Playing For Keeps - Ch 47 (Adv) - The Spider’s Web (Patreon)

“So how long have you had your hooks in Venetian Redd?” I asked curiously, as the Spiders escorted me a few blocks through Mistral Below.

None of them answered.

“Still, at least it implies you don’t have an issue with faunus. You’d be shocked how often that’s still a problem in Vale. Or at least, I was. Maybe I’m just sheltered.”

I wasn’t normally this chatty, but I wanted to give the impression that I was either nervous or blustering. Or both, I suppose.

Brick turned into a random shop, and I paused momentarily, noting the spiderweb that had been scratched into a nearby column with a penknife.

"One sec, I need to take a quick caw” I said as he glanced back impatiently.

I whistled, holding up a fist, and after a moment, Qrow fluttered down to land on it before hopping to my shoulder. Brick just stared impassively, then made his way into the back room, past the shopkeep who was determinedly not noticing us.

“What’s wrong, did the joke fly over your heads?” I quipped as I followed.

Still, there was no reply, and I glanced back at the ‘couple’ who were bracketing me from behind. “Tough crowd. I guess you weren’t hired for your sparkling personalities, eh?”

“Oh they’re not so bad,” drawled the woman sitting at the desk, fluttering an Animan hand-fan. “I just value people who know how to keep their mouths shut. Ain’t that right?”

“Yes, Lil’ Miss,” Brick responded immediately.

‹Will You Walk Into My Parlour?›LV 14"Lil' Miss" Melody Malachite

She was a pale, curvy blonde with her hair in a bob; perhaps a bit heavyset but she wore it well. She also wore an elaborate, layered dress of white and purple that showed some modest cleavage, with detached sleeves that revealed her own spider tattoo on her shoulder. Her makeup was light, mostly drawing attention to her lavender irides and the beauty mark under her right eye that made me think of Amber. I miss her. I should call tonight instead of just texting.

The ‘couple’ brushed past me, taking up bodyguard positions on either side of their boss, while Brick just stooped slightly, trying to be unobtrusive, though he did put a hand out to stop me when I went to take the seat in front of the desk.

“That’s close enough,” Lil’ Miss Malachite insisted.

I gave her a flat look. “Why put a chair in front of the desk if you don’t want someone to sit there?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I like your tone.”

“That’s fair. I’m not a hundred percent in love with yours either,” I shot back.

Mouthing off to Raven had been a highly risky move, I could admit in hindsight; here, I was a lot more confident. Brick was the strongest Spider in the room, and he was less than a third my level. Even if she had twice as many people — which she actually did; aside from the shopkeeper there were two more souls lurking out of sight — none of them had their Auras unlocked. I likely wouldn’t need my weapons or Qrow’s help to escape even if they all came at me with guns.

I jerked a thumb at Brick. “I came along because Blast Hardcheese here said you had a business proposition. I assumed that meant we’d be talking as equals; if that’s not gonna be the case, I can just leave.”

Now a delicate eyebrow rose. “And what makes you think you can just walk out of here?”

I folded my arms and raised my own eyebrow. “What makes you think you can stop me?” I said coldly.

All three of the bodyguards tensed up, hands balling into fists as they readied themselves for a fight. I ignored them, because their boss was the only one who mattered. Lil’ Miss Malachite studied me for a moment. Having me come to her was a decent power play, but the fact that she called me in the first place meant that she wanted something. I couldn’t say what her thought process was, because she had an excellent poker face, but whether it was my confidence or my connections to the Roma, she seemed to realize she didn’t have the leverage to make me bend.

After a long moment, she conceded, “All right then, have a seat.”

“Why, thank you,” I smiled, popping [Eagle’s Splendor]. Grace in victory. rather than step forward, I pulled the chair back away from the desk as a concession, then lowered myself into it, crossing one leg over the other. “So, what business did you want to discuss?”

She flicked her fan back open. “Why, something mutually beneficial, of course.”

“Of course,” I inclined my head. “It’s always best when everyone walks away with something they want.”

Ah, word games; how I love reading about them and hate engaging in them. Still, there were only a few things she might have that I would care about. I didn’t need money, and Grandma’s influence in the city, while not necessarily overlapping hers, still far exceeded it. Her best stock and trade, and what I suspected she was hinting at, would be information on one of the people I was looking for.

In turn, there were a couple things she could want from me. I wasn’t psyched about the idea of giving a mob boss anything she wanted, but I could be a realist. She did have resources that weren’t available to me or the Roma. In a place like Remnant, in a city like Mistral especially, there was no wiping out the underworld. Refusing any offer she made outright might be satisfying, and it might even be Just under my oath… but would it be Good? Particularly if it led to Lionheart dying before I could find him?

Her lips smiled, though her eyes remained hard. “I’m glad we agree. But first, will your friend be joining us?”

“What friend?”

224 effective CHA easily kept my own expression steady, but I decided to activate [Fox’s Cunning] and [Owl’s Wisdom] as well. With all three active my MP regen could just barely keep up thanks to the INT and WIS buffs increasing it, but I let my mind race. This is still a fight, I realized. Just not a physical one… and this isn’t the arena I’ve specialized in.

Lil’ Miss Malachite fluttered her fan, and her lips curved back into a smirk that I immediately disliked. “You just met Qrow Branwen at a bar, not twenty minutes ago. Not to mention both of you have been sniffing around the city asking similar questions. You want to try that answer again?”

“He won’t be joining us, no,” I sighed. He can’t very well join us when he’s already here.

[Deception successful! Acting has increased by 1!]

Some of the tension left her shoulders, and her smirk widened. “Good, that’s good; it means we can take our time talking.”

“We should have plenty of time,” I agreed. “I do have an engagement for dinner, however; Grandmother wouldn’t like it if I was late.” The gentle reminder that I had the Roma Famila’s implicit backing might not have been necessary, but placing a soft time limit on our meeting was probably a good thing.

“Of course,” Lil’ Miss Malachite simpered. “I wouldn’t dream of wasting your time. An itsy-bitsy spider told me that you’re looking for Headmaster Lionheart. I’d be more than happy to point you in the right direction.”

“For a price,” I finished for her.

“Well, of course.” She snapped her fan shut, tapping it against the table. “I’d be sticking my neck out, telling you what I know. After all, there’s a very dangerous man who’s also looking for the good Professor.”

My eyebrows rose. “If that’s supposed to be a threat, it’s not a smart one. Callows would tear through your people like wet tissue paper.”

“Quite true,” she admitted. “Which is why I’m hoping we can come to an arrangement.”

“Indeed; what is it you’d like to ask of me?” I might be a decent liar, but I wasn’t a very good negotiator. I was mature enough to admit that, at least to myself. I did, however, know a few adages, one of which was to never make the first offer. My phrasing also made her eyes flash, because making it sound like she was making a request of me damaged her position.

“Nothing much. I want you to give my people Aura to protect themselves.”

Qrow let out two caws in quick succession.

Once for yes, two for no is pretty standard… at least on Earth. Hope that’s the case on Remnant or we’re gonna have a lot of miscommunication today.

Aloud, I said, “And if I said I can’t? That’s a fairly advanced technique, you know.”

“A shame. I guess poor Leonardo’s blood will be on your hands, then.” Lil’ Miss Malachite hid her mouth behind the fan, her eyes now dancing with amusement. “Mister Callows was heard swearing a painful death on any who ‘dared betray his goddess’.”

She couldn’t possibly know about Salem; if nothing else, she wouldn’t be acting this calmly if she actually the slightest clue who Tyrian was referring to. She was just throwing out what she’d heard to see how I’d react.

I didn’t let my face show it, but my mind was racing. Fuck, Tyrian said ‘betray’ — that could mean Lionheart actually turned against them… which is probably why Tyrian is here in the first place. Whatever butterfly changed the situation, it made Lionheart stop sending Hunters to their death, and Salem was mad enough to send her cleaner after him.

Unfortunately, if I were in a position where I could entirely shut Lil’ Miss Malachite down I would have already walked out, and we both knew it.

Eventually, I grunted, “It’s quite an ask, considering the force multiplier even a single Aura-user can be, and the fact that they can learn to share it themselves.”

Qrow cawed twice again, flapping in place agitatedly, but I ignored him. We don’t have any other leads. We need to find him… and both her daughters have their Aura unlocked, meaning the only reason she doesn’t already have it is because they’re all the way in Vale.

“True, but as you said, it takes quite a lot of training to get to that level,” she pointed out slyly. “This is a long-term investment on my part, and a risky one if any of the Familias decide they have a problem with it.”

