Chapter 51: Menagerie - Solid Foundations

Cover art by Mi Chumi

[A/N] Posting a bit early due to a minor medical procedure today and I don't know how I'll feel the rest of the weekend recovering. Enjoy!

The hardest part for Lionheart was having to hide what he was doing. Even who he was. It wasn't something that came naturally after over a decade as a Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy.

His prior trip to Menagerie could be written off as a "getting back to my roots" trip. Or possibly a holiday. Maybe even a modest diplomatic foray to show Menagerie that they were worthy of the attentions of a senior Huntsman like himself.

But a second trip. Or a third? That would get attention before they were prepared to answer questions, and might even endanger their fundraising efforts if it became broadly known his name was associated with a new Combat School in Menagerie before things got some inertia behind them.

On the other hand, this was damn exciting. It was the most pleasantly exciting thing Leonardo Lionheart had experienced in years. And he just couldn't resist.

Thankfully, Chieftain Ursulus had been more than accommodating. When Lionheart's chartered Bullhead had approached the shores of Menagerie, it had been Ursulus himself who had answered Lionheart's Scroll call, and had his craft diverted from the public docks directly toward the site of the future school, while reassuring him that the workers had been given the day off so they could have a private tour away from prying eyes.

From the air, Lionheart could see that the prior five months had seen tangible results, and requested the pilot do a long, slow circle around the site. What had once been a gradually upsloping empty plain from the eastern walls of Kuo Kuana to the top of cliffs overlooking coves on the other side had changed dramatically. A rough two-lane road, paved with coral gravel, led from a newly built gate in the wall all the way to the top of the cliff. In addition, a series of tall pylons had been constructed alongside it, with a passenger dock just inside the walls. Lionheart could see the signs of a cargo cable-car being prepared next to it, to make hauling critical or sensitive components a little safer from Grimm encroachment. And both road and pylons were flanked by double-rows of wooden walls. They wouldn't keep out extremely large or aerial Grimm, but they would deter most terrestrial ones. And at the clifftop itself the wall, little more than a stockage of jungle logs reinforced with steel cabling, opened up and ran all the way to the cliff edge itself on either side of the construction site.

And a construction site it was. Portable buildings, heavy equipment, and trucks dotted the site… doubtless all of it purchased and imported to the island at significant expense, along with the Dust required to operate it all. And all of it financed, if Lionheart understood correctly, by funds that had somehow come out of an Atlesian R&D budget.

Lionheart wondered if that little detail would ever see the light of day. He could predict some significant fireworks in the upper echelons of Atlas' military and ruling class if it did. For all that they talked about being more enlightened than the general citizenry, and Lionheart had to allow that the Atlas military didn't discriminate inside its ranks, there was a big difference between having faunus in your military that you controlled, and finding your own tax dollars paying to make Menagerie, an independent would-be Kingdom, more self-sufficient. A peer.

An equal.

That would not go down Atlesian throats well at all.

And the thought made him smile. Oh, there were Atlesians that he genuinely liked. James was a good man, for example, and one he was already trying think of a way to pry away from Ozpin. But that didn't mean he approved of Atlas in general. Too rigid. To authoritarian. Too damned Atlesian.

And too many bigots. Even he, as Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy, had gotten… whispered comments. He'd seen the tense faces when he walked past an Atlesian shop with a "No Faunus" sign out front. He'd watched his own hosts' eyes widen slightly, terrified he'd choose to walk into such an establishment and force them to take sides publicly.

If nothing else, that was one of the reasons he was enjoying all of this so damn much.

As he reviewed the site itself, he could see the layout of the initial buildings taking shape. Multiple foundations had been poured, and he could see where power conduits, likely running along the road at the base of the cable-car pylons, terminated and would eventually branch out to those buildings. And there, on the northern edge close to the end of the cliff where it met the ocean proper, was the unmistakable circular foundation of what would become the crown jewel of the Academy, Kuo Kuana, and Menagerie as a whole.

Chimera Tower, Garek had called it. And Lionheart approved wholeheartedly of the name.

As they passed the first long loop, he peered past the cliff and down to the clear waters of the tropical cove at the their base to the East. The plans he'd been shown said there would be a separate facility, almost a sub-campus, down there on the water, dedicated to fighting aquatic Grimm and for practicing water-based combat, with another cable-car to ferry the students down to it. But that would come later, after the Combat School, which was the initial cover story, was fully operational.

And finally the bullhead soared back over the cliff itself, and the pilot announced he could see the makeshift Bullhead docks, still little more than coral-gravel compacted into several large circles opposite the future CCT Tower.

Ursulus was waiting for him there, along with his own driver and a small team of older Huntsmen, who merely gave Lionheart a nod of acknowledgement and a knowing smile before they stalked off to the south, past the walls of the campus.

"Leo! Couldn't stay away, eh?"

The lion faunus grinned, tail swishing with pleased excitement. "Can you blame me? This is the dream of a lifetime."

"You're telling me? This is going to be my legacy, Leo. I've got another decade in me. Maybe. And then I'll have to hand the reins over to someone younger. I intend to see this school operational and you sitting pretty behind a huge darkwood desk before I bow out."

Lionheart laughed. "That's ambitious. And doable."

"If the money doesn't run out."

"We're working on that, Urs. You just keep things quietly working here, and we'll do what we have to, to keep the funds coming."

"That's good to hear. Would you like the ground tour?"

"I'd love it."

Over the next hour, Ursulus walked him through the entire jobsite. "The stockade walls we have now are good enough during construction. You saw the semi-retired Huntsmen we have serving as site security, and frankly, the area on this side of the cliffs was already kept relatively Grimm-free with our normal patrols. They know to keep their mouths shut." Leonardo nodded. "But the layout is arranged with Chimera Tower anchoring the sea-side, and the bullhead docks on the interior side of the campus." He gestured toward the center. "The campus is set up in a series of concentric rings, with the classrooms and facilities making up the outermost ring, then teacher and administrative offices, and with student housing set up as a four-wing building in the center for maximum protection. That will set up choke points in the event the campus is ever threatened."

"Grimm?"

"Or anything else. Grimm aren't the only danger that faunus face, Leo." The Headmaster grimaced, but nodded. "Once we make the transition to a full Academy, we'll concentrate the younger students in one wing of the dorms, completely separated internally from the Academy students. But they'll have access to the same level of training facilities."

"That's… similar to how Atlas Academy is organized." Lionheart stroked his beard. "You're not worried about bullying or accidents with having such young students interacting with near-adult ones? I've heard that can be a sporadic issue in Atlas, though James claims it is, in his words, 'a nominal problem.'"

"They'll have their own dining hall too. We're still working out the details. We've got years to plan that part out. But I'd be interested in any insights you can get from Ironwood on that." His face soured. "Not that I'd want to copy Atlas for a latrine design, much less a Huntsman Academy."

Lionheart grunted. "Fair."

Walking back toward the nominal entrance to the site, Ursulus waved toward the pylons. "The tram is for cargo and supplies now, but eventually it'll be for passenger travel as well, so we won't have to upgrade the walls between the city and the campus. We talked about a tunnel instead, but it was just too blasted expensive. The hardest part will be preventing the city from expanding this way over the years and encroaching on the campus. We want to leave a buffer. "

"Speaking of expense, how is the cash flow to your end, so far?"

Ursulus was quiet for a minute, eyes distant. "Well… it's slower than I would like. Everything's costing more than I'd imagined. Part of it's because early on, as soon as someone got wind that it was Menagerie buying the equipment or materials, the price went up. We learned early on to hire some third-party agents to hide that fact… let's just say that even with the extra commissions we pay them, we're coming out way ahead now."

"Can't say I'm surprised, thought it's still a shame."

