Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.
The time has come for the White Fang to deal once and for all with the last obstacle that could threaten Adam's plans. With none other than the Belladonna family. Luna's heart pounded in her throat as they arrived at their mansion, led by Corsec and Fennec and a troop of faunus brothers ready to make the necessary sacrifice for the cause.
Everyone was hoping for a quick raid, without unnecessary casualties and losses, so they sent in the first team, the gunmen, to see if they could quickly finish off Ghira Belladonna but unfortunately, things didn't turn out as planned.
The guard of the mansion was more alert and prepared, which they wouldn't have thought after Ghira's pro-peace speech and a serious firefight developed between the White Fang soldiers and the guards of the mansion. Because of this, the second team, Fennec, Corsec and Luna entered the mansion as reinforcements.
Fennec and Corsec struck at Ghira while Luna was sent after the rest of the guard to help her brothers and sisters. She broke in through a window on one floor, knocked out two guards, blocked the shots of the third with the blades of her sickle, then pinned him and kicked him in the head.
She hurried on, reaching the great hall, where she met Ilia, who was waiting crouched on the railing upstairs.
- Ilia? - She looked towards her. - Did you manage to capture Blake? - She just nodded.
- Did you manage to convince your siblings? - Luna just shook her head painfully. – I'm...
- I couldn't find them. - Luna looked for Monty and Lynda but they were nowhere to be found. Her only hope is that they are far away.
Suddenly, one of the doors opened and Blake ran through it, which completely surprised Luna, as well as Ilia knew she had only been on her way to the harbor just a few minutes ago.
- Didn't you say you caught her? - Luna asked as she looked at Ilia.
- That's how I remembered it too. - Ilia hesitated but reached for her weapon and Luna also prepared hers.
- My friends saved me. - Blake answered and she also reached for her sword and looked at Luna. - And the one who called you her sister.
- Don't you dare… - Luna couldn't bear that Blake dared to mention Lynda's name but Blake interrupted her and spoke to Ilia.
- And you?! Did you come to hide?! - Ilia just angrily tightened the grip of her whip sword.
- I said I didn't want this.
- But you're still here! - Blake wasn't impressed. - Both of you!
- We have no choice! - Luna shot back.
- But you have! – Blake shouted but seeing that neither Luna nor Ilia wanted to put down the weapon, she put her own and started towards one of the doors. - Just don't get in my way.
Ilia didn't wait any longer and attacked first but Blake tricked her with a shadow clone and appeared a few meters behind her. Luna, on the other hand, attacked from behind but Blake used another shadow clone to jump up and land in front of the two of them. She took out Gumbo Shroud again and prepared for the clash.
Ilia lashed out with her whip sword causing Blake to dodge but Luna was in front of her and one of her moon sickles clashed with her katana but it didn't last long as Blake fell down and somersaulted to keep running but Ilia's whip continued to line her and she kept dodging or parried her attacks with her weapon.
Blake counterattacked, leapt into the air, took Gumbo Shroud in half and threw one half at Ilia, its ribbon wrapped around her arm and pulled her into the air and when they met, she kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the ground in pain.
She then locked eyes with Luna again, who charged at her again with her sickle blades, aggressive and fast. Both of her blades took a heavy swipe at Gumbo Shroud but she reminded Blake to Lynda's initial fighting style in Beacon and tried something.
She started to back away towards the beam holding up one of the floors but Luna quickly appeared in front of her and slashed at her but Blake tricked her with another clone and appeared just a few meters away. Luna grunted angrily and lunged at her again but suddenly tripped over Gumbo Shroud's ribbon and fell to her stomach. Blake, if the situation wasn't critical, would have smiled at how Luna walked into her trap just like Lynda walked into Beacon.
Suddenly Ilia appeared behind her but Blake's reflexes were lightning fast, she spun around in the blink of an eye and the two girls' weapons met each other and tried to hold the other down.
- Why do you feel that we have to hurt others?! - Blake demanded the answer.
- Because it works! - Ilia answered.
- That doesn't make it right! - Blake started to gain the upper hand but Ilia pressed a button that caused her whip sword to conduct electricity into Gumbo Shroud, forcing her to drop it and was horrified to find Luna, who had since stood up, stomped on it and held her blades forward to indicate that she didn't intend to give it back.
