Flower Duet

Old enemies reappear and new discoveries are made

[Author's note: This story follows the story Strange Reunions, and is the sixth episode of a fanfic version of volume 6.]

Jaune leaned back in the principal's chair. Despite his early doubts about his ability to do the job he felt that the Academy year had got off to a good start. The new crop of fresh-faced students had even seemed to like his welcoming address. The teachers and staff had accepted him. And local scroll communication was again possible.

"It seems that some of the students are unclear as to where Oscar fits into the school administration," said Ozpin. "That is not necessarily a bad thing. I have no desire for the wider world to know that I am still alive. Or alive again."

"I've put him on the employee list as an apprentice cook," said Jaune.

"An apprentice cook?" said Ozpin. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. It has been."

There was a knock at the door. Commander Daltoni, head of the Mistral Police Force, came in. "You asked me to notify you about anything weirder than normal," she said to Jaune. "I don't know if a minor case of stealing fruit from a stall qualifies, but, well, you decide." She gestured for one of her officers to bring someone in.

They did. The person was filthy and bedraggled. Her dress had once been an elegant red but now was ripped and muddy, and she was missing a shoe. She had only one arm and her face was disfigured. She stared at them. At once, Jaune and Ozpin were on their feet, weapons drawn.

Cinder.

But not Cinder.

The woman just looked at them, her face blank.

"Thank you, Commander," said Jaune to Daltoni. "We'll take it from here."

"I guess this trip didn't really work out," said Ren. "No Maiden. I guess the Knowledge Relic was mistaken."

"And no relic," said Sun.

"Nevertheless," said Nora, "we should check out the vault. Er, I mean the basement. Just in case."

"We'll take you to the basement, but unless you like broken chairs you won't find it very interesting," said Nebula.

"And isn't there a clause about only a Maiden being able to open whatever it is that holds the relic?" said Octavia.

"Yeah, something like that," said Nora.

"Where's your friend?" said Nebula as she led the way to the basement.

"She said she wanted to see the gardener woman again, to say goodbye before we leave," said Sun.

At that moment, Ilia was planting the last of the seedlings. "How do you get everything to grow so well?" she said. "Vacuo seems to be mainly dust and, er, more dust."

"I have a secret method," said the woman. She held her hand over the seedlings, and in a few moments there was a miniature shower of rain from her palm.

Ilia gave a gasp.

She stared at the woman. "You," she said.

"Yes," said the woman. "Now come with me. I have something to give you."

She led the way to a shack at the back of the garden – her home. They went in. The woman went to a rickety little table. One of its legs was broken. It was propped up by an old book. The woman removed it and handed it to Ilia.

Ilia looked at the cover. "The Book of Relics," she read. "What ... what does it say? What does it mean?"

"The former Winter Maiden gave it to me many years ago, when I was young, told me it was important," said the woman. "As for what it says, I don't know. I can't read. Never learned. Maybe it will be important to you and your friends. I can find something else to hold up my table."

"Th ... thank you," said Ilia. "Uh, I do not know your name."

The woman smiled. "Ochre," she said.

She walked out of the shack and looked towards the Academy.

"We have to go," she said.

Nora and the others were looking through the junk in the basement.

"You know, this place is pretty big," said Ren. "It's possible that it was once a vault. Or something."

"Well, there is certainly nothing here like what Yang described in the Haven vault," said Sun. "Some of this stuff has been here for a very long time."

"Maybe ... maybe we're looking at things the wrong way," said Nora. "Maybe it's not something elaborate and tricky. Maybe it's something that would blend in with a heap of junk."

The others stared at her. Then they started looking again – for something that looked like a piece of junk.

"How about this?" said Sun, hauling a battered wooden box out of the corner. "There's probably nothing in it but cobwebs, but we should take a look." He tried to open it but the lid would not budge.

"Ah," said a voice from the doorway. Doctor Arthur Watts. "Aren't you the clever ones. You see, Tyrian, I told you that a policy of waiting and watching would pay dividends."

Tyrian Callows gave a psychotic snicker. "So now I can kill them, right?" he said to Watts.

"We'll see, we'll see," said Watts.

"I'm assuming these guys are not friends of yours," said Nebula, drawing her crossbow/sword. Octavia drew her kris dagger.

"Not by a very long shot," said Nora, as she morphed her hammer into combat mode.

"You know, we don't have to fight," said Watts to Nora. "You can simply hand over the relic and we'll be on our way."

"No!" snarled Tyrian. "I really want to kill them! Especially those two." He pointed at Nora and Ren. "We have unfinished business."

"Damn right we do," growled Nora.

"As I recall, last time ended with you getting your tail cut off," said Ren.

"Oh, these are those fellows, eh?" said Watts to Tyrian. "Well, try not to lose it again, my friend."

Tyrian snarled. Watts opened his coat. There was an array of items in various pockets there. "Hmm," he said. "I think ... let me see ... ah, these ones." He took out something that look like a pocket-watch and an object that looked like a large fountain pen.

In a moment, the pocket-watch had morphed into a large, transparent shield, and the pen had becomes a slender but evil-looking pistol.

"Let's rock!" shouted Nora. She charged forward and swung her hammer at Watts. He took the impact on the shield; the blow did no damage but the impact pushed him back a few steps.

"My," he said to Nora. "Aren't you a feisty one."

Nora swivelled and swung again, forcing Watts to turn his shield towards her.

"Nebula, now!" shouted Nora.

A crossbow arrow shot across the room and hit Watts in the shoulder. But it failed to penetrate. The coat was somehow armoured. Watts turned and fired at Nebula. The gun shot a stream of needle-like darts. Nebula turned her crossbow into a sword and deflected the darts.

Octavia swept her dagger through the air. It sent a fiery shockwave at Watts. But it had no effect against his shield. Nebula fired a volley of arrows but none got through.

Tyrian was running around the walls of the room, charging at Ren and Sun. Ren was firing at him but Tryian was too fast a target. He smashed into Ren, sending him down – and then was whacked in the face by Sun's staff. It had little effect: Tyrian gave his maniacal laugh.

Sun continued to strike, morphing his staff into its nunchaku form. He drove his opponent across the room, Tyrian giggling the whole time. Tyrian extended his wrist-blades, parrying the attack. Then, in a blur of movement, he kicked out, knocking Sun back.

Sun and Ren got to their feet. "He's fast, I have to give him that," muttered Sun.

"Fortunately, in this room he cannot use his speed and agility very well," said Ren. "But, yes, he is hard to hit effectively."

"The question is, which of you should I kill first?" snarled Tyrian.

And then he was hit by a shockwave from Octovia. He was flung to the other side of the basement.

"Nice going," said Sun to Octavia.

"But it won't keep him down for long," she said.

Watts pulled something else from his coat: a small bottle. He threw it, and there was a blinding roar. Nora and the others were knocked off their feet.

"Now, we finish this," said Watts, raising his needle-gun.

"I don't think so," said another voice. "You are on my ground now."

Ochre. She raised a hand, and there was a storm of massive hailstones. Tyrian and Watts were driven back. From Ochre's other hand there was a hurricane wind. They were pushed back further, as Watts tried to use his shield to protect them.

Tyrian broke away and made a charge for the box. And then a whip snapped around his ankle. It pulled him back, throwing him against a wall.

Ilia retracted the whip into its handle.

"Ah," said Tyrian, looking at her. "Now, you, you I like."

"Just give us the relic!" said Watts, as Ochre's storm ceased.

Ochre stared at him. "So that's what this is about?" she said. "Why do you think it is here?"

"Because ... there's a relic-holder!" said Watts, pointing at the box. "Not a very fancy one, I admit, but that's what it is, I think."

Ochre picked up the box and put it on a broken table.

"Only a Maiden can open it," said Watts.

"I suppose that's true, in a way," said Ochre. She took a little key from her pocket, inserted it into the lock, and pulled the lid open.

Everyone peered in.

Empty.

"The Creation Relic isn't here," said Ochre. "It was gone when I became the Winter Maiden, and that was a long time ago."

"Ah," said Watts. "Well, that's disappointing. Very disappointing. Hmm, I suppose we may as well be on our way, then." He took a fist-sized stone from his pocket.

"No, I want to kill someone first!" cried Tyrian. His scorpion tail lanced towards Nora.

Then Tyrian gave a shout of pain. His tail had been intercepted by Ren's razor-boomerang. The stinger fell to the floor. "Ow ow OW!" said Tyrian.

"Thanks," said Nora.

"My pleasure," said Ren.

"Oh dear," said Watts. "Tyrian, you really should look after that appendage more." He raised the stone, and a portal appeared. He and Tyrian – still whimpering – jumped through and were gone.

"Handy things, those portals," said Sun.

Ochre sagged down, onto an unsteady chair. "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing," she said. "I'm not exactly twenty-one anymore."

"So you are the Winter Maiden," said Octavia. "That explains much."

Ochre nodded. "And a gardener," she said. "I never knew why the former Maiden passed her powers to me. But I have always felt that my role has been to watch over Shade Academy."

"Was the Creation Relic ever here?" said Nora.

"Yes, it was, but one day, many years ago, a group of people came and spoke to the Maiden. They took it away," said Ochre. "I heard them saying that they would be able to keep it safe."

"What people?" said Sun. "Where were they from?"

"I don't know. But they wore uniforms. There was a general in command. There was another fellow I remember, a major, he was tall and very handsome. I never heard his name. He had a mechanical arm."

Nora, Ren and Sun exchanged glances. Tall, handsome, mechanical arm. Not many people fitted that description.

"Tell us something," said Nora. "The relic. What does it look like?"

"It is a flower," said Ochre. "In a glass vase. A chrysanthemum."

A chrysanthemum.

END (to be continued)