Chapitre 61: Vytal Assessment (4)
"While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive." – Sissela Bok
The lunch at the Schnee Manor proved to be fairly pleasant. The kids chatted and socialized while us adults discussed the current situation in life. Raven mentioned something about actually getting a job, which seemed interesting until she brought up her interest in opening up a training center. With her 'unique' skills and experiences, I could tell why Taiyang was sporting the sourest expression I had seen him showing around. Same for Summer, yet her reaction was more of… amusement. Slightly red on her face, the woman had this 'one moment away giggle' expression that just dignified how amused by the possible chaos she really was. At this point, I wasn't even surprised by that reaction considering how Ruby's mother was so into chaotic matters she wasn't part of. I also had the chance to speak with Qrow regarding any action that could lead up to the Queen's moving around pieces. A single element seemed to make sense to have been driven directly by Salem, the Grimm's presence increasing in Mistral and requiring extra Huntsmen from Haven Academy.
I didn't stop to discuss what this could represent as I had a clear idea of what the Queen wanted. If she couldn't get the Maidens first, the keys, then it would be better for her to just take the doors altogether and then hunt them down once she was sure she could distract herself with that tougher task.
Which means that we will have to be vigilant over the chances of the Queen aiming at capturing Raven.
[She doesn't know she is one of the Maidens.]
But she will realize. Eventually.
Still, the rest of the interaction with the two other families concluded happily as everyone was satisfied with this meeting and were all eager for the one that was going to happen once the Tournament was over for good. As soon as I brought the others back to the hotel rooms we were staying in, I received a message from James regarding the meeting I had set with him and the Headmaster of Shade. It came as a surprise considering how I would have expected to happen as soon as Vytal started, but James just wanted to talk with me and… I agreed on the basis that I had my own fair share of things to bring up to him. And the conversation really had a smooth tone despite the few bumps through the entire predicament since the man wanted to really talk to me, just not for things I was really planning to speak to him about, but didn't mind discussing with him knowing how important those were for Atlas.
Starting with the ASHE technology, the conversation didn't go that smooth in that regard. While there had been a large crackdown to handle the nepotism and the corruption reported within the Atlesian Scientific Community, the 'stain' left about Watts' unconfirmed experimentation had led to a legitimate opposition to try and even ask for the sharing of this kind of technology. Something that, in James' mind, could be overruled if the blueprints of something similar could be anonymously dropped on the lap of trustworthy scientists and researchers. The exchange would require a legitimate secret deal in that regard, and I was keen to… remind the General that it wasn't my calling. Such a decision would have required Watts' input and approval before going through and that seemed to be something he agreed to, albeit reluctantly.
[Quite the crafty fellow. I never expected for someone like him to be so…]
Interested in going through great lengths to obtain new techs?
[That, and the fact he would do so without speaking with the council. I reckon Ozma used to do so when still Ozpin, but there are differences.]
It's a cultural thing. Atlas, and even before that Mantle, is a militaristic society. While the people aren't forced into the army, that doesn't mean the higher roles of the military can't influence the handling of the country's affairs. I managed to pass many laws through years-long favors I had accumulated by being supportive of some choices, most of which proved to be quite beneficial for Vale but… nothing that outright could have prepared it for the fall.
The next element to discuss was a possible set of trade deals between Menagerie and Atlas. And that, while not unusual, was something interesting as I could just reply that I would bring this up to Ghira the next time I met him, and how I could work mostly as a representative of the White Fang than the ambassador role I had back during my first visit. Once again, James was fine with this.
Theodore Strauss, the Headmaster of Shade Academy, arrived late compared to the hour he mentioned visiting by. The old man looked mostly stressed, but was quick and apologetic over the circumstance that led him to this 'embarrassing delay'. He mentioned how there were some issues with a couple of his students that 'were not going to take part in the tournament anymore'. I didn't inquire about this matter, preferring to keep into the introduction and get through this first element. To be fair, I had the advantage of a solid and honest reputation that seemed to endear the elder to approach me cordially.
I didn't expect to be praised or anything like that, but it offered me the platform to start making my little plan come to fruition. At first I went through simple conversation as I didn't need to give off a sense of rush on the matter, but I took my chance when we finished discussing some more about the Faunus' situation in Vacuo. Despite the fracture of the kingdom in numerous autonomous regions, the area was still prone to have a positive take on Faunus as nomads cared little about racial issues.
Still, I pushed through and started to bring up the matter that interested this very situation and why I had asked to meet him.
"So, I'm sure you are all aware of the fact that the Headmaster of Beacon has his own secret group when it comes to… interesting matters."
James nodded, while the fellow headmaster frowned at my words.
"So, you're aware of this but… are you part of it, Mr. Bukharin."
"I'm not," I assured with a sigh. "Nor do I plan to join considering that their approach is too… passive."
"Yet your goal has to be similar to theirs. To… hunt down some entity that is tied to the Grimm and has been causing extreme damage to humanity through the ages."
"Yes. In fact… one could say that my current offer gives more than just an invitation to a shadowy group led by someone even more shadowy."
"And what would entail, John?" Ironwood asked and I smiled.
"I want to create a circle of people whose main goal is to keep vigilant and be open for conversation. No orders, no leaders, just a group of equals that is willing to handle the pressing concerns tied to the entity you've mentioned, Headmaster," I elaborated with a serious tone. "And, differently from Ozpin, I shan't hold back when it comes to the important information that concerns this major trouble."
"Then how about you tell me what this is all about when it comes to the Grimm? The entity is-"
"A single living being that controls the monsters," I interjected Theodore, the elder stopping and tensing as he realized I had provided him with a curt answer. "Salem, her name, is the Queen of the Grimm. She is the one that has been responsible for many disasters caused by the Grimm- back to the Great War and even more than just that."
"Ozpin told me that there was a threat within the Grimm, but not that said threat was a single individual. This… Salem, how she came to be? How do we know that-"
"Ozpin never told the others in the group," Ironwood muttered, thinking about this matter before gazing up at my thoughtful expression. "But I suppose you know the truth."
Let's see how you will word it out.
I slowly nodded. "Many eons ago, a young man called Ozma, a young paladin that was proficient with magic, decided to explore the world as an adventurer," I started to narrate. "He was young, dashing, but also incredibly curious and intrigued by tales of old about mysterious creatures and situations. One day he decided to take on the myth of the girl living in the tower, which was a rumor during his time that suggested how a powerful mage had sealed his daughter away in a tower to prevent her from ever being tainted by the world beyond the walls of her prison."
The two men listened raptly, and I continued without hesitation.
"The adventurer found the right path to reach the tower and through his magical abilities managed to overwhelm the barriers around it before being allowed entrance," I commented calmly. "There, he found her. A young woman with long blonde hair combed short, her white dress matched her fair skin complex and her blue eyes exuded interest, curiosity and a tiny bit of childish wonder. Ozma was baffled by her beauty, and she was amazed by his knowledge and hold of the world's truths."
"The woman was Salem," Theodore guessed and I nodded.
"The woman was also incredibly soft-spoken, kind, and… prone to accept the friendship forwarded by the paladin. From friends, their bonds grew to the point where the two decided to travel the world… as lovers," I revealed with a grim face, and the clues started to get studied and grasped by my listeners. "Tragedy struck when Ozma faced a deadly illness that led to his early departure from the world. Salem was distraught and unwilling to part with the memory of her now dead lover."
The headmasters were still listening, their attention completely immersed in the narration as I went on about it.
"So she asked to talk with the one being that knew of life and that could satisfy her wish. The two Gods, the creators of Humanity, were still an element known to the first generations of humans. They were venerated and their sanctuaries considered sacred grounds that were known to many. Salem approached the God of Light, requesting for his help to return Ozma to the world."
"He… accepted?" Ironwood offered and I shook my head, my lips twitched in discomfort at the fact that would have spared so many issues from happening.
