This chapter took a frustratingly long amount of time to finish up, but it's finally here. Sorry for taking nine days to write it up, but hey, it was planned as a longer chapter either way. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 34: Mountainous Misfortune
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.(Chapter Start)
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September 13th
Friday
Dark & Cloudy
Oobleck was a weird person, Azura felt. When they first got here, he wanted everyone to be close to each other. The day after that, he and Weiss were left alone for an extended period of time compared to the others twice. And now, on the third day of being here, despite his claims of wanting groups of three that were near each other, he and Blake were told to search the central city park that they came across while Ruby, Weiss, and Yang moved around it to search the perimeter surrounding it. Oobleck himself stayed at their temporary camp, his reasoning being that he needed to list their remaining supplies and be their central point to return to.
Which also contradicted his point of wanting Azura to stay with him, whatever he meant by that. Not that Azura minded either way, but it was odd for the man to constantly go back and forth on these things. One thing that Azura could agree on is that they were on the right path for sure. Oobleck had told them once they made it to this part of the city, where they were just below the northern district that Azura was becoming familiar with, but also above the centerpoint of the city itself. Which made sense to Azura, because the increasing amount of Grimm tracks and signs of people being here certainly aided Oobleck's assessment that they were indeed on the right path.
Azura glanced over at Blake for what was likely the seventh time in the past half hour of searching the park that was larger than Azura thought it would be. The grim look on her face and her twitchy fingers made him wonder what was troubling her. They hadn't been doing much else besides walking and keeping an alert lookout on both sides as they swept through the place, one path at a time. The green plants and vegetation was a much needed difference compared to the dull and grey look of the city around it, though the overgrown nature kept the constant reminder that this was an abandoned city.
"For an increased activity of Grimm in the area, we haven't even seen any." Azura said, trying to see how a little conversation with Blake would go.
"Might as well see if we can figure out what's troubling her." Summer said in the background.
"Not wrong. Makes you wonder where they all went." Blake replied, her eyes darting to and fro with the shifting noises as small animals ran about in the foliage.
"We'll find them at some point, hopefully not when it's just the two of us though. That would be...both an unfortunate and interesting fight, wouldn't it?" Azura said jokingly, glancing over at her as he spoke.
"I suppose it would." Blake answered shortly.
Azura raised an eyebrow by the curt response, letting silence come back in again. Blake was certainly one of the hardest people to get a read on, for all of the people he knew, and Azura considered himself to be pretty good with that sort of thing.
Then again, Corgen and Neo existed.
"From what you've told me of Corgen, Blake kind of reminds me of him. Perhaps Corgen, Blake, and Qrow should all meet up." Summer said, amused with her idea. "As for Neo, perhaps not. She's uh…"
"Mostly dangerous despite having worked with her before, if only lightly?" Azura asked.
"Yes. Most definitely dangerous."
"Either way, they're both secretive, just like Blake always is. Makes it hard to fully know if something's bothering her." Azura said, looking at Blake.
"I'm fine, Azura." Blake said, keeping her eyes in front of her.
"You don't sound so fine, Blake." He responded.
"And?" She said back at him. "We have a park to search, if you've forgotten."
Azura sighed, shaking his head. "No, I have not forgotten. But we have also made some great progress, and are even ahead of schedule if I had to guess."
"A guess?"
"Yes, Blake. A guess, or an assumption."
Blake stopped walking then, sighing. "You want me, the bookworm, to talk."
Azura smirked. "Maybe. You look like you could use a talking buddy. Outside of Yang, that is. You've been spending a bit of time with her as it is."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Come on, then. We can afford a short rest, where we can talk."
Azura nodded and silently followed after her as she walked off, deciding to give her a bit of time to think. Something he knew about Blake was that she didn't like being pushed into a corner, so giving her some space before asking his questions would likely be better overall.
They approached a small building within the park, looking to be a storage of sorts. Probably housing materials to take care of the park before the events leading to the evacuation and fall of the Mountain Glenn expansion. Azura shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and sat down next to Blake, one knee raised and resting an arm on it, while Blake did the same with both knees and arms.
"What's wrong, Blake?" Azura asked, looking over at her as they leaned against the wall of the building.
"It's Oobleck. Or...well, your current track record with the man so far." Blake said after a moment, keeping her gaze on the ground in front of her.
"My track record?"
"When we first got here, when we were first split into groups, you and Yang were paired together with Oobleck. By nightfall, Yang was conflicted with something and you were acting like nothing could be done about it at the moment." Blake explained. "The morning after that, you stuck to Ruby like glue and tried to keep away from Yang, and I found it odd that she said she appreciated the space."
Azura tilted his head a bit, thinking about that. He hadn't thought about really doing it, he just figured Yang would like some time alone to think.
"Glad to have...helped? I guess." He thought.
