Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Twenty-One:
Agent North Dakota let out a breath and opened his eyes as soon as the momentary burst of light that always accompanied Teleportation Orb use faded from against his closed eyelids. The rather nondescript village that the blond found himself standing in could have easily been any other remote village in the Outer Regions, haloed as it was by the early morning light filtering in through the towering forest rising up above.
Next to the violet-armored man, Theta did a small sidestep bounce from one foot to the next, the pout that had been on his face since they had been preparing for their departure from Armonia still present. "I still don't get why Junior couldn't come with us." The boy muttered rather glumly, "His dad is here too, isn't he? Doesn't he want to see his son?"
"Of course Tucker does, kiddo." North informed his young partner just as patiently as he had the last time they had this conversation, "But Tucker also wouldn't want Junior wandering into what could very well be a potentially volatile situation."
A sentiment that North could easily understand himself. Ever since he had become something akin to a guardian for young Theta, he was often reluctant to bring the young lad along on particularly dangerous missions despite how much Theta had proven himself capable, even when his support abilities often proved rather vital for certain jobs. That was one of the main reasons why North so often volunteered the two of them to be Doyle's bodyguards, as doing so was a significantly lower risk assignment. It was more of a formality, really, to show goodwill from the Guild to the Unsc since most would avoid outright confrontation with that powerful an entity, a formality that helped to keep North and Theta in Armonia.
Despite Junior and Theta's combined attempts at pleading for him to do otherwise, North wasn't about to take another child, an even younger one at that, out on the field against his parent's wishes.
Theta chose to pout more instead of responding directly to North's comment, causing the platinum blond to sigh somewhat. He was truly grateful that Theta had developed such a strong friendship with another youth so close to his own age following their break from Freelancer, but the display of the usually timid Fragment's surprising stubborn streak was often a bit draining.
A loud crash suddenly came from inside the structure that North quickly deduced was the village's inn, followed by a myriad of muffled but still altogether loud exclamations. He looked down at the curious expression that suddenly took over Theta's face, raising his own eyebrow slightly in mild amusement.
"Well, something tells me that we're going to have quite a task on our hands in getting this group back to Armonia." North told his partner with a small, patient smile.
"You always were one to state the fucking obvious, North."
It wasn't the Fragment that had supplied that sneer of a response, and both North and Theta stiffened at the all-too familiar voice. North counted to ten in his head before he turned behind him to see his twin sister standing haughtily, arms crossed over her chest.
Even more surprising, standing next to her was C.T. of all people. North momentarily cursed York for his friend's desire to get through Guild reports quickly because a bit of a head's up regarding South's presence would have been nice. It would have been helpful to maybe even have had an afterthought about just who exactly would be throwing the Teleportation Orb.
Then again, maybe York had thought that leaving out said details would postpone any awkwardness for at least a little while longer, so the tan-armored man had done so in a misguided attempt to help his friend out. Whatever the reason, it didn't really matter at the moment.
"C.T.," North inclined his head slightly, trying not to miss a beat in greeting, "South. It's been a while."
South smirked at the obvious tension in North's posture, "Hey, bro." She titled her head in Theta's direction, her eyebrow lifting marginally when he took a cautious step back behind the taller male, "Still traveling with little Theta, I see." The fake cordialness that had been soaking her words up until then faded from her tone completely, "Then again, why wouldn't you be? Considering how you chose him over your own flesh and blood."
The venom in her voice matched the sharp anger illuminating her ice blue eyes all too well. Theta let out a scared squeak behind him, his shaking hand suddenly reaching for North's still steady one. North squeezed the boy's fingers reassuringly, though his gaze never left South's.
C.T. quietly watched the exchange, her voice suddenly pushing its way through the thick tension coiling all around them, "I'll take Theta inside so we can assess what still needs to be done for transport."
The ploy to give the twins some time together to talk was obvious, but North was glad for it. After all, there were some things that Theta did not need to witness, and he knew that a chat with his sister and all of the inevitable ugliness and anger that would come along with it was long overdue. "Thank you, C.T.," he told the brunette as she stepped towards them and took Theta's smaller hand in her own, "It's good to see you again."
The genuineness of his comment seemed to catch C.T. off-guard momentarily, and she blinked up at him before smiling slightly, "Likewise."
