Chapter 5
Eric van Genus' Audio Journal #5: The Greatest Mistakes on Remnant
Life is always full of mistakes. Back on Earth, there were so many that it would take days to explain them all that has accord in history. Some learned, others didn't so it is complicated. Remnant has a few itself. Let's start with the first one: Salem. After being rescued by Ozma and got married, she lost him to an illness. Grief stricken, Salem sought out the gods to resurrect him. But the Alien of Light refused and tries to discuss balance. Salem wouldn't accept it. So she sought the Alien of Darkness and he agreed to resurrect Ozma. Yet his brother disagreed. The two had a discussion about the pact they agreed on so they cursed Salem with immortality so she can learn about the acceptance of loosing someone. That...backfired. She rallied those that wanted immortality against the aliens which they wiped out all of humanity. Leaving Salem all alone as they left...well after taking away all the magic and destroying the moon. A bit. But that didn't stop her. She tried to kill herself by tossing herself into the Grimm Liquid in the hopes of dying. That also backfired as it turned her into the destructive hybrid that she is. Humanity did come back, but the Faunus came soon after.
In Ozma's case, he should've refused the Alien of Light. Let events unfold and let Salem be the Witch of the Forest. Later, he made a mistake of pretending to be a god along with Salem which he...well...things got complicated afterwards that led to the death of his new family and everything they worked up towards. In the Great War, Ozma became the King of Vale and used the very artifacts that the Aliens gave to put an end to it. True, he abolished slavery, ended all the atrocities, created democratic governments and gave the Faunus their own continent. But you know what he should've done; destroy the Grimm once and for all. *starts to get angry* He had the ultimate power in his hands. He should've used it to wipe out the Grimm from existence so people can be free to fully express themselves! *extremely angry* And yet he just thew it all away! That was a fucking dick move, Ozma! Dick move! *calms down after taking a deep breath* But after giving it some thought, having those artifacts makes him a target for Salem. Plus no Grimm, no Huntsmen.
Yet pretty soon, they will be replaced with something. I'll talk about it later in another entry.
End of recording.
Ironwood's Office, Two Weeks After Fumeiyo's Death
Ironwood is sitting on his chair as he looks at the video that is a documentary of Sangre San Viento, aka, Fumeiyo. The video is churning his stomach as he hears Fumeiyo's speech. Especially about the Atlesian Military being a joke and compared to be the same as the White Fang. However, Winter enters the room with a cart full of folders with five other robots pushing the carts into the room as Ironwood turns off the video. The robots clear the room as Winter pulls out twenty-three folders that have Vale's emblem on them.
"How was the search, Schnee?"
Winter puts the twenty-three folders on Ironwood's desk and stands in attention. "Sir, after an extensive search of retrieving every hard copy of all the children that has disappeared. Yet I have also conducted a thorough investigation on all the children that disappeared." She gives Ironwood one particular folder at the top of the stack. "I believe this is the leader of the Evolutionaries."
The tab on the file reads, 'Stone, Cobbel'. Ironwood opens the folder and only sees one scrap of paper that reads, 'Eyes: Silver'. The edges of the piece of paper look like they were soaked, burned, and had a few trimmings done to it.
Ironwood gives Winter a confused look, "This is it?"
"I believe so, sir. Since there isn't much of a record of him, this young man is the leader. I even made contact with a few locals saying that a five-year-old was leading the other older children out of the orphanage thirteen years ago before finding the dead bodies of the caretakers. Yet they also stated that the caretakers were cruel to the children and rebelled."
Ironwood looks over the folders and sees the names of the other children that disappeared while reading their files to have a better understanding of who are they facing against. He checks over all twenty-two to see what they can do to stop them. He looks at Winter, "That will be all, Schnee."
Winter salutes, "Yes, sir!"
But a call came in via holographic screen that shows a doctor. He seems distressed, "General Ironwood! Fria has gone missing!"
"WHAT!?" Ironwood runs out of the office with Winter following him.
