When Sam and company had finally made it back to Beacon, they were met by Glynda Goodwitch, as well as a medical staff. The medics immediately went for Sam and Blake, pulling them onto stretchers to take back to the infirmary. The rest of the group followed, except for Chaney, who had her arm held back by Glynda. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, Chaney, but we've received a report that Roman escaped," Glynda said into Chaney's ear.
Chaney shot her a shocked expression, "How? When?"
"It was sent while you were on your way back from the front lines. He had help from this woman," Glynda showed her a picture of a small pink and brown haired woman, carrying a pink parasol. Chaney noticed the tip was covered with blood and winced slightly. "Do you recognize her?"
"No, I've never seen her before. Maybe Sam has," Chaney offered, looking back towards Beacon's infirmary.
"Possibly. Go and see how he is, I will be heading out into Vale to cover for Ozpin as the leader of the defense force," Glynda informed her, hopping aboard the airship they had just used to get back. Chaney nodded her head as the airship took off, then turned back towards Beacon before running at incredible speed towards the infirmary. Goodwitch took notice of this as they moved towards Vale. Odd, maybe it's her semblance, she thought as she turned her attention towards her task at hand.
"You know, shorty, I owe you one," Roman laughed as they rode an airship back to a nearby White Fang camp. Neo gave a sharp glare at the short comment, which Roman found both adorable and hilarious. "Aw, come on Neo, it's a joke, at least laugh a little!"
Neo crossed her arms and continued to glare at him. "Alright, fine, I'm sorry I called you short. There, happy?" Roman rolled his eyes. Neo smirked playfully and nodded her head. "You can be such a pain," Roman said incredulously, but smiled as he looked out the bay door of the airship.
Once they landed, Roman gestured for Neo to follow him towards a large building away from the center of the camp. "Come on, let's go tell Cinder I'm out of jail," Roman began walking without seeing if Neo was following him. She caught up to him and walked beside him, sporting a soft and innocent smile, despite her deadly ability. They arrived inside the communication center and made their way to a large and open terminal. Roman pulled out his scroll and hooked it into the machine, telling it to call Cinder.
After a few moments, Cinder appeared on the screen with a small but wicked grin. "Roman, it's good to see you again," Cinder answered with a sickly sweet tone. "It's good to see Neo is as effective as ever." Cinder rarely gave out compliments, which is why Neo became slightly flustered and just nodded her head while trying to compose herself. "You two did always work best as a team," Neo's eyes might have deceived her, but it looked like Cinder was showing a genuine smile, as if proud of them.
"But of course," Roman smirked back at the screen. "Now that I'm back, what do you need?"
"Well, Mistral's commander is all the way out in Vale…so you could attack Mistral again. However," she paused, "I believe it would be more strategically sound if you joined Emerald and Mercury on their invasion of Vacuo."
"Alright," Roman answered as Neo nodded her head in confirmation. "By the way, whatever happened to Adam?"
"As far as we know, he's dead. Whatever he was planning, Sam must have gotten to him in time to stop him. I wanted Emerald and Mercury to converge on Vale's force as it came up, but as Atlas advanced as well, with threats of Vacuo cutting off our armies, I decided to send both of them to Vacuo to destroy them. That way, the armies of Remnant would be forced to go and help out their friends before we wiped them out, buying us more time to prepare for our true invasion." Cinder answered with a satisfied smirk.
"What about Atlas? What's stopping them from just marching to Tethara now?" Roman rolled his eyes at the hole in Cinder's strategy. "Atlesian forces can just come up behind Mercury's and wipe his army out."
"I'll be handling Atlas," Cinder seemed unaffected by Roman's point. "Just get to Vacuo and meet up with Emerald and Mercury." The screen went black as Cinder ended the call.
"Well that's odd," Roman scratched the back of his neck. "Cinder never does this, taking things into her own hands. It's why she has us, to do it for her." Neo showed the same confusion, but shook her head. "Yeah, you're right, lets just focus on getting to Vacuo," Roman gave a small smile to Neo and ruffled her hair, walking out of the building. Neo followed after, fuming while trying to fix her hair.
Chaney arrived in the waiting room of the infirmary, and noticed the group sitting over in a far corner. Sam and Blake were not with them, meaning they had been taken into a room to get checked up on. Chaney walked over to them, taking a seat next to Weiss. "How are they?" she asked after getting settled.
"We…don't know," Weiss hesitated. When Chaney got a look of panic, Weiss shook her head to try and calm her down. "The doctors looked concerned, and they rushed them both back there. We just hope that they're both okay."
"Surely it couldn't be that serious?" Chaney offered hopefully. "They were able to make it out this far, surely it can't be that bad."
"That's the thing," Ruby spoke up now. "We don't know how bad it is. It just seemed bad with how the doctors reacted. A nurse said she would come by to get us once they were ready."
Chaney nodded her head, and she turned to the entrance just to see Seth and Tom walk in. She motioned them over to where they had been sitting, and they came over quickly. "What happened? Are they okay? They aren't dead, are they?" Seth asked before anyone could explain.
"Sam and Blake took on a pretty tough opponent, and to tell the truth, we don't know if they are okay or not," Yang answered this time.
"I have to admit, but Sam seemed to become less and less responsive as we ran over here," Jaune forced out, with the others slowly lowering their heads.
"You don't seriously think he's come all this way to die now, do you?" Tom questioned.
Ren seemed visibly upset now, and slammed his hand down on a small table nearby. "For the final time, we don't know," He seethed, looking away from the group as their shocked expressions looked towards him. For the first time, Nora put her hand on Ren's shoulder to calm him down instead of the other way around.
"I would like to point out, Tetharans have an increased healing rate. Everybody's bodies heal slightly over time, but Tetharans heal even faster. Sam would have had to be pushed to a point of absolute no return to die, and the fact the he was able to stand and walk at all proves he wasn't at that point," Penny attempted to ease the tension of the group.
"But what about Blake?" Pyrrha asked now.
"Well, I don't know. But, the fact that both of them have made it this far leads me to believe that they will both survive and recover to full strength," Penny said confidently, whereas the rest of the group wished they could share her confidence.
Seconds stretched out into minutes, minutes stretching out into hours. They sat there, fear gripping their movements as they awaited the news. Seth's scroll ringing was the only thing that brought them out of their trance, and Seth excused himself quickly, answering the call as he made his way to the door. "I wonder what that's about," Nora was the only who could find her voice at the time. The others just shrugged their shoulders and continued their antagonizing wait. Seth soon walked back in, but with a somber expression on his face.
"I'm sorry to bring this up now guys, but Vacuo is under major attack, kinda like how Mistral was. If we don't send help immediately, Vacuo could be lost," Seth sighed.
Penny stood, as well as Tom. "We can lead the Vale forces along Ms. Goodwitch," Penny offered, looking back to the rest of the group.
Chaney stood up as well, saying, "I can lead Mistral forces there is well. Vacuo could probably use all the help it can get."
"Okay, well I guess that's settled," Tom also sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Hey, Weiss?" he asked softly. She lifted her head up slightly in response. "Let me know how they're doing, okay?" She nodded her head and stood to hug the ones leaving before they left. The other six joined her, everyone exchanging hugs and wishing each other luck. Eventually, Seth, Tom, Chaney, and Penny were gone, and now it was just Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and team JNPR remaining. Only a few minutes passed, before Jaune let out a long sigh. Everyone turned toward him, curious as though he looked like he had something to say.
"I know we are all really worried about Sam and Blake, but we can't just sit here and do nothing while the people of Vacuo are fighting for their lives. When Weiss had been injured by the White Fang, Sam still took us into battle despite that fact," he spoke shakily at first, but more confidently as he spoke.
"Yes, but at the same time, Sam had seen me before charging towards the mountain," Weiss countered. "I want to go help, but I need to know the two of them are okay or I won't be focused in battle. I don't think any of us would be, and that would just result in us getting hurt, or worse."
"How do you think Seth, Tom, Chaney, and Penny feel?" Jaune shot back.
Weiss didn't have a comeback for that one, and let out a long sigh as she put her head in her hands. Ruby took her place, offering her own argument. "How would you feel if that was Pyrrha in there instead?" she asked almost hotly, throwing Jaune off guard.
"Well, I mean…alright I get your point. I just don't see how us sitting around here is doing any good," Jaune shook his head slowly.
"Because, Mr. Arc, it isn't doing you any good," A voice boomed from behind the group, and they turned to see Professor Port standing there. "I understand how you all feel, I've had several comrades and even very close friends severely injured in battle, but sitting here and moping about them won't do them, you, or anyone else any good."
Weiss looked furious, even on the verge of tears before Port rested a hand on her shoulder. "I know it seems cruel, almost inhumane to do that, but there are other people who need our help. It is our duty to help them. Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Engle will still be here when we return, if they don't join us on the battlefield before then," he ended with a smile.
"But what if something happens while we are gone? What if one of them actually dies while we are out fighting?" Yang took up the argument now.
"If we don't go out and help Vacuo there will be thousands of more people dying today, Ms. Xiao Long," he answered gravely. "I didn't want to use this as an excuse, but there have been reports that both Emerald and Mercury are at Vacuo. If this is true, then they do not stand a chance without help."
Any attempts of arguing after that had been silenced when Port spoke both Emerald and Mercury's names. Suddenly, a nurse arrived hurriedly. "Ms. Schnee?" she asked the group, not noticing her at first. Weiss walked forward to meet the nurse, panic growing as she noticed the nurse's hurried movements. "Come with me please. The rest of you, please stay here," she ordered, motioning for Weiss to follow her as she took off towards the door. Weiss followed as quickly as she could, surprised at how fast the small nurse could walk. She was around Weiss' build, same height and weight, though the nurse seemed more blessed when it came to her chest. Eventually, she stopped in the middle of a hallway, causing Weiss to almost crash into her.
The nurse turned quickly, sighing as her expression dropped. "He asked for you, specifically. It isn't good, I can't even say it's bad, more like worse. His body is so far beyond weak that the only reason he was conscious when you found him was because of the stores of electricity in his body. Hell, those caches of electricity are the only reason he's alive. By the time we got him onto the stretcher, he was already losing the last bit of those caches. He's awake right now, but I can't guarantee he will be for long. Ms. Schnee…Weiss…we don't know if he'll make it. Several other Tetharans who were at this point perished, and we have no reason to believe Sam will be different. Please, this way," the nurse finished with a tear in her eye as she opened the door to their right.
Weiss had already begin to break down, but couldn't hold anything back as she saw Sam laying there, several IV tubes and machinery hooked up into his body. She could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes open, as well as keep from crying. She wanted to jump on him, hold him, just to feel safe and know everything would be okay, but the nurse informed her that he wasn't able to move his body much right now. Instead, Weiss rested her head next to Sam's on his pillow, beating the side of his bed with her fist as she cried.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Weiss repeated like a mantra as she continued to cry uncontrollably.
"W…Weiss…" Sam struggled to speak, pain noticeable in his tone. "Look at me…" he whispered into her ear the best he could. Weiss looked up, tear tracks evident as the flood gates had been opened, and hadn't been restrained at all until this point. "I'm…I'm going to be okay…" he managed to say before wincing severely in pain. Weiss moved to stop him from talking anymore, but Sam continued, "I heard the nurse…about Vacuo…they need you all."
"I'm not moving…I'm not going to leave you." Weiss said through sobs.
"Weiss…look at it this way…they did this to me…and now they are going to do it to thousands of other people who won't be as lucky as I am to still be alive. They need…they need everyone who can help them…I don't think…Vacuo will be quite as lucky as…Mistral," Sam grunted in pain at every pause, his body sometimes even convulsing from the pain.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Weiss dawned a look of horror.
"Mistral is still under our…control…I think Vacuo may be taken by the enemy…and if that's the case…they need…everyone…to help evacuate the…city…" Sam trailed off, the pain eventually causing him to black out. Weiss almost thought he had died, but the steady beeping of the heart monitor reassured her he was alive. She stood shakily, almost falling over before being supported by a nurse. She gave Sam a small kiss on the lips before walking out of the room with renewed strength. Rather, she felt an uncontrollable anger to those who had done this to him. Before she got too far, she stopped and turned back to the nurse who led her back her.
"What about Blake?" Weiss asked softly.
"She's not conscious right now, but aside from some broken bones and a bad wound in her side, she is fine," the nurse answered her, offering a small smile.
"Thank you," Weiss smiled back before turning back towards the exit with the same anger she had before. She slammed the door open, scaring everyone in the waiting room, including those who were not in her group. She stormed over to them, grabbing Myrtenaster. "We're going to Vacuo," she ordered instead of told them, waiting for the others to stand.
"And I'm going to make those bastards pay in blood."
And there we have it! My sort of, not so triumphant return to the world of fan literature! Or just fan fiction, literature is too fancy. Anyway, to those who have been waiting, to those who gave up on waiting, and to those just finding out about this story, I'm sorry for such a long delay in an update. A lot of things happened between now and the last update, nothing anyone needs to worry about. But, I'm back now. I'll be writing for the better part of these next two weeks, hopefully establishing a consistent update schedule. Anyway, THANK YOU GUYS (and gals) so much for reading so far! I hope you've enjoyed the other two parts, as well as this one. If you wouldn't mind, please leave a review letting me know what you thought of the story and any constructive criticism you might have. I'll only cry for a little bit at the criticism. I'm kidding! I'll cry alot. Still kidding! I appreciate any feedback you have to give me. I will see you all in the next chapter!