Act IV - Linked Horizons
Chapter 31: Reveal
And once again, I find myself in Ozpin's office, this seems to happen alot, but after everything me, Iota, and Eric have been through, it was only just that I got to be part of this 'plan' of theirs, whatever that implied. Then I heard the elevator 'ding', as Qrow came shambling in. And like that, I was on the defense.
"Please don't kill me!" I begged, as he stared at me for a moment, then shrugged, pulling his flask out again to drink
"Relax, kid, if were up to me, I'd be threatening you about being with my Niece, but since she warned me not to, I have to comply." Then he paused, then he pointed a finger at me. "Hurt her, and you'll wish someone else finished you off faster."
"Great. The Four Horsemen threaten me, and now this, it must be my birthday." I muttered, then another sound from the elevator came through, and I smiled warily at the sight of Pyrrha. Guess it's time to hear what Ozpin had to say, also, the consistency of that lift is astounding
"Miss Nikos, please, have a seat." Ozpin finally spoke, as I stood to the side, even when she looked at me, I shrugged
"Professor? What is this about?" She asked inquisitively, as Ozpin smiled a little
"I just wanted to congratulate you on making it to the finals, it was no surprise to me, or to anyone that you would make it this far in the tournament." Ozpin was dodging the question. Interesting.
"Thank you, professor Ozpin, but I would have never made it this far without my teammates." Pyrrha smiled a little, then Qrow spoke up
"Personally, I think it's the other way around." He commented as Pyrrha turned to look at him
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced." Pyrrha started, but she seemed a little annoyed by that comment. Can't blame her, Qrow's got what I have, a way of annoying everyone around them
"Name's Qrow." He answered with a frown, Ozpin then stepped in to keep the air calm
"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine," Ozpin answered, as he then looked to me. "You can imagine why I have asked for Mr. Zaffre here, given his role in alot of events that have transpired as of late."
"Yeeeeeah, love being the target of many scary-smart beings, riveting stuff." I added under my breath, then Pyrrha looked at Ozpin again
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking? Why is it that you called us here, really?" She asked so Ozpin merely gestured for her to sit, so she complied
"What is your favorite fairy tale?" Ok, that was random, and judging by Pyrrha's reaction, she was just as confused. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if this linked to something far bigger than what I currently know, it always does
"Hush! I'm trying to listen!" Oh yeah, forgot you like legends, and such. "Yes-Yes, hush."
"A callous old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by four traveling sisters." Pyrrha began, as I listened closely as if the very story was told in front of me like a movie
"The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has, and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant 'til the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens. My mother loves that story." Woah...
"That certainly is an interesting concept of how magic may still linger in this world, maybe its the reason for our arrival too?" Good point, Iota. "However, I doubt he asked her this for a simple concept of nostalgia."
"Would you believe me if I told that one's been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin mused as I smirked at that, Pyrrha did the same
"You're not that old Professor." She answered, then, his expression changed
"Well, would you believe me if I told that it was true?" And like that, I heard Eric's jaw drop, as Iota hummed in interest, and I blinked at the realization
"I beg your pardon?" Pyrrha wasn't convinced. So Ozpin explained it more, and I have no idea why, but the tension in the room was far greater now
"What if I were to tell you that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power, without dust." Ozpin was on a roll with this, and I was certainly not taking him for a liar given how much he's aided me
"You mean... like a semblance?" Pyrrha tried to make sense of the news, but Ozpin smiled earnestly
"Like magic." He answered, then Qrow spoke up, a clear slur to his words from drinking
"Yeah, first time hearing it is pretty crazy." He nodded with understanding. Then I added to it
"Pyrrha, let's face reality, how else would humanity have the abilities that surpass logic and bend the rules of nature to their whims? Dust, for lack of a better word, is remnants of magic," My explanation held true given everything that's been in motion since Merlot's Island. "I'm from another reality so temporal magic is still a somewhat relevant concept, even if I don't know how Mars did it."
