"Sorry, what?"
"I know how this must sound, but please understand that-"
"This is bullshit!" Scylla cried, fists clenched as she leaned forward, eyes glaring past the General and straight at the man behind the desk.
Ozpin expected this reaction, but that didn't mean it would be easy to work through, the protests were justified to an extent. Once the pair cut him off, he allowed them to run their mouths, his expression relaxed, yet with a clear sense of understanding. The aged Headmaster's company stayed silent as well, though he could tell that Glynda and even Ironwood, to an extend, wished to argue.
"After everything we've found out, everything we've done! You just want to kick us out of the School, of our own City!?" Scylla ranted, the vein in her temple throbbing as her face flushed red with aggravation. "We finally found out who's behind this, we can catch them! Find out what they know and stop what they're planning! What's your plan if not to capture them?" She screamed, stepping closer to the desk.
"Cyprus, your thoughts?" Ozpin said.
The vigilante was shaken, that much was sure. Voicing his past, the most uncomfortable part of it to recall, left him to think about every possibility. But he knew that a group like the three that stood before him would hardly have a half baked strategy, and though he shared his companions feelings on the matter, he wasn't too keen on facing off against Cinder again.
"You want us gone because we don't know what their plan is. If we stop them too early, then we might not learn what they're doing, and go back to square one. If they escape capture, then we'll have no way of finding them again. You're thinking if we leave them be, maybe they'll slip up, you can keep track of them until the time is right." Cyprus breathed, raising one brow as he looked across the room, slowly that false smirk of his resurfaced. "So how did I do?"
Ozpin chuckled. "Perhaps you'd make a better detective than a Huntsman."
Ironwood stepped forward, his stern face instantly capturing their attention. "But that means making ourselves look vulnerable. Stupid, even." He began. "It's a big risk, but if we send you both away, leak the news a little so that Cinder and her compatriots hear it, they might think they're off the hook. If not, they might cut their losses seeing as you recognised her already."
Glynda interjected. "I'm sorry, Professor. But do we have any information on this girl? Any records?"
"We will look into it, of course. Back to the matter at hand."
Scylla turned up her nose at the dismissal of Ms. Goodwitch's question, her disdain for the Headmaster growing by the moment, but Cyprus seemed much more calm than usual, after what he had been through there was no surprise if he was a little too shaken for a snide comment.
"Your new mission is important, and we won't be wasting your talents. But please, we ask that you do this for the good of the Kingdom." The General pleaded, "Over the past few months, several Huntsman, many of whom report to us, have gone missing. We've had one of our scouts pass by their homesteads on the way here, but no luck. Hopefully, you can learn what you can from him and it might help you both in your search."
Scylla scoffed. "So you want us to wander around aimlessly looking for Huntsman? There's nothing more productive you can get us to do?"
Ironwood sighed, "Gathering intelligence is our top priority, if you can learn anything about what's been happening to our allies, then we might have a shot at gaining more support when we need it most."
Shaking her head, Scylla turned and made her way back towards the elevator. She didn't bother to turn back and check if her other half would follow, and pressing the button she descended to the ground below all by her lonesome.
"Surely there's someone else you can get for this kind of work, you just said you had a scout on their way here." Cyprus asked, suspiciously.
"The person in question is on their way back here amidst some important business, and he is on his own mission. Having you both on board would allow us to both cover more ground, and allow ourselves more insight into our enemies' plan." Ozpin answered.
The vigilante sighed, it's not like he had much of a choice anyway. If he turned this down, it's quite likely they wouldn't be welcome back at Beacon when all was said and done. Not only that, but he wanted to help people in his own way, defending Vale and it's citizens on his own terms. And while not exactly what he had hoped for, the be all end all is that he could help, outside regular boundaries or rules, and that was something Cyprus could get on board with.
"Scylla will come around, eventually. Can we at least get some time to ourselves before you ship us out to Gods' know where?"
Ozpin and Ironwood both relaxed themselves for a moment, the hint of a smile on the former's face. "Very well, we'll send you a report with the details soon. And Cyprus?"
