CLUES of the Past [closed]

Liseran and Mustard entered the break room together to continue their investigation. Inside the break room they see Mr. Plum and Dr. Green awake and stretching. Soon after, Ms. White and Scarlet entered the break room with platters of breakfast for the group.

General Mustard was about to help himself to a pancake when the door suddenly shut on its own and a thick metal plate slides over it, completely blocking the way.

Everyone turns to look at the only and now blocked door in astonishment. Mustard quickly pulls out his monkey wrench and charges at the door at full swing. He slams his weapon against the metal and his hand literally rattled upon impact.

"What the bloody hell??" Mustard yelled, "What is this??"

Liseran's hands instinctively came to Weeping Cerinthe.

"Everyone stay together," she directed. She went up to General Mustard and feels the metal plate. "General you can't break through this."

Liseran actually wanted to send a fire spell to it, but she knew it wouldn't work and that she'd set the room on fire. She felt the edges of the plate, but there was no way to crank it open. She fixed her glasses.

"General Mustard, you said so yourself there's no windows in this room, right?" she asked. Her hands were shaking, but she kept her grip firm on her two bells. "Because if so then we're stuck, alright. And it definitely isn't an accident."

The plasma screen hanging on the wall suddenly turns on on its own. The general and everyone else spun around to look at it. In their shock they were stunned and paralyzed at the familiar sight on the screen. It was none other the Mr. Body looking at them with a smug look on his face.

"Took you all long enough to gather in at once," Mr. Body smirked.

"Body??" Mustard yelled at the TV, "What the hell is this?! You're suppose to be dead! Who's the guy we put in the cellar??"

"That my former boss was one of the old butlers," Mr. Body stated, "No one of any importance, not like you or my other valuable guests. I hope you are comfortable there because I will be holding you there for quiet some time."

Everyone has become too stunned to speak further.

Liseran was surprised even if she had already taken the assumption that Mr. Body wasn't dead.

"That explains the chopped face alright..." she said to no one in particular. And then, taking a step towards the screen. "Mr. Body, what is all this? Why'd you stage your own death? And why are you keeping us here?"

She was nervous. Her hands were trembling. Though it all fell into place, it didn't make sense.

"Well, I needed to stage some sort of event that would leave the household nervous," Mr. Body stated casually, "A murder, a body, and blood. Quite an emotional stir is it not? Like animals being hunted you were all frightened into hiding together. This room is literally the only one big enough for everyone to sleep in and as far as you can tell it's the safest against any assassins."

"The re-enforced walls," Mustard murmured, "They're not to keep other people out-"

"-They're to keep you all in," Mr. Body finished for him, "I hold the controls for that place right here on this laptop. All I needed was for you all to gather and then with a mere press of a button trap you all in there. Course I couldn't just ask you all to gather in there else raise suspicion and of course god forbid you to ever gather together even for dinner so I had to cause some... initiative. I knew the growing fear and caution created after seeing me murdered would get you all to gather in one room as your gathered bedding and as I said, this is the one and only room big enough for all of you."

"You can't be serious," Plum growled, "Why would you go through so much trouble to do this??"

"Money of course," Mr. Body stated, "I always was one to think about the future rather then the present. I joined the side of the faunus during the war and found some way to acquaint myself with all of you simply because I knew a situation like this would one day come."

"A situation like what??" Dr. Green yelled.

"The faunus obtaining ground in society," Mr. Body said, "Or at least the start of it. We now live in the small moment where the faunus community hold onto their future in a glass ball with their mere fingertips. The wrong move or action will cause them to drop that delicate glass ball and it will shatter. So obviously they can't afford to lose..."

Mr. Body pointed at General Mustard, "A soldier who was in part of the now cancelled development of the next dust fusion bomb..."

He points at Dr. Green, "A researcher who is mere years away from curing one of the worst known diseases known..."

His finger drifts in the direction of Edgar Allen Plum, "A former psychologist of many important faunus figures whose dirty little secrets are all in your memory..."

Mr. Body points at Ms. White and Scarlet, "A rising aura researcher in development of what may just be the greatest revolutionary invention this century... and the daughter of a famous faunus politician..."

The plasma screen shows Mr. Body getting and stretching. "Now there's just the one thing I had miscalculated. I had forgotten the contact info in my studies. So of course I will have to go back and retrieve it so hold tight until I make those calls..."

With that, the plasma screen turned off leaving the room silent and still.

Liseran's knees felt wobbly, but she kept firm ground as she listened carefully to everything Mr. Body said. Mr. Body had never been the target of danger in the first place. The guests had been.

There's supposedly no way out, she thinks as she scans the room. The controls are on his laptop and no one can get to it because we're all here...

It's only then that her mind drifts to Cheshire, still out cold and tied up. He would possibly be the only one to get in or out. Something else occurred to mind.

Why did Mr. Body hire Cheshire? Liseran thought. His semblance makes this entire thing risky. Unless Cheshire has some unmentioned connections as well.

Frustration was filling every part of Liseran because throughout the entire mission, she had been unable to figure out what to do. Once again, everyone was in danger and she felt completely helpless.

There's no one outside... Liseran thinks, her head drops. But quickly, that changes. Lacie!

Liseran doesn't know how dangerous Mr. Body is and Lacie alone was alarming. But she also realized that Lacie was the only one outside who could sneak around unnoticed while Mr. Body quickly came to the contacts. Liseran's hands came to her pager. She then looked around to the guests.

"Did anyone leave a scroll or phone in their room?" she asked.

"Why?" Scarlet asked.

"Doesn't matter," Dr. Green grumbled. He had his scroll in his hand and is staring at it with scrunched eyebrows, "I can't send any messages or make any calls. All signals are being blocked. Mr. Body's thought of everything."

A few minutes later the group can hear the door opening and closing. Footsteps came down the hallway and stopped. A tapping came from the blocked door. "You comfortable in there?" Mr. Body's voice came from the other side, "It'll probably take a day or two for negotiations to go through so you better be. So be good little hostages and sit tight."

Mr. Body is heard walking away going to his studies. A minute or two passes before the plasma screen turns on again.

"Ah, here it is," Mr. Body says with a smile while waving the piece of paper, "Let's see, I think I'll call your father first Scarlet. What do you think he's willing to pay for you, a few million?"

"Bite me," she growls.

Liseran's hands drop to her side. Her face shows both disappointment and frustration with herself.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, everyone..." Liseran says aloud. "I can't think of anyway to help us get out of here. I...I'm stumped. I'm a horrible guard!"

She realizes that its selfish of her to be wallowing in her own self pity. You can't do this! They're counting on you! half her mind is saying. But what do I do!? her other part says. At this rate we're dead in water!

That stops her. Something comes to mind. How much does Mr. Body care about his hostages being safe...?

"Oh, I almost forgot," Mr. Body murmurs putting down the phone and the list, "The five of you there are my money makers, but I have no need for the guards."

Mr. Body lifts up a gun and points it at Liseran. It looked ridiculous, like a scene from a movie where the character is breaking the fourth wall and threatens the viewer as if the bullet was going to pop out of the screen and kill someone.

"Oh," Mr. Body added, "You probably want to know how I left my own room without opening any windows or doors. It's quiet simple really. I used my semblance."

"You glowed?"
"You lit something on fire?"
"You jumped really high?"

Three people talked at the same time and the same three people looked at each other quizzically.

"Close but no cigar," Mr. Body smirked, "My semblance is... mimic. I can copy anyone's semblance and use it as my own. Drawback is I can only copy the semblance of someone extremely close by. Say... someone from the room next to mine for example."

"Impossible," Ms. White murmured.

"Oh, but it is indeed possible," Mr. Body stated, "And now you must be thinking, 'He's going to teleport right into the room? We can just jump him then.' Well apparently you don't know our black cat very well."

Mr. Body's hand and the gun it held suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving a layer of purple light where his hand was. At the same time, Mr. Body's hand appeared right in front of Liseran and the barrel of the gun pointed right at her forehead.

"Good night little mouse," Mr. Body murmurs as his disembodied hand pulls the trigger.

A large deafening bang rings out and the gun barrel is smoking. Everyone was silent, everything was still. The only sound that could be heard was Cheshire's heavy breathing and low growling as pain went through his left arm.

Cheshire's left shoulder blocked the gun, a small hole bleeding slowly where the bullet dug in. Cheshire held Liseran's head against his chest tightly with his other arm.

"Never again," Cheshire growled, "I will not let anyone I care about get killed... ever again..."

When the gun appeared before Liseran, she came to a tragic realization. I'm going to die failing everyone... In that small moment, she had been full of regrets, especially those where she had not been able to protect Cheshire.

As the hand pulled the gun's trigger, however, a familiar warmth covered her and it was only then that she found out that it was Cheshire. Tears brimmed in her eyes and a small relief flooded her. But only lasted for a second when she felt Cheshire's arm shot.

"No..no!." she whispered. And then, with newly found rage, she pushed Cheshire away. "HOW DARE YOU!?"

She screamed as she aimed one of her bells at the disembodied hand of Mr. Body, her eyes blind in fury. She felt herself make the "7" symbol and she cast a darting flame right to it and set it on fire.

She wanted to stab the hand as it burned. Sink it down into place and dismember its fingers to makte Mr. Body know what true pain felt like. But she turned to Cheshire and gripped him firmly by the arms, setting him down on the chair.

"Why!?" she shouted with tears running down her eyes. "You idiot, what if he killed you!?"

She didn't wait for a response, she took the white thick ribbon from her hair and used it to tie his wound, keeping pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Dr. Green!" she shouted. "Please...please help him!"

The hand had disappeared when the fire hit it. Mr. Body roared as he flapped his hand which was on fire. Mr. Body ran off screen screaming cursing.

Dr. Green had already tried to come to Cheshire's side when suddenly the faunus disappeared. Everyone looked around frantically only to see Cheshire on the plasma screen, his hand holding the wound on his shoulder as he gritted his teeth. He soon ran off screen and all was silent.

Some crashing and banging could be heard outside. Moments later, Mr. Body was slowly walking back on screen. His hands were raised above his head and he sat back down slowly.

"Let them out. Now," Cheshire's voice growled.

Mr. Body scowled at him but he slowly lowered his hands and reached towards the screen. His finger tapped down on a button on his keyboard and the metal block rose from the door.

"Alright, they're free," Mr. Body grumbled, "So what, you're going to call the authorities now? Knowing them they'd just let me go without any charges. Who would care about a bunch of stupid anima-"

Mr. Body was cut off. On screen, Cheshire has darted in, his hand grasping Mr. Body's neck while the other held his gun to the head. Mr. Body was gasping for air, his hand trying to pry the faunus's off but Cheshire was producing a strength he never had before.

"How dare you," Cheshire growled as he squeezed, "How dare you try to kill her. How dare you point your gun at her. I'll kill you. I swear I will kill you for you ignorance. I'll kill you. I'LL KILL YOU!"

Liseran went pale as Cheshire disappeared and even paler later when she saw that Cheshire was about to pull the trigger on Mr. Body. A minute before, when the criminal had shot Cheshire, she had felt the same, but her thoughts changed now and she tried to move closer to the screen.

"Cheshire, don't!" she cried out. "Please! He's not worth it! Don't be like him!"

She didn't know how long it would take, but she rushed out with Walker gliding her to the room the two were in. She burst the doors open.

"Cheshire!" she yelled out again. "Stop!"

She used Weeping Cerinthe to create Binder's glyph, pulling Mr. Body down onto a corner, unable to move. She ran to Cheshire and hugged him, trying to stop his tense muscles from pulling on the trigger. Every part of her was trembling. Her heart beat fast mostly because she was afraid of what might happen to Cheshire.

"This is enough already!" she said, her face pressed to his chest. Her tears wouldn't stop falling. "Please, Cheshire! I've already failed you so many times. I couldn't protect you...I want you to be okay now...I swear if you stay hurt like this, it's going to be the death of me!"

She was speaking in sobs now, uncontrollable sobs. Her heart ached so much.

"I just want you to be okay..." she whimpered, more softly now. "I care about you so much...! I just want you to be okay..."

