Team LNTC
Chapter Thirty: Volume Three
Opening Ceremony
"…and that's what happened."
After the events that transpired at the CCTS Tower, the two quickly met with Ozpin, Ironwood and Glynda in Ozpin's office, the two giving a recap of what had occurred at the tower, from spotting the intruder to the fight and to the intruder escaping.
"So, a masked intruder infiltrated the tower and did something to the system." Ozpin summarized. "Is that correct?"
"Just as I said, yeah." Qrow nodded. "Whoever she was, she was surprisingly skilled; even gave me and Corrina a hard time."
"Oz, this could be a problem for security." Ironwood spoke up firmly. "Whatever this intruder did, it may prove damaging."
"You're right about that, James." Ozpin nodded. "We need to do a sweep of the tower to make sure there aren't any back doors into the systems."
Just then, the elevator went off again, before Oobleck entered, "If I may suggest something?"
"Bartholomew." Glynda said. "What do you mean?"
"Thanks to an anonymous source, I made a terrifying discovery." The doctor said. "My source informed me that the enemy intends to hack the systems in order to cause some serious damage during the tournament, to damage the security systems."
"What?!" Ironwood gasped.
"And who is this anonymous source?" Qrow asked with a raised brow.
"Apologies, but my source wishes to keep their identity a secret for now." Oobleck said. "At any rate, I recommend that we reprogram this virus in order to counter this." He then held up his scroll. "Using the copy of the virus given to me, of course."
"Thankfully, I have an expert in Atlas who's well versed in computer science." Ironwood declared. "She may be a little odd, but she knows her way around computer programing."
"Then give your expert the details." Ozpin said. "We can't take any risks that leaves our security compromised."
"What about the Intruder?" Qrow asked. "We have no idea when she's gonna strike again."
"I'll double the security, and with the description you've given, we'll find this interloper with the fox mask." Ironwood said.
"At any rate, thank you both for your courage." Ozpin looked back to the two Hunters. "You may leave."
Qrow and Corrina left the office, as the elevator went down, before Qrow noticed how quiet his girlfriend looked, especially the shaken look on her face.
"You okay, babe?" He asked.
"Yeah, I just…" Corrina sighed. "I just…feel like I've seen that mask before." She then gripped her arms. "And I feel a sense of familiar dread when I looked at it."
"Because it looked like a fox?" Qrow questioned.
Corrina nodded, before Qrow wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, don't let it get to you." He said with a smile. "Whatever it is, we'll push through it together!"
Corrina smiled at this gesture, before the two saw Raven and Taiyang approach, both having worried expressions.
"Qrow, what happened?" Raven demanded. "We just heard from Oz!"
"Oh, nothing too major." Qrow rolled his eyes. "Just dealing with an intruder in the tower and risking a breach in security."
"Real funny, brother." Raven said. "Why didn't you let us know there was an intruder?!"
"Hey, we didn't have time!" Corrina countered. "Besides, we didn't think we'd need any extra help with one bitch!"
"Well, there's no helping it now." Tai said. "For now, we should stand by until Ozpin need us."
"I suggest we keep this from the kids." Qrow said. "After the Mountain Glenn mission and the psycho from Patch, those kids have already been put through enough."
"For once, I agree with that suggestion." Raven nodded. "No need to drag those kids any further than they already were."
All in agreement, the four elder Hunters made their leave, although Corrina's mind was still fixated on the intruder with the fox mask.
'Two masked people that seem familiar.' Corrina pondered. 'Just what the hell is going on?'
After two days had passed, and the opening ceremony of the Vytal Festival and Tournament was about to commence. With Amity Colosseum floating overhead, with a variety of airships hovering around, as some ships docked for students to file into the arena to find their seats. Soon enough, Teams RWBY, LNTC, JNPR, and SCPO, along with Raven and Qrow, found their seats near the middle section of the arena.
"This is so exciting!" Ruby said with excitement in her voice and stars in her eyes. "The Vytal Tournament is about to start!"
"Why hold the festival once every two years, though?" Loki asked. "Why not every year rather than two?"
"Not sure why, exactly." Nirnasha said. "But I here that it had something to do with the end of the Great War."
"That still doesn't explain the reason behind the two year thing." Loki deadpanned.
"Does everything need a reason?" Cenric spoke up.
"Yes, actually." The trickster declared. "Like, say for example, why are the god's such uncaring cunts?" He then threw his hands up. "Why isn't there a god of tits and wine?"
