You know, when I agreed to be a part of Cinder's "Overturn the World Order and Maybe Destroy the Human Race" team, I'd assumed a couple of things. Firstly, that there would be way less humans in it.

Also, that there'd be way less humans that I knew. Emerald made sense, in retrospect. Someone had to tip Cinder off to my presence, so why wouldn't it be the thief who I'd met earlier that day? Still, what the fuck was Roman Torchwick doing here?

When we'd met, he'd given me a suspicious squint with his one visible eye before boarding the airship and promptly occupying a corner for himself. Now, the finely tailored "Criminal Mastermind" was to my right, regarding me with an expression that seemed more suitable to be directed at a particularly baffling stain than little old me. Though I guess I was covered in a good deal of paint and soot.

From what little fragments of conversation I'd overheard at my night job, the guy was a crook, more focused on making fortunes with schemes and heists than enacting grandiose plots of world domination, or whatever the hell Cinder was actually planning. Then again, he didn't seem particularly happy to be here either, judging by the shade of resentment that coloured his inner self.

Come to think of it, I had heard snatches of how his recent and constant collaboration with the White Fang was unlike him. I doubted that he was here all that willingly, with such smouldering resentment visible in his soul, and if he wasn't happy to be here, then who was to say he hadn't been ordered into organising the string of thefts that had resulted in the dust shortage across Vale?

…Was Cinder the reason I'd had such a pain of a time collecting rare dust samples? I'd been blaming Torchwick in my head for being a bane to my progress in figuring out the links between dust, spiritual energy and Grimm Ichor. If Cinder Fall of all people was the one who enacted this whole shebang just to reel me in with promises of dust as well as answers-

I twitched, shoving that train of thought off the rails. Being in a confined space flying several hundred metres in the air with multiple humans with Awakened Auras was driving me nuts. I'd known that it would be a shit ride from the outset just looking at the airship, but I'd thought at first that the human signatures all around me would be far less present once we were in the air, and while it was, I hadn't anticipated Cinder bringing along extras.

The soul of an awakened human was far more attractive to the creatures of the Grimm than that of a bog-standard human, even one in the throes of extreme negative emotion, to the degree you could stack a dozen of them together and I'd still call out the awakened human as the more delectable meal every single time.

I could handle two of them easily, but things got a hell of a lot more iffy with four. And judging by my instincts, Cinder had thought fit to bring five. I could almost feel my Grimm Nature crooning in my ear. They were in arms reach, rendering their firearms worthless. The surprise would give me the advantage. All I had to do was be quick. Vicious. With my illusions, they wouldn't even have to know before it was too late.

Except that was stupid. Torchwick had a reputation for kicking Huntsman ass. I didn't doubt for a second that the rumours were exaggerated or that the stories of him humiliating Atlesian Special Operatives were a stinking crock of shit, but he wasn't helpless, and my illusions weren't good enough to hide a fight in close quarters. I just had to keep reminding myself of all these things, over and over again, as the flight kept moving.

I tried to keep my eyes trained on the forest rushing past beneath the five of us, but I couldn't help but sneak glances under glamoured eyes at the rest of the group as we waited, if only to make sure they weren't preparing to jump me while my back was turned.

Little Miss Melting Point was sitting pretty in front of me with her legs crossed, trying to turn a ride in what I was pretty sure was a stolen hovercraft into something elegant, and I'll give her credit, it was kind of working. That is, if you ignored Mercury and Emerald chattering like people their age were supposed to on either side of her.

There was a translucent sheen over the three of them, with a scene outlined in green that seemed to suggest that the three of them were sitting utterly still, doing nothing. Most likely the effect of the dark-skinned girl's Semblance. My guess was that she was trying to conceal their little conversation from me and the others beside me, sadly for her, I had a talent for telling fakes apart from the truth.

"So when were you going to tell me that the creepy old guy that we ran into was not just our new… associate, but also that he was actually some kind of creepy starving hobo?" The girl, who I'd overheard being named Emerald, demanded from Mercury.

