What Now?
Argus Limited Crash Site
It was almost too much to make sense of. The truth of humanity's first destruction, the origin of the one known as Salem and her apparent immortality, and Ozpin's true name, Ozma. Add on to that the origin of the relics, their purpose as part of Ozpin's original mission and the many life times he had to complete it. Then to make things even more convoluted, it turned out Ozpin and Salem had apparently been an item of sorts, even had their own family at one point.
But the thing that infuriated Wayne the most of all was something unrelated he'd seen. The original wielders of the aura shadow and the first possessors of the Faunus rage mode, had been brought into being to help Ozpin and Salem in their one and only attempt together to unite the world. 'You knew all of this,' thought Wayne as the images faded from his mind, 'and you kept it to yourself, expecting to accomplish what? Were you really protecting us from the truth for our own good?'
"I do wonder about that," said the image of the aura shadow, "Those are some painful memories we just witnessed. If I had to guess, he was probably keeping the truth hidden to protect himself. The man couldn't even tell the truth to the one he loved after all and he's had lifetimes of practice lying. It's even possible he's spent so long telling others he hides the truth to protect them that even he's come to believes it."
"Well he can't hide anything now," said Wayne, "Let's see if he's come up with an excuse over all those lifetimes for the ones that do manage to learn everything." The dark figure simply chuckled to himself as he faded away. Soon enough, the chill of the snowy air and the crunching of the snow under his feet told him he was back. A quick look around confirmed that everyone else was there as well, even Ozpin/Oscar, who was collapsed on the ground in tears.
"How could you not tell us any of this?!" Exclaimed Yang, being the first to speak. "How could you think it was okay to hide so much from us?!" Ozpin tried to think of something, anything to say, but the words died in his throat.
"Professor," said Ruby, "at least tell us this, do you have a plan to defeat Salem?"
"I," Ozpin/Oscar hesitated, likely trying to think up another excuse out of habit before answering truthfully, "I don't have one right now." That was the last straw for one of them as Ozpin/Oscar was slammed in the face by Qrow's fist, sending him flying into a nearby tree.
"For the longest time," said Qrow as he stomped over to Ozpin/Oscar, "No one wanted anything to do with me because of this cursed semblance of mine! Then you came along and gave me a purpose, I gave my life to you in gratitude. I thought I was actually accomplishing something good for once."
"But you have bee-," Ozpin/Oscar tried to say as the tears slid down his face.
"It turns out, the worst luck of my life was meeting you in the first place," Qrow finished.
"Perhaps you're right about that," said Ozpin/Oscar as his eyes glowed yellow, signaling his change back into Oscar. The boy immediately grabbed his cheek, which was understandably throbbing from the blow.
"Is that you Oscar?" Questioned Ruby as she and everyone else approached, "Where's Ozpin?"
"He's gone I think," replied Oscar as he continued to rub his stinging cheek.
"Oh no, we're not done!" Said Yang as she marched forward, "Tell that b #$% to get back out here, we're not done yet!"
"Yang," said Aegis as he suddenly moved in front of the angry blond, "just wait a second."
"But you saw the same things we have Aegis!" Exclaimed Yang, "Why are you defen-?!"
"It's not Ozpin I'm defending!" Aegis practically yelled back, "The only reason I'm not stamping on his ribs right now to get any more answers out of him is because I'd be hurting Oscar too." This caused Yang to stop for a moment as realization hit her. "Ozpin can't hide forever, he'll have to come back out eventually."
"That could be awhile," said Oscar, "This switch was a little different. It feels like he locked himself away, deep in my head, or our head. Ah gosh, I hate this, when is it going to stop?!"
"So he basically just left us alone then?" Questioned Weiss with a hint of concern her voice.
"Well that's just great," added Blake, "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Quite down all of you," said Maria Calavera as she came hobbling over, "Nightfall will be on us before we know it and all of you are dripping with negativity." The woman stuck her skull-headed cane out for Oscar to grab onto and helped him up. "I found a trail over in that direction, and all trails lead somewhere."
"Okay lady, don't think you can just-," Yang started to say before the old woman slammed her cane in the snow.
"This is no time for arguing!" Exclaimed Calavera, "I understand that all of you are upset."
"Do you," said Wayne as he slammed his hand into one of the nearby trees, "We all just found out that not only have we been lied to, but everything we put our hopes and trust in might've been in vain. You describe us as upset," A sudden blast of air and energy erupted from Wayne's hand. In another instant, Wayne removed his hand from the tree which collapsed away from them, with a number of others behind the same tree following suit. "We're well beyond that." Wayne walked forward then, stopping in front of the old lady with an unreadable expression on his face. "You're right, though, we need to get moving."
Wayne walked past her then and headed towards the crashed train cars without another word. "Grab what you can," said Ruby, "We've stayed here too long already." No one said much else after that as they all spread out and began gathering up varying supplies, from food, to first aid, to dust. Wayne, Aegis, and Yang tied a good bit of stuff to their bikes and used them as something for the old lady to ride on. The plan would be for her to move from one bike to another every so often, mostly because Yang didn't like dealing with her for too long.
As for Oscar, Ruby managed to convince him to keep carrying Ozpin's cane. Though whatever encouraging words she might've had for him were quickly shut down by Qrow telling her not to lie.
And then they walked. They followed along the trail that Calavera had sighted, keeping their eyes open for anything that seemed like trouble. Though one issue did emerge after a while. Even though they discovered a trail, they had no idea how long it was and no clue where it was leading them.
The Land of Darkness: Salem's Palace
The land of darkness was chaotic, but at the same time, seemingly never changing. It was a wasteland who's only real distinguishing feature were the numerous purple crystals that dotted the landscape, and the large shape of the witch's palace which stood over it. Numerous Grimm roamed the land as a Mistraltan airship, denoted by its sail-like wings, flew above them until it arrived at an extended cliff connected to Salem's palace. 'Of all the people I've worked for,' thought Exo as he guided the ship in for a landing from the pilot's seat, 'This lady easily hits number one on the creepy scale every time.'
Not that Exo had never worked for creepy bosses before in his colorful mercenary career. He'd even worked for a guy once who made their residence in a supposedly haunted house. But Salem, she radiated a sickening presence that was a constant reminder not to cross her, and given the fact that his three passengers were returning as failures made it all the worse. 'I might've dodged a bullet by helping kill Lionheart,' thought Exo as he watched Hazel, Emerald, and Mercury exit the side of the airship, 'But these guys, their luck just might've run out.'
Exo flipped a final few switches to power down the engines on the airship before unbuckling his seat belt and heading out of the airship. As he walked out, he saw that his three co-workers had stopped at the stairs, and Emerald had her guns pointed at the reason, Tyrian. 'Oh great, this nut job,' thought Exo as he quickly approached the group. Even without his enhanced hearing, Exo had a pretty good idea that Tyrian had remarked about Cinder's absence in an effort to make them mad.
"Careful little girl," said Tyrian as he moved to just mere inches from Emerald's face, "Cinder isn't here to protect you anymore."
"She's still got more friends than you," said Exo as he grabbed the end of Tyrian's tail, which currently had a metal casing over it to keep the wound closed, causing the scorpion Faunus to grimace in pain.
"So you'd best back off freak," added Mercury as he stepped in between Tyrian and Emerald.
"Oh don't misunderstand," said Tyrian, "I mourn as well, because it seems you've failed our beloved queen."
"I'm holding one big failure in my hand right here," Said Exo as he squeezed Tyrian's tail harder, "You had one job, bring back a little girl and instead you came back with what was left of this thing between your legs. So you've really got no room to talk about failure." The wolf Faunus let go then as he and the others continued walking into the palace.
"It is still a tragedy," said Tyrian as he began laughing like the lunatic he was once again.
"Just ignore him," said Mercury, "That nut job's just trying to get under all our skins."
"Well I got one bit of good news," said Exo, "But I can't tell you until after you report to Salem. Grimm Lady's orders I'm afraid."
"Well let's just hope there's enough left of us to tell that good news too," said Emerald as they entered into the meeting room.
The atmosphere was expectedly tense as Exo took a seat at the large, purple table with Watts and Tyrian while Mercury, Emerald and Hazel all kneeled at the doorway. Salem had her fingers to her forehead with an expression of anger and disappointment on her face. "I'd like you to explain to me how, despite the numerous advantages you had, you managed to fail your task so spectacularly?" Said Salem, finally speaking up with pure menace in her voice.
"We couldn't have anticipated the Faunus militia," answered Hazel, "Their arrival split our forces and-."
"Don't," said Salem, her tone leaving no room for argument, "I don't care about the variables, I want you to tell me, who, is responsible for this defeat?" Hazel stood up then, likely proving that he was the bravest person in the room by doing so.
"I take full responsibility for the failure of the plan," said Hazel, clearly hoping to spare Mercury and Emerald the same punishment.
"But that's hardly fair now isn't it!" Exclaimed Salem as she tossed the whole table aside, knocking Tyrian over and scaring Exo and Watts out of their seats, "Especially when we all know who's truly at fault here!" Hazel attempted to question this, but was quickly silenced as the witch waved her hand, causing a number of Grimm arms to shoot up from the floor and yank Hazel down to the ground. "Now then, Emerald," Salem slowly approached the frightened girl, "let me ask you now, who's to blame for this failure?" When Emerald didn't answer at first, Salem added the next part, "Now."
"IT WAS CINDER!" Emerald finally blurted out, "we failed our mission because of Cinder."
"Very good," said Salem as she rested a hand on Emerald's trembling shoulder, "And I want you to understand her failure. Understand why she's being left in isolation, until she can redeem her failure."
"Y-you mean, she's alive," questioned Emerald with just the slightest bit of hope in her voice as she shared a look with Mercury.
"That must be a joke," said Watts, "Where in the world did you learn such a thi-?"
"You dare question the divine one!" snarled Tyrian, cutting off Watts.
"No, I was just-," Watts began stumbling over his words before Exo shoved a number of pictures into his hands.
"Those were passed along to me from an old associate in Mistral, Miss Malachite," said Exo as Watts looked at the pictures of Cinder, who'd donned a robe to hide her identity. "But this was merely a confirmation report, telling our boss here something she was already well aware of."
"Of course, my apologies," said Watts as he stepped back a bit, trying to avoid Salem's gaze.
"It's always been important to not lose sight of what drives us," Said Salem, "Be it justice, reverence, even love. However, the moment you decide to place your desires before mine, is the moment they'll be lost to you." Salem released Hazel from the Grimm hands as she proceeded to the center of the room. "This is by no means a threat, or even a promise, just the simple truth. The best way to obtain your desires is through me and me alone."
For obvious reasons, no one in the room disputed this statement. "Now we must continue to press on. Our next target will be the sword under Shade Academy in Vacuo-."
"I'm sorry to interrupt you mam," said Hazel, somewhat nervously, "But there's one other thing I need to report." Salem shifted her hands to conjure more Grimm arms that rose slowly, but threateningly around Hazel. "The children and the huntsman, Qrow, are taking the relic of knowledge to Atlas."
"Oh, I can insure that they won't make it that far," said Tyrian as he chuckled evilly.
"The one leading them to Atlas," Hazel continued, "Is the latest incarnation of Ozpin."
"How can that be," Questioned Tyrian with more than a little confusion in his voice, "a reincarnation so soon after his death."
"If anyone has even the slightest chance of convincing Ironwood to let them into Atlas, if that happens," Watts said as Exo and Mercury noticed the windows in the room were cracking. The mercenary knew what this change in the atmosphere probably meant and started moving towards the door. Watts and Tyrian were too busy discussing the complications of Ozpin's return to notice what was going on until the sound of breaking glass was too loud to ignore. It was then that everyone noticed the black, misty aura that was emanating from Salem.
"Leave this room at once," said Salem, her voice trembling with an unfamiliar anger.
"Time to split guys," said Exo as he teleported out of the room and to a mark he'd made on the wall several feet outside of the room. Emerald, Mercury and the rest of Salem's subordinates made their way out of the room shortly after, wisely closing the door behind them as they did so. Even then, Salem's screech of anger and shattering glass could be heard throughout the entire castle. Everyone split up and went their separate ways, with Emerald, Mercury and Exo all moving down to a hallway in the lower chambers.
"Exo," said Emerald after they'd stopped for a few minutes, "That good news you had. Were you going to tell me that Cinder was alive?"
"Alive and moving around in Mistral," said Exo as he leaned against the wall, "I was surprised when I got the pictures myself. But as I said before, I was just confirming what the Grimm lady already knew when I delivered the report."
"Did you learn anything else?" Questioned Mercury, "Is anyone else after her?"
"A panther Faunus in a mask came asking about us," replied Exo, "But he seemed surprised to hear so-called rumors of a scarred woman. Drake likely believes that she's dead, but he'll follow any lead that might go somewhere if I know him. Neo was also asking about her, but she wouldn't tell me why she wanted to find her."
"Any idea where she might be headed now?" Questioned Emerald, sounding more hopeful than she'd been the whole ride over.
"She was looking for our favorite, red-hooded scythe girl," replied Exo, "So she'll be heading north, towards Atlas. Beyond that I got nothin'."
"Well that's better than most people have got right now," said Mercury, "Except for one problem."
"Yeah," said Emerald as her shoulders sagged a bit and her head drooped, "Salem's already told us to leave her be."
"Then the best thing we can do right now is try to keep up with her and hope she doesn't do anything extra stupid," said Exo as he crossed his arms. "Because as of just a few minutes ago, she's on her own."
Unknown Location in Northern Forest
They'd been walking, and in some cases pushing, for a good while now and the mood hadn't improved much since they left the crash site. Wayne, Aegis, and Yang were pushing their bikes along, using the vehicles to hold extra supplies and give Maria Calavera something to do besides hobble along behind them. The forest itself, reminded Wayne a good bit of Blue Forge during the winter, though with many more pine trees. "This snow doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon," Qrow said, being the first person to speak in some time.
"I hope our luck improves a little after we get this stupid relic to Atlas," commented Blake.
"I just hope that we don't wind up walking all the way there," added Weiss, who'd managed to retrieve her red scarf among the wreckage.
"Walking's not the worst thing in the world," Said Wayne, "at least we have a trail to follow."
"Well according to granny here, trails are supposed to lead somewhere," grumbled Yang.
"Do you truly have nothing better to do than pester an old lady such as myself," quipped Maria Calavera, who was currently riding on the back of Yang's bike.
"Well I could catapult you over to one of the other bikes," said Yang, "Maybe that way-."
"Quite down everyone," said Ruby suddenly as she seemed to be straining her ears, "Does anyone else hear what I'm hearing?" Wayne listened for a moment as the sound of squeaking metal reached his ears.
"It sounds like one of those metal gates," surmised Wayne as he held his hand up and pointed, "It seems to be, in that direction." No one saw any reason to argue with this as they all followed the trail to where the noise led.
"Well at least we have one bit of good news today," said Blake as they arrived at what appeared to be a farm with a few storehouses and one main house. 'Brunswick Farms,' Wayne noted as he looked at the sign over the gate.
"It looks, well, abandoned," said Weiss, noting the lack of people that would normally be wandering around a place like this.
"It beats wandering around aimlessly in the snow, though," said Ruby.
"Well let's get inside then," said Qrow, "It's been a long day and we could all use some rest." 'And a good bit of time to think,' thought Wayne tiredly as they all entered the gate and made their way to the main house. As they took a good look around, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. 'What happened here?' The truth, as it turned out, was a rather ugly one.
Exhausted from both the journey and the many revelations, our heroes have finally found a place to rest up. But what lurks within Brunswick Farms, and what has it done with the original inhabitants? Hello everyone, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and once again, sorry on the delay but there really wasn't much to write about when chapter 3 came out. Fortunately, we should be back on more of a schedule now. So as always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or any neat ideas you might have for the story. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes discover the fate of the previous occupants. 'Til next time.
