"So… is Blake, like… faunus royalty?" Nora asked Ruby and Yang.
The sisters returned to the others to tell them of Seido's ongoing plans and, whether she liked it or not, the newfound information on Blake.
"No… well… I guess if you run unopposed…?" Yang said, trying to answer to the best of her knowledge.
Sure, the revelation of Blake's true lineage was a big surprise that no one saw coming, but there was a greater concern on everyone's minds.
"Why did you let her go alone, though?" then asked Jaune.
"She is not alone" Smoke decided to answer on the distance matter-of-factly. "She is with Raiden, so don't worry about her being hurt".
"And if this 'Menagerie' place that you mentioned is inhabited by only Faunus and Seido has a limited number of humans roaming around, a group of human teenagers is more than likely to be noticed and to raise concern" Hanzo pointed out as well.
After that was pointed out, Weiss changed the subject. "Couldn't have hurt her to tell us about her family" she said as she crossed her arms in indignation.
"Would you have reacted in a different way had she told you; or would you have acted in this same way?" Then asked Ermac.
"Well… I mean…" Weiss tried to put together what she wanted to say, but it just wasn't coming along. "I guess that after all that happened with the paladins a little more trust could have been good. Her father did fund the White Fang".
"And left before they turned bad!" Ruby quickly added while defending their friend.
"Whatever the case might be, she is your ally now, and you both fight for the same cause," Sub Zero told the pale girl, wanting to prevent any sort of rift among allies; but considering the seriousness this subject seemed to bring, he then continued his explanation with a warmer and friendlier tone. "She had her reasons. From what you and she told us she has a past of which she is not proud. I would advise you give her the benefit of a doubt".
"I guess you are right…" Weiss conceded and even smiled before looking at the setting sun. "Do you really think they will be alright? Seido seems to have many people in there".
"As we said: if Raiden is with her, then there should be no worries" Hanzo answered her. "They'll be back soon, you'll see".
Blake was not just surprised by the fact that Ozpin allowed her to go back to Menagerie, but it seemed he encouraged it and even planned it beforehand since Raiden was conveniently in the room with her. It didn't take long for her to figure a strategy, and within minutes Raiden had taken her back to the island. The only thing she was upset about, however, was that they had not appeared in Kuo Kuana but on a random beach. The settlement was close, but it still seemed to be a couple of miles away.
"Couldn't you have dropped us a little closer?" Blake asked a little annoyed not wanting to waste time walking.
"If Hotaru is here, a lightning in the middle of the village might not be the wisest idea" Raiden answered her calmly; getting enjoyment out of the embarrassed look on Blake when she realized that. "Our mission is important, I too know that; but if we allow our emotions to cloud our objective, then our rivals will be able to defeat us".
Blake nodded in acknowledgment and they both began their journey. Menagerie was already at nighttime, so it made sense that the lights of Kuo Kuana were on. Odd, however, was that there were more lights on than usual.
Once they had arrived at the outsides of the village, they were then able to hear music and even see that stores were open along with street vendors and performers.
"A festival?" Raiden asked.
"Those monsters! They are pretending to help them, so the villagers are throwing a festival in their honor!" she said while pointing at a sign that said:
'Menagerie ❤ Seido Ind.'
True to her word, however, Blake took deep breaths to calm herself as she also began to undo her bow to free her cat ears.
"Do you know where we are going?" Raiden asked before she began to move.
"Yes," she answered as she then pointed towards the giant house that connected all the main parts of the village. "My parents live there. The house also works as the government office".
Raiden nodded and began to head for the main beach but was then quickly pulled back by Blake. "Are you crazy!? Seido are the first humans to enter since… forever! You may be a god, but others will spot you! Can't you do something about it?".
After careful consideration, an idea occurred to Raiden. "There is a technique… I could be able to make it go halfway through to then pass as a faunus, but there is a chance that the result might not work in our favor" he explained.
"Worth a shot!".
With that said. Raiden closed his eyes and gathered electricity between his hands. A couple of seconds later, he was engulfed by a quick flash of blue light. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to have changed.
"Did it work? Do you feel anything different?" Blake asked him.
Raiden then cleared his throat. "I do feel… thirsty… and dry…" he answered.
Blake went on to remove his hat to see if he had gained horns or ears, but to her and his surprise, as soon as she touched his hair, an electric shock made her pull her arm back. "What was that for!?" she asked enraged.
"I… do not know…" Raiden said just as confused.
