26: Minutes Past Midnight - [Monologue]
Evernight.
The name of the dimension bathed in the tenebrous hold of eternal night.
Under the starless, sunless, blood-red sky, the Land of Darkness sprawled, as an endless wasteland of rocky crags suspended by monolithic onyx-purple crystals of gravity dust, over a boundless ocean of bracken ichor. The building-sized shards of dust caused great chunks of slate-grey rock to levitate, some so unimaginably large that they were entire country-sized plates of drifting stone. It made the lands resemble an extremely dense asteroid field, though it differed in the fact that it wasn't floating over space, but a sea.
All across this barren, alien landscape, pock-marked with the collision craters of giant hovering rocks, oozed a dense, viscous liquid. It did not bubble, nor stir; it did not even splash whenever one of the infinite number of floating rocks fell into it. It was far, far too dense for that. Vantablack in colour, the ichor absorbed all light, and only gave out vile unlife in return. From the vast ocean underneath it all, flocks of flying, flapping, snarling Creatures of Grimm emerged, newly-birthed unlife erupting in great droves to fill the lightless skies. At irregular intervals, monstrous fins and barbs broke the surface of the stagnant, stygian ocean, giving barely a glimpse at what thalassal nightmares lurked beneath. Atop the enormous plates of stone, from smaller lakes and pools, crept all manner of malevolent, land-dwelling beasts.
On one such astronomic rock, a spire stood out. A lone, artificial structure.
A colossal citadel, magically constructed out of multi-mile high opaque crystals of deep purple. It soared taller than any skyscraper created by the hands of mankind, wounding the empty sky above with its looming, dagger-like spires.
Within this castle, inside a grand hall, under the warped light of a stained-glass window, sat a woman. A witch, feared in legends for aeons across an entire dimension away.
Salem, Queen of the Grimm, sat upon an intricate crystalline throne, with a crown in her lap.
The Crown of Choice. Taken straight from the Beacon Vault in the Emerald Forest, right under Ozma's nose. Only a few spells from her end to cloak the area from his senses, and the fool still did not know it was already gone.
Her pale, sharp-nailed fingers ran over the cold metal, feeling the magic within sing at her touch. Cinder had done well. But in exchange for the Relic, Cinder was the price paid, it seemed. Her parasitic monitoring beetle, embedded in her cursed flesh, was no more. To remove it would be fatal, so it was clear what that meant. A shame.
Over a decade spent on her, only for her to perish so quickly, to an unforeseen element at play. How vexing. But still, she wasn't too bothered. A single decade was nothing to an immortal such as her. She'd lost maidens before. The last to die under her wing had been the Summer Maiden, over a century ago, and she'd made sure to get her proper worth out of her first. Cinder had been the same.
She gave not just a Relic, but pertinent information. The lineage of Silver Eyes still lived. That would have to be taken care of. Perhaps Tyrian could cull the last of their number? He would see slaying the child as an utmost honour.
More interesting was the matter of Ichigo Kurosaki. A spectre of death, from another world entirely. Now he was a curiosity. A Soul Reaper.
What could the extent of his abilities be? Was he a threat? For him to be capable of slaying a Maiden, let alone one she'd gifted like Cinder, his strength must be formidable. He did claim to be war veteran– and stronger than all huntsmen combined... On top of it all, his homeworld's entire macrocosm was at risk of collapse...
Salem was amused. It seemed that gods were always troublesome beings, no matter what plane of existence you were on. And speaking of which... if she was down a Maiden, she need only collect another. How about... Spring? Yes, that season would be her next choice.
The Crown's divine magic wasn't something controllable, but it was something detectable. She knew now, that if she put it on, it would activate. She raised it slowly, over her head, but paused right before setting it.
Apprehension stayed her hand. Such a human sentiment. It disgusted her. But still, she felt it. The possibilities of a fated future wherein she failed in her quest– What if she witnessed undeniable proof that she was bound to this accursed plane forever?
She wavered a second more, before she blocked out such foolish, mortal fears, and set it on her head. The cool bronze metal rested on a head of ashen white hair. The masterfully cut sapphires sparkled with ethereal light.
{A return. The lost judgment cometh nigh.}
Salem smiled. Her worries were for naught. She knew now, she would get exactly what she wanted. It was fated to be.
And though the will of men could bend and break, nothing of this world could shatter fate.
Mercury Black found himself facing the ground, several hundred meters in the air.
He wasn't falling, however. Instead, the distant red treetops of Forever Fall stretched as far as he could see, like a crimson carpet that was slipping away as he flew over them. He craned his neck round at the owner of the arm that was hoisting him up, with a shallow, muted frown.
"Why'd you grab me?"
Ichigo took another shunpo through the air. It was making the teenager under his arm feel queasy. "I couldn't just leave you there. Your legs are all messed up. I'm not apologising for that, though."
He raised a silver eyebrow. "Didn't you just try to kill me?"
Ichigo shook his head. The wind ruffled his orange hair. "Nah, I was trying to kill Cinder. If I was trying to take you out, you'd already be dead."
"So what am I supposed to do now?"
"That's up to her." Ichigo gestured with his head... at thin air. "Ah, crap, I think I was moving too fast..."
A quick series of reversed flash-steps later, and Amber was back in view. On her back, was the unconscious body of Emerald.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" she cried. A small cyclone of wind around her legs kept her up in the air. "I can't fly as fast as you!"
"Right, right... I'll have to teach you stuff later." Ichigo nodded. "Keep using that magic for now."
"Cinder...?" Mercury paused. "No... you're not her. What the hell happened?"
"She's dead." Ichigo stated bluntly, and Amber made an uneasy face. "This is the woman you tried assassinating a few months ago."
Mercury was about to ask how that was even possible, but gave up. He was well past the point of caring about how any of the ridiculous crap he'd seen worked.
"Hi..." Amber waved awkwardly. "You were, um, forced into working for Cinder, weren't you? I've got all of her memories, so I know how she recruited you... you didn't really do much when we fought anyway, besides getting beaten up... so I don't really hate you or anything. You should, ah, try finding something a bit better to do with your life, though..."
Ichigo didn't say anything. He wouldn't have been so forgiving, but it was up to Amber to make the call here, after all. She really was kinder than most people he knew, alongside the likes of Orihime, Yuzu and Nel.
"So we're not gonna die, right?" Mercury questioned bluntly.
"No, no!" Amber waved her hands in front of her flustered face. "I've... already done something I didn't really want to... If I don't have to hurt anyone else like that, then I won't. Huntresses arrest people, not execute them. You already got the beating you deserve, anyway."
"So we'll get put in jail?" Mercury guessed. "Just saying, if that's what it's gonna be, then you can just drop me here. I'd rather die. I'm sure Emerald would, too."
His flat, tired tone made it clear that was the truth.
Amber was lost for words, and her expression turned queasy, so Ichigo stepped in. "I get it. What did Cinder pay you with?"
"Letting me live."
"Hm," Ichigo reflected, "I'm pretty familiar with job contracts like that." Aizen's entire Arrancar army worked like that, after all. It didn't exactly inspire much loyalty, and Grimmjow was the star example. "You don't have any loyalties anymore, do you?"
"I never did in the first place." Mercury answered warily.
"So, in other words, you're not going to be a problem." Ichigo concluded. "We can work with that."
He nodded to Amber. She was flying slightly lower than he was.
"Let's get going."
["What am I supposed to tell my kingdom, then? Admit that we haven't the slightest clue what happened to almost fifty square miles of forest?"]
"I don't have the slightest clue, either, James..." Ozpin rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Imagine how it would feel for this to have happened in your own kingdom..."
The hologram of General Ironwood on his table flickered, next to his fresh cup of tea. ["Believe me, I'm almost glad... but I do have a job to do here, regardless. Could it be a Leviathan-Class Grimm? We haven't detected any, though still I have the Atlesian air force ready to scramble."]
"How about we avoid stirring up any further international panic?" Glynda Goodwitch crossed her arms. "If it is a grimm that did this, you wouldn't want to give it a flare of negativity to follow."
"I doubt it was a creature of grimm." Ozpin reasoned. "You've already sent out forward scouts, haven't you? I'm presuming they haven't found anything?"
["That's right. They haven't found anything. Not even normal grimm. That's the concerning part. They were all killed."]
Goodwitch hesitated, a mote of anxiousness tainting her voice. "Ozpin... do you think it could be—?"
Tap–tap–tap
Three knocks rapped out against the sky-high window pane.
Glynda gasped, and the Headmaster of Beacon spun his seat around, startled by the knocking against his window over a mile up from the ground.
It was Ichigo Kurosaki. He stood outside the window with a half-smug smile, on thin air. White cross-strapped armour contrasted against his pitch-black kosode, the dark fabric flowing in the high winds. He cut a striking figure against the silvery backdrop of the cloudy afternoon sky. Ozpin just shook his head.
"...No, Glynda, I don't think it's her we have to blame for this. James, I'll call you back."
- –—{}—– -
Ding!
The elevator doors slid open smoothly, and Ichigo stepped into the familiar office. What came as a surprise, was that he was not alone.
A woman, with light brown hair, clad in a white, frayed dress followed him into the room with a strangely accustomed bob. She walked as though she'd been in the room many times before, even though only Ichigo seemed to know her. One of her sleeves was ripped shorter than the other, and the torn cloth from it was wrapped around her neck as a bizarre makeshift scarf. Around her left eye, was a partial mask that stuck to her skin without any sign of a strap.
"Yo." Ichigo gave a lazy, nonchalant wave. Nobody returned it.
"Mr Kurosaki." Ozpin acknowledged with a nod. "And this young woman is...?"
He could sense the magical power contained within the woman's body. But there was something more to it... and not only that, he recognised it.
"...I'm back. It's me, your least-favourite ex-student." Amber announced, placing a hand on her chest grandly. "Amber Fall!"
That voice...
"...Amber?" Goodwitch's voice fell soft, and quiet.
The room was silent.
"I'm... so sorry." Ozpin spoke tiredly. The type of tiredness that sleep couldn't fix.
"You better be, old man!" she snapped.
The wizard looked her up and down. "You've... returned in good health, though I don't quite recall you looking like this."
"Of course it's me. Watch!" she flung her hand out, and a sudden bolt of lightning struck the mug of tea on the desk. Dark green shards pelted the floor, and a puddle of the hot drink covered the table. "See? I'm the bonafide Autumn Maiden."
Ozpin stared at both her, and his ruined cup. "...Yes, it's Amber alright. This is exactly how I'd imagine she'd behave with a Maiden's power."
"But she looks nothing like her!" Goodwitch exclaimed. "I'll admit, her voice is identical, and she's just as immature as ever, even as a full-grown woman, but still..."
"Hey, it's magic. What can you do?" Amber brushed off. "At least I'm taller, now. And I heard that second part, by the way."
"You can't just walk in and expect us to believe—"
Ichigo held his hands up. "Hold it. I can explain everything."
"But that'll take so long..." Amber groaned. "Can't they just accept things at face value? I mean, I remember how they hooked me up to a machine for months and months..."
The Deputy Head's emerald eyes widened behind her glasses. "You remember that? But you weren't supposed to have any higher brain functions active..."
"Oh, well, y'see, that's 'cause of— mmph!" Ichigo covered her mouth with a quick hand. He'd be skipping some details.
"I got this. Basically, that lady in the ring I fought– Cinder Fall– was the Fall Maiden, the one that took out Amber here." he jerked his thumb over at the woman to his side. "I took her reallllly far away, beat the crap out of her, and did some stuff to swap her soul back. You already told me about Amber, so I reasoned I could bring her back if I played my cards right."