Ilia jumped into the air and kicked her in the head, causing her to fall to the ground but the chameleon faunus didn't stop and continued to attack her with her whip sword but Blake used her Semblance again and dodged it and hid behind a bench.
- Don't lecture us! – Ilia shouted as she signaled to Luna to surround her from two sides.
Luna picked up Gumbo Shroud and attached it to her side, then she and Ilia surrounded the bench where Blake was hiding. There they found Blake sitting behind the bench and Ilia was the first to attack but Blake escaped again with a clone but Luna already expected her to appear in the air so she quickly jumped up and hit the real Blake with her blades who fell to the ground but somersaulted and landed on her feet.
Luna attacked again but instead of running away, Blake counterattacked, caught Luna's right arm, then spun behind her back and snapped it back. She knew that Ilia could attack at any moment, so she quickly let go of the wolf faunus girl and only took her weapon back from her, which she turned into a pistol and opened fire on Ilia behind her but she parried the shots with her whip sword.
- Why couldn't you just leave?! - Ilia shouted.
- Because I've been running away too much! - Blake changed her weapon back into a katana.
- Then you die bravely! - Luna stood up again and charged towards Blake.
Blake dodged Luna's first blade and struck back, then dodged Ilia's whip but she didn't have a second because Luna's second blade swung towards her, which she was only able to stop inches in front of her face but counterattacked again. Hooking the blade of her katana behind the sickle blade, she gave it a powerful swipe that sent Luna flying into the air and slashed at Ilia, causing both girls to fall to the ground.
This didn't stop them, they stood up at the same time and were ready for another attack. They attacked from the same direction but Ilia jumped up and somersaulted high and landed behind Blake while Luna continued to charge head on, pinning her between two fires. Ilia reached Blake first and delivered another electric strike to Blake's sword, causing her to throw it away but she had already expected it and immediately threw it into her left hand and counterattacked with lightning speed, causing her katana and Ilia's whip sword to collide half a dozen times.
Eventually, Blake caught Ilia's left wrist but Luna charged her in the back, causing Blake to fall forward and again, the two of them attacking her together. Blake somersaulted away from the two blows, then stood up, dodged Luna's blades three times and successfully avoided the blows of Ilia's whip sword but when they successfully cornered her, she could only dodge them again with a shadow clone but as soon as she reappeared, she immediately opened fire on both of them.
- Don't shoot from a distance, - Ilia angrily blocked her shots. – and fight seriously!
- You're finished! - Luna got behind her but Blake used a shadow clone again, jumped up and found herself upstairs behind the railing, where she could breathe a little.
- You used to see things the way we do! – Ilia reminded her. - Just like Adam!
- Why did you have to betray us?! - Luna stood next to her. - There are two sides, us and the humans!
- Yes! - Corrected Ilia. – If humans don't stop ostracizing and abusing us, our only option is to attack back!
Blake ducked out of cover and opened fire on Ilia but she once again dodged the bullets and belatedly noticed that her whip sword was frozen because Blake had enhanced her weapon with ice Dust. Blake threw Gumbo Shroud at Ilia to wrap around her whip sword and pulled it out of her hand so she could jump down from the floor and throw herself at Ilia but Luna side attacked Blake and she fell to the ground.
- You won't trick us now, kitten! – Luna threw herself at her this time and nailed one of her sickle blades to her throat.
- Please, - Blake begged but not for her life. – you still have other options! Luna, Ilia… you are both good people but you made the wrong decision!
- Just shut up! – While Luna was holding Blake on the ground, Ilia found her whip sword.
- You think, - Blake looked at Ilia. – your parents would want you to do this?! - She then looked up at Luna. - Or your siblings?
- We don't know what else we can do?! - Ilia desperately gripped the hilt of her whip sword but finally broke down and began to sob. - I don't know what I can do.
- I just wanted a better future for my family. - Luna lowered her blade but didn't let go of Blake yet.
After so many years of waiting, it's Saber's time for showdown with the daughter of the man who hurt him so badly in the past that his hatred was transferred to his child. Although she didn't stay here for the showdown, she just wanted to buy time for her friends.
