Chapter 24: Down Below
"Lien for your thoughts?" Ozpin asked, lightly tapping his cane on the ground. "You've got the look that I've seen many times throughout my life. The look of someone torn between doing something great or terrible."
Ironwood sighed while leaning his elbow on his desk, slumping forward. "Is it that obvious?"
"It's not your appearance, but how you appear to be coping with the current situation," Ozpin replied. "The difference between doing something great and something terrible is often in the execution. I do believe that I can be of some assistance here. Tell me James, what is it that weighs on your mind?"
"The stakes have heightened," Ironwood sighed. "By fending off an attack on a forced broadcast and slaying an Ancient Grimm in such a public manner, Coal Calavera is now revered as a hero. The public look up to him as a beacon of hope, but that only makes him more of a target for Salem."
"By killing him, Salem demoralizes the Kingdoms, leading to an influx of Grimm," Ozpin nodded in understanding. "That is, however, if she can both get one of her agents close enough to mister Calavera and also take him off guard."
"There is also the matter of his Semblance," Ironwood continued. "One capable of increasing the rate at which his Aura regenerates, bolstering his physical abilities and also making his Aura toxic to Grimm. The only Semblance that I know of which is just as versatile is the Schnee family Semblance... one of the few hereditary Semblances on Remnant."
"There is more to it than just that," Ozpin hummed, before wincing when his scroll began to vibrate.
"I am aware," Ironwood replied. "Were you expecting a call?"
"Not so much expecting as I was dreading," Ozpin replied, opening his Scroll. "It has been over ten years since I have been away from Beacon for this long. No doubt my absence is being felt."
"I... see," Ironwood said. "How much longer do you think you will be able to stay in Atlas?"
"Depending on how this call goes... a few days to another week," Ozpin mused. Pausing for a brief moment, he accepted the call. "Hello Glynda, how goes things there?"
...Breathe...
The streets of Mantle were pretty grimy from a near constant rain and humidity. It wasn't cold however, the heating grid that was spread throughout the city saw to that.
For what felt like the twentieth time today, I made sure that my cloak was on properly and the hood was up when I spotted one of the local residents openly stop to stare at our little group consisting of Maria and the guide that Ironwood had assigned us to ensure we didn't get lost, Winter Schnee.
"You know, people wouldn't stare at us as much if you were dressed a little more casual," Maria commented.
"You have already said as much," Winter replied stiffly. "There is nothing I can do about my current attire as it stands. Complaining about it again will serve no purpose."
"I'm just saying, Coal and I are dressed to be low profile so people don't crowd around him," Maria hummed with a small smirk on her face.
Maria wasn't exactly wrong. The looks we were getting wasn't due to Maria or myself, but instead they were caused by Winter's sudden appearance in an area that didn't... match her current position in Atlas. She looked entirely out of place which, while not a bad thing for a Huntress, wasn't helping us blend in.
Walking down several more streets, we finally arrived at our destination. A small, familiar looking shop. Upon entry, I caught sight of the owner sitting in a mechanical chair... an older man with a darker complexion and white hair.
"Winter Schnee," The man hummed. "What can I help you with today?"
"I'm here to retrieve a weapon that was sent here to you for examination and repairs," Winter explained, holding her Scroll out to the man.
"Ah, yes, I see now," the man said, peering at the scroll. "I'll have it brought out right now. What about your two companions... do I know you?"
"Come now Pietro, it hasn't even been 10 years since I last came to see you," Maria smiled, tapping her goggles. "Cybernetic implants. You adjust them every so often."
"Maria, how have you been?" Pietro greeted cheerfully.
"As good as can be. These old things are going to need another tune up soon."
"Well since you're here, I could get to it a little earlier than usual," Pietro said kindly. "And what about you? Are you perhaps another one of my previous customers?"
"I'm not," I replied, pushing my hood back. "I'm just here because I really want my sword back."
"I didn't think I'd be meeting you just yet, mister Calavera."
And I didn't think I would be meeting Penny's father so soon either.
"Coal is fine," I waved him off.
