REAPER IN RED
Chapter 60
"Please be seated class!" Professor Oobleck said, pacing back and forth the front of the classroom. Which in of itself was altogether weird, considering we were all in Professor Port's class. Unless I was in the wrong classroom.
I looked over to Yang who had doubled back to check the room number, and to Weiss who had pulled out her scroll to check her schedule. Blake was the only one who marched on forward without even a glance back. No hesitation from that one.
Or maybe it was the massive black eyebags beneath her sleepless, bloodshot eyes which left her too distracted to realize.
"Yes, yes, you are all in the right classroom. Professor Port is currently away and busy, so I offered to step in and handle this ironic lecture." He smiled jovially as we found our seats.
My team decided to sit with some other people they knew for this lecture, enjoying the overfilled room and lack of seating arrangements. I sat next to Blake; the two of us somewhere near to the front middle, with Weiss a row behind us. She was sitting next to Sun Wukong, a monkey faunus whom she was whispering to. Both had their heads bumped together, yawning lightly between words. Yang -and Pyrrha- was somewhere further back, with a few friends from Mystral.
I looked around the room, noticing the grey hair of Mercury Black. He was sitting off to the side, alone if not for the over crowdedness forcing him next to a chattering pair of girls.
"The irony comes from the professor's mission to find and exterminate a wild pack of vampires which were found lurking near to Vale's borders. This matches to today's lesson. A rundown of everything a first year student needs to know about vampires."
Mercury winced.
"Now, Professor Port put aside a fair amount of time in his lecture notes into regaling you of some of his more recent escapades involving the fifth of the Higher Order, but as I do not know his stories yet by heart, I will endeavor to fill our remaining time with the history of these fine creatures to the best of my abilities.
"Now, with a show of hands, who here has fought and killed a vampire?"
The professor darted around the room, willing everyone to raise their hands. I looked around, noticing a few hands raising shakily. Mercury's hand slowly went up, as did Blake's. Would Reaping a vampire count? I personally didn't think so. Reapers don't kill humans, so why would I ever kill a vampire? But, people did think that Reaping and killing are the same, so maybe in the eyes of a human, it would count? With that bit of circular logic successfully in place, I lifted my hand as well, much to the surprise of Blake and Weiss.
Oh right. I feel like that would have been something I'd have talked about with the team prior to now. Whatever, what's done is done.
"It seems like we have a fair few of you with us today." Professor Oobleck said. He clicked his tongue, "it's a tragic shame that so many have such experience with these creatures. Tragic indeed. While not the powerhouses of the other four Higher Order creatures, vampires are often some of the scariest psychologically. Can anyone tell me why?"
Surprisingly, it was Mercury who spoke. "Vampires look, sound, move, speak, and feel no different than any other person. It scares humans and faunus, who can't tell apart a vampire from the person that they believe the vampire once was."
"Correct, Mr. Black. Correct you are. Vampires are stronger than humans and faunus, but not to the degree of the Higher Order. Instead, they make up for this difference by completely hijacking the brain of the deceased they kill. The body may be dead, but the corpse that the vampire inhabits is able to act as though they had never died. This doubly allows them to add to their population by killing people and turning their corpses into vampires like themselves, and also giving the newly risen the exact same memories and mannerisms as those that recently departed. It's a terrible thing to see. While a Reaper may be an unstoppable killing force, a Necromancer able to raise the incalculable dead, Witches able to turn our dust and auras against us, and Skin-Crawlers able to take over a living being to slowly devour and create colonies in weeks, only the vampire can so fully integrate themselves into our societies that it becomes near impossible to find and destroy a well-integrated pack of the beasts.
"Can anyone tell us why we have a more rigid anti-Skin-Crawler task force when a vampire may be a smarter version?"
A few people raised their hands. It was someone I didn't recognize, wearing an Atlas Academy uniform who answered.
"Skin-Crawlers can form colonies at a pace unmatched by any other Higher Order creature, save more maybe a necromancer's zombie horde. Vampires are much slower. And they have recognizable traits."
"Very good. Very good!"
What followed was a lecture on vampire anatomy, particularly their extended canine teeth -heh, humans have dog teeth-. I couldn't help but to roll my eyes at Professor Oobleck's description of vampires. It was really ridiculous. Vampires were just another kind of human. Ya, they needed to die for a short time before becoming a vampire, but that didn't make them any less themselves. Otherwise, why would Reapers be Reaping them?
Oh, and now he's talking about something called the Descent of the Vampire Kingdom. I didn't even know vampires had their own kingdom! I should ask Cinder about it. She seems like the type of Reaper who would know all about the vampire kingdom. I wonder what they called themselves. Something cool, probably. Like Vampireland. Or Vamp-ville. Or something like Fangtopia! Ya, Fangtopia. I would have loved to visit. I'd never seen more than one vampire at a time before. I could barely imagine what hundreds would look like. Probably no different from Vale.
Humans were weird.
And really prone to hating their own kind. First it was faunus and then vampires? Next, they're going to tell me that humans hate each other for what weapon they use! Preposterous.
I glanced over at Mercury. Salem, his hands were clenched tighter than I'd ever seen anyone's. Was that what I looked like during the Reaper lesson? I hoped not. It was super obvious.
"Can someone please tell me the ways to kill a vampire?"
