Bury The Light (Male Faunus!Vergil!Reader x Pyrrha Nikos)
Part 27
Meanwhile, RY, NPR, Ozpin, (Y/N), Dante and Qrow are walking through a stone brick tunnel illuminated by translucent lanterns.
Ozpin:"The City of Mistral..."
Nora:"Ugh! It's about time! Whose idea was it to walk again?"
Ren:"Well, we did face many obstacles. Broken airships, destroyed settlements..."
Yang:"Oh, and, you know, all those people and monsters that tried to murder us."
Ruby:"Pfft, we were fine. Only one of us almost died."
Qrow:"Hey."
Nora puts her hands on her hips and looks at Ren as he looked at her.
Ren:"Hey."
Nora giggles in reply as they continued walking.
Pyrrha:"So, how much farther to Haven Academy, professor?"
Ozpin:"Almost there."
Qrow:"But I figured we'd take you kids on the scenic route."
The group approaches a pair of large, wooden double doors, which Ozpin opens, flooding the tunnel with sunlight. Ruby runs out onto a massive platform that doubles as an elevator, stopping at the railing to gaze out over the city in wide-eyed awe.
Ruby:"Wow!"
The others join her to take in the view of buildings and stone stairways perched on mountains.
Dante:"Heh. What the hell is this?"
Ruby:"This... is... awesome!"
(Y/N):"It's certainly something."
Ruby:"Oh my gosh, look at all the weapons!"
Yang:"Oh boy. Here she goes again."
Ozpin:"Vendors here'll sell you just about anything... whether they should or not."
Pyrrha:"They really made the most out of these mountains."
Qrow:"Every inch. Stay away from the lower levels. The higher up you go, the nicer it gets."
Nora:"And we are going up!"
Later, NPR, RY, (Y/N), Dante, Qrow and Ozpin enter the campus grounds of Haven Academy, which is devoid of any other people. They stop in a courtyard, where Ruby smiles and wipes a tear from her eye. Yang places a hand on her shoulder, and she sighs.
Ruby:"We made it."
Qrow stops behind them, and while they continue on their way. Dante looks at him and stopped.
Dante:"Something wrong?"
He takes a moment to glance around and lets out a sigh.
Qrow:"It's nothing. Come on."
Dante nods and they continue their way. Later, inside a hallway, the team follows Ozpin and Qrow and Ruby calls out.
Ruby:"Hello?Hello?!"
Nora" Maybe try louder?"
(Y/N):"There doesn't seem to be anyone here."
Yang:"Well, I guess school isn't really in session right now. Maybe that's it."
Ozpin looks around.
Ozpin:"No...something isn't right. Come on."
Ozpin hurries ahead as the rest follows him.
Ruby:"Wait for us!"
RY, NPR, (Y/N),Dante and Qrow picks up the pace to catch up, and soon, all nine all five are running to a pair of wooden double doors. Ozpin and Qrow comes to a stop in front of them. Ozpin draws his cane while Qrow draws his sword, and extends the blade.
Ozpin:"Get ready. There could be trouble."
They nod and all of them draw their weapons. Ozpin looks at Qrow and nods at him. Qrow nods back and brings up his foot and kicks the door open. Just on the other side, Leonardo Lionheart widens his eyes, throws his hands into the air, and lets out a frightened scream. Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha and Nora widen their eyes and scream as well, while (Y/N), Dante, Ozpin and Ren gives the headmaster a confused stare.
Qrow suddenly looks down, loses his balance, and falls. Shortly after, Lionheart makes a noise and briefly faints. RY, NPR, (Y/N), Dante, and Ozpin let their weapons down and stare, dumbfounded, while Qrow sits up.
(Y/N):"Uh...Professor Lionheart?"
Lionheart gasps and sits up.
Lionheart:"Qrow! For crying out loud, you nearly scared me half to death!And..Ozpin?"
Ozpin:"Good to see, old friend. It's been a while."
Lionheart:"Why ,um, of course! It's good to see you again."
Qrow:"Why weren't you waiting for us at the entrance?"
Lionheart:"Huh?"
He pulls out a pocket watch and checks it.
Lionheart:"Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me."
Qrow:"You're joking."
Lionheart stands up as RY, NPR, (Y/N), and Dante put their weapons away.
Nora:"Where is everybody?"
Lionheart:"Ah, you must be the students Ozpin mentioned."
Ruby:"Yes, sir. Ruby Rose."
Yang:"Yang Xiao Long."
Pyrrha:"Pyrrha Nikos."
Nora:"Nora Valkyrie."