"That's putting it lightly. It's… prejudice and predatory business practices combined into some unholy alliance. At my age, I shouldn't have been surprised." He shook his head. "But that's not the only reason things are going slow. Come here. Have a look at these foundations."

Turning his back, he led Lionheart over to one of the poured concrete slabs, and unlocked a box nearby, pulling out a set of plans. He unrolled them on the foundation, and anchored the corners with chunks of debris. "Have a look at this. What do you notice?"

Lionheart scanned the drawings. As a bit of a renaissance faunus, he prided himself on being more than just a fighter, but dabbling in multiple fields. He realized the oddity within a few minutes. "The foundations are… overbuilt."

"Yep. Three times the thickness you'd need for the height of the buildings on these plans."

A slow smile crept over his features. "But not for the final heights?"

"Exactly." The old chieftain waved his arm expansively across the site. "Every building. Every damn building on this campus..." He let the words hang in the air. "… is designed to allow us to vertically quadruple the capacity shown in these plans without compromising the structural integrity and while under construction, to bare impacting the usability of the lower floors. Everything from the foundations, to the lower walls, to the utilities are overengineered. We even have a set of supply closets in many of the buildings that just happen to be the perfect size and alignment to be gutted for a future elevator shaft. My lead engineer nearly went bald, he claims, from yanking out his hair over the requirements we insisted on." He grinned. "But it works. At least on paper. And it'll work in reality too, or I'll drop that son of a bitch off the cliff myself." He laughed, and Lionheart couldn't help but join in.

"Any concerns about leaks?"

"Nah. So far, we've sold it to most of Menagerie that we're building a real CCT Relay, combined with a defensive outpost for protection and monitoring, housing for staff and security, and training facilities to protect the staff. As hungry as most of our citizens are for bandwidth after drinking data through a coffee stirrer for decades, they're inclined to accept that explanation gladly. After I hear back from your end, we'll let it slip that we're upgrading it to a full-fledge Combat School, to improve Menagerie's ability to supply candidates to the Academies." His grin turned feral. "We just won't be disclosing which Academy."

"Talon Academy."

Ursulus grin faded a little. "About that name…"

"Headmaster! To what do we owe the pleasure?" Garek smiled as he answered his scroll. He'd just finished his third round of marksmanship training that day outside Springhill, under the watchful eye of Reggie Cass, who had declared his aim to be 'improving' and 'no longer a blind man throwing rocks at the ocean'.

He'd call that a win. He was just preparing to head back to Argus and a normal evening routine with Selene and Cinder of catching up with what everyone had done with their day over dinner, and then homework for Cinder and cuddle-time for Garek and Selene.

A man could get used to that.

But this was important too. Lionheart didn't call him every day.

"Just thought I'd consult with you on a few things, young Garek. How do you fare?" Lionheart's deep voice boomed through the scroll speakers. The man was seated in a nondescript guest bedroom or hotel room by the looks of it.

"Doing well, Leo. Things are looking promising." Except for my aim. That's more of a wish than a promise at this point.

"Oh? Anything I should know about?"

Garek considered what and how much to reveal. If Selene was right, there was one bit of news that would be spreading shortly through the Academy staffs like wildfire. Might as well let Leo in on it. "Actually yeah. First, I want to thank you for pointing us in the direction of Raven Branwen. We were able to connect with her. I'm going to ask for your discretion, and you'll have to pretend to be surprised, but news should be spreading soon regardless." He took a deep breath. "With our mole, we were able to learn that a Huntress named Summer Rose was still alive, and held captive." He saw Lionheart's jaw drop in shock, and carried on. "I assume that the name's familiar."

"Familiar?! That's putting it mildly, Garek. Summer Rose was one of Ozpin's most powerful and trusted Huntresses before she disappeared three years ago. Not to mention the fact that she bore Silver Eyes." He leaned forward. "I assume her captivity is by Her forces? Is there anything w—you can do to rescue her?" Lionheart had only met Summer Rose a handful of times over the years, but Ozpin had spoken of her criticality as a weapon against Salem, of her silver eyes, many times.

