A/N: A lot has happened in the past few months that slowed me down from my writing, especially on things like Dissidia Opera Omnia shutting down. Oh, how devastated I was to see a pretty good game to end so poorly. Curse you, Square Enix!
But I'm not the only one who's going through a lot, Patrick certainly has had quite the experience chasing after the Agency on a Cruise Ship. And it has all led him to make a big decision with Professor Ozpin.
Chapter 58: Second Year
Three Months later
Summer has passed.
Fall is on the approach.
And that means it's time for school once more.
Students of Beacon have arrived in the courtyard and made their way to Beacon Academy: old students and fresh new ones.
Selena, disguised as Sherry Farron, leaves the airship. She stands outside of it looking around, searching among the crowd of students. After a while, she hears a familiar voice calling her name. Her disguised name that is. "Sherry!" Selena feels alert hearing her alternative name and turns to find Marlene, standing beside a large pile of bags and containers, calling out to her. Selena smiles as she and Marlene hug each other. "It's good to see you again."
"Same to you. How have you been this summer?" Selena asks.
"I've been better. Been real busy helping Ironwood with Atlas Security and..." Marlene clears her throat before answering further. "A top secret project. So, how were you?"
"Exhausting. I've been spending most of my summer on tour with SPiKA. Hardly had the time to keep up on my Huntress training." Selena says.
Marlene looked a little bummed hearing that. "Yea. Huntress training."
Selena takes notice of Marlene's hidden expression. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing." Marlene says with a smile.
As the two talk in the courtyard, Marina is watching the two of them from one of the dorms. She looks back over her shoulder. "Selena and Marlene are here." Patrick is only sitting in the back, adjusting his Dust Bracers. "Aren't you gonna greet them?" Patrick comes to a halt on his project hearing that. He doesn't say anything, but Marina catches what he thinks. "You haven't seen them in 3 months, I'm sure they missed you."
"Why would they wanna miss a Grimm creature like me?" Patrick says.
"Patrick, we've been over this. You may be part Grimm, but you have a heart and a soul. You are still human." Marina says. Patrick doesn't say anything. He only resumes working on his bracers in silence. Marina lets out a disappointing sigh. "Well, I do wish to grat them. Would you mind taking me to them?"
Patrick groans tiresome. He knows Marina's just using it as an excuse to get him to unite with his team. But with only a moment of hesitation, he obeys and pushes Marina.
Once the crowd of students dies down, Marlene and Selena enter Beacon. Professor Ozpin gives his 'Welcome to Beacon Academy' speech to the new First-Year students. Selena and Marlene wander through the halls making their way to their dorm. As they do, they come across Patrick and Marina.
"Professor Marina. It's good to see you again." Selena says.
Marina responds with a smile and nods. Marlene takes notice of her condition. "You're still in a wheelchair? I thought you've recovered."
"Yeah, but my medical condition makes it difficult for strength restoration," Marina says. "I've been making some process in physical therapy, but I still have a long way to go."
Selena turns to Patrick. "Patrick, it's good to see you. We haven't heard from you all summer."
"I was...occupied with some things." Patrick says, looking away.
"Patrick spent his summer doing extensive training with Professor Ozpin." Marina says.
"Extensive training? For what?" Marlene asks.
"Nothing you'll want to know." Patrick says.
Selena nervously laughs. "Anyways, we're supposed to meet with Clawdia and her team. Let's head for the training grounds."
Patrick and the girls make their way to the training grounds. During the whole trip, Selena and Marlene share their summer experience with Marina. patrick only offers a hardened expression as he listens to all the fun his teammates have. But his summertime was different.
[Flashback]
Deep within Beacon, the Vault, Ozpin, and Patrick are battling against each other. Patrick is currently in his Grimm Mode, wild and brutal, swiping his claws at Ozpin, who is dodging and attacking with incredible speed leaving afterimages as he moves.
Marina and Mashika are both standing on the sides watching the whole fight. They can't help but worry, knowing how berserk Patrick is in this new form. Patrick begins channeling dark magic and slams his hands to the ground, sending that magic towards Ozpin. Ozpin holds his cane firm as Shadow Chains rise out of the ground surrounding Ozpin. Ozpin activates his magic barrier, blocking the chains that attempt to snare him.