"Ah, in that case you can call me Pietro," Pietro smiled. "Let me just go get your weapon quickly, there are a few things that you'll need to know about it before using it again."
Pietro's chair shifted him towards the back of the room where several shelves sat, before lifting him up. Humming to himself, Pietro began to look through several shelves.
"It seems that I must have left it in the back," He explained while his mechanical chair carried him out of the room. "I'll be right back."
"Take your time," Maria replied. "We're in no rush."
While we waited for Pietro, I decided to take in the room we were currently standing in. While his shop hadn't been overly large like the warehouse back in Argus that manufactured androids, Huntsman supplies and weaponry, it was still impressive.
Several bits of machinery and technology that I didn't recognize were strewn about the shop. From what I knew of Pietro, everything here was likely necessary when building a prosthetic limb.
Hearing an incredibly faint thud, I glanced up towards the now closed door that Pietro had gone through. It had been slightly opened and a single bright green eye was peering through. I gave a quick wave and smile before the door was pushed shut, clicking audibly.
I guess Penny wasn't used to people noticing her.
Winter's hand snapped down, grabbing onto the hilt of her weapon while Maria simply hummed lightly.
"Pietro probably didn't close his door properly."
"Perhaps," Winter said, cautiously removing her hand from her blade.
Several moments later Pietro finally returned to the room, followed by an orange haired girl carrying my sheathed sword and a little box.
"I hope that I didn't keep you waiting too long. I had a little trouble finding your weapon and needed to get my daughter here to help me out," Pietro explained.
"Salutations," the girl greeted. "My name is Penny Polendina, it's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Hah, it seems like I'm not the only one that's picked up a kid," Maria laughed.
"On no, father can't lift me. I'm very heavy," Penny explained.
"That's not... never mind," Maria said, failing to come up with a response.
"Alright," Penny nodded cheerfully.
"Penny, why don't you give Coal over there his weapons back while I examine Maria's optical implants," Pietro suggested, gesturing for Maria to sit on one of the chairs he had set up in the side of his shop for customers.
"Will do, father," Penny smiled. Walking up to me, Penny handed me my sword. "Here you go, I hope you like it, father worked hard on repairing and improving your scythe sheath."
"Thank you," I nodded. Unsheathing my sword in one smooth movement, I examined the blade carefully. "You didn't modify my Katana, did you?"
"No," Pietro answered while examining Maria's goggles. "There was nothing wrong with the blade itself and I could see that it lacked any mechashift capabilities, so I decided against modifying it. I know how Huntsmen can be if too many changes are made to their weapons."
That was good news. The Nichirin blade worked in tandem with breathing techniques. If Pietro had attempted to modify it using other metals, it's possible that it would lose its special properties that helped burn Grimm.
It was good to have my sword back. I was tempted to tightly grip the hilt and turn it bright red right now, but decided against that. It would still be another day before my Aura properly recovered. Showing that I still had access to some abilities without Aura would bring some uncomfortable questions that I wasn't ready to answer.
"If you take a look at your scythe, you'll see that I've managed to make a few small alterations that I think you'll like," Pietro announced distractedly.
Shifting my sheath to its scythe form, I couldn't see any differences from how it looked before.
"I saw from the original schematics that you used fire dust in order to heat your sword, making it glow red hot, but there was no option for your scythe," Pietro explained. "Now, however, you'll be able to infuse your scythe with dust... I've also taken the liberty of modifying it to accept hard light dust which will extend the reach of your blade."
That sounded handy. I barely used my scythe as is, but now with all the features that Pietro added, I was going to have to use it a little more.
"Just how broken was my scythe?"
"Most of the mechashift components had been broken or were fused together from intense heat," Pietro explained offhandedly. "And the material that was used to join the two halves of our weapon in its second form was completely melted... the blade itself was still in good condition."
So completely totaled then. Shifting the scythe back into its base form, I sheathed my blade and secured it on my hip. The familiar weight felt comfortable.
"On general Ironwoods request, I also managed to transfer all the data from your Scroll which had also been severely damaged onto a new one. Penny, could you please give Coal his new scroll?"
"Will do," Penny said, holding the box out to me this time.
Taking the box from her, Penny's eyes widened dramatically when I briefly knocked her hand.
"Oh my. Your body temperature is quite high. You appear to have a fever. Do you want me to call a doctor?"
"No thanks, I'm fine," I replied. It was actually quite impressive how Penny was able to realize that my body was running hot with a glancing touch of our hands.
"Are you sure?" Penny asked in concern. "People aren't supposed to have such high temperatures and your heart rate appears to be going too fast for your current level of exertion. You may have a virus or sickness of some kind."
She was certainly able to pick up a lot with minimal contact. It was a pity that she wouldn't be able to benefit from Total Concentration Breathing. Glancing to the side, it seemed that Winter had become interested in the current topic as well.
"It's... well, I suppose you could say that it's an aspect of my Semblance," I explained.
"That's not possible," Penny shook her head. "All Semblances need Aura to work and yours is currently depleted."
So she was even able to see that I wasn't using my Aura. I should have expected that. There were sensors that could detect Aura levels and capacity, Maria herself had something similar installed in her goggles.
"Yeah, I could have worded that better. My current condition is due to the stress I put my body through."
"I see," Penny nodded. "Then shouldn't you be resting until you're fully recovered?"
"I have for the most part," I replied. "It's... complicated."
"Then shouldn't..." Penny began.
"Penny, if you keep pushing, you'll make Coal uncomfortable," Pietro said in a fatherly tone. "He's entitled to his own privacy, much like everyone else."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Penny apologized sincerely.
"It's alright," I waved her off.
I paid attention while Penny explained how my new, more advanced scroll functioned. Trying to follow the more complicated things she was explaining, I focused a little too hard and accidentally found myself staring through her, having accidentally accessed the Transparent World.
Taking a breath, I closed my eyes and forced my vision to return to normal. The inner workings of Penny's body, while mimicking a humans body, was complex and more than a little confusing. I would likely understand it better if I had knowledge of cybernetics.
...Breathe...
"Sometimes you'll never know how bad a thing's gotten until you have it fixed," Maria hummed as we stepped outside of Pietro's shop. "Everything looks so much clearer now."
"That's... nice," I said slowly, securing my hood in the soft drizzle. "How long were you having... issues with your implants?"
"Since the Sanctum excursion," Maria replied, lightly tapping her goggles. "These things might have gotten a little shook up in our fight with that bandit woman."
Right... So instead of tell anyone, Maria just carried on as usual.
"Only you, Maria," I shook my head. "We still have until tomorrow before Pyr..."
"Well, well, well. I never thought I'd see such a high ranking Atlas elite step so much as a foot in this city," A woman's voice sounded from behind us. "Much less a Schnee... and Ironwoods lapdog at that. Tell me Winter, what is it you are doing here?"
Stopping I turned around. Peering from under my hood, I caught sight of a group of four women standing only a few steps behind us. From the moment I saw them, I already knew who they were, the Happy Huntresses of Mantle and their leader, Robyn Hill.
"I am here on official military business," Winter stated stiffly.
"That's not a good enough explanation. As a Huntress, I'm well within my right to ask for further information on so called 'military business,'" Robyn stated loudly, drawing attention from as far as a street away. "What is it that the Atlas military wants with Mantle now?"
"Only to leave," Winter deadpanned.
"And you will be allowed to leave once you tell me what you are doing here," Robyn replied. "You have no reason to refuse, nor do you have any law to hide behind."
"I..." Winter began, but stopped when I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"We were here to retrieve a weapon that had recently been repaired," I explained, before turning around to leave. "Let's get going."
"I don't believe you," Robyn said loudly. "What is Atlas really doing here?"
"And I don't really care. I've told you and we're leaving," I said, taking a step forward, before stopping when a staff was suddenly placed on my shoulder.
"Hold it right there, little boy. Robyn doesn't believe you, so that means we weren't finished talking," the largest woman of the group growled.
"Trust me, you really don't want to do that," Maria said. "He might take it as a challenge."
