RWBY: Revenant

By Endbeats

Chapter 26: After – Catching Up

Soul froze. It was as if the hustle and bustle of the restaurant went silent, and his field of vision became narrower and narrower. Anyone who did appear in his vision was completely quiet and frozen. The only thing that accompanied the silence was the cold sweat on his palms. His eyes focused on one person. The one he didn't want seeing what Soul had become.

His father.

Kang turned around and smiled. "Liu! I'm glad I finally found you!"

"Dad?"


Soul laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, with warm feelings of boredom in his heart. Strange how such an inconsequential emotion was found to be pleasant to him. He had tried walking around town to get a response out of the Voice, but she remained less talkative since their battle with the pink and brown-haired woman. Thus, he ended up back in the hotel room, waiting until sunset before he could head over to see Athos.

Finally, time reached its desired point, indiated by the orange-tint from the window. Soul, seeing this, pulled himself up in order to sit on his bed.

"We should probably head over to the market again," Soul mumbled. He rubbed his hair, which had gone quiet astray since he laid down.

The Voice responded with a simple grunt, indicating that she heard him, but that she still wasn't too happy with Soul. So be it. Soul wasn't too happy himself since she never told him anything about her past. He was fine knowing that the feeling was mutual.

Again, he walked over to the table and grabbed his sweater and bag, as well as his scarf which he hid inside his left sleeve. Looking over his back once more to make sure he had what he needed, he opened the door and walked out.


The market was much calmer compared to this morning. More than half of the stalls were already closed, with the other half, typically the ones like Athos', starting to close themselves. There were only a select few customers left, and even the majority of those people were walking in the opposite direction of Soul.

Soul made his way to the back side of the market, where he saw Athos sweeping the area in front of his stall which had the closed sign up. Upon entering the area, the womanizer quickly looked up and tilted his head in acknowledgement with a small, awkward smile. Soul waved up.

"Had a good day?" Soul asked.

"Better than others. But it's for my family, so it's always a good day." Athos threw the dust in the trash and tossed his broom into the stall. "So, ready?"

Soul nodded. "What's a popular place here?"

"You'll see," Athos responded with a smile, "It's only a few minutes walk from here."

Following Athos, Soul found the two of them exiting the market and walking down the larger street that moved perpendicular to the road Athos's stall stood on. Soul's hotel was on this road, in fact, though it was in the opposite direction of where they were going. Down this side, the street gradually increased in cleanliness while the number of beggars decreased. It would have increased, had the police not cracked down on the issue in recent times.

Athos cleared his throat as they moved. "Anyways, what's happened with you since you got out of the hospital?"

"I went and got my hunter's license. It wasn't too difficult, honestly. Just a few physical tests, as well as a written one." This was the lie Soul always conjured up, and no one seemed to doubt him after he displayed his skills.

Athos nodded and took the bait, it seemed. "You really grew that fast?"

"Well, I got strong enough to fight you on even terms, remember?"

That made Athos chuckle a bit. "Yeah, I remember. Man, you were really weak back when school first started."

Soul grunted quietly. He hated himself, or rather Liu, for being so weak. Even if he did get much stronger by the time of the tournament, it did nothing for…

He shook his head. Better to focus on this small moment of enjoyment with an old friend rather than what had happened and what he was going to do.

Soul wanted to change the subject as fast as possible. "So, are you still training with the sword?"

"Yeah, but not as much as I would like. I have to spend most of my day working, after all," Athos said with a small sound of regret. Even if he worked for his family, Soul could guess he still wanted to work at his real dream. He wanted to say some words of relief to Athos, but he couldn't come up with any. He wanted to feel some sort of empathy, but nothing showed up in his heart.

Just… emptiness.

Soul clinched his fist. It was funny to him how he could feel anger at not being able to feel anger. It was random times like this where he noticed the shock from the Fall the most. This time he was going to have with Athos would feel empty. The food he would eat would be bland. The drink he would drink would taste lesser than water. Ever since the Fall, anything he did lacked any sort of real emotion, and every single bit of stimuli lacked any sort of push on him. With the exception of the smallest bits of time, his emotion was lost.

Well, except for guilt. But he'd learned to live with that.

"Let's just enjoy some food," he said to Athos.


They made it to the entrance of the restaurant, a popular chain in Mistral called Eagle's. Considering it was a Tuesday night, the crowd was relatively smaller than usual, and there would not be much of a wait for a table.

"You want me to pay, Athos?" Soul asked, considering the financial position his acquaintance was in.

Athos shook his head. "Don't worry, I can pay my own way."

Before they could walk in, though, Athos' scroll started ringing. After taking it out of his pocket, he frowned. "Hey, Liu, could you get a table for us? I'll be inside in a bit."

He nodded. "Gotcha." With a reflected nod, Athos walked a few paces away and answered the call, leaving Soul to go inside.

The inside was the definition of a chain restaurant: Several sets of rooms with booths on the sides and tables in the middle, though there was never a table enclosed by others. The lighting was slightly dim, and the faint sound of popular music was playing on the stereo. Soul assumed there was even a bar for those who could drink.

He entered to the sight of a waitress standing at the center of a wooden, circular booth. Upon sight of Soul, she smiled, "Welcome to Eagle's! Table for one?"

"Two," he replied. She simply nodded back, took two menus, exited her booth with a strange grace, and waved for Soul to follow her. She was leading him down towards the room of the left of the entrance, where, as expected, the bar was inside.

Once the pair entered, however, Soul caught the corner of his eyes on something, or rather someone. His paranoid brain was used to creating familiar people in his peripherals to scare him, only for them to disappear once he moved his focus. As usual, he suspected this would occur, so he turned towards the being, expecting it to vanish in an instant.

It didn't. Or rather, he didn't.

Soul froze. It was as if the hustle and bustle of the restaurant went silent, and his field of vision became narrower and narrower. Anyone who did appear in his vision was completely quiet and frozen. The only thing that accompanied the silence was the cold sweat on his palms. His eyes focused on one person. The one he didn't want seeing what Soul had become.

His father.

Kang turned around and smiled. "Liu! I'm glad I finally found you!"

"Dad?"

His father rushed up and gave Soul a big bear hug, nearly crushing him. To Soul, though, the hug also felt… warm. Too warm for what he was. He quickly pushed his father away before the confidence in his path was lost.

Kang gave a strange look after being shoved away. "Liu, what's going on? What are you doing? Why… why are your eyes blue?"

Soul looked away. "What do you mean?"

"What, you think I haven't followed your shenanigans since you escaped from the hospital? Going by the name of Soul while you attack bandits? What's gotten into you? Why are you doing this stuff?"

Soul took a deep breath. "I've given up the name of Liu."

"What? Liu, what are you-"

"Stop asking me all these questions!" Suddenly, the room went silent with his outburst, and all eyes fell on them. Kang looked around and gave a smile and a wave.

After gradually losing the crowd's attention, Kang turned back towards Liu. "Follow me upstairs."


Soul found himself unable to leave. Perhaps it was the insignificant desire in his heart to see his dad again, or the inability to find an escape after Kang's bodyguards blocked the exit, but he complied. Soon, the two were sitting in a waiting room with two chairs, perhaps where the office of the restaurant owner was. Soul would be worried for Athos, but knew that he was most likely a part of this encounter.

Once the door was closed, Kang turned towards his son with a serious expression. "I didn't raise you to raise your voice at me, nor did I raise you to kill. Yes, they are bandits, but they're also people, Liu. You can't-"

"You wanted to know why I'm calling myself Soul, and that's exactly why. Liu never had the strength to do anything. He was the weakest of his team, and ultimately that was the reason his friends died."

"You- you're not serious, are you, Liu?"

"I told you, I'm So-"

"You're also my son!"

Soul was shocked to see tears welling up in his father's eyes. The man who was seen as the strongest in Mistral, crying. It made Liu turn away once more.

Still, Kang continued. "You are my son, and it pains me so much to see this path of… self-destruction you've put yourself on."

Liu grabbed his left arm with his right hand. It was as if all the confidence he had in what he was doing was gone. Suddenly, the Voice's objections to what he's done made sense, and guilt seeped into his heart. "Sorry…"

Kang crossed his arms before sighing. "We're going to go home. You've worried the rest of the family as well. I doubt what you've done will allow you to gain an authentic hunter's license, but... I won't let you go to jail. Be thankful about that."

Liu nodded. The voice unexpectedly showed up in his head. Don't you see? We can't keep doing this, So- no, Liu. Liu, we have to return to your home with your father.

"What about you?" Liu muttered.

"What was that?" Kang asked, thinking the question was for him.

"Nothing."

We'll figure out something. For now, I'm worried about you, and so is your father. Please, Liu, stop going down this path.

Liu nodded, and looked at his father. "I think I'm ready to-"

As soon as his mind once more turned towards returning home, he felt something stop it. Chains. The chains that gripped onto his back so strongly. The chains that demanded justice for unfair deaths. Orphiucha, whose death robbed her mother of several more years with her greatest love. Ursus, whose death left guilt in the hearts of hundreds at his old school, who had come to realize there was more to him than just his scary looks. Sagitari, whose incapacitation ripped out Liu's heart like a wolf. But that was just the beginning: Uncle Cam, Penny, Pyrrha, and the several other students, faculty, and innocent bystanders who were shot by the White Fang or clawed to death by the grimm. So many demanded retribution.

And like that, Liu became Soul once more.

Soul frowned and shook his head. "No, I can't. There were so many deaths during the Fall of Beacon. Who will avenge those who died?"

Kang's eyes widened at that response. "Liu… you can't mean this entire time has been for something as dark as revenge?"

"It's justice. Orphiucha, Ursus, Sagitari… those three were robbed of a future."

"Sagitari is still alive, you know this!"

Soul walked up to his father's face. "She's alive because machines are keeping her alive! Dad, can't you see? This has to be done. Otherwise, I'll never be free."

Kang shook his head. "So, my guess was right. You're going around killing bandits, for the sake of those who died."

"Ye-"

"They're dead, Liu, and nothing you do will change that."

Soul clinched his fists and gritted his teeth. "This is the only thing I can do. Now please, Dad, let me leave."

He turned towards the door and started walking. The moment he moved his legs, though, he could feel his father's hand grab his shoulder. The deep voice of his father rumbled through his body. "No. I will not let you do this. Liu, I tried to reason with you, but I now know I can't do that."

Instantly, the feeling of a hand chop hit the back of his neck, and his vision started to fade away as his sense of touch disappeared. Quietly, he could make out his father say, "I'm going to have to take you home by force. Sorry, son."

Then, darkness engulfed everything.


The next thing Soul saw, or rather felt, was the soft carpet of a well-tended room. He quickly looked around, trying to find his bag and weapons, but both were gone. Similarly, he was missing his sweater, as well as his scarf. Instead, the only things that kept him company in his relatively large quarters were a bed, a bathroom, a few books, a chair, and a window. Once he gained his bearings, Soul waddled towards the window and looked out to the sight of clouds and floating, giant rocks in the air. He was in his father's airship, flying over Lake Matsu.

Soul could tell he wasn't in the brig - his room was far too clean and warm for that – but he could hardly guess anything else. Looking around to find no cameras, he spoke out loud. "Hey, are you there?"

Yep, the Voice spoke.

Soul sighed and sat down on the side of the bed. "What am I doing?"

You tell me.

"I've gone around torturing and killing for information, all for the sake of avenging those who died. Is it so wrong to do this?"

The Voice cracked, and suddenly all of her bottled-up emotions came out. Yes! Yes, it is! Soul, you should know that this will do nothing. You should know you'll come out far worse than when you went in. Please, Soul, listen to your father. Listen to me.

Soul waited, hoping to feel some sort of stir in his emotions like he had with his father. He wanted to feel something, in fact. He wanted to feel anger, sadness, or happiness once more. He wanted to be feel stirred and pushed away from what he was doing. He wanted to have the emotional strength to apologize to his friends and move on with his life, away from hunting their murderers.

But nope.

Nothing revealed itself. He still felt empty with the constant weight of guilt. He chuckled a bit in amazement. "You know, I thought that was going to finally convince me, but I don't feel anything."

The Voice said nothing. It was like she wanted nothing to do with Soul, but her inability to leave his body forced her otherwise, so she could only turn to silence. He felt regretful that their relationship had turned so sour, but he could do nothing. If his burden caused this issue, so be it.

Ignoring that, Soul closed his eyes and moved his semblance towards his brain. He pushed it towards the first imaginary barrier, where only his five senses increased in strength. Then, he went even further, into the second barrier, where he gained his sixth, electromagnetic sense. He felt a set of soldiers eating together. He felt Uncle Sagino waiting at the front of his room. He felt his father looking over a map of Mistral.

Look out, he could somehow make out Kang saying, A ship was attacked by grimm in this area recently. Apparently, they've sent hunters to this area, but you can never be too careful.

Soul kept scanning through the airship. Being on an airship made out of metal itself really made searching it a rough job. Humans were one thing, but metal was another. There was too much interference when it came to looking for other metallic objects. Eventually, though, he found it: a large grouping of metals that fit his weapons' shapes and sizes, only a few rooms away.

With his goal found, he knew he couldn't sit here anymore. Soul needed to get his weapons and get out. He immediately hatched a plan; he just had to complete it.

"Time for a prison break."


(Author's Note: Hey there! Thanks for giving this story a read. If you like it, be sure to give it a follow, a favorite, a review, or just keep reading these dang ol' chapters! I'm very excited, actually. These next few pairs of chapters are what I've been excited to write since I started this fan fiction. Also... I don't know what else to write. Usually, i just write what comes up on the spot, but I can't think of anything, so... uh, bye and God bless!)