Seven hours ago Athena had expected that scared girl from Beacon Academy to show up with Shadow, delivering the girl to her to finalize her revenge on that family of murders and thieves once and for all, but according to Ebony who was keeping a close eye on Eliana, she had been stopped well short of finishing her task, nearly destroyed by Yang as they discovered her in the midst of taking the child. It was inconvenient, an annoyance that forced Athena to make a drastic change of plans, but it was too late for her to alter the past. It was already done and the situation was unable to be rectified. They'd taken Eliana into custody… or the staff at Beacon was holding her to be more accurate. Only those involved were aware. Worst case scenario. Athena ran her finger down the length of the blade, inhaling the forest air deep into her lungs.
She hated the city. They'd been forced out of their village, the council had found them, and to make matters worse, they wouldn't leave despite the fact that only Ruby and Qrow had lived. The entire woods that they'd once called home had turned into a crime scene, though to Athena's knowledge, she wasn't sure what they could legally arrest her for. They couldn't have known about any of the murders, which was a favor to her village and the rest of the world if she was being honest and fair. Humans didn't need to make sense. If they felt threatened, the easiest solution was to remove that threat, whether doing so followed their own rules or not. Animals.
She contemplated killing the woman that they were holding for ransom, but it had no benefit with the exception of there being one less human left in the world. Athena held the power and she needed to make sure that the world was aware of it. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that she had the idea to keep the woman for a bit longer, she'd make for an excellent distraction that would lead the police and huntsmen away from her as she finished preparations. There was more than one way for her to achieve her revenge, and one of those options intersected with her plans for displaying her power to the world. Crimson approached her.
"Irving is getting a bit restless," Crimson informed her.
"You say that as if he hasn't been restless this entire time," Athena noted as she stood up from crouching and sighed, sheathing Wilt. She understood his desire to an extent, the amount of patience that was required of her to wait as long as she had to finally set things in motion was nothing short of infinite, wanting nothing more than to execute her plan early and have the world grovel at her feet. This man, however, was used to taking women, giving them a 'makeover', using their bodies, and then killing every one of them when they didn't turn out looking like Salem.
"You may want to talk to him if you want that woman alive long enough to be found later," Crimson noted. Athena rolled her eyes, walking briskly for the small abandoned cabin that sat in the middle of the woods just outside of Vale. She didn't know who had once lived here, or even why they left, but it was a locale that she'd had her eyes on for quite sometime and after having Ebony scope out the area they concluded that no one would be around to see them. Athena approached the door, Ebony stepping out of the way to let her in and opening the door for her. Athena gave her a nod as she stepped in, Irving towering over his prey, mouth-watering as his hands shook.
"You told me that if Alex's daughter didn't show up by midnight last night, that I would be allowed to fix his wife," Irving reminded Athena as he looked back at her with a crazed look in his eyes. He swung around to face her, blades in his hands as he took a step closer to her. "Why did you tell me to wait? I need to make her perfect! You need it too."
"You'll get to 'fix' her, but for now, I need her alive for just a little while longer," Athena informed him. He gripped the weapons tightly, his veins bulging.
"I'm getting sick of waiting!" He shouted.
"Do you think yelling at me is going to get you anywhere?" Athena asked unimpressed.
"Her husband was an actual monster, she looks like a monster!" He yelled. His body shook. "I want to make her beautiful!"
"I know that your goddess appreciates your work more than most of her followers, but my conquest is just as important, if not more so," Athena told him. "My work, in a way, is her work. She wanted the weak to die and to give power to those who deserve it. My ideals are not so different."
"I'll give you until tomorrow," Irving proposed. Crimson tried to step past Athena but the woman denied her.
"I may need her alive for longer," Athena told him.
"Tomorrow," he repeated. Athena stepped to him, hand on the hilt of her blade.
"If you kill her early, I will end your life," Athena asserted. "You weigh the options and determine if it's worth it." Athena pushed past him and removed the tape from Violet's mouth, letting the woman breathe normally for the first time in a few days. "Your daughter was going to come for you, but it seems that a misstep placed her behind bars instead. Her motive was noble, however, so maybe they'll let her out early on good behavior." Violet refused to look at Athena and the Faunus kicking the leg of the chair, causing her to flinch. "Nothing to say?"
"You won't win," Violet said. Athena crouched and laughed as she looked Violet in the eyes.
"Bold statement for someone who could die at the snap of my fingers," Athena informed her.
"I've stared in the face of worse danger," Violet stated. Athena's hand twitched, coming close to unsheathing Wilt.
"Someone put some new tape on her to shut her up," Athena ordered as she stood and moved back. "I think this cabin might be too nice for our guest. Move her outside tonight so she can learn the pleasures of living and being one with nature."
"We're supposed to have thunderstorms all day and into the night," Ebony reminded her. Athena smirked at Violet as Crimson covered her mouth again.
"Even better," Athena replied. She left, Ebony and Crimson filing out behind her and closing the door. "Ebony, stay here and make sure that nothing happens."
"What about me?" Crimson asked.
"I need you to bring me Mattachanna," Athena told her. "I'm worried that she's having second thoughts."
"She did well at the Atlas mines," Crimson reminded Athena.
"I'm well aware, but when it all comes down to it, I don't think that she'll do what's necessary," Athena noted. Crimson nodded at her and promptly left to retrieve the girl from Menagerie. Athena only needed to make it two more days. She was sure by now that the girl would have informed them of her reasoning for trying to take the child, and that the police would be looking frantically for them. It almost seemed like a blessing in disguise, she could use Violet to keep part of the police force busy while Stardust occupied the rest of them, free to finish what Adam started, to have the world realize that the Faunus were superior to the human race. Athena turned, noting the women walking towards her.
"Mattachanna," Athena greeted her. "You've been such a wonderful asset thus far, but if you want to continue to make sure that your island stays safe, we need to make an example of these people."
"Haven't we made enough of an example?" She inquired as Bjorn sauntered over to make sure that she was okay.
"If we give up now they'll start walking all over us again," Athena explained. "We need to keep the pressure on, and our stand on Friday will be the footnote in the history of the day that the Faunus proved to the world that they were destined to take charge. We're not monsters, we're the next step in evolution, that much closer to the gods that left us behind."
"I never came for this," Mattachanna told her.
"You don't think that we deserve better?" Athena interrogated as Crimson returned to her side to put distance between her mistress and the mechanical beast that paced slowly.
"I only came to protect my people," Mattachanna said, turning away. "Anything else, I'm not interested." Athena chuckled as she rubbed her forehead before throwing her head back in laughter.
"It's possible that this might start a war," Athena informed her. "It would be unfortunate if you mild-mannered, domesticated Faunus to all be killed or enslaved. If you don't think it'll happen then you clearly never learned about the Faunus War, which would be quite ironic." Mattachanna stopped and turned around, Bjorn snarling at the women. She held up her hand, calming him as she glared at Athena. "I'd like to think of the people of Menagerie as allies once everything goes down. It's detrimental to our relationship that you assist us in making sure that my plans are successful."
"Don't you claim to be the most powerful?" Mattachanna questioned. Athena wagged her finger.
"Just because people have come to that understanding doesn't mean that I'm going to debate the fact," Athena replied. "As Crimson and Ebony both know, I like to surround myself with only the strongest individuals. I've seen what you're capable of, I think that you'll be pivotal to our victory." Mattachanna gritted her teeth. She knew that she couldn't stop the woman. There was no use in trying to fight her and if things did go south, she'd rather have the Fang with her than against her.
"Once the dust settles Saturday, I'm going home," Mattachanna informed her.
"I'd be happy to see you off," Athena beamed offering her hand for a handshake.
"We can personally escort her," Ebony noted as she stepped out of the cabin and witnessed them shaking on it.
"How's the brute?" Athena asked.
"He seems to have calmed down a bit, but still anxious," Ebony said. "Please tell me that we're getting rid of him soon."
"He'll be a free man after tomorrow night," Athena told them.
"Or at least no longer in our watch," Crimson added. "He'll still be a wanted man."
"And the woman?" Ebony inquired.
"She'll no longer be of use to us," Athena replied. "He can do what he wants with her, she's just another human."
"Now what?" Mattachanna asked with a bite in her tone.
"I have a call to make," Athena told her. "And then we move."
Neela sat on the bed in her dorm room, watching out the window as a few birds flew by, yelling angrily at each other before finding their nest in a tree along the campus's jogging path, she could still hear them arguing after they disappeared from sight, giving her something to think about as she enjoyed the time she was having alone to figure out what had happened. She'd at least heard the reason that Eliana had done it before she'd entered the elevator, she claimed that the White Fang had her mother, but it still didn't add up, her mind unwilling to come up with a scenario in which Eliana would betray her. Eliana could have told someone, anyone, about what was going on and they could have helped her figure it out. But the fact that Eliana hadn't told her, and had even lied to her about what she was doing after she received that call from her mother… it just didn't add up! And then there was the kidnapping…
Neela's mind repeated the scene often, keeping her from sleeping more than the pain of her broken ribs had, the image of the Fang mask seared into her subconscious and torturing her the more that she thought about it. Why did it have to Eliana? Why did it have to be the Fang? Why did it need to happen period? Athena had attacked her parents earlier on in the year, and Neela had fought Ebony and Crimson a few times herself, but neither of those facts hurt as much as Eliana betraying her. It was probably their plan all along so that Neela would question the people around her, and it had worked perfectly. It was hands down the worst birthday ever.
Luckily, physical damage was kept to a minimum with the exception of Neela's injuries. Yang was emotionally drained and still in a state of shock over the fact that she would have killed Eliana if she hadn't held back at the last second when she noted that Neela had quickly moved into the way of her punch. Blake was on edge, unable to sleep as she spent the entire night in Shadow's room, the girl only slightly bruised from being dropped hard in the hallway, but had no clue how she got there. She was so groggy that she didn't even make mention of it or ask questions in the morning. Neela shivered. Why?
Why, when they were finally almost free of the White Fang's grip? They had all but vanished after the last major rally that they had the Velvet had attended. Blake was doing better than she had since before she heard that Adam's weapons had been stolen, Yang hadn't woken up to her wife screaming in terror in the middle of the night of the memories that her abuser had left her with long ago. Neela had nearly gotten over the trauma as well, she'd proved herself able to hold her own against Athena's lackeys and the strange, fractured flashbacks of her childhood hadn't been bothering her… until she saw that mask. It didn't matter that Eliana was wearing it… or did it matter more?
She was glad that Titus and Ilia were out and about, more than likely doing something in town with IVRY or whoever they normally hung out with when they went to Vale. She hoped and prayed that CBLT wasn't around and that she wouldn't have to explain what was wrong. She knew that the aura she was giving off was dark and border lining on depressed, but she didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to go back and tell Eliana that whatever they told her it wasn't true and that she didn't have to go through with it. She wanted to stop the whole thing from ever happening and go back to counting the hours until summer break. In about 48 hours she'd wake up, without Eliana in the room with them, wondering what Eliana would tell her once they let her out of the cell that night. She rubbed her face.
Had she really laid her feelings out on the line at a time like this? She wanted to take that back too. Her purpose, originally, was to go and demand answers but once she saw Eliana locked up and the adrenaline from the kidnapping kicked in again, she let Eliana had it. She couldn't wait any longer, she wanted Eliana to know why it hurt so bad and aside from knowing that the Fang had her mother, she wasn't any closer to truly knowing why, was she? Surely Eliana wasn't that afraid of the White Fang, it couldn't be that. Neela thought about it for a long moment, rubbing her hands on her face. Why couldn't it? Neela was still afraid of them for the things they made her think when she was barely old enough to spell properly. They'd probably threatened Eliana.
Regardless of that explanation, it still hurt and Neela still didn't know what to do with herself about Eliana… about anything. She was sure that she sounded like a lunatic, telling Eliana that she loved her the way that she did. Did Eliana feel the same? If she did, would she have taken Shadow? Neela was her own worst enemy, standing to stretch her legs and back, though the flash of dull pain reminded her to take it easy. The silence was comforting, and she didn't want to have to talk to Blake and Yang just yet. With that thought, the door opened, Titus and Ilia standing in it and laughing about something before saying goodbye to someone in the hall.
"Hey, Neela," Titus greeted her. She smirked and gave a nod to him as Ilia closed the door behind them. He looked around the room, stepping to the bathroom door and peering in. "Where is Eliana? I'm surprised that you would just be hanging out here without her to be honest."
"Yeah, she had something that she needed to take care of this morning," Neela explained. "She was being awfully cryptic, so I'm not sure what she's up to."
"Probably putting the finishing touches on your birthday gift," Ilia offered. "You know how Eliana can get. She was more than likely up late last night working on it and then got distracted or fell asleep or something and then slept through her alarm and had to quickly make sure that it was perfect."
"Yeah, probably," Neela chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.
"You okay?" Titus asked as he set down his backpack and removed the Dust from it. "You flinched a bit when you raised your arm. Too much training?"
"Probably too little," Ilia jested.
"Haha, very funny," Neela waved them off, sticking her tongue out. "I must have pulled a muscle or something last night when I was training with Yang out on Patch."
"She still as good as she's ever been?" Titus asked. Neela looked up to answer him, but saw the White Fang mask in place of his face and crashed back onto the bed behind her.
"Hey," Ilia yelled, moving to her. "You okay? You got really pale all of a sudden."
"Was it something I said?" Titus asked as he stood.
"No!" Neela replied quickly. "I'm fine, just suddenly felt light-headed."
"Would you like me to walk with you to the nurse's station?" Ilia asked as Neela stood with some assistance.
"I'll be fine, honestly," she assured them as she made her way to the door, grabbing her gear from next to her desk.
"You want us to send Eliana down there to see you if she shows up here?" Titus asked. Neela smirked.
"Sure," she replied as she left them.
"Something is up," Titus told Ilia.
"What makes you say that?" Ilia asked.
"You didn't find any of that strange?" Titus questioned. "Not to mention, when she looked at me her eyes dilated to an extreme extent. That paired with her alleged pulled muscle and I'd have to guess that she had a battle with someone last night and she's having trouble shaking it."
"She'll tell us if it is when she's ready," Ilia noted.
"I still think that one of us should go with her," Titus remarked.
"You going? I have plans soon," Ilia reminded him.
"I need to report to Winter and find out if she has an assignment for me to work on over the summer," Titus replied, turning away from her. Ilia shook her head.
"I guess we'll just have to assume that Neela is going to be fine for now," Ilia stated. He nodded.
"She will be," Titus offered. Ilia gritted her teeth as she turned to him.
"Then why did you suggest that one of us follow her?!" Ilia shouted.
"Isn't that what friends do?" Titus asked.
"I wonder about you sometimes," She sighed. Titus stared out the window. It was Neela. She'd be fine, right?
Neela made her way across the campus, heading for the administrative building in hopes that Coco would be in her office and she could get advice from her on how she should handle the Eliana situation now that she'd given herself some time to try and calm down. It was better than talking to Blake or Yang about it, both of them still slightly traumatized, and Coco would be more understanding and less teasing than Yang. She opened the door to the offices, knowing that staff would be sparse due to the fact that some of the teachers had already left for vacation, but still shocked to find out that the receptionist was gone and not a sound could be heard.
"Hello?" Neela called out as she began to wander down the hallway towards Coco's office. She peered into each of the cubicles and rooms as she walked by, all of them void of people and cleaned, not a spot of dust to be found which meant that at the very least the janitor was still around somewhere. She listened again, muffled voices coming from the back of the hall, and giving Neela hope that Coco was still there. She walked a bit slower, mind swimming with the events once again before shaking them off. She needed to stop thinking about it, it was just Eliana. She peeked into the teachers' lounge, the coffee pot was empty but was still on, reassuring her that Coco was absolutely around, the woman wouldn't let coffee burn at the bottom of the pot, she probably planned on coming out soon to turn it off.
"Listen. Sun, listen. Stop talking over me. That's what I'm trying to figure out right now!" Coco shouted into her scroll as Neela opened the door to find Coco, Blake, Yang, and Raven all huddled around her desk. Coco glanced back, placing a finger to her lips as she looked back at Neela before waving her in. Neela took the permission she was given, closing the door behind her and standing next to Raven once she assessed the mood. Blake and Yang still looked out of sorts, staring at Coco who was doing her best not to lose her patience on the phone with Sun. "I want you to double-check that warehouse for any clues and then start making a sweep outward. I know it's not much to go on, but it's the best that we can do for the time being."
"How are you doing?" Raven asked.
"Fine," Neela answered, clearing her throat.
"You're lying," Raven noted with a smile. "But at least you're trying."
"Dammit!" Coco shouted as she slammed her scroll on the desk and sat down, burying her face in her hands. "Nothing! We've got nothing!"
"Have you tried calling Violet's phone?" Neela asked.
"She tried before but there was no answer," Blake noted as she looked at Yang. "What are we going to do?"
"She might already be dead," Raven noted.
"Gee, thanks!" Yang bit.
"I'm being realistic," Raven scoffed as she turned away.
"So then… now what?" Neela asked, letting the possibility sink in.
"If she's dead…" Yang began, her hair flaring up. "If she's dead I want to be there when they find her so we can finish her off like we did her brother."
"Yang!" Blake declared.
"I'm so sick of being haunted by this family, this all should have been over with when we killed Adam!" Yang yelled.
"But we only killed him because we had no other option," Blake reminded her.
"I'm guessing Athena isn't going to give us much of an option either," Yang noted.
