Chapter 192: Description

Chapter 192: Description

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Description

My grandmother took a deep, slow breath as she considered the question and its answer.

"I knew the second better than the first, which isn't to say that I knew either of them particularly well," She hedged. "However, I at least met the second wife personally. She was a Colchiana family that held ties to Alexandriaand the widow of one of Cynosarges's nephews. I knew Argos himself fairly well, but his wife"

She shook her head.

"She was married before as well?" I asked.

"Mm," Grandmother hummed in reply. "Quite famously, at least at the time. Argos had always been quite popular within the Alexandrian Family and he died saving Cynosarges' life during the Civil War. Carried him out of a major attack and slew the attacker before dying. He was buried with full honors after the war was over, as soon as Cynosarges gathered enough clout to enforce such a thing. As you might imagine, her remarriage to Mayro was a complicated matter."

I nodded to show my understanding.

"On one level, it could be seen as a statement of respect," I replied. "While not a direct invitation into the Alexandria Family, it established a close connection through the widowed wife of the head's honored nephew. But at the same time, it was an offer Mayro could not refuse. If he tried, it could be seen a an insult to Argos, the Alexandria familyand presumably to the Colchians, as well. No one in the family would have taken that lying down."

"The Colchians weren't in any condition to do much of anything," Grandmother replied. "But the rest is correct. Mayro had no real choice but to accept, especially while Cynosarges's grandnieces remained alive."

I'll admit, that tidbit surprised me and made me reorganize my entire view of things.

"She had daughters?" I asked, pieces coming slowly together. "Were there two of them, by any chance?"

"Yes," Grandmother answered, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Does that matter?"

I remembered the feminine looking figures I'd seen in the flames before answering.

"Maybe," I mused, frowning slightly. "Would I be correct in assuming that not everyone was completely happy about the marriage?"

"Oh, indeed not," My grandmother confirmed. "Rosathat is, Argos's wifewas something of a special case to begin with. While from what I understand, she and Argos had been in a relationship for quite some time, the War drew a great deal of attention to their relationship, as the Colchians had been longtime enemies of Alexandria. When Rosa fled from her family after the War started and later married Argos, a number of people believed that she was a double agent and while no one dared to treat Argos' wife with hostility, she was never particularly well liked. When the Colchians defeated and captured Argos's team especially, you can imagine the thought on everyone's mind, especially when they tried to ransom him for their missing daughter. As a result, a deal was struck and the exchange was to be made, but it didn't turn out how anyone had planned."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Rosa went along with the exchange until she was passed back into the hands of her family," Grandmother said. "And then she killed them all. Her father, her brothers, the servantsall of them. Through a combination of her poisons and her dagger, the Colchians ceased to exist that day. She rescued Argos and returned with him to Alexandria, the heads of their enemies in tow, at which time she was welcomed back with open arms. The story was the talk of the town for years, due to the romantic element."

"Of course," I replied, sighing slightly as I considered it. "So Rosa loved Argos a great deal and was viewed highly by the Alexandrians. Her daughters"

"Malva and Purpura," She supplied.

"Malva and Purpura were the children of a war hero and someone placed highly in the ranks of Alexandria at the time," I continued. "And she was married off to some guy?"

"There were quite a number of objections to the union," Grandmother told me. "Even Cynosarges's own son objected to the remarriage of his cousin's wife, but he insisted and it was so."

"Why?" I asked, still unclear on what motive he might have for such a thing.

"I never asked," She admitted easily. "At a guess, I would say it was for the sake of his grandnieces. While Alexandria had, of course, provided for the wife of their fallen hero, the fact remains that with the extermination of the Colchians and her husband's death, she was technically alone. She had worked extensively for Alexandria during the war, which had cost her a great deal of her own moneyand this was, after all, right after a war that the Families had technically lost. At the time, we were all busy retaking cost, but it was far from finished and certain allowances had to be made. In addition, legal employment was difficult for Family members to acquire and there were standing orders to be patient and to not cause a scene until everything was in order. Mayro, then, was an opportunity; a business many in search of support, aiming for a growing field. When he approached Cynosarges and was accepted, there were a number of terms involved, including, of course, one of marriage. And though he'd come from outside of the Families, money is money and Mayro stood to become inordinately wealthy, if supported properly. For that alone, he was viewed as an attractive option at the time. That Rosa was chosen came as a surprise to many."

