Hey guys, here is the next update of the fanfic.
Enjoy the read.
Chapter Cover: Ruby standing with her red cloak dancing behind her.
Chapter Forty-Three
Differences
Noir was staring at the wound that was getting healed. He had never felt a healing technique like this before. His entire body was enveloped into a large cocoon of light as he was lying there upon the bed. It felt a lot like water against his skin but without the wetness that it brings. The man couldn't believe that Sebastian was part of that fabled order. There wasn't a Clan in Remnant that hadn't heard the tales of the Order that had predated the Clans. It was quite something to hear that they still exist even to this day, something that he never once believed he would see.
The young man turned his gaze toward Blake. The dark haired girl was seating at the side of his bed, her golden eyes taking in everything around the room. It was a very different room than what they were used to that's for sure. The interior walls were made out of stone and it felt as warm as it looked. They were design drawn into the window, written in what look like a strange language. The bed was comfortable and warm as he lied within it.
Then he turned his attention toward the other side of the bed, at the young man that was healing him. His skin was oddly pale with his hair taking on a dark color. His hair was falling around his eyes almost shadowing them and even the longer hair was falling down upon his back. From the look on his face the man was concentrating quite a lot of upon his work.
Then the cocoon of light that was around him disappeared and the young man straightened up.
"The wounds have all healed," he said, "But I will suggest that you stay in bed and recover your strength."
With that he stood up and walked out of the room leaving him and Blake alone inside. Noir made to touch where the wounds were and noticed that fresh skin had completely covered them. It was like all of his wounds had disappeared, and not even leaving behind a scar. That was something new for whenever he was healed in the past, it always left behind a scar.
"He is good," he said.
Blake turned her gaze toward him, but she didn't say anything.
"Why were you still in Vale Blake?" he asked.
"I was going to go back," Blake answered him, "But then Commander Winter showed up and brought that Weiss girl away from the city. I decided to stick around to see how this is going to play out…thought, I didn't expect Captain Schneider to turn traitor to his own Clan."
Noir frowned.
Yeah that sounded too good to be true to him. He knew who Captain Schneider was for the man had made a name for himself during the many years he had served as Captain of the White Clan.
"The White Thunder of the White Clan," he said, "Which reminded me…I still have something to talk to him about…thought I didn't expect him to be this hesitant in the fight with the White Knights. Even with his released Soul Weapon, he should have been more than enough…"
Noir let out a sigh.
"I guess it's too late to wonder about now," the man said, "So…Blake, are you going to go back to the White Fang?"
Blake gaze found his own.
"Where else am I suppose to go?" she said.
"How about you stay with me," Noir asked her, "It will be like old times…"
"I can't turn away from them Noir," the girl answered curtly, "I can't just do that to them."
Noir shook his head.
"Why not?" he asked, "You should have realized by now that the White Fang isn't going to make things better for the Faunus. All the attack on the Schnee Family is going to provoke is another war and this time, I'm not sure any of us are going to survive another one."
Blake frowned.
"That path that Adam told you about isn't the only way Blake," Noir told her, "That peace you wanted since you were a child can still be found you know…the only thing that it is waiting for is you making that first step to find it."
"I've got too much blood on my hands to back out now," the young woman said, looking at him, "I won't ever be able to see the world like that anymore. I'm sorry."
Blake then stood up and walked out of the room leaving Noir by himself. The young man stared at the door the girl just went through before turning his gaze toward the ceiling above him. If there was one thing that Noir had always admired within Blake was the girl's loyalty. But it seems that now, Adam is the one that had gained that loyalty from her and as long as Blake continue to be loyal to that man…
She knows what I am saying his true but…her loyalty to them is the only thing keeping her within their ranks, he thought, I never believed that Adam will actually take her into the White Fang…maybe, I should have taken her with me when I went on my journey across Remnant…
Noir shook his head.
No, he thought, If I had taken her…she would have been dead by now…
"Sebastian?"
The surprised voice caused the elderly man to turn toward where it came from. A young woman was standing across him her brown eyes wide with surprise at seeing him standing here. She was wearing a long sleeved outfit upon her body along with a jacket and pants. Her boots where light looking probably built for speed rather than anything else. The woman's hair was a light reddish brown color as her face was completely alive with surprise.
"Yael," Sebastian greeted.
The woman ran toward him and took him into a hug which the man returned.
"I've heard talks of your returning from the Knight-Sisters," she said, "But it's so good to see you again."
She stepped out of the hug.
"You've gotten old," she said.
Sebastian stared at her, "And you look like you haven't aged a day."
Yael chuckled as she stared at him.
"I've heard you've gathered some companions when you returned," she said, "Is Weiss with you? Have you finally told her?"
Sebastian shook his head.
"No…Not yet," he said, thinking about Weiss and the situation the girl had brought herself in.
Something must have shown upon his face for Yael had a light frown appearing upon her features and there was also a light of worry within the depths of her brown eyes.
"Did something happen to Weiss?" she asked.
"I've only recently learn of it myself before we were attacked by the White Clan," Sebastian told her.
"Attacked?" Yael frowned, "Did Ezekiel order it? Tell me everything."
Sebastian nodded and recounted what Captain Schneider had told him when he had arrived at the Manor earlier today before Mercury and the White Knights have come after them. During his tale, the woman, Yael had a shocked look on her face at what she was learning.
"How could he do something like this?" she said, "Neige had always spoken about him as a caring man but I never expected him to actually wanting to execute his own child?"
Sebastian looked down at the ground in front of him, "I wonder if Neige ever knew what type of man he really was."
Yael glanced at him, "What are you planning to do then?"
Sebastian stayed silent as he mulled things over in his mind.
"For an execution by the White Star of the Clan," he said, "From what Schneider said, it will take five days to make the preparations. Weiss was taken two days ago and challenged her father yesterday in a battle to the death. There is four more days till the execution will take place. We still have time before anything too crazy happens."
"You're going to infiltrate the White Clan aren't you?" she said.
"Yes," Sebastian said, "If Weiss is being accused of these crimes, then we have to go and get her out of here. The group I have with me will be more than enough of what I need to get it done."
Yael frowned a little, "Tell me of that group?"
Sebastian smirked a little, "Well, first there is me and a Faunus friend Weiss had named Noir. We have two young Huntresses from the Rose Dragon Clan…both of them fought against the White Fang to protect Vale along with Weiss during their attack against the city. There is Schneider and another Faunus girl…thought, I have a feeling that she won't take part in the operation."
"Then I will just have to take her place," she said.
Sebastian looked at her.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
Yael nodded.
"Yes," she said, "I won't let Ezekiel kill my youngest niece if unless have something to say about it. With what he did five years ago to her, I won't let Weiss suffer under that man's hand no longer."
Sebastian nodded at her, remembering five years ago.
Flashback
Four Days after Weiss exile from the Clan
The man was working upon the healing ingredients for Weiss's medicine. The girl had fallen asleep earlier but her wounds were still as severe as before, and it was taking a lot of Aura and his skills he learned when he was part of the Light of Remnant to be able to heal her…thought the man wasn't as good in healing as he had wished to be.
Then Aura washed over him, causing Sebastian to pause in what he was doing. From what he was feeling, recognized that Aura quite well and it causes a well of anger to shoot through his chest. The man walked straight toward the door and opened it.
Standing in the middle of the courtyard of the small house had taken Weiss in was the man responsible for the state the girl was in at the moment.
"You have no right to be here," he said, "Not after what you have done to her."
Ezekiel Schnee stared at him, the blue eyes empty and unblinking. Then he walked forward and then extended a bag toward Sebastian. The man blinked at the bag before looking at the man across him.
"What is that supposed to be?" he asked.
"This is medicine," Ezekiel answered simply, "I have had the Healer gave their best medicine against wounds and scars. While I know that you are well versed in the art of healings, a little extra never hurt anyone."
Sebastian stared at the man in front of him as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"This is your way of apologizing for what you've done to your own daughter," he snarled.
"I'm not here to apologize for my actions as Lord of the White Clan," Ezekiel answered him, "I am only here as a Father to give his child the medicine that she needs to heal from what I have done."
Sebastian took the bag from him and stared down at the content. It was filled with medicine and even some that he knew were going to help him heal Weiss. There was a swish of cloak and he looked up noticing that Ezekiel had turned away from him and walking off.
"You're not even going to see her?" he said, "You're not even going to see what your actions have done to your own daughter?"
Ezekiel came to a stop before turning his head toward him, the blue eyes blank again.