- Finally, - Saber grinned as she paced in front of Lynda. - the time has come. My revenge is just an arm's length away. I warned you that wasn't the last time you saw me. – Lynda didn't answer, she just stood, her blades were drawn, but they were lowered next to her. - You can beat me as many times as you want, - He snapped his fingers, preparing for what might be the last battle of his life. – but as long as I'm alive, you're just postponing the inevitable. I can't wait to taste your blood, just like your father's and see the life drain from your eyes! - He started laughing maniacally and bloodcurdlingly but Lynda still didn't say a word. - Well, where's your sharp tongue? Are you scared?! Did I scare you so much you're speechless?!
- I'm sorry. - Lynda just said that much, which Saber just couldn't do anything about.
- What?! - He shook his head uncomprehendingly.
- I'm sorry, - Lynda repeated. – whatever my father did to you, I had nothing to do with it. I've told you many things over the years but one thing I've never told you before. I want to apologize on behalf of my father for what happened to you. I'm sorry. – Saber just clenched her fists trembling angrily and snarling bloodthirsty, like a real beast, she took a step towards Lynda.
- I don't care about your sorry, nor your father's! Sorry doesn't change what your father did! Sorry won't change the past! Sorry doesn't bring back the dead ones!
- I know! - Lynda burst out. - I just have one request of you! - She didn't even wait for Saber's reaction. - My friends are in danger! My family! If I don't help them in time, they will die! The only one standing in my way to save them is you! I'm asking you to stand aside, let me save them, and if you want to fight afterwards, so be it! Just let me help them! Please! – Saber just stared in silence, this was something he didn't expect from Lynda, she was always ready to fight, with quick and strong words and an unquenchable desire to fight. She's completely changed since she came back from Beacon.
- Did you think this would work? – Saber wasn't impressed by Lynda's speech, he just managed to charge her.
Saber attacked first with her double blade but Lynda blocked one half of the blade and then the other with her other triple blade, before Saber tried to use his physical strength to hold her down but Lynda used her speed instead to get under the blade and kick Saber in the side, causing him to fall forward.
Her white dog ears twitched and she heard gunfire coming straight from the Belladonna mansion. She didn't have time to fight Saber, she had to help the others and save her little brother.
Saber got up and tried to attack Lynda again but she used her Semblance and jumped onto the roof of one of the houses and showing her middle finger to the man, started running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop and hurried towards the mansion.
Saber didn't give up the chase, he took out his repaired motorcycle from one of the alleys and drove down the street with floor gas, chasing Lynda. A shotgun was attached to the side of the motorcycle, which he used to aim at Lynda, who was jumping on the rooftops.
Bang
The first shot hit and damaged Lynda's aura, Bang, then fired another shot but missed the target. Lynda decided to jump onto the houses on the other side of the street and take a detour to see if she could shake Saber off but her pursuer was hot on her heels, loaded with shotgun shrapnel.
There was a ramp in front of him that he jumped a huge one and got high enough that Lynda was right next to him and from there it was impossible not to hit her head.
Click
The shotgun ran out and Saber threw it aside angrily and grunted and took out a grenade from his pocket, pulled the safety pin, waited a bit and threw it at Lynda, exploding as soon as it got close to her.
The blast was strong enough to knock Lynda to the ground and send her tumbling to the ground but she didn't die and even had her aura left, albeit not much.
- You don't run away from me. – Saber stopped his bike and, learning from his last mistake, decided not to try to run over the girl, instead he got off and took out his double blade again.
Lynda also stood up and had to admit that Saber wasn't going to let her go until she beat him again. The blades of the two sides had met each other so many times that they had already scattered sparks but Lynda was much stronger and faster than the last time they met, so she easily dominated the fight and made three deep cuts on the man's face with her triple blade.
Saber just continued to growl and stare at the girl with a bleeding face, his mind flooded with anger and his blows became stronger and stronger. Lynda, on the other hand, remained calm and the only thing she felt was her concern for her friends, she wanted to end this fight as soon as possible so she could help them.
