'So this was how Farmer rescued us,' Dwera thought. As the ground below and the clouds above zoomed by, it was obvious that he hadn't teleported them. He'd moved them super-fast.

Dwera looked around at all the amazing things. When everything around them was green, that must have meant they were in a forest. When the ground below them turned blue and there was nothing around but sky, that must have meant they were over the ocean. Each time, the change from one to the other was so fast that she only noticed after it already happened.

She didn't know how long the trip was, but it hadn't felt long enough. After the blue, it had become green again and Farmer had stopped.

It was a lot hotter now, and the sun was higher up than it had been in Mistral. They were in Menagerie. Farmer had said it would be summer here and the time would be different because of hemispheres and time zones, but she hadn't really understood it.

There were other people in the street. All faunus like her, but still so many more people than she'd seen in years. She hid behind Farmer and grabbed his jacket.

"This is the place, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good luck then, I'll be going."

"W-wait! Please wait."

"Is there a problem?"

"What if-what if my mom and dad hate me? I'm dirty now." Nobody cared about dirty girls like her. It had to be why her parents hadn't come to find her, and even the New Moon gang had only kept her because she was good for sex and making money.

"Dwera, in a perfect world, I could guarantee that your family would love you no matter what." Farmer made a sad face. "But Paion warned me that some families might not. Still, you don't need to worry. If something goes wrong, just say my name and I'll be there."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, you and your parents have been waiting long enough. Go to them."

"Okay." Dwera walked forward into the street, took a look back at Farmer, and then kept on her way to her old house.

Outside, it was just like she remembered. The same dark brown wood as all the other buildings. A high, sloping roof for the constant rain during monsoon season. Down the street, she could see the market her mom used to take her to. Even in the morning there were lots of people buying and selling goods.

She knocked on the door. Moments later, a woman opened the door with a curious look. "Hello?"

"Mom?" The face that Dwera had remembered had aged. There were some wrinkles now and her hair was shorter now. On top of her head were fox ears just like hers.

"Dwera?" She breathed the word out so low that Dwera barely heard it. Her hands came up to cover her mouth and tears streamed down her face. "Dwera! It's really you!" She held Dwera in a tight hug and pulled her inside.

"Honey? Honey, what is it?" A man called out from inside. He came to the front door and went still when he saw them.

Dwera had already started sobbing, but between huffs she managed to get a word out. "Dad."

"Dwera!" He dropped to his knees and embraced her. "My daughter. My beautiful girl. You're back. You're really back."

"I am." She didn't know how long they held each other, but she would have happily stayed like this forever. Back in her home, held in her parents' warm arms.

"Oh, I can't believe you're actually back. It's a miracle, it has to be."

It was. That had to be how Farmer had brought her here. How he'd saved everyone.

"Farmer," she said.

"What was that, dear?" Her mother asked. She had a wide smile and wiped away tears with one hand, the other staying on her.

Dwera wasn't in trouble, she was sure, but she had to see him again. At least once.

Outside the window, where only Dwera could see, Farmer was in the street. The mask was off his face, but he was too far away to see details. He waved goodbye and walked away.

Dwera held her parents tighter and cried.

\\\\\

For a little while longer, Clark stayed to make sure Dwera's reunion didn't meet any problems. So far, Paion's warning hadn't come true, but that was no reason to relax.

Clark blended in with the crowd as he heard Dwera tell her parents about what she'd gone through. He hadn't needed to worry. They reacted only with indignation and fury, reinforcing Clark's resolve to get people like Chen Yu and Atreus locked away.

He headed toward the forest where no one would see him suddenly disappear. However, just before he reached the edge of the street, a sight stopped him cold.

For a moment, he'd thought she was Velvet. The woman had the same brown hair and bunny ears. Not to mention a similarly shaped button nose and kind brown eyes. Characteristics Clark immediately recognized with his enhanced vision.

