Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY nor Marvel.
Chapter 8: Ghira Belladonna
For many years, Ghira Belladonna always fought hard for the rights of Faunus and the White Fang. He fought, but not like the White Fang from the present, but with his words and actions.
He led many protests across the kingdoms in Remnant, and he saw how many of these ended in catastrophe, be it either by some authority that tried to diminish their efforts, or some radicals inside the White Fang who instigated a conflict.
But that never stopped him, for there was nothing more important than the betterment of Faunuskind.
Yet, that changed the day he met Kali, and they had Blake. He learned he would do anything for his family, to greater lengths than he ever did with the White Fang.
Yes, there was nothing more important to him than his family.
He was devastated the day Blake chose the changing White Fang instead of them, but he never stopped loving her. Even when she never answered his calls, he never stopped worrying. He never blamed her.
He blamed Adam; he corrupted his daughter's mind with ideas that a more direct charge would help the world treat the Faunus better. He knew better, all they would do was distance the White Fang from the other Kingdoms and doing so would also distance Menagerie.
That was five years ago, it had been 5 years since he'd seen his little daughter. He often wondered if she ate well, if she was still with the Fang. When would they see her again?
He knew that even though Kali tried to distract herself by doing stuff around the manor, she always worried about Blake. He too tried to distract his mind with his Chieftain duties.
It had been a normal day, he was finishing from reading some requests from a civilian to buy some land from the outskirts of the coast to set a small port for fishing.
He thought it was a good idea, and as he was about to approve it with his stamp, he heard a weapon clatter on the floor. He turned to where his guard was but found no one. He turned to where his other guard was and only saw fear and shock on her eyes.
"Sindra, what happened?" he asked getting the attention of the frozen guard.
"S-Sir, I-I don't know" he could see tears form in her eyes as she tried to speak "he-he was t-there and t-then…" her rambling was stopped by a scream that was heard outside, soon followed by many others.
Quickly standing up, Ghira rushes to the balcony in the room to witness what's causing all the chaos. As soon as he reaches the edge of the balcony, he is stunned by the events happening.
People suddenly turning into ash, or dust, he wasn't to sure and he wouldn't waste any moment trying to figure it out.
He goes back inside and see the guard crying on the floor, he grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her up "Pull yourself together, we need to gather everyone in the manor, make a headcount" the guard stares blankly at him, before quickly nodding and wiping her tears away.
"Ghira!" his office's doors are slammed open as his wife, Kali, strides into the room, worry written all over her face. Her features soften as she sees him with the guard "Oh thank the brothers! I was so worried about you" she quickly speeds to hi and hugs him as tight as she can.
"Kali, I was worried about you too, but we can't waste any time, we have to stablish order on the island and figure out what's going on" he said to his wife as he pulled her out of the hug.
Kali quickly nodded "I've gathered all the house servants in the main entrance, and I've had the guards form a perimeter around the house" however as she says this a grimace forms on her face that worries Ghira.
"What? What happened?" he asks worriedly.
"Ghira, at least half of the servants are missing and the a fourth of the guards too" she slowly replies "whatever is happening is…" she stops as if she had a lump on her throat "…killing groups, maybe, but I don't know if it's a criteria it follows"
Ghira stares wide eyed at his wife, and as he does, he notices something, that a moment ago wasn't there.
Absolute silence.
"Let's go outside" he informs everyone.
As he passes by the rest of the household, he can see the defeated looks in many of the maids, and guards. Some were even crying, and he can't fault them, after all they could've lost a friend during these hard events.
As he exited the manor, he could see as far as the eye could, many of the residents laying in the ground crying. He could see in those that were closer to him, holding something akin to dirt or ash.
And standing at the steps of the manor were many faunus, some looked angry, others distraught, but the majority looked lost. Looking at their leader for answers.
He stepped forward and he cleared his throat. All faunus even the ones that were crying and mourning their close ones, stopped to look at him.
This was the first time Ghira could remember of ever feeling nervous in front of his people.
"We've been hit with a catastrophe" he started trying to find the right words to say to obviously upset townsfolk "We've been hit with a catastrophe that seems to have turned many of our brethren into little more than piles of dust, and as I witnessed myself, we don't know if these events were a coordinated attack or if it even targeted a specific group, we need to stand-"
"This was obviously an attack by Atlas" a voice shouted among the crowd, everyone parted way and showed the tallest brother of the Albains, Corsac "this is obviously a ploy to reduce the numbers of all faunus, don't you see they want to enslave us again, and by reducing our numbers they have a better chance of doing so!" his ramblings brought forth fear in many among the crowd.
"You cannot be sure of such accusations young Albain" Ghira tried to reclaim order among the population "for what we know this could be happening all across Remnant, and could also be happening to the humans"
"Why would they cripple themselves like this?" Corsac rebutted "Don't you see, any moment we'll get news of faunus suddenly disappearing, they'll make us an endangered species, and when that happens, they will pounce at us like a Beowolf to a baby, we need to-"
"We won't do a thing you say" Ghira calmly interrupts him "We'll wait for news to come from the mainland" he informs, but can see that those actions doesn't calm that many people and could see many drop their heads "but…" all looked up at him "…if what you say proves to be true, if only Faunuskind is targeted by this, I, myself, will organize for the formal mobilization of the Island, with whoever volunteers" he raised his voice and once again he carried the authority he had as High Leader.
Many looked more determined than ever, and even Corsac was wide eyed, for in that moment he saw the same fire he once had seen in the Leader of the White Fang.
"For now, we should identify and mourn those we've lost, we will hold a massive ceremony to give those we lost today proper respects and goodbye" he finally finishes, and steps down to help coordinate said ceremony.
Said ceremony was carried out flawlessly, and while the island felt better by giving a proper funeral for their fallen, they still had to mourn.
As the days passed, and as the townsfolk tried to get back to their usual lives, Ghira was worried. For Blake never called or sent letters.
He refused to believe she hated them so much she wouldn't even contact them under these circumstances, for even if they had a falling out, he never thought it would be this serious.
He didn't want to think of the worst, and simply told himself and Kali that she too was possibly mourning whoever she could've lost. But deep down they feared the worst.
As days turned weeks, weeks into a month, a ship could be seen in the distance and along with it, news from the outside world.
The people of Menagerie ignored the boat as it approached, many feeling depressed and ignoring it, only a few flocked to the boat hoping to hear of the news it carried.
Even though Ghira stayed at the manor, he too hoped to hear the news the ship brought, and so he patiently waited for his messenger to come back from the port.
When the messenger came back, he was incredibly shocked and slightly relieved to know that the disappearance it didn't only happen to Faunus, Humans alike too turned into dust. Yet he was stunned to learn that there wasn't a pattern anywhere.
Everyone died equally, be them male or female, young or old. So many died and after a headcount, it was found that half of Remnant had turned. Ghira had thought that only happened on Menagerie. They too had carried out a headcount and half the inhabitants had "disappeared".
Once he finished reading the inform given by each kingdom, he doubtfully swiped to what the messenger had told him they called The List. An ominous name, which he had an idea of what it contained. Slowly he read it.
He wishes he hadn't. He utterly laments reading The List.
From what he read from the news on his scroll (courtesy from the Captain of the ship), The List is a compilation of all cases that were either reported missing or seen happening by close ones.
Ghira didn't want to look, but he had to be sure.
Blake Belladonna.
Right under the section of those seen turning into dust. Kali was next to him, she collapsed on the floor once he passed her the Scroll.
She was crying loudly, tears rolling down her face as she put her head on his chest to try and ease the pain. But they both knew that was in vain, nothing could ease the pain of losing your only daughter.
They wanted to know if it said anything else, where she had been, who had seen her… 'go'? However, they didn't find anything. It didn't say who reported for privacy purposes for the people who wanted to mourn.
He…He understood. He wouldn't want to be disturbed either as he mourned his lost daughter.
