Chapter 34 – Amber
Chelsea and Ozpin ride the elevator down to the lowest floor. The doors open to reveal an enormous hallway, decorate with large light green pillars. Ozpin leads Chelsea to the end of the hallway. She sees two metal pods, one containing a comatose woman glowing a bright yellow.
"What is going on down here?" Chelsea says in fear of what the answer may be. Ozpin walks to the control panel in between the two pods.
"That woman is Amber, the Fall Median. We do not have time for me to tell you the full story but I will summarize. She has a type of power that the woman your leader fought tried to steal the rest of. This machine is what keeps Amber alive, but was designed to move her power into a vessel that would use that it for the benefit of others." Ozpin says as the empty pod's door opens. He then looks back at a still confused Chelsea.
"Chelsea, when that woman died, the power returned to Amber. However, her condition is still not one that could recover that easily. You need to inherit the power of the Fall Maiden before she dies or else the power will be pass onto someone at random." Ozpin says as Chelsea looks at Amber in her pod.
"If I take all of her power, will she die?" Chelsea says. Ozpin takes a deep breath before answering.
"Yes, whether or not you chose to do this. She does not have long for this world." Ozpin says as he looks at Amber. He then looks back to Chelsea, "Are you sure about this?"
Chelsea looks back at Ozpin, "Yes, this will be my choice and my burden to bare." She says as she walks into the empty pod. Ozpin nods and presses a few button on the control panel. The pod door close as a light orange energy flows out the tubes connected to Amber pod. They flow into Chelsea's pod as she begins to convulse in pain. Ozpin looks to Chelsea, the grip on his cane tightens as he hears her screams.
Back on the court yard, Susanoo is fighting off Grimm griffins that have landed. He swings his staff against the bodies of his foes. The protruding blades cut deeply in the Grimm's flesh as he kills all that land near him. As the last one dies by his weapon, Susanoo looks into the skies to see hundreds more circling. Suddenly, he hears a voice call out to him. He looks over to see his teammate Tatsumi.
"Been a long time Susanoo." Tatsumi says as looks around the area. "If you are here, Najenda must be close by. Where is she?" he says as he focuses attention back to the Grimm. Tatsumi wonders why he did not answer. He then realizes all the blood on the grass and stone path. His eyes widen at the grim reality of what has happened to his leader. He hears the sound someone call to him form the gate.
"Who are you!?" The person says. Tatsumi turns around to see it is Pyrrha holding Jaune's sword. She looks to him with anger and she tries to catch her breath.
"Pyrrha it is me, Tatsumi. I am wearing my armor." Tatsumi says as he looks in the distance to Wave carrying Nora and Jaune, "What is he doing with them?" He says as he holds his spear tighter.
"Tatsumi!" Pyrrha says with some joy in the realization that he is okay, "Wave is helping us now, the others are hurt." Tatsumi looks at her in bewilderment until he sees the beat condition of Jaune and Nora. "Get them into the tower, it is safer in there than out here." Tatsumi says to Pyrrha in a serious tone.
"Got it." Pyrrha says as Wave approaches. She tells him what to do and as she see More Grimm following. "Go now! Tatsumi and I will hold them off." Pyrrha says as she points her sword at the Grimm.
"Tatsumi?" Wave says before he looks to the man in gray armor. "Get them to safety then ask questions later, okay!?" Tatsumi says before he rushes to the Grimm with Pyrrha. Wave stands still for a second in confusion before running into the tower. He sets the two down near the elevator and beings to run out.
However, a Grimm Nevermore lands in front of him outside the build, blocking his path. It screeches in his direction as it stretches its wings. Wave is about to charge the Grimm, until it is assault by a barrage of white feathers. They price the flesh of the Grimm and course the beast to stager. Wave takes advantage of this opportunity and punch the Nevermore in the stomach. The force of the impact embeds his fist into the Grimm. Wave removes his fist in quick fashion, causing the creature to fall over dead. He looks up to see his comrade Run in the air holding Blake. Run lands and let's go of Blake she runs towards Tatsumi and Pyrrha.
"So, you changed side also." Wave says in a joking tone to Run.
"Yes, they are different from the Capital," Run says with a smile, "Cinder and Adam were to blinded by a drive for power, preventing them from doing any good." He continues as more types of Grimm come closer. Both Jeager's get ready with their weapons.
"Esdeath is not going to forgive us." Wave says as he stares at the Grimm.
"We will talk to her later, if we live." Runs says before a attacks the Grimm with feathers at high velocity.
Tatsumi and Pyrrha fight of a group of Grimm Ursa at the front gate. The Night Raid member slashes multiple beast in one slash. He turns around to see the red haired warrior struggling with the enemies, exhausted from her last fight. Before he could help, Blake rushes to her aid, drawing her weapon and stabbing an Ursa in the throat. Pyrrha follows up by stabbing the beast in the stomach. Both jump back form the Grimm. It staggers as it tries to walk forward, Blake and Pyrrha ready for another assault.
The Grimm Ursa gets ready to roar. Suddenly, its own head was removed from the rest of its body. Both Gil's and Tatsumi look in confusion until they see that behind the beast stood Akame, holding a different sword and sheath and had multiple deep cuts and wounds. Tatsumi runs over to the three, revived his friend is alive.
"Akame! What happened to you?" Tatsumi says in a worrying tone.
"What happened against Adam?" Blake says as she notices that it was his sword Akame was holding.
"He has been dealt with. However, Murasame broke so I am using this sword and sheath," Akame says to both as she points the barrel of the sheath at the beast. The red eye assassin shoots and kills the Ursa in one headshot. "I killed some Grimm on my way here, but another wave is approaching."
"We should fortify ourselves in the tower?" Pyrrha says as she looks in the distance to see the wave of Grimm Akame mentioned. The others nod in agreement as they run to the tower. Blake runs over to tell the two Jaegers to fall back.
Only a few meters away Susanoo deals with more Grimm griffins as he tries to kill the rest of them. He takes a defensive stance as a lager group rushes him. Suddenly, all the Grimm are forced into the wall of the building. Susanoo looks to see the Glynda Goodwitch, escorting an unarmed Mine and an injured Ruby. The teacher walks over to biological imperial arm.
"I did not run into the enemy along my way to get these two, did they come here." Glynda asks.
"Two powerful foes did show up. My master sacrificed herself to allow me to kill one, but the other ran off before the battle started." Susanoo says as he pick up the injured girl.
"I see. Where is Ozpin?" Glynda asks as she tires forces back a group of approaching Grimm creeps with her weapon.
"He and Chelsea used the elevator to head to somewhere in the tower." Susanoo says as he runs back to tower. Glynda looks in confusion before realizing what the Professor had to do. Mine then walks up to the teacher.
"We need move somewhere else. There are too many of them for all of us to fight in the open." Mine says. Glynda then looks over then approaching waves of Grimm. She points to the tower.
"Head inside now. We can funnel in the Grimm and pick them off at the entrance." Teacher says as she and Mine run to the door, another crowd of Grimm follow them as they reach the entrance. Run stands in front of them and flaps his wings, unleashing an assault of feathers towards the Grimm, Mine and Glynda enter the tower with the others already in. A few Grimm fall over dead, but more trample over them with fangs pointed towards the people. Run falls back inside as Glynda closes the doors shut with her weapon. The Grimm push against the glass, cracking it as they try to force their way into the tower.
"What now?" Run says to Glynda as the tail of a Grimm Deathstacker breaks one of the windows. The teacher gets ready to call out an order when she turns around to attention of the elevator door opening.
Walking out is Ozpin, he immediately see the injured students runs over to them. Chelsea walks out the elevator next, moving towards the Grimm at the door. Tatsumi, Akame, and Mine look over to see her walking differently, her gaze fixed on the Grimm and her fist clenched. Chelsea raises her hand towards the door of Grimm, opening her palm. Her eyes glow yellow as a ball of fire forms around her palm. Just as the Grimm break through the door, Chelsea unleashes a blast of fire from her hand. She incinerates the approaching Grimm and runs out the door. All the remaining Grimm focus their attention on her. Everyone else in the room looks in astonishment over what they had just witnessed. Except Ozpin, who lets out a sigh of relief?
She runs to the middle of the court yard and looks back at the Grimm. The Deathstalker gets close behind her and rise its golden stinger over her head. Chelsea evades the attack by jumping into the air. She hovers a few feet as the air as her eyes glow more vibrantly, radiating out the sides of her eyes. She extender her hands out to her side. Large dark clouds form overhead as she raises her hand towards them. Once she lowers her hand, a bolt of lightning strikes from the clouds and destroys the Deathstalker. She continues this to the other Grimm as their numbers dwindled.
The remaining Grimm run away to avoid a painful death. Chelsea descends as she see the creatures run away, knowing she has won the fight. Her teammates run over to her. Tatsumi is the first to address her, deactivating Incursio and removing his armor.
"Chelsea, how were you able to do that!?" He says in amazement. Chelsea smiles as her eyes return to their normal red.
"I found a way to help my friends on the battlefield." She says as her smile slowly fades, "It did have to come at a big cost that I would rather not talk about."
"What do you mean?" Mine says as Chelsea looks down slightly. Akame puts her hand on Chelsea's shoulder. She looks up at the Akame and sees a reassuring smile, "It is okay. Sometimes we have to do what we have do so we can protect others." Akame says causing Chelsea to smile again.
Tatsumi looks around to trying find someone. He called out for their missing comrade. Mine looks around also. She hears Ruby's voice in the distance, calling is an urgent tone for her sister.