Ren:"Lie Ren."
(Y/N):"(Y/N) Taurus."
Dante:"Dante Taurus."
Lionheart gasps and widened his eyes.
Lionheart:"You two are..."
Ozpin:"Is something wrong, Leo?"
Lionheart shakes his head.
Lionheart:"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart, at your service. I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume, but-"
Qrow clenches his fists and then leans in toward Lionheart.
Qrow:"What? Leo, you can't be serious. Who's guarding the Relic?"
Lionheart:"Qrow, the children."
Ozpin:"Don't worry. We filled them in. What do you mean your staff is away?"
Lionheart:"You... filled them in?"
Nora:"So, is this not going at all like anyone thought it would?"
After a while, RY, NPR, (Y/N), Dante, Ozpin and Qrow are gathered in Lionheart's office, with the headmaster of Haven Academy sitting behind his desk.
Lionheart:"I have to say, Ozpin, this all seems very reckless, even for you."
Ozpin:"No, reckless is leaving one of the Relics completely unguarded."
Lionheart: There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos! Vale wasn't the only Kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every Kingdom saw that poor girl ripped into pieces."
Ruby looks away, upset while Pyrrha looks down, sadly.
Lionheart:"Saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian Knights attacking citizens....and then nothing. You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity, you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us. Mistral's territory is the widest reaching in the world, you know, and that makes it infinitely harder to protect. We lost so many great Huntsmen, teachers from this very institution. And it's only gotten worse."
(Y/N):"What do you mean?"
Lionheart:"We may have dealt with the Grimm, but the Mistral council's still at odds with representatives from Atlas. First, it was the Dust embargo, now it's the closing of borders. I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale, but it seems to have only worsened some of his more unfortunate tendencies. And, on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is!"
Ozpin:"Still? After all this time?"
Qrow:"All the more reason we need the Huntsmen and Huntresses here!"
Ruby:"Okay! Okay. Things are bad; they're bad. But we can figure this out. Why is the Spring Maiden so important?"
Lionheart:"I thought you two filled them in?"
Ozpin:"Mostly filled them in, actually."
Lionheart:"I see. The four Maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, and they are the only ones capable of reaching the Relics."
Ozpin:"The Relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific Maiden. Winter for the gift of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice and Spring for Knowledge."
Qrow:"But, Spring is the problem."
Pyrrha:"What happened to her?"
Lionheart:"She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now."
Qrow:"I... know. At least... I have a pretty good idea."
Lionheart:"Are you serious?!"
Ozpin:"Well, it isn't exactly good news, in fact."
Lionheart:"What are you talking about? This is incredible news! After all these years! Where?!"
Qrow:" I did some digging around. Looks like, after Spring ran away, she was picked up by bandits, specifically the Branwen tribe."
Lionheart:"Raven."
Ruby and Yang gasp.
Yang:"My mother?"
Ozpin:"That's right. Qrow, if you may?"
Qrow nods and pulls out his Scroll, walking over to and placing it on Lionheart's desk. The hologram monitor on the desk displays a map of Remnant.
Qrow:"That's about where they've set up their main camp. It's where they fall back to after raids and scouting missions. Raven's managed to gain a lot of followers since she returned to the tribe, and I'm sure when the Spring Maiden showed up, it only made things easier."
Lionheart:"Well, Qrow, Ozpin, I've got to hand it to you two. With these coordinates, we can mount a retrieval force and head out in a few weeks."
Lionheart walks up to Qrow's scroll and shuts it down as Qrow clenches his fists.
Ozpin:"A few weeks? Why is that,Leo?"
Qrow:"Perhaps you didn't hear me. My sister has the Spring Maiden, and I know where she is. We need to go, as soon as possible!"
Lionheart:"And perhaps you didn't hear me. This Kingdom is in shambles. "As soon as possible" does not mean tomorrow. It means, as soon as I can convince the council that I need Huntsmen more than they do. Unfortunately, bandit tribes aren't very high on their list of priorities when the threat of war is just on the horizon."
Ozpin:"Then maybe we'll just do it ourselves."
Nora:"Yeah!"
Ren:"Perhaps there's a more peaceful way to approach this?"
Qrow:"We need to get Spring as far away from here as possible. And Raven isn't going to give up her most prized possession without a fight."
Lionheart:"Unfortunately, you and your sister are evenly matched. And I'm not the fighter I used to be. No offense, but these students and I can't take on an entire bandit tribe and a Maiden that's no doubt had years to hone her skills. We need to be positive we can apprehend Spring, because if we fail Raven and her tribe will scatter. And we'll be lost. We get one shot at this. And it needs to be perfect."
