Author's notes will follow the chapter this time around, just a heads up.
A frown found its way to Frost's face as he gazed out over the back expanse of his mindscape once again. After being forced to deal with one of the people directly responsible for his family's demise and many of the problems he'd had to deal with as of late, he knew that this next interaction was all but inevitable.
"So…now you know the full story." His darker half stated calmly as it faded into view amidst the darkness. A sinister grin grew on its face as it regarded Frost's face for a moment. "If only you could see the expression on your face right now. It's like a 5-star buffet just feeling the negative emotions coming off of you right now. I can't wait to get the dessert where it's nothing but desperation and a faint glimmer of defeat when I finally take over in full. That moment back in Patch where I had control for a short time was extremely liberating, if you must know, after being caged and unable to act on my own for so long."
"…I don't get you." Frost's voice was oddly devoid of emotion as he spoke a few simple words to his doppelganger.
The creature tilted its head in confusion. "What's there to get? I am the manifestation of your negative traits made physical. The inherent desire that you hold back to punch in someone's face when they wrong you. The need to feel someone at your mercy when in the heat of battle. I am you, but better."
"But that's not really true, now is it?" Frost continued to speak calmly as he turned to begin pacing away from the creature, even though there was nowhere to go within the space they currently resided. "You're just a Grimm in a human body, and not even the first one at that. You're simply a puppet master pulling at the strings of another form. It's not really *your* body, now is it?"
"Trivial matters for pointless debating. Even having control of the body shows that I am the superior being. Something you will soon come to accept as the last dose of drugs work its way into your system. After all, I know you could feel the slight pricking sensation as you fell unconscious. This isn't your place anymore. You will simply be forced to sit back and watch like a bystander while I control your every action and word."
"…But not my thoughts." Frost stopped and nodded his head at nothing in particular with a slight humming sound. "That's what I figured."
"There's no need for me to smother your personality entirely. If anything it will leave a constant source of fear, anger, and dread for me to feed off by leaving a small portion of you alive in here. Otherwise I would need to feed off of the negative emotions around me and be forced to roam for food like my brethren. I am not simply some animal scrounging for scraps anymore. I am the superior entity. The next stage of evolution. And my kind WILL take over this world before reducing it to ash. Just as Salem demands."
"And was this how you always thought?" Frost asked. "Or did this form of sentience only come into existence because of the experimentation that they performed that put you in human and Faunus bodies? Can you really call it your own sentience if you are simply an extension of someone else?"
The shadow of himself chuckled darkly for a second or two before looking at him with a toothy smile. "I see what you are trying to do, child. And while it is entertaining in its own way, it is a futile effort. For beings like me, the concept of self is only as important as having a more durable form to further Salem's goals. Something she has been working towards for a great deal of time. It was only thanks to the curiosity of your pathetic races that we have been given a form more survivable than our easily squashed forms from before. Aura is a powerful force after all, something that our original bodies have no way to access. But now we have the same powers as you, but combined with the raw power granted by our Queen."
"And your world will burn for it."
Frost's mask finally fell as he turned to face his cohabitant with a look of pure disgust.
"Not if I break this place and the people in it first."
"What are we even supposed to do once we reach this lady that's going to point the way for us?" Emerald asked with an incredulous look on her face. "I doubt she's going to just bend over and tell us where her old boss is, even if she happens to have some sort of idea."
Qrow set aside his flask after taking a quick swig from it before speaking. "All of you are going to watch the perimeter of the town in case we get any unexpected visitors. Oz and I will find the good doctor and get her to tell us where we need to go. Simple as that."
"Will it actually be that simple based on everything we know, though?" Weiss asked from her place aboard their airship, now more populated than previous trips they had taken.
"…Probably not." Qrow stated with a calm shrug of his shoulders.
"And how is that supposed to help us, exactly?"
"Because, Miss Schnee," Ozpin spoke up from the front of the airship, next to Penny as she held control of the ships systems at present. "We have very good reason to believe that despite her defecting, the lady we are attempting to question is still likely in contact with the people we are hoping to find. And despite her being a scientist, they were all trained in some form of combat at the time as they were teachers and scientists that studied the Grimm directly. And often that work would take them into the field where they would need to protect themselves. Therefore, she will be very dangerous in an enclosed space, hence our placing all of you outside where you can have more room to maneuver whilst Qrow and I attempt to gather information."
The rest of them nodded their heads, despite some being hesitant to not try and join the group to question the woman directly. But that was out of their control at this point, given the older men in control of the situation.
It was with this plan in mind that everyone disembarked the ship calmly and quietly as they touched down in a clearing a short distance away from the village so as to avoid causing a scene. A quick cursory glance across the group showed that everyone had their weapons at their sides should anything go awry in the process – something that every single one of them expected in some capacity. It wasn't matter of "if", but a matter of "when".
The group, due to its size, was met with many cautious glances as they reached the village proper, many citizens quickly ushering either family or themselves into nearby buildings out of worry. Not that anyone blamed them when nearly a dozen armed people suddenly walked up to your home. You would feel the need to shelter yourself as well in case something was about to happen.
The group eventually reached the one of the larger building in the small village before Qrow raised one fist to knock sharply on the door. After waiting a few seconds, the mayor of the town opened the door, his form jumping back slightly in surprise at the sheer number of people in his village all of a sudden. One look across the group told him that this was no simple visit given the number of weapons, though that didn't stop him from acknowledging Neo and Emerald as he caught sight of them within the group.
