CH. 38
"Hey mom, have you seen my sword?" Raiku asked from the second floor.
"Your what?" Noriko screamed from the kitchen.
"My sword. Midnight Beat. Have you seen it?"
"No, I haven't," Noriko told him. "Ask your father."
"I haven't seen it either," Eon yelled from his office on the first floor. "Why don't you retrace your steps?"
"Can everyone not yell across the house," Anise screamed. "We're all in the same freaking building."
Carolina and York sat on a brown u-shaped couch in the living room, watching the news on a large screen television and listening to the family conversation.
"Wash sure is taking his sweet time," said Carolina.
York sighed. "Eh. Kinda expected it. He's not one to fly a drophip, especially without guidance."
"Maybe he ended up like Georgia?" Carolina surmised.
"Hahaaa, you'd like that wouldn't you," York said.
BAM!
"Eyyy! We're back!" said Abaddon as he, Kathleen, and Darby entered the Evergreen house.
Noriko came out the kitchen and chopped Abaddon on his head.
"Don't kick my door open like that or you're gonna pay for it."
"Sorry about that. Just being a bit reckless is all."
"When are you not reckless when you wanna make trouble," said Kathleen.
"Oh hey Darby!" Noriko's face lit up at the sight of the little boy.
"Hiiiiii." Darby waved in response. "Is mommy home yet?"
"She sure is, cutie," Noriko told him, pinching his cheeks. "She just came back a few minutes ago. Kathleen, could you take him to his mother. The bridge connecting our houses is behind the screen door on the second floor. I need Abaddon to check my front door for any damages."
"Got it. I'll be back in a few minutes," Kathleen said as she ascended the nearby flight of stairs.
"Come on, I didn't kick it that hard."
"Says the grandson of the strongest man on the planet."
Kathleen ignored Noriko and Abaddon, walking across the second floor landing and exiting through a screen door at the end. She entered a short hallway that let out to a somewhat finely crafted bridge leading up to Darby's home above.
"The bridge seems stable. There's even mesh covering the gaps between the hand rails so someone like Darby can't easily slip off."
Kathleen's thoughts were confirmed as she traveled up the bridge. Not a single creak was made from the wood. The rails even had fine ornate designs carved into them. Kathleen reached Darby's home, which was about the same size as the Evergreen's. Kathleen reached for the doorknob of the front door, but realized that the door was slightly ajar.
"Noriko was right. Someone is home," Kathleen whispered.
She opened the door, only to be met by a teenage boy. He had short dirty blonde hair, fair skin, and magenta colored eyes. He wore a black beanie, an orange short sleeve shirt, brown shorts, and sandals.
"Dillaaaannnn!" Yelled Darby.
"Hey baby bro. Who's your friend?"
"Kateen. She and Abbledon helped me."
"It's actually Kathleen. And Darby looked like he was lost so we decided to help him get home," Kathleen informed Dillan.
Dillan sighed. "Thanks. Mom would've had a heart attack if she didn't here from him before dark."
"Where is your mother anyway?" Kathleen asked.
"Oh, she's here. Buuuuuuut, I have to ask permission for you to come in." Dillan looked nervously back into the house, then back to Kathleen.
"How come? Is something wrong?"
"No," Dillan replied. "Its just a thing with our mom. She likes to look presentable. Plus, she's washing off a wound from her trip."
There was a shout and Dillane looked back into the house, then back at them. "I'll be back."
Before Kathleen could say anything, he slammed the door shut.
"Uh oh, Mommy got hurt again," said Darby.
"Again?"
"She had black spots on her last time. I touched one and it hurt my finger."
Kathleen's brow furrowed. She sat Darby down at the doorstep. "Stay right here. I'll be back."
She jogged back to the Evergreen house, entered the door, and jumped over the railing. She coincidentally landed behind Abaddon, who had been sitting on the couch and talking to Carolina.
He looked up as soon as she landed. "What's up Kat?"
"Hey, could you come up to Darby's house real quick? I need you to see something."
"Sure."
Abaddon got up and followed Kathleen to the front door of Darby's home. Although, the little boy was now gone and the front door again slightly ajar. Abaddon's ears perked up as he heard a painful scream come form inside.
"You heard that?" Kathleen asked.
"Yep."
They both rushed into the house. Inside it was much similar to Eon's home, except the walls were colored blue, and there was a visible attic space with a glass ceiling. They heard another scream, from the second floor, and rushed up the stairs to one of the rooms. Inside they found Darby and Dillane standing on either side of their mother, who lay on a large bed. Their mother had long dirty blonde hair with four dark brown horns, four pairs of bat-like wings, scales, and a long slender white tail with a dark brown arrow shaped spike at the end. She was mostly naked, save a white button down shirt and underwear. Although, half her torso was covered with a spreading blackness.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!"
