Chapter 6: A Devious Devil
That same evening, in another part of Beacon Academy, two first-year students were walking away from the Beacon Training Field, exhausted after a long day of training. Topaz Kogamo and his partner, Fonce Bluer, both of Team TRRF, had been training for several hours. Topaz's teal blue hair was matted to his forehead and his cat ears drooped a bit from exhaustion, his tonfa-guns holstered at his sides as he wiped his brow with a white towel. His partner Fonce walked next to him, his heavy trenchcoat slung over his back, revealing an unbuttoned navy blue button-up shirt with a plain black shirt underneath it and form fitting black pants and black boots garbing his lower body. On his back was slung a sniper rifle, the stock of which was much narrower than the conventional stock and shaped with a handgrip. The two first year students had been rigorously training for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament, and now were conversing cheerfully despite their fatigue.
"Dude, all I'm saying is that the family doesn't necessarily reflect on the individual, y'know? I mean, I don't get why Mr. Brooding Bat won't think of that, it's just common sense, if you ask me!" insisted Topaz, who was talking with Fonce about Noir Harceleur's evident dislike of Weiss Schnee.
"Well, from what you've told me, it kind of sounds like he was raised to dislike the Schnees, a lotta faunus tend to have been, No offense to you." Fonce replied, speaking in a thick accent much like Velvet Scarlatina's, possibly Menagerean.
"None taken," Topaz replied, "but still, she's had nothin' but respect for him since she met him, and he just acts like she doesn't even exist or something! Like seriously, he's like an exorcist banishing a demon when he looks at her!"
"Topaz, if this is because of your crush on her, you know where I stand on this," Fonce rolled his eyes, having heard Topaz talk about Weiss many a time before, and yes indeed, Topaz Kogamo had a huge crush on the Schnee heiress, and had been trying to get her attention since the first semester.
"H-hey!" Topaz protested, blushing so hard one could see it even with his dark skin, "I'm not the one who's eyeing the red-hooded jailbait like a high-class dessert every time I see her!" Now it was Fonce's turn to blush deep red; he happened to have a huge crush on Ruby Rose.
"Oi! Don't call her that, it makes me feel like a sicko!" Fonce growled, "Besides, she's only two years younger, it's not like our age difference is that big a deal!"
Topaz sniggered. "Said every pedo ever."
"Oh, fuck you!"
"At least buy me a drink first?"
"Dust damn it, Topaz!"
"Oh, come on, man, you walked right into that one."
"Shut up..."
Topaz laughed aloud before lightly punching Fonce on the arm. "I'm screwin' with ya, bro, don't take it so personally!"
Fonce knew what comment was coming next. "Don't say it..."
"It's a joke, not a dick! Don't take it so hard!"
"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust dammit, Topaz..."
As the two friends continued to argue as friends do, not far away, a figure garbed in a black hooded cloak emerged from the shadows and began quickly and silently making his way towards the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, not making a sound as he moved. Yet, for all his stealth, he couldn't escape the hyper-hearing of Topaz's feline ears. Topaz stopped for a moment and turned towards the direction of the figure, his eyes narrowed and his tail suddenly still.
"Topaz...?" Fonce, noticing Topaz's sudden change in behavior, tensed, ready for anything in case Topaz sensed trouble. Topaz, after a moment of silence, pointed towards the cliff over Emerald Forest.
"There's someone over there, headed towards the cliff. I'd normally be able to see who it is, but the fading light is throwing off my night vision, and I can't smell him. Can you spot who it is on your scope?" Fonce, looking in the same direction, squinted, instantly serious as he pulled out his sniper rifle Frozen Silver, going on one knee and looking through the scope. He didn't speak for several moments, adjusting the magnification and turning on the enhancement feature.
"Yeah...there's someone there alright. Not very tall, about 5'6'', maybe 5'7''. A guy judging by his posture, and he's in a dark cloak with the hood up...can't see anything of his face, I think he's wearing a mask..." Fonce was silent for several moments and then his mouth dropped open. "Topaz, this guy's got a scythe."
"A scythe?" Topaz inquired, "Like, what Ruby has?"
