Cinder and Neo

Once upon a time, Cinder Fall had nothing, but now…

Deputy Director of Internal Security for the RATS. A title that intimidated anyone she encountered in her life, whether they understood what it meant or only the imposing title made up of a string of words and a single acronym. There was something intimidating about the combination of the words Director, Security, and RATS.

Though, to be fair, even a janitor of RATS' would probably elicit some amount of fear.

People are wary, sometimes even outright afraid of Cinder – and they were generally right in their assessment. Not that she would bother using her powers against some random people that were guilty of nothing more than disgruntled whispers or poor manners. But Cinder could, and just because she could abuse her power, in people's mind that was enough reason to fear her.

In people's minds, she was always only one step away from taking advantage of her position.

But who would have thought of Cinder Fall's past?

A princess, not blood-related to His Majesty, an important clarification, of Glenn, a high-ranking figure in its secret services, one of Glenn's most influential individuals and, without exaggeration, one of Remnant's world players. She simply was, as if she had no more depth than her photographs glimpsed in the occasional news item concerning her work and achievements. Who would have thought at all about her past, her achievements, her history?

Maybe years from now, after several generations had passed, someone would wonder about her life after she had become Remnant's most powerful woman, perhaps. But right now, the average person was likely aware of her position, but unlikely to even consider who she had once been.

But Cinder would never forget. Years ago, many years ago, what she is now, was nothing more than tall tales of the Cinder Fall stuck in the small cupboard.

In a small hotel on the edge of Atlas, one that even its past neighbors had forgotten ever existed, Cinder Fall had slept in a closet. Tortured, a slave that had to climb through ventilation ducts to escape the wrath of the seemingly invincible leviathan Miss Sunny…

Would the world ever learn of that fact?

Cinder didn't particularly want to remember those past years, but at the same time, she didn't want to forget it either. She didn't want to reveal that information to people, and yet she wasn't ashamed of it either. She had survived, and she had prospered, all thanks to Jonathan.

Even if she would tell the world, who would think of Cinder that way?

To most of the population, Cinder Fall was a figure of the uppermost crust. For fifteen years she had been known as the adopted daughter of the King of Glenn, and for the last few years as a high-ranking official of the RATS. A huntress, a genius, a politician, with influence reaching peaks that ordinary people could never have thought of in their simple daily lives, spending more on each of her meals than people earned in a year of their work.

Who would ever think of even theorizing about the past of Cinder Fall? Because she is so highly positioned today, then it must mean that she was born into it, right?

The people didn't know Cinder Fall. Or maybe they do? It would be silly for her to generalize about people she hadn't met or interacted with personally. Those people are strangers to her – naturally, they knew only what they themselves could imagine about Cinder Fall based on their limited knowledge of her.

But, what Cinder found amusing about it, was that they knew virtually nothing about Cinder. Absolutely nothing at all.

But they knew even less about Jonathan.

Even if she were to outright share her past, even acquire proof of it, she knew that RATS would get it even with the hotel gone and Miss Sunny and her family liquidated, scarcely anyone would believe her. The layman would probably believe her, sheep that they are, and the cynics would simply call it a favor-gaining farce. After all, being at the top of Remnant's political caste, who knew how far her reach extended? Forged evidence was not the newest invention in Remnant history.

But at least there would be those who would believe her, maybe not many, but some would agree with her arguments, nod their heads and accept her facts, and find her words true.

But what about Jonathan's story?

Assuming that someone would believe the tragic story of Cinder, how many people in the world would believe Jonathan's story? Never mind the magic, the journey from another world, the coincidence of conditions that led yesterday's apprentice to the royal throne, but the journey from bank robber to Remnant's most powerful politician?

People ended up in hospitals for the mentally disturbed for more believable stories. In all of Remnant, even in Glenn, which was almost monolithically supportive of His Majesty, there would be perhaps ten people who would believe his story.

But, what was probably even more important, would Jonathan himself be able to tell his story, ever, to anyone?

Cinder's story could significantly change the public's perception of her. Some would think of her as an unfortunate victim of child abuse, and others as a disgusting manipulative woman who stooped to lying about such topics to gain public support. But other than that, it wouldn't do much more.