The brunette and Theta took about two steps towards the inn before C.T. turned back around to regard South in a considering manner, "Try not to kill your brother, okay?" She asked the other woman with orchid tipped hair, the remark both serious and joking.
South finally allowed her pointed gaze to drop from her brother in order to smirk in C.T.'s direction, "Can't make any promises."
A sigh escaped the brown-armored woman's lips, and Theta cast a worried glance back over at North. He smiled back slightly in response, inclining his head to let the Fragment know that he was fine. Another reassuring squeeze of C.T.'s hand later, and the dark-haired boy followed her inside.
North turned back around to face South, opening his mouth once more as he did so. He wasn't even sure where to start.
"If you're going to try and apologize, you can fucking save it." South, naturally, beat him to the punch.
He looked at her tense posture, at the curling snarl of her lips after she had so vehemently spat that out at him, "You're still mad."
"No shit." She rolled her eyes once again at his stating something fairly obvious, glaring once more a second later, "How could I not be when everyone left me behind, dumbass?"
North flinched slightly at the hidden meaning behind those words. Sure, South was angry that her other so-called teammates had left her in the dust as well, of that he had no doubt. But, that was especially true of the sibling who had convinced her to leave Freelancer along with him, who then left her behind after saying how important it was that they all stick together. After all, it wasn't as if they'd had anyone else growing up in a Magic Division facility in the Unsc territories.
"Everyone else not wanting to do mercenary work was why that happened, South." North reminded her flatly instead, "You just couldn't give it up."
South scoffed, "Oh, please. You just didn't want your precious Theta seeing anymore of how ugly and brutal the real world is." She spat on the ground and promptly stomped her foot over the spot to work it into the soil, "So now you and your buddies have all turned into goodie two-shoes. It makes me want to fucking puke every time I think about it."
North figured that it wouldn't do any good to rise to the obvious challenge she was trying to entice him with or to let her rant to her heart's content, "Just what are you doing here yourself, then?" He asked instead.
Some of the burning anger that South was displaying deflated from her shoulders slightly as she pondered over the unexpected question. At length, she shrugged, "Who the fuck knows?" She glanced over at the inn with an anticipatory gleam in her eyes, "But I have a feeling that things are bound to get mighty interesting real soon, and I want in this time." South turned a challenging glare his way a moment later, "Do you have a problem with that, North?"
The defiant tone was once again there in her voice, and North decided once more to ignore it. He shook his head, "Not a one."
"That's what I thought." South shot him a predatory smirk before turning and heading back to the inn herself. From the probing way she was turning her head to and fro as she approached the entryway, he had a sneaking suspicion that she was probably seeking out C.T..
North sighed and shook his head before following suit, the violet-armored man wondering just what it was they were all about to get into.
Vanessa Kimball let out a tiny yawn as she moved to sit down on the small cot located in the right back corner of her office. She had moved the cot there when a rather concerned Doctor Grey and Bones had insisted she needed to get more rest, the healers relenting on their insistence that she leave her office to do so on particularly busy days only if she still somehow managed to get in a few more hours of sleep than her normal two.
It had been a compromise that seemed to work out well for all concerned parties, especially once Kimball figured out that Doctor Grey was good at using a supportive espionage ring of her own tasked with caring for her wellbeing. The doctor's spies consisted of good-natured operatives such as Sheila, Sarge, and Tucker, all making sure that the Guild leader was actually attempting to keep up her end of the rest bargain.
True, at first it had been more of an annoyance than anything else, but ever since she had been unexpectedly thrust into the leadership position for the organization just a few bewildering years ago Kimball had learned to be touched by the surprising gestures of concern that the others in the Guild constantly displayed towards her.
She had just finished up with finalizing the travel arrangements for the group that had gone to rescue the captured Magic Users. A trade caravan that she had some past ties to had agreed to meet up with them in a day's time to take them on as added protection to a more populated town with an airship port. From there they could get a ride back to Guild Headquarters, thereby hopefully not jostling Carolina's injury further and running into any other potential risks that came with constantly using Teleportation Orbs for a group that size. There were still a couple of hours before the day was technically set to properly begin, so she figured she should take the opportunity to rest.
