Chp. 33: Republic of Menagerie Pt. 1
Kuo Kuana, Menagerie
Belladonna Residence
Meeting Room
October 9, 2020
All the way down in Kuo Kuana, the populace within the large settlement prepares for the event that is to occur tomorrow. Blake, Yang, Sun, Ren, Ilia, Rebecca, Arslan, Brawnz, Cardin, Ivori, Watson, and Emerald were all seated behind desks as the Wild Strikers and Cassandra stood in front of them.
"Alright, kids. Let's go over your assignments for today for each and everyone of you just to make sure that you all remember," Cassandra said.
"Yang Xiao Long, Alexander Watson, and Emerald Sustrai, you three will be providing protection for Kali Belladonna," Wilfred said.
"Blake Belladonna, Sun Wukong, and Lie Ren, you will provide protection for Ghira Belladonna,"Alexey said.
"Rebecca Dawson and Ilia Amitola, you'll provide protection for Sienna Khan," Lydia said.
"The rest of us will be out in areas of Kuo Kuana as security," Junichi said.
"Sounds like fun," Yang said in a bored tone.
"I'm sure some action will happen at some point," Rebecca said.
"I would like to request to make sure Cardin does not go out by himself," Blake said.
"Everyone out in town will be stuck with a partner, so yes he will be watched over, Blake," Alexey said.
"Whatever," Cardin said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.
"You all got your assignments. Now get to it," Cassandra ordered.
The students all got up from their seats and everyone began to leave the room to begin their assigned jobs as security.
Dining Room
Inside the dining room, Kali walks over to the table with a tray with a tea set on it. Seated at the table was Yang, Watson, and Emerald.
"It's so nice to see more of Blake's friends to come here," Kali said as she set the tray on the table before sitting down.
"Well, I wouldn't say all of us that came here are your daughter's friends. I mean, there's Cardin. He's a racist idiot, and nobody knows why he's even here to begin with," Emerald said.
"And there's also you. You have a criminal record and are currently under probation," Yang deadpanned at Emerald.
Emerald looks down with a slight guilt ridden expression on her face. Watson looks over at Yang with a slight glare.
"Yang, just drop it. From what I've learned, she helped take Cinder down," Watson said.
Kali awkwardly looked at the three students for a moment before pouring some tea into her cup and then took a sip from it.
"So Watson, how were things back at your home before you came to Beacon?" Kali asked.
"It was crap. I was almost relentlessly bullied back home almost all my life because I am autistic. It wasn't completely bad since I have a friend back at home and my dad," Watson answered.
"What about your mom?" Kali asked.
"She passed away several months ago from COVID," Watson answered with a saddened expression.
"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss," Kali said.
"Its fine. Things started to look up in when started to look up when I got my aura unlocked and I then soon got a girlfriend. She is... was... one of the few people that ever show any kindness to me," Watson said as he pulled out a picture of Yara and stares at it.
"Was? I'm guessing something happened to her?" Emerald said.
"She was killed the night before I got accepted into Beacon Academy," Watson answered, gaining a more sorrowful look.
After a short pause, Kali stood up from her seat and stepped up to Watson. She wrapped her arms around him into a soft embrace. She looks at the picture Watson was holding in his hand.
"Is that your girlfriend?" She asked.
"Yes," Watson answered.
Yang leans over to look at the picture.
"She looks pretty," Yang said.
"Yeah... she was. I just seem to just can't catch a break from this," Watson said.
"You poor boy. I am so sorry you have to go through all of that," Kali said as she struggled to hold back tears.
"It's fine. Despite the fact that I still miss Yara to this day, I've gotten over it," Watson said.
"Hey, I'm sure she'd be proud of where you are now," Yang said, punching Watson's arm.
Emerald watched Kali, Yang, and Watson interact with each other.
Ghira's Study
Meanwhile inside Ghira's study, Ghira was sitting behind his desk writing on some papers, while Blake, Sun, and Ren sat on the sofa.
"So since your dad is elected Menagerie's first prime minister, does that make you a princess or something Blake?" Sun asked.
"No Sun, I am not a princess," Blake answered with an eye roll.
"There are some fans out there that believe you are a princess due to you being the daughter of the chieftain of Menagerie and former leader of the White Fang. And chieftains and their families were treated like royalty in Earth's history," Ren explained.
"See? You are a princess!" Sun exclaimed.
"Guys, I am not a princess!" Blake said with an annoyed look.
"Well, you might as well be. You and your family live in a big fancy home, and have a lot of luxuries that any rich family would have," Sun said.
"He has a point. If Weiss were here right now, she would agree," Ren said.
