Chapter 20 – Knight of Guilt
Kannix
The Hunter Gunship roars across the Mountain Range, away from the Chapel of Vengeance and Dawn, the afterburners billowing blue flames charged by multiple cells of dust of many different forms. Heavily armoured and painted with a shifting camouflage, one that is currently taking the arctic colour scheme, to hide in the snow. But the closer they get towards the woods on the face of the massive mountains the camo morphs into Woodland.
Inside of the Gunship are both Kannix Volantis and Neopolitan, the Assassin's hired by the Acolytes of Dawn, and working for the False God. Sat down in one of the chairs, Kannix bites onto a cloth as he snarls in agony as he uses his metal arm and extends the blade, heating it till it is white hot. With his chest gear ripped off it shows his many scars and tattoos he has collected over his thousands of year long conflict. Some of them look like they were slowly engraved in curvy shapes over his pecks and many stab wounds battering his body, up his back and in his shoulders. He has many burns too, but also many tattoos. Some of them look like they are just random things, such as a Grimm Wyvern, and others look more…personal.
A pretty young woman with long red hair and silver eyes, just like Cynthia Nikos. Many forget that he was madly in love with the young woman when he was not cursed, when he was just a squire for Kragen Nox…before it all went wrong, and he became a monster. A monster with no hope for redemption, not even a wanting for it either. He is who he is and has accepted it…even enjoys it.
The smaller person in the cockpit glances back at him, silent as ever as she looks at him with his chest bare and the blade closing in on the bloody wound. With countless towels drenched in claret to try and clean up the wound. Most people would be either dead or about to die from a wound like that…but Kannix? This is not his first rodeo, and that much is clear from the number of scars on him, something that Neo examines with her pink and brown eyes. Her long pink and brown hair tied up into a ponytail as she flies carefully.
He presses the blade against his stomach where Harbinger stabbed straight through him and he roars in agony, luckily it did not come out the other side, otherwise he would need to do it twice. He bellows of torment as he feels the almost flaming steel blade melting the skin and welding it all back together, cooking it and creating a terrible cooked stench…like that of a barbecue but nowhere near as salivating. After a few seconds of inflicting such agony upon himself and he pulls the blade away, ripping long liquid and stringy strands of molten skin behind.
He bites the cloth in his mouth as he fights the body trying to fall unconscious, he reaches over with his metal hand to the open medical kit and he picks up an Aura Amplifying Syringe...another one of Archer Merlot's many creations he has made for the Acolytes of Lien.
The needle punctures into his skin and right into his bloodstream, pressing his thumb onto the injector and forcing the fluid into his body. He sighs with relief as his dark red aura crackles over his body and begins to stop the pain and fix the internal damage done to his body from that huge sword. He pants away, sweat on his bruised forehead, then he looks at the rather concerned Neopolitan who has set the Hunter Gunship to Autopilot. He scoffs as he looks at her, his hand still pressed to the throbbing pain in his stomach. "Enjoy the show, ice cream?" He asks her, calling her by the pet name he gave her, and she narrows those large eyes and she gets up from the cockpit, walking over to the fridge inside of the ship they have been given.
She reaches in and grabs a bear, throwing it to him, he catches it with ease thanks to his trained reflexes, and he pops the cap from the bottle with his metal thumb. She takes a small bottle of orange juice out though, and she walks away from the fridge after closing it and sits down opposite him where that table is on the ship.
Kannix sighs as he twists his metal wrist round, thinking on his semblance and strength of his aura. "Gods I hate my semblance…sure it has kept me alive…but it doesn't really…protect you much does it? No cool powers like that Xiao Long chick, or that Belladonna girl. Just pain is what I have…" He states as he swigs some of his bear down, the cold bear and the condensation on the glass dripping onto his hot skin is a real relief after what he just had to endure.
She unscrews the lid and she drinks some of it, and Kannix eyes her up. Admiring her toned hourglass figure and her attractive she is. "Wanna screw around?" He asks her curiously, and she pauses, staring right at him with a pretty stern expression. He looks around at the ship and then at the windows of their surroundings as he ponders over the stupid idea. "Look around…just us up here, could have some real fun, might even get you to make a noise." He suggests.
Until he grunts in pain from her knuckles slamming into his nose with force, whipping his head back from how hard she hit him. The punch crunches his nose too, blood pissing from his nostril as he groans, grabbing the bridge of his now broken nose, Neo slowly taking her fist away with an almost feral glare. She grits her teeth and her face scrunches with pure resentment, she and him might be partners but that by no means mean that she is attracted to him in any way.
She only had one love.
And he is dead now.
Kannix presses his thumb and finger to his nose and twists it round, cracking the cartilage as he resets his nose on his face. He then wipes the blood off with his metal hand, nodding his head with understanding. "Fair enough…so what's your poison? Only like skinny tall red headed dudes or are you bi and swing both ways?" He asks her curiously and she just raises a brow, and he chuckles. "Oh yeah, no talkie…y'know you're not the best for conversations." He states.
Neo scowls, flipping him off with her middle finger before drinking some more of her tasty orange juice. He turns to the scroll by him and he throws it to her and she catches it, since he wants a conversation with her. "There a reason you don't drink? Weren't you a dancer or something at a strip club? All those guys feeling you up, surely you would have had a few drinks to forget them." Kannix scoffs as he shrugs his shoulders, she stares at him then types the answer into the scroll.
Bad memories…
"Oh yeah? Like?" He asks her curiously, she sighs as she answers through the scroll.
Vir Nominis Umbra took my voice, poisoned a glass of alcohol after we accidentally became indebted to him.
Kannix nods his head, starting to understand why she does drink alcohol anymore, that kind of experience would mess anyone up. "By we…you mean you and Torchwick?" He asks her curiously, she nods once as the response. He chuckles as he remembers his face, crossing one leg over the other. "I remember him…I worked with him on a contract one. Good fighter, for a thief…but he talked too much. Sounds like that was what killed him in the end." He states as he drinks more from his beer bottle, but Neo types something in and slams his scroll on the table.
RUBY. KILLED. HIM.
He stares at the text and he scoffs, for it seems that the Spectre is not deluded to the truth like she has become. "C'mon, Ice Cream. Don't be stupid, if the guy was any more up his own ass, he would be a football. His spouting got him killed, swallowed up by a Griffin…nothing more than that honey." Kannix explains, until she grits her teeth with anger and lunges at him, tackling him and knocking the chair over. She lands on his chest and she presses her knee against his wound and he roars in pain as she presses a knife to his neck, staring into his eyes.
She opens her mouth…
Rasping a breath as she tries to speak. "He…" But then she coughs violently as the irony taste of blood fills her mouth from just trying to talk. Kannix suddenly grabs her by the throat and lifts her off the floor then slams her back down, holding her down. He presses his knees against her arms as he holds her there.
"He…is dead…and it doesn't matter. He died for nothing and will be forgotten." Kannix snarls, but she strains hard against him as she tries to break free, but his cybernetic strength is too much for her smaller body to handle. "Unless…we kill and stop those that would ensure that future for him. Don't you wanna see him again? Because remember…that is what he promised you…that at the end of your story you would see the love of your life again." Kannix explains, looking down at her necklace he has on and he reaches down, turning it round to see that there is a small picture inside of one of the pieces.
Of her and Roman…when she could still speak and was a singer, something he could tell from the microphone in her hand in the picture. He then looks at her, seeing the scars in her throat where the poison did its damage, he even feels a bit sorry for her. He stares into her eyes with sympathy for her suffering, because he has felt it. "Trust me…I know how it feels to lose everything. It's what Umbra promised me…that I will kill Kragen for what he did to me. And I am sure you may be able to kill Ruby…but don't be blind in thinking she was responsible. It was him…and him alone." He explains as he presses her against the cold metal ground, wincing as he grabs his stomach and releases the young woman.
She coughs in pain, rasping for air as she covers her neck with her hand, feeling vulnerable whenever she tries to speak. Kannix limps back to where he was at, lifting the chair back up, looking back at her. "Should really start trying to find some pleasure in this cold life, sweetheart. Plenty of men would kill for a girl like you…I know I would." He states, sitting down as the Hunter Gunship approaches the location locked in from her handprint.
Neo pushes her palms against the floor and stands up, walking past him and towards the seat of the cockpit. She sits down and looks ahead as she flicks the waft of hair dangling down over her left eye. She gazes through the thick glass between her and the outside world, towards a small Acolytes of Lien Outpost in the mountains. A small amount of deployed buildings set there for nearby reinforcements to attack whenever they are called upon. The Outpost has Surface to Air Missile Sites set up in multiple areas, ready to shootdown any aircraft nearby that do not leave the area when demanded to by the air control inside.
The Hunter Gunship and Kannix stands up to the microphone, anticipating the demands. "Unidentified Gunship, provide clearance to land or fly…or we will shoot you down." The Acolyte of Lien demands, and Kannix replies.
"This is the Spectre and Silent Assassin reporting, requesting landing at Pad Five." Kannix replies, sounding professional for once in comparison to his normally flippant personality he has. Neo continues to prepare for landing, since that this has been something she has handled countless times.
"Access Codes." The Soldier demands.
"042639250." He answers.
"Codes confirmed, you are cleared for landing." The soldier assures and the S.A.M Sites cease to track them as the Hunter Gunship rotates its long wings round so then it can enter Vertical Take-Off and Landing Mode, the thrusters blow the snow and old leaves all over the place as the landing gear folds out from within its undercarriage. The Spectre approaches the door that opens, grabbing his side as he steps down with Neo helping support him as they walk forward, multiple Mercenaries standing guard and preparing weapons and cargo.
He groans, sitting down on a cargo crate since he does not have much energy…but then they both feel an alien chill, colder than what they have already felt from the icy cold air in the mountain caps. They both turn to the landing pad that is clear right now, to see him standing there, the dark armoured Knight of Death, both armoured hands pressed atop his pommel and the blade of Ferrum Arctus pointed down into the tarmac. He coughs as he looks at him, exhaling. "Death." He greets.
"Volantis, Neopolitan." Death replies, approaching them with his sword still in his hand, lifted up from the floor as he walks over to the two Assassins.
"What can we do for you?" He asks him curiously as he shuffles on the spot, rubbing the painful spot.
"What happened up there? In the Chapel?" He asks him, looking at his wound with those piercing red visors for eyes, not showing the burning skull that hides within that sharp helmet of his. Kannix glances at Neo and then back at the Knight of Death, clearing his throat as he gets up.
"They found the Visionary Book, but they don't know what to make of it and where to go next." Kannix assures as he stands before him, one of the Knights of Grimm who was actually at that place thousands of years ago. He looks at the mountains that surround them and he exhales through his helm.
"It is strange…it has been thousands of years…and yet it still stuns me how these Mountains formed the way they did in such little time. And haunts me." He adds as he glares at them, these Mountains hide more treacherous secrets than the world even realise. Neo looks rather perplexed whereas the couple Thousand-Year-Old one right next to her does not share the same expression. He looks to them again and he points with the tip of Ferrum Arctus to one of the buildings, one that looks like an Armoury.
