RWBY-The Recidivist: Chapter 12 *Rewritten* (Original Version Released 26th of November, 2013)
Reminder: DISCLAIMER/AUTHOR'S NOTES
NOTE: I am aware that the entire series is not finished yet. Due to the huge number of changes in the canon and the other project being done in Japan, this story will be an AU (Alternate Universe) that takes place between Volume 2 and 3, while adopting some actual elements from the canon.
RWBY along with its characters DOESN'T belong to me. The series respectively belongs to RoosterTeeth and its creator, Monty Oum. The plot in this Fan Fiction and some characters you'll know who are OCs (Original Characters) are original from me. If any ideas or characters sound similar to another story written by somebody else, it is purely coincidental. I refuse to blatantly steal somebody's idea and claim that it was mine. If you have any concerns, you are always welcome to message me.
If there is anybody outside of this site posting this Fan Fiction without giving proper credit or impersonating me, please let me know.
Chapter 12: Family Introductions.
Welcome to the Kumawaka Family household!
-(Near the Royal Palace, Northern Doraegon, Drahën Empire Territory)-
(Third-Person POV)
"It's so good to see you again, my little zhulong~!" Charlotte squealed while embracing her son tightly like there was no tomorrow, much to his embarrassment from the fact it was all in front of everyone.
"Mom, it's only been a week since I was gone…!" Wyvern spoke while trying to endure her crushing hug.
Xavior, Wyvern's father, chuckled and patted his son's head. "You know how it is for her. She was practically depressed as all hell even on the first day of your departure."
"That's a sign that she's pretty obsessive…" He joked a little but was mostly serious about it.
"I'm obsessive because I love you!" She laughed and kept him in her arms.
"That doesn't really sound healthy and something you should be proud of!"
Ruby just stared at Wyvern and his parents like the rest of the others, not wanting to intrude on their reunion. Especially after witnessing both of them brutally taking down a Goliath Grimm almost effortlessly. And there they were, greeting their son in the most warm…and maybe painful because of Charlotte…way possible in front of the corpse. She looked over at Yang, who was just about as speechless as she was. To solve getting her out of her blank state, Ruby nudged her sister and chuckled nervously.
"You think we can take them if they do end up getting angry at us for what happened last week…?" She asked with the lack of confidence.
Yang smiled wryly and glanced away for a few seconds. "I was hoping you wouldn't resort to fighting and trying to…you know, talk to them?"
"It's just a backup plan just in case things go south…"
"For what going south?" Charlotte asked after finishing her loving hug with her son.
Ruby jolted and immediately gave the most obviously nervous smile. "N-Nothing, ma'am!"
Her eyes scanned her thoroughly before turning her attention to Yang, who was already growing more nervous than her sister. Yang remained stiff as Charlotte walked closer towards her and soon circling around her like she was her prey of some sorts.
"Yang Xiao Long?"
With that, Yang nodded while keeping her head leveled. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"
After a few laps walking around her, Charlotte raised an eyebrow and stared at her dead in the eyes before scanning her entire body as if she was thoroughly examining her build and any sort of weapons on her. The gauntlets sparked some interest in her, which were already loaded with shotgun shells after they crashed. Next, her eyes went back up to hers where Yang was able to notice the pupils were more dragon-like more than human. Beautiful, yet…menacing.
Unable to hold in the suspense, Yang asked, "Is there something wrong…?"
"Oh. Not at all. Just relieved your boobs aren't as big as mine." Charlotte sighed in relief, which left Yang speechless.
"Mom. Am I going to have to report you for sexual harassment?" Wyvern glared sharply at his mother.
Charlotte chortled and rolled her eyes. "Wyvy, relax. I was just pulling her leg. It's not like I physically did anything to her."
"That's still something you shouldn't talk about towards people you just met."
Yang let out a small chuckle as well as if she was a bit comfortable with Charlotte already. "It's…not a big deal. At least I know she can have some fun with me, even after all that has happened…"
"Oh, don't worry about it, Yang. Really. It's going to take a lot more punches to take my son down." She nudged her lightly.
Schnell snickered and curved a teasing smirk. "Don't think that gives you an excuse to punch him even more."
"Oh, come on! I promise I won't lay a finger on him unless he does something sketchy!" Yang pouted while playfully exaggerating it a little.
"Be very afraid during mating season then…" She winked.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Gyo rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Relax. She was kidding. Zhulongs don't have that sort of feral instinct."
"Hey, I hate to interrupt you guys." Jaune popped into the conversation while pointing his finger up to the sky. "But that Nevermore is starting to circle back down towards us!"
With everyone looking up to where he was pointing, the Nevermore that took down their Bullhead was continuing to circle overhead while looking down at them. Preparing to swoop down on the group like prey, it let out an ear-piercing screech before beginning its dive towards them. Team RWBY and JNPR were the first to get their weapons ready to defend themselves. As for the zhulongs, Wyvern along with his parents, Schnell, and Gyo stood there for a bit as if they had enough time to ascertain the movements and tactics of the already fast approaching Nevermore. Ruby took notice of this and stepped in front of them while aiming her Crescent Rose at her target.
Ruby fixed her scope and looked back at them. "Get ready!"
"That's a Class-5 Nevermore. Pretty much in its most evolved stage." Xavior unleashed his battle axe while giving off an eager smile. "You're going to need something that has more stopping power than your sniper rounds."
Charlotte looked back at Ruby's group and readied her weapon as well. "How about the eight of you sit back and watch how we zhulongs can take down something this tough."
"No, it's okay. We can give you guys a hand." Ruby insisted while she and the others went into their own battle stances with their weapons.
"Oh? And how many of you have the ability to fly?"
…
The rest of Team RWBY and JNPR stayed silent while turning their heads at each other before Weiss and Yang partially raised her hands.
"I can use glyphs to…jump around to gain height…?" Weiss told her.
Yang chuckled and rotated some shotgun shells on her gauntlet. "Does recoil count…?"
Xavior wasn't convinced and chuckled at their answers. "Look, just leave this to the zhulongs. You're technically on Kumawaka Property so allow us to take care of it for you, as our guests."
Jaune sighed and lowered his sword and shield a bit, catching their point. "Sorry we won't be able to do much."
"Normally I would suggest those who are able to shoot projectiles to provide suppressing fire, but something tells me it won't be as effective." Pyrrha said while lowering her weapon as well.
"Indeed. It also might put us in danger when we're facing it on overhead." Gyo said while forming out his dragon-like wings before giving them a stretch.
Schnell did the same thing as she levitated off the ground with her wings. Twirling her katana around while ice crystals were dusted off the blade, she grinned eagerly while some transparent fog made of ice formed out of her mouth. "Enough standing around. Let's break the ice."
Wyvern rolled his eyes before taking off his eyepatch to unveil his red eye once again. However, he made sure to turn it away from his friends as a safety precaution or to make them feel more comfortable than last time. "That was a terrible pun."
"You know you loved it."
As the Nevermore was circling around overhead, it spotted the five zhulongs ascending above the trees with their weapons drawn while in a moderately human form, having their horns, wings, and glowing eyes clearly visible. The avian Grimm let out an ear-piercing screech to try and intimidate them, but they remained unfazed by its attempt. Instead, the Nevermore swiped one of its wings at them to unleash a hailstorm of its feathers.
Schnell put herself in front of the group and inhaled deeply before breathing out a dense and powerful gust of frosty breath, which was enough to freeze all the upcoming projectiles. As soon as froze, she swiftly slashed her two-handed katana to shatter all the feather darts, preventing any harm from her fellow zhulongs and those on the ground. Immediately after, Gyo dashed towards the Nevermore and fired relentlessly at it with explosive crossbow bolts to cause as much damage while acting as a diversion for Wyvern and his parents to dash towards it. With Wyvern taking point from the front, he kept one of his swords in the scabbard to lock it in its rifle form, firing rounds rapidly with an itchy trigger finger.
Xavior and Charlotte kept up with their son and soon broke out of formation to spread out and find an open weak spots to exploit out of the Nevermore. Especially considering how evolved it has become as Class-5. However, the Grimm noticed their tactics and began to harshly flap its wings as it could while under effective fire. This did affect Wyvern from getting closer head-on, but where his parents were, they didn't face the same strong turbulence it generated and even rode with the flow.
Reaching behind the lower part of the Nevermore, Charlotte spotted an unshielded area near the base of the wing and body and tossed her detachable blade at the spot. "Marked!" She noted.
"Marked!" Xavior shouted too as he threw his entire axe at another weak spot.