Cinder Fall was officially adopted by Jonathan Goodman, her position in the RATS relied solely on her personal qualities and her training at the Hunter Academy. Her life story might have generated a wave of discussion and caused people's attitudes towards her to waver, but nothing more than that. Jonathan Goodman's story would tear the world apart.

The existence of magic, other worlds, tales of spirits and beings beyond Remnant… The story of Salem's existence and the intelligent force behind the Grimm's rampage would be less surprising, less explosive and dangerous than this information. Even information about Remnant's actual existing Brother Gods would be less surprising to the inhabitants of Remnant itself.

The existence of two gods might be hard to swallow, that there might be more and that mortals could become one? Or at least, infinitely close to being gods, the difference seemed purely academical to her when Jonathan explained the concept.

Of course, that's not mentioning the legal issues that would arise. One only has to wonder about the legitimacy of Jonathan's rule, after all, he became King of Glenn by officially declaring the line of succession drawn from the last King of Vale to him. Even if, in theory, he could declare that he was still King at the moment, at least by right of de jure, that would still throw a stone into the fine-tuned mechanism of Glenn's workings… A very large stone, in fact, putting a very unpleasant thought into the heads of many people around the world.

If someone can become King and be recognized as such, simply by the fact of seizing power and holding that power… Why can't that 'someone' be me?

Because if Cinder could, and that's a big if, contemplate one day revealing information about her past and history, Jonathan couldn't afford to. For the rest of his life, for as many years as it would take a hundred generations to fully naturalize the thought of Jonathan Goodman and his heirs ruling, Jonathan had to keep quiet about it. Not to allow even the thought of revealing himself to the people, to always be someone else in the eyes of observers.

You can count on one hand the number of people who knew of Jonathan's true nature, Ozpin, Aifal, Salem, Cinder and Neo. Though the first three were only through Jonathan's conjecture, and thankfully the third is not long for this world, if only the first two would be so kind as to keel over soonish.

Out of all the people that knew Jonathan, only two would not use that information not to harm him – his two adopted daughters.

And one mistress going by two years now.

Jonathan had scant people that he could truly share with, those details of his life – so important, and yet absolutely hidden.

Cinder was not a religious person, by any means, nor did she believe in fate, least of all because she didn't believe in predetermined outcomes. That her life was nothing more than a sequence of events that she had no control in, a set of scenes where she was nothing more than a puppet. Jonathan had agreed with her, explaining what 'fate' is supposed to be with his occult knowledge that passed over Cinder's head no matter how hard she tried to understand it.

But Cinder had understood enough.

For her, 'fate' was nothing more than actions that were in line with her life. Not because it was something that she had to conform to some 'role' assigned to her, but because she believed that life is a maelstrom of chances. And it was her own responsibility to choose the best, the right, choices presented to her, the one that suited her best. That fate was nothing more than the 'right' choice, superior to all other options present in her life.

If it could be called fate — well, it could be called fate.

Cinder Fall had long ago found her 'destined' place in life. Her 'destiny' was to help Jonathan Goodman, in everything. To be his personal advisor, bodyguard, confidant, friend, guardian, ward… The natural progression of these growing titles eventually came to the point where Cinder Fall became Jonathan Goodman's mistress.

All signs of this were evident long before such a relationship began. It didn't take long for Cinder to stop hiding her admiration for Jonathan, and her childhood crush soon enough passed the stage of realization. Unlike many childhood crushes, it did not dissolve into pleasant memories of naive attempts to learn about the world and herself, but matured as she did. Jonathan, had missed the moment when he could have influenced this development and was finally forced to admit it to himself.

Cinder's feelings that he had tried to ignore for so long… And his own reaction to those feelings.

Three years ago, Cinder Fall and Jonathan Goodman found themselves on a date, the first real date that could be called such a thing. Not a father-daughter outing, although she liked those as well, not just for a friendly chat, not a play date, but a real one – a date between a man and a woman.

Jonathan Goodman, after enduring the years of Cinder's advances, finally saw Cinder as not just a girl, but as a possible romantic partner.

Not that it was a short journey, Cinder had just got to the start line. First it was embraces, not hugs, because those are for family and friends, but embraces, hugs that are a little more laden with affection than could be deemed decent in public places. Then kisses, first just pecks on the cheeks, but each was aware that it was more than just a show of warmth, then on the lips, far more romantic than familial, and then…

Something that is definitely not family friendly… or maybe since the end result would be a family, maybe it was actually the most family 'friendly' thing?.

There was no big revelation or moment before they took that final step, perhaps it was almost pedestrian how it had ended up happening.

Jonathan was slightly tipsy after a successful UR organizing project, and Cinder didn't mind an extra glass of wine as part of keeping the atmosphere light. First there was one glass, then a second, the idle chatter turning a bit more warm. At one point Jonathan felt hot from the alcohol, and Cinder, looking at him shirtless, thought about the fact that her current clothes were also considerably constricting her body. Cards appeared in hand, and Cinder, with virtually no manipulation on her part, lost at strip poker… and one thing led to another.

And so, Cinder and Jonathan's relationship was now two years old.

Only Neo was fully aware of this relationship, treating it with complete indifference, with perhaps a simple remark that it's about time. Other people suspects, mostly those Cinder and Jonathan usually interact with, and probably others too who are trained in seeing details where they could be seen, are wise enough to keep their mouth shut. After all, the relationship between Cinder and Jonathan had always been considerably out of the norm, their current state was nothing more than a natural progression.

It's not like Jonathan and her were related by blood anyway.

Still, it was her who had initiated the relationship and both of them were well aware of the weight of their actions and the possible consequences of such a relationship. She knew that it would be a complicated relationship, but had no plans to back down.

And so, having reached her position as Director of RATS without any hint of nepotism, she had asked Jonathan not to help her, and he had agreed, Cinder gradually began to spread her influence in the world. It is this time when she began using her many connections. People that had spent even a short time in her orbit, have now become her mouthpiece and spies in one.

Beyond their usual orders, gathering information on various strata of society or manipulating opinion leaders, a new set of orders were handed out. After all, even if no one would raise a voice against Cinder's relationship with Jonathan, she would rather have that they wouldn't need to hide their relationship in the first place… And it's been slow progress, slower than Cinder would have wished.

A few discrete subsidies to opposition politicians raising 'important issues'. A few literary awards for 'innovative' authors dealing with controversial topics in their work, and gradually the topic was raised in people's minds, forcing them, on their own volition, to start entertaining a certain idea.

Perhaps there is nothing terrible with incestual relationships, especially between non-blood related relatives?

It's slow progress, and it will be years before Cinder can stop hiding her relationship with Jonathan, but they will pass.

And Cinder Fall can fulfil her destiny.

To be with Jonathan always and everywhere.

Until that moment? Well, the RATS Deputy Director of Internal Security – known to the common man only for her portrayal in the newspapers, had issues that she had to deal with, and an image that she had to maintain.

Even though at the moment, Cinder wanted more than anything to throw her responsibilities aside and be there for Jonathan on his birthday, if only a second sooner.

But Cinder Fall couldn't do that, because Cinder's job was to support Jonathan, in everything…

Even if that included sorting through hundreds of thousands of daily reports of tales, legends, and historical archives. Especially knowing exactly what those dry summaries meant, and where they were leading, step by step.

To Jonathan's birthday.

To the moment of the greatest, most obvious, and yet, most secret magical ritual Remnant had ever and probably would ever see… Which it would never see, and which it would never know about.

Because there were only a handful of people who knew of the real Jonathan Goodman, only two enjoyed his trust, and only Cinder Fall could truly capitalize on that trust by using it properly.

For Jonathan Goodman himself, a bani Bonisagus mage that one day had walked into a small hotel on the outskirts of Atlas, and wondered, 'what does it mean to be a good man?'

Because Cinder Fall was ready to burn everything and herself into ashes, if only it helped Jonathan Goodman find the answer to that question.

***

Neo considered herself a simple enough person – and saw nothing wrong with such a characterization.