A moment of inattention was almost enough to impale Saber as she thrust the tip of her blade straight at him but Lynda was able to dodge with her Semblance and Saber drove one end of her sword into the concrete ground to the hilt.
Lynda didn't hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity and gave two more cuts to the man, who could only avoid the third one by letting go of his sword and somersaulting backwards but Lynda reacted quickly and knocked him to the ground with a kick to the stomach.
Rolling to one side, Saber immediately rose to his feet and was ready to continue the fight with her bare claws. Lynda, on the other hand, continued to fight with the wrist straps of the two tri-blades, wounding Saber several times but he also grabbed her right wrist and clawed at the straps that held the entire gauntlet to her arm, but Lynda spun and kicked Saber and rolled down a down a long slope that was a straight road to Belladonna Manor.
Lynda saw that it was occupied by the White Fang soldiers and from there it would have been impossible to tell who was alive and who was dead. Completely forgetting about the clash, she activated her Semblance and sped down the slope at full speed.
As soon as he stopped rolling, Saber caught Lynda's ankle and she dragged him for a while, when she decided to shake him off by concentrating some of her aura into a powerful kick, causing Saber's grip let go of her ankle and was sent through one of the paper windows of the mansion. Lynda jumped up and followed.
She immediately looked around the place and saw that Saber fell right on Luna, who was holding Blake captive, so she saved the cat faunus girl at the last moment.
- Luna! - Lynda expected her adopted sister to show up but she didn't know what to say.
- Lynda! – Luna crawled out from under the unconscious Saber and looked into her sister's angry eyes.
Blake then quickly jumped up to Lynda's side, Ilia, as her whip sword was still frozen, stood next to Luna. The ensuing skirmish was interrupted by another, as Corsec, the fox-tailed White Fang officer, fell through the door, dropping two golden bird-shaped daggers.
He was followed by Blake's father but the calm and ever-peaceful Ghira now looked more like a protective beast protecting his home. Unfortunately, the other fox-eared faunus, Fennec, attacked him in the back and stabbed Ghira in the shoulder with one of his golden daggers, causing him to drop to one knee.
- Dad! – Blake worriedly called out for her father from upstairs but Ghira grabbed Fennec, who was still stabbing the dagger, from his back and threw him towards his brother, Corsec, who dodged him and attempted to defeat him in hand-to-hand combat.
Corsec was emboldened enough by his anger to fight Ghira as an equal opponent and their fists proved to be equally strong and the fight only let up when the two men locked hands and tried to push the other down. Corsec stood to lose because Ghira was bigger and physically stronger.
Luna and Ilia looked at the warring parties and thought about who to help.
- Luna, Ilia, - Fennec stood up and called out to the two confused girls. - what are you waiting for?! Fight! - He took out both daggers, one of which belonged to his twin brother and helped him.
Ghira was still able to hold his own against the two brothers, Fennec tried to get behind him again and stab him from behind with both daggers at the same time, but Ghira caught him and threw him to the ground and continued boxing with Corsec. Fennec stood up again and charged madly at Ghira, but he dodged again, caught his wrist but tried to direct the dagger in his hand towards his opponent, which he noticed and immediately tried to hold it in another direction, unfortunately, towards Corsec, so against Fennec's will, his brother hit him with a fireball.
- Brother! - He clearly blamed Ghira for his brother's likely death and attacked again but Sun came through the door and knocked the fox-eared man down with a powerful, falling kick.
- Help the girls! - Ghira instructed.
- Right now!
Sun immediately targeted the two girls, Luna and Ilia but it was Luna who reacted faster and fought Sun, and Lynda was immediately there to treat Ilia.
Sun's lightning fast and powerful strikes matched Luna, who fought similarly and was able to fight back but Sun was more cunning and managed to hang her and hit her in the head with one of his nunjaku, causing her to fall backwards but with a backflip she was back on her feet and ready to continue the fight.
Lynda's opponent was Ilia, whose whip sword was still frozen so she couldn't conduct electricity into Lynda's triple blades but the tip was enough to cut the last strap from her right gauntlet that Saber had damaged earlier and fell off her arm. With her remaining left triple blades, she tried to press Ilia down with all her might and pinned her to one of the supporting beams with her Semblance.
Sun and Luna's duel was more of an even match, with neither of them being able to square up to the other, until Sun used his short-barreled shotgun crossed with his nunjakus to push Luna into another beam with such force that the beam cracked.
- Stop! Please! - Blake begged with tears in her face, since Luna is Lynda's sister and Ilia is her old and very dear friend, their deaths would only cause tragedy.
Lynda lowered her blades and Ilia took advantage of this to push her aside and run away but Lynda tried to catch her with one last slash but not only did she miss, but she also managed to damage the other support beam so that the entire floor began to crumble and finally fell off to Lynda, Luna and Ilia.
Fortunately, at the last moment, after knocking Fennec aside, Ghira rushed to save the girls without thinking and was strong enough to hold the entire floor for a short time.
- Hurry! - He yelled, indicating that he couldn't hold it much longer.
The three girls didn't need more and ran from under the collapsing balcony but Ghira was about to collapse under the huge weight, so Sun used his Semblance without thinking and summoned two clones who rushed over to help lift the weight off from Ghira.
Looking at his unconscious brother, which he blamed on Ghira, Fennec picked up the two daggers and charged at the vulnerable man without thinking. Blake switched and immediately wrapped Gumbo Shroud's ribbon around his father and pulled him out from under the heavy floor with one yank, which immediately fell, crushing Fennec to death.
- Mom?! - Blake, as soon as she saw his mother dragging the last captured White Fang soldier, the bat one, immediately went over to hug her.
- Monty! - Lynda hugged her little brother, who helped Blake's mother in the fight.
- You think... - A weak but creepy male voice worried the others. – that this is the end... - But he only focused on Lynda.
- For you certainly. – Lynda looked skeptically at the bloodied and half-dead Saber, who's about to die.
- For both of us. - With the last of his strength, he took off his leather jacket, revealing that at least a dozen bombs were mounted on his body. - That was our deal with Adam. - He dropped to one knee and pressed a detonator, which activated all the bombs on his body and started the timer.
5
Lynda remembered that Saber had gotten here by dragging her along in her great rush, "It's all my fault!" In a split second she looked at everyone, Blake, her family, Sun, Ilia, Luna and of course Monty, who will die because of her.
4
Lynda activated her Semblance with full power, which continued to develop at this very moment and it felt as if time had stopped because it became so fast and in the blink of an eye she was in front of Saber, who she managed to grab and ran towards the nearest exit along with him.
3
Like a white comet, she was speeding outside the mansion, so fast she couldn't even imagine she'd be able to do it but even so, she felt too slow and doubted she could carry Saber in time to prevent the blast from reaching her friends.
2
Finally, she got out of the manor and into the mountains, which meant that the danger had passed and the others were not in the range of the explosion. Unfortunately, a white flash was the sign that Lynda had run out of her aura and collapsed weakly.
1
She knew she couldn't get out of the blast zone in time, so in her last second of life, she thought of those who meant the most to her, "Blake, Sun, Luna, Monty, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, Lance and Mike… I was glad to know you."
0
BANG
A huge, blinding and devastating explosion rocked the entire Menagerie, turning the night into daylight for a moment, and then a huge crater appeared on one of the mountains as a sign of the explosion.
- You… - Corsec stood up with the last of his strength, seeing the death of his brother and all his companions who lost their lives today, he clearly blamed the Belladonna family for them. - YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!
Blake, Sun, and Ghira prepared for the final showdown but Ilia hit him from behind with her whip sword, knocking him unconscious. She cried, realizing what a mistake she had made, and dropped her weapon.
- Lynda... - The huge explosion that just shook the island didn't let Luna rest. She dropped her blades and she fell to the ground and began to sob.
- Wasn't it... - Monty picked up his sister's gauntlet that had fallen to the ground. – Lynda's?
Due to the explosion, the entire people of Menagerie gathered at the Belladonna mansion and everyone looked in shock at the smoking crater in the mountains, which caused fear and curiosity to reign over the entire town. The remaining guards and the arriving policemen could only keep away the terrified and curious crowd, who wanted more than anything to know what happened tonight.
