Rwby
Origins Of LUNR
Chapter 25: The Groom
Inside Salem's meeting room, Cinder Fall and Salem sat alone at the table. Mercury and Emerald waited by the door. Cinder was breathing heavily with effort while Salem has her right hand casually held out.
"Do you feel it? Don't fight it, girl. It can sense your trepidation. You must make it dread you." Salem said as she looked at Cinder.
A soft clicking sound makes Cinder turn toward the door. A jellyfish-based Grimm with long red tentacles and a black and white body known as a Seer emerged from the darkness, floating towards them.
Emerald and Mercury react fearfully to it and pull back as it enters. It glides its way over to Salem at the head of the table. Once the Seer Grimm reaches her side, she leans closer to it. After a moment, she puts her hands together.
"Cinder, I am going to ask you this one more time, and I expect a clear answer. Did you kill Ozpin?" She asked with a bit of sternness to her tone.
Cinder holds her arm out, about to call Emerald over to speak for her. Salem slams both hands onto the table, eyes glowing as she speaks.
"No!" She exclaimed.
Cinder lowers her arm as Salem kept her eyes on her. "I want to hear you say it." She said as the tone of her voice lowered.
"Yes." Cinder said, rasping a few times first before speaking hoarsely.
Salem looks at her for a long moment before speaking. "Reinforce our numbers at Beacon. The Relic is there." She informed the Grimm.
The Seer Grimm glides away. At the door, Emerald and Mercury draw away from it just as they did before. Salem turns her head thoughtfully, looking in the direction away from Cinder and bringing her fingers to her chin.
"What are you planning?" Salem said to herself.
"Why won't you send me?"
Cinder and Salem turned their attention to the door where Damien and Terror emerged from the darkness of the hallway. Emerald and Mercury watched as the two walked passed them.
"I have other plans for you Damien, you need to be patient." Terror said as he walked towards Salem who glanced at him.
"You always say that," Damien replied in frustration. Terror scratched his head and sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get through to the young boy.
"What seems to be the problem, Damien?" Salem asked as she shifted her glance towards Damien. The young boy shifted his attention to Salem who rested her elbows on the table while resting her chin on her hands.
"Lord Terror won't allow me to help protect the labs. That idiot Richter is going to fail and screw up everything." Damien stated.
Salem closed her eyes for a moment trying to clear her mind and have patience with the young boy. "The labs are already taken care of. Seeing as Cinder is still recovering, I will be sending Emerald and Mercury to help Protect the labs until Cinder is ready." Salem explained.
Damien was not happy about this as he looked behind him and glared at Mercury and Emerald. Both Mercury and Emerald glared at him back as he turned his attention back to Salem and Terror.
"What about me? I'm tired of sitting around and doing nothing." Damien complained.
"Your time will soon come, Damien, like Terror, just said, you need to be patient," Salem replied, keeping herself calm as the boy continued to complain.
Damien gritted his teeth in frustration as he looked to the side. He wanted to be involved just like everyone else. He felt like they were benching him. Even with the destruction of Beacon, he did not contribute to the plan as much as everyone else. "What about my father? Why is my father still alive?" He asked.
Salem looked at Terror who closed his eyes and sighed, he was starting to get annoyed with Damien's questions and complaints. "We have to wait for the right time." She replied, but Damien was not satisfied with that answer.
"How long will that take?" He asked, getting slightly annoyed himself.
"All in good time Damien." She responded. Terror and Cinder couldn't believe the amount of patience Salem was giving him. By now Damien should have been dealt with by Salem, but it seemed like she was in a good mood.
"You're stalling." He replied as he pointed his finger at her.
Salem was about to move her right hand until Terror spoke up. "Keep that temper leashed Damien." He said in an enforcing tone.
Damien glared at him and then shifted his sights towards the left side of the room, avoiding eye contact. "You sound just like my father." He muttered.
Terror smirked at Damien's comment. "He wasn't wrong about everything." Terror said.
"Enough!"
Everyone in the room turned their attention to Salem who was now looking annoyed with the situation. "You have been given your orders Damien, and you will follow them with no arguments. You are to go to your chamber and wait for further instructions. Have I made myself clear?" Salem said in a calm but stern voice.