Ozpin's barrier bursts and it shatters the chains, then he dashes toward Patrick to inflict rapid jabs with his cane with his finishing blow knocking Patrick away and crashing against the wall. Patrick growls fiercely as he begins to get up. Ozpin then turns his attention to Marina and Mashika and nods. Mashika pushes Marina towards Patrick, who is on his feet, and lets out a roar, and begins channeling dark magic.
Just before he unleashes his power, Marina puts a hand on his shoulder and activates her Semblance. Patrick slowly begins to calm down, his magic depleting until he eventually returns to normal.
"Your power in this new form is indeed strong." Ozpin says.
"It may be strong, but he has no control over it. It makes him as wild and dangerous as the Grimm." Mashika says.
"Doly noted, Ms. Kirei." Ozpin says. "However, Mr. Aki does indeed still maintain his humanity. Didn't you once say you saw it when he went berserk back in Atlas?" Mashika thinks back to when Patrick was in his Berserk Mode and had Mashika pinned and ready to blow her to kingdom come. But he didn't deliver, instead, tears came out of his eyes, his pain and sorrow breaking through the mask of dark rage. "When Mr. Aki went berserk, the first one was triggered by some unfortunate event that made him angry, and the second, which he was most powerful given from what I heard, Salem had him under her control. But now that Salem is out of his head, Mr. Aki's will is his own once more."
"And how is that a good thing for me to be able to master my 'powers'?" Patrick asks.
"Your new form is like magic. Wild, dangerous, but can be tamed." Ozpin says.
"You're forgetting this magic of his is Grimm. Emphasis on wild and dangerous, but nothing tameable." Marina says.
"Agreed. Even Selena's Siren Song can't control him." Mashika says.
"I understand your concerns with the Grimm's Nature within him, but rest assured, I know what I am doing." Ozpin turns his back as he looks one. "Long ago, I once met someone in a similar position as young Aki. She was frightening and dangerous, some say evil, as much as the Grimm are. But spending time with her has shown that she still has humanity within her." Ozpin then looks down. "More than enough to overpower her Grimm nature." Ozpin's tone is hollow in that last part of the sentence. The three of them almost heard it and exchanged expressions with each other, then Ozpin turned at them with a calm expression. "The point is this power within Patrick can be put under control. He has already shown to be able to fight it even if it still overpowered him, he just needs to be trained."
"I still got a battle feeling about this." Mashika says, and Patrick and Marina agree.
[End of Flashback]
Team CPER is in the training grounds, Peter is getting a lecture from Clawdia about doing better this year about his "purr-verted" behavior. Rayla stands beside Earnest who is sitting down reading a book as they wait for their Team PASM friends.
Finally, they arrive, and Clawdia greets them. "Hey, Pet-rick, Selena, Marlene. Professor Marina."
"Clawdia, it's great to see you all once more." Selena says.
"Likewise, Mistress Selena." Rayla says with a curtsy.
Selena, Marlene, and Team PASM chat with each other. Patrick only stands behind Marina watching them with a hardened expression. Marina can sense his depression under that stone surface but realizes no words are gonna get through to him. Instead, she just focuses on her students before her. Watching them enjoying their time together puts a smile on her face.
"Marlene, did you call us here for a reason?" Peter asks.
"Yes. Of course." Marlene moves back to her packages. She grabs one of them and hands it over to Clawdia. "I have taken the liberty of upgrading everyone's weapons during my time in Atlas." Clawdia opens the package, and inside it are her claw fists. She equips and observes them. Clawdia squeezes the palms and claw blades pop right out. The blades appear to be longer and sharper. "I've extended the range of the blades, and what's more..." Marlene makes Clawdia squeeze her index finder, triggering the claws to glow red as they fill up with Fire Dust. "If you squeeze the hilt with a certain finger it loads up with Dust."
Clawdia looks impressed, but she wants to see it firsthand. Clawdia turns her attention to a target dummy and swipes her claws at it, cutting deep into it and seeing it aflame by the scratch. "Sweet! This is Paw-some!" Clawdia says.
"Glad you like them." Marlene says.
Marlene distributes everyone's upgraded weapons. Peter with his Battle Axe, which can be set to enlarge itself for more power but can be heavy to wield. Rayla's Steel Coil gloves have increased extension and can be used to heat up or electrocute. Rayla was most excited about her new power, in a dark way that frightens everyone other than Patrick. Selena with her Staff has an added feature of a Scythe Blade on both ends, functioning as a dual-bladed glavie. Marlene approaches Earnest.
"I know you use your Semblance for your choice of weaponry, but I did make you something." Marlene hands Earnest a pair of wrists with folded blades attached to them, much like Tyrian's weapon. Once Earnest puts them on, the blades unfold. "It also has a gun feature, so you can shoot at enemies from a distance."
Earnest turns to the dummy and practices his weapon, both by blade and by gun. He then turns to Marlene and nods.
"And Patrick, I haven't forgotten about you." Marlene looks over her suitcases. "I know I have it here somewhere."
While Marlene searches, Clawdia spots a suitcase that looks similar to the other ones that were carrying the upgraded weapons. "Oh, I think I found it, Marlene."
Marlene looks at the case as Clawdia opens it. "No, Clawdia! Wait!"
Clawdia looks inside and she is astonished. Everyone takes a look inside and has the same reaction. Inside of that case is nothing more than a broken Katana, hilt, shards, and all. Clawdia sets the case down and picks up the hilt of the broken weapon.
"Marlene...is this...?" Nobody else says anything. All they did was look at the weapon, with silence and sorrow.
"All right! We're all thinking it, so I'm just gonna say it." Peter says. "I miss Akira."
Patrick looks down in regret, grabbing hold of his arm and squeezing it with guilt. "I can't believe it's been four months since she's been in a coma." Marina looks at Selena. "Miss Akimura, has there been any word of her recovery?"
"They didn't...pull the plug, did they?" Marlene asks.
Selena shook her head. "No. Plumette said nothing. Honestly, at this point, I'm starting to think that she may never wake up."
"Don't lose hope, Mistress Selena. Mistress Akira has made it this far. She'll come back to us."
"I agree. She was so beautiful, with long lovely hair, agile body, and two of those wonderful.." Peter's conversation is shortly cut off when Clawdia pulls Peter by the ears. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Then Clawdia lets go. "Thanks, Claws. I needed that. But one thing about her that makes her amazing is that she's strong." Peter says.
Earnest speaks and Rayla translates it. "'She certainly is strong, she even overcame that Kasheer jerk.' Indeed. Mistress Akira shows remarkable strength in everything. Strength, Skill, Instinct, especially Honor."
"She was also very brave and kind-hearted." Selena looks down in sorrow. "I...I don't even know what to think. I've never had anyone make such a sacrifice for me, and I mean just for me."
The room is filled with silence once more. Then Marlene breaks it. "Well, Akira will be all right. I'm sure of it." Marlene resumes to search until she finally finds what she's looking for. "Ah-ha. Here it is." Marlene approaches Patrick. "Yours was tricky to do, but I think I managed to..." Marlene opens her eyes and comes to a halt seeing him. Patrick's expression is still pained, looking down while tightly squeezing his arm. "Patrick? ...Patrick!" Marlene's shout snaps Patrick out of it. "Are you okay?"
"I..." Patrick doesn't say anything, but Marina catches on what it could be.
"Patrick..." Patrick turns his attention to Marina. "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault."
Patrick let out a deep exhale, then shook his head. He returns his attention to Marlene. "So...uh, anyways, I've upgraded your weapon as well." Marlene opens the case. Patrick observes his Bowblade and set of arrows. He picks it up. The weapon looks just the same, just slightly larger. "I've replaced the coil with a stronger alloy and it extends further. You would be able to shoot twice as far. And these arrows are loaded with two kinds of Dust. One is Wind Dust which can make angle shots, and the other is Gravity which deals a heavy impact the further you shoot, can even bring down a giant Nevermoore."
Patrick takes a Wind Arrow. He loads it onto his bow, but instead of aiming at the target, he aims 45 degrees to the left of the target, and fires. The arrow flies in that direction, then the wind dust kicks in and it tilts to the right, but barely misses the target and starts turning until it returns to him. Everyone panics. "Hit the deck!" Everyone ducks and the arrows flies passes them and pierce the wall.
Everyone stands back up, sits back up in Marina's case, and then exchanges are directed at Marlene. Marlene laughs nervously. "I did say it was tricky. I'm still working on the kinks."
"This is amazing, Marlene. Thank you." Selena says.
"Yeah, mew are paw-some!" Clawdia says.
Just then, a P.A. goes off with a bell chime. "Would all second-year students please report to the Auditorium."
"Well, that's us. Let's get going." Clawdia says.
Teams PASM, CEPR, and Marina all head toward the auditorium. Rayla offers to push Marina, but Patrick doesn't let her. Just kept doing it himself. Rayla thought his manners were rather ill.
All of the second-year students arrive at the auditorium. Professor Ozpin stands on stage to bring his announcement.
"Greetings, Students of Beacon. I first wanted to welcome you all back to Beacon Academy. I hope that you all have had a wonderful Summer Break over the past three months, but the time of relax and relaxation has come to an end. Now is the time to further train you all to become Huntsman and Huntresses. While the summer break is a time for you younglings to have fun, I certainly hope you have been keeping up with your training, which is why for this week you all will be camping out in the wilderness with a professional Huntsman or Huntress. On the board, you will find your team assigned to two professors. You will meet with them in the courtyard, and once everyone is set, you will depart. Out there, your skills will be put to the test, in both training and survival. There is no need to worry about failure. When you are unable to upon your survivability, you will be escorted back to Beacon but will fail this exam. I wish you all the best of luck."
Ozpin steps down. Once the announcement is over, several students chat among themselves. Teams PASM and CPER are just as surprised as the other students. "A Second-Year exam? I didn't know anything about this." Marlene says.
Patrick crosses his arms. "That Ozpin...He's just full of surprises, isn't he?"
"I don't see it as a problem, Peter and I used to go camping as kittens." Clawdia says.
"I don't have much camping experience," Rayla says. "I was always busy serving the Reinford Household. They're not exactly the outdoorsman type."
"No need to worry. We'll get through it together." Selena says. "Let's so who we're signed to."
Teams PASM and CPER check the boards. Just as they hoped, they are assigned to the same group, and they head to the courtyard to meet up with their Huntsman. During that travel, Mashika comes by to pick up Marina, since they're both assigned the same group. Teams CPER and PASM meet up with their group, where they also meet their two Huntsman.
"Good day, Second-Years." Professor Oobleck says. "Are you ready for a week of hardship?"
"And adventure." Professor Port says.
Everyone is either surprised or astonished. Patrick is just annoyed. "Oh great, these two." Patrick can hardly stand Oobleck's fast-talking, and he still remembers the torment he endured from one of Port's long boring speeches of his own stories.
"Professors Port and Oobleck? You're our Huntsman instructors?" Selena asks.
"Indeed we are." Professor Oobleck says as has paces back and forth talking real fast. "And I see each of you have packed the essentials for our little campout. Unfortunately, your belongings will not be necessary, for I have already packed the essentials that we will need at our campsite, and just as soon as everyone is here, we shall depart immediately. Also..." Oobleck rushes towards Selena, giving her a close-up look. "It's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn a PhD for fun, thank you."
Nobody says anything, just shocked and confused by the huntsman they're paired with as well as not catching Oobleck's fast speech. "Don't mind him. A Huntsman must be prepared for anything and everything."
"Yes, while that is true, Peter Port, but there are moments where you are unable to uphold the unnecessary essentials that you will need for 'anything and everything'."
"This is gonna be a long week." Patrick mutters.
Teams PASM and CPER await the rest of the students to arrive. Patrick has noticed that Rin and the Student Council have arrived, taking part in this group. Professor Oobleck turns his attention past the group of students. "Ah, that must be the last group."
Everyone turns to see the new group. Teams CPER and PASM are astonished. The new group is four new second-year students. Even in school uniforms, they are still recognizable. The head of the group greets everyone with a single wave and a cheerful smile.
"Hello, we are pleased to be here." Sakuya says.