They sat there in their room for hours, until finally Kali fell asleep, if Ghira had to guess, he would think she was mentally exhausted, he sure was.
His daughter. His little Blake.
Gone. Just like that. As if by the snap of the fingers.
He put his wife inside the covers, and soon joined her. He would like to believe this was all just a terrible nightmare, even if deep down he knew it wasn't.
Just before going to sleep he gave a small prayer to the Brothers, so that they take care of her wherever she is.
Months passed, Ghira didn't care to count them anymore, and the manor had never been as quiet. The townsfolk had learned of the fate of the Chieftain's daughter. The news quelled some who were starting to resent them thinking that it seemed suspicious that the chief's family had come unscathed, alas that was never the case.
There used to be many guards around the manor, but now there wasn't any, and only 4 remained inside. The staff were the same, only 3 remained to help around the house.
Ghira was in his office, reading about some report about the booming market. He was pained to say it, but ever since that fateful day, many prepared for the eventual dystopia that would come from such events; however, everything was the contrary.
Fishers that remained commented that the amount of fish in the sea was the same, and as such were able to continue to provide to the island without any problem. Even the few homeless that existed on Menagerie now had a house to live in.
Some of the negatives were the orphans that came in the wake of the event. The small orphanage that existed on the island received more funds than ever, an order issued by Ghira himself, making them able to hold all children left parentless.
Ghira was brought out of his memories the past few months by the door opening and in coming Kali, walking fast.
"GhirayouwontbelieveitAdamishere" Kali said very fast and with more energy than she had shown this last months. Ghira was surprised by her different attitude.
"I'm sorry dear, could you pass that by me once more? Maybe slowly" he asked gently to his wife.
"Oh Sorry dear" she giggled a little "I said, you won't believe it, Adam is here"
Ghira suddenly stopped "Adam?" he asked, to which Kali only nodded. Suddenly Ghira frowned "And what good does him being here brings to us?" he growls lightly.
"I know you don't like him" she started while putting her hands on his arm in a calming manner "but he is our only clue to what happened to Blake" she lowered her head and whispered "or at least give us some closure to what happened to her after she left"
His wife was the one that used to fill the manor with lovely aura that no matter who entered could feel at home, however since learning that Blake hadn't survive the phenomenon, that aura had turned into something somber, and you could no longer feel that liveliness. Even if Ghira knew she would never return to her old self, he knew that learning of what happened to Blake would be good for Kali.
"Ok, where did you see him?" no matter how much he disliked Adam, knowing what happened to Blake was more important than his little grudge.
Kali perked up hearing her husband's question "He was at the market, and I think I saw him go into the jungle" she recounted how she saw him "But why would he go to the jungle?"
Ghira knew why "He has a little shack there" he informed Kali "where do you think Blake went when she wanted time away from us"
"How do you know that, dear? Afraid he would corrupt our daughter?" she asked with a teasing smile and tone, however Ghira just ignored her teasing.
"As a matter of fact? Yes, I had a guard follow them" he received a nudge at his ribs "ok, I followed them"
"Well let's go say hi to him" she grabbed his arm and started to drag him through the room.
After exiting the front door Ghira took charge and led them through the center of the town, until they reached a path that had vegetation overgrown. They followed the path to small clearing where a shack was. It was a normal shack, with some crude bases, but with a very stable and somewhat modern look. It even looked bigger than Ghira remembered and there were less trees around it.
As they approach the door, they could hear some noises coming from the inside, it sounded like someone was running around pushing furniture around, and…laughs? Ghira shook his head, who would Adam bring there.
He knocked hard on the door and the sound that was beyond it stopped abruptly.
They heard steps coming towards the door.
Blue eye locks with amber eyes.
"Ghira" Adam greets, standing on the door while blocking as much of the inside with his body, he turns to look at Kali "Kali"
Adam stood a little taller than he remembered, now reaching Ghira's shoulder. He was wearing an eyepatch on his left eye.
"Adam" Ghira greets back as cold as possible.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Ghira could hear the sarcasm when he said pleasure.
"I heard from a reliable source…" he motioned to Kali who gave a small wave at the bull faunus "…that you were back on Menagerie, and we had some questions for you"
"I see" he slowly says "what…is it you want to ask?" he asks skeptically.
Ghira raises an eyebrow at how cooperative Adam's being "Won't you let us in?"
Adam's body tenses before relaxing and closing the door behind him "I'd rather not"
Ghira frowns at the show of disrespect, but ignores it labeling it as normal Adam behavior "Ok" he says taking a deep breath "I'll get straight to the point, what happened to Blake?" he growls menacingly, signifying that he is willing to get his hands dirty.
However, he is surprised to see Adam react at the name in realization, as if remembering something he forgot a long time.
"I haven't heard from her in almost a year" Adam answers truthfully.
"What?" this time it's Kali who expresses her thoughts "what do you mean you haven't heard from her on a year?" Kali asks distraught.
"Is just as it sounds, she betrayed the White Fang almost a year ago" Adam growls remembering the events on the train "She left the Fang during a mission"
Ghira let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he felt better knowing his daughter at least caught on to the growing violent tendencies of the Fang.
"Where did she go?! Didn't you used to run the Vale Cell?!" Kali whoever was desperate and wanted to know where exactly her daughter had died. Surrounded by friends? Or all alone? The list said she had been seen die.
"I don't know! I tried looking for her too, supposedly-" Adam stops talking as he remembered something "Roman saw her" he murmurs.
"What?" Ghira couldn't hear what he said, whoever Kali, with her cat ears, did.
"Roman saw her on the docks" he says much louder this time "in his last report he said his operation was disrupted by huntsmen in training; one was a female cat faunus with amber eyes" Ghira sees Adam clench his fist "Dammit I should've known!"
"Did you hear Ghira?" he looks at his wife who had a smile on her face "She was a Huntress in training, that means she joined Beacon, you know what that means? She had a team with her, our daughter didn't die alone" Kali's eyes start to tear up and he smiles at her.
"What?" they both turned to look at Adam "What do you mean 'died'?" his voice expressed anger, and if that wasn't enough his hair was staring to glow.
"We thought you knew" Kali's voice stabbed Adam like a hot knife "she was one that turned to dust" she told him with a sad smile.
"I-I" Adam was at a loss of words, he was so shocked he didn't noticed the door opening behind him.
"Big brother?" Adam's hair glowed receded fast, and slowly turned to look at his leg where a dog faunus little girl was holding him, and behind her was a human boy looking at them "Are you okay? Come back to play" the little girl asked his 'Big brother'.
Both Kali and Ghira were shocked by turn of events and stood there staring at the kids dumbfounded. Feeling the stares from the adults on her, the girl turns to look at them.
"Big brother, who are they?" she asked innocently.
"No one important Crystal, besides they were just leaving" he says, while giving them one final glare "let's go back inside" the child smiles and goes back inside.
Seeing they weren't welcome anymore, Ghira and Kali started to walk away, and as they start to enter the jungle once again Ghira turns to look back at the shack, still dumbfounded by what he saw.
"-r? Dear? Ghira!" he turns to look at Kali, who had a small smile.
"Yes dear?"
"Isn't it refreshing?" she asks him.
"What is?" Kali lets her tears flow, Ghira grows worried for her and was about to comfort her, but see she still has her smile.
"Our daughter wasn't alone, she made friends, she fought for justice her friends fought alongside her!" Kali continued to ramble with a tear-filled face, and a huge smile "I wish I could've told her I loved her one more time"
Ghira puts his arm around her and pulls her close.
They continue to walk down the path to the town.
"Me too" He says as a small tear rolls down his cheek.
Ghira Belladonna is a man of family and would do anything for said family.
But more than anything.
He would always love his family, no matter what.
Finished! I honestly was never one to write heartfelt moments, so if it felt wither cliché or maybe…stiff? I don't know, just saying it's not my forte.
Take care of your hygiene.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
-The Knight in Dark Flames