"Ah, if it isn't some of our towns own saviors! I was hoping I would get to see your faces again someday after everything you've done for us." The man took a deep breath as a more serious look crossed his face. "Though I wish it were for something other than a group of Huntsmen visiting as though they were looking for a fight. What is it I can help you folks with?"
"We apologize for disturbing the peace at this time, I assure you." Ozpin began as he stepped forward to shake the man's hand for a moment. "We are simply here to ask a few questions of one of your village's inhabitants if it's not too much trouble."
The man cleared his throat nervously before addressing Ozpin's question. "Hopefully it's not anything too serious. I would hate for our home to be at risk so soon after we were nearly forced to abandon our homes after being attacked. Our own doctor has been hard at work making sure that everyone wasn't harmed at all in the process since we returned."
"I assure you, it shouldn't take long at all." Ozpin stated calmly with a raised hand. "But it does regard your doctor, as it is. Miss Amalie, if I presume?" A simple nod from the man was all Ozpin needed as he continued. "Excellent. If you could just point out which building she resides in we will ask our questions and then be on our way. Thank you again for your time."
"Not at all." The mayor responded in kind, though far more rigidly as he desperately wished for these people visiting to leave as soon as possible if only for things to become peaceful like they had been up until they're arrival. "It's just in the next building over." A quick gesture of his hand was all they were given as the door slammed shut mere seconds later.
"That was a bit rude, don't you think?" Jaune stated from off to the side of the group.
"Unfortunately for us, this town has every right to be cautious and defensive around us." Ozpin began as they all started walking towards the building the ma mentioned. "They are still attempting to regain a sense of normalcy after the ordeal they suffered not long ago. A large group such as ours visiting like it is does not give the greatest comforts to people looking for safety."
"But it's our job to hunt Grimm. Why should they be scared of us being here if it means they have even more protection?" Ruby asked the question on many of their minds.
"Because it means that there could just be more trouble around the corner if so many of us are here at one time." Emerald answered before either Qrow or Ozpin could speak up. "More protection also means greater risk, so in their minds they see us as the signs of an oncoming storm. Anyone would be nervous at that."
"Well said." Ozpin commented on Emerald's assessment before Qrow turned to face the group in full as they reached their destination.
"Now, a few of you will split into two groups to monitor the exterior of town while one group patrols the town itself to make sure nothing is off. Jaune, Nora, and Ren will comprise one group while Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang will comprise another. As for the last three of you," Qrow turned his attention directly to Neo, Emerald, and Penny. "You will be the ones watching town, since two of you are already known by the town after being here before, and the robo girl will act as backup so that the interior isn't left under guarded in case anything happens. Is everyone clear?" A series of nods and sounds of affirmation were all that was given as groups split off to begin patrolling as Ozpin and Qrow both turned to face the door to the building behind them.
"You know that this is likely going to go south in some fashion, right Oz?"
"…Yes. I desperately wish that it doesn't, but we both know that is highly unlikely given what we now know. They're becoming more active than any other time we've had to deal with them. And I am deeply concerned for this town considering how long one of their own agents was being kept here, even if she did give away their position at the time."
"It was too clean a sweep; we all knew that at the time." Qrow stated with a grunt of disgust. "But we couldn't prove that she hadn't warned some of the higher ups to leave and simply leave behind a skeleton crew with their main base. They'll always have other places to hide out and bide their time. How is this going to be any different?"
"Because," Ozpin stated with a rare expression of frustration on his face. "This time Salem has more forces than she's ever had access to before. Grimm hybrids were never an issue we had to deal with before, and recent appearances of new Grimm and people disappearing in large numbers from countless places means that they are advancing their timetable. We are rapidly running out of time. This interaction will, ideally, allow us to stall her plans for just a little bit longer..." A sad look fell upon Ozpin's face as he looked back over the peaceful town for a few seconds.
"I'm not certain we can prevent a worldwide calamity for much longer otherwise."
Alright, I wanted to save this for after the chapter rather than before so that I didn't pull focus away from the story for the first little bit. But anyways, I'll get to the point.
The other day, I had a powerful moment of realization. For those that haven't seen it or heard of it (though I'm not sure how the second one would happen) there was a movie that came out a little while back called The Greatest Showman. Given my impression of musical in the past, I figured it would be alright and leave it at that. But this movie went down a road I didn't expect it to go.
It felt like so many of the songs and scenes spoke directly to my heart as well as creators of any sort of art in general. I felt like it spoke to a younger version of myself as I tried to figure out who I wanted to be and how I fit into the world. It left me breathless and choked up as different things happened over the course of the movie. And I don't know if I'll ever encounter a moment quite like that again in my life. But even if I don't, I appreciate what The Greatest Showman did for me.
It reminded me why I started writing in the first place. And I'm happy to say that I haven't fallen off that path yet, even if I do sometimes forget what put me there in the first place. These stories may be something for me to explore and hone my own writing talents, but they also accomplish something else. They give the rest of you something to enjoy. They let you see a world that someone else imagined, or an alternate take on events that hasn't been encountered before. And I hope you all continue to enjoy this journey to the fullest extent. There will be bumps, there will be obstacles, but in the end it is the culmination of an adventure spanning a few years. Or the beginning of a new journey as with other stories that I am writing.
So yeah, even if it is incredibly sappy, YOU are a big part of why I do this. The world of a person's imagination is limitless, so long as we don't ever give up or stop exploring our own thoughts. And there was one quote, from the very man the movie was made to honor that I think sums it up perfectly.
"The noblest art is that of making others happy." -P.T. Barnum
