Chapter 11
When Salem got up in the morning she didn't expect a guest. Well, no… She didn't expect anyone but Clark to appear.
Instead there at her front door stood a man in a top hat. He had the decency to bow and take it off at least.
"My apologies Miss for we have yet to meet." The man said. "I am Emmet Conroy."
Oh, Salem had heard about this man. Clark already had a steep dislike of him and Yang found him strange. She raised an eyebrow.
"I am just here to speak with you about a few things." Salem could tell he wasn't going to leave. She also knew from that teasing smile he would not be turned away by her demeanour.
So she let him in and put some tea on.
"Huh… I was half expecting a throw spell sending me far off of the Ozpin's lands" Emmet said as he sat down. "Howl had some blunt warnings."
"What did he say exactly?" Salem asked as she watched the pot of water boil.
"Nothing of real note. Just don't annoy you too much. Especially if I want anything." The girl handed him tea. "Thank you."
"What do you want?" She asked. Naturally suspicious Salem wanted to get to the point and know what was going on here.
"I believe speaking to Clark right now would be a problem. He's… emotional about Yang's betrothal."
Salem snorted. That was a nice way of putting it. If it wasn't so dangerous right now she may have camped out by Howl's office window just to see that fight.
"You understand why we did it I presume?" Conroy smiled at Salem.
"You mean why Howl did it? Clark marries the little princess. You and Howl shore up the King's rule. No one messes with the Ozpins. That protects Clark. Yang marries Howl, she's safe till she eventually gets home. After all she may not be blood but she's related to the royal family. They can't send her off to Lyman. And Clark won't go chasing after her. So again Clark is safe."
The man laughed.
"What's in it for you though?" Salem asked.
"I did just ask you that question."
Yes, he had but annoyingly enough Salem didn't have the answer to that one. The man knew that and smiled.
"I am wiser then I appear-"
"But clearly not humble." Salem muttered into her tea cup.
"-I know that creatures like Lyman will never stop and creatures like Valaris don't stop till they have ended the threat." Salem waited, the man took a sip of his own tea. "So we have to mitigate the damage caused by this war."
The girl frowned.
"I've been around a long time Salem. And I've been close to how for a great many years. So of course I have a vested interest in what happens here."
The girl's frown only deepened.
"Ahhh, but what you really wanted to know was why I am I here. In this very spot, at this very moment. Well I wanted to ask that we all work together to get Yang home. Eventually Clark will calm down but we can't wait for that." The man took another sip.
"And why can't we wait?" Salem asked.
"To be frank. Because we both know that Lyman will want to drain Yang of that amazing mana reserve and when he does well…" he put down his empty cup.
"He'll explode, if it really is as great as you claim." And good riddance Salem added in her head. That was the perfect end to the monster. His greed leaving him writhing in agony, turning him mad with pain before finally taking his life.
"Lyman isn't a fool. He'll do as he did with you. He'll slowly eat away at her until she is nothing. But Valaris knows that, she must have more to her plan then just keeping Yang away from Lyman."
Salem had never met the woman. Her knowledge of Valaris was from various books (which often painted Lyman as a hero, so useless) or from the woman's sister who seemed to have a bone to pick with every member of her family.
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because she would have left Yang in my care if all she wanted was to keep the girl away from him."
Salem guessed he was referring to the Aesop attack. A thought crossed her mind.
"Does Yang know any of this?"
"She knows that Lyman and Valaris are likely after her. But this is all speculation on my part." The man snapped his fingers and the pot poured more tea into his cup. "She's perfectly safe... Especially if she trains."
Salem's eyes narrowed.
"Let me guess you will be training her." The man let out another hearty laugh.
"Oh no, Yang is a blast spell about to be spoken." He took another sip of tea. "I'm leaving that to her new betrothed. Howl always excelled at control."
"So that just leaves the last question." He cocked his head and looked at her. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"I told you, I want your assistance." The man said cryptically and then he smiled. "And I would very much like you on my side when the conflict hits."
Salem sat bemused as the man took his leave.
/
"Howl… It's kinda creepy to take your newly betrothed into the basement." Yang said as she looked at the stairs that quickly disappeared into the dark. The man gave her an apprising look before licking the tips of his finger and thumb. He then made a snapping motion.
Above his hand appeared a small ball of light. He pointed down and the stairs soon lit up.
"Follow me Yang." He held out his hand to help her down the first stair. She quickly noticed these stairs were old. They were stone and worn from people's travels down to the room bellow. The stairs were uneven (likely why Howl was keeping an eye on her as they travelled down) and the walls were the same. They were some sort of dark stone; Yang was sure if the light wasn't magic then the walls would eat away at it.
"So… Are you going to explain where we are going?" the blond time traveller asked, still unnerved. When the maid had shown up at her room and told her that Howl had requested that she come and train with him. She had not expected a trip to the basement.
"I am going to help you with controlling your mana output." He seemed to sense her confusion. "You may be able to fight an Aesop off but that's nothing in comparison to a mage. From what Emmet has said it seems your semblance makes use of the power, so we simply have to train you to have more control."
"Or?" Yang asked.
"You could explode and kill a lot of people." The girl froze at the frank reply. "Or various other things. It's all very horrible, I would prefer it did not happen."
Yang decided she didn't exactly want to think about what other horrible things could happen. So she started to look at the walls. That was when she noticing that they were specked with blood and claw marks.
Howl glanced back at her.
"The house is very old Yang. The Ozpin's may not have been part of the high court of Vaqueoh long. However, when instead of one country we were many territories, the Ozpin family were rulers in their own right."
"Okay what does that have to do with the clearly human claw marks?" Yang wasn't sure what the random piece of information had to do with the markings on the walls.
"This used to be the dungeon. I had it transformed into a training room." He paused to allow that to sink in. One side of Yang thought this was pretty cool the other was not enjoying going down to a used to be dungeon with a man she didn't know very well. "My w- first wife Sophie had similar issues to you. High mana reserve. She wasn't a noble so she had difficulty finding a mentor willing to risk harm to teach her. Her father was a natural mage and did not know where to start."
"I thought she studied at the same place as Emmet?" The man had mentioned that the first time Yang met him. Howl seemed to pause for a moment before he spoke.
"Yes, Emmet was the one to assist her with getting into that school." The girl frowned before she could speak they had made it to the bottom floor.
The light eating rock was all around her. But the magic light made her able to see pretty much everything in the room.
There was practice equipment like weapons in the long room. Also alcoves which Yang thought was likely were the cells used to be.
She noticed Howl had stopped walking and was standing a few feet away from her.
"Now, give me an explanation of your semblance."
The young woman folded her arms before replying.
"Didn't Emmet tell you?"
"He did, but I want you to give me as detailed explanation as possible."
She paused for a moment before speaking.
"When my semblance activates my eyes turn red." She started. Howl gave a nod but didn't speak. "It can activate when I'm angry but it's not much…" Yang gave a shrug. "However, if I get hurt it starts making me more and more powerful."
"Physical strength?" the girl nodded. "Are there any other effects?" The girl scratched her head.
"Well… If I get really hurt… It's like fire surrounds me… Only it's not quite fire." Yang wasn't sure how to describe it.
Frowning, Howl held up his hand. He closed his eyes and within the palm of his hand manifested a ball of orange that moved like fire.
"Yeah that!" Yang called out. As quickly as she spoke it disappeared and Howl turned back to her.
"That is not fire. That is a physical manifestation of mana. It surrounds you?" she gave another nod. "Hmmm… Well, it's possible that you are using so much that it's physically manifesting around you. Or it's possible it's escaping."
"Bad or good?" the man gave her a ponderous look.
"Neither." He said. "It's curious though."
The man stood deep in thought for a few moments before speaking again.
"So, I am going to have to hurt you to activate your semblance?"
"I'm a big girl Howl I can handle a hit."
Howl still didn't seem pleased about all of this. In the end they decided to spar and wait for Yang's semblance to activate. After all Howl also wanted to know Yang's combat abilities.
Like father like son. Howl wasn't as fast as Clark but he was still fast. He was also much more accurate, hitting Yang hard with precise strikes from a wood practice sword. It didn't take long for Yang to be both hurt enough and frustrated enough for her semblance to activate.
Yang jumped back at that moment and slammed her fists together. She felt the power flow through her and she didn't even need to look to know she was surrounded by mana.
Howl moved back swinging his right arm, testing it after taking a nasty hit a moment earlier.
"Interesting." He said as he walked around her. "It seems to just be a physical manifestation. Much like aura will do at times." He frowned. "Yang I want you to punch me as hard as you can when I say so."
"Umm sorry?" The girl called out. She guessed he would block it but at the same time. The man didn't reply he just took a deep breath.
"Alright, when you're ready."
With a shrug Yang ran forward and hit him. He blocked the hit with his arm and she was sent flying backwards by Yang guessed a magical force. She landed on her feet and turned back to him.
"Ummm?" She half asked.
"Since I had you explain your semblance I might as well explain mine. I have very little mana Yang. However, my semblance allows me to take my opponent's mana and use it as my own."
"So you drained me?" Yang said remembering their earlier conversation. However, Howl looked offended.
