Heyooo I'm back.
So, I hope all of you are doing well these past few weeks. I am doing well, just a bit nervous while waiting for my college application result.
Other than that I don't have anything to talk about, so without further ado, enjoy chapter 4.
A table colored in platinum with an assortment of exotic and luxurious foods on its sparkling surface stood comfortably within the boundary of the quiet room. Walls of platinum, floor of platinum, and ceiling of platinum with surface that reflected all encompassed them. There was a painting and under it lit a platinum fire within a modestly decorated hearth. There was an antiquated phonograph, also colored platinum, on another part of the room playing a slow jazzy tune from upper Atlas.
It was a sight normally associated with Atlas nobility; however, this place was not situated in Atlas. It was in Vale, owned by the man who was fanatically obsessed with the color of platinum and silver. The man who carved the Stars and nurtured the new Index into greater heights. One of the remaining Warrior of Silvers left in the world.
Damian Super Hikaru Takahashi was his name, and he was damn proud of the achievements he cultivated from the first time he set foot into Vale City. This room was an example of them, the food and utensils he dined with were examples of them. His abode, his people, his Index... those were few examples of them!
"Yes. Yes indeed! It's all mine!" Cacophony of glory from days past rang true within his mind. His visage may portrayed a perfect calmness of a lake, but the content of his head was far from tranquility. A fourth of it was filled with his glory; a fourth tasked with drawing future prospects; the rest focused on the tasked at hand. On normal occasion, a total of three fourth of his brain would be used in managing his Index and planning ahead, but today was not a normal day.
Sat in front of him was a man that demanded attention just by his presence alone. His posture was perfect as he ate the perfectly roasted piece of pork with his gloved hands. Green suit, a cravat, combed gray hair, and with a face of a wiseman that completed his being.
Damian Super Hikaru Takahashi put down his utensils.
Emmanuel Ozpin followed after.
A minute of silence sat together with them on the dining table. They didn't spark a conversation, just slowly sipping their wine and seizing each other.
Damian scanned the old hunter; his visage was the same as his, calm yet hiding their intention underneath.
"It is rare for The Owl himself to leave his tower of gears. Only matters of utmost important would let him take such action, and it led him to my headquarter. At least this hasty feast let me buy some time, and the old man looks pleased somewhat.
So, what is his business? Two possibilities I can think of. Warning regarding The Council's activity... or Ruby. High chance he comes here for Ruby. Ermessia's team departed three hours ago and considering that Crow is active almost 24/7, that info ought to reach him fast. About Ruby it is."
Damian took another sip, "It seems free time has finally grace your day, Sir Ozpin. Color me surprised when the Great Owl of Vale stepped into my abode unannounced and alone."
Ozpin put down his wine, "It is as you say, Sir Takahashi. My paperwork for today is mostly done. Glynda herself seemed to be in a peculiarly high spirit. My students, both former and current, are doing well under the watchful eyes of The Council. So, it is as you say, the Gods grace me with free time in this difficult time of ours."
Ah yes, begin a conversation with something light chit chat...
"Sadly, my purpose of visit is not merely for relaxation, my friend."
Ah, there's the heavy part of the talk.
"A little over an hour ago, a friend came to visit. It was a peaceful day you see, with my tenth mug of coffee almost empty, and then there was pecking on my window before I let a small crow in. He brought an interesting tidbit of info you see. Would you like to guess what he said to me?"
This was not a normal Ozpin, Damian concluded. A normal Opzin would calmly sip his coffee and talked with an even tone and a smile that betrayed no indication of what he was thinking to his speaking partner. This Ozpin still kept the smile but the tone was more chirpy than the normal version. Like a giddy child finally getting what he wanted. It was either his mood was really that good, or it was the utmost foul. Damian bet his platinum throne on the latter.
"Well, there are circumstances that led to various kind of info being made and pass around at every fraction of time. An Atlesian commander may order his subordinates to kill every filthy animal in the outskirts, it could be interpreted as kill the non-humans or kill the Grimm. I could gesture you to come closer, but with how my hand moves, it looks like I'm shooing you. As such, I have not the slightest clue about the words of your little crow."
Ozpin's face bared no change throughout their interaction, but if you knew the man as long as Damian, you would know that he was irritated with Damian.
"Must I spelled it out for you?"
"..."
"..."
"Ruby?"
"Exactly."
The Owl finally dropped his smile. He may appeared to be mildly irritated to the normal person, but if you are in the know and has Aura unlock, you could feel his displeasure rolling off him in a constant stream.
"I would like to remind you that by approving such action, you are violating our contract."
Damian raised his eyebrow at Ozpin's statement, "I technically did not. Our contract specified, 'To provide an environment where Ruby Rose can grow into a talented warrior befitting of her bloodline when she has come of age.' I literally provide that by sending her to Matchlight. She can get revenge, realizes revenge is empty, maybe have someone dear to her killed, and grows in both mind and body. It is the perfect environment for her to grow."
"A lethally dangerous environment."
"Summer was no different if you can recall that."
The Owl was openly scowling now. It was an open secret in the upper echelon that The Council wanted Summer Rose dead but still put her effectiveness in used. Their solution was to send her to suicide mission after suicide mission, the kind of mission that even Hunter with a Beast rank has the right to question the obviously bad order. Ironically, her death came within the safe haven of her home island, something that led the young Rose in this path of revenge.
"There are ways in which young Ruby could grow without the involvement of getting in the path of Matchlight. The ways I have in mind however, would took longer to completely realize. With this path, she will grow in a tremendous rate and quite possibly master the arts of Silver by her own effort. And believe me when I say this Oz, in another world if you somehow get young Ruby under your own command, you will do something similar to what I'm doing. Trial by fire so to speak."
Damian already said his piece and now waited for whatever articulated answer from Ozpin's mouth. The scowl was still there but the displeasure surrounding him wasn't as thick as before, only mildly displeased if he had to make a rough estimation. People normally won't push their luck when your business had something to do with Ozpin, but Damian was a man of opportunity, if he saw one he would take the plunge, risk be damned.
And it seemed his bet was successful if the sigh full of resignation that came from Ozpin was any indication. The old Owl simply gave his thanks for the food and left the table without making a fuss.
Ten seconds after The Owl left, Damian finally let himself relax and downed his wine in one go. "There are many things that could go wrong in that... I am lucky that Ozpin is a fair individual; it would be bad if he decided to manifest E.G.O. in here... I am confident with my ability yes, but going solo against something like that is a free ticket to the afterlife no matter which angle you are looking at. The situation would be different if Ramoex is here..."
The sole painting on the wall chose this moment to speak, "Sir."
The painting now earned Damian's full attention. It was a very normal painting in his opinion, depicting two warriors standing triumphantly atop a downed Beowulf, it was the same one like the statue from Beacon. The thing was, the eyes of the man in the painting had taken a realistic appearance and blinked to confirm it's newfound consciousness.
"First Ring Prasinus Ramoex... when in Gods' name did you return?"
"From when Ozpin first entered this room, Sir. I was about to make my presence known but decide against it and remain observing the situation."
"Alright... Say, if he went Manifest E.G.O. on me, what would you do?"
"I would manifest my E.G.O. Sir. I calculated our chance of victory stand about 70% with my E.G.O. combine with your Semblance, Sir."
"Good. I like that number, now report. Today has been dragging on for longer than I like."
"Right away Sir. From Atlas : Large quantity of Dust were discreetly transferred into six houses of the Councilmen. Following the transfer, those six Councilmen are pushing amendments regarding the non-human civil rights law. The SDC now has effectively earn the support of 60% of Atlas' Council."
In response to the first report, Damian silently put his hands together and sighed deeply. He was expecting shit to be bad at Atlas, but he didn't expect to be that bad, "Does Jimmy make any move against that?"
The painting blinked twice, "You want me to answer that, Sir?"
"Yes."
"He didn't. And I think we all know that he doesn't have the authority to do so."
"HAH! You're damn right! You know Moex, if your great grandfather didn't fucked up, those stuck up nobles won't be a problem for us now. Hell if he did shit right, the Councils are going to be individuals chosen and approved by the people. They would be individuals that know the people, hear the people, feel the people, and live with the people. Not some pansy ass aristocrats that survived the Great War!"
"I'm not sure it would change our situation for the better..."
"Hey, give democracy a chance will ya? Surely, it should be better than this weird modernized feudalism we have today. Anyway, continue your report."
"Yessir. The International Hunter Committee has label a possible World Nightmare."
"Identity and reasoning?"
"A Distortion that called itself the Freedom Devil, Sir. I did not acquire additional information besides a name. As for the reason, the Freedom Devil is suspected to be having connection with the Grimm Queen and also suspected to be backing several Distortions across the planet."
"Any chance this Freedom Devil is backing Matchlight?"
"Unclear Sir, but the possibility is up there."
"Hm. Anything else?"
"Yes, The Crow and The Stallion are moving towards Old Glenn. The Crow moves independently while The Stallion under the order of The Council. Neither of them is aware of each other's movement as of this moment."
That last piece of intel complicated things for all of them, which made Damian groan into his hands. Beast Hunter was the highest rank you could get serving under The Council, by that logic their movement was monitored closely by The Council. Qrow's movement was motivated by his desire to protect Ruby, something that wasn't a concern of The Council. Officially, Qrow should be on standby at Beacon, but he wasn't, and now The Stallion was moving with official order to do something at Old Glenn. Obviously, this made Qrow's intention moot since if he were to be spotted, all it needed was a word from The Stallion and a bad omen would befall Qrow and Ozpin, and by extension, himself.
It seemed he must made a move here or much of what he had worked for years would completely crumble under his feet, "Moex, you should be free after this."
"I am Sir. But it seems that would change in a few moments. I was looking forward to that cold beer, Sir."
"Haha, indeed. Go to Old Glenn and make sure no lasting damage comes to us. If possible, get The Stallion on our side."
"Aye aye Sir. Oh, and before I depart, I got this invitation from Atlas. Looks fancy, it might pique your interest, Sir."
The painting blinked once more and the eyes returned to an inanimate object once again. It was the turn of the hands to be animated, and from them appeared a small booklet in navy blue with golden border. The word 'Invitation' inscribed in bold with golden ink just under what he assumed as the logo of the group that gave out the invitation, Library of Ruina. Damian grabbed the offered invitation leisurely and the painting fully became inanimate once more, no more trace of the First Ring left in the painting.
Damian flipped around the invitation several time, trying to gain as much detail as possible before opening it. He must say though, the invitation was well made. Smooth, quality material, and could store a considerable amount of power within. Fully appraising the outer part, he finally opened the Invitation.
Dear Guest: I formally invite you to The Library.
The Library books can provide you with all the wisdom,
wealth, honor, and power you seek.
However, an Ordeal will await you in The Library.
If you cannot overcome this Ordeal,
you will be converted into a book yourself.
-Angela
BOOKS OF THE DAY
Book of Distortion Book of Lobotomy Corp.
Now, that was interesting. This invitation definitely came from the remnants of Lobotomy Corporation; the books of the day were glaring evidence of that. "Although, this doesn't fit Ayin's modus operandi, he likes to do things discreetly. This fits Carmen to a T though... but she's dead, and the one who seems to be in charge is presumably Angela... that's Ayin's creation if I recall. I am really curious about what the fuck happened with LobCorp, especially with this here, but my own problem keeps growing everyday... hmmmm... what to do with you, little invitation card?"
It was official, Johnathan love flying. Since his childhood, plenty of aircrafts soared pass his humble hometown of Domremy, and that imprinted admiration to the young Arc. Only now, he finally experienced the feeling of flight and he came to like it just within the first minute of takeoff. Seeing the twinkling Vale City slowly disappear as they flew further away was an experience he didn't expect of having, but here he was.
As Vale City finally out of view, he turned to the female senior and leader of this team, Senior Ermessia. He found the older woman sitting nearby the door polishing a greatsword. Double-edged with a motive of twin snakes spiraling on a winged scepter engraved on it's flat side, an astonishing piece of a blade in his opinion. But his purpose was not about inquiries of her blade, it was about the mission.
"Senior Ermessia, can I ask something?"
She looked up from her blade and her gaze bore on to him. It wasn't like how he first met her though, this gaze was calmer, "Not asking Ruby? Bonding with your partner is essential for your life here in the Index." She replied casually.
