Chapter 3

Stella coughed nervously, "Okay... I suppose the first thing we need to do is see what kind of damage we're dealing with. Could you remove your top, or do you require assistance?"

Neo shook her head, and slowly began peeling off the suit jacket and shirt she always wore. She hissed in pain as it stuck to her back in places, making it excruciatingly painful to remove. Eventually though, she managed to remove it, leaving her toppless safe for a white lace bra to cover her chest.

Stella gagged, utterly horrified and disgusted by the sight that greeted her. Neo's back was utterly covered in cuts and slashes that went deep enough to reach the ribs and spine underneath. The flesh was charred and blackened in some places to prevent her from bleeding through her clothes and hide the injuries. The burns weren't just localized to her back though. Stella could see them reaching around to Neo's front and sides, even going down past her waist. Her arms, face, and Stella could assume the lower legs, were completely unmarked though, telling Stella that these weren't some little punishments for failure, this was sadistic torture on a level that would unnerve the toughest Centurions.

Stella murmured a soft prayer in the Fallen language, resisting the urge to run and find a trash can. Hell, even her Ghost somehow had a green tint in his central light.

Neo cringed, tears springing to her eyes as they stared at her back. She wished they would just go away and leave her alone. Why were they torturing her like this? She hated these scars and the way they made her look. They were ugly, hot, and painful. She flinched as a cool, pale hand touched her arm and she was turned to face Stella.

"Listen to me, Neo..." her voice was soft, hesitant, and trembling. It was completely unlike the proud, forceful alien warrior she had been listening to earlier. "I can't claim to sympathize with your pain here, nor can I take it all away, but I want you to know something. I am sorry. No one should be treated like this, human or animal. I promise, if I ever get my hands on the monster who did this, I will kill them. They are no longer human anymore..."

Neo averted her eyes, trying to avoid the piteous gaze and words being spoken to her. She didn't want her pity, and who was she to give it? She was just part of some alien world with no relation to Remnant, right?

Stella glanced at her Ghost nervously, not knowing what she should do. She was a soldier, and a bit of a politician thanks to the Awoken Queen, but despite years of service in the Vanguard and the House of Wolves, she was unprepared for this. Gingerly, she lead Neo to the bed and made her sit down. "L-Light...See if you can get the nurse here faster..." She cautiously backed away from Neo, afraid that she might shatter if handled wrong. As soon as she reached a wall of cabinets, she nearly collapsed. Who could do such a thing? As a Guardian and an Honorary Fallen Captain, she had seen the evil produced by the darkness. The Vex, cold, calculating, and hell bent on wiping out all life. The Hive, a necrotic race who wanted to convert all organisms to their perverted form of immortality. The Taken, mindless creatures of darkness who wanted nothing more than to tear apart anything that carried the Light... All of them paled in comparison to this. She felt bile rise up in her throat as she began searching the cabinets, the image of a single handprint burned into the human's stomach coming to the front of her mind.

"Stella, see if there is a Blue Dust, White Dust, and anesthetic... And some gauze and bandages..."

She nodded quickly, and began pulling out vials of glowing Dust. They were small, and were labeled with a Schnee Dust Company logo, barring the anesthetic salve. As soon as she had the requested items, Stella rushed back to the injured girl, "What's next?"

Light inspected each vital, reviewing the information had pulled, "Well, the Blue Dust is used as a cooolant for burns and similar injuries. We can use it on skin that only has minimal damage... As for the rest, we'll have to mix the White Dust into the antiseptic salve in order to apply it..."

Stella but her lip, "I... Are you sure? These wounds are deep... I'm not sure how she's even conscious..."

Neo glared at her and allowed a bit of her aura to flare up in a pinkish cloud smelled suspiciously of strawberry ice cream.

Stella grimaced, "Aura. Light, I don't think I should be doing this. Where's the nurse?"

"Right here, Guardian. Would you mind telling me what you're doing out of bed?"

Stella jumped nervously and turned to the pink haired Nurse Joy, gesturing helplessly at Neo, "She needs it more than I do."

The nurse's eyes widened as she saw the state of Neo's back, "Oh my Dust... You poor girl! What happened? No wait, sit down on the bed. Guardian, hand me the Blue and White Dust you pulled out, as well as that salve."

Neo numbly did as she was told, her mind almost beyond any sort of comprehensive thought. The little flare of Aura she made was basically part of a reserve she had saved to stave off the pain and of her wounds. Because of that, her aura was almost always low. Now, it was all she had to not break down into a snivelling mess. She twitched as a light pressure was applied to her back, expecting to feel the heat of Cinder's hand.

"Shh... It's okay. This mixture should stave off any infection, and speed up the healing process. Not to mention this is a pretty powerful anesthetic. By Oum, child... What hap- Is that a handprint!? Oh Dust, were you tortured? Guardian, does Professor Ozpin know about this?"

Stella shook her head stiffly, "No... He knows that she was being hurt by... A former employer, but nothing to this extent. Two more students should be on their way here now with possibly similar situations." A shudder of revulsion went through her as Nurse Joy applied a thick layer of salve to a particularly deep cut. "I think there's more past her waist. I'll step outside to give you some privacy, and to greet the other two if they show up."

The nurse nodded, understanding Stella's desire to leave, "Of course, Guardian. Don't stray too far."

Stella made a beeline for the door, and forced herself not to slam it behind her. She leaned against the far wall, sliding down as a wave of nausea and pain hit her. Oh right, she was recovering from a fairly traumatic event as well. She was stabbed an unknown world, light-years away from the Queen, Ikora, the Reef, Tony... Everything she had finally grown used to and even enjoyed over the eight and a half years was gone. But that poor girl...

She swallowed thickly, tasting bile as the image of her charred and ravaged flesh appeared in her mind. Who could possibly do that to one of their own kind?

"Guardian, this isn't your fault..."

She glared at her Ghost, a ripple of Void energy flickering across her arms, "Is that really what you think I'm thinking? Really? Guess again. The injuries on that girl were caused by a human being, one of her own kind! Who would do something like that to their own kind!? I feel like they couldn't possibly be human, and yet I know they are! It isn't natural!"

Light sighed, "Stella... We aren't on Earth. This is a world who's human population numbers in the billions. Things like this were common in Earth's pre second dark age, especially before the Golden Age. Humanity numbered in the billions, and didn't have the sense of comradory that they do today. It's the same way here. Humanity doesn't have a common goal. Everyone has their own agendas, and few people actually want to help others out of the goodness of their hearts. That's just the way things are. Now eyes up, Guardian. The two other students will be here in about a minute and a half. Do you want your armor?"

Stella pulled herself up the wall and nodded, putting the issue aside, "Yes, I already miss it... What survived?"

Surprisingly, everything. I managed to seal the Vault before we crashed. You have access to your entire armory. I will have to repair the Obsidian Helm, but the Hood of Xur should agree to your tastes."

She cracked a tired smile, "Good job, Light. Just give me a standard armor set and trench coat with the hood attached."

Little Light put the finishing touches on Stella's 'casual' wear just as Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black rounded the corner. She bowed slightly, drawing on her old English accent, "'Ello there! I am Stella Black, Warlock Class Guardian of Earth and a Captain within the Fallen House of Wolves. If you wouldn't mind, I would like for you to hand over your weapons immediately. Your colleague is in this room with a nurse to repair the damage done by your employer."

The two criminals glanced at each other and immediately settled into battle stances, although it appeared that only Emerald was armed. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Stella, "Who are you, and what the hell are you talking about?"

Stella frowned, expecting a reaction like this,"Please, this is an infirmary. I would rather not have a stray bullet go through these walls and hit Neopolitan or the Nurse. We already know who you are, but little else. I believe that the Headmaster of this academy, Oscar Ozpin, wishes to help you three."

Emerald refused to back down, glancing at Mercury who cracked his neck and drawled, "Listen, sweetheart. I don't think you understand the situation here. We ask you the questions, you give us the answers, and we'll refrain from killing you. Got it?"

Stella stared at Mercury, her face and eyes hidden by the darkness within the cowl of her hood. An irritated sigh slipped from her lips and she summoned a low powered, silenced hand cannon, shooting him square in the chest before either of them could react. The impact didn't do much damage, but it certainly packed a strong enough punch to knock him on his back. She cleared her throat, "Don't call me sweetheart."

The duo looked at her in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Mercury staggered to his feet, wheezing, "What... How... What the hell are you, and what kind of Semblance was that!?"

She sighed, resisting the urge to shoot him again, "Try listening. I am Stella Black, Warlock Class Guardian of the planet Earth and a Captain in the Fallen House of Wolves. That wasn't a 'Semblance,' but a bit of alien technology. My ship crashed here earlier this evening, and Ozpin managed to rescue me before I bled out. Your friend, who was disguised at the time, managed to see me from the VTOL you arrived on, and was pulled aside, most likely for a debriefing of sorts."

She paused for a moment, wondering what had gone down in that little meeting. Shrugging, the alien dismissed it and continued, "My Ghost, Little Light, managed to see through the disguise. He's the pointed, glowing ball of metal hovering over me..."

"Hello..."

"Anyways, we managed to figure out a bit of her situation, and Ozpin has gone to find Glynda Goodwitch while Neo gets patched up. She said that you might need help too." Stella went silent, looking at the stunned duo expectantly.

Emerald cleared her throat, "Um... I have just a few questions. One, you're an alien? Two, Neopolitan said that she wanted to help us. Three, you're a freaking alien!?"