"Yeah, in its folded up form. This one looks like it's made of chrome though...and it's bigger. I can tell by the size of its folded up form, it's gotta be a good foot longer than Ruby's. I can't tell if he's human or faunus...too covered up. He's headed towards the Emerald Forest, and he's pulling something out..." Fonce was quiet for a few more moments as he observed the figure, Topaz standing perfectly still next to him, and then, "He's got some kind of hoverboard. He's flying towards the forest."
And sure enough, even from their distance they could see the cloaked figure flying several dozen feet in the air, silhouetted faintly against the setting sun as he started moving towards the forest. Fonce stood up and reholstered Frozen Silver on his back, exchanging a grim look with Topaz.
"Should we follow him?" Fonce asked, cautious and apprehensive as to what could happen if they did.
"I don't know...I'm wondering why he's there of all places, and going into Emerald of all places." Topaz replied, "I mean, it makes little sense. What's he doing here? Why's he going in there? Why's he all shrouded like some kinda shady ninja guy?"
"If I were a gambling man, I'd say he's up to something, problem is I haven't the slightest inkling of what it could be." Fonce was grim, though it was clear that either way, he was ready for action, his body tensed. Topaz considered the situation for a moment and then let out a small huff.
"Alright, let's follow him. But don't attack unless he does, we don't wanna bite off more than we can chew."
"Are you sure you don't wanna call Royal or Rowena to help out?"
"Knowing those girls they probably fell asleep hours ago, at the very least we'll have to wait and see how this goes."
"And if he attacks?"
"Don't get killed." And with that, Topaz set off in the direction of the cliff, Fonce sighing a bit before following him. Not leaving anything to chance, Fonce took out his scroll and sent a quick message to someone before replacing it in its holder on his belt, taking Frozen Silver out of its holster and loading its revolving magazine with dust rounds. Topaz took his two tonfa, Flare and Glare, out of their holsters and spun them around several times, checking the magazines to make sure they were loaded. And thus armed, the partners broke into a sprint towards the cliff, following the cloaked figure, who had now vanished into the canopy of the Emerald Forest.
The two first years looked at one another before running and leaping out over the forest canopy, diving into the foliage with acrobatic ease. Their previous fatigue was gone, replaced by unshakable resolve as they followed the cloaked figure into the Grimm-infested forest. Topaz's nostrils flared, his enhanced smell allowing him to track the individual they'd spotted with relatively few problems, and now in the shadowy understory of the forest, Topaz's night vision was working perfectly, able to see everything in his path as though it was broad daylight. Fonce lowered a pair of goggles over his eyes and switched on the night vision mode as he followed Topaz closely, his body tensed for action as he followed his partner's lead. Both boys were apprehensive as they followed whoever it was deeper into the forest, moving as quickly and quietly as possible to avoid detection.
Suddenly, Topaz stopped moving, his brow furrowed and his mismatched eyes widened in shock.
"Topaz, what is it?" Fonce whispered to him, the Forest eerily quiet around them.
"Something isn't right...I can't smell him anymore...it's like his scent just disappeared!" Topaz hissed back to him, his eyes wide and looking around him rapidly, his entire body tensed for action, his tail frozen in place as he looked around rapidly for any sign of the cloaked man. "Stay alert, he could be anywhere..."
Fonce flipped the safety off on Frozen Silver, pulling back the hammer and preparing to react in defense in case someone attacked. The partners remained perched on two branches on two separate trees, no more than 8 feet from one another, their weapons at the ready and their ears straining for any sign of their target. The Emerald Forest was eerily silent, and even more eerily still. Not a single thing moved, and even the Grimm seemed to have gone eerily still, as though the very air itself was listening.
Crackow! Topaz, reacting instinctively, jumped from his branch and somersaulted on the ground, spinning around and raising Flare and Glare as he barely avoided a powerful burn dust round from behind. A second later, Fonce landed next to him, having barely managed getting shot himself, raising his rifle and firing off several shots back in the direction of the two shots. All of them were deflected with metallic clangs, and a split second later, the cloaked figure appeared above them, his chrome scythe out its full form, spinning the deadly weapon over his head rapidly as he landed a powerful strike right into the ground, Topaz and Fonce managing to avoid getting impaled by a split second.
