Sephiroth, seemingly from a remote village near the outskirts of Vale owned territory, from what Qrow found and so fondly told them after his bout with Winter, the village in question; Nibelheim didn't exist, Qrow searched the area twice and even the surrounding area, no sign of a Nibelheim, which was concerning to the rest of the brotherhood, if he was able to keep a lie that has no real base what else was he lying about. Glynda was by far the most intent to find out why. While the others talked and talked about different possibilities she sent a text to the man, requesting his presents in her office.
(o)
After the meeting concluded she made her way to her office finding him standing just outside, calm and unmoving his eyes fixed on nothing but the other side of the hall from where he is. Turning his head towards her slowly and without worry he was smiling, it was that knowing smile he always wore but now it felt less knowing and more frightening, because she couldn't tell what he knew.
"Come in." she ordered as she opened the door and led him inside, walking in he made his way towards the desk and sat down as she made her way around to the other side and joined him "Tell me..." she began before taking a deep breath "Where are you from?"
"Nibelheim. It is a small remote village on the outskirts of Vales' owned territory near the Impassable Range Pass." he answered easily from what she could tell even he believed he was telling the truth
"We had a group of huntsman out that way, they didn't find any ruins that suggested a village had been out there." she said earning a nod from the man
"Ah, that means that the planet has reclaimed it then. Pity." he said nothing in his voice, as if he felt nothing towards his home
"Sephiroth, I... probably shouldn't ask this but... … what were you doing in Shade academy? Why did you go to the vault?" she asked after a few breaths to recompose herself, and prepared to do something beyond stupid
"Tell me, when you use dust can you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The planet, screaming in pain, it's suffering prolonged by the creation of such objects, the souls of the dead seem to funnel through these vaults. I was merely hoping to set them free." he said, it was a blatant lie, whatever those vaults held were pieces of the lifestream, and he was going to absorb it.
"What? How can you... can you... hear it?"
"The cries of the dead? Yes." he answered staring her dead in the eyes the two locked like that for quite a while, she stared at him in shock for a few moments "It's why I don't use dust." he added allowing a frown to cross his lips, Glynda stared into his eyes, the two stared for a while before she spoke again
"What do you mean. The cries of the dead? Like-"
"It means what it means. Just by touching one crystal I can hear the final thoughts of the being within. When in such pain. It must be released, don't you agree?" he asked, making his plan seem more sympathetic could help him in the long run, but it could also make her watch him more closely, this was a gamble but one he was willing to take.
"Well..." she began before gulping a bit, it was clear that she was extremely conflicted on what to say, remaining quiet would be for the best, if she were to suspect that he was too determined to get into the vaults or he was too forceful it would ruin his plan "Well... I-... I need to talk to Ozpin about this. I'll talk to you later. Remember that the vaults aren't know to the public, keep that information under wraps." she said quickly standing and leaving the room he soon followed her. This either worked or it didn't, only time will tell.
(o)
After a few days of talking and deliberation the meeting with Pyrrha had come, Sephiroth would not be joining them, due to the unknowns that came with such a thing, and a requirement for farther deliberation. James wasn't big on entertaining the idea and neither was Qrow, both of whom had valid points, but both Glynda and Ozpin saw that he was a man who was easy to judge incorrectly.
(o)
Ruby stood along side Yang the two looking around at the crowd, Ruby was happily bouncing on her feet at the idea of meeting other huntsmen-in-training like them. Her heart was racing, she knew Sephiroth was watching her matches, and if he found that she was slacking in anyway... … she didn't want to think about that.
Across from them were a pair from Atlas, Flynt Coal and Neon Katt, Neon would be a problem for Yang she could see that easily. Flynt on the other hand, he would be an easy win for her sister, turning her attention to her foes she spoke
"So... how long have you two been training for this day?" Ruby asked as the other three prepared for combat, she on the other hand kept a neutral stance, Sephiroth had drilled one thing into her with all that training and that is to keep her composure regardless of who or what she was fighting.