"The God refused, reminding her how life was to be lived once, no matter how early a death could come to fulfill," I elaborated with a brief hum. "So she decided to ask the other brother, the God of Darkness. He agreed to her request because she lied about him being the first entity she approached on the matter, but his misuse of life led to the appearance of the God of Light, which demanded for this 'heinous act' to be reversed at once. After a brief exchange of insults and demands, the two deities fought for a while… before eventually coming to the realization that they had been tricked. For the God of Darkness knew not that Salem had asked of his brother first."
"They both stopped giving her help."
"And they gave her immortality as a punishment for playing with life," I added to Theodore's assessment. "A punishment that would then be exploited to rally the powerful kingdoms of that era and form an alliance to 'subjugate them'. The gods didn't accept this rebellion and decided to do three things. First, they erased that generations of human, resetting effectively humanity to its 'original template' of civilization; Second, they removed magic from the new humans, and what was left are the Semblances and Aura… and lastly, they departed this world as they deemed this a failed experiment that they will check on once all relics are reunited."
"So, bringing all Relics together will call the Gods back to Remnant and… what will happen after that?" James asked, growing suspicious that this outcome wouldn't be as idyllic as it sounded.
"They would pass judgment, and if they reacted the way they did when they first left, I doubt it's going to be a pleasant outcome for humanity as a whole," I replied tensely before shifting back to what was left of the tale. "Still Salem became what she is now by falling into one of the pools of darkness that the God had left behind, trying to gain as much power as possible. And she did, but not enough to restore Ozma. His return was… driven by her own ambitions after turning into a Grimm."
"It was the Gods that brought him back? Even after what they said about keeping by the rules of nature?" Theodore almost exclaimed at how ludicrous this take was but… I wasn't the one writing this story.
"The God of Light gave him the mission to handle the one 'issue' that they had left behind but… Ozma didn't follow through. He was happy to be back and Salem took him in without hesitation as they both ruled the new generations of Humans as their newest Gods," I explained with a distracted tone, still trying to grasp how things went horribly wrong from that point onward. "Their life was perfect, and they created a family. Four daughters that… had magic in their bodies and souls. A… possible threat to power in Salem's eyes."
"The Maidens were-"
"A representation of what was lost when Ozma tried to flee with his children. When he was caught and faced his wife in a battle he couldn't win. He died and… he didn't," I interrupted with a sigh. "That's where he learned that he too had his own brand of immortality, but he was driven by reincarnations, where he would inhabit the body of specific hosts after his previous death and slowly but surely integrate their personalities and become the dominant element in their souls."
"That's- that's ridiculous-"
"But true," James confirmed. "That is something that Ozpin confirmed himself."
"This is… insane but..." The headmaster of Shade Academy paused from going through that sentence and switched to another one. "Can we beat her? Ozpin said she couldn't be defeated but-"
"As of right now, Salem can't be killed by regular weaponry," I confirmed dryly much to the chagrin on Ironwood's face. "Not with how powerful she really is and how effective her healing factor is."
"And how do we beat her?"
I took a moment to think about it and gave them a serious response. "There is the extreme action of the relics, but that wouldn't do. Not with how risky it would be considering she would hunt down and destroy anyone that holds those dangerous elements," I argued. "Which is why I believe it would be best to address something I noticed when… I confronted her in Mantle."
"S-She was here? In Atlas?" Theodore almost blurted out in shock.
"Mantle was being put under siege by a sudden attack from the Grimm that had been facilitated by two terrorists we took care of," The General answered without a pause. "But still, I don't recall you ever bringing up anything about it."
"That's because it is something I had to think a lot about as it is more of a theory than anything concrete. And it is about the chances that she still owns a soul, but that it is somehow held somewhere away from her body."
This concept had developed after some intense debate between me, Sally, and Ozma. Considering the chances of the pool of darkness having just 'hollowed' Mami Salami by yanking her soul away and giving her the chance to hold it away so she could still keep her intelligence and immortality, the former headmaster of Beacon Academy confirmed that it was possible for magic to influence a soul that had been removed from its natural location as it would become an object with nature itself and thus alterable through magical means.
"That- how? How did you-" Ironwood tried to grasp what I just said, and I swiftly elaborated on that point.
