A Changing World
Act 2
Chapter 2: Biding Time
…
"Hey, sir." Arslan greeted the Headmaster of Haven as she entered his office and slid into one of the seats in front of his desk.
He looked up from the scroll at his desk. "Miss Altan. I heard from a colleague that it happened again."
She nodded. "Yes, sir."
"I have a friend who may be able to help you with what you are going through. Do you wish to receive his help?"
"I do, but what about my team?" she asked.
"They can come with you to see him, but that will affect their studies, not to mention your own."
Arslan opened her mouth to answer but hesitated. "I want to, but I also don't want my team to fail school here, even if they are idiots sometimes," she said, the memory of fighting against team RWBY during the Vytal Festival coming to her, before her face fell.
"You did all you could do when the White Fang attacked, Miss Altan," Simon said, sensing her thoughts.
She ignored him, instead getting up and turning away. "I'll tell my team about this and let you know what they want to do later." Then Arslan left.
Simon sighed, despondent, as the door closed behind her.
Then the scroll in his pocket started ringing.
"Hello? Yes, he is still missing. Yes, I have informed the police. They still haven't found anything on him. Mrs Arc, may I remind you that the police suffered a significant loss not too long ago?"
There was a pause on the other end. "They are doing all they can, and with the number of huntsman and huntresses at an all-time low, this matter is unfortunately not a high priority. I am sorry, but I must get back to work. I cannot do more than what I have already done."
Simon then hung up and let out another sigh. Dialling another number on his scroll, he waited for it to connect.
"Ozpin? If you can, send someone to Haven. I have something he could help with and I am spread thin. Yes, this is something besides helping Miss Altan with her new powers. I need someone to find Jaune Arc."
…
Sarah Arc put her scroll down with a sigh. "I've just spoken to the Headmaster of Haven. He hasn't heard anything from the police."
The Arc family Matriarch and Patriarch, along with Nora and Ren, were present in the family's living room, sitting on couches that faced each other.
"Still?! It's been two weeks!" Nora shouted before getting up from the couch she had been sitting on, beside Ren. "C'mon Ren. We need to find our fearless leader."
Ren nodded and rose before turning to Sarah. "Thanks for letting us live here these past few weeks Mrs Arc, but we'll be leaving now. We have someone to find and I think it would be best if we stay somewhere else until we find him. Let's go, Nora."
"You two don't have to leave, you're welcome to stay for as long as you need." Sarah said.
"If you insist, then we'll stay." Ren replied.
"Yeah, what Renny said," Nora added, eloquently as ever.
Sarah's lips quirked. "Well, now that is settled you should go look for my son."
The pair nodded then left the room, with Sarah and Nicholas Arc both watching them leave in silence.
Then he spoke up. "It's a good thing our son has teammates like them."
"Indeed it is. It seems like Beacon was good for him."
Nicholas rose to his feet and shrugged, not wanting to admit he was wrong just yet. "I'm going to talk to some people, see if they can find him." he said before leaving the room.
Then a thought came to Sarah and she got to her feet before preparing to leave the house with her husband. It was about time she started to look for her son as well.
…
An axe impacted the torso of an Ursa before a gunshot was heard and the axe moved back the way it came, turning the Ursa into black mist before it disappeared.
Then Hiccup threw the axe at another Ursa and repeated the process.
That left the last few Ursai. Raven, Neo and Roman were engaged with one each, with Hiccup turning in time to see Astrid receive a punch to the face from one - this time an Ursa Major; an alpha level Ursa.
"Plasma blast bud." Hiccup said. Toothless fired, knocking the Ursa back, in unison with Stormfly who let loose spines at the Grimm and stepped in front of Astrid, protecting her.
Next, Hiccup turned to see the Ursa he was engaging swipe at him. Knocked back several paces, Hiccup fired at its head three times, ensuring the Ursa's death.
"Get clear Toothless, Stormfly." Hiccup said, projecting his voice before throwing his axe at Astrid's opponent when both dragons moved aside.
It did little more than make it notice him, the creature not even seeming to have been grazed by his axe.
It turned and advanced on him, Astrid and Stormfly forgotten and ignoring Toothless, who turned to fire at another Ursa while Stormfly unleashed her flames.
Catching his returning axe with his glove before putting it away, Hiccup turned and disappeared, only reappearing when his other form reached his crossbow.
Turning from mouse to human, he turned and fired, killing the Ursa.
Noticing that no more Grimm were left, as the other Bandits and Toothless had killed them all, Hiccup approached Astrid.
