The sky of Beacon was characterized by a blue hue and some clouds decorating the environment, it had always been pleasant for residents and tourists to look at the sky both during the day and at night, they were definitely not the views of Atlas, but some daring people claimed that Vale had the charm that Vacuo lacked.
Now, that sky was certainly different.
The line of Atlesian ships caught the attention of every person within the kingdom, the curious came out of their homes or businesses to admire the multiple grayish ships, the structure was easy to understand, the smaller ones were around and seemed to be more like long-range and fast combat ships, the largest was the one in the center, gigantic to say the least, a Bull-head totally modified to be able to carry more people inside.
The memories of the oldest people in the kingdom came sooner rather than later, almost like deja vu, remembering the time when general James Ironwood arrived in the kingdom many years ago.
Would history repeat itself again?
The gigantic Bull-Head stopped flying and finally dropped down onto Beacon, while the smaller ships flew in a dramatic and practiced manner to create a dancing effect around the gigantic ship, the students of the academy had already been there for an hour, awaiting the imminent arrival of the Atlas general.
Oscar Pine stood at the front of the students, his gaze fixed on the aerial vehicle, the Bull-Head shut down and the exit hatch finally opened, revealing multiple Atlesian soldiers, who streamed out in a coordinated fashion until two rows formed on either side of the Beacon Headmaster, raising their weapons in the air.
"It's been a while since my last visi." A man about Oscar's age stepped out of the Bull-Head, his clothes were worthy of an Atlas general, predominantly white and full of medals that told his rank, the man was pale, his fine and perfectly cared for features made him look younger, his eyes were a cold emerald green, his hair was certainly long, reaching his shoulders, perfectly straight and a fairly dark black color.
"Yohan Coesens" Oscar chuckled lightly, walking over to the man and extending his hand, Yohan responded to the gesture without hesitation "You definitely know how to make an entrance"
"I will not make the same mistake as my antecessor and scare the people of your kingdom, it is better to give them a show so that the waters are not stirred by the slightest movement" Yohan said in a serious tone, remaining completely still in his position.
"Calm down, what happened years ago won't happen again" Oscar shook his head, looking towards the still open Bull-Head, waiting for someone else "Is he with you?"
"Certainly-" Yohan was interrupted by a new person, another man.
"I don't like being too long in gigantic vehicles, even Monstra was more warm than that Bull-Head" Mercury Black got out of the vehicle with a pair of suitcases in each hand, the man had a certainly similar appearance to his younger age, his grayish hair still maintained the same style, his facial features became marked and maturity had reached Mercury, his silver eyes still maintained the same hidden perversion, his clothing was the biggest change, he had kept the leather in his style, having gray and black as main colors.
Another almost equally gigantic change was his legs, previously hidden so that his secret would not be known, were now visible, although now they had a much more dynamic and pleasing design to the eye, the steel-colored prostheses had now acquired a more human form, with perfectly sculpted calves and knees, although the feet were flat and had more similarity to those of an armor.
He couldn't wear socks.
"I was surprised that he came to Atlas so suddenly, he should learn to call sooner, my soldiers could have killed him" Yohan commented without looking at Mercury, while the silver-eyed man let out a snort of annoyance "But we are looking forward the information you have"
"It's not safe to discuss this in your courtyard, of course" Mercury said, gesturing to the hundreds of students who were watching the scene with curiosity, some very surprised to see the Huntsman Mercury Black in person "So, we're going to your secret room for secret people?"
"Follow me" Oscar answered, being closely followed by both men.
...
"Mercury is already on his way" Ruby Rose talked with a strange tiredness in her voice, not exactly from not having slept well or having worked too much, but rather merely from having mentioned a certain ex-war criminal "I thought we would get lucky…"
"I don't understand" Waylon asked, leaning on Oscar's table "He's one of the good ones, isn't he? He's one of the few Huntsmen who has a license without graduating or completing a year of an Academy, he skipped the whole process and is one of the best, isn't that great?"
"He may be on our side, but he's the only weapon we have when… murder is required" Ruby replied somewhat dejectedly "He has silver eyes, so… he's practically my coworker on more than one occasion"
"He is Sapphire's father" Roy said, trying to recall some events that happened when he was much younger "I remember seeing… his wife, Emerald Sustrai."
"She owns an orphanage in the poor part of town" Bryan added, sitting down on the floor to avoid getting tired anymore "I've seen Blake talk to her a few times, they seem to get along fairly well"
"So we can make a silver eyes team?" Neithan asked excitedly, approaching his mother and grabbing her shoulders, jumping slightly "We'll be superheroes!"
"I don't think so, cookie" Ruby stroked her son's head, hugging him with one arm.
Ruby and the WBRN team had remained inside Oscar's office since very early hours, the arrival of Yohan Coesens, Headmaster of Atlas, and Mercury Black, professional Huntsman and one of the few silver-eyed warriors that still exist, shook the kingdom with their arrival in Vale to be able to watch the tournament more closely.
Of course, this was just a facade.
The Vale Council was not very happy with the recent events surrounding Oscar Pine, the attack that happened at the edge of the city and also the interruption of the Schnee Corp laboratory 33.1 only increased the doubts and suspicions that were had about the Headmaster of Beacon, even Mark Miller, father of Valerie Miller, found himself doubtful about the safety of the kingdom.
They were probably referring to the Branwen tribe, basically.
The Branwen tribe had been a more general problem for Anima than for Vale, but with the events of the last few months it had already become a matter for the kingdom itself, Oscar had to fix it sooner rather than later, and the council did not want to wait much longer.
The decision was unanimous, to bring the Atlesian fleet very discreetly to avoid causing panic among the citizens and students of the kingdom, the combat ships would arrive a little later, just in time for the start of the tournament, where it was much more likely that the tribe's bandits would make a move.
Oscar did not object and Yohan's arrival was already something he would ask for, although now he had at least a credible excuse, Mercury was also part of the whole thing, since he acted as a Qrow Branwen for Oscar, secretly discovering things and disappearing for quite long periods of time.
Furthermore, he did not limit himself to simply hitting, he also killed.
