After the Blast (New)
After the Blast
Rainbow Dash fired both her machine pistols, blazing away at the grimm so close by that she could hardly miss.
Bullets flew from Brutal Honesty and Plain Awesome, blasting out of the flashing muzzles to rip into the swarm of grimm.
Right up until they didn’t.
First Plain Awesome, then Brutal Honesty stopped firing, and Rainbow was rewarded with a series of clicks as the mechanisms on her empty weapons worked.
Rainbow gritted her teeth as she thrust her pistols back into their holsters and raised her fists.
“Okay then, you want some?” she shouted. “Come on!”
The grimm charged forward, growling and snarling.
And then an explosion split the sky. It looked almost as though there’d been a lightning strike, although there had been no lightning yet tonight, no rain, no adverse weather forecasts predicting a storm. But it looked like lightning, golden lightning lancing down out of the sky to land near Beacon Tower. There was a kind of weird sound, like a hooting, like a whooping alert calling the crew to General Quarters, and then there was the unmistakable sound of an explosion.
There was a bright light, there was a light so bright that Rainbow had to take a step back and shield her eyes despite the presence of the grimm. Except that the grimm all seemed to have stopped; from what Rainbow could see, which wasn’t too much, they were turning to look at the blinding light from the tower behind them.
And the blast that was erupting out from that same explosion, expanding out in all directions in a dome of brilliant golden light, devouring everything in its path.
“TAKE COVER!” Rainbow bellowed at the top of her voice, and she turned and ran towards Rarity who was standing, hand covering her eyes, standing frozen as the blast expanded.
Rainbow closed the distance in an instant, a rainbow trail streaming behind her as she slammed into Rarity. She wrapped her arms around her as she leapt clear over the courtyard statue — what was left of it — and landed on the other side, throwing Rarity to the ground with Rainbow on top of her.
Rainbow covered Rarity with her body; she was taller than Rarity, and broader in the shoulders too, and she angled her body so that she was facing the blast, her arms cradling Rarity’s head, her chin resting on Rarity’s forehead.
Rainbow closed her eyes, though the brightness of the blast felt like it was burning through her eyelids. She could see the golden light, barely filtered by the shutting of her eyes, and she could feel…
She could feel warmth. She could feel heat, rather; it only felt warm for a second, and then it felt hot. It felt so hot. It felt sort of Vacuo hot; Rainbow had never felt this hot before, but she imagined that it must be what living in the desert felt like.
She heard the grimm cry out in horror; it almost sounded as though they were screaming.
And then it was gone. The sudden heat, passing over her, receded, and the cool night air of Beacon returned.
Rainbow lay there for a moment, on top of Rarity, shielding her protectively. Her breathing was heavy. Her body was shaking a little.
But she was alive.
“Rarity,” Rainbow murmured; she coughed, because something had gotten into her throat. “Are you okay?”
“You’re a little heavy, darling,” Rarity replied, in a voice that was trembling despite her efforts to control it. “But other than that, I’m fine.”
Rainbow let out a little ragged laugh. “Sorry,” she muttered. She opened her eyes. Everything looked … normal. The statue behind which they’d taken cover was still intact, or at least as intact as it had been before the blast. The courtyard also looked fine, and it looked even better as Rainbow got up, looking around even as she held out a hand to help Rarity get up as well.
In fact, the courtyard looked better than fine because all the grimm were gone. There was not a single one left. There was only their ashes, rising lazily up into the air.
The blast had consumed them anyway, even though it had left the statue and the dorms and the other buildings around the courtyard and now Rainbow could even see the tower again, with its lights glowing in the distance. It all looked as though nothing had happened.
Rainbow coughed again. “Is anyone hurt?” she called. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re okay,” said Orlando Adrian, the leader of Team ONYX. “It gave us a scare, but it didn’t hurt us.” He paused. “Hurt the grimm though, by the looks of things.”
“Uh huh,” Rainbow said. “All teams,” she coughed. “All teams, report in; how are you doing? Just as importantly, how are the grimm doing?”
“What grimm?” Yang asked. “I mean, there was this big flash of light, and I thought we were in big trouble when I saw that explosion, but then, after it got hot for a second, basically nothing. We’re all fine here, and more importantly, so are all the civilians. And the airships.” There was a pause. “Okay, the civilians are kind of freaked out by what just happened, but I’m sure I can calm them down. It’s okay, folks! It is okay! As you can say, we are all alive, and we’re not even hurt! And the grimm are gone!”
“The grimm are gone where you are too?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, yeah, the grimm are all gone. It’s like the blast killed them but didn’t hurt us.”
“Do you think it could be a semblance?” asked Blake, her voice coming out of Rainbow’s scroll. “I’m fine, by the way. I’m on my way back to you now, but what do you think that was?”
“I don’t know, I’ve got no idea, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a semblance,” Rainbow replied.
“What makes you so sure?” asked Blake.
“Because it’s too big to be a semblance!” Rainbow declared. “And if someone could make an explosion like that with their semblance, why wouldn’t they have done it already? And from the tower? Who’s even at the tower? Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m glad you’re coming back, but I need to hear the status reports from the other teams; can everyone please keep them coming?”
“Team Sabre here; I think I have broken ribs,” Sabine grumbled. “Not because of the explosion but because Bella shoved me out of the way of the explosion, forgetting that my aura was broken.”
Rainbow snorted. “That’s the price you pay for being a charismatic leader whom your teammates want to protect—”
“Not something you’d know anything about from experience.”
Rainbow ignored that. “You should be flattered. No other injuries?”
“Just a lot of dead grimm in front of us.”
“Ciel here; I am quite well.”
“Team Coffee here; all good.”
“Team Gray here; we’re fine.”
“The Grrrrreat and Powerrrrrrful Trrrrrrixie and her team have escaped without … further loss.”
Or any loss at all, Rainbow thought, wondering how in Remnant she was going to break that to Trixie.
“Team Funky reporting; everything is A-OK.”
“Team Aspidistra here; we’re good to go.”
“Team Umber is intact and in good shape,” Umber announced. “Although I’m not sure that I’d expect an answer from any Haven team right away.”
Rainbow frowned. “Why n—?”
"MISTRAL VICTOR!" the shout that emerged from Rainbow's scroll came from many throats, although Rainbow thought that she could make out Arslan Altan's voice prominently amongst them. "Mistral Victor!"
The shout was repeated, becoming more irregular, individuals losing harmony with one another and allowing Rainbow to pick out the voices of Violet Valeria and her VLCA teammates, hers and Ciel's opponents in the two-on-two round.
She listened for Sun, but didn't think that she could hear him — it still wasn't that easy to make out all the voices, just because there were a lot of them — but she thought that she could make out his buddy Neptune amongst the shouting students.
"Mistral Victor!"
Rainbow was torn between wanting to smile or roll her eyes. And people give Atlas grief for stuff like this. Not that there was anything wrong with a bit of celebration, and Rainbow would be glad to raise a shout once they actually did win.
They hadn't won yet.
Still, it was good that their morale was high, perhaps especially considering that they hadn't won yet.
"Penny," Rainbow said. When there was no answer, she raised her voice. "Penny, can you hear me?"
"Just about, Rainbow Dash," Penny replied.
Rainbow grinned. "Does it look how I imagine it looks over there?"
"Um … everyone's waving their weapons in the air while they shout?"
"Yeah, that's about what I imagined," Rainbow said.
"It feels very exciting," Penny declared. "I wish I could join in."
"I'm sure no one will hold it against you if you do," Rainbow told her.
"But I'm not a Haven student or a Mistralian, so I probably shouldn't," Penny replied. "You don't know if there's a Beacon shout, do you?"
"I'm afraid not," Rainbow answered. "Is Pyrrha joining in?"
"Yes," Penny said. "But her cheeks have gone a little pink."
"You're all okay then?" Rainbow asked. "You, Pyrrha, Jaune?"
"Yes, we're all fine here," Penny announced. "That light didn't seem to do anything to us, even though it destroyed the grimm. It felt … a little weird, when it passed over me, kind of tingly, like static electricity, but then it was gone again. Do you know what it was?"
"No, Penny, I don't; that's what I want you to try and find out for me," Rainbow said. "I want you to go back to the tower and see what you can see, any evidence of what that was. And check on Professor Ozpin again; he's probably fine, but he was a lot closer to the blast than we were, so just make sure."
"Understood!" Penny said. "Pyrrha, Jaune, we've got a job to do!"
"Blake," Rainbow said, before pausing. "No, sorry, Trixie, I need you to get over to the courtyard and take command in my absence." As much as Rainbow liked Blake, and as much as Rainbow thought that Blake could absolutely take command, the fact remained that she wasn't even a team leader, and it might be hard to get people — people who were team leaders, especially — to take orders from her. Trixie was not as good a huntress, but she was a better choice for this.
"Clearly, the Grrrrrrrreat and Powerrrrrrful Trrrrrrixie will be happy to issue all necessary orders," Trixie declared. "But what's this 'in my absence'? Where are you going?"
"I'm going to scout down to the cliffs and see if the grimm are really all gone or if there are any of them still out there," Rainbow said.
"I'll come with you," Blake said. "I'm almost at the courtyard."
"No need; I'll move faster on my own," Rainbow said.
"If the grimm aren't all gone, you'll be glad of the backup."
"And if the grimm aren't all gone, I'll be glad you're here at the lynchpin of the line," Rainbow replied. "Hold your position in the courtyard; I'll report back soon."
She sped off, trailing a rainbow in her wake as she dashed around the side of the dorms and out across the open ground towards the forest-facing cliffs. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes and turned on the night vision mode, so that even as she left the lights of the courtyard and the school behind, she could still see what she was doing — and see any grimm who might still be out here, what was more.
She saw none. She saw — or thought that she saw, because even with night vision, it was hard to make out in the dark — the swirling ashes, gently rising to the sky, that were all that remained of dead grimm, but living grimm? Not a one. Not an ursa or beowolf on the ground, not a nevermore or griffon in the skies; Beacon was deserted of them. There were no growling sounds, no snarls; the only noises that she could hear were the Haven students in the fairgrounds with their tails up. Occasionally, Rainbow stopped running to get a better look around, in case the reason she wasn't seeing any grimm was that she was moving too fast, but even when she stopped and took a look, she still didn't see anything. Not a grimm in sight.
Not a single one.
Of all the grimm who had descended on Beacon, all the grimm who had threatened them just a little while ago, they had all just disappeared.
Swept away by that … whatever it was. Rainbow was loath to keep thinking of it as an explosion, considering that it had only killed grimm and left the people and the buildings completely unharmed, but … what else was it? What else were you supposed to call something that went off with a bang and spread death out from its epicentre?
Besides a real stroke of luck, that was.
With a little more luck, Team SAPR would soon find out what it was that they'd seen and what had saved them; more important was finding out just how completely it had saved them.
Rainbow covered the rest of the distance to the cliffs swiftly and without seeing a single grimm along the way. As she reached the cliffs, she did at least see something other than herself: the redoubtable Atlesian Skybolts with their huge fuel tanks balanced on the tail and their massive Tempest cannons mounted beneath the fuselage. They were swooping across the skies, flying low across the cliff face, but they weren't shooting at anything. They were rolling, turning in the air, flying back and forth across the cliffs without engaging.
Because there was nothing to engage. Rainbow stood on the cliff edge and looked down; she looked in either direction, and she couldn't see a single grimm. Not a one climbing up the cliffs, not one emerging out of the forest. They were all gone. All dead, it seemed.
If she looked south, then unfortunately, the grimm beyond the forest, massed beyond the Green Line, were very much still in evidence; even in the darkness, there were so many of them that their black mass was unmistakable, and they were making enough noise that it was carrying faintly all the way to Rainbow's ears. That was why the Mistralians were being a little premature about their celebration. But as for Beacon, and maybe even for the Emerald Forest, there was nothing to see.
Nothing to see and nothing to worry about.
They were all gone. Dead and gone.
I don't know how it happened, but I'm glad it did.
"Attention everyone," Rainbow announced. "I'm now standing on the edge of the cliffs and can confirm that there are no grimm on the grounds of the school or on the cliffs themselves. Therefore, I want all teams to focus on searching for civilians and getting everyone to the docking pads for evacuation."
"With no grimm gone, why do we still need to evacuate?" asked Nora.
"Because the grimm might come back, and Amity is still safer," Rainbow replied. "Midnight, put me through to General Ironwood."
Ironwood was forced to turn away, the brightness of the blast that suddenly erupted from near Beacon Tower forcing him to flinch, to cover his face, to screw his eyes tight shut.
"All hands, brace for impact!" he shouted as the explosive dome rushed towards them, consuming buildings, grimm, and airships alike.
He felt an intense momentary buzzing in his brain, felt a sharp, needling sensation in his prosthetics.
And then it was gone, and so was the bright light that had burned its way past his eyelids.
Ironwood opened his eyes to see that the bridge of the Valiant seemed perfectly fine; everyone looked as though they had braced as commanded, but nobody had been thrown out of their seats, nobody had been tossed across the CIC as it was jolted in this or that direction, nobody was injured. Nothing was damaged either; the ship looked completely intact.
"Damage report," he commanded.
"No damage, sir," replied Lieutenant Cunningham. "The ship is intact."
"'No damage'?" Fitzjames muttered as he straightened up in his chair. "What in the gods' names was that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Fitzjames," Ironwood replied. "Des Voeux, I want status reports from all squadron leaders as soon as they've ascertained the condition of their squadrons."
"Yes, sir," des Voeux said. Speaking into the microphone, he added, "All squadron leaders, determine status of squadrons and report in."
Ironwood walked forwards, past Fitzjames, towards the windows looking out down the nose of the Atlesian cruiser. The long black prow pointed the way like an arrow towards Beacon. It looked intact, no visible damage to any of the buildings, not even to the tower where the explosion — if it was an explosion — had originated. It looked as solid as it had been before the blast.
What he couldn't see out of the windows were any grimm.
"Cunningham, what are our sensors showing?" Ironwood asked.
There was a moment's pause before Cunningham answered. "Sensors are showing all our airships still in the air, no losses that I can make out, no obvious signs of damage … and no grimm on the scope, sir."
"All squadrons are reporting no casualties from the blast, all airships operating normally," des Voeux informed him. "Guardian Leader reports that all the grimm around the cliffs have disappeared. He didn't see them die, but that's his strong suspicion."
"A reasonable assumption," Ironwood muttered. A blast that only kills grimm but does no damage to buildings, ships … or people?
"Some kind of experimental weapon?" Fitzjames suggested. "Something cooked up in the labs by R&D?"
"If it is, they kept it secret from me too, Major," Ironwood replied.
"If it wasn't them, they should get working on it," Fitzjames said. "Seems like a useful thing to have around in a tight spot."
"We'll see," Ironwood said. "Des Voeux, get me Professor Ozpin on the line."
"Yes, sir."
"Ozpin?" asked Fitzjames.
"That blast came from the tower," Ironwood said, turning back towards him, walking away from the windows. "I want to make sure he's okay."
"Would we notice if he wasn't?"
"Fitzjames," Ironwood growled. "That will do."
"Apologies, sir."
"Putting you through now, sir," said des Voeux.
There was another minute after he said that before Ozpin's voice emerged into the bridge. "Ah, James," he said, in a voice that was almost incomparably light compared to when Ozpin had spoken to him last. "I hope that I didn't alarm you too much with that display."
"You hope that didn't alarm … that was you?" Ironwood gasped.
He hadn't really had any hypothesis in his mind as to what the blast might have been, but he hadn't expected — hadn't even considered — that Ozpin might have caused it. He knew the old man had more power than he usually let on about — what he'd done to Qrow was proof of that — but first off, he usually kept those powers a secret, and secondly, Ironwood had never known or suspected that he was that powerful.
It begged the question of why he didn't put forth such displays of power more often.
"Guilty as charged," Ozpin replied. "I remembered what it was criminal of me to have forgotten: that this is my school to defend and that I really had no business at all sitting idle in my office while the students fought so bravely. I can only hope that none of them paid the ultimate price for my folly and self-indulgence."
"I don't have any casualty figures myself," Ironwood said. "But, Oz, how? What was that?"
"My semblance allows me to store energy," Ozpin explained. "When I deal a blow, as I did when I was a younger man, I retain the energy of the blow, stored within me, and the more blows I struck, the more energy builds up. And I allowed a great deal to build up, holding it in my back pocket as it were. And now, I have released it. I think you will find that all the grimm have been eliminated from the school and the skies above it, with no damage to the buildings or, more importantly, harm to the students or the civilians."
Ironwood was absolutely certain that Oz was lying about this, and the reason he was absolutely certain was because Oz didn't have a semblance. He couldn't have one; it was one of the — many — downsides of being Oz. Something about the fact that semblances were a reflection of the soul, but Oz's soul was doomed to be in flux for so long — and not in the usual sense in which souls might change and their semblances evolve with them — that it never settled long enough to reflect anything. Oz's soul, as Oz himself had put it to James once, was like a pool of water being rained upon, and the raindrops were forever disrupting the placidity of the surface and disturbing it with constant ripples. So, if you looked down into the pool, then the ripples would be all you saw.
So, yes, Oz was lying about this blast being the result of his semblance, but on the other hand, he surely remembered telling Ironwood about his lack of semblance and had to know that Ironwood knew that he was lying. Which meant there was another explanation, a more mystical or magical explanation, which he didn't want to speak of in front of Ironwood's officers.
Fair enough. Of all Ozpin's secrets, this was one of the more minor ones; Ironwood would have the chance to get the truth out of him later on, in private.
"I think a lot of people will be glad that you hung onto that trick, even if some also wonder why you didn't use it before," Ironwood said. There were times when it could have been useful — the Breach, Ozpin's Stand against the grimm after the fall of Mountain Glenn — but Ozpin had clearly thought that those situations could be resolved without it, and he'd been right on both counts. "You know I have to ask if you can do it again."
"I'm afraid not, James," Ozpin said. "It took me many years to build up that amount of power; my reserves are all but spent."
Ironwood believed him. Ozpin might lie about what exactly he had done, and how, but if he had the power to repeat the trick, then he would tell Ironwood; he wouldn't let people risk their lives on a lie. And it explained why he hadn't done that party piece before: if you only had one shot, it behooved you to be careful before pulling the trigger.
"That's too bad, but we'll make do somehow," he said. "It's good to have you back, Oz."
