Kagami's story was utterly absurd. It was impossible to believe and a laughable claim to the Monomane name. The bloodline was built upon honor and the ideology of protecting the weak from Grimm. To call out her own ancestor and say he murdered and hunted the rest of their family line was madness.
But it was the truth.
And everyone knew this wasn't something Kagami would joke about.
That's what scared all of them.
The Monomoe home was quiet for once despite all the people inside. Rummaging through the fridge, Midori didn't even make eye contact with her husband.
Watching her closely, Aza crossed his arms while tilting his head. "Are you okay?" He finally asked.
"Just fine." She breathed out while roughly closing the fridge door. She had a bright red apple in her hand.
"Okay." He nodded as she grabbed a knife. "Well if you're okay then-" He stopped himself as she loudly chopped the apple in half.
"I said everything is fine." She lowered her head while clenching her jaw.
Breathing in, Aza heavily exhaled. Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around. "No it's bloody fucking not."
Staring up at him, she took a few uneven breaths.
Sighing, he released her shoulder. "You don't have to be afraid of some bloody immortal mad man coming to kill you for whatever psychopathic reason. And that's only if he is real."
"That's... that's not what I'm afraid of." She pulled away while eyeing the fruit on the counter. "I'm not afraid of if he's real or what he'll do." She swallowed. "I'm afraid of what Kagami will do regardless if he's real or not."
He blinked. "You're... worried about if she's going to run after him to put an end to what he's done?" He shook his head a bit. "You're still missing the fact he's probably not even real. Annie's semblance must have messed up or something."
"Her semblance doesn't just mess up." Midori went back to slicing her apple. "She's shown me my father and I relived the stories he would tell me as a child. I know what Kagami saw, what she's saying is the truth... I just really don't want to believe it. For her sake. I can't believe it to be true."
Staring at her, he lowered his head and stepped closer. "We'll figure this out. Don't worry." He patted her hand gently. "We'll figure it out."
Out in the living room, Baren sat beside Gurin on the couch. The younger girl was braiding her sister's hair.
Kagami sat on the floor with her knees tucked into her chest and arms wrapped around her legs. There was a weird feeling twisting her stomach into knots since she told everyone about the ancient Monomane of legend. She knew she must have sounded crazy. It was a ridiculous story in the first place. But she knew what she saw.
"Kagami." Baren spoke up. Leaning forward, she rested her arm across her lap.
"Hm?" She eyed her mentor. She didn't want to turn her head too much incase it messed up the braid Gurin was making.
"I know I can't stop you..." She leaned forward more while lowering her voice. "But please, don't run head first to your death. If this man is as big of a threat as you say, you need to be more than just careful. Everything you do will need to be planned perfectly and be executed perfectly. Everything will need to be perfect." She flexed her jaw.
"I will. I promise." She reassured her.
"You can't just promise me." She pointed towards the table where the rest of team MACE along with Aero and Eleanor sat. "You have to swear. Not on your life, but theirs. Swear on their lives. Because they will be the ones who pay the price if everything doesn't go perfectly." She slowly breathed in. "You know I know from experience. And so does your mother. Your friends will follow you to the end of Remnant and back. You have to put them first. Even if that means setting your pride aside and letting it burn."
Slowly blinking, Kagami eyed her friends. She then closed her eyes and tilted her head down. "I understand." She took a deep breath. She knew what she saw. She knew she had to set things right. Not for herself, but for the generations before her. She had to set it right for them. But her friends would always come first.
At the table, Eleanor and Elise were locked in a silent conversation. Both had their arms crossed and both had their eyes on each other. It was the kind of unspoken conversation only family members could have with each other.
"Okay well..." Kris slouched onto the table. "Are you two done yet?"
"Definitely not." Aero ran her finger around the rim of a cup of water. Grabbing it, she then took a sip.
"Well could they hurry up then!" The short girl tossed her arms out before leaning back in her seat.
"Calm." Cheyenne held up a hand and gestured. "Calm. I know we're all a bit frazzled but... calm Kris." She patted her arm just as the redhead let out a quiet growl.
As if on cue, Eleanor let her arms fall to her sides. "Fine."
"Fine?" The Faunus eyed her.
Smiling, Elise sat back. "Thank you."