"Why-Why are you telling us this? About the reality that Magic and the Maidens are rea;?" Pyrrha demanded, Ozpin then looked at Qrow, the two sharing a look until Ozpin breathed, putting his hands together, facing us both
"We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers." And like that, Pyyrha's world shattered, followed by the buzz of the elevator, revealing Goowitch and James
"Sorry we're late." He apologized, the two joining us. But I had a strange sensation washing over me, it was sudden, like a ghost brushing through my whole body as I rubbed my arms to brace the chill
"Iota, I need you to look into something, use Cognitum to access Vale's security and internal network, if something out of the ordinary occurs let me know immediately." Murmuring to myself, I stepped aside for James and Goodwitch to join the group, my brow furrowed
"...I see you felt it too... hmm, very well, I'll be back." He replied, leaving me with Eric as the only companion along my train of thought
"Wait, what is this?" And now she was panicking, great. "Who are all of you?"
"You know who we are." Goodwich began, as she calmly spoke to her. "We're still the same teachers, and headmasters that you met when you arrived at Beacon."
"'Cept we've got a little part-time job." Qrow added, then James continued for him
"We are the protectors of this world." While is statement could be interpreted differently, he was right, the people in this room knew of Salem and her lackeys. My friends, they didn't understand it all bar the collective knowledge from Mars in the past, this world was so close to a breaking point now, and no one else knew
"And we need your help." Ozpin finished, then he looked at me, almost pleading for me to say 'yes'. "Mr. Zaffre, I can understand your predicament has put you at odds with powerful forces before, and I can only apologize for the consequences that befall your team, but I'm asking, not as your Headmaster, but as your ally, to consider helping us."
Somehow, a part of me wanted to refuse, to be blindly ignorant to this sorrowful future ahead, like an ominous gaze weighing on my back, I could feel it calling me to its side, and yet with it was that same desire I've yearned for, the bliss of a world free of this calamity, but not without a price, both of which had their fair share of. Like a creature of Grimm and the soul of a Huntsman, I was forced to pick one's hand this time, and no one can sway me other than myself.
With a soft smile, I put my hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, giving her a supportive squeeze while she looked to me, worry and fear crossed her eyes yet her faint smile returned. "If there's one thing I've learned, its that nothing is ever hopeless when your not alone, took this long for my friends to teach me that," Looking back to Ozpin, I nodded once without woes to pull me astray. "I'm with you, Oz."
Well, this was certainly unexpected, though my previous scans over Beacon now made sense. There was a labyrinth under the school. How this place was structurally stable was a mind-bender. Yet I couldn't take my eyes off the dark, gloomy halls that rebound out footsteps.
"And you decided to hide this now fragile maiden under the school, why?" I asked, as my voice echoed through-out the halls, the green flames calmly illuminating the path ahead, just as we came to a crossroads
"It was the last place anyone would look since no one would hide a Maiden with the vault." Ok, that was strange. I then looked at Pyrrha, giving her a motion with my hand to ask away
"Why tell me this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?" Pyrrha's question did make sense, but as I thought, things were clearly in motion now, there wasn't going to be a 'graduation' if Salem made her move
"Honestly, we've ran out of time. I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high, Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent. And to top it all off, Mars decided to chose now to start acting." Qrow explained to us. "It's not going to be much longer until all this peace we've been enjoying goes right out the window."
"You're not talking about... war?" Pyrrha's voice hesitated as I wondered how long this bloody hallway is? Like damn, I'd be fit as hell if I walked down here more often
"Not a war between nations." James commented sternly
"We can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us," Qrow added, as he looked at me. "And you, if Mars tries to contact you, ignore it. I don't know if you've noticed, but he's crafty and will try anything to get what he desires, he nearly did the same to us."
"Noted." I nodded understandingly, but 'Us'? Did he mean Team STRQ?
"Yes, he did." Woah! I jumped a little, the group giving me looks of confusion while I tapped a finger to my head, the group continuing their monologue while I hung back a bit. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Fancy talking with you again, you missed their last meeting, turns out things are getting worse, can you believe it?" Sarcasm dripped from my thoughts, with Specter letting out a rather tired breath
Huh? I stopped completely, taking a moment to view the Maiden locked inside a casket of Atlas tech, a life-support system was keeping her alive, and she looked frail, poor girl, having her power stolen must have fractured her very soul.
"Is that..." Pyrrha began, as Ozpin sighed
"The current Fall Maiden. Amber." At that, I took a few steps ahead of them, then I pulled Cognitum up to my face and I saw the stats running crazy across my screen
ALERT: Maiden Power Detected
CONDITION=STABLE
REPLICATION=75%
Vex Data Updated...
"Replication? Vex Data?" I muttered. However, my questions were cut thin by Specter's voice again
"I'm sorry, I... I'm so sorry, Sky." Specter sounded like she was trembling, that stoic voice of hers was softer, far less firm like she was spooked. "...I never should have involved you with my past... the... there's so much I... I think I know? I should know? Ugh, I don't understand!"
"Woah, calm down, Specter, It's-"
"That's not my name." ...What?
Her words came swift, sharper than a blade to my head. For the time I've known her, Specter referred to herself under that title, I knew it wasn't her name yet how she responded to it, the way she identified with it sounded as though it was her name, I always thought it was.
"But if that isn't, then what is? I know it was an alias or just another crazy name of Remnant, but why tell me now? Why are you so... shaken?" No response, only the soft shuffling, followed by another response
"a-a-Ah! My head... feels... wrong... my name... my team... Ozpin... I-I don't know..." Specter's frail voice was cracking, something falling over had my heart racing with panic, Cognitum raised to bring up a map of Vale, trying everything I could to locate her. "Morana... he... he killed... A-Ah!"
"Tell me where you are, right now." I wasn't playing around, I needed to find her now. "Specter, don't do anything... Gods, I have no room to say this, just be safe, okay? Please, just... stay wherever you are."
"I-I... will, sorry, m-my head's just..."
"...Where are you?" I asked hoarsely, hearing something shuffling around again, voice murmuring in the background
"Vale... D-Downtown in a motel I... dammit, what was it again? I... I'm sorry, it's called 'Marigold Garden'." Specter suggested almost hollowly, I never imagined she'd be in Vale. Taking a second to consider the situation I was in, a, I hadn't had much time to decide, not with Specter's mental state is like this
"Sure, I'll be there," My contact cut out, and I cursed under my breath. "Sorry, Oz, I have to go, this is serious."
He took a moment to mull my words over, everyone had heard my panic, but with a nod, he smiled. "Go on, Mr Zaffre, I trust this is important to you, so I won't mind you leaving, just be wary of what I've said to you around your team."
"Sure thing!" I took off, my feet feeling so heavy
"This is strange," I know. "What about Iota? Should we tell him?" He knows, our mind remember? "Ah... can we chew her ear off?" Absolutely
A Few Hours Later...
After leaving the chamber of the Maiden, I wasted no time proceeding to Specter's coordinates, my heart thumping with a terrible pressure against my chest, while an inkling of excitement did linger, the thought of finally meeting her was surprising, I just wish it wasn't because of... this. Her mind was breaking down or something akin to what I went through with Iota and Eric, it was a horrible... suicidal sensation of needles pricking away at your mind.
The Marigold Garden was a small inn just on the outskirts of Downtown Vale, it was rather bleak, both the building and the street it was situated on. The desk employee told me someone strange was taking up residence here for a while, and my status as a Huntsmen basically made me out as a higher authority, that, and a little digital construction from Cognitum helped to clear any legal requirements in my lie.
Making my way through the narrow hallways of the four-story building, I kept my eyes peeled for the number '105', passing doors in the seventies, through to eighties and nineties. Each minute that passed had my mind rampage with fits of paranoia and the nightmare-inducing sight that I could walk in on. I prayed with whatever Deity was watching me that she was okay, that I would finally meet the mysterious woman without the feeling of... loss, of losing someone I trusted again, I just need to move faster!
"There!" I exclaimed with wide eyes, my hand tapping on the door lightly. "Specter? Specter, please tell me you're in there?"
. . . No reply. Instead of just asking again, I stood back, raising my foot back and slamming it against the door, breaking the lock in a single kick and sending the door flying against the wall, the hinges still managing to hold the door intact. Running in I saw the door sway shut, casting me in darkness again, say for a small lamp on a desk.
