Chapter 99: Despair
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The first thing I felt when leaving the tour for other people's memories was my fist hitting Oscar before falling to my knees in the snow. My breathing was heavy as I slowly slid into madness.
Ozpin (or should I say Ozma?) had been Salem's couple.
Humanity had been destroyed once before because of her.
And, icing on the cake, she couldn't be destroyed.
But what had alarmed me most were other things.
"Salem cannot to be killed," I heard Yang exclaim angrily. "You heard it too, right? There was so much you hadn't told us! How could you think that was okay ?!"
"Professor ..." Ruby called out to him, kneeling next to me and making sure I was okay, "what is your plan to defeat Salem?"
"I... don't have one."
Only that one sentence was enough to break the last strand of sanity in me. I pounced on him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the nearest pine. The snow on the branches fell at the sudden crash, but my anger was raging more to care if it fell on me.
"What the hell did you recruit me for?! That boy from your past life was Edward Noir?! Was he your son?!"
Ozpin was silent, looking away.
"That's why you wanted me to join your group. You thought that I, being a descendant of one of your lives and that my way of thinking was similar to yours, would have to be the perfect candidate to be your new recipient if you died. Is that right? SAY SOMETHING!"
Once again, he was silent, which made me lose my temper. I drew my sword and released my fury with a slash. I just wanted to kill him in that place and time. Make the last thing he saw in his previous life was me, striking the killing blow, and bring that fear to the next. But that would mean shedding the innocent blood of Oscar, a boy who had been dragged into a mess of thousands of years like me.
The tree fell with a clean cut that descended a few inches from him. The slash didn't touch him, but the fear in his eyes was enough for me. I pulled away far enough to try to calm down, but could only yell:
"FUCK!"
I could hear footsteps rushing toward me before I felt the warmth of Ruby's embrace, in an attempt to calm me down.
"Nobody loved me," I heard Qrow say. "I was cursed. I gave you my life because you gave me a place in this world. I thought I was finally doing something right. Meeting you was the worst luck of my life."
I hadn't been the only one Ozpin had used. Qrow too. Also Glynda. My father. Pyrrha. Penny. Alice. Summer. How many hunters had fallen because of a couple's quarrel of thousands of years?
"Maybe you're right," I heard Ozpin say last before hearing Oscar complain of pain.
"What happened?" Ruby asked him.
"He has left."
"That bastard!" Yang exploded. "Tell him we're not done yet!"
"No! This is different! He's gone! It's like he's locked himself deep in my head. Our head? I hate this! I want this to stop!"
This sudden turn of events affected us negatively. Ozpin, whom we all relied on to guide us, had been hiding vital information and had abandoned us when we found out about his dirty laundry. Desperation began to spread between us. The girls were beginning to argue about what to do, Qrow was drinking all the alcohol from his canteen, Oscar was having an existential crisis and I was having an anxiety attack that I had not felt since I was a child. We were lost.
"Enough!"
A voice rose above all this chaos and we turned to its origin: Mrs. María Calavera.
"We have to move. It will be dark before we know it, and you are all distilling negativity as a politician in audit." She stopped in front of me and hit me with her cane, "And watch your language."
She pointed to a point, "There is a path over there. Paths usually lead to a place."
"Ma'am, I don't know who you think, but-" Yang began to impose himself on the woman, but she responded with a blow; which was kind of fun if it didn't happen to you.
"No but! I understand that you guys are upset. I'm honestly still trying to make any sense of the fact that this is the second time humanity has been in this world. But, if we don't move, we'll die. And damn if I've lived that long only to die out here in the cold! "
Those words were like the blow necessary for us to react. They were harsh, but there was a lot of truth in them. Yes, there was still the matter with Ozpin, but there was nothing we could do if we died in the snow while he was going on a trip to his new body.
"She's right," Ruby stated. "Come on. Let's get our things back and then we'll leave."
We started looking for our luggage among the derailed cars, which was a bit tricky since things were a mess inside. Jaune and company had taken their belongings when they evacuated everyone, so only my backpack was left in our room. When he returned, I cursed the fact that the dining car had gone with the rest of the train, as it would have been nice to collect food for whatever was in store for us.
I was leaving the carriages when I saw Ruby with Oscar, who was being given Ozpin's weapon. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I supposed she was trying to cheer him up, which was classic of her. Then Oscar looked at me, which made me look away and join the rest. I had nothing against him, but I felt that, if I looked into his eyes, I would see Ozpin's fleeting gaze in them.
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The weather was getting worse with every step and there was still no sign that we would find any place where we could take shelter. The wind was getting more and more annoying and even if I wasn't as experienced with snow, I could tell that things were going to get worse.
We were all on foot, except Maria, who was riding Yang's motorcycle while she was pushing her. I gave Weiss my cloak, since she had the least to keep warm except for a scarf, but, even with the aura partially protecting us from the inclement weather, we wouldn't last long in the open.
Obviously all that situation didn't help to lift the spirits while everyone began to complain. It was then that something was heard in the distance: a metallic screech. It was like a hinge lacking grease, but it was a sign that we were close to something. We went further until we found a gate that moved at the mercy of the wind and which led to what must be a type of farm.
There was a section with several structures covered with snow, which I assumed must be greenhouses because of the transparent material that made up their walls and they could see what would be sections of land full of wilted plants. In another part small huts were raised, which had to be destined to be warehouses or accommodation for the workers. At the end of the path that started from the entrance gate was what would be the main house, which was a two-story structure.
In front of us was a sign that named the place 'Brunswick Farm'.
We hesitated whether we should break in without warning, but the weather was getting worse by the moment, so we followed the path to the front door of the main house.
The place gave me a bad feeling. It didn't look like it had been attacked by Grimm, as there would be signs of fighting and destruction everywhere, but everything looked like they had grown tired of living there and gone.
We knocked on the door several times, but no one answered and it was locked. Qrow was already about to kick it open when Blake stopped him:
"Wait! I'll take care of this. Weiss, do you have a hairpin?"
"Yes, here."
The faunus took it and inserted it into the lock to move it carefully. It would have been funny to see her cat ears move attentive to the sound of the mechanism if I weren't freezing my balls at that very moment. With a gentle click, the door opened.
"It would have been faster if I had done it," Qrow complained.
"Yes, but you would have broken the lock and having the door open during a snowstorm would be the worst idea."
The huntsman didn't argue and entered the dwelling with me behind. We drew our weapons in case we found a Grimm or an unwanted surprise waiting for us inside; Qrow with his sword and me with Samaritan. We would have expected someone to come out and make a fuss about breaking in like that, but there was no one inside. We called several times but no one came to meet us.
"Clear," I told the others and they all entered, locking the door.
We divided into several groups: Blake, Oscar and Maria would be lighting the fireplace in the living room to warm us, Weiss and Yang searched the rooms on the second floor for blankets, and the rest of us searched the rest of the ground floor.
I was about to go to what must be the kitchen when something caught my eye on a wall. Some pictures showed what must have been the occupants of those lands. They all seemed happy and optimistic about life, with the sole concern of taking care of their harvest. They didn't have to worry about relics, maidens, or an immortal woman that the man we all trusted had slept with.
The images Djinn showed us were still fluttering in my head. One of the lives of Ozpin who would have been the father of Edward Noir and my great-grandfather. Also the way in which Ozma had accepted the commission of the Gods without question, just as I had accepted Ozpin's invitation. He had not recruited me for what I could do, but for what I would be useful for: a possible vessel in case he died.
"All good?" Ruby stood next to me.
"Yeah, just wondering if these are the people who lived here."
"I don't mean that."
"Honestly, I don't know how to feel. Betrayed? Angry? Used?"
"Me too, but let's try to leave it aside for now. Remember that here I am for you," she said, intertwining her fingers with mine. "You're not alone."
I squeezed gently and gave her a weak smile. The mere presence of my girlfriend was like a painkiller, making me forget everything for an instant, "I know."
Then a scream was heard from the upper floor, which I jumped up to and quickly went to the only open door. The first thing I saw was Yang and Weiss on the ground, hyperventilating with terror on their faces. I looked where their gazes were fixed and gasped.
There were two figures on the bed, a man and a woman. Even with the girls screaming, they hadn't moved at all. The skin was dark and sunken to the bone like mummies.
Qrow and I helped them to their feet and tasked Ruby and Blake, who had come running behind us, to escort them into the living room by the fireplace. Once alone, we began to do a search of the bodies. They were dead, that's a fact, but there was no evidence of violence or of having been killed. They didn't look like they had suffered, like if they just went to bed and never got up again.
"What do you think?" asked. "Poisoning?"
"I'm not sure. Let's check the other rooms."
We did that. Besides that, there were two other rooms with a corpse on each bed. However, these were harder to see since they were children. Trying to not see them directly, we grabbed as many blankets as we could and carried them into the living room, where the fireplace was on and started to heat up.
"Don't go upstairs," Qrow indicated. "We'll go check the other cabins to see if there's anyone else. Come on, Kaiden."
"Behind you," I said, zipping my jacket completely.
When I opened the door, the weather had changed for the worse, greeting us with a cold blast on my face, so I put on my mask. I took a quick capture of the group photo in the hall and took it out of the frame to mark with my knife the figures of the couple with the children. If when we finished searching the cabins someone was missing to identify, then that would be the possible culprit for the deaths of all those people.
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We went through the structures one by one, finding scenes similar to the one in the main house with its mummified inhabitants. I marked each face that I could recognize until all the faces in the photo had been identified. They were all dead.
"They are all," I exhaled hopelessly.
"Unless any of us have a background in toxicology, we can't know to a certain science whether they were actually poisoned or died from something else. We'd better go back to the others."
Qrow looked tired, both physically and mentally. I remembered the last thing he said to Ozpin before he left us. He had never told me about his childhood or his life before Beacon. I only found out about Raven's existence until Yang talked about it.
"I don't think you're cursed," I ventured to tell him before he opened the door. "I know you fear your semblance since I felt it the first time mine manifested itself. But you were there to guide a depressed and isolated boy and I will do that myself. And don't worry, I have had bad luck all my life, but I also had the good luck to meet you. "
It was slight, but Qrow's mouth twisted just barely for a smile.
"We better hurry before we turn into popsicles."
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When we returned to the house and entered, I could feel that the atmosphere felt warmer than when we left. Everyone's expectant gaze made it more difficult for us to report our findings even though we had no good news for them.
The good news was that Ruby and Weiss had found cans of food that we could heat using the pots in the kitchen, so it was rewarding to be able to eat something hot in that hellish cold. Once everyone was satisfied, we prepared everything to be able to sleep and regain energy to leave there first thing in the morning.
I would like to say that I slept well and that I woke up in the morning with an optimistic attitude and ready to move on with my life despite adversity. But the reality was different. Instead, I woke up worse than when I fell asleep, still feeling tired and lethargic, like I hadn't closed my eyelid all night. Apparently I was not the only one who felt this way, as the rest of the group felt listless and somewhat irritable as well.
It even took me a while to wake up, even despite hearing a bottle break. Seriously, if a murderer was in the house, I would just have said 'kill me now but let me sleep'. I couldn't go on when Ruby opened the curtains wide, filling the room with the morning sun.
As soon as everyone woke up, we started working on a way to move better in the snow. Yang and Blake had found a cart that could be attached to the blonde's motorcycle so that we could all get on so we weren't walking. Everything was going well until Qrow touched one of the wheels and it burst.
"You guys attract bad luck, don't ya?"
As soon as Maria said this, Qrow just went to sit under the withered tree trunk and began to drink the happy water.
"I'll go to the shed and see if there's a spare tire," I said reluctantly. Tiredness made me feel more frustrated than usual, but I preferred to keep my distance from others in case I did or said something that might upset them.
The place was a mess with the large amount of dust and scrap stored inside. I had a hard time finding a spare tire that wasn't flat and an air compressor to inflate it. When I got back on the motorcycle, it was only Oscar and Maria.
"Where are everybody?"
"Qrow went to drown his tantrums with some bottles he found and the girls went to find the lamp that Ruby threw down the well."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Great. Oscar, help me with the tire."
At least he had the experience of the boy to change tires, so it did not take us that long before we started filling it with air with the compressor. We were watching how she was inflating when I noticed that Maria was reading something from a book that made her open her mechanical eyes in shock.
"All good?" I asked, getting closer.
"The girls are in danger," she said, throwing the book onto the wagon. "We have to help them. Come on."
She climbed on my back and pointed me toward the well, where I jumped and my boots got wet to the ankle. I barely hit bottom when I heard several shots and followed by a scream that somehow made me feel even more lethargic, but I still ran to find my friends.
It didn't take long to find them, but they weren't alone.
I had seen ugly Grimms, but these wretches took the trophy. These were humanoid in shape, somewhat similar to the top of the Nuckelavee, but very tall, with long arms that reach down as far as the ground and extremely long fingers. They had hideous faces, resembling skulls, some even lacking nostrils, and low-hanging jaws.
"What the hell..." I was already starting to ask what those things were when Maria started screaming.
"RUN! NOW!"
Then she tugged at the collar of my cape to signal me to turn around, which I did since I didn't want to see those things up close. We were reaching the gap where we had come when we saw that there were more Grimms blocking our exit. Another scream echoed off the rock walls that made me feel a sudden drop of energy that made me feel heavy.
"Here!" Ruby pointed to a hole in a wall, which we all entered and I covered the exit with a little ice dust and my semblance.
We kept running without knowing where we were going, since those things appeared everywhere and limited our exits. Although they moved slowly, they outnumbered us, so fighting was not an option being in a closed area and with the risk that an explosion could leave us buried in a landslide.
Then we come to a different area by crossing a gap. There were several wooden barrels and a ladder that seemed to go up to a hatch. However, we were not the first to arrive, as there were more of those creatures gathered in a corner. Before we could react, another shattering scream took more of our energy, sending us to our knees on the ground.
Blake wasn't moving and the Grimms were getting dangerously closer to her. I walked as fast as I could dragging my feet until I reached her hand to pull her with what was left of my strength to get her away from those things before another scream echoed in our ears.
This time I fell to the ground, immobile and without energy to move a muscle. I could see I heard Ruby begging me to get up, but I stopped caring. It was not worth it. She would be fine without me. I was only causing problems to her. It was better for me to stay in the dirt and sleep a little longer. Ruby was crawling towards me, but I just wanted to curl up on the cold ground and let myself go.
"KAIDEN!"
The world suddenly lit up with incandescent light and the last memories of the Beacon tower flashed through my eyes before I felt awake again, as if a bucket of cold water had just been poured on me. I still felt tired, but my mind was on red alert and urging me to get out of there. Ruby put my arm over her shoulder and helped me walk.
"I got you."
"What the heck happened?" I heard Maria ask, but my mind didn't seem to have recovered enough to give an answer.
"They are closed!" Weiss screamed in terror as she struggled to open the hatch.
"Get out of my way!" Yang was already on his way to open the doors when another scream reached us, making us fall again.
Ruby and I fall again and this time I am aware that we could die at any second. Seeing her like this made me remember why I wanted her to stay in Patch. She wouldn't have to put herself at risk. She would not have had to leave her father. She would not have been involved in the Ozpin disaster. I blamed myself again for putting her at risk because of me.
Remember that you are not alone.
Her words came to me from the bottom of my mind, as if she were the little spark that I needed to get up and face the beasts. I may not be able to finish them all, but I would buy the time for the others to get out of there.
I struggled to my feet, but when I did, I drew Samaritan. I would do anything to keep those things away from my family, even with my last breath.
My shots were coming from my weapon, but I couldn't get a hit on one of the beasts. I couldn't focus enough to aim and less to wake up the Overdrive, but I still kept defending my territory. For each one I killed, more came to the group that approached at a slow but relentless pace. I kept firing until I heard the dreaded click of an empty magazine and my hands moved awkwardly to reload and I ended up dropping my gun.
I looked back and things didn't look good. Ruby was on the floor with Maria whispering to her I don't know what, with Blake motionless next to her. Weiss was still struggling to open the doors. Yang had given up and was only staring at the doors with a look devoid of hope. I turned my gaze forward and channeled my face as best I could, feeling as if my mind could barely see beyond the mist that filled it.
More Grimms were arriving and it was hard for me to use the darkness to keep them at bay, using more energy than necessary for it to take shape. However, I reached my limit, falling to my knees and without energy.
I could already see the bony face of one of the creatures in front of me as everything lit up with a light that somehow felt warm. All the Grimms that were exposed to the light instantly disintegrated, reducing their numbers incredibly. I was puzzled at what happened, turning to Ruby, who was looking my way with wide eyes. It was the same light as in Beacon's tower, but instead of turning a Wyvern to stone, it had vaporized a horde of beasts.
The feeling of extreme exhaustion disappeared, perhaps in the sudden absence of the Dementor imitations, and that allowed Yang to stand up and open the doors in one fell swoop. Without thinking twice I helped the girls to their feet and we climbed the steps while listening to the sound of more Grimms coming through the tunnels.
We ascended to what must have been the main house cellar, in which, Ruby had told me, bottles of wine were stored and whose location was not to be told to Qrow, who apparently had discovered it and was now drunk on the bar.
"Uncle Qrow, get up," Ruby tried to wake Uncle from her.
"Hey, get off me," the drunk jerked her away. "What are you doing here?"
"We're leaving, you idiot!" Maria yelled at him, rushing toward the entrance. "Let's go!"
Yang and Blake followed behind her, while Ruby struggled to get her uncle to her feet.
"Kaiden, help me drop as many bottles as you can," Weiss told me, handing me several spirits.
"Where?"
"There," the Schnee replied, pointing with her rapier towards the doors you had come out of, which were still open and through which several of those things were about to go up.
I grabbed and dumped as many bottles I could over there, drenching the entrance and several Grimms with alcohol. Weiss, with a wave of her sword, ignited everything with a flame that began to consume everything.
The task had been completed, so we could go... or so I thought until I saw that Ruby still couldn't get her uncle to move. Losing my patience with the man, I tackled him and picked him up on my shoulder to get him out of the burning house and throw him on the wagon, no matter how much he complained.
"Let's go!" I told Yang, who did not wait another second and accelerated, taking us away from the house and the origin of my many nightmares to come.