Ch. 47
"It has been a whole fucking month and I'm tired of it!" Abaddon screamed.
He was currently with Jurano and Jack at the From Dust Till Dawn shop, late at night. Jack had asked him to help restock the shop as his uncle was taking the night off.
"Cinder won't talk to me, and Emma outright avoids me! I keep trying to mend things with them, but they make it practically impossible!"
"Well, after hearing the answers you and Kathleen gave us in the ballroom, I understand why you guys hid such a thing from us," Jurano told him. "I wouldn't say it's your fault. They'll come around eventually."
"Feels like it could be an eternity. And I've practically lived that long," Abaddon whined.
"Holy shitting tits!" Jack said. "Stop being a fucking wet blanket and tell those girls what's up! Your Heracles grandson for fuck's sake!"
"Not always that simple dude." Abaddon sighed. "They feel like I lied about who I was for the entire time they've known me, but I was reincarnated and just got my memories and powers back."
"Reincarnation? Like dying and coming back to life as another miserable shmuck?" Jack asked. "Why didn't you say that a month ago?"
Abaddon clicked his teeth. "Cause you stopped us from getting to that part. The battle that caused us to leave Ebarona, I died making sure Bahamut and Alexander couldn't follow everyone as they escaped."
"And what happened to those two?" Jack asked.
"I took them with me," Abaddon answered. "Well, to be honest, I'm pretty sure Bahamut is dead, but Alexander I'm not too sure. He was weakened at the time, but he was still stronger than I initially was at the start of the battle. He's either dead or in a coma."
Jurano threw a quarter he found on the floor at Jack, who caught it and put it in the register. "So how'd you manage to beat them?"
"I…ascended," Abaddon began, slightly hesitating. "I became something more, something powerful, something too dangerous for them to handle. I became the one thing I feared: a monster. And in the end, I beat both with ease, but I was consumed by anger and grief at the torture I had been through and the sight of the bodies. Most of my children and my pack were slaughtered as if they meant nothing."
Abaddon gazed at his hand, and for a moment he saw a flicker of the being he became: A black giant with no mercy and an insatiable hunger for vengeance. Jurano put a hand on Abaddon's shoulder, pulling him back to reality. He smiled, then hugged him.
"I'm sorry you had to experience that Abaddon. And I'm sorry for judging you and Kathleen. I always saw and still do see you as one of my brothers, who always has my back. But now I also see you as an old man who suffered a great deal. But if you allow it, can we help you fight the voidsent?"
Abaddon smiled. "Sure brother."
He then looked up at Jack. "Hey Jack, you wanna do some training later?"
"Sure," Jack answered from behind the counter, leaving a call from his scroll. "But I would take a look outside if I were you."
Both Jurano and Abaddon went up to the window and saw Emma walking with Neo across the street. Abaddon immediately ran out the door towards her. But Emma heard him coming, and when she saw him, she immediately grabbed Neo and teleported. Abaddon stopped in his tracks. He increased his senses to detect Emma wherever she had reappeared. In a few seconds, he found her on the roof of a building almost half a block away. The Firstborn gave chase, jumping on the roof of the nearest building and sprinting after her. He got to their location, but Emma teleported again. Abaddon cursed and continued to chase her.
"Emma! What're you running from?" Neo asked as she was continuously teleported by the faunus.
"Don't worry about it," Emma replied. She would continuously stop and then teleport to another random location in the district they were in. After a few teleports, Neo pulled herself away from Emma before she teleported and came face to face with Abaddon.
"Hey Neo," he said. "Can you help me catch Emma?"
"So, she's still avoiding you. What about Cinder?"
"Cinder doesn't avoid me; she just ignores me whenever I'm nearby. I bet Emerald is loving it."
"Abaddon, I don't think they're gonna stop anytime soon. You should be able to talk to Cinder, she's in her usual spot even more now. After that day, Emma said she doesn't wanna talk to you again."
"I could catch her, but I don't wanna shift just to do that and teleporters are always hard to catch unless you find a pattern in their movements. I tried calling her and leaving a text and voice message, but she blocked me."
"Well first, what do you mean by shift?"
"It's what we call the process of transforming between our mortal, semi-mortal, and true forms."
"Sounds cool. And as for Emma, while she did block you that didn't stop her from listening to them. We both listened to them all last week…..I'm sorry about your kids and your pack."
"Thanks, Neo. You've been looking out for her for me? Has she had any nightmares?"