Holy shit...he snuck around behind us?! How the fuck did he do that?! Topaz, not wasting any further time on thought, spun Flare and Glare around multiple times, firing multiple shots at their assailant, whose face was covered by a blank white mask decorated with several dark purple tribal markings. Fonce, coordinating his shots with Topaz's, started firing at him as well, running towards him as he spun Frozen Silver in a rapid flourish, gripping the stock in both hands as a blade extended from under the barrel, creating a machete-like sword as he aimed a slash as the assailant's side.
The masked man's scythe split down the middle with a mechanical hiss, and, now wielding two scythes, the assailant swung his his right scythe up to block Fonce's blow, his left scythe converting into a high-impact carbine as he aimed it at Topaz and fired. Topaz managed to dodge the shot as Fonce was viciously forced back, the right scythe also converting into a carbine, the assailant firing in both directions at the first years. Fonce rolled out the way, managing to block a few of the shots as he dodged the rest, his arms numb from the force of the assailant's block. Thank Dust I still have some aura left. That block alone could have broken both my arms. Whoever this guy is, he's strong, and he's wicked with those scythes...or, guns, or scythe, or whatever the fuck that thing is.
Topaz meanwhile was tensed, hesitating for a moment to attack the assailant a second time. This guy's unbelievable. One big scythe, then two scythes, now two guns? What's next?! As if in answer to this question the Assailant stood, converting both carbines into scythes again, and this time attaching them by the bottom ends of their rods, creating a deadly dual-ended scythe that he spun around and took an aggressive stance with.
I HAD to ask! Topaz pressed a button on Flare and Glare, and two razor sharp blades extended from under the gun barrels, creating a pair of bladed tonfa as Fonce took an aggressive stance of his own with Frozen Silver, the two first years facing down the assailant fearlessly. Their assailant flourished his double-ended scythe with expert ease and blinding speed, the deadly weapon little more than a blur of metal as he took his stance once again, gripping the weapon one-handed, in his left hand, inviting the two first years to attack him. Topaz and Fonce looked at one another for a moment, unsure of whether to proceed, unsure of whether to turn and run.
Topaz set his teeth and with a yell charged the assailant once again, with Fonce charging with him. The assailant, ready for them, spun his dual headed weapon in a deadly circle, blocking both attacks easily and in the same motion spun around, taking their feet out from under them, and without missing a beat split his dual headed scythe back into two scythes and converted them into their carbine forms, aiming at the two first years on the ground and firing. Both barely managed to get out the way but before either of them could get any further, the assailant swung his left arm around and the barrel of the carbine clipped Fonce upside his head so hard that it depleted his aura, knocking him out cold.
"FONCE!" Topaz yelled as his partner went down, and with a loud yell charged the assailant, enraged, swinging his tonfa around and combining it with a spinning flying kick. The assailant combined the two scythes back into one big scythe and switched it to his right hand, his left hand catching Topaz's leg by the ankle. In the same moment the assailant slammed Topaz into the ground, putting his foot on Topaz's belly and yanking hard, dislocating his leg. Topaz yelled in pain as what little aura he had left was depleted, his leg falling limply to the ground, dislocated at the hip. The assailant laughed, relishing their pain as the two first years lay on their backs, Topaz trying to get closer to Fonce as the assailant converted his huge scythe into a deadly double-barreled rifle, aiming it at Topaz's head. Topaz closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact, wondering to himself, even then, if it would be instant, or if he would feel pain, and if he'd go somewhere after he died...or if there'd be nothing.
Just moments before the assailant pulled the trigger, a resonating BOOM was heard, and the assailant jumped back several feet a massive blast of energy missed him by a split second. The assailant brandished his scythe, warning alarms going off in his mind as a new challenger dropped down between him and the injured first years. The challenger was 6'5'', with medium length messy and a salt-pepper grey hair, though this hue was not due to age. Three scars passed over his face, from the left side of his forehead to his chin, one of them encompassing his left eye, which was stark white and had no pupil. His right eye was a clear piercing gray, and glared daggers into the assailant, who took his stance fearlessly. The new challenger was garbed in a block grey T-shirt, with a dark grey, furry half-cloak that stretched down to his left thigh, but hanged in a bit of a mess around his neck and shoulders. His left hand was bare, but his right hand had a long, studded leather glove with buckles on the underside. On his right shoulder he wore a dull metal spaulder, which reached down to the elbow. His pants were winter camouflage tucked into deep grey boots. This individual was Arthur Grey, a student at Beacon in his final year and the leader of Team ACVR (azure), and in his hands was what appeared to be a large sword, yet the blade was split down the middle, and was opened up to reveal the barrel of a powerful firearm, the open end of which was smoking from the recently fired shot, his gloved hand gripping the crossguard, which sported a recessed trigger for quick firing. Even as he stood there he gripped the hilt with both hands and the blade snapped shut into a deadly great sword, which Arthur spun in a flourish and took an aggressive stance with.
"Back away from the first years," Arthur snarled, speaking in a thick Menagerian accent. The assailant hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to attack this new challenger head on, and as if too answer his question, three more individuals dropped down. One of them was 6' and average in physique, with brown, close-cropped hair and a hawk-like face, brilliant green eyes and a moderate tan. He was garbed in a white shirt with a small vest over it, a cyan overcoat with a minimal collar, which reached down to his thighs. He wore a double shoulder holster, with his weapons in both places, beneath the coat. His pants were simple khakis and his shoes were almost similar to dress shoes. Clutched in his hands were a pair of revolvers with tomahawk blades on the handles, and he snarled as he stared the assailant down. This was Cylas Eart, the team's sharpshooter and a deadly marksman, rivaled by few, second to fewer.
The third was a girl with long, straight black hair with deep purple highlights that hung in curtains around her face, going down to her shoulders and mid-back, and had a bright sheen. Over this, she wore a wide-brimmed hat, of which she was extremely fond. She had a rather pouty face that was now twisted in a scowl, with bright pink eyes that popped out from her features. She was 5'10'' and rather slim with a slight build and small bust in comparison to most Beacon girls, particularly Yang. This was Violetta Heavensong, clutching a moderate sized crossbow that was pump action to both draw back the chord and equip another bolt, with string arms that came together to create a short sword. She was the rebel of the group, and the girl you were guaranteed to be killed by if you messed with her.
The last of them was also a girl, Chalaign Royale. She was the powerhouse of the group, standing 6'2'' and powerfully built with muscles that rivaled some mens', with a rather respectable bust as well. Her hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, the short tail reaching just between her shoulder blades. Her face was fixed in a permanent scowl, with bright blue eyes and a turned down mouth that complimented her angry appearance. She wore armor similar to Crusader armor, the scale-mail chest portion kept together, but split open same place as the legs, the armor stretching similarly to a coat down to her knees, the scale-mail stretching down with it. She wore full leg armor instead of pants, the metal a dark, lead-grey, and ended in heavy, high-top strapped boots. Across the belt around her waist she stored the ammunition for her weapon, a staff-mace with a grenade launching mechanism in the head. She bore a tear-drop shaped shield as well, which bore her insignia. She was the loose cannon of the group, an angry girl one never wanted to cross.
These four individuals all took aggressive stances, ready to fight the assailant to protect the injured Topaz and the unconscious Fonce. The assailant looked from one member of the team to another, analyzing his new attackers before putting his huge scythe into its compact mode and unleashing a smoke bomb that clouded the area in thick black fog. Team ACVR coughed and sputtered, with Violetta firing several burn dust bolts into the smoke in an attempt catch the assailant as he once again brought out his hoverboard and jumped on it, stomping on a footswitch on the back end that produced a dust-fueled rocket engine that propelled the assailant away. Violetta, cursing, aimed into the fog, using her sense of sound to locate him when Arthur stopped her.
"Vi, let him go. We have other problems." Arthur then walked over to Topaz, who sat up on the ground and leaned against a tree trunk, exhausted and wincing in pain as Arthur kneeled next to him.
"What's your name, first year?" he asked.
"Topaz Kogamo," Topaz replied, wincing as he tried to adjust his lower body into a position that didn't cause him pain. "The guy knocked out on the ground is Fonce Bluer."