"There is a tribe in Mistral that worships a fertility goddess with sixteen tits." Raven snickered.
"We should go there immediately!" Loki said with wide eyes.
"I'd be lying if I said she was joking." Qrow chuckled. "Although, that 'fertility goddess' never had actual proof of existing."
"Not gonna stop the crazies from worshipping an imaginary god." Turoc said with a roll of his eyes.
"Do you not worship any deities, Turoc?" Penny asked, the android sitting next to him.
"Not really, no." The fox faunus said with a shake of his head. "Still, can't help but find some religions that sound laughable."
"He's not wrong." Blake chimed in. "There's a religion claiming that we were made by aliens or made from dirt."
"What about the one that says we come from monkeys?" Nora added.
"That's an evolution theory, Nora, not a religion." Ren said.
"Careful, or that might happen." Yang chuckled.
"Well, enough about evolution theories and religions," Weiss spoke up. "We're here to have fun at the festival and do our best in the tournament!"
"Weiss is right!" Ruby declared. "So let's do our best in both fun and the tournament!"
Just then, Sun Wukong and his team took their seats behind them, "What's with all the early excitement without me?"
"Ah, speaking of monkeys," Loki said. "Hey, Sunny Boy, welcome to the club!"
"Took us a while to find you guys." Neptune said. "With this many people, it's easy to lose someone in your group."
"Nice to see our leader sticking with the group, for once." Scarlet said.
"C'mon, Red, you gonna keep bringing that up?" Sun frowned. "I said I was sorry and made up for it."
"Well, it kinda means nothing when you do it over and over again." Scarlet crossed his arms. "How do we know you won't do it again in the future?"
"Guys, let's chill, okay?" Sage spoke up. "We're here to unwind and have a good time, not squabbling like children."
"Yeah, so let's all relax, children." Sting finally spoke up. "After all, this is a festival about joining in unity, not the opposite."
Corrina yawned loudly, "Well, hopefully we can skip to the action."
"You're not interested in the opening ceremony, Ms. Corrina?" Jaune spoke up. "It features performances from every culture on Remnant!"
"Don't you think I know that?" The dragon faunus said with a frown. "I've already been all over the world, seen all the cultures, so I see no reason to attend this one."
"Come now, we're a team and we should attend these together." Nathaniel spoke up. "Besides, you never know when something new will come up."
Corrina only rolled her eyes, seeing Ozpin step out onto the arena, taking center stage.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, one and all from all parts of Remnant." He declared through the microphone. "Welcome to the Fortieth Biennial Vytal Festival Tournament!"
There was a thunderous round of applause before Ozpin continued.
"Again, the Four Headmasters thank you for coming to such a grand event. This festival is in celebration to the end of the Great War many, many years ago. Today, we come together from all corners of Remnant to celebrate peace and harmony between the four kingdoms, even during the darkest times." He then looked up. "Now, let us commence the opening ceremony!"
There was a roar of applause as Ozpin walked offstage, before the first performance to begin; the Atlesian performers, all dressed in beautiful ballroom clothing, performing the ballroom dance, each pair moving with elegance during the ballroom waltz.
"Not too inaccurate." Turoc declared. "We Atlesians do tend to show off our fancy pants clothing."
After the Atlesian performance, up next was the Vacuan, each dancer dressed in old Vacuan tribal war garments, these outfits including bone helmets, feathered headdresses, fur legs and armlets to fit the Vacuan of ancient times, the dnacers performing what looked like tribal war dances.
"As someone raised in Vacuo my whole life, I can confirm this." Nirnasha declared. "They even got the skull masks spot on."
After the Vacuan performance, next was Valerian, this time the performers doing the partner dance, the Valerian Tango, the dancers showing much more passion with every move than the Atlesian Waltz performance.
"Passion with every move!" Loki boasted.
With the Valerian performance concluded, next was the Mistrallian performance, where the dancers wore Mistallian kimono and performed the Kabuki that involved circling movements, each step taken with vigor and energy.
"A classic in Mistrallian theatre." Cenric commented.
Once the dancers left the stage, the audience waiting eagerly for the tournament to begin, when Ozpin spoke over the loudspeaker.
"Before we begin, we have one more performance." He declared. "Everyone, put your hands together the one of the most popular idols in Mistral…Celeste Aquarion!"
