GRYD Season 2 Chapter 5: Breach
Daytime at Beacon, students went in and out of classes as the hours went by. In the classroom of teacher Vixi Tod, many teams were listening intently to her lesson. This included GRYD, MEAL, and PRME.
Vixi was writing on a chalkboard, making notes around a map of Remnant. After some sentences were finished she turned to the rest of the class, "Knowing your location, and the areas around you are vital, not just for missions, but for yourselves. Every kingdom has its good places, and bad places, you must know which is which. I'm not saying you have to memorize the entire map...but...if you do...bravo."
She laughed, and some of the students joined in with her. Vixi made to speak again, but a bell went off, signaling the end of class.
As the students tried to leave, she whistled to get their attention, "Hey! Not so fast. By next class I want a detailed list of the top three most dangerous cities in each of the four kingdoms! Be specific as to why they're dangerous. Now, you are dismissed."
With a motion from her, the students left, and as they dispersed in the hallway, they fell into their own little groups. Some of GRYD and MEAL departed on their own, leaving Glyph, Yasmine, Leilani, and the Lovers alone to talk amongst each other.
"That was a very good lesson," noted Yasmine with a content look on her face, "I've always admired Professor Tod's attention to detail in regards to culture, or any of her lessons for that matter."
Leilani nudged her sister playfully, "Wow sis, you enjoyed a school lesson? Shocker!"
This got the others to laugh, including Glyph, which got Leilani to smile brightly. Yasmine just rolled her eyes, "I like classes, and I like to learn. What's more, she was right, knowing the area you're in by the town or cities closest to you could be vital to your survival."
"I'm with Yasmine on this one," noted Erin, which got everyone's attention, "Think of all we've been through? The missions we did, like the train mission. We were prepared for attacks because we understood the terrain. But we can't always expect people to tell us what's going to be there, sometimes...we have to do it ourselves."
"Thank you Erin."
"You're welcome."
"They raise excellent points!" said Aaron with an animated gesture
"You agreeing with something Erin said, that's the real shocker," noted Glyph with a smirk.
Glyph then laughed, and everyone froze in place.
He noticed he was alone and turned around, "What?"
"You told a joke," Yasmine replied.
"Has that ever happened before?" asked Aaron.
"If so, I don't remember it, not even at Signal," remarked Erin.
Glyph shook his head, "You weren't around me that much at Signal. As for you Yasmine, blame your sister, she's teaching me to lighten up."
With a shrug he turned and went back down the hall. This time Yasmine nudged Leilani playfully before leaving to join him, the Lovers followed, and Leilani again smiled as she ran to join back up with them.
Soon enough, they reached their rooms. But they stayed outside the hallway for a bit.
"We'll see you at dinner tonight, if not sooner," said Aaron with a bow, then focused on Erin, "Shall we, my love?"
"Of course," Erin replied with curtsy.
They shared a laugh before entering MEAL's room. They all watched them enter the room, once the door was closed Yasmine let out a small groan.
"How did you stand them at Signal?" she asked Glyph
"I kept my distance." he answered with a smirk.
"Wow, two jokes in an hour. Keep up the good work sis. Want to do that report together, Glyph?"
"Sure, just give me a minute."
"Of course."
Yasmine left, leaving the two alone. Glyph and Leilani smiled at one another when it happened.
"Want to do anything after dinner tonight?" he asked Leilani.
"Not sure. I'll let you know though, ok?" she said with a shrug
"Ok."
He began to walk away, but stopped when he noticed Leilani's smile drop. He got back in front of her.
"What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing!"
"Leilani..."
"I was just thinking about something Aaron said the other day, it's nothing."
Unconvinced, Glyph looked at the door to MEAL, and then back to Leilani with confusion, "Aaron's not the insulting type. Or at least, not to friends."
"He didn't insult me," Leilani said reassuringly
"Then what? Please."
"I noted to him that he and Erin can't help but show their affections, even in public. And he said...'You'll get there with Glyph one day, hopefully.""
The mere saying of this sent Leilani into an embarrassed state, she hid her face with her ears so she wouldn't have to face Glyph.
"I'm sorry! You haven't done anything wrong, I didn't even notice I stopped smiling and-"
Glyph put a couple fingers under her chin and raised her face back up so that she could see him. He was looking at her with the kind eyes she'd grown to love.
"Would you like us to be more like them?" he asked with sincerity.
She thought about it for a bit, then shook her head and smiled, "...no. Then we wouldn't be us, we'd be them."
He laughed softly and nodded proudly, "Good answer."
Before she could say anything else, he brought her close and hugged her lovingly. Leilani was caught off guard at first, but soon embraced it.
They held the hug for a while, then let go. Glyph smiled again and playfully tapped one of her ears, "I'll see you at dinner."
She laughed, "Looking forward to it."
With that, he went into his room, Leilani watched long after the door had closed, a pleased expression on her face. Only after a long stare did she go back into her own room.
Far away, in a base of the Heralds of Purity, Rowan and Lianna stood by one another and gazed out a window. They were on top of a high hill, and below the window was a small town. They both gazed at the town, but each had a different look on their face. Lianna's had one of sympathy, while Rowan had one of curiosity. It was late at night, so only a few of the houses had lights on still.
They continued to look out at the town until a knock came at the door to their room. When they turned, they saw a Herald in the doorway.
He bowed to them, "I have news."
"Speak," ordered Rowan as he stepped closer.
"I heard from the Silent Step, they're outside Beacon right now, they await your orders."
Rowan smiled at Lianna, who smiled back before turning to the messenger, "Thank you for telling us. Give the order, they know who to kill."
"It shall be done."
The messenger departed, leaving Lianna and Rowan alone. The two looked again at one another with pleased expressions.
"Soon, brother, several major obstacles will be out of our hair," Lianna said reassuringly.
"I hope so, sister, we need to advance our plans soon, we can't afford further delays," noted Rowan.
"You know the reputation of the Silent Step, they go in, they get it done, they get out. Besides, it's in the wee hours of the morning, all of Beacon will be asleep by now."
"True, and our guide into how to get in should help them immensely."
"Exactly. It's funny, you'd think that after we left Beacon we would've forgotten the subtle things like the secret ways to get in," joked Lianna.
Rowan laughed back, "Ah, but it's because of the reasons we used those secret entrances that it sticks in our minds."
They paused for a brief moment, then laughed once again as the memories of their youth played in their heads.
"Like I said before Rowan, we were a handful."
"Yes we were, Lianna. And now we are again, but for very different reasons."
"Much nobler ones."
"Indeed. Shall we wait for the word of their success?"
"Of course."
With a nod to the other, they went back to the window and gazed at the town below them once more.
At Beacon, in the room of MEAL, Leilani slept comfortably in her bed, as did the rest of her teammates. But suddenly, her ears perked up, even though she was still asleep. The ears rotated for a bit, then honed in on something and started to vibrate. After a few seconds of this, Leilani woke up in a panic, and immediately used her ears to focus on something. With each passing second though, she got more afraid.
Quick as a flash she got out of bed and rushed out the room, she then quickly, yet somewhat quietly went into the room of GRYD. Once inside, she rushed to Yasmine's bed and began to shake her.
"Sis, sis!" she said in a panicked whisper
Yasmine slowly stirred to see Leilani above her, panic still on her face, "Leilani? What's wrong?"
"I heard something."
"Leilani, it's a school, there's a lot to hear."
"No, sis! Someone broke in!"
These words shocked Yasmine awake and she immediately went upright, "You're sure?"
"Yeah, it took me a while, but I know it all now. Someone's here that shouldn't be."
"Crap. Let's think about what to do."
"What's going on?" asked a voice
They turned to see Glyph rising up, his expression curious yet concerned.
Leilani looked remorseful at this, "Sorry to wake you, Glyph, but something's wrong."
"I heard, but what?" he asked.
Yasmine sighed, "When we were young, our store would get robbed a lot. Our parents store I mean."
"It was bad," noted Leilani. "But this Faunus in our village, she had rabbit ears too, she taught me how to use them to hear things, specific things, even when I'm asleep. I learned the footstep pattern of everyone in the village, even when they're trying to walk slowly, I hear them. It's come in handy."
"I bet, but how does that apply here?"
"It took me a couple months, but I did the same thing here. I know what every person in this school sounds like when they walk, or run, or tiptoe. There is someone here that shouldn't be. In fact..."
She paused and used her ears again, they twitched and twisted as if to try and pick something up.
"...it's a group, and they're getting closer to where we are. Please believe me, Glyph."
He looked at her for a few seconds, then got out of bed and smiled at Leilani. He then teleported away, and emerged a few seconds in his gear, weapons in hand, "I'll always believe you Leilani. Go get the others, Macro first. Tell him, 'Code Breach.' He'll understand. Yasmine and I will get our team ready, go. Go."
She beamed at him, "Thank you. I'll be right back, sis."
With that she bounded away. Yasmine got and started to get her gear, "Thanks for believing her."
"If I didn't, I'd believe you. You seemed just as scared as her." he said with a honest look.
"You and Macro have your code words, we have ours. Wake the others."
"My pleasure, plug your ears."
Curious, but knowing she better not question, she plugged her ears. Glyph took a deep breath then let out a high pitched whistle. Within seconds, Reyson and Diana shot up from their beds, which made Glyph stop.
"Wake up. Someone's breached the school, we need to find out who. Get your gear."
Reyson looked at Glyph angrily, "There better be a fight in this for me, it's WAY too early for a prank call."
Glyph marched over to Reyson and glared at him, "Would I do this to you if I wasn't sure?"
The two locked eyes for a bit, then Reyson smirked, "No, you wouldn't. Right on, let's go night hunting!"
Diana rose up and looked at Glyph and Yasmine, as they were now in full gear, "Do we know who's here?'
Yasmine shook her head, "No, but Leilani heard someone approaching, and they're apparently getting close to us. So we're taking the initiative."
"Are you sure she-?"
"Do NOT finish that sentence," warned Glyph, "she heard something, now get ready. You got a minute."
Furious, but not willing to get left behind, Diana got ready.
A minute later, all four of them entered the hallway slowly. Seconds later, MEAL joined them, Macro at the lead.
"You all caught up?" asked Glyph
Macro nodded, "Yeah. Someone's broken in. Leilani, do you know exactly where they are?"
Leilani went still and her ears began to search for the intruders, her eyes opened slowly after a while, "They're two floors down...they're...they're going really slow. Much slower than when I first heard them."
"Two floors down are the student dormitories. Probably don't want to risk being overheard." noted Yasmine as she summoned her drones.
"Overheard doing what?" said Diana with force, "Ok, there's someone here that shouldn't be, so what?"
Glyph eyes flared up and he made a move toward Diana, but Macro stopped him, "Think about it Diana. Night and Squire are notorious for their lockdown procedures. They lock every door and window once curfew is up, no exceptions. So how did they get in? And more importantly, why would they want in? We're a school!"
Diana sighed at the logic of his words, "They want something."
"Or someone," added Reyson, "could be a kidnapping...quite literally actually."
"Fair point," noted Glyph. "So let's find out. If it's nothing? We go back to bed, but with our luck?"
"Exactly," acknowledged Macro. "Ok, everyone ready?"
They all nodded, Macro turned back to Leilani, "Still got them?"
"Yeah, they're one floor down, second hallway on the left," she said after a pause.
"Yasmine, think your drones can give us some recon?"
Yasmine nodded, "On it."
Two of her drones flew down the hallway and ducked down another one, out of sight. Content, Macro faced them all.
"Ok, we go in formation as we head to the hallway. Two by two. Glyph and Reyson, then me and Yasmine, Diana and Leilani, and Lovers bring up the rear. Leilani, how many are there?"
She again listened, but shook her head quickly, "I can't tell. Their footsteps, they're too similar. Kind of like...like they're in formation too?"
"Military?" asked Erin.
"Or a trained group," suggested Aaron.
Macro grimaced as he thought of the options, "No way of knowing until we find them. Let's move, quickly but quietly."
With a motion, they formed up, and slowly moved down the hallway. They proceeded towards the staircase that would take them to the lower floor. Each one kept their eyes and ears open, as well as their head on a swivel so that they could be ready for anything that came.
Eventually, they made it to the doorway to the stairs. Glyph teleported in to ensure no one was waiting for them, he returned after a moment and gave an all-clear signal. They slowly opened the door and went inside.
No sooner did they enter than Leilani's ears perked up again, "Wait, there's another one, separate from the group. This one is... a few floors up. But there's nothing there but...oh no..."
In the Headmaster's office, Night rested comfortably on his bed. A beeping now soon sounded though, followed by a bright flashing light. Night groaned as he got up, "What is going on?"
He went to his computer and typed something on it, and soon a camera feed appeared, it showed GRYD and MEAL descending down the stairs.
"What are you all up to?" he asked himself, he then peered closer, "And why are you in full gear?"
Before he could answer himself, the door to his office slowly opened.
A few floors down, GRYD and MEAL reached the floor where the intruders were. Before they entered it though Yasmine stopped them, "Wait, my drones are in position...there's...there's nothing there?"
"Are they in the right hallway, sis?" wondered Leilani, slightly worried, "I know they're there. Though they are stopped for some reason."
"Wait...I got an idea."
Yasmine quickly blinked her eyes, and her drones switched through different kinds of viewing lens, until they ended up in infrared vision. When they did, they transmitted what they saw to Yasmine, and it shocked her, "They're invisible! Ordering an attack."
The drones sent out beams attacks at the invisible invaders, knowing their cover was blown, the invaders struck at Yasmine's drones with extra precision.
Back in the staircase, Yasmine grimaced, "My drones are down."
"Do you know any invisible groups?" Glyph asked Macro.
"One." he replied grimly, "They're assassins."
"Crap." stated Diana.
"Sweet," said Reyson with his evil smirk.
"Calm down," Macro ordered, "new plan, we got in hot and fast. Yasmine, the moment we exit, get your drones near the ceiling, scan as far and wide as you can in infrared. Leilani, keep your ears open, if her other drones go down, we'll be relying on you for a bit."
"Got it." said the sisters in unison.
"Me, Reyson, and Glyph we go first. Diana, Lovers, protect Yasmine and Leilani. Move!"
They opened the door quickly and went in, Yasmine and Leilani quickly used their senses to try and find the invaders. Yasmine's drones responded first, "Right in front of us!"
Quickly, Macro raised his machine gun and fired in a sweeping motion. Though only the walls got hit, the flash from the bullets illuminated a group of six in front of them.
"Aaron!" shouted Macro, "Flash bang!"
"My pleasure," responded Aaron raising his crossbows, "duck!"
GRYD and MEAL ducked, and Aaron sent two bright bolts into the area. These two also hit the wall, but they didn't penetrate. Instead, they stuck, then detonated.
The area got covered in smoke, but when it cleared, the assassins weren't invisible, they all had color marks on them.
"We see you! Now that's a flashy bang!"
"Get them!" shouted one of the assassins, and they group rushed forward.
Within the confines of the hallway, the battles were limited to close quarters. Making the weapons only useful in their base forms. This worked fine for Reyson, Glyph, and Macro, who switched up their weapons and went after their attackers.
Diana, Aaron, and Erin continued to protect Yasmine and Leilani, and teamed up when one of the assassins tried to make a play for them.
The assassins were no pushovers, and got hits on them, but the teams didn't give up, and whether on their own or together, they took them all down.
Once unconscious, the groups invisibility stopped. They wore cloaks, but in an armored sense, which no doubt led to them lasting so long. Reyson kicked one so the body would flip over.
"I dig the outfit," he said sarcastically, "but who are they?"
"The Silent Step," said a voice
They all tensed up, and a body was soon thrown into the hallway. After which Night stepped into their line of sight, lance in hand, and fierce expression on his face.
"Students."
"Headmaster." they all said in relief.
"Told you he'd be fine," remarked Glyph.
"You knew I'd find out about this without getting killed first?"
"Cameras."
"Ah, you knew it would trip an alarm if they saw you this late at night?"
"It is your M.O., sir," noted Macro.
"Fair enough. But still, this is not good that the Silent Step are here."
Reyson scoffed, "Why? We beat them."
Night stepped forward, "No, we didn't. This was but the first wave. The Silent Step doesn't risk failure, so they go in groups of growing numbers until the job is done. This was wave one. Wave two will no doubt come soon."
"What are they after though?" Diana asked
"I do not know Ms. Artemesia, but anyone and everyone could be a target. How did you know they were coming?"
"Leilani's ears," answered Glyph with a point.
"Indeed, well Ms. Kaleido, I believe your services are going to be required once more. But while we wait for the next wave to come, we need to warn the other students."
Macro stepped forward, "A suggest a text, or brief video message, sir. Warn them what's happening, but to stay in their rooms, lock their doors, and be at weapons ready in case something happens."
"A good plan, but what of you all?"
"We fight." said Glyph bluntly
"Heck yeah." added Reyson
Night chuckled, "Very well. The smaller numbers will work to our advantage. But I will bring Squire and your professors into the mix as well, they can work as one group while your teams do likewise."
Now Yasmine stepped forward, "Headmaster, do your cameras have infrared capabilities? My drones were able to see the assassins because of that."
"They do, I'll have to adjust them in my office. You'll have to rely on Ms. Kaleido's ears in the meantime. I'll alert you when they're setup. Be wary in the meantime, I would be very surprised if the next wave didn't come in the next ten minutes. Good luck to us all."
With a small bow, he left, leaving GRYD and MEAL on their own. They turned to Glyph and Macro.
"What do we do now?" asked Aaron
"Stay together? Or split up?" pondered Erin, "I mean, if they're coming in greater numbers, we can't take them all on if we're all together."
Glyph turned to Macro, "She's got a point."
Macro nodded, "I know. Ok, here's what we do. We're going to stay here until the next wave gets picked up by Leilani's ears. Once we know a good general area where they'll be, we'll split up into our teams. That way, whether by eyes or ears, we can find them. Don't rely on them though, use your flashier Dust pellets to do what Aaron did before. Report in once your targets are down, got it?"
They all nodded, but Reyson soon cleared his throat to get their attention, "Uh...what about them?"
"We got some time, let's make sure they don't get another chance to do their job. Come on."
With a motion, they all went to the assassins and carefully lifted them up, then moved them into the staircase.
Meanwhile, Night worked in his office. He sent a mass message to the students of Beacons, then brought up the cameras and started altering their frequency so that they could see different wavelengths.
Back with GRYD and MEAL, they waited anxiously for the next wave of assassins to arrived. The most anxious of them was Reyson, who paced back and forth, twirling his Khopesh as he waited for the battle to begin again. Only a glare from Glyph made him stop.
"Sorry..." he said sarcastically, "I get agitated when a battle isn't here yet."
"You'll get it. Just stop," said Glyph forcefully.
Before Reyson could responded, Leilani's ears perked up, "I got something! Two groups just entered the school. Wow...they really spread out this time. One's near the main entrance, but...they didn't come through the door. The other...is on the other side, near the amphitheater...wait...in the amphitheater..."
"How did they get in there?" Yasmine asked aloud, "The window is high up, and the windows are locked from the inside. There's no way in."
"Tell that to them," joked Aaron.
"We might get the chance," teased Erin.
"Enough, you two," overrode Macro, "Ok, the amphitheater isn't too far, and that side of the school has limited hallways. Glyph, take your team and take them out. Leilani will guide us to the others."
Glyph nodded in acknowledgement, "Good luck."
"Same to you."
With another nod, the two teams separated. GRYD was the first to reach their section of the school with assassins. Glyph stopped them, then motioned Yasmine to get her drones into place. She placed one near the ceiling, with the other close to her. When nothing was seen on its sensors, she motioned to Glyph that it was ok to proceed.
They slowly moved down toward the Amphitheater, the door was open, and again Yasmine motioned her drone to scan the area. Nothing was in the amphitheater, so they moved to the other hallway. Soon after they did though, Yasmine saw the assassins. There were ten in this group, and they were moving in formation down the hallway in a way that didn't create sound.
She signaled the others that she spotted them, Reyson cackled and formed his arm cannons, "About time!"
Before anyone could stop him he lunged into the hallway and pointed his cannons, "Sorry! You can't roam around here without a hall pass!"
He sent out two blasts of energy down the hallway. The light from them illuminated the assassins. Some got knocked out, but the others dodged in time.
"Dang it, Reyson!" shouted Glyph angrily
"Ah, come on Glyph, it's more fun this way. Besides, I made them visible. See?"
Sure enough, the remaining seven assassins were glowing with bright gold color, which forced them to drop their invisibility. This made Reyson cackle even louder.
"Now come on, let's get them!"
With a roar he raced down the hallway to fight the assassins, Glyph groaned but motioned for the others to do the same.
On the other side of the school, Leilani guided Macro and The Lovers towards the other group of assassins. Before they reached them though, another sound got her ears.
"Someone else is coming..." she whispered
Macro motioned for them to hid behind some nearby outcrops in the wall. The noise got louder, and they recognized it as sets of footprints. Macro did a countdown with his hands, and at one, they jumped out , weapons pointed at who they were.
"Don't shoot!" shouted Vixi Tod
MEAL relaxed as they saw Vixi and Professor Lochen looking at them. Lochen couldn't help but laugh at the situation, "Not bad kids, glad I trained you well. Element of surprise, lesson number 5."
Vixi rolled her eyes, "Toot your horn later. Knight sent us to find you. Squire and Chestnut are looking for your friends."
Macro gave a bow in appreciation, "I appreciate that. We'll take the numbers. Leilani, you didn't lose them did you?"
She shook her head, "No, I still got them...uh oh..."
"What?" asked The Lovers in unison.
"They changed course...they're...getting closer to us."
"Dang it, they must have heard us," noted Macro bitterly, "Ok, we make our stand here. Professors, you mind hearing my plan?"
"I trust your plans Mr. Camof," Vixi said happily
"And I got were she goes," Lochen said with a nudge to Vixi
She pushed him away, "Don't. Start."
Macro couldn't help but laugh at the situation, but then laid out his plan.
The assassins near them slowly approached where they were. They moved without sound, without any indication that they were there. Suddenly, two shadow appeared on the wall near them. They stopped, and two silhouettes emerged. They couldn't see the detail on them, but they were getting closer to their range.
Two of them moved forward, and approached the silhouettes. Once they were close enough, they pulled out daggers and stabbed them. But to their surprised, they dissolved.
"Now!" shouted Macro
Quick as a flash, MEAL and the professors dropped from the ceiling into the hallway and blasted the nearby area. The assassins were illuminated, and some were taken out.
"Get them!"
Macro led the charge against the assassins, with Leilani at his side. The Lovers took on some on their own. Vixi and Lochen did battle as well. Vixi wield a set of Sai, while Lochen used a massive crossbow that unleashed powerful bolts in machine gun like fashion.
Meanwhile, GRYD took the fight to the assassins on their side of the school. Despite the 2-on-1 disadvantage, they were each holding well. However, so were the assassins. They used precision strikes to try and beat GRYD, and landed hits on each of them, including Glyph.
Of all of them though, Reyson was enjoying the battle the most. He laughed with glee at the challenge he was now getting.
"Come on! Don't tell me that's all you have! I may be a Heron but that doesn't mean I can't fight like an assassin!"
This stopped the assassins cold, and they looked upon one another, "Heron?"
"They did not say a Heron was in the target group."
"We cannot risk blowback. Tranq him."
Reyson laughed at this, "Right, like a tranquilizer is going to work on-"
Before he could finish, the assassins sent out two darts out with blazing speed and they plunged into Reyson's chest.
He looked down in shock, "...me"
Reyson fell to his knees, facial expression going from shock, to tired. The assassins slowly approached him, "We must remove him from the field."
"We'll join the others after."
As they moved to pick him up, they paused, and looked at Reyson's hands. They were shaking, the two looked at each other curiously, then back to Reyson. A noise became audible, it was an angry noise, a grunt, then heavy breathing, then a growl.
The assassins started to back away, as they looked upon Reyson, who slowly raised his head to reveal his eyes had gone full blood red, no white or black remained.
Reyson got to his feet, raised his swords and roared in a way even he had never done before. All the other fights stopped at this roar. Even the ones happening with MEAL and the professors.
The assassins quickly moved past reasons to rejoin their group, Reyson let them, then slowly turned to face the whole group. The remaining members of GRYD looked on in horror at the sight of Reyson and his eyes.
"Oh no," said Glyph.
Reyson charged at the assassins, who attacked in unison. Despite the massive outnumbering, Reyson was taking them all on, and winning. Whatever consumed him, it made him stronger, as well as more endurant to pain.
Glyph, Diana and Yasmine all watched in awe and shock at this. Yasmine was the first to break the spell, "Aren't we going to help him?"
"With what?" asked Diana, "He's handling this...as scary as this is."
"He's going to get himself killed, for real this time!"
"Yeah, and if we get close to him, he might kill us! Did you see his eyes?"
"Enough," said Glyph firmly, "give me a moment."
Glyph watched the battle for a few moments longer, then teleported and went into battle. Using the gaps in the hallway he blasted through the assassins until they were all down.
Content with the victory, Glyph began to put his escrima away, but pulled them back out when a roar caught his ear. He brought them back just in time to stop Reyson from striking him with his Khopesh.
"Reyson! Snap out of it!" shouted Glyph
"You...took...my...battle!" Reyson roared back
The two clashed in close quarters combat. Glyph didn't use his teleportation to get away, he didn't want to hurt Reyson, nor was he sure he could in the state he was in.