“A risk you can simply turn back onto me, making me complicit in everything you do from now on,” I retorted. “I don’t see how that’s remotely equivalent to you simply giving me information. Information I have no way of confirming you haven’t lied about, at that.”

“Oh, I can put you in touch with him directly,” she said lazily. “My Spiders found him wandering the streets, delirious; we took him to a safe location and I have people with him right now.”

She didn’t actually wait for me to ask for proof, pulling a collapsed Scroll out of her cleavage and dialing.

“Turn the camera on our guest,” she said as soon as it connected, not waiting for an answer before she turned the device to face me. The camera flipped around, showing Lionheart lying in a bed.

I studied the camera feed with narrowed eyes. He was clearly unconscious, and was visibly pale and sweating, his breathing labored. His shirt had been removed, showing bandages wrapped tightly around his shoulder and abdomen, both slightly stained. My instinct was toward skepticism, but there were too many little signs that the image was genuine — the rattle when he breathed, the slight unsteadiness of the person holding the camera, even the bloodstains looking unnaturally dark, almost purple. Tyrian got him twice… after three days we’re lucky he’s still breathing.

“As you can see, he’s not doing so well,” Lil’ Miss Malachite cooed in faux-sympathy. “We’ve cleaned him up as best we could, but there’s no telling if he’ll survive another night… and we can’t very well bring him to a hospital without getting arrested or giving that faunus who’s huntin’ him a target.”

I looked back at her. “Make your offer.”

“You’ll unlock the Aura of all my little Spiders here, and I’ll have him brought to you,” she replied, setting the Scroll down without hanging up the call.

“That’s not good enough,” I said immediately. All three Spiders scowled, but Lil’ Miss Malachite actually looked faintly approving. “You could easily order his throat slit the moment I leave, and even if you don’t I’d have to tell you where I’m staying, since you’d just say it’s too risky for your people to take him to one of the Familias. No; you take me to him, and once I get him back on his feet, I’ll awaken one Aura. Presumably yours.”

Qrow immediately pecked the side of my head to dissuade me. “Knock it off, Huginn; I know what I’m doing,” I hissed out of the corner of my mouth. He cawed derisively.

Lil Miss Malachite’s eyebrows had risen again. “Quite a well-trained bird you have there.”

“My ass; he clearly has no discipline to speak of,” I grumbled, earning another peck before Qrow settled down.

“And I commend you for being cautious,” she went on, returning her gaze to me. “But I’m afraid your price is too low. Three Auras — not including mine because you won’t be approaching me — and I’ll have you brought to him. We won’t lay a finger on him.”

I chewed on that. [Awaken Aura] costs 2000 MP. I have a hair over 4500, so twice is easy; after that I’ll need fifteen or so minutes before I can do it again… but if it takes that long to get to Lionheart it might be okay.

“Two now,” I bargained. “These two, I assume,” I added, nodding at the two bodyguards. “Then Bash Riprock here takes me to Lionheart; he gets the third unlock after I check the professor over, and we leave without being followed.”

Lil’ Miss Malachite fluttered her fan, thinking my offer over. Then she snapped it shut and set it on the table. “We have a deal.”

“Then let’s get this over with,” I sighed. “One at a time, please, and be aware that Aura is a lot more than just a forcefield. Having it awakened means becoming more yourself than you’ve ever been before. Don’t blame me if that makes your people have an emotional breakdown.”

The male bodyguard stepped forward without a word, and I extended a hand for him to touch. When he did, I grabbed his wrist, and for the first time, I activated [Awaken Aura].

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Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 61 (Next: 63.35%)Title: Academy StudentRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Journeyman HuntsmanClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 8202/8202MP: 4456/4456STR: 223 (100)CON: 279 (102)DEX: 162 (54)INT: 136 (51)WIS: 110 (52)CHA: 151 (52)Points: 112Money: 1,009,120LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

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A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

Lil’ Miss Malachite’s first name isn’t given in canon, but I thought Melody worked. (‘Muffy’ seemed too on-the-nose, though it might have been a nickname for her previously as it is a broad hypocorism for basically any woman whose name starts with M.)

Blast Hardcheese is another joke from MST3K episode 820 - ‘Space Mutiny’. Bash Riprock isn’t actually from that episode (it’s an in-joke with my best friend) but it fits the naming pattern too well.