"I... I..." Cheshire murmured. The hand holding the gun shook. The gun fell from his hand and it clattered against the floor harmlessly. Cheshire wrapped his arms around Liseran slowly and embraced her tightly. "I... I'm sorry..."

~~~

The authorities were called and Mr. Body was cuffed and hauled away. Tired and weary from all the questioning and the events of the day, everyone had retreated to their rooms early.

Throughout the day, Cheshire had a hollow look in his eyes and his emotionless expression seemed so blank that it was hard to tell if he even had a face sometimes. He didn't speak to Liseran ever since the incident in the morning and his statements to the police officers were blunt, straight forward, and less then five words every sentence. The only time he had spoken to Liseran was before he retreated to his own room to tell her to be ready to leave to return to Beacon in the morning.

The night was silent and the moonlight shined through the window. Liseran is now in her room alone getting ready for bed. Her door suddenly creaked open and a small head peered around from the other side.

"Had an exciting day huh?" Lacie stated as she walked into the room, "You were the first to realize who the killer was and stopped his plan. You had a little help from Cheshire but you can't lie and say you weren't a little flattered by his heroics... So you're leaving tomorrow huh?"

After the incident, Liseran should've been relieved. Cheshire's arm was fixed up, Mr. Body was taken away and things were somewhat supposed to be normal. But she didn't feel relieved. She felt sore. Tired. Physically and emotionally. She thought that maybe the reason Cheshire wasn't speaking to her was because she had been such a failure at everything.

It was only when Lacie came to her room that she lightened a little.

"Lacie!" she said as she hugged the little girl. "I'm glad you're alright and I'm sorry I couldn't check on you sooner. Are you tired? Have you eaten?"

She caught Lacie's last words and her hands dropped from the embrace.

"Exciting's not really the word for it," Liseran said sheepishly. "I nearly had a heart attack twice. And...even if you say that, I didn't really accomplish anything."

Her mind drifted back to Cheshire.

"I was so scared when Cheshire did that. I really thought I was gonna lose myself. But none of that anymore. Yes, I am leaving tomorrow and I actually want to know...you said you have nowhere to really stay, right? I have plenty of room at home. I feel anxious about leaving you here by yourself and I'd be more than happy to have you as a guest. Do you want to?"

Lacie smiled but shook her head. "It's alright. I'm going to have a home again soon so you don't need to worry about me. I'm more worried about you actually... I'd like to ask you one more thing okay? I just want to ask... how do you feel about Cheshire? What is he to you? Please be honest, I really want to know."

Liseran held her chest a bit, feeling the steady, but heavy pounding her heart was making. She couldn't look at Lacie, but it didn't mean she was sure about what she was going to say.

"I love him, Lacie," Liseran said, a small red tinting her cheeks. "I know a lot of people say it's crazy to say such a thing about someone you only met, but...I didn't just meet Cheshire."

Both her hands were over her heart now and her head was down, as if she was trying to look at what lay there.

"I don't understand it myself, but I felt a very special connection made. It's not just about being happy when I'm around him. It's not about any of that. I learned how to lock my heart long ago. I learned how to keep it shut because I knew no one would ever love me. My parents were gone, I was scorned by my relatives, I had no friends...but Cheshire...he opened something I never thought was possible. A happiness, a passion...a dedication. Worth. Love itself. That's what I feel deep down inside, anyways."

She didn't realize it, but tears were falling again, and Liseran almost giggled as she wiped them.

"Oh, I'm crying all over again," she said. "Sorry. It's just that, I always want Cheshire to be happy. I want him to be safe. I want to please and protect him. I want...to just be with him. I love him, Lacie. That's what I feel. Even if it's not what others would call love. It's love for me."

Silence was Liseran's reply from Lacie. When Liseran looks up she'll find that she is alone once again, the little girl gone from sight.

~~~

As morning comes, Cheshire is waiting for Liseran at the front standing next to Bandersnatch. He is looking off into the distance in thought. The rest of the household had already left, going off in their own directions to move on. Now Cheshire and Liseran were the only ones left to leave.

When Liseran would eventually come out, Cheshire would say to her, "Before we leave, I want to introduce someone to you. Would you mind following me?"

"Morning," Liseran says meekly, though her heart still pounded furiously. "Sure...I'd follow."

She gets onto Rae-rae and revs the engine. She gives Cheshire a small nod. As she looks back to the manor, her heart feels a little sad. She thinks to how Lacie just disappeared.

I'm going to plant a white rose in my garden for you, Lacie...as my thanks.

"Where to?" she asks Cheshire.

Cheshire drove Bandersnatch into town with Liseran following closely behind. They made their way past the streets and around corners in silence. Cheshire said nothing during the small trip and stopped in front of iron gates.

Stepping off of Bandersnatch, Cheshire opened the gates and walked down the stone path into the cemetery. To the left and the right were tombstones and sepulchers of all kinds. Cheshire continued walking with Liseran following behind. He continued up the path in silence.

Up ahead, Liseran could see a stone monument. It was the statue of a winged angel, a woman with long wavy hair, her arms outstretched. She stood on a rectangular grave marker where a bouquet of white roses laid.

Cheshire stopped in front of this grave and stared at it silently.

"I had... visited this place the first night we came here," Cheshire stated, "This town is where I grew up... It was where I learned to love... It was where I first fell in love. She was a kind, gentle soul. She was my only friend, the only one to ever accept me for everything I was and who stayed at my side no matter what... I loved her since I was a child. We had already promised to spent our lives together by the time we were nine. I know it's such a ridiculous thing for children to promise but... we knew what we were promising and we were okay with that...."

Cheshire paused in silence, his breathing slow and steady.

"I watched her die before my eyes," Cheshire continued, "The town was suddenly attacked by a swarm of grimm. I tried to take her and run but fate had other plans. My leg was broken and she was trapped under a pile of rubble. Then the beowolf came. It was as large as life to me. Ironic isn't it? Since it became the death of the girl I cherished more then anything...

"That is why I freaked when you were about to be killed. I couldn't bear it if I became a helpless child again and lost someone I held dear once more. Mr. Body looked like that very same beowolf to me... And all I wanted to do was kill him for you... and for her... To do what I had failed to do back then... to protect the girl I treasure."