"But," She held up a finger.
Her daughter rolled her eyes.
"But," Eleanor took a deep breath. "You can't purposely go searching for him." Her expression grew serious. "No directly going after him and searching for where he is. You have to stumble upon him throughout your own journey. If you do, then you can intervene. Fair enough?"
"As good as I'm going to get with your approval on this." She huffed with a small pout. Crossing her arms, she looked away. "But I understand..." She swallowed. From how Kagami described it, she would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid. The thought of fighting him honestly terrified her.
"Great. So what's the plan to kill an immortal jerk?" Kris raised an eyebrow before grunting as the back of her head was smacked softly.
"Definitely not the time." Cheyenne narrowed her eyes.
"It was a serious question." She huffed while rubbing her head.
"Still not the time." She lightly hit her arm.
"What would be the plan though?" Aero eyed the three girls. "If he's immortal how would you stop him?"
"We'll figure that out..." Elise trailed off. Looking over, she eyed her leader. "Kagami will figure that out later. I know she will. This won't leave her mind until she makes things right." She looked back at her mother. "And we'll be there to support her."
"Hell yeah we will." Kris flashed a toothy grin while Cheyenne gave a small nod.
Smiling to herself, Aero set her glass of water down. Leaning over, she nudged her former teammate. "Remind you of anyone?"
Smiling back, Eleanor shook her head before pushing her aside. "I raised her well, didn't I?"
"More like pa raised me well." Elise chuckled softly before yelping as her shin was kicked under the table.
Eyeing the way to the kitchen, Baren let out a quiet sigh before standing up. "I'll be back. I think I need to have a talk with someone else."
"I know she's worried." Kagami glanced up. "I can see it in her eyes."
Nodding back, the old warrior slowly walked away.
Biting her lip, Gurin carefully finished braiding her sister's hair. "Should... I be worried too?"
"Huh?" She glanced back. "What? No, no." She quickly sat up straight. "You have nothing to worry about at all."
"But you said he was hunting people like us." The young girl pulled away slightly while looking down. "Does that mean he'll come after me someday? Since he knows there's more of us left?"
Clenching her jaw, Kagami got to her knees. "Listen to me." She reached out and grabbed her sister's hands. "You do not have to worry. I promise. I will protect you and I'm going to stop him. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will stop him from tearing apart another family." She squeezed her hands softly. "I promise you. I won't let anything hurt you. Ever. I would stare down the biggest Grimm in all of Remnant for you."
"Really?" She softly squeaked.
"Really." She nodded. "I have to make up for all the years I've missed somehow. And I don't know how many more trips of sneaking out to eat sweets I can take. Way too much sugar."
"I could eat a lot more." Gurin smiled.
With a small laugh, she shook her head and got up on the couch beside her. "Oh I'm sure you could. Thanks for doing my hair by the way." She nudged her. "Having my hair in a braid really helps keep it out of my way. It's nice."
"You're welcome." She lightly kicked her feet.
Leaning up against the counter, Aza glanced over as Baren silently stepped inside the kitchen. Eyeing his wife who was slicing another apple, he nodded before pushing himself up. Walking over, he gestured for the pinkette towards her. "Good luck." He whispered before stepping out.
Waiting for him to leave, the old warrior moved her arm across her chest. "Midori?"
"What?" She didn't even look at her.
"I think you have enough apples." She flashed a smile.
Quickly looking over, the green haired woman glared while placing several apple slices into a bowl with over a dozen others.
"What? It's true." She shrugged. "Maybe some peaches would be nice?"
"Don't patronize me." She pointed with the knife she had.
"Don't run from your fear."
Inhaling, Midori grabbed another apple from the fridge. "Kagami wouldn't lie. That monster is real and he wants my family dead. Running seems like a good option. You can't tell me you're not worried about Kagami finding him and he ends up killing her too."
"Terrified." She answered rather bluntly. "But from what I've seen, fate has a strange way of making things work out."
"He's immortal. How is she suppose to-"
"No. He's not immortal." Baren clarified. "Based on what she said, he used that water to prolong his life. He's not immortal."
"And how will that help?" She turned around while placing a hand on her hip. "Hm? He's lived for thousands of years and killed hundreds of warriors stronger than her. They couldn't even stop him."
"They aren't Kagami." The old warrior took a step closer. Breathing in, she narrowed her eyes. "Fate is strange and works in mysterious ways. Ever since that day we met, everything has led to this moment. Everything. You might not have faith in her, but I believe she holds the hope of generations."
Silence fell between them for a moment.
Sighing, Baren took a step away. "It's hard to believe the fearless little girl I taught to fight is so afraid of a single man whom she doesn't even know the whereabouts of. I know it's been hard, but you can't run from everything." She turned around.
Breathing out, Midori set the knife she had down. She stared at the cutting board for a moment before closing her eyes. After a minute, she pushed herself away from the counter and to the fridge. Reaching inside, she pulled out a few peaches.
"You really think this guy is real?" Aza asked in disbelief while sitting at the table. Across from him was Aero and Eleanor. "Really?"
"Well, I'm not fully sure." Aero scratched the back of her head. "The story does sound super crazy."
"But you of all people should know the Monomane bloodline is something else." The other woman gestured with her hand. "They have actual magic. Not just a semblance, but magic. And they make unbreakable steel and fabric that can't tear. Who knows what else there is about them."
"But..." He sighed in defeat. "It just seems crazy. The whole thing. I think I would rather it not be true."
"Maybe that's why you don't want to believe he's real." The bluette suggested. "You're scared of the idea of some super old creepy guy hunting your family. So you choose to not believe it."
"The bloody hell does that mean?" He snapped at her which made her yelp softly.
"Okay, everyone stay calm." Eleanor waved her hands between them as Baren sat down with them with a raised eyebrow.
On the couch, Kris was lying horizontal with her legs over the armrest. Her head was resting on Cheyenne's lap. The Faunus was sitting beside her and next to Kagami. On the other side of Kagami, Elise sat and at Kagami's feet, Gurin sat on the floor with her legs crossed.
"Just like that." Cheyenne nodded while instructing her leader how to braid her little sister's hair.
"It definitely does not look right..." The jadette shook her head.
"Just keep going. I'm sure it's fine." The young girl smiled. "It can't be worse than when I do it myself."
"Mhmm, sure." Kris quietly chuckled while staring up at the hole in the ceiling. "Do you think beheading would work?"
"He's super old and a skilled fighter. I doubt we could get close enough to behead him." Elise leaned forward before sighing and slouching back. "So..."
Sighing, Kagami twisted a hair tie in her sister's hair. "We can figure it all out later. He can't be unbeatable. We need to put an end to his madness."
"And we will." Cheyenne nudged her. "No one even knows where he is so there's plenty of time to think of a plan."
"And you're the queen of plans." Kris grinned while poking her. "We'll set things right."
Shifting her body around, Gurin glanced at the four girl on the couch and smiled. "You guys are so cool. I want to have friends like you someday."
"I would definitely want to be friends with myself if there was another me." Elise pointed at herself.
"Oh Oum, please no. I couldn't take more of you." Kris laughed.
Scrunching her face, Cheyenne raised her hand and gently bapped the short girl on the nose. "Be nice, Christmas."
"Not until she eats tofu happily." She crossed her arms.
On the other side of the couch, Elise softly gagged while closing her eyes. "Never. Never ever."
Coming out of the kitchen with two bowls of apple and peach slices, Midori glanced around at everyone. Taking a deep breath, she set one down on the dining table then walked over to set the second down on the coffee table. "I think we all could use some free time together." She eyed her daughters. "Your father and I will consider taking some time off. No going anywhere. Just staying here watching movies or something."
"We will what?" Aza glanced over.
She ignored him and grabbed a slice of apple. "If that's okay with all of you?"
The members of team MACE all glanced at each other before Kagami nodded softly. "That sounds nice."
"Wonderful." She nodded.
Just then, the front door suddenly opened up. Stepping inside, Kuro grinned. "I'm home from my game night and I brought fooooood." He waved a few pizza boxes around. "There was a lot left over so I thought I'd bring some for dinner. Or well after dinner since dad will have to go and make everyone their own personal pizza." He blinked as he noticed the looks everyone gave him. "Huh? Did I miss something?"
Staring for a moment, Kagami slowly brought both her hands to her face. "I forgot I had a brother..."