Episode 2: Chapter 6: Moving On

Chapter 6 of Episode 2 of Order of Seasons

Jacob was just throwing a rubber ball against the wall. He still couldn’t believe it. His team had lost in the opening round while only managing to knock out only two opponents. His scroll went off again with another call from his father. He threw it against the wall in frustration and just let it ring. Then, there was a knock at the door.

            “It’s open.” As soon as he said this, the door creaked open and Brooklyn peeked in.

            “You doing okay Jacob?”

            “Does it look like I’m doing okay?”

            “Come on man, it was just one fight. In what was pretty much a make up tournament. Why is this eating away at you so much?”

            “You know Brooklyn, I wasn’t lying when I told Weiss the reason I wanted to come here was so we could continue our rivalry. But it was also in defiance of my father. He wanted me to go to Atlas. He wanted me to go through military training. But he gave up that idea when he heard that I defeated Pyrrha. But in place of just going to Atlas, he wanted me to travel the world and experience all the different schools and their training. And now that I’ve lost in a big tournament, he’s now got a huge reason to tell me to obey him.”

            “So…wait, you came here to Beacon because you wanted to continue our rivalry, fight Pyrrha, and defy your father?”

            “That about sums it up, yeah.”

            “Yeesh. Am I glad I don’t have any crazy family drama or anything like that.”

            “Thanks Brooklyn. That makes me feel so much better.”

            “Look, the thing is that you’re an adult now. Who says you have to follow your family’s orders any more?”

            “The small fact that they are paying for my tuition and room and board is a good starting point.”

            “True, but there’s probably got to be some loophole that can let you stay here right?”

            “If there is one, I have yet to find it.” Suddenly both their scrolls went off with a new message alert. Brooklyn pulled hers out and read it real quickly.

            “Apparently Professor Ozpin wants to see us in his office.”

            “Me and you only?”

            “No, our whole team. Something about a new mission.”

            “Odd. Usually there aren’t any missions available for students during tournaments.”

            “Maybe since this isn’t a Vytal Festival there are some alternative options?”

            “Perhaps. Either way, we should get going unless we want Ty and Christy to beat us both up there.”

 

 

 

 

As the elevator started going up to Professor Ozpin’s office, Jacob got another call on his scroll.

            “Ugh! He just won’t leave me alone!” he yelled in annoyance as he silenced the call from his father.

            “Maybe you should at least talk to him. Give your side of the argument for staying here?” Brooklyn said as she tightened up one of her shoelaces.

            “He wouldn’t listen. The only thing he cares about is results that interest him. We’ll talk about this later. We’ve arrived.” The elevator doors opened and the two of them walked out. Right next to them, the other elevator doors opened and Ty and Christy stepped out. They all walked over to Professor Ozpin’s desk, not saying a word. Ozpin wasn’t even looking at them. He was just looking out the window down at the docks. He then turned in his chair and smiled.

            “Thank you all for coming here on such short notice. I apologize that this meeting had to come off of such a difficult battle for you.” Jacob folded his arms, clearly upset by Ozpin’s remark. “Please understand that the only reason you are here is because you are no longer in the tournament.”

            “Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.” Jacob said throwing his hands in the air.

            “Please let me finish. Honestly, we believed that Team NEMN was going to be eliminated in the first round, and not you. But while this mission did lose a student with amazing stealth abilities, it did gain somebody who is related to the Hunstman leading this mission.”

            “Wait, related?” Jacob reacted slightly concerned. “Who’s leading this mission?”

            “Relax kid, you aren’t my problem.” A new voice rang out from behind them. They all turned to see a Huntsman who was dressed almost exactly like Ty. Except instead of red, his coat was blue, and instead of a giant sword, he wielded twin katana blades, both of them slightly longer than Jacobs.

            “What are you doing here old man?” Ty said with a huge grin on his face.

            “Taking you chuckleheads on a field trip it looks like.”

            “For the rest of you who may not know, this is Ty’s father, Damien “Vergil” Boyer.” Ozpin said. Vergil walked over to Ty and gave him a big hug, then proceeded to shake the hands of every remaining member of Team JCTB. As soon as the formalities were out of the way, Vergil walked over and stood beside Professor Ozpin while Ozpin began explaining everything.

            “What I am about to tell you four is extremely classified. A few months ago, there was an incident where Cinder Fall was killed in prison.” Team JCTB all had confused and concerned looks as soon as he said this.

            “Killed?” Brooklyn asked. “How?”

            “How else do you kill somebody young blood? You stab them!” Vergil said with clear sarcasm in his voice.

            “Vergil, please.” Ozpin said raising his hand. Vergil nodded and took a step back. “We don’t know why or how, but what we do know is that the aura of the Fall Maiden was taken alongside her death.”

            “So, what does that have to do with anything?” Ty asked.

            “The thing is, for years now the aura of the Summer Maiden has been lost to us.  We assumed that it just simply entered the body of a child and in time it would surface again. However, now that the Fall Maiden’s power has been taken, we have to begin assuming the worst that somebody is attempting to gain control of the power held by the four maidens.”

            “So what?” Jacob asked. “It’s not like they can just inject themselves with it and they are suddenly invincible.”

            “That’s what we thought as well, until Cinder stole the power of the Fall Maiden for herself. It is possible that whoever is collecting this power has access to the technology that Atlas has which allowed us to take the Fall Maiden’s power from Cinder to begin with. And if that is indeed the case, we need to make sure that no other maidens fall into whatever trap this unseen enemy has planned. That is why I brought Vergil in. The Winter Maiden is going to be traveling from Mistral to Atlas in a few short days. We want you to escort her to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

            “So wait, you want us to be bodyguards?” Christy said with confusion in her voice.

            “Not at all Ms. Curtiss.” Ozpin said taking a sip of his coffee.  That is Vergil’s job. Also, the Maiden can take care of herself in a pinch. However, I feel like if we have more Huntsmen at the ready, then with the combined power of the Winter Maiden, whoever this enemy is will have no chance in capturing her.”

            “That’s all fine and good, but what about the Spring Maiden?” Brooklyn asked.

            “As of right now, the Spring Maiden is on her way to a secret location in Atlas. It is the same place that you will be escorting the Winter Maiden.”

            “So, is it just going to be us four and Vergil then?” Jacob asked.

            “Maybe. Maybe not. The Winter Maiden, whose real name is Zimara, is leaving for Vale tomorrow. In that time, the doubles round will be taking place. I would hope that Team RWBY, Team JNPR, or even Team NEMN gets eliminated so they could accompany you all. However, if they all qualify for the final eight bracket, then you will be the only ones who will be going on mission with Vergil here.”

            “What about Team CFVY? Or Team CRDL for that matter?” Ty asked.

            “Team CFVY is off on an important mission revolving around eliminating White Fang safe houses, while Team CRDL is still serving out their week-long-detention.”

            “Yeesh, what did these kids do to have detention for so long?” Vergil asked scratching his head.

            “Mainly racism towards the Faunus, bullying other students, cheating on their tests and beating people up for the fun of it just for starters.”

            “Man. How have they not been expelled yet?”

 

 

 

 

Miles was getting his swords ready for the next fight as Blake and Yang were lowered into the lockers from the arena, both giving each other huge hugs.

            “We’re going back to the finals!” Yang said excitedly.

            “Great job out there Yang!” Blake said with a big smile. Then the platform touched down, and the two of them ran over to their teammates to give them big hugs of happiness.

            “Great job representing out there today sis!”

            “Thanks Ruby! Couldn’t have done it without cat-girl here!”

            “Yang! What have I said about calling me that?” Blake said clearly annoyed.

            “Nothing as far as I can remember.” Nathan said as he walked in and gave Yang a fist bump. “By the way, great job out there babe!”

            “Thanks man!” Yang said as she gave Nathan a quick peck on the cheek.

            “Please you two,” Miles said getting up and placing his swords in his sheaths. “Save the P.D.A. for when I’m not in the room please?”

            “Too late!” Nathan said as he placed one square on Yang’s lips, which she happily accepted. Miles groaned and pinched his forehead.

            “Criminy, why do I hang out with you people?”

            “Me and Christy do it more often than not and you don’t seem to have a problem with it then.” Evan said while he was putting his gauntlet on.

            “Yeah, but at least you don’t A: make bad puns at ad infinitum, and B: you don’t show it off like it’s something so amazing everybody has to know about it.”

            “I guess that’s fair. You ready to go?”

            “Yeah. Let’s bust some heads.”

 

 

 

 

The two of them then walked over to the platform and rose into the arena. On the opposite side were their two opponents from Team RIFL. One of them was a tall man with a green t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and he sported a flamethrower on his back. To his left was a girl with short blond hair and wielded a quarterstaff with a spiked weight on each end. Not a single word was said between the two of them as the biome selector began to spin. On the side of Team NEMN were the fire and tron biomes, while on the side of their opponents were the destroyed city and mountain biomes. The countdown began, Evan prepared his spear, and Miles drew his swords. As soon as the horn sounded for the match to begin, Miles immediately rushed towards the man with the flamethrower. However, out of the blue, the woman jumped in front of him and blocked the attack, sending them both into the grass right in front of the mountain. Miles collected himself, as did his opponent.

            “We haven’t been properly introduced.” The girl said as she spun her weapon around and slammed it into the ground. “I’m Faith.”

            “I don’t care.”

 

 

 

 

Evan walked over to his opponent, neither one attacking or looking to attack.

            “I saw you fight with your teammates last round.” the stranger said. “You fight with honor and light. Somebody you wish to protect?”

            “Not really protect, but I just want to stay strong enough beside her so we can stand together as one.”

            “Impressive. What is your name?”

            “Evan Hahn. You?”

            “I am Regial Delgia. I look forward to facing you.”

            “As do I.” With that out of the way, the two of them got into their battle stances, and began clashing. Regial morphed his flamethrower from ranged form to sword form. His movements were limited as he did still have a hose connecting his sword to his dust pack. However, what he lacked in mobility he made up for in power. It was clear that he didn’t really need to move that much, just as long as Evan stayed in front of him. Realizing this, Evan leapt backwards and activated his illusion space. Instead of blending in with his surroundings, he decided to create several different copies of himself, leading to Regial looking like he was surrounded. Reacting quickly, he turned his weapon back to ranged form and started unleashing flames from his weapon at the circle of Evans that surrounded him. As soon as the flames made contact with one of the clones, the illusion space began to melt away, but Evan was not right in front of him. Before he could turn around, Evan used his spear to impale the dust canister on Regial’s back, making his flamethrower mode completely useless. Annoyed at this new situation, Regial cut the cord from his sword to the canister and took a mighty swing at Evan. Initially, Evan attempted to block the attack with his gauntlet, but this proved extremely difficult, as Regial didn’t pull his sword back when his weapon connected with the gauntlet. Instead, he tried to continue pushing to knock Evan off his feet. Reacting quickly, Evan morphed his spear into rifle form and started unloading on Regial. Trying to defend himself, Regial pulled his sword back and started blocking the shots, but then Evan created another illusion space that Regial didn’t notice with a copy of himself standing right in front of him. Thinking it was the real Evan, Regial lunged forward and swung at the illusion full force, giving Evan enough time to leap up into the air and stab Regial in the back, knocking his aura down to 3%. The horn sounded signifying his defeat, and Evan pumped his fist in the air in victory, then started running over to the center of the stage to try and find Miles.

 

 

 

 

Miles continued to parry the incoming attacks from Faith and her weapon. She didn’t have that much power, but her speed and experience with her weapon was more than enough to give her the advantage. But with a quick side step, Miles gained the momentum he needed and started pushing back. He used his white sword to parry incoming attacks, and used his black sword to deal massive damage. He also decided to try and speed things up by increasing the pull of gravity on his arms when he would swing down on some of his attacks, causing the blows to be much more devastating. Within seconds, her aura fell down to dangerous levels. Trying to get one last desperation move in, she pushed a button on her staff, causing the spiked ends to extend with chains, making a two-sided flail. She swung the large weapon at Miles, but he was hardly fazed by it. Taking the first attack in stride, he then used a bit of a gravitational push to force her back into the mountain wall, where he then ran up and delivered a huge blow to the chest, completely knocking her out. The buzzer sounded signifying the defeat, and he raised his sword in victory. Making his way back to the center, he found Evan having also completed his fight, and still standing strong. They high-fived each other and descended back down into the lockers where their friends were waiting.

 

 

 

 

It was a rather simple fight. Jaune and Pyrrha completely dominated their match against Team FLWR and moved on to the next round. After the final battles finished, Professor Ozpin appeared once again in hologram form.

            “Congratulations to the eight teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses who have fought to this point. As it stands now, there are three teams from Beacon still standing, one team from Haven, two teams from Shade, and two teams from Atlas. Congratulations to all of you once again. But your fight hasn’t ended just yet. Now, you must strive to find it within yourselves to bring victory to your team, your school, and your kingdom. I wish you all well, and will see you tomorrow night for the first of the final matches.” With that said, the hologram turned off and everybody left the stadium for the night.

 

 

 

 

Christy finished packing her belongings and started heading for the door. Waiting outside for her was Evan.

            “So how long are you guys going to be gone?”

            “Not sure, but I think we’re going to miss the rest of the tournament. I’m bummed. Are you going on to the final eight?”

            “Nah. We took a vote and decided that Miles is the one we’re sending through to the finals. Figured he has the best chance out of all of us in one v one situations.”

            “Makes sense. Well, wish him good luck for me then. I’m getting out of here.”

            “I’ll miss you.”

            “Me too.” The two of them gave each other a quick kiss and then Christy left for the airship that was taking her teammates and Vergil to where Zimara would be meeting them. As the airship took off, Jacob’s scroll buzzed yet again.

            “Is he still trying to get in touch with you?” Brooklyn asked. “Didn’t you tell him that you were going away on a mission?”

            “I texted him that, but I guess it’s not good enough for that crazy old man. I need to become more powerful before I can ever please him in any way shape or form.”

            “What you need to do is move on from this.”

            “Move on how?”

            “Look, I don’t know how, but I have a large sum of money in my bank account from somewhere. Maybe I can help you pay your own tuition so you can stay here and not stay under your parents thumbs.”

            “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Are you sure you’re willing to do this at the drop of a hat? I mean, it’s not exactly cheap to study here at Beacon.”

            “Well, the school pays for a good portion of your tuition since you won the Regional Tournament last year right? That probably means I could easily cover for whatever’s left so you don’t have to leave.” Jacob pondered Brooklyn’s suggestion for a second, and then placed his hand on her shoulder.

            “Brooklyn, I think that’s about as good a solution as I am going to get. I can’t thank you enough for helping me out with this.”

            “Hey, what can I say? Just doing business as usual.” They laughed at this and just sat there waiting for the airship to land, feeling a lot more confident about the future.

 

 

 

 

As the airship touched down, the Spring Maiden stood up and walked over to the doors. As they opened, a stranger she did not recognize with silver hair and a huge buster sword was standing there to greet her.

            “I’m sorry. Who are you?” She asked as she stepped outside. Suddenly, the stranger grabbed her neck and started choking her.

            “My name is Zenoma Mortem. But to you, I’m your liberator.” As soon as he said this, the maiden’s aura started to flow from her own body into the body of Mortem. The light of her soul seemed to flow like water out of her body and into the body of Mortem. After a few seconds, she was left as a shriveled up corpse, looking more like a dried up mummy than a human being. Mortem held now in his hand a glowing orb of pure energy. He waved over a few men standing by with a containment unit for aura. Placing his hand on the intake valve, he then transferred the energy of the orb through his body and into the containment unit. With that completed, he walked over to a limousine that took him to a tall building in the center of downtown Vacuo. Taking the containment module, he then made his way towards a wall, placed his ring into a special notch, and entered the elevator that arrived seconds later. When the elevator doors opened again, he saw that everybody was waiting for him. Then one of his subordinates stood up and announced,

            “All kneel! Lord Mortem has returned!” As soon as those words were uttered, everybody fell to one knee as he took his seat. He smiled, placed the containment module next to two others, and said,

            “All right. I call this meeting to order. On to first business.”

Author's Note

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[Shep]

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