Bartholomew Oobleck didn't think himself a particularly cowardly man so much as a rational and cautious one. When he was out of his league, he would retreat and leave combat situations to his admittedly more capable teammates. When out of ideas, he would admit as much and field the opportunity to come up with something to the rest of the group. When at fault for causing tensions between STRQ and OKRA, he would apologize gracefully and own up to his shortcomings. Even in situations of failure, he did his best to avoid backing down or shying away.
But when Bartholomew realized that Professor Gumo's eight glittering arachnid eyes were each fixated upon a different student in the room, he found himself involuntarily recoiling and taking a step backward in horror.
"…Bartholomew Oobleck," the faunus accused as he took a step toward the teen and held out a slender arm. Despite his relatively lithe frame, his toned muscles accented his tight tactical suit with natural curves. "The package-bearer. Fragile aura, limited combat skills and reaction speed. Immune to sickness. I've studied your profile, as well as those of your teammates. The suitcase, if you would."
Bartholomew offered the package forward, his hand trembling slightly.
"…Professor… Ozpin told me that there was 'a relic' inside. That's all I know."
Professor Gumo's fingers lingered upon the handle of the suitcase as he focused all eight of his eyes upon Bartholomew's face. Several creases appeared within the skin where eyebrows would have been around each of the orbs. Seemingly satisfied, he brought the case toward himself and turned to walk back to his desk.
"Apparently true… and yet, your reactions to the word 'relic' tell me everything I need to know."
"And the more you tell us, the better position you'll be in moving forward," Professor Calavera warned as she leaned against the wall next to the assembly of monitors. "Be truthful."
"We know about the relics," Adam said immediately as he locked eyes with Professor Calavera. Though his attention wasn't on the rest of OKRA or STRQ, he knew that all of their eyes were upon him. "We know about Jinn, and we know that the relic inside of the suitcase is a sword."
Professor Gumo paused his efforts at undoing the locks upon the suitcase to turn and look at the younger faunus with his full attention.
"…Adam Taurus. Underaged, a refugee from Atlas. The profile of a killer, but the eye of a child. A reputation for and the capability of causing bloodshed… and yet your official record is grossly inflated. Or am I wrong?"
"…you're not," Adam admitted. "I've… killed. Occasionally. But it isn't… I… don't…" the boy trailed off, his confidence beginning to wane.
"Explain to me how you know the Sword of Destruction is within this case," Professor Gumo said calmly. "Not even STRQ was supposed to have such knowledge."
"Fox Alistair's semblance," Raven answered calmly. "He was able to 'see' inside of it and told us it was a sword. We didn't know, nor did we ask. The knowledge was given to us by an outside party… and Team BASS isn't aware of the relics or our actual mission."
"If they were, we would have an international incident on our hands," Professor Gumo warned. "As it stands, instead, we have only an expected outcome and a predictable disappointment."
"…disappointment?" Kali asked as Professor Gumo turned back to the case and began working through the locks once again. "What the hell do you mean 'disappointment'? We were bound to find out about the relics eventually, and the cargo's here, isn't it? We did our jobs. We just colored outside the lines a bit, which is exactly what Professor Ozpin would expect from us, if he has any sense."
"All of that is true," Professor Gumo acknowledged as the case clicked open. The man hefted a long, black sword from the case that looked as though the entire thing was made from a singular chunk of stone. "But you're missing the forest for the trees, Miss Moonglove. You've been played."
"Played," Roman repeated. "I hate being played, and I hope you're wrong… but I've got a feeling you're not."
"Mister Torchwick, I am seldom wrong," Professor Gumo acknowledged as he turned and lifted the blade horizontally with both hands, as though he was offering it outward in a ceremonial gesture. "And when I am, I seek to make amends for the mistake. As you all are about to do."
No one in the room but Professor Calavera was prepared for the headmaster to simply drop the blade and hold his hands out to the side. STRQ and OKRA were even less prepared for the blade to shatter like glass as it impacted the floor, and Summer let out a little scream as she backed up into Taiyang, nearly bowling him over.
"So dramatic," Professor Calavera mocked with a roll of her eyes. "I agreed to let you have your fun with them, but can we please speed this up? I don't like leaving him on hold."
Professor Gumo ignored the woman as he took slow, careful steps forward, his eyes searching the black fragments upon the floor as he went.
"Though I will admit your discovery of which specific relic you thought you were transporting was an interesting twist… you are the ones that told me you knew anything about the relics and Jinn at all. As Mister Oobleck said, he was told that a relic was within the suitcase. 'Relic' is a very loose, nonspecific term. All I did was play your words back to you, and several of you sang on command. We'll need to work on that for the future, though you all won't be in the thick of things for quite a while. You weren't transporting the Relic of Destruction. You simply convinced yourselves that you were, and told me that in the process."
"…anyone else feeling really stupid right now?" Taiyang asked. "All we had to do was be patient, and we would've found out that all we were transporting was a prop. Professor Ozpin's going to be so pissed when he finds out we told OKRA everything…"
"'Pissed' isn't the word I would use."
As Professor Ozpin's larger than life image crackled into existence upon the monitors, none of the teens seemed particularly surprised. Qrow put his hand up to his head and massaged his temples, while Raven turned her head so that only the masked portion of her face would be visible to the headmaster.
"…we failed," the girl said as she watched Professor Gumo pluck a small object from the floor. "We failed from the start, and never had any intention of keeping your secrets. And you knew it, didn't you?"
"And what did I tell all of you on the night we returned from the mountaintop?"
Summer looked to her teammates, finding only blank expressions among them.
"…stuff," Summer said, feeling very stupid. "A lot of stuff."
"Among that 'stuff' was the statement that I have forgotten more than you will ever learn, and I have made more mistakes than any of you ever will across several lifetimes. I can forgive this one, and forget it, as well. In fact, I already had by the time you 'signed on'. Everything is proceeding according to plan, as far as I'm concerned."
"Be that as it may, 'the plan' is no less tedious," Professor Gumo said as he polished the object he picked up against his vest. "By necessity of course, but even I am growing somewhat tired of how soft and slow our approach has been."
"Then you'll enjoy this next part," Professor Ozpin said with a gleeful smirk.
"I hate to put a damper on this whole performance the three of you have going on here to prove just how smart and amazing you are," Roman interjected, "but before we get to the next bombshell- what the hell were we transporting? What was inside of the bullshit sword? Are we even allowed to know?"
Professor Gumo held out his hand once again, showing off a small, sealed vial that seemed to contain some sort of tissue sample. Whatever the organic material inside of the tube was, a brief current of blue energy pulsed through it, causing it to contract as though it was still alive. The sudden jolt within the material caused a similar jolt within Summer's chest, and she suddenly felt as though she might vomit. Her knees became weak, and she began to sway slightly as her forehead grew clammy.
"…Ozma?"
Professor Ozpin took a moment to hide his expression behind his steepled fingers.
"…no. Not yet. They lack the background knowledge, and several other things necessary to understand. They're not ready."
"Thank the gods," Professor Calavera muttered as she shook her head. "If you ask me, even what we're planning to dump on them right now is too much."
"Perhaps… but will that ever be untrue?" Professor Gumo asked as he tucked the vial into a pouch upon his vest. "It isn't a subject that most could handle while maintaining their composure."
"…fair enough," Professor Calavera said with a shrug. "Though, still, does it have to be now? They're supposed to be on vacation, Oz."
"They were also supposed to be keeping our secrets, Maria," Professor Ozpin reminded. "Let the ensuing dread serve as temporary punishment."
Summer bristled at Professor Ozpin's lighthearted tone. Though she didn't know what was coming, she could feel it in her bones. Something awful was about to happen. Something she knew she would never be prepared to hear, whether she used her semblance to get a preview or not, was about to be said. Her mouth was dry, her palms were sweaty, and her throat closed involuntarily as she watched Professor Ozpin lower his hands and begin to speak once again. As he did, a single word continued to resonate within her mind like an unwelcome, frightening song being whispered by some mischievous imp.
"Given that you all know about the relics, now, it's time you learned what, exactly, I'm protecting them from. It isn't just to prevent them from falling into the hands of the public who might abuse their power. I'm assuming STRQ told you about Those Above All, OKRA?"
"They did," Bartholomew confirmed. "The relics, Jinn, Arowana… everything."
"Then it sounds like you're up to speed. It wasn't just me that Those Above All were concerned with. The even more pressing issue was keeping the relics f-"
"Salem," Summer interrupted, unable to stop herself. "They wanted to keep the relics from Salem, and so do you."
A cold, uncomfortable silence passed over the room as everyone stared at Summer. Professor Calavera was in total shock for the first time in front of the students, while Professor Gumo tilted his head curiously. No one else on Teams STRQ or OKRA seemed to have any idea what Summer was talking about, and Professor Ozpin slowly removed his glasses as he leaned closer to the camera with furrowed brows.
"…Summer Rose," the man said, a panicked inflection nearly cracking through the eternal calm of his voice. "What do you know about Salem? Why do you know that name?"
Summer's breathing quickened as a hot wash of sickness flooded from her cheeks and began to creep down her neck. Her head pounded as the name continued to repeat in her mind as though someone else was chanting it to her from inside her skull. As she closed her eyes, all of the burgeoning nausea and dread coalesced into something foreign and icy within her mind's eye.
There she was.
A pale, corpselike face that Summer had never seen before, but instantly found familiar. Eyes with black sclera and red irises staring through her, partially hidden by white hair that hung down the length of her face. The woman's expression was full of hate- hate for Summer, mixed with a sick, animalistic desire. She was coming.
"Summer?" Raven called, sounding worried. "What the hell i-"
"I…" Summer began as she opened her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. She began to back away as quickly as she could, holding the sides of her head as she tried to banish the lingering image of the witch. "I don't… I can't…"
Summer could feel her hands shaking involuntarily as her nails dug into the sides of her head. She closed her eyes once again, only to see the same image of a woman she had never met, but somehow knew. Overwhelmed by a sudden panic, Summer did the only thing she could think to do.
Summer screamed.
Summer fell forward and felt a pair of arms just barely save her from hitting the floor.
Everything suddenly went dark.
Author's Note:
…what a fun and relaxing beach Volume we're having!
-RD
