Chp. 22: Looking Back

Out in the streets of Kuchinashi, Teams SLAA and SAFR, and Yasu, Deriko, and Atar wander through the streets searching for Amethyst and get some answers.

"Amethyst! Where are you?!" Siavash shouted.

"Where could she be?" Mitra asked.

"Why the hell did she run away from us?" Lloyd asked

"And who was the 'he' she brought up?" Asher asked

"We'll get our answers when we find her," Arrastra replied.

"I've already notified Mr and Mrs. Whitlock, and they're already on their way here. The authorities are currently apprehending Team SMMK and their men as we speak," Fenix said.

"That's good. That's one little thing settled in Kuchinashi, as well as a big thing settled for our excavation for the magic artifacts," Pyke said.

"Let's hope we find Amethyst. I don't want to lose another friend like this," Siavash said.

"What do you mean?" Fenix asked.

"It's nothing. Just something that happened long ago back home," Siavash answered.

"You guys seem to have a lot of problems back where ever you guys are from," Pyke said.

"You don't know the half of it," Athena said. "We faced a lot of hardship in Iran."

"I'm mixed race. My father is Japanese and my mother is Iranian. Because of my mixed heritage, I was never really accepted in Iran. I guess you could say that in a way that I face the same discrimination as the Faunus," Yasu explained.

"Sounds rough," Fenix said.

"My parents work abroad so I'm usually home by myself. The call on the phone everyday to check up on me to make sure how I'm doing. My family on both sides are big, but the one on my mother's side has diminished because of the government's rule," Yasu said.

"So why didn't you just move out of Iran?" Deriko asked.

"We didn't have enough money at the time," Yasu answered. "Plus I didn't want to leave my friends behind."

"That's nice of you, Yasu," Athena said.

"Thank you," Yasu replied.

"I was gifted with great knowledge and at the time I had dreams of going to college, but when my Aura was unlocked, my life in Iran ended there. My parents had to send me away out of fear of being captured by the government. And they got arrested as a result. I never saw them again after that," Athena explained.

"I'm sorry, kid," Arrastra said.

"It's not all bad. You and I have stuck to each other like glue since then, and we're now in Haven Academy," Siavash said.

"Yeah. All the bad stuff we've endured leads us to the good," Athena said.

"Were there any regrets upon leaving?" Fenix asked.

"I do regret leaving my family behind, especially my mother. She was severely ill when I was forced to leave Iran. I had to drop out of school so that my father could pay for our home and provide for my mother," Atar answered. "At least my uncle was with her to watch over her, while my father was at work."

"As long as your mother is in good hands, I'm sure she'll be okay," Arrastra said.

"I have no regrets leaving that hellhole. My parents divorced because my father cheated on my mother. He used to be a good man before he changed for the worse. He became an alcoholic, and loyalist to the Islamic Republic, and forged documents so that he would have full custody over me. He never approved of my relationship with Lloyd, and sometimes tried to touch me inappropriately. And when my Aura was unlocked, my father tried to turn me in to the government for a reward, but I broke the bastard's neck and killed him in retaliation," Mitra said.

"What about your mother? What happened to her?" Fenix asked.

"After the divorce, my mother married a rich man and traveled abroad with him. She sent letters telling me that she does miss me dearly," Mitra answered.

"At least you have a parent that's doing okay," Deriko said.

"Well she's not exactly a saint herself either. My father told me that before I was born, they once had a baby boy, but my mother killed him because she didn't want a boy and made the death look like an accident and that it died from a disability," Mitra said.

"And I spoke too soon," Deriko said.

"Her mother and I got along pretty well before she left. She had no problems with me being with Mitra at the time," Lloyd answered. "I lost my eyes when I saved Mitra from getting raped by a few IRGC troopers. And my parents were murdered by the IRGC when they helped me escape from them."

"Damn," Fenix muttered.

"Sounds like you had it the worst," Asher said.

"We all have it bad," Atar said.

"What about you, Siavash? Got any bad stuff that happened to you?" Pyke asked.

"Before the pandemic, my father and brother were both killed when they had been participating in some protests. They were both gunned down by the IRGC. And when the COVID-19 pandemic began to occur, my mother contracted it and later passed away. And then soon after, my sister got it too. Despite my best efforts, there was nothing I could do for her, and she died too," Siavash explained.

"So your entire family is gone?" Pyke asked.

"Dawood, was the only family that I had left by then. Even though we were not related, I still saw my friend then as family. I saw him as my brother," Siavash said.

"Dawood?" Asher asked.

"David's name back in Iran," Siavash answered.

"So do all of you have different names back in Iran?" Arrastra asked.

"My real name is Artaban. Lloyd is a nickname," Lloyd said.

"And mine is Yusuf," Yasu said.

"The rest of us are using out real names," Athena said.

"I changed my last name to Firebreaker," Atar said.

"Why the change? And why that of all things?" Asher asked.

"My original last name was Arashdar. It means 'Keeper of Fire.' I had an ancestor who was the protector of the Fire Temple of Zoroastrianism. I thought changing it to Firebreaker was fitting for me," Atar explained.

"Whatever," Asher said with an eyeroll.

"So how did you all manage to get out of Iran?" Fenix asked.

"Escape would be a better word to describe it. but it all started months ago after an incident that we were involved in," Athena began.

Flashback

Iran/Turkey Border

June 18, 2020

The sun was setting as a couple of trucks were driving down the road. Inside the second truck, Siavash, Mitra, Artaban, Yusuf, and Atar were sitting in the back of the truck alongside some people. Siavash clinched on to his left hand which was bandaged up as his eyes were red from crying.

"How did this happen?" he asked himself.

"You tried. But Dawood was gone," Atar said.

"We've tried, but all we can do now is get out while we still can," Artaban said.

"It's a good thing we were given passports ready in case of a situation like this," Athena said.

"But who knew it would be for this reason?" Mitra said.

'The truck was then slowed to a stop. Yusuf peeked out to see that they had stopped in front of a wall with barbed wire on top. He then realized that they had all arrived at the border to Turkey.

"Are we there yet?" Artaban asked.

"Yep, we're at the Turkish border," Yusuf answered.

He looked to the side and saw something approaching from the side of the wall, leaving behind a cloud of dust in their trail. It was a couple of Toofan MRAP armored vehicles. He realized that the IRGC was tailing them.

"Oh, no," Yusuf muttered.

"What is it?" Siavash asked.

"They found us," Yusuf answered.

The other refugees began to panic as the two armored trucks approached. the refugee trucks. Several armed IRGC soldiers climbed out of the armored trucks and pointed their rifles at the refugee trucks demanding that everyone inside them to step out. Everyone inside the trucks, including Siavash and the others climbed out of the trucks and all had their hands behind their heads.

"What do we do now?" Mitra asked, now on the verge of tears.

Before anyone could answer, the sounds of loud growls and howls captured everyone's attention, including the IRGC. They all turned to see several Grimm approaching, which included Beowolves, Ursai, Dromedons, Jackalopes, and Ziraphs.

"Monsters!" one of the refugees screamed.

The soldiers all turned their guns onto the Grimm and began to open fire. The other refugees were huddling and screaming in terror, which attracted the Grimm's attention and made them charge at everyone more aggressively. A Ziraph spat some acid at a soldier manning a turret on one of the armored trucks, making him scream in agony as he and the turret burned and melted away. A Jackalope hopped up into the air and landed onto a soldier as a Beowolf clawed at another soldier next to him.

As Siavash took a step back, his bandaged hand started to glow. A gray mist shot out from his hand which then started to take form He and his friends looked up and saw that the mist took form into a large elephant

"What is this?" Atar wondered.

"Could that be your semblance, Siavash?" Athena asked.

Curious, Siavash pointed his bandaged hand at the border wall as the elephant summon charges towards the wall and smashed itself into it. The summon disappeared as it left behind a large hole in the wall. They were all stunned by what had just happened.

"Guys, this is our chance!" Siavash said.

"Let's get out of here then!" Mitra said.

Siavash, Athena, Yusuf, Atar, and Mitra who was pulling Artaban with her all climbed through the hole in the wall and crossed through the border and into Turkey. A few of the refugees saw what was going on and tried to follow Siavash and the others through the hole, but a couple of Ursai ran up in front of the hole, blocking their path to salvation before charging towards their prey.

Siavash, Atar, Yusuf, Athena, Mitra, and Artaban all ran up a hill, and once they reached the top, they all turned around to see the carnage going on at the border. They all looked on in horror as the refugees that had been with them were either being mauled to death by the Grimm, or were shot by the IRGC.

"As much as we want to help them, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for them now," Yusuf said.

Mitra and Athena both took off their hijabs. Athena threw hers down to the ground, while Mitra placed it in Artaban's hand.

"You took it off your head?" he asked

"We're finally free. I have no need for it anymore," Mitra answered.

"I wish I could see you without it," Artaban said as he dropped the hijab to the ground.

Siavash looked down at the border, clenching his fist.

"If it weren't for you guys, I would have fallen like Dawood. But no more. I won't let this consume me. I won't let us fall. I won't let this world fall like Iran has. I promise I won't," he said.

Flashback Ends

"Eventually, we met up with some Turkish soldiers and found out we all had our Aura unlocked and we were given the chance to start our lives over in Mistral," Athena finished.

"Damn. That's a lot to swallow," Fenix said.

"And I still want to keep that promise. All that had happened that day became my oath," Siavash said.

"Hey, who's that?" Deriko asked, pointing up ahead. of everyone.

Everyone stopped and looked at what's in front of them and saw Lysander standing before them.