He says no more, turning and walking in the direction of the Chapel, where the heroes are currently still inside of. His wings extend from his smoky cape and the armour dissolves away into the smog, transforming into the black Nevermore. The huge creature roars as it flies towards the mountains, leaving them behind. Neo and Kannix both look at the building of which the Knight of Death pointed at, so they get up and walk towards it.
Kannix opens the door, and they both stop as the door closes behind him, seeing Vir Nominis Umbra sat in one of the chairs with his legs stretched out and crossed over each other on the table where a rifle sits. He has a blood red apple in his hand, taking a bite from it and swallowing it down. "So…it appears they have bested you two once again." He comments, throwing the apple over his shoulder, bouncing it off the wall and missing the bin.
He sighs and gets up, walking over and putting it in the bin, he may be a monster, but he is not a savage.
Kannix coughs, feeling his aura repairing the damage inflicted upon him by Qrow Branwen. "Well we were outnumbered." Kannix states as Vir Nominis Umbra paces around. "Even with Fear on our side, they had Ozpin and Kragen there. And two Maidens."
"Indeed, they did, it is clear that you two are in dire need of an upgrade." He states, pressing the tips of his fingers against each other as he stands before them, and they all stand, eagerly waiting to hear what it is he meant by that. He presses some pieces of armour down on the table and Neo's eyes widen when she sees them…the black and gold colour scheme…
Then they both look at Umbra, and walking round from the other room is a chillingly familiar face, for it is their own…but the fractured reflection. The Onyx Phantom emerges with its hands behind its back, walking round and stopping behind the table. "It has become incredibly clear that you were more formidable with the gifts I gave you when Pyrrha was mine to command. But now she is free…we are weaker. Which is why I have come to offer you this – two Onyx Phantoms, both free to make your own choices, but with the same fighting skills and strengths." The Onyx Phantom offers.
Kannix smirks, already onboard, the man is always wanting to become stronger, to always kill his enemies no matter what. Whereas Neo looks afraid as she massages her shoulder, remembering when Jaune stabbed that hook through her and hanged her off the edge of that building. That put her out of commission for weeks.
"This is not an order…but a choice." Vir Nominis Umbra assures with his hands extended. Kannix picks up one of the swords that lays on the table with the black and gold metal forged into it, and he grins.
"I accept." He states, and Neo stammers, running her fingers across her old armour she wore during the Volcanic Chain Isles.
"Neopolitan?" He asks her, awaiting her response.
He made you a promise, you know…
She exhales, wanting to get the prise of that promise, nodding her head.
The Onyx Phantoms have returned.
Ozpin
The wind whistles around him, icy cold air brushing off the cog armour that rotates round him, his helmet rolling away and the many cogs start to glimmer a green hue…as they fade away and his body changes back into his human form. With his glasses rested over his brown eyes and his hands pressed atop the cane which houses the Relic of Knowledge…he stares out at the beautiful mountains. A sight that did not exist a few thousand years ago, and a sight that has clearly claimed many lives after the Congregation of Dawn did what they did. He can hear the chatter from behind him of the rest of the party conversing with Jaune over what it was he saw inside of the Visionary Book, describing the Arcs and the Varr Skaal, about Vyrryk Arc and Claudia Barrett, about Constantine…
About Wymerus Ozymandias and the three other Knights of Grimm that were with him before the Pirate Captain became one as well.
It was only so long before their attention would turn to him, and he knows exactly when that would happen as soon as Jaune reaches the topic of the Congregation of Dawn…and what they did. He turns and looks at Blake Belladonna, her reaction visible with horror and heartbreak to hear how her people were killed for just being born the way they were. "They killed them…right in front of Vyrryk and the Knights…the guy who did it though…he had magic." Jaune explains.
Now their attention turns to the Knight of Vengeance that stands before them with snow on his shoulder and his green scarf blowing in the cold wind. Jaune and Ruby both step forward and stare at him as he stands before them, taller and yet he feels small in comparison to them…for how they have not made the mistakes he has made in his long life. "Professor…the Visionary Book ended when those Faunus Prisoners were killed by the Congregation of Dawn…I don't know where else we can go, there was no message left behind." Jaune explains, for they have all reached a dead end right now. They have absolutely no idea of where Vyrryk's trail ended up next.
Ozpin looks at them, looking down to the shorter but still strong Ruby Rose. "You were there…what happened after they killed the Faunus?" Ruby questions, and Ozpin closes his eyes with a heavy sigh as he walks past them, and he runs his fingers across the architecture of this place, for once the Chapel was on the ground, looking at the steps that lead to nowhere at all.
"The Congregation of Dawn began their campaign that day, sending their Followers across Remnant to hunt down and kill every single Faunus born individual they saw. They were killed in horrific forms of ritual for their sickening beliefs." Ozpin explains, clenching his hand into a fist as he walks around the room, looking out at the beautiful view, which is also a mass graveyard.
"W-Why?" Blake stammers fearfully, and Ozpin turns to her with sympathy in his eyes for her.
"Because you were different, and they feared that deep down. The Father would never admit it, but the truth was there. They chose to serve a False God that could decimate everything they knew just by clenching his fist when he had all the Relics." Ozpin explains, and Raven looks at the Professor as she raises a brow at the name – False God.
"False God…you mean Vir Nominis Umbra?" Raven inquires, and Ozpin nods his head.
"He has been known by many names, the Coming Annihilation, the Chaos Bringer, Man of Shadows, the Soothsayer…and as we know him by his real name – Vir Nominis Umbra. It is likely he has countless other titles over the years he has existed, in different universes and different cultures wiped from existence." Ozpin answers as he thinks back on the many terrors that the entity has delivered in his time.
"He created the Congregation of Dawn?" Jaune asks.
