And so, Yang Xiao Long boarded the airship, leaving too early to see what happened next. She missed it, having made two mistakes.
...Firstly, she had ignored her instincts from a part of her that she couldn't explain was trying to keep her there.
...And secondly, she failed to notice that her last tear never hit the gravestone.
Now, seemingly hanging in midair, inches above the stone, the droplet finally began rolling down the side of some invisible device on one end of the outcropping until disappearing into nothing, a nothing which now glowed with a line of orchid light that started to flow upwards to the epitaph.
And breaking apart like a trickle of glowing fluid along a pane of glass, the line seeped into the letters, making each word glow with wispy tendrils of the substance before making a subtle change to the epitaph.
The first bit stayed the same, the familiar words glowing softly...
Davin Rosfield
Friend | Leader | Hero
But like a message from the great beyond meant for the brawler, from the space between spaces, a distant force rewrote the final word, adding a little punctuation mark at the end of it which disappeared as quickly as it came.
Yet... for a second, just a second, the change was unmistakably, undeniably there...
Deceased ?
A/N: Hehe, so the finale was actually left to end on this page :) Metroid, RvB and Sherlock references... definitely the way to end Volume 1! I really hope you enjoy it and feel free to tell others about it, the more feedback I get, the more I can improve! ^.^
And that being the case, I just want to thank YOU, dear reader, because just by reading this, you help keep me motivated! Sure, I have this story that I've become terribly addicted to writing, but when I get writer's block or when I just get lazy, it's been YOUR reviews that help me get back on it! And you don't even have to review, just looking at this page helps me go on (seriously, I have this cool little counter that tells me how many times my stuff gets read, it's awesome). And 30,000 views in just under 6 weeks!? Wow O.O Many thanks, peoples!
Oh, that's right. I said there would be an epilogue or something? Well, if you haven't skipped my heartfelt Author's Note already...
The Epilogue for Volume 1 starts now!
28 Hours later...
Bong! Bong!
Bong Bong Bong!
"Argh! 'One Bullet Short'! I can not allow this to become my epithet!"
The metallic banging of cane versus metal rang out somewhere within the forests of Dorme as the man in the bowler hat continued trying to fight his way out of his robotic prison.
"One! Bullet! Just one stupid bullet more and I wouldn't be in this stupid mess with these stupid partners!"
After the first hour of being trapped, the criminal had given up trying to reach anyone by communicator due to the lack of signal behind the heavily-lined tech of the Paladin, and after another twenty-three hours had given up his cool altogether.
"C'mon! Can anyone hear me! It's been TWO DAYS! There has to be someone else in this dust-forsaken forest, I'm a gentleman in distress here!"
CREEEAK!
"Gah!"
With a metallic groan, a serrated sabre suddenly jammed its way into the shrunken cavity in which Roman Torchwick lay, the blood-crusted tip coming within an inch of his face.
"I... am somewhat pressed to say that blade doesn't belong to Cinder..."
And with a loud screech, the entire pod door came off in a warped metal heap, flooding the cockpit with rays of light from the full moon above the clearing that the disabled Paladins had created upon landing in the forest.
Torchwick now stood up from what would've been his metal grave and stretched out, looking up as he cracked his neck.
"Al-right! It's about time you three broke yourselves out! So where's the nearest bathroom, kids? Cuz I really gotta take a-"
He cut himself short when he looked down at his unexpected audience. Instead of seeing his old team, he only saw a single figure shrouded in a beaked hood and black tattered cape over his shoulder with a large saber, a puncture-hole in its center glistening in the moonlight.
"Ya kno', boyo," the figure began, his face hidden underneath the faded-white hood, "I was really fixin' ta leave ye in yer cozy lil' tomb to talk yerself ta death. Yet I says to meself, 'Cyn, be a good man an' break his sorry tuckus oot, the lad calls 'imself a gentleman!' And gentlemen got good loads o' LIEN oan 'em!"
The hooded figure took a menacing step towards Roman, who noticed one of Emerald's Falx Pistols sticking out from underneath his intricate armored robes and one of Mercury's greaves on his leather boot's ankle in the light of night. He decided to let this hooded guy talk and find out who he was before making a move.
The bully, on the other hand, now noticed the criminal turn to look at the other three opened Paladins with some apprehension, so he continued with cruel relish.
"Oho, don't worry aboot yer frends...they were dead wen I found 'em, hehe. A strappin' broad an' wench tho, I would've liked to have gotten mah hands on their ample...assets, when they were among the livin!"
Even for a criminal as degenerate as Roman Torchwick, the thief couldn't help a grimace of disgust at his antagonist, who only chuckled sadistically at the reaction as if it were a sick joke.
"Wot! Ye thot I meant the assets o' their buxom natures, boyo? Haha! Get yer mind oot o' the gutter! ...Tho ye are right..." The figure admitted with sudden creepy seriousness before continuing in his original cruelly joyous tone, "Still, I mostly meant their weapons! Personally, I like to tek the spoils from the corpse of an opponent I killed meself, but oi, I'm no' wan to be picky! I even found this rare treat oan the back o' that broad which I took the liber'y of takin' fer meself!..."
And brushing his cape aside, the criminal realized that this Cyn guy had not only scavenged the complete sets of pistols and greaves from the deceased Emerald and Mercury, but had also transferred the dust tattoo from Cinder's back onto his bare shoulder. Roman raised a brow.
"You...can do that?" He asked before mumbling under his breath, "I'm tellin' ya, you kids just keep gettin' weirder..."
"That's right, lad. Neat trick I learnt a while back aboot dust infusion! But gettin' back oan topic..." The bully's eyes glowed a fiery red under his beaked hood as his serrated sabre lit up in flame thanks to the fire dust now embedded in his shoulder, "how much lien ye got oan ya... gentleman?"
He lifted the fiery sabre towards the thief's neck when it was suddenly parried back to the floor by the cane.
"Are you slow in the head or something!?" Roman retorted hotly, "do you even know who I am!?"
"It won' matter in a moment..." The figure responded before yanking off his hood to reveal an angered countenance with a pale olive complexion and sinister sharp facial features under a head of short, dark brown hair.
His gaze then hardened at Torchwick with glowing blood red eyes and pupils bent into a cat-eye shape.
"Seriously." Torchwick deadpanned after he realized nothing happened, "Whaddaya gonna do, stare at me to death!? C'mon kid, I'm Roman friggin Torchwick, criminal mastermind of Vale! I'm not gonna crack in some stupid staring contest you sicko, or psycho...whatever you are."
The bully grimaced as he realized he had found the second person in his life who was resistant to his Semblance. It really hadn't been a good week for him.
Roman, however, had now turned to walk away... and Cyn didn't like that. Charging him with sabre blazing, the bully didn't expect the criminal to turn at the last second and inflict a flurry of cane-strikes that left the kid on his back several yards away.
"Tell you what," Roman walked up to the downed bully, holding his cane up to the kid's face and popping up the crosshairs at its tip in a bluff, "Here's what I'll do, just because I'm in a good mood this evening after being set free from a slow and boring death. I won't blow your head off, and you will get out of my face so I can go back to Vale and plot revenge on a certain blonde and blue-eyed pest."
Cyn's brows suddenly shot up in recognition.
"Oi, maybe we got oaf oan the wrong foot 'ere, mannie," the bully began as he slowly stood up with both hands out placatingly, "but ye wouldn't happen to be talkin' aboot a kid with a sword an' shield, kinda tall and scraggly, and wit a nasty habit o' goin' aroond an' copyin' people's semblances, would ya?"
Torchwick narrowed his eyes, "Yea. What's it to ya?"
The bully devilishly grinned, "Well I known 'im me whole life, tortured the wee bastart 'till he cried to his maw...and ta tell ye the truth, I wanna see the goat hang..."
"Hmm," the criminal replied impressed, pulling his cane back and leaning on it to his side as he lit a cigar, "very persuasive answer... Well, I guess an enemy of an enemy-"
"Is just a dobber ye can wait ta kill later."
The criminal glanced pointedly at the bully when he interrupted, but only smirked in response.
"Ya know, kid, I like where your heart's at! I guess I can see us going in on a joint business venture together after all! Heck, I'll even let ya keep the toys, and the strange... body art..." But the criminal's smirk now faded a bit as he looked Cyn up and down and pulled out his communicator.
"And look, for starters, I like your style. Seriously, you look like you could be a part of a Creed of Assassins or something. I give you points for fashion. But don't take it personal or anything, I simply prefer to plot revenge with a professional as well, so if you don't mind, there's a call I've been meaning to make..."
And Cyn watched as the Valean thief now dialed and held the device up to begin a video call.
"Hello. This is Torchwick."
'...'