"Let him try," The woman grunted, pushing down on her staff.
I let out a sigh. It seemed that they just wouldn't let it go. Robyn Hill was a Huntress, that much was true, but I also remember her as a politician who would be running for one of the seats on Atlas' council. It seemed that she'd chosen today to make her debut by figuratively and very publicly sticking it to Ironwood.
"Remove your weapon at once!" Winter demanded, drawing her sword.
"Winter, calm down. They're trying to provoke you to fight... that way they look like the good guys that are just defending themselves," I said, gesturing towards the crowd of civilians that had their Scrolls out, recording the debacle. "While you and Ironwood by proxy will look bad."
Winter took a moment to look around, before sheathing her blade. "Thank you for pointing that out."
"Let's just go already," Maria complained. "Last time I was here there was this great little restaurant and I want to see if it's still around."
"Sounds good to me," I hummed, shrugging the staff off my shoulder while stepping away from the Huntress.
"Hold on! I still haven't said that you can leave yet," Robyn said loudly.
"I've already told you why we're here, if you try and stop us now, you'll be the one breaking the law," I announced, giving a little wave as I made my way down the street with Maria and Winter.
"What are the odds that he's telling the truth," The largest of the Happy Huntresses asked.
"Not great, Joanna," Robyn replied. "The odds of that Schnee coming down here are already low. Her choosing to have lunch here... they're up to something... but still, we'll have to strike first if we want to expose them which can easily be taken out of context and used against us."
"Then I'll go first since I'm known for my short temper. The rest of you can make your move when their attention is focused on me."
I let out a soft hum as I listened in on the conversation. It seemed that I'd underestimated just how far the Happy Huntresses were willing to go in order to land a blow against Ironwood.
"Listen carefully, Winter. That large woman... Joanna is going to attack us and then the rest of them are going to try and ambush us," I explained in a hushed tone. "We need to let them make the first move before retaliating, this has to be handled professionally. If you can take on Joanna, Maria and I will handle the other three."
"No, I..." Winter began, but was interrupted.
"Nice plan, but there's only one small problem. You don't have Aura," Maria pointed out.
"Then this is going to be very embarrassing for them," I chuckled only to end up sighing at the serious look on Maria's face. "If it makes you feel better, I promise that I'll be extra careful and step back if I really feel like I'm going to get hurt."
"I suppose that's the best I can hope for with you," Maria said tiredly.
Winter coughed loudly, drawing our attention. "I didn't agree to this whatsoever. I am to act as your bodyguard, meaning that when we are attacked I will be the one protecting you and handling the threat."
Maria and I briefly glanced at each other.
"Sure, but I'm not going to do nothing when they try and attack me."
"I'm not asking you to do nothing. You can retreat to a safe distance while I deal with the threat," Winter replied.
"Hah, if Coal was capable of doing that there would still be an Ancient Grimm near Wind Path," Maria laughed.
"That's besides the p..."
"Fight now, talk later," I said abruptly, interrupting Winter.
The three of us jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding Joanna's staff which hit the sidewalk, shattering it.
"If Robyn says she's not finished with you, you don't get to leave," Joanna growled maliciously.
Winter slowly drew her sword. "You've broken no less than a dozen Atlesian laws. Come quietly or I'll be forced to restrain you."
Joanna simply charged towards Winter, saying nothing as she spun around with her staff in an attempt to land a blow.
I was tempted to watch the fight, but without my Aura active, I couldn't afford to act recklessly. Looking down the street, where they'd initially been standing, I found it mostly empty with the exception of a few people recording Winter's fight with Joanna.
In times like this, I would ordinarily turn to one of my senses in order to find them, but that had proven to be impossible right now. Winter's fight along with people shuffling closer made it all but impossible for me to find the rest of the Happy Huntresses through the use of sound or smell.
Catching sight of a faint shimmer, I barely managed to dodge a fast moving arrow that had been aimed directly at my chest.
Right, I'd forgotten that one of the Happy Huntresses had an invisibility Semblance. In my defence, I had a hundred more important things to think about.