That was his initial intent actually, but gesturing with his heads towards Ruby, which Senior Ermessia followed, they were greeted with a heartwarming sight. Ruby and Big Steel were seated together, specifically; Ruby was sitting on the robot's metallic lap while spewing words at Mach 3 and Big Steel soaked up the information as if it was your average radio channel on Sunday morning. At one point, Ruby's hands began making some fast motions as if to provide clarity on her topic, which Big Steel followed without struggle.
It honestly reminded him of his younger days. Back at the Arc manor on a bright sunny day after returning from his morning jog, he accidently stumbled on his father talking with little Lavender. The situation was almost interchangeable due to how similar they were.
"I don't have the heart to disturb that, Ma'am."
A small smile bloomed on her neutral face, "Fair enough. What do you want to ask about, something serious?"
"No, just a small curiosity of mine. It's about Old Glenn."
"Hm? What about Old Glenn?"
"Why hasn't it been reclaimed? Like you said in our briefing, The City has the manpower to reclaim it, New Glenn and beyond won't happen if that's not the case. So why is Old Glenn still in shambles?"
Senior Ermessia hummed at the question, still polishing her blade at the same time, "We honestly don't know. Speculation yes, but nothing concrete. There was an official statement about the issue actually, but it brought no clarity for the matter. 'To not disturb the dead and honor the souls who fight for Glenn.' That was what we were told back then. Load of bull we say, but none of us even bother to check."
"Well... what's your theory then?"
"A curious one aren't you?"
"Hey, I came from the wild. Being curious can sometime saves your life."
Senior Ermessia couldn't help but laugh at that, "True true. Then why don't you ask about our enemy? Or you could just ask about E.G.O. and the many bullshittery of the world. I am a lady with abundance of knowledge you know."
Johnathan grimaced at her reply, "Too much stress Ma'am. I'd rather have something light thank you very much. So... your theory, Ma'am?"
"Haha. You're right about that, too much stress." She paused for a bit and placed the sword on her back. Why didn't she use her gloves for that? He didn't know, "So, my theory. I believe it has something to do with Merlot."
"Merlot?"
"Yea, Merlot. Was an esteemed scientist few years back, and was once a member of Carmen's Team. Ah, Carmen's Team was a team of researcher from Atlas before they had the fund to build a lab. Merlot used to be a part of that team, but quit before the team hit their prime. He then worked for Vale and spearheaded the expansion to Mountain Glenn. So my theory is: there's something in Old Glenn that's related to Merlot in some way. And now, since he is officially declared dead, The Council decided to ignore Old Glenn for some reason. But you know, I won't be surprised if Merlot is still alive and kicking somewhere out there. Who knows, maybe we'll meet him in this mission."
"If I dare ask... what was his research about?"
"Grimm and Distortion, but I don't know the specific. I just know that he's fanatically attached himself with the concept of Grimm and Distortion."
In short... they were heading towards a hazardous area filled with not just terrorists but also potential leftover from the research of a mad scientist. Joy, this was his first mission as far as he recall. He was pretty sure living in the frontier never gotten this crazy, but hey, being in crazy situations seemed to be a package when dealing with city life.
"Team Ermessia, ETA fifteen minutes," came the voice of their pilot.
"Alright team, get your ass ready for action!" They obeyed. Johnathan summoned Crocea Mors and strapped her to his side. Ruby and Big Steel ceased their chatting and stood beside him in a relax manner, but always ready to pull their weapon out.
"We're dropping off on the West side exactly at sundown and then slowly make our way into the inner city. Our objective is to figure out what exactly happen in Old Glenn in regard to Mister Matchlight, the White Fang, and the stockpile of Dust. Thus, contact with them should begin with knocking them down, interrogation, and ending with killing them. However, specific to Matchlight, it's kill on sight. Any question?"
They have none.
"Good. Be ready to drop off."
Johnathan gave her a silent confirmation. Was he nervous? He would admit he was, but not so much. He had field experience after all. He just hoped that everything went well.
And so, under the orange glow of the approaching dusk, Johnathan Amsel embarked on his first mission for the Index.
And that's that.
As always, I thank you those who keep reading until this point. Next chapter should be out in a week if I encounter no problem. Have a good day everybody.