at a short distance away from Mercury's face.