The young man had already turned tail towards the elevator before quickly turning on a dime. "Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"-Look, I know how it sounds but I promise that...No, I don't know...I'm sure it won't be too long, we-..." The hacker paced back and forth in her dorm room, chewing on her nails as the conversation began to become heated. "Coco, this will be fine..."
"Oh? And how often will we keep in touch? It's not like you can come visit me whenever you like."
"I'll call you, every day if you need. Besides, your team has been on an expedition for almost two weeks now!"
"Exactly! And when we get back, who knows how long it'll be when we see each other next. As far as I know you won't be back until the end of the semester, or even after the festival!"
Scylla could feel the stress in the other's voice from the other end of the line, her Scroll feeling like it was about to explode as she struggled to keep things together. "It might not be that long, we..." The voice on the other end sighed.
"I want this to work, really...But as long as we're spending so much time apart, I don't think I can make that kind of commitment." Scylla's heart began to sink. "I think, at least until things calm down a little, we should take a break. Focus on our work."
The redhead wanted to throw her Scroll at the wall, crush the device into a thousand little pieces. But Coco was right, things would only get worse if they attempted to force their relationship, considering how strained it already was.
"Okay..."
"I'm sorry, hun'."
"Me too."
And with that, the line quietly went dead, and the young woman found herself staring at the image of her now ex-girlfriend on the cool blue light of the screen. Tears beginning to well up as she stood in silence, truth be told she felt half tempted to scream into her pillow until she passed out, thankfully for her a worthy distraction was right around the corner. Staring at her device, a new alert popped up on screen, covering Coco's face.
"Scylla Varun, your order at Beacon Maintenance has been completed and is ready for pickup. Please arrive within the proper working hours of 9am-9pm, Wednesday-Saturday."
Silver linings indeed it seems. Sliding the Scroll into a small pouch on her hip, she quickly made her way towards the exit, only for a subsequent smack to her nose by the wooden door itself as it swung inwards.
"What the-...Oops."
"You suck." Scylla grumbled with a nasally tone as she clutched the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry. You doing okay?" The vigilante asked, reaching a hand outwards.
"Could be better. I've got to go see the Smithy, you wanna come with?" She grunted, rising to her feet.
"Sure, I gotta see him myself anyway." He replied.
Scylla cocked her head. "What for?"
"I had him look at Tempest, see if I could make it a little more practical. After seeing what happened to yours it felt a little...Flimsy." He chuckled.
The trip out of the building and through the school grounds was a little awkward at first, Cyprus could tell there was plenty bothering his friend, but he wasn't really the kind of person best suited for consolation or patching hurt feelings. And sensing she wasn't in the mood for any more jests, he chose to reel it in a little and let her make the first move. The dim overcast day felt like a bad omen, especially considering how close the warmer seasons were. The pair made it inside the small facility, the heavy thuds and whirrs of machinery constant as they waited at the counter for assistance from their heftily built friend.
"Well, you two made it much quicker than expected!" A voice called out, The white haired brutish man waving as his hair poked out above a workbench in the far corner of the room. Lifting the goggled off his face, his cool green eyes shone amidst the smears of oil and soot that covered his skin. Rushing to the opposite side, he quickly grabbed a pair of items, covered by thick brown sheets and placed them effortlessly on the table before his customers.
"Now, I thought to message you both at the same time since you seem so...Close." He said with a smirk, like a father seeing his son bring a girl home from school for the first time. "Let's go over yours first." He said, gesturing to the teal-haired student.
Slowly removing the burlap covering over the weapon, it lay in a shiny, new coat of paint and while it's signature Steel and Blue-Green highlights. However aside from that, it looked like an entirely new creation. Where a small tube like taser that could fit within a small pouch normally resided, the weapon seemed much bulkier, more like a small machine gun or large hand cannon than anything. With a large, angled stock at the opposite end, thankfully as he lifted it up, the weight while unfamiliar, was still comfortable enough to hold onto.
"Right my friend," The large Smith began. "I've modified your toy in a number of ways. First, you asked for more strength? That means more size. On the plus side, you'll have more shots to fire before reloading, as well as loading them in through a string of beads, more efficiently than the method you used before." As he spoke, Cyprus toyed with the weapon, practising a few swings with the stock and getting a feel for the added mass. Once he felt comfortable, he flicked a switch on the side, and Tempest quickly began to shift in his grasp. The centre began to extend outwards, creating the new, reinforced staff, pieces sliding over each other with a satisfying metallic 'shing'.
"I'm impressed, you made this in a few days?" Scylla asked as she looked on in awe.
"Give or take. The basis and core was all there, it was just a matter of building on what the boy had." The Smith replied, smiling as Cyprus began to spin his new weapon around. The grip had drawn back into the center mass, creating a small pressure switch in which he could still fire the weapon from the far end. However the real treat was when he looked towards the blade. Hastily shifting outwards, the Glaive began to slide out of the stock of the weapon, the sharp, clean angled blade slid outwards from it's holster, the blades connecting near seamlessly with it's container to create the illusion of a larger, hefty slicing weapon.
"Oh, I could get used to this." He said, triumphantly.
"Now young lady, your weapon..." The towering individual began, "Required quite a bit more change."
"More than his?" Scylla exclaimed.
Unravelling it's rather heavy covering, Prismatic Flurry seemed almost unrecognisable. The long polearm of the weapon was now a sleek black as opposed to it's silver, dust embedded form. The end of the weapon still had it's spiked edge in the center, however instead of a pair of sharp spearheads, a sleek and sharp pair of blades flanked either side.
"An...Axe?"
He chuckled. "Your weapon sustained a lot of structural damage, and not only that, a lot couldn't be worked into the mechanism I designed to replace what was broken. If it's not acceptable I can certainly take more time to rework the edges into something familiar." A little embarrassed, the Weaponsmith admittedly indulged a little into the redesign, believing the potential of Scylla's weapon to be amplified into more situations. "Weight balance is more or less the same, and of course..."
He grabbed the newly formed battleaxe, and pressing a switch near the center, allowed the weapon to fold downwards and in on itself, the blades fanning outwards to create the wings of a much more familiar crossbow. Though the Dust crystals weren't embedded into the body itself, towards the base of the weapon lay a small switch with varying colours.
"Now, your weapon was fairly old fashioned. No offence."
Scylla pouted but allowed the man to explain further.
"But, with this switch, you can quickly load up an infused bolt from the basic ones you load into the bottom, like so!"
Taking Flurry in his hands, the aged man dwarfing the weapon made for a much smaller build. He grasped a small stack of bolts that were tied together in a vertical pattern and slid it into an opening underneath. Drawing the metal string back into position as the first in the set of ammunition was loaded upwards, he flicked the switch to a cool blue colour and fired rather haphazardly at the wall to his left. Within an instant, a glowing arrow flew true from it's hold and impacted the side of the room, causing a sharp crackling sound as icicles sprouted from the impact in a small radius, seething with vapour. Scylla jumped once she turned her attention back to the Smithy, who was patiently holding a small disk out to her. "Now then, here are the blueprints, every piece that went into the weapon, and a couple of quick maintenance and repair guides for yourself. Though, might want to make backups just in case. Of course there's one for you too, my friend!" He said, beaming at Cyprus who was almost too busy flourishing the new look of his staff to pay attention.
"Thanks for all your help, you should have your payment by tonight." Cyprus said, folding his weapon back.
"Payment?" Scylla began, "I thought the services here came under the Academies' budget?"
"Yeah, if you want to be put on a waiting list. I had to make sure ours were done before too long."
"That seems...Unfair."
The Smithy laughed. "Oh it only set the others in line back a day or two, thankfully it's quiet this time of year anyway." He quickly slid over to Cyprus and wrapped a meaty arm over his shoulder. "Now, make the cheque out to Byron Construotus, That's C-O-N-..."
Scylla rolled her eyes and made her way outside whilst the other two bickered, toying with the switch on her weapon. As she moved it in her grip, she got a feel for the transformation, switching it back and forth whilst careful not to get her fingers caught in any of the openings. Though it wasn't long until Cyprus caught up and started ogling her toy.
"So...Whaddya think?" He asked.
"It's...Alright, I guess." Scylla answered, sceptically. "though what happened to being discreet, sneaking it in where nobody could see?"