"Wait…". Blake considered for a moment what little information they had gathered. He felt dry and then he had electrocuted her with just a touch. Blake then pulled up the front of his shirt and saw the thin fin that started on his pectorals and went all the way down as well as the pores on either side of his abdomen and the soft orange skin surrounding the fin. "An electric eel?" she then asked.
"I warned you the results could not be what we wanted," Raiden said, defending himself before he began to cough violently.
"Great, and you are also dried up!". Wasting no time, they entered the beach and Blake guided Raiden to the peer. Every Faunus present ignored them, being too busy with dancing, eating, drinking, or doing a combination of those. Once she made sure no one was paying attention to them, she spoke to him again. "Better?".
"Yes… I apologize".
Blake smiled and then looked back towards the beach. "I'm sorry, but-".
"I understand; go. Once I have regained enough strength, I'll go look for you" Raiden told her.
"Great. Follow the main road, it will take you to the house. Do not walk away from it and don't drive too much attention on yourself!" she told him before sprinting to the village.
'I do not even intend to' Raiden told himself, enjoying the water replenishing him with health.
"Hey cutie, never seen you around town before!" a strange female voice said.
Raiden looked around but found no one close enough. Then something emerged from the sea in front of him and he was able to see a woman with grey scales and fins. "I… am not from here" he vaguely explained.
"Oh? Imported goods?" a second drunken mermaid faunus then asked in a flirty way.
At first, Blake felt glad to be back home, but then she grew increasingly paranoid when she started to see members of Seido's security keeping guard. None had approached or followed her, but the feeling of dread was always present.
On her way, she then noticed a bonfire. Innocent at first, until she saw that what people were burning were all items connected to the White Fang. It should have filled her with joy, but at the same time, it left her puzzled. No amount of money or charisma would allow such a display, so what was going on?
A drunken man with fox ears then passed next to Blake. Deciding to get an answer, vague as it may be, she stopped him. "Excuse me, but… what is happening here?".
Thankfully, the man was still able to speak. "Meh! So much help they turned out to be!" he snapped back. "They claimed to want… 'equality' for us and then go to kill each other in the name of 'Kahns' and whatnot," he remarked before drinking more from his cup.
"So… they left a long time ago?" Blake then asked.
The man gave her an intrigued look before continuing. "Not from around here, are ya kid?".
"It's… complicated" she admitted with shame. "Did everyone quit the White Fang?".
At that, it was the man who looked ashamed as well. "Nah… most went to Vacuo to gladly give their lives away… I feel like they wouldn't have had they seen what Seido Industries is bringing… Well… don't feel bad. It took us more time to figure that killing humans was not better; and hey! Guess who was contracted to help build an aquatic engine!" he said while laughing and then drinking before heading next to the bonfire.
Blake regretted that the poor man was not aware of what the true purpose of his new job was, but with her doubts cleared she went back to her mission.
Within minutes she arrived at the Belladonna state. At first, she thought the mission would fail when she saw the guards from Seido on the perimeter; but that changed when she also saw veterans of the Menagerie Guard. In other words, people she had grown up around.
Ghira Belladonna was an interesting case. He was the founder and former leader of the White Fang; he would not even try to hide it. But then again, he allowed his organization to morph into a terrorist group. Although, he has kept the island and its settlements in peace, not wanting to start a war with any of the kingdoms for a foolish cause like 'independence' or 'freedom'. Hotaru could respect that. On the other hand, even with little resources at hand, Menagerie could still be able to grow into a powerbroker in Remnant but at the cost of a lot of lives in the process, something he knew people of this world would not do willingly.
Whatever Hotaru's thoughts on the Chieftain's past were, they did not matter. In the end, Ghira Belladonna would be a subject to the breeding program. With the right female specimen, male descendants of Ghira could prove to be enormous war machines to go head-to-head against even larger Oni or Shokan.
"More tea, darling?" a female voice asked Hotaru. It came from Ghira's wife, Kali Belladonna.
"Thank you very much, madam Belladonna". Hotaru answered back with a genuine smile.
"I told you to call me Kali," she said playfully.
"I'm sorry, but it just goes against my principles," he said before taking a sip from his cup.
Kali Belladonna was a case completely different from that of her husband. All her involvement with White Fang activity could be classified as an accessory, but her fate was sealed anyway. She would be among those heading towards the GCI. Shameful, really.