"How many times do I have to say it? I am not a princess!" Blake said.
"You are my and your mom's princess," Ghira spoke, looking up at her daughter with a smile.
"Dad!" Blake exclaimed.
"She is a princess alright!" Sun said.
"I still don't like you," Ghira said with a raised eyebrow.
"So how are you doing on your speech, Mr. Belladonna?" Ren asked
"Just about done writing it," Ghira answered. "So many changes in one big setting."
"We know. I just can't believe that Menagerie is undergoing great changes," Blake said.
"The world will be watching us. Tomorrow, the United Nations will recognize the Republic of Menagerie as an official nation," Ghira said.
"Republic of Menagerie?" Sun asked.
"It's something the Faunus here want to call Menagerie. Of course it would still be Menagerie for short," Ghira said.
"You do realize the word 'Menagerie' means animals in captivity, right?" Ren asked.
"Yes, we are aware of that. But I want it to have a different meaning when they say the word 'Menagerie,'" Ghira said.
"That's quite inspiring of you, sir," Sun said.
"It is," Ghira replied.
Boardwalk
Meanwhile out on the boardwalk, Sienna, Ilia, and Rebecca sat at a table with a bowl of fruit sitting in the middle of the table.
"I still find all of this hard to believe that Menagerie is going to be recognized as a nation," Sienna said.
"Believe me, a lot more than that has been happening ever since Remnant merged with Earth," Rebecca said.
"Like the fact that a large majority of Earth's population is accepting of the Faunus? Sure there are some humans on Earth that don't really like the faunus, the positives look like they outweigh the negatives," Ilia said.
"Yeah. a lot of the negatives have to do with the White Fang's global attack on Earth alongside Salem and The Crown," Rebecca said.
"If I knew Adam would do that, I never would have allowed it," Sienna said.
"Even if you did agree to go with the attacks, Adam would have still killed you anyway because the White Fang saw him more as a leader than you," Rebecca said.
"I believe Adam's hatred for all humanity may be completely my fault. He did have a sense of righteousness and wanted to fight to make life better for the Faunus. And when I took over the White Fang after Ghira stepped down, my influence made Adam more bloodthirsty and more willing to kill anyone who stands in his way," Sienna explained.
"And the worst part is thanks to these attacks, the Faunus is now an even bigger target to the four kingdoms of Remnant and would have created new laws that would have suppressed the Faunus if the U.N. hadn't stepped in, claiming that those laws would have eventually violated basic human rights," Ilia added. "But what I don't understand is why the U.N. considered us human in that regard."
"Think about it for a moment, Ilia. Humans and Faunus both have feelings and emotions, they both have the same problems and have the courage to face them, they're capable of great compassion and great violence, hell, they both bleed the same blood. And all of that is more than enough for the Faunus to be considered human. It's in their nature. It's in our nature," Rebecca explained.
"Is that what you think of us?" Sienna asked.
"I think of us as all as who we are and not what we are," Rebecca answered.
The tiger Faunus paused for a moment before giving out a small smirk on her face.
"You know, this is the first time that I have actually had a conversation with a human that hasn't turned sour in some way, shape, or form," Sienna said.
"Rebecca, I have one more question to ask you," Ilia said.
"Ask away," Rebecca replied.
"If all this violence won't solve all this racism, how would you stop it?" the chameleon Faunus asked.
"To quote Morgan Freeman; 'How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!' I know you as Ilia Amitola and you know me as Rebecca Dawson. And I'm not gonna say, 'I know this chameleon Faunus girl named Ilia Amitola.' Just like you're not gonna say, 'I know this black human girl named Rebecca Dawson,'" Rebecca answered. "Hear what I'm saying?"
"I... think so," Ilia replied.
"Just try not to think about it too much," Rebecca said.
"Alright, I guess I'll try," Ilia said.
"By the way, What's your semblance?" Sienna asked.
"I haven't discovered my semblance yet," Rebecca answered.
"I'm sure it will be a nice one, whatever it is," Ilia said.
"Thanks, Ilia," Rebecca replied.
Meanwhile in an unknown location, three White Fang soldiers sat at a round table all facing each other.
"Tomorrow, we send a message to the world that will be watching Menagerie," One of the White Fang soldiers said.
"High leader Taurus wants the this plan to go off without a hitch," the second White Fang soldier said
"Even if it costs us our lives," the third White Fang soldier said.
"And if anyone gets in the way, they will share the same fate as the Belladonnas," the second soldier said.
"It is what's best for the Faunus. They may not see it tomorrow, but they will in time,"the first soldier said.