Ch. 20
"…and later on I woke up in a medical ward on Patch. My grandfather had come back with Atlesian troops to douse the fires. He said that when he found me in the crash site, I should've been dead but something was keeping me alive. That's when he told me about the Longinus fragments," Abaddon said.
"The what?" Nora asked.
Abaddon sighed and gave them the same explanation that he gave Kathleen the other day.
"Wow, all that sounds like too much. And you all were only in your early teens when the fire happened," Weiss said. "What did your parents think about all that?"
"Oh, they didn't know until later. While Kathleen, Emma, and Jurano stayed on Patch until Marrowshin was restored, I went off on my own and told grandpa to take my parents to Atlas. Whether they liked it or not I wanted them to be safe. For all of you to be safe." Abaddon made eye contact with his team when he said the last part.
"And what did you do for those three years?" Ren asked.
"I went after any lead I could find about the White Fang's whereabouts, mainly anything dealing with the fragments or Adam. And I killed many of the Fang who got in my way," said Abaddon. "I've told you all this because since you witnessed some of what I can do, I thought it better to get it out of the way than to have some of you wandering around with unanswered questions in your heads and you'll most likely see me using my powers or possibly hurting someone in the future. But I have to ask you, knowing all of this, do any of you think differently of me?"
Everyone descended into silence for a few minutes as they exchanged looks.
"Speak now or forever hold thine peace," he added.
Unsurprisingly, Emma was the first to speak up whilst tightly hugging Abaddon's right arm. "Abby, you know I'll stay with you no matter what. I just don't wanna see you kill again."
"I don't abandon my bros," Jurano said. "And you're my best bro, no matter what."
Kathleen winked. "I have to keep an eye on my partner after all."
Next was Cinder. "Well, you already know my answer, along with Neo's. We've never thought different, we just knew you were driven to your cause."
"I'm gonna go along with Cinder's decision. Besides, you're a pretty cool guy," Mercury added.
Emerald was looking off in another direction when Mercury nudged her in her side. "Ow, alright. As long as Cinder's okay with it I suppose."
Then Pyrrha stood up. "Well, it's been a several months now since we became friends right? From what you've told us it seems you were just trying to protect those you cared about and avenge your home, you just probably did it in a different way since you were so angry and vengeful at the time. But I think that what you've done in the past doesn't matter anymore, who you are now is what is important. Does anyone else agree?"
The rest of team JNPR and team RWBY all nodded in response. Well, most of team RWBY. Blake looked very unsure of all this. Abaddon decided to leave it be. He kind of expected everyone else besides his team, Cinder, and Neo to fear him or worse reject him. Although, it turned out to be better than he could've thought.
"Thanks guys. I don't really know what else to say." Abaddon felt really relieved.
"You don't have to say anything, but you could make excuse notes for all of us. I'm pretty sure we've missed at least an hour of class," Yang said.
"Wait!" Nora said as she held her hands out to stop everyone.
"What is it Nora?" Ren asked.
"Can you show us a bit of your twilight stuff, pleeaaaasssee?" Nora asked Abaddon.
"Yeah, show us!" Ruby jeered.
"Uhmm guys, I'm not sure this is the time," Jaune pleaded.
Abaddon merely chuckled at the request. "Alright, you asked for it."
The boy put his hands out and in his palms two tiny orbs formed. The one on the left was white and the other on the right black. He put the orbs together and they fused into one, getting slightly bigger with the two colors smoothly blending into one another. The orb was about the size of a tennis ball. In his right hand, Abaddon flicked the orb towards the back of the classroom. It zoomed past the others until it hit the back wall. Despite its size, the small orb hit the stone wall with a loud boom and enough force to create a massive crater that spanned a great amount of its surface. As soon as the dust from the small explosion settled, Jurano immediately sprinted for the door.
"Jurano, what's the rush?" Kathleen exclaimed.
He didn't look back when he answered. "Last one to get caught by Goodwitch is a rotten purple pickled egg."
XXXXXXX
"Good job getting all that dust kid. You and your team have proved very useful," said Corvus.