Blake frowned, then continued speaking. "Then, the same thing happens to Weiss. But only after being in the same group as you and Oobleck. And, when Yang asked her before my watch, she told us what had happened. Both her and Yang have been questioned on their reasonings to be Huntresses by Oobleck, and something was said that hurt their confidence in their reasons."
"Oh…" Azura said, a frown crossing his own face. "And now you think you're next."
"It's currently two for two on it happening, Azura. I don't think I am next, I know I am."
"You're afraid." Azura said calmly, stating it plainly without accusation.
Blake glanced at him for a moment before looking away. "I never said that."
"Blake, it's not wrong to have some fear in you." Azura said with a smile. "You told me yourself that we can turn that fear into a strength, back when I first agreed to help Neo."
"Yeah...I did say that." Blake said quietly.
"And hey, even if you are afraid, and even if I may have a bad track record for it, I can help you out with Oobleck." Azura continued, trying to sound encouraging. "You don't need to be questioned, you know."
"Not like it would matter." Blake replied blandly. "I'll still be asked, and I bet you and Ruby will be asked the same thing soon after I am."
"Then we confront him about it. What's stopping us here and now if you really don't want to be asked about your reasons to be a Huntress?" Azura asked.
"I'd rather just deal with it myself." Blake muttered.
"But you don't need to. What purpose does it serve if you're scared?"
"I said I'll deal with it!" Blake hissed, her eyes snapping to his.
"Why are you always so damn stubborn?" Azura asked, annoyance tugging at his heart. "I'm just offering an option for you to take."
"And I've made up my mind already! Why are you always so, so…" Blake tries to finish her sentence, growling. "You're so fake!"
"I'm fake?! At least I don't hide and stay away from people!" Azura retorted, Summer's ever present temper really not helping him as he spoke.
Blake's anger dropped as a more lonely looking emotion flickered on her face before it flattened out and she looked away. Azura felt Summer's guilt from her temper mix with his own, and he sighed and leaned his head back against the wall and looked up at the dark clouds. They remained that way for a few moments before Azura spoke again.
"I'm sorry, Blake. I know that you just need time to start to trust people, and I really do try to keep it in mind. I just lost my temper for a moment."
Blake sighed quietly. "I'm sorry as well. You, my teammates, even team Juniper and Pyra to an extent, all of you have really helped me with starting to reach out for others. I didn't mean it when I said you were fake. Out of everyone, you've been one of the most open and honest ones I know." She finished, an almost sadly nostalgic look in her eyes, as if thinking of something in the past.
"I know you don't, Blake. Are we still good?" Azura asked, a smile readily making way onto his face.
She met his gaze, nodding. "Yes, we are." She stands up, looking down at him and holding a hand for him. "We should continue moving."
He nods, taking her hand and pushing up to stand with her. Even with her more flexible and lithe body, Blake pulled him up with relative ease. She walks off, and Azura follows after silently. About a moment later, Azura almost felt like nothing had happened in the first place, not that he minded. Though, he did hope that his words about Oobleck made its way to her.
"Azura?" Summer asked quietly, guilt still evident in her voice.
"It's fine, Summer. I mean, Blake seems fine with everything, and I was in full control of my words. I should be the one feeling guilty, not you." Azura replied to her.
"No, it's not that. Something's just become more prevalent to me ever since Ozpin mentioned it. He's right about what he said, that you don't really have such a heated temper. Sure, almost everyone has a temper, but you typically don't snap at people, save the rare time with Pyra and before you ran with Blake, there was Pyrrha." Summer said. "And well, I was actually known for my temper, whether it be in a protective manner or a 'let me help you, you stubborn bastard' way."
Azura frowned. "Is this about Ozpin's words about that balance between us?"
"...Yes." Was her only response.
"Summer, I know that it concerns you, but I really don't think it's as big of a deal as it seems. I can assure you that I very much still feel like myself, and even if your emotions do spill into mine sometimes, my emotions have also spilled into yours. Honestly, I would expect that to happen. You might be dead, Summer, but you are very much alive to me."
"I...Azura." Summer says softly, a warm tone in her voice. "Thank you. That means a lot to me, more than I thought."
"Hey, if we're going to be sharing a soul, I'll make sure you at least feel comfortable. It's the least I can do."
"Even though you sent Luna off into the sky?" Summer asked, a hint of playfulness in her words.
"Yes, even though I did that. We both know that she is good for an aerial view." Azura replied, rolling his eyes.
He was about to talk further before he felt Blake stop him from walking any further. Her eyes were narrowed and staring off into the foliage and treeline. He frowned, but turned to look the same way. It was hard to see anything, but it did seem like something looked off within the thick foliage.
"Boxes, about seventy meters away in front and to the right. Hidden between the trees and foliage." She said quietly.
Azura shifted his eyes and noticed the boxes she was talking about, nodding. "See them."