"The place is nice" Mercury entered the office with Yohan and Oscar, leaving his bags on the floor and stretching a little "Let's discuss the plan and go back home, I'm quite tired"
"Patience" Yohan punched Mercury in the shoulder, making him writhe in pain "Ruby, it's nice to see you again"
"Same here, Yohan" Ruby bowed her head slightly in respect, even if she addressed the general by his name, he was still a man of very high position.
"This must be the team that is now part of the group" Yohan approached the team WBRN, recognizing absolutely all of them just by their physical appearances, after all, he knew each of their mothers "It's an honor to have you on board"
"It's an honor, General" Waylon and Roy bended their heads at the same time, followed awkwardly by Bryan and Neithan, both Schnee knew the general for different reasons, so he could be considered a friend of the Schnee family.
"The plan is simple" Ruby cleared her throat as she watched Nora walk through the doors, slamming them shut "We've come to the conclusion that we need to find out more about Felicia Torchwick's past in order to stop her and predict her steps, she acts like Roman and tries to be like him, but she must have a real motive behind her actions"
"Roman saw himself as an agent of chaos, he had no real motivations, him and the girl named after ice cream" Mercury added, recalling with some mockery when he worked for Roman Torchwick "Do you think his daughter is very different from him?"
"He has delusions of grandeur and his past is very confusing, he was with the Malachite twins, but we don't know why they split up, and they won't answer our questions, we'll just alert them" Ruby replied, Mercury made a mocking gesture, almost as if considering that option was the most obvious, but she didn't agree "So, the WBRN team came up with an idea"
Waylon coughed a little loudly, feeling nervous about being surrounded by so many important people "We thought it would be a good idea to contact people who knew or know something about Felicia from the past, as well as people related to the Malachite twins…from what we know, Emerald Sustrai might know something about Felicia, since she is the owner of the orphanage in that area, where Felicia grew up"
"Sounds good" Mercury murmured, thinking something in total silence.
"The other part is to ask my mother for help on that matter" Waylon continued, receiving an interested look from Yohan "My mother knows the kingdom's economic activities very well… including the illegal ones, she must know something about the Malachite twins"
"If things go wrong, then we would go for both twins if we get anything done with the plan" Ruby added, sighing softly, the woman gave a quick glance to each person present in the room, each of the adults wearing a thoughtful and contemplative expression, while the team of teenagers were clearly nervous by the presence of the adults themselves.
Ruby frowned as she looked at her son, who was looking at Mercury with great admiration.
Oscar stood next to his wife, also seeing his son's strange look.
Oscar slowly approached Mercury, drawing the silver-eyed man's attention "I sent your daughter home at your request, according to what you've told me, she also grew up in that area and knows a lot of people there, right?"
"Yes" Mercury replied cautiously, his gaze turning confused "Is something wrong with her? Bad grades?"
"I want you to take my son" Oscar put his hand on Neithan's shoulder, dragging him to Mercury's side, both silver-eyed men looked at each other confused, then looked once more at the Headmaster.
Mercury stared at Oscar, the dark-haired man smiled awkwardly for a few seconds and looked around nervously, Neithan frowned at his father's attitude with those two simple gestures, was he nervous? Was Oscar Pine nervous?
"You've already told me about your relationship with your daughter, so I thought, of course, I just thought that, since my son and Sapphire are friends, then he could come closer to you and maybe help us with all this, but also help you so that you two aren't so distant-" Oscar stopped stammering strangely when he noticed the odd way everyone present was looking at him, the man cleared his throat loudly, moving slowly next to his wife, who was very close to bursting out laughing.
"Your father is still a little scared of me" Mercury murmured to Neithan, patting him on the head "Okay, I'll take him, maybe we'll come back in the afternoon or evening, I don't know, call me if you need anything"
Mercury turned around and walked out of the room without looking back, Neithan gave his parents a pleading and confused look, receiving only a nod in response, the younger boy bit his lip and followed Mercury, thinking about how the hell this would end.
...
The city of Vale was beautiful at this time of year.
The Vytal tournament was drawing closer every day and the residents of Vale celebrated practically every day, it was during these days that foreigners decided to visit the host kingdom and enjoy its culture and its lands.
This occasion was quite special, since the fall of Beacon there had not been a large-scale festival celebrated, only being commemorated in a small and more subtle way, there being the lower-ranking Vytal festivals, in which combat schools and regional champions competed.
Now that Vale was once again the center of attention, the council was in a hurry to solve the Branwen problem, or perhaps another festival would never be held in the kingdom, Oscar took these requests seriously and got to work from day one, even if the results were, let alone encouraging.
Although of course, he couldn't deprive the students of seeing others.
The city's port had changed somewhat, it was considerably larger and with the ability to store more ships, multiple Beacon students were at the port, waiting for foreign students from other kingdoms.
"What do you think the students from other kingdoms are like?" Bryan quietly asked his teammates, shifting impatiently in place "It's the first tournament in years"
"Unpredictable and unique, I have studied the way they teach in every academy in all of Remnant, perhaps the Atlesians are the ones who give us the most problems, they are practically military" Waylon responded, shifting somewhat impatiently in his place "Roy knows more about that subject"
Roy nodded, patting Bryan on the back "Don't worry, I don't remember there being anyone big-name in Atlas that you're so nervous about"
"I hope so" Bryan sighed, looking around in curiosity, recognizing the STRM team "Hey! STRM is over there, let's go say hi"
WBRN team members approached STRM team, finding them in a similar situation to themselves, impatient and excited.
"You guys must be excited," Waylon said, drawing the attention of the entire team, the red-eyed gave Riana a quick smile, then turned to everyone "Which team should you watch and take to Beacon?"
"DRET" Samuel replied "According to the physical descriptions, they seem to have been taken from a fairy tale"
"It will still be difficult to find them among so many students" Telsius added "They don't do it the same way they did when Beacon fell, now all the students arrive on a giant white cruiser, I saw that in an announcement from the academy."
"A cruise ship like that?" Myrian asked, pointing at a gigantic cruise ship approaching the port, the students present became excited and moved closer to the edge, trying to discern something "Yes, that must be it"
"We'll have to call them by shouting" Riana sighed, standing next to Waylon and resting on his shoulder "You think they'll be nice?"
