Sapphire woke early. But then that wasn't exactly unusual for her. Even before the incident she didn't sleep soundly. Afterwards when she closed her eyes Sapphire could still see the black robed cultists, their faces covered by Grimm masks. She could hear the screams and the gunfire, the explosions and the destruction all around her. And when she allowed herself to think about it Sapphire could see Abel. His last assurance that everything would be alright, right before it wasn't. Sometimes when Sapphire woke up she still expected to see Abel lying in his bunk, the Ampere within arm’s reach.
Sapphire shook her head. The bunk was empty and cold, like it was yesterday morning, like it had been since last year. It was foolish to think that one morning she might wake up and Abel would still be there. The Guardian was gone. There wasn't even enough left to bury.
Sapphire heaved herself out of bed. Since the incident everything had gone back to normal and yet it all seemed wrong. Like the school was full of holes. Swansong hadn't been the only team to lose members that day. Amy, Trad, Aurelius, Jack and all of Team KESS had perished along with Abel. Most having heroic deaths the befit a hunter.
Still it didn't seem right. Though normal school activities had resumed, classes had started up again and everyone had gone back the way things used to be nothing seemed okay anymore. You didn't hear laughter in the cafeteria or any but the freshman playing on the lawns. School pranks had died out, even from Marcus. It was like the attack though it left Beacon mostly intact had sucked out the soul of the school. It would pass in a few years, those effected would graduate and Beacon would truly go back to the way it was meant to be.
Finally awake Sapphire picked up a large obnoxious bell that was sitting on her bedside table and began to ring it vigorously. Gren and Shiro were both wakened immediately but neither one of them wanted to rise at this hour.
“What time is it?” Shiro asked groggily
“It’s five in the morning guys, we volunteered to take the early shift on patrol. We relieve MODA at six so we best get ready.”
Sapphire turned her back on her two remaining team mates in favor of a shower. The water was hot and feeling it wash over her body made Sapphire feel warm again. Just for a few minutes the cold pit that had formed inside her when the four member of Swansong was struck down seemed to disappear. That was of course till she turned off the water, then everything came rushing back in.
Sapphire combed her hair. After her freshman year Sapphire had started to keep her hair in a braid. It was more functional and kept it out of her eyes but today she instead combed it forward so her bangs shadowed her eyes the curtains of her hair obscured the edges of her face. The way she used to wear her hair when she’d first arrived at Beacon.
Sapphire dressed in her combat gear and equipped herself with her standard weapons. Morpheus, Phobator and of course her polearm before she left the bathroom.
“Alright, who wants the next shower?”
Gren and Shiro looked up from their beds. “Sapphire I think we should talk.” Gren started.
“About what?” Sapphire asked, her tone cold.
“About this whole thing, what we’re doing here.”
Sapphire looked between her teammates for a moment. “I think that would be a good idea.”
“You do?” Shiro and Gren said in unison.
“Yeah, we've been slipping in our training, we need to step it up if we want to graduate top of the class.”
Gren and Shiro's faces confused and hopeful a second before fell at this.
“Shiro, why don't you go have a shower. I'm going to talk with our fearless leader.”
Shiro nodded and left for the bathroom. Gren waited till he could hear the sound of running water before he started to speak. “Sapphire you need to stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“You know exactly what. Ever since... ever since the incident you've thrown yourself into fighting and you've dragged us along with you.”
“Gren we go to a combat school, are you suggesting we shouldn't be fighting?” asked Sapphire her eyebrows raised and an unimpressed look on her face.
“Of course not but you’re getting fanatical. You don’t go to lunch with everyone else. You don’t talk to anyone and Oswald told me that you barely say two words to him during your sparring matches. It isn't healthy Sapphire.”
“What do you want me to do Gren, Abel’s gone. He died. End of story, I’m not going to cry over it so what’s the point in dwelling?”
“Sapphire when was the last time you played your violin?”
“What does that have to do with anything?’
Gren raised his eyebrows giving Sapphire an incredulous look. “You’ve always used music to vent and granted I haven’t been keeping tabs on you but I think I would be right in saying that it was before the accident. Your violin case has a lot of dust on it.” Sapphire fell silent. He was right, she hadn’t played anything since that day. In music class she sat at the back and pretended to be practicing.
“Sapphire you have to know you’re not alone in this. You’ve never been the most open person, I get that but it doesn't mean you have to deal with everything by yourself. Before Abel died we... well I wouldn’t call us close friends but we were starting to trust one another. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
“What do you expect Gren. That I’m going to break down right here and tell you I wish he was still here. Why I’m feeling isolated, is that it? You’re not my therapist Gren.”
“But I’m your friend Sapphire. I can help if you’ll let me.”
“How! I made my choices. They can’t be undone, so what’s the point in worrying about it is.”
“What choices?”
“Excuse me?”
“What choices can’t you undo?”
“ALL OF THEM! Since I was seven years old! All I’ve ever done is run away. From my family, from my friends, from the truth. Hell even my semblance is a way for me to hide from the things that I don’t want to see! You want to know what I’m keeping to myself! I was ten feet from him and completely useless! He had to do it because of his stupid volt semblance but he never had enough time! I couldn’t help him with any of it!”
Complete silence filled the room. Sapphire was not exactly known for her outbursts and it had clearly taken Gren by surprise. Not waiting for the boar faunus to think of a response Sapphire ended the conversation. “I’ll see you at the border for patrol. Remember it's at six.”
The Border Patrol had been set up after the attack on the school. Though it was rather redundant since Beacon rested on the edge of a cliff and in all other directions the school had a sightline for several miles. The wards that kept out the Grimm were strongest in this area despite it being close to the edge of their border. Nevertheless Ozpin had divided the remaining teams of Beacon up on a schedule to make sure that there were four hunters manning the borders at all times. Or in a lot of the teams cases three hunters. Ozpin had urged each team to find replacements for their lost members but nearly all of them had refused.
When Sapphire got the border Team MODA was preparing to end their shift. All of them tired but despite the fact that they’d been on patrol for four hours they all still seemed alert.
Oswald spotted Sapphire approaching before the rest of his team. “Hey Sapph. You lose the rest of your team?”
At some point during Oswald and Sapphire’s regular sparing matches he’d started abbreviating her name. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint in her mind when he’d started doing it but after the initial flare of irritation Sapphire found she didn’t mind all that much. As long as everyone else didn’t start doing it. Of course Oswald’s teammates teased him for hours about how it meant Sapphire was growing fond of him. Marcus had started up a habit of telling Oswald to ask her out when she was just barely within earshot.
“Not right now. Shiro likes to take him time in the showers.”
Marcus stepped up with a goofy look on his face which Sapphire thought was supposed to be mock thinking. “Really, I always figured he just licked himself clean. He is a cat faunus after all.”
Sapphire’s face contorted into a look of disgust. “Ew, gross, I did not need that picture in my head. And he’s tiger not cat.
“Same difference. Come on we should be getting some sleep.”
As the three remaining members of Team MODA passed Sapphire, Diamond stopped for a moment. “Just a heads up. Ozpin’s done waiting for us to find fourth members for the teams that... lost someone. He’s picking candidates to replace the lost team members. We’re supposed to meet ours today. I think you’ve got another two or three weeks. Hope you get someone decent.”
Sapphire watched them go with contemplating the ramifications of what Diamond had told her. A fourth member. Of course every Team at Beacon was supposed to have four members. The trials and training regimes had been designed solely with that in mind but a number of the teams that had lost someone, MODA, RPGD, SASG had refused to replace there fallen comrades. For teams like BAST who had lost two members it was sort of necessary so they might continue to function but for everyone else, they weren’t thrilled to replace lost comrades that easily. Besides if they got a new member it would rearrange the letters used in their name, then Abel would be gone for good. Not even his initial would remain a part of the team.
It wasn’t long before Gren and Shiro reported for Patrol. Gren didn’t mention Sapphire’s outburst in the dorms which she was more than a little grateful for. Swansong divided up Beacon’s perimeter between the three of them each taking a section before they started to patrol.
The first few hours of Sapphire’s shift went by without incident. She caught a couple of first years trying to sneak off school property but that was about the extent the problem. By the last hour of her shift Sapphire had become so complacent that she almost missed a gap open in the sky, twenty feet from her on the other side of a stone wall.
Sapphire quickly took out her scroll and texted what she’d seen to Gren and Shiro before she started to run in the direction of the swiftly closing portal. Just as Sapphire rounded the wall that had blocked her view she caught sight of a figure disappearing round the side of one of the buildings.
Sapphire started to sprint. She wouldn’t let another insurgent get a foothold in Beacon. It seemed to be only one person but a single inside man was all anyone would need to open a larger portal allowing a large strike force to enter the school. After what happened last year Sapphire would not let that happen.
Whoever it was Sapphire was chasing they were fast and that was saying something considering that Sapphire’s entire identity as a huntress was defined by her speed. Every time she turned a new corner she could see the person disappearing round another. He was skilled at evasion. At this point Sapphire wasn’t even sure if it was a boy or a girl. They were wearing something hooded and the rest of their clothing was so loose that Sapphire couldn’t get a read on their body type.
