CHAPTER 17

Speaking of the Devil...

Tic

Tac

With a regular pace, Ozpin tapped his cane. He had not said a word since he boarded the Bullhead, leading a fleet of aircrafts to Mountain Glenn. He had no prayer for the Gods, so he simply hoped that Summer and Team STRQ would be safe and sound.

— Mountain Glenn in visual, Headmaster," warns the pilot. I see the wreck of an Atlesian airship down there. It's probably the Conviction.

He turned his head towards the porthole and silently watched the state of the colony, once flourishing, becomes a field of ruins. Around the city where trees and hills stood, there was nothing left.

— It looks like the result of a huge bomb," whispered Glydia, his young assistant.

She was not wrong...

This land had become a lunar landscape.

There was no relief, no vegetation or buildings intact. Everything was ravaged. This devastation was likely to last several years before nature took over her rights here...

But in this destruction, Ozpin read there the signature of a dangerous being. Whatever was here before force him to use his most powerful attack. What kind of Creature of Grimm could force him to do so ? Was it something else ? Something worse ?

Yes... Make sure nothing happened to Summer... She was too precious for the future of the world.

— Land near the station. We must not hang around here too long.

The pilot obeyed and the other aircrafts imitated him.

On leaving the Bullhead, they were greeted by a cheering crowd of survivors, too happy to finally leave this place!

— Glydia, I'll let you take care of them. Organize the evacuation with the Huntsmen.

— And you ?

— Do not worry about me.

Ozpin made his way through the crowd. He noted soldiers from Atlas and those of the colony working together to facilitate the work of the Huntsmen. In other circumstances, he would have smiled in front of this scene, touched to see his words of mutual help come to fruition. But not now…

Where to start the research ? Who to ask in this heap of tight bodies ?

Ozpin closed his mind to all the sound and visual pests that blurred his search. His senses searched among the Auras of every being, in search of his four pupils. He recognized the Semblance of one of them. He opened his eyes again and walked over to a blond man who was turning his back on him, too busy helping an elderly person. No mistake, it was...

— Taiyang.

— Headmaster ?

The Huntsman was surprised at the presence of the Academy leader in these places.

— Taiyang, are you all rightv?

— Some burns but nothing serious.

— Good. Can you tell me what happened here?

His pupil seemed to be embarrassed by this question.

— Not here," he whispered." Follow me.

Taiyang led him to the underground station where the wounded were gathered. The entrance seemed to have been condemned with explosive then... Ozpin put a hand on the rock that had exploded and then carved by claws as hard as diamond…

Now that the vast majority of the refugees were outside, the lower city was silent as in a church. Military nurses and civilian doctors, livid with exhaustion, did their best to keep the wounded out of the clutches of death. Taiyang told him that no wounded person had succumbed to his injuries. It was a real miracle...

— That's Summer.

The Headmaster was not surprised to see the young woman helping to care for the wounded and to relieve the doctors as best she could, it was in her nature to help people in need.

Like Taiyang, the Huntress was surprised to see Ozpin here but also relieved of his presence. If he was there, it meant that help had arrived.

— There... There are serious wounded... They need specialized transport...

Ozpin did not need to probe her Aura to see how exhausted she was. Moreover, she had lost her lenses, revealing to all her Silver Eyes.

He put his reassuring hands on her shoulders and urged her to sit on a chair. It was only then that Ozpin noticed bruises on Summer's delicate neck. Who dared to do such a thing to her ?

— We'll take care of them, Summer. Rest... it's over. Can you tell me what happened to Mountain Glenn ? It's the safest colony of all Vale.

— It was,' Raven corrected herself behind his back.

The Branwen were there, discreetly retaking human form behind Taiyang.

— So ?" Summer asked, despite the fatigue that was now overwhelming her.

— Nothing at all," Qrow growled, taking out his liquor from his jacket.

— Mountain Glenn HQ was sprayed with half of the colony. There is nothing left of it," explained his sister.

— What were you looking for there ?" asked Ozpin.

— Basically, the "trusted person" you told us to meet once arrived here was part of the bastards who dropped the Grimms in town !

Ozpin did not believe his ears ! Scharnhorst !? Why this madness ?!

— And you don't know everything yet," Qrow said to the Headmaster.

The Huntsman from the Tribe invited him to enter a medical tent set apart from the wounded.

Ozpin followed them inside and stopped at the entrance, stunned.

Hood was there, watching with two soldiers with James Ironwood ?! Approaching the captain, he discovered that he was missing his right arm! He squatted next to him and examined the wound.

The cut was straight, probably due to a sword... But the most incredible was that the flesh was already healed! Without that, he would have been dead for a long time !

Who did that? He knew too many enemies followers of blades to recognize the culprit, but he knew who had saved the officer from Atlas. This feat was the work of Raptoria or Lux...

— Tell me everything. Don't omit any details.

Summer saw Commander Ironwood point the barrel of his revolver at the Man in Black and squeeze the trigger. She saw the gunlock hit the cylinder and...

Nothing.

No high-calibre bullet from Dust hit the Elder of the Four. Defective shot !

James blinked for a moment before realizing what had just happened ! He squeezed the trigger again, activating the cylinder that hit the room with a new ball. The gunlock struck and...

Always nothing.

He had six shots in his revolver. He squeezed the trigger four more times. Four more times his weapon refused to fire.

And during this time, the Man in Black walked quietly towards him.

It was terrifying to see : the soldier unable to open fire and his foe advancing fatefully toward him. There seemed to be something destined for what was about to happen ! An immutable fact that no one could stop except maybe the Gods !

James threw his useless balls on the ground and lodged others in the barrel. One, two, three... Six ! He armed the...

The Man in Black was on him.

.

Time slowed down around Summer.

The Elder of the Four put his hand to the hilt of his katana and delivered the power of his weapon in a red flash !

The cut was sharp, cutting into the flesh and bones of the right shoulder to the hip.

He had already sheathed that James still had not realized.

Time resumed...

A high-pitched screaming echoed throughout the station !

James Ironwood fell to the ground, his left hand held his flank completely open from the bottom up ! It was a nightmare ! The blood flowed from his wound like a tap ! His arm rolled to the ground, his fingers still tight around the butt of the revolver. This detail made Summer feel nauseous !

With hindsight, Summer realized that she was the only one to have witnessed the scene. What the others had seen was only a red blur, like a flash too bright to be really perceived by the human eye.

The Man in Black walked past the man now condemned to die...

Something seized his ankle. He lowered his head and saw the officer on the ground, his left hand hanging on his leg. James Ironwood refused to let him go with Sélénée even though he could not afford to oppose him !

But already, the Man in Black raised his sword, determined to end this nuisance.

— NOOO !

At Summer's cry, Qrow and Raven jumped behind the Man in Black. The brother was ready to behead him with his scythe, his sister had the blade of his katana pointed at his heart. Taiyang bravely faced him, his right fist in front of his throat, ready to crush his larynx at the slightest suspicious gesture.

Yet it was not the threat of three Huntsmen who stopped the arm of the Man in Black but rather the cry of Summer.

The destroyer of Mountain Glenn turned to the Huntress who was watching him in horror, terrified by what he had almost done !

— I beg you ! Let him live !

He obeyed, kicking James's hand and sheathing his sword.

Cautiously, Tai pushed James away from the Eldest of the Four, leaving behind a sinister trail of blood. They knew they had no way to save him !

Qrow and Raven kept their weapons pointed at the Man in Black who was staring at Summer, ready to defend her if necessary. But the Man in Black royally ignored thel. All his attention was on the Silver-Eyed Huntress.

His reptilian red eyes stared her as if her mere existence was an insult ! In front of that look, Summer could only feel fear. In those monster eyes, there was not the surprise of the other Four. Only anger. Hate. Why ? Why this wrath against her ?

She could not have known that her existence had awakened in him something profoundly extinct that the world had thought dead for twenty years already. A thud resounded in the skull of the Man in Black. A low, distant roar, which was deafening by the silence that preceded it.

This roar, Tai, Qrow and Raven were the first to feel it in their flesh. An unpleasant vibration that resonated even in their bones.

Drops of sweat beaded on the Huntsmen's forehead, but only Raven knew what to expect. What jolted from Man in Black was only the beginning of an imminent disaster! She wanted to act before it was too late but her body refused to obey her.

Taiyang, her brother and herself were paralyzed !

Only her eyes could still move, and she read the same stupor in the eyes of her comrades !

The Man in Black stepped a step towards Summer, a single step, barely audible and yet, he expelled the air of all as the Aura he released was powerful ! Stifling !

— What. Is. Your. Name. Silver-Eyed ?

Summer shudders in front of this dead voice, without emotion or heat...

— I... I'm Summer Rose, from the Beacon Academy...

An intimidating breath came out of the legendary fighter's throat.

— "Summer Rose... So kindly I scatter..." he recited mysteriously.

He took a second step towards her and Black Mist disengaged from his body, following him like a faithful lackey, ravaging everything that came into contact with it. In silence, he walked to the Silver-eyed Huntress. Each of his steps seemed to increase the discomfort of humans. He stopped in front of Summer, dominating her by his size and anger. Black Mist threatened to engulf her at any moment !

— Summer !... Get away... from him... !" Qrow warns between his tight jaws.

Paralyzed by the power he gave off, Summer was unable to organize her thoughts. She discovered too late the monster that had evoked the Branwen ! She had been wrong not to believe them ! She felt him probing her soul through his reptilian eyes to whom nothing could be hidden.

Iron fingers closed on her throat and without difficulty, lifted her off the ground ! She opened her mouth but no sound came out ! Her legs was struggling in the void but she could not defend herself !

— SUMMER ! yelled his friends without being able to help him.

As she choked, the dead voice of the Man in Black was heard again.

— I feel the mark of the Guardian all around you...

He strengthened his iron grip and Summer could only look at him, her eyes bathed in tears. Her body screamed to her to fight to stay alive, but her mind was unable to make any decisions. She was going to die here, from the very hand of the one they were looking for…

— Pitiful... For twenty years, we thought to be the last defense against Salem... And now this coward sends us an illusory hope ? He forced us to fight a useless battle, all for what in the end ? A Silver-Eyed Maiden who knows nothing of her strength !

Summer's vision began to get confused. It was getting darker around her. The face of the Man in Black mingled with the blackness of the Black Mist, and soon, even the arm that strangled her disappeared.

She was bathed in nothingness. It was the end...

.

— Stop it immediately.

.

The grip of the Man in Black relaxed a little, allowing Summer to swallow greedily the air that claimed her lungs ! The Black Mist that threatened to destroy her rejoined the body of its owner.

Behind him, Summer recognized a dazzling silhouette at the entrance of the station, bathed in the emerging daylight. A silhouette concealed under an immaculate hood... The Woman in White !

— Do not come between me and my prey, Similar..., he growled at her attention.

— Release. Her," she ordered more severely to the Man in Black.

He ignored the threat in her voice and shifted his gaze to Sélénée behind the Huntress. She was still unconscious, drained of her strength. In his state, he had no choice but to entrust her to Beacon, it was the only place where she could safely recover... With the destruction of the Atlesian chain of command, the survivors of the ship will prefer to leave her to the care of the Guardian.

After a long minute of reflection, the Man in Black finally released Summer.

The Huntress collapsed on the floor, her hands around her bluish neck. The tension that held prisoner Taiyang and the others faded, allowing them to rush to Summer. Qrow was the first to join her and was relieved to see her more or less unscathed...

.

— So... There's one left alive...

Summer blinked, surprised to hear a sparkle of life in that voice where there was only death. The red eyes, so inhuman, of the Man in Black were replaced by two black pupils, more human-like, but just as empty of life.

With this incredible metamorphosis, Summer discovered a completely different man : he was the same, but so different ! His complexion was dangerously pale and he had deep dark circles under his eyes ! He had nothing of the monster he was the moment before !

— How long has the Guardian been hiding you from the eyes of the world ?

— The Guardian ?

She did not know anything. No wonder from the Fallen Gods...

Raptoria and he felt in them the strength of the signal intensify.

They could not stay longer here. The Grimms would soon come back, attracted by three of the Four in the same place. His dead eyes turned to Raptoria who nodded in response to his silent question.

— One week…

The Man in Black came out of the underground city, leaving the Woman in White alone with the Huntsmen. Without a word, she walked to James Ironwood. The captain had already lost consciousness with the excessive blood loss. His life was hanging by a thread.

She put both hands on her sliced side and a light dazzled the Huntsmen.

When it went out, the flesh began to heal, saving the officer from certain death. For the other unconscious soldiers, she held out a hand to them and one by one, all woke up. The only other wounded she examined was the Faunus. She closed her eyes, her fists clenched...

She got up and spoke to Summer.

— I cannot do more for them... They will live. That's all I can promise.

— Thank you very much," said Summer, bowing to thank her.

What she imitated in return.

— It's all natural. The Maiden and the Silver Warriors have always helped us in the past, I had to help you in return.

Summer raised an eyebrow. She finally had the opportunity to ask the questions that burned her lips :

— Sorry but what are my eyes so special ? And why do you call me "Maiden" ?

The Woman in White seemed surprised at her question.

— You do not know ?

— No... Should I ?

— If you're in Beacon, Ozpin should have...

A wave muffled by miles and obstacles came to her ears. She nevertheless recognized the noise of the Bullheads' engines...

— Speaking of the Devil...

She sighed, aware that it was time.

— I have to go.

— No ! Wait ! I still have other questions... !

The Woman in White silenced her and put a finger on the rose hanging on Summer's cape.

— As long as you keep this flower, our paths will cross again. Sooner than you expect...

Summer finished her story.

Ozpin had not stopped her once while she spoke. He had not asked for precision or for repetition. His usual calm gaze was profoundly serious.

— And the Woman in White ?

— She disappeared, like the Man in Black.

Raven had enough ! Pulling away from her brother, she walked to the Headmaster, furious !

— You knew it ! You knew what was going to happen !

Ozpin does not say anything.

— You knew we would not be strong enough to face the Four ! Nor in face of their enemies ! You knew that and you still sent us to fight without telling us anything ! You put our lives in danger ! Why ?

Ozpin frowned and grabbed Raven's arm to invite her to continue this discussion out of some indiscreet ears. All Team STRQ went out with him.

— I'm sorry about what happened to you, Team STRQ. But I can swear to you that I had no intention of sending you to a war zone. I never thought the Four could attack you.

Raven pushed his hand away from the tent.

— How could we still believe you ? It was you who told us that the Four appeared where the Grimms were going to attack ! Their enemies had only to wait for them here !

— Except these enemies were not supposed to be here," the Headmaster explained calmly.

— Why, then ?

— Simply because Mountain Glenn was not supposed to be attacked.

— What ?" Taiyang wondered." Wait, I'm not sure I heard correctly... You say that the Four should never have been here at the beginning ?

— Correct.

— But how did you know they would be here ?" Qrow asked...

...Before realizing what he means !

— No... Don't tell me that...

— Yes. It's me who drew the Four to Mountain Glenn," Ozpin revealed.

Qrow blinked several times after his statement.

— How...?

— The Four have a kind of sixth sense, like a radar. An ability that tells them where to go fight the Grimms. After years of unsuccessful attempts, I ended up finding a way to access it and designate them a wrong destination.

— That's why you sent us here," Taiyang said.

— Headmaster," said Summer, silent until now." If Mountain Glenn was a subterfuge... Why were the Grimms here...? And these people...?

— These are their old enemies. I guess my manipulation was discovered and turned against them. As for the Grimms, there has always been in the vicinity of the colony. When the doors opened, they mingled with the chaos. It was probably the goal of the enemies of the Four.

— Headmaster... Do you realize that Mountain Glenn fell because of your decision ? People died !

Summer's accusation was legitimate, Ozpin understood her very well. His choice led the Grimms and the Champions of Salem to reduce the colony to nothing. With the help of the Man in Black...

— Mountain Glen was going to fall. Whatever happens. With Scharnhorst at the head of the security, it could not be otherwise. Your intervention has at least saved the habitants of the colony. Do you think it would have been the same without you ? Without the Four ?

Summer bit her lip. She understood Ozpin's reasoning perfectly, but he only noted her words, not her indignation. The Headmaster, still so concerned about human life... Why was he so different today ?

— So ? What's next ?" Taiyang asked.

— We evacuate the colony. The Woman in Black and Commander Ironwood will be taken to Beacon for hospitalization. I don't think Hood will have a problem with that.

He left the group and got ready to enter the medical tent when he stopped to turn to his students.

— When we go back to Beacon, I'll have a lot to reveal to you.

He entered and left them between them.

As Ozpin had guessed – and the Man in Black – Hood accepted the Headmaster's proposal and was ordered to abandon Mountain Glenn. What seemed unacceptable to some, the surviving lieutenant was part of them. Ozpin was trying to reason with them.

— The doors of the colony are broken down, the headquarters is nothing more than a pile of dust. The Grimms will enter as they want here.

— Maybe, but they have nothing able to pierce the compressed rock.

— You want to take refuge in the lower city ?

— Not take refuge there : take back our life where we were robbed. It will be enough to blow some rocks to fill the tunnel that the Woman in Black has drilled us. We all stayed in the underground train station when the city was under construction. We know what to expect. We will always have daylight thanks to the mirrors and we have electricity and drinking water. From now on, we will live underground, until the day we can take back our city. Tell that to the Leaders of the Council : Mountain Glenn has not fallen. That's what Scharnhorst would have wanted...

The Headmaster nodded. The lieutenant did not need to know the truth for now. When Ozpin reveals it to the Council, their suffering will be silenced. At least, he hoped...

He held out his hand. He felt some discomfort to omit the truth to this hopeful man...

— I wish you the best, Lieutenant...

But that was the pure truth.

The soldier shook his hand. A strong grip. Full of hope for their future.

— Lieutenant Gneisenau. Good luck to you with the Four.

Thus the story of Mountain Glenn reached a historic turning point. As the volunteers retrieved their last belongings to reach the station, the resigned survivors boarded the Bullheads. There was no overflow, no screaming or crying in the queue. All boarded the aircraft with dignity and calm.

Two Atlas soldiers were loading Séléné aboard the Hunstmen aircraft.

— Excuse me but you still have room ? Survivors found a seriously injured under the rubble. His vital prognosis is engaged...

They probably did not want to burden the young Huntsmen even more with the sight of a dying man before their eyes. Touching intention.

— Put him with us. Join your aircraft, your commander and your captain are waiting for you.

— Understood. Do not worry about him, he deliriums a little with the drugs...

The two soldiers put the wounded man next to Summer. he was in a bad state... His body was covered with bandages even though she could see the burned flesh through some place... She had heard that if the body was burned more than 50 percent, death was...

— Take off," Ozpin told the pilot.

The Bullhead left the vitrified soil and flew away, followed by the others. The vibrations of the device awakened the wounded man who lifted an arm severely burned up, mumbling some incomprehensible words...

— Se... S-S-Sa... Sé...

Despite the condition of his hand, Summer grabs his to comfort him. He had a glove in his hand, practically intact compared to his owner. A mittens, cordouan color.

— Everything is fine. You are safe now.

Too dazed by the drugs, the wounded man said nothing else and his hand fell down his body.

Summer pulled away from him and turned to the Headmaster, both hands resting on his cane, staring at the woman in black lying next to him. She remembered the name the Four used to name him.

— Headmaster... Why do the Four call you the Guardian ?