"I guess I took things a little far when going for style points. But this way, Tempest won't snap in two if an Ursa gets it's teeth around it. Uh, no offence." Cyprus said, smugly at first until he recalled the fate of his companions' prized possession.
Luckily, this got the inkling of a smile from her. "It's alright, this might actually work out in the end. I suppose after so many years we were both due an upgrade."
"I knew she'd come around." Cyprus thought, as the pair made their way back to their dorms. Although the stress of the last few days had exhausted the pair, and Cinder, Ozpin and the strange Vial in his dorm room were still nagging at the back of his head, haunting him like a restless spirit. Around them, it never ceased to surprise Cyprus how little they stood out despite being one of the few roaming the grounds in their combat gear, the uniformed students all had outfits of varying complexity and uniqueness about them. So if anybody was going to judge the pair for their attire, it wouldn't be their fellow classmates. "Speaking of which..." His thoughts continued as he and Scylla rounded a corner back towards their dorm rooms, the quartet of colourful characters that was team RWBY took notice, with their leader starting to wave before a look of shock and awe encroached on her. The shock changed to a high pitched squeal as she began to rush towards them, her body seeming to form into a flurry of crimson petals before she stood dead in her tracks.
"What are those!?" Ruby exclaimed.
"The Weaponsmith decided it was better to give it a full rework, can't say I blame him." Scylla shrugged.
Weiss chuckled. "I do think the Dust covering the whole thing was a bit much..." She began, her smirk fading to a nervous, yet empathetic smile once she noticed the stares. "...But, what matters is that you're happy with it, it's your weapon after all."
The team leader had lost all concentration within their little chat, she was far too busy inspecting every inch of the hackers' replacement to her arsenal.
"What about you? Looks like a whole new thing." Yang said, smiling as she approached the vigilante, causing him to recoil briefly.
"Just this form, decided it'd be better to make her a little tougher. Strength over size, considering I might be going up against Grimm sooner rather than later." Cyprus responded, pressing the switch that caused the device to unfold and stretch outwards into its' melee-oriented form. The blade, much more sleek and practical, shone as the sunlight hit it and reflected a perfectly polished shine.
"Damn, and here I thought you lacked style." The brawler jested. "But, what do you mean sooner? You guys aren't heading out again are you?"
Cyprus's expression sank. "I...Yeah."
Scylla wrestled her weapon back from a reluctant Ruby, who whined slightly at the lost opportunity to play around some more. "Afraid so, We're getting sent out on a, uh, training-"
"It's alright, Scyl'. We can tell them." Cyprus said, nodding as he smiled.
"Yes, you can." Blake said bluntly, the bags under her eyes a little more faded with every day that went by, much to the groups' relief.
On their way back to the dorms, the team listened to Ozpin's mission for the pair, however Scylla was sure to conveniently leave out the reason why they were sent. The fact that their enemy had infiltrated the school, and who they were actually sent out to find.
"So you're basically glorified mailman?" Yang smirked.
"Hey! Being a mailman is an honourable profession."
"More importantly," Scylla began, "The reason we're going is classified, Ozpin's orders. So even though we want to tell you why we're heading out, he thinks it's a need to know basis."
The blonde snaked her way between the pair, wrapping her arms around each of their shoulders and resting her head against Cyprus's collar. "Oh well, I'm sure I can beat it out of you later, if I have to."
All but the vigilante let out a laugh, as he looked much more shaken and his body sunk into a slouch. "I don't know what's worse, the fact all of you find that funny, or that you're are absolutely capable of actually committing to that idea."
Cinder sat impatiently in her dorm room, tapping her finger on the side of the bed as she waited, the sunlight pouring in through the window illuminating the room and bringing out the sickly colourful palette that covered the furniture. She was getting sick of acting like a student, and now that Cyprus had seen her, she could only hope that the more dangerous of his company dismissed his claims. With that said, the safer route was clearly laying low, and confining herself to the room unless it was especially necessary.
"Come in." She said, the empty silence indoors interrupted with the swinging of a door. "What did you find?"
"Amazingly, nothing." Her silver haired subordinate began, shrugging as he tugged at the tie wrapped tight around his neck. "No patrols aside from the usual, no inspections or calls from the teachers. Seems they're either too stupid to make a scene, or-"
"Or afraid to." Cinder finished, smirking.