"Miss Kimball!"
That was until Donald Doyle suddenly came crashing into her office, out of breath and looking extremely pale.
Kimball was already back on her feet by the time Doyle's frantic gaze landed on her as his cheeks became even redder at the apparent realization that he could have just walked in on her sleeping. Realizing what he was thinking, she spoke up before any rambling sort-of apology could pass through his lips, "What is it?"
They had last seen each other only hours ago, when North and Theta had left Armonia. A part of her wondered if perhaps he was here to complain of his temporary bodyguard replacements, but she knew even someone as infuriatingly fussy as Doyle would wait until the next business day had officially started to do so at least. Besides, he wouldn't have flown in here in a state of sheer panic for something like that.
"Yes! I am, er, terribly sorry for barging in so abruptly," Doyle said, now pointedly looking away from Kimball as if he was afraid that he may have just walked in on her in a state of undress and unsure where to look, "B—but I just received news that could have dire consequences for all of the Outer Regions!"
Kimball stepped purposefully into Doyle's line of sight then, not having the patience for the human's sense of propriety in the wake of his announcement, "What do you mean?"
Doyle swallowed thickly, eyes large and wide as he focused on the Seas' face directly in front of his own, "A division of the Unsc's army will be coming here to personally investigate the possibility that the missing prince is somehow connected to the kidnapped Magic Users." He informed her without preamble, "A professional inquiry will be made about whether or not the Guild and other Outer Region organizations have done enough to actively search for him, or to stop Charon from terrorizing their citizenry."
The dark-skinned Seas stared at him blankly, her brain still trying to process the news. She couldn't find the right words to say as she thought about the implications the Unsc's army would have within the Guild.
The Unsc Embassy representative looked downright sheepish standing in her office, pinned under Kimball's dark-eyed gaze, "I—I tried to convince them that it was not necessary, but evidently they have lost patience with my handling of these matters as well." Doyle all but wilted as he shakily explained further.
Fuck it. Kimball couldn't help but swear under her breath in response. Doyle, for all his annoyances, she could handle. She wasn't so sure about the rest of the Unsc.
The Relic Communicator that was currently gripped tightly in Carolina's hand nearly broke with the sheer amount of pressure she was placing on it. "And you are absolutely sure?" She asked out loud, her voice dangerously still.
From close by her bedside, York glanced nervously over at the grim-faced Sarge and North while Doctor Grey mumbled something about blood pressure under her breath to the purple-wearing Doc near her.
"Was it a good idea to give her that in the first place?" York asked the other two men quietly, gesturing towards the device that was all but smoking now in the redhead's iron-clad hold. He was especially concerned given how she was technically still recovering and wasn't supposed to be as directly involved in Guild matters.
"It was either that or have her be mighty pissed at all of us once she found out we were purposefully keeping her out of the dang loop, son." Sarge noted just as quietly back in response.
York's worried frown only deepened, but he had to give a slight nod all the same as he conceded the older man's point.
"Quite certain, unfortunately." Doyle's voice came through loud and clear as he answered the cyan-wearing woman's query, "I can't help but worry about the impact this may very well have on the Outer Regions. Tentative peace talks with the Orcs aside, none of the regions are overly fond of the Unsc and their tendency to often want to be involved in all matters."
"They've had too many sour experiences with them due to the empire's expansionist policies already." North muttered under his breath, "Any more direct interference into Outer Region affairs…"
"Could be altogether disastrous." Carolina grit out when it became obvious the platinum blond wasn't going to finish his sentence, a curse breaking through under her breath a second later.
Doc, who had been standing in attendance with Doctor Grey, fidgeted slightly. He was clearly uncomfortable by the tension in the room, especially since the area had been set up to give off a calming atmosphere to help with Carolina's recovery. "If…if someone finds the prince though, wouldn't that be the end of things?" He worked up the nerve to ask, pushing his glasses back up the ridge of his nose.
Sarge frowned even more at the question, "The Unsc is a tad more complicated than that, Doc."
"Besides," York tapped his chin thoughtfully as he added, "No one even knows where to start looking for the guy."
"That isn't entirely true."
