Winter led Ironwood through a heavy vault door in the research facility. After it closed behind them, they stepped towards a desk with a holographic projector attached to it.
"What have you found?" Ironwood inquired curiously.
"General." The man operating the hologram stood up and saluted. "The weapon seems to be very old, older then anything I've ever seen before. The blade is made out of a material that seems to be a mixture of an unknown form of dust and some type of extremely strong metal. I haven't been able to find a match in any database. I took it to Piettro to see what he made of it, but he didn't have a clue either. I scanned every inch of it for anything that could hint at a mechanism, but either there isn't one, or the metal stops all signals. I honestly don't know what to think of it." The soldier scratched his head as he tried to think.
"Winter, remind me where it was when you found it?" Ironwood turned to her.
"It was embedded in Vara's left leg."
"Odd. He's not the kind of person who would take a stabbing, but with the shape he's in it's no surprise. If he wakes up, he'll know where this sword came from, but that still leaves one question. Who could be skilled enough to best him in combat?"
Branwen Bandit Camp
Raven sat in the middle of her tent with her blade across her lap and a wetstone in her hand. She turned as the tent rustled and saw Vernal step through. "What is it?"
"Something's here to see you. I've never seen anything like it before." Her voice trembled, causing Raven to turn fully.
"What is it?" She questioned again.
"It looks like a ghost. It's aura, but there's nobody inside it." Raven's eyes widened and she stood up immediately. The two of them rushed outside and found a 7 1/2 foot aura shell standing in the middle of the camp, arms crossed and staring right at them. It had a metal rod on the left arm, a leather bag slung over the left shoulder and the handles of two longswords protruding from the right.
"Vara? What are you doing here?" Raven stammered. She hadn't seen him in years. Not since before she left.
"Technically I'm in Atlas right now, but that's beside the point. Salem has found you, and Qrow led them straight to you." His voice sounded hollow.
"I thought he was loyal to Oz. Why would he do something like that?" Raven put her hand on her sword.
"He told Lionheart and he told Salem. The one's coming to you are Watts, Cinder and her two subservients. Agree to whatever they say and I'll handle the rest, but do try to stall them. I need a little time to gather a number of them." He looked into her eyes and saw her irises constrict.
"Why should I trust you? You're loyal to Oz too, aren't you?" Vara's face distorted and tightened, sending ripples through his form.
"How dare you say that." His voice grew deeper and louder. "Never, ever, group me in with them. He is no ally of mine, and you will do well to remember that." Vara began to turn around as the gate creaked open. "They're here. Stick to the plan and you'll survive." He melted into the ground and vanished.
The Night Summer Returned
Tai held Summer in his arms, never wanting to let her go again. He thought it would be true, until she pulled away from him. "What's wrong?"
She turned away. "I, never got to tell him, how much I missed him. He jumped out of the airship before I could tell him, but I think Brother already knew, what she did."
"What happened?" Tai's voice tensed.
"Salem injected me with something. I don't know what it was, but it felt like ice going through my veins. It burned." She wrapped her remaining arm around her lower abdomen, clutching her side. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I'll never see him again."
Tai came up behind her and closed his arms around her chest. "I know. He was the best man I ever knew. He never stopped looking for you, not in all the years you were gone did he stop even for a second. He told me to give you something when you got back, so he could keep an eye on you." He turned her around and placed a shiny silver ball in her hand.
"A sfera." She clutched it to her chest and began crying more heavily. "It still has shine to it, but, it's not a part of him anymore. He's gone. Brother killed himself so we could get away." She fell to her knees, and Tai followed her. Once again, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his chest. "I'm done fighting. I can't do it any longer."
Tai looked out over Summer's shoulder and was shocked at what he saw. "Summer, stand up." He lifted her to her feet and turned her around.
"BROTHER!" She screamed as she ran forward, more tears flowing from her eyes. She lept through the air and landed against his transparent body. Wait, transparent? She looked up at his face and sure enough, he was a bright bluish silver and slightly see through, like heavily tinted glass. "What happened to you?"
"As you can clearly see, I'm not all here. My body is back in Atlas on life support in the Intensive Care Unit. I severed my soul from it for the time being to gather enough sferas to regenerate everything."
"How are you still alive? You fell from space, the most unreachable place for mankind. How did you not die?" Tears began to flow again.
"Now now Sumner, there's no need for tears. I'll be fine once I recover, but I do think you should stay here until this is finished." He set her on the ground and took a step back.
"You're not going back out there, are you?" Tai interjected.
"I am, I have to. Salem has sent creatures out to collect the remaining silver eyes. But the two strongest, are coming for Summer and I. You saw what the last one could do, but now he has a friend. I've done a little bit of digging and found that his name is Galben Trandifir, brother to Tempest and Adira. Tempest can do what I can, but his Battle Drive is stronger then mine. Galben on the other hand can channel energy into his opponents, so much so that they explode.
"That's going to be a problem, especially if they decide to bring out Meredis and Aballu. Blast and Shadow respectively." His head jerked to one side. "I've got to go. I've gathered the amount I need and now I need to get back. I'll see you soon." He dissolved into the ground.