Just the sternness of voice sent shivers down Cinder, Emerald and Mercury's spine. But Damien was too angry to be afraid by it, but he knew it would be in his best interest to stop while he still could. "Yes, madam Salem."
As he responded, his face was still showing his anger. He was not happy about any of this, but he knew he had to follow her orders. Damien gritted his teeth once again and turned around, heading for the door. Mercury and Emerald smirked at him as he passed by which earned them a glare back.
"I'm sorry Lady Salem. He's an exceptional fighter. I can even go as far as to say his skills in battle is that of a pro huntsman. But he is still just a child." Terror said as he looked at the direction Damien went.
Salem looked up at him and then at the door "And as a child, he will be disciplined. I will deal with him later. For now, I must finish tending to Cinder." She said as she turned her attention back to Cinder.
Terror nodded as he watched her continue Cinder's treatment. "Mercury and Emerald. I want you two to head to the labs immediately, Mercury you will go to the Westbound Lab with Richter, and Emerald you will go with Goosko to the Northbound lab. Richter will use his semblance to transport you there." She said as she glanced at the two.
"Got it," Mercury replied as Emerald nodded.
Terror looked at Mercury and Emerald and then back to Salem and nodded "Thank you, for the assistance." He said as he showed his appreciation by leaning
"Lord Terror, Lady Salem. I have returned."
Salem and The other's turned their heads to see a woman entering the doorway. She was a woman of average height, pale skin, and had periwinkle eyes. She wore the black portions of her hair tied neatly into a bun, with white bangs covering her ears, her right side, and pointing behind her, giving her an appearance akin to a swan.
She wore a black bolero top on her clavicle, above a white corset with double rows of silver buttons in the style of a 1700s soldier, over a white skirt with black trim. She wore black leggings, covered by shin and thigh plating, complete with white heels with feathered accessories that evoke a swan motif.
Her arms are covered in black mesh, white gloves, along with bracers on her forearms, and plating on her biceps. Completing her outfit was a black colored sword that was strapped to the left side of her hip.
"Diana, how did your search go? Did you find any leads on the Spring Maiden?" Terror asked as he looked at the woman. The woman stopped in front of the table closed her eyes and shook her head.
"My lord, I was close to finding out the maidens location. But the person who was willing to give me the intel was killed and I was attacked… by her." Diana hung her head low in disappointment before raising it and revealing a look of anger. Terror gave her a shocked look before sighing and shaking his head.
"Are you talking about the huntress that wields the long sword?" He asked as he opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Diana nodded at his question which made him grit his teeth in anger.
"She's starting to become a nuisance." He said. Diana looked at him for a moment and then spoke again.
"My lord, I was able to find out why she's been constantly attacking us and from what she said during our battle, it seems it has something to do with you Cinder." Diana shifted her sights onto Cinder who gave her a confused look. Cinder was about to attempt to speak but knew the words were not going to come out.
"She seems to have a problem with you and wanted me to relay a message. Her words were, for what you did, for what you've taken from me. You'll pay back with your life. I'll find you, and end your life with my own hands." Diana said in a low tone as she repeated the words of the huntress that attacked her.
Cinder gritted her teeth and clenched her fist as she knew full and well what the attacker was talking about. She lifted up her hand and was about to pound the table until Salem spoke.
"We will not worry about her," Salem said in a calm tone. Everyone looked at Salem who stayed silent for a moment before holding her hand out towards Cinder, continuing her treatment. "She will pay for her actions soon enough. For now, we will continue with our plans and pay her no mind." Salem stated as Cinder turned her attention to her and nodded.
Terror also nodded before turning his attention to Emerald who was still at the doorway. "Emerald, there's something you need to know about Goosko." He said which made her look at him.
"Goosko is… well, there's no better way to put it than he's crazy. He, like Richter, was a patient in the Asylums. If he goes too far or if he gets out of a hand… Kill him." He stated with a serious look on his face.
Emerald looked at him and gave him a confused look "Are you sure? He's one of your men." Emerald replied.
