Chapter 2 - Admittance
Despite Professor Goodwitch's praise, Alice felt like she had made a terrible mistake. She replayed those five seconds over and over again throughout the hour-long trip home. Yet, no matter how many ways she looked at the skirmish, she wasn't sure there was much else she could have done differently. It wasn't her control over Dead Eye that was at issue. She mastered the ability to activate it at will by the time she graduated from Signal.
No, control wasn't the problem. Or rather, control over her Semblance wasn't the problem. She was the problem. When she and Luc were partnered up, he was suicidally reckless and she was to be the level-headed one. Yet the moment when her level-headedness was needed most, she shot first. Dead Eye could make five seconds feel like an eternity but all it did hear was give her an eternity to make the wrong choice.
Luc shouldn't have been able to move, let alone lunge at his would-be rescuers. If he, in his sorry state, still had the strength to go on the attack, would she have been able to subdue him? He was physically stronger than her before he had left, so then what chance would she have had at wrestling him to the ground?
None, and that was the crux of it. She was terrified, not because she felt she made the wrong choice, but because she made the right one.
When they finally touched down at Beacon, a medical team along with an Atlas security team waited for them at the landing pad. Like clockwork, they loaded Luc onto their mobile gurney and wheeled him off toward the academy's infirmary.
Meanwhile, Alice, Shiro and Anja were tasked with turning over Luc's equipment. Shiro had the unenviable task of carrying Luc's weapon. He cursed under his breath as he hefted it. The weapon was deceptively heavy.
"How the hell does he swing this thing? It feels like the damn thing weighs 400 lbs," Shiro said. He looped the scabbard's strap over his head and slung the sword across his back. "Your boy must have major back problems."
Alice shrugged; it looked like what she could only assume to be a two-handed longsword inside of its scabbard, except the hilt was about 18 inches long and, together with the scabbard, the weapon was easily seven feet long.
Unless Luc had done something to drastically alter his old sword, Wolfsbane, then this was a completely different weapon. One that she couldn't imagine fit with Luc's improvisational fighting style.
"Well, what's in the sack?" Shiro asked before shrugging off the quizzical look Alice shot at him. Well, as much as one could shrug while they carried a quarter ton sword. "C'mon, you telling me you're not the least bit curious?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you." Alice deadpanned as she shifted the bag away from Shiro. She assumed it was filled with Luc's clothes and ammunition. After all, Luc was a huntsman travelling over long distances so it wasn't exactly an odd thing for him to carry. What was there for Shiro to be curious about?
There must have been a tear that she hadn't noticed because, as if on cue, the bag tore open and its contents fell to the ground. Shotgun shells, throwing knives, and what she assumed were improvised grenades scattered at her feet.
She spied a weapon she didn't recognize. It looked like a shotgun barrel welded to the base of a crossbow. A handle was bolted to the barrel on its right side. The weapon's firing mechanism, perhaps?
What caught Alice's eyes in particular was something she never imagined she'd see again, let alone in Luc's possession; Crimson Thorn.
Crimson Thorn was a simple weapon; it was metal cross two feet in length with a sharpened stake at its bottom. The pull of a trigger tucked under the arms of the cross releases a spiked chain whip from the top of the cross. The ends of the cross were a metallic silver whereas the body was a polished crimson.
More importantly, it was the weapon of choice of her deceased teammate, Loni Clermont. Loni and her partner Ulric Stromhart, went missing during their team's last mission. Though Luc was adamant that Loni was dead but their bodies were never found, so the academy listed them as missing in action.
Alice eventually made peace with the fact that they were gone but Luc, he had issues with letting go. It was why he left, or at least that's what Alice thought. She and Anja hurriedly stuffed the loose contents back into the bag and sealed it as best they could before handing it over to the Atlas security team.
With their contraband secured, the security team went inside but not before passing Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood. The pair approached Professor Goodwitch and her charges on the landing pad and greeted them.
The general was every bit as stone faced and professional as Alice imagined him to be, with his black hair greyed at the temples and his pristine white officer's uniform.
Professor Ozpin, who was the Headmaster of Beacon, looked like the physical polar opposite to Ironwood; the professor was garbed in trousers and a black coat over a green, buttoned up vest and topped with a green scarf. His tousled silver hair and sharp facial features stood in stark contrast to the square-jawed general that accompanied him.
"It looks like you all were successful in apprehending Luc Fenrys," Ironwood scoffed. "Good work."
"We have been over this already James. Their mission was to rescue Mr. Fenrys, not kill him." Ozpin protested.
"As much as I loathe to admit it but James was more accurate than either of you realize," Goodwitch stated, which prompted a quizzical look from the headmaster.
"So there was a struggle then?"