"When I faced her, I managed to destroy a good part of her upper body, but that didn't seem to leave permanent damage to her mind despite the fact I blew her brain up," I commented while nodding. "While that wouldn't sound much, the fact she managed to survive that kind of injury without retaining any lasting damage means that her magic isn't tied to her body, or at least it's activation and concentration isn't within it. It had to be somewhere else, in this case her soul but… her body is mostly Grimm."
"And Grimm have no souls," Theodore realized as he gazed back wide-eyed. "This means that the reason why she is remaining in the Grimmlands and not pursuing a more aggressive attack against Ozpin is… because it is somewhere there."
I nodded. "That would seem to be the case."
"So the best way to beat her is to… find her soul and destroy it."
"Yes. But even then, that is a risky operation and one that doesn't have enough validity beyond theoretical basis. I wouldn't advise going for it, not until we're completely sure we're not sending people to die for nothing when it comes to putting an end to this."
…
"Agreed," Theodore confirmed quietly. "This is a massive mess that- I can't believe Ozpin would keep this from the other headmasters. This is ridiculous."
My lips twitched at that comment. "Actually… Mr. Strauss, you're the only one that wasn't told of Salem's existence."
The elder wasn't amused by this discovery, but I knew that this was the ultimate confirmation that he would stand firmly by this 'weird' side of the chessboard. The rest of the conversation didn't stray too far from this point as the entire plan was simple. Two mindsets were to be adopted, a defensive one as expected, but also one of active intervention when it came to communicate any issues and verify any assistance from others. It was a proper Mutual Assistance Treaty which was meant to avoid Salem's eventual resurface and attack at us.
There was much to define about it, and I was incredibly clueless of the fact that something sinister was already unfolding here in Atlas as we were discussing these important matters.
Of the many things Robyn Hill could have been involved about, this definitely beat her expectations.
She remembered when she got the mission folder for the day, frowning at some odd comments from the one that delivered it to her as she received a warning. 'The priority is monitoring'. It wasn't unusual for the military to provide with some 'insights' or unofficial limitations through some of their own assessment of the mission-delivery. Not unusual, but still concerning considering this should have been a normal mission.
Frowning as she handed her binoculars to her partner, she spared a snort at the situation they had been sent to currently study and deal with. There was a group of people, they had rallied pretty far from Mantle's border and looked to be waiting for something. It had to be important if they were exposing themselves to the chance of being attacked by the Grimm. Yet, as she studied the matter, Robyn couldn't help but feel like this wasn't just some stupid congregation of mad people.
Not with this kind of equipment.
"Do you think this is the White Fang?" Robyn asked jokingly.
She already knew that there was no way this was the White Fang, not when they had been taking a rather peaceful approach for years and have been fairly successful in securing some good legislation even in Atlas. In a certain way, it also made it amusing that, due to what it meant to Fiona's uncle as the old man was now able to retire with a pension, Fiona herself had built a little bit of an obsession for the two that had created the 'positive turn up' for the Fang. Sienna might be her favorite since both were chicks, but Robyn had taken plenty of chances to tease the Sheep Faunus up with some comments tied to when the woman had actually met John many years ago while she was still starting her career. It sure was a cute way to waste time and improve the bonding between the girls.
Beside her, Joanna sighed tiredly as she retrieved the binoculars, and gave a look herself at the situation. Fiona and May were keeping watch over the trail leading up to the neat spot they had settled themselves by as they studied the current situation here in Mantle. Something was brewing and the command wanted to know what was that. Any contact with the Faunus-led unions confirmed it wasn't something planned by any of those, yet the chance of someone lying was pretty high. Still, there was no doubt in the huntress' mind that something was indeed wrong about this reunion among Faunus. Something just didn't seem to make sense as to the insignia and the outfits used by the guards dispatched to protect the 'visitors' of this reunion. Some were miners, others looked to be part of the poorer sections of Mantle's streets. All Faunus.
