On that same day, Oscar woke up, turning his head to look out the window. The sun was just starting to rise, and the light hit his eyes, threatening to blind him.
Time to get started on those chores... Oscar looked at the ground from his window to avoid the sun's glare. Sometimes I wish things would change.
You know they can, and hopefully will change soon, right? Ozpin asked.
The farmboy looked disappointed. "Really? Again?"
You're saying that as if you expect my presence going away to change, which unfortunately, will not be changing any time soon.
Groaning as he got out of bed, he begrudgingly got up and tried to get ready to face the day.
We need to...
Drowning out Ozpin's voice with his own humming, the farmhand put on his orange gloves and climbed down the ladder. Upon reaching the lower level, he retrieved a pen and clipboard sitting on a bale of hay. He looked over the list and checked a few boxes before looking at the last thing on the list with a sigh. Setting the clipboard and pen down, he went off screen.
Sometime later, he was shown hoeing an empty field. A very large field, about the size of two tennis courts put together.
Oscar. Oscarrrr... You know we can't stay.
"Leave me alone!" Oscar screamed.
He sighed to empty air.
Get a grip, Oscar. Get a grip. he thought.
Moving along, he squinted as the morning sun hit his eye. Squinting his left eye in pain, he tried to move along, only to fall over into the dirt. He sighed.
Maybe it's time for a break.
On a large hay-bail, Oscar was sitting down, a tall glass of water in hand. He gulped the water down before setting the empty glass next to him.
Well, I'm certainly better. Hopefully I won't hallucinate any further than I already have.
Oscar. We need to get going.
The farmboy sighed. Spoke too soon...
Later that morning, Oscar was shown checking on the grain in a storage room on the farm.
"Temperature levels are normal." Oscar noted. "Well, on the bright side, the weather's getting warmer. That's something good."
But the state of the world isn't getting any better.
"You again?"
You say that like it's a bad thing.
"I haven't even been working that hard. How can I be hallucinating already?"
You're not.
Can you please just leave me alone? Oscar talked back mentally.
I wish I could, but you know why I can't do that. We have a world to save.
Oscar tried his best to ignore Ozpin...
You know it. I know it. And I know you know.
The farmboy groaned. I'm just trying to live my life... But there's this demon, or more accurately, voice inside my head.
"This is going to be a long day." Oscar spoke aloud to no one. "I can already sense it..."
All the while, Ash Nikos was shown in the streets of Argus. He walked through the streets of Argus to the Argus Military Base. Once he found himself at the entrance, he looked around to find a doorbell. He did not see one immediately in sight, and there was no mailbox to drop off the letters. To his left he found a small grid box. He noticed two major buttons, one blue and one orange. Underneath each button were instructions in small print;
For speaking to Caroline Cordovin directly (must have request approved)
For messengers
The messenger pressed the orange button and heard a buzz sound.
I guess I'll wait now... Ash thought.
Within ten seconds he heard the doors from the inside open and heard two guards make their way to the gate.
"Who goes there? State your name and business." the Nubuck guards ordered in unison.
"Ash Nikos, and I have a letter. For Mrs.. Caroline Cordovin?"
"I see. Hand it over." the first one instructed.
"We will handle it from here." the second one said.
Ash Nikos handed the letter to the second guard as the first one looked at him suspiciously.
"Wait a minute... You're the boy who ran out of the supermarket that one time!"
He held his hands up in surrender. "Eh... guilty as charged."
The first guard glared at him. "What was that all about? Were you stealing something?"
"What? No! I... was scared, and stressed out." Ash sighed. "I had just learned that Athena Bruna had escaped from prison and that said prison was destroyed. Most of the city is currently in chaos. I...I feared that all my efforts to save Sanctum Academy were all for nothing. And apparently, I have been 'living under a rock', as you might say."
"With the current state of the world, I'm pretty sure everyone is living under a rock." the second guard told him.
"So what are you going to do? Will you run away and save yourself, or try to help us no matter the cost?" the first guard asked.
"I've been thinking about that for a while." Ash began. "It's clear to me that nothing is going to get better without intervention. To the best of my knowledge, Caroline is still finishing her recovery, and the police force is spread thinly throughout the city. Not to mention, huntsmen and huntresses are falling in battle left and right. I'll stay here and help out for as long as you need me to, even if it means giving up the chance to find my older sister."
The first one raised an eyebrow at him. "Your sister?"
"You might know her, albeit I fear you might hate her for something she did not do. Much of the world wrongly believes she murdered someone, but she never meant to do any harm."
"Her name?" they asked.
He hesitated for a moment. "Her name... is Pyrrha Nikos."
They exclaimed, "You're related to Pyrrha Nikos?!"
"I am. I know Atlas doesn't like her, and because of it, you guys probably don't like her either."
"Cordovin hates her..." the first began.
"But we don't."
"We have to hide our admiration..."
"...because our boss hates her guts." the second finished.
"But what could we do? How could we ever tell the boss the truth?" the guards spoke in unison.
"I would advise you two to think on the matter." Ash advised them. "In the meantime, I have a city to save."
"Thank you!" the first said.
"Have a good day!" the second one exclaimed.
The guards left the gate as Ash Nikos walked away from the base.
Well, I've made my decision. Saphron and Terra are letting me stay with them as long as needed. They are too kind to me. Too pure...
A familiar face passed in his vision.
Pyrrha... He silently shed a tear. His sister was alive, but he could no longer search for her. May the stars keep you safe and guide you back to me.
All the while, Oscar was still on the farm. The afternoon sun baked him, even with natural sunscreen and a farmer's hat to shade him. With a medium basket beside him, he was kneeling down in the dirt. In his hands, he pulled up some radishes. He checked them for dirt and to make sure there weren't any creatures or pests. Satisfied that they were relatively clean and pest-free, he lifted his arms and dropped them in the basket.
He hummed a soft tune to himself as he continued working.
At least the radish crop is doing well this year. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to purchase back that horse buggy. Albeit getting a horse to actually take us to and from the nearest town would be another matter entirely.
Once he filled up the container with radishes, he put the lid on it and placed it in the lower level of the main barn. Fast-forward an hour or two later, and there were two more bins equally filled with radishes.
Alright, radishes are done. Now, what's next?
What's next is that we leave for Mistral. Ozpin answered.
Fed up, Oscar screamed, "I thought I told you to leave me alone!"
"Oscar?" a feminine voice asked, causing Oscar to turn around. "Who are you talking to?"
Alyssa Pine appeared before her nephew. She was a woman with long brown hair, tanned skin and green eyes. She wore a simple forest green Amish-style dress that reached to her ankles. She also wore a white apron. Black slip-on shoes were faintly seen below the dress.
"It was an intruder. Don't worry, they're gone now."
"Well if you see them again, call the police." Alyssa instructed.
"I'm not even sure that would be effective. If my memory isn't failing me, the nearest town is an hour away. And that's by horse-buggy, which we don't have. It would take days to reach on foot."
There's a reason you had me remove my tonsils and my appendix shortly after I arrived here. Oscar thought.
His aunt sighed. "You remember why I made that decision, right Oscar?"
"Yes, yes, I know. To pay for food because last year we had a bad harvest."
"Thankfully, our luck seems to be improving this year."
"Yeah..." Oscar looked away slightly.
Your luck improves as mine worsens. But... I can't really be suffering from mental illness. Can I?
"How's the harvest going?"
"I have just gathered three entire baskets of radishes."
"Good work, Oscar. However, there is still much to do. Those turnips and spinach leaves won't harvest themselves!"
Oscar responded back, "I'll be right there as soon as I get the necessary tools."
He went into a green storage shed to find a wooden basket for placing harvested goods. There were baskets of various shapes and sizes inside, some of them stacked on top of each other.
And those are only two of the other kinds of crops we grow. Oscar thought to himself. Even with both of us working in the field, it still feels like there's never enough help here. No wonder Alyssa is so desperate to find a husband.
Eventually, he found a basket and lid he liked, grabbed a pair of gardening scissors and went to the fields. In front of him were spinach plants. To the far left was the semi-cleared radish field and to the far right, turnips far ahead of him waiting to be harvested.
He knelt down and started cutting at the leaves of the plant, placing them in the basket.
Well, look on the bright side. It could be worse...
But who was he really convincing?
Meanwhile, Ilia was shown within the elevator of Athena's hotel/fortress. As the elevator went up, her thoughts raced.
Blake told me to come here... to the library. But what if she's lying? What if it's a trap? What if there's nothing there? On the other hand... Could I get answers to the questions I didn't ask earlier?
A ding was heard as she reached the twenty-fifth floor. The doors opened and she exited. She felt her heart pound. The night sky was reflected in the glass windows. She stepped forward at a nervous pace.
Well, here's hoping that the words of a liar don't lead me to my death.
The chameleon faunus nervously opened the door and saw the library. The glass frames that once protected the books were gone, and so were the books themselves. A number of boxes were on the ground, some stacked on top of each other. She knelt down and looked at the top box on a stack of three. She opened the first book and found a number of books stacked neatly on top of each other, with Bound by Destiny and Ninjas of Love side by side.
Aside from the empty bookshelves, there was no furniture within the room.
She knelt onto the ground and saw massive red stains on the cream colored carpet.
There's... blood?
Leaning her head down, she couched her face down and smelled the carpet. She gagged in disgust.
Yep, that's definitely blood. Dried up blood that has little to no chance of being cleaned up by this point. When did this happen? Did this happen on the day Sienna was killed? No, that's impossible. She was killed by a human huntsman on the rooftop. Is it possible someone was injured before the fight? But that wouldn't cause this much blood to be spilled.
The door opened, and a voice was heard asking, "Sister Ilia?" She looked up in surprise; It was Ares. "What are you doing here?"
She stammered. "I... I wanted to find a book to read. To stimulate my mind. But then I saw the damage done to the library... What happened here?"
Ares remained calm. "I know it looks disconcerting, but it's not what you fear it may be. On the day of Sienna's demise, Athena was in this room reading a book as she waited for the opposition to confront her. Unfortunately, shortly after Adam and Sienna arrived, she started suffering major pain and soon started her menstrual period." he lied with a straight face. "As a woman, I'm sure you are familiar with the pains of menstruation."
"I am." Ilia responded.
Albeit I haven't had a period in six weeks. Ilia thought. I know I'm not pregnant, but it is still disconcerting.
"She tried to take refuge behind a silver couch, but Adam destroyed it and other furniture pieces, thus forcing her to make a hasty retreat." Ares continued. "She threw a smoke bomb and made a dash to the nearest restroom. She cleaned up, inserted a tampon she found in the supply bin, popped an ibuprofen, and got right back into combat, luring her foes to the rooftop. And I believe you know the rest of the story from there."
"I presume that her period is over by now?"
The ram horned faunus nodded. "It is. In the aftermath of the fight, Athena realized that the library was poorly placed and decided to move it to a separate room. We haven't decided what will go here yet, but some of the ideas we have discussed include a weapons storage unit, an exercise room, or perhaps a training dojo. As for the new library, it is being moved to a newer and bigger room off to the side of the main hallway."
Ilia looked around the room. "I see. I'm guessing this library-renovation process isn't finished yet."
Ares nodded. "Unfortunately, it is not. But, you did say that you wanted a book to read. If there is something you're looking for, I'd be happy to help."
"Do you have any lesbian romance novels?" Ilia requested.
"Lesbian romance? That's... oddly specific. I don't know if Athena has any of those kinds of books, but I can check." Ares answered. "Oh, and while we're here, how is the search for Blake going?"
Ilia stayed silent and sorrowful, thinking about Blake and their conversation on the balcony. Eventually, she gave her answer. "I searched every hotel in the Lower Highlands." Ilia bowed her head in sorrow. "And I could not find her."
"Hmm... This is disconcerting. The one person who could tear apart the White Fang and her allies are still at large." Ares turned away, looking at the front entrance. "She must be smarter than I previously thought her to be. It could be possible that she's hiding out in abandoned warehouses and/or staying mobile to prevent detection." He sighed. "High Leader Taurus will not be happy about this."
Ilia did not show her guilty face to her superior. She was a liar, and she knew it. But Ares was also a liar, and he knew it. The former lifted her head up and put on a poker face.
"Still, perhaps we can continue the search another day. In the meantime, I would advise you to get back to Adam's fortress and get some rest."
"Thank you, Brother Ares."
With this, Ilia left the way she came. She was shown in the elevator as she went back down.
It seemed that Ares was telling the truth. Maybe Blake was wrong. Or whatever it was she wanted me to find is now gone. But I still don't have answers to the questions I currently have. It's a web of confusion and I'm caught in the middle. Who's the liar? Who's the honest one? She yawned. Maybe I just need some rest. It's been a very long day...
Earlier that day, the sun was setting over Pine Farms. Up in his attic bedroom, Oscar was lying on his bed, placing a cold, damp cloth to his forehead.
Am I losing it? the farmboy thought to himself. Have I already lost it? Is it possible that...?
Alyssa was heard yelling from afar, disrupting Oscar's thoughts. "Oscar, supper's almost ready!"
Curious, Oscar asked, "What're we having?"
"Doesn't matter! You're eating it!" Alyssa told him.
Oscar joked, "I never agreed to these terms!"
"It's part of the 'living under my roof' contract! Read the fine print, then come wash up!"
Oscar closed his book and stood up. He went toward the door when a voice resounded, causing him to pause. Ozpin spoke to Oscar within his head. We have to leave. The boy chose to ignore him, staring at the wall. Oscar?
I've decided you're not real, so you might as well give up.
I understand how you're feeling. Ozpin told him. I went through the same panic and confusion.
"No, no, no, I'm losing it. I must be losing my mind." Oscar reasoned.
I can assure you, you are perfectly sane.
The orphan boy folded his arms. "I'm talking to a voice in my head."
I didn't say you were normal. I said you were sane.
"I'm done listening to you." Oscar said. "You're not real, I'm no spiritual successor, and you can't convince me otherwise."
How much do you know about Vale, the place I came from?
"Not much, and what does it have to do with?..." Oscar began.
Describe what the Headmaster's office at Beacon looked like before the invasion.
"It's... it's a space about two times the size of my room. It's mostly green, with a large desk with large cogs within the ceiling and large windows for part of the walls." Oscar blinked. "Wait... How did I know that?"
Because I helped build that school in another lifetime.
"Another lifetime? But that would have been years before either of us were born."
Look, I know you're scared, and you're trying to rationalize the situation, but the longer you deny your new responsibility, the more the world will suffer her wrath. You know who I'm talking about. Our next best move is to go to Haven Academy in Mistral's capital. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one to stop her. Also, I know you don't want to be a farmhand for the rest of your life.
Oscar widened his eyes and put his hands on his head again, trying to get a grip on reality. "So you just decided to read my thoughts?"
Well... They're our thoughts, now. Ozpin answered.
The farmhand groaned. "Get out of my head!" He shook his head. "Stop it, Oscar! Stop hearing things that aren't there!"
He breathed in silently, expecting to hear more, but there was nothing there.
Have I truly lost my mind? Oscar thought dreadfully.
"Oscar! Supper time!" Alyssa called out. "Those hands better be clean!"
The farm boy sighed. "Coming!"
At least now I should be able to distract myself from the madness that has consumed me. It's been a long day. And a long week... At least dinner's ready. He sighed as he descended the ladder. What is for dinner anyway? Aunt Alyssa won't tell me... I hope it's mushroom risotto. That's always a good comfort food for bad days.