After weaving through fifty feet of buildings Sapphire realized where this person was going. Their route while not direct was heading straight for the survival classroom shed thing. Inside that place was a portal that would allow the insurgent to escape. Sapphire couldn’t allow that. Even if he managed to get off of Beacon’s property it meant that whoever he was working for had a foolproof way to portal into the school, a feat the was normally only possible with the headmaster’s approval. Unapproved portals were supposed to be redirected.
Sapphire poured on the speed, her muscles burning as she tried desperately to catch up to her prey. No matter how fast she ran he was always just out of reach. Finally they arrived at the Survival classroom. Sapphire kicked the door in just in time to see a figure disappear into the portal that the room contained.
Seconds later Gren and Shiro appeared, Sapphire having texted them the insurgent’s destination while she ran. “So where’s the guy?” asked Shiro looking round.
“He disappeared into the survival portal, I’m going after him. You two warn Ozpin. Get the students on alert in case he manages to portal into the school a second time.”
Without waiting for a response Sapphire dove into the portal after the insurgent. She arrived maybe ten seconds after him and she managed to catch a glimpse of his cloths whipping into the woods. Sapphire chased after him. Dodging trees and branches in her fervent attempts to capture him. Agonizingly he was still out of reach. Always just a few feet ahead of her.
She was getting closer now and as she did so Sapphire realized that sometimes he would seem to vanish only to appear a few seconds later further ahead. So it wasn’t that he was faster but that he had some sort of speed or teleportation semblance that was allowing him to beat her.
Sapphire realized something else too, they were approaching the river. Though Sapphire had never taken the Survival class herself Abel had told her that the portal back to the school was over the waterfall. It wasn’t supposed to be open all the time but with the kind of tricks this guy was pulling out Sapphire wouldn’t be surprised if he knew how to switch it on.
When he arrived at the edge of the water the insurgent wasted no time. He dove into the rapids. Sapphire hesitated for a fraction of a second before she jumped in after him. The first thing that hit her was that the water was cold. Her skin screamed at her and her cloths weighed her down. She couldn’t keep on top of the rapids, they kept pushing her under till the girl in blue was gasping for breath. She caught brief glimpses of the insurgent. He seemed to swim through the rapids unaware of the dangerous nature of the waters. He flitted from rock to rock and up to the surface for air without difficulty. He was like a squid.
Sapphire had never by any means been a poor swimmer. In fact she considered herself rather skilled at moving through the water at high speeds but this was something else. Sapphire was completely unprepared for a chase of this nature. Every time she was pushed under it took longer for her to struggle to the surface. She wasn’t even chasing her quarry anymore. This was about survival now.
At some point it started to become impossible for Sapphire to keep herself above the waves. Her lungs screaming for air demanded that she breathe and she did. Water flooded into her lungs and she started to cough trying to expel it. This only cause more and more water to invade her system. Her lungs burned, her chest ached, every muscles in her body screaming for air. She was drowning. She was going to die. This was how it ended for her. Despite the pain a last thought flitted through her head.
Why couldn’t I die in battle? Seconds before she blacked out Sapphire felt strong protective arms close around her waist.
When Sapphire woke the first thing that registered was that she was still in pain. She felt lightheaded and her throat was burning. Slowly the girl in blue opened her eyes. She was lying on a mattress with scratchy covers, the room was full of light and her bed was surrounded by a curtain.
This situation was all too familiar to Sapphire. With the number of exams, trials and missions that Sapphire had been on with her team it wasn’t exactly uncommon for her to wake up here. In the infirmary.
Sapphire slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. Her head was still groggy and every time she moved a spike of pain went through it. It was like the world’s worst hangover had decided to nest in her head.
When she moved Sapphire became aware of someone else in the room with her. A white haired, tailed someone. Shiro was asleep in a chair next to Sapphire’s bed, or formerly asleep because when he heard her move the tiger faunus snapped awake.
Before Sapphire had a chance to react Shiro shouted at the top of his voice. “SHE’S AWAKE!” before he crushed her into a rib cracking hug. Sapphire’s head cried out in protest and though her throat was sore and felt raw inside she managed to whisper. "I own a gun." Into Shiro's ear.
The tiger faunus broke away from his team leader almost immediately. His ears fell slightly and his tail became ever so much less bouncy. "Sorry, I was just so pleased to see you awake and..." he trailed off.
“How long have I been out?” Sapphire asked quietly. Her voice came out rough, in barely more than a whisper. She wouldn't be shouting orders for a while.
“Three days.” Shiro said concern etched over his face. “Some of the nurses said you might not wake up but Gren told them you were too stubborn to drown in the rapids, then the nurses told him...” As he spoke Shiro’s tail started to bounce faster and his ears came up. Sapphire blotted out his voice. She really didn’t need a play by play of what everyone said while she was out. It was enough that she was awake now and when her voice returned she would be as good as new.
What had happened to the insurgent? Had they caught him? No, the way he moved through the water by the time the other hunters got there he must have been long gone. So what was his objective? Had this been some sort of test to make sure he could enter Beacon undetected? Would a bigger army come?
"...and Oswald brought the flowers. He said you liked Jasmine cause your mother wore Jasmine scented perfume... then of course the rest of team MODA was here teasing him and they said...”
“Shiro stop.” Sapphire shouted, or rather would have shouted had she had the voice for it. As it was the tiger faunus barely heard her. He fell silent anyways.
“Shiro who pulled me out of the river and did anyone find the insurgent? Was he caught?”
At these questions Shiro started to fidget like he did when he was nervous. “Yeah about that, see when the response team got there you were on the river bank. It looked like someone had pulled you out and the water in your lungs was minimal, like someone did CPR on you. And about the insurgent thing, um Ozpin wanted to talk to you when you’re feeling a bit better.”
Shiro vacated the room fairly quickly after relaying that information like he might get scorched if he stayed too long.
It was another three days before Sapphire was discharged from the infirmary. Three agonizing days of doing nothing. Oswald, Gren and a couple other people stopped by to visit but each and every one of them skirted around the issue of the person Sapphire had chased through the forest. Like they knew something they weren’t supposed to say.
When Sapphire was finally let go the nurses told her to report to Ozpin’s office immediately. The rational part of her said that this had to be good news. That they’d caught the insurgent or at the very least they’d found a way to block his means of entry into the school. Otherwise Sapphire’s participation in such a meeting would be worth nothing. Yet a small voice at the back of her head said that this meeting signaled something else entirely.
When Sapphire arrived at Ozpin’s office she knocked on the door. “Come in.” she heard from the other side. Sapphire pushed the large oak doors open and entered the headmaster’s office. Ozpin was sitting behind his desk.
“Ah, Ms. Rode it is good to see you awake. There was some concern when you were brought in that you would not regain consciousness. Please have a seat.”
Sapphire sat down her back straight. For some reason she felt as though she were being interrogated. “Did you catch the insurgent?” she asked anxious to know that the school was safe once more.
“Yes about that. Sapphire would you mind recounting what happened while you were on patrol for me.”
So Sapphire went through that day. The uneventfulness of her shift, to seeing the portal open, chasing the insurgent through the grounds and through the survival portal into the Emerald Woods, diving into the river after him and nearly drowning in the rapids. When she had finished silence fell between them.
After a brief moment in which Ozpin stared deeply into Sapphire’s eyes as though he were analyzing her he spoke. “I understand the loss of Abel Fulgurate has been especially hard on you compared to your teammates and other teams who lost friends and comrades in the incident last year.”
Sapphire was confused. There was someone on the loose who was capable of portalling into Beacon at their leisure and Ozpin wanted to talk about her personal feelings about losing Abel. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m afraid a great deal. You see this insurgent that you spoke of...
you were the only one to see him. I can find no eyewitnesses to your pursuit of him across the grounds. Your teammates arrived at the portal after he allegedly went through and you instructed them not to follow you into the Emerald Forest. Furthermore when you were found you had clearly inhaled a great deal of water but you were lying on the side of the river with your lungs mostly emptied.”
A terrible suspicion about what Ozpin thought of her ran through Sapphire’s head but she refused to accept it as truth without it being said aloud. “What are you saying?”
“I think you know. The only evidence we have that this insurgent was on Beacon’s grounds is your word. According to our instruments the only portal activity performed today was a field trip by the first years and of course the portal that you took into the Emerald Forest. Simply put you forced Beacon onto high alert and there is no proof to suggest that it was necessary.”
Sapphire gulped, this was impossible. Every portal left a trace. Beacon’s defensive system should have picked it up. Sapphire remembered running past people in her pursuit. It wasn’t possible that no one had seen the insurgent.
“Sapphire, you took the aftermath of the attack on the school by the cult calling itself the Order of the Grimm much harder than your peers. You are both a controlling and pragmatic girl. I do not mean that as an insult. Merely a statement of fact. It makes you an excellent leader. You always have a plan even if it hinders your ability to relate to others. For someone like you who is used to being able to exert power over her environment something like the attack on the school must have been devastating. You lost friends, you lost teammates. It is understandable that you would want the guilty party to pay and with no one readily available to blame your mind came up with a target.”
Sapphire stood up pushing her chair back as she got closer to Ozpin’s desk. “What? No, I didn’t imagine this. And I’m just fine thank you very much, the attack was almost a year ago. The distant past.”
“Sapphire I am not calling you a liar, these past eight months have been hard on us all.”
“I’m fine!” Sapphire snarled slamming her hands down on the headmaster’s desk.
“Indeed.” Ozpin said looking at where Sapphire’s hands had disturbed his papers. “How long has it been since you started hiding your face in your hair?”
“I... It’s just another style I’m trying, don’t read so much into it.”
“Of course, of course. Naturally it has nothing to do with hiding your pain from others.”
“I... I just...”
“Let us speak of it no further. Given what these last eight months have put us all through it is surprising that we have not had more of these incidents. However I believe it is time that your team adhered to the school’s regulations. Given what happened I have been lenient up until now but each team at Beacon is meant to be made up of four members, not three. It is admirable how your team has conquered many hardships despite being down a member but with finals approaching you will require a fourth party. I have taken the liberty of picking him out for you.”
Ozpin stood and took a file from his desk. “His name is Daniel Miller. Of course I understand if you wish your team name to remain the same but Mr. Miller will be joining as Swansong’s fourth member. He will arrive at Beacon via airship in one week. Take his file with you. Learn his strengths and weaknesses. Your final exams are approaching. You will need all the strength you can muster.”
With those words of wisdom Ozpin dismissed Sapphire from his office.
Sapphire spent the next week pouring over Daniel’s file with Gren. Shiro popped in from time to time but work that involved sitting still for more than five minutes tended to excite his ‘do something stupid’ tendencies.
Miller was on paper at least fairly impressive. According to his transcripts he’d spent his first several years of senior huntsman training at an academy in Atlas. Atlas was known for its strict procedures and rigorous training processes. If he was accepted to one of their schools he was as good as any student at Beacon. He wasn’t the best in his class but he never dipped below fifth for anything, academics, music, combat. His main weapons were listed as two curved daggers with some unusual properties which infuriatingly weren’t mentioned. His listed semblance was the ability to manifest and control fire. His records seemed flawless but Sapphire would have felt better if the file had included a psych eval or something that denoted who this new hunter was and not just what he could do.
The day came that team Swansong had to welcome its newest member and even though it felt as though they were saying goodbye to Abel forever all three of them turned up at the embarkation zone for the airships to see Daniel Miller arrive.
When the airship finally landed and the loading doors opened the boy that stepped out was not at all what Sapphire expected. From his transcripts Sapphire had pictured someone big, a slower fighter but someone who could take a beating. The boy that approached them with a smile on his face as though he had not a care in the world was... scrawny. His build was thin and he seemed to lack and sort of power.
Daniel was dressed in combat fatigues which was unsurprising considering he came from Atlas which was just a step up from a military state. His hair was cut short, also military style and it was sandy brown. His eyes were a startling color of green that looked vaguely familiar and his skin was pale, as though he spent most of his time away from the sun. Strapped to his belt were two curved daggers. The hilts were silver with a black guard. Though the blades themselves were hidden within their sheathes the blades looked to be about eight inches long.
He raised a hand as he approached with a smile on his face. “Hi, I’m Daniel Miller and you would be Team Swansong correct?”
Sapphire was about to introduce everyone by name when Shiro beat her to the punch. She knew she should have duck taped his mouth. Shiro ran forward and grabbed Daniel’s hand shaking it wildly. “Exactly right.” He said with enthusiasm as though Daniel had just come up with the cure for world hunger. “I’m Kuhaku Shiro, everyone calls me Shiro, the boar faunus back there is Gren Orchid. And the grumpy looking girl is Sapphire Rode. Nice to meet you Daniel.”
Shiro’s spontaneous welcome left Daniel looked mildly shell shocked. The moment Shiro stepped aside Daniel made a beeline for Sapphire. Maybe because he knew she was team leader or perhaps just because he could tell Shiro wanted to keep his distance from her.
“You must be the team leader...” Daniel paused slightly as though there had been something he was going to say but instead finished the sentence with. “...Sapphire.”
“Uh huh.” Said Sapphire looking Daniel up and down decidedly unimpressed. "Come on I’ll show you the dorm rooms. Shiro, Gren, let’s get moving."
Sapphire let Gren and Shiro take the lead. She wasn’t exactly interested in being this newcomer’s tour guide and besides she wanted to test him a bit. Make sure he was really of the right materials to be a part of Team Swansong.
Two feet behind Daniel Sapphire slowly pulled Morpheus out of her bag. She’d assembled it prior to the airships arrival having planned this the entire time.
Just as Sapphire was about to strike Daniel spun on his heels drawing his own dagger. In one swift motion he aimed an almost imperceptibly fast slice at the side of Sapphire’s neck.
In a motion just as swift Sapphire placed her own weapon in the path of his the daggers stopping midair between them. Daniel smiled. “Testing my reflexes? Good, we should know the capabilities of our teammates otherwise we can’t strategize properly. How’d I do?”
Grudgingly Sapphire had to admit that his speed had impressed her. His fighting seemed to be not dissimilar to her own and his reflexes were just as good. “You did alright. I can’t say I wasn’t the only one testing. You satisfied with my abilities?”
Daniel smiled deviously, “We’ll see. One blow can only tell you so much.”
A matching smile crawled across Sapphire’s face. “We’ll have to arrange for a match later then. See if you’re skills truly measure up to what your records say.”
“Name the place but for the moment I think I should get unpacked.”
Gren and Shiro had been watching this play out before them. Gren decided to take the lead allowing Daniel to follow him back in the direction of the dorms. Shiro stayed behind closer to Sapphire. “So,” he said staying just out of reach of Sapphire’s weapons. “Daniel’s something isn’t he?”
Sapphire raised her eyebrows. She sort of got what he was hinting at but she’d be damned if she was the one that spelled it out clearly. “You want him? Take him.”
“Not for me, I’ve got a girlfriend remember. Mokuren and I have been going strong for two years.”
“Statistically school romances don’t last past graduation.”
Shiro’s ear flattened immediately as his fur bristled in annoyance. “Shut up, me and Mokuren are solid. Besides we’re not talking about me. I think a boyfriend would be good for you.”
Shiro was very lucky that he’d stayed out of range of Sapphire’s weapons for a second later Morpheus whistled through the air missing Shiro by inches.
“Come on Sapphire, he’s fast, he’s smooth, he gets how you think what else do you want?”
“Oh I don’t know.” Said Sapphire harshly. “Someone who’s a little less like my brother. Forget it Shiro, if we get along at all that’s as far as it’s going to go.”
“He’s like your brother? The one who ran away, Oliver?”
“I don’t remember telling you about that.”
“Gren may have mentioned it.”
“Ah so I have two bodies to dispose of, good to know.”
Shiro picked that moment to dart off down the hallway before Sapphire got it into her mind to have him stuffed. Wise decision. Sapphire rolled her eyes and followed her team back to their dorms.
The rest of the night passed in relative ease. Daniel unpacked his things while Gren and mostly Shiro bombarded him with questions about what his life had been like before he’d gone to Beacon. Sapphire made note of the fact that though he answered all of the questions thrown at him each answer seemed to be crafted to give Shiro enough information to satisfy him but not enough that Sapphire could get a clear picture of who Daniel was or what his life had been like.
She also noted that he had a go-bag stuffed under his bed in much the same way that Sapphire had when she’d first arrived at Beacon. Interesting.
When lights out hit Swansong decided to call it a night. Sapphire would spend the next day testing Daniel thoroughly. She needed to know his capabilities and how he could fit into the team. From what little she’d gathered so far his fighting style was similar to her own so it would be best that he was partnered with either Shiro or Gren. It wasn’t a good idea to keep same type fighters side by side, they tended to get in each other’s way or at the very least the enemy started to be able to predict there movements.
The following morning Sapphire woke early, even earlier than usual, sometime around four in the morning. Her intent had been to wake Daniel early and challenge him to a fight to test his meddle under less than optimal conditions.
However when she got out of bed Daniel’s bunk was empty. In fact it showed all signs that it had never been slept in. As though he could sense her thinking about him Daniel walked through the door seconds later.
Sapphire stared at him “Where were you all night?”
“Sleeping,” he said nonchalantly but some inner voice told Sapphire he wasn’t being quite truthful. “I got up a half hour ago, we always rise early in Atlas. I had a shower and went for a run. What are you doing up this early?”
Well Sapphire supposed she’d pretty much lost the element of surprise but if he rose this early every morning then there wasn’t a whole lot of point anyways. “I wanted to take you up on that offer for a match. I’d like to see what you’re made up.”
Daniel smiled. “You were going to get me up in the middle of the night? See how I handled being thrust into a situation?”
“Something like that. Grab your weapons. I’ll meet you at the Combat Arena in twenty minutes.”
Sapphire got up, showered and dressed herself in combat gear. She brought her dust rounds but something told her that bringing her polearm with her would be a mistake. It was a large melee weapon intended for use against other large melee weapons while Daniel favored his daggers.
Having small weapons like that meant the Daniel must use a very close and personal attack style not unlike Sapphire’s own. It also meant that her polearm would be all but useless and Morpheus and Phobator would be her main defense.
When Sapphire got to the combat arena Daniel was waiting for her. “You ready?” he asked as though this match had somehow been his idea.
Sapphire clapped her bracelet together bringing Morpheus and Phobator into her hands. “Always.” It may just have been a trick of the light but it seemed that Daniel’s eyes rested on Sapphire’s weapons for several seconds before he drew his own daggers from his belt. Sapphire decided that it didn’t matter.
So the fight began.
Fighting someone one on one with close range weapons like daggers wasn’t like any other type of battle. It was and intimate with almost no time to recover from a wrong move or mistaken blow. With other weapons in play combatants had the advantage to back off and regroup. Such a thing was much harder when you had a target distance of a few feet.
There was a second of silence in the arena before Sapphire and Daniel took a step forward and launched into combat. A knife fight was a lot like a game of timer chess. You had to take everything in at once without giving your opponent any time to think and always be able to correct any mistakes.
Sapphire started with a barrage of blows, aiming for all the vital points, neck, heart, fingers, knees. Daniel very narrowly but skillfully blocked every strike the ferocity of Sapphire’s opening moves forcing him to step back as he defended himself.
Then he managed to catch Morpheus between the blades of his own weapons. Before Sapphire could raise Phobator to free its brother Daniel forced the dagger blades at an awkward angle forcing Sapphire to take several steps to avoid losing the weapon. This put her in a vulnerable position and she was only barely able to spin around holding both her weapons up to prevent the next strike from Daniel’s weapons.
So the battle went back and forth back and forth. Each combatant landed their fair share of attacks but nothing that would disable the other. It was like a dance, across the arena and back, always spinning and moving each second stretching into infinity.
Daniel was clearly enjoying himself with his smile stretching with every one of his attacks blocked, as though the battle itself was worth more than any victory. Finally he caught Morpheus and Phobator on the edges of his blades and spun them downward forcing Sapphire to take two steps back to avoid losing her weapons.
Rather than press his advantage by closing the space instead his smile grew. “Let’s wrap this up shall we?” he held up both his daggers and pressed something on the side of the handle. The blades began to lengthen continuing in the circular angle they’d been forged in until the blades reconnected with the opposite end of the handle forming a complete circle, razor sharp and deadly.
With this complete and the element of surprise evident on Sapphire’s face Daniel pressed his advantage. He came right back at her swinging but this time his attacks were almost impossible to dodge. Because of the nature his blades now possessed Sapphire’s own tended to slide over the sides of them easily. When she was on the attack this put her in difficult positions every time he blocked and made it very easy for him to strike around her daggers.
It wasn’t long before he’d forced her against one of the walls and with a final flourish sent her daggers clattering to the floor. For a fraction of a second he held his weapon to her throat before releasing her.
“I actually won.” He said it as though it surprised him, not like he’d assumed it to be a certainty as his fighting style would suggest.
“You move like a demon, what did you expect?”
“Honestly, I expected you to pull something strange from you bag of tricks at the eleventh hours but I suppose it’s too soon for things like that.”
“Too soon?”
“Never mind, you wanna get something to eat. We’ve been fighting almost an hour and I think the caf it open by this time.”
Sapphire took a long drink from her water bottle and collapsed her daggers back into bracelets before answering him.
“Miller, follow me.”
Looking slightly confused Daniel followed Sapphire as she walked up the steps back into the main school. Rather than turning right towards the cafeteria Sapphire turned left walking outside. She kept going until she reached one of the school building’s in the west wing. Structurally it looked intact but all the windows had been blown out, the wood was scorched and no grass grew around it. The door was missing and it looked deserted.
“Do you know where we are?” Sapphire asked not looking back at Daniel.
“Somewhere in the west wing? I’m not too familiar with the school layout.”
“You heard about what happened last year yes?”
“You mean the incident? Beacon was infiltrated by an anti-hunter cult.”
“This was a sight where the cult planted a very powerful dust bomb meant to destroy the entire school. Yet Beacon’s still standing, do you know why that is?”
“Someone disarmed it?”
“Not exactly, contained it would be more accurate.”
“What happened?”
“We weren’t prepared. There’s a memorial stone sitting by the door, read it.”
Tentatively Daniel approached the building. “In loving memory of those that fell here. They displayed the traits of true hunters. Here we honor them. Bastion’s Trad Oak, Moderation’s Aurellius...” Daniel trailed off reading the next name engraved in the stone.
“Keep reading Miller.”
“Swansong’s Abel Fulgurate… So he was...?”
“The man you’re trying to replace, yes. Abel was a good hunter, a good man. He didn’t run away from danger. He ran towards it so that others would have the luxury of running away. When the Order of the Grimm planted that bomb Abel stayed in the room and used his electricity semblance to disable the bomb. It was rigged with a secondary explosive in case anyone tried to tamper with it. Less powerful to be sure but still devastating. He was vaporized in seconds. I was lucky.” Sapphire pulled her collar down revealing a disfiguring burn that ran across both her collar bones. “When the door blew off its hinges it shielded me from the blast wave. I was trapped in the rubble for three hours before the staff could dig us out.”
“O... kay?” Daniel said clearly not sure how to respond.
“This place is a monument to what a hunter has to be, to what they have to be willing to go through for the sake of others. So before you start acting like you belong here. Before you get all chumy with my team ask yourself, are you willing to go through this? Cause if you’re not you don’t belong here.” Sapphire advanced on Daniel till they were inches apart. “Well, are you?”
There was a pause as Daniel considered what it was she was saying. “Yeah that’s what I thought.” Sapphire said in disgust before turning her back on him.
She was halfway back to the dorms when Daniel caught up with her.
“Hey, hey Sapphire wait.” Sapphire stopped and turned back to him, giving him her best dead-to-me stare. It scared a good number of people but apparently had not effect on this guy. “Look I get it alright. You two were good friends, then I come walking in and just sort of slid into place. You’re afraid that if you accept that I’m part of your team you might forget that he was too.” Daniel paused for breath looking into Sapphire’s face to see if there was any sort of response. When he found nothing he continued to speak. “I know having a childhood like the one your Dad gave you can’t have been easy, thinking that the only one you can rely on is yourself but I want you to know that whatever you need I can be trusted.”
Sapphire froze, what did he mean by ‘a childhood like the on your Dad gave you’? It couldn’t be, how could he possibly know what she’d gone through as a kid? Janus was always discreet and Sapphire had always been aware of what would happen to her if it got out.
Sapphire took several steps closer and though he didn’t seem intimidated he did take a step back. “What do you mean by my childhood?” she asked, ice in her voice and the threat of violence in her face.
Daniel froze clearly he’d slipped up in his words. “I just meant...” he trailed off. “Um, being raised by someone like Janus Rode can’t have been easy. His expectations must have been pretty high.”
Until this moment Daniel had been cool and collected but when faced with this question Sapphire could almost see him sweating.
For a moment Sapphire considered pressing him, demanding what he knew but that would confirm there was something to know and even if he’d been given an idea by someone he had no proof unless Sapphire confirmed it for him. “Whatever.”
She turned her back on him and walked away.
Over the next couple of weeks Daniel was slowly integrated into Team Swansong. What he’d said his first day had disturbed Sapphire to the point where she couldn’t spent time with him without other people present. So Gren ended up taking charge of any of the training regimes that included Daniel.
Everything seemed perfectly normal, as he’d demonstrated to Sapphire he was a proficient fighter and his style meshed easily with there’s. It wasn’t till about two months after his arrival, a month before finals that something else happened that caused Sapphire to doubt him even more.
Sapphire, Daniel and Gren were all sitting in one of the school gardens. Over the past two weeks Sapphire had managed to, well not forget what Daniel had said but not let it bother her. If he’d wanted to sing it from the rooftops he could have by now. Even if he did know it wouldn’t harm anybody and he hadn’t brought it up again since that night.
The three of them were laughing about relationships they’d had in the past. Sapphire had just finished a story about a boy she’d known when she was thirteen. He’d been really sweet and nice except at the end of the story when Sapphire had drawn one of her daggers because she heard a noise in the alley the were walking through the boy fainted at the sight of the steel and Sapphire ended up having to drag him to the nearest restaurant and ask to use their phone.
This earned her a fit of laughter from the other two boys. When there mirth subsided Daniel spoke. “So where’s Shiro, shouldn’t he be spending some quality time with his team?”
“You really want the furball here?” asked Sapphire with a smile on her face. “There’d be nothing left of this garden in twenty minutes. Dude cannot sit still.” Unlike as it would have been three years ago Sapphire meant this as a joke and not to be mean... no matter how true it might be.”
Everyone smiled at this before Gren answered the original question. “He’s on a date.”
Daniel’s eyes widened in mock surprise at this. “Shiro on a date? Who’s the girl?
“Mokuren.” Gren and Sapphire said at the same time.
“Fox faunus,” Sapphire clarified.
“You’ve probably seen her around the school.” Gren added.
This seemed to shock Daniel for some reason. “Mokuren Sabella? The cannibal girl?”
Complete silence broke over the ground as everyone including Daniel froze at his statement.
“Where...” Sapphire started to ask. She couldn’t even voice the thought. Luckily Gren finished it for her.
“Where could you possibly have heard that?” he asked
Daniel seemed frozen as though caught in a lie. Suddenly he broke out into laughter. “Nowhere man, I just made it up. You shoulda seen the looks on your faces though.”
Gren and Sapphire glanced at each other before they silently decided that Daniel’s sense of humor was just twisted. The gathering broke up not long after that.
Initially Sapphire accepted that Daniel just had a strange sense of humor but the more she thought about it the more what he’d said nagged at her. What had happened to all those kids in her freshman year that had just disappeared? Ozpin said they’d dropped out but surely some of them would have said goodbye. Mokuren’s sword did absorb blood and given her incredibly love of violence and bloodlust it wasn’t exactly hard to believe.
The next week Sapphire decided to ask her. Whatever the truth was no doubt Mokuren’s reaction would tell her everything she wanted to know. If it wasn’t true Sapphire could turn away the questions that would inevitably follow by claiming that Shiro had dared her to do it.
After combat class Sapphire cornered Mokuren in one of the halls off the main corridors. She was on her way to her next class. “Mokuren!” Sapphire shouted running up the fox faunus.
“You need something?” she asked turning around to face the girl in blue.
“Yeah actually,” Sapphire paused, did she really want to ask Mokuren if she was a cannibal. Standing here now it seemed idiotic. Surely it was more realistic that Daniel just had a very warped sense of humor. Well she was here, Mokuren already thought she was crazy so this wouldn’t exactly have any negative side effects. “This is going to sound really weird but...” could she really ask this. It was just so... out there. It couldn’t possibly be true.
“Spite it out Rode, I’m late for class.”
“Well... um, are you a cannibal?”
Mokuren’s eyes widened. “What?”
“You know, a cannibal, someone who eats other people?” Okay now Sapphire felt stupid this was a bad idea. “You know what, forget it.”
Mokuren drew her weapon faster than Sapphire could track which for a huntress of Sapphire’s caliber was impressive. “Who told you that?”
“Wait, it’s true.”
“Who? Or I swear I’ll drain all your blood right here.”
“The new guy on my team, he said he was joking.”
There was a tense moment in which Sapphire was sure Mokuren was going to slit her throat. Just as quickly as Mokuren had gotten her bloodstaind blade in her hand Sapphire activated Morpheus and applied the razor sharp edge to the artery running through Mokuren’s wrist.
“You could cut my throat right now, your sword would leave me dead faster than I could scream, but not faster than I could slice your wrist open. I’m dead instantly, you tap out in three minutes I cut you right. This hallway is secluded, could be you won’t be found for hours. So unless we both want to end up dead I suggest we slowly lower our weapons.”
Grudgingly Mokuren nodded and almost at the same time both pieces of steal were removed from contact with flesh. “Care to talk about it?” Sapphire asked. She had confirmation but now she was curious.
“It was an addiction okay, it wasn’t my fault. Let’s just leave it at that. Please don’t tell Shiro, I haven’t eaten human or faunus in two years.”
“What about those kids that disappeared our freshman year?” Sapphire asked not truly sure she wanted the answer.
“Only five or six of them, the others actually did drop out.”
“Alright...” Sapphire said feeling slightly disturbed. Whatever feelings of disgust she might harbor towards Mokuren’s dietary habits it was nothing to her surprise that Daniel had been right. How was it that he knew so much about the students at this school? Mokuren claimed not to have snacked on anyone in two years, that was long before Daniel got to school, then of course there was his knowledge of Sapphire’s own life. Her mind could conjure up only one explanation, he was a spy for someone interested in Beacon’s training methods.
Then again letting information slip like that seemed uncharacteristically careless for a spy. Maybe he’d been recruited by someone after coming to Beacon. Yes that was more likely, it would explain everything.
Sapphire knew it was time to enlist the help of her Team. The next day she arranged a Team meeting in the dorms at a time she knew for certain Daniel was elsewhere.
“Guys we need to talk.” She said looking at Oswald and Shiro sitting on the lower bunks.
“What about,” asked Shiro. “and where’s Danny, shouldn’t he be here by now?”
“I didn’t invite Daniel.”
“Oh…” Shiro said his tail sagging slightly.
“I think…” geez this was not easy news to break but she had enough proof to convince them. “I think Daniel is a spy for someone outside Beacon, possibly Atlas.”
Gren folded his arms over his sizable chest. “And what makes you think that?”
In that moment Sapphire realized that she couldn’t blurt out that Mokuren was a cannibal and Daniel had known. Shiro was dating Mokuren and besides the fact that the fox had begged her not to tell the tiger it wasn’t Sapphire’s secret to break. She liked tormenting Shiro but breaking up the only stable relationship he’d ever had in his life was going too far, even for Sapphire.
She couldn’t mention what he knew about her either. Besides that fact that she didn’t have confirmation of what he knew it would also involve admitting that information to both her teammates. She trusted them, she really did. If she told them they’d more than likely offer sympathy and such things but Sapphire wasn’t really ready for that to be common knowledge even if they would be sympathetic.
Floundering slightly Sapphire started to speak. “Have either of you ever heard him give personal details about himself? What are his parent’s names, does he have any siblings, what’s his middle name, where in Atlas did he live? Has he ever told either of you anything like that?” Gren and Shiro glanced at each other and it was clear the answer was ‘no’, but it was also clear that it wasn’t enough to convince them.
“That’s your proof? He doesn’t talk about himself?” asked Gren looking Sapphire up and down like he expected to see marbles falling out of her ears.
“And… and…” Sapphire needed something else. “He’s always going off on his own, not telling anyone where. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the night.” Her arguments were getting weaker.
“So he doesn’t talk about himself and spends a lot of time on his own. Sapphire what were you like freshman year?”
Sapphire deflated. She knew she’d lost the argument. “Like that.”
“Were you a spy for Atlas?”
“No.”
“So cut him a break, none of like the fact that they forced us to replace Abel but Daniel’s not a bad guy. Give him a chance.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She turned her back on her team and left the room. There was someone else she could turn to. Someone who she felt she could trust wholeheartedly. After all he already knew about his childhood so it wasn’t as big a blow to her. Besides they were due for a sparring match at about this time.
Oswald was waiting for her on one of the hills overlooking Beacon. “Hey Sapph.” He said as he saw her approaching. “I was thinking we could work on your durability. You know, how to make most of the force of a blow lose its power before it hits your properly. Given your defensive capabilities it might not be a bad idea.”
“Oz shut up a moment.” Sapphire cut him off. “I’m not here to spar today. I need to talk to you about something.”
“Alright,” Oswald said “What’s on your mind?”
“The new guy on my team.”
“He giving you trouble?”
“No just the opposite, he’s seems to be the perfect hunter but something’s not right about him.”
“Go on.”
“The first day he was here after I told about what happened to Abel he made reference to my childhood and my… my father like he knew what it was like for me growing up.” That was about as close to it as she could bring herself to say aloud right now but Oswald knew what she was saying.
“Did he say anything specific about it?”
“No I didn’t want to confirm anything for him so I cut it off there but that’s not everything. When he first heard that Shiro was dating Mokuren he blurted out that she was a cannibal.”
“Like drink people’s blood and barbeque there liver cannibal?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s nuts.”
“That’s what I thought but the thing is I asked Mokuren about it.”
“And?”
“She drew her weapon on me and begged me not to tell Shiro.”
“You mean she…?”
“Yeah, said she’s been clean for two years but still. How could he possibly know that kind of thing?”
“Hey if you’re looking at me for answers I’ve barely talked to the guy.”
“No not answers, I need some help. He sneaks out of our dorm every couple of nights. I need to find out where he’s going.”
“You could do that yourself.”
Sapphire sighed. This wasn’t something she generally wanted to admit but this was Oswald. “When we were sparring he beat me. It was close but he could have killed me if he wanted. The stealth stuff I got covered with my semblance but I might need a hand with subduing him if I am right about the whole spying thing.”
“Alright, text me on my scroll the next time he slips out of the dorm. Follow him from there and I’ll meet up with you.”
“Good, I can use my semblance to hide both of us. Just uh lose the cape and the clunky armor.”
“Come on, I like the cape.”
“This is stealth. It’s really difficult to shield two people actively so if I can leave my semblance on neutral while you’re in the field it would take a lot of effort off my part.”
“Alright, stealth cloths, gotcha.”