The crowd went wild at the mention of the name, before a set of four armored soldiers stepped out, and walking in between them was a beautifully dressed in a beautiful Mistrallian dress, with several golden bracelets around her wrists and ankle, her long ocean blue hair reaching her feat and having what looked like a golden lance resting on her shoulder.
While many of the crowd inhabitants awed at her beauty, Neptune recognized her instantly, "Wait, she never said she was an idol!"
"Nep, you know her?" Sun said as he turned to his teammate.
"Yeah, we met when I was getting ice cream, during our trip in the city." Neptune explained, leaving out the part where he had danced with her before showing up for the dance.
"So, how did you not know about her being a star idol?" Pyrrha asked. "She's practically a big name over in Mistral."
"No clue." Neptune shrugged. "But those guards definitely don't look like they're from Mistral."
Corrina, who was barely paying attention to the performances, nearly sat up straight when the blue-haired woman stepped out, her crimson eyes stuck on her like glue as if studying ever part of her.
"That woman…" She whispered to herself. "I feel like I've seen her before…"
Once the crowd died down, Celeste bowed once her guards stepped a reasonable feet away before the stage soon changed into what looked like an area flooded with water.
"Where'd the water come from?" Loki asked.
"The Amity Colosseum can change its biomes for every fight." Weiss explained. "Through Dust and advanced technology, this arena is one of Atlas' crowned creations!"
With water reaching the ankles of her naked feet, Celeste then waved her arms over the waters surface, and the water seemed to move along with her movements, before she then began to stand up, the water beginning to form and rise, before she then begin to twirl like a ballerina, the water spires twisting and forming, the crowd watching with intense interest, before she stopped spinning, then flinging her arms apart, the water in turn exploding into a spectacle of rain, the water droplets freezing in midair, the crowd amazed by this.
"That must be her Semblance at work." Blake commented.
"Man, she knows how to make water much less terrifying." Neptune nodded.
Corrina watched the woman with great intrigue, before the woman looked up at her, much to the dragon-faunus' surprise, before the blue-haired woman smiled in her direction, her eyes closing before she began to sing.
Saying goodbye to the sunset
Your sweet melody echoes through the darkest sky
Long, long ago, here now, and gone
People have lived, prayed, and sang a song
With their fragile memories
Celeste sang as she danced with elegance and grace, the water droplets following along with her movements, creating a spectacle which the audience cheered, Teams RWBY, LNTC, JNPR, even the boys of SCPO and the Branwen Twins were in awe at it.
Corrina, on the other hand, watching the performance with wide eyes, watched the blue-haired woman perform, her voice singing the song that reached her ears, hearing what seemed to be sadness in the lyrics, even her body movements were giving off an aura of sorrow.
And before she knew it, she felt her eyes tear up.
"Corrin, you okay?" Qrow asked his girlfriend, the first to notice.
Corrina was silent for a moment, before turning to her boyfriend with tearful eyes.
"I feel like I remember this song…from when I was little."
Soon enough, the performance ended, followed by a roar of applause from the crowd. Celeste took a bow before turning to leave, her guards following behind. Corrina instantly shot up from her seat and made a mad dash for the exit, ignoring the call of her teammates and Qrow, before making it to the main lobby, spotting the woman just now stepping out with a silver haired man wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses.
"Wait!" She called out.
The duo turned, the normally relaxed dragon faunus looking at them with frantic eyes.
"Who are you?" She demanded. "How do you know that song?!"
Before either could give any sort of reply, the students soon began to file out of the arena booths, some heading for the locker rooms to prepare for the tournament, others going for the docks to head down to the concession stands. The woman looked at the dragon-faunus and gave a sad smile, speaking only one word.
"Soon."
And with that, they disappeared into the crowd, Corrina frantically looking around, but saw no sight, as she stood amidst the crowd, with even more questions.
And there's the newest chapter! I apologize greatly for the holdup; besides work, I've been dealing with some family drama that really put me in a depressive mood and it kinda killed my motivation for a time. But, that's taken care of now and I'm back! Not sure how many chapters are left before we hit the big finale of Volume 3.
Before I go, that song played during Celeste's performance is a song by MementoMori called Everglow, a million thanks to the Relentless Crusader for suggesting this song for Serenade of Dragons. The song sounded perfect for this scene, and I recommend every one of you to give it a listen.
And with that, I'll see you in the next chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!