Chapter 8: Loose Ends

Beacon Academy, Headmaster's Office

"I see. So it really was Merlot's doing, wasn't it?"

Headmaster Ozpin paused as the person on the other side of the call responded to his question. He smiled.

"Nothing of the sort. It seems you've greatly overestimated my abilities. It was but a theory of mine...sometimes they are correct." He stopped, waiting for the other person's response.

"That is most unfortunate," Ozpin replied with a frown. "But you did what you could - you did what I asked of you. You performed your task admirably." Another pause.

"I never meant to 'patronize' you," the headmaster said sternly. "At any rate, continue to carry out your duty until further notice. Our enemy's plans are far from over." He hung up.

"It seems you and your friends are hard at work," remarked Headmaster Carnelia Stein on the holographic screen. "I do hope this isn't another instance of you keeping secrets from the rest of us - something you so love to do."

"Certainly not," replied Ozpin. "That being said, I believe you've already pieced together most of the puzzle, as it were."

"Humph. But of course I have." Carnelia leaned back in her chair and indulgently put a large cigar in her mouth. Ozpin waited patiently as she exhaled a cloud of ashy smoke. "So...Onyx has turned against us. Argent too. It would have been unfortunate...if I'd had any positive feelings toward those two. Honestly, it just makes disliking them all the more justified."

"Well, you were right except for one detail," said Ozpin. "Onyx did not 'turn against us'; rather, he was on Salem's side from the start."

"Hmph, well that's even better," muttered Carnelia, twirling her cigar around her fingers. Raised in the explosively artistic culture of Mistral, Haven's headmaster had little respect for the sterile, militaristic stratocracy of Atlas, let alone the men who ran it. "At any rate, I heard about the Mountain Glenn incident. We've suspected for a while that something like this might happen...still, it's unfortunate."

Ozpin nodded gravely. "It certainly is. The lives of all who perished on our hands as much as the enemy's."

"You might say that," replied Carnelia coolly. "But more importantly is that Doctor Merlot instigated the breach. And if he used the Yin - or at the very least, its power - we run the risk of someone making...a discovery that would be unwelcome for all of us."

Ozpin was quiet for a moment. "Indeed," he finally said. "I will persuade the Council to have Mountain Glenn sealed off immediately. And I will have someone clear out all the evidence that Merlot may have left behind. As far as the world knows, he and all of his research were lost in the attack."

"A true tragedy," said Carnelia sarcastically. "Oh, and I have just one more report for you - some of my contacts down in the Mistralian underworld claim that several big-name crime rings have been suddenly shut down over the past few months. Apparently, they've been...assimilated into some larger group."

"That would be...the Brotherhood of Gehenna?"

"Not quite. According to my sources the Brotherhood is just another part of this group. They're a strange melange of all sorts of unsavoury folk," replied Carnelia with a tinge of disgust in her voice. "They've got everyone from crooks to genuine terrorists on their side. They don't have a name, and all I've heard about their leader is that he's a man named 'Fenrir'. You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you Ozpin?"

"I would not," Ozpin admitted. "But thank you for the information, Carnelia. Please ensure your watchful eyes do not fail you now."

"And the same to you," muttered Carnelia Stein. "Be vigilant, won't you? We have enough traitors as it is." With that, she logged off.

Salem's Domain - Unknown Location

"...And that's..." finished Rok, "...everything that happened in Mountain Glenn. Any questions, m'lady?"

In the desolate, barren landscape of a long-forgotten world, three people had gathered to discuss their plans moving forward. Despite the Grimm crawling freely around the land, passing within inches of them, they felt no fear, for their master had granted them protection.

I see. Salem's voice resounded through a portal that sat ominously in the blood-red sky. So it seems the seal on the Wyvern remains unbroken.

"That fool...Doctor Merlot," Harriet Maroon hissed. She clenched her first as a ripple of dark energy flowed through it. "To think he would abandon his post like a coward. Because of him, the operation was a failure!"

Rok laughed. "You mean you didn't expect him to run off on us the second he had a chance? Seriously?"

Harriet ignored him. "This betrayal of the Grandmaster's trust is inexcusable," she insisted. "I swear on the name of the Two Brothers that he will be hunted down and executed."

"I find that unlikely," said General Argent Fox, who was sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed solemnly. "The good doctor had evaded our sights for years before he finally decided to make a formal appearance again. You should know well that if anyone can escape your sights, Miss Maroon, it is him."

"I'd advise you watch your tongue, General," said Harriet coldly. "Remember that your authority means nothing in this realm."

It is quite alright, said Salem calmly. The doctor has played his part. His research has been invaluable to the furthering of our cause. And I would hardly consider our operation a failure."

"And why is that, Your Grace?" asked Argent.

With Mountain Glenn's fall, Vale will refrain from expanding its territory for a foreseeable future...and that will leave them weaker. What's more, Atlas' failure to provide aid for the city has led to a weakening in trust between the two Kingdoms. Am I wrong, General?

"...No, you are correct." replied Argent, staring at the ground gloomily. "In the past few days, the Atlesian military has received numerous accusations of incompetence from Vale's council. I've placed Colonel Ironwood in charge of dealing with them."

Very good, said Salem approvingly. The colonel is unaware, I presume?

"That's right. Other than Headmaster Onyx and myself, no one in Atlas is aware of our plans."

Excellent. And now, with the fall of Mountain Glenn, we can proceed with phase two of the Leviathan Plan.

"And what are our orders, Grandmaster?" asked Harriet.

There was a long pause, as the three quietly awaited their master's orders. Finally, Salem spoke. General Fox. Has Onyx begun his preparations for the ritual? Argent gave a brief nod. "Indeed. However, it will be a while before it is close to completion."

Then you are to return to Atlas and resume your duties as general, until the time comes when your services are required once more. Hearing this, Argent simply bowed in acknowledgement.

Rok, you shall continue the search for the Maidens, be it their identity or where Ozpin's forces may have hidden them. In addition, you are to meet with Fenrir, and ensure that his forces continue to grow in number.

Rok shrugged. "Ah, fine...though I hoped I wouldn't have to see his ugly face again so soon. Still, your wish is my command, I guess."

As for you, Harriet, Salem continued. Your task is to head to Shade Academy and meet with our acolyte. They are crucial to the next part of our plan, and it will be up to you to ensure they can reach their full potential.

"I will fulfill your request gladly," Harriet replied, bowing respectfully.

Good. Remember, all of you, discretion is paramount. The key to our success will lie not in overwhelming force, but destroying all our enemies' efforts, one by one, until they have nothing but their own despair. Already one of their precious relics is in our hands, and the rest will follow - in time. As Salem's voice faded out, the portal dissipated into the sky.

"She's really just all talk, isn't she?," Rok grumbled. "She's got that sweet, stupid way with words that makes herself sound oh-so important, but only an animal would fall for it….y'know, like you!" He addressed the barbed comment at Harriet.

The rabbit Faunus did not react to the insult. "It seems your time in the city was enjoyable," she said emotionlessly. "Did you get to meet Qrow and Raven?"

"Nah. Not this time," sighed Rok. "It's going to be hard returning to Fenrir empty-handed like that. Ha, and I thought cutting up his goonies into pieces made him pissed off!" he giggled.

"Suit yourself. I have no interest in your personal affairs, so I'll be taking my leave now", said Harriet distastefully. "And please remember that the silver-eyed girl is not to be harmed - when the time comes, I will be the one to judge her strength." With that, she teleported away.

"Awww, you really like her, don't you?" Rok laughed as Harriet vanished. "Ah, who cares. Anyway," he turned to the general. "You going back home right now - to see your kid?"

"I am," Argent nodded. "Onyx and I have been entrusted with the Yin for now - it was originally housed in the academy, after all. I will be sure to keep it secure until the plan has been completed."

Rok grinned mischievously. "Oh sure, alright. But c'mon, general, admit it. You don't give a damn about the Yin itself, do you? I mean, well, not anymore. I think I can guess what you're really looking for - and I'm sure old Onyx wants it just as much, though for a completely different reason."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the general solemnly.

"Now that's a lie and you know it," Rok hissed, suddenly leaning in towards Argent's face. He flashed him an unpleasant sneer. "Don't forget, Mr. General, that you ain't got any friends here. And if you decide piss me off...well. I'll be sure to tell Salem about your little 'secret'."

Rok raised his arm and summoned a black void. With his threat still lingering in the air, he walked into the portal and disappeared, leaving Argent alone.

Infirmary, Beacon Academy

"Mm-mmm…." Summer groaned as her eyes flickered open.

For a few seconds, she didn't understand where she was. It was the ringing of that familiar bell, signifying lunchtime, that jogged her memory. Oh, right, she thought. I'm back at Beacon…wait...

She continued to lay there, head on her pillow, as she began to remember what had happened at Mountain Glenn. She and Team STRQ had disobeyed orders and attempted to fight off the Grimm invasion themselves. They'd confronted Doctor Merlot and defeated his monstrous creation...but then he'd attempted to blow them all up along with his lab. And then...What happened after that? We got out...somehow…

Someone was there, she thought. I saw someone...someone I recognized...but who was it?

Summer shook her head in frustration. "Why can't I remember?" she said angrily.

"Oh. You're finally awake." A familiar voice came from her bedside. It was Raven Branwen, clad not in her Huntress garb, but a simple T-shirt and jeans.

"Raven?" Summer muttered, turning to see her friend watching her with a look of both concern and relief. "What...happened…?"

The dark-haired Huntress sighed. "Somehow...we survived the explosion, and Heather's team eventually found and rescued us...but it seems we were all incapacitated for quite a while. Brother and I regained consciousness a week ago, and Taiyang recovered just yesterday."

"O-Oh," Summer said, struggling to sit up in her bed. There was an IV drip stuck to her right arm. "Wait, what do you mean 'a week'? How long was I out?"

"A week and a half - approximately," her friend admitted. As Summer scrambled to get up, Raven raised her voice. "Now, now, there's no need to panic. You may have missed several days of schoolwork, but-"

"No, not that!" said Summer angrily. "The city! Did everyone else make it out alright?"

"Professor Forrester managed to gather all the students and evacuate them - along with as many civilians as possible - when the airship arrived," Raven reassured her. "But the rest of Mountain Glenn...it had to be left to its fate."

A pang of despair entered Summer's heart as she heard that. "What?" she gasped. "You mean-"

"Summer, I believe I know what you want to say," Raven said sternly. "But save it for later. There was nothing else we could have done. We attempted to play the hero, and we made an adequate attempt, but you should remember that that doesn't always work."

Summer sat there wordlessly, gazing downward. We really...failed? We became Huntsmen to deal with situations like these, and still...it wasn't enough? "But-"

"Don't say a word." A tangible hint of annoyance entered Raven's voice. "And I certainly hope you won't indulge in any worthless self-pity, because if you think you're the only person taking this badly, then you're sorely mistaken."

That's right...Raven's always been really proud of her own strength. She's probably feeling even worse than I am. Taking a deep breath, Summer changed the subject. "R-Raven, um…I've been meaning to ask…"

"What is it?" Raven looked at her with some curiosity.

"Well...before the invasion began, I was visiting the city's museum and...that strange boy - 'Rok' - showed up and started attacking me. He seemed to know you and Qrow, and you also seemed to recognize him from somewhere." Summer hesitated. "So, um...do you know him from somewhere?"

To her surprise, Raven displayed no apparent reaction. Wordlessly, she pulled up a chair from behind her and quietly sat down. A few more moments of silence passed before she spoke. "Summer," she began. "How much do you know about where Brother and I came from?"

"What?" That wasn't the response she'd expected. "Umm...well, I know you both came from a village somewhere in Mantle, away from the capital city of Atlas. You eventually came to Vale with your dad...but nowadays the only family you really keep in touch with is your uncle, Luka." She paused. "That's it, right? I mean, that's as far as I know."

"Partially," Raven replied. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before continuing. "Our hometown was a village called 'Valhalla'. All of the inhabitants were part of a large tribe. They used to follow a nomadic lifestyle, but by the time Qrow and I were born, they had settled down."

Summer said nothing, but continued to listen, her interest piqued.

"It was about as harsh and unforgiving as you might expect from a small village in the middle of a desert of snow. Constant blizzards and Grimm attacks - out there, it was fight or die, every day." Raven paused before continuing. "My brother and I...played off each other's strengths quite well. And we survived...though I wonder if we would still be here today were it not for my Semblance."

"Your Semblance...you can sense other people's emotions, right?" Summer asked. She still wasn't sure why Raven was suddenly telling her her life's story, but she was intrigued by what her friend had to say.

"That's merely a side-effect of my true Semblance," Raven corrected her. "I first discovered my Semblance when I was four. I'd been having nightmares, and I'd drawn them down. They were pictures of my mother with her head missing. And the next day, an Alpha Beowolf found its way into our village - and my mother was killed."

There was another pause, as if she was waiting for Summer to process what she was saying. "As I got older, the nightmares got more frequent...but I also realized they weren't nightmares. They were visions. And every time I had one, misfortune struck our village soon afterward. A Grimm invasion, a blizzard, or an epidemic..."

"Your Semblance is future sight," said Summer. It wasn't a question. "You...can tell when bad things happen."

"Yes. Exactly," Raven nodded. "And as a side effect of seeing people's futures, I can also perceive their strongest emotions. It's a passive effect that I have little control over...with my current training, that is."

An idea popped into Summer's head. "That's how you knew about the secret lab in Merlot Industries," she said suddenly. "You had a vision of us entering it, and fighting that monster he created."

"That's correct," said Raven. "That was admittedly pure luck...but I'm willing to accept good fortune when it happens. But back to my story…

"The village elders saw how my power could be beneficial for us. That, combined with our father being the chieftain, meant that my family was given privileges most others didn't have. We were lucky - aside from Father, we also had Uncle Luka and his son to keep us company. Father was strong and kept us safe, while Uncle was weak but intelligent. All things considered, it seemed fate was on our side...

"But one day another vision came to me. I saw Valhalla burning to ashes, dead bodies laying everywhere. And in the middle of it all, I saw my uncle, watching the destruction unfold with a cruel smile on his face." Raven's hands were shaking now. She gritted her teeth as she went on: "When I told Father, he decided not to tell anyone. He and Luka were never close, but I assume he still feared that his brother might be driven out. Instead...he simply took Qrow and I, packed some supplies, and without warning we all left the village for good."

Summer was taken back by the abruptness of Raven's story. She remembered Qrow telling her how their father had taken them and left their village, but she'd never imagined it would be for a reason like this. "And...what happened after that?"

"What always happens - we ran into Grimm. By that point, Qrow and I were ten - we were strong enough to fight for ourselves. But we were still overwhelmed, and Father sacrificed himself, holding them off long enough for us to escape. After that, we trudged through the snow by ourselves, trying to avoid Grimm habitats and bearing the endless snowstorms. After a whole month, we made it to Atlas. Qrow was nearly dead; I had to carry him for the last few days."

"And then...the two of you moved to Vale," Summer said quietly.

"Not immediately. It was only after we'd recovered, obviously, and had saved up enough money for airship tickets that we left for the Kingdom of Vale. We'd heard that a wise old man, known as Ozpin, lived in Vale, and that he might be able to help us."

"Help with...what?"

"Discovering our tribe's fate," Raven answered grimly. "We never did find out what happened to Valhalla - only that it was destroyed. Countless expeditions that have explored Mantle say there are nothing but ruins where it once stood. And then one day Uncle Luka showed up out of nowhere, claiming that a rival clan had destroyed the village and everyone in it, and that he'd only survived by temporarily joining them."

She brought her fist down angrily on her chair. "But I never believed him. My Semblance is never wrong. My uncle destroyed our village, and I have made it my duty to find out why...and bring him to justice, if I can."

"Your uncle…" Suddenly, Summer remembered the frightened look on Qrow's face when he'd had Luka's name mentioned to him. "But what does the headmaster have to do with this?"

"Uncle Luka loved keeping notes for his research," Raven replied. "He is an archeologist, after all. Back in Valhalla, Qrow and I would often sneak into his room and read through them. We didn't understand them, but they repeatedly mentioned "relics"...and that whatever they were, they had a connection to the Huntsman Academies. That was the only lead I had, but I took it. I suppose I could have chosen any of the four, but I chose Beacon...and the rest is history, as you might say."

Summer shook her head slowly. This is...a lot to take in. I can't believe Qrow and Raven had such a past...and why did Qrow never tell me? "I think I get it, but...that's not really all there is, right?"

"It was - until the incident at Mountain Glenn," Raven admitted. "That boy, who you say called himself Rok, used Dust teleportation to escape. That is one of several techniques unique to our clan - I have seen no textbook explain how to use it."

Summer nodded. "I mean, it's true that I've never seen any other student use portals like you have," she said. "So you're saying...he was someone from Valhalla?"

"That's correct," her friend confirmed. "And more specifically - since you say he mentioned his father...I believe he is Luka's son - my cousin, who I thought had perished along with everyone else all those years ago."

As she finished, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the next class. Raven stood up and walked over to the door. As she put her hand on the doorknob, she turned to face Summer with a cautionary look in her red eyes.

"I told you all this because I know you'd want to hear the truth, but also because I've come to trust you," she said tersely. "Don't tell anyone about this - not even Tai. I must find out what my uncle was researching and why he did what he did. It's the final duty I owe to my family."

Her eyes softened, and she seemed to relax just a bit. "Rest a bit, Summer. You should be alright to go back to classes tomorrow. Don't worry - Professor Forrester insisted that she shouldn't be reprimanded for disobeying orders."

"That's great," Summer laughed, and paused, a thought coming to mind. "Hey, Raven. Rok mentioned someone named 'Fenrir'. Was he a member of your tribe, too? Maybe another cousin of yours?"

"Fenrir?" Raven shook her head. "No, I don't recognize the name. Uncle Luka only had one child that I know of, and his name was Ragna." She opened the door, and walked out. "See you later," she said.

Summer was left alone again. The nurse came by about an hour later, and was relieved to see her patient had regained consciousness. Despite Summer's protests, she insisted that she stay in the infirmary for one more night.

It was hard for her to really comprehend what Raven had said to her. Not that she didn't believe her friend, but it a lot to take in at once, and Summer felt that much of her story didn't make much sense. It seemed like Raven was really jumping to conclusions about what had happened.

She remembered Qrow's description of Luka Branwen - a harmless but intelligent old man with a fascination for artifacts. Not the type of person who would destroy his own village...unless Qrow had lied.

What else have those two kept from me? That insidious thought suddenly popped into Summer's brain. No! She thought. I shouldn't doubt my friends...I'm sure they had their reasons.

What reasons? The voices in her head seemed to say. Why couldn't she have told you this earlier? You're supposed to be a team! You should be working together! Keeping secrets from one another is the opposite of that!

She's right, Summer thought dejectedly. Er, wait, I mean I'm right.

Despite Raven's admonitions, the thought of Mountain Glenn began to enter her mind again. All those people...the people that the Huntsmen had sworn to protect...It's my fault they died.

Of course, she knew that wasn't true. It had been dangerous - far too dangerous for any student Huntsman to handle. But Summer still had the feeling that it could have been avoided, if only the right person had done the right thing.

For a moment, she wondered if things like this were going to just keeping happening, over and over. Sure, Teams STRQ and HTHR had saved the Amity Coliseum last year, but the more Summer thought about it, the more it seemed like a fluke.

She'd wanted to be strong, strong enough to protect people as a Huntress. But now Mountain Glenn had fallen. And with Raven's story, Summer wondered how many other villages had been destroyed without fanfare over the years with no help coming to save them. Was this really all there was? Just tragedy after tragedy, endlessly failing to save the people who had put their trust in you?

Was this what it meant to be a Huntress?

Next Chapter: Remnant's Strongest