Chapter 8
"My wife and I have looked over the information you've provided us," Ghira said as Harry sat across from the married couple, having once again taken up resident in the large faunas' study, "And, as sad as I am to admit it, I believe that you're right about one of our members that sent the bomb to Atlas."
"I take that to mean you already have an idea as to who it was?" Harry may have phrased it like a question, to the Belladonna's it may have actually been one, but on a subconscious level they knew it was more like a demand.
"An ex member of the Fang that took time off to raise his daughter after her mother died in a mining accident, an accident that was quickly swept under the rug by those in Atlas and with all promised benefits being denied to the family," Kali didn't agree with the way the more radical members of their organization wanted to go about invoking change, but she wanted the human in front of her to know that they did have their reasons beyond just pure savagery.
"The name of the family and the mining company they worked for?" Harry inquired, his scroll already in hand and connected to the global network that Atlas had gifted to the world as a whole.
"The family name was Khan and the company was the S.D.C.," Ghira watched Harry's fingers stop typing, those green eyes looking up from the hard light screen.
"How long ago was it that she died in the mining accident?" Harry hoped it was the one he was thinking about, the only one to happen to the S.D.C. in the last year, "And in what kingdom was the mine located?"
"A few months ago, in Vale. The news about the collapse was broadcast all across the four kingdoms. How is this relevant?" Ghira was getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
Harry simply closed his scroll and put it back into his pocket.
"If that's the case then the mother might not be as dead as the family believes."
"Explain," Ghira's tone left no room for argument, not when it might be possible that one of his oldest ally's wife might still be alive, and not when the man sitting across from him might be involved with the mine collapse that killed several of his people; even though they might not be from Menagerie.
"To put it simply, I approached Mr. Schnee at a party of his several months ago. My goal at the time was to purchase another mine from him, yet he seemed suspicious and wished to test if I was on the same level as him. The price for the mine that I wanted, the very mine that was collapsed and just recently reopened, was that every Faunus there was to be inside when it collapsed," Harry just got the words out of his mouth before massive clawed hand grabbed him by the front of his silk shirt and hauled him over the desk so he was face to face with a livid looking Ghira Belladonna.
"It was YOU?!" Spit flew from Ghira's mouth, the beast within was scratching at the doors, but Harry remained his calm and collected is always, "You dare set foot in my kingdom after murdering my kind?! You dare offer as your help!"
"I apologize," Harry said as casually as possible, although that only seemed to upset the Faunus chieftain even more.
"An apology solves nothing!"
Slowly Harry's hand came up to touch Ghira's wrist, the small and almost sly smile stretching across his lips, "Not for what I've done, but for this."
Ghira's entire world suddenly went black, sweet unconsciousness greeted him like an old friend. Only for the world to come rushing back and Harry to once again be sitting in front of him, but this time with Kali at his side. It was the only thing that stopped Ghira from lunging at the human again.
"I hope your nap has somewhat cooled your temper, Mr. Belladonna," Harry finished straightening out his shirt, thankful that the man's claws hadn't shredded it, "And while I do understand where your anger comes from, please allow me to finish my story before attacking me again."
"Ghira," Kali interrupted her husband before his fuse could be lit again, looking at him in that special way that only a wife could look at her husband to calm him down, "You should listen to what he has to say."
Ghira took a breath, deep and rumbling in his chest like the panther he shared his animal traits with. His facial hair itched, as it always seemed to do when he was agitated, and the way his eyes narrowed said that Harry's story had better be a good one.
"Grrr, very well. Finish your story…"
"Where was I? Ah! While Jacques Schnee believes that I fulfilled my end of the bargain to the letter, dead faunus buried under a mountain and hiring other desperate ones to take their places in his company, the truth is another matter entirely. Since it was I who hired the mercenaries to collapse the mine, I had them free the faunus miners forced to work there and replace their bodies with a couple bandit groups that often caused trouble in that area. In essence, I all but stole that mine from Jacques, got rid of some future headaches that would have hounded my own transports, and insured those innocent people were given safe passage to anywhere they would wish to go," a small part of Harry, no doubt the remnants of his youth that enjoyed watching people see just how wrong their judgement of his was, laughed at the near flabbergasted look on Ghira Belladonna's face.
"So all of those people aren't dead?"
"No."
"They're on their way back to their friends or families as we speak?"
"According to those I hired to see the job done, the last of them were shipped out not long ago and many suggested they were headed to this little slice of paradise you've all come to call home," Harry was too old to be smug, but he did feel a bit proud.
"And you can prove this?"
"I've already called ahead while you were taking your little nap, dear," Kali spoke up, walking back around to once again stand at Ghira's side, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
A bemused look crossed Ghira's face, no doubt hiding how troubled he truly was about Harry somehow knocking him out with nothing more than a simple touch, "Was I really out for that long? What kind of semblance is that?"
