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I am making no money from this.
Chapter 74: Monday
The usual grogginess and lack of enthusiasm which usually permeated the atmosphere of Atlas Academy's mess hall early on a Monday morning were utterly absent, the energy of the Vytal Tournament and Festival carrying over and leaving those students who had progressed into the next round reinvigorated while providing those who had not with fresh motivation to improve. Currently Team FADE and NEON were sat together, Felix taking a moments' break from wolfing down food to shoot Diamond a glance
"Gym after class?"
"Definitely" she nodded
"I'll handle any assignments we get" Arctus offered "Obviously I can't just do it for you but I'll give you my notes, let you read my work and proof read yours" Felix reached over the table to give his cousin a fist-bump
"He's a treasure isn't he" Nyanza chuckled "An absolute-"
"Nyanza if you quote that trash one more time I'll strangle you" Diamond warned him sweetly. The one negative of Team FADE's weekend had been the sheer extent of the coverage and attention given to them by the media and gossip magazines desperate for a story. Arctus and Diamond's brief kiss in the arena had appeared in several publications, one of which had been so needlessly saccharine that Nyanza had felt the need to quote it to the couple at every opportunity. Helios had been declared 'A continuation of the Nikos legacy' by the media, both Xiao Long siblings had praise heaped upon them, Eagle had squealed in delight at an article that described the ingenuity that went into creating something such as Sentinel as 'an inspiration to the next generation of Hunters'; the stories while overwhelmingly positive eventually began to wear on the teens as they were jokingly quoted to them repeatedly; Diamond even receiving a call from her father, Mercury Black howling with laughter as he read aloud.
"No you won't" Nyanza gave her a smug grin before turning his attention his Scroll "You'd have to apologize to Razz- HOLY SHIT!" his exclamation caused heads to turn all around the mess hall for a moment before their fellow students decided that nothing of note was happening and returning to their breakfast. Teams FADE and NEON however kept their attention on the bushy tailed feline, looking at him expectantly as they awaited answers. Nyanza's pale green eyes widened as he reread whatever was responsible for the outburst several times
"Adi-Dazzler Sports wear want to sponsor me"
"Oh shit" Diamond gave him in approving nod
"So you get free hoodies?" Eagle asked
"I get free clothes and a fuck-ton of money to be seen wearing 'em….holy shit I've never had Lien like this before" Nyanza grinned excitably his voice dropping to a hushed whisper, Felix reached over and playfully ruffled his hair
"Congrats man, hey I know Yang gets a fair bit of Lien through sponsorships and royalties; I'll call her after class and ask her to go over any contracts they offer you if you want?"
"Thanks man….I just can't figure out why they'd pick me to be the face of the company when-"
"Stop it" the stern voiced warning came from Olivine, only to be seconded by Helios
"Why would they not pick you? You performed just as well as any other Hunter in the tournament"
"Oum damn it you ass-holes are gonna make me blush" the feline snorted, burying the surge of emotions he was suddenly feeling
"Come on" Ether sighed "Let's get to class, Nyanza I'll talk sponsorships on the way. My sister deals with the business side of the band but I know a little" Team NEON rose to their feet, Helios waiting for Felix who silently motioned for Team FADE to follow suit before slinging an arm around the redheads' waist, tail swishing happily as Helios draped an arm over his shoulder and briefly kissing his cheek.
"Not coming?" Diamond's question caused Felix to turn back and see that Eagle was yet to rise to her feet; following her gaze the Lion Faunus saw the source of his partners' distraction
"Okay cute but she is literally in our class" he joked
"I know, I'll just be a sec" Eagle assured him before standing and straightening out her uniform a little as she made her way across the mess hall to where the three members of Team GORE stood in line to be served. Eagle felt a pang as she noticed that each of the Faunus appeared subdued, the absence of their fourth member obviously still taking a toll on them.
"Hey" she called out over the buzz of conversation that permeated the hall, unable to hide the smile that crossed her face at the way Hellion's wings perked up upon realising who was trying to get her attention.
"Little canary" the Dragonfly Faunus beamed as she sidled over, putting enough distance between herself and her team-mates to give at least the illusion of some privacy from their greater than human hearing
"I just wanted to see if you're okay" Eagle murmured as she pulled Hellion into a hug, the Faunus leaned into the contact and gently nuzzled into her neck "I know you can't go out anywhere but I can still keep you company and we can still do things if you want?"
"You're sweet" Hellion murmured pulling her a little closer "And I had no intention of letting my current constraints stop me from being with you" Eagle blushed and buried her face in the slightly shorter Huntresses shoulder, pointedly ignoring the students in the mess hall who were beginning to stare
"But tonight….Um tonight I'm heading into the capital to see my Mum….I'm gonna tell her about us"
"You're sure?" Hellion answered suddenly, Eagle merely nodded silently before letting out a shaky breath
"I don't want to lie to her. She'll find out eventually and I'd rather she heard it from me"
"This takes a different kind of bravery than fighting Grimm" Hellion observed, taking her hands and holding them "I only wish I could be with you for this"
"One day you'll be able to meet my whole family and they'll love you" Eagle assured her, Hellion reached up and pressed her lips against the blonde, causing her cheeks to darken to an impressive shade. The moment was brought to an unsatisfactory end as Carcharodon placed a grey skinned hand, knuckles covered in old scars on Hellion's shoulder
"It's time to go"
"Come on" Hellion sighed begrudgingly, Eagle felt the former raider lace her fingers through hers as they began to walk towards their first class of the day hand in hand, Onyx trailing behind; his arms laden with food he would no doubt sneak into the classroom and Eagle felt that, for now at least, everything was going great in her life.
Blake Xiao Long, formerly Belladonna had found herself far from what many would consider fitting surroundings for someone of her fame and reputation. Blake however took in the litter and graffiti ridden streets, lined with buildings in desperate need of upkeep with a sense of nostalgia; this was Rauchigschmiede, one of the poorer districts of Lower Eisenstadt Dritte; this was home, she had grown up in Sienna Khan's orphanage which had once stood no more than ten minutes walk away from her current location.
