CONTROL - Ver. 2

XII

 While Natsu exited the hotel, Rin stretched out her neck and loosened up her arms.

"Father... huh?" The brunette leaned her weight onto one hip, her violet eyes still locked onto the older woman's. "Minerva Orland, I presume?" The woman grinned, her hand coming up to her chest in a gracious fashion.

"What an honor it is to have you know my name." Just that remark alone, the brunette knew that this woman was conniving.

"I wouldn't be," Rin warned. The sudden change of tone made all of the Sabertooth members do a double-take on the Fairy that stood alone in their territory. "I don't understand... Leese was also at the front, so why only Happy?"

"Because I knew you'd kill me on the spot for touching something so precious to you."

"Don't talk like you know me," she threatened. "But I must thank you for joining the function." Minerva cocked a brow but still held her grin. "Your scent... I recognize it from the Council Hall." Rin took a step closer to her, not intimidated by her one bit. "Wanna tell me what you were doing sneaking around the Council Archives?" Minerva chuckled a bit in defiance.

"Rin of the Ten Wizard Saints..." The tiger woman bit her plum-colored lip. 

"You have business with me, then?" Rin spoke in haste, not giving the other a second to collect her thoughts.

"Don't you think it's interesting that the Council put you up to fight one of your comrades? And on the first day, no less?"

"It was a fun fight. I'm sure they all enjoyed it," she shrugged. "Maybe they were testing to see if Jura and I needed to be re-ranked, but I doubt it." Minerva simply laughed at the naivety of the girl. She placed a gloved hand on her hip and leered at Rin like a child.

"Personally, I think they just wanted to show off their guard dog." Rin scowled at such a demeaning term. "Why else would they reveal your rank?" The brunette had no words, but her fists were beginning to clench at her side. "They wanted to scare everyone into submission. But I don't understand why they could go to such lengths," she used her magic again and, this time, revealed a black file between her fingertips, "when they could just release this file."

Members of Sabertooth looked at the file with confusion, but Rin knew exactly what it was. Her eyes were as wide as the moon, staring at the woman like she was insane.

"You stole a file from the Archives?! Are you fucking insane?" Minerva began waving it around as if it were a file with any other random paperwork. But it was far from that. "Knowledge from the archives is strictly forbidden to non-Council members!"

"So, you do know what's in this," she teased. Rin almost felt sick at just the sight of it but she knew she had to maintain her composure. "Care to explain yourself?" The woman smiled evilly as she watched the brunette crumble behind her eyelids.

"You're bluffing." Rin was doing her best to regain the upper hand of the situation, but found that she was risking information that could destroy her and everything she cared about. "The magic seal on that file is nearly impossible to break. I know that you didn't read it since it's still intact." Minerva's grin only grew wider and more sinister. Rin gulped.

"Wanna test my knowledge?" The brunette was on edge. While she had a gut feeling that the woman was only pulling her leg, she couldn't read her to be sure. Plus, the sound of her heart was truthful. She hadn't detected a single lie in the woman's threats. "You can even fact check what Lahar wrote."

Rin's hand shot out with her magic surrounding her fist in a black sphere. She held Minerva in a tight chokehold, almost lifting her off of her feet. That was all she needed to know that the woman wasn't lying. The only people who had access to that file were herself and Lahar, and there was no way that Minerva knew such a fact.

Sabertooth was instantly on guard now that Rin had initiated an attack and went to assist. However, Rin's other hand extended to her side, creating walls that blocked everyone from coming close to either of the women. "Don't you think someone like Sting deserves to know the truth?"

Violet eyes suddenly shot over to where the blonde man was. He was already looking directly at her with confusion drawn all over his features. She couldn't bear to look at him right now and insisted on shifting her focus back on Minerva. "Southern Wolves." Rin's grip got tighter after hearing those words. "Struck a nerve, haven't I?"

Rin growled as her rage was starting to flow through her body. She didn't know how much of this she could take without snapping.

"Not another word," she warned. But Minerva was never one to listen to those she thought of as lower than herself.

"Year X789―"

"Shut up!"

"Master J-Jun Bidler mysteriously disappeared," she choked as she tried to fight Rin's death-grip for air. "And when they went to the Council, the case was immediately dismissed. And it's all your fault!" Within an instant, Rin was on top of Minerva, using her real hands to strangle her rather than her magic. Members of Sabertooth attempted to force their way through her barrier, but to no avail.

They struggled as they could only watch as the hands of a dragon were latched so tightly onto the neck of someone they looked up to.

"You don't know anything!"

"I know that you killed him!" The air around them suddenly silenced, the tension only growing thicker. "Tell them! Tell Sting what you did to him!" Whereas Rin usually looked to the good of people, she could only see red when looking down at Minerva. At this moment, for the very first time, she craved blood. "He was your first victim, and―!" The brunette reared her scaly arm back, the familiar black rings lining up behind her bent elbow.

Minerva finally bit her tongue, perhaps taking things too far.

"And you're gonna be my second." With a loud crash, Rin's fist made impact and sent dust and debris flying from the cracked floor. Sting and the others watched in horror as they might've just witnessed a murder. They held back their voices, waiting to see if Minerva was okay or not. And she was.

But now, she laid in a crater with a scaly, black fist stuck in the floor just beside her head. Rin glared down at her, daring the woman to blink. She had never and would never kill anyone. She cherished life more than anything else. But if someone like Minerva had to be scared into submission, then she'd use the advantage.

With a harsh tug, Rin broke herself free from the confines of the floor and stood up, towering over the quaking woman. She snatched the stolen folder and gripped it tightly with her claws. Though she was still furious, she remained calm and cold on the outside. She wanted to sneer in Minerva's face and belittle her until she had learned her lesson, but then she became increasingly aware of the others around them. More specifically, her mate.

He looked at her with disgust; something she'd never seen directed toward her. Her pupils had suddenly turned back to normal and she stared at him like a child who had just gotten yelled at by their parents. She knew that she needed to leave now or deal with worse repercussions than those of the Council.

Rin grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut in order to stop her emotional turmoil from spilling out. She turned on her heel and stormed to the entrance of the hotel where Leese still waited. Her Dragon Fists were still clenched tightly and she felt the urge to run away rising up her throat.

The back of her shirt suddenly tore open, her shoulder blades contorting and breaking through her skin as large, black wings. With a single test flap, she shot off into the night sky, a gust of wind knocking everyone off their feet from the force of her takeoff.

"Rin?!" Leese watched as her partner escaped at incredible speeds; the kind she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with. The Exceed summoned her Aera and looked into the hotel, finding unwelcoming stares directed at her. She flew off in the direction of their inn to avoid any more trouble for the evening.

Rin, on the other hand, was on her way to the Council to speak with Lahar about destroying the file. Though partial information about the case was revealed, the whole truth was yet to be released and she wanted to stop it where it was. So, to the Council Hall she went.