"No…they were not always monsters." Ozpin answers.
"They once were peaceful religious people, who did not serve a False God determined to end everything we knew. The Shadow Knights? The Silver Eyed Warriors? It is where we once started, determined to serve our Gods and protect those with the gifts we were granted." Kragen adds with his explanation, showing that there used to be a good version of the cruel order…but now they have changed.
"But the Silver Eyed Warriors split from the Congregation when their methods started to change and became more Fanatical, designing a perfect race, a pure race as they called it. Only Humans, humans that were heterosexual, of the same colour and of the same belief. Everything else would have to be destroyed, and Vir Nominis Umbra promised them sanctuary if they did." Ozpin explains, and Cinder looks at the floor when she hears how anyone who was not even Heterosexual were hunted down. Her and Emerald would have died, Scarlet and Sage, Ilia, Gray…seems even in death the Congregation of Dawn have been getting what they wanted in some way.
But now everything is dying.
Ruby scoffs as she looks around at what remains of the Congregation of Dawn. "Didn't help them though, did it? Guess he is a liar." She states, shaking her head, then Ozpin looks at her.
"Oh no, Ruby. He didn't lie, they asked to live forever…so he granted them that." He explains, and they all look confused.
"What do you mean?" Winter asks as she stops sharpening her swords, and he looks down to the damage around them from their battle against the Knights' Bannermen.
"We fought them today…or what was left of them." Ozpin answers, the answer sends chills across their spines to learn that the entities they fought today were once Congregation of Dawn Acolytes.
"The Knights' Bannermen…they're them?" Blake questions with disbelief and he nods his head.
"A cruel form of irony, because they never stated how they wanted to live forever. He stripped them of all their personality, their memories and what made them human…and turned them into nothing more…than drones." He explains, and that sends more alien chills up their spines, chills that are not coming from the cold air of the Mountains.
"I saw how he did it…" Pyrrha stammers, getting their attention and Jaune gently holds her hand as she remembers her experiences inside of the Charred Forest when she died and was taken there. "He tortured their souls…tore them apart, made them suffer until nothing but agony remained. He turned them into monsters, taking the darkest parts of them and discarded the good somewhere else…leaving only monsters behind." She explains, her hands shaking when she saw Scarlet and Sage in there with her.
But she doesn't tell them that…the last thing they need to picture is their friends in there. "Well…I just hope the good people found a better place in some form after Umbra was done with them." The Architect states, and Penny looks up at him, staying rather quiet in the grand scheme of things.
"However, the fallout from their campaign can still be seen today." Kragen says as he stands there, Blake looks at him with concern.
"I already know what you're about to say." She states.
"The hatred towards the Faunus all stems from them, the reasons have merely changed over the years. Meaning even the White Fang stem from the Congregation of Dawn as a side effect, one that is becoming just as dangerous." Kragen points out, even when they are gone the monsters are still causing people to die.
Penny stands there, thinking on the subject of turning his own loyalists into monsters when he made them a promise.
"Why would Umbra do that to his own loyalists?" Penny inquires, since she of all of them has never really encountered him apart from the first time she ever saw him…butchering their friends right in front of them.
"Vir Nominis Umbra despised them." Ozpin answers rather bluntly.
"What? Why? He doesn't seem to hate the Acolytes of Lien." Cinder questions with confusion as she steps forward, walking past Yenna with her hand extended.
"Because the Acolytes of Lien do not worship him as a god." Ozpin answers, and they all look at him with confusion.
"Wait…what? He hated them…because they…worshipped him?" Ren asks with the same level of perplexation on his face. Ozpin looks at them, and it is clear he does not have all the answers to this topic, but he has a theory.
"When I served Vir Nominis Umbra, fighting the battles he started when I was the Knight of Vengeance…he would kill anyone that would mention Gods…or call him a god…every single time he would strike them down without a second thought. I believe that maybe…the Brothers of Light and Darkness have had something to do with his hatred for the name." Ozpin explains, Ruby's eyes widen when she remembers the expression, she saw on Vir Nominis Umbra's face when she thought he was the Brother of Darkness.
There…was…anger…
And then he killed Taiyang.
"He hates the Gods?" Ruby questions and Ozpin scratches his chin.
"I do not know for certain, but evidence does seem to point towards it." Ozpin tells them, walking round again, using his cane like a walking stick, just as he always had done in the past. Oscar looks at the chasm that he and Neo fell into when they were fighting, and he cannot get the piles of bones, and crumbled houses buried beneath them. He exhales, looking at the man that was once bound in his head.
"Ozpin…" He speaks, getting his attention.
"There were piles and piles of bones down there…Human bones…and buildings…" Oscar stammers, since he has not forgotten what Ozpin said about the creation of these mountains. The question now is…was there people still on the land when they did it. "You said that the Congregation of Dawn used the Relic of Creation to form these Mountains…did they do that when…people were still living there?" Oscar questions with concern and fear in his voice, all awaiting Ozpin's answer.
"This land…as I told you it was once all beautiful rolling hills of emerald green grass. You most likely saw it all in the Visionary Book, Mr Arc." Ozpin states as he looks at Jaune, and he nods his head as a response. "Well, once there were twelve different villages and towns, one of them was quite large. They each harboured populations ranging from five hundred to three thousand…" Ozpin explains to them, standing at the steps with his eyes gazing at the Mountains that break through the skies. He turns and looks them all in the eyes. "The Father of the Congregation of Dawn? The man you saw leading them, Jaune? He learned to contain the Relic inside of a Sceptre and he used it to form an entire Mountain Range across this side of Anima, wiping out fifty percent of all life on that side of the continent. And he never warned the villages and towns…they all suffocated and were crushed when the rock formed around them. Nobody survived, and became fossilised inside of stone." Ozpin explains, and they all stand there with shocked looks on their faces.
All bar the Arkhoni Survivors.
"We are standing in a mass grave, everyone." Ozpin adds as he stares at the landscape that the Father tore apart. Jaune clenches his hands into fists and glares at Ozpin.
"Please tell me that you killed the bastard." Jaune begs.
"I did not, Vyrryk on the other hand did." He states, looking at Jaune.
"Good…I hope I get to see it in another Visionary Book." Jaune says as he walks past Ozpin and leans against one of the pillars inside of this place. Blake looks at Ruby and she ruffles her long black hair with her hand, thinking on everything that he has just told him.
"The Father put the Relic in a Sceptre? I have only seen the canes that you have used." Winter says as she looks right at the relic with curiosity.
"Yeah, I was just thinking that. All the Relics we have so far have been put in the same things." Nora points out with similar interest.
"Well – Funnily enough there is a pretty interesting explanation for this. You see only Spectral entities like myself, the Knights or Demons or Umbra can actually use the Relics. But for some reason Silver Eyed Warriors are capable of the same feats, I believe it is to do with the Brother of Light. However, we learned that the user does not need to hold the stone to use its powers but putting it inside of a device that can channel its power without destroying the user is possible." Ozpin explains to them all and Yenna nods his head.
"Yeah, even Maidens can hold the Relics as well." Yenna remembers as she managed to hold some when she and Kragen were harbouring them after the Fall of Arkhonex.
"Most likely because your gifts were granted by the power of the Relics thanks to Kragen." The Architect states with his arms crossed.
"Exactly, just as the Knights can because of our link to Umbra." Ozpin nods his head.
"So…what kind of devices did you create?" Ruby curiously inquires, and Ozpin thinks back.
"We made many…odd…creations. There was the idea of a paintbrush for creation, but that didn't work because we couldn't control it. The Sceptre worked better…Knowledge was strange. At one point we tried making a teddy bear." Ozpin chuckles as he remembers that one, making the Architect laugh as well.
"Oh yeah, I remember that." The Architect agrees, whereas the new generation just look totally bewildered.
"A…Teddy…Bear?" Winter questions, until Nora gasps so deeply she nearly inhales her own tongue.
"WAS IT CUTE AND FLUFFY?!" She squeals as she bounces up and down, only for Ozpin to softly chuckle, admiring how they…despite everything…can have a sense of humour.
"At least your humour has not soured, Miss Valkyrie." Ozpin states with a smile, and she beams brightly. "And yes, it was fluffy." He answers, and she bounces again, making Ren chuckle. "For a while."
"Huh?" Nora asks with fear.
"It came to life for a few seconds and then the raw power of the relic burned it to dust, turns out it could not live inside of everything." Ozpin chuckles as he stands there and tears well up in Nora's eyes, only for Ren to pat her shoulder, making her smile again.
"W-Why a…Teddy Bear?" Raven questions.
For the first time.
All the Arkhoni Survivors are legitimately stumped. Ozpin looks at the Architect, since he ran many systems before Kragen rescued him from Arkhonex. "Why did we do that, Architect?" He asks him, and the A.I shrugs his shoulders.
"Not a clue, another strange thing the scientists came up with we'll never know the answers to." The Architect chuckles.
"In the end however we created designs for four devices of which we could use to hold the relics for safe usage. A Sceptre for Creation, A Lantern for Knowledge, a Sword for Destruction and an Axe for Choice. However, we never finished them, and the Sceptre used by the Father was created by the Congregation, and was destroyed. Meaning we could only use the canes to hold them, which were used for transportation and disguise." Ozpin explains, holding up his cane where all the cogs slowly rotate round and the spherical pommel atop the cane opens up, allowing the glowing green pebble to rise from the cane.
The light shines across their eyes before it returns back to where it belongs. "So…how does the Relic work? What can it do?" Jaune asks.
"It can give people the ability to know all, however only one person ever did this and she was bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But she could answer every single question. It can also provide answers and knowledge on a smaller scale; however, the questions must be exact otherwise the poor thing could be confused." Ozpin explains as he holds the stone in his hand.
"You talk of the Relics as if they are living things." Blake points out with her arms crossed.
"Well they essentially are, you saw the Relic of Choice, it used the Guardian Knights to protect itself. The Relic of Knowledge is similar but aims to teach people, but of course it must know what you are asking, otherwise your answer may be different." Ozpin explains, putting the stone back inside of the cane where it lives. Letting the green energy flow through it once more.
"So, what about your cane? We have seen you change its form. It even looked like a Sceptre at one point." Ren asks him.
"Indeed, I have learned how to use the Relic's magical properties to change this simple cane into a Triple Changer, similar to Crescent Rose and Milo." Ozpin explains, looking at Pyrrha's Xiphos Sword in her hand right now. Ruby looks at her weapon holstered on her belt then back at the Professor. Ozpin stands there, and he looks around at the place. "The Father you saw? My biggest regret is that we did not kill him that day." He states with a saddened sigh.
"Why?" Pyrrha inquires.
"Because maybe…just maybe it would have stopped everything from happening, and perhaps my many crimes would have been avoided." He guiltily states as he hangs his head and tightens his grip around his cane. They all stand and look rather concerned by that, he clearly is on their side, but his past is the thing that scares them…because he is poisoned with guilt for what he has done. It does not mean they should not trust him now, but it is still something to be worried about.
"How did you get out of there? From what I saw, the whole town was filled with Fanatics." Jaune asks, remembering how many robe wearing Fanatics surrounded the Vanguards that day.
