RWBY: Z3R0

003 - The Beacon

Seth found himself fading in and out of consciousness. He heard bits and pieces of what Cryptid was saying, but he couldn’t make out anything concrete.

“He’s lost a lot of blood.”

He can’t make out what the other people are saying either. 

“I know you don’t know who I am, but I know the Headmaster.”

Headmaster? Where is he — some kind of school?

“...Ozpin and I need to have a chat. This guy might have suffered a severe concussion… or something far more concerning.”

Then, of course, he promptly blacked out.

By the time he awoke, it was night. Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of infirmary room, like a hospital. He noticed that his gear was off, causing him to instinctively reach up to his face. When his fingers brushed against the aged scar tissue of his skin, he felt his heart drop.

Cryptid sat in a corner, looking down, his hands twitching with something in his lap. Maybe he’s asleep…? Seth hoped to God that he was. If there was any part about him he did all he could to prevent others from seeing, it was his face.

“I know you’re awake. Rest assured, I haven’t looked at your face. We all have secrets we want to keep.” Cryptid carefully spoke up.

A small wave of relief washed over Seth. “We have other things to talk about, however,” and there it goes.

Cryptid lifted up Seth’s mask, who Seth realised was the thing Cryptid had been playing with. As he moved over to Seth, he kept his eyes closed as he reached forward, latching the mask onto Seth’s face. After the mask recalibrated back to its normal functions, Cryptid suddenly pulled a knife to Seth’s throat.

“Oz revealed the report to me. You’re not quite Human… So what the FUCK are you?” Cryptid demanded.

Seth was stunned at how quickly Cryptid was able to turn on him. He went from being his friend to someone demanding information at a ludicrous speed, so he did the only thing he could think of.

Cryptid did save his life, so…

He guessed that it was time to come “clean.”

“The bomb I survived — it was a combination of my tech and a wormhole-opening device. I tried to stop it, but it sent me here. I was in a fight, hence all my wounds, but I guess the shrapnel was what brought me here, to this… place.” Seth answered slowly, trying not to piss off Cryptid any more.

His words were enough to get Cryptid to sheath his knife, but not enough to answer every question he had.

“And your name?” Cryptid pushed.

Seth looked away. At the very least, this was owed, but still. Seth loved to go by the alias Spectre because he wanted nothing more than to bury his past and to leave it to rot.

He let out a sigh, “It’s… it’s Seth.”

The Stranger backed off, looking through the window. “Lucas.” He bemused in a dry tone. 

The sky was dark, the room filled with a soothing blue. The moon was broken, partly shattered into dust. But that no longer concerned him.

“I have… trust issues,” Cryptid, or, well, Lucas began, “after what happened with Scout, I just want to regain the trust of my family. Where you are is Beacon Academy, a prestigious school for those who show great potential in fighting Grimm. You may not have manifested anything worth saving, but there are good people out there. I see you as one of them.”