Blake's anxiety was at a level she didn't think was possible.
Of all the things she had endured in her short life, from her time in the White Fang, to joining Beacon Academy, watching its fall and everything in between, she never imagined that this would be the moment that would cause her the most anxiety and stress.
Waiting for the results of that pregnancy test.
It had been a whole day before she decided to use it after Yang's mother Raven had gotten her one in secret, which she was grateful for, still in slight disbelief about the generosity of the woman Yang had shown clear contempt for. The fact that the two had met up and had come here together was still a mystery in itself, the same as how their mothers knew each other.
Sitting on her bed with Milena by her side, the small feline wagged her tail in anticipation as if she could feel her own anxiety.
This time spend with Milena had been somewhat odd for Blake. It was weird to imagine that she was the reason that the man she had grown to love, the father of her potential child no less, had even come to Remnant in the first place.
Alector Nirvana's story was one she never fully understood, she knew vaguely about how he was taken in by the Conduit as a boy and made to perform experiments, which eventually had let to the creation of a portal to their world of Remnant, losing Milena that day through the portal had set him on a crash course to retrieve her quickly. And the rest of what happened was history, he impersonated a teacher, was captured, escaped, saved her and was then captured once more, this time by the organization he had ran from.
The man was an enigma, first she saw him as a respectable man she had grown fond off, an off chance encounter led to them becoming lovers and even after his deception was revealed Blake couldn't help but still feel affection for him her entire stay at Beacon and beyond.
As soon as she had him again she had also lost him. And now here she sat with that scenario in her head, one thing he may have left behind for her.
Blake heard the timer on her scroll go off. With a deep sigh she walked over to her dresser on which she had put the pregnancy test that Raven had gotten her, Milena followed suit, pouncing of the bed and standing beside Blake. The Faunus girl grabbed the test and looked at the result.
Unmistakable. Clear as day.
Positive.
In that moment Blake had no idea how to feel, how to respond, whether she should be happy or that she should cry. The test was positive, she was definitely pregnant and Alector Nirvana was the father.
Milena purred beside her, rubbing up against her leg as if trying to comfort her. Blake welcomed the affection of the feline, the only one beside Yang and Raven who knew about this. Something she couldn't tell anyone, especially considering the situation they were currently finding themselves in, with the Conduit almost over their head they couldn't worry about her and her unborn child.
Softly stroking her stomach, Blake looked down solemnly.
"I'll keep you safe, I promise" she whispered softly.
"Where is she!" Leana shouted angrily as she walked through the halls, passing a multitude of guards who stood aside to let her enter. Pushing past the doors, in front of her the knife wielding Conduit soldier came face to face with her leader.
"Supreme Chancellor" Leana yelled out as she ran towards her leader, still sitting in her floating chair with her right-hand man Gellin by her side, on the floor the body of a red-haired masked individual, a huge cut through his throat and covered in blood.
"Leana my dear, I hope I have not upset you" Belrus spoke with her well known sweet tone.
"What happened?" Leana said.
Gellin stepped forward, hands behind his back and a stoic expression on his face "this here is…or was Adam Taurus, the leader of the White Fang," he said gesturing to the body on the floor "Mr. Taurus came to the Supreme Chancellor with a request to work together. And when we refused he proceeded to attack the Supreme Chancellor, which resulted in his fate as you can see here."
"I didn't ask you!" Leana spat out with venom in her voice.
"My dear child be kind, Gellin here was only trying to explain the situation properly. No need to be so venomous towards him, he was only doing his job" Belrus spoke, petting Leana on the shoulder before she turned to her right hand man.
"Could you excuse us for a while Gellin, you go and get someone to get rid of this mess" to which Gellin responded with a nod before he left behind the big closing doors.
As soon as he left the Supreme Chancellor spoke up once more as she turned to Leana "I know your history with men isn't pleasant my dear but I expect you to behave with a bit more dignity around here, especially towards someone who has been serving me loyally for more than ten years."
Leana gulped, the Supreme Chancellor's tone was a lot more stern than usual.
"I apologize Supreme Chancellor, I was just worried for you" Leana said bowing down.
Belrus smiled as she motioned for Leana to stand back up "your worry warms my heart my dear Leana, but I was never in any real danger. Mr. Taurus over there was clearly unstable, like a dog affected with rabies he needed to be put down. Rambling on about how humanity took everything from him, his freedom, something called Blake."
At the mention of that name Leana's head perked up as she instinctively grabbed at the Supreme Chancellor's hand.
"Apologies Supreme Chancellor but did you just say Blake?" Leana asked.
The woman in charge turned her head towards Leana, her eyebrow raised in curiosity "I did my dear. Does that name mean anything to you?"
"In this world there is a Faunus girl named Blake Belladonna, she was a lover of Nirvana. That's why Vadim went after."
"Really?" the Supreme Chancellor said with intrigue in her voice "tell me more my dear child."
Jaune felt his arms weaken by the day as he sat in his cell aboard the Omnikronus, the personal flag ship of Supreme Chancellor Belrus.
He had almost lost track of time, his thoughts just worrying about Ruby and how to get out of here, though that felt like a foregone unrealistic desire. He dreaded every time the cell doors open, dreaded hearing the sound of that floating chair.
The Supreme Chancellor hadn't done much to him besides talking but whenever she entered Jaune felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. This woman somehow exuded a very terrifying aura, which he found ironic for someone who didn't have aura. But her mere presence was unnerving to Jaune, like she would eat him alive or…even worse. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it but it was just…so wrong.
The cell doors opened once more and he heard the clanging of metal boots hitting the floor. One of the guards most likely bringing his meal.
"Arc? Is that you?" he heard a voice say.
Jaune instantly turned his head to the guard that had entered his cell, removing his helmet Jaune was thrown for a loop as soon as the guard's helmet came off completely and he was looking straight at his old school bully and rival Cardin Winchester.
"What's going on!" Yang screamed through the Belladonna manor as a loud screeching noise reverberated through the air, covering almost the entire island of Menagerie.
Blake had come out of her bedroom to witness the commotion as everyone in the house, Weiss, Yang Nora, Ren, Raven and her parents all watched out of the window as a shadow loomed over the front of the beach. Ghira immediately ran outside and saw what had been causing the noise.
A giant airship with the Conduit's symbol plastered on it hovered above the beach area, on which he saw all the people running away in fear as the ship neared the ground.
"The Conduit" Blake whispered, her nerves still going crazy from her earlier revelation.
"They finally got here" Weiss responded, looking at the ship with a fiery determination.
Ghira turned to his family and the inhabitants of his home "I'm going over there. We don't know what they want, you all stay back here."
"No way we are staying back! You need the backup" Nora replied immediately.
"I will not be putting you in danger" Ghira said.
"I think we are more than capable of handling ourselves," Weiss said confidently "plus we have aura and they don't, we have an advantage and they know that by now. They may have more numbers but we can take more hits."
Ghira sighed, knowing full well that he couldn't stop this group even if he wanted to. So reluctant as he was he allowed them to accompany him towards the beach, only Kali staying behind with Raven, whom agreed to stay a safe distance away and strike fast if necessary. The rest of the group descended the stairs down to the beach as the ship landed on the beach.
As soon as Ghira had set foot on the beach the doors of the ship opened and about a dozen armed soldiers walked out, in the middle of them walking a tall man with a scar across his right eye, roughly around Ghira's age. The panther Faunus assumed him to be the leader.
Ghira gestured for the group, including his daughter to stay back as he saw the soldiers stand still and take a position, with only the scarred man continuing to walk further towards him.
"I assume you are the man in charge here?" Ghira asked the man. As he stood still both men looked at each other for a good few seconds before the scarred man spoke up.
"That is correct, my name is Gellin and I'm the leader of this battalion. And who might you be?" he asked.
"My name is Ghira Belladonna. You can think of me as a representative of this island."
"Belladonna huh?" Gellin said as he scanned the group behind Ghira, his eyes falling on the girl with cat ears "very well Mr. Belladonna. I am here on the behalf of the Conduit, we were actually looking for you?"
Ghira took a few steps forwards "oh really? And why is that?" he asked.
Gellin snapped his fingers and two of the soldiers behind him moved backwards to the ship "we have something for you, or rather someone. Someone I think you might know?"
The group behind Ghira stood there with baited breath unsure of what to expect or to whom they were referring. Ghira stood there silently observing Gellin before him and the guards that came back into view seeming to carry something…or someone…
Ghira could barely observe what they were carrying until they threw it right in front of him. And that's when he saw it.
His eyes widened as the dead body of Adam Taurus was thrown before him.
Blake gasped as she saw the body mumbling a quiet "Adam…" as Yang grabbed for her arm and her eyes seemed to tremble with anxiety, the rest of the group remaining shocked as Ghira couldn't keep his eyes off of it. Seeing the sight of the man that he had once worked with, the one he even once thought of as the perfect partner for his daughter…he clenched his fist.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ghira said with restrained anger.
"I assume you know who that is?" Gellin said crossing his arms "you see Mr. Taurus here tried to attack our Supreme Chancellor and paid for it with his life. From his last statement he told us about the Belladonna family and so we figured it would only be respectable to bring his remains to you so you may give him a proper burial."
If Ghira was angry he did a good job not showing it, he breathed out slowly, his face stoic and straight as he looked at the scarred man in front of him.
"That is very admirable of you. We will make sure you he gets a proper burial" Ghira said respectfully, extending his hand. A sly smile crossed on Gellin's hand as he shook Ghira's hand.
"Very well. Then there is just one more small matter" Gellin explained.
"Which is?"
"Well you see Mr. Belladonna, before his unfortunate death, Mr. Taurus spoke up about one Blake Belladonna, which I am to assume is your daughter" Gellin said as he nodded towards Blake who was standing with the rest of the group a few meters from the men.