"The Father released us, and we immediately went to attack him, right there." He explains as he points at the steps behind him, walking towards the open doors where the outside world is. The platform looking semi-circle of stone looks like it is meant for a ship to land on, however this is just were the Chapel was lifted up by a Mountain forming from the ground. Tearing it from the rest of the world. The scuffs are still in the ground where the conflict ensued.
"The Father looked like Salem, he had a black stone in his forehead and his eyes were just like hers." Jaune points out and Oscar looks at Jaune with disbelief.
"Really?" He asks him.
"Yep, same veins and everything. His skin wasn't pale like hers though." Jaune states, and Ozpin nods his head.
"That is the Salem Curse." Ozpin answers and they gasp.
"Salem Curse/" They question at once.
"The Salem Curse is something bound to a stone only found in the Charred Forest, one that feeds negative energy and hate into the user's soul. Their skin over time turns pale like the Grimm, eyes red and scleras black and hair goes white. However, it is not like they are possessed, they literally become the very thing they sought to destroy. Very similar to the Knights of Grimm." Ozpin explains to them all as he walks down the steps.
"Salem…Kragen once told us that she was a Silver Eyed Warrior, and that Cynthia Nikos worked with them. The two of them and Kragen worked together to start the Silver Eyed Warriors." Qrow explains as he walks with them and Oscar gasps as he looks at Qrow.
"Cynthia? The girl I spoke to when Oz took me there?" He asks.
"Yes, she is the same woman. I had to take you there to make sure Cynthia would be motivated to begin the Warriors. She wanted to find you, you know…it was cruel I know, but it had to be done." Ozpin explains, and Ruby looks at Oscar with sadness.
"Well, I couldn't betray Ruby…but if it helped create the Silver Eyed Warriors then it was worth it right?" He asks.
"We will see." Ozpin states as he holds his hands behind his back. "The Father was different to Salem, he was completely indoctrinated by the curse and by Umbra, I believe Salem has her own personal reasons…against me." He explains, and their eyes widen.
"Why you?" Penny inquires.
"She never seemed to be fond of you." Oscar remembers, Ruby nodding her head in agreement as they remember back to being held in her custody.
"I have made many mistakes…when I was Vengeance…I played a role in her downfall." He reveals, and they all stare at him with disbelief. "Something I could have avoided if we just killed the Father right then and there…but we couldn't. He got away and we had to flee. We went from town to town until we could get to the Dauntless…and we sailed back to Arkhonex to warn them of a declaration of War. Whereas Vyrryk went to protect the Varr Skaal…" He explains to them all, but they all come to the same conclusion.
"So, we're at a dead end…we don't know where the next Visionary Book is?" Ruby asks, and he nods his head.
"It appears so, I do not know where Vyrryk could have possibly left one. Even the Relic cannot answer that question, the Books are not linked to it like the rest of the world. They contain personal memories from a dead man in places designed to keep them hidden from its gaze. Meaning it is useless in finding them." Ozpin explains and they all sigh with annoyance.
"Great…damn it! We need to find Arkhonex if they are gonna survive! We need this cure." Ruby states with panic in her voice…then luck hits her in a vibrating form. She feels her scroll buzzing away in her pocket, she pulls it out and gasps…it is patchy, but it is still hope. Kassius is calling her, thankfully the C.C.T is still up, and they can use it.
Maybe he could be their hope for finding the next location.
Kassius
While aboard their Peregrine…or Karadin's Peregrine technically…Kassius is sat in one of the chairs as Emerald flies the ship. All of them are back in their memorable outfits that they have always worn. Kassius wears his buttoned-up shirt underneath his deep brown trench coat and his stetson sat on the armrest. With his dark blue jeans on as well and his belt of magazines for his firearms, he feels right at home. Consisting of modified bullets gifted to him thanks to Weiss and Winter Schnee as a birthday present. He also has Lash Equinox and Vulcan Nox beside him too.
Stood over from Kassius is Coco. Her clothes consist of a long, cocoa-coloured shirt with a dark brown waist cincher. She wears long, dark brown trousers with ribbons on the left side and a brown belt with bullets.
Above it, she wears another cocoa-coloured belt of bullets with a gold crosshairs buckle. What appears to be a drape of black skirt hangs on her right side. She wears a pair of dark brown, high-heeled leather boots with buckles.
Coco also dons a number of accessories, such a bracelet with black roses as decoration; these are accompanied by black gloves and necklaces. She wears a beret of a darker brown and a pair of black, wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses. She is seen holding a black shoulder bag with gold studs, which is held by a bandolier strap; the bag is her weapon, transforming into an oversized black and gold minigun.
Sat in one of the chairs, pulling up one of her boots is Velvet. Her combat gear is comprised by a short, long-sleeved brown jacket with a golden zipper, brown shorts with golden detail and black leggings. She wears a black, semi-translucent undershirt beneath her jacket, along with golden spaulders and vambraces on both arms, as well as a similar belt, and her heel and toe are likewise protected.
Emerald and Cardin wear the same outfits that they have always worn, Cardin's is a bit different to how it used to be back at Beacon, with more wear and tear on it and some additions in places. Whereas Emerald is still just as revealing as she has always been. But they all have their weapons back too, Velvet with her camera and box, filled with multiple weapons she can use whenever she needs to.
Kassius holds his scroll up to his ear as Ruby answers his calls. "Kassius! Oh, thank the gods you're okay." She sighs with relief, making Kassius chuckle.
"Hey there, Knucklehead." Kassius responds with a smile, chuckling whenever he hears her voice. "Good to know you're still breathing. Things are getting pretty scary out here." Kassius explains.
"What do you mean?" Ruby inquires.
"The White Fang have started a war against the Acolytes and Atlas, flying to Vytal has been harder than we thought." He explains, Ruby turns her scroll onto speaker mode so then everyone can hear him. Luckily Blake just heard what he said, and she walks over to the speaker.
"Wait…they are fighting the Acolytes?" Blake asks with concern.
"Yeah, looks like Mazen is avoiding every other human…targeting all his efforts against our common enemy." Kassius tells them. "Hell, he let us go and all the other humans out from the Trafficker's base when we escaped." Kassius tells them.
"He seemed like he wanted us wiped off the face of the Earth a few weeks ago." Ruby scoffs.
"Well it looked like Adam might have rubbed off on him…wouldn't have thought I'd say that five years ago." Kassius chuckles as he remembers back when he snapped his horn from his head…the first time they actually met in person. Blake on the other end hangs her head sadly, because she had to deliver the killing blow in the end.
"So…how are things going on your end? We got your message about Coco and Velvet being with you. Did you get Pyrrha's Circlet?" Ruby inquires softly as she stands there with her scroll.
"Yeah, I'm looking at it right now." Kassius states as he looks at it on the table. "We found the inscription, we are headed to Vytal, at least that is what we think it meant…damn Arkhoni love their riddles." Kassius states, then Ozpin turns and walks over to them.
"Vytal?" Ozpin asks as he approaches the scroll that Ruby holds in her hand.
"Oz." Kassius greets on the other end.
"Kassius." He replies. "Did you say you were headed to the Island of Vytal?" He asks him.
"Yeah…not too stoked about it, honestly considering what happened there…but if we have to, we will." Kassius explains with a heavy sigh.
"You could really help us then, because we have hit a dead end." Ozpin states and Kassius raises a brow as he stands up with his scroll.
"Why? What's at Vytal?" He asks him.
"I ordered the construction of that Academy to protect what was buried there, it was an ancient Map Room of Remnant. It is out of date, but it could help us figure out how to get up to Arkhonex without being tracked." Ozpin explains.
"Hold on a second, you know roughly where the city is, don't you?" Kassius asks him.
"Yes." Ozpin answers, something they already can guess.
"Then why don't we all just go there?" Kassius inquires.
"Because the level of Grimm there is suicide to go in like that, however there is a secret tunnel system under water we can take, something the Grimm are unlikely to be inside of because we sealed it off when the attack began." Ozpin explains, and they hear a sigh from Kragen.
"Killing millions in the process too." Kragen adds and Ozpin nods his head.
"Regrettable…but now it could be our best chance we have. We can take our ships to each of these tunnels, there were three, but I think one collapsed or got infested recently. If we can locate where the tunnels opened up on the continents, we can use them. It was used for quick trading routes between different continents." Ozpin explains to them all, and Kassius nods his head.
"So, we get in the Map Room, then what? Do we take a picture?" Kassius asks.
"That may be the easiest method of recording the evidence." Ozpin replies.
"Alright then, we'll look for this Map Room. I'm guessing it is underneath the Academy, right?" Kassius inquires.
"Yes, it was meant to be the next Vault. Until that attack hit." Ozpin answers.
"Okay, I'll call back if we find anything." Kassius assures.
"Stay safe, Kassius. We'll stay up here in the Mountains, see if we can find anything else, could be another Visionary Book around here somewhere." Ruby tells him, and Kassius nods his head.
"Okay, stay safe knucklehead." Kassius tells her and she chuckles.
"You too, Kas." She replies.
They end their call and he shoves his scroll into his Coat Pocket, picking up his stetson with his cybernetic hand and fitting it onto his head as he walks over to the rest of his team. He may not want to be a Team Leader anymore, but it is in his blood…he is a better leader than he realises. "So? Everything good on their end?" Coco curiously asks.
"They're at a dead end, one we could help sort out for them. Ozpin said there is an Arkhoni Map Room underneath the unfinished Academy. We get inside and use it we could speed up our search for a way into Arkhonex undetected." Kassius explains to her.
"And that method is?" Cardin curiously inquires.
"According to Oz, there are two long tunnel networks that go underwater that a Peregrine and a Prowler can fit into. They used it for trading and evacuations, except they closed them off when Arkhonex was attacked to prevent them getting infested." Kassius explains to them, summing up what Ozpin said quite well.
"Gods…" Velvet gasps as she covers her mouth.
"Sounds like the Arkhoni were…morally grey." Emerald scoffs as she flies through the clouds.
"To put it mildly." Kassius chuckles, walking over to Coco to speak with her. "Hey, Coco…I have to ask…why did you decide to help me? I know you promised Yang, but you don't owe me a thing." Kassius asks her curiously, she looks at him and she takes off her sunglasses to get real with him. She holds them in her hand and she exhales, looking at him.
"You're a friend, Kassius. I look out for my friends, but yeah that isn't the only reason." She states as she walks over to the window and presses her hands against it, gazing out at the expanse of sapphire blue ocean.
"I had a feeling you had your own agenda." Cardin states.
"It's not like that, asshole. If I didn't have my own problems, we would still help you. It's what friends do." Coco snarls, glaring right at him and Cardin scoffs.
"I'm sorry, what was that supposed to mean?" Cardin challenges as he walks towards her with anger in his eyes and Coco turns around as well, clenching her hand into a fist.
"It means that we went and helped save Ruby while you and your team were cowering in Vacuo! Did you even know she lost her eye? Was tortured by a psycho?" Coco snarls with anger and Cardin grits his teeth.
"Don't you dare try to judge me." Cardin growls as he squares up against her, until Kassius steps between them and shoves them apart.
"Lock it down! Both of you!" Kassius orders. Cardin scoffs, shaking his head as he turns and walks away from Coco, Kassius looks at the Fashionista. "What do you mean?" Kassius asks her and she sighs.
"Have you noticed that two of my team are missing?" Coco inquires, and Kassius nods his head, dreading to know why…hoping they were not killed.
"Yeah I've noticed…been meaning to ask." Kassius answers, and Coco nods her head.
"We got ambushed by Acolytes of Lien, Yatsu and Fox got captured…Velvet and me nearly got killed in the process. End of the day, Merlot is the one that has been taking people…I know he is your dad and has turned against them, but I need to find them. If we find a lead on their location…I'm finding them." Coco states and Kassius looks at her and nods.
"We will find them." Kassius corrects and she raises a brow.
"No, this is our business, I don't wanna get friends involved." She states.
"Friends, look out for each other." Kassius repeats exactly what she just said, and she sighs with defeat, shaking her head.
"Okay…fine…" She sighs.
The talk ends when Emerald calls to them and gets their attention. "Land-Ho! Looks like Vytal…gods…the state of it." She gasps as she pilots the Peregrine towards it. Kassius walks over to her and rests his hand on the back of her chair, staring at the destruction of the unfinished colony on the island where the Great War came to a close. Just staring at it makes him uncomfortable…but he has a mission and has never let his feelings get in the way of it.
"Forgot how much I hated this place…" He states, feeling his scars from the Terror Bird Grimm begin to throb slightly at the memory. "C'mon…let's get this over with." Kassius says as she begins to land the Peregrine. The thrusters decelerate and the landing gear folds out, wings folding upwards as well as it lands…hidden safely behind the rocks. The landing gear sets onto the beach and the door opens up, all of them walking out and looking around at the destruction which surrounds them.
Kassius steps foot first onto the beach, and as soon as he does it is like a channel of memories shoots into his mind. Seeing this place once all repaired, houses being built around him, the taste of claret in his mouth from the fights he got into with other kids. They all walk forward and into the street, and Kassius stops as he sees phantom children playing past him, something the others don't see.
All of this is echoing from his own past.
Kassius sighs, and Cardin looks at him as he struggles to walk through the place of which he and his sister were born in. He looks at one of the houses to see the ghostly silhouette of a Nevermore screeching to the sky when they attacked. Only now for that building to be a husk of what it once was.
Cardin stands behind him and looks down at his own reflection in a puddle…seeing another face, and not his own. One that is dark and chilling…guilt filling his mind.
He tenses, and keeps moving.
They all walk up a hill to see the destroyed remnants of the Academy that was under construction when the attack began. The land torn apart, and the scars of war still seen in areas. But the Academy was hardly even formed, only the skeleton of the fifth C.C.T Tower was built and the bones of the buildings. And walking around the area are many florae covered Grimm, ones that have never left since the attack a decade ago. They all gasp when they see them around the area, bones scattered.
"By the gods…" Velvet whispers.
Suddenly a deafening roar echoes across the landscape, and they all look up to the clouds, seeing the huge black wings swinging through and the giant Dragon that attacked Beacon banks around the remains of the C.C.T Tower, decelerating and hovering over the Grimm. Velvet gasps with horror, flashes of terrifying memories hitting her all at once as she stares at the monster before her very eyes.
Then…She rises.
Salem.
She stands up off the large saddle on the neck of the huge dragon and she looks down and stares right into the eyes of Kassius, seeing him and the others. "And so…we meet again." She greets.
"So…you're still running the show." Kassius softly says with an impressed voice.
"How the hell did she survive that eruption?" Coco questions with disbelief, unaware Salem teleported off the Volcanic Chain Isles before they blew to pieces.
Kassius glares at her and he clenches his hand into a fist. "Yeah…I got your number, bitch." Kassius whispers, and Salem smirks.
"Rise up my children!" Salem calls out to the many Grimm around her.
They all rise from the bones of Vytal and stare straight at the Huntsmen.
"Do not let them find that Map Room." She demands.
Then the Grimm charge towards them. Kassius sighs with annoyance. "Why can't anything ever be easy?"
Author Note - Salem is back and fighting again, like a General in the field. Pretty badass as well with her huge Dragon as well.
This was a nice chapter to write, started with some development for Kannix and Neo, I wanted to show those two more and the difference between them. You have Kannix that is 100% consumed by revenge and wanting to make everyone suffer like the world made him suffer. Then you have Neo who is close to becoming just like him. And now they are becoming the next Onyx Phantoms, so those of you that have messaged me hoping for a new Onyx Phantom Assassin, well surprise! You have two!
And then we have the big Info Dump from Ozpin, the Congregation of Dawn just get scarier don't they? They formed an entire Mountain Range to hide their secrets with the Relic of Creation and never evacuated the innocent civilians from their homes.
I'd like to hear your theories on why you think Vir Nominis Umbra hates the gods.
And finally we have Kassius with his new team, whether he likes it or not. Yatsuhashi and Fox have been captured by Merlot's scientists, even though he is on their side now. Question is, who is in charge of the science division now? You will learn soon. And they they need that Map Room to get to Arkhonex, question is where will the next Visionary Book be for Vyrryk? Or for the Knights?
What did you think of this chapter? I hope you have been enjoying Act 4 so far, if so please leave a review and what is your favourite moment from the whole series so far? There have been many memorable moments in all the acts, so I guess I am asking what your favourite ones are. Or what your favourite Act as a whole was. My favourite was 3 because of the answers, the horror, tension and romance. But this Act is also a favourite because of the answers we get.
5 and 6 however hold a special place in my heart...then again this whole series does. XD Please review follow and favourite! Support means everything!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - Painful Memory
- Matt