Ozpin:"I see. You don't know how disappointed I am in you, Leo."
Lionheart:" I'm doing the very best I can."
Ruby:"There has to be something we can do."
Pyrrha:"Wait. What about Cinder, Emerald and Mercury? Do you have anything on them?"
Lionheart:"We pulled their files after the Fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries."
Pyrrha tightens her fists and glares at the floor in anger as (Y/N) did the same thing.
Ozpin:" Well, I can't say this has been a warm reunion, Leo."
Lionheart:" I'm sorry. I know you've all traveled a long way. But I will do everything I can to help."
Qrow:" Sure. We'll stay in the city for the time being. Local comms are still up. Keep in touch. Come on, kids."
They all begin to file out of the room. At the rear, Ruby turns around to face Lionheart again.
Ruby:"It was nice meeting you, Professor."
Lionheart:"Likewise."
(Y/N) turned to look at Lionheart briefly and he squinted his eyes at him before walking away. After they depart, a holographic W projects up from Lionheart's desk, followed by the sound of Arthur Watts' voice.
Watts:"Oh, Leo. We have got to work on your improvisational skills."
Later, RY, NPR, (Y/N), Dante, Ozpin and Qrow walk back down the academy hallway.
Dante:"So, what do we do now?"
Qrow:"You guys head back to the house. I'm just gonna walk around for a bit."
He walks off, leaving them looking at each other with concern. They later arrived at their house and Dante and Yang began talking to each other in their room.
Yang:"We need to do something. If my mom really has the Spring Maiden, we need to get to her as soon as possible."
Dante:"Then what are we waiting for? Let's find the camp and get the Spring Maiden."
Yang:"*sighs* I know that but..it's just that I haven't met my mom for years. She left me ever since I was born and..I just don't know how would I feel about meeting her after everything that's happened in our family."
Dante:"Don't worry. You won't be alone."
Yang smiled at him.
Yang:"I know."
Dante smiled back.
Yang:"But how do we get to her when we're already here?"
Dante:"I think I have an idea."
Later, RY, NPR, (Y/N), Dante and Ozpin are gathered in the living room. (Y/N) then takes Yamato out and creates a portal.
(Y/N):"You sure you don't want us to go with you two?"
Dante:"Don't worry. We'll come back safely."
(Y/N):"Make sure you do."
Dante:"I will. Promise."
(Y/N) nods and they hug each other before they pull away. Yang and Ruby hug each other as well.
Ruby:"Stay safe, you two."
Yang:"We will."
They pulled away and Dante and Yang walk to the portal. After they walked in the portal, it soon closes.
New Opening:
Habata itara modoranai to ittte
Mezashita no wa aoi aoi ano sora
(First scene shows shots of (Y/N),Dante, Yamato, Rebellion, then another a few shots of (Y/N), Dante and a shot of Adam before showing (Y/N) looking up at a a few figures standing above him and the title card "Bury The Light" shows afterwards.)
"Kanashimi" wa mada oboerarezu
"Setsunasa" wa ima tsukami hajimeta
Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo
Ima "kotoba" ni kawatte iku
(Second scene shows (Y/N) walking down before showing a split screen of him,Dante,who is walking down in the opposit direction of him and Adam,who is sitting on a throne. Then it changes to Pyrrha clasping her hands together before looking up.)
Michi naru sekai no yume* kara mezamete
Kono hane wo hiroge tobitatsu
(Third scene shows shots of Ruby,Yang, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Ozpin, Qrow, Salem and her team. Then, it shows (Y/N) putting his hand on Yamato before unsheathing it from its scabbard to slash the screen)
Habata itara modoranai to itte
Mezashita no wa shiroi shiroi ano kumo
Tsukinuketara mitsukaru to shitte
(The fourth scene shows RY, NPR, (Y/N) and Dante unsheathing their weapons as the camera surrounds them. Then it shows Raven, Emerald, Cinder, Mercury, Hazel,and Grigio Angelo. The next then shows (Y/N) fighting Adam, Dante fighting Grigio and Pyrrha fighting Cinder.)
Furikiru hodo aoi aoi ano sora
Aoi aoi ano sora
Aoi aoi ano sora
(The final scenes shows Yang fighting Mercury before it cuts to a shot of Grigio Angelo who looks at the camera with his eyes glowing red and Adam Taurus who has his back turned. Finally it shows (Y/N) turning to the left to look at the sunset as the camera looks up.)