Terror nodded and put his hands behind his back as he stood up straight "Yes, but to be honest his craziness could cost us in our plans. I made the decision to kill him if he ever got out of line a long time ago." He explained.
"Got it, I'll keep that in mind," Emerald replied as she nodded and then looked at Cinder who was dealing with Salem.
Meanwhile…
"JARVIN YOU IDIOT!"
Jarvin was seen leaning against a wall with a nervous look on his face as he stood in front of an outraged Miyabi. She stood in front of him with a paper in her hand and waving it around as she looked at him "What the hell is this? How did you let this happen?" She asked. Her voice sending shivers down Jarvin's spine.
Jarvin didn't fear anyone, but Miyabi was a different story. She could put fear in anyone's heart when she was angry. "Calm down." He stated.
"NO! How is that Uzziel was able to sneak out of here when you and he share the same room?" She asked, demanding answers.
Jarvin shrugged his shoulders which made Miyabi growl at him. "Listen the kid stated in the letter that he was going to meet us there right? I have faith that he'll follow through on his promise." Jarvin stated.
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" She yelled which made him flinch and hold his hands up in defense. Jarvin could literally see an evil red aura form around Miyabi as her anger grew. Jarvin could feel sweat drip down his face as he tried to figure out a way to calm Miyabi down.
"Listen Miyabi, Uzziel knows what he's doing. I know you think of the boys as your children but they are old enough to make their own decisions. I'm sure he'll be fine." Jarvin explained. Miyabi thought for a moment and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down and preventing herself from bashing his face in.
"You're not thinking this through enough. What if he decides to chase down Cinder and her team? What if he finds them, Uzziel is strong but I doubt he's going to be able to take them all on by himself." Jarvin walked over to her as she spoke and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Uzziel is stubborn but he's not an idiot. I raised that kid to be what he is today. I have a hunch I know where he's going and it has nothing to do with Cinder. Trust me, the boy will be alright, if he was planning on doing something stupid I'd stop him immediately." He explained.
Miyabi sighed and shook her head "I swear, you men have no discipline." She said as she placed Uzziel's note down on the table, turned around and walked out of the room heading for Lance's room. Jarvin sighed in relief and smiled as he walked over to the table and picked up the note. "Good luck kid." He said to himself.
"Jarvin we're about to leave!"
After hearing Miyabi's voice he put the note down and turned around as he was about to walk out of the room until he heard a sound of a crow from behind him. He smirked as he closed his eyes "Alright, alright." He said as he knew keeping her waiting would anger her again.
Now later that night Nolorona found himself standing on a tree branch looking down at a building an hour after he left Regulus. The building looked really similar to the base he and Regulus raided when they first found Krisis. He stared down from the tree and observed the area noticing that there weren't any guards watching over the base.
He jumped off of the branch and landed on the top of the building where he found a door. He quickly picked the lock and found himself inside the base as he left the door open, just in case he needed to escape the same way he came in.
He ran down a few flights of stairs before opening another door. He saw a hall dimly lit by wall-mounted torches that cast a pale green light. He knew something wasn't right about the place as if it was different from the bases he saw before. He hid behind a wall looking around but still, there was no one in sight.
As he walked through the hall looking around he accidentally bumped into a sewing table that was placed near a wall. "Why the hell is this here?" Nolo asked himself. He looked at it and noticed that there were blood stains around it. This made his eyes go wide in shock as he noticed it.
This seemed all too familiar with him. He couldn't be here… could he? Nolorona was starting to get a scary feeling in his body, he wondered if the psychopathic doctor was at this base. It was very likely that he would be. A moment later he shook his head and turned continued to press on forward, determined to find out if Emerald was here.
"She has to be here." He said to himself as he snuck around the base. But little did he know he wasn't alone as another person unbeknown to him was in the building and close by. In another room, there was a very tall, thin man of unknown age in a white and black suit with a yellow tie, round, golden shades and black leather gloves and shoes. His jacket's tale extends to the back of his knees has only one button at the front.