"I know. Your partner sent me a message telling me there'd be trouble and that I should probably follow you. When I saw what was going on, I called my team." Arthur looked Topaz over and noticed the awkward position of his leg. "What happened to your leg?"
Topaz grimaced as he tried to move it but couldn't. "It's dislocated at the hip..." The cat faunus hissed as his leg gave a particular jolt of pain.
"Chalaign, see what you can do." The large girl kneeled in front of Topaz and examined his leg, before taking out a thick piece of leather and wrapping it around a thick segment of a tree branch, holding it out to Topaz.
"Bite down on this, kid, this is gonna hurt." Topaz, not questioning it, bit down on the bit as hard as he could, and Chalaign moved his leg into its natural position, lifting it slightly, and then pushing down and forward hard at the same time, snapping it back into place. Topaz growled audibly in pain as he felt the joint reconnect, panting hard as Chalaign stood back up.
"He'll be fine, Arthur. This kid is tough, he'll probably recover from that in a few days." Topaz, supporting his weight on his good leg, pulled himself to his feet.
"What about Fonce, is he okay?" Topaz asked, more than concerned for his partner. Arthur, looking at the unconscious Fonce on the ground, kneeled down and examined him, nodding after a few moments.
"He's fine. His aura managed to absorb a lot of the impact, but he's going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up." Arthur nodded to Chalaign, who stepped forward and picked up Fonce in her arms as though he was lighter than a loaf a bread. Arthur walked over to Topaz and helped him up, supporting him as the first year grimaced in pain, his hip joint still in a lot of pain. "Now let's get you back to Beacon...Ozpin's going to want to know about this."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
A few hours later, Topaz and Fonce lay in the infirmary as Team ACVR looked after them, waiting for Ozpin to arrive. Fonce had recovered from his head injury and sat on his bed propped up against the wall, looking dazed but alright. Topaz sat with his leg propped up, tired but awake, with Arthur and his team over at the Infirmary Entrance, talking in hushed voices.
"Did anyone see what he looked like?" Violetta asked.
"He was cloaked, masked, and used a chrome scythe, that's all I saw of him," Arthur replied, "Whoever he is, he's deadly. You'd have to be to wield a weapon like the one he had. I've seen some serious weapons in my time here, but that thing was something else."
"From what I saw from our distance, it had at least 5 different forms." Cylas put in. "One big scythe, one big gun, two scythes, two guns, dual-headed scythe. And he was proficient with all five forms. He's been highly trained, whoever he is."
"Who has?"
Team ACVR turned in unison to see an older man walking towards them, garbed in a gray, long tailed dress shirt, a red tattered cloak over it, with black dress pants and black dress shoes. His hair was graying, and his face was unshaven, and a greatsword was strapped across his back, gears exposed near the crossguard area and half the blade was retracted into the rest of the weapon. The man walked with a slight stagger, as though drunk, yet he looked extremely serious about the situation at hand. Whoever he was, Team ACVR had no idea, and Arthur wasn't about ask waste time.
"Who are you?!" Arthur immediately took an aggressive stance, ready to draw his weapon Myrrdin at a second's notice. The stranger simply chuckled.
"Relax, kiddo, I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just wanna know what the hell happened."
"And why the bloody hell should we tell you?" Arthur challenged.
"Because I asked for him here." Ozpin walked up behind him, looking calm and serene as ever, though he seemed mildly surprised to see the stranger. "Qrow, I wasn't expecting to see you here a day early."
"Yeah, well, when you call for me to show up, I don't waste time." Qrow Branwen replied, taking a flask out of one of his pockets and taking a long drink. If the smell coming from Qrow himself was anything to go by, there wasn't any question of what was in it. "So does anyone wanna tell me what the hell's going on here?"
Arthur and his team looked at one another before looking back at Ozpin and Qrow. "The first years can tell you better than we can...they're the victims in all this."
"But before we talk to them," Ozpin said, taking out his scroll and reading a message from Glynda Goodwitch, "there are two others who will be joining us."
