Natalie stretched her arms and yawned as she started to wake up having fallen asleep on one of the tables in Ozpin’s library. Everybody except for the members of Team GASH had spent the entire night scouring through the library searching for clues as to how they might be able to help Jacob with his current affliction. Almost everybody had either called it a night after several hours of research and fell asleep in chairs and on tables. Others collapsed while reading, and a few managed to stay up the entire night. Natalie looked around and saw that both Ty and Miles were still scouring through books trying to find an answer. Meanwhile, Brooklyn and Ruby were starting to wake up and regain their balance.”
“What time is it?” Brooklyn asked as she rubbed her eyes.
“Sun’s just starting to come up” Ty said as he put another book down. “And we’re still no closer to finding a solution.”
“Have you guys slept at all?” Ruby asked as she stumbled her way towards one of many coffee machines Ozpin kept in the library. “You know Blake was really worried about you last night Miles.”
“I’ll sleep when we ensure that our friend out there can go to sleep and wake up again. We need an answer.”
“We’ll do better if we have all of our wits about us” Ozpin said as he entered the library. “And I think we can all agree, we could all use some sleep.”
“What are you doing here?” Brooklyn asked starting to get a little panicked, “Shouldn’t you be making sure that Jacob doesn’t die? I thought you were a critical part of that process?!”
“I came up with a solution that not only can buy us some time, but also gives our friends who have given just about everything they have a chance to rest as well. It’s a simple time spell that slows the decay process combined with a regenerative spell that will also act to keep the decay at bay. Christy, Bovia, Beanie and Jaune are all resting in my office while I look for a permanent answer to Jacob’s affliction. However, despite my magical prowess, those spells won’t last forever even if I casted them on his body each and every day. Even if I were to cast the spell upon him repeatedly, it would still eventually eat its way through his body and kill him. But it will at the very least reduce a large amount of the pain he has had to bear for the last several hours.”
“So what now? Miles said as he flipped through another book. “I can’t find anything in these books that would possibly give us any information about a big cure-everything pill. Do we just press on and hope Jacob gets to live a long life before this thing consumes him?”
“There may be a solution after all” Ozpin said as he walked over to another bookshelf near where everybody else was still sleeping. “I think I wrote about all of this back when I first discovered these relics eons ago.” As he reached the bookshelf, he pulled four books off the shelf and then re-arranged them causing the bookshelf to swing open and reveal a passageway into what looked like an old chamber built before the school was constructed. He then took his cane and activated a light within the handle and made his way into the chamber. Everybody that was awake stood a bit shocked before slowly walking towards the secret passage. However, before they could go down the passage, Ozpin reemerged with a large, old and weathered notebook. He placed it on the table and started slowly and carefully turning through the pages.
“Not to be rude professor,” Natalie said leaning over his shoulder, “but I don’t think time is really on our side for this one. What exactly is this thing anyways?”
“This is one of my oldest journals from the earliest days of my existence. Once I had grown to a point where I realized my importance to this world, I took it upon myself to record everything of great importance. Including my sister’s and my meeting with the gods of light and darkness.” The room remained silent for a moment while Ozpin continued to search through the journal.
“I think we should wake everybody up for this” Ruby said as she made her way towards where everybody else was sleeping.
Lord Tenebris made his way to the central chamber of the main airship that was used primarily for training purposes. Entering the empty room, he surveyed the different training machines that were all deactivated within the room. He took off his helmet and pulled out his Scroll. He activated fifteen training robots, each of them programed differently. All fifteen of them took up battle poses, but didn’t attack. Nathan contemplated which style of combat he wanted to fight. He surveyed each of the different robots, then selected the one that was programed with two swords. The robot stepped forward, and took up a battle stance.
“READY FOR BATTLE. FIRST MOVE GOES TO CONTROLLER” the robot said. Nathan drew his sword, and prepared for battle. He rushed forward, dragging his sword along the ground, causing energy to build within the sword. Then, he brought it forward and sent out a powerful sound wave that knocked the robot back a few feet. Nathan then leapt into the air and brought his blade down on the robot who blocked the attack by bringing his blades together to form an X. Nathan began to trade blows with the robot, each of them taking hits and returning them in kind. Over the course of the battle, Nathan’s anger grew even more, resulting in his aura burn slowly growing more and more. It was a powerful black flame, which slowly grew beyond Nathan’s body and began to engulf the robot, causing it to start melting. The power of the flame caused the circuits within the robot to malfunction and the metal to melt into a fine ooze, destroying the robot, but Nathan continued to bash the robot repeatedly with great rage. As he finished destroying the robot, he heard a slow clap behind him. Lord Sangui was standing there watching Nathan’s little tirade in silence.
“What are you doing here?” Nathan said with rage in his voice.
“Lord Imperia couldn’t reach you on your communicator. She wants to have a strategy meeting on locating the Relic of Life. Good to see that you are willing to destroy your enemies only when they are nothing more than nuts and bolts programed to fight like them” Sangui said as he walked towards Nathan. Nathan collected himself and pointed his blade at Lord Sangui.
“I am more than willing to destroy my enemies. All of those who betrayed me will feel my wrath.”
“You failed to make them feel your wrath back at Haven Academy, you failed to make them feel your wrath during the enemy’s attack on the base, and you failed in the dark realm when your former friends were literally at your feet just waiting to die.”
“I managed to at least get one of the betrayers before Lord Imperia pulled me out of there.”
“But you still fail to completely and utterly take a life. Perhaps you still carry some small speck of remorse or caring for those who betrayed you so.” Nathan then rushed towards Lord Sangui, his aura burn re-igniting. Lord Sangui simply remained calm and created a clone in a split second to take the blow. The clone took the hit and Nathan almost lost his balance as he kept pushing forward for a clumsy follow-up attack directed at the real Sangui, but this was more than easy enough for Sangui to block the attack with little risk to himself. His smile fell to that of anger and disgust.
“Your emotions hold you back” Sangui said with a stern voice. “You cling to your own desires and ignore the greater goals of the Order. Why Lord Imperia insists on giving a weak sentimental fool such as yourself such a high position is beyond me.”
“All that I have ever done,” Nathan said as he tried to push through Lord Sangui’s defense, “is serve the Order faithfully. And all you ever do is berate me! What do you have against me? Why do you question my loyalty?!”
“That’s an interesting question Lord Tenebris” Sangui said as he began to buckle from the force of the attack. Before his defense broke however, he took Nathan’s sword, twisted it out of his hands, tossed it to the side and kicked Nathan in the chest, knocking him to his back. “Maybe it’s because you not only stood against the Order years ago, but perhaps also because you and your former teammates and family members killed soldiers and high-ranking leaders of the Order!” The two of them fell silent. Nathan slowly got up, and walked past Lord Sangui to pick up his helmet.
“I was just a child then” Nathan said as he put the helmet over his head. “Besides, Lord Mortem’s actions were not in the vein of what we are trying to accomplish now. We are trying to make this world a better place for everybody. Lord Mortem was trying to make the world a better place for himself. And for the longest time, I believed that following the path I was on would lead to a better world. But Lord Imperia showed me the truth, and now I know what must be done in order for the world to become a better place. And if those who I once called my family can’t see that reality, then I will fight for the Order until they see the light and realize that I am doing this for the good of everyone.” With that, Lord Tenebris left the training room and made his way to the command deck. Lord Sangui watched as Lord Tenebris left, and started laughing as soon as Tenebris was out of ear shot.
“How remarkable it is Lord Tenebris, what one will say and do in the name of their own greater good.”
Ozpin continued to slowly turn the pages of the journal as everybody else slowly woke up. Miles continued to pace back and forth while Ozpin took his time.
“I don’t think the Order is going to wait another twenty five years or so to attack us again Professor Ozpin.”
“This is a very old document Mr. Watson” Ozpin said with an annoyed tone. “I have maintained this journal for longer than any living organism has existed on this planet. And I have yet to record this into computers or anything that’s not hanging by a thread. So until that time, I will make sure that this journal is kept in good condition and that nothing is lost.” Miles tossed his arms in the air in annoyance and continued pacing.
“Take a breath Miles” Blake said with a yawn. “You should just get some sleep. You’ve been up all night.”
“We need to find answers Blake! I can’t rest until we find a way to save Jacob and why is the floor rushing up to greet me?” Miles collapsed onto the floor and almost immediately started snoring. Ty chuckled and picked him up off the floor.
“I’ll get him to a chair. I’m probably not too far behind him actually.”
“Don’t worry about it” Evan said as he took a sip of coffee. “Looks like this is going to be a while.” Ozpin continued to pour over the journal, the clock continued to move forward. After a while, he leapt out of his chair and let out a cheer.
“I’ve found it!” he said with great excitement. “I finally found it!” Everybody clamored around him and looked over the page that he was currently reading.
“What is it?” Yang asked as she tried to read the almost faded words on the page.
“This is the entry that I made when the gods arrived to visit me and Salem! This is when they explained to me and my sister how the world was created, how everything worked in balance, and most importantly, the Relics and how they all worked in tandem with one another!”
“So what does it say about Jacob’s affliction?” Ember asked looking over the document.
“If what the gods told me and my sister is correct, then it would seem that of the four relics, the Relics of Death and Life were meant to act in balance. The Relic of Life to help ensure that death would not be the only absolute in this world, and the Relic of Death to ensure that life would not run rampant and consume everything. But alone, their powers are truly impressive. I knew the Relic of Death’s power well enough because it was left alone with my sister for centuries. So I studied it carefully from all the old texts that I kept from back then. But I hardly did any research on the Relic of Life, because I never thought I would have need to use it. But now, with this document, it is clear that the key to saving Jacob lies in the Relic of Life. It mentions here in this passage, how everything that the Relic touches can remove all form of decay and destruction consuming living beings. So if we find the Relic, it stands to reason that we could manage to save Jacob.”
“Great!” Brooklyn said slamming her hand on the table. “Where do we find it?”
“I’m not completely sure to be honest with you. When I sought out the Relics originally from where my father hid them, that was eons ago. The land of Remnant has changed dramatically since then. Originally, when I discovered the Relic of Life and where it was hidden, it was at the base of a small knoll somewhere across the great plains of the wilderness. It’s impossible to say what land masses and vegetation have sprouted around it over the years. Alongside that, the Relic of life is extremely powerful in that it helped create all the life that exists in this world. Which is why I left it alone. Didn’t want to have some crazy power-hungry monster deciding they wanted to have eternal life or create a new life form of their own that they could use to conquer the world. The Relic of Knowledge and the Relic of Connection I hid away because people could use them without risk of harming others directly with them if such a need ever arose. Plus, we had promised our father that this batch of humans would be the ones we let grow and evolve instead of wiping them out whenever we got angry or upset with them like he used to. Like Salem did try for a time.”
“So why not use your other journal that you used to go over the Relics and how you originally started this whole mess?” Natalie asked looking back down the secret corridor that Ozpin used.
“Like I said, I recorded the location of the Relic of Life eons ago. Lands have risen and fallen over the course of history. For goodness sake, the land mass of Solitas where Mantle and Atlas live used to be a part of the land mass that made up what today is Vale and Mantle.”
“Wait, it used to be all one large land mass?” Evan asked looking over a nearby globe.
“Believe it or not, yes” Ozpin said with a chuckle. “There would be a few times where me, my sister and the original Maidens would take a day trip down to the beaches of Solitas. Long before it broke off and drifted towards the cold north.”
“So we have no idea where the Relic is?” Arri said as she ran her fingers across the page that detailed the Relic of Light. “How does this help us?”
“My journals may not tell us exactly where it is,” Ozpin said as he turned the page, “but it can give us a clue as to where to look. The gods were gracious enough to tell me and my sister where we might look for the Relic of Life if we ever needed to call upon its power.”
“I thought you said your father hid the relics?” Brooklyn asked.
“He did. And I myself always thought it was strange that the gods gave me and my sister that message when I found the Relic not atop a high mountain, but sitting simply in a grassy field, wrapped in small vines. But the gods themselves have the ability of clairvoyance. It may be possible they foresaw the fact that I would one day need to seek out the Relic beyond my original quest. They told me and my sister that if we ever needed the Relic of Life, all we had to do was go to the highest point in the world and find the source of life of the mountain at the center of the lake.”
“That still sounds like nothing but riddle talk to me” Natalie said rolling her eyes.
“The gods were very literal. They didn’t beat around the bush when it came to explaining things. If the Relic of Life is truly hidden at the highest point of this world, then that means we should be able to find it if we look for the tallest mountain in Remnant, and from there if we find the source of the mountains water, then that’s probably where we will find the Relic of Life.”
“Well what are we waiting for?” Brooklyn said walking towards the exit. “Let’s get to work! If we find all of the maps of Remnant with topographical information, then we can easily find the highest mountain and go from there!”
“I’ll reach out to Weiss and Ironwood” Ruby said heading towards the exit as well. “Their technology will help us find not just the mountain, but also the source of the water of the mountain where we’ll likely find the Relic!” As everybody left, Ozpin picked up the journal and walked back into the chamber that he took it from and locked it away. He smiled as the door closed and walked out of the library. He then made his way to the recovery room where Jacob was resting.
“That didn’t take long” Jacob joked as he saw Ozpin enter.
“We may have found the answer to saving your life” Ozpin said as he sat down next to Jacob. “Everybody has started reaching out to our allies trying to find the answer.”
“Glad to hear it. The longer we dawdle with this issue, the closer the Order comes to achieving victory. I won’t let my sacrifice to save Gray’s life be the reason we lose this war.”
“You’ve got a good group of friends out there Jacob. They all started looking for answers the moment we had you back in this dimension. Heck, both Miles and Ty stayed up all night trying to find something in one of my books in my library.” Jacob smiled a bit as Ozpin told him this information.
“They really are a great group of friends. I’m glad I ended up on the team that I did all those years ago.”
“Indeed. Get some rest. I need to make sure we are ready to go once we find what we are looking for. And beyond that, once you are healed, like everyone has said, the Order won’t wait forever. We will need to prepare for whatever they have next. Since you will not be mission ready for recovering the Relic, I was hoping you, General Ironwood and myself could go over some strategies for finding and destroying the Order once and for all. Especially now that they have the Relic of Death, we need to come up with plans that will ensure our friends don’t suffer the way you have this past day.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be ready.” With that said, Ozpin got up to leave and Jacob continued to rest in his bed.
Gray yawned and stretched his arms as the morning sun poured into the dorm room. He got out of bed and saw the rest of his team slowly starting to wake up as well.
“Man,” Aurora said as she moved her hair out of her face, “I slept like a log last night.”
“And we still have classes and homework to do in the interim” Sora said as he just lay in his bed not wanting to get up.
“I feel like Ozpin should give us a pass on any and all assignments for the rest of the year if not for everything we’ve done to help in this war so far, but for yesterday alone.” Gray said with another big yawn. “That should be more than enough to let us skip homework for at the very least the rest of the semester.”
“Pretty optimistic that you think that the war is going to be over by the end of the semester” Aurora said as she grabbed a change of clothes and a shower caddy for the dorm showers.
“Heck, so long as it ends before we graduate, I’ll take it” Sora said as he grabbed his Scroll to check his morning messages. “The fact that it’s lasted as long as it has is a bit concerning. When our parents fought the order, it lasted about a week. But I’m not sure if there is an end in sight for this conflict. At least not really.” As Sora said this, Hera slowly got out of bed.
“Well look who’s finally up!” Aurora said with a chuckle. “I’m headed to the showers Hera. You want to go at the same time or after I’m done?” Hera simply grabbed her shower caddy and walked past Aurora as if she didn’t even hear her.
“Ugh,” Hera said pinching her forehead in annoyance, “you didn’t mention that all this training would drain me in the real world also!” Everybody stared in confusion as Hera just walked out the door and continued talking to herself. “I know it’s important! That doesn’t mean I don’t need sleep! I’m exhausted! Also, what’s the point of all this if it results in my body being completely drained?!”
“Does anybody else know what’s going on with Hera?” Gray asked tilting his head in confusion.
“If I did, I’d tell you in a heartbeat” Sora said scratching his head while grabbing his own change of clothes. “But if I had to guess, I think we might now have an honorary fifth member of Team GASH.”
“Why did everything have to go completely off the rails the minute we were old enough to start school?” Aurora said with an exasperated sigh.
prev chapter
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing
