Ch. 43
Top floor of Beacon Tower, Ozpin's office….
"You don't know how relieved I am to know that you have survived such an unfortunate event. No initiation has ever gone this badly before," said Ozpin with a mournful look on his face. He slowly poured tea from a pot on his desk into a mug before gently setting it down.
Glynda stood next to him, while Anise, Riku, Raze, Erza, and Sakura stood before him.
"There were about eleven students besides us," Erza said. "Are they all dead?"
"I'm afraid so. Reconnaissance teams have found the other students, or what remains of them. No one except you five has survived," Ozpin told them.
"There were observation drones and video cameras all over the forest Ozpin. Surely you would have caught wind of any interference beforehand. Plus, you should have sent trained huntsmen into the forest to watch everyone. And they call this a top-notch academy," Raze, now without a mask, said in disappointment.
Glynda frowned. "Young man, you are addressing the headmaster of Beacon! And you will address him as such!"
"Glynda…please, let it go," Ozpin pleaded.
Glynda hesitated for a moment, before stepping back. "I will say that we lost communication with the drones and cameras early in the exam. Our teams found them all destroyed. Our communications were also being blocked so we were unable to contact anyone in the field, students or staff."
"We have received your reports of the events that transpired. We weren't expecting anything other than Grimm to show up in that forest, but we will be doubling our security measures and searching for any more unknown creatures that may be lurking about." Ozpin grabbed his mug and took a sip to calm his nerves.
"Uhmm, Professor, if I may ask, what happened to the black-haired wolf faunus with the red gauntlets? The last time I saw him, he was preparing to battle two of the creatures that attacked us in the forest," said Sakura, hoping that at least the man who saved her skin was alive.
Ozpin shook his head. "His name is Abaddon Rizer, and I'm afraid he is currently missing in action."
Sakura's head hung low, thinking Abaddon's fate was her fault. If she had convinced him to run away with her, then she would've saved at least one person. Riku and Anise also frowned at the news.
"Wait, wasn't he the guy standing next to you at the beginning of initiation? What's so special about him that he's MIA instead of KIA? Is he a pro huntsmen?" Erza asked.
"No, Abaddon is a second-year student," Riku answered. "Somewhat of a friend of ours as well."
"Mr. Rizer had experience with a new Grimm type, the Ghouls, that had been surfacing around Vale lately. I asked for his assistance as I knew most, if not all, of you had no experience with them. A Grimm as powerful and smart as they are would even be trouble for a licensed huntsman in large groups."
"And what of our initiation results?" Raze asked impatiently.
"Ah yes." Ozpin quickly stood before Glynda could say a word. "Normally each team has four members, but in this case, I guess five can't do much harm. From this day forward, you will be team ARES. As for your leader…. Ms. Evergreen, would you be suited to the task?"
"M-m-me?!" Anise stuttered. "Are you sure Professor?"
"Of course. Raze isn't the leader type, and neither is Erza or Ms. Guerrant. And your brother seems to have no problem following your lead, but as all brothers do, I'm sure he will ensure your safety and take the helm if need be. It could be you or him honestly, but I hope that you are the better fit."
Anise scratched her head in thought before giving Ozpin a nod. "I'll try my best sir."
"Very well." Ozpin sat back down. "Your belongings have already been taken to your dorm. I've given your teachers notice that you will start classes two days after tomorrow, so please rest for now. You are dismissed."
Everyone except Raze nodded before entering the elevator and leaving the two huntsmen alone.
"Was it a wise decision to let those two come here?" Glynda asked Ozpin in a serious yet concerned tone. "Given their background, they could prove troublesome and bring unwanted attention."
"I wanted to give Erza and Raze a chance to learn from the students here. To learn that they can trust others than themselves, even if those they trust happen to be human." Ozpin walked up to the window, looking over the entire campus. "I refuse to discriminate against those willing to learn and grow. So, I took the risk. Besides, if Anise and Riku are anything like their parents then in time their team will get along fine."
XXXXXXX
Kathleen was alone in the forest, pasts the limits of the school campus. She was meditating in a large pond, floating on the water's surface with her limbs spread out and her eyes closed. It was quiet and serene, but it would not stay like that for long.
Kathleen's eyes fluttered open as a semi-translucent orb appeared above her. She slowly got to her feet and backed away from the orb as it hummed in the air. A few minutes passed, and a large shape quickly exited the orb and landed in the water. Kathleen watched as the large shape under the water shrunk until it took on a humanoid shape. The shape started to swim upwards, and a feminine hand broke the surface. Kathleen grabbed it and pulled, revealing a young woman with whitish skin and curly dirty blonde hair. She was naked and her body was covered in patches of white scales on her forehead, cheeks, arms, sides of her waist and thighs, around her neck, and on her chest right below her neck. She had pointed ears with scales on the back of them. She had short brown antler-like horns coming out the top of her head and another pair jutting from her forehead. She had clawed hands and feet, a long slender white tail decorated with a brown diamond-shaped pattern and a dark brown arrow-shaped spike at the end, and four pairs of scaly wings. She gazed at the huntress with magenta eyes with slit pupils.
"Ugh…Uhm…I-," Calypso stuttered.
Kathleen smiled. "It's okay Calypso. We are the only ones here. You can address me normally."
"As you wish milady."
"I can tell you are relieved. Did you find anything for me?"
"Milady, I'm afraid the high voidsent are here."
Kathleen's eyes widened. "Are you sure Calypso?! Are you sure?!"
Calypso produced a claw from her hand. Kathleen took it and analyzed the aether coming from it. It was voidsent, a low tier one, but there was the aura of an old familiar foe.
"Ferdiad's here?! But how?! We destroyed him!" Kathleen huffed.
"I know milady, but I was flying over the Emerald Forests and encountered one of his pets, a Tailbunker. I managed to take its life and collect that sample before the jester could attempt to capture me. I wasn't followed."
Kathleen sighed in relief. "Good. Now, I want you to go home and rest. Take a long way if you must, while I deal with the voidsent."
"Are you sure? I can be of some help to you at lea-"
"No, I can handle this myself. You must await my return. Now go."
"Alright. Please be careful."
And with that, Calypso quickly rose into the air and out of sight. Kathleen looked at the claw piece she had and crushed it into dust, then began sprinting further away from Beacon. As she ran, her body began to change: She gained two feet in height, her skin turned grey, three extra eyes, and her clothes disappeared. White bone-like armor grew over her body, covering her hands, forearms, most of her legs with some gaps on her inner and outer thighs, her feet, most of her torso except her upper back and upper chest, her neck up to her cheeks and ears, and on her forward. Her eyes became yellow with no irises and purple diamond-shaped pupils. She gained an extra pair of arms along with a short semi-translucent cape wrapped around her shoulders. She grew a long white tail with a split end. She has clawed hands and two large, clawed toes. She also has two pairs of horns on her head: two curving horns with another point branching upward from them and another curved pair where her ears would be.
Kathleen dashed deep into the forest. She was moving at high speed, further away from Vale towards the southeast coast of Sanus.
XXXXXXX
The Small Town of Mortem, Southeast Sanus…
Ferdiad smiled as he looked upon the town he and his wyverns had just devastated. Many of the buildings were destroyed or just on fire and his voidsent flew about, keeping an eye out for any more civilians or huntsmen. In front of the jester was a tall slender woman with short brown hair and pale skin, wearing a dark brown corset with a cream-colored short-sleeved blouse, black pants, and black boots. She was on her knees in front of the jester, covered in bleeding wounds. One of her weapons, a silver khopesh, lay shattered in front of her. Her vision was slightly blurred, thanks to the beating that she had received, but she could still make out the bodies of civilians and licensed huntsmen around her.
"Who or what the hell is this guy?" she thought. "He defeated our entire team so easily."
As she looked back at him, she noticed that Ferdiad was looking away into the distance. She still held a large dagger in her right hand. She thought that if she was fast enough, she could at least execute a critical strike on the voidsent while he was unfocused. She put her remaining strength into her legs and pounced forward, both hands on her dagger, poised to stab into Ferdiad's chest. She placed all her hopes, her anger, and her despair, all into that one attack.
SLASH!
Ferdiad smiled as he watched the human's bisected lifeless body fall to the ground. He slashed at the air, letting the blood on his scythe fly off onto the ground.
"Hehehehehe, I love playing with the hopes of mortals. It makes my existence much more enjoyable." Ferdiad then looked up at one of his voidsent, a bluish silver wyvern called an Avalanche and pointed towards the huntress he just killed. "Feed little ones."
The wyvern immediately went down and began feeding on her body, devouring the top half first. Soon, another wyvern of the same breed began feeding on the lower half. Ferdiad looked up at the other four wyverns flying overhead, then at the large black orb flying above his head.
"I wonder what I should do next."
Without warning, the head of the wyverns in front of Ferdiad exploded. Its twin, now covered in black blood, screeched before flying up into the air. It only managed to get a few feet up before its head was also destroyed.
"Want something to do? How about you tell me what business you have on Remnant."
Ferdiad turned around to see Kathleen walking towards him. She had a polearm made of ice in her hand and a ring of small dark purple diamonds floating around her, two of which just flew back into formation.
"Well, well, well. It seems the mutt's pet has arrived, but at least I only have to deal with one of you," said Ferdiad as he gazed at the orb in his possession. "As for why I'm here, I'm afraid that is not for your ears to witness."
"That wasn't a request clown."
"Oh, I know, but if you want information, you must pry it from my dead carcass."
Ferdiad let the orb he had with him float to the ground and his form began to change. His body was now mostly a red chrome, with pale white and black accents. The blade of his scythe became massive and deformed, now with a black, red, and gold design and sporting an eye on either side of the blade. Ferdiad slashed the air, sending a blue wave toward Kathleen. She flew upwards, pointed her weapon at him, and fired a spear of purple and black energy. The voidsent blocked it with his weapon, then swiftly dashed to the side as Kathleen flew past with a flying kick. Ferdiad slashed downward, aiming to slice off her head, but she twirled around. She kicked the blade, hard enough to knock the weapon out of the jester's hands. The scythe went flying until it crashed into the remains of a house.
"Your aether is stable. I see you've mastered your hollowed form," Kathleen stated.
"Of course," Ferdiad replied as his weapon flew back into his hands. "I must increase my strength if I want to reap the soul from your very flesh. Prepare yourself!"