"Of all the places he could have made his home, he chose to come back here" the soft voice of Obsidian Eadala sighed from beside her as the two of them walked at a pace that accommodated for the ageing Snake Faunus's frailty.
"I suppose it still feels like home to him" Blake answered as they neared their destination, easily recognisable by virtue of both the fact that the building was newer and more cared for than those around it and the owners name proudly displayed in glossy letters on the canopy which hung over the various pumps of the gas station. The pair made their way across the recently swept forecourt and into the small convenience store attached to the gas station where customers would pay for their use of the services, a bell ringing from somewhere unseen as they entered.
"Hello" Blake called out, making her way to the cash register at the front of the store where an individual occupied themselves by watching coverage of the Vytal Tournament, in particular Team FADE's bout with Team CNBR. The individual was a man of comparable age to Obsidian, a dark skinned Bear Faunus with with a physique which had clearly once been something to behold though the passage of time had slowly taken its' toll on the mans intimidating appearance, his head was thinly covered in grey hair that had once been a darker colour while his nose was snout like and sported an old scar across its' length. Blake found the resemblance between the man and his son unmistakable
"Thought I'd be seeing at least one of you two at some point….It's been a while Sid" he spoke with a deep rumbling voice and a broad accent, instantly identifying him as a native of Lower Atlas
"Indeed it has Born" the Snake Faunus nodded as he made his way over to Bjorn Slate, father to Gangrel Slate and paternal grandfather to Arctus. Bjorn himself looked thoroughly unimpressed, letting out a slow breath as he regarded the pair before finally grunting
"Come on then let's have it, we all know what you're here for….unless that boy of mine got himself really out of his depth?" Blake found a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she'd always liked Bjorn's no nonsense attitude and utter lack of deceit
"It pains me to have to do ask you to come out of retirement Bjorn it really does-"
"But you're gonna do it anyway"
"We are" Blake interjected with a nod "Because the Faunus of Atlas deserve the best person for the job and that's you"
"If I was that suited to the job it would have been done properly the first time" Bjorn growled, shaking his head with a mixture of weariness and disgust "It was supposed to be finished, by the time I retired the Coalition had done everything the old White Fang, our White Fang had set out to do….what's going on now, I don't understand it Blake….Hell I don't wanna speak ill of the dead but Ringo getting cornered by someone he'd done wrong back in the day would make more sense than this"
"They're a cult" Blake informed him with a shudder "From what we know their leader styles herself after Adam and her inner circle call themselves the Cult of Taurus, it was one of them who killed Ringo….Felix, my son, saw everything"
"Oum have mercy" Bjorn whispered, whatever comment he'd intended to make about Blake being the resident expert on Adam Taurus's cult following being silenced by her final addition "He shouldn't have had to see that….bad enough that it happened at all. This is what you're bringing me back to Sid?"
"I've never known you to shy away from a fight you thought needed to be had" the snake Faunus breathed out hopefully
"I'm old Sid" Bjorn sighed, his words an admission he clearly found painful "I'm old and I'm tired and I don't want to spend the last years of my life looking over my shoulder worrying how they're going to explain the fact that my body was found in bits to my granddaughter"
"Bjorn, with all due respect you're a target already" Blake informed him, causing him to glance at her in shock "You left the White Fang and renounced Adam's way of doing things, you ran the Atlas branch of the Coalition before Ringo….they'll come for you eventually if they aren't stopped-"
"And Gang's doing everything he can to stop them isn't he? That boy of mine always did know how to pick a fight"
"He is" Obsidian assured his old friend, Bjorn pinched his snout like nose and muttered several unintelligible things which were most likely the sort of curses he would have chastised his son for.
"Fine" he grunted "Fine I'll step back up and run the Atlas Branch….I want some security on this place though, I'm not having another one get blown up"
"That can be provided and Blake will remain to bring you up to speed with the latest legislation and developments in Faunus and workers rights" Obsidian answered him, Bjorn still seemed reluctant despite committing himself to the course of action, adding
"How did things get this crazy Sid….we were meant to make Atlas better, I thought we had and yet-"
"I know old friend, I know" Obsidian bowed his head and shook it "Some people can never be reasoned with or helped, but they're not the people we're here to serve" Bjorn shrugged at that before turning to Blake
"And one condition I'm gonna insist on from you"
"Name it" Bjorn gave her a warm smile
"Talk to that boy of mine and his wife and get 'em to visit more often; I've got grand-kids and I barely see 'em"
"Your Grandson is a credit to you" Obsidian told his old friend with a warm smile "Arctus is definitely a Slate at heart"
"So he's daft as a brush but he can scrap then….Oum damn it I always hoped he'd turn out more Schnee, which is something I reckon you never thought you'd hear me say" Bjorn gave a deep barking laugh
"I'm just as confused by this strange new world as you are" Obsidian grinned, his lower jaw separating a fraction as he did so; Blake couldn't help but smile as she watched the two old Faunus leaders laugh and joke amongst themselves and privately she wished that her parents were here to see it, were here to see her and the world she'd helped change for the better.
Eagle had found her resolve wavering and hands trembling throughout the journey to Atlas's capital and no amount of deep steady breathing managed to quash the tight bundle of nerves and sinking feeling that had taken up residence in her stomach and both the fight from the Academy and the taxi she had taken to her destination had given her no chance to use the meditation techniques Hellion had taught her.
"Okay, okay I can do this" she whispered under her breath as she stood at the entrance of the Poly-Tech head office and research facility which also housed her mothers' apartment; Eagle had forgone her armour, instead wearing an extra hoodie for warmth and without its' comforting, familiar weight or the robotic bleeping of Sentinel who was currently still too damaged to function she blonde felt suddenly underprepared despite how unlikely the situation was to require those specific resources. Reminding herself that she was the one who had made this choice to confront a problem head on Eagle held her head high and marched into the atrium of one of the most successful corporations on Remnant, the open space a statement of affluence in its' own right in a place such as Atlas; Antonia Arc's love of function over extravagance could be seen here, the most notable decorations being a pair of deactivated robots designed by the Antonia before she had taken over the company, each of them older than Eagle by several years and flanking a golden plaque honouring the memory of her mentor and founder of the company, Geppetto Polendina. The atrium was a bustle of activity as employees clad in business suits or mixtures of casual clothes which Eagle assumed had been worn beneath their lab-coats pushed passed her as politely as they could manage, eager to be on their way home after a days' work; though even through the crowd Eagle apparently cut a striking enough figure to be easily recognisable as a familiar, somewhat reedy voice called out to her
"Ah Eagle, how have you been?" turning towards the source of the noise it took Eagle a moment to spot Ozymandias Eldritch, silver haired and peering from behind his spectacles as always; something unquantifiable but off-putting amount the man despite his good manners and jovial nature, Eagle noted that he wore a thick woollen jumper rather than his customary lab-coat and noted that he while he looked not her own Grandfather he seemed as though he could certainly be someone's.
"Hey Doctor Eldritch" she greeted him with a friendly wave as she made her way over, taking care to move out of the way of pedestrian traffic
"Please, call me Oz" he answered with a smile, Eagle thought to herself for a moment before speaking again, words accelerating to what many people considered Eagle's usual machine-gun pace as she asked a question she wasn't entirely certain she should
"Hey um, I was wondering….Sentinel got damaged in the Vytal Tournament and I'm gonna need some parts…..I've already filled out an order form but I was wondering if there's any way we could speed it up? Maybe I could use the Poly-Tech fabrication shop?" her crimson eyes filled with hope only for Ozymandias's expression to snatch it away once again
"Unfortunately not I'm afraid" he lamented "Were it my decision to make I would allow it but ever since the incident involving the White Fang restrictions have been tightened, understandably so but it's causing some inconvenience"
"Thanks Oz, it's okay I'll just have to wait for parts" Eagle shrugged "Have a good evening"
"Thank you" with that the two parted ways, though as they did so she Eagle noticed something that seemed extremely odd to her; the security which Eagle could never remember being so openly and heavily armed before now seemed to be paying an inordinate amount of attention to Ozymandias Eldritch, their eyes never leaving him until he was out of sight of the building.
"Weird" Eagle muttered to herself before deciding that they were most likely just being overcautious, or possibly new members of staff who didn't realise exactly who Doctor Eldritch was yet. Putting the matter aside she made her way to an elevator that, when a specific code was entered would take her to the penthouse suit Antonia Arc called home; the subtle lurching movement as the elevator jolted into motion only making to set Eagle's already fraught nerves on edge; the voice of her mother sounding over the intercom as Antonia Arc was digitally informed that she was about to have a visitor
"Good evening Eagle, how're you feeling? You seemed a little worried about something when you called earlier?"
"I'm fine Mum" Eagle answered the disembodied voice, hoping to instil some confidence in herself
"Well okay" Antonia sounded hesitant "The door will be open, let yourself in"
"Okay, will do" the rest of the ride to the towering building went in silence and when the elevator doors slid open with a hiss Eagle strode forwards with the same grim determination that she carried herself into battle with, letting herself into the penthouse suite to see Antonia Arc waiting for her
"It's good to see you" the older woman cooed as she pulled her daughter into a hug "I saw your performance in the Vytal Tournament, I'm so proud of you, I see you've unlocked your Semblance"
"Thanks Mum, just a shame Sentinel got so beaten up" Eagle felt her freckled cheeks colour, heart racing as she realised that if her mother had watched Team FADE's match she may well have seen Team GORE
"That's no problem I can get you the parts you need-" Antonia stepped back, feeling Eagle trembling against her slightly "Eagle what's wrong, something is clearly bothering you?"
"I came to talk to you about something important" Eagle admitted "I'm dating someone"
"Oh" Antonia mouthed, clearly not expecting the answer she received "It's obviously not the other girl on your team she seems quite smitten with Weiss Schnee's son….I assume that she's another student?" Eagle allowed herself a small smile despite her apprehension which now bordered on outright fear; her mother had always been supportive of her sexuality and Eagle felt that had to count for something
"Yeah it is-"
"That's wonderful Eagle, I'll have to schedule some time off as soon as the investigations regarding what happened in Gerat-Handlung are over; I'd love to meet her"
"There's the thing, I really don't think you would" Eagle's words came out faster, voice shrinking with each syllable "Did you watch any of the other tournament matches?….Did you seen Team GORE?"
"I most certainly did" Antonia's anger at the mention of her kidnappers blotting out her confusion at her daughters' worries and the sudden change in subject. Then a moment later she made the connection, the member of the Shadow Cadre who had been imprisoned during Antonia's own captivity had been a Dragonfly Faunus who used throwing knives and from what she had seen of Team GORE's match, was pretty in a roguish sort of way
"Mum say something" Eagle pleaded as she saw Antonia's face fall, an expression of silent shock which slowly morphed into anger and hurt
"How could you?"
"Mum, they're not the way you think they are; any of them and Hellion-"
"Is this to get back at me?" Antonia demanded "Answer me honestly Eagle, I can accept I've made mistakes with you but is this to deliberately hurt me?"
"NO!" Eagle exclaimed "It's not like that, I just….she just-"
"THEY KIDNAPPED ME, THEY HALF KILLED SOME OF MY STAFF AND LEFT OTHERS NEEDING COUNSELLING! SHE IS A MONSTER!"