"General, who is Fria? General? General!?"
They made it to the Atlas Medical Facility and march towards a room marked 'Patient Room 920' with four old Atlesian Knights guarding the door.
Winter asks, "General? What is going on?" as they continue to head down the hallways.
They made it to Fria's bedroom. The place has a small cabinet area with a sink beside it, a large easel with a painting near the bed, and several paintings on the wall. The bed lays empty with only a few blankets and a pillow. Ironwood grit his teeth in anger while squeezing his fists tightly because he just lost the Winter Maiden. Winter is a bit confuse on what is happening.
He looks at Winter, "Send every soldier available to find Fria and the people responsible for her disappearance." He has a very serious look on him, "I want these people found. NOW!"
Enlighten Valley, Afternoon
Somewhere in the continent of Sanus, there is a wonderful and lush valley that has four large towns with each having a different theme yet there is one floating town where all the factories are that is in cyberpunk fashion that has holographic streets that appear when a car or some other automobile exits the place that connects them. Plus they are large. The tops of many buildings have solar panels with a few having windmills to power the place along with some new power sources such as Energon as an example. To the south, we have a Roman-style town where you can fine vineyards, wheat fields, tomato fields, and a central amphitheater where plays can be watched and art competitions are held. It may look like a Roman-style city, but it has many modern necessities needed for modern living. This is called, the Caesar District with only a population of 500. To the north, we have an art deco-style with only four skyscrapers. This place is very artistic where you can hear music of all kinds being played which makes it a little noisy. Plus there are also clubs and bars that serve the best moonshine ever distilled. Yet the inside of 50% of the buildings have some modern tech meant for all kinds of things like creating video games. This is the Minuit District. It's population: 1,200
To the west, we have the Victorian District. A small town with a Victorian-style architecture with a population of 1,098 and home to many schools of all ages can go. But they all agree that the best one is located at the Minuit District where the council teaches. The place also has some pretty good mines located at the base of the mountains. Unlike the Schnee's, it is more stable, workable, and 100% safe. There are some factories, yet they are pollution free and it is where people learn a thing or two about working in a factory. To the east, we have the Oda District. A classical Japanese-style town with Japanese etiquette. The place has wonderful gardens, peaceful environment and a certain charm to it that invites people over. Not to mention the rice fields they have on the mountain side. Population: 2,150. (Hey, who doesn't love Japanese-styles?) Not including the factories, the total population of the valley is 4,948.
Now we head over to the Minuit District for one particular school where members of the council teach. Remnant Advance Academy. This is a very special academy where people of all ages, young and old alike, study together in the same classrooms.
In the gym, Sylvester Stallion is teaching boxing as he says to one of the students punching the punching bag, "Come on! You can hit harder than that! You have to eat lightning and crap thunder!"
Some of his students snicker and giggle at what Stallion said.
He looks at his students and goes, "What?"
In some sort of art room, Neon Seign is teaching her students about different art styles on many sheets of large papers on her whiteboard. She points at one with street graffiti, "As you can see, everyone has their own unique style. A true artist should always show their own creative expression on-"
In some Japanese-style garden under a cherry tree, Kuro Kanmuri is teaching about flower arranging. In a computer room, Coco Mint is teaching about computers. Many members of the council have their own classes that suit their personalities and abilities. As for Prof. Eric von Genus, he is teaching history in a fancy university-style classroom. On his chalkboard, he has drawings of the God of Light and the God of Darkness along with many drawings that depict what truly happened on Remnant many, many years ago with the title: The True History of Remnant.
Eric lectures his class, "As you can see, after Salem has united the original kingdoms with the promise of immortality, she united them to fight against the aliens. Yet the Alien of Darkness uses the quote 'magic' to wipe them out before he and his brother left and destroy part of the moon."
"Oo-ooh." his class is intrigued by how the moon became what it is.
He continues, "Salem is then left alone as she traveled to the Land of Darkness. That is where she transform into the human/Grimm hybrid she is today when she tried to kill herself."
A ten-year-old girl raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"There is something I've been wondering. About the two aliens that we call gods. Did they evolved naturally or were they artificially created?"
"That is a good question. The answer is: nobody knows. The thing is that it is impossible to tell if they were naturally evolved or were made artificially. Like those holograms. Imagine if you created an artificial race using hardlight and give it enough energy to have them being able to manipulate energy, matter and anything on a molecular level. But that is for the biology or technology class." He turns to face the board, "Now let's continue with our history lesson."
As he continues, there is a man in his twenties just hanging out at the door who has açaí colored hair that is combed to his left, fair skin, and violet colored eyes. He seems to be wearing purple colored armor that has a Japanese bellflower painted black on the front torso along with having samurai-like armor pauldrons. This man is also wearing samurai gauntlets that are also painted purple while having light blue jeans and black boots that have a grim design such as skulls and smoke. On his sides are his weapons in the form of twin scythes folded up. He leans against the wall with his arms crossed as he just watches Eric giving his lecture. Yet in his left hand, there seems to be a collection of papers clamped together. After a few minutes, the bell rang to signified the end of class.
As everyone packs up and gets ready to leave, Eric says, "We'll continue with our lesson tomorrow! Make sure to study for the exams coming in two weeks!"
After the class left, Eric cleans up the board as the strange man steps down the stairs and approach while holding his papers.
When Eric was done cleaning the board, he looks back and sees him. "Ah, hello Açaí Mitsuhide. How can I help you?"
"Hello, Prof. van Genus." he speaks in a subtle and elegant manner. Açaí gives him his papers, "I thought you might be interested in what I wrote on how the world should be govern."
"Oh really?" Eric is interested to see what Açaí has written. He reads over very quickly to see what Açaí has written. As he continues to read, his smile started to turn upside down and has a very disapproval look to him. "Is this some sort of joke?" he says in a serious tone. "Because this is a bad comedy in poor taste." He looks at Açaí, "You want to promote a totalitarian dictatorship?"
Açaí smirks, "Yes, sir. I believe that law and order should be more important above all else. Freedom and rights would only bring chaos and disorder. Everyone must put their self-interest aside in order to serve the greater good and-"
Eric furiously throws the papers at him as he says, "You wretched idiot!" The papers are scattered on the floor. "What you recommend is a dystopia where only one person should have absolute power above all else! We are promoting true freedom and liberty that none of the other nations or organizations can provide! Your way of thinking will fail!"
Açaí gets angry and argues, "But this world is already a chaotic mess! If we don't unite the world under one solitary rule, then all would be lost! Not to mention that the new races will overwhelm us and could-"
"ENOUGH!" Eric says with a blast of energy coming from his body that knocked Açaí down to the floor. He gives the man a cold and menacing look that sends shivers down Açaí's spine. "Listen. We don't promote ideas of fascism, communism, dictatorships or ideas of control. Everyone has a right to live and to make a living to elevate themselves with their brilliant minds. That is what we do here. Your totalitarian thinking is not welcome here. You're free to pursue what you like, but you cannot control others." He turns around and gets ready for the next class, "Now leave. I have another class to do before meeting our guest."
Açaí gets back up on his feet and bows his head, "Yes, sir. I do apologize." He turns around, "I'll head towards gym class." As Eric prepares, Açaí has a disgruntle look on his face as he heads out. 'One of these days, I will take charge and be at the top of everything! This world will fall to my will and my will alone! Once you have been removed, that will be my chance.' He walks down the hallways, 'I am patient. I can wait until your death. But I think I'll tangle the Threads of Fate once that time has arrived.'
Enlighten Hospital, Minuit District, Afternoon, 21st Floor
The sun is setting over the mountains as it can clearly see by the hospital's window. Fria is in bed as she admires the sunset. She smiles while admitting that it is pretty as she gazes at the last bit of sunlight of the day. She enjoys it until she hears a door open. Fria then turns her gaze over at the door and sees Eric van Genus enter her room while holding onto a tray of two tea cups on saucers and a white teapot along with sugar cubes and a cup of cream.