All eyes turned to the room's doorway then, Doc's brown eyes in particular lighting up at the sight of who was standing there. "Donut!" The medic exclaimed in relief as he made his way over to the dirty blond's side, "Are you feeling better now?"
Donut smiled reassuringly in response to Doc's concern and nodded his head briefly. All things considered, he still looked rather tired and drained, but there was more of that earnest light that everyone tended to associate with him shining in his brown eyes again than what had been there a few hours ago as he turned his gaze from Doc's flower-adorned head over to Sarge in particular.
Sarge stiffened slightly and shook his head at whatever silent exchange past between them, "Now isn't exactly a good time, son." He told the pink-wearing man, much to the growing curiosity of everyone else in the room.
Donut's smile morphed into an altogether sad one that seemed rather out of place on the younger man's face, "Thank you, Sarge, but you really don't have to keep covering for me any longer." He stated, "It's time I stopped just teasing around the rim!"
"Um, what?" York asked about a second later into the very much awkward pause that followed Donut's emphatic declaration just then.
But, the brown-haired man's query was ignored as Donut squared his shoulders and lifted his head up in a rather proud manner before exclaiming, "You guys really don't have to look very far for the prince at all, because he happens to be standing right here!"
"You're fucking kidding me." Dexter Grif was unable to stop himself from stating that thought out loud as he gaped at Donut in open shock along with everyone else from their traveling party in the kitchen and dining area following the reveal.
Well, everyone save for Sarge, South, and Simmons, who had blearily woken up just a short while ago before the meeting had been called. Thanks to Grif not being drunk yet himself and the effects of the Linking Magic, which was definitely a side-benefit Grif thought the ancient texts should have totally elaborated more on (come on, history! Way to skip the important details), the freckled redhead wasn't nearly as tipsy or hungover as he probably would have been otherwise, though he was still leaning a great deal more against Grif's side than he would probably do in public in any other situation. Not that Grif was complaining, mind you.
The small room in the inn wasn't exactly the most ideal spot for a group as large as theirs to gather, and they all did their best to ignore Donut's earlier commentary on just "how much of a tight squeeze this is turning out to be and, believe me, I'm something of an expert when it comes to cramming things into tight spaces usually!" But, it was the best they could do on such short notice following York's telling everyone that they needed to have an emergency meeting. Even still, Kai and the other younger members of the ragtag group, along with Andersmith, Four Seven Niner, and Filss, had spilled out into the hallway so that there was at least some breathing room.
Tucker snorted in disbelief, "This has got to be a joke, right?" The Beast Folk asked from his spot standing against the wall next to Washington, "Dude, you're totally pulling our legs."
"I always knew Biscuit was pricey." Caboose muttered from where he was standing next to Tex. Both the Dwarf and the black-armored woman had opted to stand by the table that Carolina had been stationed at for the meeting so that she was still off her feet at Doctor Grey's insistence. Church sat next to his sister while she had Freckles resting on her lap at Caboose's insistence.
Tex didn't even miss a beat there, "I think you mean princely, Caboose." She informed her friend in a surprisingly gentle voice.
"That too."
Sarge's arms had been crossed over his chest ever since he had entered the room, a frown suffusing his weathered features as he shook his head at Tucker's declaration before anymore conversation could be thrown out, "It's true." He stated with a measure of finality in his voice that broached no room for argument, "I met Donut on one of my trips to the Unsc. Even helped smuggle him back to the Outer Regions when he asked."
"...Sabía que esa maleta había hablado." {"…I knew that suitcase fucking talked."}
Lopez muttered something under his breath while Sheila sitting close by looked rather contemplative over the news, "There had always been rumors about the prince even before I had left the Unsc…"
"Mostly because the royal family had been keeping him out of the public eye for quite some time." Washington finished for her as the crystalline woman trailed off, his own gray-eyed gaze steady as he stared at Donut, "So why go to all the trouble?"
"Yeah, especially if you were just going to be hiding out as some anonymous Guild member." Tucker chimed in, shrugging and grinning slightly when Washington regarded him in mild surprise that their trail of thought had been so similar.
"I've always been something of an embarrassment to my family," Donut rolled his eyes in obvious exasperation over his predicament as he continued to explain, "Not only because of my zest for life which they all seem to be sadly sorely lacking, but also because I turned out to be a Magic User."
Simmons straightened slightly at Grif's side and he glanced over at the pink-wearing man briefly. Yeah, from what Grif had been able to gather, that tended to apparently happen a lot in the Unsc in particular when someone displayed an usual ability. The Orc's own experience with a rather volatile power had been rather similar too. No one wanted to hang out with a dude who could potentially blow them up.
"Not to mention, I really had just always wanted to get the chance to see the rest of the world too!" Donut sighed dreamily in recollection before he took everyone by surprise in the next moment with his expression becoming an uncharacteristically serious one, "And, you know, there were all these really nasty rumors that some group of ne'er-do-wells had snuck into the empire and that a coup might be underway. I'll admit I was pretty curious to figure out just how long a reach-around these guys might have!"
Tex's eyes narrowed, "You're talking about Charon."
Donut nodded, "After Project Freelancer fell, Charon really did seem to take off just about everywhere. Their background influence even worried my folks some, and they tend to really stay on their high horses."
"Oh, I did not know you had horses too!" Caboose exclaimed, suddenly much more interested in the conversation playing out around him than he had been a moment ago.
"It was as if they were somehow benefiting from research that Freelancer may have left behind." Delta surmised.
A frown had settled over C.T.'s features, "I can definitely confirm due to my time with them that Charon has somehow gotten their hands on quite a bit of Freelancer tech that hadn't been properly destroyed or taken with people when they left." The brunette added carefully, "I think that their kidnapping of the Magic Users had something to do with trying to continue some of the experiments."
Tex's expression was even stormier than normal as she grit her teeth, "We should have burned the damn place down."
"Come to think of it," Palomo called out from his spot in the hallway, "Didn't they say something about activating a Remnant?"
Donut and Simmons both glanced at one another then, Grif raising an eyebrow at the exchange and the sudden pang of anxiety and guilt that didn't belong to him. Damn Linking Magic.
Tucker nodded, "Yeah, actually. I'm pretty sure they fucking did." He gave a thumbs-up in the young man's direction, "Great job for once, Palomo!"
"Thank you, sir! My mom always did like to say that even a broken timepiece is correct at least once a day!"
The feline Beast Folk groaned at the cheerful exclamation, putting his head in his hands, "Shut the fuck up, Palomo. You just ruined it."
Church and Carolina, meanwhile, were looking over at one another as if they had just come to the same, horrific conclusion at that very second. Grif could swear that Carolina was in fact actually petting Freckles now in an subconscious effort on her part to relieve stress. Which, in her case, made her seem all the more terrifying somehow.
"Replicant." They both whispered at the same time.
Donut and everyone who had past affiliation with Freelancer unexpectedly flinched at the spoken word. The others in the space just looked amongst one another in clear confusion.
"I thought the Director never completed it." C.T. stated quietly in the aftermath of the collective reaction.
"The asshole managed to get pretty fucking close," Church's eyes darkened as he looked over at where Delta and Theta were standing, "And considering how he was able to create the Fragments…"
Delta took over the conversation then, "The process used to create us, emotional replicas of Church, could have easily been reworked to create at least one viable Replicant. Provided that the individual survived the process."
"Hold the fuck up," Tucker raised his hand as he watched Washington squeeze the bridge of his nose as if he was dealing with a major headache, "What exactly is a Replicant?"
"Yes, for those of us who might not know." Caboose chimed in softly, "Like Tucker, obviously."
"Someone who is capable of repairing damaged Relics and Remnants." Church quickly elaborated, "Who could even potentially create duplicates of them if given enough time."
"The Elves had numerous Replicants on hand, which is most likely how Relics and Remnants even came to be in the first place." Washington was speaking up now, his voice and expression vacant as if he was reciting all of this from a lesson that had been ingrained into him much earlier, "But that particular ability was destroyed when their civilization was killed off."
"Project Freelancer was supposed to not only figure out ways to further enhance and augment a Magic User's natural power, but it was also trying to figure out how to birth new Replicants since Remnants are such a valuable but ultimately limited resource." North carried on after him.
