Capítulo 1909: 139
Chapter 139
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"You know, I feel rather odd seeing you here, instead of Qrow," General Ironwood spoke quietly as Glynda entered his office with her arms crossed, pinning him with her usual stare of stern disapproval. He had no idea why , of course, but then again… she looked rather bedraggled and tired, and he was starting to think that maybe she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "... I take it your arrival was…"
"I was accosted by your guards multiple times, all claiming that I had some kind of unauthorized weapon , despite the fact that I am only carrying Disciplinarian on me at the moment," Glynda hissed, glaring at Ironwood now as her tone dropped and the entire office filled with the quiet rumble of her understated, yet intensely powerful Aura. "Why do you even have so many security checkpoints between the entrance and your office, James? Security wasn't this harsh the last time I visited. I do not appreciate being groped by junior security guards who think it's funny to harass a woman because they have some semblance of authority."
"... I'll see to it that the perpetrators are punished for that. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but… You have the Relic of Knowledge, right? I received word that you'd retrieved it, at least- though… not without some kind of… incident?" James asked, raising an eyebrow as he inclined his head towards Glynda, furrowing his brow slightly. "I notice that we haven't heard from Leo recently… and that you have a new companion in your party?"
"Yes. Well. It turns out that Ozpin is capable of reincarnation once he dies, and now his soul resides in the body of a young boy Oscar Pines. If I didn't know that he didn't have any control over where his soul ends up, I'd think he was doing it on purpose so he could keep using the name Ozpin in some capacity," Glynda deadpanned, rolling her eyes and sighing as she sat down across from the general and massaged her eyelids. "I'm starting to regret leaving Qrow in charge of Beacon instead of letting him go out on this relic hunt."
"Why did you decide to switch places with Qrow anyway? Last I heard, Ozpin gave you full authorization to be the head of Beacon instead," James asked, pouring himself a drink before pausing and sliding it over to Glynda instead while making himself a second glass… of water. Because the man staunchly refused to drink as long as he had work to do. Dammit. Glynda needed a drink. "I don't think Qrow ever gave me a straight answer about that in all the months that you've been traveling."
"It's… a foolish reason, actually. I…" Glynda sighed and leaned back in her chair, slumping slightly and seeming far less uptight and rigid than she did the last time James had seen her, crossing her legs as she stared up at the ceiling and groaned. "I wanted to get back into the field. I… wanted to remind myself what it was like to be in the thick of things, to travel again in a nation that I hadn't seen in far too long, to… to go out and seek the Relics because I was the one who heard Ozpin's last message first. Because, after the rubble all settled and I finally managed to clear it out… I was the one who found him first. And… I was… insulted, really, that he really thought that I would want to be chained to Beacon forever."
She paused, then shook her head. "I love Beacon. I loved teaching… but my schedule chained me to the premises and I never managed to go out anymore, to be a Huntress instead of just a professor. I wanted to prove that I could still be an active combatant. And… I may have wanted to teach Qrow to be more responsible about things. By force."
James snorted, a huff of laughter forcing its way from his nose as he almost doubled over and cracked a half suppressed smile. "Pff- alright, I get the last one. Qrow's been very different lately, and it's actually pretty funny to see him try and act like you and fail. But… I understand. I don't… I wouldn't approve if you were one of my men, but I understand how you must have felt. It seems to have done wonders for your health, I imagine."
"No, that was Jaune unlocking his healing Semblance," Glynda deadpanned with a flat, heavy stare before pulling the collar of her blouse slightly to the side and showing off the coin sized scar in her chest that hadn't been there. "It turns out that I was not maintaining my skills as well as I thought. One of Salem's assassins caught the better of me- one of them, a madman of a scorpion faunus, managed to shatter my Aura in only a few blows somehow. Another one shot me with a high caliber variable sword pistol. Thankfully, Mr. Arc's Semblance heals properly even if a wound is cauterized… somehow."
"... I… see. Well… I'm glad you're alright," James responded awkwardly, looking to the side and seeming a bit uncomfortable- not that he was uncomfortable with the sight of her scar, but more that he really didn't know how to respond other than basic canned responses. "So… the relic hunt. And… the incident?"
"Yes. We have the Lamp of Knowledge, we know the Sword of Destruction is in Shade, we know the Staff of Creation is here … and we know that Leonardo Lionheart betrayed us years ago and started working with Salem out of fear for his own pathetic, now ended life," Glynda finished her sentence with a hiss, glaring off at nothing as she crossed her arms and flared her Aura again- the oppressive feeling of pressure and disapproval filling the office as her heel tapped the floor. "I only regret that I was incapacitated and that Neopolitan had to finish the job for me. Just like Lie Ren had to kill the Nuckelavee that stalked around the ruins of Kuroyuri… and the way that Miss Fall had to take care of the Lancers that attacked us as we flew over Lake Matsu."
"Ah. That… explains why Teams CALC and VERM had valid Haven credentials transfer credentials from a small school in one of Mistral's outer settlements," James muttered, grimacing and clenching his fist as he took a sip of his water. "And why they had valid credentials from that school too, considering its connections to Spider…"
"Yes. Laurel Brown, Celeste Sapphire, Veronica Violet, Erin Ire, Roux Lesang, and Mauve Corona are… definitely at the caliber of skill that Spider's assassins use. Why and how Salem has managed to get all of Spider working for her is a mystery, but… Haven is… mostly gone now. There was a large battle, and…" Glynda shook her head and clutched at her scar. "Cinder finished it, but was nearly struck down when her Aura ran low. I believe that it would have gone worse if Spider had prepared more thoroughly for our presence, but as it was… we have Laurel and Celeste in custody, and Tyrian Callows is dead."
"Tyrian Callows- the serial killer!? I thought he was… no, no, the Mistral authorities declared him missing, I remember. So, he was working for Salem this whole time?" James muttered, rubbing his newly grown beard as he stared down at his desk, mind roiling as he tried to connect pieces that were just too few and too far between. "That explains how he disappeared- he's dead now, though?"
"Yes. Nora flattened his tail while he was distracted by Emerald's illusions, and then Mercury blew a boot sized hole through his chest… and then took his head for good measure… and then Cinder burned the body. I'd question how and why Team CMNE is so well versed in practices usually reserved for high risk assassination targets, but considering that Neopolitan and Mercury were training to be assassins… I'm not surprised," Glynda sighed, took a swig of her own water glass, suddenly realized just why Qrow once carried a flask around with him wherever he went, and groaned as she massaged her temples. "I genuinely wish that I hadn't gone on this insane hunt- I don't even know why Ozpin wants the relics united so badly. Oscar told me that, once we forced the truth of the matter from Jinn, Ozpin refused to come out again to answer anything."
"... How… is he? The boy, I mean."
"Coping about as well as he can. Learning how to fight. Team JNPR seems to have adopted him as their unofficial little brother figure," Glynda answered dryly with an eye roll. "It helps that Cinder managed to cool everyone's heads before someone started yelling at him."
"... I see. I… need you to realize, though. There is a slight… problem… when it comes to retrieving the Staff of Creation, Glynda."
Glynda blinked. "... and what would that be?"
James… winced. It was an expression of emotion so human and so genuine compared to his usual flat smiles and bland intonations that it actually took Glynda aback for a moment- whatever the caveat was, it seemed to be, truly, very important for James to show this much emotion that wasn't calm, genial professionalism and military power.
"... If you remove the Staff from where it rests now, the entirety of Atlas will fall and crush Mantle."
…
What.
Notes:
oh hey, they finally got to Atlas
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder