Author's Notes:

This chapter marks the end of Six's time at Beacon and the nearing of the Festival. It feels like it's been a long time coming.

Enjoy!

"Text/Messages"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 75: Never Meant to Be

Trying to ease the migraine forming, Ozpin rubbed his temples in small circular motions. He was back in his office–well James' office for now–and currently seated. Ozpin, Glynda, and James stared at the projected Scroll in shock and horror. And in Ozpin's case, irritation.

The video showed the normally green Jade River turning an odd pink almost red color. The cameraman was doing a poor job of keeping his Scroll steady but at least they saw all they needed to. In the background, several people were whispering about the phenomena.

"This was recorded last night along the Jade River," a reporter explained. "At the time, many weren't sure what to make of the event. The river ran red for a few minutes before returning to its usual Jade color."

The woman paused to take a breath before continuing in a shaky voice, "A warning to any young viewers or those weak of heart, the following photos are quite gruesome."

The screen flashed to a still image. One that made Ozpin clench his fist and narrow his eyes. One of the river covered in carnage and embers.

The single photo revealed a series of inverted burnt crosses, ten in total, with upside-down bodies strewn on them. All of them were burnt to a crisp and no longer amongst the living. The details were obscured by a blurry filter for the audience but Ozpin had access to the unfiltered images.

Ozpin did his best to recall any significant meaning behind crosses. From what he could remember, the groups he recalled having any relation were a few small religions that existed for a short period after the Brother Gods left. But that shouldn't have any connection to House.

"This was taken mere miles upriver from our fair city. The gruesome sight was reported by an individual who would like to remain anonymous. It was confirmed that the red color in the river was blood."

The screen changed again, this time showing the reporter, a woman in her thirties. "From eyewitness accounts, a dark figure traveled up the river in the dead of night before sounds of fighting were heard in the distance. Shortly after, Vale law enforcement were on the scene."

The woman shifted through some documents as she read off, "Not much is known about what happened at the scene of the crime, however, it appears a human-Faunus trafficking ring had been established in the area. The few witnesses that were interviewed as they were taken to a hospital in states of confusion described a man that looked…" She cleared her throat. "'Like a Grimm reaping the sins of evil men.'"

"I don't know about you," the reporter began as she turned to the camera. "But that sounds an awful lot like a certain criminal we all know." Raising a hand to the camera, she concluded, "So what do you think? Were his monstrous acts on monstrous people justified? Or should he be locked up with the key thrown away?"

James turned off the feed before turning to Ozpin with a familiar furious expression. "This ends now," he demanded.

Leave it to the blunt General to make the most shortsighted decision. Though, even as he turned to Glynda, he could see she wasn't glaring at him. Perhaps she agreed with him now? Ozpin did have to admit House's actions were barbaric.

Not to mention the man was giving Ozpin a nightmare of a day. He had specifically said to keep it quiet. Was House's definition of quiet to shout to the Brother Gods about his atrocities? If he were a few centuries younger he would have gone and knocked sense into the man himself.

But the context of the situation also needed to be taken into account. The man had saved countless lives from slavery without a single one of them dying. Not only that, Ozpin saw what this was, a message. A warning to any would-be slave-lord out there. If they came to Vale thinking they could do what they wanted, they'd end up just like the poor souls on the river.

Not to mention the strategic advantage the Mimic represented against Salem if they could get him on their side.

"Calm down James," Ozpin said, attempting to douse his anger. "Let's at least hear from team RWBY their final report before we make a decision. They should be here any minute."

The General narrowed his eyes but nodded his head. "I already have a team on standby, from their reports, it sounds like we have everything we need. Once we interview them, I send my team in to apprehend House."

"At least give me a chance to talk to him first," Ozpin countered. "Perhaps there's a way we can end today without more needless violence?"

James glared but didn't protest further. At least Ozpin could have his way there. After all, House already went and did the exact opposite of what he wanted. He couldn't just let the man walk away after doing that.

"I can't believe this is happening right before the Festival." Glynda sighed after speaking. The wear of administration duties for the Festival was getting to her. She just needed to last three more days before the Festival began. Then she'd get a nice long vacation.

She was also completely right. Having this many negative emotions coursing through Vale would only weaken their position during the Festival. He hoped that the positive events planned would subside some of that negativity.

"Let's hope the Festival makes up for it," James commented before taking a sip of coffee. It looked like the General was picking up his habits. Being Headmaster wasn't easy after all. And for once, Ozpin completely agreed with his friend's sentiments.

"It looks like they're here," James continued as he glanced at the elevator moving.

Turning towards the elevator, Ozpin braced himself for an awkward conversation as the doors opened.

Ruby practically skipped into the room before noticing the atmosphere. She slowed to a casual walk as she said, "Team RWBY, reporting in!"

Her compatriots lined up next to their leader. All ready to give their report. Ozpin turned to James and raised a brow. These were his temporary students for now.

The provisional Headmaster rolled his eyes before turning to the students. "We read your report," James began as he pulled up said report on his Scroll. "But we'd like to hear a recounting from you."

The team glanced at each other, trying to decide who should go first. After a few moments, Weiss began, "Well… We got there and started by interviewing people in the town."

"That didn't go well," Yang commented, earning the curiosity of Ozpin. He was curious how the first-year team would handle the mission.

Clearing her throat to silence her teammate, Weiss spoke up again. "The town was not receptive to us and in fact hindered us at every turn. Apparently, the town was made up of anti-Kingdom elements that wanted nothing to do with us."

"That was until we encountered Richter and Carmine," Blake cut in, earning a nod from Weiss.

Ah, the Spring family. He was hoping that they would run into them.

"Yes, it says here in the report that you managed to convince them." James read from the report. "They revealed that someone matching the Mimic's and House's description stayed there and that he was adept in combat. Was there anything else of import they revealed?"

At the mention of anything else, Ozpin noted that Blake glanced to the side and her bow twitched. She likely knew about the Spring family's past and Richter's background as a Cleaner. He was glad to see his student would let sleeping dogs lie. They had bigger things to deal with and Richter had already paid his dues.

"No sir," Ruby replied before putting a finger up and moving her arm to the right. It seemed like she was trying to mimic traveling East but she didn't take into account they were facing her, which meant her hand would be moving in the wrong direction for them. "Then we talked to the Captain, and she said that what we were after was East of the town."

"Right, then we saw a bunch of knocked-over trees, supposedly from Grimm with what the Captain had to say." This time it was Yang who spoke up. "It seemed like the Huntsman and House fought something there."

And finally, Blake finished. "We followed the trail of destruction to where it ended and saw a tree marked with Logarius' name. When we dug down on a small dirt mound, we found his remains."

"Which included a hole in his forehead," James concluded as he closed the report. "The same caliber that the Mimic uses. Was there anything else to report?"

Blake once again spoke, "Dawai, a Faunus in the town turned out to be sabotaging it and blaming it on us. When she was found out, she fled. We're not sure why she was doing it though. She said she was there to visit her sister."

Ozpin turned towards his compatriots and saw the same look of thought on Glynda and James' faces. Perhaps this person was hired by the Mimic? They'd have to investigate her background.

Still, the team seemed too happy. Given recent events that occurred overnight, one would think they would be more melancholic. Unless…

"You heard it from them Oz, it's time to take action." As James made his demand, he could see the elated looks on team RWBY's faces. All save for Weiss who appeared nervous. Interesting.

Ozpin sighed. Unfortunately, he didn't think he'd be able to get House out of this one. Not with his most recent stunt the day before.

"And I'll reiterate it one last time, he'd be more useful to us if we kept a close eye on him. Converted him to our side."

His words didn't please team RWBY or the General.

"Still?" James spat out. "After everything he's done. Everything he did last night?"

"What did he do last night?" The "Y" of team RWBY questioned.

So they didn't know.

James turned to them, anger evident on his face as he replied, "He massacred over ninety people."

All four of them recoiled in shock.

"W-What?!" Ruby cried out in horror.

The blonde scoffed as she leaned forward and asked, "How is that even possible?"

With a frown and clenched chin, James answered, "Initial reports say he used some kind of hallucinogenic chemical weapon to render them helpless before executing them."

"That's awful!" The Faunus shouted as she gripped her arms, still disbelieving of his words.

A frown creased Ozpin's lips. He forced himself to respond in an even tone. "Keep in mind that these individuals were currently holding around fifty Faunus and humans captive to be sold as slaves."

Another bombshell was dropped on the team as they went right back to dumbstruck horror.

"How could someone… That's…" Ruby again trailed off, trying to wrap her head around someone doing that to another person.

The only one on their team who was holding it together was Weiss and she seemed to be more in thought than anything else.

"That actually does match his M.O." Weiss' words caused the rest of the room to turn to her.

"Huh?" Yang raised a brow as she turned to Weiss.

Glynda turned to the student and demanded, "Explain."

The Former Heiress held up her hands defensively as she responded, "Well, think about it. The times we've seen him get extremely violent, it's in response to something."

Extending one open hand to her left, she continued, "When that family was attacked in that apartment, he immediately retaliated with overwhelming violence." Her other hand extended to her right. "And when he found out about people being enslaved, he did the exact same thing."

Analyzing her statements, Glynda refuted the deduction. "That's not enough to establish a pattern."

Weiss shrugged. "It's just something I've noticed, I can't say it's completely right."

Ozpin believed the girl's intuition to be correct. From what he knew of the man, House was self-righteous to a dangerous degree, and would not willingly work with Cinder if he could. Now was the time for his trump card to convince James not to do something stupid.

"Also from your report," Ozpin began as he looked the team over. "It sounds like someone matching Roman Torchwick's description blackmailed him, correct?"

There was a pause from the team before Weiss eventually nodded her head. Ozpin turned back to James who was glaring at him.

"You're trying to say his acts of terror were forced by someone else and he's just a good person with a lack of control?" There was incredulity in his voice which made sense. After all, that wasn't the exact argument he was making.

Shaking his head, Ozpin responded, "Not at all. I'm saying that perhaps an individual of ambiguous morality did things he wouldn't normally do. Again, it's just a theory, but House could be someone that could be used instead of eliminated. Think about it James, we could get more information if we convinced him to work with us."

"No!" Both Blake and James shouted at the same time. The two turned to each other before James cleared his throat.

"Thank you for your report team RWBY, you have performed exceptionally well. You're exactly what Huntresses should be." After the current Headmaster buttered them up, he tried letting them down softly. "Perhaps you should all take a well-deserved break before the Festival."

"No," the Faunus responded, crossing her arms and glaring. "We deserve to know. We put in all the work to get here, to expose him. We deserve to know what he's hiding and what is going to happen to him."

Ozpin wasn't the kind of person to force that kind of responsibility onto teenagers. He sighed before responding, "Be that as it may, you are still students at this academy, still teenagers. Try to enjoy your youth and don't squander it."

The former Headmaster braced himself for the heated glare and he wasn't disappointed. What he was surprised by was James clearing his throat and responding, "As acting Headmaster, I agree with her."

What?

Both Ozpin and Blake turned to the General confused.

"Outstanding work deserves to be rewarded," James continued. "I thought you would want rest. But if you want to know the truth, I see no reason to deny you."

James, the foolish bleeding heart. Still… It wasn't the worst thing in the world. Ozpin sighed before leaning back in his chair. "Very well James."

"I have already made my decision," James continued as he addressed the room. "As acting Headmaster of Beacon and Vale, and with my authority as General, I am going to have a team detain House for questioning and investigation. He will be tried under the court of Vale, and when found guilty by court, punished to the fullest extent of the law for the crimes of the Mimic."

Ozpin sent out one last weary sigh. He had failed.

"Finally!" Yang shouted, earning a glare from the adults in the room. "Sorry…"

"I trust that will suffice?" James asked as he turned to Blake who seemed to have a newfound respect for the General. If only a little.

She nodded her head.

"Good."

He began typing in his Scroll, no doubt to put his team into action, as he said, "I'll keep you informed of any updates. For now, I suggest you rest until the Festival."

Seemingly satisfied with that, team RWBY turned back towards the elevator. They only made it a few steps before Ruby reached into a pack she was carrying and produced a small box.

"Right!" She exclaimed before zooming back over to the desk between the three adults and placing the box on it. "This is for all of you. A thank you for protecting Beacon and us!"

She opened the box to reveal several sweets inside ranging from carrot cake to macarons. The gesture brought a smile to Ozpin's face. Always leave it to Ruby to brighten a room.

"I may have already eaten the chocolate cookies though. Oh, and they're a couple days old."

Ah, leave it to Ruby to ruin her own gift.

"Thank you Ruby, we will enjoy them," Ozpin praised as he took the carrot cake for himself. It paired decently with his coffee.

The teenager let out a small "eee" of joy before darting back over to her team and disappearing into the elevator.

"You have good students Oz," James praised.

Despite the tense situation, Ozpin couldn't help but agree.

"I know."

"Well, that was an interesting conversation," Six joked to himself as he made his way through campus to the shuttles leading back to Vale.

While it had turned into a shitshow, Six didn't regret his actions... Much. If he hadn't stopped those animals, they would've kept enslaving more people. That wasn't something he could just sit by and watch.

And while it was annoying to change his plans so last minute, it didn't damage the groundwork he had laid for the Festival. Everything would still proceed as planned, he would just need to be a bit more discrete when he snuck back into the Academy.

Still, it meant he was leaving Beacon. This was his last day there and it was as a fugitive. Six clutched at the flower on his vest that Carmine gave him. It reminded him of how she wanted to come to that academy. And how he wouldn't be there. He couldn't keep his promise to her.

The thought left a sour taste in his mouth and the flower now had an unbearable weight to it on his chest. He probably wouldn't ever see her again now. She'd want nothing to do with him after this. It was better to move on so she could too.

Plucking it off his vest, Six let it fall to the ground as he made his way over to the large platform the shuttles were parked on. The soft clatter made something in his chest ache but he forced the feeling aside.

Scanning the vehicles, Six imagined that they likely already shut down the shuttles. But he had a specific one in mind.

And on the topic of why he had to flee Beacon, Dawai had exceedingly overstepped. Not only had she put innocent lives and the Spring family in danger, her actions inadvertently served to tip team RWBY off to his time there. That kind of mistake couldn't just be forgiven. He was tempted to fire her on the spot but they needed as many able bodies as necessary. Maybe he'd dock her pay? No, not severe enough... Ah, she could serve right in the hot zone during the coming tragedy. And if she just so happened to die, oh well. If she lived, she was redeemed. That was of course after he made his escape.

The door to a specific shuttle with a brown, white, and pink line drawn on it sat with its door open and waiting. The pilot leaned against it just beside the door. A small woman in a pilot's outfit. She had red hair and green eyes but Six would recognize that smirk anywhere.

"Neo," Six greeted in a sour tone. She took on that appearance to specifically remind him of Carmine. What a bitch.

She winked at him before stepping in. He followed suit, walking with her to the cockpit of the shuttle. She swayed her hips from side to side, showing off her assets purposefully. Six could feel his eyebrow twitching in response. He ignored the taunt.

As they walked towards the pilot's cabin, an embedded Scroll on the shuttle was giving a report.

"In other news, it appears the Phantom has gone underground. The killings have stopped. Maybe our local killer is also going to enjoy the Festival? More at eleven."

Huh, well at least there was a bit of good news.

Taking his seat in the co-pilot's chair, Neo glanced over at him before making a sad face and pointing at Beacon as she sat down in the pilot's chair.

"Am I going to miss it?" Six confirmed her question as he glanced at the academy for the last time. "Some parts. But it'll be nice to not pretend anymore."

Her eyes shifted to an amber color and she made a frowny face at him.

"I already spoke to Cinder," Six answered. "And she's apathetic towards the whole thing. They weren't her people and it served to bring more negative emotions before the Festival. She's told me to lay low for the time being." He paused for a moment to consider what she'd do soon. "Cinder is probably more irritated I acted without her explicit orders so she'll probably dispose of me after the Festival."

Neo pouted at that information as the shuttle took off. As it did, Six saw several people running to the platform. An Atlas team, Ironwood, and team RWBY.

Ruby leaned down and picked up the flower he dropped and a pang of regret entered his heart. Six had no time to dwell on it as the shuttle turned away and sped off.

Author's Notes:

I was actually debating saying "cross" in this chapter as that's a religious symbol of our world and wouldn't be associated with Remnant. However, Qrow wears a cross, so even if it's not in our world's religious sense, they do know of crosses, just possibly in a different context. Might expand upon these older faded-away religions in a later chapter.