Chapter 79

Raven

Having watched the broadcast Liam put out, Raven sighed as she turned around to leave her tent. Pushing the flap aside, Raven put on her Grimm helmet as the sun shone onto her.

"So, now you see why I was in such a rush to Beacon."

Raven rested her left hand on her weapon as she looked to her five prisoners, each bound in thick rope.

"Salem will kill him if we don't get there first! I know you don't want that. As much as you hate me, I know you wouldn't let Liam get himself killed."

"Liam... Liam made his own choices. Just as you did, Qrow." Raven crossed her arms.

"She's already destroyed Atlas, alongside Mantle!" Robyn stepped forward only for the members of Raven's clan to draw their weapons. "She won't hesitate to kill Liam, too." She finished, unfazed.

"Do you really want your nephew to die like that?" Marrow asked her.

"You heard for yourself; Salem wants Liam." Harriet told Raven.

Raven clenched her fists.

"Shut up!"

Thunder echoed as the sky was covered in gray clouds.

"I know what you did." Raven growled, addressing Elm, Harriet and Marrow. "You three don't get a say in this."

With a single motion of her head, the Ace-Ops were taken away by the Branwen tribe. Leaving Robyn and Qrow, Raven turned to speak with the two.

"I had already warned your son, Qrow." Raven began. "He chose this."

"You're just gonna let him die?!" Qrow shouted.

Raven took off her helmet, glaring at her brother.

"Get 'em out of my sight."

As the duo were dragged off, Qrow shouted at his twin.

"You can help him, Raven!"

Returning to her tent, Raven glanced down at her weapon. Wrapping her fingers around the hilt, she hesitated. She thought about helping, but ultimately decided that Liam did choose this.

Letting out a deep breath, Raven removed her hand and went further into her tent.

Liam

Slowly coming to, Liam rubbed his eyes as he sat up. He was still alive.

Looking around, Liam found himself in the large basement under Beacon.

He had no idea how he got here, or how he survived the tower explosion. Either way, he considered himself extremely lucky.

Getting to his feet and brushing himself off, Liam went to take a step but ended up falling forward. Landing on his stomach, Liam grunted before rolling over onto his back.

He was about to get to his feet when he noticed his left foot felt extraordinarily warm. Taking a look at it, Liam could tell it was broken. Luckily, all of the adrenaline that was going through him at the moment helped ignore the pain.

But the adrenaline was quickly wearing off, and the pain began to set it.

"Shit..." Liam said softly as he slowly rose to his non injured leg.

Finding his, and Blake's, weapons on the ground, Liam sheathed his own as he used Blake's as a crutch.

Turning to leave Beacon, Liam saw two pods at the opposite side of the room. Before he could even begin to move closer, an ear piercing explosion went off behind him, clearing away most of the debris.

Glaring at Liam from the other side of the room was Cinder. Blood ran down her face. She had countless cuts on her body, and she was not happy.

Seeing Cinder still alive infuriated Liam. However, before he could speak, Cinder attacked.

Chrome

Unconscious on a beach, the gentle waves of the ocean brushed against Chrome's sides before retreating. Slowly, his eyes opened.

Sitting up, Chrome took a moment to look around before getting to his feet. Spotting his weapons just a few feet away, Chrome went to retrieve them.

After putting them in their sheaths, Chrome paused for a brief moment before walking along the shoreline. Unsure what to do, he decided to explore this island.

Cinder

Creating a glass sword, Cinder rushed Liam. Reaching to draw his, Liam put too much weight on his broken leg and fell to the ground, barely avoiding Cinder's blade.

Staring up at Cinder, she glared at him, the power of the Maiden glowing around her eyes. It was at this moment Liam realized he made a mistake.

He didn't plan on coming out alive. His goal was to kill himself and Cinder at the same time.

As Cinder pulled her arm back, Liam glared at her, awaiting his end.

"The Hell are you waiting for?" Liam growled. "Do it!"

Instead of taking off his head, Cinder knocked him out with the butt of her weapon.

"Salem is owed a Hound." Cinder stated.

Hours later, Liam

Awaking strapped to a surgical table, Liam looked around. A piece of cloth was jammed in his mouth, making it so he couldn't speak. There were countless medical tools, a rubber rope, and a tiny capsule.

"You're finally awake."

Darting his eyes to the source of the voice, Liam saw Salem emerge from the shadows, along with her son.

"You made quite the broadcast." Salem continued as she approached Liam. "I figured you wouldn't actually have the Staff, so I only sent Cinder. Glad to see she brought you back alive."

Liam tried to say something but it was all muffled.

"Now, I'm going to tell you exactly what's about to happen." Salem said as she circled the table. Shadow stood at the foot of the table, his arms crossed. "I am going to turn you into my new Hound."

Liam's eyes grew wide in horror at hearing that.

"The Hound you killed, that was my second." Salem stated. "I'll give you a hint to my first pet: like mother, like son."

Liam's muffled screams of horror turned to muffled yells of anger as he tried to lash out at Salem.

"It's no use fighting." Salem stated. "You should consider yourself lucky. Before, the process was excruciating." She looked up to Cinder, prompting her to grab the capsule. "See, Watts was the one who created my pets. But since he's gone, we have to resort to other methods. Lucky for you, he left behind something that should make the process more comfortable." Salem met Cinder's gaze again, directing Liam's attention to her.

Liam was staring at the capsule, a million different possibilities flooding his mind at what it could be.

"Inside that capsule, is a parasite." Salem said with an evil grin.

Upon hearing that, Liam knew where this was heading. His breathing and heart rate began to spike more and more as Salem continued her monologue.

"It's a simple creation I made that I allowed Arthur to experiment with. He said it isn't finished, but with him no longer with us, I'm curious to see where his work led him." Salem looked over to the surgical tools and picked up a scalpel. "I'm going to make a tiny incision on your chest. Then, Cinder is going to place the capsule over the wound. Then we wait. Shall we begin?"

The room filled with Liam's muffled yells of horror.

End of chapter 79