Chapter 9

Hey guys. I've made a decision. While Monty's death saddens me, I've decided to continue my work in his honor. He wouldn't want his fans to be sad. He would want us to do something creative, in memory of him. I intend to do just that by continuing this story, and maybe even start another one. Every last story, chapter, and keystroke will be made in memory of that great man. May his legacy live on in us, his fans. We love you, Monty.

Alear's gaze was frozen to the floor. There was no way it could be her. The chances were slim to none…yet he knew it was her voice. It had haunted his dreams for years, rubbing in the fact that he had no one. He slowly raised his head. His eyes grew wider than he thought was possible once he saw the prisoner's face. His heart skipped a beat. His mouth opened as he tried to speak but couldn't find the words. It was his mother.

His mom ran forward, tears streaming down her face as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "My son…my little pup," she muttered happily while tears streamed down her face. "You're all grown up."

Alear couldn't talk. He simply returned the embrace, still processing what just happened.

Nix stood there gawking. "Seriously?!"

Alear smiled lightly. "I-I know. I still don't believe it, and I'm hugging her."

His mother pulled away with a smile on her face, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm right here, guys."

"Sorry, Mom."

The older woman did her best to fix her hair and pat down her clothes before extending her hand to Nix. "Hi, I'm, well, Alear's mom. My name's Lumina."

Nix accepted the gesture and smiled. "My name's Nix. I'm Alear's partner."

Lumina cracked a sly grin and wriggled her eyebrows. "His partner huh?"

Alear face-palmed while Nix giggled. "I see where he gets his sense of humor."

"Ah, shut it," replied the wolf Faunus. He turned his attention to his mother. "She's just a friend, Mom. My girl is back at Beacon."

His mother was audibly astonished. "Beacon?! Oh, pup!" She hugged him again. "I'm so proud of you!"

He scratched his neck, beaming at the praise. "It's no big deal."

Lumina giggled. "Well I'm proud of you anyway." Her smile radiated a warm feeling that was slowly building up inside Alear. "And you better introduce me to your little girlfriend. We may not have seen each other for years, but I'd still like to meet the girl that's captured my little pup's heart"

Alear chuckled and pulled out his scroll. He pulled up the picture of Blake cuddling with a pillow and showed it to her. "This is her."

Lumina's expression softened as she looked upon the sleeping cat Faunus. "You got yourself a cutie."

Nix grinned mischievously. "It's his little Kitty Cat."

Alear gave her a death stare while lightly blushing. "It's because she's a cat Faunus."

"Oh?" giggled Lumina. "My little Pup is dating a little kitty?"

The wolf Faunus shrugged contentedly. "We're not ones for stereotypes."

Nix scoffed at his remark. "Please, you should see her around her team's pet dog, Zwei. She refuses to even come in contact with him."

"That's different!" argued Alear. Nix rolled her eyes.

His mother watched the two youths with a loving expression. She hadn't had any contact with decent people in many years. She had almost just withered away, devoid of all hope. Now that she has been reunited with her son, she felt alive again, like everything would be alright. There was something that was bothering her though.

"Why are you here?" she said, her mood dampening. The two partners looked at her confused. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy beyond words that you are here, but how did you find this place? Based on your reaction to me, I assume you didn't come here on a rescue mission."

Her son nodded somberly. "We were sent here on an assignment to retrieve certain information, information that could stop the White Fang's operations. I was actually kind of hoping you could help us."

Now it was Lumina's turn to be confused. "You want my help? No offense, but I'm not exactly a fighter."

Alear shook his head. "I don't need you to fight, far from it actually. We need the location of Nomant's office. It's the most likely place we'll find what we need."

Lumina looked forlorn at the mention of the overseer. "Um…yeah. It's, uh, the small house-like building in the center of the compound. You can't miss it."

Alear placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll take care of that bastard personally soon enough."

She frowned. "If you have to kill him then fine, but don't do it out of anger. I did my best to instill good values in the six years we had together. I hope I succeeded."

Alear now felt guilty about how casually he has killed people in the past. He knew she was right and that he shouldn't kill so readily, but once he was separated from his mother and the protection of the overseer, he had no one left to help him in the second slave camp. It was either kill or be killed. There was no time to debate whether killing was right or wrong. You simply did it to survive. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'll do my best not to disappoint you."

Lumina caressed his cheek. "It's alright, Pup. I just don't want you to be consumed by hatred. Never lose sight of yourself. No matter what they throw at you, you must stay strong. Can you promise me that?"

He gave her a half-hearted smile. "I promise."

"Ahem," Nix cut in. "I hate to interrupt, but we do have a deadline, Alear."

Alear sighed. "You're right." He placed Shimmer in his mother's hand. "Take this. If anyone comes through that door besides us, pour a little aura into it. The blade will emit a light afterwards, blinding them momentarily. Take this time to shove it into their hearts." Lumina nodded uncertainly.

"You may want to search the guards you just killed," suggested Nix. "I heard one of them talking about having the key to Nomant's safe. It could be worth checking out."

Alear thought a moment before smirking. "I like the way you think, Nix. We may as well rob him blind while we're here. It's not like he doesn't deserve it." He quickly retrieved the key and pocketed it. "Right, let's go"

The two exited the building with Alear giving his mother one final glance, deciding to follow the outskirts of the compound until they got closer to their objective.

"So, how was it?" asked Nix as they walked.

"How was what?"

"Seeing your mom again, what else?"

Alear's face lit up like a beacon, feeling genuinely happy. "It's amazing. To be honest, I thought the only family I had left in this world was myself. It's such a relief that I'm not alone anymore."

Nix faked offense. "Do I mean nothing to you?"

Alear rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Heh, I don't know about that," she replied, growing dismal. "The only family I have is Neo, and she's gone just as mad as Adam it seems."

The wolf Faunus wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry. We're about as close to family as you can get." He smirked to himself. "In fact, I think I'm going to start calling you little Sis."

Nix's face grew hot from embarrassment. "You're taking what I said earlier about wanting you to be my older brother to heart aren't you?"

"But of course!" he said, over exaggerating his excitement.

Nix pinched her forehead. "I swear, sometimes I regret telling you that."

Alear motioned for silence and the two ducked behind some nearby shrubbery, observing the small home in the center of the compound. The wolf Faunus counted at least thirty guards outside the Overseer's home. "Well, shit. That makes our job more complicated."

Nix sucked her teeth. "That's a whole lot of man power for one guy, don't you think?"

Alear hummed. "It's definitely not normal. He must be getting paranoid about something. If I didn't know any better, I would say he knows we're here."

Nix bit her lip in thought. "Well whatever the case, I think I know how to deal with these guys." She opened the case on her back, pulling out a bronze violin and the violin bow from earlier.

Alear snorted. "What are you going to do? Play them a song?"

Nix scowled at her partner's teasing. "You're not the only one who upgraded their weapon at Beacon," she stated matter-of-factly. "I'll have you know that Dead Echo and I are now more than capable of dealing with lowly grunts, no matter how many. While we were at Beacon, I took the opportunity to enhance her with Dust. I coated the strings with it and placed a few Dust crystals inside the base for good measure." She stroked the weapon like it was her child. "Those additions should add for a nice little power boost, don't you think?"

Alear was not as sure as Nix seemed to be. "Are you sure about this? I've never seen you fight this many people by yourself before. What's your plan?"

The little illusionist gave him a mysterious smile, blinking to change the colors of her eyes. "Maybe I don't plan on fighting. I guess you'll just have to wait and see." With that, she stepped out from cover before Alear could stop her.

"Nix!" yelled the wolf Faunus in a whispered tone. She didn't give a second glance. "Shit…"

The multi-colored girl strode confidently toward the central structure, adding a sway to her hips. She carried Dead Echo in her left hand and the bow in her right. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she got closer to the guards.