"You swapped their souls?" Goodwitch was utterly lost. "Ozpin, is he—"
"Yes." Ozpin reached up, and adjusted his dark spectacles. "Ichigo is... not a conventional huntsman, as you can no doubt tell by now."
"You don't need to mince words, Oz." Ichigo reached into his pocket, grasping his combat pass, and a flash of light engulphed his body. He stood before them all, now in his physical form, wearing his huntsman clothes.
His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jacket. "I'm from another world. Another dimensional plane, to be specific. As you'd expect, I work a little differently to how you guys do. Does that clear things up?"
"...Marginally. I can presume that is why your horns are missing, because you're not actually a faunus, are you? And I suppose the Headmaster knew about this from the start?" she side-eyed her superior expectantly. This was one of the strangest things she'd heard in her life, but she was mostly used to bizarre happenings by now. An extra-dimensional traveller was pushing the envelope, though.
"Sorta. He knows more, but not that much more. I'm not dumb enough to play all my cards right away." Ichigo admitted.
"And neither am I." Ozpin smiled bemusedly. He could tell that there were facts being omitted here, but didn't push. "I must thank you for this, Ichigo. You've saved someone where the rest of us all failed. Of course..." his smile grew tighter. "...I can tell, from the look in those eyes of yours, you want something in return. A reward?"
Ichigo's amber-brown eyes narrowed slightly. "You could say that. I've cleaned up your mess, so I want some compensation." he gave a half-smile. "It's only natural."
"And what would this compensation be?"
"Do you remember why you sent me to Mountain Glenn? If I wanted to become a little more privy to high-level info, you'd need to see what I can bring to the table." he took his hands out from his pockets, and spread them wide. "Well, here I am. Not only did I clear out an entire city, but I also brought along a Maiden, too." he gestured to his side.
"Wait a minute, am I basically a bribe here?" Amber blinked.
"Kind of, yeah." Ichigo confessed. "You threw my own words back in my face last time, Ozpin, so how about now? Do you want to talk about it, geezer?"
"I can't argue. You really have proven yourself to go above and beyond." Ozpin assented. "So, do you wish to pick up where we left off? There are indeed reasons why someone might be after a Maiden's power—"
"Nope!" Amber interrupted. "He already knows that! I told him about the Relics!"
"Ah... is that so." Ozpin frowned. "So, you're after something else, is it? Do you wish for help to get home?"
"Nah, it's not that, either." Ichigo declined. "I've got guys on the other side who can help me out with that."
Glynda stepped in. "So what is it you're after, then?"
"After hearing so much about these Relics, I think I want to try one out." Ichigo said unflinchingly.
With those words, the tension in the room grew thick enough to cut. The atmosphere would be stifling, to anyone lesser than those four who occupied it.
His face turned serious. "I want to use the Relic of Knowledge. I have a question I need to ask."
"...And that question would be?" Ozpin spoke slowly. "If I can answer it, then there is no need for—
"—It has nothing to do with Remnant. You wouldn't understand it." Ichigo informed.
"Even so, you've made quite a... troubling request." Ozpin reflexively tried reaching for his mug, only to grasp at empty air, and remember it was no longer there. "First of all, this would take some international string-pulling with Headmaster Lionheart in Haven, and on top of that, nobody knows the identity of the current Spring Maiden required to access the Mistralian vault."
"Did you just say Lionheart?" Amber placed a finger on her chin, recalling a foreign memory. "Uh, there's a bit of a teensy tiny problem with that..."
"It doesn't sound like a small problem..." Goodwitch commented dryly.
Ichigo raised his brow. He'd never heard of the guy, but that didn't sound very good...
"I've got the memories of the temporary Fall Maiden inside me. So, I know that the way that Cinder infiltrated through the Vytal Exchange System was down to the fake student IDs she acquired... from Haven."
"You mean to say..." Ozpin laid his elbows on his desk, and steepled his fingers with a grim face.
"That the head of a major academy is a plant. From Salem." Amber stated plainly. "We know about her, too."
"You– you know about her?" Glynda uttered, stepping forwards slightly. "You both do?"
"I did say I got some new memories." Amber reminded, knocking on the top of her head. "The Queen of the Grimm was one of them."
Ichigo didn't say anything, letting the two come to their own conclusions. If they conveniently believed he'd only found out about Salem when Amber spoke to him, then that meant less questions for him.
After a time, Ozpin finally spoke. "...I see. Then I have only one thing to say to you both. Tell me, what is your favourite fairy tale?"
"I dunno, I've never thought about them since I was a toddler." Ichigo gazed up at the glass ceiling in thought. "I like the one about the beanstalk and a home invasion, though. And the one about porridge and a home invasion. And the one about a wolf and a home invasion. That happens a lot, now that I think about it. Kinda cliché, really."
"What the hell is up with your home's bedtime stories?" Amber huffed, with a puff of her cheeks. "Last time it was money laundering goblins, now this..."
"Ah, right..." Ozpin slumped. "I realise that question wouldn't exactly relate much to an off-worlder like Mr Kurosaki here... how about I just tell you... about her."
The wizard began to recount.
"Millennia ago, I sealed away an inhuman witch into the Lands of Darkness. A vile sorceress, who controlled the Creatures of Grimm like they were her own servants. It took the majority of my magic to cast and maintain the spell for thousands of years, and as a result my power has dwindled away to the point that I am a mere huntsman, and mage no more. Even so, despite the energy I put in, the Witch still has an influence over Remnant. Grimm appear naturally, but she can force more through from the realm of Evernight as she pleases. She has servants, cultists who worship her, and seeks to gather all four Relics to claim their divine power for herself."
Miss Goodwitch followed on. "And that, Ichigo, is why the Relics must never leave their vaults. I'm sorry, but we cannot afford the risks of allowing you to access one for your own ends."
Ichigo scratched at the side of his temples, where his horns once were. "...You're saying they can never leave their vaults? But what about— Hey, watch it!"