The boy just shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "Eh, I'm sure it would have come up eventually."

Emerald let out an infuriated growl. She turned her hostile gaze to the side of my head as the illusion of me studiously stared out of the window. "And I'm sure that if I ask what he's supposed to actually contribute, you're just going to say the same thing."

Mercury rolled his eyes and made a dismissive sound with his mouth. "He's an illusionist. Makes things look like other things. Or taste like other things, I guess. Maybe sound like other things, too."

The green veil seemed to almost shiver as Emerald's eyes shot to me, significantly more wary than before. "...I see. And how many people can he fool?" She questioned, keeping her sudden bout of worry from leaking into her voice.

"I dunno, as many people see his Semblance in action, I guess? There was a whole spiel about it that he went through." Mercury didn't seem to notice his teammate's insecurity, judging by the boredom he was experiencing. "Maybe if you ask him he'll tell you."

She gave me a glance and looked away, seemingly unable to even look at me. "Ew. No."

...You know, I knew I looked quite a bit like a walking corpse. After all, this identity was intended the closest I had to my true form and feelings, but I was seriously starting to wonder if I should adjust it slightly. Maybe put on a few pounds?

"Your loss." Mercury shrugged, before turning his attention back to his scroll.

As Emerald's inner self grew more hesitant, I glanced at Cinder. She didn't seem particularly interested in her subordinates' chatter, and was instead focusing on her scroll. I could see the confidence in her, or perhaps arrogance. Whatever she was planning with this trip, she wasn't expecting any trouble.

She'd called it a mission going in, but she'd said little else to me throughout the trip, and I'd been a little too busy concentrating on controlling myself to question it. Chances were, everyone around me was a little more well-informed, and this was just as much of a test as the mission itself would be.

The mission wouldn't just be a way for her to see if my abilities were all that they were cracked up to be, but also to see if I was going to be a problem. If I wasn't, I was probably going to be given that little extra measure of trust. If I was… I assumed that's what everyone else was for.

Could I escape the lot of them if they decided that I'd talk? Probably. I was pretty durable, even compared to someone with their Aura awakened, and I had plenty of Dust on me.

In my studies of Dust, I'd discovered their use as foci for elemental attacks, explosives, and all sorts of other little tricks depending on the types used. A smokescreen with fire and water Dust would be simple enough, and that was just one of the many escapes I could employ.

The problem would be fighting the urge to fight instead of flee. I liked to think of myself as intelligent, but I wasn't a trained combatant with control over my instincts. There would almost certainly be a moment of indecision that made all the difference.

With any luck, I'd notice their emotional states change if they decided that I wouldn't be willing to throw my lot in with them. By the time they sprung their ambush, I'd hopefully be already on my way back to Vale. I'd already moved my research notes as a precaution, but I wouldn't relish having to write off two of my identities, my stores of dust, books and the Ichor pit hidden under the floor.

"So." Roman suddenly announced, breaking the sullen silence that had fallen between Cinder's help. "I wasn't aware we'd have a tagalong on this little outing."

Cinder gave a wave as she straightened even further in her seat, and the veil that Emerald had put over the three of them dissipated like mist as she began to speak. "Is that going to be a problem?" She said sweetly.

Something in her tone sparked nervousness in Roman as his confident tone quickly became hesitant. "No, no. I just… feel like I do my best work when I'm aware of all the factors. You know, the equipment, the timetable, the help."

I discarded my own illusion as I straightened, turning to look at the four of them, though I remained silent. I could see that Cinder was luxuriating in the feeling of keeping us in the dark, and honestly I could empathise. As vital as keeping my secrets were, there was also a heady rush that came from knowing something other people didn't.

Still, I was playing the part of the wannabe minion, so I simply kept on looking as if I was waiting on her words, even though I was actually planning out the experiments I would be getting up to once I was back in my lair.