The guards and those that seemed to be in charge of the event had their faces masked, making it impossible for them to understand what was going on in that strange meeting. They weren't compelled to strike, at least not yet. Not until the situation was clearer for them and offered them an insight of the bigger picture over the entire matter. Right now they knew someone was trying to build up a militia, but it wasn't the first time something like this happened and… it generally ended up poorly for the rebels. If a few years ago Robyn would have given her own support on the matter, now she found herself less likely to support these people. Mantle had already started a process of healing, and it would be stupid to hinder it through harsh and radical attacks. Still, as soon as Robyn offered the binoculars, something seemed to happen as numerous guards shifted around and changed position, gaining the attention of the four huntresses. They were moving alright, but it was difficult to discern if they were doing so because they had learned they were there or not.
"...Did they notice us?" May asked, getting a negative hum from Joanna.
"I think that what they were waiting for has just arrived."
The fellow woman proceeded to return the binoculars, and Robyn looked at the situation unfolding within that small area… realizing why Joanna had still kept tense and started to grip at her weapon despite them having not been noticed. The leading figure of the armed group was greeting a… Grimm? At first they thought that it was a monster seeing an easy prey and the fact the guards weren't reacting was tied to the fact it was one of those cults that sacrificed people to the Grimm. And it wouldn't be the first time they would have to face a group as insane as this one but… something happened. And it was shocking to say the least. A Beowolf was placidly approaching, with a few Nevermores slowing down and perching on the higher spots near the populated ground. It was a surreal sight since these Grimm looked far more intelligent than anything they had seen up to that very point.
"W-What is going on?" Fionna asked with a tense tone, her voice a pitch or two quieter than her usual shy self. And Robyn couldn't blame her considering the implications behind such an absurd sight that… just went crazier when they saw a dark mist form right beside the Beowolf, with the dust settling to reveal a figure had materialized out of thin air. Was that another Grimm? A new entity that they had to be worried about from now on? Were the Grimm evolving? There were many questions that could be
Gritting her teeth, the leader of the squad turned to May. "We need pictures. Now."
The fellow girl nodded as she started to assemble the high-definition military-grade camera that had been provided to them as part of the equipment for this kind of mission. The process was quick and May started to take photos of what was going on. They needed proof, they needed to back their ground in case the high command doubted their words. This was… big. Really big. And incredibly concerning if Robyn had to be completely honest. The white-haired woman that had appeared through that absurd display looked similar to a Grimm, taking a moment to 'hover' around and address the people there. It was the real leader but… was she a human Grimm? Was that even possible? She kept a composure that felt odd, 'above' the usual human being and… something about her presence left chills for the four huntresses to handle despite the fact they were quite distant from the scene itself The entire group was baffled, and they knew the high command was going to be as stunned as they were about this very matter once they brought back proof of what was going on. Robyn knew that engaging now wouldn't have been viable, not with this variable adding a dangerous element to the board. One that seemingly could manifest around without any clues of how to predict her trajectory.
Robyn turned to the others and ordered May to disengage the picture-taking task as they had to leave. They didn't have the means to listen to what was going on, but they had enough to finalize the fact that someone was organizing aggressive Faunus-led militia that could endanger the Vytal situation. It was an absurd predicament but one that left a severe predicament that had to be addressed with the high command and perhaps with General Ironwood. Despite the mild irritation she had for the man, she also knew he had a better chance to plan out a solution to this insane development. As they started to move, the screeching from the Nevermores confirmed their retreat had been noticed and so a wild chase back to the city's entrance started. They had the advantage that they were fairly close to their destination and that they had a fair distance from the flying foes. Still, a pattern to make interception tougher was adopted during the rush back to Mantle, making it more troublesome for the avian Grimm.
The chase was brief and the defenses of the city took care of the pursuing Grimm as the group of four women managed to reach the gates and get taken in by the guards waiting there. With the situation settling down, Robyn knew that today wasn't a normal day and that now she would have to brace herself for some interrogations regarding the pictures her team had recovered from that simple 'scout mission' she had been sent to face. Not much could be said about it beyond the fact that something bad was cooking, and that it was somehow tied to the White Fang.
And not in a positive way...
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone