Grimm were the enemies of the world, and it was the duty of the Huntsman and Huntresses to drive their forces back despite the danger imposed in doing so. In which case, it was necessary to continually foster the next generation of protectors to ensure that the positivity of all of the Kingdoms citizens never waned. This would be the moment that the Elder Grimm would move once more and encroach upon the already limited territory of the Kingdoms.
Of the Kingdoms of Remnant, one of the most prestigious schools of Huntsmen and Huntresses was located in Vale. It was called Beacon Academy of Huntsmen and Huntresses, and it was led by an enigmatic, but strong headmaster presently mulling over Remnant's state of affairs.
His name was Ozpin, a middle-aged man who stood silently by the window of his office staring up at the image of the shattered moon above. He was bespectacled, had messy grey almost white hair that partially covered his left eye, and wore a buttoned overcoat on top of a green turtle-neck sweater.
On the surface, he seemed as if he was just a renowned Huntsman of Remnant, but in reality, he was much more. The fact of which had him wracking his mind for answers he had no hope of finding unless he waited long enough to ask a certain genie the necessary questions.
Ozpin sighed. Had he missed something in his long life? Or was he just ignorant to the existence of a fifth relic?
Ever since the events of Vermillion, Ozpin had been busy occupied with searching for any clues about a fifth Relic that shouldn't have existed, but now clearly did. He'd made a personal visit to Vermillion in order to inspect the Sword of the Sun, and was stunned when he felt the sheer scale of its aura.
It utilized the lost gift of magic for certain, something only relics left behind by Remnant's founders should be able to possess. In a way, Semblance could be considered magic, but it wasn't. All that it was, was the façade of what magic could have been unique to each individual.
True magic such as that found within the existing relics in Remnant was lost.
Which meant to say, that perhaps Ozpin really did fail to discover the existence of a fifth relic.
The relics were Knowledge, Creation, Destruction, and Choice.
So, what did that make the fifth?
Hope.
Ozpin entertained the idea. The warmth in the form of light that constantly enveloped Vermillion gave a feeling of safety and tranquility truly fitting of the name of 'the Nightless Kingdom.'
How he'd missed such a relic was beyond Ozpin's own understanding, but he didn't dwell too much on the matter for any longer than necessary. He knew that if he wanted answers, then there was one person who could be of help.
The Huntsman of Red himself, wielder of the Fifth Relic.
All that was left was to find him, a feat of which was leaving Ozpin frustrated beyond words. He took in a calming breath and reassessed his findings over the years with help from his colleagues.
Three glaring issues existed in the search for the huntsman of Red.
First, it was like the Huntsman of Red did not exist. No traces were left in the vicinity of Vermillion indicating a trail that the Huntsman of Red could have taken to escape the public eye. All accounts by Faunus present in Vermillion's founding all said that the famed Huntsman had just up and disappeared like a noble spirit.
The claim sounded far fetched, but there really was nothing that could be traced about the Huntsman of Red's departure.
The second issue was the information about the Huntsman of Red bringing along some sort of little girl whose traces also couldn't be found. The only indication that the girl existed was discovered in Vermillion's famed Rose Manor that had housed the little girl for the Huntsman of Red's stay in Vermillion.
Everything about the Huntsman of Red was shrouded in mystery.
Now came the third and most important issue that oddly enough, Tai Xiaolong had brought to Ozpin's attention. It was a book about a legend that even Ozpin who'd lived for centuries in a form of immortality had thought to be fake.
It was the legend of the Sword of Remnant written by an individual with the pseudonym 'Kaleidoscope,' and the logo of a butterfly flapping its wings.
It detailed that one day, a Hero would come and bring along with him the return of magic, and the promise of a better world. He was not a man, but a sword of the righteous whose actions would either lead to ruin or salvation.
Ozpin would have thought nothing of the story if not for the fact that Tai insisted that it was written by the hands of his deceased second wife. Even now, Tai had not stopped searching.
Ozpin knew that Summer Rose was not a woman who would carelessly make assumptions, and if she really provided this information to Tai before she was declared dead, then it couldn't be ignored. This was especially so, as the last area Summer was known to be deployed was near Vermillion's surroundings.
Pondering to himself under the light of the moon, Ozpin leaned his weight over the cane he carried on his person.
His eyes promptly narrowed while spying the figure of a crow flying towards his office window in Beacon Academy.
Ozpin didn't bother turning his back as the crow entered the room and soon morphed into the form of Qrow Branwen. He was one of the few individuals Ozpin had shared his secret regarding the matter of the maidens of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall with. In short, a trusted ally.
"Qrow," Ozpin turned around and acknowledged; however, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
For the first time in years, Qrow was clean-shaven and didn't have any flask of alcohol on hand. Worse, he seemed uncharacteristically optimistic despite knowing the odds against Salem. Qrow was positively grinning too, and seemed to be looking at him with actual respect rather than indifference.
Qrow, happy? Well, if not happy, then at least more than pleased.
Ozpin carefully placed down his mug of coffee. Perhaps Glynda was right. The amount of caffeine that he constantly drank was starting to get to his head.
"Qrow?" Ozpin tried calling again, but all it did was cause Qrow to grin even further as the man approached, clapping Ozpin on the back.
"I should have known you had another ace up your sleeve." Qrow laughed lightly, missing the way his words threw Ozpin for a loop.
What ace? He'd already shared the full extent of his hidden cards, not that he was going to admit that. Qrow continued.
"If you'd told us earlier, than maybe Raven wouldn't have been so disillusioned. Good news is, I've managed to reluctantly get her to stay at my place for the time being. Team STRQ is almost back. I just need to help Tai find Summer. I didn't think life would turn back for the better, as expected of Beacon's Headmaster."
"Ah, yes, quite certainly," Ozpin coughed into his hand and turned his back to Qrow once more. His actions looked charismatic, but in truth, he just didn't want Qrow to notice the confusion on his features. "I'm glad you know me so well."
The confusion only grew stronger.
What was going on?
Ozpin needed answers, not more questions.
Where was Glynda with his coffee?
Hopping through the streets of Vale in spirit form, Shirou couldn't quite just up and return back home yet. After escorting Ghira and the rest of the Faunus to Vermillion, he'd untraced Gae Bolg and quickly made his way to Vale. Without having to carry Yang around, the journey was completed in a matter of hours.
He had one more task to complete in order to make sure Yang wouldn't be doing anything so reckless again.
Recalling the information Yang had given him, he soon found himself stopping at the entrance of a run-down looking radio shop filled with newspapers and journal articles half-hazardly strewn about. It was a mess, spiderwebs formed at the corners of the store, and not a single person acting as a sale's clerk at the front.
Shirou materialized and put on his disguise as 'Archer,' before entering the store.
A bell rang as soon as the door was opened, but not a single employee came to greet him. Instead, there was a muffled voice that came from the shop's side door yelling at him to "come in."
Stepping through the untidy front display, he moved towards the indicated side door, opened it, and soon found himself inside an office.
A middle-aged man sat on a desk in front of him, his feet kicked up and his body slouched. Around the man were loose pieces of paper, cluttered tableware, and what was clearly a pile of laundry thrown to one side of the room.
He looked like a slob, his short hair was unkempt, and the topcoat he wore was wrinkled and unbuttoned, revealing the yellow shirt beneath.
Shirou was never one to judge others, so he quickly just got to the point. "Boyd Flynn?" He called out.
"Depends," the middle-aged man mumbled while pulling out a lighter from his pocket and lighting a smoke between his lips. "Who's asking?"
"A blond-haired girl's reluctant guardian." Shirou answered while waving away the smoke Boyd puffed out.
Hearing his answer, Boyd suddenly sat up, a speculative gleam appearing in his green eyes, as he put out his smoke. Although he seemed like a slouch, the well toned muscles hidden behind the loose clothing spoke a different story.
"Then that makes you the 'Archer' fellow that the little lady asked me to look into."
Shirou raised a brow, but merely nodded, as his persona as 'Archer' wasn't something that was going to be around for much longer.
"The thing is, you don't exist." Boyd shrugged. "Never even heard of a mercenary like you in these parts until now, but you definitely gave those Faunus in the warehouse a scare. Kind of odd however that they've started singing you praises in the next moment."
Though surprised at the level of information Boyd had been able to gather in the past few days, Shirou didn't show it, and simply waited. If Boyd was smart, which Shirou was suspecting he was, then Boyd should understand the purpose of his visit.
"I take it you don't wish for me to give anymore information to the little lady?"
Boyd hit the nail right on the head.
"That would be the case," Shirou agreed. He liked that Boyd seemed to just cut straight to the point. It reminded him of himself with how blunt he could be. "It's too dangerous."
Boyd stifled a laugh, a wry smile coming to his face.
"I said the same thing, but the little lady packs quite a punch," Boyd admitted while wincing. "She really wouldn't take no for an answer."
And this was where Shirou had to agree. He could picture it what Yang had done when told 'no' by a person who clearly knew something she wanted to know.
Yang had always been somewhat bull-headed.
"My condolences," Shirou shared his empathy, and then soon turned to observing Boyd's workplace as Boyd thought on his answer.
"What sort of business is this?" Shirou picked up a couple documents lying around and began browsing through them, furrowing his brows when he read the notion of paid rewards.
Boyd blinked in confusion, staring at Shirou with bewilderment. "You really don't know despite calling yourself a mercenary?"
Shirou had an inkling at the back of his mind of what sort of place this was, but Boyd soon confirmed it for him.
"This is an undercover missive's office," Boyd explained. "It's something like a mission board for you mercenaries to pick up contracts and requests Huntsmen don't have the time or knowledge to complete. Take a look for yourself."
At Boyd's prompting, Shirou returned his attention back onto the contract he'd picked up and perused its contents. Missions ranged from eliminating Grimm to handling personal issues.
"Take a look at this one," Boyd offered a more official looking contract.
Archer skimmed through it and frowned.
The Schnee family wanted to hire a temporary bodyguard for a little girl's first live-stage recital? How flamboyant. The money offered was good, but money was not enough of an enticement to move him into doing anything.
Shirou put the request paper down and turned his attention back towards Boyd who was clearly avoiding answering his request to stop giving Yang information. Well, for the time being, he'd humour the man.
"Why are you showing me these?" He inquired. "It's like you want me to take a job?"
Boyd acknowledged the observation.
"I do, actually." Boyd didn't hide his intentions. With Mercenaries, it was always good to be as forward as possible and not to hide details. Mercenaries boasted a hire fatality rate than Huntsmen since their jobs were often done solo and not in teams. "From the way the little lady described you to be someone who'd help a stranger for the sake of saving them, I knew you weren't the ordinary sort of mercenary."
Shirou didn't deny the statement. It was who he was and what he'd fight for without hesitation. To deny his desire to save others, was to deny the very reason he'd become a Heroic Spirit. However, this didn't mean he was prone to getting swindled or roped into anything troublesome.
"And you can't just hire anyone else?" He inquired.
Boyd shook his head. "Most won't even consider the job, and I'm hoping you'd be different."
Boyd fiddled for a key he found buried beneath a pile of documents on his desk, and used said key to unlock a drawer.
"I'd like you to save someone." Boyd explained while giving Shirou the details of the job. "He may not be an upstanding citizen, his reputation is notorious, and his personality is shit, but he's still a friend who turned towards petty crime to make a living."
"So, he's a criminal?" Shirou surmised the first sentence on the contract details.
"Con-artist," Boyd specified. "He'd only turned to blatant robbery recently, and I suspect he's being forced into it."
"Doesn't make it any better." Shirou grunted, his eyes scanning over the document page by page until he reached the end. "A con-artist is still a criminal who profits at the expense of others."
"He never left them hopeless. Behind his barbed and flamboyant words, he's actually a pretty good guy." Boyd argued for his friend's behalf.
Shirou didn't show it, but a part of him was moved at Boyd's efforts to help a friend. It showed that the criminal in question must have had at least some redeeming quality about him that was worth saving.
"I know he's an ass, but I fear that he may have recently gotten too in over his head and may risk actually killing a lot of people. This is the main reason I'm asking for your help," Boyd tried a different approach. "You have my word that I won't supply information to the little lady even if she punches me to death if you do."
Well, there's the promise Shirou was hoping for. Now if only it wasn't attached to a request.
"Let me think about it," he answered.
"Good. I'll make arrangements," Boyd was quick on the uptake.
"I didn't agree yet."
"Then why hold onto the contract details?"
Boyd had Shirou there.
It was never wrong to save others, but damn was it troublesome. It was just one thing after the other in Remnant, but for the time being, it was time to return to his Master's side.
Believe it or not, but he actually found himself missing the socially awkward chatter box. Summer who was floating behind him, readily agreed.
The receiver of a phone line clicked; the voices exchanged choppy and filled with static from an old frequency no longer used.
-"Boyd Flynn, calling for old time's sake?"
"Roman, still an ass I see."-
-"…"
"I heard you were in a bit of a bind. Tough employer?"-
-"You wouldn't know the half of it."
"It's always you, isn't it. What would you say to a little help?"-
-"…Keep talking."
Thanks for reading! And thanks to my newest patrons: Dimosthenis G., and Chaos K!
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
It's been around a month now since my first book, Fated Legacy Dark has been published and I'd just like to thank those who've tried it. It's my first book and the support really means a lot to me. The feedback I've gotten has been fairly positive amidst the pandemic, and to make it easier to leave a review or find a link to the book, I've made a website which can be found here: Fatedlegacydark. ca
Many people have said from PM's and reviews that the start of the book is slow, but picks up pretty well on the following chapters, so it gives me something to work on for the next book in order to do better.
Thank you all again and all the best!
Next update: Vasto of White
Book description:
Death. Grief. Ruin. Nothing was left unchanged after an unexplained tragedy led to the loss of millions across the world in key locations. Cities were reduced to wastelands of steel and concrete, and many were forced into migration. When events leading to the prior tragedy occur once more, Kevin Black was going to have to learn that sometimes mysteries were better left unsolved. Trapped with his friends in the world of a ruined city filled with monsters, the journey out would be far more perilous than the journey in.