Eventually, Cinder had enough of basking in our ignorance and shut off her scroll. "Very well, then. I will not be repeating myself, so you'd best pay attention now." Her eyes surveyed the two of us, giving no indication of who she was singling out. Probably to make us both feel as though we were the one who needed to focus. "My informants have told me that there will be a shipment of Dust delivered by rail to revitalise Vale's struggling military. They paid a king's ransom for this Dust." Her eyes narrowed. "None of it will reach their hands."

"The train carrying the lion's share of the shipment will be appearing shortly, making its way across a bridge over the Viridian River, hugging the coastline and then going between Forever Fall and the Emerald forest. The security will likely be quite robust, including many new toys from Atlas. The four of you, as well as Torchwick's associate, will intercept the train, overwhelm the crew and prepare for its contents to be retrieved."

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"You are not to allow for any alert to reach Vale's authorities. If you do, I will consider this mission a failure." Her gaze raked over the two of us sitting opposite to her, and even Mercury and Emerald had straightened in their seats as her voice grew harsh. When she spoke again, her words came out as a hiss. "And I do not tolerate failure."

…Not a bad speech, all things considered. She seemed quite satisfied with herself too, judging by the sight of her inner self. She'd pretty clearly practised it before today, and the delivery was without any obvious errors. The last bit was a bit over the top, but I could see why she'd included it, considering the relatively light hand she'd used on me so far. A slight hint of dissatisfaction surfaced as she watched me, seemingly searching for something that she didn't find, and I belatedly realised that maybe I should have given off some indication of being impressed or intimidated.

Oh well, maybe next time.

I turned my attention to Mercury. "I don't suppose you'd happen to have any skill in silent takedowns?"

A confident smirk appeared on his face. "Funny you should ask. I'm actually pretty practised. Though, just to be sure, you'll just be watching us and cleaning up if we make any mistakes?" He asked, giving Cinder a side-eye.

"Isn't that obvious?" Cinder said, raising an eyebrow.

"Just wanted to make it clear for the new kid." Mercury said with a wave. While Emerald gave him and I another strange look, he turned his attention to his legs, throwing one leg over the other to examine what seemed to be an overly engineered boot with a critical eye.

Except… I squinted, looking closer. I'd thought that his footsteps had been overly heavy, downright metallic, and I'd suspected that they were weapons of some kind. I'd noticed the casings and the metal pieces built in, as well, but there was something that nudged the back of my mind. It took me a moment to realise before it hit me.

Mercury. As in, Hermes Mercury, God of Messengers, Thieves and Commerce. The Messenger of the Gods was often depicted with winged sandals. Mercury, the person, had weaponized boots. Hermes was a God of Thieves. Mercury stole stuff and was kind of an ass. How the hell didn't I realise earlier?

While I still didn't understand the circumstances that led to me being born with a head full of stories that no-one else knew, I could spot their influence at play. Like metaphysical moulds through which certain people seemed to be shaped. Legends and Fairy Tales, but different. Sanded down and rendered lesser to fit human flesh.

I hesitated to call the phenomenon responsible for this Fate. I was far more willing to believe that I might have been someone else before being born from the Ichor pit, that my stories were just distorted reflections of all the people that I might have once known, but I'd tried experimenting with Ichor and living creatures. Ichor was toxic, corrosive, and a whole host of other nasty things. I doubted that the answer was as simple as me being a former Huntsman who got dunked in a pool of Grimm and autofilled into Team Destroy All Humans.

So I was sitting in an airship with Aladdin and Hermes, and possibly two more similarly influenced persons, though I had no clue who Torchwick was supposed to be. As for Cinder, my leading theory was her being the Little Match Girl, with her fire based powers and name, but… I really didn't want that to be the case.

I suppressed the pang of sorrow I felt at the thought of that story, at the idea that it could have happened. No point in feeling pity, especially not for someone who would probably kick my ass if they knew what I was. And no, instincts, that was not a signal for you to start insisting that I should try to rip out Roman's throat, thank you very much.