Yes, she wasn't very good at math, but certainly not at a level where it would interfere with her normal daily life, even if trigonometric equations were something Neo had never understood. One that she had forgotten after her graduation like a bad dream, finding no use for them in her daily life. So what if she couldn't measure the angles of an imaginary triangle? Was such a fact some kind of shameful thing that she had to hide from all her acquaintances and from society? No.

So Neo could admit honestly, that she wasn't strong in math, nor did she want to become a mathematician, and didn't consider herself inferior to other people that get better grades than she did. Why on earth would she even consider herself dumber or worse than other people?

Yes, sure, just like in math, Neo had a poor grasp of ancient philosophers, historical dates and the literary trends of Mistral poetry, but so what? Neo could honestly admit that she didn't consider her bad grades to be a problem or her weakness, not wasting time on such a trivial pursuit such as improving her grades.

That is to say, Neo could perhaps listen to a lecture about something she didn't understand, but not with the purpose of suddenly becoming smarter, admitting honestly to herself and everyone else that she was doing it as entertainment. And that the information gained during that lecture would stay in her head only for the next week, if that, and nothing more.

Neo was a simple girl, a simple Huntress, a simple Princess of the Kingdom of Glenn, though most people would probably object to the latter two being anything

simple'. She liked beautiful outfits, delicious food and cheerful company rather than lengthy discourses on the meaning of life and long evenings in the library. Quite rightly, at least in her own opinion, believing that any question, before all the speculations and calculations, should first have a consideration done on them – am I interested in the answer to this question?

And if the answer to that question was 'no', then there was probably no point in bothering to find the answer.

Neo was a simple girl, and she wore that label with some peculiar level of pride.

Yes, I want to sleep in and eat good food, not ponder the fate of the world – what are you going to do about it?

Of course, that didn't mean Neo was stupid. She wasn't incapable of learning new skills or mastering new knowledge, she was quite good at it. In fact, she could probably quite easily get better grades, and do better on her assignments, only that she didn't think it was important and didn't seek out things that she didn't find 'necessary'.

Her position in life was strong enough without it.

Why would she strain her brain doing something she didn't want to do, especially things that wouldn't be useful in her life? Wasn't it better to focus on something she enjoyed, or at least of practical use?

Neo's position was to be Jonathan's bodyguard. And of course Neo knows that in her position some esoteric knowledge like knowledge of the Mistral poets of the last three Centuries could find use in such a unique position. Maybe some cypher used by a spy could be decoded using such knowledge or other such unique circumstances.

But let's face it, bodyguards, Neo especially, didn't do that sort of thing. Besides, Jonathan has the RATS and Cinder for that, if Jonathan somehow couldn't solve that problem on his own.

Neo's main skills were observation, quick reflexes, fighting ability, and the strength of her Aura, the abilities required of a bodyguard. And Neo is pulling double duty there, acting as Jonathan's 'secret' bodyguard. After all, when people thought of the word bodyguard the image that would come to mind is a huge gorilla of a man with muscles bursting at the seams of their clothes, intimidating anyone that would come near their charge.

They would be mistaken, of course. A bodyguard is not a bouncer.

Besides, anyone important enough to need a bodyguard would probably be intimidating enough on their own due to their influence.

A bodyguard's job was to guard their target, spotting potential threats and avenue of attack, whether it was a slipped dagger or poison or even where a bullet could come from. They should be able to neutralize threats before they could get close to their charge, preferably without attracting attention to themselves. Ideally, no one at all should realize that their target had been under guard the whole time.

At the very least, Neo had learned this part of the Hunter craft perfectly, as Hunters are often used as bodyguards. After all, who was better suited to guarding a target than an actual superhuman, invulnerable to bullets? Now, if they could only learn to stand out less, then Hunters would be the perfect Bodyguards.

Neo, of course, was only a part of Jonathan's guard details, but everyone in it could block any attempt on Jonathan's life. But, it's not like they would need to last long, just long enough to give Jonathan time to react to the surprise attack. An emergency portal later, and their job would be accomplished.

It was the perfect job for Neo. After all, there were an incredibly few people in the world that would be stupid enough to try to assassinate someone as powerful as Jonathan, yet capable enough to get past all the other echelons of his defenses. And at that point it might as well be full-blown war, rather than an assassination attempt.