The day had gone perfectly. Although skeptical a few days ago, Ghira was convinced quickly once the proposal to make the island habitable was presented. With that, the Chieftain fell right on his hand.
The afternoon event was a formality, but the final deal had yet to be approved by Ghira; so, while the island was celebrating, he, Hotaru, and Kali were in the library of the Belladonna house reviewing the written deal.
If anything, this was another aspect of the Chieftain that Hotaru had to admire: reading thoroughly what it was being signed. Ghira was indeed a good leader in the Seidan's book. While the proposals were not that many, the paperwork for them was monumental, but Ghira insisted on reading every page.
"Well…" Ghira said as he placed the page he was currently reading down and removed his reading glasses to drink some of the tea his wife served him. "I have to admit I like what I've read so far. This is a win-win for both of us!".
"Glad to hear that, Chieftain. As I said, our intentions are noble and pure".
"I do have some notes, trivialities really, like in page-" Ghira was beginning to ask when they were suddenly interrupted by knocks on the door.
The Belladonnas felt a mixture of embarrassment and anger since they had ordered them to not be disturbed unless something important happened as petitioned by their guest. They would have just ignored it, but the knocking became too repetitive.
"Please, not now!" Kali yelled.
"Erm… Miss Belladonna… I do believe this classifies as an important matter" said Saber Rodentia, the head of the Menagerie Guard.
Defeated, Kali then ran and opened the door, finding herself face-to-face with the tanned man. "Fine. What is it, Saber?".
"Umm… it involves Mr. Belladonna too…" Saber said, knowing very well his head was on the line by the annoyed look on the Belladonnas and the twitching eyebrow of Hotaru.
Kali sighed and then massaged her temple. "I'll be the judge of that…" she said before leaving the room with the other man.
"Your wife is an admirable woman," Hotaru told Ghira once they were both alone.
"Very true. I can assure you; I wouldn't be able to do this job would without her, and she is far tougher than she looks. Now about our deal…" Ghira began to explain some of his concerns, but both men were distracted by the loud steps running towards the library, and then Kali bursting in a couple of minutes after she left.
"GHIRA! Ehem… Ghira, Saber was right, this is a matter that concerns you" the woman said, trying to compose herself.
The larger man was not convinced. "What is it then?" he asked.
"It… it involves the island… it is important, Ghira. You need to go and handle it!".
With a sigh of defeat, Ghira Belladonna began to leave the room. Shortly after, Hotaru stood up as well and was already following the Chieftain. "I will go with you. Maybe I could help you sort this out, Chieftain?".
Just as he said that Kali almost pushed him back to the couch. "No, no, no; this is not something you should concern yourself with! It's about Kuo Kuana and… a neighboring settlement, Ghira will take care of it. More tea? Maybe something to eat? I assure you will love…" the cat faunus began to say.
Ghira was no fool. He knew his wife was distracting Hotaru. The question then became 'Why?'. Without further questioning, Ghira then left the room and followed Saber. Hotaru could do nothing else but hold on to his rage as the factory's construction was being further delayed.
Ghira was annoyed by the fact Saber was not saying anything. That only increased when he noticed most of the Menagerie Guard were not at their posts but rather guarding the entrance to his dining room. Noticing the displeased face on the Chieftain, two of the members went to open the doors.
"This better be as important as you say or-" He was beginning to say, only to then fall into complete silence and awe while looking at what was in front of him: His long-gone daughter. Her eyes were already watery from her encounter with her mother no doubt; and when he saw her looking away while her ears went down, he decided to get close and hug her.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did" she said many times while her father stroked her hair trying to calm her.
"It's alright Blake, it's alright" he assured her in return.
As much as Blake would like to feel home again, she knew the reason why she came back to the island. "Dad, I can't stay here for long, but you have to believe me on this: Do not trust Seido Industries!". Ghira's shocked face after that revelation was no surprise to Blake.
"Blake, what are you talking about? This is what we fought for many years! With the help of Seido we can-".
"They are using you dad! They know about our struggle and are manipulating you and all of Menagerie to create an army!". Truth be told, that sounded better on her head and with all the amount of context she already knew.
Before her father could dismiss what she said as crazy talk, Blake got her scroll out and showed him pictures of The Pyramid, among which were photos of the caged faunus. Thankfully for her, that seemed to at least spark some degree of curiosity in her father. "What is all this!?" he asked her.