"You okay?" Hiccup asked. "That punch didn't look pleasant."
"I'm fine, thanks, Babe." She smiled at him.
"Anyone have an idea for what we all just saw? We all noticed they have aura." Roman asked.
"I might, but I'd prefer to be wrong on this. Do you remember Merlot Industries Roman?" Raven asked.
"Vaguely. You think he might have survived?"
"That's what you two are going to find out," Raven said, turning to Hiccup and Astrid.
"I want you two to head back to Vale with your dragons. He was last spotted within the kingdom of Vale, so I want you to find any clue that hints where he could be. Roman and I are going to meet Junior." She said before bringing a portal to life with her sword.
"Vernal, you're in charge until I get back." She said and left with Roman.
"She could have portalled us to Vale as she did earlier. We would then be able to start searching for this Merlot person quicker." Hiccup pointed out.
"She probably has a lot on her mind," Vernal commented before walking away.
Astrid picked up the device she had noticed had fallen where the Ursa had been. It was the size of her hand.
"What do you think this is Hiccup?" she asked, inspecting it.
He stared at it. "I have no idea. Maybe Ozpin will though." Hiccup glanced at Toothless and Stormfly, the former standing behind Hiccup, watching them both and the latter was ignoring them to focus on grooming herself, in a fashion not unlike a bird.
"We have a long flight ahead of us bud. Are you up for it?"
An excited warble from Toothless and squawk from the now interested Stormfly was his answer.
…
Junior was so shocked that he dropped a glass onto the floor upon seeing the red portal appear in his new bar in Mistral.
His men, seeing the portal and knowing what it meant, shuffled away as Raven and Roman emerged.
"I only have two questions for you informant. How did Merlot survive Mountain Glen and where is he? There is evidence to suggest he is back."
"I don't know," Junior muttered. "B-But I can find out!" he quickly added, seeing flames sprout from her eyes.
The flames were snuffed out. "Good. See that you do Junior. We're done here." She then turned and left, with Roman tailing her.
Another glass broke on the floor when another figure appeared, stepping through the doors.
It was a middle-aged woman with dirty blond hair and blue eyes and, most notably, a shotgun in her grasp, which she levelled at his chest.
"If there is any chance you can help me find my son, you will do it, or so help me I will tear you limb from limb and reduce this place to a heap of rubble." Sarah arc snarled at the unfortunate man.
Junior motioned for his men to not move before speaking. "I-I am happy to help as much as I can, so please put the shotgun away and tell me what your son looks like."
…
Jaune had his arms tied together and strapped to a hook above his head. His armour and hoodie were off and out of sight.
Then he heard footsteps approach, and a door opened, bright light flooding into the dimly lit room he was in.
He stiffened, hoping against hope that it was a guard, the only guard, and not him.
Fate must have been laughing at him that day, as the man stopped in front of him, his red eye, robotic right arm and grey hair recognisable and dashing Jaune's hope to pieces.
"Please… no more…" Jaune begged, his mouth dry and feeling hungry from the little food and water he was given.
"Hush, it will all be over soon." Merlot sneered before jabbing a syringe into his arm, not even having to check for a vein because of how often he had done this.
"Where am I?" Jaune's raspy voice said.
Once the syringe was full, he looked at Jaune. "Where do you think you are?"
"I don't know." Jaune gasped.
"Sorry I couldn't hear you. Speak up."
"I don't know!" He snapped. "I don't even know who you are. Why can't you let me go? What do you want from me?" Merlot said nothing.
Figuring that the man wasn't going to speak, Jaune then moved on. "If you let me go, I promise not to tell anyone about you. Not even my team, just let me go!"
"I don't believe you." Merlot said, turning to leave.
"Please!" Jaune shouted, his voice breaking while tears started to run down his face.
"You won't be leaving boy. You are too important to me." Merlot said.
"I won't leave," Jaune said, his head bowed. Merlot smirked, which went unseen by Jaune.
'Seems he has finally accepted his situation. Good. He won't be in a hurry to leave now.' Merlot thought as he left the room.
The heavyset steel door closing behind him, Merlot found himself in a hallway where he stepped forward, opening an identical door and stepping into another room.
This room contained a window, similar to those in police stations, that stood between him and the two occupants of the adjoining room.
One had blond hair and lilac eyes, and the other had grey hair and red eyes. Though his were natural, unlike Merlot's own artificial red eye.
