Night was quietly setting in, not even the sound of birds could be heard.
It was already dark as Firen Carlisle walked across the grounds of Beacon Academy to his meeting point; Weiss Schnee, the one that could lead him to the thing he needed to find Milena. The Eliphas Code.
Today has been a mess, now I have the red riding hood and goldilocks on my tail. I need to hurry, he thought to himself.
He had locked both girls up in his house along with that professor whose place he took, and he kept Vadim on standby in the house, ordering him to stay in the house and not to attract any unnecessary attention to the situation. Things where always hanging by a thread and the slightest misstep could mean their plan being compromised.
As he walked over the school grounds he saw the figure of Weiss Schnee appearing before him.
She embraced him upon seeing him, an embrace he returned, if only to get her to cooperate.
"Miss Weiss I cannot thank you enough for all of your help" he said politely as ever. Weiss winked at him and said "you can make it up to me later"
Yeah being intimate in my house where I'm totally not keeping your friends trapped Carlisle thought, laughing to himself.
She led him forward towards the shadow of the school before him where in the distance a tall figure became clear and Weiss waved at him. Carlisle took in the man in front of him, clearly a military man. Tall and orderly.
"Miss Schnee is this the man you wanted me to meet?" the man asked.
"Yes general Ironwood. This is professor Firen Carlisle, he wanted to request something of you" Weiss said as she motioned for the professor to move forward. The professor smiled and put his hand forward.
"A pleasure to meet you general" he said. The general returned the sentiment, shaking the man's hand. Carlisle immediately noticed the tight grip.
"Likewise professor. So what is it that you would like to talk to me about?" Ironwood asked, placing his hands behind his back.
"Ah yes straight to the point. Well Miss Schnee here has told me that you are in possession of a special device constructed by her family business. A device capable of locating and finding anything with a single strand of DNA, is that correct?" the professor asked.
Ironwood looked at him curiously, turning to look at Weiss, who just stood there smiling brightly.
"That would be correct, you mean this?" out of his pocket he produced a small device, it was white and coated with a gold ring around it, not bigger than a regular Scroll.
"The Eliphas Code" Ironwood said as he held the device in front of the two.
Carlisle's eyes lit up as he looked at the device. That's it, Milena I'm so close to finding you, he thought as he reached his hand forward, only for the general to pull it away.
"Why do you require this?" he asked emotionless.
Carlisle looked up at the general with an almost scowl as he reached his hand back. "You see general Ironwood, a while ago I lost someone very precious to me around these woods. I have been searching desperately for her but couldn't find her and I'm becoming desperate, so I ask…no I beg of you, let me use the Eliphas Code to find her."
Weiss looked at her crush and professor with a worried expression as Ironwood's cold look didn't change.
"I understand" he spoke up.
A small little robot appeared from his pocket and began to fly around Carlisle, making odd and surprising buzzing noises. "What is this?" the young professor asked as the general took the small robot into his hands and opened up a data file onto it.
"What was that?" Carlisle asked once more, this time a bit more demanding, making Weiss look up at him in confusion.
"Calm down professor I'm sure General Ironwood knows what he's doing" Weiss said trying to calm her crush down.
"Just confirming something" was all the general said as he looked at the data.
"Confirming what?" Carlisle asked scowling.
The look in the generals eyes was stone cold, and before anything could be progressed for Carlisle he felt a tight grip around his shirt collar before his back hit the wall of the school, his glasses dropping to the ground and breaking.
"General what are you doing!" Weiss screamed worried. There the general was, holding Carlisle up against the wall, his eyes still stone cold and his face determined.
"Stay away Miss Schnee, this man is not who he claims he is," he said as his right hand gripped tightly against the pinned professor, who was completely taken aback by the occurrence "your suspicions where correct Ozpin. He has no aura."
Out of the shadows Ozpin and Goodwitch appeared, joining a surprised and confused Weiss at her side.
"Principal Ozpin what is going on. What are you doing with professor Carlisle?" Weiss demanded, both concerned and confused as she saw the professor struggling against Ironwood's grip.
"Miss Schnee I'm afraid we have to ask you to stay back," Ozpin said motioning for Weiss to get behind him "this man is very dangerous."
"What are you talking about? Professor Carlisle…he has done nothing wrong…" a tear fell from Weiss' eyes as she looked at Ozpin and then back at the professor being held back by the general.
"That's just the issue here Miss Weiss…this is not Firen Carlisle" Ironwood said, causing Weiss to gasp in shock "what do you mean?" she demanded, her feelings working overtime, her confusion, anger and grief almost spiraling.
"What's going…." Carlisle tried to say before Ironwood slammed him against the back of the wall.
"Nooo!" Weiss yelled, wanting to run to him but being held back by Goodwitch.
"I checked Astral's records. And Firen Carlisle is the name of one of our retired professors who taught at our academy for 45 years before retiring a decade ago. And who was found two weeks ago in a catatonic state oddly similar to the ones of your students here Ozpin" Ironwood told.
Weiss' couldn't believe what she was hearing.
The young professor struggled against the iron grip of the general, but nothing seemed to budge him. Ironwood moved his face closer to the man.
"Who are you? Stealing an innocent man's name and leaving not just him but two students in that state. Who are you and what do you want!" Ironwood demanded.
"Leave him alone!" Weiss screamed.
The young professor stopped struggling and his face grew from one of confusion and shock to a grin, which was noticed immediately by Ironwood, what followed was a laugh from him and a clap from his hands.
"Congratulations general you seem to have it all figured out. That device you used to scan me noticed I do not have an aura do I? genius really I applaud you" Carlisle said clapping sarcastically
Ironwood tightened his grip around the man's collar and pulled him off the ground. The other three looked up, Weiss almost in tears and Ozpin and Goodwitch with intimate curiosity.
"I'll ask again…who are you" Ironwood demanded stoically.
The man who claimed to be Firen Carlisle smiled contently at all the people around him.
"Ah yes," he said grinning "I feel it is indeed time to properly introduce myself to all to you" he looked around the people in attendance. Goodwitch, Ozpin, Ironwood and a confused and teary eyed Weiss Schnee.
"My name…is Alector Nirvana" he said.
A silence befell everyone, Ozpin kept his eyes on the man as Goodwitch tried to shield Weiss, who was on the verge of going hysterical. Like her world shattered.
"Very well….Nirvana," Ironwood said "second question; why don't you have aura."
"Man you are slow at progressing aren't you?" Nirvana asked sarcastically, his polite demeanor as Carlisle completely faded "the reason I have no aura is because I'm not from this world. I am from a world far removed from here and I came here to Remnant for a reason."
"You think I'm fool, do you think I will honestly believe you" Ironwood spoke calmly but a hint of anger betraying his feelings. Nirvana smirked at that.
"You can believe whatever you wish General, it doesn't exactly bother me how you feel about the situation. I came here for one reason and one reason only" the man proclaimed, keeping his arms at his side.
"And what is that?" Goodwitch asked as she stepped forward, angrily pointing at the man.
"Ugh I have already told this story before today but if you insist," he winked at Glynda, causing her to give him a hateful stare "I created a gateway to your world. But during the first test my cat Milena became trapped here. So I worked in create to make a second portal and come here to find and get her back. But it wasn't going to be easy…so I found the old man Carlisle, took his name and came here, because I recognized the landscape from the first portal. She is somewhere around here, so close but I cannot find her, so that's why I need the Eliphas Code. To find her and bring her home."
Ironwood raised an eyebrow at his story, as Weiss looked at him with her mouth almost agape at his story.
"So all of this….putting my students into such a perilous predicament was all for the sake of finding your lost pet?" Ozpin asked calmly but also a hint of anger.
"I never intended to hurt anyone I can assure you that. I just wanted to find Milena and bring her home...unfortunately complications came in the way" Nirvana said smirking at Ozpin.
"My students are not complications" the headmaster sneered.
"Regardless you know my reasoning now. So I kindly ask again to you general. Will you hand me the Eliphas Code or not" Nirvana said turning to face the general holding him up against the walls of the schools.
"You are in no position to make demands Mr. Nirvana" Ironwood said.
Nirvana grinned at that, and then a clacking sound was heard.
Ironwood saw Nirvana's right hand turn into a metallic claw and a right light burst from it. Startling Ironwood and the onlookers as his grip loosened, allowing Nirvana to squirm himself lose and run past him, immediately grabbing Weiss and putting her in front of him, his clawed arm held against her throat.
"Oh how thee tables have turned" he amused as he pulled Weiss' hand on her back as the girls expression turned to fear and distress.
"Let her go!" Ironwood yelled.
"Give me the Eliphas Code now!" Nirvana demanded, the clawed fingers etching closer around Weiss' throat.
"You're a monster" Goodwitch shouted.
"I don't care what you think of me witch! There is only one thing I care about. So unless you want Miss Schnee here to suffer the same fate as the other two or even worse, you will give me the Eliphas Code. I will turn hundreds of students into vegetative house plants if it means saving Milena! Now hand it over!" he demanded.
Ironwood clutched the device in his hand, looking at Ozpin, who nodded unsurely. He then looked at Weiss, who was basically crying, short gasps came out of her mouth as the metal fingers graced her sensitive skin.
"Fine have it your way" Ironwood yelled, throwing the small device over to the two, where it landed in Nirvana's open hand.
The man looked in awe at the device before turning to greet the general with an almost evil smile "thank you general. Now do not follow me or…"
He walked backwards from the group of teachers, holding Weiss tightly as he took her with him. Walking back minutes until they were out of sight. But time was running out, he might have leverage now but at some point they would charge at him.
The cold night air draped around Weiss as she sniffled, her eyes tearing up at the revelation she just underwent. Seeing what had happened in front of her, hearing everything…she was completely and utterly devastated.
"It….can't….I" Weiss muttered as the man pulled her back until they came to a stop. "Don't feel bad Weiss it was nothing personal, I just needed to do what needed to be done" Nirvana said to her.
"Did I…Did…..Did I mean…what we had…meant it anything to you" she cried. A cackling sound came from behind her as he removed his hand from her throat.
She turned to him and saw a red light emitting from his hand. And then her world went dark.
"No" was the last thing she heard before she became stuck in her own thoughts and fell to the floor.