"I know you're there, I heard you pick up. Take your finger off the camera."
The person on the other line complied, but the bully couldn't see who it was that Roman was talking to. Or at least... looking at? Because only silence followed.
'...'
"I did hear it, that wasn't a bluff. And yes, I know I do that a lot. I mean seriously, just now I bluffed a kid with being shot by an unloaded weapon!"
Somehow understanding his silent video chat recipient, Roman now flashed a cheesy grin at the bully, who only sneered at his new partner. Cyn merely decided to continue trying to listen in on the seemingly one-sided conversation.
'...!'
"Hah! Yes, it was hilarious! But look, I'm gonna get straight to the point, sweetheart. I'll be needing your services again."
'...'
"That has nothing to do with it... well yes, my old partners are... out of the picture."
'...?'
"No of course not! The pay will be much better this time around!"
'...!'
No matter how much the bully strained his hearing, he was sure that there couldn't possibly be anything coming through from the other end of the line. Yet, this seemingly perfectly decent criminal was standing right across from him, getting more and more irritated every second by a silent conversation.
"Of course I didn't get paid in the end either! I don't know why, probably because I've been stuck in a robot for two days!?"
'...'
"You didn't think I would've asked for pay before taking the job? These aren't your average criminal associates, ya know. They can afford to be that stingy!"
'...'
"If it would've been nothing but a drug deal, I'd have had them shot in the face!"
'...'
Roman now facepalmed.
"Fine... pay will be agreed at one fine-jewelry necklace with alternating rubies, vanilla diamonds and onyx stones... *sigh* Along with a vat of your favorite ice cream..."
'...?'
"Yes, I know which ice cream you like the most."
'...'
"It's Neapolitan... There, ya happy!?"
'...'
And finally, Roman hung up the call with a huff and turned to the bully with contained anger.
"Mercs... Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. That's the world we live in these days, uh... What was your name again?"
The bully deadpanned, more annoyed than insulted with the weirdness he had just witnessed. But if joining this criminal would help him get back at the blond Arc who ostracized him from his hometown, so be it.
"Tha name's Cyn. Cyn Auditore."
"Auditore, Hmm? Sounds notorious. Well anyway, any recent events at Beacon I should know about, Auditore?"
It didn't take much to find an answer.
"Course, lad. The goons an' burds jus wan themselves a war no' too long ago, fought back loads of White Fang an' Grimm ta save ther o so precious kingdom! Wha?" he added with a diabolical grin, "Ya missed it oar sumthin?"
Roman scowled, "Grr...well something tells me I won't be getting a check, then. Well then, since you seem to have been so involved with civilization, Auditore, then I might as well ask you this..."
The criminal internally grinned as his remark got the desired negative reaction from the bully.
"Have you seen any weird... I dunno... happenings, recently? Attacks, things that go bump in the dark, anything that has people shaking in fear?"
"Aw contraire, mannie," the bully began with restraint, "thar been no signs o' Grimm anymoar, people have been disappearin too, tha's sumthin' the news hasn't told anywan aboot..."
The criminal raised a brow in curiosity... and a measure of rare concern.
"Aaand, any sign of... I dunno... strange Grimm with dark powers? Things no one has seen before?"
The bully looked up in thought, his sharp features almost softened in the moonlight without his usual angry expression.
"Um. No. Anno ya been trapped in a wee bot fer a few days, but I been roamin these 'ere woods and 'ave ne'er seen-" and suddenly paling as he stopped talking, Cyn now pointed at something behind the surprised criminal, "Uh, w-would ye happen ta mean s-sumthin' like those three holes openin' behind ye?"
The criminal turned slowly to see three dark portals opening up behind them, each with their own colored outline visible even in the dark. The edges of one was green, the other purple, and the other red.
"Yea," Roman began as they saw three dark figures making their way through, each with their own weapons like the one on the right who sported a red long-bladed katana.
"Something like those."
A/N: And there's that! (And yes, Cyn is an Auditore. That was definitely a reference hehe) So, this next volume will be done a little different, and will possibly take more time to do... I would tell you what I mean, but I'll let the Volume 2 teaser do it for me ;) But so far we've established this:
There are villains still in Vale: a little old, a little new...and a little sumthin sumthin to be determined! Like I said, I'll be taking my time in setting up this new volume which will have its own method of madness, so to keep up with the happenings, feel free to hit up TVW with a fave and follow :) Until next time, dear reader!
And as always, Happy Reading!