"THEY WERE DESPERATE!" Eagle shot back, voicing rising to meet her mothers' despite her desire for them to not argue "THEY LOST EVERYONE AND MADE SOME BAD CHOICES….They're sorry, they really are"
"I can't believe this" Antonia's tone was icy, the venom in her words bringing tears to Eagle's eyes "I could have accepted anything else you told me Eagle….but not this"
"Mum, she's-"
"I don't care" Antonia cut her off bluntly "I don't care how special you think she is or how hurt her tribe of thieves and murderers were. We've all lost people Eagle, good people don't do what they did" Eagle looked at her mother, tears streaming down her face freely now
"I'm not breaking up with her, I'm can't do it Mum-"
"Then you're as stubborn with your idiotic choices as your father!" Antonia snapped, the atmosphere in the room changing drastically as their mutual anger reached the point where it could no longer be contained. Eagle's face became a cold scowl as she wiped her eyes, Antonia realising that she had crossed some invisible line with her last comment
"Eagle, you need to understand-"
"I came here to tell you what's going on in my life, not to ask you for permission. I'm going" without waiting for a response Eagle turned and stalked away, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as she desperately put as much distance between herself and her mother as she could manage fishing her Scroll out of her pocket with trembling hands and typing a message to Hellion to let her know things had gone as bad as they possibly could have.
Felix's eyes widened in surprise as he slid back several inches as a blow connected with his hands while they were held in front of his chest, he lashed out with a quick left hook only for it to be blocked and his sparring partner to launch a spinning heel kick to his right hand, striking the heavily padded mitt he wore with enough force to make him spin and stagger several steps before recovering
"Damn" Felix gave a low whistle of appreciation whilst shaking his hand which now stung despite the protective padding. Diamond remained poised to strike for a moment longer, half expecting the Lion Faunus to throw a right handed jab with no warning to test her reflexes
"Don't look surprised dude" she chuckled, finally relaxing as she watched him take pads off
"I'm not, I know you're strong I've seen you pick Arctus up" Felix chuckled as Diamond rolled her eyes. The blonde had only been partially joking, he had known that Diamond was a more than capable fighter but with her more slender build compared to the rest of Team FADE and preference for ranged combat or acrobatically out manoeuvring her opponents Felix had been pleasantly surprised to realise that she was as proficient in close quarters combat as she was
"So what's next then, sparring match or shooting range?" Diamond asked, her low husky voice cutting through Felix's thoughts
"Sparring then shooting range if you're up for it?"
"Sure" Diamond gave him a sly smirk "But just so you know, hosing down everything with twenty feet of your target doesn't count and I'm still the better shot"
"Tell that to the Grimm that were within twenty feet of the one I was aiming at" Felix shot back with a grin which displayed his oversized canines. Diamond chuckled softly
"Dude we need to hang out more" she added with a playful punch to her team leaders' shoulder as they made their way across Atlas's Academy's gym in search of an empty sparring ring; Felix predictably coming to a halt as a familiar redhead made their way over
"Hey Heely" his entire body language seemed to shift subtly and Diamond found the way his expression brightened at the sight of Helios adorable but equally hilarious
"What am I background noise?" Nyanza grumbled as he sidled along behind Helios, as much progress as the feline had made the idea of the inevitable sparring match with his partner was not a pleasant one.
"If only" Felix chuckled before giving his old friend a fist-bump "So I take it you two are going through into the next round?" his tone became hushed and conspiratorial
"We are" Helios confirmed, seemingly uncharacteristically excited at the idea "I think between Nyanza's Semblance and my experience we stand a fair chance….although I won't pretend that the next bout won't be a challenge"
"Right" Diamond breathed out with a sympathetic wince "I saw the fixtures, you're up against whoever Team GORE send"
"Don't worry you've got this" Felix assured Helios, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek as he tried to instil his boyfriend that he himself felt a little ashamed for lacking; Team GORE would no doubt be sending Carcharodon and the Lion Faunus new from experience that the former raider was not to be trifled with.
"So what're you guys doing here?" Nyanza asked
"Oh y'know just seeing what we could steal and take back to Halo Academy with us" Diamond shrugged with a snort "Pretty much the same as you, we're up against Team SABL in the next round so we wanted to work on some stuff and….Oum damn it why didn't you put that in your locker?" she gave an exasperated sigh as Felix's Scroll buzzed audibly in his pocket; the Lion Faunus merely shrugged nonchalantly
"Team Leader, I keep it on me at all times" he extracted the device from his pocket and answered the call with "Hey Mum" Diamond and Helios were unable to hear the other half of the conversation and if Nyanza was able to he chose not to out of politeness so when the Lion Faunus collapsed and pocketed the device they were a little surprised by his next words
"Hey do you guys mind cutting this short?"
"Yeah Dude, is your Mum okay?" Diamond asked with clear concern, Felix gave a quick double take before answering
"What? Yeah, yeah she's fine. She just told me that the majority of the work she came to Atlas for was finished today so she's probably gonna be heading home a little after the next round of the tournament" his cheeks reddened a little as he continued "Um, Heely she asked if you want to come out to dinner with us?" Helios evidently needed no time to consider the question, simply leaning down to kiss Felix's cheek
"I would be honoured to meet your mother Fluffy" Diamond and Nyanza firmly refused to make eye contact, both of them requiring every ounce of their self control to not erupt into laughter at the blush now covering Felix's cheeks, Felix himself quickly managed to regain some self control
"Okay cool, let me just go get ready; I need to message Corey and see if she's coming as well….Dee do you want me to get a signed copy of my Mum's book for you?"
"Sure Dude, thanks" Diamond grinned, fully aware that Felix was teasing her a little but honestly not caring, Blake Belladonna's book was indeed on her 'to read' list. Felix left a moment later, Helios not far behind which resulted in Diamond being left with Nyanza; a mischievous smirk crossed the silver haired snipers' face as she regarded the bushy tailed feline
"So….you and Razz?"
