Chapter 21. Medical review
A bright light shined through the window of the infirmary room cause Leo to stir.
"Oh man my body feels like I got hit by a bullhead" Leo said as he started to open his eyes he got a look of his surroundings.
Leo lay in a bed in one the academy's infirmary rooms, the room was white and a single bedside table sat next to the bed with a chair on the wall to his left, there was a window on the wall opposite the bed with the midmorning sun streaming through.
Thoughts of his fight came flooding back to him as he noticed his whole upper body was wrapped up in bandages, He lifted his hand to his head only for it to feel like every nerve in his body to burst into flames.
After a few more attempts and the pain returning each time Leo gave up and just lay back on the bed staring at the roof, that's when the voice returned.
"Hahahaha I see were alive" it laughed,
"What the hell do you want, it's your folt were in this mess" Leo said keeping his gaze on the roof.
"I gave you the power to beat him yet you still fucked it up" the beserker growled in response.
"Its not like there's a Manuel on how this shit works with you" Leo simply said.
"The prince is the key" it replied coldly.
"Ok. Who the fuck is this Prince you keep talking about" Leo growled, annoyed at the cryptic answers.
"The man who broke your semblance" the spirit answered with another cryptic answer.
"Broke my semblance? You can't break someone's semblance" Leo said still confused.
There was no reply.
"Great so much for getting answers out of him, I wonder what he ment by breaking my semblance," Leo said outloud to himself but before he could think about it any longer the door to his room slid open and professor peach walked in, she was dressed in her white lab coat and had a pair of knee length boots on that made a click sound as she walked.
"Good to see your finally awake mister Ironhammer, how are you feeling."she asked in a smooth voice.
"Just call me Leo, and I feel my nerves are on fire, everything hurts to move," Leo answered and the professor noted down everything on a clip board,
"Well Leo that's to be expected after someone experiences that much of an aura loss in one go, and from Glyndas notes it seems your semblance's second skin was also shattered so that would also have a large effect on the body," she replied looking directly at Leo.
" wait my armor broke?, how that's ment to be invincible while its actively," disbelief evident in his voice.
"I'm sorry that's not my area, you would have to talk to Glynda about that," Peach answered with a smile.
"But what I can do is have a look under those bandages and see how well you've healed" and with that she put the clipboard on the bedside table and started to help Leo sit up.
Once in a seated position she gently lifted his arm with a wince from him, starting to unwind the bandages Leo noticed that there seamed to have a burn around his wrist, it was two rings that went perfectly around his wrist, and In between the rings were strange marks he had never seen before
"Hey what's that around my wrist" he asked,
Pausing to look at the marks, "that's just your tattoos dear, it matches your other wrist," Peach said calmly.
"No i dont have tattoos on my wrists, just my family's emblem on my right shoulder,"Leo informed her, confusion evident on his face, by this point Peach had finished unwrapping one arm and had moved onto his other arm.
"Well you have been out for three days so you might have slight memory loss" Peach smiled as if it was normal for students to end up in her infirmary from being knocked unconscious.
"Wait hold up, iv been unconscious for THREE DAYS, how hard did he hit me," Leo said shock in his voice.
"Well considering it was Tepish that did it, he was holding back" Peach answered as she finished unwrapping all the bandages from Leo's upper body and allowed him back down,
"He held back? God Dam" Leo breathed as he came to the realization just how out gunned he had been.
"Yep, now about that memory loss, let's take some tests to make sure everything's ok" Peach laughed slightly as she turned around to pick up some instruments and when she turned back Leo was gone, the door was open and there was a faint "no no no no no" in the air as he sprinted at full speed down the hallway to escape the tests.
"Omg I swear professor port's rants get longer every time" Olivia complained to the rest of team LEOS as they entered the medical building of Beacon.
" I don't mind them, I usually use that time to catch up and the latest dust technology and combinations," Esper replyed casually as they signed the visitors log.
Scarlett paused in her movements making the other two look at her with confusion.
"What's up scar,"Esper asked gently.
" I though I heard Leo for a minute" she replied looking like she was listening for something.
"Hes on the otherside of the ward how could you hear him from here, plus hes been unconscious for three days now it's not like he would just suddenly wake up and start shouting," Esper said with a carming smile, that's when the doors to the rear of the ward burst open as leo charged through them, a wild look in his eye and 4 staff members chasing after him.
With a sigh Scarlett stepped forward hooked one of her arms around Leo's torso and lifted him into the air with the help of her semblance.
" Ok who mentioned medical tests or needles around him" Scarlett asked with a false calmness about her.
"That would be me sorry," professor Peach said as her heels clicked on the floor as she stepped through the gathering of staff who were trying to stop Leo from going into a full on sprint again.
"I told the nurse when we brought him in not to mention test or needles because this is exactly what would happen, what does he need them for anyway?" Scarlett asked coldly, Esper and Olivia both toke a step back as Scarlett talked knowing full well how protective she could be.
"I'm sorry miss Dawn, the nurse never informed me of this ,had I knowen this would be the reaction I would have waited till you arrived, the tests were for memory loss, it seams your brother can't remember getting the tattoos around his wrists" Peach answered holding her ground, clearly use to dealing with difficult family members.
With out answering Scarlett grabbed Leo's wrist and lifted it to her eye level with mild protest from Leo which she ignored
"This isnt a tattoo it's a brand, and iv seen these Runes before, in one of mums book," Scarlett said outloud.
"It's called the mark of the Master, and its probally something we shouldn't be discussing in the open." A man said as everyone in the lobby of the medical building turned to look at the the new comets, Tepish and Ozpin.
"Yes how about we go back to Leonardos room and talk more there, obviously we have a lot to learn." Ozpin said as he started walking towards the wards.
"Would you mind telling me what the fuck is this mark of the master, or are you going to be all cryptic about it, coz I'm seriously not in the mood" Leo growled at Tepish as soon as Peach had left the room after finally being satisfied that he was ok.
"Cool it you giant bag of hormones it's not that simple," Tepish replied compleatly unfazed.
"Now since the rest of your team is here I'm guess they know as much as you?" He asked the team, who just replied with a nod.
"Scarlett, Olivia, Esper this is the last chance you well to have back out of this deal me and Leo have made, and for your sake I hope you all take it," Ozpin asked solemnly,
There was a moment of silence before Scarlett spoke up. "I'm not leaving Leo, he might not be my biological brother but family is more than just blood and hes the only brother I have, I can't talk for Olivia or Esper but I'm staying with my brother through to the end,"
"Hes my partner, I'm not leaving, as simple as that," Olivia smiled,
"While I do hold some reservations about this I'm not about to abandon my team, we all signed on to be come hunters, we knew the risks," Esper answered a hint of sadness in his voice.
"HA looks like you've got yourself a true hunters team here ozzy," Tepish laughed.
" it seams I do" Ozpin answered, at that moment the door to Leo's room flew open revealing a short light brown haired woman with a quarterstaff In her hand, behind her stood Arron Ironhammer, and last was Glynda Goodwitch with a sorry expression on her face.
"My baby what happened, are you ok, who did this, how did this happen." The short women said as she rushed over to Leo's bed and started looking him over,
"MUM?, what are you doing here ain't you ment to be looking after the Xiao Long family," Leo stammered as his mother started poking him and lifting his limbs.
"Oh there fine, just a bit of a fever and mild shivering, nothing my herbs can't fix, now tell me what happened" Leo's mum said with a dangerous calmness about her.
"Oh ok, well I was having a training match and toke a bit of a harder hit then expected," Leo answered and for the first time ever since coming to beacon theres was hints of fear in his voice.
"And who were you fighting dear?" She commanded.
"Um that would be me Steph," Tepish answered hesitantly.
Steph rounded on Tepish like he was prey, with slow steps she walked up to him.
"I should have known it would be the oldest asshole on remnant that did this to my son" she said coldly making everyone in the room shiver.
"Um um um, I was just testing him, to get a judge of how much I need to each him about the spirit,and things might have gone a little overboard," the man stammered as Steph was almost touching him looking up at him with her ice blue eyes filled with danger.
She placed the tip of her staff in the center of his chest, apon contact green glyph appeared where the staff made contact, a second later ice started to slowly creep across his torso coursing him to drop to his knees with a look that was a mix of pain and compleat fear.
"Your extremely lucky that my boy is very durable, or else it wouldn't just be your skin I would be freezing, now If you want to keep breathing I would suggest you train him properly or else I would have to pay you another visit, do I make myself clear" Steph said calmly staring deep in to his red eyes with just a smile on her face.
"Crystal" he simply replied trying to hide the exsteam pain.
And just like that she pulled the staff off his chest and the glyph disappeared and the ice melted, everyone just watched in horror as Tepish was just at the mercy of this tiny woman.
"So mum, dad why are you here," Scarlett asked to break the silence that had settled over the room.
" were here to help take the students to Vacuo for the Vytal festival, Ozpin though it might be a good idea to get some added help since Vacuo isnt the friendliest place, and since we were already planning on going to watch he offered to help," Steph smiled while answering her step daughters question.
"Oh right yer I almost forgot that was coming up" Olivia said drawing Stephs attention.
" and you must be Olivia, Leo's partner, so lovely to meet you, and I'm going to apologize for my son in advance, I know need difficult, he always has been." Steph said as she pulled Olivia into a big hug,
"Ok dear that's enough we've come and said hello we still need to finish unloading and it looks like we interrupted a meeting," Arron interjected before things kept going.
"Yes your right, there well be plenty of time to catch up later, bye bye," and with that Steph, Arron and Glynda left the room.
"Oh thank god, that woman scares the living crap out of me," Tepish said after the door had been closed for a few seconds.
"Yes, she has always been quite...full on, hasn't she," Ozpin smirked
"Yer but you not going to find a better healer then her, anywhere," Tepish said
"Hey so this mark of the master can you tell me what it is," Leo said, a slight annoyance in his voice.
"Oh yes certainly, it's a mark that shows how much you've mastered the spirits power, so at the moment you've unlocked the first stage which is roughly 10% of it's full strength, but theres to stages to each part, first the unlock which looks like a brand then once you've mastered the level, it well change colour to match your auras colour, in your case grey" Tepish explained slowly so everyone understood.
"So I can use a portion of its power when ever I want now?" Leo asked.
" yes and no, so you've unlocked it so you can use it but it's not going to be easy until you've mastered it, but you can't unlock the next stage till you've mastered the first stage, think of it like grades in school, you can't move on to higher grades till you've passed the previous grades," Tepish continued to explain in great detail.
" ok I think I understand," Leo answered sounding exsorsted.
"It seams Leonardo here still needs some rest so why dont we take are leave and we can resume the other part of this conversation at another time," Ozpin said casually.
"Yer sounds good, get some rest young Ironhammer, your going to need it in the coming months." Tepish said before turning on his heels and walked out the door, with a nod of the head Ozpin followed him out.
"Well we should be going to, it is getting late and we need to pack for the Vytal festival, Glynda wants us to take the silver wing to Vacuo so Espers been getting her ready for the trip, "Scarlett said as she brought leo up to date on the last few days.
With a nod leo lay back and closed his eyes
" oh I nearly forgot that Cinder chick keeps asking if your awake so it might be a good idea to message her, it seams shes has quite a crush on you brother, dont let her slip away," Scarlett said as she paused at the door before walking through it and closing the door behind her leaving him to his own thoughts.
Across the sea at haven academy Cinder was just returning to her dorm after another pointless combat class, having to pretend she cared about there exsistance really drained her, that's when her scroll went off.
Looking it she saw it was from Leo and a wave of butterflies swarmed in her tummy as she read the message.
"Hey Leo here, I heard you were worried about me, I'm all good just a mild headache and some sore limbs but otherwise I'm ok, I didnt mean to worry you, well have a good night." The message read
"That's good to hear,yer I was a little worried but your sister was kind enough to tell me what happened, I hope you get better soon, were leaving for Vacuo 2morrow morning for the Vytal festival, are you going?" CInder replied back before entering her teams room.
The only person inside the dorm room was Neo but she was once again playing with one of her many knives, she looked up at Cinder entered and a creepy smile slipped across her face as she saw Cinders goofy face.
"Oh shut up, " Cinder said as she saw the look from neo, neo made another face by tilting her head and raising one eyebrow.
"I do not like him, hes just necessary for my plans to work it just helps hes fairly good looking so I dont want to barf every time I look at him like I do most men," Cinder replied with fake confidence.
"Sure sure, i know that look all to well and trust me, hold onto those feeling girl because they might be the only thing left once the queens finished with this world" Neo though to herself as she went back to playing with her knives.