"And who would they be, Oz?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow as he closed his flask and put it back in his pocket. As if in answer, footsteps were heard coming down the hall, and as Ozpin and Qrow looked, they could see two people approaching. One of them was Goodwitch herself, looking quite unhappy with the situation. The other was a tall pale young woman with white hair and medium light blue eyes, her hair tied up in a bun with a small lock of it hanging down on one side, and she was dressed in an Atlas Military Uniform. At the sight of her, Qrow's eyes narrowed into near slits. "You."
The woman's eyes widened in contrast to Qrow's glare, her own expression one of surprise and anger. "Qrow! What on earth are you doing here?!"
"I could ask you the same thing, Ice Queen," Qrow replied; indeed, this woman was Winter Schnee, Weiss's older sister and Ironwood's personal assistant.
"I'm here because Ozpin specifically requested me to come here!" snapped Winter, annoyed.
"Right back at ya." Qrow smirked. He always enjoyed egging Winter on, her reactions were priceless.
"Enough," Goodwitch put in, "Your reasons for being here are irrelevant. There has been an attack on two Beacon first year students and we want you to look into it."
Qrow instantly got serious. "Did they see who the attacker was?"
Arthur answered. "They both described him as a man in a black cloak with the hood up, wearing a white mask that had purple tribal patterns on it, wielding a chrome scythe that had at least 5 different forms: Great scythe, double-barreled rifle, two scythes, two carbines, an and dual-headed scythe. They said he outsmarted them and ambushed them despite them being the ones tracking him."
Qrow was silent for several moments, as though in deep thought before asking Arthur seriously, "And you saw him too? When you intervened?"
Arthur nodded. "It was exactly as they said. We didn't see much of the scythe, he turned tail and ran when my Team showed up."
Qrow looked uncharacteristically grave. "What they described sounds like something I've only heard rumors about." The older huntsman started pacing as whispers he'd heard whilst he had been away on his last mission came back to him. "If he is who I think he is, then we've got a serious problem." Glynda and Winter exchanged glances. If this was enough to make Qrow start pacing it had to be serious.
"Why?" Arthur put in, "Who is he?" Qrow stopped pacing and looked at each person present.
"The assailant the kid described matches the description of Diabolus. A deadly assassin more commonly referred to in the underground as The Reaper, or The Mask," Qrow elaborated, eliciting an expression of wide-eyed shock from those listening, "And one who's thought by most to be little more than a myth."
"How do we know this Diabolus even exists?" Winter asked cooly, calm as ever.
"Because look at what happened to these kids, Ice Queen. Their story adds up. A guy dressed in a black cloak with a white mask, wielding a multi-form scythe, ambushing them when they least expected it, defeating them so easily and then disappearing like smoke? That sounds like something that'd inspire a myth to me." Qrow replied, taking out his flask once again to take a long drink; it had been a far longer day than he'd bargained for.
"So why was he here? What was he looking for?" Glynda put in, her expression grim.
"It sounds to me like he was leaving. Which leads me to believe he might be hiding amongst the students. Or..." Qrow looked at Ozpin. "...he was hired by your little infiltrator."
"But why?!" Winter demanded, "What could she possibly want?!"
As if in answer, her scroll rang, and she quickly answered it, putting it on speaker. "What is it?"
"Miss Schnee, Roman Torchwick was just found dead in his cell!" Everyone present, even Qrow, stared in shock at the scroll as they heard these words.
"What?! How?!"
"His throat was slashed, ma'am, and there's no evidence of a murder...we can only surmise that he somehow killed himself."
"Or he was assassinated." Put in Qrow, and everyone nodded. This explained why Diabolus had been leaving the school. With Torchwick behind bars there was no further need for him, and thus he would only be a loose end the longer he lived. So the simple solution: kill him. Winter hung up her scroll and they all looked at one another.
"So...what do we do now?" Arthur asked.
"We need to look into this," Ozpin stated, "but we must proceed with caution, we cannot afford panic." The Headmaster looked at Arthur and his team. "Mr. Grey, it is imperative that for your own safety, you and your team stay out of this."
"But..!"