The next three nights Sapphire stayed awake till three in the morning but no luck. Daniel stayed sleeping in his bed. The fourth night however Sapphire hit the goldmine. At around two Daniel opened his eyes from where Sapphire had been sure a second before he was sleeping. He looked surreptitiously around at his teammates before slowly and carefully getting out of his bed, dressing and leaving the dorm.
Sapphire waited till Daniel was outside before she pulled out her scroll and texted Oswald.
From: Sapphire Rode
To: Oswald Connoly
Subject: Tonight’s the Night
Body: "He’s on the move Oz, track my scroll, it’ll lead you right to me. Remember we’re stealth."Sapphire also sent an authorization code that would allow Oswald to access her scrolls tracking system.
Not being sure how much time she would have after Daniel made his move Sapphire had worn her combat gear. She got up just as quietly as Daniel making sure not to wake Gren or Shiro. Luckily Daniel was rounding the corner at the end of the hall when Sapphire left the room. She switched her semblance onto a passive setting while she followed him, best to keep out of sight.
She followed him to the Beacon main gates. He was going outside Beacon itself. By the looks of it into the forest outside. Oswald found her at the main gates seconds later. “Where is he?”
The larger boy asked. He was dressed in the school’s standard issue black combat gear and Sapphire had to admit that it looked rather comical on his frame especially since he’d rubbed something black over his face to obscure the color of his skin.
Sapphire started to chuckle trying not to burst into laughter. “What?” he asked.
“Sorry…” Sapphire said, struggling for breath as she suppressed her laughter. “That’s… that’s terrific stealth ware you’ve got. Good job.”
“What its standard issue.”
“And the war paint?”
“Personal touch.”
“Nice.”
“Come on we’re going to lose him.”
Sapphire nodded and placed a hand on Oswald’s shoulder, her perception field extending around him. Sounds seemed louder and echoed as Sapphire heard them. The night suddenly looked quite a bit blurrier and her head was ringing. It was far less unpleasant than using her semblance actively but it still wasn’t exactly comfortable.
Daniel disappeared into the trees and Sapphire and Oswald followed. After several minutes Daniel stopped in a clearing and set something on the ground. It was silver and conical. He pressed a button on the top it started to glow green. A figure appeared over it. Obviously not actually there as it was see through and build of different shades of green. Something about it seemed maddeningly familiar to Sapphire but she couldn’t quite place it. It was a woman. Sapphire thought in her forties.
“Report soldier.” She said and her voice too Sapphire found familiar.
“It looks to be going well. Gren and Shiro have completely accepted me. Sapphire, well she’s not one fast to trust but she’s at least comfortable.”
“And there was no repercussions from your slip ups last week and when you first arrived.”
“Not that have become apparent. If Sapphire had talked to Mokuren about what I said no doubt she’d have brought the full force of Beacon down on my head. I’m still here.”
“Indeed…” the woman trailed off. She’d been about say something but she seemed distracted. Her holographic arm came up and tucked her hair behind one ear. “You’ve been careless soldier. You’re not the only one who’s there.”
A spike of fear shot through Sapphire at the realization that the woman knew her and Oswald were eavesdropping. Her fear caused her concentration to fail and her semblance collapsed plunging the world into the darkness.
Oswald took her arm clearly aware of what had happened. “You two.” Daniel shouted into the trees. “Come out here.”
“We can still run Sapphire.”
“No, he’s as fast as I am and I won’t get my sight back for another ten minutes or so. He has the advantage here. Play along with him, I’ll think of something.”
Trusting her judgement Oswald guided Sapphire through the trees and into the clearing.
“Sit down, you’ll be here awhile.” Suggested Daniel Oswald helped Sapphire into a seating position.
Sapphire heard the hologram woman speak. “Sapphire Rode and Oswald Connoly, I should’ve known if anyone would figure out Daniel wasn’t who he claimed to be it would be you.”
“Ma’am should we tell them?”
“They won’t accept anything but the truth. I leave this in your capable hands soldier.”
Sapphire could still hear a sort of static sound that signified the hologram was still active.
“Alright,” said Daniel sounding nervous. “Let’s start at the beginning. My real name is Demetri Rode, I’m your son Sapphire and I’ve come from the future to save the past.” Daniel, or rather Demetri as he claimed paused for a moment to let this sink in.
Sapphire received the news but it was impossible, there were of course theoretical models of how time travel could be achieved but no one had had any serious success with the project. Though many physics had ended but looking very silly, or dead or quite often both in the attempt to accomplish this feet.
“Time travel’s not possible.” Oswald said “Any objects project through time have been torn apart by the tidal forces. Bits and pieces of their bodies undergoing extreme aging or youthening leading to any number of complications. Besides the most scientist have managed to accomplish is a few hours going forward. No one has been able to send anything back.
“I know.” Demetri responded. “That’s because the scientist of this age are missing two very vital components. The first is a vessel that can undergo extreme tidal forces without any negative effects. That would be me.”
“And what makes you so special?” Sapphire demanded.
“I would show you but I’m guessing your sight won’t return for another ten minutes give or take.”
“Wait how did you know…?” Gren and Shiro had only realized the full function of her semblance a year ago. How was it that this boy knew the side effects so specifically?
“From the future remember. You explained all of this to me…
Mom.”
That one word hit Sapphire like a brick leaving her unable to speak.
“I can survive time travel because I am one of a kind. I have a completely unique semblance, not seen since the beginning of time. I can alter the flow of time in a localized field, slower or faster. Nothing fancy but it means that my body acclimated to changing time streams.”
“What’s the other thing that makes it possible for you?” asked Oswald.
“A misconception in this period about the nature of time.”
“And that misconception is?”
“That time is a strict progression of cause to effect but actually from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint it’s actually a tangible substance.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s hard to explain but it’s like this ball of wibbly wobbly…” He paused for a moment looking for the right words. “Timey wimey… stuff. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve actually seen it harnessed.”
“And what does that have to do with anything.”
“Well since time is tangible it means you need time as a substance to alter timelines. Sort of like how you need more ink to scratch out a mistake on a test. That’s about as simple as I can make it without getting all technical.”
“Alright,” Sapphire said raising her eyebrows in what she was pretty sure was his direction. “That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.” He gave him a scathing look.
“Ah two feet to your right.” Demetri responded.
“What?”
“You’re trying to give me that go-to-hell look. You’re not looking directly at me. Two feet to the right.”
Sapphire adjusted sights slightly embarrassed.
“You never accepted anything at face value Sapph. It’s what let you survive. You were always on your feet triple checking everything. Naturally this would be no different.” This time it was the hologram woman that spoke.
“I’d imagine I’m familiar to you even if it has been thirty years. It’s good to see you looking so young… sis.”
On hearing that one word Sapphire’s mind jumped back to a smiling kind twelve year old face. The way she pushed her hair behind one ear when she was concentrating. “Demetra?” Sapphire asked. It couldn’t be and yet it seemed so much like her.
In that moment Sapphire’s eye sight came back to her and she could see her sister in the holowoman’s face. She could also see the familiar resemblance in Demetri.
“We young, too young for me to remember Dad got drunk. More so than usual, he got out that whip that was part of his weapons ensemble during training. He wanted to use it on Cecily but you hid me in one of the closest and you took the lashes for her. Five of them, you still have the scars across your back. Sapphire’s blood turned to ice. It was impossible. No one could know that, the only people that knew were present. The story had made its way to Demetra when she was old enough to understand what it meant. Four people in the world knew that story and Sapphire knew that none of them would ever tell it unless it was imperative to their survival.
“Sis?”
“Yeah Sapph it’s me.” A smile lit the holowoman’s face and it was like she transformed into someone else. Whatever happened in the thirty years between whenever Demtra was now and this moment it seemed to have taken Sapphire’s baby sister’s hope.
Silence fell over the clearing as each member realized that both Oswald and Sapphire believed what they’d been told.
“So…” Oswald started trying to start the explanation moving again. “If you came back in time something big must have happened. What could be so terrible that it would warrant drastic measures like this? What happened?”
Both Demetri and Demetra gave a mirthless laugh. “What happened?” Demetri said. “The end of the world. The incident with the Order of the Grimm was the beginning. The Order infiltrated Beacon and at least some escaped. This drew the attention of some very powerful beings.”
“Politicians? World leaders?” Oswald asked.
Demetri smiled again. “No much bigger than that, some of the first Grimm. The sentient ones capable of conscious thought and reason with powers beyond imagining. Even them, with all their abilities couldn’t penetrate the wards surrounding Beacon. But the Order could thanks to Team KPT. Thousands of years ago Beacon was the focal point of those that raised the wards that protect the four kingdoms. It’s the place were hope for this world was first born. It is also the place were those wards can be torn down if one has the knowledge to do so. After the incident the Order was taken over by four very powerful Grimm. They used Kitty Boot to open a portal into Beacon and they collapsed the kingdom’s final protection. Half the hunters here died that day. After that the world was in ruins. Roaming bands of humans trying to stave off starvation and Grimm. We were part of a mix matched army of the last remaining hunters and their children. We were good but it wasn’t enough. We need the wards to keep us safe and this was the only way to save them.”
Sapphire felt like she’d fallen into a horror story. Grimm ancient enough to do the things Demetri said they could do had long since disappeared from the earth. It was impossible and yet they had come from the future, Demetra had proved that. Why would they lie about this?
“If the Incident is what started his whole thing,” Sapphire started “Why not go back before that and stop it from ever happening?”
“That was plan but time travel, well it’s not quite as precise as it seems in the movies. You can’t just set a date. The machine we used had a variety of reference points it used to calculate when it was going. Ni Rensa did the math, his calculations should have put me three weeks before the Incident. Instead I arrived six months late.”
“In fairness to him.” Demetra responded. “Calculating a period of days amongst several billion years of history could take anyone a lifetime. We should consider ourselves lucky he was only six months off.”
“Wait six months?” Sapphire asked, a suspicion forming in her mind. “It was you! The boy I saw fall through the portal. It was you!”
“True enough.” Said Demetri. “You told me I’d end up close to you when I arrived cause of our genetic link but I wasn’t really prepared for that kind of chase.”
“You save me from the rapids.”
“You nearly drown. Those rivers are tough. The only reason I survived them is because I could slow the current around down in time.”
“If you missed your time.” Asked Oswald. “What’s there to be done now?”
“Stopping the incident was the easy way of dealing with this but the Order is still coming. They hit the day after graduation during the grad dance. I’m hoping we can stop them before this world ends a second time.”
“I meant to ask earlier but Demetra how are you talking to us from the future?”
“Good question,” Sapphire’s little sister responded. “Until all of Demetri’s potential time energy expires our ruined timeline will run in tandem with your own. Once he completes his mission our timeline will vanish replaced by whatever his alterations bring about.”
“So you’ve got a limited time here Demetri?” Oswald asked.
“Yeah.” He pulled up his sleeve revealing silver armband high on his shoulder. It had three gauges on it. Two were completely lite up and glowing orange the other was only about half lit and glowing red. “I’ve got about eight months in the past left before I’ll vanish completely.”
“What should we do?” said Oswald.
“Go back to your classes.” Responded Demetra. “Have fun, train with your friends. Pass you finals. There’s nothing that can be done until the last song at the grad dance finishes. Good luck to all three of you. This is one hell of a mission your embarking on.”
The next few months were spent without a mention of what transpired in the woods that night. Demetri and Sapphire decided it was best not to tell the other members of Swansong. This wasn’t a burden they should carry. All three of them did as Demetra suggested. They had fun, they trained, they partied, they studied, they ate junk food and stayed up late watching movies and all of them passed the final exams with flying colors, both written and practical.
Then came the night of the party. That morning Sapphire went over to the Moderation dorm rooms. Diamond answered the door. “Oswald, it’s girlfriend.”
Oswald exited the room, closing the door behind him and looking a little flush at Diamond comment. Sapphire herself could feel heat rising to her face. They both decided to ignore the red tint of the other’s skin.
“Tonight’s the night Oz. You ready?”
“Not even slightly, what are you wearing to the party?”
“Not that, this could be the end of the world. Is everything prepared?”
“Sapphire you’ve got to relax. We’ve been training for months. Demetri knows where and when the Order will strike and all our weapons are in tip notch condition. We can’t be any more ready and besides this could be the end of the world. Don’t you want to have one last night of fun just in case we don’t succeed?”
“Yeah I suppose.”
“I’m gonna guess based on your usual attire that you don’t own a dress?”
“You’d be right.”
“Okay, I’ve got to pick up a tux in the city and we’ve got the day off. We’ll pick you something up.”
An hour later Oswald and Sapphire were on the airship descending into the city. Oswald picked up his tux pretty easily, clearly he’d ordered ahead. Then they stopped by a boutique to get Sapphire something to wear. The first thing she tried on blue dress that stopped at the knee. It had a white bow around the waist and spaghetti straps holding it in place.
When she came out to show it to Oswald he shook his head. “No it’s not working. The cut isn’t quite right for your figure and the color doesn’t suit you. Try something green, it’ll bring out your eyes.” After going through another five dresses they finally found one that suited Sapphire perfectly.
On the air ride back up the school Sapphire asked. “How it you know how to tell if a dress suits someone or not. Most of the guys at school are only concerned with how much cleavage a girl’s showing.”
“You know that village I grew up in, well we lived closely like a big family. Imagine growing up with twenty five sisters. It was sort of something I just picked up.”
That night Sapphire dressed in the outfit they’d picked out. It was a darker green that accented her eyes nicely. The skirt was pleated and poofy, stopping just after the knee. One side of it extended over her shoulder keeping it up while the other was left bare. She had green flats for dancing and her bracelets fully armed. She’d hidden her polearm away in the gym for when the action started. Her bandanna didn’t exactly go with the outfit but Sapphire never took it off so she used it to tie her hair back in a ponytail. She was just about to leave the when Demetri stopped her.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she turned around. Demetri was holding her violin case.
“I’m not going to play.”
“Come on, it could be you last night on earth. Do you really want to spend it watching everyone else dance while you sit by the buffet table?”
“How did you?”
“It’s what you did the first time.”
“Right.”
“This is your night Mom, you’re a fully-fledged huntress now, celebrate. Everything’s all set for when the end comes so until then relax, enjoy yourself.”
After taking the violin from Demetri Sapphire noticed his change in appearance. His hair apparently wasn’t actually sandy brown but the same black color as hers with two lightning bolt shaped streaks of blue running through it on either sides. He was wearing a black suit with a blue tie to match his hair.
“I used a special kind of dust to dye my hair to match Daniel Miller’s files.” He said, answering her unasked question.
“So there really is a Daniel Miller?”
“Yeah, I forged a letter from Beacon telling him he’d been rejected then took his place. Don’t worry about it, the first time around he died in the collapse. I probably save his life by taking his place. Come on we’ll be late if we delay any longer. Gren and Shiro are probably already there.”
Sapphire and Demetri made their way to the gym which was flooded with music. Though Sapphire had promised her son a song she still slunk over to the refreshments table. Not long later Oswald appeared looking distinguished in his black tux.
Then she caught Demetri’s eye. He was miming fiddle playing and motioning to the stage. She sighed. He wasn’t going to let up until she showed the graduating class some quality violin. She sighed again before mounting the stage where the previous song was coming to a close. The people playing were from Sapphire’s music class and they were all aware of his skill with the fiddle. She turned to look at them. “
The Contradiction join at back up if you know and stay out of my way if you don’t.”
Sapphire opened her fiddle case and retrieved her mother’s prized instrument. She put the bow to the strings and then began to play. This song was fast and furious. The kind of music that worked its way into your blood and made you want to dance. The floor exploded as people started to dance with more vigor and enthusiasm. Sapphire smiled, there was no better experience for a musician than seeing other people enjoy your music. All too soon however that number was over.
When she took the bow from the strings and packed both back in there case he noticed Oswald ascending the stage. He extended one arm to her very gallantly. “May I have this dance mi’lady?”
A grin spread across Sapphire’s face. “Alright my knight. One dance.”
As they walked down the stairs Sapphire heard Oswald whisper something to the band that sounded like ‘something slow’. It must have been cause a second later the band started playing a slow intimate dance, the kind of music usually written for couples. The dance floor emptied considerable leaving just the couples and close friends dancing with each other. Oswald placed his left hand on her hip and she her left on his shoulder. They joined their right hands and started swing about the floor.
Sapphire had never imagined Oswald as a dancer but he moved so expertly to the music that she had to think he’d been practicing. The music slowed even more forcing Sapphire and Oswald to move closer together their feet moving like they were floating on air.
“You ready for what’s coming?”
“Never, but I’ll face it down anyways.”
“That’s my girl.”
Oswald moved his head so that he was looking into Sapphire’s eyes and a million thoughts surged through Sapphire’s head at the same time.
‘the end of the world’ ‘relax’ ‘have fun’ ‘enjoy yourself’Impulsively Sapphire leaned forward closing the few inches between her and Oswald. Their lips met and they melted into each other. Seconds later, or maybe it was a few hours or days they broke apart. Oswald was the first to speak. “Whoa.”
“Uh huh.” Sapphire said dreamily.
Oswald looked stunned for a moment before saying a goofy grin appeared on his face and he said. “Hey does this mean I’m Demetri’s father? Yeah I can definitely see the family resemblance.”
Sapphire shook her head in mock exasperation. “Shut up dumbass.”
In that moment the ground started to shake. The end was coming and it was coming fast.
Oswald and Sapphire broke apart each retrieving there weapons from hiding places in the gym. Seconds later Demetri ran up to them. “We have a problem.” He said. “It’s early. This wasn’t supposed to happen for another half hour. Something’s changed.”
In that moment a portal opened over the stage. Its depths were as black as the darkest night. Through it dropped four people. Three cultists from the Order of the Grimm, the fourth was Kitty Boot dressed in there robes but with no mask to cover her face.
Something else came through with them. It was like a shadow. As it appeared all the lights in the room went out. Yet it was still visible for it was a denser and black darkness than that around it. It seemed to be human shaped and yet it was anything but human.
“The great hunter’s school is brought to its knees today.” No was one able to move, all immobilized by terror.
“You were foolish to think meddling with time could stop the designs I have put forth.” Its voice was like metal grinding together and nails scrapping down a chalk board and a million other horrid noises Sapphire had heard in her life, the screams of the innocent, bombs going off, blood spilling from an open wound, this creature’s voice embodied it all.
“I was one of the first, created from the ashes of the Original, who was split with your humans pathetic dust. I exist outside time and space. I and my brethren are forever. You cannot stop what lives in your hearts and now you will have no place to hide from it. The light of Beacon goes out today. Today hope is extinguished. Welcome to the New World.The ground began to tremble and shake, bricks collapsed, windows shattered, people screamed and people died. Sapphire passed out there amongst the chaos.
When she awoke she was lying on packed earth. Demetri was standing a few feet from her. “You were the only one I could get out.”
Sapphire stood up looking at her surroundings. The earth was red and scorched all around them. There was ruin and rubble everywhere and looking at the sky Sapphire could see both the sun and the moon present in the red glow.
“We lost.” She said the shock of it hitting hard.
“Yes we lost but it’s not too late.” Demetri responded.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at the sky. In my world the sun and the moon don’t coexist, a lot changed but day and night stay the same always. The fact that we can see them both means that at least for a little while time has been ripped open. Whatever that
thing did to take the wards down was violent enough to damage time itself. It will heal, time is resilient but it gives us an opportunity.”
“To do what?” Sapphire demanded. “We failed this time, what will make the next time different. That thing can track us across space time. We can’t beat it.”
“You’re right. Of course. But if we go back far enough we don’t have to beat it. We only have to ensure that someone else doesn’t tell it how to get into Beacon. The graduates that betrayed you, Team Kaput. Two of their members died in the Incident but Kitty Boot lived, she told the ancient Grimm how to infiltrate Beacon. If we go back, we can silence her forever.”
“You mean?”
“Kill her, yes. One life to save thousands. Not even a virtuous life. I know you believe killing any being with a soul is wrong Mother and it is but I grew up in a world where we calculated acceptable losses every day. Where going for supplies might mean you don’t come back. One life compared to ending all that pain is worth it to me and if you don’t agree then I can do it on my own. Like I was supposed to the first time around.”
Sapphires stood up, if they could truly go back to the Incident then it was a chance, a chance to save so many. Not just to stop this wasteland from becoming reality but to make Beacon whole again. Abel, Trad, Jack, Aurelius. They could all be saved.
“I’m in. But don’t I need one of those arm bands to stay grounded in time?”
“No not you.”
“Why?”
“Cause at that point in time you existed. Upon arrival you’ll effectively be taking over your life at the point that we land. You’ll be using the potential time energy of the you from a year ago. I need the armband cause I havn't been born into this time yet. I don’t have any potential energy in this period to alter.”
“Works for me, let’s move.”
Demetri took Sapphire’s arm. At first she thought nothing was happening then all of a sudden it felt as though she was being squeezed from all angles. Compressed into oblivion, Sapphire tried to breath but there was no air. Suddenly it was all over, Sapphire dragged in as much oxygen as she could. Thankful that she could breathe again.
“Takes a bit of getting used to.” Demetri said, looking at his Mother's laboured breathing. Sapphire heard an alarm sound. Beacon’s call to hunters to defend the school. “We need to get going. Kitty’s going to be in the auditorium that’s where you told me she’s headed, she had a fight with Diamond before escaping. We can take her.”
Sapphire suddenly knew that she had to be the one to confront Kitty, to take her life for the protection of the school and the future. “No, I have to take her. By the time the warning bell range the bomb was already in place which means if something doesn’t change Abel will die today, again. Go to the west wing give him the time he needs to disarm the bomb. I’ll kill Kitty Boot, only because I have to.”
Demetri nodded. “Let the wind guide you on your way and the sun blind your foes."
Sapphire recognized the greeting and returned the respectful response. “May your battles be glorious and your enemies run in terror, I wish you well."
They both shared a sad smile at what lay ahead for them before disembarking for opposite sides of the school. In the auditorium Diamond was indeed in the middle of serious battle with Kitty Boot. The older girl was more experienced but Diamond had rage on her side.
Sapphire simply watched the battle for a moment before knowing what she had to do. Diamond was rapidly depleting Kitty’s aura. When it reached critical levels Kitty would run for the survival shed and escape into the Emerald Forest according to Diamond.
Sapphire loaded two massively explosive rounds into her shotguns and waited. If both hit there marks it would shatter Kitty’s aura and her skeletal system as well. She just needed the right moment. It came when Diamond detonated a fire round at Kitty’s feet. The flames moved harmlessly over her expelled by her aura but anyone could tell from her face that she couldn’t hold out much longer. She glanced at the door and Sapphire chose that moment to act.
Sapphire leapt into the air landing between Kitty and the door. Then she pulled the trigger of one of her shotguns then the other. Sapphire could hear Kitty's aura shatter at the first impact and heard the disturbing crunch of bones and smell burned flesh as the second went off. No one could survive the blaze that Sapphire had lit in the auditorium. Kitty’s way into the school died with her.
Diamond was starring shellshocked at Sapphire’s handy work. “Diamond, Aurelius is in trouble on the third floor, three cultists, and when you pass him tell Oswald to go aid Jack and Trad in the gym.” She knew she couldn’t save everyone but if even a few more made it through this than had last time it would be a victory.
Sapphire’s heart was beating faster than it ever had as she looked at Kitty’s body burning. It was sick, Sapphire felt like throwing up. She’d actually killed another human being.
‘But it was necessary.’ argued a part of her. Another part, one that sounded less like her father shouted
‘This is never necessary. This was the easy way out.’Turning from her atrocity Sapphire ran towards the west wing to see if it had worked. If Swansong was still whole. When she got there however she was surprised to see Abel Fulgurate, first of all alive and also not inside the room where he was supposed to be. Demetri must have done something.
“Abel what happened?” Sapphire shouted.
“These cultists, they’re shouting the name ‘Order of the Grimm’, they planted a dust based bomb in the west wing. I was going to try and disable it but some student I’ve never seen before ordered me out of the room. Said he could contain the explosion better than I could.”
Sapphire suddenly remembered what she’d said to her son on the first day they’d met.
“Someone disarmed it?”
“Not exactly, contained it would be more accurate.”He was going to take Abel’s place, maybe he knew the bomb would go off in some manor or other. Sapphire ran past Abel then paused for a second before running back and giving him an uncharacteristic hug. “I’m glad you didn’t blow up.” She said before running into the west wing building.
The door to the room where the bomb had been set was seal shut and no matter how much Sapphire banged on it, it didn’t budge. Then she noticed an intercom panel attached to the wall beside the door. She turned it on.
“Demetri was are you doing in there?”
“Mom, I didn’t think you’d be here for this. I’ve seen this bomb before in the future, granted this model is cruder but the principals are the same. This becomes the Order’s trademark for destroying humans. It can’t be disarmed, there are thirty six booby traps, some are even attacked to the other booby traps. It can’t be disarmed but I can contain it better than Abel did the first time around. You won’t get buried. I brought a neutral relay control device. It was based on study of the semblance of one of Beacon’s graduates: Avendale Hallins. It allows mental control over dust. It’s how I pretended to have a fire semblance for those first few months. It’ll never work as well as Avendale’s semblance did but I can use it to diffuse the explosion after it occurs.”
“But...” Sapphire said thinking through that plan. “But there’s nothing in there to protect you. You’ll be destroyed just like Abel the first time.”
“Exactly, I can limit the damage to this room, I only have a few weeks left here anyways. Better me than someone who matters.”
“Demetri, please don’t do this. There’s another way, there’s gotta be.”
“Not in the next five minutes. Don’t worry Mom. Look my life hasn’t exactly been easy. Don’t get me wrong you were the best mother a boy could wish for but I grew up in hell. Always on the move, running from one threat to the next. Never any peace. I’m happy to let those memories die with me. In thirteen years. I’ll be born again. Give me the childhood I should have had. Let me be a kid, pull stupid stunts, break your favorite daggers cause I’m messing around with them after you told me not. This was always the way it would go. The only thing I regret Mom is letting you kill Kitty. I’ll be gone from history in a second and that grief could have vanished with me. You’ll have to carry it for the rest of your life and for that I am deeply sorry Mom. Just have a wonderful life, and when you see him, tell Dad I hope he survives until my birth this time. Bye Mom.”
Tears streamed down Sapphire’s face as she heard a bang from the intercom and the roar of flames trying to blow out into every available space but unable to do so. She listened until the intercom was incinerated to the sounds of her son slowly being immolated. That was where Abel found her twenty minutes later still sobbing.