"Mom, hold still! I've got your medicine!" Dillane was holding his mother's left arm whilst carrying a needle in his left hand.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Darby tried desperately tried to hold his mother's right arm, but he was barely holding on due to his small size.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Abaddon quickly recognized the injury on the woman's body as the same ones Ruby had. He rushed over to Darby and took his place, grabbing his mother's arm. He then made a light orb in his free hand and pushed it into her mid torso. The blackness immediately ceased spreading and the woman stopped struggling and screaming.
"Dillane, get me a wet towel and a cup of water." The boy nodded and left at Kathleen's behest.
Abaddon checked the woman's pulse and put another hand on her head. Dillane came back with a hot towel and a large glass of water.
"Her pulse is steady. She'll have a small fever for a while." Abaddon placed the towel on her head and put the water on the small table next to the bed.
"Is mommy gonna be okay?" Darby asked, tears in his eyes.
Kathleen knelt in front of him and wiped away his tears. "Your mom will be fine. You just have to make sure to give her hot soup and water."
"Orange juice?"
"That helps too," Kathleen replied. "Now, earlier you said your mother was hurt again. Has this happened before?"
"Yeah. She had a long scratch on her side the first time, and another one on her tummy another time," Darby told her.
Dillane picked his little brother up in his arms. "Every time she would tell us she just had a minor scratch, or it was just a cramp, but I knew she wasn't alright."
"And you didn't tell anyone?" Kathleen asked surprised.
"We didn't know what to do. We told Ms. Noriko but she didn't know how to treat it or what the cause was. Plus-,"
"You can't really go to a doctor anyway. Not only do they not know how to deal with the darkness infection that Ghouls can inflict, they'd snitch." Abaddon checked Darby's mother for her aforementioned injuries and found them. He then took pictures of them with his scroll to show to a medic later and took out a medical balm from one of his cargo pockets to add to the now clean wounds.
"This balm should help speed up her healing and her aura regeneration. Her aura should take care of the rest even after the balm is used up."
"Snitch? For what?" Kathleen asked.
"N-no. N-n-no doctors," the mother said faintly.
"Dillane, what's your mother's name by the way?" Abaddon asked.
"It's Calypso."
"Calypso…is a dragon faunus isn't she?"
Dillane paused for a moment. "…Please don't tell anyone! Mom said no one except Anise's family can know!"
"We won't. If people found out, there would be news crews all over this house." Abaddon's scroll buzzed. He looked at it briefly, then pocketed it. "We gotta go. Watch your mother and help with anything she needs."
"You don't have to tell me twice," said Dillane.
"I'll be sure to tell Anise and her family about Calypso's condition." Kathleen gave Darby a kiss on his head. "So don't worry m'kay?"
"Thank you," Darby replied.
"Yeah, thanks for the assist. If it was just us, I'm not sure what would've happened," Dillane told them.
"See you later squirts." Abaddon grabbed Kathleen's hand and left the room, exited the front door, crossed the bridge, and rejoined the others.
York and Carolina were already at the front door, waiting with their bags.
"Hey, our ride is here. Lets get a move on!" Carolina yelled.
"We're coming, we're coming! Don't get your panties in a bunch," said Abaddon.
The huntsmen went down to the first floor and grabbed their belongings.
"Thanks for the ride Eon." Abaddon shook his hand. "See you again later perhaps?"
"Sure. Here's my contact info." Eon held out his scroll. Abaddon took out his and scanned Eon's, adding the man to his mobile contacts. "I'll look forward to a tour of Beacon one day. Haven't been there in a long while."
"Hey Kathleen." Raiku came down from his room, his sword in hand, having just found it next to the living room couch where Abaddon left it. "Thanks for the sparring match. I've got a lot of ground to cover, but I look forward to a rematch later."
Kathleen smiled. "Agreed. And don't be afraid to ask for help with your training."
"He always needs help with something! Like…three to four times a day!" Anise screamed from upstairs.
Raiku chuckled. "Did you hear something?"
"No, its too quiet in here. Maybe we should go outside where we can't listen to the mice in the walls," Abaddon said.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of small feet stomping upstairs. Raiku ran upstairs, and soon there was a small screech and a door slam.
"What was that?" Kathleen asked.
"Don't worry about it, as long as your not within ten yards of the house," Noriko told them. "Now get going!"
At Noriko's request, the group finally left the Evergreen house. They walked to the air pad they saw earlier, where an Atlesian dropship was waiting.
Carolina took out her scroll. "Hey Wash, open up. We're ready to go."
The back of the dropship opened, allowing the group to walk in and strap themselves into their seats. Sitting at the ship controls was a man in gunmetal grey full body armor with yellow accents.
"Hey Wash, did you fly here by yourself?" Abaddon asked.
"Uhhh, no. It was a short trip. I am NOT ending up like Georgia."
"So now you know what happened?"
"No! You assholes still haven't told me!"
Washington started the dropships engines and the vehicle began to rise into the air.
"So what venture are we partaking in now huh?" Kathleen asked Abaddon.
He scratched his head. "As Carolina has informed me, we are going up north to a building rig to reacquire the Amity Coliseum from the White Fang."