"They want to enslave both humans and faunus to then turn them into… I know it sounds ridiculous, dad, but they want to turn us into breeding stock or… robot warrior-slaves".
All logic, indeed, told Ghira that his daughter was telling an absurd story. Then again, another part of his brain told him that she would not have returned, in this state, if there wasn't something wrong that she was trying to warn him about.
"Dad… I've seen things… very weird things. I don't have enough time to explain now, but trust me I will; just believe me when I tell you not to trust-" Blake tried to reason with Ghira, but the man covered her mouth as he felt a presence in the room. He managed to turn his head up quickly enough to see one of the security personnel of Seido leave through one of the windows. Suddenly, he began to believe in Blake's tale a lot more.
"Even though poor Ghira had to wear a suit two numbers less than his actual size, the wedding was wonderful!" Kali told Hotaru while showing the businessman a photo album with pictures of her wedding. "'The only thing that gave me cold feet that day was thinking the suit would break' he told me, he is so romantic when he wants to. Do you have anyone in your life" she then asked, trying to keep the man distracted while Blake spoke with Ghira. Unlike her husband, Kali trusted Blake's tale immediately feeling that her daughter was telling nothing but the truth.
"No. I am a busy man. I have no time for relationships…" he said half truly.
They had skipped over the honeymoon and went straight to the results of it. "And this is our piece of joy," she said while pointing at the picture of a baby with floppy cat ears. "Our daughter, Blake".
Hotaru could care less about the woman's daughter; but as they went through the child's growth through the pictures, Hotaru then noticed something: He had vague memories of a girl who looked like her. 'But where…?'.
His thoughts and the picture show were then stopped by a ringing coming from Hotaru's zaphyre. He quickly got up from the sofa and excused himself with Kali. Once he was far away and the woman not looking at him, he answered.
The other voice spoke immediately in a deep mechanical voice. "Unknown faunus broke into the house and is speaking with Chieftain Ghira Belladonna. Body temperature and facial expressions suggest the unknown faunus has revealed sensitive information to the Chieftain. Sending visuals".
Before Hotaru could then look at the files, Ghira entered the room once again; calm and as if nothing had happened. "Chieftain!" Hotaru greeted, hiding his new lack of trust from the other man.
"I'm sorry; someone seemed to have gotten inside the house and… security wanted me to identify if it was a dangerous person or not," the faunus man said, wanting to cover up her daughter's identity and purpose but knowing Hotaru already knew of her presence most likely.
"Really? This person got through both your and my security. Maybe you should-".
"Do not worry about it. Let's talk about… the deal". As Ghira said that, Hotaru's interest seemed to be on Ghira once again. "I have found many… things that we may have to negotiate again. So, I am sorry, but… I will not be signing your deal".
To say Hotaru was now livid would be an understatement. "Negotiate? We are giving you money for doing nothing! We will make the wasteland a paradise! We are giving you mountains of gold and you are throwing them back on my face!?".
"Mr. Taakoizu, please understand that-" Kali tried to reason; and just as Hotaru was ready to lose his patience and strike the woman did he notice Ghira and a new guard looking at him, the first with just as much anger.
"Interesting that a 'win-win' for both turned into outright doubt, Chieftain," Hotaru said as he then began to walk towards the bigger man. "Did this… unknown person have something to do with your sudden change of heart?".
The question was innocent enough. A quick 'no' would have sufficed, but the held back anger on Ghira's face and even on Kali's was telling enough for Hotaru. He was dealing with family.
Hotaru's zaphyre rang again, and the businessman looked at it. He was now able to see many pictures of Ghira with said woman. But unlike the guard who took them, Hotaru figured it all out: This was the same girl in the picture book, the Belladonnas' daughter; furthermore, he recognized her as one of the girls with Pyrrha her first night at The Night Beetle; another student from Beacon. And in the end that could only mean…
Hotaru placed the zaphyre back in his pocket and began to run towards the door only to be stopped by Kali and Ghira as he set one foot outside of the library.
"Mr. Taakoizu, you seem to be altered," Ghira told the other man.
"Please go back inside. I am sure we can talk this through. I'll bring some more tea" Kali added.
Hotaru was ready to push them both back, but then his eye saw the girl climbing out of a window and being helped by members of the Menagerie Guard. Then, when she turned around, her eyes looked at the library's door, but they met with those of Hotaru. The man was enraged, and the girl was now afraid.
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I am sorry it took ages to upload. A heavy work schedule and a digestive virus took all my time and strength away.