"Are you gonna ask something?" Mercury's voice snapped me out of shoving my instincts back down the dark hole they came from. He was tinkering with the side of his mechanical boot with a screwdriver. "Or are you just gonna stare the whole way over?"

…Yeah, I had nothing. "I don't suppose you've ever been a postman, have you?"

Mercury squinted at me, and a long, awkward silence dragged on. As I watched, however, his inner colours shifted from bafflement into amusement as he thought through his response, before nodding solemnly. "How did you know?"

"Just a hunch." I blankly replied.

As the two of us suppressed smirks, Emerald rolled her eyes and looked out the window with a subdued sigh that sounded suspiciously like. "Boys."

Oh, I could already tell that we were going to get along swimmingly.

----------------------------------------

The site of our interception was surprisingly scenic. I had a pretty good view of not just the bridge that the train would be coming in on, but also the ocean and the forest. Torchwick's mystery pilot had landed the shuttle and we'd hopped off to stretch our legs and get some fresh air while Roman had gone to the front of the vehicle, probably to debrief the last member of our gang.

Mercury had gone for a walk to stretch his legs, and Emerald had stayed with Cinder. As for me, I had pulled out my notepad and started sketching.

My illusions were good, but that skill hadn't come from nothing. I needed to practise my skills, training to remember all the little details that made them believable. It just so happened that drawing was a remarkably similar skillset, what with the emphasis on shadows, perspective, volume and so on.

Of course, the sketches could also be useful in other ways. When I started setting up one of my illusions, they usually needed time to have the details to fool anyone up close. I could throw something together in a pinch, but if they didn't fool someone, they seemed to work far more poorly. And depending on the size of the illusion, that could be a lot of details that I needed to factor in.

Having something at hand reminiscent of what I was trying to do made the transition far more quick and clean, and shored up the illusion on top of everything else, giving it more of a 'battery', so to speak, though it still took plenty of time depending on what I was trying to do. Turning the caves underground into the near-perfect copies of the shop floors I'd put together had taken me more than a week, each. It had begun as a way to ward off prying eyes, but had quickly developed into a sort of capstone project, a culmination of all my knowledge of weaving illusions and glamour. Though, I'd had trouble thinking of how I'd make the second floor subtly yet off-puttingly different enough to dissuade someone.

I'd even considered turning the thing into some sort of immersive art experience filled with illusion-filled books with moving images and all sorts of other incredible works, only to have my ideas rendered untenable by my growing urges and busy schedule. Living three lives took up a lot of time, even if I didn't strictly require sleep.

Of course, I didn't need a sketch for the illusion I was thinking of throwing together. I could eyeball that just fine, but I wanted to remember the site of my first foray into Cinder's little plots and plans. Especially if it was this pretty. Maybe I could make an illusion of these scenes underground. A nice happy place.

Though I'd have to leave the presence approaching from behind out of it.

As the sound of grass being crushed underfoot grew louder, and something in the back of my mind whispered about the presence of an empowered soul, I glanced back. Emerald approached, still looking distinctly unhappy. "The train's going to be coming soon. Don't suppose you have any idea what's going to happen after that?" She said as she folded her arms.

I shrugged, keeping an eye out as my hands continued to work. "Not particularly. Cinder doesn't seem to care overly much about the minutiae, and neither does Mercury. Torchwick and his friend are probably coming up with their own plan of action, and as far as I can tell, everyone just seems to think that this is going to work out because we're individually skilled."

"And you think the same?" Emerald asked, giving me a sceptical look.

"Well, we're definitely not going to get any points for teamwork, but that's to be expected, I think. We barely know each other, nobody's introduced themselves, we're going in practically blind in terms of intel, and we've got practically nothing in terms of intel, but even with just the four I've seen we can handle any security, so long as we don't trip each other up." I said, leaving a few things unsaid about Cinder's intent.

"You're pretty confident that you can keep up."

I turned away from the tracks and squinted at her. Was she going somewhere with this? There was a hint of caution that was clashing with her wariness that I could see, and a slurry of other emotions that I had trouble picking apart. Cinder might have instructed her to test my resolve, but somehow, I doubted that this was what she was doing. Whatever this was, It was something personal.