"The problem was always that a person would need a rather decent amount of elvish blood to even make it possible for them to become a Replicant." Carolina's expression had turned even more grim as she spoke, "And to further complicate things, they would also need a power that would be similar enough to what a Replicant's had been in order for the effects of the experiment to properly latch on to them."
Simmons inhaled sharply, his face even paler than usual as he looked as if he might faint. Grif could feel the panic suddenly coursing through him all over again, "L—like mine." He heard the freckled human mutter under his breath.
Both Carolina and Church looked down at the table they were sitting at as though it had somehow personally affronted them before they nodded in response to their relative's dawning realization.
"Those experiments the old man put you through when you were first sent to the Magic Division." Church muttered under his breath, "We always…we always assumed they didn't pan out because you were never brought into Freelancer."
Grif's blood ran cold as those words sunk in, and it was Simmons' turn to look over at him in alarm as the Orc stiffened considerably at his side. "Hold on." He was actually surprised at how calmly detached he sounded despite the turbulent emotions he could feel brewing just beneath the surface, "He experimented on his own nephew?"
Carolina's frown only deepened as she cast a worried look over at Simmons' now completely dejected form, "It was all done with Simmons' father's blessing too." She noted softly, an unreadable expression like ice crossing over her features as she added with bitter sharpness to her tone, "And he had no qualms about experimenting on his own children either."
From where she was leaning against the doorway of the room, Kai let out a sympathetic whistle, "That is completely fucked up."
Church snorted derisively, "You don't even know the half of it."
Grif turned to look over at Simmons, who was no longer even trying to meet his gaze halfway. He was curled in around himself as if he could somehow block everything out, and the tan-skinned Orc wished that he could think of anything that he could say or do to make the lanky human somehow feel better.
The gray and yellow-tinged Seas was carefully looking amongst the cousins himself now, "But it didn't actually fail, did it?" Washington spoke up into the heavy silence, "The Director just never figured that out."
"And Freelancer imploded before he ever could." South bitterly interjected, "So sad."
"I managed to gather enough intel to figure out about the Replicant experiments before I left the Unsc." Donut told them, his brows knitting together in a rather thoughtful manner, "But I had always assumed it had been a failure too until I saw what Simmons did in the ruins earlier."
All eyes turned to Simmons then, who hunched in even tighter around himself.
Sarge frowned, "What exactly did happen back there?"
Simmons flinched slightly as if he had been physically struck by the question but, before either Donut or himself could answer the man in red's query, Grif beat them to the punch: "You healed a Remnant."
Simmons' green eyes widened considerably, but he managed to nod his head shakily. Grif closed his eyes, piecing together what had happened back then in Rat's Nest to have caused that weird-ass, nightmare of a vision.
Grif smiled ruefully, figuring that it was time enough to lay all the cards out on the table. "That asshole Price that we ran into back in Rat's Nest?" He waited until he had everyone's attention again before he continued, "He's currently trying to get all Charon operatives in the Outer Regions to be on the lookout for us." Grif shrugged his shoulders dismissively at the news, "I'm guessing that not only does he want their captives back, but that he'll probably want to bring both them and Simmons back to wherever it is that Charon has the most control in the Unsc too. That way there will be no more outside interferences."
Simmons visibly blanched, his brain evidently broken with trying to figure out just how to react to the Orc's announcement. There was an understandable uproar in the hallway too. Grif caught Simmons' eyes and held him there with a determined look in his own as he raised his voice enough for his sister and the others to hear too, "No fucking way that's going to happen."
"Fuck yeah, you're right!" Kai exclaimed, proceeding to try to get everyone around her to follow through with a whooping cheer as well.
"For once, I agree with Grif on something." Sarge stated in what was no doubt meant to be reassuring for Simmons and everyone else, though he looked as if he was suffering from a rather large internal conflict over the admission.
The Church siblings also nodded their heads, Carolina emphatically stating, "Of course that isn't going to happen."
But even as the agreements to that sentiment began resounding, Donut was frowning to himself, a thoughtful hum escaping his mouth, "Gee, guys. I'm not really sure about that."
