Awakening the Dragon
Chapter 9 – Unraveling the Mystery
Raven clenched her fist as tightly as she could. Gone. Just like that, two powerful enemies had fled and at least one of them had her daughter. And her hands were tied; even though the battle had ended, there were still several places within the academy that had soldiers retreating, robots that kept fighting, and students that needed rescue. Many of the airships that hadn't been shot down flew away, and most of the huntsmen and huntresses in the courtyard were taking care of the wounded and gathering the dead. What was a mother to do in a situation like this? She was certain she wasn't needed at the moment, though she couldn't rescue Yang alone.
She scanned the courtyard. She had seen worse and considering the biggest threat had been here, the place looked surprisingly intact. It was still a mangled battlefield. The torn remains of colossal paladin-esque machines, bisected robots, debris and rubble from shattered buildings, and dead students and soldiers littered the area and from a quick scan it wasn't hard to tell that at least in the courtyard, the academy suffered fewer casualties.
Raven sighed, turning away from the field, and paced back and forth with her arms crossed. Though her eyes were fixated on the ground veiled with the lens of inattentional blindness, she was still aware through her sense of sound. Adam had been conversing with some of the White Fang members, while Blake talked to Ghira. She turned and looked at the courtyard again. It reminded her of some of the raids she used to go on with the tribe, though with less signs of ordnance. She wondered what the casualty ratio was. How many of Haven's were lost versus that of the New Dawn. Some of the dead bore damage that could have only been inflicted by someone with immense strength considering the cleanness of the cuts and she knew exactly who had been responsible. She stared at the ground again; she counted her steps and took a deep, tremored breath.
"Raven…" Ruby said, having walked up to her. Ruby looked deeply concerned. She had put away Full Rose, though it was obvious what she wanted and the both of them were of one mind. However, even with the two of them, even with Morgan's monstrous strength, could they do it?
Raven stopped pacing and turned her head away from her stepdaughter. "Not sure what I'm supposed to do." She looked up at the black clouds in the sky. Some of them were storm clouds though those had moved away further into Mistral. The Huntsman or Owain, it didn't matter. She wouldn't be able to gain ground against either of them, especially not now, not until she found out exactly what was done to her, and how far that went.
Ruby paused. "You could open up a portal to her. We can fight them! I know we can! Besides, we just need to rescue her, we can get out of wherever she is quicker than they could respond, if we can't, right?" Ruby said.
Oh, Ruby. If only I had your optimism. Raven sighed. "I'm not so sure." Though if she had access to her portals, Ruby's plan could work. Both Owain and the Huntsman were arrogant, and they waited. Though before she went into the mansion, Owain had struck first, she got the feeling that had more to do with him being glad to see her as much as that irked her to admit.
"What?" Ruby said, confused.
"Raven!" Tai said, rushing up to her. "We have to go after her! Open a portal!"
Raven looked down at her right palm, opening and closing her hand a few times. What did he do to me? She knew it probably had something to do with that core Oscar spoke about. She still had her maiden powers, yet she couldn't open the vault anymore, but that didn't explain why she couldn't open up a portal back there. She looked at Tai. Might as well give it another shot. They didn't have much choice. She couldn't just leave Yang behind.
"Raven?" Tai said.
"Wait, we need to think about this," Oscar said, stumbling up to them as he held his side. "Before we go after Yang, we need to make sure we—" He looked over at Cinder who seemed preoccupied.
"What is it?" Cinder said, noticing the stare. Cinder seemed different. Her expression was more neutral than usual. Typically, she always kept that smug look on her face, yet one would think that she'd either be mad that they couldn't take down Owain, or she'd be haughty as usual.
"Your aura is…different. Familiar." Oscar said.
Cinder looked down at her hand, much like Raven had done before. Something she didn't ignore. "I heard a voice."
Interesting. That provided more evidence for what she already assumed. The Huntsman spoke about the other three and not just her. If she heard a voice, then why wouldn't Cinder? Though why now, and not earlier? What was different now? There was one thing she wanted to confirm before she committed to her assumption. "Was it a man's voice?"
Cinder looked over to her. "You've heard a voice too?"
"I did. I heard a man's voice. He warned me to run while I was fighting the Huntsman." Raven saw Blake jerk her head toward her in response to her words, though returned to her talk with her father just as quickly. "Then he touched me, and the voice vanished. And so did my ability to open the vault."
"What?" Oscar said in shock. "Then that proves it. That aura I felt from Cinder." He looked over to Cinder. "The voice you heard. Describe it to me."
"It was a woman's voice. And it's what we're suspecting. I'm fairly certain the core of power—the Blessing of the Warrior—is responsible for it. I'm sure it was the original Warrior's voice. She kept telling me how I would only ever be incomplete, unfinished, half a person for only relying on darkness. Something she'd say, right?"
"Yeah. It sounds like her. I assumed you've awakened that blessing—heightening and evolving your powers. Though what Raven says about the voice she heard, and now her inability to open the vault…" Oscar said.
"Do you still have your powers?" Tai said to Raven. He seemed out of the loop, and didn't seem to care about the details, but knowing him, he was piecing things together as he heard them.
Raven flared her powers. "I do. The man seemed to notice that I was hearing the voice and touched me. I felt a surge of pain, which I assume was when he did what he did."
"So the Huntsman somehow has the power to seal away the core? Or is it because he's the Huntsman and you're the Spring Maiden? There's a connection there, and we can't rule out the possibility that the man can seal away the rest of the maiden's power to open the vaults," Cinder said.
Cinder was right. Her being the Spring Maiden meant she had went up against the guy who had the power that essentially birthed the Spring Maiden. Though, he could use magic. At least that's how it seemed. He could have lied. It was something worth considering. However, given the fact the man could pretty much teleport, why didn't he touch Cinder the way he touched her? He was intangible, she wouldn't be able to counter, would she? If that's the case, then perhaps he can't do it to the others. "Although we should definitely keep our guard up, I think you in particular should stay away from any shady people till we figure this out. There's no telling who might be the Warrior and if they'll recognize you by your aura."
Cinder nodded.
Ghira and Blake walked up to them. "It seems things are serious, then? I'm not too familiar with what's been going on, but I understand we can't open the vault anymore? Does this have something to do with these embodiments Blake told me about?"
"It does," Oscar said. "We can only hope that whatever the Huntsman did to Raven was not permanent."
"But what about Yang? Why kidnap her?" Ruby asked.
"Perhaps I can give some insight into that," Ghira said. "When I fought Owain, he mentioned that his primary reason for attacking Haven was to acquire the relic so as to prevent Yang from winning so easily. He said something about a flame and wanting to awaken a terrible beast within her. A metaphor I'm sure, but he was clearly interested in her," Ghira said.
Yang and me, Raven thought. For whatever reason, Owain had an interest in the both of them. Why? She could understand herself since she was the Spring Maiden, but Yang? Maybe it had something to do with her fame, though why just her then and not Ruby or the others?
Blake sighed. "I think it's more complicated than that. It was Nero who knocked Yang unconscious. He said he was ending this frivolous battle before disappearing. Though I do think what you said is important, we can't rule out that Nero kidnapped her and not Owain." Blake said.
"Then there's the fact that based on their short exchange they weren't exactly on good terms," Tai said.
"That's the good news from all this. We have reason to believe that the four warriors might not be aligned. We might be able to use that to our advantage. We don't know what their goals are, but considering Nero had ample opportunity to gain access to the relic, but chose not to, I think it's safe to say the destruction of the relics is not their ultimate goal, and that whatever that goal may be, does not require the relics' destruction." Oscar looked to Blake. "I understand you have the most experience with Nero. Is there anything else you could tell us?"
"Not much. He hates me for whatever reason and wants me to quit being the High Leader of the White Fang. He's intangible, can seemingly teleport, and…knows things. Like, eerie things. Things we assumed would be because he somehow had the Gift of Knowledge, but he doesn't so…"
Owain for Yang and me, and now this Nero for Blake? Raven wondered what the connection was. The obvious one was their status. The both of them are members of team RWBY. If that was the case… "Ruby?"
Ruby turned to her. "Yeah?"
"Have you encountered anyone mysterious lately?" Raven said.
"Other than the dude on the dust dragon no, why?" She said.
That's right! "I get the feeling the man on that dragon is one of the warriors." It was just an assumption, but if it was their status, then she had to assume the man on the dragon was in fact one of them.
Ruby's eyes widened.
"I see where you're going with this," Oscar said.
"Yeah. First Nero—the Huntsman—who has an interest in me, and now Owain with Yang. We should at least assume the others would be interested in Ruby and Weiss at least," Blake said.
"I can call Weiss and ask her. See if anyone shady or powerful or whatever has attacked her or something," Ruby said.
"Good idea," Oscar said.
"OH right! My scroll. I lost it back at the fortress!" Ruby said.
"Here." Blake dialed Weiss' number and handed over the scroll, making sure it was on speaker.
"Blake!" Weiss answered, wasting no time in answering the phone.
"Hey Weiss! It's me Ruby, I lost my scroll, can I—"
"Ruby? Are you alright? You guys were in Mistral, are you at Haven by chance?" She said, her voice in a rush.
"Yeah, the battle is over. We won, everything's fine. Look, has anyone creepy, shady, or powerful attacked you recently? Or tried to contact you?" Ruby said.
"What? Not that I can think of. Let me ask Percival. If anyone dangerous was trying to get to me, he'd have handled it. Hang on." There was a pause of a few seconds. "Hey Percival?" Weiss said at a distance, her voice barely audible. "Have you encountered anyone recently that might have had an interest in me for some reason? Ruby's asking." Another pause. "No? Are you sure? Alright." Another moment passed. "Hey, Ruby! Percival says no. Aside from small time thugs, things have been awfully quiet."
I wonder… "Ask her about Percival."
"What about Percival?" Ruby asked.
"What about him?" Weiss asked.
"Maybe he's the one? Has he done anything shady? Said anything weird? Exhibited any strange powers that—" Ruby said.
"Involve the creation of things seemingly out of nothing," Oscar interjected.
"Involve the creation of things seemingly out of nothing," Ruby repeated.
"No. Percival's been lovely to the whole family. Even father thinks that he's by far the best bodyguard the family has ever had. And not just because of the whole "dealing with threats to the family" thing, but because he goes beyond his duty to help us out."
"What about you?" Ruby's face turned serious. "Does he have an interest in you more than the others?"
"Not really. He's naggy, making sure I'm always on top of things as the President of the SDC, but besides that he spends time with everyone else just as much if not more than me. Ruby, what's this about?"
"Did Winter tell you about the embodiments? The story Oscar told us about?"
"No actually. She only told me a few things about Alexis and him playing politics as usual."
"Well, here's the thing. Owain is an embodiment of Destruction or something. And Nero—leader of the Black Claw—is known as the Huntsman, an embodiment of Knowledge. They're both super strong and super dangerous. So far, Owain is really interested in Yang for some reason, and Nero has a grudge against Blake. We think the other two might be coming after you and me."
Left out a lot, but okay, Raven thought.
Weiss sighed. "More magic I assume?"
"Yup," Ruby said.
"I'll keep my head up. I'll inform Percival to keep his guard up. Though now that you mention how powerful they supposedly are…"
"Can't you keep it a secret from him?" Ruby asked.
"Why? Percival's fine! If he was in any way a threat to me I'd have noticed it by now. Besides, if I don't inform him, he could die if one of these so-called embodiments attack! And if they're really so powerful, that could put me at a huge disadvantage!"
"She has a point," Oscar said.
"Okay, okay fine! Just…be careful Weiss," Ruby said.
"Don't worry, I will! Thanks for the heads up and keep in touch! Everyone is really stressed out over here and any information I could use can make a difference!" Weiss said.
"Will do!" Ruby handed the scroll back to Blake.
"Hey!" Jaune said, rushing over with the others, following close behind was Kali and the rest of Sun's team, along with Emerald and Mercury.
"Seems like you've cleaned up the rest of the school!" Ghira said.
"Yeah, the rest of the New Dawn retreated, some on foot, the rest on whatever airships weren't destroyed," Qrow said. "Where's Yang?"
Raven sighed. "Owain or Nero kidnapped her."
"What?" Qrow said. "Where are they now?"
"We don't know. Nero disappeared along with Owain. So far, we've figured out that Nero is the Huntsman, and the other two might have an interest in Ruby and Weiss," Oscar said.
"Wait, why would they?" Jaune asked.
"Well, according to Ghira, Owain wants to awaken something in Yang apparently, and Nero seemingly hates Blake and wants to get her to quit. Notice anything in common?" Tai said.
Kali looked over to Blake with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah," Qrow said. "Let me guess, you've already considered the dude on the dragon as one of the warriors, then?"
"Yeah. We have no leads for the one that might be after Weiss, however" Raven said. "But what we do know is that they're not necessarily allies. Nero told me he was working independently from Owain but that their ultimate goal was the same. Right before they disappeared, they talked a little and it seemed like they weren't exactly friendly."
"But why?" Jaune asked.
"No clue," Oscar said. "First thing's first. We need to formulate a plan to rescue Yang. I'm sorry to leave like this, Ghira, but…"
"No worries!" Ghira said. "I understand. Owain—or Nero—has Yang and the governor in particular is quite the threat. Thanks to Nero—enemy or not—the battle ended faster than it would have, especially considering the abominable strength Owain exhibited. We'll clean up here, don't worry."
"Thank you," Oscar said.
"Though before you go, perhaps you could formulate your plan inside my office. There might be something you could use from the inevitable news report that should be coming any time now," Ghira said.
"Good idea," Qrow said.
Yang got up from the bed. Thankfully everything was intact. Her gauntlets were still on her and extended. Hopefully that meant that not a lot of time had passed. She retracted them into bangles and scanned the room. She wondered who it previously belonged to. She didn't know the extent of the changes to the mansion save for that it was originally just a fancy meeting hall where the council sometimes threw parties for the rich. She walked around the room, knocking over stock picture frames, opening up drawers, and cabinets. The place was empty of everything save the bed sheets which were too rich for her tastes, though they were really comfortable.
She looked down at her right hand. What are the odds that what he said was true? In the last six years, she had bonded with her mom, and hell her mom bonded with Ruby too, though their relationship was a little odd. Now all of a sudden there's this guy that looks—
She shook her head. Stop it! She didn't have time to think about that right now! Yang rushed from out of the guestroom. She looked around the brightly lit hallway as she continued her rush down the red carpeting which accentuated the marble tiling of what seemed to be the second floor. She looked to her right over the fine ornate wooden railing toward the entrance of the mansion—one she recognized from the ball. The brooding gray light from sunlight shrouded in dark clouds was visible through the window panes.
"You!" A familiar woman's voice said.
Yang halted and looked over to the voice. It was Anastasia. She looked livid. "What do you want?"
"You dare have an attitude with me after whatever it is you clearly did?" Anastasia yelled.
"What I've done? And what is it that I've done that has you so upset?"
"You stole the Fall Maiden's powers!" Anastasia said, pointing an accusatory black gloved finger at her.
"That I stole? You mean what the New Dawn stole! We simply gave it back to its proper owner." She shot her a smirk.
"Yo–you!" Seems like she hit a nerve. "Proper owner?" She yelled. "Cinder's the one who stole the power! She was never meant to have it! She only ever got it because she was a spoiled little brat who never learned to keep her worthless hands off things that weren't hers!"
"Jeez, you really hate her, don't you? Not sure what she did to you but considering who you're working with and what they've done so far, I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. For all the bad Cinder's done, she's never experimented on people, nor has she ever turned them into monsters."
Anastasia looked taken aback by her words. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Time to have some fun, Yang thought as she widened her smirk. Judging from her expression, Yang guessed that Anastasia had been kept in the dark about a few things.
"What's going on out here? Is everything alright?" A man said.
The both of them looked over to him. It was Alexis, wearing his formal military outfit, though without all the medals she'd expect from a colonel of Atlas, though the colors were indicative of the New Dawn. He walked forward, hands clasped behind his back. "Ah, Ms. Xiao Long! The governor has informed me of your stay here and of the rules of such. Please, make yourself at home."
"Yeah about that. About him." She turned to him. Start off basic and non-confrontational, She thought. "Why call him governor? Why not King? That strikes me as odd, considering he took over the country."
"Excellent question. Owain, despite his demeanor, does not see himself as a tyrannical figure. Instead, he insists that his role is one of inspiration and distant management. He often leaves most of the actual policy proposals to me though he does give me input from time to time."
She wondered. She didn't know who Owain was, but if he was what she was concerned about, then she wanted to find out more. She didn't believe his claims about the marks, though she had little reason to assume he was lying. She didn't want to believe the alternative. As far as she was concerned, this was all to find out more about her enemy. She took a deep, tremored breath. "What kind of policies does he ask you to write?"
"Mostly things related to dust trade. Lately, he's been insisting that we lower our dust mining operations here in Mistral. We have a few government-controlled mining operations which thankfully has reduced our reliance on companies like the SDC to fill in the gaps. Though he never pushed the issue when I told him such a policy was a bad idea," Alexis said.
Dust trade? Why dust trade? Why would Owain want to lower the amount of a thing that would only make his forces stronger? Maybe there was some other reason. "Did he ever give his reasoning for those policies?"
"No, though I originally assumed it had something to do with the rise of environmental movements. However, once I got to know the man a little better, I realized he didn't seem the type to be concerned about the environment," Alexis said.
She knew better than to take this man at his word, but she definitely agreed with him there. She knew little of Owain, but from what she gathered so far, he wasn't one to concern himself with politics at all, least of all boring things like dust trade. I wonder…She recalled what she found out about Alexis earlier, though she still had to play her cards right.
"By the way, I must apologize for the attack on Haven earlier." He interrupted her thoughts. "I strongly disagreed with the governor, though when it comes to military operations, he has authority over me," Alexis said.
"Really? You couldn't just tell him no? Don't you have control over the New Dawn?" Yang said. Though as she said that she remembered that Henry mentioned a split in the New Dawn, forces loyal to Owain.
Alexis chuckled a bit. "I assure you once I left Atlas and became a citizen of Mistral, my military experience became useless as a credential. Owain insisted that be the case and I must correct you on another assumption." He coughed, covering it with the side of his fist. "When it comes to the New Dawn I am technically its leader, though it has some powerful benefactors who override me. When I say military, I mean the Mistral Military in its entirety."
Yang's eyes widened. "Wait! The entire military? He has control over it?" That wasn't good. There was supposed to be tension between the two after the coup. How did he get them on his side so quickly?
Alexis smiled. "Indeed. One great thing about being the overpowered brute that he is, is that he is exceptional at making the military buckle. Ordinarily we'd have to keep them well-funded, which we do, but he's practically made the troops worship him by demonstrating his power and promising to make Mistral rise above the world as a force that can't be pushed around by anyone or anything."
She frowned a bit. "A brute, is he? How brutish?"
Alexis' face became stern, almost angry. No, disgusted. "The man's a savage, Yang. Do you know what he did to the Mistral council?"
Yang's heart rate increased a little. "What?"
"He cut them in half one-by-one. None of them combatants, though he insisted that it was punishment for their inadequacy and overreach of power."
"Because they were greedy idiots!" Anastasia cut in. "You know that, Alexis! The council did nothing, except line their pockets with taxpayer money while they regularly insisted on sending huntsmen and huntresses off on stupid missions!" She yelled. "It had been going on since Leo's days. Do you know how many good huntsmen died over such nonsense?"
"I understand that Ana, but murder is not the way to handle that," Alexis said.
"Yes, it is! And it wasn't murder. It was justice! Ever since the council died, things have been getting better in Mistral, and we haven't even done much! All it took was to wipe away the filth and like magic, things got better!" Anastasia smiled.
Interesting. She certainly looks up to him. Yang looked back to Alexis. She needed more information. Time to dig in a little deeper. She had to be careful with this. All she had to do was fib a little, no big deal. "By the way. Your name. You wouldn't happen to know an Arthur Watts, would you? He said your name right before he died. Cursed you in fact."
Alexis faced her again as he squinted his eyes. She took that as confirmation. "He did, did he? That's right. He was one of Salem's minions. Glad to know he's been taken care of. The man was an infamous, unethical scientist from Atlas decades back that only ever stained the Atlesian military's good name."
Now push! "I should probably mention the fact that he left behind some of his diaries. He blamed you for a lot of things in them."
Alexis' eye twitched, though barely. "Did he now? What sort of things did he blame me for?"
"Pretty much the collapse of his entire scientific career," She said.
Alexis scoffed. "Of course he did. People like him always blame others for their own faults and failures. Though I'm sure you knew that already."
Now grab him by the sack! "He also mentioned other things. Old research, a few opportunities, something about a few machines, and car engines, I think? Dust-tuned he called them, but not much else. Guy was pretty boring."
His expression turned dark, though she could tell he was trying to hide it. "Dr. Watts was a scientist who left with a lot of Atlesian secrets to aid Salem in her endeavors. He's done a lot of evil things for his twisted view of science. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something in his research—probably something Salem was interested in—that would have pushed the boundaries of ethics. You know how she was; deceitful, manipulative, a sower of lies, and a divider of people. Salem had tried and tried to divide Atlas, to try and turn the world against them."
The fact that he mentioned Salem and now blames her probably meant that he was beginning to see through her. She needed to pull back a bit. "Yeah. We know that firsthand. She never did anything herself. It was always through manipulating others. Leo, Watts, Cinder…" She sighed. "Well, not that it matters. She's gone now and so is Arthur, so we won't have to worry about any evil scientific experiments running loose."
"Indeed, and we have you and the rest of team RWBY to thank for that," Alexis said, as he put up a fake smile.
"Let me ask you something." Anastasia turned to her. "You guys are supposed to be heroes, why are you helping Cinder? She worked for Salem! She's supposed to be dead! Why give her back her powers?"
Damn it! I forgot about that! How could she let that slip her mind? It was just a few moments ago! She glanced at Alexis who raised an eyebrow and then threw up a smirk, one that wasn't fake.
"I see someone's been a little naughty. You wouldn't have stumbled upon a place you shouldn't have, right? Is that why you brought up Watts' old research?" He laughed a little. "Now it makes sense." He sighed, haughtily. "You know, politics suits you as well as it does Owain. As great a hero as you are, rhetoric doesn't fit that beauty and strength of yours."
Well, he wasted no time in dropping the act, she thought as she threw him a glare, though now she wondered why he didn't know that already. She had forgotten it herself, but he should have been in contact with Henry. Did something happen to him? "You're right. I'm no politician. In fact, it's why I went to that fortress in the first place! Needed to save some friends, but while I was there, I stumbled upon your whole operation! Henry Malbec even spilled the beans! Tried to recruit my sister and me to assassinate Owain for you." She turned to Anastasia. "He's playing you. They've all been playing you. When they took Cinder's powers they put it in a machine and intended to use it to kill your boss!"
Anastasia looked shocked at her words. Alexis simply furrowed his brow. "Excuse me?"
"Don't play dumb. I know. He knows." Come on Alexis, let more of your crap come out of that mouth of yours!
He paused and kept straight eye contact for what seemed to be a good twenty seconds before he spoke up again. "I assume there's some familial relationship between the two of you. Your similarities are too uncanny to ignore. I understand then, why you'd want to protect him, but rest assured, I have no intentions of harming hi—"
"We're not family!" Her heart began to race. That's not important right now! According to him, their similarities were due to both of them being the Berserker and she just had to take his word for it! What else could it have been?
"It's highly unlikely that the two of you are doppelgangers. Sure, there are only so many genetic variations to go around in people before two of them end up looking more alike than siblings despite no relation to each other, but this strikes me as little more than mere coincidence, don't you think?"
Yang looked down in doubt. Mom and Dad will clear it up, don't worry about it. She took a deep breath, trying her best to settle the shakiness in her breathing, trying to push out the images of the man's face, eyes, and aura, though she was beginning to feel like a coward. She clenched her fists tightly. "Where is he now? I want to talk to him."
Alexis pointed over to her left, down the hall. "He's in his personal chambers."
"Thank you." She walked down the hallway, bumping Anastasia aside.
"You think you can just walk straight through me—"
"That's enough Ana. Yang is Lord Owain's special guest. She's been given leave of the entire mansion," Alexis said.
"Oh don't give me that! Is what she said true?" Anastasia yelled.
"Quiet down, Ana, don't make a scene. Come inside my chambers and we'll talk this through," Alexis said as Yang kept walking away from the two. She could hear Anastasia growl. A few seconds later a door shut. She assumed Anastasia took up his offer.
She continued down the hallway. It was definitely active. She walked toward a door and stopped just short of opening it. If only I had my scroll, she thought. She opened the door, walked through it, and closed it behind her. It was empty.
Yang scanned the room with her mouth agape. This torn-up pigsty of a room is where he slept? The room was mostly empty save for the poorly made bed, used bed frame, torn and loose wallpapers, and only one working light bulb, though it did have a chair and desk. It reminded her of how she kept her room back when she lost her arm, though with less clutter.
The door opened behind her and her heart started to thump as she got a good look at his face again. "Can I help you, Yang?" He closed the door with his left hand, holding a stack of papers with the other. He walked to the chair and desk near the window, sat down, and began writing.
"What are you doing?" She wanted to try something. They had been casual with each other before. Maybe if she tried it herself before he did, she might be able to learn something.
"Reviewing and signing policy written by Alexis. I don't have the patience for this, but I did take over as governor." He sighed and placed the paper to the side, starting what she assumed was a pile.
"What kind of policy?" She asked.
"Nothing relevant to the two of us, I assure you." He said.
You don't say…she rolled her eyes. "What do you want? What are you after?" She took another deep breath, still settling the tremors.
"Didn't the little man tell you?" Owain said.
"Little man? Dude, the guy's tall as hell. Anyways, no, I don't think he did." She said.
"I plan to destroy the Gift of Destruction," He said, as he placed another paper atop the stack.
Her eyes widened. "What? Why?"
"Can't say." He said.
"What do you mean you can't say?" She raised her voice.
"I can't say. There are certain things not even I am allowed to mention," He said, placing yet another paper atop the stack.
"Says who? A man as powerful as yourself?" She crossed her arms.
"No one. It's a simple agreement between the four of us, though revealing such information would be detrimental. I like you, Yang, though I don't think it'd be smart to speak of such things," He said, placing the pen down, and turning to face her.
She cringed a bit at his face again. "You said we look alike because we're the Berserker…how is that possible?"
"Can't say," He said.
She rolled her eyes again and sighed aggressively. "Is there anything you can say, then?"
"I can assure you that your concerns are unfounded. You and I are connected, Yang, make no mistake, but not in the way you think. Now, my turn for questions. How did you lose your arm?" He said, crossing his left leg over the other.
She looked up at her cybernetic prosthetic. "Made a reckless decision to save a dear friend, an old enemy took advantage and sliced clean through it—aura and all." It's been years and the scars were still there, but barely.
"I see. Also, another question. How is your sister?" He said.
She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"How is she? Is she normal? In despair? Bored? Or…"
No, if he wasn't going to talk, then neither was she. "She's fine. She's Ruby. She'll always be Ruby."
He grinned. "I see."
"What?" She didn't like that.
"Nothing." He stood up. "You should get to training. If you don't intend to check the mansion, I suggest you return to your friends and family and get to pushing yourself. You have quite the chasm to close if you intend to defeat me."
"Care to give me a hint?" She smiled. "Just a little taste of what I can do that I can't already?"
He laughed. "And rob you of the joy of discovery? No, dear girl. You'll figure it out. You've already noticed one of our abilities beyond our omen. Or at least you should have."
Omen…she recalled him telling her something about an omen. It's not just an omen anymore, is it? Was what he said. His smile widened. She assumed he could somehow tell that she had recalled that particular statement. "Fine. Guess I'll do just that."
"Our deal is still in place, I hope?"
She took yet another deep breath. He'll just keep denying it, so there was no point in asking him about it. I'll just have to wait to talk to Mom and Dad. Just…relax. She smiled "Yeah. Can't exactly give you my shampoo, or anything at the moment, but I'll get stronger and beat you, don't you worry."
"Wonderful!"
A noise erupted from outside. It sounded like…voices? "What's going on?"
"That would be the press. The political fallout of my actions has finally arrived," He said, lazily. He sighed. "This is turning out to be quite a boring day."
She looked over at him, no longer keeping the smile she had. "I hope you have a good reason for this. I still have to stop you but…I'd at least like to find out that you weren't just some mad man who loves killing." She hated the idea that her possible brother would be a monster. Friend or foe, she wanted to believe he had noble goals.
He turned to her again, his own smile disappearing. He looked her deep in the eyes. It unsettled her. "I assure you I have good reason for my actions. My attack on Haven was to ensure things wouldn't be too easy for you. You need to grow stronger and having the relic to aid you will simply rob you of opportunities."
"I don't need you to do anything for me! Least of all attacking a school just because you have a sick fascination with me!" That was the last thing she wanted to hear. That an enemy of hers would kill innocent people because of her.
He smiled again. "There they are. Finally, your red eyes come out again."
She growled, extended her gauntlets, and threw a punch at his face. He caught the fist with his left hand. "Now now, what did I say?"
She struggled, trying to push him back again. I was able to overpower him before, what gives? "Shut up!"
His smile widened as he threw her back with a push of his arm. She skidded backward, ready to throw another punch. "Save your strength, Yang. You can't defeat me just yet. If you need motivation, then let me give it to." He shot her a glare and a scowl. "I will hunt you down, nipping at your heels, I will hunt down your friends, your family, and I will bring with me a tide of blood ready to drown you, so fight Yang, fight and grow and crush me!"
A wave of fear washed over her, but she pushed it back with a flare of her rage, a rage she could barely contain as she tried her hardest not to throw herself at him in a futile effort. She knew she couldn't beat him, especially if what he said about her was true. "If you so much as touch any of my—"
"I'll touch who I please, I'll kill who I please, and I will tread where I please. There is only one way out of that simple truth." He kept his glare and scowl focused on her, though it changed to a sly smile, though there was still an intensity to him. "Though I'll be happy to make an exception of Raven. Perhaps the two of you could kill me together!"
Her anger flared even more, and it was becoming quite difficult to keep herself in check. He's taunting you, calm down. Calm. Down. She knew what she had to do, now more than ever. His attack on Haven was proof enough, but…She stared him down, still trying to keep her anger in check. Trying to keep the balance of fear and wrath from consuming her. Trying to stand her ground.
"Alexis should be addressing the press shortly. I suggest you meet the press yourself," he said, letting his expression relax. Oddly, it made hers relax as well.
"What? Why would I do that? I don't need to address the press!"
"I, the leader of a sovereign nation has attacked his own academy with a mercenary group responsible for a coup. The leaders of the other nations, along with the headmasters of the academies know what that means and will be gearing up for war." He sat back down, crossing one leg over the other again, letting his head rest on his fist. "You, one of four great heroes are in a unique position to play to those tensions and can ultimately decide to plunge the world into chaos or postpone the inevitable. You have a decision to make."
Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then another. She turned around and left the room—paying no mind to Owain—still taking deep breaths, all to settle the tremors in her breathing. She walked toward the voices which were getting louder. As she got closer to them, she noticed double doors baring her path.
"Please, please calm down! Mr. Ravus will be here to address any concerns the people might have, please remain calm!" A voice said.
Well…here goes. Yang thought.
Blake sat down at one of the crescent-shaped cushioned benches to the right of Dad's desk. They had turned on the news via Dad's scroll—which he had placed on the desk—to wait for Alexis to formally address the attack on Haven. Everyone else had come inside too, though Mom, Sun and his team, as well as Ilia and Adam had stayed behind to help out with the clean-up efforts. The tension in the air thickened. Everyone was impatient. They wanted to rescue Yang, but they still needed to plan that out, and now they were waiting for the political fallout of an attack on an academy. What was going to happen from here? How would the other kingdoms respond?
The image projected from the scroll showed an old man in a black suit trying to calm the press. "That's Owain's butler, I believe," Raven said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
"Please, calm down!" The man said. There, Alexis walked toward the podium as the voices roared even louder. He stood upon the dais, and raised his right hand, motioning for everyone to quiet down.
"I understand you all have concerns over the events that had transpired not a few hours ago. So I ask you remain calm and ask your questions one at a time. You there, you first."
"What was the purpose of the attack on Haven?" A faunus woman said.
"Our intelligence within the military had received information that unsavory forces hidden within the ranks of the academy were gearing up for a coup against the current regime. We sent a diplomatic force in an attempt to quell the rebellion peacefully, however things went south, and shots were fired."
Dad slammed his palm into his face and let out an exhausted sigh. "What else was I expecting?"
"Gotta love that spin!" Tai said, as he leaned against one of the many bookcases in the office.
Another man rose up. "What ended the battle? What of the students at the school? How many lives were lost in the crossfire—"
Everyone in the room reacted in surprise and shock as Yang appeared from out of the corner of the camera and walked up to the podium next to Alexis.
"Well, at least we know where she is," Qrow said.
The crowd erupted in questions again, this time at Yang who stood there, and though none of them could tell from the angle, Yang and Alexis were clearly glaring at one another. Yang gestured toward the podium as Alexis responded by stepping aside.
"What is she doing?" Tai said.
"Ms. Xiao Long, do you have any comments about the attack?" Another one of the press said.
Yang leaned forward over the podium as she gripped its sides. Alexis stood off to the side, arms crossed. "He's lying to you. The governor attacked the academy, so he could take the relic inside the vault."
"Think about what you're doing, Yang," Alexis said.
She turned around and shot him a glare. "I know exactly what I'm doing." She turned back to face the crowd. She trusted her gut. Hopefully, her friends and family were watching so they'd be in the know, though when she thought of that, she began to doubt herself. What if she said the wrong thing? Worded it wrong? What if she made things worse? What if she was the one that sparked this whole war everyone was afraid of?
She recalled Blake's speech toward the press after a similar incident. She spoke clearly, truthfully, and forcefully. She smiled and took a deep breath. "Alexis and the governor wanted to take control of Haven because they plan to invade Vacuo. He wants what's beneath Shade Academy and he wants to destroy it. You all aren't dumb. You know how these things go. Alexis will try to play this down, lie to your face to hide what's really going on, but the truth is the truth, and Haven was attacked for the sole purpose of setting up an invasion of another kingdom."
She took another deep breath. "Tensions are high, I know, but we can't let that divide and destroy us! Our enemy has always been those who lie, cheat, deceive, and divide people who simply want to live in peace, and its imperative—now more than ever—to ensure that the academies are protected from those who mean us all harm! We've worked hard for the peace we're all enjoying, and we can't let the actions of one government shatter that peace!" She took another deep breath. "Thank you." She stepped off the podium, ignoring the tsunami of questions.
She shot another glare at Alexis who simply rubbed his forehead, seemingly exhausted. "What have you done?" He said.
"What you told me. You said politics didn't suit me and you're right! Which is why I'm not playing politics. I'm telling the truth." She said, walking back inside the mansion. She stopped in her tracks. "Unlike you and Owain, the other governments aren't keen on shedding blood." She walked off and quickened her pace to the entrance of the mansion, wasting no time in storming right out. With a fast-paced walk she traveled to the mountain-side elevator near the mansion and took it to the middle part of Mistral which was great for getting around quickly if one didn't want to travel through Lower Mistral or were strapped for Lien.
She found an airship parked by a fueling station which was owned by a team from the Mistral Police Force.
"Hey! Aren't you? You are! We saw your speech! Wa—was that all true?" One of them said.
"Yeah. And I need to get to Haven as soon as possible to help with the recovery," Yang said.
They all saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" They quickly moved to their positions, finished fueling up, and took her aboard, wasting no time in taking the airship up and flying it toward Haven, smoke still rising into the sky. The folks aboard must have been anxious as they piloted the airship quicker than she was familiar with. In short order—less than ten minutes—she had arrived at Haven. They all remarked on the shattered academy; the torn ground, the black bags which held the fallen lined up in rows which filled the courtyard, the pile of scrap metal from the machines, and the mostly untouched mansion which held the headmaster's office and the vault.
The airship landed, and she jumped out, waved the Mistral police goodbye, and walked toward the mansion. She furrowed her brow, took a deep tremored breath—anxious at what was to come—and pushed open the doors. She walked up—at an unusually slow pace, given the circumstances—continued her deep breaths, and pushed open the doors to the office. She was greeted by shocked faces.
"Yang!" Mom said with a fat smile of relief. Dad and Ruby greeted her the same, as well as Blake. The others were happy to see her as well of course—save for Cinder and her group, though Mercury shot her a smirk—but she figured they were still shocked that she was even there.
"Surprise to see me?" Yang said.
"Yeah, we thought you'd been captured! Then we saw the speech and the bombshell you dropped. Didn't think Owain would let you go," Qrow said.
"How did you escape?" Dad said.
"I walked straight through the front door after I gave that speech and headed straight here," Yang said.
"Wait, he let you go? Just like that?" Mom said, surprised.
Yang looked down. Now's the time… "Yeah…He did. Right off the bat, after I woke up, Owain said I could leave at any moment. It was Nero who kidnapped me and Owain apparently didn't like that." She looked to her Mom and Dad.
"What is it?" Dad said.
She took yet another deep breath. Here goes! "Mom. Dad. Do I have a brother?"
Both of their faces—along with Ruby's—lit up with surprise, though Mom was mostly confused.
"What?" Mom asked.
"Where did this come from?" Dad said.
"When I woke up, I saw him." Yang's face scrunched up with worry. "I saw his face. He—" She took another deep breath. "Owain. He looks…well he looks like he could be my brother!"
Dad and Ruby took that as well as she'd thought, though Mom looked even more confused.
"What do you mean he looks like he could be your brother?" Dad said.
"Well, you know he has long, blond hair. He also has the same facial structure as me, has my red eyes, and when we fought him, he had my semblance! Or at least one close to it." There, I said it, she thought.
"That's impossible!" Mom said. "You're the only child I have! What did he say to you? Did he say he was your brother?"
"No, he actually said that the reason we look alike is because I'm the Berserker, just like him, though I find that hard to believe. That's like having two full Fall Maidens, right?" Yang said.
Oscar's eyes widened with shock. "Wait, what? He said you were the Berserker?" Oscar looked down, his eyes indicated that he was recalling something. "It couldn't be. How could I miss that!" He turned around and rubbed his forehead.
"What is it?" Mom asked.
"Blond hair, red eyes…It's just like hers!" Oscar said.
"Who?" Yang asked. Though it took her a few seconds, she came up with someone. "The original Berserker?"
He turned around to her. "Yes. Now that I think on it, she had the same features. I didn't think anything of it before. Why would I?" He said, frustrated. "Blond hair is not exactly rare, and neither are red eyes. Raven has them, Qrow has them—though they're both of a different shade—as well as Emerald's. I didn't think…"
"Wait, wait, wait. How can there be two of them? Isn't Yang right about that? Isn't that like having two of the same maiden?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know, Jaune. I don't know where their powers came from. They were already legendary when Ozma was just a boy. I don't know what the rules are. Though that changes things. If Yang really is the Berserker like he is…" Oscar turned to Mom and Dad. "Are you sure, one-hundred percent positive that there is no way Owain could be your son?"
"Unless a baby spawned in my womb out of thin air while I was asleep and crawled out before I woke up the next morning, I'm absolutely positive!" Mom said. "Like I said before. Yang's the only child I ever gave birth to…"
"Mom?" Yang noticed her shift in expression. Like she was worried about something.
"It's nothing. Except that he looks enough like you that you thought he was your brother. Then there's the fact that he's interested in me as well. Oscar!" Mom said. "Did the original Berserker have the same or similar facial structure to Yang?"
Oscar looked at her, scanning her face. He put a finger to his chin. "Hmm…I don't think so. It could be a coincidence. I wouldn't put too much thought into that. You're certain that Owain can't be your son, and he thinks Yang is the Berserker, though I must admit, her aura is not…the same if you will. Considering what Ghira said about him, we have to assume that whatever this "beast" Owain was referring to, was Yang's nature as the Berserker, and perhaps that it has yet to awaken, whatever that means."
Yang sighed in relief. It all made sense, though she still latched on to his face, along with what Mom had said about his interest in her. But, she believed her. Why wouldn't she? Sure, the old her she'd be skeptical of, but… She sighed again. "Okay, then. Guess I gotta do what he asked. I gotta get stronger."
"Wait, he wants you to get stronger?" Dad asked. "Sounds like a trap. What if he needs her for his plan or something? A little odd that the guy would want someone who has his same abilities to get strong enough to beat him, don't you think?" Dad was apparently taking this whole thing in stride, though she didn't know how much he knew about this whole ordeal. Though he had a point. She just assumed he wanted a good fight, after all, he seemed bored during their previous encounters, and he was always excited to see her. What if all that was only because he needed her for some reason?
"Good point," Oscar said. "Though I don't see much choice. Owain was still toying with us when we last fought. We still have the New Dawn to deal with and I still don't think the maidens will be enough. Then there's Nero. If we try to awaken the other maidens, then we'll need to be careful. We should probably try and find a way to restore Raven, while Yang trains just enough to awaken so that we even out the odds against Owain."
"Wait, what did you mean restore my mother?" Yang said. Did something happen while she was away?
"I'm okay with that," Cinder said. She turned over to her. "Nero. Raven was apparently about to awaken the Blessing of the Huntsman before Nero somehow sealed that away. At least, that's what I'm assuming given she still has her maiden powers but can't open the vault anymore."
Yang looked over to Mom in surprise. "He can do that? Great!"
"Besides what she just said, I'm still capable of putting up a fight, though Nero's a slippery bastard," Mom said.
Blake sighed. "Which is why he's been such a headache lately. Considering how knowledgeable he is, we have to assume he knows what we're planning, and that he knows that Yang is the Berserker. Not only that, but…"
"What is it?" Ruby asked.
"So far, we've agreed that the warriors might be after us—team RWBY—though we don't know why. Now we find out Yang is the Berserker, meaning there are two Berserkers…" Blake said.
"You think that this isn't just an exclusive case, then? That—" Oscar looked like he just realized something. His expression became stern just as quickly however. "Yes, Blake, I think you're on to something." Oscar looked over to Ruby. "May I speak to Morgan for a second?"
Ruby's eyes widened, then she nodded in understanding. Everyone else seemed to catch on.
Ruby closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were golden. Those who didn't already know were surprised. "What do you want?" Morgan snapped.
"I—did I do something wrong?" Oscar said.
"Why would you think that?" Morgan said.
"Because so far, you've only been belligerent around people you have issues with," Oscar said.
"And how do you know that?" Morgan asked as she furrowed her brow. "Besides Raven, I don't recall ever being around you."
"I—let's just say that it's an assumption," Oscar said.
Yang rolled her eyes. "You know, I thought you stopped being shady when Ozpin disappeared. Guess you inherited more of him than we thought."
Oscar laughed nervously. "Let's just say I'm familiar with darkness." He looked back to Morgan. "Morgan. Can you tell me exactly when you first appeared?"
"I was always here. I'm Ruby. Well, half of her. She's the light-sided half, and I'm the dark, but I was always here."
"So you were always physically a presence?" Oscar said.
"Well…" Morgan said.
"When did things change? When did you first… "split" from Ruby?" He asked.
"I…don't remember. One day I just…saw things differently. Like I lost control of myself. I remember being mad at myself. At my personality, at my demeanor. Then—in the strangest experience I've ever had—I saw myself walk up the side of a mountain with Raven in search of a grimm dragon."
"And that's when you took control," Mom accused.
"I didn't take control!" Morgan snapped. "If you weren't such a—"
"Hey! Relax!" Yang cut in. "What's done is done!" The last thing she wanted was for the two of them to fight. Although now she wondered—though she didn't want to—if their bond was more because of Ruby apparently being split from her darkside, though as she pondered the thought, she realized it didn't make sense, considering what Morgan had just said. Morgan had split afterward. She sighed.
Morgan seemed to capitulate without a fuss. Dad and Qrow sighed in relief. Cinder seemed focused on Morgan. "What's this about? You think we're the Warrior? That somehow us splitting like this is a sign or something?" Morgan asked.
"I only think that because of the nature of choice and how that relates to Light and Darkness. I've never heard of a case like this happening before, and I'm putting the possibility out there. That the nature of this split is an omen of sorts," Oscar said.
An omen of sorts…It's not just an omen anymore, is it? Again, she recalled Owain's words. An omen. Ruby physically split into two literal light and dark-sided halves. "I think you may be on to something."
Oscar turned to her, the others looked to her as well.
"Remember what Owain said to me back when we first encountered him? "It's not just an omen anymore, is it?" is what he said to me."
"You're right," Mom said. "In that case, I'd call that evidence that Morgan's manifestation might also be an omen."
"So if that's true, then wouldn't the other two also have omens?" Emerald said.
"Shadows…" Mom said.
"What?" Blake said.
"His semblance must have something to do with shadows." She turned to Blake. "Based on what Yang said, on what we've discussed, if you're somehow the Huntress, then that must mean his semblance is the same right? What if he just uses it differently? Or has simply taken it to another level?"
"Let's be cautious. In Yang's case, assuming she really is the Berserker—something we have no reason to doubt given the circumstances—her semblance and his being the same could indeed be a part of their power, though we can't be certain this would be the case for the rest, though now that I think of it…"
"What is it?" Qrow said.
"We've already known that the Schnee family line was special. They had the ability to summon glyphs that could do a wide range of things, but most notably, they had the ability to—"
"Summon," Qrow interrupted.
"Precisely," Oscar said. "Which means…"
"There's a pattern there," Jaune said. "Oscar, you said these guys were the embodiments of those values, right? There's a clear pattern here!" Jaune stood up. "You said it yourself. The nature of choice is linked to Light and Darkness; now that Morgan has appeared, Ruby is literally both, right? Thanks to her silver eyes. Then there's Weiss. She can create glyphs, can summon, and she's also a singer which is an artist, and artists are all about creation!"
"I get it. There is a pattern," Qrow said. "Though she's not the only artist around and creating things isn't exactly unique to her. Depends on how you look at it, though considering what we've been through, perhaps this is more than mere coincidence."
"See? Owain said it himself. Yang's the Berserker like he is. Nero's after Blake for some reason, and what other reason if not because she's the Huntress?" Mom said. She turned to Blake. "That's why he wants you to stop! He fears you'll awaken if you don't!"
Blake looked down in thought, arms crossed. "So. What do we do then? What do I do?"
"I think for now, we wait to see how the other nations respond to Yang's speech. If they for some reason gear up for war, then that'll change things," Qrow said.
"Good idea," Oscar said. "Then, in the meantime…" He looked at her, Morgan, and Blake. "I want the three of you to train. Cinder should join in, along with Raven. Maybe we can do something about the seal in the midst of combat. That way maybe we can see if something that might seem like an omen will appear in Blake. The pattern is there, though I think we should be cautious about this."
"Yeah, we can't be certain Weiss and Blake, hell even Ruby are the other three. Technically we can't know what Owain said is even true, though given everything said so far, I don't see why not," Qrow said.
"Let's get to work then!" Yang said.