Stella rolled her eyes and lowered her hood to let them see her face for a moment, before putting it back up, "Yeah, you're talking to a bloody alien. Ugh... You humans are always so skeptical. Can't say I blame you though. If I had to go through half of what your colleague went through, I would have some serious trust issues as well. And yes, Neo claimed not to know you very well, but says that she also thinks you're in a similar position, is she correct?

Emerald and Mercury considered their answer, using a subtle body language they had developed over the years to communicate with each other when stalking a target in public together. They knew that Cinder would be long gone by the time this was over. The woman was smart enough to know that something was up when they received the messages on their scrolls. However, they still technically worked for her, so maybe this would be an excellent way to get some information. They just had to make themselves look believable.

Emerald nodded slowly, "Well, sort of... our employer used the same uh... Methods on us, but Neo always got the worst of it. She seemed to enjoy dishing out pain on someone who couldn't scream. We both have a few burns on our back for failing to stay put when we were supposed to be lying low. This bowler hat guy who was sort of the public face for our organization got the same treatment. In fact, he's having to recover from a particularly painful punishment after botching a White Fang meeting."

Stella considered her answer, trying to detect any falsehoods within it. Eventually, she decided to trust her, "Yeah, Neo said something similar. The man's name is Roman Torchwick. He's apparently sorta like Neo's surrogate uncle or something. We should probably wait until either Neo's fixed up or Ozpin arrives before doing anything..."

The two criminals shrugged and plopped down in the waiting chairs outside of the infirmary room. Mercury eyed Stella curiously as she sat across from them, "So... an alien, eh?"

"Yes. My warp engines were damaged during an ambush, resulting in a malfunction that sent me to this planet. Once I get the chance, my Ghost and I will attempt to figure out our location. Right now, we don't even know if we're in same galaxy. Hell, for all I know, we aren't in the same universe..."

"Actually, Stella, we are. The White Dust used on your leg contained Light Energy, remember?"

She shrugged, "And? We still don't know where we are."

Emerald cleared her throat to stop a potential argument, "Right, so what's a Guardian? It sounds you're a soldier of some kind."

Stella blinked in surprise, "Well,I suppose that's exactly what it is. Where I come from, the human race and their evolutionary descendants, the Awoken, are nearly extinct. Humanity lives on the home world planet Earth,concentrated inside the aptly named Last City, cowering under a broken and shattered mechanical deity from Mars named, The Traveler, and my race lives in the main asteroid belt, aka the Reef. The Guardians are the first and final line of defense against The Darkness and its minions. Unfortunately, Guardians are rarely made, and there's barely enough to keep our enemies at bay."

Mercury frowned, "The Darkness? You mean like the Grimm? If you can't fight off a bunch of soulless animals with the kind of tech you have, then maybe you-"

Stella moved in a blur, darting across the corridor in an instant and placing a hand cannon on Mercury's temple, "Maybe we should what? Die? Fade into nothing? Humanity has endured for over twenty five thousand years on Earth. They had conquered the inner solar system, ark ships were traveling to distant stars to colonize the galaxy, and the world finally had a semblance of unity and peace. You honestly think a bunch of animals did us in?"

She backed away, dispelling her gun and sitting stiffly in her seat, "The Darkness is like nothing you have ever fought. Imagine something so evil, so hateful, so deceitful, that it hates other evil. It will stop at nothing to obliterate the fragile light of life, and uses other races to do its bidding. The Fallen, a fractured race of planetless warriors. They are numerous, but aren't very powerful. Some have allied with humanity and the Awoken. I myself am a Captain and an honorary member of the House of Wolves. Despite the attempts of peace though, we have lost much of Earth to them...

"Then there's the Hive, a dead, necrotic race of dark origins. They want to convert other living races to their twisted religion. We have managed to hold them at arm's length by giving them our moon, but they are greedy, and have begun forays into other territories. They worship the Darkness as a god, praying to it and giving up sacrifices. It was they who killed the Traveler... They were the ones who truly killed the Earth.

The Cabal, or Space Turtles as humanity named them... A warrior race of heavily armed aliens. They seem to have a single goal of expansion and conquest. If they can't form a treaty with or outright conquer another world, rumor has it they simply blow it up for getting in the way. However, the Awoken have managed to create a fragile peace treaty with various Cabal Clans. The Cesarian Clan shows promise of becoming a true ally, so long as we allow them to have various portions of Mars, the fourth planet in my solar system.

"Then we have the Vex... No one really knows where they came from, or who created them, but about two hundred years after the war with the Hive scarred our moon, a race of cybernetic beings attacked our colonies on Venus. Stories say that they had been on, or rather inside, our innermost planet, Mercury... But wherever they came from, they are dangerous. Especially due to their technology. They can travel to any point in space and time almost instantaneously. They want nothing more than to wipe out anything inferior to them, which is everything.

"Finally, there's the Taken... Thousands of years ago, someone came up with the idea that one's enemies can come back to haunt them. The Darkness took that quite literally. It creates constructs of enemies already around you, dead or alive, and makes them ten times as durable and twenty times as dangerous... And they're evolving. Recently, a small group of them seem to be different from the rest... They have a leader, Oryx the Taken King... I was on a mission with a group of veteran Guardians as a representative for the Awoken, and we ended up killing his son. I don't really know what's happened since then, but I've heard that he's amassing an army to get his revenge against the Guardians."

She sighed and let her words sink in. The two humans in front of her seemed stunned. Stella nearly leapt out of her seat as someone cleared their throat to the right. Headmaster Ozpin had arrived, along with a blond woman she could only assume was Glynda Goodwitch. The Guardian stood and bowed slightly, "Hello again, Mr. Ozpin. How long have you been standing there?"

"Since you put a gun to Mr. Black's head. Thank you for not shooting him."

Emerald couldn't help but snicker, "Too late. She floored him for calling her 'sweetheart'."

Glynda cleared her throat and glared at the two teenage criminals, "I do not believe that either of you are in any position to be acting so flippantly. Both of you should be sent to prison for conspiracy to commit terrorism and treason. However, this generous man is willing to hear you out."

Stella glanced at the duo before sighing, "Their story checks out with Neopolitan's. The mystery employer pressed them into service and threatened them with death if they left. It doesn't seem that they were damaged too badly though. This woman apparently concentrated on torturing Neopolitan for some reason."

Ozpin and Glynda nodded and made to enter the hospital room, but they were cut off by Stella, "Please, I think it would be best if we waited until after the nurse finishes with her. Neopolitan was hurt pretty badly."

Ozpin detected a pleading note in her voice and decided to consent, "Yes, I suppose you are right. Oh, Glynda, allow me to introduce Stella Black, Guardian of Earth."

Glynda frowned and peered at the cloaked Guardian, "Guardian of Earth? That sounds like a fairly important title for someone so young."

She shifted uncomfortably, wishing she still had a helmet rather than this hood, "Well, actually, I am a Warlock Class Guardian. I've only been one for about eight Earth years."

The Deputy Headmistress pursed her lips, "Hmm... And what exactly makes you a Warlock Class Guardian?"

"Warlock Class Guardians are the scholars of the Vanguard, preferring to learn about the enemy and use tactics to fight, rather than the brutal power of a Titan Class, or the battle prowess of a Hunter Class. Our subclasses are unique as well. The other classes seek to dominate their power, and bend it to their will. We prefer to let the power of our subclass flow through us, unfettered by shapes and bonds. My subclass is the Voidwalker Subclass."

Ozpin frowned at the unusual subclass title, "And what might that be?"

Stella ducked her head slightly, "Voidwalkers seek to balance both light and dark. We are the ones who dare to look into the dark abyss and use that terrible darkness to defend the light. We are those few who can bear to live in the shadows, and not become one ourselves. We are the ones who walk within the Void, the Voidwalkers."

Both Glynda and Ozpin seemed conflicted by the answer, but the former appeared to have the greater reservations, "Are you saying that you fight this Darkness, with its own power? Are you not afraid of being corrupted?"

A wry grin appeared on Stella's face, hidden by the cowl, "Ikora Rey, leader of the Warlock Class, once said that no matter how much light there is in the universe, there will always be darkness. In order to defend the light, you must first understand the dark. It may seem odd to you that someone would use the very thing they fight to defend themselves, but to me it's just a way of life. You have aura, correct? Well, I have the exact opposite of it. My power is not from the soul, but from nothing at all. It isn't exactly Darkness, but it isn't Light either. It's somewhere in between."

Glynda just shook her head, "Never mind, forget I asked..."

Ozpin opened his mouth to continue, but paused as Nurse Joy stepped out, looking tired and stiff, "Oh you're here, Professor Ozpin... That's good... I managed to patch the poor girl up the best I could, but even with Dust and Aura infusions, there will probably be some heavy scarring. She's awake though, if you want to see her."

He nodded, "Thank you, Joy. Why don't you head back to your apartment? It's half past nine, and I'm sure you could use a rest."

The nurse nodded wearily and slowly left without an argument, allowing Ozpin and Glynda to usher the other three into the room. Neo was sitting on the bed, back in her normal clothes, though Stella could see the edge of a bandage poking up past her collar. She appeared to be somewhat more relaxed than before, but immediately tensed up at the sight of Ozpin and Glynda.

Professor Ozpin sat down in one of the chairs, staring intently at the four enigmas standing in front of him. He had a major decision to make, one that could possibly affect the entire planet of Remnant. Sighing in frustration, he gestured to Stella, "Miss. Black, why are you a Guardian?"