Just because he was angry at Ozpin, didn't mean he wished others ill. He was no ally of Salem!

Garek didn't miss the momentary lapse. The idea that Lionheart was reflexively willing to assist in Summers's rescue, and then quickly backtracked, was both a good and bad sign. "Already accomplished, Leo. With Raven's help, we were able to disable whatever had been hiding Summer from Raven's Semblance, and recover her safely."

The look of disbelief that spread over the Headmaster's features made Garek smile. "Garek… I… by the gods, that is incredible news!" He shook his head in wonder. "I see that when you said you were willing to risk yourself to save people, you were not merely speaking of young Cinder and your old Headmaster." He smiled kindly. "I am proud to have had a hand in your training, young Garek. You have become an admirable Huntsman."

Despite himself, the praise made his chest feel suddenly tight. "Thank you, Leo."

"So, she is… in hiding? You don't have to tell me details."

"Actually no. She's back with her family in Patch. We've managed to work out a deal, through indirect contacts, that Salem will leave her be if she agrees not to work with Ozpin."

That drew another expression of shock from Lionheart, which slowly morphed to satisfaction. "So. The same deal you made me, eh? Oh… Ozpin will be in for an unpleasant surprise." His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Garek… I'm afraid to look a gift horse in the mouth… but what exactly is this leverage you have that is enabling you to do all of this?"

Garek had known this moment would come, once Lionheart had fully come to terms with his newfound safety. The man wasn't stupid. He sighed. "Ah, Leo, I can't give you details, for obvious reasons. But let's just say that we learned that there are things that Salem cares about besides destroying human and faunus civilization or making Ozpin's life a living hell, and we're using that knowledge as carefully as we can."

Lionheart felt his blood run cold. That sounded horrifically dangerous. "You're… threatening Salem with blackmail?!"

Garek managed to not blurt out his thoughts of Do I look dead and stupid to you, Leo?! And instead went with, "the opposite, actually. If anything, I'd say we're distracting her with something that, at least for the time being, she wants more, while we try to figure out a longer-term answer. Leo, I promise you that what we're doing isn't working with Salem's goals of mass destruction and devastation, and we aren't working with Ozpin either." He grimaced at the sharp, suspicious look that was again slowly spreading across Lionheart's face. They'd known that Lionheart wouldn't be satisfied with being kept in the dark forever. His negative experience with Ozpin's secret-keeping had made him a much more cynical and wary man.

Kinda like me after Toller died. The thought that he and Lionheart had that in common was a shock. Huh. Garek's voice softened. "Leo, after Toller died and my team abandoned me, it took me a long time to find people I could trust again."

Lionheart's head tilted. "Go on…"

"I'm saying that I understand if you have doubts or second thoughts about me. I said when we made the original offer that we weren't going to ask you to stick your neck out without knowing the whole picture, and that still stands. We don't want the Relic. We don't want inside information from you. And we aren't asking you to go toe-to-toe with Salem's goons. Nothing you're doing right now puts you at risk with either Salem or Ozpin, and if it looks like that's going to change, we'll give you a heads-up well beforehand so you can decide whether you're in or out. Your decision."

Lionheart leaned back and considered his former student. "Very well spoken, Garek. And… despite my more cynical demons, I believe you." He shook his head. "I can't tell you how… freeing the last four months have been." A wistful smile spread on the lion faunus' face. "It's been like old times, Garek, when I was much younger and more sure of my path. Doing good work. Not looking over my shoulder. I'm even enjoying political maneuvering for the first time in years." He laughed. It was a deep, booming sound. "I feel ten years younger."

"Now that's the Headmaster I remember."

"Indeed, Garek. Indeed." He tapped on the table in front of him. "In fact, that's the reason I called you."

"Oh?"

"I confess that I may have been… perhaps more aggressive in my activities than you had intended?" Brown eyes crinkled, and his tail swished into camera range. "Would you like to guess where I'm calling you from?"

Garek knew he could send a quick message to Sophia and get the answer, but Lionheart clearly wanted to tell him. "No idea. Not Haven or Mistral City, I'm guessing." Lionheart smiled and tilted the scroll showing the view out the window of the room. The rooftops of Kuo Kuana, framed by tropical trees and with the ocean in the far background, swam into focus. "Huh. Getting hands-on?"

"I admit, once I sank my teeth into the project, well it was just so blasted fun. Chieftain Ursulus is a joy to work with, and very efficient. That man gets things done." He caught his tail and absently messed with the furry end of it. "He and I have had some discussions I'd like to run by you."

Huh… so Lionheart and Ursulus are running ahead of me.

That was a little scary, but also reassuring. Garek didn't want to have to manage everything. Because when you thought about it, who the hell was he to be deciding how to set up and fund a Combat School in Menagerie. Sure, it was his idea, and his shadowy cabal had provided the initial funding and gotten Lionheart and Ursulus on board… but Lionheart was the Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy, and Perine Ursulus was the Chieftain of Menagerie. They were infinitely more qualified to run the actual project than he was.

"You're the boss, Leo. Hit me."

"Well, first off, we'd like to propose a name change."

What?! He loved Talon as the Academy name.

"Heh… I can tell from your expression you were already wedded to Talon. But hear me out." Lionheart said. "You've already set the expectation that one of the selling points of this Academy will be that it is the first one focused on water and sea-based Grimm combat. That's innovative and needed, and we both applaud you for that foresight." Garek knew he was being buttered up, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good. "But let me ask you a question. Was it your intention to attract and teach only faunus?"

"What? No! That would be…"

"Problematic to say the least. Yes. And further, it would enrage the elites of Atlas and to a lesser extent Mistral. And I can tell you that a name that focuses primarily on faunus traits would be sure to accomplish exactly that. Regardless of your intentions, calling it Talon Academy would feed into the bigotry we are attempting to fight. Ursulus and I are in agreement on this."

Huh. Well shit. "Alright. That's… a fair point, and you'd know better than me. So, what's the proposal?"

"Ursulus and I believe that based on its focus, we should call the Combat School Cove, and the Academy would become Breakwater Academy, in keeping with the theme we've already agreed upon. We're not set on those specific names, mind you. We considered Lagoon, Reef, Tide, and other names as well. So, if you have another preference, we're open to that. But…" he gave a thin smile. " I hope you will accept that as the likely future Headmaster and Chieftain of the host country, we should have final say."

Damn. Lionheart showing his spine. Well… I asked for this, didn't I? Garek sighed. Alas, poor Talon Academy, I hardly knew ye. "Alright. I'll defer to you two on this. Any issues if I quiz a few people on the name choices?"

"None. Please do. Discretely of course, though I needn't tell you that."

"Heh. Yeah."

"And that is but the first item on my agenda. Ursulus has done an exceptional job of laying the foundations, in every sense of the word, for a Combat School that can be converted seamlessly into a much larger facility several years down the road. What is your expectation of timeframe for opening the Combat School and getting Chimera Tower operational? Are there any… outside driving forces that make this time-sensitive?"

Garek shook his head. "Not that we're aware of. What intelligence we've gathered so far says we've got years to prepare. That could change."

Again, that suspicious look. Their information was just… too good. Garek had to remind himself to tone down discussing what they knew and suspected around people like Lionheart. Then the man shrugged and his face smoothed.

"In that case, based on what Ursulus has told me, we should expect external Combat School construction to be completed by the end of the year, though that might be limited by funding. And of course, the internal facilities will depend on my success and your ability to supply CCT hardware." His eyes bore into Garek's. "Are you confident you will have the ability to acquire the needed technology? Atlas guards its monopoly jealously."

"We've got reason to hope. And really most of it will be second or third generation components that were swapped out of existing towers."

