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.”
Seth blinked, his mask copying his actions. His red hues drilled into the back of Lucas’ head as he waited for the other to continue.
“Because of my bond with Scout, I have the sixth sense of a Grimm — the ability to smell fear. I saw the Beowolf about to feast on you, and knew I couldn’t just sit around. I don’t like people. Everyone lies and has skeletons in their closet, but some people do it for the right reasons. Get some rest, you need to get better. When you do, I’ll give you the proper Valean welcome.” There was a hint of pride in his voice.
Seth looked down at the cot he was resting in, his eyes glued to the pinkish hue the bedsheets had as they absorbed the light of his mask. All of this — it was just too much.
Lucas put his hand on Seth’s shoulder, startling him back to reality. “It’s gonna be alright. Promise.”
Seth nodded. He then yawned, feeling something start to tug at his senses, urging him to go back to sleep. Lucas seemed to notice it rather quickly too.
“That’s probably just the anesthesia. Rest up, okay? I have to go talk to Headmaster Ozpin about… well, about you.” Lucas said.
Seth eased into the soft, comforting feeling of the cot. It wasn’t the rough sofa of the Hackerspace, or the stable structure of Horatio’s desk, but it wasn’t bad.
Then again, it definitely wasn’t home.
That thought made him uneasy. Home. How in the absolute fuck was he going to get back? He had no idea where Remnant was in regards to his Earth.
He just hoped everything was okay. Maybe some good can come out of all of this. Maybe Rempart and Dusan were taken out by the explosion of the Blume building caused by Omega.
Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed.
──────────
Seth wasn’t sure as to how much time had passed when he came to again. Realising that he was still in the infirmary, and that all of this wasn’t just some trippy dream like the one he had after experimenting with Raymond’s drugs, he felt his heart spike as he shot up, his hands immediately going to his face.
A welcoming sense of solace smothered out his panic when his fingers made contact with the cool metal frame of his mask. He let out a breath, calming his nerves.
He then took a moment to look around the room. There was sunlight filtering in through the curtained window, illuminating the room’s sterilising white interior. It was rather small, only accompanied by a cot, a few monitoring machines, a chair, and two doors — the exit and the one Seth guessed led to the washroom.
The steady sound of the heart monitor was the only sound that resonated within the room’s walls. It was aided by the dripping of the liquid in the IV bag connected to the tube that was plugged into Seth’s arm. Now that he was aware of it, he realised how uncomfortable it really felt.
DISC never played nice with things like that.
He hadn’t noticed the other presence within the room he was in until he heard them speak.
“My, my, quite the curious one, aren’t you?”
Seth’s head shot forward, coming face-to-face with a set of deep, emerald eyes. They lingered behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses with bespoke, round frames. The man also had short, neat silver hair, and held a cane in one hand and a white mug in the other.
Seth blinked, his display switching to question marks. “Who the fuck are you?”
The man chuckled, his demeanour calm. “My name is Ozpin — I’m the Headmaster of this lovely academy.”
Seth tilted his head. “Ozpin…? You’re the Headmaster Lucas spoke of?”
The man, Ozpin, gave a curt nod. “Indeed I am. And you must be…?”
Seth popped up straight, his LEDs going back to their normal design. “Didn’t Lucas tell you my name?”
Ozpin shrugged a bit. The way he carried himself spoke volumes. Whether it was good or bad, Seth couldn’t figure that one out yet.
“He said your name was Spectre. But it doesn’t take a genius to know that that is, well, not the name you were given at birth.” Ozpin hummed, taking a sip of the steaming liquid within his mug.
Seth narrowed his eyes at Ozpin. This man was all sorts of odd. “What makes you think that?”
Ozpin’s lips curled into a smirk. “I’ve been on Remnant for quite some time. I’ve picked up a thing or two throughout my years.”
Ozpin’s words had a deeper, twisted meaning to them. Seth could hear it in the way he spoke. But whatever it was exactly, the fact Seth couldn’t immediately figure it out was starting to egg him on.
When Ozpin’s eyes locked with Seth’s, the latter let out an irritated sigh, “You’re not gonna let this go, are you? But the why the fuck do you care so much? Are you building a profile on me or something?”
“More or less.” Ozpin replied.
Seth inwardly groaned. He wasn’t fond of this “Ozpin.” He had the composure of someone so full of themselves. The same composure of the asshole who got Seth into this mess in the first damn place.
“Fine,” Seth growled, audibly peeved by how Ozpin could be so pushy without actively being so pushy.
“It’s Seth.” He spoke his name with such disdain in his voice. The venom he laced his words with didn’t go unnoticed by the Headmaster.
“Seth…?”
Seth turned away. This guy was so fucking annoying!
“Blechman. Happy?” Seth hissed.
Ozpin had a condemned smile plastered across his face. “Seth Blechman, hmm? It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Ozpin held out his hand for Seth to shake, as if everything that just happened didn’t actually occur.
“Sure, whatever.” Seth retorted, shaking Ozpin’s hand.
Once the two pulled apart, the room fell into a dull silence. Seth was starting to feel uneasy, shifting slightly in the cot to not seem so stiff.
“So, uh, anything else you wanted to… you know… talk about or…?” He trailed, not really knowing what words to say. This whole situation was still so foreign to him.
“Ah, yes, right,” Ozpin began as if he were remembering something, “I wish to speak to you about something. Something beneficial to the both of us.” He replied.
Seth leaned forward, giving his full attention to the Beacon Headmaster. “A’ight, I’m listenin’.”
“Good,” Ozpin smiled, “because it just so happens that I have a proposition for you, Mr. Blechman.”