Both their weapons impacted the joints where it connected the base of the Nevermore's body with its wings. Letting out a shriek of pain, it was unable to move its wings and began to flail around in the air a bit before descending slowly. With one last ditch effort to fight back, it fired more feathers towards anyone of the zhulongs, but was successfully intercepted by Schnell using her katana and Gyo's explosive bolts.
"I got this!" Wyvern said while diving down towards the falling avian Grimm. He unsheathed his swords and threw both of them to strike its main eyes, stunning and giving it no chance to react to him visually. Suddenly, his right blue eye began to glow vividly before opening his mouth widely…
*!ZAP!*
…a massive bolt of electricity erupted out of his mouth that even reached the floor of the forest at such a great height. Those on the ground were taken aback at the amount of power that was released out of a zhulong's mouth. Wyvern was showing off his electric breathing that surpassed anything, even the largest lighting strike they have seen. The grass and trees in the effected area were already sprinkling with embers and ash. For the Nevermore, it was now a mere shadow of its former self, slowly fading away into ashes as it fell down to the surface. Xavior and Charlotte's weapons were left untouched with any damage and were retracted back to their owners almost telekinetically.
For Wyvern, he grabbed a hold of both of his swords and used his zhulong wings to gently descend to the ground of ash and embers. He sheathed both of his swords and couldn't help but curve a satisfied smile on how clean he and the others took care of a Class-5 Nevermore that easily. Team RWBY and JNPR's amazement in front of him. Then, the other zhulongs landed next to Wyvern from behind and assessed the damage before turning back to the group.
"Excellent work, son!" Xavior shined a proud grin to his son.
"Thanks. But you guys did a fantastic job too." Wyvern bowed.
Ruby frantically ran up to them and displayed the most amazed expression she could show. "That…was…AWESOME!"
"That amount of lighting…W-Wyvern…!" Nora stuttered speechlessly. "What in the world did you eat?!"
Xavior laughed and shook his head at Nora. "That's not how it works. Zhulongs naturally are able to breathe out elemental energy, depending on their type."
Schnell nodded and huffed, which let out some frosty breath out of her mouth while her eyes glowed partially. "Like mine, which is ice."
"Fire for me." Gyo said while his eyes glowed too before exhaling out some fire and smoke out his nose.
"Ohhh…I see. And Wyvern got his electric breath from Xavior. Which means…" Blake shifted her eyes to Charlotte, "…what about you?"
Charlotte chuckled and sheepishly played with her hair. "Perhaps I'll show you folks another time on what a Void zhulong can do…"
"Void zhulong?" Jaune tilted his head. "Is there something special about your type?"
"Let's just say its something abnormal I hold." She told him without going in any further into the subject, which Jaune knew and stopped continuing on from it.
"Hey!" A voice called from behind them, which was revealed to be the pilot and Glynda who just emerged from the wreckage. "Emergency SAR units are on the way. They should arrive at any moment."
Glynda looked around to assess the damage Wyvern caused in one spot of the forest and folded her arms. "Wyvern, have you considered any potential harm you could've caused when we were this close?"
He chuckled dryly and glanced away for a second before turning to her. "I made sure to verify it was outside your guy's safe distance. Maybe I overdid it though…"
Xavior stepped in and gave a warm smile. "No need to be so thorough, Ms. Goodwitch. He did fine."
The conversation then came to a halt when the growing sound of fighter jet's roared overhead. A fighter squadron of six aircraft flew in formation before breaking away to spread out all over the airspace. Due to the differences in design of these aircraft, Team RWBY and JNPR watched them closely as their specifications were unfamiliar to what they were used to seeing in Remnant. Even towards Atlas' Military. Another sound of jet engines was heard, but much less noisy compared to the fighter jets. It was a flight of two VTOL military transport craft, with one approaching them in the clearest section to land while the other provided overwatch support to observe for any potential threats. Like the jets, the VTOL's specifications were also completely new to the students of Beacon while they observed it land cleanly, revealing its much more sophisticated technology compared to Atlas' Bullheads.
Gyo smiled proudly and looked over at Team RWBY and JNPR. "Drahënese engineering and technology. Something so exclusive, you'll almost never see them outside of our territory."
"Gladiator 7-1 on the deck. 7-2 continuing with flight pattern." The VTOL overhead noted on the radio, which their pilot had in his hand.
"Dropkick 1-1 copies. Radar and airspace are still crystal clear from up here. Advise you get them onboard before any possible threats enter the area." The flight leader of the fighter squadron said.