"Of course" Waylon put his shoulder around her, caressing her gently "Just wait…"
The cruise ship approached the port at a slow but steady pace, further increasing the students' expectations and excitement, the teenagers' thoughts were flooded with basic and some more extravagant ideas: what new friends would they make? Could they find their future partners among the foreigners?
The cruise ship stopped after an endless wait, releasing with impressive speed a wide and long steel bar, which fell with force on the ground, some steel plates suddenly appeared, thus forming a curious but functional staircase.
Much faster than expected, the foreign students began to get off the maritime vehicle with excitement, thus beginning a whole mess of teenagers looking for each other, shouting team names became the most normal thing in that port.
"I can't find them" Waylon muttered, being pushed by other students as he searched for a specific person, a piranha faunus "We're looking for a girl with sharp teeth and fins, she's a piranha faunus"
"There's another girl with a Mistrali style" Roy read on his Neo-Scroll, getting hit by an elbow, making him fall to the ground and grab his head "Bryan! Can you see them?"
"There was one with blonde hair and…one dressed as a witch?" Bryan looked at his Neo-Scroll in disbelief, shaking his head and looking to the sides, his height helped him a little to discern between the students, but there were too many "Nope, I can't find anything"
Waylon tried to push back to make his way through the students, but suddenly someone pushed him quite hard, almost as if they were trying to knock him to the ground on purpose.
"Huh, how lucky I am" A boy spoke in front of Waylon, the red-eyed looked forward, confused, finding a somewhat tall boy, perhaps as tall as him, dressed in a dark, expensive-looking trench coat, the boy was pale, quite pale, his eyes were red, but with a lighter tone than Waylon's, and his hair was exactly the same crimson color "I hope I can find you at the tournament, Schnee"
Waylon was hit once again by the boy, more to annoy him than to actually hurt him, the white-haired boy stood up with difficulty, fixing his jacket in irritation "Damn idiot"
"Victor Blood is here" Roy said, approaching his cousin and looking at him with some concern, then looking at Bryan with some mockery "Remember I told you not to worry about anyone with a reputation? Worry about him"
"For him?" Bryan asked quietly, pointing at the redhead who pushed Waylon "Who is he supposed to be?"
"Victor Blood is the only one in his family to attend a Huntsmen academy, and he has also been the regional champion of the Atlas academy for three years in a row," Roy said, quickly analyzing the red-haired boy's appearance "Besides, his family and ours hate each other because…we are practically equally rich"
"It's supposed to be a friendly rivalry" Waylon added, finally remembering the Blood family's status in Atlas "That guy's mother has been giving my mom nightmares for my entire damn existence…"
"His father to mine, he wants to be an Atlas councilor" Roy added, noticing that the students had already dispersed a little more, giving them more space to look more carefully, Roy noticed a specific person, a girl with fins on the side of her head, and with blue hair.
The girl had light blue hair tied in braids that reached her hips, her eyes had the same color, her body was surrounded by a very thin and light armor that adhered to her body like a second skin, the armor had dark pieces of resistant material on the shoulders and hips, while the rest seemed to be...scales.
She looked quite strange.
"Zenya Meyer?" Roy asked, the piranha faunus turned around dramatically, grinning from ear to ear and showing her sharp teeth "Yes, that's her"
"I've been looking for you two for a while now, so I took my pet Morfus out for a walk!" Zenya approached each of the boys and hugged them tightly, leaving a kiss on each one's cheek and then pointing to the water, where there was, strangely enough, a piranha "You guys are so cute, I'm lucky you're my guides! The first place I want to see is your room-"
"Zenya, stop harassing the students" A much calmer and more serene female voice interrupted the piranha faunus, the WBRN team and Zenya turned to see who it was, a dark-haired girl with magenta eyes, white skin dressed in a combat kimono "We regret your comments, she was very nervous on the cruise and, besides, all the boys stay away from her a little"
"Izumi!" Zenya growled slightly, smiling nervously as he pulled out a fishbowl-like sphere, grabbing the piranha with some water and putting it inside "That doesn't matter now, eh, I'll introduce you to my team, you already know me, I'm Zenya Meyer, the team leader"
Zenya waited for the other girl to introduce herself, but she just didn't, so she had to do it herself "This is Izumi Hanamura, she's the quiet and serious one of the team, don't pay too much attention to her"
In a strangely comical way, two other girls came out from behind Izumi, one of them seemed to be dressed like a witch, her hair was green and short, her eyes purple, she hid slightly behind Izumi, while the other girl, with somewhat long blonde hair and cheerful green eyes, stood right next to Zenya.
"The one hiding is Zira Makris, she's from here in Vale, but you know, she wanted to take a walk in the mountains and ended up moving, she's shy so she won't talk in front of anyone else" Zenya waited for a few seconds to be surprised by Zira's voice, however, she simply hid behind Izumi and didn't say anything.
"I'm Uri Kozlov! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Uri, the blonde girl with glasses, squeezed each of the boys' hands, smiling brightly and sweetly "I hope we can be friends"
"Well, we already know you, Waylon Branwen, Bryan Xiao Long, Roy Schnee…and one is missing" Zenya pointed to an empty space, where Neithan should theoretically be "He is Ruby Rose's son…"
"He's not available at the moment" Waylon added quickly, trying not to raise suspicions from the outsiders "We better get to Beacon before it gets dark"
Waylon quickly grabbed Zenya's hand and quickly dragged her into the city, Bryan and Roy followed him at a somewhat hurried pace, while the rest of the girls stayed with Izumi, seeing the interesting and new aesthetic that the festival had brought to Vale.
From afar, Riana raised an eyebrow as she watched Waylon take the faunus' hand, she wasn't going to pay much attention to it, he clearly looked in a hurry.
The WBRN team, or at least three of its members, were to get the ZIZU team to Beacon as quickly as possible.
...
This area of the city was definitely horrible.
Neithan felt unsafe and scared in this area of Vale City, homeless people were practically normal in every dark corner of some business or apartment complex, the look of the criminals was aggressive with quite dark intentions, forcing the boy to stick a little closer to the adult man.
Any intention they had of harming him disappeared once they saw Mercury Black accompany Ruby Rose's son.