Cheshire lowered his head and gazed down at the ground and bundle of white roses.

"Do you know why I chose the path of a hunter?" Cheshire asked, "It is because suicide would be plain pathetic. So I took up the path of a hunter and trained myself to fight. Every fight I fight my hardest to survive, but in the end I was hoping to die in every one. I just wanted to follow her. I just wanted to keep my promise to her and be by her side once again."

Cheshire closed his eyes and went silent once more for another thirty seconds.

"I visited this place the other day... so that I can apologize," Cheshire said, "For two hours I apologized again and again... I apologized because... I can no longer keep my promise. I can no longer seek to be by her side... Because I want to live... Because... I found someone else I want to protect... Because I had fallen in love with someone else..."

Cheshire turned to face Liseran, a determined look in his topaz eyes.

"Liseran... my beloved," Cheshire murmured, "I promise... to make you happy for the rest of my life."

As Liseran listened to him, her tears flowed once more. She felt a million emotions at the same time. Sorrow for Cheshire's past, empathy for the girl who had passed away, confusion as to why Cheshire had picked her...there were more, but it all came down to the last of her feelings, which struck her the moment he said the last line. A brimming, overflowing happiness.

For a moment, she stood extremely still. Her eyes were glistening with tears and her hands were gently placed over her mouth in shock. She found herself leaping into an embrace, silently crying in happiness. She stayed like that for a while, just listening to Cheshire's heartbeat. Feeling his warmth. Feeling his steady breathing. Trying to relay everything to him. Finally, when she could trust herself, she spoke, though not letting go of the embrace.

"A part of me doesn't understand," Liseran said softly. "Doesn't understand what I ever did to deserve you. To deserve this happiness. We've spent so little time together, but I feel like I've known you forever. And the happiness I feel...eternal."

She pressed her face more on Cheshire's chest.

"I love you, Cheshire..." she murmured. "I don't understand it, but it's what I feel. When I see you hurt or sad...it pains me so much. I was so scared when Dr. Green was aiming his gun at you. And I worried every time your mind seemed to drift into melancholy. I never want to see you sad or pained. I want to promise you the same. To make you happy for the rest of my life. It's my way of thanking you for all this love I feel for you. All this happiness I thought was impossible. So...even if I'm weak. A little nervous. A scatterbrain and a klutz. Even if I cry a lot and blush easily. Please accept my promise. Please accept my love."

Liseran hugged him even tighter.

"It's all I have for you."

It's all I have... she repeated in her mind. Even if it's just for these last days of mine...

"If what you give me is your love," Cheshire murmured as he embraced her, "then I will give you... my life."

With that promise said, Cheshire pulled back only to lean back in and press his lips against Liseran's. He held her tighter, pulling her closer to him. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon to dawn a new day.

As the light cast over the cemetary, Liseran could see something, or rather someone, sitting on the open arms of the stone angel as if she was always there, watching the whole time.

Lacie smiled at Liseran with a sparkle in her eyes. The little girl silently mouthed some words to her, enunciating every word and sound to make sure Liseran got the message.

I... Trust.... You......

Lacie smiled brightly at Liseran one last time when suddenly her body glowed and dissipated into specs of light that rose into the air and disappeared.

It was then that Cheshire pulled away from Liseran. He raised his hand up and touched his face.

"Tears...?" Cheshire murmured, "Why am I crying.... Why do I feel so sad.... I haven't cried ever since... Ever since she died..."

The grave marker had a plaque reading, "Alice Caroll; Let you dream forever..."

Liseran's feelings overflowed as Cheshire gave her his own vow and they once again shared in a kiss that was more than an action of affection. A beautiful hope that blossomed from the remains of empty lives. 

It was only then that Liseran saw Lacie there by the angel. Though Liseran couldn't have placed it before, she realized there was something different about her expression. In the manor, Lacie's face, though happy, shared a sort of melancholy about it. But now she looked at peace...she had a home now again. She stared down to the grave marker and saw Lacie's name. Alice. I will give him all I have, she silently promised. 

As she and Cheshire had let go, she had been surprised to see Cheshire crying. It was...moving to her and she felt a warm rush of affection. Wiping her own tears, she placed her hand on Cheshire's face to brush away his. She smiled and gazed at him with all her love coming from her eyes. She was not afraid, for once, to see what was in front of her. 

"It's alright..." she said softly as she took him back into a small embrace. "And these tears are fine, too. I promise you that..."

And, before they would leave, she would turn back the Alice, thanking her for her blessing and wishing her fulfillment.

"Let's go home."