He and Desmond stood in an underground base stationed under Mt. Glenn. It was the perfect place to take their operation without any prying eyes getting onto them. A small huntsmen team was spotted in the ruined city last week, but they left without even a hint at what the White Fang were up to.
"Thanks Lieutenant Corvus. We plan to do all we can for any future assignments," Desmond replied. "All this dust, enough to supply an army. Do you know what all of it is for?"
"We are supplying an army, but it's not the kind of army you would think it is," Corvus said. "For now, that's all you get to know. I'll tell you when Adam allows me to, otherwise I would've told you already. No hard feelings Desmond."
Desmond clicked his teeth. "It's alright. I'll keep doing my part and be patient."
"Good. You and your team should get some rest." Corvus was about to leave until Desmond grabbed his shoulder.
"One more thing Corvus. From one of your men that survived the Longinus retrieval mission, I heard that you ran into 'him.' Is that true?" Desmond asked.
"Yes, we ran into the boy. I kind of knew he would come back someday, but I didn't expect him to be there. How he found that factory was beyond me, but I'll tell you this; don't ever underestimate him," Corvus told him.
"Oh come on, you've fought him several times right. If you can tussle with him then so can I." Desmond seemed a bit too overconfident in what he just said, worrying Corvus even more.
"You say that now, just wait until you actually face him. When he's serious. You'll regret letting your guard down, and I'm not the only one who knows that." With that, Corvus left to tend to the other soldiers.
Desmond went his way as well. He walked past the large crates filled with the dust and the many soldiers who mulled about either patrolling the area for Grimm or chatting with one another. For an underground base, there was an ample amount of light, mainly from the large lamps they placed around the area and a few holes that punctured the ceiling to let sunlight in. If it weren't for those two things, everyone would be swamped in darkness and the Grimm would be attracted to the lamps, likely destroying them. Desmond made it to the other end of the base where a small train station lay. This was the people's attempt in Mt. Glenn to link their city to Vale before they were massacred. He wondered how much of that population was faunus, how many were human. He shook the second thought out of his head. The humans were probably the ones who made the problem worse anyway.
Desmond approached the only train that was working in the station. They were going to use it for a future operation, but for now it was mainly a rest spot. Desmond entered one of the open cars where his team was already eating.
"Everyone feeling okay?" He asked them.
"Yeah," Coreg answered as he sat on a crate with his lunch. Like Desmond, still had his black cloak on, but under it he wore a custom White fang uniform that was similar to Corvus'.
"Sure thing," said the other two teammates who sat on crates on the other side of the car. They were fox faunus twins, a boy and a girl. The boy, Ignis Aurora, had dark green eyes with short dark bluish grey hair that was swept up at the front of his hairline. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt with a long sleeve white jacket with metal studs on the shoulders, black rolled up pants with armored shins, and black sneakers. His sister, Tsunalae Aurora, had the same eyes and hair color but her hair ended in a mid-length braid. She wore a short sleeved blue crop top over a dark grey shirt, blue shorts, studded fingerless gloves, and a grey belt with a pleaded teal skirt hanging from it and white shoes.
"Good. Corvus says to stay here for a while and rest until we're given a new mission," Desmond told them. He sat on a crate next to Coreg, who handed the boy his lunch tray.
"Thanks." Desmond took the tray and began eating.
"Hey Des, what kind of mission do you think we'll be sent on next?" Ignis asked.
"I don't know. I just hope we get something interesting to do," Desmond said.
"Maybe stealing from a shopping district," Tsunalae added.
Ignis frowned. "Shut up Tsu. You just wanna get some new clothes and jewelry."
"Well, I was hoping to stay in Vale for a while," Desmond said.
"Is it because of that guy you wish to meet?" Coreg asked.
Desmond smiled. "Yeah. He seems to be some kind of hot shit around here since he reappeared from his three year absence. Even Corvus is concerned. I'm ready to see what this kid's made of."
"But if even he is concerned then we should probably keep our guards up if we encounter him or anyone like him," Ignis suggested.
"Whatever, you probably don't even know what the guy looks like," Tsunalae told him.
Desmond smirked. "Well Corvus and Adam do. Maybe I'll get lucky and run into him on our next mission into Vale. I've been waiting for some excitement."