Though of course that was no reason for Neo to relax while on duty. Because Neo wasn't going to risk Jonathan's safety in either case… And because otherwise Cinder would have bitten Neo's head off, despite their sisterly relationship, and would have been absolutely right in doing so.

Even so, Neo's role, despite the seemingly impressive title of 'His Majesty's personal bodyguard', was minimal. At any given time, in addition to Neo herself being his 'official' bodyguard, there were at least two agents in civilian uniforms not far from Jonathan. About ten more within a small perimeter around him, not to mention the multitude of people simply performing routine surveillance procedures on Glenn.

Neo was quite confident in Jonathan's safety. Not only did His Majesty's Security Service select only the best of the best, the strongest, smartest and most loyal. They were also paid perfectly well in exchange for the fact that one day, perhaps, that service might be required to repay that debt… With great interest.

Posthumous pensions and welfare payments to the victims sweetened this possible future, and the presence of Cinder, ready to skin anyone alive for neglecting their duties, ensured a superb level of discipline and adherence to protocols.

Though, sometimes such protocols did get quite ridiculous. Neo couldn't just turn up at Jonathan's work, she was to visit him, every time she had to answer security questions and prove her identity. Even though she was literally Jonathan's adopted daughter, having lived with her father in the same house not so long ago, even Cinder had to follow the same time-wasting protocol.

Though Cinder always kept quiet in response to such procedures… And Neo simply couldn't look at her reflection in the mirror if someone bypassed her ability to keep quiet!

As to why Neo had needed to be vetted when she was just going home, was that she had moved out of Jonathan's house and into her own home. It was nothing more than a formality really, considering that she spent almost all her time with Jonathan as his bodyguard, and her 'house' was nothing more than an annex of Jonathan's house. It couldn't even really be called living 'next-door' to Jonathan, seeing that their house is connected by a door.

But in a way it could be considered an achievement – a separate living space, why not?

Besides, if Neo stayed to live in Jonathan's house, despite the logicality of such a thing in terms of keeping Jonathan safe, it would at least cause one raised eyebrow… Cinder's first and foremost. And in no way did Neo wish to encroach on Cinder's territory, not having that type of love for Jonathan.

Neo certainly loved Jonathan, was grateful to him for him, and was quite aware that she didn't mind sacrificing her life for Jonathan if necessary, but there were no romantic feelings among her admiration and gratitude for Jonathan. It was a familial love for Neo, the same feelings she has for Cinder. Indeed, Neo was quite aware that one day she might even wish to start a family of her own… Though, her choice for a partner still remains in question.

She didn't have any suitable boyfriends in front of her at the moment, of course, but she didn't dismiss the very possibility of such a thing, at least on the level of theory.

As for Cinder and Jonathan… Of course, Neo knew what was going on. There were very few people in Cinder's life that she trusted enough to be herself with. But any of those people had only to spend a second when Cinder was with Jonathan to realize that their relationship extended beyond being just father and daughter. Neo, on the other hand, just… Didn't care about it

Didn't care at all, because Neo cared for Cinder and Jonathan at the same time. And if the love between them was taking on romantic traits, who was Neo to stop them along the way? As long as the people she cared for were happy with it? Live and let live, she says…

I mean, technically she couldn't say it due to the fact that she was mute, but the message was clear to everyone.

And her conscience, as well as her mind, was completely clear in that regard. After all, there was nothing normal about Jonathan Goodman's family's in the first place.

Neo was a mute champion of all physical sports and an orphaned huntress. Cinder was a former slave and the future head of the most powerful Secret Service in the world. And Jonathan was a mage from another world who became a king in this one.

There was nothing inherently normal about this family, what's a few more strangeness?

Neo, of course, wasn't too well-versed in science, but even she knew that if the composition of a family was one hundred percent weirdness, a little more weirdness wouldn't increase the percentage.

So Neo woke up on Jonathan's birthday with only one thing on her mind: whether he would like the gift she'd picked out for him, a quality cloak based on the one he'd once had.

And relationships, magic and royal duties? Neo left those questions to those people who couldn't just admit to themselves that they weren't interested.