"You're not fooling me, Garek. You and I both know that it's not so simple as that. Atlas doesn't just toss obsoleted components in the nearest dumpster. They take pains to ensure such items are destructively disposed of."

Again. That sharp intellect. "Got me. I was oversimplifying. Again, I can tell you that we're spending some serious money to compromise that process." Bribery. "It's not as difficult as trying to get new gear. People get complacent."

"Indeed they do." Lionheart coughed. "Which discussion of funds and timing leads to my final item to discuss with you. I haven't been idle regarding fundraising. Since this is the year of the 35th Vytal Festival, of which some activities are already in full swing, and with the corresponding Tournament to be hosted in Haven in November, progress has been easier than it might otherwise have been. I've managed to get initial support in the Mistral Council for upgraded training facilities and housing at Haven."

Garek's eyes widened. "That's incredible! I can't wait to tell Selene!"

Lionheart smiled, but also held up his hands. "That said, some of it is earmarked as an advance of funds, but only on my personal promise that these will be matching funds based on any private donations that I am able to raise." He rubbed his beard. "I needn't tell you that I had to expend significant personal capital in order to achieve this. I'm going to be burning some bridges when all of this is said and done, Garek."

He hadn't considered that. "Is that going to be a problem, Leo?"

The faunus laughed. "Not in the least. Mistral's Council is a den of snakes, young man. I'm looking forward to some of their faces when I announce my semi-retirement to Menagerie… which then turns into a lateral promotion to Headmaster of the future Breakwater Academy." His grin was fierce. "Ozpin and whoever he appoints to replace me in Haven will have their hands full doing damage control. I can't tell you how much joy that brings me."

Man, he's really looking to dig that proverbial knife in, Garek mused. Remind me not to piss him off.

"My next move would be to hold a fundraising gala, and I had thought that Argus might be a better choice than Mistral City for that. The wealthier families in Argus tend to be a bit more forward-thinking and aggressive about their status among the Huntsman and Tournament circuits, and the presence of Sanctum Combat School there also provides some added motivation to upgrade facilities at its next-level sister Academy."

Garek brightened at that. "Oh, that would be great! Selene and I would love the chance to visit with you again, too."

"The feeling is mutual. I'd like to see young Cinder again as well. But I'm afraid it won't be all enjoyment. I believe you mentioned that you had some connections… with the Nikos family…"

Crap.

Selene, I hate you.

[A/N] Special thanks to my recent reviewers DragonL0RD and AtomicR4Y. So glad you enjoyed the fluff chapter!

This one is a little shorter chapter, as was staring at the 3/4 finished original scope and realized how large it was going to end up. I hope you enjoyed another look at what's going on at Menagerie, and a bit more PoV from Lionheart.

I am having a lot of fun making him more than the flat, two-dimensional coward that we saw in Volume 5. And with how I've designed Menagerie's Chieftain Perine Ursulus (who predates Ghira Belladonna) it really feels like the two of them would hit it off well. And the name change of the Academy as a plot point actually is because I started questioning the name myself, and decided to write it into the plot. If anyone has better names than "Cove Combat School" and "Breakwater Academy" I'm open to suggestions via review or PM. :-) And if the readers have forgotten, Garek certainly hasn't. The "connection" to the Nikos family is Selene's friendship with Helena. But that connection leads to... Alexander Nikos, who Garek (and the reader) probably finds to be an arrogant ass. Hence his muttering at the end of this chapter.

As both Garek and the author have surmised, Lionheart was both the keystone of The Lone Huntsmen gaining some real influence, but he's also the largest liability in many ways specifically because he's been a major player in Mistralian politics, Haven Academy, and Ozpin's inner circle.

Next chapter will follow up on this one and then we'll bounce back over to Branwen Tribe and Vale And then I'll later be posting the Nikos family and Argus fundraiser, with some special appearances by the young versions of a few of our core Volume 1 canon characters!