Before any outbursts could get in his way, the pink-wearing Magic User continued, "Think about it! The Unsc is willing to risk outright war to bring me back, and now Charon wants Simmons. That Price guy's involvement also proves that there is some extreme spillover between the two groups and not in the fun, messy kind of way." His eyes narrowed, "I doubt they'll stop until they at least get some results, and who knows what they're willing to keep doing until that happens? I think it's possible we could at least get them to leave the Magic Users they had targeted before alone for a little while by making some sort of arrangement."
Silence settled over the group as they processed his words, and Donut used that opportunity to further hit his point home, "Having people on the inside could help us stay one step ahead so we aren't caught from behind."
Grif grimaced, his hands clenching tightly into fists at what exactly it was that Donut was implying they do, "No fucking way."
He was surprised when Doc cut off his further protest on just how fucking stupid that was, a look of concerned worry all over his face, "Are…are you sure that would be a wise thing to do?"
"We…we can't be sure of anything right now." Simmons' voice was barely a whisper when he spoke up then, but there was an odd glimmer of stubbornness in his green eyes as he looked up at everyone, "B—but Donut's right. This could be our best bet to at least get them to stop targeting Magic Users here."
Grif said nothing at the redhead's comment, feeling as though his voice had somehow shriveled up and died in his throat. Simmons was unable to even look him in the eyes as explosive arguments and debates suddenly began going off all around them in a deafening cacophony.
"Thanks again, you guys, for everything." Franklin Delano Donut stated as cheerily as he could to Sarge and Lopez on the outskirts of the clearing that they had agreed would be their meeting point with Price's men once they had gotten in contact with him.
Sarge harrumphed, his voice thick with emotion as he awkwardly patted the younger man on the shoulder, "Red Team's proud to have you as a member, son."
"Aw, gee, Sarge! You're going to make me cry!" Donut's smile was a teary-albeit-encouraging one, "We're going to see each other again, you'll see. I won't let you down!"
"Of course you won't." Sarge leaned in closer, lowering his voice, "And look after Simmons as best you can, all right? Boy's gonna be a wreck."
"Will do, Sarge!" Donut saluted the older man before turning to Lopez, "I'll miss our talks a ton, Lopez!"
"Estabas bien en pequeñas dosis, supongo. Intenta no matarte." {"You were all right in small doses, I guess. Try not to get yourself killed."}
"It might rain today after all, huh?" Donut patted Lopez's shoulder as the artificial man let out a heavy sigh of exasperation and shook his head.
The pink-wearing human turned to face Doc next, the other man fidgeting slightly when his gaze landed on him. Donut smiled right back at him warmly, "It was really nice of you to see me off, Doc, even though we were just starting to get to know one another."
A slight blush warmed the other man's face, "I…well, I just wanted to make sure you'd be all right. That's all." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.
"Suave." {"Smooth."}
The dirty blond reached out and gripped his shoulder, "Thanks, Doc. You're a great friend! We'll have to try and meet up again later."
"I, that's…" Doc stumbled over his words for a bit before he finally looked at Donut's face and smiled gently in return, awkwardly gripping the other man's arm as he did so too, "Yes. Let's."
Donut took a step back from the trio, smiling once more and giving them another friendly wave before breaking away to head towards the middle of the clearing where Simmons was standing.
The redhead had already said his goodbyes before, and was so lost in the conflicting thoughts and emotions at war within himself that he didn't even look up when Donut approached. The frown and worry creases on his face said it all, though.
"I would have thought more people would come to see us off." Donut tried for casual conversation, though he knew that they had decided against a large group to avoid the Charon agents feeling threatened since this was supposed to be as close to a "peaceful" tradeoff as they could get.
Simmons fidgeted slightly, a definite slump to his shoulders, "We already said goodbye to everyone else." He reminded him.
"Right." Donut nodded, recalling how teary-eyed he had gotten at having seen Simmons saying goodbye to his rather reluctant cousins in particular, "But I just figured that Grif would at least…"
He trailed off when he saw the stricken look that appeared on Simmons' features then, reaching over to clasp a consoling hand on Simmons' shoulder instead.
"Kai said that he was feeling under the weather from all of the alcohol we'd drunk before, s—so…" The maroon-wearing human's voice wavered significantly then, and Donut knew that Simmons was well-aware that the younger Grif sibling had been trying to spare his feelings.
"Right." The younger man decided to diplomatically say instead of commenting further.