"The only reason I came here was because she is my own daughter," he said, "What I have done is to show everyone that not even my own blood will be spared from the wrath of the White Lord should they ever disobey me again…"
Sebastian stared as Ezekiel turned to face forward again. A Doorway appeared right in front of him.
"Beside," Ezekiel said, "she is already in good hands. I don't need to see her to know that Weiss will stand on her own and find her own path…after all, she has my blood flowing in her veins."
Ezekiel then walked forward and was about to cross into the Portal when Sebastian said.
"She will never forgive you for this," he said, "And neither would I Ezekiel."
Ezekiel stood there for a few moments as the wind blew through the area he was standing in and without saying a word, the man disappeared into the Doorway and with a hum sound, the Doorway dissipated into nothingness. Sebastian stood there staring at the place where the Doorway was.
End of flashback
"Sebastian…what's on your mind?" Yael asked, drawing the man's attention from the thoughts he was having.
Sebastian stared at her for a few moments.
"I…It's nothing," he said standing up, "We'll let the others get some rest and we will talk about all of that tomorrow with them. We did have injured with us when we came so…when they finish getting healed, we'll plan on how we are going to move and get Weiss out of that place."
Light Schneider was lying down on the bed that he was placed in to get healed. He was pretty amazed at the healing techniques that the people used here, and he was even more amazed that the Light of Remnant used to be an actual Order. He had read about the Order in history books thought most of the time he actually read about it in old myths of the world.
I can't actually believe that they still exist, he thought, Thought…if they did exist as it was in the stories…could this mean…that they really was a White Goddess that came down to help Humanity to fight the Grimm…or was it a single person who rallied Humanity and they came to worship her as Goddess as time passed by…
The young man didn't know what to think right now but, at least, in that place with a mythical order around them, Mercury wouldn't be able to track them down and send more White Knights after them something he knew was a good thing. The man continued to lied there for a few moments before digging into his clothes pockets and pulled out a small round object from there.
The object was made out a White crystal but as Schneider was staring at it, a light frown appeared upon his features.
No signal in this place I see, he thought, There must be some type of protective barrier around this place if my signal isn't getting through…Unless I am on the outside of the area, I won't be able to contact him about the mission at all…and about what I have learned…
The young man let out a soft sigh before turning his gaze toward the ceiling above him. The man stayed lying there for a few moments.
"I guess…I will have change things quite a bit," he said, "I never expected this turn of event to take place."
Pocketing the crystal, the young man decided to take his rest for the night. He knew that the others are going to want to go and save Weiss from what he had revealed to them when he arrived at Vale. Schneider closed his eyes.
But…with everything that's been happening…could they really be one of them within our Clan?
Blake Belladonna stepped out of room Noir was staying in. The girl let out a soft sigh from before walking down the hallway and out of the area that Noir was staying in. She glanced around herself noticing the few peoples that were around the area. It made her really wonder how many of them they really have here. When she had first heard what Noir called them, Blake couldn't believe her ears at what she had heard.
The Light of Remnant was something as mythical as the White Goddess was to everyone in this world. There was just no way that something like that could have existed and the people of her age never did believe that there was someone of higher power that existed. Adam always said that it was simply stories written by the Humans to make them feel like they had someone to pray to…unlike the Faunus who simply believed in the Spirits of the Forest, after all, Faunus were very connected to the Forest that was around the old Clan compound.
Not like I knew anything of that, she thought, I best not stay away for too long…for when Adam return…
The girl blinked when she found a person in front of her. Blake instantly recognized her as Ruby, the girl that she was helping fight against the White Knights before. The smaller girl didn't have any weapons on her but the look on her face caused Blake to become instantly cautious. Those silver eyes seem to have become quite heavy…
"I was looking for you," she said, "I wanted us to have a talk without my sister overhearing anything."
Blake stared at her.
"Why were you looking for me?" she asked.
Ruby stared at her.
"During the White Fang attack on Vale," she said, "one of the Faunus mentioned the person that was leading the attack against us. She also said that this person was going to kill Weiss."
The silver eyes seem to harden.
"Because of the White Knights that attacked us," the smaller girl continued, "I didn't want to bring it up because I wasn't sure of anything yet…but even then, I wondered if the name the Faunus told me could be the same of what you told us…so now that we're out of danger tell me the truth….are you the same Blake that lead that attack against Weiss and the people of Vale?"
Ruby confront Blake...
Next Time: Shadow of Truth
Jacques0 out.
R&R