Mercury had vaguely mentioned some valuable information about this area, more locally known as the Stray Zone, a way of saying that everyone here was on their own, the kingdom's council ignored them because of their daily crime and murder rate, ever since Beacon fell, crime had become much more common in this area than before, perhaps too much, which was worrying.
Neithan looked around once more, recognizing some men and women dressed in black, very elegant, with red glasses that did not allow him to see their eyes, from what he knew and from his last confrontation with Felicia Torchwick, they must have been part of the black bear syndicate.
Controlled by the Malachite twins.
Mercury apparently had a certain reputation in this area, in addition to having it throughout the world, no one dared to mess with him for being somewhat different from the rest, he did not hesitate to hurt whoever was a threat to his family and he made that clear, if you did not mess with him, nothing bad was going to happen to you, that is why he had not stopped the Malachite twins before.
"The twins have control of the Stray Zone in more ways than one, no one dares give these people a job in a flower shop, before you know it, they've stolen your cash register, and your flowers too" Mercury held the teenager close, pointing a finger at some member of the black bear syndicate "So, they come and offer a job, to be their lackey, the pay is good and has several benefits, they take advantage of the desperation of the homeless, it's a pretty good business strategy, I must admit"
"Why don't you stop them?" Neithan frowned, Mercury looked at him for a few seconds, then looked back at the front again "Yes…if Sapphire lives here, isn't she at risk of getting into trouble?"
"Messing with a criminal network isn't so easy these days, Roman Torchwick had any luck in the past, now? There's too much politics involved" Mercury explained calmly "My daughter knows where to mess with and who to mess with, and if you don't mess with the twins, you'll be fine"
Mercury and Neithan stopped in front of a somewhat tall, but narrower building, its structure seemed to be a little old, but it also seemed to have been renovated perhaps a decade ago, if the boy guessed, it must have been a building affected by the fall of Beacon, which could be restored due to the little damage.
I look at the two huge wooden doors, then notice a metal plate on the side of said doors, Sustrai-Black orphanage.
"This is my orphanage" Mercury said calmly, ringing the bell next to the door "But it is best known for my wife, I only come here from time to time to play with the children"
"You don't seem like someone who plays with children" Neithan spoke before thinking, realizing his fatal mistake just a few seconds later "I-I mean, you seem really serious and, well, you don't seem to be…the type who likes…children?"
"Sure" Mercury muttered, the door finally opened with some difficulty, Neithan suddenly stopped breathing, a middle-aged woman opened the door, dressed in rather casual clothes, like a housewife, her figure was very attractive, her skin was dark, her eyes were red like cherry, and her hair was a green color very similar to mint.
"Oh, Merc!" Emerald Sustrai approached her husband with a radiant smile, quickly surrounding him and kissing him firmly on the lips, Mercury responded to the gesture by surrounding his wife's hips and pressing her closer to him, Neithan looked away blushing, whistling discreetly.
Emerald and Mercury continued kissing for a few seconds, before the woman noticed the nervous silver-eyed man, she carefully separated from her husband, leaning her head forward, almost apologizing. "I didn't see you there, you must be Ruby and Oscar's son, Neithan, wow, you're huge!"
Emerald walked over to the boy, grabbing his cheeks and using them as if they were play-doh "I changed your diapers when you were just a baby, and look at you now!"
"Is that true?" A younger voice, almost laughing, forced Neithan to look behind Emerald, finding Sapphire, who waved at him "Hey, Neith"
"N-No, I don't, well, I don't know" Neithan muttered nervously, his cheeks finally being released "I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Sustrai, you already know me, so there's no need to introduce myself."
"The boy came with me on a matter regarding the Malachite twins" Mercury commented, noticing his daughter's disapproving look, perhaps for mentioning the subject, or for the mere fact of his presence at the orphanage "So he wants to… know some things"
"I see" Emerald murmured, grabbing her chin "So, Sapphire, darling, take Neithan to your room while I prepare food for the children, okay?"
"Is it necessary?" Mercury quickly interrupted.
"They're teenagers, leave them alone" Emerald grabbed Neithan by the shoulders and led him into the orphanage, The boy laughed nervously and simply stood behind Sapphire, leaving both adults at the entrance once again.
Neithan paid as much attention to the surroundings as she could, trying to distract himself from Sapphire, the walls of the place looked as rustic as the outside, although they were very elegant and fine in a way, the walls were wallpapered and decorated both above and below with a wooden plaque with a design of its own, the floor had an expensive-looking carpet that largely cancelled out the sound of footsteps, leaving only a sound as an environment.
The children's one.
Neithan heard several children, perhaps a dozen, perhaps more, screaming and talking relatively close by. She couldn't locate them because she didn't fully understand the structure of the orphanage, but they must have been close by.
"Sapphire!" Almost as if it were an omen, a very young girl appeared next to a piece of furniture, blonde with pigtails, navy blue eyes and pale skin, a very bright and bright pink dress "Who is he?! Is he your boyfriend?"
"No, he's not my boyfriend" Sapphire leaned forward slightly, forcing Neithan to look away once more "He's a friend"
"He is very red" The girl mentioned innocently, Neithan turned quickly, finding the rest of the children, of various sizes and multiple characteristics "He looks a lot like-"
"Ruby Rose!" The children pounced on Neithan with much more force than he would have expected, knocking him to the ground and beginning to hug him tightly.
"Let him go" Sapphire laughed sweetly, carefully moving each of Neithan's children away. "He's Ruby Rose's son, but he can't stay out to play for long"
The children moaned and complained adorably, Neithan stood up and said goodbye to each of them, being dragged by Sapphire down some stairs until reaching a room, one certainly different from the rest.
Maybe because of the sign that said knock before entering.
Sapphire's room was perhaps as Neithan would think it would be, it was somewhat spacious, with quite a few posters on the walls of various important people within the media world of Remnant, Coco Adel, some popular bands, and ironically, Ruby Rose.
Curious, to say the least.
Sapphire stood in front of her bed with some caution, lifting the mattress and taking out a pack of cigarettes, she turned around, perhaps waiting for Neithan to say something or show some expression, but he didn't seem to be very interested in that, so she sighed somewhat relieved.
Neithan approached a small piece of furniture, presumably full of clothes, there were some framed photos on top, not that many, maybe five or six, Sapphire changed age in each one, looking like a little girl or a young teenager.
"This place is really nice" Neithan commented with a friendly smile, waiting patiently for Sapphire to invite him to sit down, and so she did "It's like you have hundreds of siblings to play with and have fun with"
"They don't last that long" Sapphire replied, not really meaning to sound pessimistic or aggressive, she was just being too honest "No child here lasts more than 2 or 3 years, they always end up being taken away sooner rather than later, In my opinion, it's a success for business"
"Oh, I see" Neithan's smile faltered for a moment, but quickly returned to its place "Still, it's very nice, being able to share entire days or weekends with the children, playing with them, they're like family, you even share the same parents"
Sapphire's brow furrowed slightly, as she took a lighter from her pocket and used it to light the cigar, smoking it with some irritation "Well, get my father out of that family photo, he doesn't...appear much"
Neithan's expression turned neutral, while he simply remained silent, Sapphire enjoyed her cigarette a little more for a few seconds, the silence became somewhat uncomfortable, so she looked at Neithan in search of a reason.
He didn't do anything or say anything, apparently he wanted her to talk.
Of her problems, if I was to suppose.
Sapphire hesitated, she and Neithan were friends, yes, but they were certainly not close nor did they know much about each other, the girl could silently admit that she was not much of a friend or popular, no, her team, SSTR, was already enough of a problem with how dysfunctional they were as a team and their few similarities, it was practically a miracle that they were suddenly united enough to win one of the qualifying matches for the tournament.
But Neithan?
He was certainly nice, very cute and childish, it was quite noticeable that he avoided talking about topics he liked because he considered them to be very, well, childish, she didn't feel bothered by it, she liked being with him, even if his crush on her was almost too obvious.
It was also no reason to deny him some information.
"My father doesn't spend much time at home, he's always out, keeping Remnant safe…or at least that's what he says" Sapphire muttered softly, holding the cigarette in her fingers, slowly losing herself in her thoughts "He hasn't been to many of my birthdays, hell, when mom found out I started smoking she went crazy…but when he did notice, he didn't seem to care in the slightest"
"When I first started dating guys, he at least showed a little interest, but that doesn't matter" She put the cigarette back to her lips, sighing heavily "At least you have an amazing mother, Ruby Rose, It must be great that she tells you about her fights and victories before you go to sleep"
"Hehe, yeah, very cool" Neithan tried to laugh genuinely, but instead managed a nervous laugh that betrayed his reaction to Sapphire's comment, the girl noticed this and looked at him from the side, waiting for him to feel comfortable following up on her words "Actually, it's not that cool"
Neithan sighed lightly, his expression falling a bit "Mom wasn't always home, and when she was, she could sleep for days on end…Dad and I never complained out loud, but we did suffer quite a bit"
Neithan felt his eyes sting slightly for a moment, almost as if his body was asking him to unleash the frustration and anger he had been building up all these years, the boy rubbed his eyes quickly, feeling a little more emotional than before.
Being Ruby Rose's son was problem after problem for him, the excessive expectations on him started since he was too young, he was not as clever as his mother, he was not as strong as her with the scythe, he could never be, she was a prodigy and he…
He was normal.
Even if he tried hard to imitate her in every other way, he dressed like her, he tried to talk like her so he could feel good about himself, it was part of who he was, but the rest didn't seem to like that part, they made fun of him for looking too childish, or for talking about television series and video games that teenagers had already left behind.
It was frustrating, quite a bit, at Beacon things hadn't changed one bit, now he had three teammates who were his family, capable of demonstrating their skills and intelligence, their social skills, what's more, if he thinks about it, he hadn't caught the attention of any girl in the process.
Everyone looks at him like a child, at Beacon they look at him like a child.
"I'm sorry" Neithan felt a single tear fall from his eye. He quickly rubbed his face, trying to push away the negative emotions "I look dumb"
"No" Sapphire had been by his side for some time, even if he hadn't noticed, she quickly put her arms around his shoulders, drawing him into a rather warm hug "I understand, don't worry"
Neithan sighed softly, the feeling of Sapphire's body next to his was different than the other times, he didn't feel nervous at all, he felt safe, safe in a different way than he had ever experienced before.
Sapphire was different from the rest, she clearly saw him as a friend, she didn't want to have anything romantic with him, perhaps because of his physical appearance or his clear immaturity, but now he felt like he had some kind of connection with her.
She felt similar to him, she didn't have many friends in Beacon besides her extremely dysfunctional team, Neithan was a sweet and adorable boy, even having within him a childish spark typical of a little boy, now that she knew what he suffered, she had a little more respect for him.
They were more alike than they thought.
"Sapphire, your mother is done preparing the food, boy, we can talk now-" Mercury Black entered the room with a neutral expression, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of his own daughter's and Neithan Rose's arms intertwined, his temper changing to a clearly tense and suspicious one "What are you doing?"
"Nothing! Nothing! We were just talking" Neithan quickly separated from Sapphire, the warmth quickly deformed into an irrational fear upon seeing the man's expression, while Sapphire snorted in annoyance and looked to the side, noticing the cigarette she herself put out "Thanks for inviting me, Sapphire"
"It was my mother but, it's okay" Sapphire laughed lightly, Neithan smiled nervously and quickly left with Mercury, now sinking into a strange and tense atmosphere.
...
"I have been in the Stray Zone since Salem's defeat, once the world was free of so much drama I moved here with Merc, we wanted to start a new life, the crimes we committed were forgiven for having helped your mother in that adventure of hers" Emerald enjoyed her meal peacefully, pausing to be able to speak calmly, the gigantic table was only being occupied by her, her husband and Neithan "But we were not the only ones"
"I always knew about Felicia, well, more like, I always suspected her, when Merc and I worked for Roman, he would act peculiar from time to time, trying to hide so he could talk to someone, we never managed to find out who they were, the most we managed to discover was that the dwarf with the ice cream name also knew about Felicia" Emerald explained cautiously, trying to remember as best she could her time as Roman Torchwick's temporary henchman "You know who she is, right? Neopolitan?"
"She's a war criminal, she helped Salem and… she was looking for revenge on my mother for something" Neithan shrugged, she never knew who Neopolitan was or why he was looking for her mother, Ruby was never precise with the information "Where is she now?"
Emerald glanced at her husband for a second, receiving a nod from the silver-haired man "She died in the fall of Atlas and her body has not been found, she was Torchwick's lover, his girlfriend, but she was not Felicia's mother…no, her mother is still alive"
"Who is it?" Neithan asked, his eyes lighting up with curiosity and interest.
"A while after Salem died, there was a change of leadership in a criminal organization in Mistral, the Spiders, they are called, led by lil miss Malachite, the mother of the twins" Emerald took a glass of wine served on the side of her plate, taking a small sip "She was killed and someone else took over, so multiple members of the Spiders defected and came to Vale…one Spider is Felicia's mother, and she's here, in the Stray Zone"
"Great!" Neithan smiled happily, quickly standing up and hitting his knee against the underside of the table. He groaned in pain, sitting back down now embarrassed, hearing Emerald's small laugh. "And…where is it specifically?"
"That's the thing, we never knew about it" Mercury finally deigned to speak, the man stretched out his arms and placed them behind his head, leaning back slightly in the chair "The Malachite twins apparently protected Felicia's mother for a while, and that's why the brat herself worked for them in the beginning, but…the twins discovered something and tried to kill Felicia's mother, it was a boom in these parts, the thing is that Felicia managed to hide her mother and now we are where we are"
"She seeks revenge" Neithan muttered softly, feeling like he had discovered something shocking "Thank you, Miss Sustrai and Mr. Black, I appreciate it very much"
"Just take care of my daughter while you're at the academy" Emerald said with amusement in her voice, causing Neithan to blush slightly and Mercury to frown.
...
Things in Beacon didn't change enough unlike the port, foreign students were still the sensation and that was more than noticeable, everyone was interested in getting to know each other, and no one could really blame them.
"This place is very big, Rovemid is also big but, it's…like caves" Zenya rubbed her shoulders vigorously, laughing strangely at the warmth that the atmosphere gave her "Aaah...I love Beacon"
"Stay close to our team then, we have the responsibility to show you everything" Waylon replied, looking ahead in a pitiful attempt to find his way to the foreign student dormitory building, instead, he came across Verena Adel, greeting him vividly.
"I see you've already started your womanizing days" Verena said with a mischievous smile, pointing at the ZIZU team "But something more important than that was crossing my mind, tell me, Waylon, are you going to the festival dance?"
"Dance?" both Waylon and his team and Team ZIZU asked.
"There will be a ball before the tournament starts, so we can bond with the foreigners, spice up the fights a bit, and it's also an excuse to have fun" Verena laughed softly, pointing at the stupidly large number of students around "Of course it's not public yet, but, EVLV will take care of the ball, the location, the food" She leaned slightly into the red-eyed man's ear, whispering conspiratorially "The alcohol"
Waylon blinked a couple of times, his eyes momentarily focused on a figure standing out from a corner, black hair with red tips and silver eyes, a childish face and a somewhat irritated expression, as if it had been calling him for hours-
It was Neithan.
"We'll leave them to you" Waylon said, grabbing Bryan and Roy by the arms and dragging them towards Neithan, leaving Team ZIZU next to Verena.
...
"So Felicia's mom is somewhere in the…uh, Stray zone?" Bryan asked quietly, the WBRN team having gathered near their dorms in an uncrowded corner "Then we have to go find her"
"We'll need Ruby's help, as always" Waylon put his hand over his mouth, trying to come up with a quick plan in his head "If we go after Felicia on our own, the other guy will probably show up again…Ruby never told us who he is, but, he must be important"
"If he put her in trouble, then we have no chance" Roy said, already aware of the complications that could arise "Felicia kicked our asses and could have killed us…at the end of the day, we're just Ruby's support"
"Okay, let's go to Oscar's office" Waylon turned around, followed closely by Neithan and Roy, though Bryan didn't immediately follow, instead turning around and heading in the direction of his room.
"I have to go get something, wait!" Bryan shouted loudly, not bothering to turn around to see his teammates, he continued calmly to his room, entering and leaving in less than a minute, as he only returned for a couple of important items.
Earplugs.
"Where are you going?" A female voice suddenly stopped Bryan, he recognized her quite well, she was soft, but there was a somewhat marked accent in those few words, perhaps a bit of sarcasm and mischief painted there, Monica Kogan was recognizable anywhere "You seem to be in a hurry"
"Oh, yeah! I'm going somewhere" Bryan bit his tongue, determined not to say anything that might give him away "I'd like to stay longer to talk, but I have to go"
Monica frowned, Bryan was certainly bad at lying or avoiding looking like he was hiding something, she had nothing to do right now, so, she could afford to play around a little.
Calmly and slowly, she placed her hand on the taller boy's arm, rubbing it lightly "And I can't come with you?"
Bryan opened his mouth, letting out a small gasp of surprise, his pale cheeks turning a light pink, but he didn't pull away "Well…it's not that I didn't want to, but, it's just something between me and my team, you know?"
"I saw you earlier with that team of girls, are you going with them somewhere?" Monica asked softly, her acting skills were quite enviable in the tribe, she was able to convince practically any boy or even man to give her whatever she wanted, she just had to speak with a certain tone of voice and know what to do "Do you want to make me jealous?"
"Of course not" Bryan finally responded, wrapping his arms around Monica's shoulders and pulling her into a warm hug, the girl gasped at the sudden movement, merely hugging back, almost trembling "I have to go somewhere in the city, near the Stray Zone, we're going to find a bad guy related to the Branwen tribe"
"The tribe?" Monica murmured, still with her cheek on Bryan's chest, she sighed, half irritated and half nervous "Then I can't waste your time, kitty"
Bryan laughed lightly at the certainly strange and embarrassing nickname, he separated from Monica and smiled at her one last time before running in the direction of his uncle Oscar's office, Monica put a hand on her chest, somewhat strange and angry.
Why was she so nervous? It was just a measly hug.
Monica sighed in annoyance one last time, taking out her considerably old Scroll and sending a message to a contact.
WBRN is doing something at Felicia's old playground.
...
The most dangerous area of the city had not changed much since her last visit, things seemed to remain the same as the last time Ruby Rose and the WBRN team had looked, the homeless, the criminals, were still there.
Now, the mission was different.
Both WBRN and Ruby devoted themselves to asking and asking different people about Felicia Torchwick, receiving certainly mixed responses and with different levels of aggressiveness and apathy, some directly refused to dialogue for the simple fact of speaking with people more privileged in their point of view, while others decided to let off steam and insult them a little.
The results were not the best.
Waylon sighed in disappointment when a lady simply insulted him for being the son of Winter Schnee, he was not going to be aggressive and try to hit her or something similar, no, he had to meet up with the rest and see what he had managed to discover.
The boy looked around, trying to kill time, the sight of people of different ages sleeping on the floor, dirty and clearly emaciated, turned his stomach, he had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth because of who his parents were, what's more, he was even lucky: his father was a reformed alcoholic and his mother was a businesswoman with megalomaniacal problems.
I was very lucky.
The boy finally returned to the visible street, meeting up with the rest of his team "Did you get anything?"
"No" Neithan replied quietly, rubbing the back of his head "I think we should call it a day, we'll go ask your mother later, right Waylon?"
"Yes, but I would like to delay that a little bit" Waylon answered honestly, making clear to his companions his emotions towards his mother "We should look for Ruby and-"
Waylon remained silent when a powerful rumble echoed around him, when he looked up, he saw a dark-colored object falling from the sky, both he and his team squinted to get a better look at the object, within seconds, their expressions changed to ones of panic as they realized it wasn't an object, but a person.
Both Waylon and Roy created glyphs on the ground, thus preventing Ruby from making a crater.
The WBRN team approached Ruby in alarm, analyzing the damage as quickly as possible, Waylon was the first to speak "What happened to you?!"
"Yin is here, again" Ruby grunted, standing up with some ease, the woman looked around, frowning at the ball of people that was forming around her "I need you to make a perimeter and send those people home"
"Understood" Waylon nodded without hesitation, he and his team approached the group of people and began trying to convince them to move away, receiving mostly aggressive responses, Ruby adjusted her neck with a crack, preparing to go after Yin.
It was not necessary.
Ruby barely blinked and was no longer in the Stray Zone, but was being grabbed by the neck and dragged through the city, the woman grunted slightly in pain as Yin used her like a rag doll, throwing her from side to side through the buildings.
Yin stopped and threw Ruby to the ground, placing himself on top of her and throwing multiple punches to her face, the woman felt the pain and raised one of her arms, managing to push Yin away and activate her semblance, deforming her body into a cloud of petals and disappearing into the air, Yin laughed in a very strange way, also using his speed semblance.
The scene was strangely beautiful.
Both used their semblances in the same way, moving through the city at high speeds and hitting each other in certain windows of vulnerability, Ruby had tried to knock Yin down using her scythe, failing in the process, he didn't seem to want to retreat, but they couldn't continue fighting here.
She needed to find a remote place, quickly.
Ruby suddenly stopped, desperately searching for somewhere that could fulfill her needs, the woman gasped when Yin appeared behind her, lifting her by the neck and throwing her against the window of a Dust shop.
Yin laughed lightly as his half-sister shattered the glass and fell to the ground "I don't like hurting my own sister, but this is the result of your position in all of this. If you continue to look for a way to stop Felicia, I will finish you off and the team of children you come with"
Ruby growled in annoyance, not because of her clearly disadvantaged position, but because of her sister's comment, she was not his sister, that was more than obvious, her father had only had two daughters, if Yang had a twin, she would know.
Ruby smiled as she remembered a certain place quite far from civilization and spacious enough to fight, Ruby did not give Yin an answer and transformed into the cloud of petals, flying in the opposite direction of the tent, Yin frowned and chased after her.
The path was certainly strange for him, the extension of the city had suddenly disappeared and now he was running on a greenish area full of grass, Yin only became even more stressed, the prolonged use of his semblance without pauses was capable of leaving him very tired, as it slowly burned the energy of his aura.
Ruby stopped and so did Yin, the man looked back with some pride, noticing the trail of electricity and burns created by the friction, looking around, he noticed half-finished buildings and destruction, something gloomy and sad.
Mountain Glenn, he was so stupid enough to not recognize the path.
"There are no more civilians involved" Ruby's voice forced Yin to turn around, the woman now had a much straighter posture, with her scythe placed on her shoulder, a half-smile of confidence now adorning her face "You will tell me where the tribe is, and who Felicia's mother is"
"I was always curious about what it would be like to have been raised by you and my twin sister, the three of us were never in the same room together, but I always felt a connection between you and her" Yin said with a calm composure, he placed his hand on the handle of his sword calmly, not even feeling threatened by Ruby's stance "How capable are you of crossing the line? Of killing me?"
"You know what I don't understand? You keep saying you're my brother" Ruby shook her head from side to side in annoyance "It's not funny, you're not getting under my skin and I don't believe you, If I had a brother, I'd know!"
"Tai is a man with a tumultuous past, he married Raven shortly after finishing his fourth year and she was already pregnant, twins, STRQ was very happy to add more members to the family, but my mother is not like the rest" Yin spoke seriously, Ruby frowned a little deeper, gripping her scythe tighter "She gave birth to me and my sister…but she took me with her to the tribe, leaving our father alone and broken, ready to be repaired by Summer Rose"
"Don't you dare speak of my mother" Ruby practically hissed, tightening her grip on the handle of her scythe and preparing to launch herself into an attack "You have no right, you are a nobody"
"But she wanted to defeat Salem, that's why she went with my mother to try to stop her, and how did it end?" Yin asked, Ruby's expression turned to one of total surprise, how did he know that? "She died, and Salem tore out her eyes to use her as a test dummy, no one could have told you that since our father didn't know…but you did"
"How…" Ruby muttered, her heart beginning to beat at a hurried and clearly nervous pace, her silver eyes totally fixed on Yin "Raven… did she say that to you?"
Yin smiled sweetly, making Ruby even more nervous "She did, she told me everything about the operation and how it went wrong, everyone was devastated by Summer's death, but no one said anything…"
"I'm tired of talking" Ruby grabbed her scythe firmly and lunged forward, hitting Yin's legs with the back of her weapon and flipping him over, with force, the woman lifted Crescent Rose and dropped her with all her strength on Yin's neck, slamming him against the ground and destroying part of it, creating a hole that began to expand rapidly.
Ruby turned into a cloud of petals and descended through the hole, the same hole in which Roman Torchwick had been using the White Fang to smuggle Dust, the woman fell to the ground with an emotion of anger and confusion combined, Yin rose from the ground slowly, now totally serious.
"Me too" Yin activated his semblance and unsheathed his weapon, clashing it directly with Crescent Rose and creating a powerful curtain of sparks that slightly illuminated the entire dark underground, Ruby took the lower part of her scythe and began to spin it while walking towards Yin, forcing him to walk backwards.
Yin calculated the precise moment and extended his hand, firmly grabbing the top of Crescent Rose's handle and launching a powerful right hook at Ruby's face, Yin followed up with a knee to the abdomen and finished with a powerful cut on part of her semblance, causing Ruby to be thrown in another direction.
"I won't feel bad about killing you" Yin muttered, more to himself than to Ruby, the man firmly took his sword and began to channel energy, his body was surrounded by a reddish aura different from the natural aura, the bluish electricity surrounded his body from one moment to the next, transforming into electricity with reddish tones, Yin's eyes lit up for a second, as he slashed the air.
The blade of the sword released a wave of crimson energy that traveled through the air at an impressive speed, Ruby moved to the side and barely managed to dodge the attack, the woman gasped for air, while Yin fell to one knee, trying to recover some energy.
They were both tired.
The ground began to shake, and the sky began to fall, Ruby forced herself to dodge a huge piece of concrete that fell from the sky, without thinking too much she activated her semblance and went out through the huge hole, letting herself fall carelessly at the foot of a shattered building, Ruby managed to half-distinguish a trace of electricity leaving the hole, Yin escaped, again.
Her, apparently, brother, had escaped again.
Ruby closed her eyes, totally exhausted, even if she could hear and feel the ground shake and crack, the situation that had been put on her head was much heavier than any type of collapse, she couldn't even concentrate on really getting to safety, she just needed to think.
She just needed to confirm it.
...
Tai enjoyed his room in Beacon to a certain extent, as the Headmaster's father-in-law, he had the opportunity to modify it as much as he saw fit, and so he did, placing a clearly rustic and classic Patch design, so at least he could feel a little at home.
Even if he didn't really enjoy being so alone.
Tai drank a little from the glass of wine he had in his hand, these last few days had been heavier and more demanding on a mental level, perhaps it was related to age, getting stressed out being a grandfather was not a good idea, however, he had the feeling that, in reality, it had nothing to do with that.
Ruby and Yin, have they met?
Tai didn't know much about the current secret group, the fact that he knew they existed was already a considerable detail, Oscar had asked if he wanted to be part of it as a support, but he refused, he was very old and preferred to enjoy life his way, it worked, he really enjoyed teaching at Beacon and being revered as one of the members of STRQ.
But he couldn't help but think about Yin, his son, and Ruby, his daughter, Tai knew perfectly well that Yin had no qualms about wanting to kill his sister if he saw it necessary, he had already been quite clear with him the last time, so he, as a father, had every right in the world to open his mouth and tell the truth.
Tai looked up when he heard a sound coming from his door, a knock. he approached without saying anything and opened it, finding his daughter, dressed in something much more casual than her Huntress clothes.
"Ruby" Tai hugged her without waiting another second, planting multiple kisses on the back of her neck, almost as if she were the same little girl he had held in his arms many decades ago "Are you coming to visit your old father unannounced?"
"I wanted to talk to you before I went home, Oscar and I spent a lot more time together with Neithan now that I'm back" Ruby commented nervously, receiving a smile from Tai, the woman walked in without expecting to be invited and sat down nervously on the couch, Tai followed her and sat next to her "I want to be direct this time"
"What's wrong?" Tai asked, feeling like he already knew what they were going to talk about.
"There's... someone, who's been stalking me in the city, a member of the Branwen tribe, he looks a lot like Raven... his name is Yin, Yin Branwen" Ruby said slowly, her heart racing as she saw her father's neutral face "You... know who it is"
Tai sighed, covering his eyes with his hand and rubbing his eyelids for a few seconds, before composing himself "Yes, he is your half-brother, Yang's twin"
There was the confirmation.
Ruby felt as if a bucket of cold water had fallen on her head, she didn't answer immediately, her hands began to tremble as multiple questions ran through her mind, Tai seemed to notice and decided to answer the most important one.
"He asked me not to tell you or Yang, it would only have caused more problems when you two were young…and especially considering the obsession Raven caused in my daughter" Tai said, his tone of voice painfully calm "I didn't know when he would bring it up…but, you know the truth"
"I don't understand" Ruby muttered, gently rubbing her hands together "If he's our brother…how could he want to kill me?"
"He is your brother, but he is Raven's son and the leader of the tribe" Tai stated, confirming another detail to Ruby, Yin was the leader, at least the second in command "He was raised and trained to be an assassin and to put the needs of his people before those of his own blood, I'm sorry, Ruby, I didn't want to hide it from you"
"It's okay" Ruby muttered, clearly it wasn't okay, lying to her daughters for her entire life was too much of a burden, even if she was already a much more mature adult than before. "So…will you tell Yang?"
"It's your decision" Tai placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze "Yang deserves to know the truth, and now he can join you in trying to stop Yin and make him pay for what he's done"
Ruby nodded slowly, letting herself fall on her father's shoulder and hugging him hesitantly, the man accepted the gesture calmly, even if inside he had already prepared his steely reaction to being rejected by his own daughter.
Ruby stood up and left without saying anything, too many things were going through her mind right now and she needed a well-deserved rest.
Even after so many years, her family still has a drama related to Raven Branwen and her bad decisions, and now, they had to add another member who had been hiding for decades, who was trying to kill her.
Ruby was genuinely tired of having to deal with Raven's mistakes.