"Thank you, James," Ozpin said. "You have heard that we have suffered some treachery amongst the students?"
Meaning Amber. "Yes, I'm aware," Ironwood said. "I told Team Sapphire not to spend too long looking for her; I decided the defence was more important and required all hands on deck."
"That was … your decision to make, at the time," Ozpin said, without passing judgement on whether or not he felt it had been the correct decision. Ironwood couldn't help but feel that Ozpin was damning him with faint praise a little, but at the same time appreciated the old man not criticising a decision that he had washed his own hands of. "And is there any news from Vale?"
"Not yet," Ironwood said. "But Winter's assault should be beginning shortly. I expect good news soon."
"Indeed," Ozpin murmured. "I regret the necessity but have every confidence in your people, nevertheless. And the rest of the grimm? I don't think my power was sufficient to destroy all of them."
A quick look at the scanners displayed in front of him told Ironwood that, no, the main body of the grimm hordes were still massed in front of the Green Line, ready to assault the Atlesian and Valish forces at their leisure. "They're still there," he said. "And Colonel Harper thinks they'll start to attack soon. Apparently, they're getting restless."
And, if he was right about the purpose of all this, then an attack on Vale itself made sense as the next step. Step One: Attack the Amity Colosseum, kill all the students in the skies, cause mass demoralisation from everyone watching on live television; well, that part hadn't worked out for them, but it wasn't a dealbreaker. Step Two: Attack Beacon itself, causing enough confusion that Amber could slip away; Team SAPR could tell them if Ironwood was right about that and whether or not it had worked. Step Three: Attack Vale, drawing defenders away from Beacon down onto the Green Line and the open ground behind it, enabling Amber to return to an empty fortress and claim the Relic.
But, if they didn't walk into the trap that had been laid out for them, if they didn't commit everything to the defence of Vale and Vale was breached for a second time … the same logic that had driven him to order Team SAPR not to pursue Amber now militated against concentrating forces in Beacon to defend the Relic against Amber.
Of course, now that Oz was back, this was his call now, at least partly. "If the grimm do attack," he said, "and I think they will, what do you want to do?"
"I will remain here to guard Beacon, in case the grimm should return," Ozpin declared, "but any students who wish to join in holding the outer defences against the grimm will be welcome to go. I will not stop them. I doubt I could, even if I wished to do so. No doubt, the Valish, Atlesian, and Mistralian students will all wish to stand alongside the soldiers of their kingdoms."
Before Ironwood could respond, des Voeux said, "Sir, Rainbow Dash wishes to speak with you."
Ironwood considered for half a moment. "Patch her through, Lieutenant. Dash, Professor Ozpin can hear you as well."
"Professor," Dash said. "Sir, I guess you saw that explosion just now."
"I did, Dash; it was hard to miss."
"Sir," Dash went on, "I've done a reconnaissance of the grounds, no sign of any grimm. It looks like the blast killed them all, even though it didn't touch us."
"You have Ozpin to thank for that," Ironwood said. "He used … his semblance, to release energy stored as a result of many battles."
There was a pause. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Please do, Miss Dash," Ozpin said before Ironwood could respond.
"Could you have done that this entire time?" Dash demanded, her voice rising with indignation.
"Only once, Dash," Ironwood said.
Dash did not respond except to say, "Sir."
"Miss Dash," Ozpin said. "Do you know if there have been any casualties amongst the students?"
"Amongst the students who dropped with me, no casualties, some injuries ranging from severe to minor," Dash responded. "But we’ve also found some casualties from students who were here when the grimm attack started. I’m afraid we haven’t been able to identify them."
"I see," Ozpin said softly.
"We're treating the lightly injured aboard the Amity Colosseum," Ironwood informed him. "The more serious cases are being transferred to an Atlesian medical frigate for now. Dash, it seems the grimm are likely to move on the Green Line soon, so any Atlas student who wishes to join the defence there should present themselves to Colonel Harper for deployment. I'll have airships sent to ferry you down."
"Understood, sir, what about the non-Atlas students?"
"We can ferry them to the Mistralian command post, but they'll have to make their way to the Valish lines themselves if they wish, for obvious reasons," Ironwood replied.
"Yes, sir," Dash said. "What about defending Beacon? Should I assign a few teams—?"
"No, Miss Dash, I will not hold anyone here who wishes to be elsewhere," Ozpin declared. "The protection of Vale must come first."
"Understood, Professor," Dash said, without giving any clue as to what she thought about that. "I'll pass the word."
The tower still stood. That was a comfort to Pyrrha as they ran back the way that they had come, through the courtyard and out the other side, heading towards the tower, with its emerald lights still glowing in the darkness.
The tower still stood despite the immense blast that had — according to Rainbow Dash — come from that direction.
Pyrrha hadn't seen it for herself. She had been facing the other way, facing off against the grimm who continued to oppose them in numbers that only seemed to swell with every passing moment. For every grimm that turned to ash, more took its place in a battle without end.
And then the explosion had split the sky. Pyrrha had not turned towards it, although the grimm had, turning their faces southwards. Pyrrha had focussed more upon killing the grimm; if they wanted to succumb to distraction just because an Atlesian airship was firing missiles nearby — she had some hope that General Ironwood had finally unleashed his airships in their support, but she had not allowed herself to become distracted by it — then she was happy to punish them for the lapse in concentration. And so Pyrrha had laid about the grimm with Miló, striking them down while they failed to resist, and though the explosion had continued to rumble on, it was not until the light in the corner of her eyes grew blinding, not until Jaune had grabbed her and started boosting her aura, that she had paid attention to the way that the dome of destruction, the blinding light that blotted out all else, was rushing towards them.
Pyrrha found herself, upon reflection, grateful that she hadn't had any time to think about it before the wave of light, the intense heat that flared up and then disappeared again, passed over them.
Jaune's boost to her aura had not, after all, been needed, for neither she nor he nor Penny nor anyone else had taken any harm, which was a lot more than could be said for the grimm.
No doubt, the cheering of her fellow Mistralians had seemed, to some, to be rather absurdly overblown; did they really have so much to cheer about, especially when the battle was not over yet, and this part of the battle had been won by a miracle rather than by the valour of Mistralian arms — or anyone else's arms, for that matter? Valid points, perhaps, but at the same time, it could not be denied that, by whatever means, they had won. They had held off the grimm, they had protected at least some of the fairgrounds, they had protected the people there, they had won. They had won, and they were entitled to shout about it. And if the battle continued, if there was another attack on Beacon or elsewhere, then it would do no harm for them to go forward and fight knowing that they had already bested the grimm once tonight and could do so again if need be.
If the next battle was against the grimm. Amber must surely return for the Crown of Choice, and when she did…
When she did, someone would have to stop her, and all those fears, everything that Pyrrha had been glad to avoid when General Ironwood had told them not to look too hard for Amber, they would all come back, craving attention, refusing to be put off any longer.
The question of Amber's death would loom once more.
The question of whether they would have to kill her, having called her friend, would loom once more.
Cowardly though it might be, Pyrrha would be glad to put that off for as long as she could.
For now, at Rainbow's command, Penny led them towards the tower, where Rainbow said the explosion had originated. In common with all the other buildings in Beacon, it still looked intact, and if they had escaped the blast unharmed — and everyone else had too, even those closer to the blast like Rainbow or Yang — then there was no reason why Ruby or Professor Ozpin should not have done the same.
No reason, but it would be good to get there and see it for themselves.
They reached the tower, their run carrying them back to the square before it, where all the grimm who had thronged there on their last visit to this place had vanished, without even the swirling of ashes in the air to indicate that they were recently deceased. There was no evidence of their presence whatsoever, only Professor Ozpin, trifling with his cane in one hand.
"Professor!" Penny cried, her pace quickening as she ran out in front of Pyrrha to approach Professor Ozpin. "Professor, are you alright?"
Professor Ozpin smiled down at her. "Thank you, Miss Polendina, I am quite well. In fact, I daresay I am much better than when you saw me last, for which conduct I must apologise. Miss Nikos, Mister Arc."
Pyrrha slowed to a stop just behind Penny, with Jaune doing likewise. "Professor Ozpin."
"Professor," Jaune murmured.
"As I say, I owe you all an apology," Professor Ozpin murmured. "I was unfairly hostile and … unforgivably dilatory. I failed in my duties, in every capacity." He paused. "I am glad to see you all well. When Miss Dash told me there had been injuries, I feared that you might have been among them."
"No, we're alright, Professor," Penny replied. "We protected one another."
"I'm glad to hear it," Professor Ozpin said, the smile still on his face. "And now, I imagine that you are back here to investigate the blast that came from this direction, that slew the grimm but harmed neither man nor structure?"
Penny nodded. "Rainbow Dash sent us to have a look around."
Professor Ozpin chuckled. "As it happens, I have already provided an explanation to Miss Dash: she believes, as the world will believe, that I have a semblance that allows me to store energy, the results of past battles, and to release that store of energy in just such an explosive torrent as you have witnessed."
"'Believes,'" Pyrrha repeated. "You mean it isn't true, Professor?"
"It is not too far from the truth, Miss Nikos, but the truth is a little less prosaic," Professor Ozpin replied. He held up his cane. "This cane is not an ordinary walking stick; it is not even the ordinary weapon of a huntsman. It was fashioned by a wizard of immense power in ancient days, before even the original Four Maidens were blessed — or cursed — with their magic. The wizard who created it made it in such a way that it — and not my semblance — stores up the kinetic energy generated by its use. With every blow that is struck with this cane, a little more energy — the energy of the blow itself — is stored within this mechanism." He briefly held his thumb over the gears at the base of the handle. "And can be released, either in part or in full, by the wielder at any time of their choosing." His voice dropped. "Well does it deserve the name Long Memory, for the echoes of many battles are — have been — contained within this weapon. It is not a Relic of the gods, but it is a relic of our circle and has been borne by my predecessors down the ages before being passed on to me."
"There are magic weapons too?" Penny gasped.
Professor Ozpin chuckled. "I'm afraid so, Miss Polendina, but fortunately, they are few in number and very rare." He paused, and the smile faded from his face. "General Ironwood tells me that he ordered you not to search very hard for Amber."
"That's right, Professor," Penny said. "We reported to Rainbow Dash, and she sent us to help in the fight at the fairgrounds."
Professor Ozpin nodded. "Nevertheless, I must ask if you … I do not suppose you found her, but any evidence of her whereabouts or destination?"
"She left the school, Professor," Penny announced.
"Benni Haven, the restaurant owner, saw her leaving by the road south to Vale," Jaune added. "They told her that they were escorting Amber away from the fighting because she was scared."
"There is a certain irony in that, if I had been more in my right mind, I would have ordered Miss Rose to do the same," Professor Ozpin murmured. "But they, Mister Arc, who are 'they'?"
"According to Benni Haven, she was joined by Dove and Lyra," Pyrrha said. "And by Bon Bon and Tempest Shadow."
Professor Ozpin closed his eyes. "So, of the four names Cinder gave us, three of them seem to have been proven correct."
"It seems so, Professor," Pyrrha murmured.
Professor Ozpin tapped the butt of Long Memory upon the floor. It clicked against the stone of the plaza. "So, she is gone; she used the chaos of the battle to escape."
"But she might come back," Jaune said.
"Yes, Mister Arc, I daresay she will," Professor Ozpin replied. "As Miss Fall pointed out, had I been willing to listen, there is only one thing that Amber could offer Salem to barter for her life and liberty."
Pyrrha felt a chill settle upon her stomach. They were come to it, the question of Amber's fate. "What…" She swallowed, her throat straining a little at the restraint of her gilded gorget. "Professor, what will become of her?"
Professor Ozpin sighed. "I do not desire Amber's end," he said. "Greatly do I not desire it. I … still remember when she was a child and she would run to me so excitedly when I came visiting."
I failed to speak up for one friend; I would be remiss indeed to ignore another so hard upon. "I do not believe that she has a wicked spirit, Professor," Pyrrha said. "I … I think she is afraid, no more than that."
"After what she did to Ruby?" Jaune asked.
"She could have killed Ruby, smothered her with a pillow," Pyrrha replied. "But she did not."
"You are very kind, Miss Nikos, but more importantly, I think that you are right in this," Professor Ozpin said. "Perhaps it is simply that I would not like to believe it so. But I cannot … I have allowed my affection for Amber to cloud my judgement too much already, I cannot continue to do so. I will not. Nor will I allow the Relic of Choice to fall into the hands of Salem, I cannot." He smiled, though it was a wan smile and scarcely reached his eyes. "It does credit to your nature that you do not wish to fight against one whom you called friend, nor will I ask you to do so lightly. Amber is my mistake and one that I intend to put right myself, if Amber comes this way again."
"'Put right,' Professor?" asked Penny. "What does that mean?"
"What Amber herself allows it to mean, in part," Professor Ozpin said. "But, if it should become necessary, can I rely on you to defend the Relic and keep it out of the hands of Salem, even if it means facing Amber in battle, even if it means … killing her?"
There was a moment of silence. None of them spoke, not even Jaune. Pyrrha hoped, she thought, that he would not hold that pause against them, for it was a hard thing that he asked. A very hard thing.
A hard thing, but a necessary one. He was right; as horrible as it was to contemplate, as wretched as it felt, there were some things that came before their friendship with Amber, a friendship that Amber had chosen to sunder and betray in any case. And one of those things, surely, was one of the four Relics that Salem sought and which Amber would seek to give to her.
If ever there was a cause in which to fight a friend, was it not that? Not even friendship's sake could justify standing aside for that, surely.
The thought of Amber's blood on Miló's edge intruded once more into Pyrrha's thoughts.
My ancestors did more than this, even to those whom they loved dearly, and for lesser causes.
Stand with me now and put your heart into me.
"You can, Professor," Pyrrha said, and hoped that her voice did not tremble as she said it.
She could do it. She hoped that she would not have to do it, she hoped that very much, but if it came to it, if it was necessary, then she could do it.