Simmons sniffled slightly but tried covering it up, "I'm…I'm sure things will be fine." He stated in one of those voices that said he didn't really quite believe it himself.
Donut was about to say something when there was movement from up ahead. He looked up sharply as the "escort" that Price had arranged to meet them came into view. His own heartbeat thudded loudly in his ears as he saw that it was Felix and Locus, and he was also very much aware of Simmons freezing up at his side.
…Suddenly his "good idea" didn't seem like the smartest move after all. Maybe his parents were right in that he didn't have nearly as much of a knack for strategy as he did for party planning. Donut felt even guiltier that he had dragged Simmons into this mess with him too.
Felix smirked over at the two of them while Locus stood off to the side and watched impassively, for all the world an altogether intimidating and looming shadow in steel and green.
The shorter of the two mercenaries mockingly saluted Donut, "Your Highness." Felix stated in a voice that was practically dripping with sarcasm (seriously, that was such bad taste!) before fixing a rather largely unimpressed gaze on Simmons, "And you actually did bring the Replicant along with you too!"
Simmons took a step forward, only shaking slightly despite how clearly terrified he was now, "I…I came on my own." He noted with what little bit of defiant nerve he could muster.
Donut was impressed by his friend's actions, but that was quickly replaced with a new onslaught of worry when he saw how Felix's smirk only widened, "Really, now?" His grin was as pointed and dangerous as the knives he always seemed to be so keen on using, "I'm sure your daddy will be all sorts of glad to hear that."
"Wha…?" Simmons asked, his expression one of open shock and disbelief.
But, the brown-haired man with rather pointed ears apparently didn't want to waste time letting the redhead process what he had said, instead taking the opportunity to stride behind Donut and Simmons in what could almost be mistaken for a casual manner with just enough of his predatory nature slipping through beneath the surface to be unnerving. Felix reached out and slung his arms over their shoulders, pulling them closer to him in what was obviously meant to be a mockery of what could normally be construed as a comradely gesture.
"Oh," Felix stated in an eerily cheerful voice as he cast a rather significant look over in Locus' direction just then, all but ignoring the two terrified people he was still currently draped over, "We are going to have so much fun together."
Author's Notes: Okie-dokie, I feel like I should totally and whole-heartedly apologize for the very large and very cruel cliffhanger of DOOM that I just ended Volume I on. XD I am really, really sorry about that but, yes, that was honestly the way I had always planned to end this first portion of the story because it sets the stage for the first part of Volume II so very, very nicely.
All things considered, Volume II is shaping up to be an even LONGER story arc than Volume I was. So, I hope that you will stick around for it as I already have so many plans in store for all of the characters and pairings. And, since I am a sucker for that sort of thing in general, here's to hoping that Grif and Simmons will FINALLY get their long overdue happy ending together when all is said and done, along with everybody else too! *crosses fingers* :D
I will be taking a bit of a break from the Remnants series to get out a few chapters and installments of my other WIPs, but that just means I will have more of an outline on hand for when Volume II gets well and truly underway. I'm hoping that it won't be too long of a wait though since I'm quite eager to get the ball rolling even more on this little odd duck of a Fantasy AU of mine! :D
I should probably mention it now that this story was largely inspired by the awesome fantasy world-building seen in RWBY along with the absolutely stellar RPG series known as The Legends of Heroes: Trails of… by Falcom and the also excellent Bioware RPG series Dragon Age. Calling each story arc a "Volume" is a direct homage to RWBY, and the reason behind the cliffhanger ending here is totally due to the way each season of that series tends to end, as well as how each LoH: Trails of… game in particular usually ends on a massive cliffhanger that ties into the subsequent one. XD I'm a sucker for well-crafted fantasy stories and world-building in general, and I totally recommend those titles to anyone who are fans of their particular mediums! :)
Also, Donut being the prince in this story who has a bit more to his character than he usually lets on? Totally inspired by a certain awesome royal from the LoH: Trails of… series too. XD Anyone who knows who I am talking about gets a virtual cookie! :D
I really do want to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who has stuck by this lengthy story of mine, and I hope that it has been at least a somewhat enjoyable ride so far. The best is yet to come, so please be sure to check out Remnants: Volume II when it comes out as well! :)