Without another word, they walked forward and into the bushes and trees, off of the main path of the park, alert and hands near their weapons. Stepping over tree roots and pushing a bush here and there out of the way, they finally got close to the boxes. Not seeing anyone near them, they pushed through the final bit of foliage to a small clearing, where the boxes were placed. There were several boxes of various sizes, some stacked and others scattered, but they all bore the Schnee logo on them.
"Dust boxes." Azura stated aloud.
"Just like the one you saw with Weiss yesterday, though that was hidden with other boxes." Blake said, frowning. "But this is a much larger pile, all of them likely being made for dust."
"Agreed. Time to search." Azura said.
They separated, going one box at a time. The first one was really easy to open, and it became clear to Azura that they had already been opened, maybe several times. Not destroyed-by-a-Grimm kind of open, but by the hands of a person. That was already enough to draw suspicion for him, and that suspicion only grew as he saw the interior of the box. Plenty of empty sockets for where dust would have been, and the ones that still had dust in it were cracked and no longer usable.
As Azura went around to the other boxes that Blake hadn't gone through, the same thing could be said for all of the boxes. Any usable dust that had been in these boxes were now gone and nowhere to be found.
"Are these...from the same docks or waterfront, whatever it was, that we fought in?" Azura asked aloud.
"I think they likely are. It would be recent enough to make that a fair assumption, I mean." Blake replied. "And you know what that means."
"White Fang." Azura said.
"Correct. Though, if they truly are here as we suspect they are, that makes me concerned that we haven't seen any of them at all." Blake said, a frown on her face.
"Maybe they're moving at night?"
"Among the Grimm? Unlikely."
Azura tried to keep the smirk off of his face. The Grimm that came at night weren't exactly any smarter than normal. "I suppose so. Well, what do you want to do?
"The smart thing would be to report it to Oobleck." She muttered. "We really should do that."
"I agree, Blake. We should go back now, see if everyone else is back yet while we're at it."
She nodded, once more taking the lead as Azura followed her back to the trail they had been walking on. From there, they began to jog and quickly make their way back through the park. They hadn't fully searched it, but most of the center areas had been covered by them, and Ruby and the others should have been able to search the edges of the park alongside the road.
Walking back through the park was a boring affair, but it also felt much quicker than the first time through. Which made sense, considering the fact that they didn't have to slowly check every nook and cranny they saw.
"Always an upside with you. Reminds me a bit of Ruby, honestly." Summer commented.
Azura rolled his eyes, simply gazing in front of him. "Nothing wrong with it, either. I mean, being an optimist has to be good when surrounded by Grimm!" He said jokingly.
"I expected nothing else from you." Summer replied dryly.
From there, it was a quiet walk back. As the entrance they came in from slowly came into view, the rusted gates bent out of shape, the small building beyond it showed Oobleck bent over a table of sorts and shifting his hands about.
"Looks like Oobleck moved a bit closer since we left. Only a building or two closer, but still." Azura said.
"Less talking and more walking, Azura." Blake joked lightly. "We have reporting to do anyway."
"Yes, Ma'am." Azura replied sarcastically.
They stepped through the hole within the gate, crouching down slightly to get through, then made their way across the street. Oobleck glanced to the side, noticing them, but remained focused on his task once they entered the building he was in. With not much else to do other than to wait, Blake leaned against the entrance and looked outside and Azura leaned on the wall and watched Oobleck.
Once the man was set on a task, there was little to take his focus away. Unless it was an attack from Grimm or something on short notice, they could only watch. Azura would know, having seen the man crouch in front of a plant for over ten minutes in silence as he studied it. Sure, it had a Grimm track in it, but Azura felt like it hardly needed to be studied for that long in the first place.
Blake was tapping her foot lightly on the floor, possibly from impatience or nervousness. Azura didn't dare try to guess Blake's emotions, considering her rather closed off personality. Either way, Azura let her be and continued waiting. It was only a minute longer before Oobleck sighed and stood straight, turning their direction.
"Azura, Blake. I assume you've finished your search?" He asked. They both nodded, so the green-haired man continued. "Excellent. Did you two find anything in there? Grimm or Grimm tracks? Maybe more of those suspicious boxes from the other group that is likely here?"
"A whole set of boxes that were made for dust." Blake said. "A good amount of the slots were empty in each box, but there were also cracked dust crystals and duds. All of them had any usable dust taken out of them, and I very much doubt that the Grimm decided to take it."
"While amusing, I also doubt the idea of Grimm stealing specifically the dust that was good. That would also confirm the reason for the boxes that were there yesterday." Oobleck stated to himself, hand on his chin. "Which would confirm our theory that the White Fang are here."
"But how? I'm sure we would know if we saw them, and I can tell you that none of us here have seen any White Fang members since we came here." Azura said, voicing the only flaw of the theory.
"That is what puzzles me as well. No trace of them in the day, and the nighttime is too risky with the free-roaming Grimm about." Oobleck said, sighing. "I do not wish to travel at night, but it might be a necessary risk. Only as a last resort, though. Thank you, both of you."
"Well, that's all we have to share." Blake said. "Now, I need to find my team and group up with them. Are you going to join me, Azura?"
"Wait." Oobleck said, just as Azura went to speak. "Miss Belladonna, there's something I want to know."
Blake's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she turned, her hands twitching slightly. "Yes, Doctor Oobleck?"
"Why are you here? Or rather, what made you decide to be here? To be a Huntress?" He asked, his own eyes on her with what seemed like a curious look.
"To better the world and make that betterment permanent." She responded cautiously.
"By doing what?" Oobleck stated.
Azura watched, wondering if he should interfere. He knew that he told Blake he would intervene if she wanted him to, but again, he wasn't sure if she wanted it. With that in mind, he kept silent.
"I'll stop the White Fang's more violent ways and return them to a peaceful cause." She answered.
"How, Miss Belladonna, do you plan on achieving your goal?"
"I…" She looked away, unsure. "I don't know yet."
Oobleck nodded. "Take time to think about that. But remember, time will not wait for you too long. You may go."
Blake left without a word, haste in her step as if she wanted to create as much distance as she could. Azura moved to the door to watch her, frowning, then turned back to Oobleck to ask a question.
"What are you doing this for, Doctor? And why have I been the witness to all of it? You've questioned Yang, Weiss, and now Blake."
Oobleck looked at him, a small frown on his face as he pushed his glasses up. "One of the biggest parts of being a Huntsman is that they must know why they are a Huntsman. Everyone has their reason to become one, but there are too many young ones who believe that it will be full of fun and adventures, full of splendor and excitement. Even some who are there for a darker reason." He sighs. "Those are the ones who end up dying the earliest, Azura."
No words came to Azura at that moment, and for once, it wasn't because of him. His throat choked up and the lonesome silver eye seemed to water up. Oobleck had turned away, but Azura knew that the man was simply trying to give a bit of privacy. And he appreciated the act, for Summer's sake.
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Waiting for people to truly fall asleep before he could move was a boring affair, but Azura had enough to think about, that he could easily avoid that boredom. He might have an urge to get moving to push away, considering how close he was to possibly getting past that door into Merlot's lab, but he tried to not think about it too much. Which brought his thoughts to Oobleck and the others. He had his reasons, Azura was confident in that, but he wondered about his methods. Blake, Yang, and Weiss were plenty okay with dealing with such thoughts, he felt. Considering who they were, it made sense to him, but he really had to question if Oobleck was going about this the right way. What if they faltered mid-combat or just became rather down and negative? In a ruined city chock full of negativity and covered in Grimm, was that the best idea?
Summer had also been quiet since Azura asked Oobleck why he was asking team RWBY questions they had no answers to, which worried him a bit. Lifting his hand a little, he could almost feel the shadow of her own movement, signifying that she was still actively ready for anything. But the lack of her remarks and comments felt weird to Azura. If he wasn't preparing to move out into the city very soon, he'd try to talk to her about it. He glanced over at Luna, who was actually sitting on the ground for once, meditating next to him with her tail lightly tickling his leg, and smiled slightly at the sight.
He waited a few more minutes before he slowly got up and looked around. Oobleck was against the wall, hat tilted down to cover his eyes as he slept, and everyone else was sound asleep on their sleeping mats. Ruby was on watch, and with her sharp eye, Azura was worried about being spotted. Sure, he had the excuse of thinking too much or that he couldn't sleep, but Ruby was much too caring to leave it at that. With that, he snuck towards the side window that was away from the door. There was shattered glass on the ground, but Azura could avoid it easily enough. The window was sizable and Azura slipped through and out to the other side without much issue.
The issues only began once he got outside.
"Gotcha."
Azura visibly jumped at the voice that whispered next to him. He turned quickly and was met with Ruby's combined look of playfulness and suspicion. It was at that moment that Azura realized that he had truly been caught, and that there was no real excuse to get him out of whatever she had for him.
"Uh...hi?" He quietly said instead.
"Hello, Mister 'I just got caught red-handed'." Ruby replied quietly. "We need to have a talk, come on."
She led him back to the side of the rundown building where the actual entrance was and sat him down next to her against it. Azura sighed lightly, just waiting for her to begin the questions as Luna watched in light amusement.
"Are you tired?" She asked.
For the first question, Azura wasn't sure if that was how one should start. "No, not too tired, I would say."
"Then you want to explain how you look like you've walked all day and then ran all night?" Ruby asked next.
"Uh…" Azura looks away. "Okay, you got me there. I guess I do feel a little ragged."
Ruby nudged him, getting him to turn his head and look at her. "What are you doing, Azura? I've seen you sneak off in the middle of the night twice now, and I thought I could catch you this time."
"What? I haven't done that, Ruby."
"You have, Azura. I've seen it with my own eyes." Ruby said, before looking down awkwardly. "I've...been having trouble sleeping, so that's why I was the one to do this. The others don't know yet, because you seem to be trying to keep it secret, but I couldn't just pretend I wasn't worried."
Azura frowned. "I'm sorry I worried you, Ruby. I know that this isn't the first time you've felt that way because of something I did."
She shook her head. "Don't make it about me, Azura." She sighed, her eyes filling with suspicion. "What are you doing at night, Azura?"
"It's just a bit of exploring, I promise." Azura quickly answered.
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Something tells me that isn't the case. You've been a little too jumpy and a little too sneaky to be doing just that."
Azura became silent as he looked at her, unsure of how to respond to that.
"I'll let you go if I can come with you." She said, clearly trying to get him to say yes just to stop her.
Mild panic swept through him, both his own and Summer's. "Let's not be rash, Ruby."
"Why not?" She asked, pushing a bit closer to him.
Azura sighed, leaning back as he responded. "It's dangerous. Or well, it is likely to be rather dangerous compared to this." He held his hands up, trying to calm what he expected as her response. "But it's almost done, I promise. Summer and I need to do this though."
Ruby looked down and away, not seeming to like that answer for one reason or another. When she looked back, a hint of what Azura thought was anger remained in her eyes.
"Then, at least promise me that you'll explain what you're doing tomorrow, during your watch." She responded. "It has to do with Ozpin, doesn't it? And...and mom as well."
Azura frowned at how small she suddenly looked after that, like she was a bit more delicate than before. "It does, yes."
"Okay. Okay…" Ruby said, turning and shuffling through her bag while Zwei laid next to it, sleeping. She turned back to him with a small plastic container in her hand, a medical symbol on it. "Take this with you, please. I know we have aura, but if something catches you by surprise or your aura breaks...I'd feel much better knowing you could patch up any potential wounds, Azura."
As Azura grabbed onto the container in her hand, Ruby placed her other hand on top of his and spoke again. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"
Azura kept his hand in place as he spoke. "Yeah, I'm sure. We both are."
"I'm asking you, Azura. Not you and mom, or even Luna. Are you sure?" Ruby said firmly.
Azura nodded slowly, not sure why it mattered as much as she made it seem. "I am, Ruby. I agreed to do it."
Ruby nodded back, letting go and letting him take the container, which he put away in an inner pocket. "You'll tell me what this is about tomorrow, right?"
"I will." He responded, being met with her nervous look. "I promise, Ruby."
She finally smiled. "Good. Now go, you have a time limit to follow. And I'll give you some extra time to get back."
"Thanks, Ruby. I appreciate it, especially your concern." Azura said, moving to stand up. "I'll be back."
"You better be."
Azura smirked, then waved at her as he started to jog off. Once he made it across a few streets, he jumped up onto the roof of one building with his petal jump, as he and Summer decided to call it, and started to make his way to the very same building he had been in last night.
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"What are we going to tell Ruby?" Summer asked as Azura walked into the building they found the door to Merlot's lab within.
"Well, the truth. But not the full truth." He replied.
"Good, great." She replied, a bit of warmth. "That would be preferable. I'd say that telling her what we were told to do would be good enough, but avoid talking about anything else beyond that. I don't want her involved with Ozpin if we can stop it."
Azura nodded as he continued, Luna just behind him and watching his back. "Agreed. Both for your sake and for secrecy's sake. I might not like lying at all, but if Ozpin says he only asked me because of you, then it really has to be dangerous. As her friend, I'd rather keep her out of such things, especially with how important she is to you."
"You do too much for me, Azura." She said dryly.
"It's the least I can do for the woman in my head." Azura retorted, rolling his eyes. "I have to make sure to stop the possibility of you possessing my body."
"Not a comforting thought, I say. Ozpin seems cautious about such a thing actually happening."
Azura simply shrugged. "To be fair, Ozpin also said that my semblance froze the soul bond or whatever."
"I suppose that's true."
Azura entered the hallway that led to the offices he needed. Though, once he made it back to that crossroad hall, he continued onwards to the same office he had originally found evidence from. The thought behind it being that the keycode or password he needed would be there, since he also found out about the door itself from there.
He entered the office, and made his way to the desk to search through the drawers again. Sheets, papers, and folders coming out as Azura took them out to read. Medical reports, official documents, and several sheets of taxes all left to sit within the desk for however long they had been left here. The years on the documents were of interest to Azura, and led to him talking to Summer while he looked through anything he could find for a possible chance to find the code he needed.
"Do you think Ozpin was here when the city fell? I mean, some evacuations had to have taken place before it got too bad, right?"
