Ironwood stood, staring down at the dissolving forms of the tauric Grimm and the enormous tree. Belladonna was being comforted, but he had few doubts that she would return to form quickly – she had the bearing of a warrior, and he doubted that even something this horrifying could keep her out for long.
Then again...if it had been someone close to him in that thing...he scowled. Too many things were concerning about this. Merlot was bad enough, the experimental hybrids were bad enough, but...the birth of new Grimm here implied things he wasn't happy with. Worse, until he had a chance to go over the data, he had no way of knowing whether they'd be able to determine all of what happened here.
As he looked at his own reflection, distorted and blackened by the Grimmsblood, he grimaced. He'd held such hopes for this facility, in the beginning. So much potential for good, and now...
Now those hopes tasted like ash.
"I'm all right." Blake took a deep breath. "We need to get back to it."
"Are you sure?" Yang stared into her eyes, and whatever she saw must have satisfied her. She nodded decisively. "Right. Let's clean up the rest of these...things."
Ironwood chose that moment to rejoin the team, and Ruby glanced at him. "We need to clear the rest of the facility next, I think. So we can determine if...anything's been missed. Do you have the map, General?"
He nodded, pulling out his scroll and stepping closer. "Do you have a plan in mind, Miss Rose?"
She pursed her lips as her eyes flicked across the map. "Sort of. We can't ever be sure what's at our backs is clear, since the Grimm can spawn anywhere in the facility...so we'll want to choose our route carefully. We're in the center now, so we'll work our way outwards...like this. It'll take some time, but we can work through each room this way, without opening ourselves up too much."
The General nodded, and with his agreement Yang moved forward to study the projected route.
Blake, for her part, simply closed her eyes and let herself float in the feeling of Obsidian for a moment. It...centered her, in a way. So much power, concentrated in one place...there's so many things we could have done with it, if all of this hadn't happened.
The other experimental chamber was...almost worse than the other. The moment they'd entered it, Blake's nose had wrinkled in response to the smell that lingered. It wasn't an unfamiliar smell, but it had been a long time since she'd been in such a concentrated place.
Ruby looked like she might be sick, but her hands were steady on Crescent Rose. "That's...a lot of...blood." And it was: gurneys coated in dried flakes of it, surrounded by tools of all shapes and sizes. The tools, at least, were pristine...but they were almost certainly not clean. They never would be again. And there, sitting on a wheeled mount, was a camera.
"I guess...this is where that crazy fuck recorded his videos, then." Yang looked like she'd love nothing more than to break the camera.
"This is a surprisingly professional layout." As the girls glanced at Ironwood, he elaborated. "Atlesian hospitals use a specific layout for triage rooms, to increase efficiency and their ability to handle multiple patients; the research isn't secret, but it isn't well-known, and they were done long after Merlot's disgrace and disappearance. I'm not sure how he would have gotten access to the schematics...but, then again, not all of this equipment was in this lab to begin with. He either brought it with him, or..."
"...or someone supplied him, like they supplied Cinder." Weiss finished.
Ironwood nodded. "Indeed. I don't see anything else here that requires investigation. Should we move on?"
When they did, Blake was glad for it...but she doubted she'd forget that room for a long time.
She doubted any of them would forget any of this for a long time.
"Did you find anything, General?" Winter asked, standing at attention.
Ironwood was...unusually silent for a moment. "We didn't find Merlot, or any of Salem's people. What we did find..." he glanced subtly towards Blake. "...I'll brief you later. Did the download complete?" When she nodded, he turned to the girls again. "I believe that's all we need, then. If we breach the snowstorm again, an extraction craft should be nearby awaiting a signal."
Weiss frowned. "Don't we need to secure the facility?"
The General took a deep breath, closing his eyes. For a moment, Blake thought, he resembled her father in those rare moments he didn't know she was watching him. General Ironwood looked...weighed down, like a man sinking into the sea without hope of escape. Then the moment was gone, and he straightened his spine. "No. This facility is...a lost cause, at this point. Once we've returned, I'll prepare an operation to destroy the facility. We won't be able to launch until after the storm abates, but I'll keep watch on it to ensure nothing escapes it in the interim."
The surprised silence lasted a few moments before Weiss cleared her throat. "I...see. I can't say I disagree with that. Very well."
Blake licked her lips, remembering the conversation she'd had with Obsidian before they'd landed. Obsidian...Could you destroy the facility, the way Lavos destroyed Zeal? Silence, for a moment.
It is possible, with knowledge of its location.
...I'm not going to ask you to do it. I'm not even sure I want you to, or why I brought it up. I just... She closed her eyes, imagining watching the facility burn before her eyes. I guess I'm uneasy letting this place stand for however long it takes for Ironwood to finish it.
[X] [Intervene] Volunteer to destroy the facility. {You will allow the team to evacuate to a safe distance. After this, you will annihilate the facility in a burst of magic. This will ensure nothing escapes the facility and reassure the team somewhat, but also reveal some of the scope of your power.}
[X] [Intervene] Allow Ironwood to destroy the facility. {You will conceal your destructive capability. The facility will remain standing for several days, isolated by the snowstorm.}
"Before we leave." Penny's voice was quiet and subdued, so unlike her that Blake almost did a double take. "I would...like to see the inner chamber once more. Even as corrupt as this place has become..." She closed her eyes. "That was where I was 'born.' Where Mother granted me my soul. I would...please allow me to see it, before its destruction."
Ironwood's face softened. "I...am not opposed. But you may not like what you see."
She shook her head. "Even if I do not, I wish to see it."
They turned to Ruby, who was looking at Penny with soft eyes. "Of course. Just be on guard. This place...I don't think it will ever be 'safe.'"
Penny stared straight ahead at the remains of the Grimm tree that still had not fully dissolved. Around them, Obsidian's power was oddly agitated, flitting about in eddies and swirls. "I see...so I am not the only thing that was born here."
"Don't compare yourself to them." Blake was surprised by her own voice, but found herself finishing the thought regardless. "You might have both been created in this room, but you're nothing alike."
Penny turned to her...and finally smiled again. "Thank you, Blake. That means a great deal to me, to hear you say that!"
Blake's ear twitched as she heard Weiss muttering to Ruby. "There's so much power here...I apologize, Ruby, I'm simply not used to sensing so much. I'm all right."
That's true. I wonder...if this is our last chance to do something here, I want to make it worth something. What happened here can't be undone, but we can make it worth something, right? Obsidian...is there anything we can do before we leave? I think we can convince Ironwood to wait a bit longer.
Your mortals have found themselves at the closest point to your physical body on Remnant's surface. They swim in the unconscious stream of your power, and are conceptually closer to you than ever before.
You have time to perform a single action with the help of your mortals. These are not necessarily unique, but the opportunity may not come again – and if it does, it may not be for some time. What will you do?