"7-1 one copies. Angel chalks are on deck."
Then came out a squad of Royal Drahënese Marines out of the VTOL aircraft on the ground, heading towards the group. All members kept their firearms leveled while scanning the woods for any threats one of the SAR VTOLs was unable to spot.
"Emperor Xavior." The squad leader saluted while the rest of the squad spread out to continue securing the area. "3rd Serpent Battalion. We were near the area providing training for our cadets and responded immediately to your distress signal. Any wounded needed to be treated?"
Wyvern moved up and smiled warmly while addressing him by his rank and surname on his protection vest. "Staff Sergeant Wyatt. Thank you for coming. No one was wounded from the crash and that Grimm we came across earlier, but we need a ride to the Royal Palace. Can you assist?"
"Of course, sir." He nodded and looked over at his squad mates. "Form up on the bird, Serpents! We're getting these guys out of here!"
Ruby looked back at the crashed Bullhead they rode on and asked, "What about that thing?"
"Don't worry, ma'am. Other elements nearby will secure and extract that bird back to the nearest air base for repair." The squad leader told her.
Gyo sighed at the poor sight and nodded. "I'll be sure to make a lot of improvements for The Monarch once we're done here." He said out while hopping inside the rescue Bullhead.
"Let's go. It's not as luxurious as our Bullhead, but it'll get us to the palace quickly." Charlotte told everyone as they all hopped in one by one before the Royal Marines went onboard.
-(Royal Palace; Northern Doraegon, Drahën Empire)-
The flight over the forest to the Royal Palace only lasted for around seven minutes, explaining how Xavior and Charlotte managed to reach them in time before encountering more Grimm than usual. As soon as the search and rescue bird arrived and passed over a fortress wall below, the fighter squadron that accompanied the SAR team broke away from formation by banking and turning left, hinting a military air base was nearby. Everyone inside the rescue bird watched the jets grow even more distant before they began to feel the aircraft start to descend altitude.
Unable to look what was in front of them, they looked outside the windows again and shifted their eyes down which changed from the militaristic fortress walls, to yet another deep green forest, and suddenly a high cliffside with a sandy beach below to which seemed like a harbor. Then, it was a tall rocky mesa standing on a few pillars of rock. They were already close to the surface of the mesa as it was clean grasslands with some bushes and trees precisely placed on certain spots. Finally, they hit the landing pad as one of the Royal Drahënese Marines put his handle on the door and slid it open.
"Welcome to the Kumawaka Family Palace." He said while hopping out first to allow giving them room.
Ruby was the first to step out and take a look at the palace itself. What she didn't expect was it looked like a fortress. It stood on a large inward-slanted foundation made of stone with some windows that served as both decoration and defensive purposes for any guards on station. Center of the vast stone walls was a large stairway broken into intervals where each stop displayed a garden for resting or meditation. As for the palace itself on top of the stone summit, it looked heavily modernized with some gilded decoration and icons of Drahënese culture and what seems like to be their religion. Statues, some precise overgrown walls on the gardens, many stories tall with small observation towers, this was definitely the home you would expect of an Emperor and his Empress.
Yang was the second to hop out and stared at the palace…or even a fortress in awe. "Hooooly Hell…."
"Yeah…I think we might get lost if we split up…" Ruby nodded in agreement to her sister's reaction.
"Actually," Wyvern hopped out the aircraft, "where we will be staying is behind the palace. I have this small castle folly back there where all of us will fit perfectly. Not too big, not too small, and enough room for each of us."
"How much does this place cost, do you think…?"
Wyvern shifted his eyes away and mumbled, "Probably equally as much as I make in a year…"
Hearing that, Ruby and Yang's jaws dropped in shock from him mentioning his annual earnings matching up to the cost of the creation of this palace, which was mind-blowing to think about. He could practically make a few more fortress palaces like this without too many financial issues.
"Okay, relax. That was just quick guess." He chuckled.
"Well, since we're staying in your folly," Jaune said while handling some of the luggage with the Royal Marines, "should we just walk around the path?" He asked while pointing at the side paths that encircled the entire palace.
"Sounds good." Wyvern nodded and saw the last luggage get pulled out by the marines. "I'll help you guys out moving the stuff to the folly. All I brung was a backpack, so there adds two extra hands."
"We would help," The marine leader told them, "But we have to report back to the carrier we were assigned to. The pilot will come with us to have further check ups for any additional injuries."
"No problem, Staff Sergeant."
Schnell walked closer to them and said, "Actually, we have another guest here who can give us a hand too."
"Who?"
"Look up." She wiggled her finger while pointing it straight up, leveled from the side of her head.
Above where they stood, there was a girl flying around using her wings while having the same zhulong features that almost looked similar to Schnell's from earlier. But her horns were a much more modest size in comparison due to her looking slightly younger than Schnell. She almost looked exactly like her, minus her hair highlights being sky blue instead of silver. Her violet eyes looked down upon Wyvern as she shined the most angelic smile while descending towards him.
Now that she was easier to look at instead of moving around, she was around two inches shorter than Schnell. The clothing she wore was a white and sleeveless turtleneck dress, gilded with a snowy and nature-like design that was colored light blue with some hints of gold trim. Her dress had more of it than her cutout sleeves, stockings, and high heeled boots. For her hairstyle, her sidelocks were near shoulder length as her side ponytail held most of it, having a white rose clip handling it. Overall, it almost seems like this girl just got off stage after performing from somewhere.
She wrapped her arms around Wyvern as she leaned forward towards him with one leg raised as if her balance was on him. "Wyvern~! Welcome back~!"
Ruby looked over at him with wide eyes as she wasn't expecting this girl to arrive and greet him like that. "Wyvern? Who's this…?"
"Someone you're close to, as well…?" Yang folded her arms.
"Th-That's…" Weiss and Jaune stuttered with their faces in disbelief, "…that's Sybille Gozen!"
Nora's mouth went agape for a few seconds before asking, "That girl you were listening to back at Beacon?!"
"Oh my…" Sybille giggled and shifted her eyes back to Wyvern. "I just got back from the capital after a concert, and you brought some fans with you?"
Taking a few steps away from the two obsessed fans, Wyvern nodded and sheepishly looked away. "Yeah…I just didn't know you would be here too…"
"W-Wyvern…?!" Jaune and Weiss dashed over to Wyvern and practically crushed his shoulders while shaking him around. "YOU KNOW HER?!"
"Probably~…!" Was all he could answer while being violently shaken around.
Schnell buzzed her lips and laughed. "Probably? My sister has been friends with Wyvern ever since she was just a widdle bitty zhuwong~!"
Sybille glared up at her and huffed. "Please, don't embarrass me in front of our guests."
"Did you just say she's your sister?" Weiss asked Schnell with stars in her eyes while staring at Sybille.
"Yup. My full name is Schnell Bairetto Gozen. Eldest sister of Sybille Bairetto Gozen." She winked. "Fun Fact: I also assisted Sybille in her concerts with the background singing or instrumentals on some occasions."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" Jaune and Weiss asked while continuing their assault, shaking him roughly.
"Because I didn't want to know what would happen if I did!"
Ruby chuckled and looked over at Charlotte with a dry smile. "Shouldn't we help him?"
"He survived my hugs for this long. I'm sure he'll make it out okay. Maybe with a whiplash…" She mumbled the last part.
Sybille rolled her eyes and let out a giggle. "Okay, you two. Please stop shaking Wyvern around like that."
"Yes, ma'am!" Weiss and Jaune said as they practically let Wyvern go and made him lose balance, landing on his rear on the cobblestone path.
"To be honest, I never expected people from outside of Doraegon to be fans of my work. Especially from the daughter of the Schnee Family. No offense." Sybille gave the warmest smile to Weiss to avoid any way of offending her.
Weiss sheepishly looked away with a wide grin. "Back then before Beacon, living most of my life in solitude does get me bored every day. But that did give me some time to get into more hobbies to satisfy my boredom. And your music and performances helped me get through that."
"Well, regardless of your family's relationship with our Order, I for one am happy to have you as my fan."
At this point, Weiss was desperately trying her absolute best to not explode from her fangirling. "Th-Thank you~…!" She jittered around happily.
"Moving on…" Wyvern stepped forward in front of Weiss and Jaune to talk directly to Sybille. "I didn't know you would be here too. No other tours happening?"
Sybille nodded and gave a dry smile. "I guess you can say it like that…"
"Pfft. She just declined another proposal of an imminent tour just so she could have some spare time to spend it with you." Schnell snickered.
"I…am never telling you my plans ever again." She growled embarrassingly, which made her less threatening and all the more adorable.
"More competition, Yang…" Nora nudged the blonde's side.
"Will you guys knock it off with that…?!" She whispered.
Charlotte chuckled and stepped in to avoid making the younger zhulong even more embarrassed. "Wyvy, how about you give your friends a tour of the property while the rest of us handle their luggage?"
"Oh, you don't have to. You've already done so much for us so far." Ruby insisted while smiling to assure them there was no trouble to it.
But due to Charlotte and the rest of their hospitality, each of them carried two pieces of their luggage and moved them towards the property. "There's no need to strain yourselves too much when it is our job to take care of our guests."
"For the rulers of an Empire, you guys sure prefer to do the work yourselves. I was expecting butlers and maids…or something." Nora tilted her head.
Sybille giggled. "Well, each of our families have those. But we just prefer to do things ourselves too. It's not like there's a law that royals are prohibited from handling duties like this."
"Sadly, it feels like the opposite in my family…" Weiss whispered and sighed to herself.
Wyvern looked over at Glynda who was leaning her back on the emergency Bullhead aircraft while looking down on her scroll. "Professor? Do you want to come with?"
Glynda shook her head. "It's alright. I'm already familiar with your property due to earlier visits from your Master and your parents. I'll remain out here to report to Headmaster Ozpin about our arrival."
"Okay then. Just head inside when you're done. It gets colder up here in the north." Wyvern said before leading Team RWBY and JNPR towards the main palace, walking up the massive number of stairs.
The closer they approached the palace, the more it seemed to increase in size much more drastically. Due to its fortress like design and overall structure, the Royal Palace was most likely built this way to not only fortify protection for the rulers of the Empire. But serve as a military command center just in case of a nationwide emergency. Some Royal Guardsmen and military servicemembers were at their posts as Team RWBY and JNPR continued to scan the entire property as much as they could. Wyvern approached the front door as two guards opened it for all of them to walk through, already standing in the middle of the main hall, well decorated and designed flawlessly. Something expected from the royal family.
For the entire tour, Wyvern just showed his friends around the more important rooms they will be frequently stepping into. Like the dining hall, entertainment room, bathrooms, and a gym. This was mainly being presented just in case Wyvern's folly doesn't have enough room for everyone to eat, do their business in the bathroom, or in need of more activities to satisfy their boredom.
Wyvern turned around back to the group and asked, "You guys want to head to the back now?"
"If you want." Jaune said while looking around the hall and noticed a room to their left. He leaned back to take a much deeper look inside and saw that it was a museum room of sorts. Glass display cases, traditional paintings, statues and relics, weaponry, and even Drahënese clothing and military uniforms. "Whoa…"
Noticing him looking into the museum room, the others started to peek inside curiously. Wyvern chuckled and made his way to the doorway of that room and waved his hand to allow them to come inside.
"Curious? Head on inside. We still have time before the others are done in the back."
Walking into the museum room, all eight of them began to spread out across the entire room in each section. As for Ruby, she was clearly looking into the weapon section while geeking out at the variety and mechanisms being detailed by blueprints in the side. Yang was accompanying her too as she was rather intrigued at the weapons too. Especially the worn out looking close combat gloves that were described to be worn by some military officers during the Eleven Day War; the battle Blake mentioned about her family's White Fang division against the very early Drahën Empire.
After asking for permission, Wyvern opened the display case of the gauntlets and allowed Yang to hold it. As for Ruby, she continued to shift sideways across even more cases of weapons before reaching something. It wasn't a weapon. Nor was it a set of apparel used for battle. But a single triangular crest that was clearly made of metal and had some gilded decorations to it. But only partially visible due to its questionable condition.
"…whoa…" She looked closely at the object.
"Whatcha looking at, Ruby?" Jaune asked as his team along with Weiss and Blake approached the same glass case too as if it was their last one to investigate.
This object suffered extensive damage while it was coated with smoke residue and scratches that seemed like it was cracking. Its damage was so great to the point where they were unable to look deeper into the carved design and small lettering below it. For the display sign inside the case, it at least gave them a clue on what it was. It read: "For the Pioneer of Our Eastern Brethren. Your Flame Stays Might Within Us."
"Wyvern?" Ruby looked over at him with Yang. "What is this supposed to be?"
Wyvern shifted his eyes from Ruby to the object she was pointing at. He approached her with Yang setting the gauntlet back in its case to follow him. After a closer inspection to what Ruby was talking about, he frowned a bit as if this thing saddened him to look at. "That's…"
"The Family Crest for the Dragconis Family." A voice answered from the doorway where they all entered from. Standing there was Wyvern's father, Xavior as he was now dressed in a more casual attire instead of his combat armor.
Blake raised an eyebrow at the crest and looked over at him. "Why would you have their family crest on display in this museum?"
"Actually," Xavior approached the glass case and touched it gently, "it's a memento. This was the only item left that we recovered from their household. The Dragconis Family has been dead for years now."
"D-Dead…?"
Wyvern nodded. "I personally don't know too much about that family. But this incident happened when I was maybe around five years old."
"Incident? Was it an accident? Or…murder, perhaps…?" Ruby asked.
Xavior and Wyvern stayed silent and looked at each other before both replying, "We're not sure."
"Honestly, not having an answer sounds a lot more chilling than confirming it was murder." Yang said while she stared at the crest.
"How many family members were there? Any survivors would've been possible, right?" Ruby asked.
"After weeks during the investigation from the Drahënese Military Police, it was concluded that all three members of the Dragconis Family were all dead." Xavior sighed as it was clearly a painful subject to talk about. "A father and his wife, and a son, whom was just a small child. There were others in the Dragconis Family, but they were already dead before this all happened."
"I'm so sorry…" Ruby frowned as she gave her condolences and felt guilty for making him rethink that event.
"No need to feel sorry about us, Ms. Rose. My wife and I came to terms of losing them years ago." He said, trying to reassure he was all but at peace with that unfortunate loss.
"Who would do that though…?" Nora asked as she was a bit shaken from thinking about how it would've all gone down.
"Anybody. Mainly those who have a clear grudge against the Zhulong Order, the political rulers of the Drahën Empire." Xavior answered while looking back at the family crest. "The acting head of the Dragconis Family was the first Governor of the Baitaruso Province, Doraegon's East. His name was Vulcan Dragconis, one of the earliest members during the creation of the Zhulong Order with his grandfather Dante, and soon the Drahën Empire. He was, without a doubt, one of my most trusted advisors. No doubt he would have some bounty on his head by somebody…"
"Nowadays, assassination attempts against the Zhulong Order are extremely rare now because tensions died down through the years, and that the Royal Armed Forces and other Defense Sectors or Police Departments take security measures much more seriously nationwide. Both against Grimm and criminals." Wyvern said and shrugged his shoulders. "In my case, however, I have been targeted since I was a child."
Ruby looked up at him with a shocked expression as she wasn't expecting him to bring something like that up. "You were targeted?! For what?!"
"Oh, right… I actually never talked about this one guy before." He realized and bit his lip due to how sensitive the subject was.
"Odd." Xavior looked at all of Team RWBY and JNPR. "I was expecting Headmaster Ozpin to fill you in about this man."
"All this time, someone has been trying to kill you ever since you were a kid?!" Yang asked while her mouth remained agape. "The hell kind of monster is this guy!"
He shook his head and gave a dry smile. "You need to understand that just because I have this position doesn't mean I'm immune to creating political enemies too. Well, for this man, he wasn't anything political. Just a psychopath."
"And who is this guy?" Yang asked while folding her arms. "I might know this guy, since I have heard of nasty people back then."
Looking around to make sure it was just them, Wyvern then answered, "Ammit Malik Al-Mult."
"Ooo…small tongue twister…" Nora commented.
"Ammit…?" Yang looked away for a brief moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Never heard of that guy."
Xavior chortled and rolled his eyes. "I doubt Ammit is that kind of monster to openly advertise his presence to the world."
"Seems to be the case because I don't think any of us know who that guy is supposed to be." Weiss said while the others were just as clueless.
"Care to explain who Ammit is?" Ren asked.
"To put it short, he is the most wanted serial killer by the Drahënese Government. Maybe even internationally if the other kingdoms and independent settlements have dealt with him before and put a bounty on his head." Wyvern answered. "Master Ostanes has always talked about him ever since I was just a child during training."
"Then that means this "Ammit" guy has been on the run for years." Ruby concluded after adding it up. "If Ozpin was supposed to tell us everything, why didn't he mention about this guy?"
The only response she got was Xavior shrugging his shoulder. "Maybe he didn't know if any of you were allowed to hold onto that sort of information."
"Why is it so secretive then?" Weiss tilted her head.
Xavior looked around the museum and saw a few royal guards on patrol passing the entryway for the museum. "Perhaps we should discuss that matter later on tonight in my son's folly."
This only made Weiss and everyone else perplexed on why Ammit was kept so secretive to this level when he was the most wanted man by the Drahënese Government. One could only guess that Ammit's records and information were only kept by a select number of people in the Zhulong Order and those in the government and military, perhaps. But they completely understood Xavior refusing to carry on that information towards them when others are nearby. Even if they're royal guardsmen. Team RWBY and JNPR may have the privilege to know about this now because of their relationship with Wyvern. But there are still limits.
"Has he always been solely after you only?" Yang asked.
Wyvern shook his head and looked at the Dragconis Family crest. "According to Master Ostanes, Ammit is believed to be responsible for killing all of the Dragconis Family members by himself. They were the first zhulong family to be successfully assassinated without a trace. Police and military reports aren't exactly filled with details due to the lack of evidence of what went on. All we know is the palace was set on fire."
"It seems to me like this "Ammit" man had already planned everything out." Pyrrha said with Wyvern nodding at her statement.
"Not even any remains?" Blake asked while clearly growing uncomfortable at the subject.
Xavior sighed and glanced away before saying, "With a fire like that, their remains were probably among the ashes."
"Oh my god…Those poor zhulongs…" Ruby bit her lip at the thought of all of them being scorched. "Especially the boy…"
"I know. He died so young and didn't even get to experience the important things in life yet." Ren sighed as he felt somewhat relatable to all this.
"You think Ammit had something to do with the other members of the Dragocnis deaths too?" Pyrrha asked Xavior.
He shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head, unsure of having an answer. "Unfortunately, only Vulcan knew what happened to them and never got the chance to tell me the details. Now, we may never know if Ammit was responsible."
Then, Weiss looked over at Wyvern and asked, "You said they were possibly the first family to get assassinated by Ammit. Was there more?"
…
Wyvern froze and remained stiff for a few seconds before turning his head away from the group when that was brought up. Ruby and the others clearly took notice of that reaction, making Weiss bite her lip, not meaning to step on a landmine like that. The last thing she would want to do is aggravate Xavior by asking for more information as if she was digging for it to relay back. She was a Schnee, after all. Tensions were already heated between the SDC and the Zhulong Order in general.
Xavior turned to Wyvern, noticing his son's uncomfortableness and cleared his throat to explain the details himself instead of him. But with only a limited amount of information for his sake. "Let's just say we have lost good men and women from this one man and will bring him to justice once our hand takes a grasp on him. The Zhulong Order and the Drahën Empire are committed to continue the search and termination of Ammit."
Weiss bowed her head quickly. "We understand. I apologize if that question was a little too-"
"It's fine. Don't worry." Wyvern quickly told her. "I can understand why you were curious to wonder who else fell from that monster when we made it clear he killed more…"
"I…see. Just feel free to refuse to answer if one of us asks something you're not comfortable talking about."
Wyvern nodded. "Re…ea…Na…en…" He mumbled to himself as his eyes were shifting away from Weiss', spacing out.
"Huh? What was that?"
He jolted and shook his head before smiling a bit to hide his abnormal behavior. "Nothing. Sorry. Just spacing out."
Weiss didn't seem to be convinced by his persuasion and just played along with it like nothing happened. "Alrighty then."
After a moment of silence, Wyvern decided to break it first to avoid making things awkward. "Anyway, you guys must be tired. We should all just head to my folly where all of us will be staying." He said, clearly trying to change the subject to avoid making the mood go down between them.
Xavior nodded and began to lead them to the exit. "Right. My wife and the others are probably finished moving all of your luggage to your rooms."
"Uhhh…yeah! Thank you, once again." Ruby smiled and followed him closely with her group.
Wyvern was the last one out as he took a quick glance back at the charred Dragconis Family crest. Upon hearing more about the history and their tragic downfall from his father, he could only assume it was that "someone" he mentioned to his friends earlier; Ammit. But now wasn't a good time to talk about it even further. He caught up with the rest of his friends and exited to the backyard, heading towards his folly house.
(For some reason, this chapter was tough to make. Sorry for the late update.)
*You may Favorite or Follow the story, if you like what you see so far.
Reviewing/Comments for this story is optional.