He grunted as Amber hip-checked him to barge in front. She straightened herself up, and nervously tapped the tips of her index fingers together, furtively glancing away from the two teachers.
"Let's just say, um, hypothetically... how bad would it be if Salem already had one of the Relics?"
Ozpin grew very pale in the face, very fast. "Which Relic does she have? The Crown? She did control the Fall Maiden for a matter of months, undetected..."
"I said it was just hypothetical!" Amber cried. "B-but, uh... yeah... she does. Is that bad?"
"No, no... Not at all. It's all a part of my plan, actually." Ozpin reassured with a strained face.
"Really?" Ichigo asked with sudden interest. Maybe he wasn't giving this guy enough credit.
"No."
Never mind.
For a short while, nobody spoke. The mood grew frosty, and terse.
"Glynda, could you please reconnect my call to James?"
"Of course." she pulled out a scroll-tablet, and tapped at it. With a quick chirp, the call connected, and the holographic projector sparked back on.
The glowing, miniature projection of a stern, clean-shaven man, dressed primly and properly with neatly combed hair, was formed out of translucent coloured light over the table.
["Calling back so soon, Oz? I trust that you have new information, then. Afternoon, Glynda."]
"James." she greeted.
"I do have some news for you." Ozpin went right down to business. He knew the General would appreciate it. "James, I would like to introduce to you the man you're looking for."
["The man I'm looking for?"] his eyes narrowed, and lips tightened. ["You don't mean to say..."]
"But I do." Ozpin waved across the room. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki. The Huntsman who cleared out Mountain Glenn, as I'm sure you've heard of him. He is also the man who wiped away miles of Valean forest in moments."
"I didn't do it on purpose..." Ichigo grumbled, crossing his arms. It was technically him, though. He and Zangetsu were one and the same.
"...And beside him, is the revived Maiden of Autumn, Amber." Ozpin continued. "I would like to induct both of them into the Inner Circle, regarding Salem, and the Relics. They're already aware."
["Revived? I'll need an explanation for this, Oz. Though if he's already accomplished that much, then I can understand why you'd let them in."] he reasoned, ["What I cannot understand, is how one man could cause so much destruction all on his own. I can't approve of this unless I know why. This is an international incident. It's not just Atlas; Mistral and Vacuo have eyes on you, too."]
"I expected as much." Ozpin replied with a sigh. "Ichigo, this is General James Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy and Head of the Atlesian Military. He holds two seats on his kingdom's council."
"A real big-shot, huh..." Ichigo eyed the man, before giving him a short wave. "Nice to meet you."
["It's... good to meet you as well. At least you're cordial. That's already better than how I met Qrow."] he turned back to Ozpin. ["Am I going to get an answer, then?"]
"Ichigo is an anomaly, as you can already tell. I'll inform you of the rest at a later date, but for now, we must discuss something far more pressing."
["More 'pressing' than this?"]
"Quite so, I'm afraid. Leonardo is a turncoat." Ozpin did not mince his words at all.
Ironwood didn't respond for a beat. His brows furrowed, and the metal strip over his right eye shifted. ["...How trustworthy is this information?"]
"The Maiden standing before me said so." Ozpin replied. "And I can believe it."
["The Maiden you told me had died... I can't see her now."]
"Is that so? If I can sense her in person," Ozpin mulled, "it must be a similar case to how Ichigo can't be seen by cameras half the time..."
"Hey, you've got your secrets, I've got mine." Ichigo spoke up.
"Oh? Even after I've told you all about Salem?" Ozpin reminded.
"You and I both know that's not all of it." Ichigo ascertained. "You aren't pulling the wool over my eyes so easily, old man."
Ozpin ever so slightly, subtly, winced, just a little. It was a blink-and-miss-it, fleeting expression. But it happened.
"...But that's fine. If you're hiding something, then you've probably got a reason for it, be it personal, reasonable, or just plain 'cause you don't trust me. I know enough of what I want to know, enough to make my own choices. –And that's all I need. I'm not nosy. Keep your secrets, and I'll keep mine." Ichigo spoke easily, and comfortably. It was proof that this was how he truly felt.
Ozpin was surprised. In the past, many he had known before over the centuries had turned on him for hiding less. But here this young man was, unbothered by his nature. It was as if he was expectant to be kept in the dark, and he didn't see it as a problem at all. He seemed used to it.
"Listen, Ozpin. I'm not gonna budge on this. I want to use the Lamp of Knowledge. If I need to go to Mistral to use it, then so be it. If you don't know who the Spring Maiden is, then I'll just find her myself. It's simple. If I need to take out this Salem lady, then I'll do that, too."
"Take her out? Take her out?" Ozpin let out a short, mirthless, hollow chuckle. "Do you really think it's that simple?"
"Yeah, I do." Ichigo stated, deadpan.
"Just what do you think I've dedicated my countless lifetimes to?" Ozpin asked pointedly.
"Don't hit me with more condescending drivel. It's true, I don't know what Salem's capable of, at all..."
For a fleeting moment, a flicker of inhuman yellow encroached his eyes. It was gone in a blink. "...But nobody on Remnant knows what I'm capable of, either."
Ozpin processed this.
"...I'm not sure I like what I just heard, Mr Kurosaki."
"Tch. Yeah, well, suck it up, geezer." Ichigo crossed his arms, and glared to the side at nothing in particular.
"He just needs to beat the crap out of her, doesn't he?" Amber butt in defusingly. She made an effort to soften her voice.
The wizard shook his head. "There's no beating Salem—"
"—Because she's immortal, right?" She finished for him. When the air in the room instantly fell still, and both Ironwood and Goodwitch were staring at the Headteacher with alarmed looks on their faces, Amber realised that maybe that wasn't common knowledge.
So much for diffusing the tension...
"Salem is..." Glynda's voice died in her throat.
["...Is that true, Ozpin?"] the General only asked that single question.