"Yes," Jaune said. "You can."
"That's right," Penny agreed. "We'll do … whatever it takes."
"I'm glad to hear it," Professor Ozpin said. "But for now, I will remain here and defend the school, while if you are willing—"
"Ruby?" Penny asked, gasping.
Pyrrha gasped as well as she followed Penny's gaze behind Professor Ozpin to the doors into the CCT.
The doors that had just opened as Ruby emerged and began to descend the stairs.
Stats
Page generated in 0.049 seconds
Total duration
693 users online
583,662 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Now here is the million dollar question. Why is Ruby awake?
Of course, Oz is going to go for the "It's my semblance" route, one of his (ex-)students, has been doing it for like 5 years.
Speaking of which, it does kinda remind me of Sunset's anti-Grimm spell combo in the original in that it's a sort of "you can only do it once so make it count" deal. Though, at least Sunset's is more of a short-term thing as she only has to wait for her magic to recharge, but at that moment she's either extremely limited to how much magic she can do or none at all, where as Oz's cane is more of a long-term thing.
... Oh Pyrrha... I both love and feel so sorry for your noble heart, but if Dove did not stop her, she would've done precisely that...
Oh shoot... if Ruby's awake then that means...
Either the blast frightened Amber enough to lose concentration and release Ruby... or Tempest backstabbed Amber. And if that's true, I fear Dove may be gone too since he would defend Amber.
Fucking Monday can't come soon enough
Oh fuckkkkkk that endinggggggggh I am anxious to see what will happen now that Ruby is awake! What will happen now? I am excited to see how she will react to things and her absence through the first part of the Fall, but it’s good that she will be present for the rest. I think that Ruby will be the most determined to kill Amber for her betrayal, but I also think that Amber may spill the beans that she was going to confess before she saw what Ruby did to Sunset. I am excited to see this Confrontation
Shortly after Sunset’s exile by Ruby, Penny noted how people only call Ozpin by his title of Professor or Headmaster when they respect him. And after his deed tonight, and after revealing that he has sacrificed several eons of energy, Pyrrha and Jaune respect him again.
I’m glad for it. If Ozpin dies tonight, I knew that Pyrrha would’ve hated herself for thinking ill of him until his fall. That she did him disservice for letting him die believing she hated him.
11857619
I can’t help but notice Ruby entered the stage after the sentiments of respect for Ozpin and regretful pity for Amber were already expressed. Through that separation, I doubt she will share them.
Furthermore, Ruby will be as furious with herself as she will be at Amber. She’s recently perceived herself a better huntress than anyone at Beacon, and yet, she let her guard down. She faltered like Sunset and fell asleep at the switch, allowing a threat to walk free. She slept through the Battle of Beacon (just like the Breach and the Grimm Lure incident) while everyone else was winning glory. Instead of looking to her for “true” leadership, all four academies will be asking where the hell she was during the fight. Worst of all, victory clearly did not require her presence.
And since this version of Ruby didn't see any of what transpired, she will declare it didn't happen and expect the world to correct itself to conform to her reality. After all, Ruby didn't save anyone, didn't beat Grimm, and since she knows she's the main character of this story, only she can win.
It may take some time to sink in, and I sm looking forward to her increasingly desperate justifications, foliwed by that "slowly dawning look of comprehension" to quote Calvin.
11857662
I'm just wondering if hearing about Amber's betrayal will still be a wake up call to realize that yeah, while what Sunset did was bad, what Amber did was worse. (Of course, Ruby might still put Sunset and Amber on similar levels, which would be ludicrous...)
Of course, while the battle was going on, unbeknownst to most (if not all), Sunset has been working her tail off tracking down Sirens and saving and protecting councillors, while Ruby's been asleep.
11857684
She will probably resent everyone present—SAPR and Ozpin— for choosing not to tell her of Amber’s potential betrayal. She already hates that everyone think’s she too young or incapable.
11857688
I mean, at least in this case they have reasons to not tell her (in contrast to the OG version in which Rainbow was rightfully angry at them for not telling her and it spills out on the airship fight with Tempest), as it was only the previous day that Cinder revealed Amber’s potential betrayal, they didn’t believed her and Ruby’s reaction to Sunset made Cinder’s revelations fall into the backside because of her “exile” of Sunset.
11857688
I fear you may be right, and even if Pyrrha were to cite the same logic she said to Jaune and Penny, I feel it won't work on Ruby since for one, Jaune would be more accepting of Pyrrha's logic because it's Pyrrha (if that makes sense), and two, Ruby might consider such logic irrelevant since she failed at her duty because Pyrrha withheld that information. She might even be petulant about it, lending some creedance to the thought that she may be too young for this.