"Calm down," Coco said as she stood back up. "Until we have confirmation, we need to assume that she's alive." Eliana's scroll, which had been placed in the middle of Coco's desk after she'd confiscated it, began vibrating, startling Blake as the rest of them watched it. The screen lit up, telling them that the call was coming from Violet.
"Athena?" Neela asked.
"Quiet!" Coco demanded as she answered the call, leaving it in the middle of the desk. "This is Coco Adel speaking."
"Ah yes, Mrs. Adel," Athena began, the scroll lighting up and displaying a video feed of her for them all to view. "For someone as tactically blessed as you, it amuses me that you've yet to come close to figure out where all of my people are hiding right now? How's your wife and son?"
"Get to the point or I'll hang up," Coco threatened.
"Even though you know I have something that you want?" Athena asked. "It would be a shame if you didn't hear my terms out before the end of the call."
"I'm listening, you just need to start saying what I want to hear," Coco demanded.
"You certainly know what you want," Athena chuckled. "I'll give you the one thing that drives humans more than anything else. Hope. And I'd like to say that Violet is still alive, I can have her brought over if you'd like visual confirmation."
"You're a woman of your word, so what's the catch?" Coco replied.
"I'll give you until tomorrow night to find her," Athena offered. "Such a small time frame for such a large kingdom, but I want you to realize that when she dies and it turns out that it was all for naught, you should remember that feeling. It's the same feeling you're going to experience when my time finally comes."
"There's an awful lot of us compared to the few of you," Coco explained trying to keep her on the line as she placed a device next to the scroll.
"There is?" Athena questioned, slightly puzzled. "Are there not two of them in the room right now?" Athena shook her head and laughed. "I guess you can't truly understand, your kind has never been oppressed. Once I begin the liberation of my kind there will be a truly great war on your hands."
"I don't think there are as many out there that agree with you as you think," Coco corrected. Athena frowned, thunder rolling in the background as she glanced up to greet the coming storm.
"Ignorant as you may be, I look forward to facing you in battle," Athena told her before hanging up.
"No!" Coco yelled.
"You didn't get a trace?" Yang asked frantically.
"I just needed her on for a few more seconds!" Coco shouted trying to call Athena again but the call was immediately refused.
"Now what?!" Yang demanded.
"Calm down," Raven scolded. Yang glared at her before turning back to Coco.
"I know where that is," Blake explained.
"You do?" Neela asked.
"A tree in the background," Blake said. "It might not have looked like much, but I know the tree well. Adam cut it down when we were younger during one of his fits of rage."
"Where is it?"Raven asked.
"What?" Blake inquired.
"Where is it," Raven repeated slower.
"Um… it's about ten miles north out of the city, the river that runs along the city limit flows nearby the cabin that's there," Blake described. Raven opened a portal.
"I'll go," Raven informed them.
"That's unnecessary, Blake and I…" Yang began.
"Are still shook up from last night," Raven noted. Yang backed down. "Let me go and I can take care of them."
"I agree with Raven," Coco told them.
"Bring her back safely," Blake asked. Neela looked at her parents and glanced at Raven as she turned to leave.
"I'll go with," Neela stated.
"Not a chance," Blake growled.
"Absolutely not," Raven decided. "You're in no better shape than they are."
"I need to do this for Eliana," Neela explained with tears in her eyes as she approached Raven.
"You don't owe that girl," Raven told her. "She tried to kidnap your sister…"
"It's not black and white like that!" Neela shouted. "Eliana is my best friend and I can't just sit by and watch!"
"Yang," Raven said. Her mom wrapped her arms around her, Neela squirmed to break free but wasn't able. "I'll bring her back, Neela."
"I'm sorry," Blake told her.
"No, I'm sorry," Neela apologized. As Raven stepped through Neela grabbed the hilt of her sword, flipping it out into a bow as she removed it, the limb nearly crashing into Yang's face as she released the girl and she grappled Raven. She latched on, careening through the room and through the schism before it shut and left Yang and Blake standing in disbelief with Coco.
"Neela!" Blake screamed.
"Is she suicidal?" Coco asked. "Too much fighting with her ribs broken like that and her aura is going to break like it's nothing!"
"She'll be fine," Yang said trying to reassure all three of them, but mostly herself. "Neela's smart…"
"She's emotional right now!" Blake shouted at Yang.
"Well getting worked up isn't going to help!" Yang yelled back.
Neela is desperate to make things right despite her injuries. Next week, Chapter 133 - Violet's Fate!
A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy, and make sure to wash those hands!