"She is? What does she have to do with this?" Ghira said, somewhat defensive, taking a step forward, showing how much he actually towered above Gellin. But despite the substantial size difference, Gellin did not seem to be intimidated in the slightest.
"We would like to take her with us for some questions. Particularly because we also heard something concerning her relationship with the deserter known as Alector Nirvana" Gellin said.
A vein was visible on Ghira's forehead, Blake saw her father ball his fists up, desperately trying to control his anger.
"I'm willing to accommodate you on this island Mr. Gellin," Ghira said respectfully "but come near my daughter and I will make sure none of you leave this island alive!"
The threat was spoken softly but the anger was now clearly visible. Gellin just glanced at Ghira, seemingly not deterred by the threat.
"Now I will politely ask you to leave this island" Ghira whispered softly so that only the man in front of him could hear.
Gellin once more placed his hand behind his back "well that's just the thing Mr. Belladonna. You are not in a position to make demands."
In an instant Gellin punched forward into Ghira's chest and Blake saw her father immediately go down in a flash, electricity seemingly moving over his body as Gellin stood over him with a mechanical gauntlet around his right hand, electricity emitting from it.
Weiss was quick to pull her sword and Nora had already had her hammer in the air but with a click of his fingers, Gellin had all the soldiers point their weapons at the group.
"These guns will shoot the fleas of a dog's back at five hundred yards you runts, and even with your aura protecting you it will absolutely take you out for a while. So put down your weapons before we turn this entire beach into a blood bath" Gellin yelled.
Yang angrily scowled as Blake motioned them to put their weapons down "I will go with you if you promise not to hurt anyone else here" she said.
Gellin nodded "I see you have more common sense then your old man," he replied stepping forwards towards the Faunus girl "I hope for you that riding Nirvana's dick was worth it because the Supreme Chancellor has a lot of questions for you."
With that he angrily grabbed Blake's wrist to pull her away from the group, who could do nothing but watch, Yang's finger was literally on the trigger of Ember Celica, but she held back knowing the risk it held to Blake.
Gellin walked a few feet forward until stopping in his tracks, still holding Blake's wrist tightly. Looking downward he saw a cat, wagging its tail around and looking at him with its big green eyes.
"Out of the way furball!" Gellin spat, but the cat did not move an inch, it was then that he took a close look at the feline.
"Wait aren't you?" but before the man could finish his sentence, Milena jumped up with impressive speed and bit down onto Gellin's arm that he used to hold Blake, the man instantly screamed and let go of the cat Faunus as he threw his arm around screaming trying to get Milena of off it.
After a few seconds Milena let go off of her own accord and landed on her feet as Gellin clutched his wounded arm and looked angrily at the feline.
Milena seemed to cackle and Gellin looked up, seeing Blake jumping in the air, Gambol Shroud extended and before he knew it, the end of the whip clashed against his face and send him backwards next to his soldiers.
Blake landed on the ground as her teammates and friends hurried on next to her, standing in a battle stance as Gellin clutched his bleeding face in anger.
"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS WAITING FOR! TAKE THEM OUT!"
"But Sir look…" One of the soldiers said pointing to the left.
Angry and pissed Gellin turned to where the soldiers where pointing, and soon enough everyone looked in that direction as small sparks seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere, but the sparks grew into something more, taking the shape of a round vortex.
"A portal has opened sir" one of the soldiers yelled.
The portal spiraled back and forth as it emerged on the beachfront. Blake looked down to see Milena meowing at it "what is it girl?" she asked as the cat looked at her and kept meowing, her tail wagging excitingly as she gestured to the portal.
"What's going on here?" Yang asked with wide eyes.
"WHO MADE THAT PORTAL!" Gellin yelled as he stood up, still clutching the gashing wound on the side of his head where Gambol Shroud had hit its mark "GO AND CHECK IT!"
One of the soldiers stepped forward towards the portal, weapon ready as he took small steps toward the spiraling vortex of unknown origin.
CLANG!
The sound vibrated through the beach as the soldier flew backwards several meters before landing on the ground with a resounding thud. The remaining soldiers looked awestruck as their comrade hit the beachfront, with Gellin looked both surprised and equally pissed at the portal.
"Look!" Weiss said as she pointed to the portal. Everyone looked to see a figure step through it, a giant glowing hammer in his hand. Gellin's eyes turned bloodshot red as the figure looked at him.
Blake's expression turned into shock and awe as standing before the portal now stood a familiar face she thought she never see again.
"I can't believe it…" Weiss mumbled in disbelief as she and the group where now directly staring at Alector Nirvana, wielding the hammer and looking at Gellin and his soldiers.
"Hello Gellin, it's been a long time" he spoke with a smile, holding the hammer up with both hands as if he was ready to strike.
A/N: So after a long time I finally have another upload, sorry it took so long but I went through a lot and lost a lot of motivation for this story but now I am back and ready to continue the story.