"A few. She woke up with a panic attack one night, saying your name. And she has cried. But that doesn't mean it's all about you. She blocked Kathleen as well."
"I know, I know. Could you talk to her since you two have been close lately?"
"Sur-wait, how did you know about that? We just talked about taking things slow the other day."
"Emma and I have been inseparable since we were babies. I know how she acts when she's with someone she likes."
"I didn't know it was like that."
"It's fine. It's a more complicated situation than that, but she will have to tell you about it later. I just hope we can come back from this."
"You will Abaddon, just give it a bit more time."
And with that Neopolitan gave Abaddon a quick hug before walking off towards Beacon. When she neared the airship for Beacon, Emma appeared beside her.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Neo said to her as they boarded the airship.
Emma stayed silent with a blank face and responded by holding her hand. The two girls took the airship back to Beacon Academy. They walked through the grounds to the dorms and soon entered theirs. With the other members of KAJE gone, Emma and Neo had the team's room to themselves.
Neo drew a bath and began to undress. Once the water was done, she slowly and gently stepped into the water. She sighed in relief as she sunk into the tub, with only her head sticking out of the water. She leaned against the white rim of the large tub and closed her eyes to relax.
…Click…
Neo opened one eye as Emma entered the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and undressed, leaving her clothes next to Neo's. She entered the bath, sitting opposite her partner. She pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat in the hot water.
"Neo," she began, "I still don't know how to feel about this. I'm still so angry at them for keeping such a secret from us, but at the same time, I understand their reasons because of reincarnation and hiding in plain sight. I don't wanna lose them."
"Your conflicted Emma, and that's alright. But just take your time. You heard our conversation earlier, didn't you?"
"Yeah…but I still can't face him….."
"As I said, take your time. Baby steps. But for right now, relax. This bath feels really good."
"Yeah…"
Despite Neo's request to relax, Emma only stretched out one of her legs. She still looked depressed. Neo saw this and an evil smile appeared on her face. She crawled forwards and with one hand lightly flicked Emma's right nipple.
"Hey!" Emma yelped.
Neo didn't reply. She then sat in the Faunus' lap and began lightly licking her breasts. Emma moaned as Neo continued to pleasure her. Neo then went from licking to sucking her breasts. Emma's moans became louder as her pleasure increased even more. Neo did this for a little while, then stopped to catch her breath. Both girls were breathing hard now. Emma decided to retaliate by slowly and lightly rubbing the lips of Neo's vagina. Neo gasped as Emma took her time, slowly dipping her fingers inside of her partner. Once inside, she continued to move at the same pace, but slowly picked up speed. The faster and deeper she went, the more Neo moaned. Both girls then began kissing each other as they continued. Soon enough, Neo's lips separated from Emma's, and she let out a loud moan as she finished, then collapsed into Emma's arms.
Only the sound of their heavy breathing filled the room, now both exhausted and satisfied from their endeavor. After some time of rest, the girls shared a quick little kiss before giggling and resuming their hot bath.
The next day, Abaddon entered the bookstore owned by the Florence family. As he neared the front desk, he noticed a new face standing there: A pale white man with cleanly cut black hair, sideburns, and hazel-colored eyes. He wore a short-sleeved quarter-zip burgundy and black shirt with a visible white undershirt, jeans, and dark shoes.
"Good afternoon, welcome to Florence's Book Trade."
"Hey. I'd like to enter the rooftop garden." Abaddon gave the man five Lien.
"Sorry friend, but a young lady paid extra to have the roof to herself for the whole day with no interruptions."
"I need to talk to her though. Maybe I can pay more than she did?" Abaddon asked.
"No can-do buddy. When someone needs their privacy, I can't let you in. Maybe tomorrow perhaps?"
"Alright fine. I won't press you any more."
Abaddon picked up his money and took his leave, but then stopped at the door and looked back. "By the way, it's good to see you again Tucson."
The man, Tucson, blinked several times. He stood up and felt his hand touch something on the desk as he moved. He looked down and saw a small white shard with three red marks on it; A piece of his old mask from when he had left the White Fang behind.
XXXXXXX
In the garden atop the bookstore, Cinder was tending to a bed of roses. She had been permitted by Mrs. Florence to help tend to the garden. She was dressed in a plain black shirt under a pair of overalls, grey boots, and brown gloves. She stood up and took off her gloves, then wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"All the chores have been done," Cinder "Now I just have to go home and clean myself-."
Cinder froze when she saw Abaddon entering the garden through one of the open greenhouse windows.
"Hey, Cin. Can we please talk?"
Cinder turned towards the door that lead downstairs, but Abaddon ran over and stood in her way.
"Look Cinder, I'm sorry. But can we please talk about this instead of you avoiding me?"
Cinder crossed her arms and looked Abaddon dead in the eye for a moment.
"So, you were reincarnated, and I wasn't dating some billion-year-old man? You weren't deceiving me?"
"Have I ever deceived you before?" Abaddon asked.
Cinder clicked her teeth. "Well, you did take Neo and leave me in an oasis in Vacuo in Callis' care."
Abaddon frowned. "Cinder, you know what you did. You tried to manipulate me throughout our relationship to do what you wanted, and when what I did wasn't enough, you hired some fucked up guy with a brainwashing semblance to turn me into your obedient puppet. I couldn't say no, I couldn't resist, but I remember everything that happened during that week."
Cinder took a step back. "I-."
"You raped me Cinder! You were my first time in this new life, and it happened at the cost of my free will! You…..are just like your mother!"
Cinder's face was in shock for a moment, then it contorted into anger as her eyes began to tear up.
"Don't you dare compare me to that woman!" She screamed. "I'm sorry if her bullshit has seeped into my being, but I never wanted to go that far at first, but with how our relationship was I couldn't help myself! Do you know what it's like to have someone you love so obsessed with something or someone else that you become a second thought?! Your quest for vengeance almost got all of us killed several times, and there was very little time you gave for us. I admired your tenacity, your obligation to protect us, your strength, and most of all the absolute freedom you had. You could go anywhere you wanted, and your family didn't berate you or get in your way. But what I hated was how dangerously angry and reckless you were, how you'd rather train than have quality time with me, how you'd rather go on a mission than a date. A boyfriend who didn't bother to cherish what we had. I had had enough, so I brought myself down to my mother's level! Are you content now?! Is that the confession you wanted to hear?!"
Abaddon stood in silence. She was right. Their relationship back then hung on by a thread, mainly due to his single-minded desire to find and kill Adam Taurus. He was neglectful. It was even his fault that Neopolitan had been captured by Bantus in the first place. While that didn't justify what Cinder did, his actions had pushed her that far.
Cinder glared at Abaddon with tears in her eyes. He moved forward to hold her, but she pushed him back and turned away with her arms crossed.
"G-get away from me….I don't….don't look at me…"
Abaddon didn't back away, he moved forward even more and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't fight back this time and turned around and cried into his chest. They knelt on the floor.
"I'm sorry…for what…I did," Cinder said as she wept. "We were…just kids…but I….wanted you…so badly."
"And I'm sorry for neglecting you during our time together," Abaddon replied. "Cinder?"
"Yes?"
"You're still in love with me…aren't you?"
Cinder weakly punched him in the stomach, then looked up at him. Their gazes were locked for a moment before sharing a kiss. As they continued their lip-locking, Cinder leaned back. She was now on her back with Abaddon on top. She caressed his face with one hand and used the other to guide one of his hands to her left breast. She had a pleading look on her face, asking him if he wanted to take her, of his own free will. Abaddon sighed and shook his head. He removed his hand from her chest and sat up. He pulled Cinder up with him and brought her close.
Cinder felt ashamed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
"It's fine Cin. I just don't think a rooftop greenhouse would be the best place for that. We both needed to get our frustrations out."
"Yeah, we did. We've been avoiding it for a while now. How can you still trust me to have your back even after that?"
"Because I always trusted you to have my ass. I just didn't trust you with my body or my feelings."
"Oh. Okay."
"But….if you're up for it…..we can work on this. We can work on us. Try dating one more time," Abaddon said as he caressed her.
Cinder looked up at him puzzled. "But you and Kathleen-."
"It's normal for Firstborn and Newborn to have multiple partners, and we don't use terms such as heterosexual or gay and the like. A relationship is a relationship no matter how you look at it."
"But how would Kathleen respond to this?"
Abaddon smiled. "She'll be fine. She'll probably be happy that even though I'm reincarnated that I still practice this aspect of our culture."
"Still, I don't know how to feel about this. Having you as my boyfriend again is great and all but you and Kathleen have been together for millions of years and have children. I'll feel like a third wheel."
"It's okay, you aren't the first. We've had multiple partners with us. I'm pretty sure we'll make it work. You can trust me on that."
"I hope so."