"Like everyday, Flynt here just couldn't stop running us through drills! But if we win that is a ton of fame coming our way." Neon explained earning a hum from Ruby
"Too bad, all that time was wasted." she said causing the girl to pause for a moment slowly spinning due to her momentum, after a moment she gasped
"RUDE!" She shouted as Ruby and Yang shared a look
"3... 2... 1... … BEGIN!" Ooblecks voice rang out around them, soon after a wave of force blasted Ruby away who was soon chased down by Neon, landing on her feet Ruby slid to a stop while drawing Crescent Rose and bringing it up in front of her with a flourish blocking three strikes from Neon who skated away into the ruins around them, following after her Ruby leapt high into the air and landed on the top floor of a collapsed building and looked around her eyes catching sight of a rainbow trail, kicking off she slammed through the window on the building next to where the trail led to shoulder checking the woman sending her out the door with a yelp, leaping back Ruby avoided a sudden explosion of fire, sliding to a stop she peered through the window and found Neon wasn't where she left her. Twisting around she held Crescent Rose out to her left while looking to the right, the pressure she felt on the weapon told her that Neon had in fact tried to trick her, firing the weapon the two were sent into the air, Neon let out a surprised gasp as Ruby fired two more times sending the two higher, firing again she found herself above the woman staring down she let out a whistle
"Man, we are high." she commented causing the ginger to look down and pale a bit before looking back up just to get struck in the face by the blunt of the weapon sending her rocketing into the ground with a resounding boom, landing roughly Ruby let a hiss of pain and sat down rubbing her ankles.
"Dang it. Couldn't stick it." she muttered before getting back to her feet, the other woman seemed far more loopy her eyes pointing in two different directions
"Ow..." slowly sitting up she rubbed her head and took in her surroundings "What um... what happened?" she asked looking over to Ruby her eyes slowly focusing "Wait..." she muttered once her eyes actually focused and she leapt to her feet slipped and banged her head again "... Yeah okay, I'm done." she muttered and closed her eyes letting her aura drop signaling a forfeit. Ruby let out a hum and stood
"Alright... I guess... see you... later." Ruby said slowly walking away giving the girl a pair of finger guns as she began to look around for Yang and Flynt, after searching for a while she eventually found them still in the main stage Yang seemed to be having an easy time keeping up with him, most of his attacks were meant to create distance and Yang was smart enough not to give him any, elbowing him in the jaw Yang grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him into the air, diving up after him Ruby let out a hum, she frowned, somehow Yang was able to keep up with the acrobatics that she was learning from Sephiroth, it was almost-
"YANG! HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING WITHOUT ME!?" Ruby questioned as she the woman threw the man into the ground, following after she slammed her knee into his gut shattering his aura
"YEAH!" Yang shouted back as she stood and turned to her "I don't like that Sephiroth guy, so I've been training to beat him into a pulp." Yang called back looking up and seeing they had won "I think I'm getting pretty close. What do you think?" Yang questioned as the cheers drowned out their conversation
(o)
Sephiroth was quite happy with how that battle went, he knew Yang was training he found her studying combat techniques and doing stamina training, she was growing but not fast enough, Ruby on the other hand was becoming quite proficient, the only issue was the fact the techniques that he taught her were meant for swords not scythes, she would need to adapt if she wanted to keep up, but then again, none of this was for her, it was to do just what it was doing, motivating her sister to become stronger and that was all he wanted. Ruby came dashing up to him a smile plastered on her face
"Did you see! Did you? did you? did you?" she questioned as he placed a hand on top of her head stopping her from bouncing "I did. And I saw you flunked your landing, we'll be working on that." he said causing her to pale a bit
"Cool... and who are you?" a far more gruff voice came to their right, Ruby happily smiled over at the man, looking over Sephiroth found a man around the same height at him dressed in a white button up and black pants and boots on his belt concealed by a tattered red cape rested a large sword he leaned a bit towards Ruby who quickly wrapped her arms' around him
"That's Sephiroth, he taught me all that cool stuff in that match."
"And that landing?" he questioned causing Ruby to groan
"You saw that too?! How many others saw that?" she questioned earning a quick laugh from Sephiroth
"Everyone. You sat on the ground and whined." he answered causing Ruby to slouch with a sigh
"Yay... now I'm upset... thanks." she muttered as the three began to walk towards the airships
(o)
The two stood on either side of the arena aiming their weapons at one and other. Ruby let out a growl and rushed forward, twisting calmly around Sephiroth easily avoided the blade and raised his sword blocking her follow up strike guiding the strike away he stepped back and swung with a bit of his proper strength, Ruby watched the air split and ripple as their weapons collided a boom reverberating around the room as well as herself, slamming into the wall it to shattered as she dropped to the ground her body unable to function from the shock, she forgot how to breath and her mind went blink as she lied on the ground, the sounds of footsteps earned her attention, slowly looking over she caught Sephiroth staring down at her
"On your feet." he ordered grabbing her by the hair and pulled her up to her feet
"S-sorry. You just... you hit really hard." she said regaining control of her breath, he made no effort to answer as he walked back to the center of the arena and waited, rushing to attack again she was easily defended against, she had been thinking of something to try and win this. Tossing her weapon up into the air Sephiroth leaned out of the way as it flew above, diving after the weapon Ruby grabbed it and slammed the weapon on the ground causing it to shatter and explode out, Sephiroth leapt back avoiding the remains that shot like bullets, spinning around she slung the weapon at him again causing it to bit through the earth and slash at him, leaning out of the way he raised his weapon as she dashed forward and caught her weapon allowing the momentum to carry her into the air and over his strike, without worry he leaned back avoiding her kick and swung at her allowing an arc of purple energy to screech out sending her into the wall shattering it too, much like most of their battles the arena was going to need to be rebuilt, but it wasn't his fault that the creatures of this world were so fragile.