The world slowed down as I adjusted my vision and immediately caught sight of three bodies standing on the sidewalk that hadn't been there before.
"Where are they?" Maria muttered softly.
"They're Invisible... on the sidewalk," I replied. "I'll handle the one that's hiding them. Do you think you can handle the other two in the meantime?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Maria grinned, shifting her cane into its scythe form.
Smiling, I took a low stance before launching myself towards the Happy Huntress that appeared to be using their Semblance.
"Sun Breathing: Flash, One Step"
There was a soft crack as I raced down the sidewalk, briefly overwhelmed by the speed I was traveling at.
Passing through the invisibility bubble, I grabbed onto my target and took them along with me, tearing up the sidewalk when I held them against the ground in an attempt to slow my speed.
Coming to a stop, I glared down at the Huntress who was partially embedded into the ground, staring up at the sky in shock at how badly she'd just been overwhelmed.
"Stay here," I said, standing back up. She didn't appear to have any life threatening injuries, only severe bruising and a few broken bones.
It seemed that I had underestimated just how strong the demon slayer mark made me, especially when using it with breathing techniques, because damn… that a was much faster than I was expecting
The huntress let out a pained groan, but otherwise said nothing else.
Making sure that my hood was secured, I ran back to the fight, just in time to see Joanna being dropped from the sky by a medium sized white Nevermore before a black glyph appeared beneath her as she collided with the ground.
Maria on the other hand seemed to be having a great time. Robyn Hill was a long ranged fighter with her wrist bow and was struggling to keep up With Maria who avoided every one of her attacks. The other Huntress attempted to help Robyn, but it was clear that she was severely outmatched.
"You should probably stop fighting before you get hurt," I hummed.
"What? No... I... Where's May?" The Faunus woman asked, holding her staff defensively.
"Further down the street, lying in some rubble," I replied. "Probably contemplating her life choices and wondering how she ended up as part of the sidewalk... well, that's what I would be doing if I was in her position."
Stepping forward, the woman levelled her staff at me.
"Can we just stop fighting already?" I asked tiredly. "Your group is already down two members and counting. You're not going to win this."
She seemed to contemplate my suggestion before shaking her head. "No, Robyn..."
"Drop your weapon," Winter ordered, holding her sword over the Faunus woman's shoulder.
"I..."
"I surrender," Robyn announced loudly. Holding her hands up. "I'm sorry Fiona, but I can't continue fighting when an Atlesian Specialist is threatening one of my most trusted friends."
Oh she wasn't... but from the murmurs I was hearing from the onlookers, it appeared that she was...
Robyn gave a spiteful glare towards Winter. "You may arrest me, but know that I will be pushing for your and General Ironwoods..."
"Would you just please shut the hell up," I interrupted loudly. "You keep acting like you're the victim in all of this when really you're the one that started this whole mess to begin with. You attacked us first!"
"Only because the Atlas elite refuse to follow their own laws," Robyn pushed back, appealing to the Mantle residents. "You come down to Mantle to conduct so called 'military business' and then you... you..."
I pulled my hood down and glared at the leader of the Happy Huntresses. "Everything I said was true. I came down to Mantle in order to retrieve my sword which had just been repaired. You and your Huntresses were the ones to attack us."
"No, but I... Then why didn't you tell us who you were?"
"Why would I do that when you were trying to antagonize us?" I asked. "More than that, why should it matter? By wearing a disguise, I got to see just how you would treat a person who hadn't done anything wrong and you berated my guide, Winter Schnee, attempted to intimidate me and even plotted out an attack with Joanna over there which ultimately failed. Tell me, Robyn Hill... Why do I owe you my identity when I was both innocent in this matter and you were not?"
I took a slow breath to calm myself down. Today had been a bit of a mess. Hopefully I wouldn't have to go to another press conference.
Coal gets his sword and Scythe back with a few upgrades and immediately gets to test how his mark works against the Happy (Now very much unhappy) Huntresses.
Anyways, I'm up to chapter 29 on the P word website.
P
A
T
R
E
O
N
I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
The next chapter will be posted on the 14th of October.
See you all then.