"So they know we're here, what now?"
"All they know, is that we're inside the school. They don't know our plan, or how many we number, they have no idea what we're capable of." As cocky as it sounded, she was right. Cinder and Mercury might be known to the higher ups of Beacon, but Emerald, and all her other lackeys were unknown. "Once Roman is done with his task, we can continue our plan when the time is right, they have no way to prepare."
Mercury smiled at his superiors' answer, content to lie in wait, acting casual for as long as she needed him to. "I'm not the patient type, but-"
"But you'll do what I say."
The access to resources, opportunity and most importantly, power. That was the reason for Mercury to join with Cinder, aside from a lack of any other option due to the state he was found in. With his father an abusive type with a career in killing, his upbringing didn't bring many joyful memories. With Cinder ready to recruit the assassin for his talents, it was no surprise that his own son had taken his place, the irony of having Mercury murder his father to prove his strength led him to becoming a useful and loyal tool.
Emerald, however, had been quiet since that night. She always lived in fear of Cinder since she was recruited, her talent for illusion and pick pocketing made her a prime choice for the villain's plan. With nowhere else to go, and the offer of a life besides spending her days on the run from authorities and stealing wallets from distracted citizens, was far too good to pass up. However, the more time she spent with Cinder, the stranger, and more fearful things became for her.
"Getting nervous, Emerald?" The fiery woman said, though she believed it was in jest, there was no smile on her face.
"N-no Ma'am. I'm ready for whatever comes next."
"Ah yes, spoken with such confidence." Mercury grinned.
"Be silent, Mercury." Cinder intervened, putting him back in his place. "Our work is very stressful, but I'm sure she can handle any task we give her, isn't that right?"
"Yes. Of course." The thief answered, steeling herself.
Their bickering coming to an end, the masterminds' brow raised as she eyed a new message to the glowing device in her hands.
"Well, it seems we won't have much to worry about after all. Looks like the fool of a boy and his friend will be on a school trip for a little while, so I think it's safe to say we can go about our business as we please."
Mercury gave a confused expression. "Wouldn't the school be looking for us, maybe arrest us?"
"On what basis?" Emerald asked. "We have convincingly fake names and ID's, and the only witness is leaving and their description is a woman with black hair, called Cinder."
The woman in question raised her hand to silence the quarrelling pair, her dominance felt instantly. "While it's entirely possible that they have at least one of us found out, it's not like they have any real evidence to arrest us on. And if they're waiting for us to make a move, their eyes are in the wrong area." Cinder explained, confidently.
A mission like this way always going to be a gamble, and with Cyprus there was no telling which way things would end up. Despite that, their options and scenarios had been weighed up, and with so much time before the Vytal Festival, the leader of the trio was confident in their odds at success for now.
"What will you do, if he comes back?" Emerald asked.
"He's an arrogant prick, you can let me deal with him." Mercury chortled.
"Hm, sounds familiar."
Cinder shook her head, smirking as she flicked her Scroll over to a set of images, her finger sliding down mountains of visual information, she finally settled on a picture of the vigilante. His hands bound to a chair and blindfolded, the evidence of a beating clear on his visage. "Don't worry, he won't be much trouble, I'll be sure to have him dealt with, one way or another."
Hey guys, Yoshibee here again!
First of all as always, I hope you're enjoying the story and I am so happy that you are taking the time to read something I feel I've worked super hard on.
But anyway down to a quick bit of business. Now I understand that it might be quite late to have something retconned, however I feel it could be important going forward. Regarding Scylla's last name. When I first thought her up, I didn't have much in terms of her name's meaning. Of course her first name is after the sea monster of Greek mythology. However her last name doesn't have much to go off of.
So, rather than pull every chapter, edit every time her last name is mentioned, and re-upload (Which this site seems to make way more finicky and frankly, not worth the effort.) I propose that going forward, I change her last name from Varun, to Vermilion. The same shade of red as her hair.
So I have created a poll for you guys to let me know what you think, and I'll continue as the popular vote decides!
strawpoll .me/19341015 (Had to include a space, just delete it when copy/pasting into your browser!)
See you in the next chapter! x