The Headteacher of Beacon bowed his head, slumping in his seat. "...Yes."
["...I'm going to need some time to think."]
Click.
The hologram shut off.
"Eh? Nobody else knew about this? That sounds pretty damn important. I didn't mean to get everyone angry at you like that, but this is all kind of on you, y'know." Amber half-apologised, half-shifted the blame. She rested one arm at her side, the other holding it awkwardly.
"Didn't you have more to say to him? Is it really alright for him to just hang up?" Ichigo asked.
"I'd... rather not tell him that the Beacon Relic is lost, right this moment. I don't think James would take it too well..."
"His reaction would be justified regardless..." Miss Goodwitch muttered testily.
"It would." Ozpin admitted. "I will tell him. This evening."
"This evening." she echoed, "You promise?"
"I promise."
Ichigo was getting annoyed. "So, can I use the Relic, or what?"
Ozpin rubbed at his head exasperatedly. He was oh so tempted to tell Kurosaki that the questions had run out for this century, but he just couldn't bring himself to lie. Maybe he was still reeling from the fact that one of his closet secrets had been accidentally revealed, or perhaps it was because he had Ichigo to thank for bringing Amber back. Either way, he felt that he owed the off-worlder enough to be truthful to him. Also, there was the small part of him that feared what Ichigo would do otherwise. At least, this way, he knew what the young man was after.
"I have a feeling that denying your request at this point would only cause further headaches in the future, so against my better judgement... yes."
Ichigo smiled, and stuck out his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Ozpin reached across his desk, and gave him a firm shake. At least someone would be walking away from this meeting happy.
"—But it won't be right away." Ozpin added, holding up one finger in addendum with his free hand.
Ichigo's smile turned upside-down. "Of course, there's the catch."
"Not quite. This is for you, just as much as for us. We need to arrest Lionheart, and locate the Spring Maiden. This is going to be a long-term contract. As such, it'll take some planning, and deliberation. I'll discuss the angle we'll spin this with James, so until then, you'll have to wait."
"I'll have to what?"
"It'll only be a week or so. You understand why, don't you?"
"I know, I know, the whole evil-witch thing is top-secret." Ichigo waved away. "Just tell the world that he, I dunno, embezzled cash or something."
"Or diddled a student!" Amber suggested helpfully.
"Absolutely not!" Goodwitch exclaimed. "A case like that, in a school, no less, would be just as terrible as the mass negativity from exposing the truth to the public at that point! Haven would thrown into chaos!"
"Even to a traitor, my pride as a man cannot allow such a false accusation to fly..." Ozpin shut down.
"Hm." Ichigo nodded quietly. "There are some lines you don't cross. Better make it an older colleague."
"That's even worse!" Glynda cried with a horrified voice. "Lionheart is in his fifties! We can't claim that he's taken advantage of a geriatric!"
"Was my idea really that bad!?" Amber coughed. "I just wanted to help..."
"I think... we'll put together our own plan." Ozpin adjusted his spectacles. "Until then, rest up. I'm glad to see your story has reached a happier end than we feared, Amber."
"It hasn't ended yet, but you're right." Amber bobbed her head, turned, and approached the Deputy Headmistress with a thin smile. "It's good to have me back, isn't it?"
She was enveloped in a sudden, tight hug, that lasted slightly longer than she found it comfortable. When the teacher pulled away from her, she watched as the older woman took off her rimless glasses to dab at her damp eyes.
"...It's good to have you back." Goodwitch agreed.
"Um, thanks. So, you see, I need to change my legal stuff. My pictures, licences and all that."
"Of course. I'm not sure how this miracle happened, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." she told her. "Come see me tonight, and we'll do the paperwork."
"Ugh. Right, legal business..." she huffed.
"One last question, before you two leave..." Ozpin finished. "I understand, earlier, that you mentioned fake student IDs from Haven. IDs, plural." Ozpin shrewdly deduced. "The other students Mr Kurosaki grabbed earlier today worked for Cinder Fall, didn't they?"
"Cinder, not Salem." Amber pressed. "They don't know anything much. They were only with Cinder because they had nothing else, and she'd kill them otherwise."
"That's... enlightening." Ozpin commented thoughtfully. "I will speak to them myself, later then. Once they leave the infirmary you placed them in, of course."
"You detected them as soon as we came back, didn't you?" Ichigo clued in.
"Perhaps." Ozpin replied.
"You have a week, you two." Glynda reminded. "That means you can both attend the Beacon Dance. Try and enjoy yourselves, won't you? After that, students will be given their Spring missions where they'll shadow licenced Huntresses and Huntsmen. I think you'd both make inspiring examples to follow."
The two of them shared a glance.
"...We'll think about it."
Ichigo and Amber stepped into the elevator, and the polished metal doors smoothly slid shut.
- –—{}—– -
"Wait a minute... I didn't mention it back there, but your last name is Fall?" Ichigo nudged her in the side with his elbow, speaking lowly. "Wasn't that Cinder's too?"
"Yeah. Totally a weird coincidence, I know." She shrugged back. "I'm not her long lost sister or anything, before you ask. It's just fate, I guess."
Walking down a corridor, side by side, they found the cool light of a cloudy day filtering into the hallways through arched, open windows. Birdsong filtered in from outside, sung by nests in the nooks of the elegant architecture. Dark green flags hung from the high ceiling in pairs, matching the smaller cloth flags hanging over each bowed doorway. Along the walls were inset pillars, and small blue lights were embedded flush with the floor on either side of a darker running stripe, contrasting the paler greyish-white colour of the rest of the hall.
"It's weird... I thought I'd be a lot angrier, but I'm not." Amber wondered. "I guess it's because I know why they did what they did, now. They didn't really want me to die, and I understand why, but it still rubs me the wrong way. Still, I can't blame them for keeping me down there when the entire world is on the line."
"When you learn something new, you can reframe something old. It's not a bad thing to happen." Ichigo advised.
"But what about you?" Amber raised. "I was being prepped for a sacrifice I had no say in, but you're in the same boat. Aren't you mad?"
"I... don't know how to feel about it. I don't want it to happen, obviously. But I can understand why it was even a plan in the first place. You were kept like that to protect your world, and I would've been like that too, to protect mine. It's something we have in common, I guess."
"What a messed up thing to empathise over." Amber scoffed.
"I can't argue with that. I'm pretty pissed off with it all, and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise, but it's not as if the reason behind it and the guys doing it are selfishly evil. Soul Reapers were originally called Balancers, over a million years ago. Ichibē, the Eyeball Monk of Names, is the head of the Zero Squad and Royal Guard. He's not some cartoon villain, but more of a force of nature. He's just doing his job, to keep all things in balance."
Amber took a closer look at Ichigo as they walked. She could tell, his face didn't match his words.
"But you don't want that, do you?"
"...You're right, I don't. I'll find another way, whatever it takes."
An awkward silence passed, until they turned a corner.
Amber let out a long breath, stretching her arms over her head. "Things sure are going sideways, aren't they?"
"Eh, this jacked-up sideways ridiculousness is normal for me. Happens all the time, back home." His entire inner soul was sideways.
They turned a corner, and Ichigo stopped walking. Four people, standing outside his door. He'd found a certain team loitering around his room. Not a team that he expected, either.
"See, he's not here, Cardin. Play creepy-homo-stalker all you want. I'm leaving you to it."
The light-brown haired teen walked away, only to freeze in place when he walked into the man in front of him.
"Aw, crap." he sighed.
"Dove?" Ichigo muttered, eyeing the rest of DRCL. "What do you guys want with me?"
"We got dragged along. Cardin has some questions, Dove doesn't really care, I wanted to watch and Sky's... just kinda there." Russel summarised. They were all wearing the Beacon uniform, with their own minor tics and differences. Cardin lacked a blazer, and Dove's was missing a tie. He must've been too lazy to do it up.
"The hell is up with you, Kurosaki?" Cardin growled. He tossed a rolled-up newspaper at Ichigo, which he snatched out of the air with one hand. He unfurled the paper, finding the same blurry picture of him in Mountain Glenn, with Adam Taurus in the foreground. "You were fricking working with a major-league terrorist!"
"Hey! I didn't work with..." he paused, "...actually, yeah, I kinda did, didn't I?" Ichigo realised.
Cardin blinked. "Dumbass."
"Screw you. Of course I know it's a bit iffy, but Adam's harmless. –To me, I mean." Ichigo amended. "I dunno about you people."
"You're talking like you know him? I would go and tell the Headteacher, but you go up to his office so often that I'd be surprised if he didn't already know."
"Hey, snitches get stiches." Ichigo jabbed snidely. "But yeah, he does know. The whole thing was a coincidence, actually."
"You've gotta be kidding me..." Cardin rubbed at the bridge of his nose. When he glanced back up, he narrowed his lilac eyes. "Did anyone else notice his horns are missing, or are we all just being polite?"
"Just continue ignoring that." Ichigo dismissed. "They... fell off."
"What?"
"I told you. He's definitely some sort of alien." Sky nodded to himself. "I'm one-hundred percent sure he's behind what happened at Forever Fall today."
Now Ichigo was the one at a loss. "What?"
"C'mon. It's such a big deal that even I know about it, and I don't watch the news. There was a huge explosion or something that took out miles and miles of forest. We actually heard it from here. The sound washed over the city. It's a whole... international thing." Dove waved his hand vaguely.
"Yeah, it's gotta have been you, right? Doing some weird coverup crap that the Headteacher's in on?" Sky rubbed at his chin. "C'mon man, I know."
"That's... funny." Ichigo replied curtly. It was bizarre how close Sky's eccentric rambling came to the truth– just one detail short, in fact. It was ghosts, not aliens. Duh.
"–And what's with this chick? Didn't you basically kidnap her and her team like an hour ago? We all saw that crazy fight. Now she's got a dye job. Don't tell me you did some freaky brainwashing on her." Sky raved on.
"It was a little like... never mind." Amber trailed off.
"I did not." Ichigo denied, crossing his arms. "I just had to do something for Ozpin. And by that I mean, I did it, and then I told him about it afterwards."
"That... doesn't sound like it was authorized at all." Dove remarked dryly. "But whatever. What's with the hobo-bride lookin' dress, anyway? She looks like the ghost of a Vacuan cartel victim. 'You a human trafficker, or what?"
"Yes, idiot. I'm looking to sell her, actually. Any takers?" Ichigo sarcastically retorted.
"Oi!" Amber pouted, stomping her foot.
"Nah, we've all seen what she can do." Dove scratched at his ear. "It'd make me look like a slacker."
"You are a slacker." Cardin stated the obvious.
"So? You're all crappy enough in comparison that I don't look it." Dove put it bluntly.
Amber whistled. "You are one shitty excuse for a team leader."
"Isn't your entire team in the infirmary?" Dove replied.
"Ack! That's... uh..." Amber sweat. "H-how'd you find out? We literally just came back!"
"I faked being sick to get out of class, and found them there." Dove answered.
"...Like I said, you're one shitty excuse for a team leader." she repeated flatly.
"You're not wrong." Russel sighed.
"I got turned away, 'cause all the medical staff have their hands full with them. It looked pretty bad." Dove recalled airily, a finger on his chin. "Meanwhile, all my team are standing right here, just fine. How am I doing bad, by that metric?"
Huh, so the lax leader did have some pride in him, after all, Ichigo reflected.
"Forget it, Dove." Cardin cut in. "But seriously, Ichigo. I swear—"
"—Tell you what." Ichigo interrupted. "If– no, when, I move to deal with the White Fang, I'll ask Adam what he really wants."
" 'Deal with the White Fang?' " Dove cocked his head. "Are you joking? That's not a thing you just go and do." He scoffed. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Right now, Adam Taurus isn't some nutjob terrorist anymore—"
"—He's a frickin' politician, which is somehow even worse." Cardin finished.
"They're afraid of pressing any charges against him because it'd send the message that 'peaceful cooperation is futile', or whatever." Russel made air-quotes with his fingers.
"I thought you didn't follow the news?" Amber asked.
"I don't." Dove jerked a thumb at his partner. "My partner's just a schizo who can't shut up about how much he hates faunus. Taurus was a figure kept on the down-low– it's why he's able to show his face in public without getting a bullet for his troubles, now. Before he started this new Atlesian campaign, Adam Taurus was barely even that recognisable, and yet Cardin knew all about him. Then he told us about him, too. The White Fang live in his brain, rent-free."
"They do not dwell in my head for free. I make them pay, every day." Cardin snapped.
"Sure you do." Dove lowered his voice to a whisper. "But, considering what they did to his folks, I can sorta understand why."
"I'm standing right next to you, you know." Cardin huffed, "There's literally no point at all in whispering. Go ahead, tell them or don't, I don't give a damn. Taurus is literally gathering an army and infiltrating Atlas and Mantle in broad daylight, and nobody is stopping him 'cause they're scared of optics, stepping on 'faunus rights', or some dumb pussy crap like that. There's no way that an entire branch of the White Fang just cut ties with the rest, to up and leave. It's all a fakeout."
"By 'army', he means he thinks literally every faunus in Mantle and Atlas is a sleeper agent waiting to join in a quest to wholly exterminate humanity." Sky translated. "A bit out there, I know, and this is me saying this."
"Duh?" Cardin waved his arms. "How are you not seeing what I'm seeing? I understand the type of man Taurus is. He hasn't turned soft, not at all. He's just waiting for the time to strike. He wants to kick off a race war a thousand years in the making. There's only one way out of this."
"What, a Thousand-Year-Blood-War?" Ichigo scowled.
"...Something like that." Cardin surmised. "I'm just seeing the forest for the trees. The invasive forest that the White Fags seem to insist on planting."
"Pffft." Amber snorted. "Heh. I get it."
Cardin turned and slowly walked off, waving over his shoulder. "See you 'round, Kurosaki. I'll hold you to that offer you made, no matter how unbelievable it is. Words are cheap, and lies are cheaper– but the truth is priceless. Better remember it."
As he watched the other orange-haired boy stroll away with his team in tow, Ichigo's dour face was cast into obfuscating shadow, where the window's light didn't reach.
Adam wasn't a problem for him at all, power-wise, but he didn't want this to be just another situation where he cuts someone down to save the day. This was far too complex for that. He'd do what he had to do, but what if he could find a way where he didn't have to do that?
It seemed that Mistral wasn't the only kingdom on his globetrotting to-do list. He'd eventually be going to Atlas, too.
"Ichigo?" Amber prodded.
"...It's nothing. I've met people before, who turned out to be completely different in the end, from how they were at the start. Sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better."
He turned around, and gave her a shallow smile that didn't reach his brown eyes. But his eyes weren't sorrowful; instead, they were brimming with grim determination.
"Let's make it the latter, this time around."
"Ozpin... if she is immortal... and she has the Crown... then how do we fight her?"
The hologram of the Headmaster of Beacon rubbed at his eyes, having taken aside his spectacles and set them on his desk. ["Not directly. We maintain the seal. It is the best goal to have. Not an impossible goal, such as slaying the invincible, nor a pessimistic one, such as sitting back and playing defence around the remaining Relics."]
"So for now, we'll pursue the issue we can solve: Lionheart. I'm prepared to form an alliance with Vale to remove Leonardo."
["Setting Atlesian boots on the very heart of Mistralian soil would be grounds for war."]
"Not if they don't find out."
["What you're suggesting is an assassination, James."]
"It doesn't have to be. We could take him in alive, call it an arrest. I will promise to follow due process... just quietly."
["...Even if it leads to a war?"] Ozpin asked. ["If you're seeking one, look no further than within you own borders."]
"Are you talking about that White Fang splinter's political campaign? Seriously? What else do you want? Somehow, pointlessly hiding vital information such as Salem's immortality is fine for you, but me proposing a covert, surgical operation to prevent an international conflict is too much? I didn't have to clue you in on this, you know."
["But you did."]
"I did." Ironwood nodded. "And I'm almost regretting it. I can understand why you don't want this to happen, but pray tell, what other course is there, dammit? Let's say we do publicly go through with a prosecution, then what? We just... send him to jail? What if he gets off? What if she saves him? We can't afford to allow for the masses to make up their own opinion on this, when they wouldn't even know why he's really on trial in the first place!"
["I told the huntsman and huntress in my office today that this would all be done over the table."]
"And what would they think if you told them the plan had changed?"
["I... don't know."] Ozpin spoke slowly.
"You... don't know?" Ironwood sounded incredulous. "Well, this is a first. I imagine that this Ichigo Kurosaki fellow is quite unpredictable, if even thousands of years of experience can't chart his next move. Then again, it makes sense, given what you've told me about him. An other-worldly being..."
["Yes. That's why I've set his next course for him. He will be one of the huntsmen on the Lionheart case. I trust that you don't mind?"]
"You're serious? He's hardly loyal to you at all."
["You're right, he's loyal to his own morals, moreso than he ever would be to me. But his morals are exactly why I know he would be the perfect pick. He's more powerful than the Autumn Maiden, so what could possibly trouble him on this mission? Be it Mistralian– or Atlesian."]
"Hmph." Ironwood scoffed. "We shouldn't be competing, here, you know. It's childish. Especially when over eighty years of peace are on the line."
["...Right."] Ozpin compromised. ["I understand– as much as I don't like it– I understand. Pardon me, James. With the Crown gone, we can't afford to take chances anymore. I'll support your covert operation, but we'll bring Leonardo Lionheart in alive, you hear me? Alive."]
"...I hear you."
Click.
Ironwood sat at his modern, minimal, bare desk, and stared at the plain white metal. Lost in thought.
Ozpin had failed at his job. He'd lost his Relic, and damn near lost his Maiden too, and nearly gotten his academy infiltrated. All of that was stopped, not by him, but by this extra-dimensional entity, Ichigo Kurosaki. An unknown, with unknown goals, and unknown power. All that was known, was that he wanted to use the Lamp, for an unknown reason. The man who wiped away miles of coastal forest in an instant. The 'official story' they had finally agreed upon was to blame a meteorite, which rubbed Ironwood the wrong way. He didn't like lying to his people. Unlike Ozpin, apparently.
The most muddying part of all was that Ichigo apparently had an album full of family photos, so the General couldn't even bring himself to see the young man as someone malicious. Nor an imposter. He had a family. He wasn't a rootless soldier; he had something to fight for.
And that made him even more dangerous.
But he wasn't the target here. If Ozpin trusted the man, then he wouldn't seek to test him. There was a mutually-agreed target in his sights, first. A traitor in their midst. One he'd been told to bring in alive. To take the risk, where he didn't need to. From a man who had failed to prevent his own risks, first.
His eyes dimmed, as Mettle activated. A semblance of resolve, to do what must be done.
No.
He pushed the contact button on his holo-desk.
#"Attention, patch the Central Office through to the Head of the Ace Operatives for mission planning. Code: Black. Force: Lethal."#
Click.
"Is this... really the best course of action?" her voice wavered.
It was late at night now, the sky making an inky black backdrop through the floor-to-ceiling glass of the clock tower. The lights of the academy's elegant architecture twinkled below, competing with the sprinkled starlight above.
"What else, Glynda? James made a good point. We simply can't arrest Leonardo over reasons that nobody in the high courts would understand. None of them know about Salem, so what would we charge him with? Unless you're actually suggesting to follow Amber's—"
"No!" she glowered. "Not about that! It's about Ichigo Kurosaki! We can't let someone without any real ties to Beacon represent Beacon! It's preposterous!"
"But he does have ties here." Ozpin contested. "Not to us, that much is clear, but to the friends he's made. He wouldn't want the world they inhabit to fall into chaos, would he? I'm banking on his goodwill, which he has proven time and time again."
"But about what he wants in return?" she asked. "Will you really let him access the Relic?"
"I will. The Lamp isn't directly, outwardly destructive, unlike, say, the Sword, so I do not see as much of a problem with him using it." Ozpin reasoned. "But I can tell he's done something to spook you, hasn't he?"
"He... has. When he was leaving the arena, so abruptly, I tried grabbing ahold of him with my semblance. He... didn't even notice it. My telekinesis wasn't dissipated, nor negated, it was just... ignored." she exhaled. "Do you know how ridiculous that is? I can rearrange buildings, and he couldn't even tell I was holding him back."
"...Hm. I can see why that has you so caught up. Allow me to let you in on a little reassuring observation I've made, then."
"Go on?" she implored.
"...Have you seen that small, pentagonal badge of his?"
NEXT: 27 - ROCK THE DRAGON - [A Jam Blues]
Author's notes:
You might be wondering why I've taken this long, and I can explain. I'm starting university TOMMORROW, so I'm posting this now, and I've been packing my bags and buying everything for the last month. I've seen a truckload of stories die the moment the author announces they're starting or going back to uni, so I REFUSE to let that happen here. It'll definitely take some time to work out a proper schedule, though, between classes, gym, sports etc. You understand.
Reference pic I used for the academy hallways:
[64DOTmediaDOTtumblrDOTcom/1ae1179afd941fd596648906cc425f2b/tumblr_mvg8zahh2J1qgseqbo1_1280DOTpng]
This is a setup chapter, but with big implications for the future. Yep, all of the Mistral adventures from canon will be happening to Ichigo now, and both sides have set their eyes on the Spring Maiden. On top of that, I'm building tensions between, Ichigo, Ozpin and Ironwood, and having them all contest against each other. Ichigo wants stuff he can't just beat up people for, and Remnant's top brass are who can give it to him. I'm trying to make sure that Amber is a character in her own right, too. I've also dropped some more hints about Adam, and what he's been up to. It's left up to (You) to guess his true intentions in Atlas, and whether they're fake or genuine.
The Land of Darkness is an entire dimension in this story, to make it more Bleach-like, and to let Ozpin's seal make more sense. Therefore, I've made it a whole load more alien, like Hueco Mundo was. It's a field of flat, country-sized floating rocks, miles over an endless sea of grimm fluid. The red sky looks like how it did in the TYBW 2nd Cour. I hope it's cool enough in you mind. Other than that, it's all the same, character/layout wise. It's more of a cosmetic change than anything, narratively.
You might be thinking that there should be bigger stuff that happens as a result of Ichigo's actions in Chapter 24, and there will be. There's a load of 'boots on the ground' at the blast site, and there'll be news coverage and stuff mentioned in coming chapters, too. Ironwood and Ozpin just got slapped with far worse news this time, instead. The Haven/Relic stuff took all their attention.
Finally, before anything else starts, the last Beacon arc will be the dance. It'll be short, mainly a 'calm-before-the-storm' type of deal, because constant fighting dilutes and cheapens the action. That's why you need breathers, too, and this will be one of them.
As for the TYBW anime, I'm surprised they kept Yumichika's BASED line, but I'm not complaining. Kubo's pretty wild for including a full-on necrophile rapist cannibal, you wouldn't see anything like that in most shounen, for sure. The Squad Zero fight is looking good, too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go watch the sakuga-fest season finale of Ichibe vs Yhwach. I'm hyped af. Bye.
You might be wondering if I waited until the cour finale on purpose... to which I say: pfft, yeah, of course it was. Absolutely. Thanks for 2,201 follows, 1,722 favourites and 865 reviews!