Ω
Summary: There is a mysterious connection between the kidnappers and Vacuo's first king, Malik the Sunderer, Shouter plans on untangling it.
A mysterious phenomenon brings team RAVN to Forever Fall.
The distance between Pyrrha and Adam is less than ever, but greater too.
Note: I just realized that CLAD isn't a proper acronym so I'll be calling them CARS from now (Cardin, Arc, Russet and Sky). Too lazy to go back and change it though.
Triggering stuff.
Ω
"
Remorse is memory awake,
Her companies astir, –
A presence of departed acts
At window and at door,
Its past set down before the soul,
And lighted with a match,
Perusal to facilitated
Of its condensed despatch,
Remorse is cureless, – the disease
Not even God can heal;
For t'is His institution, –
The complement of Hell
"
Ω
Team CARS was seated in Headmaster Theodore's office before the man himself and Rumpole. They were giving a briefing, and explaining what they had gathered. Cardin's report was extensive, but excluded the parts he felt were personal.
He included the torture techniques he had tried to employ on one of the arrested persons, but his framing made it seem like it had just been a threat. Everyone present knew it hadn't been, but they kept quiet while he gave his report. Vacuoan law enforcement wasn't squeamish about being tough on criminals, so it didn't cause them to bat an eyelash.
Rumpole thanked them for their assistance and led them out.
Cardin nonchalantly walked away after the meeting and Sky followed after him, giving a significant look to the others before turning the corner to the stairwell.
The pair of Jaune and Shouter looked at each other uncomfortably as they waited for Rumpole to get out of the meeting.
They didn't have to wait long and soon, the short History Professor came out and flashed her signature impish smile, although the curve of her lips was drawn down by evident distraction.
"What do you kids want?"
"You have to take Cardin off the mission."
Xanthe looked at them with a suspicious glare and asked why.
"He's... unwell," Jaune said this, after looking at his teammate as though asking permission, "he's going to get someone seriously hurt."
"First of all," she said, "I don't involve myself with team dynamics; you guys have a high-clearance rate and leaving aside that botched field trip, you've been among the best teams, so I won't be penalizing your team leader any time soon."
"Secondly, you guys are already off the mission. You did your part and that's the end of CLAS' involvement in this."
The news knocked the wind out of the teammates.
"I thought you said we'd be helping out those people getting kidnapped?"
The A rank mission they had been entrusted to was a curious case of what was suspected to be serial kidnappings.
About eight high-ranking members of society had been kidnapped in the last six weeks though, and it wasn't just politicians but even nobles from other Kingdoms who were, for one reason or another, here in Vacuo.
In Vacuo there were things that could be considered the norm, unfortunately, kidnapping was certainly one of these things. No, in themselves the kidnappings were not extraordinary at all in this sandy kingdom. The strange thing about this case could be summarised in that:
1. No ransoms were demanded.
2. It was rich people who were kidnapped.
Dear reader, if you know a little about the general dynamics of kidnapping, then you'll know that scarcely were these two elements ever combined.
That is, if no ransom is asked for it is generally because the kidnapped person is too poor for it, and the kidnapping had been perpetrated towards other ends; retribution, exploitation, sadism – in short, all the pleasures of civilised society.
For the rich, because of the risks involved, they were scarcely targeted and if so, the criminals would make sure to amply reward themselves by extorting their friends and family with unreasonable ransoms.
In short, like any other venture, kidnapping was undertaken with the goal of gain. If these powerful people were being taken and not being ransomed then it followed that the bastards had something to gain that was more valuable than the money.
The case became especially aggravating considering the fact that Xanthe, who disliked the elite on principle, could not fathom any possible use for them outside money. When she investigated and tried to puzzle out the possible motive of these mysterious abductors by imaging what use the nobles – being mere vulgar accessories to the structure of the state – had – like all vulgar accessories – no practical use, she struck her head against the wall in frustration.
The case became more trying when they lost a student to it. She was the probable heiress to a decaying but wealthy noble family that had deserted Vale in the aftermath of the Vytal Accords and the institution of the Council System.
Her disappearance was what pushed Xanthe to consent to the boys asking for a mission; since Cardin was a noble, there was a chance of being able to bait the abductors with him. It seemed to have worked like a charm, and after liberating him she immediately had the transporter take her to their base. She was cautiously pleased with the result of the risk; three accomplices had been apprehended and although none of the high-ranking officials were found, over a dozen people were rescued.
The eight missing occupied her memory though.
Where could they be?
Her thoughts were so occupied when she was accosted by the two students. The History Professor with an infamously bad temper listened with her attempt at patience but felt the very small measure running low.
"You guys did help," she said measuredly, "but this is very dangerous business, not just for you, but for the missing people. Any botch could cost their lives, we need only the most experienced and elite Huntsmen on it. As for the removal of your team leader, you can lodge a formal complaint and I promise I'll take a look at it as soon as I can."
"Don't worry about it," Jaune said as he walked back with his friend, "we're going to be fine."
Shouter's mind was on something quite different though; on finding out that he would be put aside on this mission, he was burdened with saying something.
"Jaune," he said silently, "have you heard of the crown birthmark?"
Jaune looked puzzledly at his teammate, making him regret asking the question but pushing forward regardless.
"It's a myth that descendants of the very first King of Vacuo, Malik the Sunderer, have crown-shaped birthmarks as evidence of their royal blood."
Jaune was trying his best to seem interested in this piece of folklore but his continuous "oohs" further irritated his dog-eared companion.
"The girl that Cardin almost lobotomized, she had one of those. When I pulled off her damaged armour to administer some treatment, I noticed it."
"But if it's just a folktale, then that shouldn't matter much right?"
"Yes," he said, "but there are two things that make me suspect otherwise."
"Firstly, all of the kidnapped persons have been nobility and they haven't been ransomed. If this does have something to do with the first King, it would not be far-fetched to think that nobility would play a part in his plan."
"Maybe," Jaune said, stroking his chin as he gave the matter actual thought, "but it wouldn't make sense to take Valean nobles like Cardin too if this Malek guy was a Vacuoan King."
"You're right," Shouter admitted with a sigh; he had thought he was on to something.
"What about the second reason?"
"I may have overstated it by calling it evidence," Shouter said with some embarrassment, "but I've met someone with that exact mark, I know him very well in fact."
Ω
Lug Tawn listened to something on his scroll gravely before letting dropping it in, his face a mask of surprise.
He anxiously paced across the room, clearly driven to distraction by the call he had just gotten off. Just as he wanted to step out of the room, he saw that an envelope was pushed through it. He stooped down and picked it up, opening it and scanning it with anxious brown eyes.
Rogue, Rebel, Royalty.
Those were the words on the paper, nothing else.
Lug was somewhat bothered by this; he didn't need cryptic prophecies, not now of all times.
He turned the paper around and saw that there was more written.
"
Sorry, you know how I tend to be dramatic.
Have no fear, my promise to you isn't forgotten;
it's closer than ever to being fulfilled actually.
Head out to Vacuo with your friends; you guys will have a reunion with Shouter.
I'll pass on more information to you when you're together, ciao.
"
Lug nodded and wore his jacket over his shoulders, ready to claim what was his.
Augur, I trust you.
Ω
Forever Fall.
Adam tried not to, but he couldn't help shivering at the location of this mission.
His last mission as a Fang member had been here; he remembered thinking of it when he pointed out the mass of red leaves to Miruwa also. It felt as though Miruwa was doing everything from beyond the grave to brand the character of his sin on the hide of his memory. He had no oppositions to that though; he deserved it after all.
It was more likely just a coincidence; the forest covered a significant portion of Vale, going on for miles on the north coast.
Ren gave them the briefing again as the doors of bullhead opened up to allow them descend.
The incident that prompted their being called in was a series of Grimm attacks on a nearby village. That alone wasn't enough to make the newspaper, but what was interesting was that the Grimm seemed to be trying to settle in those areas.
Creatures of Grimm were very mysterious, but a good amount was known about their spawning and migration habits. For instance, it was observed as a law of nature that the foul beasts spawned in the scenes of great tragedies, especially human ones. Floods, earthquakes and such would sometimes prove to be their spawning grounds, but generally if there was a human influence in the resultant tragedy of the situation. This will be best illustrated in the example found in the ruins of Bell Major, a major port town from before the Vytal Accords (I'd give an exact date, but I have misplaced my notes somewhere and it isn't relevant to the point). The documents at the scene showed that the city was wiped out due to a flood, but that if not for the hoarding of well-needed food and medical supplies, they would have been able to bounce back. Disaster led to deficiency, deficiency to disease, disease to death and death, well death to darkness.
And the darkness was the Creatures of Grimm.
The second thing known about them was that the events behind the causal disaster would many times bring about different Grimm. Using the same example of Bell, a strange species of Grimm known as the Glutton or – when the people were feeling especially clever – Oliver Twist was believed to have first appeared there, for those were the first records of such creatures in any historical documents. They had a deformed and almost humanoid appearance but without any legs. It therefore dragged itself across with its gross arms, swallowing everything in its path. Unlike most Creatures of Grimm, they attacked animals too, swallowing whatever unfortunate ones in their path. Their constant consumption led to their commensurate growth and a legend held that one had become large enough to swallow a city.
There was no evidence of that though.
Another attribute that was believed to spawn Grimm was animal sacrifice; in an older Remnant, the practice was prevalent and it was largely the influence of creeds such as the Lunarists (worshippers of the so-called moon god) that pushed against it, saying that the cruel rituals the animals suffered before being slaughtered created a "blood debt" that needed to be repaid, the Grimm were apparently the loan sharks. In the lands outside the Kingdoms, the practice did persist though it was frowned upon.