Neither had said anything, though the former had been actively angry when he appeared, glaring at him and appearing like she wished to harm him, had both of them not already been restrained like Jaune currently was before waking up.
Sitting in a chair against the window was his guard. He was assigned the job of watching any of his captives who may try to escape.
"Any change, Jack?" Merlot asked him.
"Not so far boss. The girl just keeps glaring at anything she can see."
"She'll be a fun one to break." Merlot chuckled.
Stepping closer to the window, he pressed a button on the ledge just below it and the microphones in his room turned on.
"I trust the accommodation is to your liking?" He said, his smug tone emanating into the next room.
"Go to hell." Yang snarled.
"Such language is unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself. Perhaps I should reacquaint you both to a stun dart of my own design; able to bypass aura just like rapier wasps. These darts happen to consist of the sting of rapier wasps."
"What will you do when Ozpin finds you?" Qrow said confidently.
"He has no idea I am still alive, or where you are." Merlot retorted. "So you best get comfortable. You will be here for quite a while."
Merlot turned the microphones off again when his phone began to vibrate.
"Back so soon?" Merlot said after exchanging greetings with the person on the other end.
"Yes. We're at the front door and we have brought a guest for you."
"I will be there in a moment." Merlot hung up and left the room.
Heading upstairs to the front door, he opened it to see three Faunus standing there, with a fourth trying to break free.
The leader of the group stood at the back, being the tallest of the four. He wore a leather jacket that fit tightly around his frame and a hat pulled low as well as sunglasses, instead of his mask.
Similarly, the other two were in civilian clothing instead of White Fang attire.
"Who is this that you've brought me?" Merlot asked, his robotic red eye gleaming as he made eye contact with the girl.
"Ilia Amitola. Traitor of the White Fang." Yuma answered.
"What do you want me to do with her?"
"Break her and make her loyal to me," Banesaw said, placing lien in his waiting hand.
"It shall be done. Bring her inside." Merlot instructed, turning and walking back inside.
…
Landing in Vale, Hiccup took out his scroll and called Ozpin.
"Hiccup, I wasn't expecting you to call so soon."
"This isn't about Yang and Qrow. What do you know about Grimm that have aura?"
"Grimm with aura?" Ozpin fell silent after hearing that for several moments.
"Ozpin? Are you still there?"
"Yes, just remembering some horrible memories. Get here as soon as you can. I want to know everything about these Grimm you saw." Ozpin said urgently before hanging up.
…
Ozpin took the device from Astrid and inspected it, looking thoughtful as he did so.
"This is a newer version of an aura capturing device."
"You can capture aura?" Hiccup asked.
"One man managed to do so. Merlot. The CEO of Merlot Industries. Many years ago, he invited me and the other staff to his company's headquarters in Mountain Glen; a planned underground city and expansion to the city of Vale. He wanted us to donate aura to give it to the Grimm. I refused, of course."
"Then what happened?" Astrid asked
"Mountain Glen fell; with a horde of Grimm swarming the area and killing everyone there. The council ordered it sealed off and he was presumed killed. The man was insane, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was involved in the tragedy."
"So you think this Merlot person is back?" Hiccup asked.
"Him, or someone who used to work for him," Ozpin confirmed. "With Yang and Qrow not making contact and Jaune Arc and his team silent as well, I suspect they might have been captured by him. Though I would ask you both not to mention that to Taiyang or Ruby until we know for sure." Both nodded, agreeing with him.
"So what now?"
"Now, Hiccup, I have something that you may like." Ozpin reached into a drawer built into his desk and pulled out a book before handing it to him.
"Ancient Norse Mythologies: Book II, Giants." Hiccup said, reading the title aloud.
"I've been doing some digging around. It took a while, but I found that. It may or may not help you to control your semblance better."
Hiccup opened the book and flicked to the first page. He stared at the page in surprise after finding a collection of runes.
"These are Jotunn runes." Hiccup stated in surprise.
"You recognise them? Good. That will be helpful for you when you start learning to control your semblance. Now, since the sun is setting at it will be dark outside soon, allow me to find you a room to stay in here." Ozpin offered.
"That sounds great. Thanks for the book Ozpin." Came Hiccup's distracted reply, as he was currently busy reading, to the amusement of both Astrid and Ozpin.
…
A/N: Going with a different way of signalling the end of a scene in this act.
Looking at it, it boggles the mind how I've only just thought of it now.
It looks so much better than the previous way of doing it, that I'm going to stick with it from now on.
Until Next Time
Silvolde