"Ow... why?" she questioned with a groan, the pain throbbed through her as she stared at her arm "Shit!" she screamed as blood sprayed from the wound, her hand was hanging by a thread, her cries of pain were soon silenced when she felt a rough and powerful grip on her forearm the intense burning that kept rocketing up her arm causing her eyes to start watering, clenching her eyes shut she struggled to prevent the tears from escaping her, after a few moments a cold sensation came up through her body and out her wrist, slowly opening her eyes she found the mess of torn flesh that was her hand reverted to her normal hand no wound apart from a rather ugly scar along her wrist, blinking a few times she felt the cold sensation slowly fade as Sephiroth released her arm
"You... healed me?... how?" she questioned as the man rose and began to walk away
"Magic." he answered as he reached the center of the arena and turned to face her again "On your feet, I wasted my power on you, now prove that you're worth it." he ordered aiming his weapon at her, quickly climbing to her feet with growing determination and moved to attack
(o)
Qrow let out a hum as he stared out the massive window trying his best to ignore the ticking clock above, Ozpin took a sip and looked over to him
"What do you think of him?" he asked calmly trying to gauge Qrows' reaction, Qrow let out a grunt
"I don't know, he's playing a close hand." he answered earning a nod from Ozpin who folded his hands
"Glynda wants to bring him in on this, I am certain that he is a servant of Salem, but Glynda believes that he is acting on his own. Such a thing... seems unlikely." Ozpin said earning a sigh from the other man who began to pace the room
"I don't trust him. Someone who lied about where they came from means that it probably doesn't exist." Qrow said taking a drink "If you wanna bring him in on this, I'll respect that choice. But just know that I think it's a really shitty idea. We know second to nothin' about him."
"I agree. But with how Glynda has been pushing she may know something we don't. I'd talk to her about it but she is rather busy keeping the whole Vytal festival running smoothly, not that you and Winter helped with your scuffle." Ozpin offered taking a sip from his drink, Qrow just sighed and made his way towards the elevator
(o)
Sephiroth walked along the court yard and stared up at the CCT tower, he could tell what he sought was beneath, but finding a way down without drawling attention was annoying, especially with Ironwood having so many eyes focused on him, if that man didn't want to die yet he'd probably have a better plan that having that woman watching him. Upon reaching a part of the courtyard that was clear of people he waited for a few minutes, the woman eventually shifted to get a better angle on him, once reaching her position she peaked around the corner only to find her target inches from her
leaping back she let out a yelp as he walked around in to face her more closely
"I know you've been watching me." he said calm as ever "And I have a little experiment that I could use some help with." he added with that smile as her mind quickly drew to every blink and she fell unconscious "Don't worry you wont die." he said as the last of her thoughts faded into white noise and everything went dark
(o)
Winter returned to her post of watching the man as normal, she felt no different than before but he seemed less... focused. She would occasionally catch his eyes moving towards her but now he completely ignored her she even tested it by moving out rather obviously, he made no effort towards catching her, it was frightening to say the least, what had he learned that she missed?
(o)
Ruby was exhausted, she found that the harder Sephiroth pushed her, the harder she needed to train to keep her strength moving closer to his level, she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to contend with him, and it showed, he didn't even struggle against her full body weight, not to say she was fat but getting slammed into at forty miles an hour by a hundred and thirty pound spinning red and black top of slashing death and not moving an inch was quite impressive.
A/N Okay, so I'm going to visit family for a couple of weeks in a different state, so I'm not gonna be able to update for the next two weeks, which is unfortunate considering what the next chapter will bring. But the wait shall be worth it.