Harry's polite smile stretched just a bit wider as he uttered a single word, an answer no one would believe in this day and age, "Magic."
"Funny," Ghira deadpanned, but turned serious just a moment later, "Now we just have to deal with Scar, which won't be easy by any stretch."
"Unfortunately, I believe this matter is better left being handled internally. It wouldn't do for your people to see someone like me being involved in something so sensitive," Harry said, his gaze shifting to look out the large window that allows light to pearce into Ghira's office.
"As far as anyone can be allowed to know, I'm simply here to help your fledgling kingdom grow."
"Harry, can you really do magic?" Cinder had long since grown bored of her lessons and instead chose to sit and watch the sunset while Harry himself brewed them two cups of iced tea; not quite his preferred choice but Cinder couldn't seem to get enough of the stuff.
"That's a rather odd question to ask. You know I have the ability to turn any one thing into another, but in our world that's not really the strangest power to have," Harry knew he joked about his abilities being magic because of the very fact that no one would believe him, not to mention he was cautious about overt displays and tended to go for acts that could be explained away.
He moved both cups off the counter and went to join Cinder, the little girl shifting a bit to make room for him while being forced to grab her cup with both hands so that it didn't spill over her new dress.
"Then how'd you get the big man to fall asleep just by touching him?"
Harry was thankful he'd managed to swallow lest his charge be covered in his tea.
"Were you spying on us after I told you to stay here and practice your reading?" his raised eyebrow and unamused look did little to cow the once homeless girl; she'd no doubt seen meaner looks from the others of her kind and for less irritating reasons.
"Their guards like to take naps during the hottest part of the day and there's a broken section of their wall that someone thin enough could slip through. I saw it the last time we were there."
What a nostalgic sensation. He was both proud and annoyed all at the same time. Still, setting his cup down on the armrest of their little shared seat, Harry held out his hand in front of Cinder and forced a dull green flame to life. It wasn't anything overly impressive, certainly not the intricate spell work he'd done in the past, but it did make Cinder smile just a bit. Even as she reached out to touch it, to feel its heat against her skin and see if it burned like any other fire, Harry allowed his magic to fade from it just enough so that it wouldn't burn her little hand.
"Magic is a rare thing in this world, little one. While all can gain a semblance, if they're willing to wear their souls on their sleeves and all the risks that come with that, not all can wield magic. In fact, for as long as I've walked Remnant, there has been no other but myself you can do these things," the flame went out and Harry once again picked up his tea, taking a gentle sip when compared to the way Cinder downed hers in a single go.
"So I can't learn it?" Cinder looked a little sad at that, but Harry just tilted her chin up and smiled down at her.
"One day I'll try and teach it to you," Harry's promise made something warm spread through Cinder's chest, much like the little flame he'd showed her, and for a moment she wondered if this was what a father was supposed to be, "But only after you learn your numbers and words."
Nevermind, she hated him now…
Not really.
"Thank you for joining me, you four," an old soul sat behind a large desk atop an emerald tower, "I know that the timing was rather sudden but I've a mission that needs to be taken care of rather quickly."
"Enough with the vagueness, old man," spoke a woman with fierce red eyes and a simple golden ring on her ring finger, a look on her face that showed just how unamused she really was.
"Raven!" the shortest of the four hissed, ironically being the leader of this strange lot.
"It's quite alright, Ms. Rose," the old man took a sip from his mug and set it back down, all levity gone from his eyes, "But this is an important matter."
"I'd say it must be if you've got the four of us going on the same mission," this person was the very definition of gruff, all the way down to his unshaven face and the faint smell of booze on his breath.
"I believe the black queen may have had a child…"
"What the fuck?" the red eyed woman glanced from the old man down to his cup, "What the hell have you been drinking and where can I get some? More importantly, who the hell would stick their dick in a literal crazy evil wicked bitch of the west?"
The old man's eye twitched at that last part.
"As elegant as my wife put it," the last man, tall and blonde, spoke up, "What you're talking about is crazy. Right?"
"Of all the people alive on Remnant, only the black queen and I are able to harness and use magic in any way, shape or form. That being said, over the last few months I've felt several small bursts of true magic from Atlas and Menagerie. Now, while I know for a fact that I'm incapable of fathering children due to a rather miss spent youth, the black queen is under no such restriction. Hence, the only way for more true magic users to be around would be for them to be the offspring of that woman."
"And what, you're sending us to kill a kid or something? They couldn't be more than a teenager if you're just now feeling them and maybe they realized just how much of a psycho their mom really is?" gruffy pointed out, getting a nod of agreement from his brother-in-law.
"I'm hopeful that is in fact the case and it's why I'm sending you four out after them to bring them back here. This is the only place she wouldn't dare attack, even if it was to get back one of her children."
"And if they struggle?" asked the short one.
"I still don't want them killed. So let me be clear, this isn't an assassination. I want this boy or girl brought back in one piece and very much alive."