"No, draining is a very specific ritual and the amount of mana taken is removed forever from the victim. This is more like a fighting move that allows me to use your own power against you." Which meant the force that had thrown her was her own power?
"So what was the point of that excise exactly?"
"I wanted to see how much control you had as well as how much mana you used in an attack like that." He frowned. "Honestly it's disgusting how much you waste."
"Well no one even knows what mana is in my time! How am I meant to be able to use it properly?" The girl growled back. That surprised Howl.
"I'm sorry?"
"No one in my time knows about magic." The time traveller clarified.
"Well that explains rather a lot. But how did you think your semblance worked then?"
The girl shrugged. Howl narrowed his eyes.
"I assume then you were not aware that every time you used your semblance you could have killed yourself and innocent bystanders? Mana is highly volatile and unpredictable Yang." His voice stayed calm making Yang feel like she was being scolded like a child. Unfair when she had never had the chance before now to know any of this.
"Like I said! I didn't know what was going on!" Around Yang the orange energy blasted back to life. "All I knew was that if I got hit I got more powerful!"
"So you recklessly endangered yourself and others? Just to be more powerful?" His voice kept that calm tone. Hers grew louder and 'flames' around her grew larger.
"Why are you being such a jerk again?" Yang yelled back. That made Howl pause. He took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"I am sorry Yang." He said in a careful tone. "But do your best to avoid using your semblance till we have worked on your mana control." He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Accidents can happen."
Before Yang could say anything the lord stopped her with a hand motion. From there he taught her a few new training techniques to gain better control of her mana. After a while he pulled out his pocket watch and checked it.
"It's nearly dinner time. It's best we head up and prepare ourselves." With that he led Yang up the stairs and with another click of his fingers the magic lights were gone.
/
Clark had never been much for drinking but once he returned to his room after another dinner staring at Yang from across the table (more the cross around her neck) he decided he understood why alcohol had its place in the world.
It didn't help that he had asked the staff where to find his father today only to be told the man was spending some quality time with his betrothed. Clark knew that this was just a means to an end for both of them but that didn't stop him from feeling like this.
After taking a deep breath the young man decided to get changed and go to bed instead of trying to bury himself in a book or try and locate something to get himself drunk with. However, his plans were ruined when someone knocked at his door.
Clark pulled on his bed shirt and went to see who it was. He found Alice waiting for him. Before he could comment on not wishing to see someone right now (and how inappropriate this actually was.) She had him by the arm and was leading him out of the house.
It wasn't until they had made it to one of the small walled gardens that she finally stopped tugging him along.
"Alice, why are we out here?" Clark asked. The girl turned back to him and smiled mischievously.
"It's just over here!" She said leading him around the corner. There, they found a fountain covered in fire flies. "Isn't it amazing?" The girl called out.
Clark looked at it for a moment.
"Yes, it is," He said, more for her then anything. "Alice, why did you bring me out here?"
"Because I love you!" The girl said. "And I don't want to see you like this." She grabbed Clark's hands and squeezed them. "Clark, I've seen so many men and woman at court fall for people like her."
"Alice I told you. Miss Xiao Long wasn't trying to seduce me for her own gain." His childhood friend narrowed her eyes.
"Really? Then why did she happily agree to marry your father when he offered? Again, I've seen this at court! To avoid scandal someone else marries the vile person."
Clark knew how this looked but he also knew he couldn't tell Alice. Not when Yang had already told him that the king had planned to hand her over to Lyman. Alice was unlikely involved and Clark wanted to keep it that way.
"Listen to me, please." Clark said, the girl allowed him to speak. "Alice, I admit I lied a little. Yang is in a very bad spot and my father agreed to help her-"
"Of course she was. Fixed a fight?" the princess scoffed.
"No! A very scary person wants her." Quickly Clark came up with a story (one he realised he was going to have to brave speaking to Yang again and tell her). "Miss Xiao Long was running because a very influential man -no I can't tell you who- was besotted by her. Yes, my father is protecting her but not from debts. He's protecting her from being forced into a marriage to a cruel disgusting man!"
Alice pulled away and shook her head.
"You know Clark… I love you and one day we will be married." The girl bit her lip. "I don't want to be sharing you with her."
"You won-"
"I don't mean physically! You… You never used to lie to me!" She cried out as tears started to fall down her soft cheeks. "But you will and you'll do it repeatedly just to protect her! It's that or this girl is the heroine of a terribly written romance novel come to life!"
Clark went to hug Alice but she pulled away from him.
"Why can't you just love me like you used too?"
With that she was gone.
The boy flopped to the ground without grace and leaned against the cool wet stone of the fountain. He took a deep breath and looked up to watch the fire flies dance in the night sky.
