"Thank you again for agreeing to host this, Captain." Ghira Belladonna said as he was sat alongside Blake and Sun in a meeting room at the Menagerie Police Station, he wasn't going to sit idle after Blake explained to him about the situation with the Scroll they took from Ilia; The White Fang's plan to overthrow Sienna Khan, supplant Adam Taurus as the new High Leader and make an assault on Haven Academy in Mistral.
The Captain nodded as he heard the door clicking behind them to signal their other "guests" in this meeting. "Anything to help in this time, Sir…Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this and properly discuss."
The door creaked open and then taking the seats opposite of the trio were Corsac and Fennec Albain who had silently taken their seats and bowed their heads politely. "Your Grace." Corsac was the first to speak and then looked to the three with an unknowing look on his face. "You had asked for us to meet with you but were rather confused about the questions as to why."
"A White Fang Operative was seen outside of my home in the middle of the night, watching for who knows how long." Ghira explained as he maintained his hard stare on both of them, the very same gaze that held the authority to guide the White Fang back when he was the High Leader. "If it wasn't for my daughter and her friend catching them in the act, I'm not sure how much longer they would have kept doing it."
"Your Grace." Fennec placated as he bowed his head, his fox ears dipping as he talked. "The White Fang only seek safety for our brethren here in Menagerie, it seems only fair that we provide surveillance for the Chieftain and his family."
"White Fang members also don't wear masks in Menagerie but I saw one in the market AND that Chameleon girl was wearing one too." Sun remarked as he leaned forward with a serious look on his face, the events of the night before meant that he wasn't going to let this slide away too quickly. "From what I saw, they weren't too eager to just watch; The minute me and Blake saw them, they bolted and then I got this once we started to question them." He pointed out and then moved his shirt to reveal the scar on his chest. "Seems pretty aggressive for just protection measures…"
"I can assure you, young man…Our sole purpose is to protect the Faunus, this splinter group that we are looking into has been more troublesome to investigate…Which is why it disappoints us that so many of our brethren seek to sow the seeds of disruption." Corsac continued, though it was increasingly clear that the three of them were not immediately convinced.
"It makes us even sadder that Sister Ilia has chosen to follow in Adam Taurus's path, such a disappointing outcome for such a promising young acolyte in our ranks." Fennec chimed in as he mimicked Corsac's remorseful tone. "I have spread the word to our fellows that her actions equally do not speak for our brothers and sisters in the White Fang that aid Menagerie."
"And you've not had any suspicions about them leading up to this?" Blake asked, finding it hard to believe that two chief advisors and emissaries for the White Fang were nowhere near aware of what was going on in their territory, along with having the growing aggravation at seeing them deny everything.
Corsac bowed his head in deep regret as he revealed the next sentence. "Sadly, Young Blake…It is increasingly hard to know where allegiances lie after the incident regarding High Leader Khan…And her imprisonment."
The trio were aware that Adam had been planning something with Sinna Khan but even with the scroll they recovered from Ilia, all they were able to glean was the original plan of a possible assassination. "I'm sorry, incident?"
The tail behind Corsac swayed low in it's apologetic manner while he kept his head bowed. "Yes…We haven't spread it to the public in Menagerie yet but because you are the Chieftain, it is only right that we reveal this to you now: Sienna Khan has reacted…poorly to the news of what happened at Beacon Academy and she lashed out at our fellows in the main branch, she has been remanded into custody until we can elect a new High Leader."
Ghira jumped to his feet and slammed the desk as he had been both caught off guard by Sienna's supposed outburst and at the idea that she would do such at thing. "I've known Sienna ever since the White Fang's inception! She may be vengeful, more prone to rash actions and confrontational but I know for a fact that she would never EVER raise a hand against her fellow Faunus!"
"It's understandable that you would feel as such, Your Grace." Fennec followed up as he waited for Ghira to finish. "Which is why we are taking every precaution that this is followed in a quick and diplomatic manner, it is some small comfort that we were able to stop this before Sienna Khan followed the same example of vile Demon at Beacon Academy…That vile monster has Faunus blood on his hands because of his actions that day."
Nothing could have prepared anyone on either side of the table as Blake leapt from her seat and swung her hand directly into Fennec's cheek, knocking the Fox Faunus from his seat and crashing into the ground.
"Ms Belladonna!"
"BLAKE!"
Blake's ears were dipped so low that they almost touched the sides of her head, her gold eyes were practically burning with anger that could put Yang's to shame…She could barely tolerate these two turning Ilia into a scapegoat but there was no chance, excuse or words that would ever make her ignore this. "Don't you dare…Don't you…FUCKING DARE accuse Jae of any of this!"
"Blake, calm down!" Ghira said with a remarkable amount of shock that his normally calm and even tempered daughter was capable of this level of temper…Though who was it out of him or Kali that she got it from?
"No! No, I am not going to let these two badmouth someone who had nothing to do with the Faunus!" Blake snapped as she glared directly at Corsac and Fennec, the latter having gotten back in his chair and barely even reacted to her ire. "You two barely know Jae! He helped us when the White Fang were under the employ of Roman Torchwick, he risked his own life to help bring me back from a dark, dark place…He…" She was about to say something more but remembering that Yang wasn't the only person she ran away from made her throat ache to even muster the words.
"Young Blake, you must understand that what that…boy did during that recorded event changed things for the worse when he ripped apart that synthetic, though he may not have done it himself…His actions had resulted in the deaths of our White Fang brethren."
"YOU CA-"
"Blake." Ghira said softly as he placed a hand on her shoulder and helped her to sit back down, though it didn't stop her from burning holes in the two with her stare. "I understand being defensive but lashing out like this is not going to do anything but make things worse."
"Thank you, Your Grace." Corsac said with a thakful bow of his head. "It is truly refreshing to see diplomacy is still open t-"
"But condemning that young man for his race is equally as unhelpful." Ghira stopped the Albain sibling with an equally serious tone. "I won't deny that we didn't all see what happened that day…But by condemning him for his heritage and his circumstances won't make you a better person…It just makes you as bad as the humans who refuse to give us a chance."
Hearing that certainly took the wind out of their superiority as they realised the parallels, their words going with it. "Our apologies, Your Grace…We did not mean to offend." Fennec prostrated as he bowed his head.
"You needn't worry, we will make sure that Sister Ilia answers for this and that she knows of our disappointment of her actions." Corsac mentioned as he took a look at the three before they got up in sync. "You will not need to be concerned about her being around your estate anymore."
"We still have one thing to ask you about." Sun said before looking to the two Fox Faunus. "Did you know about Adam at all…Before the Fall of Beacon happened?"
There was a pause as the two didn't even blink. "I can assure you, young man…We were just as surprised as anyone else." Corsac said without any hesitation or change in his voice, something that Blake and Sun could easily pick out as a lie…Though Ghira was already suspecting them following the mask comment, hearing this made his doubts cement itself. "If you'll please excuse us…We have duties to attend to." He finalised as he and Fennec got to their feet and left the room, leaving the trio to their thoughts.
Hours had passed as Ghira and the Captain corroborated their story along with rewatching the footage from their meeting, looking over every expression and ever fleeting word that was spoken but despite their best efforts to prove that Corsac and Fennec were hiding something…There was only one thing that could be accepted as hardcore evidence.
"UNBELIEVABLE!" Ghira's temper finally snapped as he entered his home with Sun and Blake following behind him as he was finally away from prying public eyes and the only people around him were the people who knew about the situation.
"That was total garbage!" Sun agreed as he finally let out some of his own steam; He was genuinely shocked that despite looking like a pair of shifty characters, the Albain brothers' alibi was like teflon as any of their questions just slid off of them and any accusations didn't stick.
The two growled in frustration as they flopped onto chairs in the lounge. "We can't let them get away with this!" The two snapped at the same time, showing that despite Ghira's apprehension to him, they could at be on the same page with disliking people.
Kali's chuckle broke the silence and got the two to return to a somewhat more mellow state as Sun laughed sheepishly while Ghira grumbled. "Well, I suppose you two were bound to agree with each other sometime." She joked a little but then felt her worry return in a brief stint when Blake move past them all and went for her room. "Blake?"
Blake was tired; The outburst from earlier took a lot out of her emotionally along with the fact that the frustration was not lost on her either, they were nowhere closer to figuring out their plans. "We'll figure it out…I'm sure we will." She said to all of them before entering her room.
Blake's room was about as minimalist as her space in the Beacon Dorms and it was the one place that Ghira had forbade Sun from entering so she could have some peace and quiet. "Every time I think that we're closer to figuring something out, the wall just gets higher." She thought to herself before heading outside to the balcony, dismissing the nearby guard from her post since she'd be fine on her own.
The nights in Kuo Kuana were always peaceful at night, sometimes it bordered on unnerving due to the ambience of the trees but the dark was never a problem for the Faunus in any case…But aside from one Faunus who could make it a problem, this was one of those nights that had an underlying nerve to it.
"You need better security."
Blake jumped as she turned around and reached for her weapon when she heard the voice; On the lip of the roof was Ilia who had been sat there for some time but she didn't look like she was there for a fight. "You have some nerve…"
"Don't." Ilia protested as she held a gloved hand up to stop her. "I didn't come here to fight you."
"Fight me? The very first time we met each other after years and you tried to kill Sun! I don't know what Adam's taught you but that isn't the way I remember you, Ilia." Blake retorted as she kept her eyes on the Chameleon girl who jumped down silently so they could talk on the same level.
Ilia never removed the mask from her face but it was easy to tell that she was uncomfortable with trying to explain. "Look, I don't know what you were thinking but I really wasn't trying to fight either of you…I was to keep an eye on you and that's it."
"By who? Corsac and Fennec? Ilia, they've thrown you under the bus just to save their own skins!" Blake pointed out as she crossed her arms. "They talked about how disappointed they were in you and how you lost your way while following Adam…"
"You can't prove that…" Ilia protested as she shook off Blake's reprimand. "You've seen it firsthand that people don't listen when the Faunus protest peacefully or hand out pamphlets…They only listen when we start swinging at them."
Blake frowned, she knew that on some level that Ilia was right but she also understood that strategy wouldn't last forever. "I know that you want to fight back when you're pushed…Trust me, I know why; But working with those two? Helping Adam when you know that what he's doing won't benefit anyone else?"
Ilia remained quiet at that and even though her eyes were shielded by her mask, it wasn't hard to see that she was struggling to come up with a retort. "And you think that what you're doing will be any better? Just talking and peaceful protesting with the hope that Humans will suddenly change?!" Ilia snapped as she started to feel that annoyance bubble. "Peaceful protests didn't help my parents get justice from getting killed in a Dust Mine! Pamphlets and letters of democracy didn't stop our kind from getting treated like slaves! Look at how they're treating that Demon Kid, that's proof that no one has learned a single godsdamned thing with the peaceful way!"
Blake was about to snap again when she heard Ilia talking about Jae but then made the effort to restrain herself when she knew that she didn't mean that part maliciously. "Then we can change it…Stop Corsac and Fennec from manipulating things in the White Fang, stopping them means stopping Adam and that means that no more people…Faunus OR Humans will have to suffer from any more of this."
Ilia reached up and took the mask off, showing Blake a face that was a mix of regret and concern. "Blake…Your plan isn't going to work…Things are set in motion and there's nothing that anyone can do…"
Blake's ears wavered a little as she heard this and realised that this was actually being said…But nothing was going to make her change; With one last hope to push this on and with the belief that this could turn around, Blake gently grabbed Ilia's hands and squeezed them softly to reiterate her point. "Ilia, I know you're a good person…which is why you don't have to do this, come join us and help turn things around…It may not be quick results…But it'll be a start."
Ilia's eyes widened as she felt Blake's hands holding onto her's and it triggered something that she thought that she had stifled down a long time ago, with one last look at Blake as she backed away to the balcony and almost hesitantly pulled her hands free of her grip. "Blake…I can't convince you to stop, I know that much at least…But please…Leave Menagerie before it's too late."
Blake watched Ilia put her mask back on and then felt her body stiffen as she realised that neither her nor the Chameleon Faunus were going to stop or back down. "You're going to have to make me."
Ilia hopped onto the balcony and then let out a sigh, one that was filled with an exhaustion that couldn't be explained in words and resignation. "I know…" She mumbled before hopping over the side and disappearing into the trees.
"Anything?"
Ruby looked up from her comic book as she saw Nora standing at the door to their room along with Ren standing alongside her. After the events of the Nuckalavee's attack in Kuroyuri, Jae ended up passing out once he dissipated from his monstrous outburst, leaving him in what the doctor's called "Aggravated Healing", telling the rest of RNJR to give him a chance to rest and let his Aura do the work.
"Not really, it's been a while but Qrow's at least well enough to…Yeah." Ruby mentioned as she then looked back to see Jae laying unconscious in the bed; She spent most of the last few days watching him and wanting to be there for when he woke up, part of it was because she wanted answers about what that form was and mostly because despite her desire to keep going, she felt that deeply compacted guilt of not seeing Jae's struggles until it literally put him in a coma.
"I don't think I've ever seen him like this before…" Ren admitted as he noticed Qrow entering back into the house they were staying in. "He's always been the most durable one of us but to see him like this is…It feels surreal."
Nora was in a similar boat to Ruby since she had at least cottoned on to Jae's unfortunate tendencies while they trekked across Anima and made the efforts to try getting him to slow down, though the fact that she also saw him taking that form made her second guess herself and wonder if she didn't try hard enough. "We all saw what happened back there in the village…Whatever it was, it took a lot out of him."
"So…Are we going to talk about that?" Ruby asked as she placed the comic down to look at the two, she had noticed that both Ren and Nora were a lot closer now after Ren got closure with the monster from his past…It honestly made her a little jealous that she couldn't have a moment like that with a certain someone.
"I'm not even sure what there IS to talk about." Ren mentioned as he gazed down at Jae, unclear as to whether he felt relieved that his teammate's sudden transformation was temporary or concerned that he turned into something that was as strong as it was scary to look at. "We all know that Jae is a Demon but this goes way beyond what I've seen him do before…Actually, this is probably the only time that I've seen him do anything remotely close to what a Demon has been said to do."
"Speaking of…How DID you take him out of it? We just saw you walk up to him and he just crumbled?" Nora asked Ruby who quickly clammed up when she remembered what it was she said to Jae in order to calm him down.
Ruby knew what she wanted but for right now, she wanted to focus on making sure that he got back on his feet before she could try addressing herself. "I…I just told him that he was back here…That we were here and he doesn't need to worry."
"I really hope he does listen…After what happened at Beacon, he's been different lately." Nora said softly as she gently gripped onto Ren's sleeve for comfort/solidarity.
"Everyone got hit hard with what happened to Pyrrha…She was an amazing person." Ruby mentioned as she remembered the redheaded girl who threw rocks at Jae for letting her cousin die at Beacon. "But we still need to be there for him…No matter what happens."
"Kids, if we're going to be seeing Lionheart, we need to get moving." Qrow said as he called out to them from the door; He knew that while this was better with all of them there to talk with the headmaster of Haven, he couldn't roll the dice on how long it was going to take for Jae to wake up from his…whatever was keeping him unconscious.
The trio looked uncertain with each other but it was Nora that ultimately took the step forward to keep faith. "If he wakes up when we get back, then we tell him what we learned."
"Nora, we can't jus-"
"I know, Ruby…But we can't just sit here forever and wait for him." Ren admitted as he looked to Qrow. "Just talking, right? Only that?"
"I'll explain on the way…Right now, just let the kid rest." Qrow assured them as they headed out of the door of the house and began making thier way towards Haven Academy. "Because from what Ruby told me…He definitely needs it."
Meanwhile in Somewhere
"How long have we been doing this for? An hour? A day? Even longer?" A rather jaded looking Jae asked his original self as he gripped him by the throat. "Because right now I'm starting to lose track…All you needed to do is accept this change but this stubbornness as sad than anything."
This particular Jae had a sharp look on his face and unlike the original; his face was the very epitome of resentment and he had nothing but disdain in his dead eyes towards his supposed "original", he was wearing Jae's clothes but patches of his skin looked cracked and leathery, like the form he took before he became the monster that killed the Nuckalavee.
The real Jae on the other hand looked like shit; His face was a pummeled mess of bruising, swells and even then, he had no hint of a fight in him. "However long it'll take for you to realise that I won't stoop to your level."
"You are already at that level…Your body and your mind have been spiralling downward ever since you've woken up to what you can really do." Alter-Jae remarked as he smacked Jae across the face and dropped him to the ground. "And it is infuriating to see you stifling everything that will make you stronger…The more that you stifle it, the more it eats away at you..."
Jae grimaced up at the Alter Jae, seeing a large crystal in the center of their impromptu arena where they had been fighting in; It thrummed with a power that he couldn't place and even when he got close to it, something pulsed inside like it was trying to get out…It had been there in his mind ever since Ruby caused his monstrous form to dissipate, he had collapsed and gone into a borderline comatose state that kept him stuck even in Mistral. "Well…I would apologise but I'd rather keep what makes me human still in my body."
"Implying that you were ever Human to begin with…" Alter-Jae sneered as he drove his foot into Jae's stomach and sent him skidding towards the edge. "Wake up…Everyone knows what you really are and they have been afraid of you ever since that dark haired bitch showed up."
Jae coughed weakly but refused to fight back. "So your solution is to just what? Be angry at everyone and everything because of something I've accepted a long time ago? If I did what you said then I'll just be pushing away whatever else I have left…And you're running out of things to threaten me with."
Alter-Jae sighed as he grabbed Jae by the hair and pulled him towards the lip of the arena. "Then until you can see what's really at stake, I think it's time for you to do some soul-searching until you break out of that denial of your's." He said grimly before throwing his other self over the side and down into the darkness that lay under it.
By the time that Jae had woken up; He had been sunken into a hole created from what was more than likely a large fall from the sky that seemed stuck in endless night, body slumped against a nearby railing that had bent backwards as it caved around his body, as his eyes turned upward and coiling higher into the sky was a tower.
This tower was comprised entirely as a culmination of the worst things that Jae could have ever hoped to lay his eyes on…And forcing him to stare it down with no hope of escape.
This was a nightmarish version of his old childhood house, a site that brought him nothing but hardship from the moment he could walk…And Beacon Tower which was his momentary deep breath to make him feel like a normal teenager, before he got dragged back down to remind him that he didn't deserve that simply because he was born a Demon.
This was his Crucible…And it was a tower that he recognised all too well in the stories...
The Temen-ni-gru.