However, it wasn't. She was a beautiful woman who'd aged well, but she looked about fifteen years older than Velvet had.

Clark could leave. From this distance, she hadn't spotted him staring at her. In a few minutes, he could be thousands of miles away and never have to face her.

But he didn't leave. As she went towards the market, he followed her in a light jog until matching her pace a few feet behind her.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

She turned around. When their eyes met, she reminded him of Velvet so much that a lump formed in his throat. "Yes? Can I help you?" She had the same accent.

"Are you related to Velvet Scarlatina?"

"Yes, I'm her mother," she said, confirming his guess.

"My name's Clark Kent. I was a friend of your daughter back at Beacon."

She nodded, a small smile on her face. "Oh yes, Velvet's team told me about you. What brings you to Menagerie?"

"I had other business here, but I should have come a long time ago to say this." Clark took a deep breath and then made the dreaded confession. "Ma'am, I'm sorry. In a way, I'm responsible for your daughter's death."

"Excuse me?"

"I was with Velvet during the attack on Vale and I failed to protect her. I understand if you hate me for it, or if you want to me to get out of your sight." He bowed his head in shame.

She sighed. When he looked up, she shook her head. "You poor dears need to stop taking on so much responsibility. You don't need to apologize to me at all." The pity and care in her voice was a thousand times worse than if she'd screamed and cursed at him.

"You don't understand, ma'am. If I hadn't been there, she wouldn't have gotten hurt and ended up as a civilian casualty. She'd still be alive and-

"Clark, enough." There was steel in her eyes, anger directed at him not for the loss of her daughter but for the blame he aimed at himself. "If you really think you caused my daughter's death, then you can tell me in detail at my home. Come."

"Your home, ma'am?"

She didn't look back as she took off at a brisk pace, clearly expecting him to follow. "That's right. And my name is Satin, not ma'am. You were her friend. Even if you have misguided notions about my daughter's death, you deserve to learn more about her."

"I'm not sure if I do but thank you."

"Clark, I've already told you that's enough. Besides, you were more than just her friend, isn't that right?"

He looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "I would have liked to be. We had plans, but we hadn't even gone on our first date yet before the attack."

As they crossed the stone streets, Clark realized just how packed they were. You could hardly take a few steps without brushing up against someone as you walked. Satin casually made her way through the crowds, and while Clark got more notice when he did the same because of his height and larger frame, nobody really minded.

What was even stranger was that, at least as far as Clark could tell without being intrusive, everybody here was a faunus. Furry ears, horns, tails, and scales. Animal traits that usually showed up only in a minority of people in the Kingdoms were the norm here.

All the buildings Clark had seen so far were wood, and Satin's house turned out to be the same. It was built on stilts and had palm trees on either side. For decorations, it had colorful beads hanging off the ceiling and curtains drawn across the windows.

She welcomed him in and asked him if he wanted any tea or coffee. He declined, so she only got some for herself while he waited in the living room. She came out with a plate of cookies as well.

"Is Velvet's father here?" Clark asked.

"Why? So you can blame apologize to him as well?" She wore a playful smile. It took on a wistful quality when she looked away. "He died a long time ago."

Clark hunched his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Hm? What for?"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"For mentioning him and bringing up any painful memories."

"I see. That's an interesting thing to apologize for, but I'll accept it. However, what I won't accept are you young huntsmen insisting that you're at fault for my daughter's death."

"There have been others? Do you mean team CFY?"

She nodded. "Yes, they came during Velvet's funeral. Coco felt the most responsible. She said some wonderful words and stayed strong up until the end. Once she spoke to me away from her team though, I had to hold the poor girl as she cried. She blamed herself, saying she should have trained more with my daughter and that she was sorry for not looking out for her." Satin reached up and touched her cheek. "I think some of my own tears came out as well."

Clark brought his hands together almost as if asking forgiveness. Not just from Satin, but from the team as well. He hadn't considered that they'd also blame themselves. They'd had a bond with Velvet longer and deeper than his own, and he'd been the only one to know the truth about how she'd really died.

He had to share that truth with Satin. Not all of it, not the part about aliens or clones from another dimension. Normally, it would be because of his usual need to hide his origin, but now it was only because he doubted that she'd believe him.

"Ma'am, they're not at fault at all. Like I said, I was with Velvet the night she died. I'm responsible." Clark explained how an ally of Cinder Fall, the orchestrator of the attack, had kidnapped Velvet solely to get him out of the city. That was why Velvet had been injured, her aura drained, and unable to defend herself from the Grimm. Clark could have also watched over her, but he hadn't.

She'd died because of him. That was an undeniable fact.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Her anger had resurfaced, and Clark resolved to accept it. However, her fury wasn't for him. "To me, the man who kidnapped her is the one to blame. Not just him, but that vicious woman and those mindless White Fang who planned that attack.

For him, she spared only a look of annoyance. "Clark, I'll admit you were more involved in her death than I realized, but I don't blame you. I can't even get too mad at you for thinking that way. After all, I've done the same. If I'd worked harder to dissuade Velvet from being a huntress, would she have lived? If I'd spoken to her once more during the festival, managed to say a few words that changed her location in the city, would she have lived?"

"But ma'am-

"What? Are you going to tell me that's unreasonable? That I couldn't have known that she'd end up that way?"

"Well . . . yes."

"Good. Then you should realize it's the same for you. Maybe Velvet would have lived if that nameless man hadn't kidnapped her, but she might have died anyway in the attack. Maybe Velvet would have lived if you'd watched over her, but that would have distracted you from killing a Grimm that might have killed her team. We don't know, it's all hypothetical. What we do know is that Cinder and her allies aimed to kill people, and that's why theyare the ones responsible. Not you, not me, and not her team."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, but you still don't believe me, do you?"

"You made some good points, but even though I can admit you're right with my head, it's a different story down here." He patted his chest.

"Okay, then I want to hear more about the one who's actually to blame. The man who kidnapped Velvet. Where is he?"

"I don't know. I've been working with huntsmen trying to track him and Cinder down, and I did find him a few months ago, but he escaped. Cinder is locked up in an Atlas cell though, I can promise you that."

Satin sipped at her tea. "Good. Then Clark, if you still feel like you're at fault, how about this? You're not forgiven for Velvet's death until he's locked up as well."

Clark's eyes went wide. Had she been lying this whole time, hiding that he hadn't earned her forgiveness. If so, she'd hidden it well. "Of course, I'll make it up to you and stop him."

"Oh, I won't be the one doing the forgiving. That'll be you."

He blinked for a second, confused. Then he smiled. "Okay, that sounds fair enough."

"Good. Also, now that I've heard your story, it's only fair that you listen to some of mine about my daughter. First though, are you sure you don't want to try a cookie?" Satin picked one up from the tray and held it up.

"I'm okay."

"I really do think you should. They're macarons, Velvet's favorite."

He looked down at them again. "Then I guess I will." He ate one.

"How are they?"

"Good." Not long ago, he would have thought they were too sweet. It had taken some time for his sense of taste to return to normal, and now he could enjoy them properly.

"I'm glad. Velvet used to always ask me to make them. It's not a simple recipe and almond flour isn't cheap here, but that never stopped me for long. I also have some photo albums of her, would you like to see them?"

"Sure."

Satin went upstairs and carried down a book full of Velvet's childhood pictures. Her father was present in the pictures of her early years. A black-haired dog faunus who'd often shown the camera wide smiles as he did something silly with his daughter. His face covered in blotches of paint and Velvet proudly showing off her colorful fingers. There was also one with her parents dressed as cartoon characters, both holding a hand from each side of Velvet.

