Chapter 4- Have you ever heard?
In the market place, Ray crossed off the name "Ivan Machina" on her scroll and sighed as she and Wave slowly strolled down the street after their unsuccessful attempt to get any information or chased away.
"What was with that old guy? As soon as we mention his daughter he got all violent and started attacking us." Ray threw her hands up briefly as she complained.
"Well when you do lose a family member, you kind of lose your mind, I was like that once remember?" Wave reminded the Idol and she quickly understood.
"Ah- yeah… by the way, how are you feeling now? Is Anabelle getting better?"
"I got an examination along with her before I left, and the doctors said I was improving greatly and even Anabelle's health was improving now that we can have small conversations together, I just have to have regular visits with her really." Said Wave, he had been visiting his sister more often and sometimes would accompany her when she has her therapy in which the doctors now involve Wave in to help build their relationship.
Although this made Wave wonder why Ray brought it up suddenly especially since she seemed like the insensitive one back then, he concluded that Ray is trying to change her ways and is trying to be understanding.
"I that so? That's a relief, as a future Idol of Remnant, I guess I need to start understanding feelings of other people, so you are my help got it?" Ray said, pointing a finger at him but then getting side-tracked by a jewellery store and wondered to look at the shop window.
"So, I'm your guinea pig?" Wave forced a smile as he watched Ray looking at the jewellery.
The Idol turned away from the store and pouted, seeming annoyed at the statement.
"Sounds better to say you're supporting me, right? Like a back-up dancer, just help me to become better."
"That doesn't sound any better…plus I don't dance" Wave admitted, he doesn't feel confident in dancing but that wasn't the point.
"Really?! When we get back I should teach you someday." Ray was caught in surprise, she thought of Wave as one of the dancing types, she surely has to teach him one day.
"Anyway, back to that old man, there was something he said that bothered me." Wave put his hand to his chin as he looked up to the sky in thought.
"And that is?" Ray tilted her head slightly and put her hands on her hips.
Going through his head, the words Wave was thinking about is when the man shouted, "She is a puppet to no one" It sounds like she was tricked into going somewhere he thought and something he should bring up when everyone meets again.
"He said something abo-"
"Oh, it's you two, how's the investigation going?" Gort noticed the two and interrupted their conversation, now carrying his cane in his arm and eating a half-eaten bagel in the other hand.
"Professor! Where did you come from… and aren't you getting a bit lazy there?" Ray asked, glaring at the bagel like it's her mortal enemy.
"I'm being more productive than looking into a jewellery store don't you think?" Said Gort, taking another bite out of the bagel, making Ray erk to herself as she didn't know he saw that.
"Ahem- It's almost time we met up again by the statue, let's go and Let's get a bagel for Ray since she won't stop looking at it." Gort cracked a teasing smile as he turned his back on the two and walked on.
"Jeez! But you're paying!" Ray yelled frustratingly and stomped on ahead, Wave looking in surprise but quickly cleared his head and rushed on.
"They're late." Gort grumbled impatiently, tapping his foot and watching his pocket watch, Ray and Wave were stood at each side of the statue bored to the brim of waiting.
"Where the hell is Sky and Claus?! It's been 15 minutes!" Ray called out and Wave slumped to the floor.
"Don't worry, I'll give them a good talk once they get here." Gort said but as he said that he heard a voice ring through the air and he looked behind himself to see a figure carrying someone but upon closer inspection it was Sky carrying Claus on her back for some odd reason.
Just what kind of mischief did those two get themselves into?
"Guys! Sorry we're late." Sky shouted from the distance and as she drew closer to the group, she let Claus onto the ground where he was just sleeping but it wasn't easy to see with his sunglasses on.
"As you can see, we ran into a little trouble hehe…." The engineer scratched her head and made an apologetic face with a small smile but everyone else wasn't smiling.
"What the hell happened to the guy?!" Ray questioned Sky where she just stiffened up briefly and sighed.
"Basically the person we went to meet told us that there was a guy recently going around selling soothers and tealeaves that will dissolve in tea and was said to help with sleep and guarantee a good dream along with bath bombs, sweets and perfume, a lot of people bought one as buying them in a pack got half off the tickets to the circus so we were offered to try one but as I was about to try it, Claus took my drink and drank it instead." Sky crouched down and poked at Claus' cheek and there was no response, so she stood back up.
"And after like I think half an hour, he's been like this since, the guy apologised but gave us some weird smile as I left carrying this idiot, either way, that's how it all happened." She had finished her report and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well this is… unexpected but this does make the circus a suspect and we should get in contact with the owner soon." Gort said.
"We also got told that the daughter that went missing might have been tricked, we got kicked out said that "She is no puppet" So to say, pointing his finger at the circus tent." Wave said his input.
"Interesting indeed, let us return to the lodge, I'll have them make us food and pray that Claus wakes up in time, although from your descriptions it seems whoever is behind this mainly targeting females, that helps narrow things down but not by much." Gort said, poking the sleeping idiot with his cane like he is some rodent.
"Agreed." Ray said, poking Claus with the tip of her shoe.
"Are we seriously doing this?" Wave sighed at the two and joined in with the poking him softly with an arrow.
"Mmm… Who is that?" Claus grumbled as he slowly rose, the three poking him rapidly stopped and acted like nothing had happened.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Sky pouted. "idiot."
"You were about to drink it yourself!" Claus retaliated back, standing up and glare down at her.
"Did you have any sweet dreams?" Sky didn't even look him in the eye as she said.
"Well if it was about me walking a tightrope in front of a crowd in a circus then yes." He scoffed, turning the other way.
"I guess that makes the tent all the more worth investigating…" Gort facepalmed, questioning whether it was a good idea to go out with this team.
Back at the lodge, SCRW were sat in a large room with 4 bunk beds, a blue carpet in the middle and a desk, Sky was sat on the top bunk of one of the beds while Ray laid underneath, Wave was reading a book and Claus was well… looking out of the window.
When they got back, Gort told them to wait in their room while he sorted out the next task for the team but for tonight he was going to the circus in an attempt to find any clues regarding the disappearances and get any evidence so that the Vale security can act.
"I can't believe the guy, we know it was who did it, why is he going in alone?" Ray cried out into her pillow, kicking her legs in the air out of frustration.
"Well you can't arrest someone without any good evidence, sure the soothers, sweets, whatever is good evidence but if he manages to find anyone who was kidnapped and bring them back, then it's solved." Wave said, turning over a page.
"Then why didn't we go with him?"
"It's likely because he needed to be stealthy to not alert anyone working at the circus." Wave said again, turning over another page.
"Then… why did we even come then if we were to be put to the side like this?" Sky sighed, looking up at the ceiling with a sad expression for Sky hates feeling like she's just useless baggage.
"We should ask him when he gets back." Wave too wanted to know the truth, he and Ray were both frustrated that they didn't get to do much themselves.
Claus didn't react to their conversations, but his scroll buzzed, he looked up at a message from Gort, instructing him to meet him at a bar just a short walk away.
"Who was it?" Sky looked down curiously.
"Our professor, he just wants me to come over, only me." Claus said as he turned towards the door.
"Then ask him why the hell we are here, I can't take this!" Sky yelled, her annoyance showing through as she whined.
"You don't have to yell… but sure, if I don't like the answer I'll give him a piece of my mind for all of us." The mysterious guy said as he waved back with a smirk as he left the room, leaving everyone to sit in the room in silence.
"he sure is weird…" Ray says her opinion, in truth she never trusted Claus, she had always been suspicious of him ever since he joined the team.
"What makes you say that?" Sky hung over the bed with a curious look, just to then do a flip off the bed and sat on the floor in front of Ray, taking a deep breath to try calm down.
"It like, he's always got something else on his mind, he doesn't really pay attention to us apart from you, if you haven't noticed." As Ray said that, the thought struck the engineer as she mused over previous conversations where Claus hasn't been very interactive with the others yet gives her the full attention.
"As a leader, you need to pick up on this and talk with him, he's starting to creep me out." Ray said with a bossy look on her face.
"You don't have to tell me what to do but sure, I'll look into it."
Sky knows she will have to talk to him sooner or later but for now getting this mission done and over with was the priority though it's true that nobody knows much about him yet being in the same team as him.
"Sit"
Gort was at in a small bar on a wooden chair with a small wooden table and one other chair opposite him, in his hand was a glass of whisky with a single ice cube in it and on the other side of the table was another glass with the same contents, Claus was stood at the side of the table, trapped in the glare Gort was giving off like one thousand knives piercing him.
"But I'm a min-"
"No. you're not."
Gort glared and gestured his free hand for Claus to take a seat which he did obediently and slowly but maintained eye contact.
"Remove the glasses." Gort continued his glare, he was very serious in this moment.
Claus paused for a moment and reluctantly removed his sunglasses to reveal one of his eyes had been scarred while the other was purely black, like the eye of a rodent, showing that Claus is a Faunus and had been hiding it the whole time from his team.
"Now, would you like to tell me your name?"
"It's Clau-"
"Your real name, don't lie to me, I've got all your details on this scroll and now I'm here to find the truth." Gort brought out his scroll and showed Claus the screen with his face and details on it.
"You got me… My real name is Nezumi and if you translate it, it shows that I am a rat Faunus in eyes only or should I say, eye." Claus admitted defeat and confessed, revealing his true name, taking the glass in front of him and having a sip out of spite, gipping at the terribly strong drink and set it aside.
"Born in Vale and often bullied because of your features, even losing an eye thanks to an incident with Grimm, the children you were with ran off and left you for bait and was declared missing 8 years ago, the search being called off a year since the disappearance yet here you are, sitting with me sharing a drink." The professor spat out details about Claus without even batting an eye.
This gives Claus the burning question.
"Just how do you know this?!" He asked, gritting his teeth.
"I was in charge of that search, it brings me shame to think I never got to find you until you literally walked into Beacon and then later was on this team, I don't know how you got in with that forged ID but you did well, Oz… was never that perceptive." Gort took a sip from his glass, keeping eye contact with Claus, the Faunus felt defeated and worried that he would be kicked out of the academy, he had a mission to complete and to do that he needs to stay in Beacon.
"So, now that you know, what will you do?"
"Nothing." Gort slowly shook the ice around in his glass
"Huh?!" Claus' jaw dropped upon the fact that this professor would take no action against him for forging his way into the academy, there must be some reason behind this.
"Your team is already established and while we are in this bar, I am not your professor, just some old man who knows a tale or two, let's say what's said in here, stays in here, deal?" It was a deal that Claus couldn't refuse, in order to not get found out by the others and possibly be ejected out of the academy, he just nodded and lifted his drink as did Gort in response.
"So, I haven't told you my semblance if you're wondering how I knew everything." Gort took another sip.
Claus leaned forward to listen.
"Enhanced perception, it basically lets me look at the world at a much faster speed but of course that's only in the eyes, my body can't react as fast but with this, I can determine what are lies and predict my opponents moves." Taking another sip and finishing his glass, Gort reveals his semblance which explains his fight with Sky and why he was so dominant.
"Now we have information that binds us both, I have your whole past while you have my semblance, it may not seem like much but it's not something I give away easily if you understand." While it may not seem like much, Gort himself has had a history of where teams knew about his semblance and often mistook it as seeing the future which has lead to many complications and dangerous situations by relying on him to predict everything so Gort often keeps that information to himself to avoid complications.
"Got it." Claus nodded nervously.
"Besides, did you know I have a son at Beacon." Gort mentioned lightly, taking a swig from his glass.
"Do you? What's his name?"
"Shun Gort, he's in his second year now, he was never interested in detective work, he just wanted to learn my martial arts and now he fights with only his fists and gloves." Gort chuckled to himself, checking his surroundings quickly out of curiosity.
"You must be a good role model if he wants to be like you and learn from you." Claus took a sip from his glass and set it on the table.
"Well I used to be pretty famous you know? I was known as "one shot Lu" When I was younger because once I got into a fight with a huntsman and punched him so hard his aura shattered, and he went down in one punch, something like that would wow anyone right?" Gort laughed, musing over his past memories he shouldn't really be telling a student but it doesn't matter in this situation.
"That is quite the feat I'll admit although if you're that strong, why do you use a weapon?" Claus smiled, curious about his professor's past.
"Some things are best left for another time, I'll tell you once you graduate Beacon and maybe we can share a drink like this without the tension."
Gort finished off his drink and set it on the table, leaving some Lien on the table and stood up from his seat.
"With that out of the way, let's go give that circus a visit."
"Wait… what?!" Claus slipped his sunglasses on and said out of surprise.
"Haven't you heard? The circus is in town." Gort said with a smile, first time he smiled properly since going on the mission, Claus didn't know how to interpret it but just instead followed the professor out.