"The ABCs?" One student asked, their hand raised high.
"Correct. Age, Beheading, and Combustion. Same as witches and other higher and lower order Salemites. Vampires do live a lot longer than humans and faunus do, and they get stronger with age, so it's generally best practice to not let them age too long. The only reason we know they die from age is due to the Vampire Age-Blood Study, which was completed some 60 years ago in Atlas. That, however, will be a discussion for your upper years, should you take Vampire Anatomy. What else?"
"Stake to the heart," That was Ren. Oh, he had raised his hand when we were asked if anybody has dealt with vampires.
"Indeed. Stake to the heart. Or sword, or any other item. An attack to the organs can often debilitate a vampire. While a strike to the heart is a surefire way of death, so too is excessive blood loss -remember, vampires have taken over the bodies of human and faunus- and losing excess limbs. There is one more. Anyone? Miss Schnee, any ideas? Miss Nikos? No?" The professor shook his head with a slight smile as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. "It's a dangerous method; one I would only advise even trying for those who have studied and trained to be aura specialists. It has many names, but here in Vale, it's often called an Auric Push. Literally pushing one's own aura into a vampire. Their bodies cannot handle that increase in aura from their base level, and tend to… erm. Implode."
There were some nervous chuckles. Mercury and I winced. Blake glanced at me, but shook her head and put her attention back on the teacher.
"Yes, yes. It is a gruesome method and a last chance option. I would not recommend anyone do so, it's terribly dreadful to witness."
As Professor Oobleck descended further into the lecture, now discussing a bit of vampire history, interspersed with trying to read Professor Port's notes on vampire hunting, I leaned back in my seat. A few hands were raised to answer the professor's latest question, and I stifled a yawn with the crook of my elbow.
"Are you okay?" Blake whispered, leaning over to me, her eyes still firmly on the lecture, but cat ears perked to attention.
"It's fine. Just tired," I waved away her concern.
"Seems like you aren't the only one," she nodded over to her side, where a student from Atlas was yawn away as well.
Huh, a few people were. Wow, rough night for all it seems.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"No more tired than usual. I'd say I slept longer than usual, but that would still be less than you or Yang."
I turned back to my sister, who wasn't even pretending to listen to the lecture, instead goofing off with her friends. I smiled. I'm glad that she was able to reconnect with them in person.
I'll need to recheck Yang's memories to see if I should have met them.
Actually, can I do that from here?
It was a stray thought, but could I? Magic was magic, and it wasn't like Reapers could only do magic right in front of ourselves, right? Otherwise gaining territory, and expanding our influence in it would be impossible unless we were always just touching the ground!
Who cares that I wasn't still up to my strongest yet, I countered the smart part of my brain. Wait, I mean the dumb part. Ya, the dumb part that didn't want me to try fun, new things.
I rubbed my hands together with glee. Blake's eyes widened and shook her head side-to-side. Obviously in support.
Okay, just shut your eyes and breath. Remember how the magic felt flowing through you. When my magic seeped out of me and into my territory, it was like a persistent trickle that refused to stop, no matter how empty I was. I just needed to let that trickle happen again, but with my hand on the tap. Like a bath I wanted to overflow just enough to annoy Weiss, but not enough to cause a mess I would need to clean.
I let me eyes relax behind my eyelids. I fixed my seating posture to be a little more comfortable, and I wrapped my fingers into my cloak. One breath followed another.
Let the tap open. Picture it.
I felt something. Like a blanket of snow falling over my mind. And then my power started to leak out of me. So slow I could almost mix it, if not for the pleasant cooling sensation running through my spine.
I kept up my calm breathing, not daring to open my eyes for even a moment, less I break my concentration. I wasn't sure where my magic was going, but I did feel it surrounding me, pushing out in small waves.
There was a cough from someone which almost tore my focus, but I held strong. Oh Salem, Cinder is going to be so proud of me if I can figure this out!
I began to feel resistance. Maybe this was it. I just need to push a little harder, open up that trickle a little more, and then I would be able to connect with Yang's mind from all the way across the classroom.
A light smirk tilted my lips. Ya, Cinder was going to be so proud.
The resistance was holding firm, but I could tell that it was starting to buckle. Just a bit more, I urged myself.
Just a little…
Bit…
More… and-
The door to the classroom slammed open, wrecking my concentration and whatever link I had.
"Grim Reaper!" Qrow shouted, his massive sword shifting into the curved blade he used to kill my mother. "I-"
The man stopped, his weapon raised and body poised to strike. His eyes flickered around the room.
"Good morning, Mr. Branwen. Can I help you?" Professor Oobleck said.
Qrow scratched his back, "I thought I felt something… Did any of you notice a pulsing feeling? An aura pulse that was like breaking your aura, but not quite as strong?"
There were curious glances from around the room. A few did raise their hands, including Lie Ren, who seemed to be recovering from a coughing fit. I wonder what that was all about.
"I had just informed the students of Auric Pushes. Maybe a foolish student was practicing something I explicitly said was dangerous, hmm?"
"No, it's… ugh," Qrow grumbled, slowly shifting his scythe back into a sword and sheathing it at his side. He glanced around the room, making eye contact with me for a terrifying second before continuing his search. "If anyone feels something like that again, tell me." He ordered, turning back and slamming the door on his way out.
Huh, I wonder what the was about?