The first to come out was Ghira, carrying on his shoulders the captain of the guard and a White Fang soldier, whom he handed over to his men.
- Inside, - The police captain ordered. – capture the remaining criminals and help the survivors! - He turned to Ghira. - We came as soon as we got the call. - He reported as his men led out the remaining White Fang soldiers including Corsec, Luna and Ilia. - What happened to Fennec? – He asked but Ghira just shook his head and the captain just stood angrily towards Corsec. – Was it worth it? - Instead of answering, he just bowed his head in defeat.
Blake, Sun, and Monty also came out, looking at the crater on the mountain behind the mansion and knowing that Lynda hadn't survived that explosion. She sacrificed herself to save those she loved. Blake just put her hand on the boy's shoulder but he just angrily buckled Lynda's remaining gauntlet strap, which was a little too big for him and pulled out the blades. He stared at the handcuffed Luna, who just sat looking back at him sadly with teary eyes. He wanted to finish her off but a strong arm grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned to see Ghira stopping him, who just shook his head.
- Don't do it, son.
- Monty... - Luna cried, barely able to speak. - I...
- This is all your fault! – Even though Ghira let him go, Monty couldn't forgive Luna.
- I didn't want... this to be... - Luna couldn't say anything. - I'm sorry... - Monty just silently looked at the crying girl, whom he thought was his sister and at the crater where his real sister died and his tears also fell.
- This evening, I lost both my sisters. - These words, like a poisoned knife, struck Luna's heart, who collapsed inside.
Blake looked over at Luna and Ilia, they clearly regretted what they had done, at the crater where a very good friend and a very brave Huntress had lost her life and finally at the horrified crowd demanding answers. She took a deep breath and decided that she would be the one to give them the answers, as best she could.
- Blake…! – Her father worriedly tried to go over to help but her mother stopped him because she knew their daughter was doing what was right.
Blake walked down the stairs, pointing straight ahead of the crowd and toward the crater where Lynda had died.
- This wasn't done by humans! - She started. - We did this! Faunus! We did this to ourselves! - The crowd listened in stunned silence. Hundreds of people gathered but there was such silence, as if not a soul was present. - We are just as capable of hatred and violence as anyone else but I don't think any of us have pointed that out in the past! So, why let Adam do it for us?! By remaining silent and standing aside, we let others speak and act on our behalf and if we aren't proud of the decisions they make for us, then we have no one to blame but ourselves! This is the message Adam Taurus wants to send to the world if no one stops him! This path that he follows and that we will also follow through him will degrade us to what humans think we are! Animals! Beasts! But we can prevent it! You must understand that you all want simple answers to very complicated problems and I cannot give them! I don't know how to stop the hate! I really don't! But I know that this kind of violence isn't the answer! I understand that asking you to leave your homes to protect Haven Academy means putting your lives at risk! But that's the stake anyway! So, I will definitely go and stand against Adams, alone if I have to!
- I'm going with you! – Behind her, she heard the voice of someone she didn't expect standing up for him. - If... - Ilia wasn't sure if Blake even wanted her to go with her. - you want.
- I'm going too! - Luna, seeing her opportunity to do penance, offered her services as well. - Blake turned back to both of them but the police captain grabbed them both.
- You don't go anywhere!
- Let them go! - Blake said.
- Are you just going to forgive them?! – The captain could hardly believe his ears. - After what they did?!
- Yes. - Blake's answer confused the captain but as soon as he saw Ghira signaling him to do as his daughter told him, he removed the cuffs from Luna and Ilia.
- What is she doing?! - The captain turned to Ghira indignantly, who perfectly understood his daughter's thinking.
- She learned the lesson that I only learned when I was much older. – Ghira smiled proudly at his daughter, who hugged Luna and Ilia reassuringly. - The power of forgiveness.
- I'm going too! – Volunteers stepped forward from the crowd.
- I'm coming too!
- We stand by you!
- You can count on me!
- Looks like, - Sun came down next to the girls. - we will have some work.
- Thank you. – Blake just looked proudly at Sun, without whom this wouldn't have been possible.
- You injured me. - Sun reminded Ilia and Luna who were embarrassed.
- Well… ouch! - He pinched Ilia's shoulder.
- Hey! - And pulled Luna's wolf ear.
- Well, now we're even.
- To remind you, - Ghira joined the group and warned them. – we have only two weeks before Adam launches his attack on Haven. Our people need weapons, training and everything else to protect as many people as possible.
- And we also need transportation. - Khali added. - For all of them. - Sun and Blake looked at each other confidently.
- I think we know a captain who is owes us and Lynda with a favor.
- Lynda! – Mike woke up from his sleep at night, as if he sensed that something was wrong with his teammate.
He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom but saw that the light was still on in the downstairs living room and heard the others talking, so he decided to go downstairs to see why the others were up so late. As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the conversation stopped and everyone was staring at him.
- What are you doing so late? – Mike could still feel that he was angry about the letter but he saw that the whole team was talking about the letter on the coffee table.
- You said, - Lance began. – you don't know if you want to know what your father's last words to you were but Ozpin came up with a very good solution.
- About what?
- Very simple, Mr. Birmingham. - Ozpin replied. – We can try to get you to know and not know the answer at the same time.
- Actually, - Yang tried to simplify. - it's like a cat in a bag game.
- I thought of that solution, - Ozpin continued to explain. – that we all present something, that what is in the letter but only one is true and we don't reveal which one, then this illusion will remain for you forever.
- Yeah, that's pretty much what I said too. - Yang scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
- Does this suit you? - Ruby asked.
- I think so. - Mike sat down in an armchair. - Nora, since you started it all, tell me first.
- Oh, - Nora started clapping excitedly. – a treasure map that leads us to the lost treasure of Joddling Maple Syrup, which, if you find, you'll have as many Joddling Maple Syrup cereal as you can eat!
- I see, - Mike just rubbed his forehead. – surely you didn't get this from the Joddling Maple Syrup cereal commercial, which happens to be your favorite cereal? - Nora, as if her master plan had failed, broke down.
- I told you he'd figure it out. - Ren whispered.
- Okay, - Mike wanted to hear the next option. - Ren?
- A funny yellow birthday card with a black border, with a bee trying to get pollen from a pile of colorful stones, believing them to flowers and a small text on it, "Always bee strong." - Ren laughed a little at this, when he thought about it and shook his head. - Silly bee. But, - He got to the point. - the inside of the card said, "Happy birthday, many times and later, son. I love you, dad."
- Hm, - That made more sense than Nora's, but Mike wanted to hear the rest. - Lance?
- Your father wanted to apologize for not being there and he only hoped that you would forgive him someday, even though he can't do anything to make it right. – Mike just listened to him in silence, then called the next one.
- Jaune?
- Your father was actually there watching when you passed the Beacon entrance exam and made the LLMM team and cried because he was so proud of you.
- Oscar?
- There was a photograph of your father holding you in his arms when you were a baby and on the back was written, "Mike Birmingham, my son, the most wonderful gift of my life."
- Yang?
- Your father wrote that he made the biggest mistake of his life when he left you and your mother. He asked that you never make this mistake.
- Weiss?
- Your father wrote that his past mistakes finally caught up with him and he didn't want you to suffer for his sins. The only way he can protect you and your mother is if he leaves you.
- Ruby?
- Your father wanted to ask that if he had strayed from the right path, you should never do it. Fight for those you love and be able to forgive those who have sinned, because all people do wrong for the same reason. Because they are misguided.
Qrow?
- Your father wasn't who you thought he was. In fact, he was a criminal warlord of the Mistral underworld and he only left you to keep you out of harm's way.
Mike listened to the possible explanations in silence, thinking, not knowing what to think. He didn't say anything, he just stood up, headed for the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.
- Are you okay? - Ruby was worried.
- Yes.
- So? - Nora squirmed excitedly. - Which one do you think is real?
- I would like it all to be true, but... - After drinking his water, he continued. - I don't want to know which one.
- One of them is. - Lance assured.
- I know and thank you.
Thank you for reading. Please sign it to follow and as favourite and don't forget to write reviews
Well, the first tragedy just happened. Lynda was the first who sacrificed herself. She was one of my favourite, rest in piece Lynda.