"Any Huntsman or Huntress within the area was brought there for evacuations, from what I know. It was too long ago for me to be put here, since I was younger than you when this all happened. Honestly, I'd wager that even Oobleck wasn't here for it." She replied. "How long those evacuations lasted, though, I'll likely never know."
Azura frowned. "Probably better to not ask in this case."
"You won't hear me argue about that. Some questions are better off left alone."
A few more minutes of searching in silence finally yielded something for them in the form of a note, even if the thing that was found was more disappointing that Azura hoped for.
"The code lies within the back left of the middle offices." Azura said, sighing. "What's that even supposed to mean?"
"The...middle offices? Do you think it has to do with the crossroads of the hall?"
"But one side is just leading into the stairs…" Azura said. "The other...oh!"
"Exactly."
Azura grinned, moving out of the office and back through the hall, this time turning left and away from the stairway leading to the basement of the building and down the other hall with the offices. The note said that it was the 'back left' in particular, so Azura looked in the back of that hall, eventually coming across an office door he could easily make his way into.
Upon entering the office, he was met with a mostly barren room, as if it was untouched by time itself. It was dark, Azura noted, from the lack of any window at all, though that didn't bother him, and there were plenty of boxes within the room, suggesting that it was used more as a storage than anything else. Digging through the boxes provided stacks upon stacks of folders all labeled with a name. The office he came from was from a 'Doctor Derrick', so he started by trying to find any folder with that name. It took a while, seven boxes to be exact, before he actually found it. And from there, all he had to do was open the folder to find the code he was looking for.
"Not exactly very well hidden, now are you?" Azura joked quietly. "So, the keycode is '6-1-2-9', huh? Simple enough."
"I doubt this doctor was very stealthy to begin with." Summer said. "Well, that's one piece of the puzzle down. Now, we have to get that terminal to work."
Azura nodded, leaving the office and making his way back through and started to make his way down the stairs that originally brought him to the basement floor. He was glad that the stairs and offices were close enough to each other, if only to save himself some time. Dropping down after the point where the stairs were collapsed, Azura approached the door and looked it over again before glancing at the terminal.
"What's your deal, huh? Generator? Power cord? Uh...scroll charger?" He asked aloud, throwing out a few ideas before turning to Luna. "Actually, can you look around for an emergency generator of sorts, please?"
Luna nodded and moved off. From there, that left Azura and Summer to think over what else could possibly power the terminal.
"The tech here has to be at least twenty years old, but considering how it looks like Atlas tech, I have to wonder if that even means anything." Azura said. "Any ideas?"
"The generator or emergency generator would be likely. I doubt it would be any wiring in this case, beyond being connected to the door. Atlas does like flexing that about their tech, so that's why I say such a thing." Summer replied. "But, beyond that, it gets more complicated. For all we know, it might actually be something inside the terminal. Lightning dust does have its uses for powering technology."
"We should at least check, then. You think a dagger is enough to open up the terminal? Well, the unorthodox way."
Summer laughed lightly. "For an unorthodox way, it works. Let's open it up."
Azura stepped towards it, noticing Luna come back and shaking her head once she saw him look at her. Nothing found, then. He crouched down right in front of the terminal, took his dagger out, and started to try and dig the blade into it just enough to try and pry open the screwed panel that blocked access to the inside of the terminal.
He grunted and applied more pressure, feeling the panel loosen and eventually swing open for him. He grinned, then started to look inside and slightly shifting things out of the way to try and see better.
"Well, let's assume it uses lightning dust to power it. What am I looking for specifically?" Azura asked. "Time to show off that tech knowledge of yours, Summer."
Summer answered him as he continued to look inside it. "It will be a small container of sorts, usually in the form of a cylinder. Probably black in color because it'll have rubber on the outer layer, and it'll have some tubes going through it for the dust to leave the container and power whatever it's trying to power. I wouldn't worry about causing any damage to the terminal by unplugging the tubes, since the dust would need to be replaced at some point either way, which requires taking it out."
Azura nodded, narrowing his eyes to try and see through the wiring and other such objects until he eventually felt his fingers touch the rubber than Summer talked about. He felt further down until he hit the tubes, slowly but surely unplugging the tubes within. He then took the cylinder out of the terminal and cracked it open to look inside. There was a cracked and destroyed dust crystal inside, which Azura took out and discarded to the side.
"Well...you think a crystal from the lightning battery in the dagger would do the trick?"
"Obviously." Summer replied, a teasingly sarcastic tone in her voice.
Azura nodded, quickly taking his dagger and then detached the lightning dust battery from it. Opening it up, Azura took out one of the lighting dust crystals and inserted it within the cylinder, then closed the cylinder again. After putting the battery magazine back into the dagger and putting it away, Azura then placed the cylinder back in place and moved his hands to insert the tubes again.
Once that was finished, a noise was heard within and some lights started to blink from within the machine, giving Azura some hope. A moment later, and a light blue screen came to life above him. Azura stood up, grinning in excitement.
"Perfect!"
Summer let out an airy laugh. "Went better than even I expected. Atlas tech does indeed hold up over the years."
The screen displayed everything rather simply. A small clock with the time on it, blinking with an 00:00 because the machine had been 'rebooted', per say. Beneath it, a digital keypad waited patiently next to four lines that suggested it required a code to get in. Azura smiled again, moving to tap his fingers on the keypad, and inputting the code he had found. The screen beeped in affirmation, and soon afterwards, a series of clicks were heard and the door that Azura had been waiting to open slowly started to open up.
He moved to stand in front of the door, simply waiting for it to stop opening to be able to see inside of it. Once the door was open, Azura walked past the door and into the next room, instantly taking note of the dim lights within.
"There's...power?" He asked aloud, confused. "How?"
He continued inside, turning his head as he took in the room. It was large and perhaps a bit cleaner than he thought it would have been. Carts were strewn about with metallic tables that connected into the ground lining the sides and leaving the central area open. The tables themselves had tools and papers, notes, and the occasional pen. It made Azura feel like this place truly had been untouched by time.
The floors and walls were made of concrete, the only change among them being what looked like containers with glass to see through into it. Azura frowned as he noticed them, even if there was nothing within any of them. It didn't even seem like a breakout, which suggested that he was truly alone in the area outside of Luna, but he still didn't like what those containers might have been used for. The papers suggested Grimm and even human experimentations, but Azura shook the thoughts out as he continued.
Concrete pillars stood tall within the lab, as well as several side rooms and hallways leading away from what Azura could guess was the central room. He continued towards the back wall, not seeing any door that truly suggested that it was the 'office' of sorts he needed to find, and he really didn't want to explore down the halls.
"This place gives me the creeps." He said.
"You're telling me. This place reeks of scary things." Summer responded.
The back wall had nothing for him to even look at, so he took a look on both sides, and decided to turn left and walk down the hall closest to him. The dim lights flickered as he entered the hall and exited the central room, causing him to look around warily as he turned another corner and was met with an open door that led to an office. A capital 'M' was on the door, spurring some curiosity from Azura.
He entered the office, and to his surprise, noticed a flurry of papers all over the ground and on the desk. Picking one of the pieces of papers up, he looked it over. It was a simple document about a Beowolf, with some hasty scribbles as notes and a small signature, reading 'Dr. Merlot'. Azura let the paper drop from his hand as he looked around.
"Found it." Summer said, taking the words right from him.
Azura moved among the papers, moving to the desk itself. Sifting through the papers there, he came across several documents of 'Grimm Augmentation' and 'Testers', all of whom happened to be human. The familiar prickle of anger came to Azura, but he quickly discarded it for a more serious demeanour shortly after. A moment later, he finally found a short note that helped him find his way within the office.
"Any and all documents from here must be placed on my scroll by nightfall, time is very short now." Azura said, reading it aloud. "Time is of the essence, for the voice I hear is not a patient one."
"Voices? Was he driven mad?" Summer wondered.
"Maybe. Let's see if he left his scroll behind, shall we?"
Searching the desk after clearing the papers off of it yielded no results, and neither did searching the insides of the desk. Azura frowned, then moved to place papers on the ground away as he searched the ground in hopes of finding the scroll he was trying to find. When that also ended with him having no scroll in hand, Azura sighed and stood up to inspect the room again.
"Only thing I can suggest is to check the closet." Summer commented.
With no other idea in mind, Azura moved to the closet and placed his hands on the handles to open it. Once that was done, however, Azura was not just met with a scroll. Azura jumped back almost against his will as Summer screamed and he tripped on a loose paper and fell onto the ground. A glassy globe with the familiar black mass and bones of Grimm attached to it rolled out of the closet and fell down a few inches onto the floor, limp tendrils poking out from behind it.
Whatever it was, it terrified Summer. Azura could tell, with the way his left arm wouldn't stop shaking profusely. Terror dripped within him as he grabbed his arm, and he tried his best to not drown within Summer's emotions in this circumstance. He had no idea why this unmoving object scared her so, even if it was clearly connected to the Grimm in some capacity.
It was odd to feel so terrified, but not be the one that was terrified. He had no reason to fear something that was for intents and purposes, dead. There was nothing psyching him up or tripping him out, it was all Summer who was feeling these things.
"Summer! Listen to me, my voice!" Azura mentally called out to her, hoping she would hear. When she didn't respond, he called out again. "Summer, come back to me! I'm right here, listen to me!"
"Luna...please." Azura weakly called out, his voice quivering slightly as his voice slightly overpowered Summer's. "She needs to be calmed."
Luna frowned, quickly moving to sit down next to Azura and embrace him. Again, the sense of being an oddity came over him. The hug wasn't for him, it was for the woman in his head. They sat there for a few minutes, until the sense of panic finally washed through him and left. Azura could still feel Summer's presence, but there was a wall of embarrassment and defensiveness around it, as if she was guarding herself away from being active.
Azura remained where he was as he tried to figure out how Summer was feeling, but he had no time to do so as a loud crash and the shattering of glass completely broke his train of thought, the dim lights turning red as an alarm started to sound off. He quickly got out of Luna's embrace as she moved to the door to look out into the hall. Azura quickly grabbed the scroll, pocketed it, and moved to get out of the room. Something had found out that they were here, and Azura knew he had to get out.
He ran down the hall, and a bellowing roar was heard as the scrapes of something metallic slammed into the floor, more crashes being heard. A larger than normal Beowolf started to come charging towards Azura, large spikes growing out along its mostly covered body, tipped green as its black body softly glowed green, and large metallic blades extended from its forearms with metal gear strapped along its arms as well. Azura cursed aloud and he turned down the hall and sprinted towards the central room of the lab as the large crashes and roars of the clearly mutated Grimm gave chase shortly behind him.
Feeling nothing from Summer, Azura was left with his own sprinting to carry his weight. He slid into the central room, feeling the hot breath of the Grimm behind him as he ran towards the entrance, suddenly noticing just how large the central room really was.
"Luna, go and start closing the door!" He yelled, seeing her shake her head. "Do it! I'll make it!"
She silently growled at the idea, but started to bounce in the air with intense speed over to the door as she slipped through it and to the side. Azura jumped onto the table in his way after dodging a large swing of one of the massive Beowolf's paws, the pillar between them exploding from the force applied to it, concrete going flying and completely tripping Azura up as a large chunk sliced into his left arm, and he tripped over in surprise from the hit. Rolling with the momentum, however, allowed Azura to roll off of the table and stumble back into a run as the mutated Beowolf slammed past him, crushing the metal table he had been on.
The door was starting to close now, and Azura ducked down as more concrete debris flew over his head. It was just a dead straight sprint at this point, and Azura hastened his speed as much as he could as he ran towards the door. The massive Grimm roared again, practically popping his eardrums, and the thundering of the creature was heard as it started sprinting towards him again. The door was about 70% of the way closed as Azura closed in on it, and Azura screamed out as he entered the final stretch.
"Summer!"
Despite the silence that came after that plea, petals fluttered around him as he jumped, a massive speed boost throwing him through the door and he pulled his aura up while covering his face with his arms as he crashed into the opposite wall left side first. The doors clicked shut before denting and the shock of a massive weight pushing on it caused a shockwave throughout the basement Azura was back in. He staggered to his feet, hearing another roar come from the other side of the door, and Luna quickly met up with him to help him move back towards the stairs and even lifting him back up the crumbled set of stairs. As his vision cleared and the adrenaline kicked back in, he quickly moved with a small limp back up to the surface.
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.(Line Break)
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Azura simply rested and tried to regain his composure as he sat inside of a building near the base that they set up, slightly shivering as he remained shirtless. Luna was making use of the medical supplies that Ruby practically forced him to bring, and Azura was almost glad to have been caught before he entered the lab tonight.
"I'm sorry...my emotions probably clued that Grimm to our position." Summer said quietly.
Azura shook his head. "It's fine, Summer. You don't need to explain yourself or apologize."
"I shouldn't have reacted like that." Summer replied. "It's been over a decade…"
"Summer?"
She stopped talking, sighing. "It's nothing. Please, don't ask."
Azura frowned. "Alright, I won't push you on it. But, I'm here for you if you need it, Summer."
She didn't respond, but as was becoming normal, he could feel that she appreciated it. Instead, he focused on Luna, watching her wrap the bandages. He winced as Luna tightened the bandages and finally tied them off. "Thanks."
She put the bandages and the small bottle of hydrogen peroxide back into the plastic container, and ran a hand through his hair in response. Azura took the scroll he got from the lab out, staring at the slightly cracked screen as he tried to power it up again, once more not getting any response. He sighed and put it away again, then pulled his shirt back on before putting his sweatshirt back on, hiding the bandages on his arm.
He got up from the ground, plastic container in hand as he exited the building he was in. Luckily for him, his aura should heal the cut within the next day, so the bandages were more for a safety measure more than anything. Having been close to the actual building they were camping out in, it didn't take long for Azura to simply return back to Ruby, hand her the container, and crash inside to sleep. It had been a long night, and Azura didn't particularly care if he woke up looking like he ran a mile in under a minute.
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.(Chapter End)
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Nothing to say here, beyond the fact that the next chapter should not take as long to write and get up. At least, that's what I am aiming for.
Have a nice day/evening!