"Not quite, I believe he was disoriented at the time but he did attack Ms. Metzler when she provided medical attention."
"You see, I told you," Ironwood smirked, "Fenrys is a mad dog. He needs to be put down."
Alice shivered, Shiro hadn't been joking earlier. The general was so damn sure about himself. Luc was a threat that he wouldn't waste a second thought on as far as he was concerned. How Professor Ozpin managed to talk General Ironwood down to agree to a rescue mission was beyond her.
"Even so, that " mad dog ", as you so eloquently put it, is my student," Ozpin retorted. "He needs medical attention and psychiatric help, not a cold jail cell or a firing squad."
"He killed five of my men, Oz. There must be consequences. What you're suggesting is nothing more than a slap on the wrist."
What Ozpin was suggesting? Alice quirked an eyebrow, it sounded as though Luc's fate still hadn't been decided on. Or it had and General Ironwood was just blowing hot air.
"There will be consequences, James," Ozpin affirmed. "However, Lucan Fenrys is a student of Beacon Academy and as its headmaster, it is my responsibility. Not your's."
Ironwood rolled his eyes at Ozpin's latest declaration.
"Ex-student, you mean? He left Beacon of his own volition." If Alice had been in Ozpin's place, she might have conceded the point. Still, she was happy that she wasn't Ozpin. They brought Luc back and he was going to get the help he needed.
"Even so, James, but the responsibility is mine to bear."
Ironwood must have realized that arguing with Ozpin was an exercise in futility because he shook his head and sighed rather than continue. Given Ironwood's reputation, Alice thought Ozpin would be the one to capitulate. Yet it was the hulking soldier who relented, not the relatively diminutive academic. Still, that didn't answer the question central to Alice's thoughts.
"Excuse me, Professor," Alice started. "What did you have in mind, exactly?"
"Yes, well, I believe it would be best if we had that discussion in my office. Away from prying eyes."
Gods above, I better be dead.
It was the first thought Luc cobbled together as he clawed his way back to consciousness. His body felt heavy but it was not the familiar weight of fatigue. He couldn't remember where he was. He was running from something, wasn't he?
Wake up. He needed to get up and run. Wherever he was, he was wasting time. He needed to find the Black Queen. And Ulric. Ulric needed to die. He needed to -
What was I doing? He felt like he was treading water in the middle of a hurricane and his leaden thoughts were dragging him below the sea's surface. He could hear a chiming of some kind, although it was difficult to parse through the fog dominating his mind and the dull ring in his ears. A bell perhaps? No, it was too frequent to be a bell, it had to be -
WAKE UP. He needed to forget about the damn chime and get up. He needed to move and fast. If he wasn't moving, that meant he was vulnerable. It meant that If he didn't open his eyes immediately, he was going to die.
He strained his entire being as he looked for a means of escape. His mind was still a fog but there had to be something he could cling onto. It was then he felt a dull throb coming from his right leg. He couldn't remember hurting it but it didn't matter.
Pain did confirm one thing though; for better or worse, he was still alive. It was telling him that he needed to survive and that he needed to fight. Most of all, it was the only weapon he had and he sure as hell was going to use it. He fixated on the pain and cut through the fog enveloping his mind. He kept cutting and cutting, until finally -
Luc coughed, choking on his spit as his eyes shot open. He tried to move his right hand to cover his mouth but found that it was caught on something, pinning it in place. He swallowed a mouthful of air and forced his coughs to subside.
He found that, even fully awake, his head still felt like it was filled with molasses and a low hum buzzed in his ears. Still, he needed to figure out where he was and fast. His clothes and armor were gone and he was wearing a hospital gown. The only sounds he could immediately pick up were his haggard breaths and the muzak of a heart rate monitor to his right.
Luc's semblance, Hyper Cognition, wasn't working and it wouldn't work no matter how hard he concentrated, not that concentration was the problem. Hyper Cognition was a passive semblance that jacked Luc's five senses up to eleven by ramping up his brain's information processing speed.
In the midst of battle, it would slow everything to a near crawl within a radius of seventy feet. It was pretty handy in a fight and made it nearly impossible to hit him in close combat. Outside of battle it was a major pain in the ass. As a child, Luc had to deal with constant overstimulation of his senses. As he grew up, he learned how to limit its range but it required constant focus.
The only time his semblance wasn't active was when his aura reserves were nearly bottomed out, like right now. Considering the last thing he could remember was fighting Grimm until he passed out from exhaustion, it made sense.
Alright, so someone must have found him in the woods and brought him ' here ', wherever the hell ' here ' was. He flexed his arms and legs but felt them brush against cold steel. So he was cuffed to a bed in some place Brothers knew where.
As Luc moved his right arm to his limited range of motion, he felt a slight pressure in the crook of his elbow.
While he could turn his head towards the direction of the pressure, he could not see out of his right eye. He lost sight in that eye almost a year ago, when he was slashed across the face. His aura restored his eye to its natural shape but it could not repair his ability to see.
He cursed, lamenting that he didn't have the aura to use his Semblance. If Hyper Cognition worked, his other senses could pick up on what his hindered vision could not. Still, that didn't mean that Luc was completely blind.
Over the past year, he had been stabbed and jabbed by a whole host of things, from mosquitos to pine needles and countless Grimm. As he moved his arm, the pressure was sharp yet small like a pinprick. If Luc was a betting boy, he guessed that it was an IV drip of some kind.
Luc took a deep sniff and wrinkled his nose; he didn't need his semblance to pick up the scent of quaternary ammonium. It was the type of disinfectant that you would only use if you really needed to sterilize a room.
It could mean he was in a clinic or a hospital. Or it could mean that the room he was in was used for torture and its custodians were very dedicated to keeping it clean. Although, he had never heard of a torturer hooking up their subject to a heart rate monitor.
In front of him and several feet from the foot his bed were a set of sliding doors. On either side of the doors were reinforced plexiglass windows. Luc frowned, assuming he could get free of his restraints, he couldn't break through reinforced glass. Knowing his luck, the doors were reinforced too.
What did any of this tell him? That whoever brought him here obviously didn't want him dead or else they would have killed him while he was passed out but they obviously knew who he was or else they wouldn't have put him in restraints.
Best case scenario? This was a hospital room that was designed to be secure to prevent unwanted or unauthorized entry. Worst case scenario and one that he was almost afraid to consider, he was in a prison hospital ward and the room's reinforcements were meant to keep him in.
Did those Atlas pukes catch up to him? He figured they would have pulled back after those beowolves interrupted their skirmish. They showed a lot of restraint if that was the case; he figured they would have shot him the second they spotted him. Although, given the soreness built up in his right leg, maybe they did shoot him. Sadistic bastards. Not there was anything he could do about it right now.
The click of the doors sliding open interrupted his thoughts. Luc bit his tongue; he should have known he was being watched. He was hoping that he'd have more than a couple of minutes to think of a way out of these godforsaken cuffs and the damn hospital. Sure, he'd have to find his gear first but if they thought a half-naked and one-armed huntsman was a pushover, the Atlas pukes holding him here had another thing coming.
"Mr. Fenrys, we are coming in." A voice stated as the doors opened. Luc recognized the voice; it was Ozpin's. The headmaster entered Luc's room with General Ironwood intow.
Given the slight frown on Ozpin's face, Luc assumed Ironwood was the source of it. Or worse yet, it was Luc's fault. If Atlas brought Luc in, it was because he killed some of their scouts.
Assuming this was an interrogation. Luc steeled himself, he wasn't sure what Ozpin's strategy was. Ironwood he could guess, Luc did kill some of Ironwood's men. It was the reason for his confusion; if Ironwood ordered that his soldiers locate him, why didn't they just kill him while he was unconscious?
"It is good to see that you are awake, Mr. Fenrys, given the sordid state we found you in." Ozpin said.
"By ' we ', I'm guessing you mean that Atlas recon team. I'm just surprised they caught up to me." Luc said. Ozpin titled his head in confusion before he shook his head.
"Actually, Specialist Schnee's team was recalled. Rather, it was Glynda and Ms. Darby's team that recovered you," Ozpin corrected. "I am surprised that you do not remember. Ms. Darby reported that you lashed out at her and her teammates while you were given first aid."
"What?" Luc barked as his eyes grew wide. He couldn't remember any of it; running into Alice, apparently attacking her, none of it. "Is Alice okay? I didn't -"
"Yes, thankfully no one was hurt."
Luc breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the gods that Alice was alright. If he had so much as hurt her, Luc would never be able to forgive himself. She was his best friend, at least, he still continued to think of her as his best friend. That didn't stop him from leaving Beacon, from leaving her. He couldn't involve her in what he was wrapped up in.
Luc resigned himself to the fact that he was not going to survive his quest for vengeance but he wasn't going to drag Alice down with him. She would be better off if she forgot about him
Yet, that begged the question; why the hell did Ozpin involve Alice? She was still a student, studying to become the huntress that Luc knew she was meant to be. Not like him. She wasn't in hell that he'd been dragged in to after Hearth Glen. If Ozpin had sent Alice to track Luc down, did that mean Ozpin involved her in his wider war? Was Ozpin using Alice as another one of his pawns?
Stop pretending that you care, a dark thought occurred to Luc. You left because you wanted to kill Ulric, for your selfish desires.
"I know that you have just awoken, Mr. Fenrys but there are urgent matters that we need to discuss." Ozpin said, his voice cutting through Luc's reverie.
Luc demurred and shrugged his shoulders. He was handcuffed to his hospital bed, so it wasn't like he could go anywhere. Ozpin nodded, almost relieved that Luc was cooperative.
"Concerning your activities over the past year, there have been some rather disturbing reports coming out of the southern borderlands. Now, I understand what you have been through -"
"Do you now?" Luc snorted. The sheer gall of that man, it was Ozpin's fault that Loni was dead. He knew what Luc and his team were walking into and the bastard sure as hell knew the enemy they were fighting. "And praytell, professor, what have you done since Hearth Glen was overrun?"
Ozpin's eyes softened for a moment but he steeled himself before continuing.
"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts we have been unable to find any sign of Ulric Stromhart following the fall of Hearth Glen."
Luc couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. Ozpin had the resources of Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale, along with an intelligence network that likely spanned the whole of Remnant and he still couldn't find Ulric. At least Luc had an excuse, he was just one man.
"We have not given up, Mr. Fenrys. Thousands of lives were lost when Hearth Glen fell. Ulric will answer for that, you have my word." Ozpin could make whatever promises he wanted for all Luc cared. Luc wasn't going to hold his breath.
"In any event, we have an offer for you. We recognize the motives behind your actions in the borderlands, even if some of your methods were less than savory. I am willing to overlook your past actions provided that you willingly re-enroll in Beacon Academy."
Luc quirked an eyebrow. This was Ozpin's play? Begging him to come back to school and what, pretend Hearth Glen never happened? No, none of this made a lick of sense. There had to be more than Ozpin was letting on.
"There are some conditions, of course." Ozpin said. Luc couldn't help but roll his eyes. Here we go, the Catch.
"You will be placed on Ms. Darby's team as her partner and she will be the leader of Team LSAD. Additionally, you will be restricted to the academy grounds unless instructed otherwise."
All of this made sense so far. There was no way Ozpin was going to let Luc wonder freely now that the headmaster had him. Luc wondered how Ozpin planned on keeping track of him once he was cleared for off-campus missions. The wilds outside of the kingdoms were an unpredictable place after all.
"You will also be required to see Dr. Maxine Young on a regular basis. She has a bevy of experience working with traumatized huntresses and huntsmen," Ozpin continued. Again, Luc was not particularly surprised. He doubted Ozpin deluded himself into thinking that dropping Luc back into the student body without further care was a good idea. This did not mean Luc was in love with the idea.
"Team LSAD will enroll in the Student-Mentorship Program. I have spoken with Ms. Darby on the subject and she agreed."
"The what?" Luc spat. He didn't remember there being such a program. Then again, he never paid much attention to that sort of thing during his first year. Ozpin simply smiled.
"It's a program where a 3rd year team is paired up with a 1st year team, where the former aids the later in navigating their first two years at Beacon," Ozpin began.
"Ordinarily, it is an optional program for both parties but in this case I felt that it would be helpful for your reintegration into Beacon."
Luc already felt a pit forming in his stomach. What the hell was Ozpin getting at? He obviously felt that Alice alone wasn't enough to keep an eye Luc. So the headmaster was going to have him babysit a bunch of freshmen so that Luc would have less time to plan an escape?
"And if I refuse?" Luc said. His body tensed as he grit his teeth. He hated to admit it but he was exhausted. That wouldn't stop him from fighting back, far from it. He'd claw his way out in nothing but his hospital gown, if need be. A wolf was at its most dangerous when wounded and cornered. Ozpin and Ironwood would learn that if they weren't careful.
Ironwood, as if on cue, stepped forward, his hands folded behind his back.
"If you refuse, you will rot in a prison. For the rest of your miserable life." Ironwood replied, a bit too eagerly for Luc's tastes. Sure, Luc would rot in an Atlas jail cell for as long as it took Ironwood to arrange for an "accident" to happen. Atlesian justice meted out in full.
Ozpin had Luc by the throat and he knew it. Luc could accept what was sure to be a death sentence or he could accept Ozpin's offer and return to Beacon.
Ozpin was going to use him again and Luc would be stupid to believe otherwise. That's all Luc had ever been in the grand scheme of things, a pawn. So he'd do what pawns did best, fight hard and adapt.
"Fine, professor, you win. I'm in."
Author's Note: I meant to start doing these with the first chapter but what can I say? It slipped my mind. As far as an upload schedule is concerned, I'm hoping to churn chapters out at a rate of one every two weeks. I say hope because life has a tendency of making a fool out of me, so we'll see how well I keep up with my own schedule. As always, thanks for reading and I'll catch you all in the next chapter.