"How was your nano-machine treatment?" Eric asks as if he is asking his grandmother how she is while placing the tea on the side table.
"I do feel a lot better." Fria says as she sits up while Eric pours a cup. "Thanks to your nanomachine treatments, my body feels younger and my head is a lot clearer." Fria is free from Alzheimer's and is able to live a little longer thanks to Arthur's medical nanites.
"Glad to hear it." Eric smiles. He asks, "Would you like cream and sugar?"
"Three sugars and a little bit of cream."
Eric proceeds to do so and stir before serving it to Fria.
When he hands the tea to Fria, she says, "You do know how to treat your elders despite not having any grandparents of your own."
Eric then serves himself, "Let's just say I do know despite the fact."
Fria takes a sip of her tea as she looks out the window to enjoy the last bit of sunlight shines over the mountains. "Such a lovely sight." She smiles by the fact that she can see the clear weather as stars can be seen as the night sky can be seen overhead. "It's been so long since I've seen the sunset."
Eric looks out the window with her, "Sunsets are beautiful. But I do like the sunrises. The reason is because the next day brings great opportunity and hope to those that want to experience life."
Fria looks at Eric, "Interesting analogy."
Eric takes a sip before talking some more. "By the way, I would like to show you around the valley. Unfortunately, I have classes to teach."
"You look awfully young to be a teacher."
Eric giggles a little, "I know. I am only eighteen after all."
"Eighteen?" This was a shock to Fria. "You should be a second year at one of the Huntsmen Academies by now."
"I know. But what I'm doing is just as important as being a Huntsman. There are things that Huntsmen keep on overlooking such as saving those in greater need. And I mean within the cities.
Eric goes into great explanation on what he and his people are doing. They want to change the world and make it a better place as they excel past the moon and into the stars. He even told Fria that he needs the Relics in order to use them to their fullest extent in order to make it all possible. Fria is taken in by these bold ideas and the desire to make the world safer is burning brighter. Eric hopes to sway Fria to his side in order to get the Staff of Creation rather than having her killed. Yet Fria is unsure.
"What do you say?" Eric extends his hand, "Would you like to join us?"
Fria smiles, "I have to admit, this is a lot to take in." She acknowledges that his ideal world does have merit. "But I would like some time to think about it."
Eric gives a small nod, "Very well." He agrees to let Fria think about it for awhile till she makes her decision. Eric looks at the door, "In the meantime, Schwarz?"
Schwarz Lamb-Schnee enters the room. "Yes, sir?"
Eric looks back at Fria, "Schwarz will give you the tour of our valley." Eric looks back at Schwarz, "And Schwarz, take good care of our guest, would you?"
"Of course." Schwarz agrees.
Fria smiles with her left hand on her cheek, "Oh my! I get to tour around this valley with such a handsome young man."
Schwarz blushes a little out of embarrassment.
The Next Day...
The next morning, Schwarz takes Fria around Enlighten Valley. However, Fria is taken around via wheelchair since her legs aren't as strong as they once were even with nanomachines. Throughout the valley, they get to see people working hard in the many farms close to the Districts as well as taking in the sights. Fria notices that a lot of people are even happy here with genuine smiles on their faces. She got to see all the art that she admires. She later notice some children playing in the playgrounds having fun, students of all ages working hard on their studies, making new ideas or hope to see their favorite shows once the make it home and is even introduced to the Wesen of all shapes and sizes. Even got to see three vampires of the Razielim Clan flying above in broad daylight over at the Caesar District.
"What are those?" Fria asks as she looks up at the sky.
Schwarz answers, "Those are vampires of the Razielim Clan. They're creatures that drink blood and there are many types of Clans with their own unique characteristics. Thirty-one to be precise. For the Razielim Clan, they have bat-like wings that traverse through the skies. The Vampire Clans are living in a plot of land northwest where special white plants called Bloodsprings that grow Blood Beads. A special fruit-like bead that contains a blood-like substance that they feed on. But we do donate blood every now and then." Schwarz looks puzzled, "Although... They usually come out at night. Never see them come out in the day. How bizarre."
Fria looks at Schwarz, "So what are they doing here?"
"Don't know." Schwarz keeps on looking at the three flying vampires, "Yet it must be important." But Schwarz puts all of that aside and pushes the wheelchair to continue the tour. "Yet we will be getting another new race soon. They will be similar to Faunus but have more animal traits such as having both ears and tails. They will come from animals after touching a certain substance."
"Really? What are they?"
Schwarz chuckles, "You'll see them soon."
As they continue the tour, the made it to the amphitheater.
Before they go in, Fria says something to Schwarz. "Schwarz?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I heard about what happened to you and your mother...and I'm sorry."
Schwarz grips the armchair tightly when someone mentions about his past.
"I wish I was there to save you both." Fria grips on her flower pattern blanket because she thought she failed. "I maybe the Winter Maiden, but it was supposed to be my duty to safeguard the people of Atlas as a Huntress. My body maybe old, but I still would've done something."
Schwarz grits his teeth as a tear fell down his left cheek. He is quivering in anger as he remembers that horrible night.
Outskirts of Vacuo, 10 Years Ago...
It was a dark night just outside of Vacuo as a small white truck is traversing through the sands to head towards the northern villages. The back of the truck has supplies and some furniture strapped to the bed of the truck. In the driver seat, a woman with fair skin, long black hair and light blue eyes while also wearing desert garbs is trying to get as far as she could because she told Jacques Schnee that he has an illegitimate son. This would cause a scandal and Jacques ordered for their execution. In the back, the sleepy six-year-old Schwarz is trying to stay awake to keep an eye out the windows to make sure nothing comes at them. However, something cause their truck to flip over and crash on its side.
Schwarz is outside of the truck face down into the sand as he tries to get up.
"NO DON'T!" his mother cried out.
Schwarz's vision is a little blurry as the truck is providing the only light because it is on fire while one part of his forehead is bleeding. Yet he can make out that a man has a revolver pointed at her head as she tries to stop them.
"HE'S JUST A CHILD! PLEASE NO!"
BANG! A gunshot was fired at Ms. Lamb right through the center of her skull. Schwarz's vision is clear enough to see his mother dead on the ground. He froze in fear as he is next to die.
The man approach as he aims the gun at Schwarz. "Sorry kid, but your father is paying good money to have you removed from the family tree."
Schwarz close his eyes as he awaits for the inevitable.
SHINK! "GAAAH!" FLOP!
Schwarz open his eyes and sees the assassin dropped dead onto the sands. He looked up at the person that killed him and sees someone in a very familiar suit.
He kneels down, "Are you alright? My name is John Gulch. Are you okay?"
Schwarz sheds tears as he hugs the man as he cries. "Please..." he says sobbingly, "Help me..." Schwarz stops hugging to show his angry face, "Help me kill the man responsible for this! Help me kill my father! I want him to pay for what he has done! I WANT REVENGE! I WANT HIM TO REGRET HIS OWN EXISTENCE!"
"Schwarz!" Fria tries to snap him out of it.
He did and notices Fria's hand on his. His face was full of rage just a moment a go but now calm. Schwarz dries his tears with a handkerchief, "Sorry, ma'am. I just don't like it when my past is brought up."
"I'm sorry." Fria apologizes for bringing up the past.
"I-It's alright. But please, don't bring it up again." Schwarz tries to smile, "Now come on. We've got a play to watch."
AN: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Plus: Please also enjoy Survival in a Strange Galaxy, The Rising of the Post-Apocalyptic Shield Hero and Shokugeki no Saiba: Food Wars!