"I get it," I said. "A lot of people were down in the dumps and while it was a temporary thing, Cynosarges didn't want to see his nephew's wife left out in the cold, especially after the fact. While her actions would likely ensure that her family was reasonably well supported throughout her entire life, whatever happenedand would likely do the same for her daughter's lifetimes, as welltime would cause them to grow further and further removed from the main branch. They were bound for decline, so Cynosarges planned ahead when an opportunity presented itself. If Mayro was as good with Dust as I heard and had the support of Alexandria, he'd have been all but bound for greatness, potentially on a level comparable to the Schnee family now. It would have been enough to at least ensure her family would be supportedand tie Mayro's corporation further to Alexandria while also ensuring that Rosa's grandchildren and great-grandchildren were still viewed as useful."

"That's what I thought as well," She agreed. "Not that it mattered much in the end; Mayro was dead within the year."

I nodded, appreciating the fact that she didn't question my claims.

"If nothing else, this would put Alexandria firmly in our corner, should a fight occur," She mused at my confirmation. "Not that there'd been much down, but confirmation is always nice."

"Tell him if you must, but let's hope it doesn't come to that yet," I replied. "I'm growing increasingly sure that she's been infected by one of the Riders. Is there any chance you could get ahold of whatever Mayro had been working on at the time of his death?"

Grandmother took a slow breathe, considering that.

"It could be difficult," She replied. "It was many years ago and would have been company property at the time. While Alexandria had technically own the business, they'd sold it when it became a sinking ship and I assume those notes were sold along with it. You believe it's related to the Rider?"

"From what I can tell, Cinder got ahold of what appeared to be a black Dust Crystal sometime after her father's death," I answered. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was related to his mysterious accident, but somehow it found its way into Cinder's hands. I still don't know what she's capable of, though I suspect it to be Dust related; if you tell Cynosarges, make sure he doesn't try to do anything until I'm ready. If we take a shot at her, I'm thinking it would be a bad idea to miss."

"Understood," She said. "Cynosarges has learned something of patience, thankfully. It would be best to give him time to prepare. Beyond that, if anyone is likely to have access to details on Mayro and his family, it would be him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That's what I thought. Pass me everything you can find?"

"Naturally," She stated. "You will continue to observe her?"

"Of course," I replied. "Just so you're aware, she is likely to leaving Mistral soon. Jian Bing put her in something of a spot concerning the White Fang and now she has to either put up or shut up. Vale seems to be the main target of her plans, though I don't know if it's the only one; I'll send Gou back with everything I know and expect. If it proves to be useful, I may end up taking advantage of it. If not, we'll need to put it down fast. I've formed a connection of sorts with Roman Torchwick, which may serve as an in for us, but nothing's certain yet."

"It never is," She mused with a sigh. "Where are you now?"

"Watching Cinder," I answered. "Specifically, I wanted to confirm the state of her soul. I can see souls now, by the by."

"Of course you can," She muttered, rolling her eyes slightly. "When'd you gain that ability?"

"After I fought a Hydra," I explained. "Who evolved into an Ananta just to screw with mewhich is another thing I need to tell you about, because oh boy did that go to shit fast. I managed to kill it before it got as bad as it could have been, butwell, that's just because it could have been really, really bad. I got enough levels off of it to upgrade my brain again, which was even weirder than usual, but it came with some perks."

Her eyes widened and then she frowned at me.

"You fought a Hydra?" She asked.

"An Ananta," I corrected. "And yeskind of. It's hard to explain so I'll just come buy and show you the fight later. It's not particularly helpful when it comes to protecting the city, but it's worth knowing all the same."

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head before looking at my again, frown deepening.

"Very well," She said. "It would be foolish to start getting skeptical now. But I have to askyou didn't bring Autumn along, did you?"

"Of course not," I shot down at once, frowning right back at her. "I wouldn't expose her to that kind of danger unless I was sure she was ready."

"Good," My grandmother replied, expression returning to normal. "How is she, then?"

"She's been doing very well," I answered, mimicking her as we changed to subject. "She's grown a lot since you last saw hershe can walk and talk just fine now. I've even been taking her out Hunting a lot lately, now that she's strong enough for it."

"A shame I couldn't be there," Grandmother said ruefully. "My great-granddaughter's first HuntI suppose it can't be helped. Bring her along when you swing by?"

"Will do," I confirmed. "I've been meaning to bring her around to see you all again, anyway. See you soon."

"Goodbye, Jaune," She replied before ending the call.

I put away my scroll and looked down at Cinder one more time.

What was I going to do about you?