Author's Notes:
-Happy New Year! Thank the universe, fate or whatever God(s) and/or Goddess(es) you believe in, that 2020 is finally over! I'm hoping 2021 will be better, but I will admit, I fear my optimism may be blind or some days even missing entirely. But enough about that! It's about time for the next chapter of EL, aka- Everlasting Light. Just because RWBY Volume 8 is on a long hiatus doesn't mean I have to be! Your not-so wicked witch is back, and it's time to continue the story!
-Also, wow, chapters in the triple digits and we're only in volume 4. How crazy is that?
In related news, I'm going to share the names of the original couple ideas that I created myself, just for kicks;
WarGods- Athena Bruna (OC) and Ares Adamos (OC)- Romantic and sexual
ColdMelody- Jacques Schnee and Bianca Delaney (OC)- Sexual on-off affair (one sided love on Bianca's side)
PowerTrip- Merla Valery (OC) and James Ironwood- Sexual, could become romantic
Of course, if you guys have any other ideas, feel free to throw them out there.
Alright, let's get this train moving again!
Sun felt the pounding on the door. He tried to press his back even further to prevent Ares from entering, but in the end he feared he was stalling his inevitable death. He looked at his right hand, handcuffed to the doorknob and sighed.
"Damn it, this is bad..." he grumbled to himself.
Now I really wish my teammates were here!
He felt the door budge a bit.
"Open up! I know you're in there!" Ares screamed.
I'm holding on for help that isn't coming. But how can I...?
Suddenly he felt himself lurched forward as Ares kicked the door open. Ares looked around for his target, and saw Sun on the ground, his left hand holding him up. The ram charged towards the monkey, only for Sun to close his eyes and conjure three clones of himself. Two of the clones fought against Ares, swinging their staves around as the third one looked at Sun's handcuff, trying to figure out how to set him free.
Ares got out his sword and sliced through the first two clones, in half, hurting Sun as though he had been slashed through, and almost broke his concentration. He focused and had used his third clone to hold his staff against the war god's Zweihänder.
"Give up!"
At that moment, Ghira and Kali had arrived and the former immediately tackled Ares as Kali ran to help Sun. Ares dropped his sword to focus on fighting Ghira. Sun's concentration give out and his sun clone vanished as he groaned in agony from the attack earlier.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."
Kali quickly took out a hairpin from her pocket and began picking the lock. Ares attempted to bring down the Zweihander on Ghira, only for him to catch the non-bladed edge with his own two hands and stab it into the ground, breaking the floor and scaring the heck out of the unlucky Revolutionist living directly below them.
Ghira then took Ares's arm and twisted it, causing him to scream in agony. He was quickly thrown against the wall.
As he fell down, cracks were shown on the wall as the 'war god' fall unconscious.
The older catwoman scrunched her eyebrows. "How did you even get in this mess?"
"I was handcuffed by Athena." Sun answered. Soon the lock was picked and he was freed. "Thank you." He ran forward, gesturing them to follow him. "Now hurry! Athena and Adam are getting away!"
They made their way through the hallway and to the rooftop stairway. As they ascended, the sounds of beating wings and loud footsteps was heard above them.
"I hear footsteps below. We need to hurry." Athena told Adam off-screen.
"Damn it... Ares had one job..." Adam cursed from above them.
As Sun and the Belladonna parents went up the second flight of stairs, Blake cried out, "You'll never get away with this!"
Offscreen, Adam dismissed her words. "We already have." was faintly heard.
Kali felt her heart tighten. "Blake?!"
And Ghira felt his blood boil. "What is that no good madman doing with her?!"
The rogue faunus and the High Leader's prisoner made it to the rooftop and kicked the door open. Adam threw Blake into a helicopter, slamming the door and grabbing onto a rail.
Roughly five seconds later, the other trio had made their way to the rooftop, only to find Athena flying away with Sienna's corpse.
Kali was frozen in shock and sorrow, seeing that Athena had gotten away. Sun and Ghira ran towards the helicopter as it took off. The former, who was faster, passed by him and jumped up, trying to grab the lower rail. Adam got out Blush and literally shot him down, sending him flying to the ground.
He screamed in pain as he hit the ground, his aura just beginning to flicker in a flash of yellow. "Damn it!"
"He's getting away!" Kali cried. "Now what?"
"There's a way to track them." He got out the G.P.S and pressed a button to enable a voice demand. "Track Blake Belladonna." He ran past them to the rooftop entrance door. "This way!"
Kali and Ghira soon followed behind him.
And now we have to go back down all those stairs. Ghira thought.
He then asked, "How is that G.P.S even working with the CCT system down?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." he answered as they descended. "Me and Blake think that it might possibly be magic, but we don't have time to question things."
Ghira huffed, "Magic? But that doesn't really exist."
"But how else do you explain Grimm?" Kali questioned. "And why huntsmen and huntresses never comes back from certain missions? Or... Woah!" She found herself tripping and nearly fell, only to be caught by Ghira taking her hand. "Thanks."
"I think we may be thinking too much." Ghira told her.
Are we thinking too much, or too little? Kali silently asked.
The former politicians quickly worked to catch up with their newfound ally, all praying they weren't too late.
In the beginning of the Mistralian night, Athena flew with Sienna's corpse high in the sky until she saw a forest down below her. She began her descent, carefully checking to be sure she wasn't watched or followed. Once she was sure was alone, she landed.
Alright. I need to find a lake or large body of water to throw her into. I still need to get Adam's friends out of jail though. Fortunately, I know someone who can do that.
The owl winged menace hid the corpse behind some bushes and threw some fallen tree limbs to further hide her. After being sure the corpse was hidden, she whipped out her scroll and called Ares. The phone rang a few times as she waited for him to answer before the timer of the phone call started ticking up.
A groan was heard before he answered, "Hello?"
The screen split up to show Ares with his back on the ground on the left, and Athena in the forest on the right.
"Ares? Are you alright?" she asked in concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," He stood up and stretched his legs, holding the Scroll in his right hand. "just waking up from being knocked out."
"Knocked out? What happened?"
"I saw two intruders on the screen from the dungeon below, so I challenged them to try and stop them." He slowly paced about the room, overlooking the damage done during the battle royale. "One was a human girl, the other a monkey tailed faunus. I almost had them, but the girl called me by name and bested me in my confusion. It was then I realized the human girl was actually Blake Belladonna, a former White Fang member who was believed to have died and/or went missing during the Forever Fall Dust Raid mission in Vale." He stopped, putting his back to the charred exit doors. "However, by the time I escaped my bindings and caught up with the intruders, the girl was gone. My best guess was that one of you chose to deal with her personally."
The winged faunus smiled before turning serious again. "Adam took her to punish her, but what about the monkeyman?"
"Unfortunately he got away, with the help of two other intruders."
Athena scowled in response. "Curses."
"And I'm afraid it gets worse." The wise woman raised an eyebrow as Ares went on. "The two other intruders were Kali and Ghira Belladonna, the latter of which I've heard was the first High Leader of the White Fang and a very powerful opponent."
"Oh great." she sarcastically remarked. "As if I didn't have enough to worry about. Where are you currently?"
He folded his left arm to his right bicep. "In the room where it happened. Why?"
"I need you to close up the library, saying it's closed for cleaning/renovation, and then release Adam's allies. Their names are Hector Hamilton, Douglas Kinley and Ilia Amitola. Ideally, all three should be in the dungeons by now."
Ares was confused by her request. "That can be arranged, but why are you choosing to release them now? Shouldn't we interrogate them first to see what they know?"
"It's not my orders." Ares looked shocked, and after a moment, she hesitantly stated, "It's... Adam's."
The 'war god' blinked. "You mean... he's the new High Leader of the Fang?"
"Unfortunately so. I'm also stuck with deposing of Sienna's corpse." She gave a heavy sigh. A moment of silence passed as Ares wondered how to respond. Athena stated, "No matter. We should still be able to proceed with the remaining operations as planned."
The ram horned faunus raised his left eyebrow. "You're not concerned with Adam becoming the High Leader?"
"I will admit that defeat stings and burns, but there's more than one way to skin a cat, Ares. Not to mention I believe there's a high chance that his goals align with mine. I just need to be patient, see where this goes, and plan accordingly. I guess in a way, this will help me to become more flexible in planning, which has always been a weakness. In the meantime, tell Adam's friends that we have forged an alliance in the aftermath of his death. That is all you will tell them while me and Adam work out the finer details of the death. Is that clear?"
Ares smiled. "Crystal."
"Excellent. Now if you excuse me, I still have a corpse to get rid of."
"Good luck, my lady love."
"I love you too, my brave warrior."
She hung up and retrieved Sienna's corpse. She roamed through the forest for a few minutes until she found a lake. She set Sienna's body down, got out a reusable bag and looked at her possessions. The temporary undertaker carefully removed Sienna's weapon, the headless Cerberus Whip, and washed off the blood in the lake before setting it to dry.
Hmm... What have we here?
The winged lady removed her cloak and cape, finding a bag of gold coins, Sienna's wallet (with Lien and other things in it), a water bottle, her scroll, a tube of chapstick, some MREs and rations of salted squirrel meat, and a black drawstring bag.
Lots of cash, very nice. Also helpful. Good to have. Perhaps I could use these later... And a mystery bag with unknown items. It'll be fun to go through that later.
Athena picked up the black bag, feeling it to be heavy, so she opened it and found a large black book. She pulled it out and read the title.
"The Truth About the Dark Goddess." she read aloud. "Hmm... Seems like an interesting read."
She took the book and placed it back into the black drawstring bag. Then she put the whip into the reusable bag, along with all the other items she had looted. "Well, Sienna, it seems I never knew you, but alas, your plans to stop me have all failed. How does it feel, knowing that in the end you failed to stop me? If only you could see the wrath I will unleash upon humankind. You destroyed my ice and fire dust sword World's End, but yet, you will never see the end of the human-dominated world. Tis a pity you won't see my greatest accomplishment. Alas, sacrifices must be made, and you were no exception. I'm afraid this is farewell Khan." She took Sienna's corpse, flew a few feet into the air and dropped her into the lake. "So long and good riddance."
Her body sunk into the lake, shown falling lifelessly down as the moon illuminated the water below. Her arms were outstretched, as if trying to reach something, but a corpse couldn't reach for anything. The lifeless Sienna had hit the bottom of the lake, even bouncing upward before finally settling down. A cloud of dirt from the lakebed was seen in wisps before dissolving into the water. And thus, the truth was buried in a watery grave.
Back above the water, Athena flew above the lake, smirking as she took a moment to revel in Sienna's death.
Without another word, she swept down, took the bag, threw it over her right shoulder and ascended higher until she was high enough to enough detection. She moved her right hand to the handle of her bag and started flying back to her fortress.
Meanwhile, Qrow Branwen had made it to Omega. The sun was setting over the coastal village. With Harbinger over his back, he examined the city from the rooftops. He jumped down and made his way to the pier. He saw a ticket vendor, zoned out and not paying attention to anything around him.
"Hey um, I don't mean to bother you, but have you seen this girl or her friends?"
The man shook in a mixture of anger and terror. "What you want with them?!" He looked around frantically. "Do you want to hurt her too?!"
"No, I'm trying to help them. That red-cloaked girl is my niece and I want to protect her."
"Well, she and her friends left on a ship for Aslolis about two weeks ago."
"Oh boy... When's the next ship?"
"It's not going to be back for a long time. Three to four months."
"Oh boy..." The bad luck charm turned away and was about to leave.
The ticket vendor spoke with lament, "Sorry I can't help you."
He turned back to briefly address his statement. "It's not your fault. I just need some time to think."
Qrow turned away and made his way through the village.
Hmm... If Tyrian learned that Ruby and her friends left for Aslolis, no doubt he's planning to catch up with them one way or another. The image of Tyrian from the Red Spring newspaper came to his mind. He may even be in this village as we speak... Before fading away. On the other hand, he may already be gone by now. But more importantly, how am I going to get to Aslolis? He internally sighed. I don't want to wait for very long. Not if I can help it. After a moment, the drunkard then realized... Not to mention the ship ticket is likely to be expensive.
He made his way to a wooden bench and took a sip from his flask.
I could turn into a bird, and hitch a ride on a ship, but I'd likely still need to turn back to human every once in a while. And if I'm caught in human form, I could end up in jail again. Or worse. I could fly across the seas, which would likely reduce the risk of being caught, but I might not find ships to land on. I know I can fly far in bird form, but if my wings tire out, I'll fall into the ocean, which would not be good at all. So it's either wait, stowaway, or ship-hop and stowaway.
The drunkard sighed and took a bigger sip from his flask. Why couldn't I have my sister's semblance? It would make this so much easier...
He looked above him to see a black feather floating down and landing in his hand.
"Well, speak of the Devil." Qrow spoke. He saw the raven above him and looked around- no one paid any attention to them. "I know you're there Raven. Stop hiding."
The bird landed on the bench and stood up in her human form. "I'm surprised you're here of all places." Raven remarked. "Shouldn't you be doing favors for the deceased?"
"I was, but now I have more important matters to tend to."
She sat down next to him with a smirk. "So who killed him?"
The dusty old crow folded his arms and scowled. "Why should I tell you? You turned your back on Ozpin, and everyone one else that seemingly mattered to you."
The leader of thieves gave him her meanest glare. "Tell me."
His scowl softened to a resting frown. "Well if you must know... It was Cinder Fall, the newly ascended Fall Maiden."
Raven looked horrified at the revelation. "The Scarlett Family Line has been broken."
"I didn't think you cared." Qrow quipped.
"I'm concerned for the sake of the world." Raven retaliated. "And if there's a rogue evil maiden on the loose, who's to stay that she won't come after the Spring Maiden? Or any other maiden for that matter?"
The veteran huntsmen leaned his head towards her. "Why would you mention Spring first above all others?"
"She's just the first maiden that came to mind." Raven answered half-truthfully.
Qrow raised an eyebrow and questioned, "You know where the Spring Maiden is, don't you?"
"No I don't." Raven answered. "Why would I know where the Spring Maiden is? Rosa Vernal has been missing for ten years."
"Riddle me this, sis. You left Ozpin and your daughter nearly twenty years ago. If you've been MIA for that long, how did you know that Rosa Vernal ascended to power?"
Raven realized her mistake too late.
Aw shit. she thought. I walked right into that one.
She didn't answer; she couldn't answer. If she answered truthfully, it would spill the secret that she had worked so hard to keep hidden.
"Let me rephrase the question;" Qrow stated after a moment or two of silence. "Where is she?"
"I don't know. And even if I did know, why would I tell you?"
"You know something, but you're not going to tell me, are you?"
Raven remained neutral as she sternly folded her arms. "Nope."
"If you're not going to tell me, then we're done here." Qrow said flatly. "I have more important matters to attend to."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
"Finding my niece- the one who didn't lose her arm during Beacon's fall."
Without another word, Qrow got up and walked away, leaving his sister in a strange medley of worry, confusion and sorrow. She ran away, ignoring the few looks she got from those she passed by, and made her way to an alley. Once alone, she transformed and took off to the skies.
Yang lost her arm... Not like I didn't know already... I know I can't help her forever... She sighed. And just when I think it can't get worse. It's bad enough that one line is broken... Raven thought. I can't let Qrow learn that two maiden family lines have broken. First Spring, and now Fall... Will Winter or even Summer crumble?
The raven created a portal and flew into it before the portal vanished.
All the while, Adam carried a blindfolded and gagged Blake over his shoulder as he entered an abandoned warehouse.
"Who goes there?" a foreign male voice asked.
Adam glared at the intruder, the camera showing a cloaked person with faunus nightvision. "You can see us?"
"Yeah I can, I'm a faunus!" the voice answered.
The camera showed Adam and the bound Blake with night vision. Adam glared at the faunus stranger, asking him, "Who are you?"
The stranger folded his arms. "I should be the one asking you that question."
"I am the High Leader of the White Fang. Are you a Brother of the Fang?"
"Yes, but I was told by my ex-lieutenant that the High Leader was a woman named Sienna Khan, and you do not look or sound female."
"There's been a change in management if you will. And she trusted me to lead the White Fang in her absence."
"And what proof do you have of this claim?" the faunus stranger asked.
The new High Leader got out the Badge of Leadership. "Identify yourself."
"As you wish, High Leader." He breathed in as Adam looked on impatiently and Blake looked on in confusion. "I am known by many names, but you have likely heard of me as Wungeng."
Adam looked in surprise. "Wungeng?"
Wungeng?! The Vacuan White Fang leader? Blake mentally asked in terror.
"If you're the Vacuan White Fang leader, then why are you here? Also, why are you hiding your faunus trait when you're a member of a group meant to help faunus rise above?"
"To answer your first question, I'm having some problems in Vacuo right now. As for your second question, well..." He hesitated for a moment. "Let's just say that I've taken great lengths to avoid the people in my past. I can't risk anyone recognizing me." He looked at the tied-up Blake curiously. "And who's this hot human girl?"
Adam scowled. "Back off punk, she's mine." Wungeng took two steps back. "Also, don't let the bow fool you- underneath it she hides cat ears."
Wungeng titled his head, likely smirking under his cloak. "Really? How clever of her."
The new High Leader smiled contentedly. "She may be clever, but not clever enough to stop me." His smile faded. "You mentioned problems in Vacuo? What exactly are you referring to?"
"More recently, a group calling themselves 'The Crown' have been shaking things up in Vacuo City, seeking out powerful recruits to join their ranks. Some of my best and most loyal agents have deserted the Fang in favor of this new group. Even Argento Pocoron, my right hand, has deserted me! And I need Athena's help in order to stop them and finally get my own plans off the ground."
"Hmm... How interesting. I'll let you in on some recent news; in the aftermath of Sienna's tragic demise, I became the White Fang leader and decided to forge an alliance with Athena to end this senseless war between faunus. Faunus shouldn't be fighting against each other if it can be avoided. Perhaps if you aid me, I can set up a meeting between you two."
There was a brief moment of silence before he asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"First things first, we need to secure the prisoner where no one else can find her. Once that is done, I will contact my allies, tell them how I came to power and establish my authority as High Leader. I will inflict this traitor's punishment once they have learned the truth."
"I believe I saw a closet on the second floor that should suit her well."
"Take me there at once." the new High Leader ordered.
The two went forth at a quick pace. They traveled from the dark front of the warehouse to a dimly lit hallway. Wungeng's cloak was shown to be black under the dim light. Blake shook her head and knocked the cloth off of her mouth, allowing her to speak again.
"You'll never get away with this!" she proclaimed. "Athena may not care, but four other eyes saw the truth! You're the one who...!"
Adam quickly silenced her by putting his hand over her mouth.
"You killed Khan?" Wungeng asked.
"You can't prove any- eow!" He drew his hand back, seeing a slit in his glove from where it had been bitten. Blake spit out a piece of black fabric as Adam growled. "Cursed black cat..."
"How ambitious." Wungeng smirked. "I've heard of people who claw their way to top, and they end up being rather successful."
The new High Leader looked at him straightly, with a hint of curiosity. "You clawed your way to power as well?"
"Not quite to your extent, but yes, I did."
Blake quietly gasped.
He knows the truth, but he doesn't care. she thought. A new terrifying thought chilled her spine. Did he kill someone too?
The three of them soon arrived in front of a closet door and Blake was thrown in. Adam slammed the door shut and put a desk in front of the door to block it.
"Alright, that should hold her. Now we must get the full story out to everyone on my side and Athena's side to further solidify my new position of power."
The hooded figure folded his arms. "And how do you plan to do that?"
"We just need to get everyone on the same page. And I have a special role for you in mind."
Adam ran away from the closet, with Wungeng following closely behind.
In the closet, Blake silently sobbed to herself.
He had to have it all. she thought. But has he had enough? He's hurt my friends and killed Sienna for the sake of revenge and power. Her mind turned to her love. Sun... please be careful...
Sometime later, Ilia, Hector, Douglas and a small army of about thirty Revolutionists were seen in the main room of the warehouse that Adam had made his lair. Among the main crowd were messengers Negra and Addie. There was a small elevated platform with a podium and a microphone at the center, with staircases on both sides.
"Okay, can you guys say that this is really weird?" Hector asked his boss and cohort. "I mean, one minute we're enemies and prisoners of the Revolutionists and the next thing we know, we're not only released from jail, but told that they no longer wish to be enemies. They even gave us some of their men and women as a peace offering. Then we're all told to go this address to find Adam and seal the alliance between us and them."
"I will admit that it is weird, but what's weirder is that I feel Adam has something to do with this." She looked around. "Where is he anyway?"
"There he is." Douglas pointed to Adam speaking with a cloaked figure.
Adam's three friends made their way through the crowd and found him in the upper right corner of the room.
He smiled upon greeting them. "Ah, Douglas, Ilia, Hector. I'm glad to see you're alright."
And that Athena kept her word. Adam secretly thought.
"Adam, what's going on? Where's Sienna? Why are the Revolutionists now willing to work with us?" Ilia then looked at the cloaked figure. "And who is this guy?"
He sighed. "It's a long story. And another long story."
The chameleon looked on in confusion and concern. "Adam, are you sure it's wise to trust him? He won't even let his hood down. How do we know he's not actually a human in disguise?"
"He said he was Wungeng of the Vacuan branch." Adam told her.
She folded her arms, feeling a bit angry. "I find that hard to believe."
"You don't believe me? Fine. I'll prove it."
Wungeng let his hood down, showing his masked face. His hair was auburn, styled in a fohawk while his eyebrows were all bushy. He had a custom White Fang mask that partially covered the top of his head and had pink circles drawn around each eye.
"Okay, so he is a real White Fang member." Ilia stated.
"What would make you think that I'm not real?" He looked at her with a smirk on his face. "I'm very real."
The chameleon rolled her eyes.
"Ahem." Adam called for their attention, and Wungeng put his hood back up. "I know that these are not the best of circumstances to meet under, but alas, we must press on. Also I must find a way to tell you and our newfound allies all of the events that have transpired." Behind them, Wungeng moved to the back of the room. "I'd rather not repeat it again, so I'm going to tell you all at once."
Hector raised an eyebrow. "You're really going to allow the Revolutionists to be here when you tell us the events that occurred?"
"Of course. We're allies now, and I wish to be honest with all of them."
As the new High Leader made his way to the stage, he smirked and didn't see the concerned looks on Hector and Ilia's faces.