His head is entirely bald and egg-shaped. He had several of his teeth sharpened. His arms and legs are long and lanky and his neck is so long his head is hardly ever straight, but will rather tend to lean from side to side.
He was a man of habit. He also liked to think of himself as an opportunist; an optimist even; someone who happily made use of everything available to him. And he was obviously nothing less than a gentleman.
Which was why he was currently finishing up his work of locking up the gate that had a sign that said male ward, whilst singing to the air in an attempt to make himself less threatening to the patient he was currently trapping.
After all, what use was his brain if he didn't use it? Of course, the best idea would be to lock up the entire block! But in a very specific way... He had done it strategically, of course. Left a few hidden ways in...but once you were in, well...there were no ways out. The only person who could ever leave the vocational block at will was himself, who carried around most of the block keys, in case he ever needed to move or even leave. In fact, he locked doors in a strategically advantageous way so as too...cattle his future brides. He'd lock a specific set of doors, and leave the rest open. And they would always run from him, so his presence was like the cattle prod. They'd run the path he had made, straight to the table. And that's where they'd end.
Most of them anyway.
The ones that did survive usually died off from blood loss soon after and this man didn't want to think about the infection that might come if the wounds were not to be taken care of properly. He shuddered as he turned and walked toward the gymnasium, pushing the doors open with ease and wrinkling his nose at the stench the bodies above had begun to create.
The smell of death and decay was a small price to pay to keep them hanging, but he made a mental note in the back of his mind to next time check and see if the removal of internal organs does anything to ease the foul smell.
He thought that maybe he had tried doing that once before, but couldn't remember what results it had yielded. A familiar feeling washed over him as shrugged and entered the wedding room, the large stretch of white carpet splayed out before him and the stage he had set up dutifully at the front. His eyebrows lowered as he spotted the latest bride, strung up at the altar as he had left her. She had been the strongest of all of them, had even survived the surgery! But she had turned on him before he could marry her, and much to his dismay she had tried to leave him.
But he hadn't loved her.
He knew that now, as he looked back on it.
Mere infatuation he guessed. He knew he needed to be careful with doing that, but, he just could not control his emotions sometimes. He chuckled to himself dryly as he hummed the tune to his favorite song. He'd given her more use now than she ever had in life.
He slipped the key onto her outstretched hand- gently, before admiring his handiwork with a smile and turning away. That would do it. She could hold the key he would likely never use again. The man was not a stupid man. He knew that it was nothing but chaos outside of his sanctuary. And so he saw no need to leave it; he was not morbid and was not eager to rush to his own death. After all, his brides always came to him.
In the beginning, when he had first set up his home, he had gone hunting. And he admitted he had maybe even enjoyed it a little. But he soon realized that it was much easier, and safer, to lie in wait for his prey to walk unwittingly into his web. And once they entered, there was no escape.
He smiled dryly as the tune to his song got just a little bit louder, and at points, he'd whistle a little bit, and listen as the sound echoed in his mostly empty halls. It was lonely, and at times he would feel rather depressed...but he didn't have the time to feel sorry for himself right now.
He had two potential brides waiting for him in his workshop, hogtied and screaming for help, and a third that had escaped and was lurking somewhere in the dark of his halls. He sighed, and squared his shoulders, opting to find the one that was missing and deal with it now, rather than later. And then, once he had all three tied up and ready, he'd begin the long process of surgery. He had a feeling in his gut that the two he had waiting were doomed to be failures. And as much as he tried to look past outward appearances, the one was rather ugly and unattractive, and he did not find her very much appealing at all. But a gentleman looks past that. So he would try her anyway.
He hummed his tune with a skip to his step as he headed up the stairwell, listening to the sound of his heavy footsteps echo through the empty block. It made loneliness all the more apparent to him, but he paid it no mind as he entered the second floor.
He shut the stairwell door behind him, meticulous in making sure it was properly blocked off, before walking the same route he had many times over, and the familiar smell of copper hit his nose as he entered his workshop. That's what he liked to think of it as...a workshop. Blood layered the tables and floors, fresh over old, layer upon layer, and he had, much to his dismay, let a small pile of bodies gather by the side of the table, dropped and forgotten, as he had left them. He made it a point to come back later and either get rid of the corpses or hang them up, but by now he figured they were too old to string up.
The two he had captured earlier lay unconscious still, whimpering in their sleep, and tied up on the table next to the one he used for surgery. He rolled his eyes at them, turning away and gazing around the room for clues. The third whore had escaped from here a little while ago, and he scanned the room for anything out of place. And then he realized with a bit of shock, that the door to the room had been open when he had arrived. The man most certainly does not leave his surgery room door open.
He whipped himself around abruptly, snorting and stalking back out the door from which he came, trying his best to keep the rage that boiled in his veins at bay. His fingers were clenched into fists and he could feel the fabric of his gloves straining with the force as he moved forwards, traversing his ground with speed. He wouldn't run, but he definitely wasn't taking a Sunday stroll. Just as he rounded the corner, he halted to a stop, tilting his head so that his ear was facing the ceiling. He had heard something. Had he?
He lowered his eyebrows in concentration as he stilled and hoped that maybe he would hear the sound again. It had sounded like something had bounced off the roof. A piece of wood maybe?
And that's when he heard it. The crash was thunderous, and it was almost impossible not to hear it as the man's eyes widened and straightened his head and he looked up at the ceiling with icy eyes. "What the hell was that?" It sounded like something had fallen through the roof! His eyebrows came together in a look of confusion, as his face contorted and he changed direction and headed for the stairway instead.
Something wasn't right, and he wanted to check out what the hell had made such a loud noise; the vocational block was almost certainly a quiet place, and the man himself was rarely noisy. The thought that the escaped slut had done something or broken something in his home infuriated him as he struggled with the padlock that held the stairway gate shut for a moment. After he had stepped through, he turned around and fixed the padlock back in place, dropping heavy footsteps as he climbed to the third floor. The light that shone brightly behind him cast a menacing shadow on the wall in front of him as he entered the third floor.
That's when he heard a series of running footfalls, and then the sounds of something toppling over. The man's head snapped in the direction of the sound, eyeing the dark hallway agitatedly. He sighed heavily, irritated, his humming having stopped long ago. He walked toward the sounds, quieting his footsteps as he rounded a corner, slowing just long enough to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
He had never been fond of the dark, and he avoided spending too much time in it, but a lot of the lights no longer worked, so it was rather difficult to keep everything lit. His eyes scanned the entire hallway as he walked down it, and when he saw no movements in the dark he frowned, swinging open a door and closing it behind him, using the side room to get around the barricade he had set up.
He exited the other door, once again back in the hallway. It was here that he stopped, staring at the floor and listening for any other sounds. And that's when he heard it. His ears pricked at the sound, and he recognized it immediately. Someone had bumped against one of the sewing tables in the dark, and the man heard the legs of the table scratch against the wooden floor and a tin roll across the room, and then soft footsteps as they shuffled along.
He smiled widely, walking with a more determined pace. He'd catch that bitch. She thought she give him the slip, did she? He chuckled to himself, trying to stop the smirk that etched his face, moving to the side to avoid a mannequin that held one of his first designs. He had put that dress on the first one. But of course she had been a failure, like every other one that had followed her, and he had pulled the dress off of her and had displayed it instead. Even though it reminded him of failure, he still liked to look at it. And it was then that he heard it. The door a few feet in front of him jiggled on its hinges as he approached, and the knob turned repeatedly.
The man could contain his smile no more as it stretched across his face, fully expecting to find the one he had lost as he turned to look through the glass menacingly, but all rage disappeared instantly as he laid his eyes upon the body in front of him. And it was as if all time stopped for a moment as the cogs in the man's head spun out of control, images rushing through his head until he pinpointed the face he was looking for and pinned it on the body that jiggled the doorknob in front of him in the hopes that it was unlocked. He had seen her before, yes! The man tried but failed and he could not contain the feeling that burst open in his chest.
"Darling!" He pressed his face to the glass to get a better look at her. But this was no woman he was looking at. The person he was looking at was none other than Nolorona who had turned around at the sight of this man's voice and was scared out of his mind when he saw the man's scary appearance.