"I….um, we're…." Nyanza trailed off, a soft smile on his face as he finally answered "She's great"
"Yeah she is dude" Diamond nodded "So come on, I was planning on sparring with Felix but since you're here I can give you a taster of what's coming if you hurt her" Nyanza took one look at Diamond's cherry red eyes and saw that she was completely serious, a tired sigh escaping him
"And apparently I'm the lucky one"
Corvid Xiao Long made her way along the silent corridors of Atlas Academy still clad in her school uniform and her dark brown hair let out of its' usual ponytail, the hallways' current state of abandonment owing to the fact that this particular route led towards Headmistress and General Winter Schnee's office and no student wanted to be caught loitering with questionable motives; Corvid herself had received her summons to a meeting with the General from deputy head Professor Soleil, as she walked Corvid's mind raced as she tried to determine what either she or her team could have done to merit such attention. It took little time for the door to her destination to be in sight though before she could reach it the door swung open and a trio of Faunus stepped out, all of them clearly happy to be free of whatever meeting had been taking place. Corvid's steely grey eyes fixed on Onyx Ursabane as Hellion Eudialyte slipped passed her, frowning intently at her Scroll and evidently having somewhere to be
"Well this is Onyx-pected"
"Pretty sure you've used that one" Onyx noted with a grunt
"Pretty sure it's a classic" Corvid retorted "And I'm purr-sonally offended you don't appreciate it. So what did you three do?"
"Lost Raffia" Onyx answered simply, the way that his eyes drifted away from hers made it painfully clear to Corvid that there was something she wasn't being told about the situation, she quickly decided that if he wanted to tell then he would
"Well yeah I can see why she'd wanna Axolotl questions about that" she beamed, placing a hand on the Puma Faunus's chest as she slipped passed him and adding "But if you need to….de-stress sometime, you know where to find me" she almost lost her composure and burst out laughing at the way he visibly perked up at the offer, shaking her head she let him catch up with Carcharodon who had continued down the hallway without a word whilst she knocked on the door of the office
"Enter" the voice clearly belonged to the General and Corvid hesitated for a moment before squaring her shoulders, she could think of nothing that she or her team-mates could be conclusively blamed for and looking guilty would do no favours; with that in mind she entered the office with a calm smile and gave a lazy wave as she entered
"Hey Aunt Winter….do I call you Aunt Winter? It's weird, it's never really been talked about 'cos you're not around that much"
"Good evening Miss Xiao Long….or can I call you Corvid?"
"Sure why not" Corvid shrugged making herself comfortable whilst fully aware that she might be overdoing it a little; though her comment about being unsure what to call the older woman had been truthful, Weiss and Gangrel were her Aunt and Uncle and Arctus was her cousin because of the Schnee Heiress being a member of Team RWBY and Gangrel Slate spending several years in Sienna Khan's orphanage alongside Blake Belladonna; both of those facts made them family in every way that counted and whilst Corvid knew that Team RWBY had once been part of Winter Schnee's black-ops unit she had never really felt as strong of a familial connection with her. Winter for her part seemed to be fighting to keep a smile from tugging at her lips, Corvid assumed that she was inadvertently reminded the General of one of her mothers though before she could ask Winter spoke
"I assume you wish to know why you were summoned here, there are two reasons one of which leads into the other"
"Okay, I'm listening" Corvid sat up straighter, giving Winter her full attention
"The first is that Team CLIR's bout in the doubles round of the tournament against Team RNBW will be postponed" Winter paused, raising a hand to silence the imminent objection "It will only be a matter of two days while your team are on a mission, which I believe will be a simple but necessary task"
"Go on" Corvid grumbled, folding her arms across her chest, making no effort to hide her displeasure "Still sounds rigged if Team CLIR are fighting as soon as we get home…..you couldn't send a team who lost?" Winter chose not to adress the complaints and simply explain
"Since the White Fang made their resurgence public and undeniable with their attack on Poly-Tech there has been a sharp increase in reports of hate crime against Faunus, in some places it has spiked to pre-war levels" Winter paused and saw by Corvid's silence and the appalled look on her face that she appreciated the severity "What's worse is that there have been reports of both police and Atlesian Hunters being perpetrators and using their authority to harass Faunus-"
"WHAT THE FUCK?" Corvid spat furiously, half rising from her seat before remembering to whom she was speaking; Winter merely nodded
"My sentiments exactly. For that reason you and your team are being sent under the guise of a brief training mission to monitor a suspected offender and take action as you see fit"
"As I see fit?" Corvid repeated with some confusion which winter picked up on, this time the General made no effort to hide the smile on her face
"This leads into the second reason that you were summoned. You've come to the attention of the Specialist Branch Corvid" Winter turned her computer so that the screen faced Corvid, allowing her to see stills of her around the Academy, during the tournament and on missions along with what appeared to be several text documents "You've been noted as having, and I'm quoting from various sources here; remarkable intelligence and ingenuity in regards to weapons and engineering, impressive combat capabilities, the unquestioning loyalty and support of your team due to your leadership skills and have been described as operating in a moral grey area whilst also having an unshakeable moral character" Winter finished and raised an eyebrow whilst Corvid took a moment to process the information
"Okay….thanks to those people that said that I guess, the surveillance is still creepy though"
"Atlas keeps tabs on all Hunters that pass through its' borders" Winter answered "But the point of that surveillance was primarily to see if you would be as suitable of a candidate for the Specialist Branch as we believed, and I'm pleased to say that I think we were right about you" Corvid was sure that were she drinking when Winter had said that she would have sprayed her drink out of her nose
"I'm sorry what?" Winter patiently restated the matter, more plainly
"I am offering you a provisional place within the Atlesian Specialists following the completion of your studies at Halo Academy and the admittedly extensive additional training our Specialists are subjected to, which I'm sure your Uncle Gangrel would be more than willing to break from protocol and tell you about. I think you're already one of the best of the best Corvid, I'm merely offering you a place to realise your full potential" Corvid's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in stunned silence as she took in what had just been offered to her, the ranks of the specialists included people whom she had looked up to since childhood; Ruby Rose and Penny Polendina chief among them. Corvid let out a slow breath as a glaring omission in the offer occurred to her
"Does the offer extend to all of Team CLIR or just me?" tension filled her voice, dreading the answer
"Just you unfortunately. Your team-mates are impressive Hunters Corvid but not quite of the same standard as yourself"
"Then I'm sorry but I can't take the offer" Corvid seemed to fold in on herself as she let out a bitter sigh "Call it than unshakeable moral character or whatever but I can't do it. I lead Team CLIR and that won't change when we graduate, I'm not abandoning my team" it took her a moment to meet Winter's eyes again though upon doing so she was relieved to find no anger or judgement their only acceptance
"I understand fully Corvid, your team are to you what the crew of my ship are to me. I wish you and your team the best of luck in both your mission and the tournament" Corvid rose to her feet, sensing that Winter's words were a dismissal, though the General added one last comment "And as to your initial question Corvid, I'm proud to consider you my niece"
"Goodnight Aunt Winter" Corvid gave a genuine smile as she left the office
"Goodnight" Winter gave a resigned sigh as the office door closed. Every generation had its' legends and heroes; Qrow Branwen was one, the man who could seemingly hear and see all of Remnant and whose exploits were without number; Ruby Rose had been another, the silver eyes warrior who could halt hordes of Grimm tens of thousands strong on her own; Winter was more than a little disappointed that she had lost out on the opportunity to recruit the next such hero.
Eagle sat hunched over on her bunk in Team FADE's dormitory dried tears staining her face as she clutched at the enormous stuffed Ursa named Mr. Pancakes she'd received from her Aunt Nora; everything about the blondes' body language broadcast utter despair. She cast still watery eyes over to her Scroll which had landed on Arctus's bunk, a clearly visible dent in the opposite wall where she'd thrown it in a fit of anger at the end of the several calls and messages she'd been subjected to. Antonia had been furious enough to spread word of Eagle's relationship with Hellion to the rest of the Arc siblings and Eagle's Grandparents and from there it had trickled down to each and every member of her sprawling extended family. Eagle screwed her eyes shut, forcing herself not to start crying again at the thought of it; the aunts who were openly angry or shocked and readily vocal about their sentiments had bothered her less than she'd anticipated; what had stung the most had been the talk with her Grandparents 'We don't want to tell you what's best for you, you're not a child' Craven Arc had said, only for Ivory Arc to add 'But we can't pretend that we're happy with this; your mother called us to talk sense into you and surely you can see why she's worried, we all are' the knowledge that the Grandparents who had raised her didn't trust her and as much as they had tied to hide it, were disappointed had been a crushing blow, followed closely by a message from Uncle Flax that read simply 'They kidnapped your Mum, stabbed your team-mate and shot down my Bull-Head on top of the robberies….Stay classy kid' Eagle had been sorely tempted to type an equally vitriolic response, something she attributed to her friends personalities rubbing off on her, but had found that she simply liked the energy for another fight. The faintest possible silver lining had come from three sources, the first being when Lie and Nora Ren had called her assuring the distraught young woman that they would give Hellion a fair chance, and also that Nora would happily break the legs of certain members of the extended Arc family; the second being from an unlikely source, Velvet Scarlatina had messaged her to apologise for her brothers' attitude and offer some advice, she had after all dated Adam Taurus for a few months prior to the war. The final dim ray of hope had come in the form of a voicemail from Hellebores Arc, Eagle could clearly hear the sounds of baying and snarling monsters being put down by massed weapons in the background of her 'Aunt Hell's' message which had simply stated 'I'm busy smacking the black of some Grimm in the no-man's land between Vale and Vaccuo; we'll talk properly when I get home. Don't worry this'll all blow over….you'll have to better than that if you want my spot as family fuck up' this had drawn a watery chuckle from Eagle who nonetheless desperately wanted to speak to the aunt whom had been the first person she had gone to upon questioning her own sexuality. After an amount of time that Eagle was utterly unable to gauge she found herself jumping in response to a sharp rapping against the dormitory door
"It's open" Eagle caught sight of Hellion and before the Dragonfly Faunus had closed the door behind her the blonde had crossed the room and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, burying her face into the crook of her neck
"Little Canary" Hellion started nervously, running her fingers through Eagle's thick blonde hair while holding her tight with her free arm "What happened, what's wrong?"
"I told Mum about us and now she hates me" Eagle answered bluntly, the painful admission prompting fresh tears "My whole family know now and most of them think I'm crazy, they don't even know you and they won't give you a chance"
"I never expected forgiveness for what my people have done" Hellion gave a morose sigh
"I just….we're a big family but we're close; I don't want everyone to be angry with me" Eagle mumbled into Hellion's shoulder and the former raider screwed her eyes shut, refusing to let tears fall from them as she mustered every ounce of fortitude she could and did what needed to be done
"Little Canary….Eagle, you make me so happy; but I won't let you do it at the expense of your relationship with your own people. I'll leave the choice in your hands but if you say that you can't do this, that this is too much I will respect that. Say the word and once Team GORE leave Atlas you will never have to see me again; I don't want to cause you any more pain" Eagle pulled looked at her while a mixture of confusion, pain and anger flashed across her face
"IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HURT ME THEN STAY HERE WITH ME!" she cried before seeming to physically crumple and collapse back into Hellion as her shoulders shook with silent sobs "Please, stay with me"
"There is nowhere else I would rather be" Hellion assured her with a whisper in her ear before taking the taller Huntresses hands and kissing each of her knuckles in turn "You make me better, more than I was before I met you….I don't want to lose the way you make me feel" Hellion gently pulled Eagle down so that she could place a soft kiss on her forehead, Eagle kissed her lips in return and gently cupped her cheeks
"I think I love you"
"And I think I love you to" the admission came easily though Hellion's wings still buzzed in surprise at herself when the words left her
"Promise you'll stay?" Eagle's voice was fragile, betraying just how far her kind and innocent soul had been pushed today
"I promise and my word is my bond" Hellion assured her, gently directing her towards the bunk that seemed most likely to be hers "Rest and I promise I will be here when you wake up" Eagle did as she was asked, curling up beside Hellion on the bed without pause of thought and in short order a mixture of exhaustion and the Dragonfly Faunus playing with her golden locks had left Eagle breathing slowly as she fell asleep, still holding Hellion's hand. Hellion herself tried to get comfortable on a bed that felt far too small and far to boxed in with its' position flat against the wall; she had every intention of honouring her promise, though she expected explaining that to the rest of Team FADE would either be troublesome or entertaining, depending on her mood at the time.
Gangrel Slate gave a wide yawn which spoke of bone deep weariness as he positioned himself on the sofa beside Weiss, casually wrapping his right arm which was still flesh and blood around her
"You know she's going to be playing in the dark again the second she thinks the coast is clear" his wife noted with an amused grin whilst resting her head against his muscular chest and shoulder. She was referring to Athena-Jade, the youngest of the Slate children having just been told a bedtime story by her father, Weiss freely admitted that Gangrel could tell the classic children's tales more creatively and enthusiastically than she did; in part due to his upbringing which whilst had been in poverty had doubtless been more loving than her own; there was also the matter of Weiss being unable to create unique voices on the fly for different characters the way her husband did; she had listened to Gangrel tell bedtime stories before and often found herself laughing along with the children.
"Yeah that's one of my bad habits she's inherited, sorry about that" he chuckled
"I managed to speak to Arctus on a break at work today" Weiss noted conversationally "He won't be participating in the doubles round of the tournament….it's a shame but his reasoning made sense"
"He's worried everyone's seen all his tricks now and they'll be expecting them?" Gangrel guessed with a sigh "Can't fault him for thinking it through, telling Athena's gonna be fun though" sarcasm dripped from his words
"I'm sure she'll manage….Diamond will be competing after all" Gangrel snorted at that
"AJ likes Arctus's girlfriend as much as he does" Weiss chuckled but the tiredness permeating her voice made it clear how demanding work had been, Gangrel idly toyed with her ivory hair while murmuring "You okay babe? You sound exhausted"
"Work on the next generation of Eco-Dust isn't happening as fast as I'd like….it's strong but it's not as versatile as the naturally occurring Dust; it's still volatile as well" Gangrel nodded in understanding while Weiss gave an irritable huff "And things are only being slowed down by Whitley's internal investigation….as much as I understand its' necessity some people should not be within a mile of a laboratory"
"Get him to hand the investigation over to me and I'll make sure nobody trips over their own feet"
"It won't happen" Weiss shook her head "He'll share information with the authorities but he wants to find out who's been selling Eco-Dust to drug dealers himself….he's taken it almost as personally as the White Fang and since Winter has kept him out of that business he's throwing himself into this" Gangrel understood his brother in law's sentiments entirely; whoever was supplying the main component of the narcotic 'Booster' to scumbags that poisoned children was the lowest of the low and the news that the synthetic Dust was most likely being acquired by someone working inside either the SDC itself or one of their main customers had been infuriating.
"Speaking of the White Fang….as much as I would prefer not to" Weiss gave an irritable sniff at the mention of the resurgent terrorist faction "How are you Gang, you're not just tired….what's wrong?" the Faunus moved his gargantuan frame and repositioned himself so that he could look Weiss in the eye while they spoke
"I'll be honest a few things are bothering me, Dad's getting back into the public eye….Blake told me that he agreed to take over the Atlas branch of the Coalition this morning-"
"He'll be protected" Weiss assured her husband while at the same time a deep concern for her father in law whom she loved dearly welled up inside her
"Then there's the tournament situation….one of my agents has apparently gone rogue and I can only hope that he's doing it to deliberately test Winter's patience and they haven't vanished off the face of Remnant….Or been killed by the Fang" he gave another tired sigh, seeming to age where he sat "Honestly though the main thing that's been in the back of my mind bugging me is Coral Scylla"
"The girl the White Fang used as bait?" Weiss asked, the sheer rage and disgust as a parent that someone would use a child, a little girl younger than her own daughter for such a purpose was written plainly across her face
"Exactly" Gangrel nodded "I'm worried about what's going to happen to her when this is all over….her parents are active White Fang members, they're not going to be raising her even if I do find them. I'm just worried that once she's given us anything useful that she knows she's gonna end up being shipped off to some care home and it's all gonna start all over again"
"What do you mean?"
"Another pissed off Faunus kid that the system failed, one with connections to the White Fang….Coral's a good kid she's just had her head filled with propaganda. I'm worried that if we just throw her away once we're done with her it's all gonna fester and in twenty years we'll be hearing about another reborn White Fang with her leading it" Gangrel's amber eyes took on a haunted look "We were supposed to end it Weiss, even when I was breaking peoples' arms on Adam's say so I thought we were supposed to be the last generation of Faunus who have to do this….I thought we'd got everything we were fighting for with the coalition but it just won't end"
"You're right it can't happen again" Weiss murmured, lacing her fingers through his "So what do you plan to do?"
"Honestly I haven't got a plan….I just know that I've gotta do something to fix this; anything less and I'm not doing my job….besides, she reminds me of Jade"
"Oh" Weiss gasped before clutching her husband close, Jade Rangifer, the Spring Maiden who had perished in the war and whom Athena-Jade was partially named for was rarely ever discussed. Gangrel held Weiss as he continued
"This can't keep happening Weiss, it can be stopped it's just a matter of willpower….if nobody else wants to fix the problem then I'll do it myself" he kissed the top of his wife's head as the seed of idea formed in his mind; it presented many problems from the offset but the Bear Faunus had helped reshape the face of Remnant, a few bureaucratic mountains wouldn't stop him.
Authors Notes:
So, I'm back.
For the people who don't follow me on Tumblr, sorry for the delay I was just absolutely burned out….I hadn't taken a week of this story in a year and between writing and planning it's a seven day process for each chapter.
I've got a story for the "Prompt Mayhem Challenge" coming soon so keep an eye out for that.
I'm also taking part in the "OC secret Santa" project again for the second year in a row….No idea who I'm writing for yet but it'll be fun either way.
It's gonna be a bust December but I just found out that my job will be giving me a week off, paid without losing any of my accrued holidays (They pre deduct Christmas)….I do not miss agency work.
Anyway, let's summarise:
You know damn well Diamond and Arctus having a cliché kiss after winning would have been all over the media and you also know damn well that Nyanza would be quoting those articles while cackling.
'A continuation of the Nikos legacy' probably made Heely blush all kinds of colours
I love the idea of Eagle just being the darling of the media during the tournament and having no idea how to cope.
Merc and Diamond have a great relationship, they just tease they ever loving fuck out of each other as well.
The sponsorship thing isn't important but it felt realistic and I felt like giving Nyanza a win here; also "Adi-Dazzler" is a play on Adi Dassler the founder of Adidas.
Cyberpet is a pleasure to write.
Headcanon Onyx can sneak food into anyway, he is the guy to go to the cinema with.
I'm pretty sure readers of The Downward Spiral could sense who we were going to see as soon as I mentioned Rauchigschmiede.
Okay in regards to Bjorn's skin-tone; Bjorn is black, Gangrel is mixed race and Arctus has his Dads' Faunus traits but is white passing (Honestly he has a Schnee complexion)
Lower Atlas accents sound like Yorkshire.
Bjorn probably can't help but still thing of Blake as "That idiot boy Taurus's hanger-on"
"I'm not having another one get blown up" I mean Neo isn't here any more so….
"So he's daft as a brush but he can scrap then….Oum damn it I always hoped he'd turn out more Schnee, which is something I reckon you never thought you'd hear me say" I feel like this is why people have been wanting Bjorn ever since we got to Atlas.
Geppetto Polendina founded Poly-Tech before Antonia took over (Hence the name) just keep that in mind when considering what Oz could be looking for.
Ozymandias Eldritch, being evil while wearing woolly jumpers since 2018.
So Oz is definitely being monitored, although how effectively is always up for debate.
Poor Eagle, it was going so well at first
Eagle might be shy and a rambling flustered dork; but she is also hard headed and strong willed as fuck….Remember in first year when Felix tried to get her to calm down and not go running out there when Antonia was kidnapped.
Throwing a sucker punch in a training session is definitely something Felix would do his team because it's something Corvid most likely did to him.
"Dude we need to hang out more" is me calling myself out because when I first planned this story out I actually thought Felix and Diamond would interact more than they do…..still, at least they're not as bad as Blake and Ruby.
Team NEON vs Team GORE confirmed.
Team SABL….I had Felix sparring with their team leader a while back, literally for no reason other than to have the tournament fodder characters actually exist before the tournament. (It's something that bothers me about how tournament arcs in a school setting tend to work).
More meeting the family goodness….I promise I will have the moment Helios and Yang meet on screen, there's just too much fun to have their.
Ah the Xiao Long puns, it's been good to write those again.
Team CLIR are facing Team RNBW whose leader is the child of Arslan Altan; I promise I'll show at least some of that fight.
It sucks but it makes sense, the White Fang come back and all the racists come out the woodwork because now they've got someone they can point at to justify their shit.
Yes, Corvid could have been "Specialist Xiao Long" in a few years; yes she just politely declined.
The name Mr. Pancakes was given to the stuffed Ursa by one of my readers.
Downside of having a big family, that's a lot of people with too much of an opinion that you're probably gonna have to cut off at some point.
Damn even Uncle Flax is unhappy with her.
Smacking the black off of Grimm has to be an expression in Remnant, it has to be.
God bless Aunt Hell.
Have some teenaged angst, nope have more, NOPE! MORE THAN THAT!
Think about how Team GORE sleep, normal beds probably annoy them.
Polar Bear scene for my long time readers.
The Booster plot-line involving Rhodium and his as yet unseen supplier "Dunwitch" is still ongoing and we'll see how it ties into the Atlas stuff when we get back to New Vale in Third Year.
You can't tell me Gangrel's fears aren't justified.
Gang sounds so much like his dad here….weary.
Gang has a plan….you will love it, trust me.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, iSassenach, Garthraxxus, Funlander, FleetOfWarships, FluffyFirefly, Ferrous and Bankerrtx01 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Team GORE are confined to campus, they're still attending lessons and allowed to interact with other students but they do not leave the academy unless it's to fight in the tournament and use themselves as bait.
Don't worry, we'll see Raffia again….So many of you are convinced that he's going to die when you've seen him take a sniper rifle bullet straight to the face, get shredded by mini-guns, have his spine severed and jaw blown off, have his eyes burned out with acid and have all of his limbs removed at different points….He's hard to kill guys.
I think the Nikosi would definitely understand what Carcharodon's crown was even if they hadn't seen it before.
Corvid and Iris will be Team CLIR's initial plan, though that plan may have to change depending on how their mission goes.
Car and Onyx is the plan but it's Helios and Nyanza because having skill and luck on your side is always a good idea.
Nope, none of the Cult are former Frost River Tribe. If anything they're the children of White Fang members who didn't flee Atlas and were either imprisoned or executed for their crimes; it's a mix of zealous loyalty and bitterness towards Team GORE/The Shadow Cadre since they're the children of deserters.
The Flustern as the Whisper was honestly a nod to Winter's first ship in The Downward Spiral, the Schweigen or the "Silence".
You may just get your wish with AJ and Coral/Omega.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.