She'd been incredibly cute. Any child was, but with Satin insisting so much on it, Clark could only laugh and agree. Even he was forming a bias of her cuteness compared to other children. There was even a photo of her eating something with her cheeks puffed out, making him think of a bunny. Satin herself made the comparison before he could.

It was a sudden transition when Velvet's father vanished from the album. Satin handled it gracefully, moving on to the stories behind the next pictures without pause. They avoided the topic, but Clark knew that the time period indicated that he'd died when Velvet was nine years old. About ten years ago, and only half a year had passed since Satin had lost Velvet as well.

Although it was hard at times, Clark kept a strong face and listened. As Satin told him more, he came to understand that she must have been lonely in this house. According to her, too many of her friends still tiptoed around her and the topic of her daughter. In fact, it was a good thing that he'd come to her house pretty much a stranger, she hadn't been able to gush about Velvet like this in a while.

"Wow, it's this late already?" Satin's clock read a quarter to nine. "We met so early in the morning that I didn't even worry about time. You must have been bored listening to me talk for so long."

"Not at all, it was interesting. I'd actually like to hear more about her later."

"Is that so?" Satin offered him a pleased smile. "Tomorrow should be fine then, how long are you staying in Menagerie?"

"I'm not certain yet, but it could be a while." Clark said.

"Okay, I wouldn't mind if you visit again tonight, but if you can't, could you do one last thing for me today?"

"Sure."

\\\\\

After talking with Satin, Clark had gone to Mistral and taken care of everything there. Bringing Paion and Xiang to the warehouse, making sure they had whatever they needed, keeping watch on the testifying women, and setting up another meeting with Phil and Andrea to see how they'd interact with the other officers. At this stage, hardly any time could be spared from the Interference.

But the whole time, Clark's mind had been here in Menagerie. The evening summer sun shone on him while back in Mistral it was a cold winter afternoon.

He was at a graveyard. In his hands he carried a bouquet of red common heath flowers, which Velvet had loved. Satin had asked him to bring them here and talk to her if he could. He didn't know what her religious beliefs were, but it seemed that she thought it would do Velvet good to see him.

Clark had experienced enough back home to respect that. After all, magic existed both here and in his world, and he'd seen plenty of evidence of ghosts. Maybe Velvet did still exist in some way.

From all the way across the field, he focused on the gravestone that engraved with the name Velvet Scarlatina. He walked towards it at a slow pace, but it still felt too short when he reached it.

He put the flowers down and looked around. This portion of the island was green and tropical with plenty of colorful wildlife. "This is a beautiful place. I'm glad you get to rest here."

Clark gave the stone a smile, but quickly dropped it. There was so much to say, but where was he supposed to begin? On the way here, he'd thought about apologizing like he had to her mother. He'd thought it was necessary to claim responsibility even though Velvet would have insisted against it. However, now that he'd actually arrived, any apology seemed to ring hollow.

Looking down where she laid, a morbid thought surfaced. Seeing her body with X-ray vision. He didn't want to, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. Even when he finally avoided the thought, it was only when he recalled seeing her dead body in Vale. It was like the urge to jump many people felt when looking down from a high place. Strangely attractive for a few seconds but frightening when back in the right mindset.

"Your mother's really nice," he said. "It's funny. I ran into her by total coincidence, what are the chances of that? She gave me the cookies you used to like and told me to bring those flowers. Meeting her was great, it gave me the push to actually come here. I know I should have been here a lot sooner, sorry about that. I've been pretty busy. There's this whole thing called the Interference-

He was rambling. He knew that but still couldn't stop the stream of words spouting from his mouth.

"So yeah, that's what I've been up to after Vale," Clark said, finally ending it. He closed his eyes for a moment, waiting for the awkwardness to pass.

"I would have told you everything, you know." He knelt down and placed a hand on top of the tombstone. "That I'm an alien. That I came from a completely different dimension. That the one who kidnapped you is some sort of clone of me."