One of the guards swiftly took notice. He raised his gun at her, prompting the others to follow suit. "Hold it right there, missy! State your business!"

She threw a seductive smile on her face, gently placing Dead Echo under her chin, stopping in front of the rather large man in front of her. "Relax guys and girls. I just thought you fine people would enjoy a song or two." Without waiting for a response, she began to play, bringing her bow across Dead Echo's strings.

(Cue Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling)

The guards were more confused than anything. They stood in shock and wonder at the spectacle. The little girl before them started dancing while playing the song, gracefully executing each move. She finished a twirl before stopping before the mass of people. Her eyes flashed a brilliant white as she used her semblance. The guards immediately were transfixed by her gaze. She had successfully gained control of their minds.

Now, Nix could make them see anything she wanted. She could conjure up any horror she wanted, make any nightmare a seemingly real experience, but she understood that not all Faunus in the White Fang were evil. Most were just weak-willed fools that were tired of being pushed around; flocking to the only group doing something against the discrimination. She wasn't a Faunus herself, but she could sympathize with their plight.

In light of this, she decided to do her best to calm them, to make them happy, even if it was only briefly. She created a world where racism didn't exist, where everyone was truly equals. Grimm were nonexistent and cities spread across the entire planet. There was truly world peace. Most of the grunts smiled and hummed softly in response to this vision. A few, probably the bad apples of the group, were a little hesitant to accept the reality, but otherwise sat there quietly.

Alear approached from behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Nice job, little Sis."

"Thanks," she replied quietly. Beads of sweat were starting to form on her brow. "This is taking a lot more aura than I expected. I suggest you get in there and get what we need. I can only hold them like this for another two minutes at most."

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Don't overexert yourself." He disappeared inside the small house.

Alear found the house to be a lot nicer than anything in the rest of the compound, and it disgusted him. While his men and the slaves were living in hovels, this bastard was living in a fully furnished wood home. Bookshelves lined one of the walls and what looked like a wine cellar was down the stairs immediately right of the entrance. Despite the size, the building was only three rooms; a bathroom, a bedroom, and an office. The bath and bedroom were next to each other down a hall to the left, while the office was more toward the center of the building. The door was open already, showing it was empty.

The wolf Faunus ignored his disgust and burst into the office, rapidly shuffling through papers on the large, wood desk. A minute passed and unfortunately he had no luck. The documents he needed simply weren't there. He cursed in frustration and slammed his boot into the floorboards.

The sound rang hollow beneath his feet. Alear barely noticed it. He stomped again experimentally, listening closer. Once again the sound rang hollow. Alear cursed once more, this time in realization. "Of course that fucker would hide it underneath the floor," he muttered. Alear charged his fist with lightning and slammed it into the ground, shattering the wood floor, revealing a small compartment about the size of a nightstand. The solid, steel safe lay within.

Alear laughed in joy and quickly inserted the ornate key in the lock, popping it open in seconds. He gasped at the contents. The documents were there alright, as well as 100,000 Lien. Lien was the currency of Remnant, which were essentially plastic cards of different colors with black reader strips on the back. There were ten of these cards above the documents, each worth 10,000 a piece. The wolf Faunus rapidly placed the cards in an inside pocket on the left side of his jacket. He folded up the documents next, placing them in the inside pocket on the opposite side of his jacket after taking several pictures with his scroll in case they were damaged.

He didn't waste any time in bursting out the door. Nix had fallen to one knee out of exhaustion. "H-Hurry," she stammered out. He closed the door behind him and scooped up Nix as he ran through the crowd of guards, carrying her bridal style. She kept the illusion going long enough for them to get out of eyesight, almost blacking out from the effort.

"Hey, hey! Stay with me!" Alear yelled. She lightly hummed in response. He did his best to avoid suspicion as he pretty much raced back to where his mother waited. She was there to greet them, shutting the door as they entered.

"What's the matter with her?" asked Lumina with concern.

Alear shook his head. "Nothing to worry about, just aura exhaustion. She overexerted herself like I figured she would." He placed her on the floor, gently laying her head down. "She never does listen to my advice." He playfully flicked her forehead. "Moron." She was too spaced out to even flinch at the contact and was soon asleep.

Lumina placed a hand lovingly on Nix's forehead in a way only mothers could. "She's a little hot."

Alear grimaced. "Hopefully she'll be alright. We have to move her soon. Our ride is leaving with or without us in the next forty-five minutes. It took us roughly ten minutes to walk here from the LZ."

"I doubt she'll be in any condition to walk on her own in so little time."

"Then one of us will have to carry her. We can't miss that airship."

Lumina sighed. "I really don't think that's a good idea. Isn't there anything you can do?"

Alear ran his tongue across his teeth in thought. "I could try pouring my aura into her, to kind of jump start her own, but that typically only works if there's already a small amount of aura within her." He knelt down next to his partner. "From what I can tell, I'd be surprised if she has enough right now to even heal a scraped knee."

"You'll at least try, won't you?"

"Of course," he replied. "She's kind of like a sister I never had. I won't leave her like this, not if I can help it."

Lumina smiled to herself. Her doubts about his morals were disappearing. "Is there anything I can do?"

He shook his head. "Just keep watch and let me know if anyone is coming. This is kind of procedure is…delicate." Lumina nodded and took up watch at a nearby window.

Alear took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing his aura into the palms of his hands. He lowered his hands over Nix's sleeping form, hovering over her. He began transfusing his aura into the sleeping illusionist, steadily dragging his hands along the entirety of her body. He repeated the process three times before deciding he had used enough aura. She would revive soon if it worked. If not, then he would go back to his original plan of carrying her.

"Um, Alear?" said Lumina timidly. "There's somebody coming, and he is carrying a VERY large sword." There was a hint of fear to her voice. Her son cursed, unsheathing Surge from his waist. "W-Wait! Where are you going?"

Alear looked at her as if the question she asked was strange. "Well they seem to know we're in here, so I figured I would go greet them. You two stay here. Keep Shimmer in case things go south."

He exited the building without hesitation, shutting the door behind him. He walked a few feet forward, standing protectively in front of the complex. A man with short, bright orange hair greeted him. His orange-yellow eyes unsettled Alear. They almost didn't look human. The man slammed the blade of his massive sword into the ground, leaning on it with a sadistic smile on his face. Many White Fang soldiers watched from a short distance, seemingly nervous.

The man noticed Alear's worrisome face. "Oh don't worry about them. They have strict orders not to interfere. This little dance will be all ours." His voice was almost as disturbing as his eyes. It almost sent a literal shiver down the wolf Faunus's spine.

"Who are you?" asked Alear calmly. "One of Adam's lackeys?"

The man clutched his heart, his face twisting in fake anguish. "I'm hurt, Alear. Do you truly not remember me?"

Alear shrugged. "Can't say I do."

The man raised his left hand, inspecting the metal claws covering his arm up to the elbow. "That's a real shame. We used to be the best of friends." Alear stood staring at the man with a blank expression, clearly not recognizing him. The man's wicked smile grew wider. "Tell me, how did you feel after you found our friends butchered like animals?" The man practically giggled with joy at Alear's astonished reaction.

"That was you?!" Alear could feel his anger building inside him. He brandished Surge. "Why?!"

The man laughed softly. "Think for a moment. Think real hard…who am I?"

The wolf Faunus struggled to identify him. The man's identity seemed to be right on the tip of his tongue.

That's when it came to him. The same orange hair, the same-ish clothes, and that massive great sword were massive clues that previously eluded him. The eyes may be different from before but it was definitely him. The boy Alear had ripped out of the group photo of his friends now stood before him.

Alear growled out his next word. "Ashura…"