The third thing known generally was that certain Grimm didn't migrate. Old Grimm like the Goliaths were generally on the move, as well as the Glutton described earlier and a few other species but, unless forced to, Grimm remained in their nascent lands.
Since the events that were occurring, namely, the large-scale migration and attempted settling of hoards of the dark creatures in other areas, leading to many casualties and terrible property damage
Port was Beacon's Grimm specialist and Dr. Oobleck's Semblance, Innersloth Hack – which enabled him to map out terrain that he had gone over before and identify friends and foes – was very useful for this mission which would require them sneaking into the Grimm's former nest. Since Ren's Semblance, Tranquillity – which allowed him to coat those around him with a serene Aura that kept Creatures of Grimm from detecting them and because it was easier to maintain the fewer people there were and lastly because Nora had been his partner for a longer time (she had also nagged Oobleck into a stupor), a four-man cell of the two Professors, Ren and Nora were sent into the hostile territory to gather info.
This meant that the two titular redheads were left together at another corner of the forest, standing by in case of an emergency.
The two stood in the burning forest with equally burning eyes, although they tried to conceal them, stealing only furtive glances at each other from time to time.
Their eyes met.
Emerald and steely blue.
Ω
"Do you have any theories?"
Dr. Oobleck questioned his dear friend Professor Port from the tail of the group, making sure to cover the backs of their two students as they progressed. They were moving through the temple ruins in the forest that had been, until very recently, occupied by Creatures of Grimm. The temples were very mysterious and due to the teemingness of the forest with Grimm, they had been scarcely studied. Oobleck – I mean, Dr. Oobleck – was highly interested in studying them, but it would take time and resources and, with him having to train the new intakes in time for the Vytal Tournament, it was impossible.
One day, he whispered to himself as he focused on the answer his friend was giving.
"Theories and Grimm don't go hand-in-hand," was the abstruse reply, "more often than not, it ends up being rubbish."
"A guess then?" Ren asked with a small smile.
Port observed him from the corner of his eye with a significant look.
"Guesses are equally tricky, but most likely, some very territorial and powerful species of Grimm has come and displaced the weaker ones here."
"You doubt that explanation?"
"Generally, these Grimm, Provectus Grimm we call them in academic jargon, have lived a long time and have learned. They would know or sense that this large displacement would provoke retaliation from the humans, therefore significantly shortening its reign. It also makes a human cause very unlikely; no group is going to so put itself in the eye of the Huntsmen and other factions so boldly by causing this much chaos. Unless they're planning on a short life."
A slight quiver ran through the ruins, surprising the two students slightly but not moving the veterans.
"It's either Grimm or man," Dr. Oobleck whispered, "anything else, and we'd be in one of your fanciful tales."
There was another quiver, stronger this time.
"You should know this much from studying history my friend; fact is stranger than fiction."
Ω
They looked away.
Adam looked again and she was seated on the red grass, looking in the other direction.
He walked up to her and sat down, his back facing hers too.
He wanted to speak, but suddenly a chill ran through him and he remembered what he had done.
He remembered the blood.
He looked back again, and this time he didn't see her... at least, not just her.
Between two of them was the small frame of a girl. Her body was covered in scars, and her pale eyes reflected the red of the forest in such a way that made them seem on fire.
It was Miruwa.
It was undeniable that it was her.
Every detail was exactly the same, her kabuki mask was on her head and she smiled slightly, waiting to elicit a smile from her only audience member.
The only thing that was different was her pale neck. In life, it had been covered in scars, but now it was much worse; gnarled like a twisted rope. She had been strangled.
She leaned forward, hugging the large back of the bull from behind before her hand made its way to his neck, holding it gently and keeping him from speaking.
She whispered something inaudibly, her mauled throat not permitting any sound although her lips were right next to his ear.
He heard in clearly though.
If she had used a megaphone, the word would not have impressed itself upon his auditive senses any clearer.
Monster.
How could he have forgotten so quickly?
He was a monster.
"Adam," Pyrrha's voice pulled him out of his head.
"You're so close to me right now. But there's a distance I cannot move past."
He didn't answer, he couldn't.
"Let me in," her whisper was desperate. It broke his heart and all he wanted to do was say yes.
He didn't though, and they stayed in the silence.
And so the chapter closes. It closes set in the bright red scene of Forever Fall, where two people, so close that they could feel one another's body heat, were so far that they could not see.
Pyrrha's heart felt as though it had been shorn in two.
This was the story of an Amazon and the monster she loved.
It was a tragic story.
Ω
Notes: The poem in the opening is "Remorse" by Emily Dickinson. The one in the last chapter was from Isaiah 50.