Reyson got a lucky hit on Glyph, leaving him open for a strike. He made to capitalize, but a whip latched onto his arm, and Diana pulled it taut, "You don't hurt him."
"But I can hurt you!" added Yasmine, who with a wave of her arm sent her drones to pelt Reyson with bullets.
The attacks struck Reyson from all sides. He tried to slash at them, but Diana held him in place, so his range was limited. Reyson roared louder and louder at the attacks, and the red from his eyes grew onto his skin like a rash. With newfound strength, he grabbed the whip, pulled Diana in, and clotheslined her to the ground, knocking her out cold.
Yasmine called back her drones and reformed her lance before attacking. Glyph joined her, and the two worked in unison to try and take Reyson down. This went on for a while, until something caught Glyph's eye. He whistled to Yasmine and motioned behind Reyson. She nodded in understanding.
They continued the attacks until an opening appeared, and the two kicked Reyson a few feet backwards, sending him tumbling to the floor. He got up quickly though and roared loudly again. But before he could advance, a hammer can down and clonked him on the head, hard. Reyson stood still for a few moments, his swords fell to the ground, and his eyes returned to their normal state.
As they did, he fell to the ground unconscious, revealing Squire and Professor Chestnut behind him. Chestnut was the one who use the hammer, and he draped it over his should as he looked upon Reyson.
"I would presume to think there was a reason for that?" he asked to Glyph and Yasmine.
"Yeah. No time though to explain."
Yasmine stepped forward t get their attention, "We have to get to the others, can you take care of these guys?"
"Go help your sister and friends Ms. Kaleido," said Squire with a nod, "we have this. All of it."
With a nod of appreciation, Glyph went to Yasmine and teleported her away.
Chestnut laughed at the situation, "Why is it that students make such messes?"
"They learn from the adults," answered Squire with a smirk.
On the other side of the school, MEAL, Vixi, and Lochen continued to battle their foes. They paired up to ensure no one fought alone, but they were still outnumbered.
Macro battled as hard as he could, but occasionally looked to the others to ensure they weren't in danger of blindside or ambush. The Lovers were handling themselves just fine. Aaron would raise his shield in times of being attacked to prevent harm to him or Erin. Erin meanwhile would use her light semblance to stun the assassins and create openings.
Vixi and Lochen were very comfortable working on their own. Vixi was very agile and worked around the area to her advantage. Lochen was more rooted, but he used to his advantage to lull the assassins into a false sense of security before blasting them with his crossbow.
Despite their skill though, the battle was still very even. Macro grimaced as he continued to fight, but soon got an idea, "Leilani, Erin! I'm think it's time for a Blind Bounce!"
"That could work," acknowledged Erin, "ready Leilani?"
"Worth a shot." she replied with a shrug
"What are they up to?" asked Vixi, who found herself next to Lochen
He chuckled, "This will be good, just close your eyes. You'll thank me later."
Hesitantly, she did so, as did Lochen. The others cleared their immediate areas and went into a low stance. Erin began to glow, the intensity grew with each passing second until the hallway was filled with nothing with light. Just before she couldn't see anything, Leilani bounced toward a wall. Then, using her hearing, she tuned into the distinct sounds of the assassins, who were groaning at the brightness of the light. She bounced off one and to the next until all of them were down.
"Ok Erin, power down!" said Leilani, now back on terra firma.
Erin stopped her Semblance, and when all the others could see, all the assassins were down. The professors were especially impressed by this.
"Well done everyone," praised Vixi with a kind smile. "That was most impressive."
Macro surveyed the area himself before addressing her, "You should thank Professor Lochen, he put the idea in my head about it."
Lochen feigned humility by doing an overdramatic bow, "Ah, come on, you would've thought of it eventually. No need to praise me. Now if you want to Vixi-"
"No," she said blunty.
"If we may move on," said Aaron boisterously, "what shall we do with our assassins?"
Erin looked at theme warily, "I'd hate for them to get free, they were no pushovers."
Vixi nodded in acknowledgment of this, "Let's tie them up for now and lock them somewhere they can't escape. Headmaster Night will know what to do next."
With their own nods of understanding, MEAL made to do so, but as they did, Glyph and Yasmine appeared in the hallway. Leilani raced to her sister and hugged her, who happily did the same. She also looked to Glyph who smiled at her before going to the others.
"You all alright?" he asked as he surveyed them.
"No casualties, not even the assassins. You?" wondered Macro.
"We, may have an issue. I'll explain later."
"Everyone ok?" asked Vixi concerned
"Physically. It's hard to explain. The assassins are down though, Squire and Professor Chestnut are handling it now."
Lochen made a noise of pondering, "Lot of questions though. Some things aren't adding up."
"Agreed, we need-"
A noise got their attention, it was the loudspeakers, "Attention students, this is Headmaster Night. I'm happy to report that the siege of our school is over. The security systems are fully functioning again, and all intruders will find it very hard to get in. You may stand down and go back to sleep. To our "defenders", meet me in my office after you "tidy up".
"You good here?" Glyph asked Macro.
Macro nodded, "Yeah, go get your team."
Glyph got Yasmine and teleported away. Once gone, MEAL and the Professors tied up the assassins.
A little while later, in Night's office, everyone was gathered. GRYD, MEAL, Squire, and the three Professors.
Night himself was in his familiar spot of the window, looking at over the grounds, "Quite the night we had. Pardon the pun."
Lochen couldn't help but laugh, "We need the puns Kendall, only way the mood is going to lighten anytime soon."
"Fair enough. Assassins, in my school. I never thought this would happen. Grimm on the grounds? That's different, that was a special case. But this? This is beyond the pale. Sending assassins to a school full of children, and in such numbers. I will not stand for this."
Everyone could hear the venom in his voice in that last declaration. Making many of them uneasy. Night sighed though and tried to regain his composure.
"The question remains though, who were they after? They came for me, but only sent one. They were heading for the student dorms. So who were they after?"
"Us." said a voice.
They all turned, Reyson was sequestered in a corner, he gripped one of his arms like a vice as if to ensure it didn't do anything he didn't want to. Glyph and Macro noticed that he was twitching uncontrollably.
Night stepped towards him, "What do you mean, Reyson?"
"The assassins, the ones who...the ones I fought. When I said I was a Heron, they noted that they weren't told a 'Heron was in the target group'. I'm only associated with one group outside my family. GRYD."
A silence came upon the room, all were in shock at this revelation. Diana was especially stunned at this, "They were after us?"
"More than likely all of us," noted Macro, getting everyone's attention, "I could tell by the way they fought me that they were intent to kill me. Not because I was trying to stop them from whatever they were up to, but something...deeper."
Night pondered this, "The Silent Step are known for their precision, they don't do collateral damage. They're famous for keeping non-targets from getting killed."
"Which begs the question, who wants GRYD, Meal, and you dead, Kendall?" wondered Vixi.
"Heralds." Glyph answered.
Another silence filled the room. This time though, it wasn't broken.
Far away, in the base of the Heralds of Purity, Rowan and Lianna continue to look out at the village outside their window. The messenger from before enters the room, and gives them a message. Rowan motions for him to leave.
Once alone, Rowan lets out a howl of frustration, "How do they keep surviving?"
Lianna put a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down brother, it seems as though luck and fate may be on their side. But, there are ways to counter that."
"How?"
"Simple, we took an impersonal approach with this attack. Next time, we take a personal approach. Trust me. We'll be rid of them soon."
Dawn at Beacon. Macro, Glyph, and Yasmine walked down a hallway. They didn't speak to one another, just continued to walk down it until they eventually reached a dead end. At the end of the hallway was Reyson, his expressions fearful, and his posture not much improved from the meeting in Night's office.
"That's close enough," he said with clear intent and a wave of his hand as they drew closer.
"What's going on, Reyson?" asked Glyph, some concern in his voice.
"You know what's going on. Something...is very wrong with me. Whatever those assassins did, those tranquilizers, whatever was in them, it did something to me. Something that's never happened before. I couldn't control myself. The blood rage, it was...magnified, beyond anything it was before."
"That wasn't your fault, and you know that means something since I'm saying that," said Yasmine with sympathy.
"Thanks, but it doesn't change anything."
Macro noticed a change in Reyson, and grew worried, "Why are we here?"
Reyson smiled weakly, "You and Glyph are the leaders, and Yasmine is my partner, you're the ones I trust to honor my request. If it ever happens again, if I go...if I enter the blood rage again...I need you to...to..."
"Don't say it, we know you can be knocked out, we'll take care of it."
"NO! I don't, I don't want you to knock me out..."
Reyson took a deep breath and right himself so he could look at them with determination and strength, "If I go into that state again. I want you to kill me."