Now, how did I navigate this? Well, first was the obvious question. What did I want out of this situation? The answer was for Cinder to trust me. Fostering an atmosphere of trust with her subordinates could be helpful in that direction, and nothing developed a bond quite like a live fire exercise, but if one of her minions was busy looking for betrayal or incompetence from my corner, whatever bond we'd forge would be far more brittle than it'd normally be. In fact, judging by how she seems to feel, she was expecting to accomplish this mission in spite of my presence, possibly while seeking approval from Cinder for keeping me from ruining anything, which isn't exactly helpful.

I don't think I have any way to make her believe in my competence besides doing my job on the train properly, and I can tell her my ideas, but I don't think she's going to listen to any plan I come up with. At least, not with her wary as she currently is.

And that gets to the other issue. Motive. As far as she was concerned, I was just showing up in the middle of an operation without giving her any chance to feel me out. Of course, her boss was responsible for that, but that doesn't make me suddenly trustworthy, that just made her feel less happy with her boss. I needed to at least show that I had a stake in this operation succeeding, aside from the obvious consequences getting caught would have.

So, in order. A show of resolve and motive, and then an olive branch of sorts, to prove my reliability. Easy enough.

I closed my sketchbook and turned to face her. "I'll be frank. What I'm confident in isn't my ability to keep up, it's that I can do my job well enough that nobody will have anything to complain about. If Cinder is satisfied with my performance at the end of this heist, then I can call it a success on my end."

As I prepared to hint at Cinder's little speech to me, Emerald interrupted me, her arms unfolding. "Right. About that. Why are you here? You don't seem like the type to jump into a heist just because." She seemed to hesitate, before continuing. "In fact, you seem like the type who's more than happy laying low and staying out of trouble. You were rubbing elbows with the rich with your disguise. Why would you just leave that all behind?"

...Well that was more forward than I expected. So forward, that I had trouble thinking of how to reply for a moment. I considered putting forward a tailored half-truth about how there were some things I could only acquire on the wrong side of the law, but it felt too flimsy, especially as Emerald stared me down.

So I put forward a distilled truth instead. "Cinder's going places. I want to see where."

Emerald blinked, her inner self flickering with surprise. As she processed my words, her scepticism dissipated as something like recognition settled in. "Huh." She frowned, but this time it seemed more thoughtful than hostile. "Don't suppose you'd care to expand on that?"

I shrugged. "I can't. It's a gut feeling." A moment of inspiration struck me, and I seized on it. "You feel it too, don't you?"

Emerald seemed taken aback by my guess, but her inner self gave away her recognition. She opened her mouth to deny it, before pausing, and then closing her mouth. She didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but the same answer had brought her here, it seemed. Who's to say it couldn't bring someone else to the same place? "...Maybe." She conceded.

It wasn't the whole truth on my part, but it was close. There was something going down, something involving people like Cinder, Mercury and Emerald, who's very nature seemed to be shaped by stories flooding my brain, and while I didn't know what, all the signs pointed towards its scope being massive. I wanted to be a part of that, not just to be in the room with legends brought to flesh, but also to figure out where the hell I fit into all that mess.

Who knows? If I met enough of them, crossed out enough names, maybe I'd figure out who I was. Or at least, who I had been.

I tilted my head to look behind her, noticing a short woman, looking dapper in white and pink as she approached. An obvious friend of Torchwick's, judging by her fashion. "Looks like we're wanted. I'm guessing that the train's going to be here, soon."

Emerald followed my gaze and straightened, turning and nodding. "Looks like."

"So, truce for the day? Partners in crime against the forces of good?" I offered with a raised eyebrow.

Emerald paused, and then, after a moment, snorted and shook her head. "Fine. Just don't slow me down, and don't call me partner."

I shrugged, following both her and the script she'd so kindly provided as we returned to the depths of the forest. "Wouldn't dream of it."