The room was in tattered, objects were thrown across the floor and bed, an office chair lying upside-down with a hole through a monitor next to several others, hooked into cameras across Vale with other pieces of equipment. Pages coated most of the walls, the desk and floor too. Some had notes and detailed instructions, others were torn apart with ink staining the pages, pictures connected with red thread stung the walls. Near the desk sat wrappers of food and drink, along with a hooded figure knelt under the desk.
...Wait?
Before I could say anything, white eyes of a metal mask gleamed my way, the arms slamming into me with a powerful lunge, the cloaked figure straddling my waist with hands clasped around my throat, those hands were like vices crushing my windpipe. The sudden ambush of whoever this was had thrown me off my guard, but I still had Cognitum on me. On instinct I slammed my arm against the person's mask, triggering the metal to form across my arm, giving me a direct line to blast them with ice, slamming their form against the far wall while I coughed hoarsely.
I rolled to my right, avoiding the ax-kick as the woman lunged against the back wall, repelling toward me with her body spun around to strike my chest, knowing me backward. I recoiled, kicking up to guard with my formed leg bracer. Deflecting her stomp, I immediately slid under her, yanking her ankles and slamming her into the floor. We stood back up at either end of the room, staring each other down, but that look in her mask's gaze was frantic, completely unfocused. Her mental state was probably out-of-sorts, but who was she? Specter? That mask-wearing person I saw a number of times since ending up in Remnant?
"I got to admit, you're pretty good." I murmured
We rammed into each other, my body low enough to coil my arms around her stomach, slamming her down with a powerful tackle, my legs locked around hers while I straddled her waist, holding her wrist down with a smirk. Her struggling ceased a little, with that plain mask starting to slip off her features.
"But I'm - I'm... what!?" My head titled while my grip faltered enough for her to shove me off, the woman now kneeling in pain. The mask fell off, one eye shaken while the face was revealed in the dim lighting, but there was no mistaking the facial expression, the soft but mature features on the person's pale skin, an eye covered by a black bandana, the other somewhat hidden under ragged, greasy raven hair with sharp, crimson highlights.
"The hell!?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa...!?"
I had… no words. Iota, Eric, they were both frozen in the perpetual state of shock before us, how could we even respond? Her head rose, panting from the ice that slowly chipped away at her onyx cloak. I saw a single, silver eye stare back, confused, hurt, filled with trembling fear.
"...S...S-Sky... you..." Her voice was faint, legs buckling from simply attempting to stand. "... Not... too good... my head... memories and... p-p-people..." Her eye now filled with tears, teeth grinding together a moment after. She raised her right hand, the palm resting over her right eye. "...I-I left them... my little g-girls..."
I couldn't believe it. I wanted to think it was just a trick of the light, maybe an illusion or someone's Semblance that was able to take the form of other people. Nothing made sense, and yet it did in a very convoluted way. This was real, she was really standing here, the woman who had played the cryptic asset in preventing Mars from succeeding up till now.
"Summer… Rose...!" I breathed, even I didn't believe the words I rambled from my mouth. "It was you all along, Ruby's mom was my friend... but I... you should be..."
I couldn't grasp the reality in time, but I rushed toward her, letting her body fall into my arms as she passed out, pushing me to the ground from her weight. But atleast she wasn't trying to strangle me, but that didn't make the questions stop flowing. Hows and whys flooded my head, the realization of how Ruby and Yang would take the news, it was all giving me a headache.
"To think... all this time." Iota breathed. "She's stable, just exhausted, but her mental state has suffered from serious psychological abnormalities."
Suffling my back against the foot of the bed, I held her against my shoulder while she slept, looking far less afraid and almost as though I was holding Ruby, their appearances were nearly identical, the only difference being their age and the fact Summer's hair was much longer. Taking the cuff of my jacket, I wiped away the tears staining her face, resting my head back with a heavy breath.
"Sleep well... Summer."
To Be Continued...
I am a horrible person, after leaving this for so long but my attention has been divided everywhere but I try with Destiny, but here's an update with a cliffhanger because I'm mean. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter, hopefully!
Next Chapter: Story of the Past
Sky and Specter, who is revealed to be the real Summer Rose, have a moment to reflect on how she was alive and her real connection to the Horsemen and Project Eclipse, and maybe, even where it came from.