He sighed. "After what you saw, there really wasn't any other choice but to tell you. I'd like to think that I still would have told you soon even if that hadn't happened, but I don't really know. Hiding it from my last girlfriend was a big part of why we broke up. I would have told you though, and I want you to understand just how much that means to me. How much I need to trust someone before sharing the truth about myself.

"It's hardly ever gone well after telling someone about me and my powers. When my best friend found my ship, he was kidnapped by a crazed scientist looking for aliens. The few times when strangers found out, they either tried to blackmail me or use my fame to set themselves as some sort of agent or manager and get rich. Actually, it wasn't just strangers. One of my friends basically offered to let me rule the world with him if I used my abilities for him. Although it wasn't really him, or more like it wasn't fully him . . . it's complicated.

"But it's not just that. Because of the radioactive meteorites that followed my ship, plenty of people with powers showed up and a lot of them became violent. I've seen them get locked up and a few were even experimented on. I could be the nicest guy ever and someone, probably the government, would still try to cut me up and figure out what makes me work. And they could. I'm strong and fast, and maybe I could avoid kryptonite for a while too, but they'd just go after my parents.

"Anyway, those are the reasons for hiding what I am. Maybe they're good ones, maybe not, but that doesn't really matter right now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I'm sorry that you never learned the truth about me."

Clark thought he'd cry, but strangely enough he felt better than usual. Light. Like finally telling her had relieved an enormous burden from him. "I loved you. As a friend though, we didn't really get far enough as boyfriend and girlfriend for me to say more, but I wish we could have. I really do. I should have just saved us both some time and gone on a date with you when you first asked."

"Goodbye Velvet. I'll come by again sometime, and don't worry, I'll talk to the team and stop the phantom." Clark rose to his feet, but for a strange moment, he'd felt like there'd been a gap between him and the ground. He stared down, confused, but continued walking away normally.

\\\\\

Diomed started the meeting. "Everyone, thank you all for coming. Especially when it's so abrupt and not at the usual time."

"We understand, Diomed. After what's happened, we have to discuss things quickly," Hector said.

Stephen scoffed. "What do we have to discuss? Ever since Diomed's become leader, have we gotten one bit closer to attacking the Interference?"

"Admittedly, we haven't," Nio said. "However, you have to admit that he's done well organizing us so that we can still make profit even when the Interference were present. After all, if he hadn't ordered us to distance ourselves from Atreus, how many of us would be dragged down with him right now?"

"Does that really matter with Chen behind bars? How much is he gonna talk?"

"That's part of what we have to discuss," Diomed said. "Now be quiet and listen before you ask what the point of this meeting is. Zheng, you said you have a suggestion?"

"Yes. The New Moon gang has dissolved, there's no chance of them recovering. Now we only have to worry about damage control. We have to make sure Chen can't say anything about us."

"Silence him, huh? Hector said. "I agree. Although that implies the same will happen to us if we end up like him. I'm not so sure I'm happy about that."

"You shouldn't be. The Interference broke New Moon in one night. Any of us could be next, and this bastard is suggesting we cut them off." Stephen said. "Is this alliance even good for anything anymore?"

"I'm with Stephen on this," Daryn said. "For whatever reason, the Interference can tear us apart, but they haven't yet. I think the only thing we can do is damage control for ourselves and our families. In fact, I think it'd be safer for us not to come to these meetings anymore."

"You want to disband the alliance?" Nio asked.

"Honestly, yes. By this point, we're all crowding onto the same sinking ship. If we separate, maybe some of us can snag some driftwood and survive."

"No." Diomed was firm. "If any of you try to leave now, the rest of us will make sure you regret it. The situation has changed, there's a chance for us to strike the Interference now. We have a concrete lead. A name and an address."

"Really?" Nio asked. "How'd you get that?"

"Little Miss Malachite actually found something on them. Just before the Interference hit New Moon and Atreus, someone was asking for information on them, and we're going to wring out everything she knows."