"We may be dealing with something that goes beyond Vale. Beyond even Remnant. I cannot allow my own students to be endangered by it." Ozpin said firmly, and then smiled a little. "Besides. Amity Colosseum will be arriving in a few days, and the Vytal Festival will begin soon afterwards. It is in your best interest to rest as much as possible before then." Arthur bit back his protest and nodded. The headmaster was right, as always, and he had to accept that. Arthur nodded to his team, and they left the group for the trek back to the dorm, and when Team ACVR was out of earshot, Ozpin looked at Glynda, Qrow, and Winter. "There is one more person I wish to add to this circle, but it may be some time before I can speak to him. He's rather...distant."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Erebos, now recovered from his transformation into The Shadow and back to his normal self, walked out of his HQ into the cool night air. The day had been long, and night was still young, with much still left to do, and many days of work ahead. He had much to plan, and little time to plan a large amount of it. He had to wait for his loyal servant to return before knowing how to proceed.
At that very moment, a cloaked figure with a white mask on a hoverboard emerged from the shadows and jumped down, removing his mask and lowering his hood to reveal that he was, in fact, Remnant.
"Master!" The boy seemed far more aggravated than normal.
"Remnant. Have you severed the final loose end?" Erebos ignored his servant's state of mood, but in the next few moments wasn't able to.
"Yes, yes I have, but we have a serious problem!" The boy discarded his cloak and mask, pacing intensely, looking more and more distraught with every second he paced. "I was followed! By two first years!"
"I am sure you could handle them easily, Remnant, you are my most highly trained apprentice." Erebos responded calmly, a little amused by Remnant's behavior, which only seemed to aggravate the teen.
"Yes! Yes I could! I beat them easily, and was about to kill them, too! But noooo, right as I'm about to, some fucking guy and a freakshow of a team showed up and fucking wrecked my shit! I was outnumbered and outgunned! And no matter what I've learned, no matter what I could have applied, I would have been wrecked anyway! You think I wanted to flee?! How fucking weak and helpless do you think I felt, huh?!" With this last statement, Remnant stopped pacing and looked Erebos right in the eye. Kraid had to admit he still found Remnant's irritation amusing, but as Remnant said, this indeed create a problem for them.
"So, in short, we no longer have a clear indication of what our opposition is." Erebos began pace himself, though in a considerably more laid back and relaxed manner than Remnant had. "This is a problem, indeed. And a setback as well."
Remnant, calmer now, looked at his master as he paced. "So what do we do now?"
Erebos didn't immediately answer, thinking hard as he stopped pacing, his brow furrowed as he looked straight ahead of him. "We need to know the full strength of our opposition." He turned and looked right at Remnant. "Amity Colosseum will arrive in Vale in the next few days. You and Cinder's team will enter the Vytal Tournament and compete." His eyes narrowed into slits. "And you are to kill no one. Is that clear?"
Remnant sighed in aggravation. It was difficult to grasp the concept of fighting without killing for him, but his master's word was final. "Yes, master."
"Good. Now, return to Beacon and await further instructions." With that, Erebos turned to walk back into the base, but stopped when Remnant spoke once again.
"Master..." Remnant paused before continuing. "Why aren't you telling Cinder the truth? About the real reason why you have her stationed at Beacon?"
Erebos remained standing where he was, his back to Remnant, not immediately answering. This was a question he would have preferred to avoid, but considering it was his most loyal servant asking him this, an answer was only proper. Erebos turned back towards Remnant, his mismatched eyes meeting his.
"Consider this instead, Remnant. Why do you think you are stationed at Beacon? And why would I tell you one thing and tell Cinder another?" His meaning couldn't have been clearer. Cinder didn't need to know why she was at Beacon, but because she was bound to be suspicious, he had given her a false one. Erebos knew his daughter well, and kept her at Beacon under a false pretense so that Remnant could complete the real mission and continue to keep Cinder in the dark. But that still didn't answer Remnant's question.
"But what's her role in all this? Why involve her at all?"
Erebos glared at Remnant until he looked down, unable to meet his master's piercing gaze. "You operate on a need to know basis, Remnant. And that is something you certainly do not need to know." Remnant nodded, keeping his gaze down humbly.
"Your role is far more important than hers, boy. And you would do well to remember what you are here for in the first place, and why I brought you with me."
Remnant rubbed his sternum subconsciously, shivering a bit knowing what was ahead for him. And for the world he was named after.